my birthday!!!!

So last week (Aug. 5th) was my birthday!!!!  My family is sooooo sweet....when I got home late from work that day...they waited for me with all these gifts and FOOD!  My mom is a great cook and an incredibly talented baker.....she made me the BEST cake ever!!!! of course everything was vegan!  I thank God for all his blessings and especially for giving me my beautiful family....I love them so so so very much ♥ 

My grandma is in town!  She is the cutest, funniest, and sweetest person you will ever meet!  I'm so glad she was here for my b-day.  Te amo mamita linda!

My dad gave the sweetest speech ever...my eyes got teary!  Love you papito!  We toasted with apple cider (don't like alcochol :) and then ate!!

We had veggie burgers, made from scratch! and potato and sweet potato fries....everything tasted AMAZING!!  The cake was soooo tasty, I couldn't have asked for anything better :)

The cake my mom made was of course out of coconut! (one of my absolute fav flavors!) and fruit.  So one layer was coconut and the second layer was cococut with walnuts; filled with strawberries and pineapple.  The frosting was coconut whipped cream.  It was too too good!!!!

Gracias mamita! TE quiero muuuuuuuuucho!

♥ faby

cheesecake!!!!

I LOVE sweets!!! I had a craving for something sweet so I made Alicia Silverstone's Berry Cheesecake and it was scrumptious!!!  We went blackberry and peach picking so I used the blackberries for the topping.  Have you guys every gone fruit picking? its sooooo much fun :) Nothing like picking your own yummy fruit ;)

Here is her recipe from her most awesome book, The Kind Diet:

Berry Cheesecake

3/4 cup Earth Balance butter

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1 (12 oz) package silken organic tofu

1 cup nondairy cream cheese

1 Tbsp safflower oil

1/4 cup maple syrup and some more for glazing fruit topping

1/4 cup soy milk

2 tsps arrowroot

1 tsp vanilla extract (make sure it doesn't have alcohol)

Fresh berries for topping

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Oil a 8" springform pan.

Melt the butter and mix it with the crumbled graham crackers (grind the crackers in a food processor).  Press the crumbs into the bottom and sides of the pan and bake for 5 minutes.

In a blender combine the tofu, cream cheese, oil, 1/4 cup of syrup, milk, arrowroot, and vanilla extract until smooth.  Pour the mixture into the pan and even it out with a spatula.

Bake it for 45 minutes and let it cool to room temperature.  Add the glazed blackberries and chill the cheesecake.

I also made a similar dessert a while back using peaches and strawberries.....

Peach-Strawberry Cheesecake

Use the same recipe as above....but....instead of using vegan cream cheese I used canned non-light organic coconut milk and egg replacer instead of arrowroot.  It didn't come out as thick, but it was sooo yummy!

You can arrange the fruit however you want....the bright colors of the fruit make this dessert even more delicious looking ;)

You can try using kiwi, raspberries, any fruit that you like!

♥ faby

corn tortillas :)

I recently learned how to make corn tortillas thanks to a friend (thank you!).  Central Americans eat tortillas like Bolivians eat potatoes and rice....it is eaten everyday!  Making them is fun and they taste sooooo much better than the store bought ones :)  If you invest some time in making these delicious tortillas, your meal will turn out to be extra scrumptious.  You can pair tortillas with any legume....we used lentils and some veggies.

Corn Tortillas:

You will need: Maseca flour, water, a plastic bag, and a rolling pin

 In a bowl, mix the flour with a bit of water at a time, incorporating the water into the flour.  The mixture should not get too moist that it sticks to your hands.  Have a bowl of water so that you can add more as you form your tortilla as you make them, because they can dry out.  Cut the sides of a ziploc bag and make a ball of dough.

press down on the ball with your palms

place dough in between the plastic bag

flatten the tortilla with a rolling pin

 

use your 2 index fingers to press on the sides to make a smooth round tortilla

place the tortillas on a slightly oiled griddle until they are a bit toasted

Make sure to wrap the tortillas so that they stay warm!

You can serve with anything you like! Here's what I did....I cooked some lentils and cut up some veggies and placed it in the tortilla.  It was yummy, especially with warm tortillas.

presentation is everything ;)

♥ faby

strawberry and peach-pineapple pops!

Sorry I've been MIA!  I started my last year (extern year) of grad school this past week and it's been a little overwhelming and busy!!!  So now I'm working M-F and I get home in the evenings...but I am enjoying it.  I LOVE working with children, and I'm doing just that :) testing children's hearing!

Now, kids LOVE sweets and especially frozen treats.  I made these frozen pops a couple weeks ago, just haven't had time to make them....so here they are!  The great thing about these treats is that they don't have sugar! and are naturally sweetened.  I used different shaped trays (heart-shaped, ice-cube, and one specially for pops) to have a variety.

