Make Your Own: No Tuna Chickpea Salad

by ladypbwiggins

I liked tuna salad before vegan. I have my own veganized version using chickpeas. The difference is capers, a cashew based Mayo(Make Your Own recipe) and coconut amino. I had used avocados, seasoned salt(homemade).

Of course I had to try this one. It was the first thing I made. I forgot to take a picture, so I forced myself to make it again. 😂 That is why you saw other posts first.

This is good. Almost as good as mine. I could eat bowls of this and nothing else. 5 stars

Get the book and Make Your Own

Make Your Own: MaYo

by ladypbwiggins

I must confess. I don’t usually eat mayonnaise.  Too oily in the mouth. But this mayo has no oil, so I’m giving it a try. For my mayonnaise replacement, I use avocado.

This one may become a staple. It was very easy to make. I specifically made it for the Chickpea No-Tuna salad sandwich. That is tomorrow’s endeavor.

If you like mayo

Make Your Own: Jalepeno Lime Sauce and Creamy Caesar Dressing

by ladypbwiggins

As you can see, the Caesar Dressing jar looks like it took a hit. It did. My salad cried out for it after it’s first encounter. Both of these sauces were really tasty. However, they were a little sweet for my taste. I’m more of a salty, briny, spicy kind a person. Next time I will make them with half the amount of dates. I will add an extra jalapeno because I like it hot. Overall, these sauces are quick, easy and worth it. 4.75 🌟

Nut Milk with Nama J2

by ladypbwiggins

Hey J2 owners, I just made walnut milk.  I have wanted to make it but squeezing the milk from the nut bag is painful these days. I made cashew milk because I didn’t have to strain it. I made the cashew milk in my Vitamix.

But today, I decided to experiment. I put 2 cups of walnuts in the hopper and turned on. Then I slowly poured filtered water into the mix. The result, strained walnut milk and pulp. I ran the pulp back through to get all the liquid out. I’m going to use the pulp in a burger patty or baked goods.

I am liberated from the nut milk bag!

Make Your Own: Nutty Date Granola

by ladypbwiggins

Who loves granola? I have had many types. Some reporting to be vegan. All reporting to be healthy. Some were. I had not ever used dates as the fruit supplying the sweetness and the glue. The recipe called for Medjool dates and a variety of seeds and nuts.

Before Baking

It was gooey and delicous.

After Baking.

Now don’t make my mistake. I got sidetracked and baked a little longer than most people would like. I enjoyed the crispness. It was a quick blend of nuts, oats and seeds. You can use any nuts you want. I used walnuts.

Make Your Own:  High Protein Loaf Bread

by ladypbwiggins

A year or so ago, I made Javant’s sandwich loaf bread, Healthy Vegan Eating, YouTube channel. It was touted as a light, non-gluten bread. I was curious, so I tried it. It was my first time using psyllium husk. It was good.

Now i have his cookbook and it offers a high protein bread. So of course I tried it. I wanted to know how it compared the sandwich loaf.

High Protein Bread

I expected it to be really dense and hard. It was denser and heavier than the sandwich loaf. The outside was crusty and the inside was soft. I enjoyed it and it was filling.

Make Your Own: Mushroom Bacon

by ladypbwiggins

So many people ask why do you want bacon if you are vegan. I can only answer for myself. I am a born and bred southern girl who grew up with bacon used in all kinds of dishes: Breakfast meals, sandwiches, vegetables and all by itself. The flavor it gives to the foods is something you miss so we , I search for that flavor and a vehicle that will satisfy the month feel and the  purpose bacon once served.

I have tried using zucchini and other vegetables but I want to try mushrooms this time. The trumpet mushroom seemed to be a good a vehicle. I also wanted to try it with no oil. I think that is the biggest difference in this recipe and what I have done before.

The flavors in this date based marinade is very good but I miss the maple syrup flavor. I think I will try his recipe but use less date paste and add a little maple syrup. It is baked and not fried. I was quite satisfied.

I forgot to take a picture when I first removed the tray from the oven. This picture is a few days later as I was preparing breakfast. Notice how much they shrank. I wanted them crispy so I overcooked just a little. Their not burnt but close. Perfect for me and tasty.

Getting Richer

by ladypbwiggins

I have been absent but I have not been idle. I have been enriching my soil. Or should I say life has been enriching my soil? I was blessed to visit Los Angeles in March. I attended the celebration of my mother’s 90th year of life. Old friends, family members I had not seen in a long while and my mom’s new friends (new to me) gathered together. It was glorious. I then spent time with my son and his family. My baby granddaughter gave me pure unconditional love. She is one of my lights.

