There's a hippie in my kitchen

Most epic vegan dessert of 2011!!

2011-11-06T16:40:00.000-08:00

That doesn't build it up much right?!I decided for my party this evening, it was going to be only the best for my guests. Therefore, I served this Triple Chocolate Mousse cake touted as the best vegan dessert of the year. I always get nervous serving an untested recipe at a party, but this just shows that you shouldn't be afraid to take risks. This cake was like a party in my mouth and my pants at the same time. I know that will be more confusing to some of you more than others. Regardless, this cake was a hit with (sadly) not one lick of leftovers. So make it if you want to impress somebody! And just because I like you, here are the rest of the "year's best" recipes.

Hoe Down: Part 2

2011-10-31T18:17:00.000-07:00

Our next chapter begins with more rain and a vegan cocktail party! In a huge tent! After a delightful afternoon making new animal friends, it was time to get ready for free wine, sunset yoga and hoe down fun! Katherine and I went back to the tent city that you see below to get dolled up like hoe.....downers ;)

In the tent was a local band heavy on the fiddle. I was in looooove! Available to sample were new vegan products like Queso and Dr.Cow nut cheese. Oh yeah, and free wine!

This evening turned into my first experience doing yoga with a buzz, a popcorn stand, line dancing with a caller and amazing new friends!

The next morning it was sunrise yoga! I got up an hour earlier than I needed to because of no watch *d'oh*. My mistake allowed me however, to see the farm wake up. To revel in the stillness and beauty around me. Later that morning we got to sit through some of the most amazing speakers I've ever heard. At this point, the clouds opened up and it started to POUR. It was no big deal, it wasn't like we had to dissemble a tent and drive back to Canada or anything :/. So we ditched early to take down our monstrosity of a camp set up, but lost the battle when it collapsed on us. So lame. Before we left this amazing place, we got one last unforgettable meal! First is was pulled BBQ with pitas, olives, bean salad and mmmm....fresh tomatoes and basil. We were all crammed into the people barn to escape the rain, which is also were they have all of their visual displays. This shot is of my delicious lunch, which does not include the sad animal in front of me. Pigs are awesome y'all!

Just when I couldn't eat another bite, a line up starts to form beside me. This line was chock full of some EXCITED people. I had to see what was up...VEGAN ICE CREAM BAR. O.M.G. So here I was in line, hoping from one foot to another with anticipation. Did I want coconut vanilla, cookie dough or chocolate? Rice mallow fluff (which btw tastes exactly like the original), crushed cookies, granola, sprinkles, vegan chocolate and caramel sauces? The answer was yes. To everything! Farm Sanctuary really practiced what they preached here. All of their plates, cups and silverware were compostable!

So finally, with one gigantic mouthful of ice cream heaven, we bid adieu Farm Sanctuary Hoe Down.

Even writing about this trip months afterwards, I feel waves of gratitude that I was able to be part of this amazing event at this spectacular place. Until we meet again....

Caramel peanut butter apples=I just peed a little bit!

2011-10-25T05:51:00.000-07:00

Oh baby! If there's anything that makes people loose it more than a surprise cupcaking, it's caramel apples. They have negligable health benefits and your face ends up covered in sticky sweet caramel. That's called a life win. In preparation for Halloween, I present to you simple caramel apples from The Post Punk Kitchen. Your welcome.

Hoe Down 2011: The time free wine happened near pigs

2011-10-16T17:45:00.000-07:00

There is this place called Farm Sanctuary. A foxy dude named Gene Beaur started it by rescuing a sheep from a pile of downed animals at a stockyard. He brought it to this beautiful farm in upstate New York and funded it by selling veggie dogs at Grateful Dead concerts. It grew into one of the primary animal welfare agencies today, with multiple sanctuaries for rescued farm animals. Vegnews published a story a few issues ago about a vegan bucket list, and this Virgo went check mark crazy with coloured pens. One thing I hadn't done yet was attend the annual Hoe Down at Farm Sanctuary. An incredible vegan-palooza with world class speakers, rescued animals, amazing food, yoga, free wine, spectacular location and did I already say food? It was on!

We decided that for the full experience, we would set up camp in the tent village. At midnight. Without flashlights. In a tent neither of us had ever put up. Enter Adrian, a fellow Canadian, who saved the day with a glowing cell phone and more self preservation skills than we possessed. It wasn't quite perfect, but it did the trick (until the end when it didn't, and collapsed on us in the rain).

Fail.

Katherine and I both left nursing children at home, so this tent also served as a lactation station. It sure wasn't a stretch to empathise with a dairy cow! We woke up to vegan breakfast and rain! Heavy clouds brought heaving downpours that clattered off of the roof in the people barn.

On the plus side, we brought cute rubber boots. In the afternoon, we got to learn about the animals on the farm. Their stories of survival and triumph brought me to tears, and then we got to meet them! My favorites were the fuzzy Holstein calves, squeallllll....even thinking about them now makes me swoon!

I told you we had cute boots.

See you in part two!

Free magazine!

2011-10-16T17:22:00.000-07:00

I love the story of Chickpea magazine. It started up with a mircobusiness loan, its name is cute, it has delicious recipes like vegan nutella and alfredo-and it's free! Check it out-I loved it!

Get in my belly: Vegan Fish and Chips

2011-10-06T10:29:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! I'm back after a monumentally long absence. Mini took all of the keys off the keyboard, so blogging was out. You can now expect more timely updates thanks to the finest/cheapest laptop money can buy. I'm going to solicit your forgiveness with this amazing top secret recipe. It comes from my vegan homeslice Maggie, and the first time I ate it-I cried tears of fatty happiness. Perfect fried tofu! The batter was fish and chips all the way, so that's how I'm presenting it to you.

Maggie's Fried Tofu

aka Battered Fish

1 Block Tofu, sliced 1/2 inch thick

1/3 cup Flour

1/2 cup Non-dairy Milk

4 Tbs Cornmeal

4 Tbs Nutritional Yeast

1/2 Tsp Salt

1/4 Tsp Pepper

1 cup Grape seed oil

Place oil in the heaviest frying pan you own. Let it get nice and hot. If a drop of water is dropped into the oil, it should pop. Arrange three bowls, one containing flour, the next milk and the last your cornmeal, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper combined. Here's where you can freestyle-do you like garlic, onion, or sage? Add some of your favorite seasonings to the last bowl if you're feeling frisky. After that, dip each slice of tofu in the contents of the bowls, obviously one by one. Flour, milk, cornmeal. Got it? After this, fry a few minutes on each side until they are golden brown. Drain on a paper towel or newspaper if you like to kick it old school. From here, you can make yourself some baked fries for fish and chips, or put it on a roll like a chicken burger. A simple tartar sauce for dipping: Mix veganaise(or any other egg free mayo), a splash of lemon, salt and pepper, a 1/2 tbs agave syrup and 1/4 relish.

Now you can't say I've never given you anything! You're welcome.

Your hippie-tastic tip for the day!

2011-05-20T19:52:00.001-07:00

I came upon this tip on Alicia Silverstone's blog, and I think it's pretty freakin genius. Green=Check. Free=Check. Money saving=Check. So do it y'all!

"All you have to do is save a 20 oz. water bottle, remove any plastic or paper from the outside of it and then fill it partially with sand, dirt, pebbles or gravel (if you can’t find any of those materials around your house, just fill the bottle partially with water!). Make sure to seal the bottle tightly before placing it in your toilet tank. Then carefully lower the bottle into the tank and put the lid of the toilet back on. Pretty easy, right? HERE is a New York Times article about reducing water in your home. According to this article "A sealed half-gallon water container installed in the tank will save a half gallon of water per flush...a family of five that flushes five times a day each -- the national average -- will save 350 gallons of water each month." That's a lot of water!"

And while you're greening up your bathroom, start buying recycled toilet paper already! You're wiping your ass with it and then flushing it down the toilet. Lets not kill any more trees that we have too.

I want to marry this sandwich.

2011-05-17T10:39:00.000-07:00

*sigh* I love Field Roast. In my opinion, the very best analog (and soy free) products out there. Analog simply refers to a product that resembles meat in texture and flavor. I often get asked why a vegetarian or vegan would want to eat something that pretends to be meat. First, not all of us do. Second, because meat tastes good-duh. I don't know many veggies who stopped eating meat because of flavor. This product is nice because it has a short ingredient list (all of which are real food) and amazing flavor and texture.

Unfortunately, I can no longer get Field Roast products at a store anywhere near me. We will be reunited again soon. When that day comes, I will be making this Vietnamese sandwich while crying tears of happiness. Image: Field Roast

In the mean time if you could just make this for yourself, and tell me about it detail by painful detail-that would be awesome.

Best video eva! Pad Thai, yum!

2011-05-16T09:45:00.000-07:00

Today I share with you possibly the most amazing cooking show you've ever seen. I present to you "Vegan Black Metal Chef". Brilliant!

The day I discovered my Vitamix made ice cream

2011-05-02T16:53:00.001-07:00

Image: Kawaii

Also known as the fourth best day of my life. I've made no secret about my obsession with my beloved Vitamix. Over the three years that we've been together, we've had some fun times, sweet times, bittersweet times, saucy times, and some explosive times. We've had boozy times, crepe-y times and blendy times. But until today, we've never had ice cream-y times. For those of you that have never eaten vegan ice cream, I'm going to tell you something. It's both insanely delicious and stupid expensive. For that reason, it's rare in this house (someone also told me that it's metabolic suicide-and I have a hard time forgetting that). So today when Biggest was sent home with a raging fever, it called for some serious TLC. Our family shares one car and after a walk home in the rain I wasn't expecting that TLC to come in frozen form. But there he was, begging for ice cream and me not having any. Then I remembered the Vitamix Costco demo that sold me on it in the first place. How had I not tried this until now? Into my Vitamix I threw

Mango Lychee Soft Serve
1 cup ice
1/2 cup organic soy milk
1/2 cup cashews
5 dates
1/4 cup frozen mangos
1/4 cup frozen lychees

Using the plunger, keep forcing the ingredients towards the blade until it's relatively smooth. I was really careful to blend it just enough, as the Vitamix will quickly melt that ice. I used an ice cream scoop to dish it out and we all thought we went to heaven. Seriously. No sugar, check. Healthy ingredients, check. No metabolic suicide, check. Not $7.99 a pint, double check. Amazing! I have had a soft serve maker all this time?!? Le sigh. Though that just means that I have to make up for lost time. So for my dinner ice cream I made: (keep in mind with measurements that I'm guesstimating)

Raspberry Chocolate chip Soft Ice Cream
1/4 cup frozen raspberries
1/2 cup organic soy milk
1 cup ice
2 handfuls cashews
6 dates
1 small handful vegan mini chocolate chips

Repeat same process as above. Except keep chocolate chips out until the last few seconds. I loved this one! The raspberry was really tart with a little sweet, reminiscent of frozen yogurt. Biggest had two cones of this-it's nice when I can say "yes" to more treats sometimes. Stay tuned-I'm already planning tomorrow's ice cream binge. Dear Vitamix, thank you for giving me a reason to wake up tomorrow. Ice cream for breakfast.

