This weekend I made corn pancakes from Erin Pavlina's Vegan Family Favorites for breakfast, and we all instantly fell in love! Made with cornmeal, whole wheat pastry flour and melted Earth Balance, they honestly taste so flavorful and buttery that they don't need any syrup or toppings. I made another batch for shmoo's lunch, this time adding lots of fresh corn kernels to make them more corn frittery (I also used 4 oz. silken tofu instead of Ener-G, and used 1 cup rice milk instead of 3/4 cup soymilk and 1/4 water). I packed them with a side of shmoo's favorite "Tuscan Bean Medley" (cannellini beans and chestnut limas) from Trader Joe's, and an organic orange. Beverage: vanilla rice milk.Verdict: I usually slice our oranges into wedges (they're prettier and easier to hold), but decided to try peeling it this time, so I could fit more into the lunch box. It wasn't very photogenic, but there were no complaints! He couldn't quite finish all the beans, and saved the rice milk for after school. 4 stars.
Great Idea. Do you find yourself baking alot of Muffins, pancakes, in other words, things that require some type of flour? Im asking because Ive been trying alot of new things lately, preferably soups and desserts. I made a batch of Scones for the first time on Sunday then bought some cherries (your Feb 14 lunchbox) to make some cherry scones and We (I) really like them but feel bad from the overdose of Scones.
ReplyDeleteThose pancakes look good. I've been meaning to check out Vegan Family Favorites. I've never heard of chestnut limas, but they sound exciting. I wish there was a Trader Joe's near me. I'm envious. Another great lunch :)
ReplyDeleteI wish you were my mommy!!
ReplyDeleteDoes rice milk have a weird taste like soymilk? Is it better (taste wise)?
ReplyDeleteRice milk and soy milk have different flavors so you might like one if you don't like the other. Neither tastes exactly like cow's milk though. Having switched to soy milk a year ago, I now think that cow's milk taste's funny, so it all depends upon your perspective.
ReplyDeleteI am a preschool teacher and usually prepare the morning snack. I am really terrible at peeling oranges, and I used to fret and fuss over getting off all the pith and making sure not to tear any segment... but I've gotten sloppier and sloppier at peeling, and the kids never complain. Sometimes they're critics, but apparently not with oranges!
ReplyDeleteLooks good, as usual.
All the different milks have their own unique flavor. My personal favorite is almond milk. Plain, vanilla or chocolate, I love it all!
ReplyDeleteI made corn waffles this weekend! I guess we're both feeling kinda corny! I made them in a quesadilla maker, though. It was fun and turned out great. I posted pics on my blog.
The milk of choice in our household is soy. (Vanilla flavor if we're feeling crazy.)
ReplyDeleteHi Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteLooks yummy today! I was flipping through my Animal Times that I got in the mail today, and noticed they had a nice little plug for your website in a veggie kids article. Very cool! You must have been getting tons of hits lately :) Love the blog!
Wow. krispycheks you have a gorgeous blog, Jennifer-worthy.
ReplyDeleteAn easier way for me to switch from cow's milk to soy is to drink chocolate soy milk. Anything tastes better with chocolate! After a while, I don't miss cow's milk anymore!
ReplyDelete>>You must have been getting tons of hits lately :)
ReplyDeleteAn average of 5,000 a day!!
i was wondering if that tuscan bean medley had spices/flavoring, or if they were just plain 'ol canned beans. those pancakes look amazing!
ReplyDeleteDid you find that the orange was okay not being in the container with the lid? I took an apple the other day and was surprised at how 'wet' it was.
ReplyDeleteWas the Tuscan Bean Medley one item, or did you buy the beans separately and combine them? Trader Joe's just opened in NYC and I'm already in love with it. It's conveniently located just a couple blocks away from Whole Foods, so I can get a lot of shopping done in the same area.
ReplyDeleteI make corn pancakes too. You should try with with blueberries. SO good!
ReplyDeleteLove your site!
I make vegan corn fritters and have found that they are even nicer with diced shallots in them. YUM!
ReplyDeletethanks again for the great blog.
The Tuscan Bean Medley is a combination of the two beans with a mild hint of seasonings; we love those meaty cannellini and limas. It comes in a can, btw.
ReplyDelete>>Did you find that the orange was okay not being in the container with the lid?
Well, I sealed it in a ziplock bag. I don't think it would have been okay without some kind of lid or seal -- too juicy!
>>Does rice milk have a weird taste like soymilk? Is it better (taste wise)?
I think rice milk is more mild and sweet-tasting than soymilk, so you might give it a try. I liked it long before I liked soymilk (although now I love soymilk, so it's just a question of time and adjustment).
We like to "mix it up" and buy soy, rice, almond, hazelnut (my fav), and oat milks alternately, just to keep it nutritionally diverse. In fact, next month at our veggie group meeting I'm hosting a "non-dairy taste test" -- I'm putting out boxes of all sorts of non-dairy milks and people get to vote for the best.
I love it here! What a great site.
