Gifts in a day!!

Holy Mother of Sweet Little Baby Jesus in a Manger. You need to get a gift for someone. You are totally a broke ass. What are you going to do?


You can wipe out your Christmas list in a day! You Aunt Gertie's Gout? Covered! Your Brother's mousing injury? Taken care of. Your Significant Other's Guaranteed Hangover Caused by Drinking Because You Are Just Now Getting Gifts?! Slightly made up for...

Hot/Cold Barley Packs to the rescue!!

What you need if you are crafty -

• 11x11 pieces of scrap fabric
• 2 cups of dried pearl barley (find in the bulk section)
• A sewing machine

What you need if you aren't crafty

• a pillow case or long shirt sleeve
• enough dried pearl barley (find in the bulk section) to fill your pack 2/3 of the way.
• a needle and thread or get your butt to your mom/grandma's house and borrow their sewing machine. They will be so happy you probably won't need to them a present.

Also a funnel will help. So break apart your beer bong and get crafting.

I really should show with amazing crafty pictures what you need to do. But really you can just google it.

Here is the gist. 

Crafty peeps -

1. Cut out your square.
2. Fold it in half with the pretty side facing in. 
3. Sew - one short side; one long side; half of one short side. (do a 1/4 inch seam)
4. Turn it inside out so now the pretty side is showing and there is a little hole on one of the short sides. 
5. Fill it between 2/3 full of pearl barley (this is where the funnel helps). You can use any rice or grain but I love the weight and roundness of barley.
6. Push all the barley down to the closed end and stitch the seam closed.

Peeps that aren't so crafty -

1. Cut 6 inches off the closed side of your pillow case or you can use a long shirt sleeve cut how ever long you want to make it. (Wash it first, Bro)
2.  Turn it inside out and sew up everything but two inches and then turn in right side out. 
3. Pour in the barley (this where the funnel is helpful). You only want to fill it about 2/3 full. It needs to nicely lay on someones sore body part and won't if it is stuffed full.
4. Sew up the gap.

Lord this really needs pictures!!! But I am sure you can get the idea. And honestly, I am too busy whipping these out to take pics. Again, I am not original, you can google this shiz.

Here are the instructions to include with your gift. 

• Keep in the freezer for a great cold pack
• To use as a hot pack heat in the microwave for 30 seconds to 1.5 minutes.

NOTE - If you use flannel, sew two lines of stitching or serge. It shreds easily. Make sure your cute fabric doesn't have anything like gold or sparkles painted on it because if it does it can't go in the microwave.

Medic is modeling it, much to his extreme humiliation.

One more week til Christmas

Are you hearing "One More Sleep til Christmas" in your head? You aren't?! Well then rent A Muppet Christmas Carol. If you can find the VHS version then you can hear this -

Okay not the song I was talking about but still. All the ladies wish it was still in the DVD version and all the men are thrilled it isn't.

Okay back to the main thing. Christmas...it's soon. 

As with all holiday meals it is hard to do a traditional meal without animal products. Traditionally it is a turkey, or a prime rib, or a ham, or if Dickens is involved - a goose.

Instead we did spaghetti! Noodles, Sauce, Bread and Salad are very easily vegan! Plus it is easy and everyone loves it! It is easy to serve, easy to make and easy to enjoy.

Look at all these happy faces!!!

We had a blast!!! Tomorrow I will give you awesome ideas for Vegan gifts that you can make in one day. And the next day gravies and the next day...

Well I guess I will just tell you!! On the 1st of the year one of you lucky readers are going to get a gift to get those New Year's Resolutions going!!!!! 

Stayed tuned and happy holidays!!!

We are still here!

Sorry to be MIA but we are still in action. We have just been so busy! We have a backlog of stuff to show you. Continue to stay tuned.

Sunday Morning Pancakes

I love Sundays. By far my favorite day of the week. On a typical Sunday here is our family schedule -

Hang out

Go get coffee and hot chocolate at River Maiden

Driving around and looking at houses we can't afford

Today we are adding in pancakes. 

