I usually make a big pot of slow cooker oatmeal ever week and my husband and I eat off of it for our breakfasts. I usually have to add all the “fixin’s” to it in the morning. So, why not make it one time with the fixin’s already added? Ah hah! I spy “lazy girl”!  Here’s my solution – a all natural, no sugar, vegan breakfast that is filling and a healthy way to start your day!

Slow Cooker Berry Banana Oatmeal

Serves 4.

• 1 cup steel cut oats
• 3 cups water
• 3-5 dates (depending on how sweet you prefer your oatmeal. I used 3, but I don’t like my oats overly sweet)
• 1 cup fresh or frozen berries
• 1 ripe banana, chopped
• 2 Tbsp flaxseed meal (optional)
• 1 tea cinnamon
• Dash of salt

1. Put half the water and all the dates in a blender or food processor. Puree the dates until they are fully integrated into the water.
2. Combine all ingredients in the slow cooker and cook 3-5 hours until the oats are completely done and it’s all warm and bubbly.
3. Serve immediately or put it in the fridge and scoop a bit out every day to reheat for breakfast.
4. If you’d like, top with additional fresh berries and slivered almonds.

A couple of things of note…  I ate it before I took a picture of it. So, just take my word for it that it looks good too. Also, the 1 Tbsp of saracha in the recipe makes it pretty hot. If you don’t like spicy foods, I’d drop it down to just 1/2 Tbsp.  If you’re not a tofu fan, you can also adapt this same recipe to use a Faux Chicken product such as Quorn Chik’n Cutlets or Gardein Chick’n Scallopini.

Slow Cooker Thai Tofu

Serves 4. Recipe based off of Shrinking Kitchen

Ingredients:

• 4 Tbsp PB2 (or 1/4 cup of peanut butter)
• 3/4 cup light coconut milk
• 1 Tbsp Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce (use 1/2 Tbsp if you like less heat)
• 2 Tbsp lime juice
• 1 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp Sugar
• 2 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
• 1 package extra firm Tofu, sliced in 1/2 inch slabs
• 1/3 cup chopped peanuts, for topping
• 4 Tbsp chopped cilantro, for topping
• 1/2 cup bean sprouts, for topping
  
• 8oz Whole wheat pasta
• 1 cup shredded carrots

Directions:

1. Combine PB2 or peanut butter with coconut milk in a medium bowl.
2. Add in Sriracha (or less), lime juice, soy sauce, sugar, and ginger. Stir well to combine.
3. Coat the tofu with the mixture and place in a slow cooker. Pour half of the remaining mixture into the slow cooker. Retain the other half in the refrigerator for use later.
4. Cook on high for 2 1/2 – 3 hours or low for 4 – 5ish hours.
5. Cook and drain the pasta. Heat remaining peanut sauce and carrots in the pasta pot, cooking over medium heat until well combined and carrots are slightly limp. Add the pasta back to the pot and stir well to combine.
6. Serve tofu over the top of the pasta. Top with chopped peanuts and cilantro.

Thai Tofu Lettuce Wraps from the leftovers

Ingredients:

• Leftover Thai Tofu (recipe above)
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1/2 can water chestnuts, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup green onions, for topping
• Leftover bean sprouts, for topping
• Leftover cilantro, for topping
• Lettuce leaves (iceburg, romaine or green leaf), washed and dried

Directions:

1. Cut the leftover tofu into cubes. Heat over medium heat along with carrots and water chestnuts.
2. When it’s heated through, add green onions and serve with lettuce leaves, bean sprouts and cilantro.
3. Eat by placing a bit of the tofu mixture into the lettuce leaf, roll it into a wrap and devour!

Kale Lemon Pasta with Vegetarian (Faux) Chicken

Serves 4. Recipe based off of Whole Living

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp Olive Oil + More for faux chicken
• 7 Cloves Garlic, divided 3+5, finely chopped
• 1/4 tea red pepper flakes (optional)
• 4 Faux Chicken Cutlets
• 6 cups Baby Kale
• Zest + Juice of 2 lemons
• Coarse Salt
• Fresh Ground Pepper
• 8 oz Whole Wheat Spaghetti
• 2 Tbsp freshly grated Parmesan (or other similar) cheese

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 F. Rub each faux chicken cutlet with olive oil,  juice from 1/2 a lemon and approx 3 cloves of crushed garlic. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and place in a baking dish. Pour approx 1/2 cup water (or vegetable broth) into the dish. (This keeps the faux chicken from drying out). Bake for 20-30 mins.
2. While the chicken is baking, bring well-salted water in a pot to a boil and cook the pasta per the instructions on the package.
3. Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook remaining 5 cloves garlic and optional red pepper flakes until tender. Add kale to the pan and saute until it begins to wilt. Remove from heat.
4. Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup water for use later, if needed. Place drained pasta in the large skillet, add lemon zest and lemon juice. Stir to coat completely. Add a bit of water or broth if needed to adjust consistency.  Season with salt and pepper.
5. Serve pasta with chicken and sprinkle cheese over the top. Add additional lemon zest, if desired.

I gravitate to granola on the fruitier side and one of my favorites is Trader Joe’s Lowfat Mixed Berry Granola, which I still buy it in a pinch. Here is my rendition of Mixed Berry Granola.

