Kale & Mushroom Gyoza

Gyoza are one of my most favourite dishes to eat at a Japanese restaurant however, most of the time they are made with pork. Now that I am eating a plant-based diet, I thought I'd try my hand at a Vegan alternative! Holy shit you guys, these were so good. My husband said he wasn't even hungry and he helped me eat half the plate haha.


2 cups kale
2 cups mushrooms
1/2 brick smoked tofu (you could just use plain extra firm, but the smoked has such a nice flavor)
1 tbsp soy sauce
5-6 shakes of sesame oil
2 tsp garlic powder
1 thumb length ginger root, grated
2-3 stalks of green onion
24 wonton wrappers (careful, some are made with egg and some are not, check the ingredients)
1/2 cup of water mixed with 1 tbsp flour (this will be your wonton glue)
1-2 tbsp olive oil

Dipping sauce:
1/2 cup ponzu sauce (I used store bought, but you could totally make your own)
1 tbsp sriracha
2-3 shakes of sesame oil

Roughly chop the kale, mushrooms and tofu. (I actually spent the time neatly dicing them all into tiny pieces only to discover it still wasn't small enough, so I ended up putting it in the food processor. Basically what I'm saying is DON'T BOTHER NICELY CUTTING THEM) Saute your veggies and tofu over medium heat until soft, adding the soy sauce to braise the kale. Near the end, add the sesame oil, garlic powder and grated ginger. Once the veggies are soft, transfer to your food processor. Add the green onions at this point. I just ripped them up with my let the food processor chop them up. Pulse the mixture until you have a texture kind of like ground meat. You don't want to over mix it and get a paste, just a fine ground.

Now comes the kind of lame part, filling the wonton wrappers. Its not hard, but it takes a little while. Make your mixture of water and a little flour. Lay out one wrapper, dip your finger in the water mix, and paint it around the edge of the wrapper, the entire way around. You don't need alot, but just enough to moisten the edge. Place a spoon of mixture, about 1 tbsp in the middle of the wrapper. Gently fold it in half and pinch the wrapper all the way around to seal it up. The dough is pretty sticky, and stays sealed easily. Set aside and make the rest! I made about 24 dumplings with this amount of filling.

Once you're all done building the gyozas, its time to cook them. I took a medium frying pan, on medium heat and put a 1/2 cup of water and 1 tbsp of olive oil in the pan. Then I laid about half the gyozas in the pan and covered them with a lid. The water steams up and cooks the dough, then once it evaporates, the oil makes the bottom side all crispy. You don't need to flip them, but I did because I wanted lots of crispy goodness.

The dipping sauce is easy, just combine all the ingredients and whisk together. Then serve it up with your gyoza and enjoy!

These were so freaking tasty. One of my favourite parts of cooking without meat is that I get to taste and season my food the whole way through and make sure everything is yummy! And also, not having to worry if something is cooked all the way through is pretty nice too.
If you try these, I'd love to know what you think! Also, don't be afraid to put other ingredients in your filling. I will be trying out some different combos too!

Raw Vegan Blackberry Lemon Cheesecake

 

So eating healthier has given me a sweet tooth. I used to only ever crave salty things, but now after dinner, I'm usually dying for something sweet.

 

I honestly have never ever been a dessert person.

 

Anyways, I need some healthy dessert options around, so I don't slip up, so here's my first attempt! It turned out pretty tasty imo. Its nice and tart, and so so creamy. You'd swear it was full of dairy, sugary goodness.

Raw Vegan Blackberry Lemon Cheesecake

 

Crust
1 cup walnuts (can sub pecans or almonds)
1 cup dates (soaked in hot water for 5-10 mins)
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
pinch of sea salt

 

Filling
1 1/2 cups cashews (soaked overnight)
6 tbsp melted coconut oil
2/3 cup full fat coconut milk
4 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp agave nectar
1 cup blackberries (I used frozen, but thawed them out first)

 

Start by making your crust. Grind up the nuts in your food processor. Then add the dates, coconut & salt. You want to be able to pinch the dough together with your fingers and have it hold its shape. Press the crust into the bottom of a springform pan. I lined the bottom of mine with a circle of parchment paper to just make sure I could pop it out easily, but I'm not sure I needed to. Stick the pan in the freezer to harden up while you make the filling.

