Southern Vegan Cornbread

Southern Vegan Cornbread

With Thanksgiving in our rear-view mirror, I was reminded how much we all enjoyed our Southern Vegan Cornbread.  It is a recipe that I have made for most of my life and always shared on holidays with my family.  It is one they always expect and request.  Many years ago, it was found on the Quaker Corn Meal box but over the years the recipe was changed and is now listed as Easy Corn Bread but it is not the original recipe that I used previously.  The later one increased the flour and decreased the cornmeal.  I took the old recipe that I have made for years and veganized it.  We had it for yesterday's Thanksgiving lunch and it was enjoyed by all.  Here is a copy for you:

1 cup organic all purpose flour

1 cup organic yellow corn meal

1/4 cup organic sugar

2 teaspoons aluminum free baking powder

1/2 teaspoons salt 

1 cup almond milk  plus 2 Tablespoons

1/4 cup canola oil (or oil of choice)

1 tsp egg replacer

Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Grease an 8 inch pan for thicker cornbread or use a 9 by 13 inch pan for thin cornbread.  Stir all dry ingredients together, then make a little hole in the dry ingredients and add the liquid ingredients.   Stir until all ingredients are moist.  Bake 25 minutes or until cornbread is light golden brown and a toothpick goes in and is removed clean.  Great warm, right out of the oven! 

NuGo Organic Double Dark Chocolate VEGAN bars

Most of my posts, to date, are sharing favorite products and this post is no exception.  NuGo vegan bars are my favorite meal replacement or snack bar when I need something to eat on the run.  I have re-ordered this box of 12 bars many times because not only is it my favorite bar but my family likes it, as well.  I love that they are also organic. 

NuGo has a line of bars but you have to look closely for the vegan symbol if you are buying them at the grocery or health food store where many are sold individually.  If you would like to look at all of their vegan bars, here is that link: NuGo Nutrition Vegan Bars. 

I have ordered these bars from Amazon, when I want them quickly, as I have Prime and can get them in two days.  But, if I keep up on my ordering, I have primarily used Vitacost, as they were about five dollars less than the listed price per box.  

As you can tell by my previous posts, I love chocolate and have a sweet tooth.  These bars have 10 grams of protein so they satisfy your hunger for several hours.  The chocolate is delicious!! Give them a try, you will really enjoy them.  This flavor is my favorite because of the heavier dark chocolate taste, but they have a nice variety.  Enjoy!

Favorite Vegan Skin and Face Products

As a person with mature skin, I'm always looking for great moisturizing products.  I also have sensitive skin, so many products will make my skin red or burn.  For that reason, I am always trying new products and when I find a new vegan product that works for my skin and makes it soft and healthy-looking, then I have to share.

First, the Cleansing Cream from Aubrey contains organic ingredients and is for normal to dry skin.  I loved it from day one because when you put it on your skin it feels cool and fresh.  It has organic menthol oils and this just makes your face feel so good.  In addition, it takes off my eye make-up without burning my eyes.  Most of the cleansing creams that I have burn my eyes but this does not.  It is made with aloe vera, camphor, coconut, jojoba and olive soap.  The product is vegan and cruelty free.  I really love this product and am now on my second container.  The only con with this product is the dispenser.  I don't want to waste a drop and I think I would prefer a tube.  It is 3.4 oz. I purchased it from Vitacost for around seven dollars.

Second, the C for Yourself from Nature's Gate is an exciting new product for me.  It is a clarifying lotion. It is for all skin types and I found it at TJ Maxx for under ten dollars.  I've seen it online for up to thirty dollars.  The best part is that it works on my skin.  When I use it, my skin has less red and the pores in my skin are reduced.  I can see a visible difference when I use it. The packaging says that it is paraben free and is also used to reduce fine lines and wrinkles.  I can tell you first hand that when I use it, I can visibly see the difference in my skin.  I cleanse my face and apply this first, then after it soaks in, I apply my moisturizer.  I take good care of my sixty year old skin so I'm always looking for great vegan products.  I love this product and I will be purchasing it again.  

Best Chocolate Birthday Cake!

For my birthday, this past January, I wanted to have a vegan birthday cake.  I decided to make my own and have it for my birthday celebration.  I looked through all of my cookbooks by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.  I found one that sounded perfect.  It was in her Vegan With A Vengeance cookbook. I LOVE chocolate and as the title above states, it is her Raspberry Blackout Cake with Ganache-y Frosting.  

The first paragraph of her recipe shared that it is a great birthday cake.  Everyone who tried it loved it and I made it again a few weeks later.

I used the ingredients stated below (unless changed in parenthesis), vegan, and organic.   

Here are the ingredients for the cake:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used pastry)

1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa power (I used cacao)

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups rice or soy milk (I used almond)

1/2 cup canola oil

1 (10 oz) jar raspberry preserves (reserve 1/2 for batter)

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups sugar ( I used 1 cup)

Here are the ingredients for the icing:

3/4 cup soy creamer (I used 1/2 cup almond milk)

6 TBS non-hydrogenated margarine (I used 4 TSP)

10 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

If this recipe sounds like one you would love, check out her book Vegan with a Vengeance.  I found it in paperback on Amazon.  I only wish I had my birthday cake photo to share with you, but I can tell you that it was ALL gone by the end of the evening.  (HINT: When you make the icing, don't melt the margarine all the way so that it has a spreadable consistency.) This will be one of my favorite cakes to make again and again, particularly on special occasions.  LOVE IT! :-)

I've included a link below from a recipe/cooking vegan blog which includes photos of the baking of this cake; step by step.  If you would like to see the photos of the cake and read the step-by-step directions (ingredients may vary slightly on this blog from the original Isa recipe), then check out this link: Raspberry Blackout Cake

How to grow your own celery plants

This post explains in detail about how to grow your own celery plants from organic produce. Check out the link below:

Celery Plants: Organic Celery Plants from Scratch.: The purpose of this post is to demonstrate how to grow your own celery at no cost.  Actually there are cost for supplies that can be reused ...

Vitacost - Online Store

Today, I received my latest Vitacost order of vegan products.  I have ordered from other online companies and so far, Vitacost has the best packing and pricing. If you order glass products, they are individually bubbled wrapped.

This week, I ordered vegetable broth, almond milk, granola, and ginger snaps.  

One of the nice features that I've found on Vitacost is that if you search "vegan", you will have a nice selection of items to purchase at discounted prices. Free shipping, over $49, at this time.  

One item that I ordered is made using essential oils:  Pillow Potion.  If you would like to encourage a restful sleep, I love this product.  I have purchased the bottle, in which you use a couple of drops on your pillow, and love it.  This order, I thought I would try the spray.  I'll let you know if it works as well.

:-)