Mixed Berry Granola. (low fat, low sugar)

Approx 20 servings. (2Tbsp per serving)

• 3 cups Oats
• 1/4 cup Slivered Almonds
• 1/4 c Applesauce, unsweetened
• 1 Tbsp Coconut Oil, warmed til it’s a liquid
• 2 Tbsp Honey (Vegans can use agave syrup or brown rice syrup)
• 2 Tbsp Strawberry Jam (no sugar added, preferred)
• 1 tea flaxseed meal (optional)
• 1 tea Vanilla
• Dash of Salt
• 1 cup Freeze Dried Mixed Berries or Strawberries, lightly crumbled

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 F
2. Mix all ingredients together except Freeze Dried Fruit until well combined and oats are moist.
3. Spread the mixture in a 9×13 pan or on a cookie sheet.
4. Bake 30-45 mins, until browned and crunchy. If it’s still not brown and crisp at the end of 45 mins, mix and continue baking, checking every 5 mins.
5. Cool completely. Add Freeze Dried Fruit, mix well.

Nutrition (Approx 2 Tbsp) (approx): 80 cal, 2.5g fat, 13g carb, 2g fiber, 2g protein

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) Butter, softened
• 8oz (1 block) Cream Cheese, soft
• 2/3 cup Dark Brown Sugar, lightly packed
• 1/3 cup Flour
• 1 tea Kosher or Sea Salt
• 1 tea Vanilla
• 1 cup Mini Chocolate Chips

Directions:

1. Combine the butter and cream cheese until smooth and creamy.
2. Add the sugar, flour, salt, and vanilla, mixing until just smooth (there may still be graininess from the sugar, but that adds to the doughy texture).
3. Mix in about 3/4 cup of the chocolate chips, reserving 1/4 cup to use at the end to sprinkle over the top. Place mixture in a dipping bowl and sprinkle remaining chips over the top.
4. Serve with items such as: Pretzels, Nilla Wafers, Apples, Strawberries, A SPOON!

I dragged my husband down there the very next Saturday after they opened to taste the food and see how it is in this new location. I was not disappointed! It is just as good in the San Jose location as it was when I went in Southern California (Irvine to be exact).

So, if you’re looking for a good vegetarian place to check out in the area, go check it out, if you haven’t already!

I recommend their “All Hale Kale” salad with blackened ‘chicken’, or any of their other blackened ‘chicken’ sandwiches. And you MUST get the Sweetheart Fries on the side.

Vegan Blueberry Quinoa Breakfast Bowl

• Quinoa, heated (I used approx 3/4 cup red quinoa)
• A liquid sweetener of choice – such as honey, agave, date butter, maple syrup, to taste (I used 1/2 tea date butter)
• Almond butter, to taste (I used approx 1 tea)
• Blueberries (The more the better!)

If I have a wonderful, fresh assortment of ingredients, I let the ingredients do the flavor talking themselves. And with that as the criteria…

This salad doesn’t just talk – it sings!

Citrus Beet Salad with Arugula and Avocado

Serves 2

Ingredients

• Approx 5 cups Baby Arugula
• 4-5 Pre-cooked Beets, cut into quarters (usually found in the refrigeration section of the produce dept)
• 1 Orange or 2 Clementines, peeled and sliced
• 2 Tbsp Chives, chopped
• 1/2 Avocado, diced
• Drizzle of Olive Oil
• Splash of Rice Vinegar
• Sea Salt, to taste (I used black Hawaiian Sea Salt)
• Fresh Ground Pepper, to taste

Simply layer your ingredients in the following order: Arugula, Beets, Citrus, Avocado, Chives, Olive Oil, Vinegar, Salt and Pepper.

You can really do whatever toppings you want with this one. It’s pizza – there’s nothing you can do to mess it up (Well, unless you put pepperoni or anchovies on it. What? Did you forget you were on a vegetarian blog for a second?). So aim for the moon, shoot for the stars and go crazy with your toppings.

Here’s what I did.

Vegan Flatbread Pizza with Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Serves 1-2.

Ingredients

• Pre-made Crust – Whole wheat tortilla, wheat crust or 3 wheat pitas (I used Alvarado St Bakery Sprouted Wheat Tortillas, burrito size)
• 1/4-1/3 cup Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
• 3 oz Vegan Mozzarella Cheese
• Large handful of Spinach
• 7 Cherry Tomatoes, cut in half
• 4 Kalamata Olives, sliced
• Drizzle of Olive Oil

Preheat oven to 425F. Spread sauce over the crust. Pile spinach on, then tomatoes, olives, and finally the cheese. Bake approx 10 mins until the cheese is melted and the crust has started to brown. Remove from oven, drizzle with olive oil and serve immediately.

Creamy Red Pepper Sauce & Dip

Approx. 16 Servings

• 3-4 Roasted Red Peppers (canned in water or make your own)
• 1 can Cannellini Beans (white kidney beans), drained
• 1-2 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1-2 tea sea salt (to taste, more if needed)
• 1/2 tea black pepper

Puree all ingredients together in a food processor until completely combined, creamy and smooth. If it’s dry, add a bit more olive oil until you reach the desired consistency.

Nutrition (1/16th of the recipe) (approx): 60 cal, 2g fat, 8g carb, 3g fiber, 3g protein