Lentil Pistachio Patties

This recipe is adapted from one listed on Veg Family. It is a pretty big hit at our house with the kids. Elliott even likes to eat them on their own. Since they are so popular, we've yet to get a picture of them. Here is the recipe:

Lentil Pistachio Patties
1/2 cup shelled natural pistachios
1 medium carrot or 1/2  cup baby carrots
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
2-1/4 cups cooked green lentils (about 1 cup dry)
2 small ripe avocados
1/4 cup ground flax seeds
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon tamari soy sauce
1/2 - 1 cup of flour
1/3 cup whole rolled oats (not instant)

In food processor, process pistachios until finely chopped. Add the carrot, onion, garlic, and cooked lentils, and mix until you have a fairly smooth puree. Add the remaining ingredients and process to combine well. Add flour until mixture thickens where it sticks to a spoon without falling off on its own (1/2 cup to 1 cup flour).
Meanwhile, heat a nonstick frying pan over medium heat. Scoop about 1/2 cup of the mixture per patty into the pan and flatten slightly. Cook on each side until deep golden brown. Gently remove to a platter or place in hamburger buns with desired toppings. Makes about a dozen patties.

Easter Jelly Bean Pizza Cookie

Okay, I am a little behind in this post, but with two little kids it is hard to keep up sometimes. Now enough with the excuses. When I posted on facebook that I was eating a jelly bean pizza, a few people thought I may be pregnant. After emphatically stating that wasn't the case, I explained it was a pre-Easter treat I'd made for the kids. All I did to make it was whip up some sugar cookie dough, shape it into a large "crust," frost it with vanilla frosting (see below), and then sprinkle with jelly beans. I used the kind from Pangea, which is the traditional flavored jelly beans I remember from my childhood.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

1cup margarine (I use Earth Balance Buttery Sticks)
3 - 4 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbsp. vanilla
4-6 Tbsp. soy milk, almond, rice or hemp work well too (vanilla is best)

Cream margarine, half of the sugar, and vanilla together. Add the rest of the powdered sugar and soy milk slowly alternating between the two and mixing between additions. You can vary the amount of soy milk or powdered sugar to obtain the best consistency for frosting.

Since the jelly bean pizza was a pre-cursor to Easter, I made a bunny cake for the big day. It was just enough to feed our family and guests with only a couple pieces left over. Perfect! I made it last year, and posted directions on how to make it prior to Easter. It is a simple box mix and purchased pre-made icing (Cherrybrook Kitchen vanilla icing and Betty Crocker gluten free yellow cake mix). Below is this year's version with less scary eyes (my hubby said last year's looked like he was deceased). He is blunt with his opinions, but I appreciate the honesty. Not too vegan to have a "dead" bunny cake. The eyes were more friendly this year, because I agreed with his observation.

Organic Vegan Dog Treats

A friend's poor little pooch fell and broke his leg. Our crew whipped up some homemade dog treats to try and cheer him up. It was a nice way to teach compassion to our kids. We had a squirrel cookie cutter which seemed a perfect match for doggie treats. 

Polly, our rescued beagle, gave them two paws up. Unfortunately, beagles aren't known for their discriminating tastes. Luckily, the other pups who sampled them gave their endorsement too, therefore confirming these as a hit with the four-legged community.

The recipe is from vegweb. We made a few tweaks to the recipe. First, we used organic ingredients because that is what we had on hand. Since we used natural peanut butter, the amount of flour needed to be increased. We were also out of veggie broth, so we left it out.

Oatmeal Cookies w/ Peanut Butter

1 1/2 c organic whole wheat flour
1/2 cup uncooked organic rolled oats
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups organic soy milk
1 tbs organic molasses
1 1/2 c creamy organic natural peanut butter

1. Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease or use parchment paper to line 2 cookie sheets.

2 . In large bowl using wire whisk combine the flour, oats  and baking powder

3. In a medium bowl use wire whisk or electric mixer on medium speed, beat the milk, molasses and peanutbutter until smooth.

4. Using a large spoon combine the two mixes, blending until mixture pulls away from the sides of the bowl and forms a soft dough. If the mixture seems dry add more soy milk, one tablespoon at a time.

5. Turn dough onto lightly floured flat surface and using a rolling pin roll out to 1/4 in thick. Use cookie cutters to cut out as many cookies as you can reworking scraps as you go.

6. Place cookes side by side on cookie sheets and bake for 20-25 mins or until the cookies appear very dry and th edges are a light golden brown. Remove trays from oven and cool to room temp.