Crazy Vegan Mom

Apologies

2009-10-17T13:17:00.003-04:00

Hello. I just wanted to leave a quick note to apologize for not posting. I have been having some computer issues, but aside from that I have been crazy busy. And the big reason is that my depression has taken a firm hold and frankly it is all I can do to keep myself functioning. I have been spending every ounce of energy just trying to hold myself together for my family and frankly that hasn't been going very smoothly. So I am sorry to leave you all in the lurch, but now is a rough time and I hope you understand.
Thanks.
CVM

Vita Mix Giveaway

2009-08-30T18:18:00.002-04:00

Jessie Hawkins is giving away a Vita Mix on her blog. It is very easy to enter, no crazy rules. Go here to enter to win.

So Desperate for Sleep

2009-08-29T09:52:00.005-04:00

I may not have ever mentioned this, but I have some real sleep issues. For most of my life I have suffered from severe insomnia. For the last few years though, I rarely have trouble falling asleep. This would seem like a blessing, but it really isn't. Even though I fall asleep easily, I do not stay asleep and I do not reach the deep sleep stage where the restorative sleep happens. I have done the sleep studies where they hook you up to a hundred wires and watch you sleep. The results showed I am screwed. The doctors want me on meds that will supposedly help me reach deep sleep, but they will also cause side effects I am not willing to deal with.

As if this wasn't enough, my dear sweet children refuse to stay asleep during the night and insist on waking me and D up, begging us to come in their beds or let them in our bed. They have now decided they are terrified someone/monsters/aliens/or a ghost is going to get them. What the hell? Allowing them to sleep in our bed with us is not a viable option. I am all for attachment parenting, they did sleep with us when they were babies and toddlers, but now they are 5 & 8 and very restless sleepers. Our bed is not big enough and they keep us awake with their kicking and rolling around.

So any advice on how to get them to stay in their beds and get over these fears of monsters/aliens/ etc. is very much appreciated. As are any remedies for my crappy sleep. Oh, did I mention I now have a nasty habit of falling asleep in inappropriate places? Yes, like waiting rooms,peoples houses, driving down the road! Yeah, that sucks.

Banana Cherry Frozen Dessert

2009-08-27T09:33:00.001-04:00

Ok, ok. I know this picture looks like a pile of doo, but it isn't.

I was craving a sweet, cold treat, and had seen this post on using frozen bananas to make a raw banana soft serve on Choosing Raw, so I just took 3 frozen bananas, added about a cup of frozen cherries and threw them in the food processor. I ran the processor for about 5 minutes, stopping several times to scrape down the sides.

This was just right for my craving. A and M both loved it. While it may not taste like cow juice ice creams, it is much much healthier and a nice little treat. Try throwing in a few chocolate chips for a little extra sweet treat.

Review of Luna Cookie

2009-08-26T12:21:00.001-04:00

I received a sample of the new Luna Cookie in Berry Pomegranate in the mail. I was looking forward to trying this, so I tried one of the little bars and gave the kids the other one.

The flavor is nice and the icing adds a bit of sweetness. I do like these, but I would not call these cookies. They are more of a chewy bar than cookie, but they are good. The kids both liked them.

Vegan Turkey Loaf

2009-08-25T08:45:00.004-04:00

I made the Vegan Turkey Loaf from The Vegan Family Cookbook. It is also on the membership side of Everyday Dish.

Overall, I really liked it. The flavor is perfect for a faux turkey and the texture came out great. I will be trying it in sandwiches for lunch today. I tried both thin and thick slices and the thin slices win out.

Even A loved it! So that is saying alot and makes it worth cooking again.

My only complaint is that it was a bit dry, but if I remember correctly, so is real turkey. I meant to make a brown gravy to go with it, but I forgot until it was too late, so next time I will definitely make some.

I will making this on a regular basis and will probably use the thin slices for sandwiches for the kids school lunches.

Baked Chimichanga with Tempeh and Tomatillos

2009-08-21T18:43:00.006-04:00

The cabinets are getting pretty sparse and it is hot as hades in my house. Frankly I haven't felt like cooking, but the kids gotta eat. Though no matter what I make, it is pretty much guaranteed A won't eat it anyway.

I am not kidding when I say the cabinets are getting sparse, there is not much in there. I did have a package of Tempeh and some tomatillos I picked up at the farmers market the other day. I flipped through some recipes and found inspiration from Vegan Dad and his baked chimichanga recipe. I used less chili powder because I didn't want it spicy, I wanted A to try it and M to eat it.

Here is my version:

1 Tbl. oil

1 large onion, diced

1 green pepper, diced

1 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. salt

1 pkg. tempeh, crumbled

5 tomatillos

1/4 to 1/2 cup water

5 whole wheat tortillas

1 can vegetarian refried beans

salsa

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Heat oil in large skillet and cook onion and green pepper until they start to soften, about 5 minutes.
Add tempeh, tomatillos, spices and water. Cook for an additional 5 minutes.
Spread refried beans on the tortilla, top with tempeh mixture and some salsa.
Fold up the tortilla, tucking in the ends (use refried beans to make it stay closed)
Place on baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the tortillas.
Brush on a little oil, or use a spray oil.
Bake for 20 minutes.
You can serve it with tofu sour cream, lettuce, tomato, etc. I just added some more salsa on top.

The tortillas I had in the fridge were a bit past their prime, so they started to rip when I tried to fold them. They still tasted great though.

Banana Pudding Bars

2009-08-14T10:43:00.001-04:00

Basically I believe Hannah Kaminsky from Bittersweet blog is a goddess of vegan food. So, I was thrilled when I saw her recipes in VegNews for the picnic treats. I was having people over for and decided I had to try the banana pudding bars.

The recipe is pretty easy and it didn't take too long to make once I found some vegan vanilla wafers at the store. So far, so good.

I made sure to cool them overnight, for extra firmness. Alas, I screwed up somewhere, because this is what they look like when I tried to take them out of the pan:

Hardly the beautifully bar shaped wonders Hannah managed to produce. As for the flavor, well, not so much banana taste as lemon. I had a bad feeling about these. Obviously I could not serve these to company. Thank goodness I also made the tried and true amazing oatmeal cookies.

The shocking thing? A actually liked these! Figures she would like my disasters. M liked them, too.

I will try this again, but next time, I will use less lemon and more vanilla wafers, I think the crust was way too thin to hold them together.

Fit Soul Fit Body Book giveaway

2009-08-14T10:41:00.002-04:00

Happy Herbivore is giving away a copy of the book Fit Soul, Fit Body. Be sure to pop on over to enter for your chance to win.

Vegan Broccoli Quiche and an Incredibly Easy Pie Crust

2009-08-11T14:24:00.002-04:00

I found this recipe on PPK and had to try it. Oh, I am so glad I did, this is really fabulous. Everyone (except A) loved it. My sister was really impressed with the pie crust, which was insanely easy to make. I actually found over it over at allrecipes.

The pie crust is so savory and worked perfectly for this quiche. I used whole wheat flour instead of all purpose.

Pie Crust:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat)
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 Tblsp. soymilk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Place all ingredients in a 9 inch pie pan. Stir together with a fork. Pat mixture into bottom and up the sides of the pan. Poke holes in bottome and side of crust.

Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until light brown. Use as directed in favorite pie recipe.

If using crust for a dessert pie, decrease salt by 1/2 and use a generous Tblsp. of sugar.

See? Didn't I tell you it was easy? And when have I ever lied to you? Come on now, you know I haven't.

Broccoli Quiche:

Note: The broccoli pieces should be tiny, anywhere between the size of a pea to the size of a dime. As you chop, the florets might become crumbs. That’s just fine! Scrape them up with your knife and use them.

Serves 8

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups finely chopped broccoli (see note)
1 teaspoons dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon
1/2 teaspoon tumeric
1 teaspoon salt
healthy dose fresh cracked black pepper
2 tablespoons water
1/2 cup raw, unsalted cashews
1 pound extra firm tofu
1 teaspoon prepared mustard (dijon or regular, most anything will work)
a handful or cherry or grape tomatoes for decorating (optional)

1 9 inch prepared pie crust (see recipe above)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Bake pie crust for 10 minutes, then remove from oven. In the meantime, start preparing the filling.

Heat a large heavy bottomed skillet (preferably cast iron) over medium heat. Saute the onion and garlic in the oil for about 3 minutes. Add the broccoli, thyme, tarragon, tumeric, salt and pepper. Cook for 10 minutes, until broccoli is soft. If it starts to look dry add a tablepoon or 2 of water.

Meanwhile, process the cashews in a food processor into fine crumbs. Give the tofu a squeeze to get rid of some of the water, then crumble it into the food processor along with the mustard. Process until relatively smooth. When the broccoli mixture is done cooking, add one cup of it to the food processor and pulse a few times to combine.

Transfer to a mixing bowl, add the rest of the broccoli mixture and combine. Taste for salt. Use a rubber spatula to get everything into the pie crust and smooth the top out. Place cherry tomatoes around the perimeter of the pie and one in the center for maximum Good Housekeeping adorableness. Bake for 40 minutes, until edges of the pie are lightly browned.

Let the quiche sit for 20 minutes as it tastes best when it is warm, not piping hot. It’s also great at room temperature.

Beware of Morningstar Farms, Previously Vegan Foods No Longer Vegan!

2009-08-08T09:57:00.004-04:00

So Adam Kochanowicz of the Vegan News has a new resource page system to look up products and companies to see if they are vegan or test on animals. It is located here. Anyway, he posted a snippet saying if you are looking for Vegan burger crumbles, to buy Boca as they are vegan and NOT Morningstar Farms, because they contain dairy and egg. This surprised me as I have been buying the Morningstar Farms ones because I have checked the ingredients and never seen dairy or egg listed and they are one of the few foods A actually likes and eats.

I checked Morningstar Farms website, and sure enough, listed as ingredients are dairy and egg. I checked the package in my freezer (I know I am crazy, but not crazy stupid) and my package did not show dairy or egg. I emailed the company for clarification and to my dismay, I received the following response:

Mrs. Crazy Vegan Mom,

Thank you for contacting us concerning Morningstar Farms® Meal Starters™ Grillers™ Recipe Crumbles. We appreciate your interest in our company and products, as well as your loyalty over the years.

This product was reformulated in January to contain milk and egg ingredients for proprietary reasons. The product that you have in your freezer was likely made prior to this reformulation. Because product formulations may change from time to time, consumers are strongly encouraged to read the package label prior to every purchase. If you are vegan or have food allergies, we are sorry for any inconvenince this may cause you.

Kellogg Company was founded with a philosophy that encouraged people to improve their health. As W.K. Kellogg said, "We are a company of dedicated people making quality products for a healthier world."

We appreciate the opportunity to respond to your questions and concerns and thank you for your loyalty to our brands.

Sincerely,
Courtney Placinta
Assistant Manager, Consumer Communications
Consumer Affairs Department

My favorite part is: Kellogg Company was founded with a philosophy that encouraged people to improve their health. As W.K. Kellogg said, "We are a company of dedicated people making quality products for a healthier world."

Bah! How is adding dairy and egg to an previously vegan product improving health?
So, this was my response and I encourage everyone to inundate them with emails, phone calls and letters urging them to change back! Here is their contact info page.

Ms. Placinta,

Thank you for your reply.

I must say though, that I am extremely disappointed! If your philosophy is to improve peoples health, then you are certainly going about it the wrong way. Eggs and dairy are not healthy food choices, in fact they are very bad for peoples health. Eggs and dairy are full of cholesterol and saturated fat, they have been shown to increase cancer and heart disease along with contributing to obesity. Not to mention how bad it is for the poor chickens and cows that must suffer horribly to supply the eggs and dairy.

I do hope your company will reconsider this bad decision. You will lose many customers because of this. I am also surprised considering the huge influx of upset customers who convinced Boca to remove all eggs from their entire line, a wise choice they made to follow the suggestions of their customers.

I have already seen a backlash to this decision among many people, all my vegan friends and family members have decided to boycott your products.

I am sorry to say I will no longer buy any Morning Star Farms products until I see this company reverse this bad decision.

Thank you,
Crazy Vegan Mom

Banana Cherry Walnut Bread

2009-08-06T15:12:00.001-04:00

Bad pictures, great bread. The recipe is on Fat Free Vegan blog, so I will send you there to get it so you can see her pictures, because they are so much better than mine and do the bread more justice. The only thing I did differently is I used frozen cherries because I didn't have any dried ones.

30 Minute Vegan Homey Vegetable Stew with Dumplings

2009-08-05T20:42:00.001-04:00

Another recipe from The 30-Minute Vegan: Over 175 Quick, Delicious, and Healthy Recipes for Everyday Cooking. I was looking for something comforting and this jumped out at me. A very simple recipe, the authors do state it will take closer to 45 minutes for this and it did take 45 minutes! The recipe called for spelt flour, but I used whole wheat (because I don't have any spelt flour, so there!)

Well worth the extra couple minutes, this recipe is another winner. The flavors blended together so well. I just can't say enough. This is one of my new favorite meals and will be making it again soon. M loved it, A hated it, D thought is was really good. Unfortunately for my sister, there was none left for her to try. D ended up eating A's portion as she refused to, big shock I know.

30 Minute Vegan Put the Tex in Your Mex Chili

2009-08-03T07:24:00.001-04:00

We were having friends over, so I decided to try making chili from The 30-Minute Vegan: Over 175 Quick, Delicious, and Healthy Recipes for Everyday Cooking.