Here is the recipe...but you can use any fruit and mix other ingredients as you like :)

Strawberry and Peach-Pineapple

Frozen Pops:

- approx. 3 - 4 cups frozen or fresh strawberries

or

approx. 2 cups fresh peaches + 2 cup fresh pineapple

- 1/2 cup of cashews (soaked in water for 3 hours)

*cashews give this treat a "yogurty" taste*

- 4 to 6 pitted dates (soaked in water for 3 hours)

- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

- some water

In a blender, mix all ingredients until smooth. You can layer different flavors, too.  In order to do this, pour some of the strawberry mixture into the tray.  Place in freezer until semi-frozen.  Then, pour the peach-pineapple mixture on top of the half frozen strawberry mix and insert the popsicle sticks.  Place in the freezer once more until fully frozen and enjoy!

**note...if you want them sweet, you can use some maple syrup

♥ faby

nachos!!!

Who doesn't love nachos?!  They are scrumptious ;)  Minnie (my brother's girlfriend) always makes nachos for a fast snack and we made them yesterday for the final world cup game!  It is super easy to make, too!

That's my dad in the background...his name is Jaimito.

Yummy Nachos:

Ok, so here is what you need:

- vegetarian chilli (I used the Hormel brand)

- tortilla chips (we LOVE whole wheat Tostitos)

- diced tomatoes

- diced avocados

- chopped red onion

- and of course jalapenos!!

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Spread tortilla chips on a baking sheet and top it with the chili and onions....place it in the oven for about 15 minutes.  You can use foil paper on your baking sheet for easy clean-up :)  Then, sprinkle the tomatoes, avocado, and jalapeno on top and enjoy :)

This is also a great snack when watching movies, too!

♥ faby

whipped cream with fresh fruit

Here is an easy dessert that takes only a few minutes to whip up!  It tastes light and refreshing and it is delicious :)   

whipped cream with blueberries and strawberries:

Here is what you need:

 - fresh strawberries and blueberries

and for the whipped cream:

- unsweetened coconut milk (not light)

this brand is a good one because it is very thick

- 4 - 6 Tbsp of brown sugar (or to taste)

- a tiny bit of vanilla extract

- shredded coconut (as much as you like)

Refrigerate the coconut milk (in the can) over night....do not shake it!  Then, when you are ready to make the whipped cream, pierce a hole at the bottom of the can with a pointed can opener and let all of the juice out.  Open the top of the can and spoon out the coconut cream into a mixer.  Whip the cream for about 30ish seconds and then gently whip in brown sugar and vanilla.  Fold in the shredded coconut.

Serve some fresh fruit and top it off with some whipped cream!

mmmmm!!!

♥ faby

spicy peanut sauce! and a whole feast :)

We love spicy peanut sauce and use it as dip for veggies and we even incorporate it in many meals.  We love it best, though, with potatoes!!  We had some friends over for dinner so we made a very colorful salad, rice, roasted red and sweet potatoes in the oven, and some veggie meat.  This peanut sauce tastes amazing and it gives any dish a kick of flavor!  If you do not like spicy food, just don't include the peppers, or maybe just use a tiny bit of pepper for flavor ;)

Spicy Peanut Sauce:

Here are step-by-step instructions on how to make the peanut sauce:

You will need dried yellow hot peppers, which you can find in international food markets.  I used this one:

Other ingredients:

- approximately 1 and 1/2 cups of raw unsalted peanuts, toasted

- a bit of garlic powder ( I used about 1 tsp)

- a tiny bit of soy sauce (about 1/4 tsp or 1/2 tsp)

- salt to taste

1. Toast the peppers in a pan.  I used 4 (you can use as little or as much as you want)  Make sure to keep checking them and turning them, so as not to burn.

They should look like this:

2. Toast the peanuts until they turn a bit brown, but make sure to keep moving them so they don't burn.

3.  In a blender or a Vita-Mix, combine the toasted peanuts, the peppers (without the stems), garlic powder, soy sauce, salt and water (covering peanuts by about an inch) until very creamy.  You may need to add more water if it is too thick.  If you do not want it that spicy, do not include the seeds of the peppers.

4.  Transfer the sauce into a pan and bring to a boil, and let it cook for about 10-15 minutes.  Make sure to mix the sauce with a wooden stick so that it doesn't stick to the pan.  Then it's done! 

Here is what we had in our meal:

A colorful rainbow salad:

which included cherry tomatoes, red pepper, carrots, yellow peppers, avocado, romaine lettuce, cucumber and red cabbage

There were also sweet potatoes, which were just roasted in the oven at 400 degrees with a bit of olive oil.  For the red potatoes, they were also roasted in the oven with some olive oil and some creole seasoning:

For the veggie meat, we used this brand:

(but you can use any veggie meat you like)

Slice them into thin strips and lightly fry them in some olive oil and soy sauce.

and finally cook some rice and you have a yummy meal!

 

♥ faby