Tiffany Bee

Delicious recipes for vegetarians, vegans, pescetarians, & omnivores alike.

Mushrooms

Look, an Edible Recipe!

July 6, 2015 // Posted in Entrées, Food I Made, Photo Journal, Recipes

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Wow, you guys, I actually forgot how to blog for a good minute there; it’s been so long since I’ve posted an edible recipe. Last Monday, I received my box of soap goodies from Bramble Berry, which got me so excited to make cold process soap for the first time. Melt & pour soap is really easy to do & I love the instant gratification of using your soap a few hours after you’ve made it, but since I’m a control freak, I need to have power over what goes into my soap. I don’t like the cheap feel of soap leaving your skin dry–something you can get from low quality melt & pours–so I just sucked it up & bought the Beginner’s Cold Process Soap Kit. I’ve made 2 bars of soap so far, so in 4-6 weeks–it takes at least 4 weeks for soap to cure–I’ll finally have my belated birthday giveaway! I guess it’s way too late to even call it a belated birthday giveaway, I’ll just call it my summer giveaway or something. Anyway, more details on that when the soap finishes curing.

Before I get too carried away with soap, let’s talk about my new edible recipe, which features a mix of oyster mushrooms & crimini, kale, cashews, & of course, creamy polenta. Don’t mind the flattened look of the polenta–took a picture of this when the polenta was at its least creamy aka the next day, heated up–this recipe will produce a very creamy bowl of polenta, which you can top off with your choice of mushrooms, greens, & nuts. It makes a really quick & easy vegetarian dinner & if you’re still hungry, you can grill some other veggies like asparagus or squash or any protein (tofu, fish, etc) of your choice!

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I Can’t Believe It’s Vegan Mashed Potatoes & Gravy

September 29, 2014 // Posted in Appetizers, Dips & Sauces, Food I Made, Gallery, Photo Journal, Recipes

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There are plenty of commercials we tend to remember from our childhood due to their ostentatious or subliminal ways, but one commercial that always irked me were the I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter ones. If you’ve never heard of the product, I’m sure you would’ve surmised by now that given the product’s title, it’s obviously margarine. These commercials stuck with you with sexualized hands–I honestly don’t know how they did it, but it was even obvious for 10-year-old me to understand the sexual innuendos–& this surprised husband who would eat his toast with what he thought was butter. Fast forward to today, it’s no surprise that margarine, which is made up of hydrogenated oils, is 10/10 disgustingly horrible for you. However, that doesn’t mean that the vegan butter you see at your local health foods or specialty store are margarine. Take a gander at the ingredients list & if you don’t see anything with “hydrogenated oil,” or even partially hydrogenated, you’re okay!

So, why are hydrogenated oils so bad for you? Well, you could take a general chemistry class & then an intro to organic chemistry class to fully comprehend it, but the quick & dirty explanation is simple: hydrogenating oils means adding a hydrogen molecule to a molecular structure, making it more stable at room temperature after intensive science (adding metal catalysts, intense heat & pressure being added, etc). This new molecular structure is often compared to being similar to plastic, especially because the process increases shelf-life. Unless it’s honey, food should always eventually rot. But, what does all of this mean? Not very pleasant things for your body, so avoid it at all costs.

However, that’s where some of the other alternative vegan butters come in such as Earth Balance, Nutiva, & SmartBalance. In fact, I decided to change it up from Earth Balance & tried Nutiva for my two recipes. If you’re looking for an animal friendly product, search for some of these brands in the grocery store & you can get to cooking tons of vegan-friendly food without even realizing it! These two new recipes I’ve just added are absolutely perfect for the holidays & are vegan-friendly. Now onto pictures of my fancy mashed potatoes & gravy.

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Tom Yum Shrimp & Shiitake Crostini

February 9, 2014 // Posted in Gallery, Photo Journal, Recipes

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Tom Yum Shrimp & Shiitake Crostini

This recipe came to life when I was trying to figure out what else I could do with this leftover shrimp mixture I had after I made shrimp wontons. With about a nearly whole French baguette left near my fruit bowl, I figured you can’t really mess up anything on toasted sliced bread so I might as well give it a go. This recipe is easy to do, not time consuming, & let’s be honest, anything tom yum is delicious. Let me reiterate the fact that the tom yum will make your tum go yum. Yes, I just made a tom yum rhyme. It’s my blog, I can rhyme if I want to. In all seriousness, this crostini is amazing. My dad approves of this message, so you just definitely know it’s legit.

This crostini is the perfect appetizer for a dinner party or just for fancy snacktimes for homemakers. Reheating them in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds on the high will warm them right up, leaving the crunchiness intact, given that you toasted it correctly. If for some reason the crunchiness gets dampened–because you can’t toast crostini correctly–you have two options: 1. imagine that it’s crunchy or 2. put it in the toaster oven for a minute on “toast”.

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