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Cinco de Mayo Food Idea: Easy Empanada Vegan Version

Published on May 5, 2021May 5, 2021 by NAWatermanLeave a comment

Hey my friends!

Happy Cinco de Mayo to those of you that are celebrating. In honor of this day, I wanted to make a mexican style dish or two. The twist is that it is vegan.

I love empanadas, but I don’t eat beef and didn’t want to make a vegetable empanada.

Here is my take on a beef and cheese empanada:

Ingredients:

Beefless ground
Taco seasoning
Vegan cheddar cheese
Jalepeno
Vegan butter
Flour
Pastry dough
Salsa

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In pan add a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil and turn heat to medium. Add the beefless ground, tablespoon of water and taco seasoning. Once cooked, turn off the heat and add in the vegan cheese and jalepeno peppers.

Now it’s time to start getting that dough ready to fill. Add some flour to the board and rolling pin. Roll the dough enough to cut into four squares.

*I like to use the leftover pieces of the dough to make an extra empanada.

Start assembling

Melt some of the vegan butter and brush over the dough. Put in the oven for 15 minutes.

Enjoy 😋

Until next time, night night 💋

Meatless Monday: National Grilled Cheese Day 🥪

Published on April 12, 2021April 12, 2021 by NAWatermanLeave a comment

Hey my friends!

Happy National Grilled Cheese Day! Yes, you read right. Who doesn’t love a great grilled cheese sandwich…well maybe those that don’t eat cheese because they’re vegan or dare I say it…lactose intolerant.

I absolutely love cheese and one reasons I always said I couldn’t commit myself to a vegan lifestyle is because I would miss it too much.

But guess what, you no longer have to miss out on certain meals, such as a grilled cheese sandwich. Just to put it out there…

Of course there will never be a 100% substitute for cheese, but there are products that come real close.

So to celebrate this day, I wanted to create one of my favorite ways to make a grilled cheese sandwich and it’s vegan. Your probably scratching your head and wondering how is this really going to taste. Will it give that same ooey gooey effect? Trust me…

Here’s what you need:

Vegan cheddar slice (Violife is my absolute favorite vegan slice cheese)
Plant butter
Jalepeno slices
Baby spinach
100% whole wheat sliced bread

I don’t need to tell you how to make a grilled cheese sandwich. I will say that I don’t use a ton of butter when making my grilled cheese sandwich. There’s just no need. I lightly butter the outside of the bread with the almond plant-based butter. No need to butter the inside, as we want to keep this somewhat healthy and thus the reason for adding the baby spinach. I like a little kick to my sandwich, so I cut my jalapeños into pieces and spread throughout the sandwich.

One of the reasons I love Violife cheddar cheese is the fact that it melts (and this is not sponsored by the way).

Whether you are vegan or not, I guarantee that you will love this. I’m curious to know if you’re not plant-based and decided to try this. Please let me know what you thought about it.

Until next time, night night 💋

International Autism Awareness Day 🧩

Published on April 2, 2021April 2, 2021 by NAWatermanLeave a comment

Hey my friends!

For those of you that don’t know, today is International Autism Awareness Day and April is Autism Awareness month.

1 in 54 children are on the Autism spectrum. A child is usually diagnosed between the age of 2 or 3. If you are wondering about the signs, there are many signs, but one sign that I remember is that child will begin to stop communicating. It’s almost as if one day they just go into this shell.

A person with autism has difficulties with their communication and as a result they tend to get frustrated when people cannot understand them. The one thing we can point out is that people living with autism are generally extremely smart individuals and have great memories.

“Autism is not a disability, it’s a different ability”
~Stuart Duncan