Beans and Birthday Cake!!

Happy Birthday to Me! Happy Birthday to Me! Happy Birthday to Meeee, Happy Birthday to Me!!

Okay, I had to do it! I’ve been feeling the love all day, so I had to give a little to myself! Yes, today is my birthday. I am trying not to celebrate my birthday so much as I am trying to celebrate the One Year Anniversary of my 25th Birthday, so I’m going to leave it at that!

Anyway, I’ve got an amazing recipe that I threw together yesterday that is probably now one of my most favorite meals! The best part…it’s probably also the EASIEST meal I have ever put together! Seriously, I threw it all in the crock pot before work, and when I came home I had some seriously delicious food waiting for me! If you like spice, and if you like good ole’ Creole food, than you’ll love these…


Spicy Red Beans and Rice with “Bacon”

2 cups of red beans, soaked overnight
4.5 cups of V8 plain vegetable juice
1.5 cups water
½ pack of Lighlife vegan bacon, torn into small chunks
2 cups of brown rice
3 Tablespoons of Garlic Powder
3 Tablespoons of Onion Powder
5 Tablespoons of Crushed Red Pepper (or less if you don’t like it spicy)

Combine rinsed beans, V8, water, garlic powder, onion powder and crushed red pepper in the crock pot. Set on “low” setting and let cook 6-8 hours.
When there is about 30 minutes remaining, mix in your veggie bacon.

Cook rice accordingly at this time as well (I use a rice cooker, but if you use the stovetop, cook according to directions).


Can you believe how simple this is?! Seriously, you don’t have to do ANYTHING and it is absolutely delicious!!! I couldn’t get enough of this, and this makes a very large portion as well, which is great, because I can’t wait to have leftovers for lunch today!

So there you have it. The world’s easiest and tastiest vegan recipe for red beans and rice! Although I felt kind of guilty just posting that, especially with it being my birthday and all! This is the first year in a long time that I didn’t bake myself a cake, but I just didn’t seem to have the time. But I couldn’t be without something sweet last night, so I hit up the local grocery store to see what kind of goodies they had. And this is what I came up with:

Super Delicious Chocolate Strawberry Marshmallow Creme Birthday Cake

Basically, its Amy’s Organic Chocolate Cake, which is found in the frozen food section (it is seriously the most moist, rich and delicious cake I’ve ever had!), some vegan marshmallow crème (found in the organic section of my grocer), and some strawberries! Pop it in the toaster oven for a few minutes and experience pure *vegan* heaven!!

(I apologize for the poor photo quality. I have misplaced my camera so these pics were taken on my phone.)