The People Project

2011-04-23T16:40:00.000-07:00

Two posts in one day! I swear, the world is not coming to an end. My friend Shannon told me how addicting watching the stats on your blog are. She couldn't be more right. Essentially it tells you how people are finding their way to your blog (turns out I have a large Latvian audience! Sveiki visiem maniem latviešu auditoriju! Paldies par apstāšanās ar, un parādot man jūsu mīlestība! Pazemīgus, lai aplūkotu vegāns ziņu izplatību tālu un plaši. Daudz mīlestības! Thanks Google Translate :) Anyways, it's how I found out that Isa Chandra gave this blog a shout out on twitter (squeeee) and how I learned I'm face number two on the Veganvoice.org People Project. How awesome! Essentially it's purpose is to show the many faces of veganism (which by the way are both normal and very attractive haaa). It's really really cool-if you're vegan, go check it out and add your bad ass self and story! And if you're not, it's great for people watching!

Happy Easter! Vegan creme eggs holla!

2011-04-23T11:02:00.000-07:00

Veganizing things makes me feel powerful. Like a cooking ninja if you will, sneaking in under the cover of darkness to make delicious treats previously off limits to junk food junkies like myself. Omni-tastic Christina used to eat copious amounts of creme eggs right around this time of year, almost guaranteeing an extra 5 lbs of flab going into bathing suit season. Everything is explained now that I have seen the ingredients that go into them.
Now let's make no bones (haaa punny) about it-these are horrible for you. Yet they taste amazing and they instantly transform you away from that weird vegan in the corner eating the only side dish without bacon.

Since it was my first attempt at making candy, they weren't a total home run. I would have been more effective with multiple candy trays, as I was doing them one at a time hours apart (which was hard to keep the chocolate from solidifying). Also, I overfilled the chocolate molds not wanting to

waste the filling. But otherwise-smashing success. Really easy so give it a try! Happy Easter everyone!

Whipped Creme:The Holy Grail

2011-04-11T17:29:00.001-07:00

There are some things that are (in my humble opinion) unduplicatable. Brie. Deviled eggs. Whipped creme. UNTIL NOW! Now don't let my shouty capitals alarm you, but feel free to let them excite you right down to your undies. Vegan whipped creme is here, and it's so flippin amazing you'll want it to take a bath in it.

It comes, of course, from Isa Chandra Moskowitz, who has come up with pretty much every one of my very favorite recipes. I was going to blog about something else tonight, but when my new buddy Shannon found out there was a recipe for vegan whipped creme-there was no other choice. The recipe for Rad Whip, in all it's glory! Don't let the complicated steps throw you off, it doesn't take more than about 20 minutes of active work and the results are out of control. Get ready for all kinds of whipped creme madness!

Feeding picky jerks vegan food

2011-04-05T09:36:00.000-07:00

Let me walk you through a timeline of dinner at my house:

4:00-the natives start to get restless, what's for dinner?
4:15-ingredients assembled, preparation begins
4:20-boiling, chopping, sauteing and measuring all being done while simultaneously keeping Mini out of the fridge (which she always violently protests), keeping Mini away from the oven, cleaning up pasta shells Mini has dumped onto the floor, rescuing playdough from Mini's mouth and trying to have a rousing debate with Biggest about why now is not the time for snack.
4:30-Pingu saves the day
4:33-Biggest takes up where we left off about negotiating for snacks
4:35-Settling for a glass of rice milk, Biggest now takes up a petition for the family to play Super Mario brothers together. Melts down when dinner preparation wins. Glass goes zooming across the kitchen and shatters. Clean up said glass while Mini tries to dance in the shards.
4:40-Turn off oven timer and instead program in a time out
4:45-Forget about oven items while talking to Biggest about why he had a time out
4:50-Oven treats burn. Rescue Mini from imminent death(she's jumping on the top bunk because the door was left open to their room).
4:55-Dinner's ready. Shut up and eat.
5:00-Mini may be a jerk, but girlfriend knows how to eat. She shovels it in while Biggest complains that it's too hot/cold/brown/cooked/not plain bread

I'm going to tell you a little secret, kids are assholes at meal times (and bedtime for that matter). One second they are dying of hunger, the next they could starve you out for weeks. Vegan kids are no different (though I do feel that my children's palate is probably more keen on dark leafy greens than most omniorious adults). Nothing pisses me off more than spending and hour in the kitchen to have them refuse to touch it. A few of Biggest and Mini's current no fail favorites:

1. Garlic bread. Whole wheat toast, earth balance buttery spread, dehydrated garlic powder and nutritional yeast. Bam, breakfast is served.

2. Smoothies! I'll save my secret smoothie recipe for another post-but biggest chooses two fruits and two vegetables. 60% of the time, it works every time.

3. Tortillas. Put anything in them, or nothing.

4. A loaf of bread/plain bagel. Carbs carb carb carb carbs! Who doesn't love carbs, and lots of em? Ask any 4 year old.

5. Mini loves soups of all sorts, Biggest is indifferent.

I'll end with a magical, life changing, super delicious, can never make enough, family favorite recipe. For hummus. That tastes like pizza.

Pizza Hummus
Servings: Never enough

1 can (or 1.5 cups cooked) chickpeas
3 cloves garlic (or less if you're wimpy)
2 tbs-1/4 cup olive oil
juice of a lemon
1/4-1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes, soaked in warm water for about 15 minutes to soften
1 tbs dried oregano
1 tbs dried basil

Rinse your chickpeas if using canned variety. Add all ingredients to food processor(start with smallest amount of olive oil, and drizzle in until you get your desired consistency) and process until smooth. Salt with smallest amount first, then taste and readjust as necessary. Next, drain the water off of your sundried tomatoes, add them and your spices. Blend again-Bam! Dinner is served. Pictured with roasted veggies, and pita (to roast, oven at 400-450c, a little olive oil, a little salt, keep your eye on them until brown!)

I served it with a fruit salad. The syrup is made of equal parts flax oil (for omega fats) and maple syrup. Dinner FTW! Now if I could just find guest that wear pants to the table....

Stuff Virgos like....

2011-03-29T17:46:00.000-07:00

We virgos are a proud people. Organized, rational, driven. There are few things that virgos like more than order. Or planning. Or alphabetizing things. So when given the chance to cut loose, this virgo loves to plan a dinner party. A themed dinner party in fact. Ideally once monthly, some of my bestest friends come together at rotating homes for potluck madness. And by madness I mean thoughtfully planned out, organized fun. This month was my turn, and I chose Mexican. San Antonio imparted me with a deep love of southwestern cuisine (though adapted to not hurt animals or my cholesterol). The kiddos were around for a bit, and went to bed surprisingly easy considering the full house. (Thanks to the hubby for taking the bullet on that!) Pictured is mini with her favorite person Shawn and cupcake face.There was handmade guac and chips, mexican rice, and cuban rum from Jules and Shawn. Amy and Racheal took charge of drinks and we had a million gallons of margaritas-as you can probably figure out from the mustaches drawn on with permanent marker.

My contribution was my(Anna's) famous tortilla soup, which won high marks from the judges. Also featured was kale, potato and pumpkin seed enchiladas from Veganomicon, with roasted garlic cilantro sour cream. Yum, I could eat this every day.

I also made cupcakes (though I can't remember now what type-probably pumpkin chocolate chip with cinnamon icing. I'm kind of a one trick pony-I love those things!). It was another amazing night with this crew, leaving me bursting with happiness at my luck for great friends and great food. Oh, and mustaches and monocles.

Vegan in Vegas: The Vitamix cabbie and other hillarities

2011-03-15T15:58:00.000-07:00

You might have noticed that it's been about a month since I last blogged. I know you've been sitting at home, stuffing your face full of frozen waffles, pining for my return. Well put down those waffles, I'm back and I come bearing food porn! I've had a busy month- full of getting ready for Las Vegas, talking about Las vegas, thinking about Las Vegas, and then travelling and visiting Las Vegas. So maybe you're lucky I stayed away, you just get to sit through the abridged version :). It was kind of the trip of a lifetime for me, but I'm the luckiest girl in the world and get to do it every year for my business convention. This year, my two best friends Kristi (who was featured most recently on my blog here) from California and Julie from here were coming with for a weekend away- party time (excellent) before my business stuff started. We flew out of Toronto, where a long wait ensured lots of stupid photo opportunities and of course food! The Toronto airport departure area has a restaurant called the Molson brew pub. When I last flew out of here, I was one starvin marvin-and ended up having the most divine Veggie burger of my life. The first time I actually sent it back because I thought it was a meat burger. I didn't have the heart to double check if it was vegan, I just asked for no pesto and hoped for the best. When I travel, my usual rules tend to relax a bit due to necessity. No food on airplanes + questionable choices on arrival sometimes = take what you can get. When we arrived at the Palms in Vegas, Kristi had brought us spicy lentil wraps from Trader Joes in Cali-just what the doctor ordered after a long day of traveling YUM! (For the record, the Palms has very little to eat if you're of the veggie variety-so plan for that if you stay there. They did upgrade us to a suite, however, so this time it's forgiven).

A wild night of fun turned into a sushi brunch at RA the next day in the Fashion Show Mall. What a treat it was to get to share food with another vegan! It also happened to be the most beautiful day ever, so the Canadians insisted on dining outside. What does a vegan eat at a sushi restaurant? Well, when said vegan imbibed perhaps a little too hard the night prior-something greasy! Tempura! Julie and I have been known to embarrass ourselves when tempura is available in the "all you can eat" variety. Thankfully this wasn't a day to test our limits.

