Exciting News Coming!

Hello? Is there anyone still there? Wow, we've been awful with keeping up on this site. We have some exciting changes to tell you about soon! Our new header is only a taste (awesome pun, I know). We have loads of new recipes to share and are excited to do so soon! Stay tuned for our announcement! :)

Walk for Farm Animals- Team Moozart & Pigasso! Compassion Starts with Us!

On November 5, 2011 we walked for farm animals and also helped raised money for Farm Sanctuary. Farm Sanctuary is an amazing rescue and care facility for farm animals who have been tortured in the cruel farming industry for meat/dairy. Farm Sanctuary treats animals as the smart and intelligent beings that they are and provide them with a life full of love and respect.

Until November 16th our team Moozart & Pigasso is still taking donations. To donate simply click here then click on one of our team members names, click donate and follow the prompts from there. If you happen to read this after November 16th, know that they always accept donations and are a very worthy cause!















We are the most awesome family in the world!!!!

"Crack Pizza"

This is the greatest pizza in the world. It's also addictive (hence it's name) and my mom wants to eat it every day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. More fantastically it's SUPER easy to make! It was inspired by CPK's tostada pizza but tastes even better and is healthy and of course cruelty free! Yippee!





Ingredients for the Dough (or I highly recommend to double everything if you want two pizzas- remember it's addictive!):
1 teaspoon of yeast
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon of warm water
1 1/2 cups bread flour or all purpose flour
2 teaspoons of sugar
1 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

Pizza Dressing Ingredients:
1/2-1 Can of Black Beans
Teaspoon of Cumin
1 Bag of Cheddar Style or Pepper-jack Daiya
Tomatoes 5-7 Roma Tomatoes diced
1 Large Yellow or Sweet Onion diced
1 head of Cilantro chopped (part is used for ranch recipe- see below)
2 Tablespoons of Lime Juice
1 head of Romaine or Green/Curly Leaf Lettuce Chopped
1-2 Avocados
Lightly Salted Tortilla Strips

Ranch Dressing Ingredients (simply mix all ingredients):
1 1/4 Cup Vegenaise
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp finely chopped cilantro
3/4 cup plain soy milk

Directions for the dough:

1. Dissolve the yeast in the water and set aside for 5 to 10 minutes. Be sure that the water is not hot; temperatures of 120° F and above will kill the yeast and the dough will not rise.

2. Using a food processor use the mixing paddle attachment. Combine all other ingredients (except one teaspoon of olive oil) and combine them with the dissolved yeast in the mixing bowl. (Do not pour the salt directly into the yeast water because this would kill some of the yeast.) Allow these 2 ingredients to mix gradually. Mix for 2 to 3 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic. Over mixing will produce tough, rubbery dough, and friction will cause dough to rise too fast.

3. If mixing by hand, place the dry ingredients in a 4 to 6-quart mixing bowl; make a well in the middle and pour the liquids (reserving a teaspoon of olive oil). Use a wooden spoon to combine the ingredients. Once initial mixing is done, you can lightly oil your hands and begin kneading the dough; knead for 5 minutes. When done, the dough should be slightly tacky (that is, it should be barely beyond sticking to your hands).

4. Lightly oil the dough ball and the interior of a bowl. Place the dough ball in the bowl and seal the bowl with clear food wrap; seal air tight. Set aside at room temperature (70-80° F) to rise until double in size; about 1 ½ hours.

5. While the dough is rising mix the diced tomatoes, onion, cilantro and lime juice and allow to marinate. This usually makes enough topping for 2 pizzas.

6. Rinse black beans to remove excess salt.

7. Mix Vegenaise, garlic powder, onion powder, sea salt, black pepper, cilantro and plain soy milk to create (amazing!) ranch.

8. Preheat oven to 500° F. Once dough has risen, roll dough into round ball(s) on a smooth, clean, and lightly floured surface; be sure to seal any holes by pinching or rolling. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough until desired size and thickness (typically we roll it to the size of the baking stone). Place pizza dough on the stone (you can top the stone with cornmeal before placing the dough on it but with this dough it doesn't stick to the stone, usually).

9. Once dough is placed on pizza stone add about 1/2 can of black beans and sprinkle cumin on top. Then add a layer of Daiya and it's time to cook!

10. Bake for 10 minutes or until dough is golden brown on edges.

11. Immediately after removed from oven top with tomato/onion/cilantro mixture, lettuce, sliced avocado, drizzle with ranch, and cut. Add crunchy tortilla strips to individual pieces and serve immediately!











12. Let your taste buds dance with overjoy! :)

Snog is Back- Get some NOW!

From Sick, Sad and Scared to Spoiled- Eli's growing!

(Above) Sick: minutes after being rescued from local grocery story. Eli was infested with ringworm, upper respiratory viral infection, and urinary tract infection. He was terrified of us and very sad.















(Upper left) Dubbed "Ear," on supervised outdoor activity to avoid ringworm spread indoors and (Upper right) laying in his treatment position upside down in his quarantined indoor area.















Eli's Coming! Spoiled rotten free household terrorist- especially to Mr. Man, the dog's tails, and our feet!

Breakfast with Inez- Veganized

Growing up, being white, on a Native American reservation has its downs and ups (I like ending on a positive). Major downs were being threatened, screamed at for massacring Native American ancestors, and for forcing people onto a reservation (telling them I was Italian/Jewish heritage did nothing for my case). Oh yeah, and riding the bus for 45 minutes to my school was fun too! The ups were eventually being accepted (with the help of my Native American look of my Italian/Jewish decent mother) and making wonderful friends like Inez, my best friend growing up. She lived on the La Jolla Rez in a small 2 bedroom home with her mom who was Native American and her dad who was Mexican. One of my fondest memories was waking up early in the morning and helping her make a vegetarian breakfast scramble. Below is my veganized version of this yummy breakfast!

