Taco Seasoning

It's difficult to find dairy-free taco seasoning at the store, so I've had to resort to making my own. It's not that hard and it's way cheaper than those little packages. This is the recipe I use-- just put all of the ingredients into a mason jar, put the lid on, and shake it up. Then just measure out whatever you need-- it measures like store-bought and a serving is 2 teaspoons.

Ingredients

• 6 T chili powder
• 4 T onion powder 
• 2 T cumin
• 2 T garlic powder
• 2 T paprika
• 2 T leaves oregano
• 2 T sugar
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 1 1/2 tsp cayenne
• 1 tsp ground pepper
• 1 tsp salt

Nutrition Facts: 20 calories for 2 tsps.

Hello World

I've been following veggie blogs and thinking of starting my own for a while now so here I am-- hi! My name is Kelsey, I just graduated from Texas Tech, I've been married for 2 years to Sam, the most amazing person in the world, and we have three dogs. I love cooking-- a love that has become more necessary and also more used since I became vegan about a year ago. I also like sewing and managing my etsy shop, which is complete disrepair right now, but will hopefully be running again at some point soon. Right now Sam is in graduate school and I'm a very lucky stay-at-home wife who's looking for work. That's about all for introductions, I think. I'm really excited to post my first recipe-- here it is!

(Vegan) Mint Chip Ice Cream

I love ice cream in the winter-- especially in the winter. I eat ice cream in the summer too, but it seems a little too sticky and creamy for super-hot Texas summer days, so the bulk of my ice cream eating tends to happen in the winter. The oats give this ice cream it's creaminess- it's seriously the creamiest ice cream I've been able to make since going vegan!

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup old fashioned oats
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1 can coconut milk, shaken (I used Imperial Dragon brand)
• 2 tsps mint extract
• a couple of leaves spinach, to give it a green color--you won't taste it, I promise
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli)

Directions

1. Place first 4 ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.
2. Pour into a saucepan and heat on low-medium, whisking, until very thick.
3. Scoop the mixture back into the blender and add the next 3 ingredients. Blend again.
4. Pour the mixture into a container to cool in the fridge or just stick the blender carafe in the fridge. Wait an hour or two until the mixture is fairly cold.
5. Melt your chocolate chips in the microwave or in a double boiler.
6. Freeze the ice cream according to your ice cream maker's instructions.
7. After the ice cream is fairly frozen and it's almost finished, drizzle in the chocolate while the ice cream is still churning-- this makes little flakes and chunks of chocolate as it freezes once it hits the cold ice cream.
8. Transfer to a bowl and freeze for an hour or two before scooping out and enjoying. If it's too solid to scoop, let it sit on the counter for 20 minutes or microwave for about a minute and a half before scooping.

Nutrition Info:  Makes 7 servings of 1/2 cup each. 206 calories, 11g fat, 29g carbohydrates, 2g protein

Whew, my first blog post finished. Have an amazing day, everyone!