Quick and Easy Veggie Pasta Salad

When you are pressed for time through the week; the last thing you want to do is cook a huge meal.  You have laundry, baths, The Big Bang Theory...what's a mom to do?  Turn a super easy side dish into the main course!  What's better than pasta salad?  You can prepare a huge pot of pasta and individualize each serving to every picky eater you have! This not only allows you to please everyone, but also to be creative and discover wonderful, new flavor combinations. 

Here is my standard take on this enigmatic meal:

Quick and Easy Pasta Salad

• 12 oz (or a small box) pasta -whichever you prefer or have on hand
• 1 can black beans
• 1 can corn
• 1 can peas
• 1 cup of creamy italian dressing
• parmesan cheese to taste

Cook /drain/rinse pasta in cold water.  Drain and rinse all vegetables. Throw pasta, vegetable, and dressing into big bowl and toss well.  Sprinkle pasta with pamesan cheese. 
Other awesome additions:

• chopped onions
• olives
• tomatoes
• asparagus
• broccoli

Enjoy and don't forget to pack the rest for lunch tomorrow!

Vegan Banana Pancakes!! Best Served in Jammies....

Who doesn't like warm banana pancakes?  Well if you don't, then I'm not sure that we could be friends.  Saturday morning in our house is the day that mom (me) fixes more than a bagel.  Don't judge me I have a toddler.  We still get up at the butt crack of dawn (see toddler), but at least we generally don't have anywhere to rush off.  I came up with this recipe because I wasn't in the mood for our traditional blueberry pancakes.  They were a complete hit!  So the next time you are craving some yummy comfort food try these Vegan Banana Pancakes. MMMMM!!



Vegan Banana Pancakes

• 2 C of Bisquick
• 1 C of Soy Milk (I like using the Vanilla for more flavor)
• 2 T of Golden Milled Flaxseed (this is in place of the eggs and makes pancakes super fluffy)
• 1 T of Vanilla Extract
•  1/2 t Cinnamon
• 1/2 t Ginger
• 1/4 C Sugar
• 1/2 t Nutmeg
• 1 Large Banana sliced about 1/8 in thick

Mix all of the ingredients except for the banana. Get your skillet hot (med-high heat) and pour about 1/4 cup of batter into a pancake shape (circle-duh!).  After bottom starts getting nice and golden place a few slices of bananas onto the top and then flip the pancake and cook the other side.  Serve with syrup or in the case of the above picture, homemade whipped cream.  This batter should make at least 8 pancakes so you can totally halve the recipe if it's just for one person.  Or be a glutton and make the whole batch for yourself cause they are that good!  They also keep well in the fridge and are a yummy snack cold!

MorningStar Farms® Vegan Sloppy Joes

MorningStar Farms® make these meat crumbles that are advertised to be meal starters.  Having some members of my household (who shall remain nameless) that still eat meat I thought this might be a great way to sneak in a meatless meal for them.  I cooked the meat crumbles in a non stick skillet using a little bit of olive oil and then added in onions and greenpeppers and cooked them through.  I tried to get the meat substitute crispy like hamburger and had moderate success at it.  After the mixture was cooked through I added a can of Manwich. Viola'! Sloppy Joes! 

Review: I don't know if it was the meat substitute or the fact that I haven't had a sloppy joe since I was 12; but these were just okay.  ** (2 stars)