This is so simple, so good, and more healthy than the alternative.

Prep time 45 minutes. Serves 4 – 6.

• 1/2 cup Earth Balance margarine
• 1 cup of organic sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3 mashed bananas (to a paste)
• 2 Ener-G egg replacements
• 1/2 cup nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream the sugar and margarine. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, salt, and baking soda. Blend with the wet mixture. Add the bananas, Ener-G, and nuts. Stir until mixed. Spoon into a mini-muffin sheet (like Pampered Chef’s) and bake for 15 – 17 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 and them pop ‘em with some coffee or hot chocolate.

Sticky gooey “Cinnabon-like” rolls for the vegan? Yes, you betcha. Any recipe can be converted to  vegan one. While these are not the bastion of good health, they are still better for you than the regular ones. Vegan cooking always makes gains with lower saturated fat and no cholesterol. Very important for heart health as you approach 40 (or 45). Anyway, these are from scratch and take 2 hours to make (don’t get all discouraged, oh Microwave Generation).

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 cup warm water
• 4 cups flour
• 1/8 tsp vitamin C powder (not needed but will REALLY help your dough rise)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup melted Earth Balance margarine
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup melted margarine for brushing on dough
• 1/4 cup melted margarine for topping
• lots of cinnamon sugar mix
• 1/2 cup soy milk
• 2 – 4 cups of powdered sugar
• 1/4 tsp vanilla

As with all breads, combine the water, yeast and sugar. Set aside and let rise for 5 minutes. It should be as thick as a head of Guinness. Pour the mixture into a mixing bowl (hopefully a KitchenAid with a dough hook) with the margarine and oil. Gradually add the flour, salt, and vitamin C. Mix for 5 minutes with a machine dough hook or 10 minutes by hand. The dough should be very soft and should stick to your fingers, but not leave any residue. Cover the dough and let it rise for 30 – 60 minutes or doubled in bulk.

Get your oven pre-heated to 425 degrees.

After the dough has risen, plop it on a floured surface. Cut it in half. Put 1 half back in the bowl. Roll the other into a rectangle at least 12 inches high and 18 inches long. The dough should be rolled to almost a 1/4 inch in thickness. With a brush, liberally apply melted margarine to the rectangle piece of dough. Cover the dough with a healthy sprinkling of the cinnamon sugar mixture. Next, spread the nuts and raisins. it is up to you how much you want in the rolls. I put about a handful of each. Carefully roll the dough lengthwise like Clark Gable would roll a cigarette (not like I have EVER seen any of his movies start to finish).  You should have a nice thick roll.

Grease a 9×13 baking pan. Slice 2 inch pieces with a serrated knife. Take each piece and gently place it in the pan face up. Push the roll down to about half it’s height. Continue this process. You should get 6 – 8 rolls out of it. Repeat the same process with the second half of the dough.

Once completed, you brush the tops of the rolls with more melted margarine and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Place them in the oven for 15 – 20 minutes.

While the rolls are baking, create the topping.  Combine the soy milk, powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, 4 tbsp of melted margarine, and vanilla in a small mixing bowl. Beat with a whisk. Keep on adding the powdered sugar one cup at a time, You will not believe how much sugar 1/2 cup of soy milk will consume. You want this mixture to be like sludge. Really thick. When in doubt, keep on adding.

Pull the rolls out of the oven. You want the tops of the rolls to be golden brown. Pour the sludgy white stuff all over the rolls. It will melt and then harden. Let the rolls cool for at least 5 – 10 minutes. After that, dig in with a cup of stiff french roast coffee. There is no way you will be able to eat just one.

We love our weekend big breakfast. Historically, this has been full of pancakes, eggs, bacon, and even biscuits. I love all the flavors and the time with my family. One would think that since we are eating vegan, we are now eating salads with brussel sprout juice for breakfast. Not a chance. We have devised a vegan lumberjack breakfast that is both tasty and filling without all of the burps, heartburn, and nodding off during church.

We start with pancakes. I found a great recipe for pancakes in the “Joy of Vegan Baking” by Colleen Patrick. I have modified the recipe to look like this:

• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour (the key being unbleached)
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup vanilla soy milk
• 1/2 cup to 1 cup of water
• 2 tbsp canola oil
• 3 tbsp of blue agave sweetner (you can buy it at any food store)
• 1 1/2 tbsp of ground flax seed
• 1 1/2 tbsp of ground chia seed

Combine all the dry stuff. Combine all the wet stuff (except the water). Throw it into a bowl and stir it just until it is mixed. Add water for desired thickness. The thicker the batter, the fatter the pancakes. We make ours about as thin as pea soup. Spray a griddle and spoon them out one quarter cup at a time. Cook until golden brown. Serve with a pat of Earth Balance margarine and some real maple syrup.