Next up, degaku tofu and veggie rolls. The veggie rolls had artichoke in them-which was a first for me and freakin awesome! Why hadn't I thought of that? Oh yeah, I am not a sushi master (yet). While we were eating, Elvis sat down at a bench across from us and started making what I presume to be a very long distance call. Awesome. After a fun day of sightseeing, a frightening experience at Circus Circus and a gigantic vile of cheap tequila slush-we were ready for our fancy dinner at the Wynn. On our way there, this happened: we got into our cab and told him our destination. Our lovely cabbie starts telling us all about how cool Steve Wynn was. I told him we were going there specifically because of the vegan menus, and he got insanely excited! "Wait, so you're vegan? No fish, eggs, dairy-nothing?" (From here I was expecting the typical thinly veiled insult, but no!) And he proceeds to ask the most thoughtful "I've been waiting 20 years to finally meet a vegan to ask all my questions to" kind of stuff. He then asks me "Have you heard of a vita-mix?" It was here that my heart exploded with joy. "It's only the thing I would run back into my burning house to save, " was my reply. He then holds up a 4 gallon glass mason jar full of vegetable puree. My kind of man! Vita-mix cabbie then excitedly took down this blog address, so if you're reading this-I still think of you fondly and wish you luck on your journey!
The Wynn is the only five diamond hotel in Las Vegas, and it looks and feels every bit of it. The owner and mega mogal went vegan this past year and each one of the Wynn's many restaurants has a separate vegan menu. After days of pouring over the menus, 6 different reservations and countless back and forths-we decided on Switch, which ironically enough is a steak house. As one would expect of the nicest hotel in Las Vegas, meals here are pricey. With a shared appetizer, a drink and a vegan main my total was a little over $60. I am a firm believer that you get what you pay for, and we had a meal and experience to rival all others. Firstly, we could arrive and feel like we belonged in this beauty, we have reservations! The service was top notch, and we had a personal sommelier at our disposal. Switch was designed to completely change every twenty or so minutes. As in the walls surrounding the restaurant either go up into the ceiling or go down into the floor, and come back completely changed . So it's either totally open to the hotel, or has rich tapestries, or has stone or other choices perhaps if we were there longer. It's hard to explain, but totally awesome. The ceiling also opens up to the most spectacular chandeliers. The only negative is that fancy restaurant=low light=suck pictures. And my camera is lame. See earlier post re:why I can't have nice things.
First up, carbs! Shaped like a W, cute. Our first round of bread came with cheese/bacon biscuits plus the W ones. I told the waiter that we were vegan and he said "so sorry, I'll get you some new ones that weren't touching the others." This dude gets me *swoon* and lets me save the annoying vegan requests for another time!Next up, appetizers. This one was a hard call, but we went for the Tofu Compacho(?) It had a bunch of fancy greens, pine nuts, pesto and about 7 other reductions that would take a million years to make at home. It was epic. Truly amazing. On the recommendation of our host, we both had the polenta with wild mushrooms and truffle oil. Now, I don't actually like polenta. I'm not sure if it's the texture, or the generally bland flavor-but I'm just not generally a fan. Our host, however, kissed his fingers like Italian's tend to do when they describe perfection, so I was easily convinced. I did like it, but didn't weap with food happiness like I did with the appetizer. In lieu of desert, I had a lechee cocktail which I drank too fast to take a picture of *sorry*. After our amazing meal, we decide to walk it off and explore our magnificent surroundings. There were crystal peacocks! Designer stores! A red carpet with T Pain! We did a lot of window shopping, but the magnificent 20+ carat yellow diamonds in the Cartier window drew us in. Since most of the people in there were giant guards, the girl was more than happy to let us try on to our heart's content. She put her favorite watch on me, which was a $42,500 white gold and diamond piece *squeal*. I'm pretty sure it went perfectly with my outfit.I won't carry on about how awesome this evening went on, but I could. We left there vowing to return for our entire stay next year.
Fast forward to the next morning. Oh, my head. Errr, my stomach. Determined not to waste a beautiful day and endless dining opportunities, we fuelled up on expresso coffee beans covered in dark chocolate and trucked on. Since getting around Vegas gets expensive, we decided to see where our feet would take us. The answer was the same as almost every time Julie and I are together-Chinatown.Much to my delight, there was a vegetarian restaurant right in our path! It was called Veggie delight, and it featured a wide selection of bubble tea and faux meat Asian dishes. Over the years, my tastes have evolved away from things that taste like meat-but look at the selection-I had to give it a go. Julie started off with an avocado slush.I started off with water. Lots of water.Next up, I had the fresh rolls with fried "pork strips".For my main dish, I gave the lemongrass "beef" a go.
I can't in all honesty say that it lived up to my inflated expectations. To be fair, I was in the "everything taste like ash" kind of stage-so it absolutely could have been me. But if you have the chance, check it out and let me know what you thought.The silver lining was that while browsing through a local magazine, I saw a write up for the restaurant I was currently eating in as well as a vegan donut shop! And it was on the street we were on! You bet your ass we were going there. I have to warn those with only a mild adventurous spirit that if you're walking, this neighborhood gives you a real picture of how the other parts of Vegas live. We got some drive by hoots (ok, lots of them) and some dude tried to proposition us. When we finally arrived at Ronald's donuts, I was expecting the same eclectic hipster vibe you often get at places that cater to our people. Not so. If you were to walk into a donut shop from 1984, this would be it-signage and all. It is not publicized anywhere which donuts were vegan, or that there were vegan donuts anywhere in the vicinity actually. Upon asking, however, we discovered a plethora-and all under $1. Steal! Cream filled, chocolate covered-yum! Definitely worth the walk, and who knows what kind of colourful characters you might meet on the way.
My Vegas journey continued on for 4 more days after my two best gals went home to their jobs and families. It was full of culinary hits and misses that one comes to expect at a conference at the Hilton. I will say though that being vegan on the road always brings an element of adventure and surprise I have never experienced before. Viva Las Vegas!

Ask a Vegan: Part 2

2011-02-16T18:19:00.001-08:00

So our second feature is one of my long time best friends. Kristi means more to me than words can express! She lives in LA and we met in Texas. We get to see each other in less than a month when we pain Vegas Vegan. Woooottttttt!

Name: Kristi T.

Age:32

How long have you been vegetarian/vegan?
Three years.

What made you decide to take the plunge?
It’s been a long road for me. As a kid I never really liked meat, so I gave up eating pork and beef at age 10. When I was in college I experimented in vegetarianism, but unfortunately I was more a carbatarian (the one who ate a lot of bread and pasta instead of veggies). Finally three years ago when my younger son was 4 months old and I was starving (as nursing mothers tend to be) I drove through Mc Donald’s to get a chicken sandwich. I bit into it finding it to be completely raw and frozen on the inside. After that I knew I could never eat meat again. Going vegan was pretty easy. I and my sons are lactose intolerant, so dairy is pretty much a non issue. And then of course eggs have always creeped me out.

Do you have a personal philosophy?
You get back what you put in. When I was in college someone told me this I thought it was total crap (give me a break, I was 18). But it’s true in just about any aspect in life. If you want to be a good athlete/musician/parent/etc you have to spend time honing your skills. You will reap the rewards of the time that you have invested. ( I love this-truer words were never spoken!)

Do you have a blog you’d like to share?
While I am personally still working on getting my own blog up and running, I am a huge fan of Vegan Dad’s blog. He has a ton of amazing recipes that are kid friendly.

Favorite vegan website?
http://www.nomeatathlete.com/

Favorite food?
Tough one. I think that if I had to narrow it down I would go with my crispy gnocchi with fire roasted tomatoes, garlic, and basil. One part spicy, one part fried gnocchi goodness, all parts amazing. Yuuuum!

Least favorite food?
Leeks. They look like a giant green onion so you would think they are stinky and savory, alas they are more on the sweet side. Yuck.

Favorite vegan junk food?
Oooohhh, vegan nachos all the way! I pile my nachos with beans, a vegan taco “meat”, a kick ass chipotle cheeze sauce, guacamole, tomatoes, and green onions. I could seriously eat this everyday if it wasn’t attrocious for my waistline.

What other stereotypical hippie thing do you do?
I don’t wear deodorant and haven’t for about 3-4 years now and I don’t stink (trust me, I have asked several people around me, lol). I also make a lot of my own beauty and cleaning products. For me being a vegan is all about being good to your body. You don’t eat crap why would you put crap on your body or in the air that you breathe?

Tell me something totally awesome about yourself:
I run a lot. I have run 10ks, half marathons, and full marathons on a vegan diet. So many athletes think that you need meat in order to compete but it’s simply not true. I run further and have posted more PR’s (personal records) on a vegan diet than I ever did as a meat eater. This is totally awesome! Your fitness has always been an inspiration! Kristi whipped my ass into shape before and during my second pregnancy.

My Vegan Valentine

2011-02-15T08:24:00.000-08:00

Our Valentine's day this year was really awesome! I've been making an effort to use less and consume only what I have to. This means that my gift to hubby was a clean house and a man meal for lunch! One of meaty Dean's favorite meals was Philly cheese steak, so I threw together a mega easy lunch that was a huge hit. To make your own:

Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich

Whole wheat bread or buns(Kaiser rolls would have been nice, but I didn't have any)
One package seitan (Seitan is a wheat gluten protein product that is firm and chewy and is a nice sub for beef. People can make their own, but mine have been gross so far. I've tried a few brands-the first one I liked has been Green Earth brand.) Sliced
One tbs olive oil
One small onion, cut into half moon slices
1/2 green and red pepper, sliced
your favorite bbq sauce
Vegan mayo
Daiya mozzarella style cheese

Heat your oil pan on medium heat, saute sliced Seitan until it browns slightly. Add onions and peppers and saute until softish. (You might need a little bit of water to prevent sticking). Add enough bbq sauce so it's saucy but won't be sloppy. Cover and cook until peppers and onions are fully cooked. To assemble: toast your bread/buns, and apply mayo to taste. Use about 1/4 cup of your seitan mixture and top with Daiya. If you're me, stop to photograph. If you're anyone else-dig in and get ready for sandwich awesomeness!

So the other memorable thing about this Valentine's day is that Bean and I took our first road trip alone since having our kiddos. I don't know that we were totally ready-but I won a contest! The Toronto Vegetarian association had a contest in which you submitted a poem about vegetarianism and your valentine. Ummm....those two don't really go together in my world! Regardless, I've been known to write a little ditty and well-I'm a sucker for free stuff. The winner got dinner for two at the fabulous L.A.B in Toronto, so I gave it a go. Turns out, they thought it was better than I did ha! So, despite me feeling like a preteen baring my cheezy soul for all to read-here it is!

My Veggie Valentine

Passion. Strong, burning and free.

This is what your love and veganism are for me.

Both are so different, and yet the same,

A force of feelings that I can’t contain.

Both built on commitment and instinctual love,

And choosing someone else above;

A craving, convenience or what other people do.

This poem is a pledge of my devotion to you.

For both of my loves I profess my thoughts.

Animals, please don’t think of humanity’s have nots.

I’m sorry that one person can’t do more,

But please be patient-changes are in store!

We won’t eat you or wear you or laugh at your pain,

Speaking out and activism won’t be in vain.

My Valentine’s wish is for change to come fast,

Compassion to spread and our message to last.

Now this for my love of the human kind,

We have what others are trying to find.

It’s not best expressed with chocolates or clichés,

But the kind acts you show in so many ways.

Roses mean love but loose petals one by one,

Our partnership is better expressed with laughter and fun.

Collective dreams, support and forgiveness,

Makes 10 years of a person much better to live with.

I love you, I love you, and one more for good measure,

Dreaming of both my loves and a lifetime together.

Ok, so there it is. Laaaaame. However, the meal was awesome! I got to try things that I normally would have been too intimidated by. The appetizer is not pictured, as we got lost in downtown Toronto and was so hungry I couldn't stop to smell the flowers. My Thai Tom Ka soup was lovely. Next up I had the Bimibibop. I know right?! What the hell is that. Even when it came, I was still asking "what the hell is that". But the taste, oh it was amazing! The only thing is that I'm a girl with a big appetite, and this was the kind of place where you get quality and mad cooking skillz over quantity. I could have eaten an entree two times the size!

My honey had the risotto, which was apparently really good and had all kinds of neat sauces on it. The photo quality is embarrassing, but the lighting was less than ideal for food photos!

Lastly, we had the apple cobbler-which was both weird and really tasty. It had paper thin dehydrated apple hats. It had sorbet that had all the flavor of a traditional crumble topping, but in an icey concoction. It had apple cider smear and fried oats. Weird, but so am I and people still love me. So, I hope your Valentine's was even close to as great as mine was!

Ask a Vegan! First edition

2011-02-10T09:21:00.000-08:00

So any time I meet a vegan out and about, the first thing I do is inundate them with questions! I love hearing about other's journeys and how they got there, and I hope you will too! I also hope that it will help people see that most vegans are just like regular people and not some freaks living on the fringe. Well, except my first featured guest. Total freak :) The wonders of the internet brought us together, and today is her birthday! Lets show her some love!

Name: Kim (Though I would appreciate if we called her by her internet moniker: Sassy Big Butt Beauty)

Age: 37

How long have you been vegetarian/vegan? 5 months as of today! (Happy birthday and veggieversary baby!)

What made you decide to take the plunge? I went vegetarian at first because I just couldn't stand the thought of eating flesh anymore. During those first weeks I joined lots of groups to make sure I was eating properly and to get support. I saw a lot of articles and videos about farming practices and realized that it wasn't just the meat but animal products in general. For me, eliminating one but eating things like eggs and cheese started to feel really hypocritical. So, after 2 weeks of being vegetarian, I went full vegan.

Do you have a personal philosophy? I have the word "yes" tattooed on the inside of my left wrist. It's to remind me that no matter what, life is worth saying yes to. That doesn't only include my life, either, but other living creatures.

