Samantha K Schmidt

Every now and then I get a serious carnivore craving. Today I was craving buffalo chicken, so I thought I'd try my hand at a vegetarian version. Ingredients: 1/4 cup of Barbecue Sauce 1/2 tablespoon of Hot Sauce 1 tablespoon grape jelly (optional) Chicken Substitute (I used Veggie Patch Nuggets) Directions: ~ Cook chicken substitute according to package directions ~ Meanwhile mix your sauces together in a shallow bowl ~ Toss the "chicken" in the sauce ~ Enjoy! This recipe is great because you can mix it up for different flavor. I prefer my buffalo sauce a little sweeter so I added jelly, you can leave it out for more spice. You can also water down the sauce to make a thinner coat. The choice is up to you.

My favorite veggie burger of all time is the Vegefi from Burgerfi. If you haven't tried it, do yourself a favor and devour one. It has a very similar texture to meat and toppings make you nostalgic for backyard barbecues. Even my non-vegetarian friends love this burger and often prefer it to the real thing. I've been trying to find a copycat recipe for the Vegefi for a long time. After much searching I came across one, but the recipe was ridiculous. I'm really not much of a cook (you can tell from my directions below), so I managed to minimize the list of ingredients without minimizing the taste. Here are my Simple Homemade Veggie Burgers Ingredients: 1 box of Nature's Earthly Choice - Garden Vegetable Quinoa (This brand is my favorite, because all the vegetables are included) 2 eggs 1 cup of breadcrumbs 1/4 cup of shredded gouda Canola Oil Directions: ~ Cook the quinoa according to the directions on the box ~ In a medium sized bowl beat eggs ~ Add the quin...

One of my favorite things about summer is the delicious fruits that come into season. Berries are my favorite fruit, and I wait patiently every year for those delicious ripe edibles to find their way into my local grocery. Summer is also my favorite time to cook because all of my favorite recipes have strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries. I've already stocked my refrigerator in preparation for the upcoming week and I thought I would share two of my favorite summer meals. Bonus: These recipes are totally vegetarian! Berry Couscous ~ Bring two cups of apple cranberry juice to a boil ~ Pour over one cup of plain couscous ~ Cover and let sit for 5 minutes ~ Separate into four bowls. ~ Add your favorite berries, a dollop of yogurt, and a drizzle of honey. Strawberry Spinach Salad ~ Whisk 3 parts oil and one part balsamic vinegar in a bowl ~ Toss spinach, sliced strawberries, sliced almonds, and chunks of gouda in another bowl ~ Drizzle salad with the oi...

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...