Cassie DeNisco

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My Vegan Lasagna Recipe!!

As mentioned in my previous post, this November is dedicated to holiday meals! I wanted to share my vegan lasagna recipe because you absolutely still can enjoy lasagna even if you’re dairy free! This is the easiest recipe to make and tastes exactly like the real thing!

One thing I will say is it helps to find the pre made Vegan Ricotta because that seriously makes life easier! I love the Kite Hill brand because they have such a wide variety of vegan products. They’re tricky to find but oh so worth the hunt!

vegan lasagna recipe

Ingredients:

1/2 box of lasagna noodles

3 cups red sauce

2 cups vegan shredded mozzarella

1 cup vegan ricotta

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. Cook lasagna noodles according to package. Drain water once cooked and set aside.
  3. In medium baking dish, pour a little sauce on the bottom and coat evenly. Begin layering lasagna noodles, v ricotta, and finish off layer with v mozzarella & sauce.
  4. Repeat the process until you have about 3 layers done. On the top layer, pour a little red sauce then top with mozzarella shreds.
  5. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until cheese is melted and it looks delicious!!

If you can’t find the vegan ricotta, there are lots of recipes on how to make it yourself with cashews! I was so excited to find it in my local Greens Market so it saved me some time. This was such a nostalgic vegan lasagna recipe that I haven’t had since I’ve gone dairy free.

I’m so excited to be sharing with you these recipes this month! I think with the holidays dairy free and vegan people think they can’t enjoy the same meals but there are ways you absolutely can! If you want to check out more recipes, click here and be sure to follow me on Pinterest here for more video content!!

My Vegan Pumpkin Bread Recipe

I love the holidays because of all the pumpkin spice. I wanted to get this post up sooner, but it has really taken me this long to perfect my vegan pumpkin bread recipe. It is finally ready to go out and I am obsessed with it!

This is a really easy recipe and since it’s vegan, it has very minimal ingredients too! I really have tried to move away from white sugar so this also is a little healthier since it uses brown. This recipe is going to be a go to when I want a healthy treat!

Ingredients:

1 c pumpkin puree

1 c brown sugar

1/2 c neutral oil (I used vegetable)

3 tbsp apple cider vinegar

3 tbsp sugar free maple syrup

1 3/4 c oat flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice

Sprinkle of salt

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400. Prepare a loaf pan with parchment paper and grease it.
  2. Combine pumpkin, brown sugar, oil, apple cider vinegar, and maple syrup in a bowl and mix until combined.
  3. Next, add in your flour, baking soda, baking powder, spice, and salt. Mix again until well combined but try not to over mix. You’ll notice it become fluffy and that is the consistency you want.
  4. Pour batter into loaf pan and cook for 45-50 minutes or until you can stick a knife in it and it comes out clean.
  5. Let it set for an hour and enjoy!

I am obsessed with this recipe. The oat flour makes this vegan pumpkin bread dense and so decadent. This is a perfect dessert to bring to a holiday party which will already be filled with all the other typical goodies. This is a really healthy alternative and I hope you’ll try it out!

If you loved this recipe, follow me on Pinterest for more or you can read my latest recipe here!

PS.. here’s a funny behind the scenes pic of what happens behind most of my food pictures lol!

Plant Base Meat that I Love

I definitely don’t like food labels however I generally live by a plant based diet. With that being said. I enjoy not eating too much dairy or animal products but I like to have plant base meats to supplement that. I have been eating this way for awhile now with my mom so we both have brands and plant base meat products that we love. This guide I hope is interesting and helpful to share with you so let’s dive in!

Morning Star Farms Veggie Hot Dogs
plant base meat

These are so yummy and I love them so much! They definitely taste similar to a hot dog and are a great option to have. Regular hot dogs somewhat gross me out in reading all of the ingredients but these are so good and a much healthier option. I like these with a bun and a little ketchup and you are good to do.

Morning Star Chicken Patties

I love having these patties with a little vegan mayo, vegan cheese, and a hamburger bun. It is like a fast food sandwich but so much healthier. These do not really remind me of breaded chicken but to be honest, they have a better flavor. I know Morning Star also makes veggie chicken nuggets which have a similar texture and are also great!

Gardein Veggie Burgers

So this is one of my newer favorites. I used to love the Morning Start Farms veggie burgers but I realized the patties were just so thin. These patties are thick and seriously give off a beef burger vibe. I love these veggie burgers so much. They remind me of an Impossible burger but to be honest, might even taste better!

Gardein Veggie Meatballs

I can’t say enough about these Meatballs!! They have so much more flavor than a regular meatball could ever have and my boyfriend most of the time can’t even tell the difference. These are great in red sauce with pasta for dinner or even a roll for a sandwich. Highly, highly recommend these meatballs!

Boca Meatless Ground Beef

This is seriously game changing. I had never realized you can get meatless ground beef and now my chili is seriously elevated. It’s awesome way to sneak in even more veggies to your chili because you really can’t tell the difference once everything is seasoned. This is a really great meat alternative product.

If you notice there’s on thing I didn’t add to my list and that is the Impossible brand. I think their burgers are great when I go out to eat but I haven’t been able to cook them successfully for myself at home. Let me know if you have any tips because I definitely want to like them, but they just fall apart when I cook.

I hope this list of my favorite plant base meat products is helpful whether you are plant base or just looking to supplement in some healthier alternatives to meat in your diet. I plan to do some recipes with these products so that you can see how I cook with them so be on the lookout for that.

Be sure to check out my last blog post here and follow me on Instagram!

My Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

vegan chocolate chip cookies

I love to bake and have sweets but I know that when traditionally made, they aren’t always the best for me. I love to make vegan recipes, like my vegan lemon loaf, because they often are at least a little healthier for you. I made the switch to these vegan chocolate chip cookies and I will never go back! Whether you are vegan or not, these cookies are so chewy and delicious they will please whoever you’re making them for!

Ingredients:

2 c flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 c brown sugar

1/2 c sugar

1/2 c canola oil

1/4 c water

2 tsp vanilla

1 c chocolate chips

Directions:

  1. Whisk together flour, salt, baking soda and chocolate chips. Set this aside.
  2. In another bowl, break up the brown sugar and then add sugar, oil, water and vanilla. Combine the flour mixture with this mixture and mix until it’s crumbly.
  3. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper and make little balls of dough. Freeze for 30 minutes in order to keep the mixture together.
  4. Heat oven to 375 and bake cookies for 12 minutes total but turning them halfway through so they get crisp on each side.

Not only are these vegan chocolate chip cookies so easy to make but they are also so yummy. Most of us have all of these ingredients already in our homes so it makes making these cookies even easier. You wouldn’t even guess they don’t have the normal ingredients because they are so crisp and chewy. I love this vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe because these cookies are to die for!

If you try out this recipe tag me on Instagram or let me know in the comments below how you liked these cookies.

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