SITE RELOCATION

Check my new site: veganlivingbydanielle.com

Much easier to navigate!

xo,

Danielle

Tuscan Spinach Pasta

Hey everyone! Today I want to share one of my favorite pasta dishes. Well, it's the vegan Italian sausages that make me love it so much! I highly recommend the Tofurky Original Italian Sausage. I first found it at a Stop & Shop in the produce section where they have the other vegetarian foods. In my dish, I also used gluten free ziti because regular pasta just doesn't sit right with me. (Warning: the Tofurky sausage is NOT GF.) I like Barilla Gluten Free Ziti because I find the texture to be most like regular pasta, it tastes good, and it's affordable! (I buy it in bulk at BJ's Wholesale.)

If you don't use all 4 sausages for this recipe,
stick the extra in the freezer because it stays longer.

While I share with you recipes as I enjoy to eat them, please remember that recipes are mainly suggestions or guidelines! Don't turn away from a recipe just because you don't like one thing about it. They aren't written in stone! 

Tuscan Spinach Pasta 

(expected to make about 4-5 servings)

Ingredients:

1/2 box of pasta

3-4 handfuls of spinach

3-4 Tofurky Italian sausages

handful of black or kalamata olives

1 can of garbanzo beans

1 cup of pasta sauce

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp black pepper

1/2 Tbsp basil 

1/2 Tbsp oregano

Directions:

1. In a medium or large pot, bring water to a boil and add pasta once boiling. Turn heat down to medium-high heat. 
2. Place sausages on a frying pan to lightly cook them. Rotate sausages while they cook.
3. After about 10 minutes, remove the pasta from heat and drain the water. Also, remove the sausage at this time.
4. Put the pot with the pasta back on the stove on medium-low heat. 
5. Add the spinach, garbanzos, olive oil, spices, and pasta sauce to the pasta and mix well.
6. Remove the sausages from the pan and slice them into round, bite-sized pieces.
7. Add sausage and olives to the pasta and mix well.
8. Cook until spinach is a little wilted, then serve!

Enjoy!

Here are some suggested modifications to the recipe:

• If you're looking for less carbs, ditch the pasta and add at least 2 more handfuls of spinach to the recipe. 
• Replacing the pasta with quinoa cooked with Italian seasoning and adding the garbanzo beans like I did add protein to the recipe.
• Replace the garbanzo beans with kidney beans.
• Worried about calories? Serve with less pasta, less beans or sausage, and add at least 2 handfuls of spinach. (This recipe as it's written is approximated at 760 calories per serving.)

I love to hear how people make my dishes their own. Please share any modifications you decide to make to the recipe!☺

Thanks for reading!

xo,

Danielle

Peanut Butter Banana Toast

Hi everyone! Today I'm sharing a common recipe that not many think of when they think vegan breakfast foods...Peanut Butter Banana Toast! It's super simple, takes 3 ingredients and you can find everything you need at any grocery store.

Shown with chunky PB from Target!

Peanut Butter Banana Toast

Ingredients:
1 medium banana
2 slices of your favorite bread
2 Tbsp peanut butter

Directions:

1. Toast your 2 slices of bread to your liking.
2. Spread the peanut butter evenly over both slices.
3. Peel and slice your banana into bitesize piece and place on peanut butter.

Enjoy!! 

Thanks for reading!

xo,

Danielle

"Live and Let Live" Trailer

Hey everyone! I highly recommend watching the documentary, Live and Let Live! It's a great film that doesn't show a lot of photos or footage of animals being killed or abused like a lot of vegan documentaries do. It is a compilation of stories from many people who you might not expect to go vegan and lots of reasons to go vegan! So if you're considering a vegan lifestyle, or know someone who is thinking of going vegan, share this with them! It's available on Netflix streaming.

Savory Baked Sweet Potato

Here's one of my favorite, quick, satisfying lunch or dinners! This recipe is prep for 2 meals.

