Vegan Italian Church Window made with Dandies

Oh, let me start by saying Dandies are deeevine! A had one and said, "Mommy, these are so awesome!" Of course she won't eat the candies/cookies, because she won't eat nuts. Thank goodness I also bought a couple extra bags as we are going camping, so she has been chowing the marshmallows right out of the bag!

I do have to do a disclaimer, the church windows candies/cookies are normally made with colored mini marshmallows and the Dandies are white. I tried (but failed miserably) to dye them by making some natural food coloring. Oh well, they aren't as pretty as my nonny's, but they also didn't harm any animals to be made, so I prefer the white vegan marshmallow and they taste the same! Even my non veg sister loved them!

So, I stole this picture off the web, these are what they look like with the colored marshmallows, this shows why they are called church windows and they do look pretty. But they contain tortured animal parts, so we don't want them!

Since the recipe requires mini-marshmallows, I cut the Dandies into 4 pieces each. Here is the recipe if you are so inclined to make them:

Church Windows

12 oz. vegan chocolate chips
1/2 cup Earth Balance (or other vegan margarine)
1 10 oz. bag of Dandies vegan marshmallows (each marshmallow should be cut into 4 pieces)
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1 pkg. shredded coconut (I used unsweetened)

Melt margarine and chocolate chips. Allow to cool enough so that the marshmallows will not melt.
Add nuts and marshmallows.
Divide mixture into 2 batches and use wax paper to roll them into log shapes.
Roll the logs in the coconut.
Refigerate for 24 hrs.
Slice into 1/3rd inch slices.

Hehehe, look this log looks like a big poo rolled in coconut.

Enjoy!

Lazy Woman Rambling

I am feeling really lazy today. I just can't seem to motivate myself to do anything and stuff needs doing. Someone needs to light a match under my ass.

I am also feeling like a bad mommy today. The kids are fighting and I find myself yelling too much. Why do they think it is ok to hit each other? I don't hit, so they aren't getting that idea from me. hmmm.

The weather has been bad, it has been raining almost everyday for the past month and I am trying to figure out things to do with the kids that don't cost anything as we are more than broke right now with D being out of work for 7 months now. The rain means no outside activities and we can only spend so much time at the library. Any ideas? Help!

Geez, this post is boring, sorry. I am going to go do the dishes now.

Vega Smoothie Infusion

The wonderful folks over at Sequel Naturals sent me a package of Vega Smoothie Infusion. If you are unfamiliar with Vega products, they are raw whole foods, all plant based of course, made into powders and bars. They are made with whole foods that are not genetically modified, no pesticides, no artificial colors, flavors, or sweeteners. The line also does not contain the common allergens corn, soy, dairy, gluten, wheat or yeast.

I drink the Vega Whole Food Health Optimizer every morning. It is loaded with quality proteins, Omega fats, dairy free probiotics, fiber, enzymes (they help the body digest foods) and 100% of the RDA of vitamins and minerals!

So, on to the Smoothie Infusion. It is meant to be added to your smoothies, pretty simple concept. You are drinking smoothies, right? It is a great way to get your fruits in, and by blending them into a smoothie, the body is better able to digest them.

The Smoothie Infusion adds 14 grams of protein and 6 grams of fiber along with Omega 3 EFA's and greens into your smoothie! That is amazing.

And for me, I want to have green smoothies, but as I do not have a nice high powered blender like Vita-Mix and I do not like a smoothie with chunks of greens in it, I tend not to make them. So, the Vega Smoothie Optimizer adds the greens I would put in my green smoothie, without the chunks! The following greens are in Smoothie Optimizer: spirulina, organic wheat grass, organic alfalfa grass, organic barley grass, organic spinach, organic sprouted broccoli, organic kale, organic kelp and organic dulse.

Now, 0n to the taste. Ok, honestly, I didn't detect a taste, and that is good as it means it did not take away from the flavors I was blending. It did make the drinks I made have a slight green color to them, but that was minimal and not a bad color.

I really highly recommend the Smoothie Infusion and the Whole Food Optimizer. No, I do not make any money from recommending them, I truly like them. I have not tried their food bars, so I cannot speak to them. But really, why wouldn't you want to try these? They contain such good nutrition and they are minimally processed, so very healthy for you. And the best part? The man who formulated them is vegan and a Ironman Triathelete, so you can be sure your getting high quality nutritional products.

Here are a couple of smoothies I made with the Smoothie Infusion:

1 cup frozen mixed berries (strawberry, blackberry, raspberry, blueberry)

1 serving Smoothie Infusion

1 banana

1 cup water

This was yummy, very berry.

Next one:

1 cup almond milk (unsweetened)

1 serving Smoothie Infusion

1 banana

4 ice cubes

This tasted really light and creamy. I really liked this one.

And my favorite:

I added all the ingredients from the second smoothie plus 1 cup of pineapple chunks.

This was like a dessert. It was cool, creamy and refreshing, really tasty!

Another Cookbook Giveaway

I love posting about giveaways. Who doesn't love free stuff?

Shellyfish from the Musings From the Fishbowl blog is having a giveaway of the Sweet Freedom cookbook. Be sure to check out her blog and enter to win a copy of Sweet Freedom here.

Cookbook and Product Giveaway

Go Dairy Free is giving away a copy of Cookies for Everyone and coupons for Enjoy Life products, so hop on over to enter.

My Sweet Girl

I have this patch of grey hair on the side of my head that has gotten much more noticeable as of late and I have been thinking about coloring it, now I don't know if I should.

This morning I was hanging on the couch with the kiddos and M asked me why my hair was getting so grey.

A immediately answered "That's the light of momma shining through her hair."

awww, I am blessed to have such wonderful children.

Vegan Peanut Butter Tagalongs

Ok, these are seriously amazing. I found the recipe online and even though the recipe isn't vegan, the only things to veganize were switching Earth Balance for the butter and replacing milk with soy or nut milk. So, if you liked the Girl Scouts Peanut Butter Tagalongs or if you just like peanut butter and you like chocolate and you like them together, you really need to make these.

For the Cookies:
1 cup Earth Balance (or other vegan margarine), soft
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp soymilk or nut milk

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Mix in flour, baking powder and salt at a low speed, followed by the vanilla and milk. The dough should come together into a soft ball.

Take a tablespoon full of dough and flatten it into a disc about 1/4-inch thick. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough. Cookies will not spread too much, so you can squeeze them in more than you would for chocolate chip cookies.

Bake cookies for 11-13 minutes, until bottoms and the edges are lightly browned and cookies are set. Immediately after removing cookies from the oven, use your thumb or a small spoon to make a depression in the center of each cookie.

Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the Filling

1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar*
generous pinch salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
about 8-oz semisweet chocolate

In a small bowl, whisk together peanut butter, confectioners’ sugar, salt and vanilla. When the mixture has come together, heat it in the microwave (again in short intervals, stirring frequently), until it is very, very soft. Working carefully with the hot filling, transfer it to a pastry bag (or plastic bag with the tip cut off) and pipe a generous dome of the filling into each cookie’s “thumbprint”.

Chill cookies with filling for 20-30 minutes, or until the peanut butter is firm.

Melt the chocolate, make sure to keep it warm, so it remains fluid while you work.

Dip chilled cookies into chocolate, let excess drip off, and place on a sheet of parchment paper to let the cookies set up. The setting process can be accelerated by putting the cookies into the refrigerator once they have been coated.

Makes about 3-dozen

*You might need slightly less sugar if you’re using the conventional peanut butter, as it tends to be a bit sweeter. Taste the filling before using to make sure you like the sweet/savory balance.

Original recipe posted here.