Miss Lexy's DIY Projects & Adventures

Farm Fresh Homemade Strawberry Jam

Your blog doll is definitely a homebody. I spend most of my weekend spare time doing things like pickling, jam making, writing and cooking recipes for Vegan Miss, sewing homemade cat toys, bread making, making soy candles and vegan soap, amongst other things. In the near future, I'm trying out wine making for the first time. I'm also going to try to make vegan bath bombs. Many of you probably know about Pinterest already, but this website is such a great resource for a variety of DIY projects. Vegan Miss is on Pinterest if you are not following yet! I thought I would write a picture post with the variety of things I've made in the recent past.

Emily & I at Hill Prairie Winery

I'd also like to mention some fun things to do in the Midwest (beyond Chicago - I could write pages on fun things to do in Chicago!). There are a lot of awesome vineyards in Illinois. Many of them are in southern Illinois near Carbondale. This website has a complete list of vineyards in Illinois separated by region. I don't go down to southern Illinois often, so I'm not versed in vineyards down there. In central Illinois, there is Hill Prairie Winery which I went to with my friend and fellow vegan blogger, Emily. You can read about the awesome spinach & artichoke hummus dip she brought to the vineyard. Super nom!

Trio of Dips at Obed & Issac's

Also to mention in central Illinois, Springfield has recently opened a really fun microbrew downtown. It's called Obed and Issac's. Emily and I had vegan brunch there one Sunday (they made us veggies, potatoes, and toast) and their menu always has at least 2-3 vegan appetizers (or can be made vegan), as well as salads, and a vegan burger. Emily blogged about some of our trips to Obed & Issac's as well. Up north, there is Valentino Vineyards and Winery. I have yet to go here but I recently bought a Living Social deal for a tour, wine tasting, and wine pairing seminar which I plan on using in the next month! Vineyards (and microbrews) are a nice place to relax and enjoy some local, quality wine or beer. It's also nice to be able to escape to nature from the city for an afternoon. 

In Wisconsin, there is a lovely bed and breakfast inn called Inn Serendipity. It's the only vegetarian B&B I am aware of in the Illinois and/or Midwest area. The breakfast menu can also be made vegan upon request. They use their own produce from their organic farm or local food. All energy at the inn is powered by wind or sun. I've been meaning to go to this sustainable inn for some time now and plan on doing so in the near future! I will blog about my adventure to Inn Serendipity once I go.

Homemade Bread 'n Butter Pickles & Pickled Garlic

If you are interested in canning, pickling, or jam making, there is a great book made by Ball called the Complete Book or Home Preserving. Of course, there are many books out there that teach you and give recipes for preserving. If you're a beginner, I recommend this book and if you think you're going to continue to can, that you get a large pot and other utensils for canning. There are kits that come with everything you need. I have the kit made by Ball that I picked up at Lowe's. When summer hits, most home improvement stores and even grocery stores will carry canning items. If you plan on canning whole vegetables, though, you'll need a canning pressure cooker in order to assure safe handling and sterilization. Other items you may need are pectin and pickling salt.

Soy Candle in Antique Teacup

Candle and soap making are fun hobbies! I really enjoy making candles from scratch. It's also incredibly cheap once you have all the appropriate utensils. You can make 30 candles for the price of a couple nice candles at a store. You can get everything you need at CandleScience. I think making candles in antique teacups, tea cans, or jars looks really neat. There are a ton of great antique malls in central Illinois which is where I go to get that kind of stuff. If I tried to get nice teacups in Chicago, I'd spent a fortune. For Christmas last year, I got 17 antique teacups for $15 (granted, without the saucers). They make such cute and personal gifts! Soap making is a little more involved. I'd recommend one start with candle making first. You can get soap making kits and materials from Bramble Berry. You'll probably need a soap mold box too. I do cold process soap making. Palm oil is commonly used to make soap, but you can substitute it out for other oils. Be very careful with lye! You want to be completely covered when you handle it (goggles and gloves too) and make sure all children and pets are in different rooms where they will not disturb you. The stick blender and crock pot you use should be only for the soap making (you don't want to cook with something that's had lye on it, do you?). I don't have any pictures of my soap just yet, but when I do, I'll post an update with them!