One portion shown here

Savory Baked Sweet Potato

Ingredients:
2 small or 1 larger sweet potato
1 cup of frozen, shelled edamame (found in with frozen vegetables)
4-6 Tbsp of salsa

Directions:

1. Wash sweet potato. 
2. Stab sweet potato with a fork all over. For smaller sweet potatoes, make a shallow cut length wise on the potato to easily open it to stuff like the picture shows.
3. Throw sweet potato in the microwave, alone or on a microwave-safe plate, and hit the baked potato button twice or cook for about 9 minutes. Time length will vary based on size of potato, but sweet potatoes generally take twice as long to cook than regular potatoes. 
4. Use oven mitt or towel to remove sweet potato from microwave and set aside to cool slightly.
5. Put edamame in a microwaveable cup and cover beans with water. Cook for approximately 3 minutes.  
6. Cut the sweet potato into cubes. Remember, you are prepping 2 meals. If you are saving the 2nd meal for later, put the sweet potato and 1/2 the edamame in a Tupperware container now.
7. Drain water from cup with edamame in it. 
8. Top sweet potato with 1/2 cup edamame and 2-3 Tbsp salsa. 
9. Optional: heat the salsa in the microwave for 20 seconds prior to topping the sweet potato with it. I personally prefer a really warm potato and cool/room-temp salsa.

Enjoy!

One serving is approximately 300 calories.

Thanks for reading!

xo,

Danielle

Avocado Hummus Toast for Breakfast

Toast pictured with too much avocado and no hemp seeds!
I went overboard with the avocado. Still delicious, but too much fat for one meal. 

Want a super healthy, easy, nutrient-packed breakfast to start off your day? Try my Avocado Hummus Toast!

Avocado Hummus Toast

Ingredients:

2 slices of bread (I prefer Dave's Killer Bread - Powerseed for extra protein)

1/2 hass avocado

2 Tbsp classic hummus (feel free to experiment with different hummus flavors!) 

2 Tbsp hemp seeds optional

Directions: 

1. Toast 2 slices of bread to your liking.
2. Cut avocado in half and slice into 5 equal parts length wise.
3. Spread 1 Tbsp of hummus on each slice of toast.
4. Top toast with 3 slices of avocado each.
5. Optional: sprinkle finished toast with 1 Tbsp of hemp seeds each for extra protein.

Enjoy!

*Vegan Pro Tip: Add hemp seeds to this meal, salad, oatmeal, and much more for an extra boost of protein without changing too much of the flavor of your meal!

Thanks for reading!

xo,

Danielle

Vegan Tacos!

You don't have to give up tacos when you go vegan! Just leave off the meat and cheese, I swear they can still be f#@*ing delicious.

Torillas or taco shells are commonly made without animal product! Yay! So the filler ingredients for your tacos are super simple. This recipe will provide a few meals. I highly suggest using your left over taco filling warmed over a bed of lettuce with your toppings for a very satisfying lunch.

Vegan Tacos:

Ingredients:
taco shells
1 can of beans (your choice of kidney, black, or pinto)
1/2 cup of your favorite salsa
handful of spinach
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional if you like the spice!)

Toppings:
guacamole or avocado (to balance the spice and replace the cheese)
shredded lettuce
extra salsa
Tofutti sour cream (optional if you don't like avocado or aren't worried about the extra calories)

Directions:

1. Warm a frying pan over medium heat and preheat oven to cook your taco shells according to the package. 
2. Drain the can of beans and pour into pan with salsa. 
3. Cook stirring occasionally for about 3 minutes to cook the beans. 
4. Throw in your spinach (it doesn't add too much taste, but adds some superfood nutrients!!) and add the spices. 
5. Lower the burner to low-medium heat and cover to wilt the spinach, stirring occasionally. (Now is normally a good time to throw the taco shells in the oven, but double check against the package!)
6.  Once the spinach is wilted, serve your filling in the taco shell and top with your choice of ingredients from the topping list! 

I'm getting hungry for these just writing about them. Yum tacos! I hope you all enjoy this recipe and feel free to comment with any tweaks you made to the recipe to personalize it or if you have any questions. 

Thanks for reading!

xo,

Danielle