Vegan Cheese Crackers

I am looking for more ways to keep processed and chemically enhanced foods out of my kid's diet. We are getting ready to go to the beach and I wanted to take a bunch of snacks with us on our long ride. I know my girls LOVE the Amy's Bunny Crackers which are made with organic wheat flour. They would go through a whole box if I would let them. The only unfortunate thing about those crackers are that they are made with real cheese. Yes, they are less processed than the Goldfish crackers, however I am trying to keep my children away from too much food with cheese to keep their tummies happy. Plus, I want to enjoy them too from time to time.

Upon looking on Pinterest there was a recipe I found for Vegan Goldfish Crackers. The recipe is found on Keyingredient.com. Roberta S. is the person who posted the recipe. In her recipe she states she used turmeric in the crackers and it actually was too strong so I omitted that from my recipe. These crackers were a hit!!! I gave one to each of the girls and then they asked for another. I thought ok,  these will work. As I left the crackers in the kitchen to cool, I heard one of my girls pull the kitchen stool up to the counter so she could reach another one. I like them also. At first I thought they were a little salty, but I actually think it was the taste of the nutritional yeast.

Vegan Cheese Crackers

 Ingredients:

1	cup all-purpose flour, plus extra for work surface
2	tablespoons nutritional yeast
¼	teaspoon onion powder
1	teaspoon sea salt
5	tablespoons vegan margarine (75g)
3	tablespoons cold water

Method:

1) Preheat the oven to 375 °F. 190°C

2) In a food processor, combine flour, nutritional yeast, salt and onion powder. Process until combined. 

3) Add margarine, and pulse about 15 times until crumbly. Add water and process until mixture just comes together.

4) On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough until it is 1/8-inch thick. It will be easier to roll if you work with half of the dough at a time.

5)  Using a goldfish cookie cutter, or other small cookie cutter, cut out the fish and line then on a baking sheet. If desired, carve a face, as pictured. I used the prong of a fork for the eyeball and a toothpick for the smile. (I used a pastry cutter and made them look more like Cheeze-Its.)

My girls "helping" me. 

6) Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until golden and very lightly browned. Let cool and store at room temperature in a tightly sealed container or bag.

Scrambled Tofu

There was a time in my life that at the first thought of tofu I would avoid it completely. I didn't realize what it was and that there were different textures to it. My first experience was eating a dish someone had prepared and there was nothing else to eat. It was fried tofu and not much flavor and seasoning, so basically, it made me think I was eating a sponge. I vowed I would never touch the stuff again. Funny, how the taste buds change as you grow up. I find now that it is quite tasty with the right preparation. My first experience with scrambled tofu was at my mother in laws home. She prepared it for breakfast one morning and it looked so weird that I didn't want to try it, but being that it was early on in my marriage, I didn't want to offend my mother in law. So, I took just a enough that I could spoon in my mouth and eat super fast. To my amazement, it tasted pretty good. I ended up taking a lot more and requested for the recipe.

Now that I am vegan, I have included tofu as a regular addition into my crazy dietary plan. This morning was the first time since asking for that recipe that I actually made it. Don't get me wrong, I have eaten it so many time after the first time, but have never gotten the urge to make it myself. I was afraid that I would ruin it and I would hate it for the rest of my life. Nope, it turned out just as it was supposed to and I loved it as usual. I believe this will be made more often in my house. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

Scrambled Tofu

Ingredients:
1 Tbs. Olive oil
1 Small Onion
1 pkg. Firm Tofu (Smash it up)
1 Tbs. dried chives
1/2 tsp Onion powder
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp. Chicken McKay's seasoning (Vegan chicken seasoning)
1/8 tsp Tumeric

Method:

1) Saute oil and onion in pan.

2) Add the rest of the ingredients.

3) Heat until all flavors are blended and water is absorbed.

Note: I ate this on top of some whole wheat toast and it made for a great breakfast.