This came out awesome! It did take closer to 45 minutes, but I am pokey, so there. But still, 45 minutes for great chili, I'll take it. It is not too spicy, just the right amount of spice, especially when kids will be eating it.

M loved it, D loved it, my sister loved it, I didn't even try to give A any. My friends really liked it, so I say it was a success.

She does include a recipe for sour cream, but I just served it with Tofutti brand Sour Supreme cuz I am lazy and D had picked some Sour Supreme up to make dip, but never made the dip, so I stole it. Sucka!

Try it, you'll like it.

MIA

2009-07-31T22:44:00.003-04:00

Yes, I know it has been awhile since I posted, no I am not being held captive in a cave by a terrorist cell or chained in a basement by a bunch of vegan hating carnivores.

I do apologize for the absence, but unfortunately, life has been a bit, well, crazy &*%^$W##$*. The sad fact is is that the depression fairy left a big dump on my head as of late and I am having a very difficult time focusing on the important things, like food. Anyway, I have not been doing much cooking except for quick type things and old standbys.

That along with the fact that the kids have been out of school and they expect me to hang out with them! Can you imagine? Well, they are kind of cute and pretty fun to be around, so I guess it isn't all bad there.

And finally, with D still out of work, he is pretty much handcuffed to the computer, so trying to pry him off of it so I can get a chance to log on has been tricky.

Ok, I did get a new cookbook, The 30-Minute Vegan: Over 175 Quick, Delicious, and Healthy Recipes for Everyday Cooking, so I am planning on trying out a couple recipes this week, so I will have some stuff to post if I can drag D's ass off the computer. Someone give him a job so I can get my computer time back!

Alrighty then, don't lose hope, I will be back soon.

Vegan Italian Church Window made with Dandies

2009-06-30T21:08:00.000-04:00

Oh, let me start by saying Dandies are deeevine! A had one and said, "Mommy, these are so awesome!" Of course she won't eat the candies/cookies, because she won't eat nuts. Thank goodness I also bought a couple extra bags as we are going camping, so she has been chowing the marshmallows right out of the bag!

I do have to do a disclaimer, the church windows candies/cookies are normally made with colored mini marshmallows and the Dandies are white. I tried (but failed miserably) to dye them by making some natural food coloring. Oh well, they aren't as pretty as my nonny's, but they also didn't harm any animals to be made, so I prefer the white vegan marshmallow and they taste the same! Even my non veg sister loved them!

So, I stole this picture off the web, these are what they look like with the colored marshmallows, this shows why they are called church windows and they do look pretty. But they contain tortured animal parts, so we don't want them!

Since the recipe requires mini-marshmallows, I cut the Dandies into 4 pieces each. Here is the recipe if you are so inclined to make them:

Church Windows

12 oz. vegan chocolate chips
1/2 cup Earth Balance (or other vegan margarine)
1 10 oz. bag of Dandies vegan marshmallows (each marshmallow should be cut into 4 pieces)
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1 pkg. shredded coconut (I used unsweetened)

Melt margarine and chocolate chips. Allow to cool enough so that the marshmallows will not melt.
Add nuts and marshmallows.
Divide mixture into 2 batches and use wax paper to roll them into log shapes.
Roll the logs in the coconut.
Refigerate for 24 hrs.
Slice into 1/3rd inch slices.

Hehehe, look this log looks like a big poo rolled in coconut.

Enjoy!

Lazy Woman Rambling

2009-06-28T13:37:00.004-04:00

I am feeling really lazy today. I just can't seem to motivate myself to do anything and stuff needs doing. Someone needs to light a match under my ass.

I am also feeling like a bad mommy today. The kids are fighting and I find myself yelling too much. Why do they think it is ok to hit each other? I don't hit, so they aren't getting that idea from me. hmmm.

The weather has been bad, it has been raining almost everyday for the past month and I am trying to figure out things to do with the kids that don't cost anything as we are more than broke right now with D being out of work for 7 months now. The rain means no outside activities and we can only spend so much time at the library. Any ideas? Help!

Geez, this post is boring, sorry. I am going to go do the dishes now.

Vega Smoothie Infusion

2009-06-24T18:00:00.007-04:00

The wonderful folks over at Sequel Naturals sent me a package of Vega Smoothie Infusion. If you are unfamiliar with Vega products, they are raw whole foods, all plant based of course, made into powders and bars. They are made with whole foods that are not genetically modified, no pesticides, no artificial colors, flavors, or sweeteners. The line also does not contain the common allergens corn, soy, dairy, gluten, wheat or yeast.

I drink the Vega Whole Food Health Optimizer every morning. It is loaded with quality proteins, Omega fats, dairy free probiotics, fiber, enzymes (they help the body digest foods) and 100% of the RDA of vitamins and minerals!

So, on to the Smoothie Infusion. It is meant to be added to your smoothies, pretty simple concept. You are drinking smoothies, right? It is a great way to get your fruits in, and by blending them into a smoothie, the body is better able to digest them.

The Smoothie Infusion adds 14 grams of protein and 6 grams of fiber along with Omega 3 EFA's and greens into your smoothie! That is amazing.

And for me, I want to have green smoothies, but as I do not have a nice high powered blender like Vita-Mix and I do not like a smoothie with chunks of greens in it, I tend not to make them. So, the Vega Smoothie Optimizer adds the greens I would put in my green smoothie, without the chunks! The following greens are in Smoothie Optimizer: spirulina, organic wheat grass, organic alfalfa grass, organic barley grass, organic spinach, organic sprouted broccoli, organic kale, organic kelp and organic dulse.

Now, 0n to the taste. Ok, honestly, I didn't detect a taste, and that is good as it means it did not take away from the flavors I was blending. It did make the drinks I made have a slight green color to them, but that was minimal and not a bad color.

I really highly recommend the Smoothie Infusion and the Whole Food Optimizer. No, I do not make any money from recommending them, I truly like them. I have not tried their food bars, so I cannot speak to them. But really, why wouldn't you want to try these? They contain such good nutrition and they are minimally processed, so very healthy for you. And the best part? The man who formulated them is vegan and a Ironman Triathelete, so you can be sure your getting high quality nutritional products.

Here are a couple of smoothies I made with the Smoothie Infusion:

1 cup frozen mixed berries (strawberry, blackberry, raspberry, blueberry)

1 serving Smoothie Infusion

1 banana

1 cup water

This was yummy, very berry.

Next one:

1 cup almond milk (unsweetened)

1 serving Smoothie Infusion

1 banana

4 ice cubes

This tasted really light and creamy. I really liked this one.

And my favorite:

I added all the ingredients from the second smoothie plus 1 cup of pineapple chunks.

This was like a dessert. It was cool, creamy and refreshing, really tasty!

Another Cookbook Giveaway

2009-06-24T13:50:00.002-04:00

I love posting about giveaways. Who doesn't love free stuff?

Shellyfish from the Musings From the Fishbowl blog is having a giveaway of the Sweet Freedom cookbook. Be sure to check out her blog and enter to win a copy of Sweet Freedom here.

Cookbook and Product Giveaway

2009-06-22T16:39:00.003-04:00

Go Dairy Free is giving away a copy of Cookies for Everyone and coupons for Enjoy Life products, so hop on over to enter.

My Sweet Girl

2009-06-22T16:21:00.003-04:00

I have this patch of grey hair on the side of my head that has gotten much more noticeable as of late and I have been thinking about coloring it, now I don't know if I should.

This morning I was hanging on the couch with the kiddos and M asked me why my hair was getting so grey.

A immediately answered "That's the light of momma shining through her hair."

awww, I am blessed to have such wonderful children.

Vegan Peanut Butter Tagalongs

2009-06-18T21:07:00.002-04:00

Ok, these are seriously amazing. I found the recipe online and even though the recipe isn't vegan, the only things to veganize were switching Earth Balance for the butter and replacing milk with soy or nut milk. So, if you liked the Girl Scouts Peanut Butter Tagalongs or if you just like peanut butter and you like chocolate and you like them together, you really need to make these.

For the Cookies:
1 cup Earth Balance (or other vegan margarine), soft
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp soymilk or nut milk

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Mix in flour, baking powder and salt at a low speed, followed by the vanilla and milk. The dough should come together into a soft ball.

Take a tablespoon full of dough and flatten it into a disc about 1/4-inch thick. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough. Cookies will not spread too much, so you can squeeze them in more than you would for chocolate chip cookies.

Bake cookies for 11-13 minutes, until bottoms and the edges are lightly browned and cookies are set. Immediately after removing cookies from the oven, use your thumb or a small spoon to make a depression in the center of each cookie.

Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the Filling

1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar*
generous pinch salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
about 8-oz semisweet chocolate

In a small bowl, whisk together peanut butter, confectioners’ sugar, salt and vanilla. When the mixture has come together, heat it in the microwave (again in short intervals, stirring frequently), until it is very, very soft. Working carefully with the hot filling, transfer it to a pastry bag (or plastic bag with the tip cut off) and pipe a generous dome of the filling into each cookie’s “thumbprint”.

Chill cookies with filling for 20-30 minutes, or until the peanut butter is firm.

Melt the chocolate, make sure to keep it warm, so it remains fluid while you work.

Dip chilled cookies into chocolate, let excess drip off, and place on a sheet of parchment paper to let the cookies set up. The setting process can be accelerated by putting the cookies into the refrigerator once they have been coated.

Makes about 3-dozen

*You might need slightly less sugar if you’re using the conventional peanut butter, as it tends to be a bit sweeter. Taste the filling before using to make sure you like the sweet/savory balance.

Original recipe posted here.

Cool Product Giveaway

2009-06-12T17:15:00.002-04:00

Get thee on over to Wing-it Vegan blog and enter this great giveaway for a Healthy Chef 4-in-1 Appliance.

Enter here.

EVO Restaurant

2009-06-09T09:26:00.001-04:00

My family and I went out to dinner. There is a relatively new restaurant in Worcester, MA and I have been dying to try it as I heard wonderful things. They are supposed to be very vegan friendly.

The atmosphere is really nice and the staff is friendly. The lighting is NOT condusive to great picture taking, so my apologies for the pictures.

There is a peppersteak sandwich on the menu, it states you can order it with vegan steak and soy cheese, now this would lead one to believe the sandwhich is made with vegan cheese. I know of at least 2 people who had gone and were told that it was indeed vegan, but being the untrustworthy soul that I am, I asked anyway and was told, "no, the cheese is not vegan as they cannot find a vegan cheese that melts well." WTF? Number one, the restaurant is attached to a store that the family has owned for decades and they sell Follow Your Heart, which melts wonderfully (though it is not my favorite flavor-wise) and I did tell them about Teese which is the best melting vegan cheese ever!

This really made me angry, they are basically lying to some vegans and giving them animal products while telling them they are vegan foods. I am lucky I got an honest waitress.

So, I did verify everything else was indeed vegan before ordering. To start out, they gave us bread sticks with a marinara dipping sauce. Very good.

D ordered a fish dish, so I refused to take a picture and am not posting about it.

M and I both ordered the peppersteak without cheese. M hated it and I did not like it at all. D tried a bite and even he did not like it.

A ordered a pizza again, no cheese with vegan tempeh bacon. She hated the bacon, and ended up just eating the pizza scraped. M ate the pizza and enjoyed it. I tried it and thought it was pretty good.

To finish, the kids were thrilled to be able to get a vegan ice cream brownie sundae complete with Soyatoo whipped topping. They are not used to being able to order dessert out. They split one and D and I tried a bite. Very good, though I do not like Soyatoo, so I just tried the ice cream. Both kids loved the dessert and it was the highlight of the evening.

So, in all, a huge disappointment. I will not recommend EVO and I don't think I will go back except maybe to take the kids for dessert.

Dinner Loaf

2009-06-07T12:19:00.000-04:00

So, there is this really cool site created by Jennifer McCann (Vegan Lunchbox) where you can plug in ingredients you have on hand and it will generate the proper recipe for you to make your own Adventist-style dinner loaf.

Unfortunately for me, the one generated for the ingredients I plugged in did not taste too wonderful. I will try it again using different ingredients though. This is just such a wonderful site to have when you don't know what to make and can't think of a way to use the ingredients you have in your kitchen.

Black Bean Corn Dip

2009-06-06T17:04:00.000-04:00

This makes for a nice, healthy snack. I like eating it with tortilla chips, but it would probably be great on salad. OOO, I will have to try that!

This is a mild version so the kids would try it. Next time I will try adding some cumin or cayenne. Or probably jalepeno peppers.

Black Bean Corn Dip

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup corn
1 14 oz. can jalapeno diced tomatoes (or dice up some tomatoes and jalapenos)
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
Juice of 1 lime
4 garlic cloves, chopped
Bunch of green onion or a yellow onion, chopped small
1/3 cup packed cilantro

Mix 1st 7 ingredients together.

Add cilantro.

Toss and chill for at least a few hours to allow flavors to meld.

Vegan Steak Bomb

2009-06-05T13:00:00.000-04:00

Ok, so this isn't whole non processed food, but it was delicious!

I was really craving a vegan steak bomb, so I used the Morningstar Farms vegan steak strips, sauteed some bell peppers and onion then threw some Teese mozzerella flavor on top. I placed them on a whole wheat tortilla with some lettuce.

So yummy.

Playgroup Oat Bars

2009-06-04T19:02:00.000-04:00

This are delicious. Even A ate them, that says alot!