Ingredients:
2 Tbs Canola Oil
3 whole wheat flour tortillas
2 Vegan Sausages Sliced (my favorite is made by Field Roast but Tofurky makes great v-sausages too)
1 Medium Size Yellow or sweet onion diced
1 Clove Garlic Minced
15-16 oz Extra Firm Tofu crumbled
1 Tsp Cumin
1/2 Tsp Paprika
1/2 Tsp Turmeric
2 Tbs Nutritional Yeast
3/4 bag of Daiya Cheddar Style "Cheese"
1/2 Cup Enchilada Sauce (homemade would be best if you have the time/energy)
Cilantro for Garnish
1 Avocado for Garnish

Directions:

Slice tortillas into triangles and pan fry until most sides are golden and crispy. Set aside.

Cook sausage until golden. Add onion and garlic and cook until onions appear translucent. Add tofu, cumin, paprika, turmeric, and nutritional yeast and mix thoroughly. Mix in the tortilla chips and Daiya and cook until until the Daiya melts. Add about a tablespoon of Enchilada sauce (or more if you prefer) to the tofu mixture. Once heated it's ready to serve! Garnish with additional enchilada sauce, avocado and cilantro.

Servings: 6

Italian Red Risotto

The following recipe is based on one of Shelly's favorite vegetarian recipes from a blog I like to use (http://www.annamariavolpi.com). Risotto is typically sticky and rich and this recipe satisfies all lovers of Risotto. Feel free to top it off with your favorite vegan mozarella (or Parmesan) cheese. The recipe requires that you use a thick cashew cream. This requires the cashews over night (or all day, around 10 hours). If you are against making your own cashew cream, then you can use Mimicreme unsweetened cream.

Cashew Cream
2 cups of Raw Cashews

Tomato Sauce Base
3 tbs of olive oil
1 medium onion, finely diced
1 carrot, finely diced
1 stick celery, finely diced
1 garlic clove, diced
1/4 cup dry white wine
salt and pepper
1 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes
1 15 oz. can of tomato sauce

Risotto
1 1/2 cups of Arborio Rice
5 cups of vegetable broth
salt and pepper
1 cup of thick cashew cream
1/2 cup of nutritional yeast
2 tbs of vegan butter

1. Prepare cashew cream. Place cashews in a bowl and fill it up with water to cover the cashews. Place in the refrigerator over night.
2. Prepare red sauce. Heat oil in a large pot. Add onion, celery, carrot, and garlic, cook until onion is soft and translucent. Add wine, pepper, and salt and turn up the heat to high to let the wine evaporate. Once the wine is mostly cooked off, add the crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce then cook for 10 minutes on medium heat.
2. Final step, adding the Rice. Add the arborio rice to the red sauce and stir constantly until the sauce becomes thicker. Throughout this whole process constantly stir the rice to keep it from sticking to the pan. At this point add ladle full of broth (about a half a cup). Once the broth is mostly absorbed add another ladle. Continue this process until all of the broth is absorbed. The texture should be very sticky. Add the cashew cream, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper. Mix it well, add the butter and cook for 5 minutes more on low. Top it with vegan cheese. Serve immediately.

The Greatest Chocolate Chip Cookies.... In the WORLD!

Here it is. After months (ok maybe I'm exaggerating) and months (yup, still exaggerating) of tweaking the recipe, we have the final product. Go get some chocolate chips, Almond Breeze (or Silk if you are Shelly), and turn on the album by Other Lives called "Tamer Animals."



1/2 cup of Earth Balance Butter
1/2 cup of Earth Balance Shortening (one stick)
3/4 cup of Light Brown Sugar
3/4 cup of White Sugar
2 tsp of Vanilla
1 tb of Egg Replacer (Ener-G Egg Replacer for example)
1/4 cup of Water
2 cups of Flour (add another 1/4 cup for a cakier cookie)
1 tsp of Baking Soda
1/2 tsp of Salt
1 12 oz. bag of vegan semi-sweet Chocolate chips (or 1 1/2 to 2 cups)

Pre-Heat the oven at 350

1. Let butter and Shortening soften for a little bit before beginning. In a large bowl, combine Butter, Shortening, Brown Sugar, White Sugar, and Vanilla. Using a hand mixer, cream the previous ingredients.
2. Prepare your egg replacer by combining it and the 1/4 cup of water in a blender or by hand with a whisk. Add the creamy mixture to the butter and sugar mixture and blend another minute more.
3. Combine Flour, Baking Soda, and Salt in a medium bowl. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.
4. Form into ping pong sized balls and then press them down a little bit on the pan. Cook at 350 for 10 minutes (it may take as little as 8 minutes or as much as 12 minutes). If you have an older oven like we do, buy an oven thermometer. You won't regret it! Actually I should say, you won't scream obscenities every time something doesn't come out perfect.

Fostering Your Summer Senses

Get on your dancin' shoes or roll down your windows and groove down the highway listening to Torches by Foster the People. Ahem.. buy it NOW!

It's like 1st album MGMT-Passion Pit-Miike Snow-y + has great album artwork.

You're welcome.

Guacamole Recipe

4 ripe Avocados mashed (Southern California Avocados, of course)
1/2 a small red onion finely diced
1/2 cup of finely chopped cilantro
2 tbsp. of lime juice (more or less depending on taste)
Garlic Salt, to taste

Preparation
Mash Avocados then mix all ingredients together. Grab a chip and taste. Adjust cilantro, lime, or Garlic Salt to taste.

Variations:
Add tomatoes and/or jalapeno's for fun.