 

For the filling... its super complicated. You're literally going to blend it alllll up until its smooth in your blender. Can you handle that? Hard right? I don't even have a fancy blender either. No vitamix needed. I have a $80 Oster from Sears and it worked perfectly. So blend it all until its creamy and smooth. Then pour it out into the springform pan, and put the whole thing back in the freezer for about 2 hrs, until its hard. If you want, you can add some decorations before you set it, or even some after. I dehydrated some lemon slices, and sprinkled on some lemon zest and coconut flakes.
I also had some blackberry jam in the fridge, so I melted it down and blended it out to make a dark purple drizzle for the top. The possibilities are endless. Get creative! 

 

To serve just let it thaw on the counter for about 20mins, and voila! Delicious dairy-free, gluten-free and sugar-free cheesecake!

Vegan Pulled Pork Sandwiches & Creamy Asian Slaw

Its actually insane how much the jackfruit mimics meat. I am planning on seeing if I can trick some of my non-vegan friends into thinking its actually pork or chicken. I made a trip to my local H-Mart (Asian supermarket) to find this, but I bet some regular grocery stores in larger areas would have it in their Asian food section. If you do have to make a special trip, its worth it to stock up since they only run about $1.50 per can. My husband knew it wasn't meat, because well, duh... but I really think it could pass. Jackfruit tastes like nothing, pulls like braised meat would, and it takes on flavour really well. My next experiment will be a Southwest pulled "chicken" type thing. Stay posted. For now, try out these sandwiches! They're delicious!

Italian Tofu Scramble

Looks like eggs, taste like eggs, even kind of smells like eggs, but its not! What sorcery is this...

Lazy Vegan Breakfast

Not everyday is going to be homemade. This is real life, not Instagram perfection. I think it's important to have some healthy-ish ready to eat foods on hand, so that you don't slip when you're really super hungry.

Roasted Sweet Potato & Chickpea Tacos w/ Vegan Chipotle Mayo

Vegan Coconut Lime Waffles with Coconut Whipped Cream!

Crispy Coconut Tofu Tacos

So... I'm obsessed with Hot For Food.

Tonight I made a variation on their Crispy Coconut Tofu Tacos.

Post Christmas Sephora Haul

I got spoiled for Christmas this year! The husband got a Sephora gift card, and I made the most of it. 

Vegan Breakfast Scramble

 

My first eggless breakfast of 2016! Actually, my first vegan egg breakfast ever...

New Year, New Concessions...

Happy 2016! Can't believe it, last year was a blur for me. I spent the first part of the year working my butt off, then partied all Summer in beautiful Squamish, then finished the year by moving "home" with my hubby.

A new year always brings around the idea of fresh starts. I'm not usually one to jump on the resolution train, but this year I've finally had to admit something to myself: I am allergic to dairy.

I've always been a little lactose intolerant, but I could deal with it if it meant that I would get to have some creamy brie or Half Baked Ben & Jerry's.... Over the past few years though, it has been getting worse, to the point where I get debilitating pains in my stomach afterwards. I also started to be able to pinpoint eggs as a big problem for me. Luckily, I already really like things like almond milk and coconut milk, so there will be plenty of alternatives for me.

I've also been toying with the idea of giving up all animal food products while I'm at it, but the prospect of labeling myself as "vegan" is a little scary. I don't want to upset the internet warriors :P

TL;DR: I'm giving up dairy in 2016. Stayed tuned for lots of vegan/plant-based/dairy-free recipes!

Halloween - My True Form

I love Halloween. I have moments all year round where I plan my Halloween costume. My husband wants to kill me, because in February I'll literally say "What do you think of _______ for a costume this year?" 

This year I had a bit of trouble coming up with inspiration/motivation, because we just did a major move October 1st, so I decided to go easy and be a classic, Elphaba style witch. 

I recently picked up some Kryolan Rubber Mask Grease Paints and a Skin Illustrator palette, so I did a light wash of green on my skin before sponging the Mehron cream paint all over. Then I set it with the NYX pigment and the rest is just regular beauty makeup. 