Is there anything you struggle with as a vegan? My family is omni and my kids are still young enough that I can't just send them off to make their own meals. I do make them a lot of vegetarian fare but after 5 months of trying to get them to eat certain things I finally had to accept that they aren't ready to join me on this journey just yet.

Do you have a blog you’d like to share? I'm also gluten free and sometimes being GF and Vegan can be a tough combo. This website is more of a compilation of GF Vegan blogs and I've found value in all of them. http://xgfxcommunity.blogspot.com/

Favorite vegan website? I really like the Vegan Society. http://www.vegansociety.com/

Another one I like is Farm Sanctuary. It isn't advertised as a 'vegan' website, but they are and they do great work rescuing and caring for farm animals.

Favorite food? Sushi. Or Veggie fajitas. Or ice cream. Hmmm... I can't pick just one. I love food. ( Ha, is there anyone more obsessed with what they eat than vegans ? :)

Least favorite food? I'm really not a fan of Tempeh. (I'll make you a believer yet!)

Favorite vegan junk food? Coconut Bliss Cookie Dough Ice Cream

What other stereotypical hippie thing do you do? I cloth diaper :)

Tell me something totally awesome about yourself: Since it's my birthday today I'm reminded of my 16th birthday and what happened on that day. I was at church and a woman in the congregation had a heart attack. Long story short, there were only 2 of us that knew CPR; me, who didn't want to go on my birthday, and a respiratory therapist who hadn't been to church in over 10 years and randomly chose our church that morning. Miss Erlene lived that day and I always thank God for making sure I was where I needed to be at that moment. I always think of her on my birthday! (What an amazing story! Wow.)

Thanks so much for your wisdom and for being a great sport Kim-Love you!

Healthy vegan eating = Not a given

2011-01-19T17:23:00.000-08:00

I'm trying desperately to find this blog that I was reading yesterday but the internets aren't giving it up! In it, she challenged readers to take a hard look at their diets, and truly up their game for February. She was talking about a nutritional upgrade. Being vegan doesn't necessarily mean healthy. I can't tell you how many times times someone has told me that they used to be vegan/vegetarian but had to start eating meat because they got sick/didn't feel well/weren't healthy. Many times, this lies in the fact that whole nutrition isn't a given, and one can still find vegan options in most mainstream places that are devoid of anything good for you. The following things are vegan: French fries, potato chips, Oreos, pretty much all sodas, sour peaches, watermelons, cherry blasters, lots of dark chocolate, etc etc. The first time I went vegetarian as I teenager, add diet coke and you have just covered all my food groups. I am completely guilty of non nutritive eating still-I have a sweet tooth that rages inside me like a cracked out junkie. I'm constantly making sweets or thinking about making something sweet. I do try to give them away where possible and only eat things I make myself, but still. I keep making better choices as I learn how-and see my kids picking up both my positive and negative eating habits. Bean very much likes the analog products -fake meats, burgers, hot dogs and cheeses. Many new vegetarians use these products often for convenience and to continue cooking foods you and your family are familiar with. Over time, we generally learn new cooking techniques and rely less on these products which are both expensive and processed. For Bean's birthday this month, we had tacos made of fake everything. Turns out they made me feel awful. So I'm going to do it, February I'm getting serious. Whole foods, less packaging and eating foods with ingredients I can pronounce!

Where are you at in your food journey? Do you think you're where you'd like to be to look and feel your best? Where do you start? Where would you put yourself on a scale of one to ten? (One being: fast food frequently, soda, chips and packaged sweets are almost always on your grocery list. Five being: Pretty good. Indulge frequently and don't really pay much attention to labels/nutritional stuff. Ten is: Completely whole foods. You eat while levitating.)

My friend Tricia is a high raw vegan, which means she eats very little food that is cooked. This preserves it's nutritional integrity, and much to my surprise is really delish! I'll post more on raw eating at another time, maybe Tricia can even stop by some time soon. She calls eating raw a nutritional upgrade, and I think that's perfect. Every time you take steps to change your diet for the better-be it learn a new technique, choose to learn more about whats in your food, or try a new X-you've just upgraded baby! February for me means change and challenge! What does it mean for you?

Vegan Travel

2011-01-10T10:30:00.000-08:00

People are always very curious on the nuts and bolts of a vegan lifestyle. What do you eat? What do you do when you travel? I was born in Thailand, and that pretty much set the stage for my life. I've lived in Bangladesh, have been on four round the world trips, traveled extensively in Asia, lived in all Canadian provinces west of Quebec, plus Idaho, Washington and Texas. When I'm not traveling, I'm dreaming about traveling. In 2010 alone, I (we) were on four airline trips, two of which were across North America. Not great for the environment, but good for scratching the itch. One might think that being a vegan while traveling might be the world's biggest pain in the ass. Turns out that one of my biggest fears has become one of the very best things about this lifestyle. Here's why!

Christina, circa 2004

Road trip! When hungry, we'll stop at a fast food place off the highway. Mmmm. When we stop
for the night, we enjoy a fine dining experience at East Side Marios. Not that great, but lots food and an atmosphere that says "you know what to expect". It's close to the hotel, and we don't have to worry about any uncomfortable situations like getting lost or having to dig out the high school french! Road snacks include gas station hot dogs and packaged cheese and pepporonis.

Please note, photo is not of an actual road trip. I just like to shamelessly plug my self and friends looking cute in our early 20s.

Christina circa 2010

I'm a mother! There are two little children along for the journey. I've finally found my sense of adventure and my ability to be prepared! I cook healthy food the day before that travels well. High protien sandwiches, tofu nuggets, tabbouleh salad, fresh fruits and nuts, and cookies or muffins. Before I left, I visited thehappycow.net and wrote some addresses of veg friendly restaurants in the cities we'd pass through. We program our GPS and in we go! Great chance to stretch our legs and explore a new place. We have eaten at some truly incredible restaurants and drove through the most amazing neighborhoods. One of my favorite things to do is check out architecture in other locations. House porn!
One of the standouts for me was Beets cafe in Austin Texas. Beets is a totally raw menu, and I was able to try some fancy and delicious new cuisine. Even if you don't eat vegetarian, I urge you to go out of your comfort zone more often when travelling! I lament often on my things I've missed out on because I was afraid to try.

I wanted to share with you a clip from the cooking chanel. I found it through the ieatGrass.com, which is also pretty awesome. This episode features Austin Texas and Beets cafe! Ch-ch-check it out, and poke around while you're there. I love the blog about being Vegan in a zombie apocalypse!

Weddings siiiiiigh

2011-01-10T08:09:00.000-08:00

When I met Bean, I was but a high senior with no idea who I was or what I stood for. We dated for five years before becoming engaged-then eloped to Thailand while he was deployed and we were on vacation. It was wild, and like all the craziest things you've ever done-makes a great story. Our dinner reception featured fish head curry, and the entire ceremony was in a language we didn't understand. After the reception, the entire wedding party goes up to your room with you, and your elders "show you what to do" if you get my drift. By drift, I don't mean a live sex show-but horrifying all the same. They then wait to see you start the fun (kiss etc.) before they leave. I couldn't even make this stuff up! Our room shared a door with a room full of drunken Asian business men (and my limited Thai didn't serve me well in rural Thailand trying to explain the situation), so our wedding night consisted of episodes of dubbed McGyver and getting drunk. Since our Thai wedding wasn't legally binding, we had a second wedding on Vancouver Island where my grandfather married us beside the ocean. It was lovely and non traditional, and so us.Despite going the non traditional route, I was and still am obsessed with weddings. I adore wedding dresses and to this day cause near accidents each time I the window of the bridal salon. Is it the crinoline? The sparkles? The opportunity for everyone you know to be in one place to eat/drink/dance/celebrate(which happen to be my favorite things in all the world)? I'm not sure. Most likely, it's the societal ideal that's impressed upon us since the dawn of Disney princesses. Not even kidding, there are already plans in place for April 29th at 6 am when Prince William gets married. Royal Wedding!!! Double sigh!
So you can imagine my excitement when wedding season rolls around, and I get to revel in some vegan weddings...Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeal! Nothing in the world gets me more excited than extravagant vegan food, eco friendly wedding decor and cake! Woot! Check out some wedding porn here! And for the love of God, if you have a vegan wedding-invite ME!

Book Review: Appetite for Reduction

2011-01-03T16:24:00.000-08:00

I've been a bit of a slacky blogger as of late, so to make it up to you- I'm going to sift through some food porn, write up some of my favorite dishes and hopefully blow your ever loving mind with vegan goodness. Before I do that, I have to gush about my favorite Christmas present. I've been an obsessive fan girl since I picked up Isa's first book "Vegan with a vengeance". At that time, I was a new vegetarian with the cooking skills of a seventh grader. A lot of the recipes sounded amazing, but had weird ingredients that required some searching and a lot of trying strange things. They also required skills and time management in the kitchen that I didn't have yet. So I made lists, went on ingredient treasure hunts and dove in feet first. I had so many delicious results that I had to have each book as they came out (many were co-authored by the awesome Terry Hope Romero, who me and Jules got to see in person at the Toronto Veg fest) :Veganomicon, Vegan brunch, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World, and Vegan Cookies Take Over Your Cookie Jar. I couldn't even begin to choose a favorite. Veganomicon is a vegan Bible, with basics like how to cook rice and beans plus recipes for just about every veggie or occasion under the sun. Vegan brunch has the best tempeh bacon in the world. As for cupcakes and cookies, I use these about every other day. Certainly not healthy, but amazingly delicious! When I want to show people how fantastic vegan food can taste, I look no further than these two. Appetite for Reduction doesn't have deserts, but it makes up for it with incredible, fast and easy recipes. All are under 400 calories and many are under 200; if you care about that sort of thing. Our favorite so far has been the Caesar Chavez salad with eggplant bacon. It's creamy, it's smokey, it made me weep with happiness. We also loved the blackened tofu with butternut squash coconut rice. Epic win! Isa started off in Brooklyn, and an international flavour in her cuisine really shines through.Check out some food porn from the book here. If you are just starting your vegan journey, are veg curious, or just looking for some great new cookbooks-I highly recommend picking up one of these bad boys. You might start a novice, but you'll leave a pro!

The Tofu Whisperer

2010-11-11T06:10:00.000-08:00

Image courtesy of vegansoiree.com

So I signed up to take part in the vegan month of food AKA MoFo blog roll. Essentially you have to post every day. Instead of dwelling on my short comings here, I'm just going to do better :). Today I'm going to blog about Tofu, specifically my friend Sienna who I call "The tofu whisperer" behind her back. I randomly met Sienna at a downtown playgroup, and her epic awesomeness and lifelong vegetarian status makes her one of the coolest people I know. I have always liked tofu, and my children are weirdly obsessed with it. If they see me cooking it, I'm hounded until I give it up. I suppose the bland, whiteness appeals to kids-but adult usually have more discerning palates. Tofu is kind of like flour, not much until you do something with it. Sienna always has some tasty tofu snack at playgroup and has really revitalized my love for the stuff. Her fried tofu was an instant favorite( we looove fried anything!) and is super easy to do.

Sienna's Fried Tofu
1 block firm or extra firm organic tofu
Soy sauce, tamari or Braggs liquid aminos
Nutritional yeast for rolling (probably about half a cup)

Cut tofu first in threes horozontally. This will give you three rectangular shaped slabs-keep them stacked though. Next, cut end to end about 1/4-1/2 inches apart (so your slices look somewhat like french fries.) Have a bowl ready and put a few tablespoons of soy sauce for the tofu to rest in and soak up. Place nutritional yeast in a flat bottomed plate or pan for easy rolling. For each piece, drenge in soy sauce, then roll to coat in nooch (bad ass name for nutritional yeast :). In the meantime, about 1/4 cup cooking oil to med-high heat. Cook tofu in batches, turning to cook each side to golden brown. Be careful, as the water in tofu can make the oil splatter and hurt when turned. Remove from oil when golden on all sides and drain on a plate with cloth or paper towel. This is great cut up and used in fried rice, stir fries, on it's own or in pretty much anything. We like it best with sweet/hot mustard for dipping.