ReplyDeleteI read your blog every day and love it. Today I tried Asian Miracle Dressing. Thank you so much! My 7 year old daughter ate salad for the first time. It wasn't as spectacular as little shmoo. She didn't ask for more, but for a kid who didn't eat any vegetables or fruit until just under a year ago, it was certainly a miracle. Her twin sister, who loves vegetables and fruit, loved the salad and requested some for her lunchbox tomorrow. I think the idea of adding fruit and nuts really helped. Thanks so much.
ReplyDeleteJust popped in to see if you had anything new. (A lot--lol) I have put this on my favorites list now, and check in every once in awhile to see your cool lunch ideas.
ReplyDelete>>My 7 year old daughter ate salad for the first time.
ReplyDeleteWOO HOO! Another miracle!! You just made my day. :-)
I'm not a vegan, but let me just tell you what an inspiration your dedication to healthy living is, not to mention the obviously deep love and affection you have for you son. You are a super duper mom!
ReplyDeleteI look forward to your delectable creations during the week. Keep up the excellent work (though I hesitate to call it "work" as obviously you have fun coming up with the lunch box ideas). =P
P.S. I'm waving hi to Little Shmoo. Any chance he's looking more kindly at leafy greens lately?
ReplyDeleteSee that is nice... I could really get into those :)
ReplyDeleteR2K
Sounds great--how did the corn cakes hold up at room temperature?
ReplyDeleteJennifer, I received Peta's free Animal Times magazine yesterday and guess what I found on the page about vegan kids...
ReplyDelete... ta da... The VeganLunchBox.com, and how you cook healthy vegan meals for "one groovy little shmoo". I thought it was a wonderful tid-bit to see at the bottom of the page!
Hi, eatpeaceplease! Yes, we were all excited to see it, and such a great article on vegan kids. :-)
ReplyDelete>>how did the corn cakes hold up at room temperature?
They were excellent at room temperature, eaten plain or with some nut butter.
>>I'm waving hi to Little Shmoo. Any chance he's looking more kindly at leafy greens lately?
Only in salad with Asian Miracle Dressing -- never cooked. Ah well, give it time!
Mmm, awesome looking lunch!! I have to try the corn pancakes. They look awesome!
ReplyDeleteI think cooked greens are pretty bad. There's a world of difference between fresh baby spinach leaves and yuk cooked spinach. I'm with Shmoo on this one.
ReplyDeleteThat's only because you haven't had my kale n' garlic saute. ;)
ReplyDeleteYou cant really eat raw kale that much :)
ReplyDeleteSome veggies HAVE to be cooked, while others are good either way. And yes, some probably dont work cooked at all.
Bono is Brian Peppers!
Cant play Quake 3
OK Vegan Vulcan -- I'll bite. Kale is supposed to be super food for those concerned about eye issues - macular degeneration, etc. My DH has instructions to consume it weekly and you are right. Raw is not the way to go. Checked your site - but did not see your recipe for kale and garlic. Can you post it?
ReplyDeleteI like cooked spinach as a sort of "spinach stir fry" and we used to eat it fairly often.
ReplyDeleteI'll try to guess amounts (I've taken to eyeballing it):
1 T sesame oil
1 T minced garlic
2 T oyster sauce
1 bag of pre-washed baby spinach, which is probably equivalent to 2 bunches?
It will be very garlicky. Heat the oil, add the garlic, once that is translucent add the Oyster Sauce and heat through (it'll start bubbling pretty quickly). Toss in the spinach, preferebly re-washed so there's a little liquid to help it cook.
Serve over brown rice; serves 2.
I'm interested in Vegan Vulcan's Kale & garlic sauce recipe too! The only ideas I have about Kale are from the Skinny Daily Post. Not vegetarian, but passionate about Kale!
Sarchan, "chestnut limas" are also called Gigante or gigande beans and, in Europe, "butter beans". I don't like smaller lima beans, but these big ones are fabulous.
ReplyDeleteYou can find them in Greek grocery stores, or buy online here, I understand:
http://www.phippscountry.com/beans7.htm#gigandes
hello, i love your blog! i am just wondering if you knew that oranges lose 50% of their vitamin c 5 minutes after peeling them. so, by the time your little schmoo eats lunch he is probably only getting the fiber from the orange, not the vitamins. just thought i'd give you a heads up.
ReplyDeleteThse pancakes look awesome! I want to try making them now...
ReplyDeleteMy favorite non-dairy milk (Though I will say, I never liked cow's milk...) is Silk Soymilk, especially their Very Vanilla and Chocolate flavors. Sooooo good!
Thought you and your readers might be interested in these vegetarian/vegan firefighters in Austin: http://engine2.org/
ReplyDeleteYou may have already heard about them-they've been getting a lot of press lately, especially here in Austin. Their website has some great-looking recipes, too.
Gotta love these guys!
I'll post the kale "recipe" today-- I acually made up a batch last night and put it into enchiladas!
ReplyDeleteMm, kale. So good, so good for you. I didn't know the thing about macular degeneration. . . but as I have a family history of that, I'll keep eating it! Such sacrifice for health, right?
Yum. The corn cakes remind of the corn meal mush my mother made us as a child...basically round fried polenta drizzled with maple syrup. I think adding whole corn is a great idea...I'm going to try it, thanks!
ReplyDelete