I used to be a Snoqualmie Pancake Mix snob. Sadly, they use buttermilk and egg yolks in their mix. So now I need to make them from scratch.

The first issue is eggs. A lot of things can replace eggs, but for this I am using flax eggs.

Flax egg = 1 tablespoon flax flour (fresh ground is really best) + 3 tablespoons water. Let is rest in the fridge for about twenty minutes. 

The next issue is milk. Use your favorite milk substitute, I am using rice milk. Remember even "Original" contains sugar, so if you don't like sweet pancakes you may want to omit the sugar in the recipe.

Pancake Recipe  (makes 4-6)

• 1 cup flour
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1.5 tablespoons raw sugar
• 1 cup rice milk
• 2 tablespoons melted Earth Balance Buttery Spread (this is salted so you don't need to add salt to recipe)
• 1 flax egg

Mix the dry ingredients together (including sugar). Mix wet ingredients together in a separate bowl. Add wet mixture to dry mixture, don't over-mix. A few lumps are okay.

Over medium heat pour 1/3 cup mix on to pan. (Use whatever oil you desire to make it non-stick). When the edges of pancake start to get dry and there are a lot of bubbles; flip your pancake. I swear, wait until the edges are dry and you will always get a well cooked pancake.

You may want to warm up your oven if you are making a lot, so you can keep them warm while you make stacks of pancakes for your loved ones. 

Top with REAL maple syrup. (and peanut butter, if you live in our house.)

**Kris doesn't really like pancakes. He just told me that he really likes these! He even said "Husband approved!" That's high praise.**

Squash, Anyone?

So I totally said I would put this recipe up today only it turns out that "today" was three weeks ago. Whoops. There are excuse, some of them valid but let's just pretend this happened right away and I am an excellent blogger.

Okay moving on.

Acorn Squash Filled with Onions, Sage and Oyster Mushrooms (this is a variation of something I saw on jointhereboot.com)

You will need -

• An acorn squash
• Sage
• Yellow onion
• Oyster Mushrooms
• Garlic
• Chili flakes
• Olive Oil
• Salt & Pepper

First take an acorn squash cut the ends off, cut it in half lengthwise -

Get rid of the guts brush it with olive oil and sprinkle some salt and pepper on it -

Turn it upside down and bake on foil or parchment paper at 450 degrees for 35-40 minutes until it is soft. Seriously make sure it is soft. Mine wasn't done all the way and it sucked.

While baking the acorn squash dice up a medium yellow onion and mince two cloves of garlic and sauté with olive oil over medium heat. You don't want the garlic to burn - 

Add fresh sage. About this much... -

Get your oyster mushrooms (or any you want, I like these because I am new to mushrooms and they have a pretty delicate taste and texture) and chop them into small pieces.

Add to them to the pan and let everything get nice and soft -

If you are like me you may want to add a few dashes of chili flakes. It was a nice kick. I buy them in the bulk section. Turn down the heat on the pan to low until your squash is soft.

Once your squash is nice and ready, flip it over and spoon the mixture into it. Bake for another 15 minutes.

Tah dah!

 If you go sparingly on the oil this is a really healthy meal!! Low fat, high in fiber and it kinda makes you feel domestic.

I ate a Muchas Gracias burrito in less than 3 minutes

It was 11 in the morning.

It was so awesome that I stared down at my wrapper in disappointment that it was all in my belly already. I only made it through 1.5 hot sauces.

But Gretchen!! Dude, you can't eat Muchas Gracias burritos. Those days are over!! They are all lardy and cheesy.

Not so, says I.

Get your burrito loving booty the awesome Muchas that used to be an A&W. They have the "Vegan Burrito" on their menu.

Whole wheat tortilla, whole pinto beans, guacamole, lettuce and pico de gallo. All for like $3. I paid a little more because the guy at the drive through flirted with me so much I tipped him.

Really. I tipped the drive-thru guy and then I ate my burrito in less than 3 minutes.

I am not even remotely ashamed.

This day rules.