These pancakes will be sweet, a bit nutty, dense, and full of additional iron, calcium, fiber and protein. They (like everything else) will be lower in saturated fat and have no cholesterol. This is the one food that my two picky eater kids absolutely love. These make the Sam’s Club sack of Krusteaz taste like saliva sucking hardtack.

Moving on to eggs and meat…

Grab a half brick of tofu and break it onto pieces (like scrambled eggs). Get some veggie chorizo (if I can get it in Tulsa, you can find it) and dice it. Dice 1/4 of an onion. In a saucepan, get two tbsp of canola oil REALLY HOT. Throw in the onion and chorizo. It should sizzle! Cook until all is nice and brown. Add the crumbled tofu (another sizzle). Throw in two slices of soy american cheese and let it melt. Keep it all mixed. Throw in a dash of salt and pepper. Once all mixed through, add 1/4 cup salsa. Cook for another 30 seconds. Remove it from the heat and serve with the pancakes. Be sure to get out you mexican hot sauce.

You will be able to notice the difference in taste of the chorizo, but the tofu is almost exactly the same as eggs. In terms of the texture of it all, it should be identical to using meat products. I know as I used to eat the meat version of this every Sunday at a mexican restaurant when I lived in Los Angeles. BTW, do you know what the ingredients are in Mexican chorizo? (click here at your own risk).

There you have it, a vegan lumberjack breakfast. I guarantee you that it will be good, filling, and satisfying. Have you been trying to picture what exactly a lumberjack vegan looks like? Hemp flannel shirt, trimmed bearded, horn rimmed glasses, a ethanol burning chainsaw????

“Vegan latte, please.”, said the skinny dude with horn rimmed glasses at the Starbucks at John Wayne airport.

“Uhhh, what?”, said the big dude with piercings all up in his face, wiping his hands on his out of character green Starbucks apron.

“Soy latte!”, fired back skinny dude.

I was watching this all waiting for my soy mocha on my first business trip eating vegan. As many of you do or don’t know, I travel 2 – 3 times per month all over the country. I was on a layover this time around, on my way home, and completely satisfied with a successful vegan business trip. I am coming to the conclusion that there is such a thing as “eating vegan” and “being a vegan”. The former is about health, the latter is about lifestyle. The dude with the horn rimmed glasses definitely fit that lifestyle stereotype.

It was  amazing to see how my whole attitude towards food was on the road. Eating vegan on the road means that there are no choices. The challenge is simply to find food I can eat. What I have found interesting is that I have a sense of gratitude and excitement when I actually found food. For example, before eating vegan I would always grab some muffins or cookies in the airline club at the airport, walking right past the fruit bowl. This time around, I had no problem heading for the apples and gladly crunching one down.

So, here is how it all played out. I started my mornings in the hotel room with some flax seed and a multi-vitamin. I actually took our small coffee grinder with me and ground the seed each morning. From there, I headed to Starbucks for a soy decaf latte (no horn rimmed glasses required). I opportunistically quit caffeine in March after catching a stomach bug 2 times in row thanks to my kids. Soy milk is vitamin fortified with the same vitamin levels as regular milk. It has more protein and 12 times the omega-3 per cup. I rounded my latte with a cup of fruit and a couple handfuls of granola I had packed. One or two mornings, I picked up oatmeal along with the fruit.

For a mid-morning snack, I had a couple bottles of smoothies I picked up from Trader Joes (please come to Tulsa Joe, I beg you). I was fortunate enough to be speaking at an international technical conference that always has vegan options for lunch as it is a multi-cultural audience. For the days I was not at the conference, I found a deli close by that had avocado sandwiches.

Afternoon snack consists of green tea available in our corporate breakroom (I was at our corporate HQ in the silicon valley) and a handful of sesame honey nuts from Trader Joes. Dinner was the easiest meal as there are plenty of choices in the San Francisco bay area. I started at a Lebanese place Monday (falafel, hummous, tabouli, stuffed grape leaves), vegan on Tuesday (lentil “meatloaf” with mashed potatoes and butternut squash gravy), and finished on Wednesday with Thai (vegan pad thai using coconut milk for sauce and tofu for “meat”).  All were very good choices and completely satisfying.

As I mentioned earlier, one of the interesting things I see from the other side is how my mind has completely shifted. I did not crave any meat or dairy at all during this business trip. I found myself much more open to fruit and salad, without a sour face or a grimace. Something has happened in my head where I just seem to be okay with all of this and don’t seem to or want to fight it. I honestly can’t believe it sometimes. It is also hard to see on the other side looking in. I know because I used to be such a critic. Just 3 months ago, I used to come home after a biz trip weighing 5 more pounds from all the wings, cheeseburgers, fried anythings, and “death by chocolate” cake I ate. I can honestly say (and still can’t believe it) that I don’t miss any of this food and was completely satisfied.

But, you won’t catch me dead ordering a “vegan latte” or wearing horn rimmed glasses.