Ingredients:

2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup wheat germ
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup raisins
3/4 tsp. salt
1 banana, mashed
1/2 cup agave syrup
1/2 cup applesauce
2-3 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.
Grease a 9 x 13 inch baking pan.
In a large bowl, mix together the oats, brown sugar, what germ, cinnamon, flour, raisins and salt.
Make a well in the center and pour in the agave, banana, applesauce and vanilla. Mix well, you may want to use your hands for this part
Pat the mixture evenly into the pan
Bake for 30 - 35 minutes, until the edges of the bars begin to turn golden
Cool for 5 minutes, then cut into bars while still warm (do not allow to cool before cutting, they will harden)

original recipe can be found here

Look Who's Outside My Window

2009-06-02T10:06:00.004-04:00

I was checking my email and D made a funny face as he looked out the window. We saw this little cutie in the backyard starting to climb a tree. I went and grabbed my camera and here he is:

Just ramblings

2009-05-30T20:20:00.002-04:00

I find myself having a very hard time coming up with anything new to post. I have been just making tried and true things for the kids and nothing terribly exciting for myself as I am just counting calories, no fun. I do hope to change that soon, though, I just need motivation to get cooking even if it is stuff I cannot really eat, calorie wise. I wouldn't mind so much if everything I made wasn't meet with great displeasure when placed in front of A.

Speaking of A, she cracks me up. I weighed out some crackers to have with hummus for a snack while we all played a board game and she wanted some. I told her I would get her a separate dish of crackers as I had already weighed mine out for calories. She said, "But I don't need to weigh my calroys, right?" and then, "what are calroys anyway?"

Seems I cannot get caught up with anything. I have over 5,000 emails unread in my inbox! I really hate technology sometimes. My problem is that I feel like if I don't subscribe to every vegan blog or vegan newsletter I will miss out on some major thing. Well, it is not all vegan stuff in my inbox, there is parenting newsletters, health newsletters, friends who love to send crapass chain emails, the usual. I need to let go.

Ok, so I promise, I will be trying out some new stuff soon and posting. I need feedback and encouragement.

Thrive in 30 conclusion

2009-05-13T20:37:00.005-04:00

So, the 30 days is over and I definitely will be incorporating parts of his program into my life.

I think that all the lessons Brendan gave make so much sense for our health. I recommend everyone sign up for the free 30 day program. It doesn't cost you anything, you can choose to spend money on some of his products or not, either way. The lessons are free and really informative.

If you want to get the book, Amazon has a great price on it right now, Thrive: The Vegan Nutrition Guide to Optimal Performance in Sports and Life.

I am finding it a bit difficult to follow all the guidelines. Some of his recommended products are difficult to find near me or extremely expensive if I can find them. D has been out of work for over 6 months and financially I am struggling. That is not to say that these items are difficult to find everywhere or expensive everywhere. Some locations are much better for healthy food options than others.

Also, I am ashamed to admit that I have always relied heavily on processed foods. It is a big adjustment for me to stop using processed foods. I will be phasing them out, but I need to do this slowly. Especially since A is so damn stubborn on what she will and will not eat, I have a hard time getting her to eat anything new. But I will be incorporating more fresh foods and less processed, it will just take time.

I am also planning on rereading the book. Since my Grave's disease (mostly because I lived with it for a long time before being treated), I have some trouble with my cognitive thinking and have a harder time grasping new information. This is a frustrating aspect for me. I used to be able to hear a million things one time and instantly know the information, now it takes me several times to get it. UGH!

I will say that the fatigue is still bad, I am still having issues with falling asleep at inappropriate times, like dozing off while driving (so I don't drive anywhere far now). But I have noticed that I don't feel as much pain with the fibromyalgia.

I am also the kind of person who likes to do things all or nothing. So I have a hard time changing one thing at a time. I do it all, get overwhelmed and quit. So, I will try to do a little here and a little there to make it easier to change it all over time. Like right now, I will be doing the smoothies and salads. Later on, I will start incorporting something else, like more raw foods or soaking nuts and seeds or something.

So, in conclusion, I highly recommend the program. I just recommend you do it at a pace that is comfortable for you, and even Brendan says this. He tells you not to do it all at once because he doesn't want you to get overwhelmed and give up. (I need to listen better, LOL!) And, no, I don't make any money if you sign up for the free program, so I am not financially motivated to recommend it.

Fellow Vegan Cookbook Giveaway

2009-05-09T18:48:00.003-04:00

Ricki Heller from Diet, Dessert and Dogs is giving away a few copies of her new cookbook. So, if you want to win a copy, get on over to her blog and enter to win!

Days 21, 22 & 23 of Thrive in 30

2009-05-06T18:44:00.005-04:00

Monday, I could barely drag myself out of bed. Back to that. I don't know what happened.
I had my smoothie for breakfast, salad for lunch. My sister asked me to make her a salad, she loves my salads.

I didn't have a raw bar, didn't feel like eating one.

I did the elliptical for half an hour then strength training. Afterward I snacked on some fresh watermelon and cantaloupe.

For dinner, I sliced up a zucchini, threw it in a baking dish with some sliced peppers and onion, cooked it at 350 for 30 minutes and then threw it on top of some brown rice spaghetti with a little marinara sauce. The spaghetti was good, I am not a huge fan of zucchini, but I really enjoyed making it like spaghetti, so I thought this would be good.

Tuesday was horrible mood wise. I was pretty much zombie like all day. Tough time getting out of bed or doing anything else. I guess it is a good thing that D has been unemployed, cuz he can help with the kids when I am like this.

I had a smoothie for breakfast, salad for lunch.

Tuesday's raw bar was Larabar in cinnamon roll. It was pretty good.

I had absolutely no desire to eat dinner. I ended up just having a cut up watermelon, cantaloupe and sliced banana for dinner.

Today, mood slightly improved, still not a lot of energy though.

Smoothie for breakfast, salad for lunch.

Today's raw bar was Larabar Jocolat in chocolate orange, it was ok.

Did some gardening today. Couldn't muster the energy for a workout though.

For dinner, I made a "burger" from Thrive: The Vegan Nutrition Guide to Optimal Performance in Sports and Life. I didn't have enough almonds, so I used walnuts for the Almond Flax burger. It is made with balsamic vinegar and I think it was too overpowering. I didn't love this and M and A both hated it. The picture is kind of freaky. I know it has been awhile, but it looks meaty to me. ugh.

I think I will have some fruit tonight for a snack. There is still some watermelon and cantaloupe. Or maybe I will have a plum. Oh, the suspense.

Goodnight.

Sunday, Day 20 of Thrive

2009-05-03T19:14:00.005-04:00

This morning I added fresh pineapple to my smoothie. I also had the usual ingredients, Vega Whole Food Optimizer (I used one scoop each of berry flavor and chocolate as recommended by barnivore.com), a banana, Barleans Omega Vegan Swirl, frozen mixed berries, cherries, wheat germ, a little almond milk and coconut water.

I packed my salad to take with me so I could eat it at M's little league game. Afterward, we had to go to my brother in law's because my niece made her first communion. When we got there, my sil gave my son the choice of either pasta with alfredo sauce or cold cuts. Can you fucking believe that shit? Excuse my language, but what the fuck? She has known me for over 15 years and I have always been veg since she has known me. And she knows full fucking well that my kids are vegan. What a bitch! Then her father (a real piece of shit) said he brought pasta salad and I said he couldn't eat it because of the parmesan, the guy says, well, it's fresh parmesan, not processed. I don't care if the parmesan has flecks of pure gold in it, my kid isn't eating it, asshole. Ok, enough ranting.

My raw bar today was a Larabar in coconut cream pie flavor. I have been dying to try this one, doesn't it sound so good? Well, I must say, I was disappointed. Not really very good. :(

For dinner, I just peeled and sliced up an eggplant. I put the slices on a cookie sheet, sprayed them with olive oil and put some sea salt, fresh cracked black pepper, parsley and oregano on them. I baked them for about 4o minutes, turning them over after about 20 minutes. I threw some sauce on top and just ate it like that. It was good, but I would have killed for a nice plate of linguine under the eggplant! Oh well.

Day 18 & 19 of Thrive

2009-05-03T08:40:00.005-04:00

Friday morning was my Vega smoothie and lunch was a salad. I found these organic microgreens at Trader Joe's. There is red russian kale, collards, red cabbage, purple kohlrabi, purple radish and beet greens.

And Trader Joe's also had this organic sprouted mix, containing sprouted adzuki beans, lentils and peas.

I added both to my salad.

For my raw bar, I had the Raw Revolution in chocolate chip cookie dough. Oh, very yummy! I will get these again.

Dinner was again black bean burrito. I make a good size batch usually for me, D and M, but I have been making separate dinners and already made them dinner when I decided to make myself burritos the other night, so I had a bunch leftover.

I did the elliptical machine for half an hour. I did speed intervals, so hopefully it burned some big calories.

Saturday, again a Vega smoothie for breakfast and salad for lunch. I added the microgreens and sprouted beans again today. I really enjoy the sprouted beans. The microgreens are a bit bitter, not bad, especially when mixed in with the rest of the salad ingredients.

D bought some blackberries at the store, I washed them and put them in a bowl. I ate one and when I went to get another one, they were gone! Those kids are sneaky.

For the raw bar, I again had another Raw Revolution, this time I tried the tropical mango flavor, delicious!

I still had some black bean mixture so I made a wrap with the black beans, salsa, lettuce and tomato.

Day 16 & 17 of Thrive

2009-04-30T22:33:00.004-04:00

Nothing different here. Wed, I had a smoothie for breakfast, salad for lunch, Larabar cashew cookie for my raw bar and then for dinner, I made black bean burritos, no soy cheese.

I snacked on mixed nuts and watermelon (not at the same time.)

I started to do this couch potato to 5K program and thought it would be a good plan to go to this trail we have in town. Bad idea, as it turns out. The trail wraps around a pond and there are a bunch of people fishing and smoking. It makes it hard to run or walk when you have to breathe in the second hand smoke, plus I just seethe with anger as I see these jackasses fishing. The funny thing is, this pond is so contaminated, you are not allowed to enter the water. They have signs up about how bad the water is, yet this idiots eat the flesh of the fish that live in this water. Oh well, poetic justice I guess, perhaps the poor fish will pass on the contamination to the people eating them.

Today was again smoothie breakfast, salad lunch.

For a raw bar, I tried Raw Revolution bar in coconut agave. It was alright. M tried a bite and says he loved it.

I had a snack of watermelon before working out. I did a dvd and then some strength training. Nothing too intense. I ended up only having Vega Whole Food Optimizer in chocolate mixed with So Delicious coconut milk beverage, I just didn't want to eat dinner. I think it backfired on me though because I have been having major cravings all evening. I tried to quell it with an apple, then a small whole wheat pita with hummus, then caved and had a few tortilla chips with salsa (which really tasted weird- hmm, are my taste buds changing?) Finally, had a 100 calorie pack of almonds dusted with dark chocolate. Now I feel so disappointed in myself. Ugh.

Better luck tomorrow. Goodnight.

Day 14 & 15 of Thrive

2009-04-28T22:13:00.008-04:00

Thank you to Kelly from Sequel Naturals, my book has arrived and I am busy reading.

Monday, I started the day with Vega Whole Food Optimizer berry flavor blended with coconut water and a banana.

Raw bar, Larabar in chocolate coconut chew.

Lunch was salad, mixed greens, spinach, sweet peppers, tomatoes, shredded carrots, broccoli, sesame seeds with oil and vinegar.

In the afternoon, A and I snacked on carrot sticks and hummus.

For dinner, I made the zucchini again and added spinach.

Today I had a smoothie with Vega Whole Food Optimizer in natural blended with coconut water, frozen berries, cherries and a banana.

Lunch was a salad, same as yesterday. I also had a small pita bread with hummus.

The kids wanted pancakes for dinner, so I made them regular pancakes and I was excited to try the Vega recipe for blueberry pancakes. This is what they look like in the recipe booklet:

This is what mine look like:

Not right. I don't know what I did wrong, the batter was kind of a green/purple. And they taste like grass and dirt. I took 3 bites, trying to choke them down and had to throw them out. So, I made some brown rice and threw some frozen veggies and spinach on top.

I did work out yesterday, started the couch potato to 5K program, day one and then did some yoga. Today, I went for a walk with A and then spent most of the day outside.

Good night.

Sunday, Day 13 of Thrive in 30

2009-04-26T22:46:00.003-04:00

Ugh, I got up this morning and weighed myself. I gained a couple of pounds. Not what I was going for. However, I have noticed an improvement in my energy level. A little background, I suffer from a myriad of illnesses. You all know about the wonderful curse of bipolar, but I also have several auto immune diseases and one of my problems is fatigue that can only be described as overwhelming. I wake up exhausted, I can barely function throughout the day. I actually fall asleep places that I should not be falling asleep at. Anyway, I wouldn't say I am ready to run a marathon, but I really have noticed a bit more energy. I was even able to do a Leslie Sansone 5K dvd workout this afternoon. And that alone is worth sticking to this program to see how much better I will feel in the days to come.

Unfortunately today was a tough day. We had a family event and I had people over afterward. I was not up to having company and I was right to worry. I ended up leaving everyone and had to barricade myself in tears in my room until everyone was gone. I am not proud of this, but I have been very emotionally raw and have had it with everyone and all the bullshit. Sorry, tirade over.