DIY Sushi Cat Toys

The sewing projects I do are pretty basic. I'm not the most amazing sewer, I'll admit. The bread bags are really cheap and easy to make and would make such a cute gift once freshly made mini baguettes are in them! You use kitchen towels or scrap fabric to make them. The cat toys are just a quirky hobby of mine. As some of you may know, I am the proud mom to two eyeless kitties. Lucy, a runt Maine Coon (only 8 pounds and 2 years old!), has no eyes at all and Popeye, my main man, has one eye that is about half covered with scar tissue. I've thought about making dog toys but decided that dogs are just too destructive for me to even give my time to it. I'm sticking with homemade dog biscuits instead! Vegan Miss has a doggie carob cupcake recipe from long ago on the website too, just FYI. Cat toys are super adorable and fun to make. I would see them on Etsy and think to myself that I could make that too! I'm a huge fan of vegetarian sushi and Japanese culture (minored in Japanese in college and studied in Tokyo!) so naturally sushi cat toys would be my passion. This website has a tutorial for the sushi toys. Make sure you stuff them with a bit of organic cat nip and/or store them in a box of cat nip to let the toy soak in the scent. My cats adore these toys. And your kitty owner friends will think they're super precious too.

DIY Bread Bags

Some other projects I have in mind over the next 6 months or so beyond wine making and bath bombs are: DIY bath scrubs, homemade vanilla extract, homemade infused alcohol and olive oils, fabric magnets, coffee sleeves, and wire hair bows. If you would like, feel free to follow my personal Pinterest board. Most of my pinning is DIY projects and my dream hobby farm home I hope to have one day! Side note: this book (Vegan Food Gifts) looks totally amazing and I can not wait until it comes out! I hope some of you found this post useful and inspiring. DIY projects are so much fun and can be very rewarding experiences.

Photo credit for the Trio of Dips and Hill Prairie Winery photos: Emily at Running on Vegan.

Homemade Pickled Fried Green Tomatoes & Fried Pickles

Once and awhile, I have pickling parties. Yes, pickling parties. Pick what you would like to pickle and we go to it. Two months ago or so, we pickled beets, cauliflower, white pearl onions, button mushrooms, pickle spears, pickle slices, cherry tomatoes, and green tomatoes. Thus was born the idea of pickled fried green tomatoes and fried pickle spears. 


Homemade Pickled Fried Green Tomatoes & Fried Pickles

 * Prep Time: 15 minutes
* Cook Time: 20 minutes
* Ingredients:

• 1 cup stone-ground cornmeal
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tbsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tbsp citrus spice*
• pinch of cayenne
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 1/2 cup non-dairy milk*
• 1 tbsp white distilled vinegar
• 2 egg replacers, followed to box instructions*
• vegetable oil, for frying
• pickle spears
• pickled green tomato wedges

* Recipe: 

1. Make sure the pickled green tomatoes and pickles are cold. Keep them in the fridge until you need them.
2. Heat the oil you'll need for frying either in a large skillet on medium heat or in a deep fryer (which I used).
3. In a large bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, garlic powder, paprika, citrus spice, cayenne, and salt and pepper.
4. In another large bowl, combine the milk and vinegar. Place in fridge and let chill for at least five minutes.
5. Combine the egg replacer in a small bowl and add to the bowl with the buttermilk. Mix well.
6. Coat the green tomatoes and pickles in the dry mixture, then the buttermilk mixture, then coat in the dry mixture again until completely covered.
7. Fry in oil until golden brown.
8. Drain on a paper towel.
9. Serve with vegan ranch or hot sauce and a lemon wedge.

* Note: I used a citrus spice I got at Whole Foods. I love it! It's so good. For non-dairy milk, I prefer almond milk. For egg replacer, I use Ener-G.

I'm not sure if you can find pickled green tomatoes in stores, but you could always use fresh tomatoes. These were so fantastic - a real southern treat!

Italian "Beef" Sandwiches with Homemade Giardiniera

As a Chicagoan, I do not participate in the city's love of Italian beef with all the gross juiciness. Instead, I create much healthier versions that lack meat and share for all the world to make as well. :D

Cute humor aside, this turned out freaking fantastic. This is coming from a vegan, vegetarian, and the two omnivores that all had it. If anyone tries it (or any recipes for that matter), could you please send a picture my way at veganmiss@gmail.com? I would appreciate it! On the Facebook and Flickr for Vegan Miss, I post pictures of people's recreations (with credit, of course). 


If anyone has gone to Revolution Brewing here in the city (owned by the Handlebar people), there are these awesome polenta fries with vegan aioli. With it comes their homemade giardiniera. My friends and I always love it and so I decided to make my own. It turned out pretty good! I didn't add any spice to it (via jalapenos or serranos) because I don't like much spicy stuff.