Thanksliving!

2010-11-05T07:41:00.000-07:00

Holidays are without a doubt one of the most challenging times to be vegan. Loved ones comfortable enough with you to say whatever they're thinking, practicing your "grin and bear it" face, and everyone sitting around the table to celebrate around a dead body. You can expect to hear such classic quips as "what about killing the vegetables? You don't think they feel pain", "I'd rather die than give up X", "I tried being a vegetarian, and it didn't work", "I love meat", "what other purpose do they have", and "mmmm, xyzzzzzzzzzzzzz". I feel like it's a disservice to people trying out this lifestyle to claim that it's always a piece of cake. Saying "no" to your grandma's famous X, or sister in law's delicious y can be sucky. But even suckier would be ignoring your moral and ethical feelings just to appease others. Over time, loved ones will(hopefully) accept your choices, learn how to veganize foods with a little guidance, and maybe even like some of it themselves. So this brings me to "Thanksliving" at our house. Not bound by tradition and the same old, I can try out fancy recipes each year to my heart's content. This year's comes courtesy of vegnews.com (a great source for just about everything) and the Vegan Dad blog. Check out the recipe here!

As you can see, mine turned out almost identical to the fancy photo-which means it's pretty easy to do. It was paired with a really decadent sweet potato casserole topped with walnuts/brown sugar/veg butter topping, additional stuffing because that's my favorite part and pumpkin chocolate chip cupcakes with cinnamon buttercream frosting for dessert. Yum, I wish every day was Thanksliving!

I changed my mind, there will be soup for you.

2010-11-03T18:37:00.000-07:00

This recipe comes to you from my friend Anna's blog in good ole San Antonio. This soup is THE BOMB. No piddly "I'm still hungry after my soup dinner" nonsense. You may in fact feel so full you want to vomit just a little bit. Here is the recipe:
http://carrotandpotatotime.blogspot.com/search?q=tortilla+soup
Above is the picture of what mine looked like. Mmmm...I want it right now!

Hear me roar.

2010-10-28T06:37:00.001-07:00

Feminism is stalking me. Since this is a food blog, I don't really want to bring in too many other issues and muddle up my focus-but I just have to talk about this. Since I've been talking to everyone IRL(in real life) about it, I'm going to try to articulate it here. I just can't get it off my mind. It kind of started with all these suicides recently of kids that were literally bullied to death. They have really been hitting home for me both because I'm a parent, and because I had suicidal thoughts at 11 thanks to bullying. I always felt (and was made to feel) like an ugly ducking-I had bad teeth and a hereditary double chin. Add to that being socially awkward and frequently the new kid and it was a recipe for school day hell. As I got older, I settled into my looks and really began to love myself damn it! Even still, there is a long list of things that I would fix about myself given the opportunity. I've always considered myself a feminist (hey, if you're going to be counter culture you might as well go all out-right?) minus, though not always, the hairy legs, bra burning and whatever other stereotype you'd like to insert here. Please start the first video while you read on. One of my best Texas girls, Frank, put this as the first song on my "Bye-ya" mixed cd and it never fails to make me laugh.

Enter this next video. It popped up on my facebook feed, and I've pretty much been obsessed with it since. It's made me do a few things. First, want to learn how to poetry slam because it looks bad ass. Second, reevaluate the language I use and way I see my role in raising my daughter. It's titled "Pretty" and as most of us with little girls know, it's a word we use quite often. Please watch, and I'll elaborate below.

I've watched it a few times now, and each time it's made me cry like a baby. What am I teaching my children about women? About how we look? About loving ourselves? About the importance of being "pretty"? I do know this. I've recently had a drastic shift in thinking and can confidently say I will never have plastic surgery. My tummy may have skin and marks that will never go away. I earned those bad boys turning two cells into the most amazing human beings I've ever met. My once fabulous rack, that while still pretty fabulous is a lot less perkilated? They took two newborn babies and fed them(well), grew them, comforted them, lowered their risk of cancer, obesity, asthma, allergies and more. My double chin? Well, I can't honestly give it many redeeming attributes-but it ties me to my family and I could have it a lot worse. And if I *did* change those things, I would no longer be exactly as I'm meant to be. What kind of message am I sending to my kids, specifically my sweet little daughter. What if I died getting new boobs?

As far back as I can remember, everyone told me I looked just like my mother. Just.Like.Her. And guess what, my mother hates the way she looks. She constantly talks about how ugly she is. Constantly. So what does that say to the little girl that looks Just.Like.Her? I'm using my "I'm seriously angry voice" now. I will NOT lay that burned on my child. Real women are not like the ones in magazines. The women pictured in magazines aren't like the women pictured in magazines. Women come in all shapes and sizes and are good at a hell of a lot of things other than having great tits or a tight ass. Perfection is completely unattainable and frankly really stupid. Be proud of who YOU are. Yes YOU. You're fucking awesome.

This is to my daughter. I promise you that I will do my best to help you see that. I won't alter my body to make it look more suitable to our cultural preferences. I won't cut myself down in front of you (and I'll try my hardest to not to do it all) so that you can love yourself no matter what you look like. To my most beautiful 12 year old cousin who thinks she's ugly. Not only is she about as far from ugly as you can get, but you are worth infinitely more than what you look like. You are pretty talented, pretty kind and pretty freakin amazing. I can't wait to see who you grow to become and the life force you will unleash on the universe!

To all the women out there who start picking themselves apart every time they open a magazine, turn on the tv or look in the mirror. STOP. Right now. Individuality is where it's at. I'm full of piss, vinegar, feminism, opinions, optimism, LOVE, nurturing, excitement, sometimes farts and I AM AWESOME just the way I am. I love you, and I want you to love you just as much. So be brave, show yourself some love in the comments below! I want all the women you know to get angry about this too-share me with your friends :)

Electronics and lunch

2010-10-27T10:48:00.000-07:00

I hate to put it out there, but I am an electronics murderer. Let me time line for you what has happened to all electronic purchases over $250 that I have made since 2006.

Summer 2006- New laptop. Met it's end 1.5 years later after repeated toddler assaults. Floor to cord connection injury. Fatal.
Fall 2007-Fabo Canon camera. Smashed. Lens stuck on open. (though for the record, after spending two years as a child's toy it was spontaneously fixed by another blow to the floor)
Winter 2007-Stationary computer terminal. Fatal virus. No longer connects to internet.
Christmas 2007-New more expensive Canon. Lost at a birthday party 6 months later.
Spring 2008-New Toshiba laptop. Same floor to cable connector injury as predecessor. Occasionally works with screen completely flat, balanced on a book and looked at through a magic mirror.
Christmas 2008-Olympus smash proof, waterproof camera. Still with us! I'm dying for a fancier camera that takes better close ups with nicer features-but am worried about investing for obvious reasons.
Summer 2009-New Laptop (again). Two days in an entire glass of red wine was poured on the keyboard. Still works (ish). Also dropped numerous times and sometimes will hold a charge.

So, the suck part of this (ignoring how much all of that junk costs and wastes) is that all my data and photos are on random computers that don't have the corresponding editing softwear or have the wrong XYZ. I've got food porn EVERYWHERE, but can't access it off my camera, my computer, edit it properly, etc. So today I had a break through and now have TONS of stuff to write about-woot! So get ready for posting overload, squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

So without further ado, here is a little afternoon delight! This is Astroboy's Goodbyn lunch fun. He is one picky dude, so I'm trying to up my game.

On the menu today from top to bottom:
Chickpea salad sandwiches. (No dolphins were harmed in the making of this sandwich :) Made with chickpeas, vegan mayo, relish, some dijon mustard. Blend in a food processor. Sandwich shapers are the best invention ever!
Bear graham crackers-Bulk Barn holla!
"Chocolate" milk-Every day they have chocolate milk at his school. Not on my watch! I make my own with molasses for iron, a teaspoon of unsweetened cocoa powder and rice milk. He loves it-who knew!
Grapes
Alphabet cereal
Pear-He's been obsessed lately with " The Fantastic Mr. Fox". A character in that movie invents some apples that have stars all over them, and every time he watches it he cries for apples with stars. I didn't have apples, but I was rather proud of my fabulous starred pear.

My veggie tales....

2010-10-10T18:19:00.000-07:00

So bear with me dear reader, this will most certainly be the longest post to date. While most of you know me as the vegan I am today, there are plenty of you who remember me as the milk-chugging-contest participating, Rudy's BBQ loving, ham cooking, meat and dairy enthusiast I spent most of my life being. I started this blog with the sincere intention of sharing amazingly delicious veggie food with the world as my activism, without coming off as the stereotypical "preachy vegan". I feel that a delicious vegan cupcake or an incredibly sinful chocolate chip cookie will speak more than my words ever can. Recently though, I keep getting asked about the basics of my diet and how it got started-so that's what this post will be about. I've talked a lot about Bean, but not so much about my own journey. So here it is!

I know this might come as a surprise, but I am not an animal lover for the most part. In fact, I HATE dogs. Though I don't really want anything to suffer needlessly-I just don't get dogs (especially my neighbor's stupid dog who rushes me EVERY.FREAKIN.DAY when I'm taking my kids to school) The reason I initially considered a plant based diet was because it stalked me. Everywhere I looked, there it was in my face. It seemed like every new person I met, every event I went to, every article that came my way on the Internet was a big beacon shining on *Vegetarian*. When I had "Astroboy", I started to become obsessed with ways to lessen my carbon footprint. I actually had a reason to care about what goes on in the world after I was gone. I did everything in my power to make changes that would better the environment. Turns out that not eating animal products makes the biggest impact of anything you do. (For example, 2,500 gallons of water is needed to create one t bone steak. Or, a vegan can leave their shower on all day every day for an entire year-and still use less water than having a diet that features animal products) I kind of feel like if all the environmental doomsday stuff comes true and I leave this mess to my kids, I can at least say I did everything in my power to stop it.

Here's a little video that doesn't show graphic images of animals dying-so give it a shot :)

Another huge reason is the high risk of food contamination in animal products. While it does sometimes happen for vegetables, animal business is usually still at fault. It's gross, it's incredibly shocking and really really scary because it's so common.

In order to keep this at any reasonable length I'll recommend picking up "The Food Revolution" and also "Diet for new America" by John Robbins which has many things more accurately than I'll be able to type out without hours of interwebular searching.

Another motivation was health. My family has their lives seriously cut short or impacted by diabetes, colon cancer, heart disease and strokes. Each one of these is directly caused by diets heavy in animal products. Even the "good" white meat ones aren't really good at all. I don't want to die in this way if I know how to prevent it. Others that thankfully aren't in my family but are related to diet are breast cancer (note the irony that KFC has a breast cancer campaign), cervical and ovarian cancer and prostate cancer.

So when I first went vegetarian, loosing weight wasn't a motivator. Within 4 months however, 25 lbs literally fell off. When I went vegan, I was at a plateau with my weight loss after baby number two. I was doing two hours of hard cardio 6 days a week with almost no results. Going vegan jump started my weight loss process again. Not only that, but I noticed that I had more energy, had better breathing, less skin rashes/breakouts and could eat an insane amount and never see an ounce gained. I'm not kidding, there are days when I scarf 12 cookies. ( I can't verify that this is good for your health, but it's good for my mental health).