Breakfast was just a cup of So Delicious coconut milk with a banana and Vega Whole Food Optimizer in Vanilla Chai. I am not crazy about this flavor.

We had ordered pizza (no cheese, mushrooms, broccoli and tomato per M) and I ate 2 slices. Bad girl.

No snacks or raw bar today.

I had my salad for dinner. Mixed greens, spinach, sweet peppers, tomatoes, shredded carrots, broccoli, sesame seeds with oil and vinegar and a splash of lemon juice.

No pictures today, sorry. Now I am off to bed. Goodnight.

Saturday, Day 12 of Thrive

2009-04-25T22:15:00.006-04:00

It's late, I'm tired. Today was busy and I had a hard time coping with the pressure, had a bit of a meltdown. Ugh.

Breakfast was a smoothie made with the Vega Whole Food Optimizer in Natural flavor, a banana, frozen berries and coconut water.

Lunch, salad. I added sesame seeds. M and my sister had some and both really enjoyed it.

We had a bright spot in the afternoon, I picked up a coconut and we opened it in the backyard. This was the first time the kids have opened a coconut, we had so much fun drinking the water, spilling it on ourselves and prying loose the coconut meat. I put some in a coffee grinder, it shredded it really nice and fluffy. A loved it. Shocking, I know.

I went to a cafe for a vegan cupcake party thing. I didn't enjoy it there though. Too small and crowded, I don't do well in crowds. Plus, I couldn't really eat the cupcakes, even though they are vegan, they are not on my current regimen. I did have one mini cupcake, it was alright, but I prefer my own homemade. I ordered a smoothie, but it wasn't very good. Oh well. Back home for lots of housework.

I didn't eat until 9 p.m. and I just had leftover brown rice pasta from last night. Forgot to have a raw bar. No diet coke today.

Hoping for a better day tomorrow. We are having family over, so it will be another busy day. At least the weather is beautiful. Should be close to 90 tomorrow and it is only April, in New England. Yippeee.

Goodnight.

Day Ten and Eleven of Thrive in 30

2009-04-24T21:56:00.005-04:00

Yesterday was good. I felt like I had a bit more energy and I was in a pretty good mood.

I started with my usual smoothie with Vega Smoothie Optimizer, Barleans Omega Vegan Swirl, banana, frozen mixed berries, cherries, wheat germ and coconut water.

Lunch was again a salad of baby romaine, baby spinach, tomato, cucumbers, black olives, shredded carrots, alfafa sprouts, shredded broccoli, shredded cauliflower and purple cabbage, peppers and onions.

My raw bar was Larabar in Key Lime Pie. Ok, not my favorite flavor, but not bad. If you like lime, you would probably like it.

Dinner was so good. Thanks to Kelly for the recipe, it is in Brendan's book, The Thrive Diet: The Whole Food Way to Lose Weight, Reduce Stress, and Stay Healthy for Life, which is on sale on Amazon if you are interested.

Anyway, the meal is just easy, take a zucchini, cut it into strips, like noodles. Saute in a little coconut oil with a clove or two of garlic. Kelly suggested serving it with tomato sauce, but I just threw in a couple chopped tomatoes for the last minute of cooking. It was really good, and I am not crazy about zucchini. M loved it, too. A wouldn't touch it, she wanted "real" linguine. I started cutting strips with the vegtable peeler, but then thought of using the citrus zester and that made little spaghetti like strings.

Last night, I snacked on mixed nuts. No diet Coke all day.

Today, the same smoothie. Yesterday I found a decent blender on sale for $17, so yeah, no more making smoothies in a cracked blender.

I spent the morning outside with A planting and then both kids helped me weed the cactus garden, though I made them stick to the outside edge so they weren't close to the cactus. That pleasure was mine alone! (Insert sarcastic sound here.) I will be pulling those prickers out for a month!

Lunch, usual salad. I added sprouted lentils and sprouted peas.

I did cheat a little, the kids wanted pancakes for lunch and I couldn't resist. I had 1 of them with a few chocolate chips in it. I felt a bit guilty, but it was really yummy and still vegan. Besides, once a month (if you get my drift) I have major food cravings and tend to really eat way more than I should, but can't help it. This was way better than how much junk I tend to eat at this time, so I am proud I didn't go crazy overboard.

The raw bar today was Larabar in cashew cookie.

Dinner was late and rushed. M had a Little League game, so we got home kind of late. I made some brown rice penne and served it with a little coconut oil and tomato sauce. I actually could not find my camera for a few hours (it was hiding under a chair) so I didn't take a picture of dinner. Diet coke today, 12 oz bottle.

I also had a little bit of So Delicious Coconut Milk chocolate ice cream. Really delicious. Not sure if it is Thrive approved, but I really needed some and only had a little. At least it is not full of hormones and chemicals, here are the ingredients: organic coconut milk, organic agave syrup, chicory root extract, cocoa (processed with alkali), carob bean gum, guar gum, natural flavor.

Good night.

Day Nine of Thrive in 30

2009-04-22T20:51:00.005-04:00

A big Thank You to Kelly from Sequel, she is sending me a copy of Thrive Diet! I can't wait to read it.

Today was pretty good. Breakfast was a smoothie with Vega Smoothie Optimizer, Barleans Omega Vegan Swirl, banana, frozen mixed berries, cherries, wheat germ and coconut water.

Lunch was a salad of baby romaine, baby spinach, tomato, black olives, shredded carrots, alfafa sprouts, shredded broccoli, shredded cauliflower and purple cabbage, peppers and onions.

Raw bar was Larabar in cashew cookie, I actually liked this one.

Kelly emailed me with a great idea for dinner, but I didn't have any zucchini in the house, so I will be making it possibly tomorrow. I really need to go shopping, so I had another salad for dinner.

Now, I am really craving something sweet and D picked up a pineapple, so I think I will go cut that up and have a yummy treat.

Thrive in 30 ongoing

2009-04-22T09:28:00.004-04:00

I forgot to mention in yesterdays post that on Monday, I tried the Vega Whole Food Health Optimizer in chocolate, mixed with water. It was kind of gross, so yesterday, I tried it mixed with the So Delicious coconut milk beverage thinking it would be like a chocolate milk. It was much better than with water, but still not great.

I am also wondering when the program is going to show me some results. I know it has only been a week and in one of the lessons, Brendan states that this is not a quick fix, but a long term process that will greatly improve your health. But he also says that by replacing one meal of acid forming, processed foods with a leafy green salad will show a big difference in just 2 days. I am not feeling any difference.

Maybe I am doing things all wrong? I really should buy the book, but I am really broke with D out of work and I am only working one or two days on the weekend and I already spent alot on the Whole Food Health Optimizer and the Smoothie Infusion. They are having a giveaway on ThriveDiet.com, so I am holding out hope I will win one of the packages.

Maybe I just need Brendan to come to my house and make all my food for me, hahahaha!

Day Seven and Eight

2009-04-21T21:57:00.005-04:00

Monday was really a bad day emotionally. I literally could not drag my ass out of bed until 9:15 a.m. Coming from someone who is usually up at 6:30, that is late. Once I get up I need to take my thyroid pill (I had to have my thyroid removed in 2002) and cannot eat anything for at least an hour after taking it.

So, after 10:15, I had a smoothie with Vega Smoothie Infusion, banana, frozen mixed berries, cherries, wheat germ and coconut water.

Lunch was a leafy green salad.

Shortly after lunch, I took a really long nap. Depression really makes you tired. When I woke up, it was almost 7 p.m.! So I skipped the raw bar and just had dinner. I was too tired to really think, so I made up a Sunshine burger on whole wheat bun with hummus, spinach and peppers.

No diet Coke on Monday.

Tuesday I had to get up because I had to go to the hospital for an ultrasound. Seems my mammogram has been showing funky stuff, but the ultrasound isn't, so I guess I don't need to worry. Anyway, breakfast was a smoothie again. I was out of coconut water and also the So Delicous coconut milk beverage, so I just used water with the Vega Smootie Infusion, banana, mixed berries, cherries and wheat germ.

Once I got back from that appointment, I had my raw bar. I tried a bite of the Organic Food Bar Active Greens. One bite and I ugh. I threw it out.

So, I tried the Organic Food Bar in Wild Blueberry. Better. Still, they are so oily, it turns my stomach. I won't be buying these once my supply runs out.

After the raw bar, off to another appointment. I had to see my neurologist. Busy morning.

When I got home, I had my salad. Pretty much the same. M asked to have some, he doesn't like the pepperocini, so I left it off his.

I have been making myself a separate dinner from the rest of the family as I am not able to eat what they are eating. I just sauted some peppers and spinach with garlic, sea salt and cracked pepper and had it on a whole wheat pita with hummus. Not much variety. I need ideas.

Snacked on a plum and did have a 12 oz. bottle of diet Coke today. Not bad.

Day Six

2009-04-20T11:13:00.005-04:00

I worked again yesterday, so again, no pics.

For some reason, I was very clumsy all morning and kept dropping things, including my blender. Now it has 2 large cracks in the container, so I will need to replace it. Unfortunately, I cannot afford to replace it with the Vita-mix, so I will have to get another cheap one. :(

Breakfast was a smoothie made with the cracked blender. I used a banana, frozen mixed berries, frozen cherries, coconut water, So Delicious Coconut milk beverage, Vega Smoothie Infusion and 2 tablespoons of wheat germ. I must say, the smoothie infusion has a slight sea taste, due to the kelp and dulse I assume.

I had a handful of pistachios. They were given to me by a friend who assures me they have been in her house for about a year, well before the salmonella outbreak, so they are safe.

Lunch was the usual salad. I love adding the cooked sweet peppers, it just adds something to the flavor.

Raw bar was a Larabar. I had the chocolate coconut chew. Pretty good, I am not a huge fan of larabar, but this was one of the better flavors.

I had a lovely snack of fresh pineapple.

After work, I had to go straight to my son's baseball game, so I stopped at Chipotle again. I had a salad bowl, with just lettuce, fajita vegtables, black beans and salsa. I had to get some chips and guac, too. Bad girl! But, I think I am getting over the guac obsession now.

Once I got home, I had to fight an incredible urge to eat chocolate, but I did not give in.

I only had a couple sips of diet Coke all day, Wahoo!

Pretty good day.

Cute Friends

2009-04-19T21:10:00.003-04:00

Have you seen this blog? It is adorable. Let's Be Friends is a blog of photos of unusual animal "friends."

Bento giveaway

2009-04-19T16:49:00.002-04:00

Here is a blogger having a giveaway. Click here to read her blog and enter to win your Bento!

Day Five of Thrive

2009-04-19T15:25:00.005-04:00

I had to work yesterday, so I don't have pictures of my food. I am starting to bore myself, so I can only imagine I am boring you. I will try to mix it up a bit next week, but this weekend I am working, so I am too rushed to be creative.

Saturday morning was whole wheat english muffin with a small amount of Earth Balance, eaten in the car on the way to work as I was running late as usual.

Lunch was a delicious leafy green salad, same as yesterday.

I forgot to have a raw bar, oops.

My Vega order arrived from Cosmo's Vegan Shoppe, so for dinner I just had a smoothie and I added the Vega Smoothie Infusion. Here are the ingredients (and yes, the natural flavors are vegan): Yellow pea protein, organic hemp protein, organic sprouted flax seeds, organic brown rice protein, organic green food blend (spirulina, organic wheat grass, organic alfalfa grass, organic barley grass, organic spinach, organic sprouted broccoli, organic kale, organic kelp, organic dulse), inulin (from chicory root), natural flavors, xanthan gum.
Doesn't that sound healthy?

Of course, I had been craving tortilla chips and guacamole all day for some reason, so around 7, I caved and did have some.

I think that the fact that I didn't eat every 3-4 hours contributed to my "craving and caving."

As for my diet Coke obsession, I am drinking some, but not alot, so I am doing pretty good with that.

Day Four and Five of Thrive in 30

2009-04-17T17:20:00.008-04:00

I had to work last night, so I stopped at Chipotle for a salad and brought that home for a late dinner. I was really tired and wanted to hang out with D, so I didn't get online to post.

Here is yesterdays overview, not much exciting.

Breakfast was the normal whole wheat english muffin with an apple.

The raw bar of the day was ThinkOrganic in Cherry Nut flavor. Pretty good, but I prefer the chocolate coconut.

Lunch was the usual green salad, this time I added some of my balela on top, really good.

The smoothie was the same as yesterday.

Dinner was the Chipotle salad, you can't see much under the guacamole, which I think is the most fabulous guacamole in the world. I love it.

Today, ok I am boring. I had the same breakfast. I do need to get away from this, I don't think the english muffins are ok on this program. I am not really good about knowing how processed things are.

The raw bar was just one of the regular Organic raw bars.

Today's salad, I decided to saute some peppers and onion and threw that on top. OMG! Really tasty.

Same smoothie as the last few days.

Dinner is a Sunshine Burger in Garden Herb flavor. I love these. I think they are not very processed, but I could be wrong, feel free to correct me. The ingredients are just :Organic Ground Raw Sun-flower Seeds, Organic Brown Rice, Organic Carrots, Organic Herbs, Sea Salt. I did put it on a whole wheat bun. I sauteed more peppers and onions because they were so aweome on my salad. I also mashed up about half an avocado and spread it on the bun. This was delicious.

I haven't had my smoothie yet, but will be making is soon. I will report on that on my next post.