Italian "Beef" Sandwiches


* Prep Time:  15-20 minutes
* Cook Time: 1 hour
* Ingredients (for seitan):

• 2 cups vital wheat gluten
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast flakes
• 2 tbsp basil
• 2 tbsp oregano
• 1 tbsp rosemary
• 1 tbsp thyme
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 cup vegetarian "beef" broth*
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 (14 oz.) firm tofu package

* Ingredients (for au jus):

• 2 cups water
• 2 cups vegetarian "beef" broth
• 2 tbsp oregano
• 1 tbsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp tobasco
• 8 cloves garlic, sliced
• 2 tbsp vegan Worcestershire sauce*
• salt, to taste
• 1 jar pepperoncini juice (16 oz.)
• 8 pepperoncini, sliced
• 2 tbsp basil
• 1 bottle of ale beer (12 oz.)*

* Ingredients (for sandwich assembly):

• 5-6 french rolls*
• 2-3 tsp homemade giardiniera*
• 1 pepperoncini, sliced 

* Recipe (for seitan):

1. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl.
2. Blend tofu and other wet ingredients in blender or food processor until tofu is smooth.
3. Put wet ingredients into the dry ingredients bowl. Mix well.
4. Roll into a log that is 2.5 - 3 in. wide. Loosely roll foil around the seitan log and twist both ends like a tootsie roll.
5. Place in a pot with au jus. Have something holding it from the bottom so it is not touching the broth (ex: a deep cookie cutter).
6. Steam for 1 hour. While you are steaming, the au jus is cooking.
7. When done steaming, take out of pot, allow to cool. When cool, slice thinly like deli meat.

* Recipe (for au jus):

1. In a medium pot, add all the ingredients together. Cook with the seitan (see recipe above).
2. Serve with the Italian beef, either dipping the bread or the seitan.

* Recipe (for sandwich assembly):

1. Slice the french roll in half lengthwise. Dip the bread in au jus, if desired.
2. Add a heaping pile of au jus soaked sliced seitan. Top with giardiniera and pepperoncini.

* Note: For vegetarian beef bouillon, I used Better Than Bouillon brand No Beef Base. For vegan Worcestershire sauce, I used The Wizard's brand. For ale beer, make sure it is vegan on Barnivore. Make sure the french rolls are vegan. For homemade giardiniera, see my recipe below.

Homemade Giardiniera


* Prep Time: 24 hours
* Cook Time: 1 hour and 30 minutes to 2 hours
* Ingredients:

• 2 green peppers, chopped fine
• 2 red peppers, chopped fine
• 1 poblano pepper, chopped fine*
• 3-4 medium to small celery stalks, chopped fine
• 1 large carrot, chopped fine
• 1 small white onion, chopped fine
• 1/2 cup cauliflower, chopped fine
• 1/2 cup salt
• water, to cover
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp oregano
• 2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 2 cup white vinegar
• 2 cup olive oil

* Recipe:

1. Chop the first seven ingredients and mix in a big bowl. Add the salt and enough water to cover the vegetables. Cover the bowl. Allow to sit in the fridge overnight.
2. The next day, drain and rinse the vegetables of the salt water.
3. Wash canning jars with soap and water. Dry completely (inside and out). Bake the jars at 350 degrees on a cookie sheet for 30 minutes. Allow jars to cool to touch (do not touch the rim or inside, though).
4. Spoon the vegetables into jars almost to the top (3/4th to 1 in. from the top).
5. Boil the jar lids in a small pot for about 10 minutes.
6. In a pot, bring the remaining ingredients to a boil. Once at a boil, bring to a low simmer and then spoon the mixture into the jars with the vegetables.
7. Using prongs, top the jars with their lids. Screw on ring until tight to touch.
8. Place the jars into a large pot of boiling water (so the jars are submerged). Boil for 15 minutes.
9. Remove and allow to cool before touching jars.

* Note: I used half pint jars for canning this giardiniera. It made about 10 jars. Canning the jars like this should allow one to be able to leave them as is until the seal is broken. If one does not want to can it, they could just put the vegetables and liquid mixture in a jar and keep it in the fridge. Lastly, feel free to add jalapenos or serranos to this recipe. I don't like spicy stuff, so I put in the poblano.


Speaking of canning, two weeks ago, I made a whole ton of pickled vegetables. Included were several dill pickle jars (slices and spears), beats with ginger, cherry tomatoes, button mushrooms, green tomatoes, and cauliflower. I'm waiting a few more weeks until I open them. Really, one can wait for a week and then try your pickled concoctions, but the longer the better. When I do open them and if they are good, I'll post the recipes. I'm looking forward to making pickled fried green tomatoes!