So I'm going to address some of the questions that I get frequently. If you have any more, feel free to leave them in the comments section!

How did you decide to get started?

When I first started thinking about it, it made my stomach hurt to think of how "final" it felt. What about thanksgiving? Dinner parties? Every social interaction people have? I love all kinds of food and didn't want to be a picky eater. So instead of saying "I'm a vegetarian" and confronting this huge scary thing, I just decided to try if for a week and if I hated it, no biggie. During that week, it wasn't super hard to do- it just required choosing different things. And you know what? Most of the time I didn't even feel like I was missing out. I was eating delicious, healthy meals that I probably wouldn't have tried before. I think the key to success is that for everything you don't eat, find two new things that you do eat and LOVE. I don't eat less now, I eat WAY more. Like wtf is kale? Same with vegan, it was WAY too scary to commit to, but after a while it was no big thing. I'm not going to lie and say it's super easy. My husband wasn't thrilled-he was a freakin hunter! But the more I learned, the less *I* could keep eating it, even less so feed it to my kids and then touching it grossed me out.

Everything certainly didn't happen at once. I always said if there was something that was totally going to break me if I didn't eat it-I would, and wouldn't feel guilty and do my best the next day. I started off liking lots of vegetarian foods, so that made it easier (falafel, eggplant Parmesan, Alfredo) but I also loved meat. The longer I didn't eat it though, the more light I felt in my body of course, but in my impact on the planet and on my conscience. Watching "Earthlings" and reading "Diet for a new America" and "Food Revolution" sealed the deal. My key with Bean was essentially making things that were similar to things he already liked and things that taste good. I pan fry things to win his heart, roast vegetables and make delicious treats. We don't eat low fat, first because fat is important for my precious little growing brains, but also because I straight up don't need to. I eat whatever I want and as much as I want and never worry about my weight. I can't promise that each person's body reacts the same way-but it's been like magic for me.

I try to avoid soy products, is it possible to still eat this way?

I actually try very hard not to eat many processed soy foods, just for the sake of health. There are however some really great fake cream cheeses that I buy on occasion when I'm craving something traditional or taking to a party (cheesecake, pink dip) though it's expensive so I don't buy it on the regular. My kids really love enriched rice milk (though I don't), so that is what they drink. It is fortified with b12, which is the only vitamin not available through a plant food. (Technically it is, b12 is a bacteria that grows on plants but modern processing removes almost all of it) The reason it's in animal foods is that animals would eat grass etc right from the source so it's concentrated in their products. I take a supplement, though in my opinion, everyone eating any kind of diet should take a vitamin as our growing processes, soil and cooking void many vitamins we expect we're getting.

What the hell do vegans eat?

Here is a quick run down of some of the substitutions I use for foods you currently enjoy.
Cow milk: Rice milk, organic silk soy milk, hemp milk
Cheese: Nut cheeses, daiya shreds(non soy and delish) or no cheese. Many things taste great with a mashed avocado or something else like a chipotle mayo that is creamy and fatty in it's stead.

Sour cream/whipped cream: I make a super easy version of both of these with cashews.
Eggs: For baking-oil, ground flax seed, bananas or applesauce, Ener-g egg replacer, silken tofu
For quiche/omelet/scrambled eggs: various firmness of tofu. Organic tofu is the way to go, as has less of the plant estrogens as per my understanding.

Beef: Wheat gluten product called "Seitan". Can purchase or make at home.
Sausage: Field roast is my absolute favorite and has pleased even the most discerning carnivores in my life. I can't get it here, so I make my own with wheat gluten (recipes are from "vegan brunch")
Meatloaf and roasts: Field roast makes a good one, or lentils/beans are a great replacement.
Bacon: The best bacon so far is made with a fermented soybean (sounds gross I know) product called "tempeh". It's fermenting process kills much of the plant estrogens, and leaves it with a much firmer consistency than tofu. Recipe for this is also from Vegan brunch.
Burgers: Portebello mushrooms are the bomb, as well as many recipes available online for burgers made with veggies/lentils/beans you name it.
Fajitas: Portobello mushrooms make AMAZING fajitas and are stupid low in fat. Using wine in your cooking process gives them an incredibly complex taste.
Mayo: There are many fake mayos out there, grapeseed oil veganaise is my fave and never notice a difference.

Sandwiches: I eat all kinds of "salad sandwiches" made just like a tuna/egg sandwich, but either using crumbled tofu or mashed chickpeas in place of the meat protein.

So what about protein?

This is almost completely a myth. Protein has been sold to us in a way to sell product and it's killing us. On average, a woman needs 52-65 grams per day, a 29 lb toddler needs 16. My breakfast of soy milk chai, pb on toast and fruit is around 27, which means at the end of the day-I could still be getting too much without one bit of animal protein. Too much protein leeches calcium from your bones, and can cause an increase in allergies and impacted kidney function. Protein is made up of amino acids, which are found in vegetables, grains, beans etc. So for example "two tablespoons of peanut butter or one-half cup of beans provide six to eight grams of protein each, which is about the same amount in each ounce of lean meat, fish and poultry. There are also two to four grams of protein in each serving of breads and cereals and one to three grams in a serving of most vegetables. "

Do you eat food that tastes good?

Not at all. I decided on becoming a vegan that I no longer would use my tastebuds. :D Ok, non assinine comments aside-some things like alternative cheeses took me not eating cow milk cheese to enjoy. And just like we don't like things as kids, our tastes change and evolve. Some things I didn't like at the beginning are favorites now.

So, now what do I do?

Well, that's up to you. Do you want to look better? Help the planet and save almost 100 animals a year from dying? Not have to worry about meat and egg recalls? Take the most proactive approach to preventing cancer and heart disease? Then try it. That's it. You can try it for one meal, you can try it for a week or you can try it forever.

If you've made it to the end of this, I want to thank you for stepping out of your comfort zone and for choosing to know. I welcome your questions and comments!

Kale Chips!

2010-10-09T18:13:00.000-07:00

So this is a little something called "lazy blogging". I'm currently whipping up a delicious batch of Lychee cupcakes from "Vegan cupcakes take over the world" as tomorrow I'm helping out with 'Food not bombs' (if you've never heard of it, go check it here: http://www.foodnotbombs.net/) and bringing some fab-o cupcakes to the masses. In light of this, I'm way too lazy to write out how to make Kale chips when some other more awesome blogger has already done it for me. Check out her 'Save the Kales' blog, it rocks my socks and is one of my faves! (http://savethekales.wordpress.com/) Heck, she even has a video! Today's trip to the farmer's market yeilded me the most alarmingly huge bunch of kale for $3, so I had to do something with it!

It's mother pumpkin muffin time!

2010-09-26T17:03:00.000-07:00

Yay, fall! All the cliched fall things are here, and after 4 years in Texas everything is new and exciting again. Changing leaves! Meals from a crock pot! Pumpkin in a can! No wait, pumpkin in a can isn't very exciting. Until now! *cue high temp Euro pop music and imagine me dancing* I am going to impart to you what is promised to be "The best pumpkin muffin" recipe, and so far the hype has legit. I got this book from "Vegan with a Vengeance", which in my humble opinion is the very first book you should add to your vegan cookbook collection. This recipe is at least marginally healthy, and if you swap the white flour for whole wheat, half the sugar and use apple sauce instead of oil- you can eat it for breakfast guilt free. Or just make it as is and eat 4 for breakfast because you deserve it :)

The Best Pumpkin Muffins

From Vegan with a Vengeance

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 TBS baking powder

1/4 TSP salt

1 TSP ground cinnamon

1/2 TSP ground nutmeg

1/2 TSP ground ginger

1/4 TSP ground allspice

1/8 TSP ground cloves

1 cup pureed pumpkin

1/2 cup soy milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 TBS molasses

Preheat oven to 400f. Lightly grease or line a twelve muffin (or mini muffin but reduce cooking time accordingly) tin. Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices. In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin, soy milk, oil and molasses. Pour the wet and dry together and mix. Fold in a cup of chopped walnut/fresh or dried cranberries/combo/or not. Fill cups and bake 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick or knife in the center comes out clean.

Enjoy!

What the Kale?

2010-09-18T17:30:00.000-07:00

This post was supposed to be a chronicle of the most amazing veg themed road trip of all time, but instead I'm following through on a promise to my awesome cousin Leslie. (Recipe at bottom as promised :)

Carol J Adams wrote a book titled "Living Among Meat Eaters" that revolutionized the way I functioned in a very non vegetarian culture. It came to me at a time when I desperately wanted to change my life to align with my values, but couldn't wrap my head around how on earth to function in social situations-they all focus on food! This book was invaluable, but I'll gush more about Carol J Adams in another post as we happened to meet her on our epic trip. So to make a point here, the book she wrote had lots of great tips for decreasing the awkwardness of social situations. Things like: don't discuss why you don't eat meat when people are currently eating a piece of meat. Along the way, I've come up with my own unofficial rules-most of which pertain to the kinds of food I serve omnis. There are a few on the no fly list. For people not used to vegan cuisine-no tempeh, tofu, leafy greens and for the love of god no nutritional yeast. This summer, during a big family reunion I broke one of my own rules. I was introduced earlier this year to the most amazing, fantastical, flavor bursting Kale salad. Kale? What the hell is that? Kale is a dark leafy green (you know that crap they always tell you to eat more of but you never do?) that is bursting with nutritive properties. Most of the time when I eat leafy greens, I saute it with my old buddies garlic, lemon, sesame oil and soy sauce to mask the healthy taste-so I was sure that I would hate this salad. Moral of the story is don't be afraid to try new things! This is about as healthy as it gets, and I could eat it for every meal! I'll probably talk more about why raw fooding is awesome at a later date-we're currently still getting acquinted. I can't claim this recipe as my own, but after countless interwebular searches I can't find the origin. So you can credit "random poster X" on www.vegweb.com if you feel the need to thank someone!

Rawsome Kale Salad

2 Bunches of organic Kale

1 Ripe Avacado

1/2 Red Onion Chopped

1 Apple Chopped

2 Tsp Minced Ginger

2 Tsp Minced Garlic

2 Tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 Tbs Fresh Lemon Juice

2 Tsp Soy Sauce/Tamari/Braggs Liquid Aminos

1/2 Cup Raw Cashews, roughly chopped

To prepare Kale, wash well and use a pairing knife to cut the leaves away from the tough stem. This often leaves them in nicely sized pieces, but if they are larger than bite sized-feel free to take care of that. Cut your avocado and scoop the fruit(meat, green part, flesh, whatever you want to call it) into the bowl with your kale. At this point you want to love up your kale and avocado, and you're going to do this by giving the kale a nice deep tissue massage. Get your hands in there and make sure the avocado gets into all the nooks and crannies of the greens. In a separate bowl, mix the ginger, garlic, oil, lemon and soy sauce together. You can now add that to your loved up salad, and love it up just a little bit more to coat everything. At this point, add all your other chopped ingredients. Mix and serve. Voila! Now you can sit back and let the compliment start a comin!

Vegtacular road trip!