Balela and Barleans Omega Vegan Swirl Vegan DHA

2009-04-15T18:49:00.010-04:00

Today was very similar to yesterday. I had a whole wheat english muffin for breakfast.

The smoothie today was the same as yesterday, only I added a teaspoon of Barleans Omega Vegan Swirl. It contains DHA from microalgae and it is berry flavored. I bought it for the kids and they both enjoyed it.

The raw bar today was Larabar Jocalat Chocolate Coffee. I thought it was ok, but probably wouldn't buy it again.

Lunch was the same leafy green salad as yesterday.

This afternoon, I had a yummy snack of balela. It was so good and I did have a couple of corn chips with it, but only a couple. I will post the recipe at the bottom of the post. I think it needs a bit of vinegar though, so I am going to add some next time.

Tonight, M had baseball practice and had to leave the house at 5, so D and the kids ate early. I decided to eat at a normal time and had some more black bean burrito. I added spinach tonight and a side of corn.

With dinner, I decided to have a glass of So Delicious Coconut Milk beverage. It comes in Unsweetend, Original and Vanilla, I had the vanilla. Yummy!

No diet Coke today! I am proud of myself, but will not be giving it up entirely. I have always drank it, but it has become a daily habit that I am not proud of and I know it is very unhealthy.

I did cave and have one chocolate cupcake today. I made them last night because A had a birthday party to go to today and I needed to make cupcakes so she could have one at the party.

Here is the recipe for balela:

1 can each garbanzo beans and black beans, rinsed and drained
1 smile onion, chopped
3 tomatoes, chopped
bunch of parsley, chopped
3 Tablespoons olive or grapeseed oil
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste. (about 1/4 tsp.)

Mix all together and chill.

Good night!

Day Two of Thrive

2009-04-14T20:35:00.005-04:00

I think day 2 has gone well. I started out this morning with a whole wheat english muffin and a smoothie. The smoothie recipe is the same one from yesterday.

Lunch was a leafy green salad. I had the baby romaine, baby spinach, cucumber, tomato, pepperocini, black olives, shredded carrots and added alfafa sprouts, shredded broccoli, shredded cauliflower and purple cabbage.

My raw bar today was thinkOrganic chocolate coconut bar. Very tasty and much lower in calories than the regular Organic bars. Too bad I already stocked up on a few of those other ones.

Afternoon snack with the kids was a lovely, fresh pineapple. Yum.

Dinner was black bean burritos. I made mine without the vegan cheese. I had a side of corn and avocado.

I forgot to mention that I have developed an addiction to diet Coke. I stopped drinking coffee about a month or so ago. Strange, but around the time I stopped taking my crazy meds, I could no longer tolerate coffee. Not that I didn't still love it, just for some strange reason I got extremely sick to my stomach every time I try to drink it. So, in order to not get my caffeine withdrawal migraine, I started drinking diet Coke. Now I am trying to drink less as it is very unhealthy. So, the point of this story is that I am really proud of the fact that today I only had half a can of diet Coke today.

Baby steps.

Day one of Thrive

2009-04-13T20:28:00.004-04:00

I received my first lesson email last night, so today was day one. It talks about how stress affects health and how eating a nutritious whole food diet helps with that.

For my raw bar, I had the Vegan Organic Food Bar. It contains: Organic Almond Butter, organic date paste, organic agave nectar, organic brown rice protein, organic bio sprouts - flax, organic raisins, organic bio sprouts - quinoa, organic sesame seeds. It was pretty tasty, but a bit oily and very high calorie. 300 calories! Geez.

For lunch, I had another leafy salad, I added baby spinach, but was out of tomato. I also had half of the individual pizza from the restaurant yesterday, so I had that with my salad.

My smoothie consisted of frozen berries, frozen cherries, banana and coconut water.

Dinner was not really on the program, but I promise A I would make her quesadillas and I was planning on making myself something separate, but I was tired and the quesadillas looked really good, so I caved and had one.

I checked a couple stores around here to get some of the vega products, but apparently no one around here carries it. I guess I will have to order some online if I want to get any.

See you tomorrow.

Preparing day

2009-04-12T19:29:00.009-04:00

Today was kind of the first day of the new program, but technically, day one will be tomorrow as I have not gotten the first lesson yet. The first lesson is supposed to be emailed tonight, so I am just trying to start out by following the suggested daily guidelines.

I had a sample of the vega Whole Food Health Optimizer powder in berry flavor, so I drank that with water this morning. It was pretty tasty, a little gritty, but not too bad.

We went out with family for Easter around lunchtime, so I ordered a salad, which was mostly iceberg lettuce, so not too nutritional. I also ordered pizza with no cheese, roasted peppers, eggplant and spinach. Of course, they were very ungenerous with the veggies, but that seems to be the norm.

A few hours after lunch, I had a raw food bar, as recommended in the daily suggestions. I tried the Omega-3 Flax Organic Food Bar and was actually pretty happy with it. I am not a fan of raw food bars, but do eat them occasionally because I know they are healthy. I opened up the package and did not expect to like it at all, so my hopes were not high. I did think it was good and want to try the other flavors. (the original flavor is not vegan as it contains honey, but the other 3 flavors I saw are vegan, so I want to try those.)

Dinner time was kind of late, so I had the recommended green salad. I made mine with baby romaine, cucumber (with skins), tomato, a few black olives, grated carrots, pepperocini, sea salt, black pepper and olive oil and vinegar dressing.

Oh, and I also made a yummy smoothie as that is also one of the daily recommendations. I made a smoothie with a banana, frozen mixed berries, frozen dark cherries and a small amount of soymilk.

Overall, I think today went very well and am looking forward to receiving the first lesson.

Happy Easter and a Teeny Tiny Bunny

2009-04-12T07:49:00.003-04:00

Depending on what you celebrate:
Happy Easter, Happy Passover, Happy Day.

And here is a video of a teeny baby bunny, only hours old. It was found in a delivery of mulch which was fortunately delivered to a home across the street from veterinarian Dr. Carrie Sutor.

They think the baby bunny's mother must have built her nest in the mulch pile.

Rehauling

2009-04-11T19:14:00.005-04:00

Ok, so I have been really exhausted and run down. The depression has been getting to me and I decided to wean off my meds. No easy task. There is a real physical withdrawal from crazy meds and I got pretty sick.

Now, I have been off the meds for several weeks. I find myself craving sugary foods like mad now. I suppose it is the quick, though temporary, lift they provide.

I came across the Thrive in 30 website and just signed up. I am hoping to see some results from Brendan Brazier's program. Brendan is a vegan Ironman triathlete! I am not planning on becoming a triathlete, but thought the program could help me with mood and energy.

And I figured the cost really can't be beat as it is FREE! So, what have I got to lose, right?

Anyone want to join me on my journey? If so, just sign up for your free 30 day program and leave me a comment. I really would love some company, plus I feel like if I am blogging about this, I will be less inclined to give up if I am somewhat being held accountable.

These are some of the benefits the program is supposed to offer:
-Decrease body fat
-Diminish visible signs of aging
-Boost energy without caffeine or sugar
-Cultivate mental clarity
-Enhance mood
-Eliminate junk-food cravings
-Improve sleep quality
-Build a stronger immune system
-Lower cholesterol
-Reduce biological age

If you want to check out the introductory lesson before you sign up, click here. This program is free and I am NOT getting any money for this. They don't even know I am blogging about this, I just wanted to try it and see if it helps me.

Please, join me.

Great Giveaway

2009-04-10T22:56:00.002-04:00

Here is a cool giveaway over at One Frugal Foodie. It is for a $25 gift certificate (includes free shipping) for Navan Foods, a site dedicated to allergen free foods, lots of vegan stuff.
Check out the giveaway here.

Join me in Pissing Off Hunters

2009-04-04T19:56:00.001-04:00

This post is over at http://lickmeimvegan.blogspot.com/2009/04/lets-piss-off-hunters-and-sportsmen.html
But I wanted to make sure all my followers see this time sensitive information.

Vegan Manicotti

2009-04-03T14:59:00.001-04:00

I really wish I could find Teese cheese locally. I hate having to mail order it, having to pay the extra money for a cold pack and 2 day shipping. Ugh!

I really wanted to try vegan manicotti and was really pleased with the result. I think it came out perfectly. I am sure you can all guess what A thought though. "ick, I'm not eating that!" Well, too bad for her. Me, D and M devoured it. My sister and a friend who also tried it were very happy with it as well. One day, that girl will figure out what she is missing.

You will need a box of lasagna noodles, a ricotta recipe (below), some Teese mozzarella style and marinara sauce and a 9x13 inch baking pan.

I make the ricotta a day before, I like the flavors to meld together.

Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions and rinse with cool water. Once the noodles are cool enough to handle, lay them out one at a time, place a small amount of ricotta one one end of the noodle and roll it up. Place in baking pan.

Continue until all noodles or ricotta is used up.

Grate Teese mozzarella over the top of the manicotti and cover in sauce.

Bake at 350° F for 1 hour.

Enjoy!

Basil Tofu Ricotta from Vegan with a Vengeance and posted on the PPK

1 pound firm tofu, pressed
2 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
handful fresh basil leaves, chopped fine (ten leaves or so)
dash fresh black pepper

In a large bowl, mush the tofu up with your hands, till it's crumbly.
Add lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper and basil. Mush with hands again, this time you want it to get very mushy so squeeze through your fingers and mush until it reaches the consistency of ricotta cheese.
May take 2-5 minutes.
Add olive oil, stir with fork.
Add nutritional yeast and combine all ingredients well. Use a fork now, because the oil will make it sticky.
Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Grasshopper Restaraunt

2009-04-01T21:33:00.002-04:00

Dinner at Grasshopper Restaurant in Allston. This place rocks! The lighting was not great for photos, but I think they will suffice.

We each ordered a plate, but shared it all. I ordered the beef broccoli and it was simply incredible.

This was an appetizer of Vegetables Tempura. Excellent.

I don't remember what this was, I believe it was on the specials menu, it had peppers, broccoli, a veg chicken and it was really good.

M got the Sauteed Kale with Black Mushrooms and he loved it.

A ordered the Vermicelli Noodles with Vegi-Chicken and spring roll. She actually loved the spring roll and the noodles, but did not like the vegi-chicken. I actually agree with her.

We also ordered a vegetable fried rice. Everyone but A really liked the rice.

Can't wait to go back. Next time, I will need to remember to break out my VegDining Card. It gives you 10% off at participating restaurants and Grasshopper is on the list. The card is only Only $15.95 US, or just $11.95 US for members of listed vegetarian groups and you will get a free VegDining.com account for one year. VegDining.com is an online vegetarian restaurant guide and they also have great travel resources, articles and more. Right now, VegNews is offering a free magazine subscription to new subscribers that sign up for a VegDining.com account. The VegDining account is only $4.95 for the year and with that you can also currently get your first VegDining card for $6.95.

Check it out and if you do decide to get a dining card, please mention that Crazy Vegan Mom sent you. They currently have a great rewards contest going on and I want to win a trip to North American Vegetarian Society's Vegetarian Summerfest.

Stuffed Cabbage

2009-03-28T20:20:00.006-04:00

Things have been busy around here. I don't get much time on the computer as D has been using it constantly trying to find a job. He has been out of work since December, so he spends a lot of time on job finding sites and such.

This was our St. Patrick's day dinner. I have always had an issue with the whole corned beef and cabbage thing on St. Patrick's day, even before I was vegan. See, my grandmother was born and raised in Ireland and she could never understand why people ate corned beef to celebrate and Irish holiday as they did not eat corned beef in Ireland. (They used to actually eat cabbage with Irish bacon or Irish sausage. When the Irish immigrated to America, the Irish sausage or bacon was very expensive and they started buying corned beef from their Jewish neighbors as the corned beef was much less expensive.)

Any way, I was not having corned beef and cabbage, so I decided to try this. Let me tell you, it was fabulous! Of course, A did not agree. But D and M both loved it as did I.

So here is the "recipe"

1 head of cabbage, leaves separated

1 lb. ground beef substitute (TVP or Morningstar Farms recipe crumbles, etc.)

1 package rice of your choice

Marinara sauce

Fill a large pot with water and add a little salt. Bring to a boil and add cabbage leaves. Cook for 5 minutes, drain and rinse with cool water to stop the cabbage from cooking.

Cook rice according to directions, stir in "meat" and mix.

Lay out cabbage leaf and place a small amount of rice/meat mixture on top (about the size of your palm.)

Roll leaf to completely cover up the mixture, like a pocket. Place the cabbage pocket in baking pan.

Repeat until all pockets are complete.

Cover with a small amount of marinara sauce. You don't need a lot.

Bake at 350° F for 1 hour.

Crazy Ass Ramblings

2009-03-08T20:22:00.002-04:00

So it's been a little while since I posted. Frankly, the thing is, life pretty much throws things at you that you don't expect. Depression has taken quite a hold of me and posting happy thoughts and cooking up new foods are not high on my list of priorities.

I have been using all my energy to fake my way through the day. I have to put on the normal, happy mom face for the kids and the schools. I have no energy left for it once the kids are in bed or I have 5 minutes to myself. I am absolutely exhausted and cannot fake it more than necessary.

So, to the wonderful people who do read my blog, I apologize that I have nothing left to give after giving all day. Hopefully the cycle will end soon and I can get back to my cooking and baking and posting.

