Vegan Lasagna with Daiya cheese

So, it was my husband’s birthday and he wanted vegan lasagna. I have never cooked it before so it was all new to me. I had my Mother’s recipe for lasagna in the back of my mind, and I heard that using soft tofu replaces the cottage cheese, so away I went. These are the steps I took, and I was very happy with how it turned out. Delicious! (Not soy free…sorry. You can use rice noodles and lentils instead of the veggie meat to make this gluten free)

Step One: Boil the wheat lasagna noodles and follow the instructions on the box.

Step Two: 

3 ground veggie “meat” packages

4 cans of tomato paste (plain/garlic/Italian flavored) any kind is fine

1/3 cup mix Italian spices (oregano, parsley, basil)

1/3 cup of garlic spice

 

Stir all ingredients together and leave to sit in a bowl.

 

Step Three:

1 pkg of smooth tofu. In the one pkg of tofu they had 2 big pieces.

1/4 cup of Italian spices

1/3 cup of garlic spices

 

Mash with a potato masher and then just stir with a fork. It amazed me how much this looked like cottage cheese, and when tasting it there was no tofu flavor.

 Mix with about 1 cup of Daiya cheese – mozzarella

 Stir all ingredients together and then sit in a bowl.

 

Then you are just layering your lasagna.

Noodles

Tomato mixture

Noodles

Cheese mixture

Noodles

Tomato mixture

Noodles

Cheese mixture

Tomato mixture

Sprinkle with Daiya cheese and garlic powder

 

You can sprinkle with fresh parsley when it’s done if you like.

This lasagna is actually easier to make because you don’t have to cook any ground beef before you make it.

Have it bake for at least 30 min at 350 degrees. Enjoy!

 

Rolled dates, a healthy vegan and gluten free dessert!

 

A couple of weeks ago my daughter fell in love with these rolled dates in coconut. They were pre-made in a package and I wanted to try and make them.

So, I put a bunch of dates in my magic bullet and that didn’t sound too good.

I am always looking for the easier way of doing things…and I found it!

Rolled dates

1. Buy a package of dates and coconut flakes. (sweetened/unsweetened up to you)

2. They are easy to ripe apart with your fingers and then just smush pieces together to the size that you want. They are very sticky, so forming them is very easy.

3. Roll in the coconut flakes

That’s it. 🙂

Dates are very sweet. I can’t eat more than 2. They are also filling.

These are great to keep in the fridge for those who have a sweet tooth, and you want something quick to grab a need for sweets. 

Enjoy!

Vegan Cesar Salad Dressing!!

This tastes exactly like the best cesar dressing I have ever had!!

I didn’t realize how much I missed cesar dressing until this recipe hit me while making a side salad for dinner.

2 tbsp of Veganniase (soy free vegannaise is an optional for those avoiding soy)
1 tbsp of Newman’s own oil and vinegar dressing
sprinkle some vegan Parmesan.

** You can play around with the amount of salad dressing in the Vegannaise, depending how much flavor you want.

You can sprinkle on the fake bacon bits or add gluten free & vegan crutons if you like.

I find the croutons from Thrifty’s or Planet organic. Any place that has well stocked gluten items should have these items.

You can add nuts or seeds, or any other veggie of your choice to bulk the salad up to a meal.

I made this cesar dressing later in the week, in took a few seconds to whip up and my kids wanted seconds and thirds of raw veggies so they can eat the dressing. My 5 year old son reported “this is yummy mummy”.

Enjoy!! We were all very satisfied. 🙂