Samantha K Schmidt

This weekend I had a crazy craving for cornbread. Since I'm still on a vegan diet I realized I was going to have to make some changes. So I did some research, made some substitutions, and made this delicious vegan version. It tastes exactly like its non-vegan counterpart, and it's mostly guilt free. Give it a try and tell me what you think! Servings: 9 Ingredients:  1 cup flour 1 cup corn meal 1/4 cup sugar 4 teaspoons baking powder 3/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup soy milk  1/4 cup canola oil Directions: 1) Preheat oven to 450 degrees 2) Spray muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray 3) Whisk dry ingredients together in a medium size bowl 4) Add wet ingredients and beat until smooth (do not over mix) 5) Place mixture in muffin pan filling each cup 3/4 of the way 6) Cook for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean In hindsight I wouldn't have used the baking cups. The bottoms stuck. This earth balance butter i...

Last week I posted all about my vegan adventures. Although it has been a difficult journey I have learned so much along the way. Today I thought I would share some easy vegan meals with you. I don't have a lot of time to cook so many of these are straight from the frozen food aisle. If that's not your thing you may want to consider cooking your meals ahead of time. Many people cook all of their weekly meals on Sunday. However, if you aren't a big cook (or if you just aren't very good at it, like me) these meals will be your easy way out. Breakfast: Oatmeal with peanut butter and brown sugar Cereal and soy milk Breakfast smoothie with strawberries, peanut butter, soy milk or yogurt, and protein powder Snacks: Clif bar Carrots Banana Pita chips and hummus Lunch: PB&J or try an AB&J (almond butter and jelly) Gardein Chick'n Sliders (my current favorite) Tofu and Spinach Ravioli (I can't think of the brand that I usually get, but it...

Eight months ago, I made the decision to become pescetarian. It was a decision, that for me, was a long time coming. Although I'd always enjoyed biting into a chicken sandwich I hated the sight of a whole chicken. I had trouble cooking meat for dinner, and absolutely refused  to eat any meat that truly resembled the animal. I was an oddity in my family. I grew up with hunters. I'd even seen deer slain right before my eyes. I consistently came up with excuses on Thanksgiving as to why I wasn't eating meat carved from the carcass of a turkey. Finally, after a few days of research I made the switch. I did it for many reasons. First, the reasons aforementioned. I was never a big meat eater anyway and hated the sight of raw meat. Second, economical reasons. One of the most shocking things that I read was that if all of the grain that went to livestock in this country actually went to feeding our hungry, no one would be hungry! Yea, seriously. Okay maybe it's all propagand...