I returned home to join into a flurry of activity. I was able to spend time with my other lights, granddaughter and grandson. I joined in the resurrection production activities at my church. In the midst of all this the choirs had to prepare for regular Sunday services. I was tired but overwhelmed with joy. I truly enjoy my fellow choir members. We laugh, we cry, we disagree, we work it out, we worship together, we minister together. It is glorious. Rich soil.

Before I went to L.A., I ordered a cookbook, Make Your Own by Javant Benson. I discovered him on YouTube. He is a vegan cook who uses no-oil, no wheat and no refined sugar. I had wanted to decrease if not eliminate my use of oil. I tried some of his recipes and liked them. He had done the heavy lifting, trying different ingredient combinations to produce tasty, healthy vegan food with no oil. I decided it was a worthwhile investment.Now that all the other intense activity is over I can focus on trying his recipes. The following posts will be about this journey. This week I have completed several recipes and I can’t wait to tell you about the experience.

I have made familiar recipes my own when I wanted to vegan-ize traditional recipes. However, I still used oil. Tomorrow I will share my Make Your Own experiences.

Airport Blessings

by ladypbwiggins

Airports are rarely where you expect to receive blessings. Tuesday I arrived at Hobby Airport in Houston expecting long lines and chaos. I was faced with minimal line lengths. There was only one person in front of me in the wheelchair registration.  But the real blessing came in the form of a young man whose job was to get me through the TSA madness and to my boarding gate. He was very personable. We laughed through the whole process. Blessing number one. 

It was early, so I wanted something to eat. We stopped at Starbucks: Lots of people. When it was my turn to order and pay, a young lady reached around me and paid for me. My look was surprised and asked the question, why? She simply said my mom’s name is Pat. Blessing number two.

My daughter and I had a conversation on the way to the airport about talkative seat mates. I hoped the person sitting next to me was nice and quiet. My whole row was nice and quiet.  Blessing number three.

When I arrived at LAX, I received another wheelchair attendant that took good care of me. She made sure I got my baggage quickly and safely. Blessing number 4.

Finally, an efficient and helpful flight crew. I especially enjoyed the landing. It was the softest landing I have ever experienced.  Blessing number five.

I know these are small things to many but to me they are blessings that made for a stress-free  flight. In this stress-filled environment in which we live they are huge.

My soil was greatly enriched.

Woke, Wisdom or Fear?

by ladypbwiggins

Just read an article that asked the question, When did woke become a four-letter word? I have that same question.  You see I was a child in the late 50’s and 60’s. I grew up in the Jim Crow south and the Civil Rights Movement. I remember that word being used and it was used to mean what it meant; be alert, aware

Considering I grew up in the town where KKK grand wizard lived it was imperative that every black person had to be woke, i.e. aware, alert. The training we children received about staying alert was necessary for survival but our parents had the wisdom to do it so we could enjoy our childhood. I learned how to observe my surroundings and know when I needed to prevent unintended offense to the white people and still be me.

We were very aware and alblacert when we were not in our own communities.  Neighborhoods were segregated then. Many of us are alive because we were woke. Yes, it was also used to reference awareness of social injustices and legal ramifications. But I never noticed people changing the word to be a negative thing like it has been in the last few years. In fact, I don’t remember that much attention being paid to the use of the word. More focus was on the actions in the Movement, Dr. King. More attention was paid to the word power. Power to the people.

The thought came to me why it was made to be a negative thing. When it was mainly used in the black community and as a slang, non-blacks didn’t really care. What we did and thought was dismissed. But now, our voices are heard and has weight .

The powers that be don’t want people to hear and understand.  So let’s make them fearful so they will think it means something more than being aware, alert. Basically, we don’t want you to pay attention to what I’m really doing. The weaponizing of the word did not deter us. We, most of us, became more aware , more alert. Standing over my stove I realized, therein lies the power they are afraid of. Our awareness is our power. Your awareness is your power. Every person who is paying attention and using their own mind to process what they see and here is the danger. Every thinking person holds the power. That’s the fear. Lets make woke mean something other than aware. Throw in fascism, Marxism, all of the trigger words that threaten democracy. Label those thinking people as anti-American if they are not extremely conservative. Label those thinking people anti-Christian because they dare to question actions that are not biblical, not really Christ-like. When you see, you see. That’s what they are afraid of. Loss of control and power because you see.

You are Woke.