2010-09-17T07:05:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to write this up since September-it's Feb now, so I think I'm still on schedule LOL! By now, I've probably forgotten all the important details and won't do it any justice at all-but I have to put the pictures somewhere so here goes! I got wind through VegNews (my favorite vegetarian lifestyle magazine) that the biggest vegetarian event in North America (The Toronto Vegetarian Food Fair) was going to be within two hours of me! Road trip! Now I just had to find someone who would share my enthusiasm for a vegan themed road trip, ha! It happened to be right around my birthday, so I was able to guilt my best friend Jules into going with me. Jules is a DJ, so she mixed us a great road trip mix and we were off. After getting lost three times, and paying $20 for parking-we arrived in downtown Toronto. The event was huge, live music, vendors, samples and FOOD!

Vegan food the likes of which I had never dreamed of. I am chronically indecisive, so often only having one or two options on a menu is actually a benefit to me. Not here, and making choices took forever! We finally decided on an amazing Asian bonanza. Faux shrimp, "pork" skewers, curry buns and on and on. In addition to glutinous sampling, we had chocolate churros, vegan baking.There were all kids of cool things to check out-the country's only vegetarian food bank, vegan grocer, farm sanctuaries, charities, bed and breakfasts, b12 shots, books, clothing, and a farmers market!

One of the hardest things was choosing what to spend your money on!

They also had things like people in chicken costumes-it's how you know it's a party!

First up was a cooking demo with Terry Hope Romero, who co-wrote some of my most worshiped cookbooks! Her newest "Viva Vegan" is full of Latin lovelies, and we got to sample coconut pumpkin soup. She did autographing after her demo, but I was too yellow bellied to go up and talk to her. I was worried I might cry, barf, pee, get verbal diarrhea or some other stupid thing that one does when meeting one of their heroes. Next, we sat in on a lecture by Harold Brown-once a farm boy and now a vegan advocate. To be honest, we initially went in because we were hoping to get good seats for the next talk, but he was awesome! I have roots in cattle farming too, so it was great to hear from another who was even more involved. More info on him is here!

Next up was a talk by Carol J Adams, the author of the groundbreaking work "The Sexual Politics of Meat" and a vegan since way before it was cool. Carol was wonderful, intelligent, and brought up so many issues that I hadn't even thought of. She is amazing and inspirational and I'm so thrilled we got the chance to meet her. As the night wore down, we kept seeing people walking by with these amazing looking ears of grilled corn and knew it was our destiny. We stood in line, and enjoyed the ambiance of the tent-Reggae music, Rastafarians and corn chowder-it doesn't get any better than that. Grilled corn, earth balance vegan butter and "love spice"-perfection! Here's where I'll end it-full tummies, soft breeze over the harbor, surrounded by beautiful people who share my passion, twinkling lights and the big city skyline.

Best.roadtrip.ever!

Earthlings-perhaps the most powerful animal rights video ever made

2010-08-30T05:28:00.001-07:00

I realize I just posted a video in relation to veganism, but Earthlings is totally different. Without building it up to much (ha) I would say it's the most life changing movie I've ever seen. An honest warning that it can be very hard to watch in parts, and if it doesn't make you cry-I'll buy you a coffee (or at least have you over for dinner).

http://www.earthlings.com/earthlings/video-full.php

Why would I want to be a dirty hippie too?

2010-08-29T16:57:00.000-07:00

I thought this summed it up quite nicely! It always blows my mind about water consumption....

VEGANISM: A TRUTH WHOSE TIME HAS COME: A Life Connected - Short Film - Reasons to be Vega...: "A Life Connected: VEGAN from NonviolenceUnited.org on Vimeo."

Curried Carrot Bisque

2010-08-29T13:50:00.000-07:00

Have you been searching for dish that tells people you're both wordly and sophisticated? Your mullet and neck tattoo may have thrown them off before-but no more! Curried carrot bisque to the rescue. This fancy soup has it all-cheap to make but high on looks and mass appeal. Chock full of carroty goodness, this soup is a perfect way to welcome fall! It also comes from one of the most bad ass chef's around, Isa Chandra Moskowitz. Make sure to bookmark the Post Punk Kitchen website, these dishes are the bomb! I like to garnish with cashew creme and cilantro.

Prep time: 10 cooking time: 30

Equipment: Large soup pot

Ingredients:3 pounds carrots (about 6 large), peeled and cut into a little small than 1/2 inch pieces

1 large onion, chopped 2 tbsp peanut oil (vegetable oil will do)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp curry powder

3 cups vegetable broth or water and 1 bullion cube

1/2 tsp salt

1 13 oz can coconut milk

1 tbsp maple syrup

fresh black pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large soup pan over low-medium heat, cook the onions and carrots in the peanut oil for 7-10 minutes, cover and stir occasionally. You want the onions to get brown, but not to burn, although if they burn a little bit it's not the end of the world. Add garlic and curry and salt, saute 1 more minute. Add 3 cups water, cover and bring to a boil. Lower heat to simmer, 10-12 minutes, or until carrots are tender.Add the coconut mik and bring to a low boil. Turn the heat off. Use a submersion blender to puree half of the soup, if you don't have a submersion blender then puree half the soup in a blender and add it back to the soup pot. Add the maple syrup and stir, serve hot.

http://theppk.com/recipes/dbrecipes/index.php?RecipeID=249

Enjoy!

Peanut Noodles, and other things the government doesn't want you to know.

2010-06-09T19:33:00.000-07:00

Tonight's dinner was epic. I know I over use this phrase but this time I really, really mean it. I also over use punctuation of all kinds-deal with it, it's my blog and I'll dash if I want to. Dinner was so awesome because it was yummy for mummy, uber picky child approved and didn't contain any 'weird' vegan additives like nutritional yeast, tofu or kelp-so I could serve it to sceptical omnis too. These spicy peanut noodles are what some new age cooks like to call "Asian Fusion". This really just means that it's not really from anywhere specifically, but it looks and smells Asian-ish. Then you add some of your own magic (which for me is always something spicy) and bam, you have yourself some fusion. This recipe is pretty much my own, so I can give it to you without a copyright lawsuit-awesome! This makes a huge batch, enough for 4 people, two lunches and leftovers-just how I likes it.

You'll need:

2 400 gram boxes whole wheat Spaghetti, cooked

3/4 cup natural peanut butter

2 tbs vegan sugar (plus a little extra for later)

1/2 cup rice vinegar

6 tbs soy sauce (tamari or Braggs liquid aminos work just fine)

1/4 cup water

1 tbs sesame oil

3 tbs chopped peeled ginger

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 cucumber

large handful of fresh cilantro, chopped

3 tbs olive oil

1 eggplant

2 bunches broccoli

salt

To make:
1.Cut eggplant into 1/2 inch rounds and set out on a cutting board, lightly salt and set aside while oven preheats (400c). Salting eggplants helps to draw out bitter flavors. Meanwhile, cut broccoli florets into bite sized pieces and place on baking sheet. Brush lightly with olive oil and salt to taste. ( Broccoli and other veggies roasted in this manner are a staple in our household-absolutely perfect every time. Even a little burnt is still lovely) After having a few minutes to rest, dab the tops of your eggplant with a clean kitchen towel to remove excess salt and bitterness. Cut into bite sized pieces. Place eggplant on a baking sheet and brush with oil. You won't have to add salt to them as some will have been absorbed. Stick these bad boys in the oven for about 15 minutes but keep an eye on them as it isn't an exact science. Remove when they look brown and are cooked through. Set aside.

2. Cook and set aside spaghetti.

3. In a blender, throw in ginger, garlic and water- pulse for a few seconds. Add peanut butter, 2 tbs sugar, sesame oil, soy sauce, 6 tbs vinegar.

4. In a large bowl, put roasted veggies, noodles and your fab peanut sauce.

5. In a separate smaller bowl, add cukes and cilantro, the remaining vinegar and a smidge of sugar.

6. To plate, top noodles with cilantro/cucumber mixture and garnish with lime and red chili flakes.

7. Enjoy and try not to lick your plate.

8. Write me a thank you note for the great recipe (if you feel the need to include cash as well, who am I to stop you?)

This is what it Little thinks of peanut noodles:

Vegan cupcakes take over this blog

2010-06-08T19:47:00.000-07:00

This blog seems to be as good a time as any to profess my deep and obsessive love for all things Isa Chandra Moskowitz. If I had a vegan guru, Isa would be it. She authored a group of cookbooks that combined amazing vegan food, cooking lessons, sharp dialogue and general bad ass-ery. I first fell in love with "Vegan with a Vengeance" and have bought every cookbook of hers since (a tip for all you cookbook collectors-check Amazon first, amazing deals!). People often think that being a vegan must be very restrictive. Turns out that instead of eating less kinds of foods, I eat way more! Things like leeks, mustard greens, beets, tempeh and the list goes on and on.( I know that might not seem appealing AT ALL to the masses, but you don't know what you're missing!) I wouldn't know the first thing to do with them if it weren't for this creative cook. Plus, it all just tastes so freakin' good. Isa, if you are ever directed to this blog while randomly Googling your own name-you complete me (in the kitchen). Thank you for making me want many random food themed tattoos (which I won't get because I am too yellow bellied), for teaching me how to freestyle, for helping me not wreck my kid's birthday celebration with weird hippie food, and for Punk Rock chickpea gravy. Since this blog was supposed to be about cupcakes I won't go into the gravy today, but even writing about it means I must have it for dinner. So back to cupcakes. Who doesn't love a fancy, cakey, individual cups of perfection? Being a vegan doesn't mean having to give up decadence and treats, it just means finding other ingredients to get the job done. Vegan baking tends to have a bad rap, as one of my favorite people once said "That shit is dense." I've made three different kinds now from "Vegan Cupcakes take over the world" with mixed results. Vanilla agave with chocolate buttercream frosting were meh. The frosting was out of this world, but the cupcake part was no good. It all worked out though, since this kind was for the kids and I have yet to see a child eat the cakey part regardless of what it's made of. Red Velvet however were super-hyper-mega yum. I think the difference was that this kind used oil. I've said it before and since I'm a one trick pony I'll say it again, fat=taste. The last type were maple cupcakes with maple brown sugar glazed walnuts. The walnuts alone made me want to cry with happiness. That last batch weren't for an occasion like the birthday cupcakes, but cupcakes make any day celebratory. Since they were maple, they are automatically an old Canadian family recipe and needed flags. So, try your hand at vegan cupcakes and please invite me over!

Adventures in rolling (sushi that is)

2010-06-07T19:55:00.000-07:00

So first off, I must apologize for my epic fail in blog updates. Turns out that people were actually reading my musings and missed me-so I'm back, with 17 albums of backlogged food porn! Today sushi, tomorrow cupcakes, the next day the world. I could blame it on real life, trips to the motherland (Canada represent!), general computer lameness or rampant venereal disease- but they are all just excuses for being lazy. So here I am, back with a dream in my heart and some wine in my hand. Today's blog brings you my first guest chef-Frank! Frank has been a very dear friend of mine for quite some time. We met through La Leche League and hypnobirthing classes and have seen each other almost weekly for going on years. While we let our kids rip the house apart and sword fight with plastic golf clubs, we often manage to accomplish both dinner and tete a tetes. On the menu tonight-vegan sushi! People often assume vegetarians eat fish, because fish are plants right? I can't think of many upsides, but recent activity in the Gulf of Mexico has made it easier for people to understand why one would want to abstain from eating oceanic life. In light of that, the menu was carrot, avocado (top 5 favorite food eva) and cucumber sushi.

Having never made sushi before, I never realized what a pain in the ass it is to slice vegetables paper thin. In that moment, I was filled with nothing but regret over trading my fancy veggie slicer for a bag of used cloth diapers (if that's not hippie, I don't know what is :D). After slicing the world's thinnest veggies, we added secret recipe sushi rice and rolled those bitches in nori. The results were epic yum. We served 'em up with garlic tamari green beans and kimchi (Korean fermented cabbage heaven).