So Excited About New Books

2009-02-25T12:57:00.000-05:00

I am thrilled. I just pre-0rded two new cookbooks. One of course is from the fabulous by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and is called Vegan Brunch: Homestyle Recipes Worth Waking Up For-From Asparagus Omelets to Strawberry Pancakes.

The other is the much awaited cookbook from Erin McKenna from the amazing Babycakes bakery in NYC! It is called BabyCakes: Vegan, Gluten-Free, and (Mostly) Sugar-Free Recipes from New York's Most Talked-About Bakery

I cannot wait to get these new books and try out the recipes!

Order your copies:

CVM's Asian style Chick'n Stir Fry

2009-02-24T08:02:00.006-05:00

This was really fabulous, except that I used too much Bragg's liquid amino's so it was quite salty. Next time I will cut it in half and see how it comes out. I will post the recipe with half the amount of Bragg's, but until I remake it, I can't be sure if that is cutting it enough, use your best judgement if you try it.

M wouldn't eat it because it was too salty and A claims she did like it, but it was too salty for her to eat. D and I both loved it and devoured it despite the saltiness.

I used the new soy curls. Have you tried these yet? They are so amazing! I got mine from vegan essentials, but they also have them at Pangea and Cosmo's Vegan Shoppe. You could use any chick'n substitute, such as Morningstar or whatever if you don't have these. Just omit the Chick-Style seasoning if you don't use the soy curls.

Ingredients:

1 clove garlic, minced
1 yellow onion, diced
about a bunch of broccoli, cut
1 small can water chestnuts
(next time I also plan on adding red, yellow and green pepper strips)

1/2 bag soy curls
2 1/2 Tbs. Chik-style seasoning
1 Tbs. Bragg's Liquid Amino's, soy sauce or tamari
1 Tbs. vegetarian oyster sauce or vegetarian stir fry sauce (If you cannot find it or wish to make it from scratch, Bryanna Clark Grogan has a recipe for a homemade version here.)

Soak 1/2 bag of soy curls in about 2 1/2 cups warm water or chick'n style broth for 10 minutes.
In the meantime, start to saute garlic, onion, peppers and broccoli.
Once done soaking, drain the soy curls making sure to remove as much moisture as possible. Mix the soy curls with the Chik-style seasoning.
Add soy curls, Bragg's and oyster/stir fry sauce to vegetables.
Saute for about 10-15 minutes or until flavors have melded and vegtables reach desired level of crunchiness/softness.

I served mine with rice.
Enjoy!

Jay-Lo's Fried Chicken

2009-01-29T13:56:00.001-05:00

I made Jay-Lo's Fried Chick'n from La Dolce Vegan!: Vegan Livin' Made Easy by the vegan goddess Sarah Kramer.

They were much easier than I expected and quite delightful.

If you don't own this cookbook yet, what the hell is wrong with you? Get thee to Amazon now and buy a copy!

I feel sick

2009-01-25T07:36:00.003-05:00

Sorry for the the non-vegan post. I just need to write out some feelings. I lost one of my very best friends. He died and I feel so sick.

He has had a really rough life, but lately things were looking up for him. He had severe bipolar disorder and his wife left him and took their two kids. He has had to go years without seeing his kids, but finally got his visitation rights back. He just saw them for the 1st time in 6 months and now he is dead.

His poor mother found him. My husband last spoke with him Wed night and his mother found him Friday afternoon. He died somewhere in between. We think it was a heart attack.

The doctors just recently changed his meds for bipolar and he was feeling great. How is that for irony?

I have known him for over 25 years and he was a great person. We had a special relationship.
Maybe because we both knew the pain of bipolar we had that connection. He told me things he told no one else.

I loved him and I will miss him so very much. I cannot stop crying. I don't understand. He was 38. His boys will never see their dad again.

So, goodbye my dear sweet friend. I will miss you always and you will forever remain in my heart.

Leahey Gardens Vegan Macaroni & Cheese review

2009-01-23T14:41:00.001-05:00

I am not really sure what my obsession with macaroni and cheese is. I liked it before I became vegan, but this borders on insanity. Oh wait, oops, I am insane! Well, anyway, this is really good. And I am not a fan of the vegan mac and cheeses that I usually try. I think my favorite is with the Teese nacho mixed with macaroni, but if you don't have any Teese, this is really good.

You can get it online at vegan essentials, vegangoods or cosmo's vegan shoppe and other sites, but vegangoods probably has the best price.

Vegan Bacon and Broccoli Pizza

2009-01-22T11:09:00.001-05:00

Super simple. I just used the bread recipe for the dough, Teese mozzerella flavor, sauce, broccoli (I steamed it a bit first, cause A likes it soft) and Lightlife Smart Bacon.

This was so good. It brought back the days when my best friend and I would order a bacon pizza from our favorite pizza place. Though without the disgusting animal carcass. If I only knew then......

Peanut Butter Coffee Cake

2009-01-21T14:20:00.002-05:00

Ok, so I on Sunday, we got another 6 inches and about 2 hours after we cleaned up the driveway and walks, it started snowing again. We got another 5 inches! I cannot believe this crap!

So, coffee cake seemed like a nice idea on a snowy day. I really wish I could remember where I got this recipe. I try to remember to always put down the website when I use a recipe, but I am a very forgetful person these days as my daughter does love to point out. She even told my husband that "mommy is always forgetting stuff. She forgets to go to the store, she forgets to get stuff, she forgets to eat, she forgets everything!" Ah, what a sweet girl, LOL.

So I do apologize to the originator of this recipe. The original recipe did call for egg replacer, but I just skipped it and it came out great. Here it is:

Peanut Butter Coffee Cake

For the topping:
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup peanut butter
3 Tbsp. margarine

For the cake:
2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup soy milk
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 ripe banana, mashed
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) margarine

• Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking pan.
• For the topping, mix the brown sugar and flour. With a pastry knife, a fork, or your fingers, cut in the peanut butter and margarine until crumbly; set aside.
• For the cake, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the soy milk, peanut butter, banana and margarine. Beat until smooth, about 3 minutes with an electric mixer. Pour into the baking pan and sprinkle with the topping.
Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Preparation time: 20 minutes Baking time: 30 minutes Makes 12 servings

Mini Meatless Meatloaf

2009-01-14T14:22:00.002-05:00

These are really easy to make. I thought they were cute, too. As far as taste goes, though, they do not taste like meatloaf. But I still think they were pretty good. M and D thought they were ok and of course, A said they were gross. But we all know she says that about almost everything.

I served them with corn and roastes potatoes. Yes, I serve those alot because A eats them.

Mini Meatless Loaves

This recipe is from Vegetarian Journal, July/August, 1997.

1 Cup dry TVP granules
1 Cup canned tomato sauce
1 Cup mashed cooked potatoes
1 Cup rolled oats
1 Tablespoon dried minced onion or 1 teaspoon dried onion powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano or Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon dried mustard
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
salt

Spray 8 muffins cups with cooking spray.
Combine TVP with 3/4 Cup + 2 Tablespoons water. Stir and wait 10 minutes.
In mixing bowl, combine TVP with remaining ingredients.
Stir to mix, then spoon into prepared muffin cups.
Pack down top of each loaf with back of a spoon.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, until loaves are lightlybrowned and begin to pull away from sides.
Wait 5 minutes before carefullyremoving loaves with a spoon.

Makes 4 servings of 234 calories and 2 grams of fat each.

Link to recipe online.

Product Review: So Delicious Coconut Almond Bar

2009-01-13T10:10:00.001-05:00

Can you say amazing? These bars are so incredibly good you think you must be dreaming. The first thing you notice is the smooth, creamy, delicate taste. The coconut flavor is not at all overwhelming, it is a light taste and combined with the chocolate and almond, just perfect.

Each bar contains 170 calories, NO trans fat, NO choleserol. They are certified vegan and are made with organic ingredients. You must try these.

They are sweetened with agave nectar and made with coconut milk, so they are great for anyone who cannot have soy.

Now, I just have to find a store that sells the banana split sandwich minis. Sounds delightful!

Hey, Where is my Vita-Mix?

2009-01-12T08:28:00.005-05:00

Ok, so I have been dying for a Vita-Mix for, oh, I don't know, FOREVER! Now I see on 2 different blogs I love, they got Vita-Mixes from the Vita Mix people in exchange for reviews of said Vita-Mix!

Hello, Vita-Mix people? I would love to review the Vita-Mix for you in exchange for a Vita-Mix. As much as I would love to buy one, it isn't going to happen in this broke household with a stay at home Vegan Cooking Crazy Mom and a wonderful, but currently unemployed husband.

So, if you are looking for a review from a crazy vegan mom, here I am.

Vegetable Soup and Homemade Bread

2009-01-11T12:30:00.001-05:00

So in honor of the sicknesses spreading throughout my body and the fact that I have already passed on the strep to D, (hopefully the kids will not get sick) I decided to make some veggie soup. This is a bit different from the one I have been making as I decided to use a 6 oz. can of tomato paste in the broth instead of the regular vegetable stock.

Fill 8 qt. pan about 3/4 full and whisk in 6 oz. can of tomato paste. Add spices to your taste. I used about 1 tsp. of oregano, onion powder, basil, 2 tsp. parsley.

I use about 5 each of carrots, potatoes and celery stalks, two yellow onions chopped. 2 garlic gloves minced.

Bring all to a boil, lower heat and simmer about 3 hours. After 2 1/2 hours, cook a box of small soup pasta, orzo or tubetini, or whatever. Once cooked, add to soup and cook for the last 30 minutes.

I served it with some homemade bread.

Sick of Winter

2009-01-10T16:23:00.000-05:00

One snow storm followed by another and the ice storms have been awful. I think this is the worst winter ever and I lived through the blizzard of '78. Though, I was a kid, so that was a ton of fun for me!

New England is really getting hit hard this year, and it is only the early part of the season. Some houses were without power for 2 weeks during the December ice storm. We are supposed to get another foot tonight. And they still haven't cleaned up the debris from the last ice storm. We dragged what we could out front for pickup, but I don't think they will ever come take it away.

I have been hit with a sinus infection, the flu and strep, so the last couple of days I have pretty much stayed in bed. Not much fun here.

I hope you are all happy and healthy. Stay warm curled up by the fireplace with some nice tea or hot chocolate. I will be back with posts tomorrow.

Vegan Lunch

2009-01-08T14:39:00.001-05:00

Back to school after another ice storm! Leftover black bean burrito, cherry tomatoes, grapes with cantaloupe and a clementine.

Yummmmmm.

I don't think I can take any more of this winter weather.

Vegan Ribs

2009-01-06T14:44:00.001-05:00

I saw this recipe for yummy looking vegan ribs over on vegfamily. I thought I would give them a try.

On to my disastrous result. As you can see in the picture above, mine look nothing like theirs! Sometimes I just don't know why I cook, I tell you. The recipe seemed easy enough. I followed it to a T or so I thought. I am not really sure what I did wrong, but they came out bad. I mean really bad. Not only do they look nothing like his, they tasted like, oh I don't know, sawdust?

This is the "dough" before cooking. Looks like some kind of weird beehive or something.

Soy Chorizo and Potatoes with Salsa

2009-01-04T14:46:00.001-05:00

Super quick and easy lunch. This is the soy chorizo from Trader Joe's. I used some leftover roasted potatoes and just cooked them together in a skillet. Topped with salsa. If you happen to have any nacho style Teese on hand, that would be a great addition.

The chorizo is spicy, so if you are sensitive to spicy, I recommend having some Tofutti Better than Sour Cream on hand.

Christmas Lasagna

2009-01-03T09:28:00.001-05:00

Having grown up Italian, I have always served lasagna for Christmas. Before I become vegan, I was an incredible cook. Even people who did not really like lasagna, loved mine. I never did make it with meat, but it was a mass of cheese.

I have tried several recipes over the years without much luck. Not that is was bad, but it was never up to the old standard. Ricotta has always been tough to mimic. This year I tried 2 different recipes for ricotta substitutes, one from Vegan Dad and one from Vegan with a Vengeance : Over 150 Delicious, Cheap, Animal-Free Recipes That Rock
(recipe from VWAV posted here).

I also used Teese mozzarella flavor which really makes it so much better than it has come out in the past. In fact, it actually came out fantastic.

While I have no problem getting M to eat it, A is very picky, so I was hoping this year she would eat it. I usually make it with spinach, but as any sign of spinach would make A run in horror, I left it out. All to no avail, because she still claimed it was gross.

It was pretty easy to make. I like to "construct" the lasagnas the day before and let them sit in the fridge for a day. This helps to make them firmer and the flavors really mix. I also like to cook the noodles first.

To make:

Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions.

Meanwhile, mix up ricotta recipe of your choice.

Drain noodles and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking and make it easier to handle them.

Put a small amount of gravy (tomato sauce) in bottom of 9x13 pan. Follow by a layer of lasagna noodles. I like to overlap them slightly to keep the "cheese" from escaping through. This should take 4 noodles.

Next, apply a layer of "ricotta." You should use 1/2 your bowl of "ricotta." I find it easiest to use a frosting spatula. I have tried regular rubber spatulas, but this just works better for me.

Put a little more gravy on top of that and follow with a generous amount of Teese mozzarella (I grate it).

Repeat all steps for the second layer.

Finish by covering with a final layer of noodles, another generous amount of Teese mozzarella and plenty of gravy. Cover with foil and place in refrigerator. The next day, take out of fridge and bake uncovered at 350 F for one hour. To melt the top layer of Teese if you want, turn oven to 450 F for a couple minutes.

