Pina Colada Pancakes

Level of Difficulty: easy
Pots/Pans Used: 1

Ingredients

Topping:
1 cup diced fresh pineapple
1 TBL Earth Balance
2 TBL coconut milk
pinch black pepper
pinch cinnamon
maple syrup

Pancakes:
1 & 1/4 cup Aunt Jemima's Original Pancake & Waffle Mix
1 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup shredded coconut (optional)
1 TBL vegetable oil
2 tsp baking powder
(makes about 6 medium-sized pancakes)

Saturday was my first official day of summer. So I woke up and decided to celebrate by turning my favorite summertime drink into pancakes. Um yeah... they turned out kind of crazy good.



In a small bowl, mix together oil, baking powder and two TBL water. In a large bowl, combine the baking powder mixture with all remaining pancake ingredients. Melt a little butter in a skillet over medium heat and pour about a 1/4 cup of batter into pan. Once it bubbles, flip. Repeat!



Now that you've gotten all your pancakes accounted for, start on the topping by melting 1 TBL butter over medium heat in the same skillet. Add the pineapple and saute for a few minutes. Then, add the pepper, cinnamon, and coconut milk to the pan. Saute another minute and let the coconut milk thicken up a bit. Spoon the pineapple topping over the pancakes and drizzle with some warm maple syrup. Enjoy!

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Italian Wedding Soup

Level of Difficulty: soupa easy!
Pots/Pans Used: 2

Ingredients

2-3 TBL Olive Oil
8 cups Vegetable Stock
12 (more or less) Vegan Meatballs
3/4 cup Celery, chopped
3/4 cup Carrots, chopped
2 cups Fresh Spinach
1 medium Onion, diced
2 cloves Garlic, minced
14.5 oz. can of Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes, strained
1 TBL Ground Italian Seasoning Herbs
1 & 1/2 cup Orzo
2 TBL Lemon Juice
Salt to taste
Nutritional Yeast to garnish

Thanks everyone for the great ideas!!! I've got plenty to keep me busy for a while, but feel free to keep posting any ideas that come to you. A lot of you seemed interested in a new soup recipe so I thought I would oblige. This specific soup idea actually came from Melina... Thanks Melina! Seriously, it turned out so great! It's got a nice amount of heat to it too, which I personally like. Another thing I like about this recipe is that you can totally make it gluten-free if you want. I used gluten-free vegan meatballs and you can substitute a gluten-free pasta for the orzo if you wish.

Now about the meatballs... I used a new brand that I had never tried before. They're gluten and soy free I believe. They're called Bahama Vegan Rice-Meatballs and I found them in the freezer section. I think they were actually pretty good in this soup HOWEVER they're not particularly flavorful by themselves. They had a good texture, but didn't taste "meaty" at all... which some of you might prefer. But if you already have a favorite vegan meatball brand, feel free to just use that :)



Heat olive oil in a stock pot over medium heat. Saute onions and garlic a few minutes until translucent. Add the carrots, celery, and Italian seasonings. Saute 5-10 minutes or until soft. Add the veggie stock, tomatoes, and orzo. In about five minutes, add the meatballs. The soup should be simmering, not boiling. In a separate saute pan, saute the spinach with a little olive oil. Add spinach and lemon juice to the soup. Add salt to taste and let it simmer for a few minutes so that the flavors can combine. Serve in a large bowl with some nutritional yeast sprinkled over top. Finally, enjoy and go back for second helpings.

*NOTE: When I came back a little later, I found that the orzo had soaked up all the broth. When I reheated it the next day, I just added more broth to it and it was fine. However, if you'd like to avoid this, I suggest cooking the orzo separately and then adding it to each serving. But if anyone has any tips on how to avoid this, leave a comment below!

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Hi, Can I Take Your Oder?

Unfortunately, I have been lacking in the inspiration department. So I had an idea... why not ask you guys what you'd like to see more on VeganPandamonium? For example, is there a dish you've been craving lately? How about your favorite meal that you haven't been able to have since you went vegan? Just leave a comment with a dish you'd like to be veganized and I'll get to working.

Order up!

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Oliver Hearts VP

Sooooo0o0o0ooo an exciting new post and SURPRISE is in the works. I'll be working on it this weekend, so expect it sometime next week. In the meantime, I just had to show this picture I snapped of Mr. Oliver showing off his VeganPandamonium pride!



He's trying to convince me to let him do a guest blog post about how much he loves popcorn but I have to keep telling him NO.

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