Thank you Frank for passing on your ancient Japanese-ish wisdom, and for being such a special person in my life.

The Revolution is coming!

2010-04-03T22:46:00.000-07:00

I had really planned to write my next blog about food, since I'm starting to get a backlog of food porn begging to be published. I've also promised quite a few people that I would get to resources, recipes and such *right away*. Hold please. Big dreams of the food blogging variety will have to wait until another day in favor of a different type of big dream. Jamie Oliver's.

It was recently brought to my attention thanks to vegan.com, that this was one show I needed to make time for. I've admittedly not watched much tv lately due to factors like a tyrannical three year old and his lack of sharing skills, business commitments and life in general. Thankfully, you can catch it on your computer whenever you are free. The first thing that really strikes you about this show is how freakishly lovable Jamie Oliver is. He's English, so he says all sorts of endearing things like "bloody hell, indeed and slagging off." That alone lends itself to a program I would enjoy. But really my favorite part of this show is Jamie Oliver's impossibly large dream, his belief in his purpose and his unwavering and absolute conviction. You see, Jamie has chosen to start the next phase of his "Food Revolution" in Huntington, West Virginia. Most unhealthy place in the universe based on death and disease rates. We learn about what they eat...and the results are shocking. Deep fried chocolate donuts for breakfast? Sure! Nuggets and fries for lunch each and every day? You betcha! Frozen pizza for dinner and maybe breakfast? Awesome! In a weeks worth of food, there was not one fresh fruit or vegetable to be found. For real. Since recent research has shown that our brain can respond to junk food in the same way it responds to heroine, these habits don't change without a fight. And let me tell you, there is a FIGHT. The amount of ignorance and hostility Jamie faces in changing food habits is incredible. Most seem oblivious to the fact that he's one of the most influential chefs in the world, though you would never hear "do you know who I AM?" come from him. One of the most appealing things about Jamie is that he is every person. He has lofty goals, but is so vulnerable and relate-able that you can't help but root for him. His message is simple-healthy, fresh foods and the importance of breaking bread with the people you love. Who can argue with that?
Give it a go, and watch it here

http://abc.go.com/watch/jamie-olivers-food-revolution/250784/254757/episode-101

Postcard from Vitamix Heaven

2010-04-01T19:28:00.000-07:00

It started off as a passing glance in a vegetarian magazine, right under the bitchin veggie cruise flier and above an ad for cloth menstrual pads. Then one day while perusing the isles at Costco, it happened. Love at first sight, a live Vitamix demonstration-available TODAY ONLY! Sorry for the shouty capitals, but they weren't kidding. The Vitamix train pulled out of the station before you could say "well researched decision", and thus started my obsessions with all things Vitamix. The reason for my obsession over a freakin blender? This isn't just a blender my friends (and at $350-$600, it better not be). This machine lets you make soup from scratch in 7 minutes (it's amazingly powerful motor makes things boiling hot!), ice cream (the salesman used raw cabbage in it, and my kid ate it up and screamed for more) sauerkraut, salsa, any sauce you can imagine, amazingly smooth smoothies, frozen drinks, commercial quality baby food and on and on. It does everything but watch your kids and give back massages. When I first told Bean that I wanted a Vitamix for Christmas, he thought it was a trick. I had to beg, plead and reassure that yes, I really, REALLY wanted a blender for Christmas. It didn't end up getting there on Christmas but the day it came in the mail is one of the top 10 days of my life. If there were a house fire, I can't promise I wouldn't run in to get her. In fact, at the mere thought of writing a blog about my Vitamix, I had to make a smoothie. I'm currently rocking cilantro, cucumber, melon, banana and strawberry fabulosity. You can almost tell who has a Vitamix at the grocery store. Their Vitamix syndrome gives them away. They almost always have a 312 lb bag of juicing carrots and possibly an assortment of mangy looking discount produce. Our first week with the Vitamix cost us 17 lbs in oranges-no joke. The beauty though is not wasting produce and actually getting your 5-12 servings of fruit and veggies-"look ma, I'm drinking a whole cucumber!" Vitamix syndrome also includes the impulse to blend up almost any crap you find in your fridge. Spinach/raisin/banana smoothie-you're on! I can't say they have all been edible, but experimenting is half the fun. Just this morning I made crepe batter in my Vitamix and it was perfect. Clean up is a huge reason that everyone loves this bad boy-no parts, just wash or blend some water and it's all clean.
In hindsight, this blog is nothing more than a glowing ad for Vitamix. I can't help myself-it is straight up hippie (or yuppie because of the price tag) street cred and other than my engagement ring, the best gift I've ever gotten. I love you baby (and by baby, I mean Vitamix)!

http://www.vitamix.com/index.asp

Vegetarian Chilli: A food cliche

2010-03-30T19:16:00.000-07:00

Is there anything more overdone in the vegetarian world than veggie chilli? Hellz yes, it's name is the veggie burger. The only thing though, is that chilli is warm, homey and easy to make. There is a reason it's repeated at nauseum. On the chopping block for this evening was Field Roast Chipotle Sausage. If you've never tried Field Roast, you haven't lived. It is way, waaaaaaaay better than any other fake meat I've ever tried (I'm looking at you Tofurkey-gag). It is in no way a diet food, with roughly 20 grams of fat per link. That's why it taste so delish, fat = taste. They come in Italian, apple sage and chipotle-all of which we tried and loved in a borderline obsessive way. I've been so congested lately that spicy was in order. For this little ditty, I used garlic, red pepper and frozen corn. I also cooked up a mixture of chickpeas, pinto and black beans. Making your own beans is easy peasy and cheap. They usually say to soak overnight, but it seems like every time I do that it's epic fail. So, just a rinse and then boil them until soft-usually a few hours. I added all of those things to a pan with two chipotle sausages, plus a can of organic tomato sauce and a can of water. I then added salt to taste and about 1-2 tbs chilli powder. I simmered for about 30 minutes while I whipped up a batch of Jalapeno cornbread biscuits. Costco has these dehydrated jalapeno pieces that are the bomb for cooking with. *swoon* The recipe for the biscuits came out of " Vegan Brunch" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. Isa is my vegan superhero. I'll save my love fest for some other blog because I need more room, but if you need a good place to start your vegan cookbook collection-start with hers.
I added some lime to my chilli to replace the sour taste I once got from sour cream. A little cilantro and this bitch was dreamy.

Lunch, the meal that says "meh".

2010-03-29T16:07:00.000-07:00

Let me tell you something. It's no secret, but it may be the most important thing you hear today. I LOVE sandwiches. (See, I told you in was monumental) Reubens, clubs, tuna, chicken salad and egg-I could go on for days. When I became vegetarian, my lunch routine changed from meat-tacular to cheese-tastic. Grilled cheese, macaroni and cheese and various other dairy delights. When I became vegan, lunch left a vast wasteland in my repertoire and officially became my sworn enemies. I would ride into town on my trusty steed with a belly full of hunger and a dream in my heart. Lunch would stand there with guns drawn ready for a showdown. I couldn't figure out how to call a truce and fix this problem. I needed something fast, super easy and filling. Enter "T". It seems the vegan lunch is her specialty. She has been my vegan partner in crime, and can give a food orgasm like nobody's business. By this I mean "there's a party in my mouth and everyone is invited" vs. where ever your mind went first. T has taught me so much about how bad ass lunch can be, and it's now my favorite-ish( I can't let breakfast, brunch, dessert or second lunch hear me say that). Lunch is most fun with lots of options and delicious plating. Turns out 3/4 of how things taste is how they look-so put in an effort peeps! You'll find you can't help but want to take pictures of your own food porn!

The above bad ass vegan lunch is: Pita Pal organic hummus on whole wheat pita. Fresh pineapple salsa with cilantro and blue corn tortillas. Potassium rocket.

This glorious plate you see below contains: Pan fried pita breads (try it- omgeeeee), veggie sushi, tofu "egg salad" and red pepper hummus.
What is your favorite lunch?

Dudes that do veggies and other perverse plays on words

2010-03-24T15:48:00.000-07:00

Hey, did you hear that story about the girl that wanted to get a license plate reading "I heart TOFU" but was denied? When you read it on a license plate, it looked like"I heart TO-F-U". I think it's pretty freakin brilliant, but then that's probably why they don't let me approve license plates. That really has nothing to do with where I'm going with this particular blog entry, but I just love when tofu can be pervy, so get used to it. This blog is really the story of two veggies.
The first of which is my wonderful husband "Bean" (I know, clever right?) As I'm sure you guessed, Bean is not his real name. It seems that all the cool bloggers have fun monikers for their family, probably so that once your blog goes viral the stalkers won't know how to find you. Frankly, my friends are the ones most likely to participate in the obnoxious pranks that one would play on a vegan-so I'm not terribly afraid of stalker antics. Noelle, I'm looking in your direction. But I digress. Bean is what some would call "The reluctant Vegetarian". When I first announced my intentions three years ago, he was less than thrilled. And by less than thrilled I mean deadpan. Bean was a hunter, fisherman, Philly Cheese steak aficionado and person voted "most likely to write a love sonnet to cheese" in high school. Since I did most of the cooking, this change just meant that Bean would get his meaty kicks outside of our home. I was told "I will NEVER be a vegetarian" so I dropped it. He humored me though, attempting to read "Diet for a New America" and even watching "Earthlings" but still nothing changed. Fast forward two summers and Mr. Meatypants wants to do cage fighting-BADLY. He talks about it night and day, and day and night. My response is "over my dead body". He starts to get desperate and trying to make bargains to get my permission. Finally he brings out the big guns, he will go vegetarian. Ding ding ding, we have a winner! Now Bean will hate me for putting this out on the interwebs, but his one and only fight did not end in his favor. For some reason though, he didn't go back to eating meat. To this day I don't know why, as he maintains that he cares not for the environment, chemicals in our food or animal suffering. Maybe he saw how happy it made me, or that it avoided the awkward conversation with our yet-to-be-monikered 3 year old about why Daddy has cow on his plate. The real reason I think though, is that people told him he couldn't do it. Bean happens to be my soul mate in this regard-if someone says "you can't do it", his answer is "watch me." So big shout out to all those people that harassed Bean about it, you helped fund this epic vegetarian win.
On the other side of 'The Reluctant Vegetarian' is the Hegan. This article is actually pretty good, so ch-ch-check it out.

http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/food/articles/2010/03/24/men_leave_their_own_mark_on_veganism/?page=1

Bean is pretty far from a Hegan, but I still hold out hope that someday soon he'll want to take up Brazilian-ice-sword-slashing, Death wrestling or some sort of weird body mutilation. On that day my friends, it's Vegan time.

First Blog!

2010-03-22T18:31:00.000-07:00

How exciting! I want to apologize right off the bat for excessive use of exclamation marks-though those that know me would probably agree that I'm easily excitable. I've started this blog because I want a place to put pictures of my food porn and share some meatless recipes with others. I know the vast majority of people have no clue what Vegans eat-believe it or not it's more than tofu and Universe juice(fans of Kung Fu Panda will get that one). A good friend once told me that every Vegan she had ever met smelled of vitamins and patchouli, which is the inspiration for my blog title. I like to think I more frequently smell of body odor and crepes thank you very much! Despite this, people still want to hang out with me-turns out I'm a pretty bad ass Vegan cook. So, I hope you'll hang out despite the hippie in my kitchen. She can be funny, opinionated, frequently Canadian and possibly reeking of patchouli. You've been warned.