Christmas Candy

2009-01-02T16:14:00.006-05:00

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, or a happy holiday, whatever you may or may not celebrate. I thank you for all continuing to read my ramblings and hope that you are all enjoying your families and friends, especially at this time of the year.

Sorry I have been MIA, it has been a very busy few weeks. I have been going from one school to the other between Christmas parties, my daughters preschool class went to the nursing home to sing a concert for the elderly patients and hand out gifts, my sons school had a Winter festival and helping out with regular school volunteer stuff. I had to bake for the parties and as I cannot afford to buy presents for the 800 teachers, aides, dance instructors, etc. I made a bunch of candy to make gifts. Plus, overhauling the house and cooking and baking for Christmas Eve at my moms and Christmas Day at my house.

So here is the scoop on the candy. The peppermint bark was incredibly easy. I made one batch with vegan white chocolate chips and 2 batches with vegan dark chocolate chips. I forgot totally to take pictures of all the candy before giving most of it out, so there is no picture of the white peppermint bark and the heart shaped raspberry creams that actually resembled hearts were all given away before I remembered to take the pictures. Sorry.

Peppermint Bark

1 bag (12 oz.) vegan chocolate chips or vegan white chocolate chips
1 tsp. peppermint bark
5 full size candy canes, smashed up

Melt a bag of vegan chocolate chips.
Once melted, add in a tsp. of peppermint extract, stir well.
Spread out on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
Sprinkle the crushed candy canes on top and lightly press into the chocolate.
Put in freezer to cool.
After cooled completely, break apart in rough shapes.

The peppermint patties were frankly a pain in the ass. I modified it from this recipe on VegWeb.

Peppermint Patties
1/3 cup brown rice syrup
1/4 cup of vegan margarine, softened (I use Earth Balance)
4 and 3/4 cups of powdered sugar
1 Tblsp of peppermint extract
2 bags of chocolate chips

In a mixer, mix together syrup, margarine, and peppermint. This can be done by hand, but it gets tiring.

Add sugar by the cup while mixing.

You should end up with a crumbly, sort of dry bowl of stuff.

Take a small handful of the mixture and start to press it into shape. I suggest using about the amount you would find in a small York peppermint patty.

Melt the chips until liquid. Take it off the heat so it doesn't burn.
Coat the patties with the chocolate. This is very messy. I tried dipping the patties into the chocolate, but they tended to fall apart. I tried using a toothpick to dip them with, but they fell off. I ended up putting circles of chocolate on a sheet of parchment paper, placed patties on the circle and then painted the tops to cover the rest of the patty. This took forever and used way too much chocolate. If you come up with a better solution, please tell me as I would love to make these again without all the hassle. I will also tell you if I come up with something better.

For the raspberry creams, I used the same recipe for the peppermint patties, using raspberry extract instead of peppermint extract. I also rolled out the "dough" on a large sheet of parchment paper and then used a small heart shaped cookie cutter to cut them into shape. You may choose to use a small amount of red food coloring if you want it to have pink/red color to it. I didn't use any, so they are the whitish color of the peppermint patties.

TVP Neatloaf

2008-12-09T11:24:00.001-05:00

I got this recipe from Vegan Food.net
It was pretty easy and not bad, but not great either. I will try it again with some additional spices and maybe some veggies added in before baking.

TVP Neatloaf

INGREDIENTS

2 medium onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Oil or vegetable stock to saute
2 cups dried TVP granules, not rehydrated
2 cups hot vegetable stock (can use a cube)
2 cups fresh wholemeal breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes (or more to taste)
2 tablespoons wholemeal flour
1/4 cup tomato ketchup or tomato sauce
1/2 teaspoon each of dried thyme, rosemary, and sage, crumbled in your fingers
Finely chopped fresh parsley to taste (optional)

METHOD

Saute the onions and garlic until soft. Mix all the other ingredients together; and when the onion and garlic are done, mix those in too. Leave the mixture to set for 5 minutes (the dried TVP will absorb the liquid).

Either pack mixture into an oiled loaf tin (fits well into a 1 pound), or form into a mound on a baking sheet and optionally rub with oil. Bake at 350F for about an hour until set firmly and crisped up.

Serves 4.

Recipe originally posted here.

Naughty Pie!

2008-11-27T11:20:00.005-05:00

Hmmm, last night I made a chocolate cream pie and placed it in the fridge. This morning, when I woke up, I found this in there:

My Pie was very naughty. She must have gone out during the night and met some man pie and done some unmentionable things. She had babies! I am so ashamed. I thought I raised her right. To go out and just hook up with the first man who would have her? Ugh.
Rumour even has it that she had 4 babies, but 2 were viciously attacked by hungry wolves before I found them.

Birthday Bonanza

2008-11-26T13:50:00.001-05:00

So, both my kids are November babies. I had to make cupcakes for A to bring to school, then a cake for her actual birthday after dinner at home and 2 cakes for her birthday party with friends.

Follow that by making 2 cakes for M's party at the bowling alley and another one for his actual birthday for after dinner at home.

Ok, so I was busy baking. Here are some of my results. Keep in mind that I am not a cake decorater!

I didn't make the cupcakes or the home cake fancy, so no pics of those. For the friends party, I tried to make it princessy by putting a castle on it. She liked it, so that is all that matters.

For M's home cake, I made a baseball as he is totally obsessed with sports. He loved this, nothing too fancy, I did add Happy Birthday M and the candles after taking this picture.

For his bowling alley party, I made 2 cakes, one bowling pin and one bowling ball. The pin came out great I think. I just baked it in a 9x13 pan and then cut out a bowling pin shape. For the bowling ball, I tried to make the frosting red, but it ended up coming out pink, which is not ideal for my macho son, LOL. And the plan for the holes in the ball was originally to use chocolate frosting circles, but it wasn't working, so I ended up just making the circles with upside down chocolate chips, which looked stupid, but made it that much more enjoyable when eating.

For the chocolate cake, I used the Basic Chocolate Cupcake recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World: 75 Dairy-Free Recipes for Cupcakes that Rule and baked it for 30 minutes in an 8x8 cake pan, doubling it for the 9x13 cake and then used the recipe for "buttercream" frosting from VCTOTW. I did use raspberry extract in place of the almond extract in the cake.

AMMMMMazing Mac and Teese Cheese

2008-11-25T12:37:00.004-05:00

It was really hard to get a good pic of the ooey, gooey goodness of this because my camera lens kept fogging up.

So, in my post about the Boston Vegetarian Festival, I told you the new Teese flavors. I did buy the nacho Teese and let me tell you, it is awesome! It is not nachoey at all, it is just cheesey flavored. If you want spices, add them, I recommend cumin. But it is the perfect meltiness for nachos and melts so incredibly. I tried it with nacho chips and oh yeah baby!

Because it worked so well, I decided to try making Macaroni and Cheese with the nacho Teese and it is so ammmmmazing! I just boiled the macaroni and after it was done, drained it and put some of the nacho Teese on the macaroni in the pan and warmed it on a low flame to melt it. Everyone loved it! Well, A refused to try it, so she had plain macaroni with olive oil. But her friend was over and she devoured hers.

My girlfriend made some and added a touch of Earth Balance to hers for a bit of buttery flavor and she said her family loved it, even the non vegans.

I have to get some more of this stuff!

Apple Pie, Swedish Style

2008-11-12T12:39:00.001-05:00

I've seen this recipe in a few different places and just veganized it. It is really easy and makes its own crust!

Swedish Apple Pie

4 to 5 med. apples, core & sliced
1 1/4 cups sugar (if using Gala or other very sweet apples reduce the sugar to 1 cup)
3 tsps. Cinnamon
dash of cardamom (optional)
3/4 cups Earth Balance margarine
1 cup flour
1 Tbsp. ground flax seed blended in a blender with 3 Tbsp. warm water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Lightly grease a pie pan or glass pie plate.
Peel, core and slice apples and fill pie plate ¾ full with slices.
Mix only 1/4 cup of the sugar and the cinnamon and cardamom if used, mix well and sprinkle over the apple slices.
In a small saucepan melt margarine and remove from heat.
Add balance of sugar, flour and flax seed blended with water. Stir to mix well.
Pour over apples .
Bake for 45 mins or until top is crusted well.
Note*The crust forms and goes through the pie. Serve hot with soy ice cream.

Blueberry Pancakes

2008-11-11T15:33:00.004-05:00

Ok, so I totally cheated and used Bisquick mix for these. But they are really delicious. I skipped the egg, no replacement and used just enough milk to make the right consistency for the batter and about 1 cup of blueberries. The whole family loved them. Topped with a little Earth Balance, perfect.

Boston Vegetarian Festival

2008-11-03T14:13:00.006-05:00

I had a great time at the BV festival this year. I was really glad I was able to go without the kids this year as it is just way to crowded and packed to be able to stick close with the kids. You really have to squeeze through people. I noticed last year that it was getting ridiculous and really hoped for a new venue this year, but no. Maybe next year!

I was so excited that I got to meet Hannah Kaminsky this year! She is the author of the fabulous book My Sweet Vegan: passionate about dessert and she was super nice. I really wanted to stay for her demonstration, but it was at 5 o'clock and we couldn't stay.

I also wanted to see Karen Dawn speak. She is the author of Thanking the Monkey: Rethinking the Way We Treat Animals, but we needed to leave right before she went on.

The other speaker I really wanted to see, but couldn't was Sarah Kramer, author of Vegan a Go-Go!: A Cookbook & Survival Manual for Vegans on the Road. We arrived later than I had planned, but I wasn't driving, so I had no control over that. I did see her and felt sort of star struck. I wanted to have her sign a copy of her book, but I was actually too intimidated to talk to her. They don't call me crazy for nothing!

We got some great goodies, food and non food. Lots of good handouts and free magazines. I actually used one of the Thanksgiving turkey fact sheets handed out when I stopped at Whole Foods. I placed it on the table where they have the information for ordering your turkey dinners. Moihahaha. (that's my evil laugh in case you can't tell.)

I was surprised about some of the baked goods this year. Normally, I love the baked goods, but now that I am used to making my own from scratch all the time, I find I don't enjoy the ones I can purchase as much. I think that is a good thing, though. It just means I save money by making them myself.

Teese was there, but by the time I was able to get to their table, they were sold out of the mozzarella. But I was very pleasantly surprised to find they have new flavors!!!! I bought the nacho cheese flavor (which was all they had left for sale) and can't wait to melt it on some tortilla chips! I also was able to test the cheddar flavor on some crackers and was quite pleased. Yeah for Teese!!!!!

I renewed my subscription to VegNews magazine and got a great new tote bag. I think I just renewed, but really wanted the tote bag and seeing as how I love the magazine, I figured I might as well renew again as I plan on getting it for a long time.

It was great to see Cosmo's Vegan Shoppe there as I have ordered from them several times and it is always nice to put a face to the name. I was able to buy some Sweet and Sara vegan marshmallows and a Sjaaks raspberry chocolate bar. MMM.

I was also happy to purchase from a new local company, though I haven't tried the products, I will be sure to update you once I do. I am waiting for my current supply of the products to run out before trying these new ones. The company is vegetarian, but they carry vegan products.

There was a company giving out dishes of a yummy looking noodle dish, but the line was too long to wait in and you couldn't even get close enough to see what company it was. Needless to say, I skipped it.

We had a yummy lunch from Buddha Hut/Quan Yin. I haven't eaten their food since last years festival. They are really close by to where I live, but money is really tight these days, so eating out doesn't happen much. Though M asked if we could order dinner from there on his birthday. So, he turns 8 in a couple weeks and we will be getting dinner there.

If you were missing the Rice Krispy treats you had as a child, you could make your own. But now, Trader Joe's has an Organic Brown Rice Marshmallow Treat that is vegan and it is very good. They are just the Trader Joe's re brand of the Glenny's version, but cheaper.

Liz Lovely had samples of their artisan cookies, but I must say, I don't really like them very much. Although they are better than most other packaged vegan cookies. I do prefer homemade cookies, so will stick with that. Now, I see on the website, they now have some other chocolate goodies, I will have to try them soon.

Wheelers Black Label Vegan Ice Cream was there and I was able to try the cookies and cream which was great, but I was too full to enjoy it and ate a small amount and had to toss the rest. But I hated to toss it. My friend tried the apple flavor, and she loved it. It had big chunks of apples in it and looked delicious.

As soon as I got home, the kids attacked me and asked if I brought them home any samples. They were very happy.

There was a ton more, but my fingers are tired and my brain won't let me remember anything else. So until next time.

Blueberry Bread

2008-11-01T12:30:00.001-04:00

This bread is so amazing. I adapted it slightly from a recipe on VegFamily. It does not last long as everyone loves it.

I doubled this recipe and found the batter can be very dry so I did add about 1 Tablespoon extra water after adding everything together just to be able to mix it all. Lining the pan with parchment paper allows you to remove the bread from the pan immediately as the recipe states (and makes clean up easier, too.)

Blueberry Bread

Ingredients:
· 1-3/4 cups flour
· 2/3 cups sugar
· 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
· 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
· 1/2 teaspoon salt
· juice and grated rind of 1 orange
· 2 tablespoons vegan margarine, softened
· 1/2 cup boiling water
· 1 cup washed blueberries
· 1 cup chopped walnuts
· an additional 1/4 cup flour for step 4

Directions:

1. In large bowl, sift first 5 ingredients together.

2. In measuring cup, pour the juice and grated rind of 1 orange and add margarine. Add boiling water sufficient to make 3/4 cup.