I found I needed to add in quite a lot of dimension to my face after painting it all flat green. So I did a pretty heavy contour with a mix of my regular NYX Taupe blush and a black eyeshadow. I also did a matte highlight under my eyes and along my nose with a white eyeshadow. For my lips I used the single greatest black liquid lipstick of all time: Lime Crime's Black Velvet.

And of course I couldn't stop there so I went ahead and painted my hands, with just the Mehron cream paint, and set it with the green powder as well. Setting is the key when painting yourself a different colour. Otherwise you'll be all patchy and it will start coming off during the night. 

Can't wait til next year! Already saving ideas for my costume :)

Drugstore Concealer Review - Nars Dupe?

Like nearly everyone who has ever been inside a Sephora, my favourite under eye concealer is the Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer (I use the shade Chantilly), but sadly, its a little out of my price range at the moment. I've started searching for a drugstore dupe for this glorious product, and so far nothing is exactly like it. But I did find one that comes close: Revlon Age Defying Concealer (I use the shade Light).

On first inspection, I was so so excited, because it is thick and creamy like Nars. I find many drugstore concealers to be WAY too runny, to the point that they barely cover to begin with, and if they do, they are subject to some major creasing. The Revlon one is not like this. It has some MAJOR coverage. That's the whole point of concealer, is it not? Who wants a "sheer coverage" concealer? Thats an oxymoron IMO.

Let's get the elephant out of the room though and talk about the applicator. This thing is garbage. You think its going to be a soft, squishy sponge, but nope, its a weird hard white fuzzy dome thing. It sucks. I don't bother with it, I either use a brush, my finger, or (dirty little secret) my doe foot applicator from my last tube of Nars (WHY OH WHY ISN'T THIS CONCEALER FREE ILOVEITSOMUCH).

So this Revlon concealer glides on beautifully, BUT! It sets like a mofo. Like, so fast. To the point that I literally have to blend out one eye before I even apply it to the other one. However, this turns out to be a good thing later because it does not crease. At all. I've even forgotten to set it with powder before and it still does not crease. As it sets, it kind of seems to tighten a little, and its almost like a mini lift for my puffy under eye. Its magical. 

Its one fault though, might actually be that its too thick. I can't use it on blemishes around my face, because it just cakes up. So I'm now one of those people who needs a different concealer for my face than for my under eye, (high maintenance much?) but still. Its the best thing I've found at the drugstore to hide my bags. 

All in all, is it an exact dupe? No, but it does have some of the same features that I love about the Nars one, and for the price difference (Nars is $36 for 0.22 oz, and Revlon is around $14 for 0.25 oz) it has a home in my daily makeup bag for the time being!

Travel Makeup Essentials

I'm off on a mini vacation this weekend to Calgary to visit one of my besties. I thought I might as well get my travel makeup items down pat, and share a post about it!

Easy Cute Manicure! (+ a personal confession)

I'm not very good at keeping up with my nail polish... That's why press on nails are perfect for me!

Summer Outfits + F21 Haul

I was desperate for summer clothes so I bit the bullet and placed a huge order at Forever 21 Plus:

Unfortunately, I don't have a Forever 21 near me, but I discovered their plus size line last year on a Vegas trip and I was hooked! I ended up finding the best bathing suit of my entire life and I knew I had to get some more this year, soooo I got 3 more *blush*

Let Love Grow

For our wedding we gave away wildflower seeds as favours and finally 8 months later they are starting to sprout up! The husband's Aunt recently posted a photo of them in her garden:

Makeup is the bomb.com

See my dramatic before & after, no makeup shot after the jump!

June 2015 Ipsy Glam Bag Unboxing & First Impressions!

Hey guys!

Its that time of the month again...wait no, not THAT time, not right now anyways... Its IPSY time!

Vampy Lips

I've been a nude lip/Chapstick girl for a very long time. I flirted with bright red lips in high school, and even a black lip or two in my punky years, but I've honestly always been self-conscious of how big my lips are. I know right? Such problems. But for real though, I sometimes feel a little clown-ish when rocking a bold lip. Lately though, lips are the talk of the town. Maybe we have Taylor Swift to thank, but it feels like lipstick in particular is back in a big way. So I'm forcing myself to wear it, and actually loving it!