3. Stir the liquid into the dry ingredients in the bowl, blending well.

4. In a separate bowl, combine the dried or frozen berries, nuts, and 1/4 cup flour. Add this to the batter and stir gently, taking care not to mash the blueberries.

5. Pour the batter into a loaf pan lined with parchment paper.

6. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean. Remove from pan immediately.

Original recipe here.

Blueberry Pie/Crumble

2008-10-31T09:22:00.001-04:00

This was a disaster. I made a pie/crumble, but it never really jelled, so the blueberries were solid and there was purplish water in the pie. I deleted the recipe so I would never make it again.

Knowing me though, I will try to find a new blueberry pie recipe one of these days and end up doing the same thing. Oh the memory is a long lost friend that I really do miss. Not to mention the fact that I am a dingbat anyway! Oh well.

Sorry, nothing good for you today.

Blueberry Muffins

2008-10-30T12:10:00.001-04:00

These were a huge hit in my house. And they were quite easy to make.

Blueberry Muffins

From Vegetarian Times (June 2005)
Makes 12 muffins
· 1/4 cup margarine
· 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
· 1/2 teaspoon salt
· 1 cup sugar
· 2 cups flour
· 1 tablespoon baking powder
· 1 teaspoon vanilla
· 1/2 cup soymilk
· 2 cups fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Line muffin cups with paper liners or spray with nonstick spray.
Mix all ingredients together until moistened.
Divide batter evenly among the muffin cups. Each should be filled 3/4 full.
Bake 35 minutes or until the tops are firm. Cool on a wire rack.

Blueberries!

2008-10-29T15:51:00.003-04:00

I did take the kids blueberry picking awhile back and we picked almost 10 lbs. of blueberries. We went to an organic farm, I have never seen so many spiders on fruit in my life! I washed the berries a few times and rinsed them very well. After they dried, I made a few things, so you will be seeing blueberry themed recipes for a few posts.

After making a few things, I decided to freeze the remaining berries in one cup increments and have been using them a cup at a time. That has worked out really well.

I Know I Suck!

2008-10-13T09:56:00.002-04:00

Ok, so I really apologize. I have been a very bad person in that I have been neglecting the blog. In my defense, it has been a difficult time for me. Between being the kids taxi driver and not having a spare second to get to the blog it was bad enough. But I have also been having some real health issues and going back and forth to doctor appointments and emergency room visits. Suffice it to say, it has been crazy around here and I am hoping things will calm down soon. I will do my best to post whenever possible. Though I have not been cooking much new stuff lately and it seems that the new recipes I have been trying have not been working for me for some reason!

Boca Chick'n Patties

2008-09-13T10:19:00.001-04:00

D started this Friday night tradition. It is the end of the week, so groceries are low and he gets home a bit late. So he decided to make Boca meatless Chick'n Patties with a side of fries and corn on the cob. It makes for a nice, easy, quick summer meal.

I jazzed them up a bit by using whole wheat rolls and mixing Vegenaise with salsa, then putting on sliced dill pickles, sliced tomato and romaine lettuce. If it is nice out, we will eat outside in the screen house.

Review: Trader Joe's Black Bean and Corn Enchilada's

2008-09-12T15:35:00.001-04:00

If you like Amy's Kitchen Black Bean and Corn Enchilada's, you will love these. They taste exactly the same and they are half the price!

They are really good, not too spicy, so they are good for the kids. M loves them. We won't even mention what A thinks.

These are great to keep in the freezer to have on hand for those days when you just don't feel like cooking or whatever. The directions say to cook on medium power, but I cook on high, because my microwave is weird and the medium power never works right. They still come out good, though I suspect they would taste even better in the regular oven. M is too impatient to wait, though.

Grilled "Cheese" with Tomato

2008-09-10T10:17:00.001-04:00

I always loved a good grilled cheese sandwich with tomato and bacon back in the days before I became vegan. So it is one thing I really missed. Now, I love me some grilled Tofutti with tomato! Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese makes a great grilled cheese sandwich. Just spread it on a slice of bread, added sliced tomato (and cooked Smart Bacon if you wish), spread some Earth Balance on the outside of the bread slices and grill it up. Mmm, melty goodness. Even A loves grilled Tofutti minus the tomato.

The Vegan’s Hundred

2008-09-02T09:02:00.005-04:00

I saw this list on both Bittersweet and Yeah That Vegan Shit blogs, so here is mine. I am ashamed to say how many of these I have never tried. I am including both vegan and non vegan versions as some of these items I did try the non vegan and/or vegan version back in the days before I became vegan. Some that I am saying I did not try, but may in fact have had back before becoming vegan, but as it was so long ago, I honestly don't remember if I ever had it. And of course, my notes are in parentheses. The underlined items have links as these may not be well known. Ok, here goes:

Your mission, should you choose to accept it:
1) Copy this list into your own blog, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Post a comment here once you’ve finished and link your post back to this one.
5) Pass it on!

1. Natto (I don't think I would ever try this)
2. Green Smoothie
3. Tofu Scramble
4. Haggis (I cannot imagine ever trying the non vegan version of this!)
5. Mangosteen
6. Creme brulee
7. Fondue
8. Marmite/Vegemite
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Nachos
12. Authentic soba noodles
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Taco from a street cart
16. Boba Tea
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Gyoza
20. Vanilla ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Ceviche
24. Rice and beans
25. Knish
26. raw Scotch Bonnet pepper (I would like to think I am brave enough to try one of these!)
27. Dulce de leche
28. Caviar
29. Baklava
30. Pate
31. Wasabi peas
32. Chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Mango lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Mulled cider
37. Scones with buttery spread and jam
38. Vodka jelly (the link from Hannah's blog shows vegan gello shots, yes, I have had those.)
39. Gumbo
40. Fast food french fries
41. Raw Brownies
42. Fresh Garbanzo Beans
43. Dahl
44. Homemade Soymilk
45. Wine from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Stroopwafle
47. Samosas
48. Vegetable Sushi
49. Glazed doughnut
50. Seaweed
51. Prickly pear (I have had the juice from the cactus and prickly pear jelly, so yummy!)
52. Umeboshi
53. Tofurkey
54. Sheese
55. Cotton candy
56. Gnocchi
57. Piña colada
58. Birch beer
59. Scrapple (wow, I am continually shocked at how disgusting some of the things people eat are)
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Soy curls
63. Chickpea cutlets
64. Curry
65. Durian
66. Homemade Sausages
67. Churros, elephant ears, or funnel cake
68. Smoked tofu
69. Fried plantain
70. Mochi
71. Gazpacho
72. Warm chocolate chip cookies
73. Absinthe
74. Corn on the cob
75. Whipped cream, straight from the can
76. Pomegranate
77. Fauxstess Cupcake
78. Mashed potatoes with gravy
79. Jerky
80. Croissants
81. French onion soup
82. Savory crepes
83. Tings
84. A meal at Candle 79 (I am planning on going there on my next NYC visit and do have their cookbook, though)
85. Moussaka
86. Sprouted grains or seeds
87. Macaroni and “cheese”
88. Flowers
89. Matzoh ball soup
90. White chocolate
91. Seitan
92. Kimchi
93. Butterscotch chips
94. Yellow watermelon
95. Chili with chocolate
96. Bagel and Tofutti
97. Potato milk
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Raw cookie dough

Root Beer Float Cupcakes

2008-09-02T09:01:00.002-04:00

My sister is a huge root beer float fan. I myself do not like root beer. But when I saw this recipe in Hannah Kaminsky's My Sweet Vegan: passionate about dessert cookbook (an awesome book!), I had to show my sister and she had to have them! So, together we made the rootbeer float cupcakes.

She loved them, M loved them (I don't very often let him have soda, but when he can, he loves root beer) and D really liked them, too. As I said, I don't like root beer, but my sister (K) made me try one and they really, really tasted like a root beer float!

Mind you, the pictures on Hannah's blogpost are so much better! We were lazy and skipped the ganache and did the ugly frosting job instead of Hannah's pretty frosting.

RootBeer Float Cupcakes

Ingredients:
-1 Cup Rootbeer Soda
-1 Teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar
-3/4 Cup Sugar
-1/3 Cup Canola Oil
-1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
-2 Teaspoons Rootbeer Extract
-1 1/3 Cups Flour
-3/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
-1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
-Pinch of Salt

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a dozen cupcake tins with papers.

Combine the soda and vinegar and let stand for a few minutes.

Add in the sugar and oil, whisking vigorously until slightly frothy.

Integrate your extracts, and gently introduce the flour, along with the baking powder / soda, and salt, being careful not to over mix.

Distributing the batter evenly between the prepared tins, fill cupcake liners approximately 3/4 of the way to the top.

Bake for about 18 - 22 minutes.

Allow them to cool completely before proceeding to the ganache.

Ganache:
-5 Oz. Dark Chocolate
-1/4 Cup Soymilk
-1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup

Combine the above in a microwave-safe container and nuke for about a minute. Stir thoroughly even if it doesn’t look completely melted - It should come together after a bit of agitation, but if the chocolate still isn’t entirely smooth, return to the microwave for 15-30 seconds at a time, watching carefully to ensure that it doesn’t burn.

Drizzle ganache in squiggles over the tops of the cupcakes. (You'll probably have plenty of left over ganache.)

Allow ganache squiggles to fully cool and dry before preparing the frosting.

Frosting:
-1 Cup Vegetable Shortening
-3 Cups Confectioner’s Sugar
-2 Tablespoons Vanilla Soymilk
-2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract

Throw room temperature shortening into your mixer, and beat thoroughly until creamed.

Add in sugar and start on a low speed so as not to spray powder everywhere.

Incorporate soymilk and extract, and combine thoroughly.

Apply to cupcakes as desired.

Beware of Slow Melting Popsicles!

2008-09-02T08:32:00.001-04:00

Ok, I am posting this on both blogs, because it is important.

I know there is a debate about sugar among vegans, and this is not about the debate, just wanting to warn the vegans that do buy items containing white sugar.

Some vegans give their kids store bought popsicles. If you are one of them, please be aware that the new slow melting popsicles contain gelatin!

Crazy Busy

2008-09-01T18:17:00.003-04:00

I apologize for not posting, it has been crazy around my house. We have been getting ready for the back to school thing and A had her preschool open house, which I had to stay for. Another day shot. Anyway, I haven't had much to post about anyway. I have only tried a few new recipes and they were not much to write about unfortunately.
Be back soon.

Easy Seitan Roast with Brown Gravy

2008-08-24T17:44:00.001-04:00

I really can't remember where I found this recipe for baked seitan and I searched online, but cannot find it. Anyway, it is a very basic recipe and didn't have a whole lot of flavor, so I need to play with it. If you really want the recipe, email me and I will email it to you.

I served it with roasted potatoes and spinach alioli. MMMMMMM.

I used Bryanna Clark Grogan's recipe for brown gravy.

Banana Nut Muffins

2008-08-19T10:53:00.001-04:00

I was really dying for banana muffins. I got this recipe off of vegweb.com. Because A doesn't like nuts, I made the recipe without nuts, filled 1/2 the muffin tins and then added nuts to the rest of the batter and filled the remaining cups with the nut batter. It is a bit hard to see in the picture, but the ones with the nuts came out bigger than the ones without the nuts. In person, it seemed they were much bigger.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 bananas, mashed
3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, optional

Directions:

Preheat over to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (190 degrees C).
Line 10 muffin cups with muffin papers.
In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, applesauce and oil.
Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened.
Stir in walnuts, if desired.
Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
Bake in preheated oven for 18-23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of muffin comes out clean.
Do not over bake.

Serves: 10
Preparation time: 35 minutes including baking

Tofurkey- It's Not Just For Thanksgiving Anymore!

2008-08-18T16:23:00.001-04:00

For some strange reason I cannot understand, it seems the name Tofurkey is a big joke to non vegs. And frankly, from what I hear, also among many vegs. Well, I for one, LOVE Tofurkey.

A few years ago, as I remember it anyway, Tofurkey was available year round. For the last couple years, I have only been able to buy it around the holidays. So last Thanksgiving time, I bought about 15 of them and froze the ones I didn't use for Thanksgiving. I take one out of the freezer periodically and let it defrost in the fridge for a few days and then cook it up! I have one left in the freezer now and will stocking up again as soon as they become available.

I like to serve it with corn and cranberry sauce along with a nice side salad.

Ugly Muffins

2008-08-13T18:51:00.001-04:00

These are actually berry muffins, but A wouldn't try them because they were too ugly! And they are ugly, but they are really delicious.

Ingredients:
-1 ½ cup flour
-½ cup raw sugar
-¼ tsp salt
-1 tsp baking powder
-1 tsp baking soda
-¾ cup vanilla soymilk
-1/3 cup canola oil
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1 cup frozen mixed berries, thawed

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees

Line muffin tins.

Mix together your dry ingredients (Flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and soda.)

Gently stir in soymilk, oil, and vanilla but be careful not to over-mix. A few lumps are okay!

Fold in your thawed berries.

Pour batter into muffin tins, ¾ full.

Bake for 15 – 20 minutes, depending on your oven.

Muffins are done when a toothpick inserted into the center of muffin comes out clean.

Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes inside muffin tins or they will fall apart.