Not Tuna Salad

I saw a recipe for Mock Tuna Salad in the Happy Herbivore cookbook and it totally inspired me to make my own using ingredients I love.

Her original was good so if you are looking for a standard recipe complete with pickles and celery, check out her website or buy her book!

Here is what I whipped up.

Greek Toona (or whatever way you want to show that it isn't really tuna by misspelling it) Salad

Gonna have to call this not a very appetizing picture. It was yummy, I swear.

• 1 can of Garbanzo Beans (aka Chickpeas) rinsed and roughly mashed
• 1 can of artichoke hearts drained very very well. I squeezed them. Shred them up.
• 8-10 kalamata olives finely diced
• 1/4 cup finely diced red onion
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
• 1 big ol' shake of garlic powder
• a couple teaspoons of roasted seaweed (I just chop it really finely or you can by the kelp flakes)
• a good splash of balsamic vinegar
• a couple scoops with a handy spoon of vegan mayonnaise
• salt and pepper

As you can see, not an exact science. Add as much or as little of the things you like.  Mix it all up and serve it on a bed of  microgreens. Also tasty as a wrap or on bread, anything you like salad on really - In a bowl is also good...

(Psssst - you can buy microgreens anywhere, especially farmers/urban growers markets. I got mine from Trader Joe's because they have totally made me their bitch.)

Pizza-dougha!

So have you played Dead Or Alive 2 (DOA2)? Well that's okay, it is a really awesome game. In it there is a character called Lei Fang and when she attacks it sorta sounds like she is an Italian stereotype yelling "pizza dough-ah" which is weird since she is clearly not Italian. As you can guess, we can't not say the word combination pizza dough without that inflection. Pizza Dougha!!

Totally not the point of this post but I know you are dying to hear my inner musings.

I made a pizza.

In a 3-foot-wide by 6-foot-tall shelf space, sandwiched between 500 kinds of hot dogs and 200 kinds of cheese, you will a bizarre space of pickles and pizza dough at Winco. They sell little bags of dough, all kneaded and ready for you to roll out for your dough needs. There is white and whole-wheat. And it is vegan.

So I picked that up with vegan pepperoni, Daiya (Mozzarella), tomato sauce and fresh basil. You will have to make a special trip for the Daiya.

Voila!

Now this isn't that cheap. So if you are feeling lazy you can just buy the Tofurky version at Fred Meyer or New Seasons or Whole Foods or whatever, but where is the fun in that.

And then you wouldn't get to yell "Pizza Dougha!" (I mean there isn't a law against you yelling it without actually having pizza dough on hand. But there should be.)

Date Night for 40$

For our 8th Anniversary this year Kris and I decided to go to Blossoming Lotus in Portland. We have heard great things about it but for some reason haven't made it there.

We hit up the Happy Hour.

Holy Freaking Tofu this shit was good. There is a ton of raw and live food if you are into that sort of thing. And a great selection of cocktails.

But what really blew our little minds were the tacos. The raw one in particular was excellent. We also ordered the White Bean Pesto and chips. That's it 3 tacos that we shared and some Chips and Dip and we were stuffed. Like didn't finish it all stuffed.

Cocktail - I had the Ginger Fizz. If you don't like Ginger, don't get this. But if you do, get ready to find a designated driver. Kris is drinking the Vaporizer from Double Mountain Brewery. It rocks if you like beers hoppy.

Eats -

Total spent - 25 dollars (Including tip)

Then we scooted to the Kennedy School. We got a pitcher of the Copper Moon seasonal beer and saw Men in Black 3 because we are really super cool. And shut up, so what if we cried at the end. Don't judge.

Kris decided to pull a face. That'll teach him. This shit is on the internet now honey.

Total spent - 15 dollars. (two tickets and pitcher of beer)

That brought our whopping total to 40$!!! Now that is a date night I can get excited about.

(A good thing to not is that we had to do this pretty early in the evening to cash in on these kinds of deals. But that left plenty of time to come home and watch movies with swear words, which is a pretty novel thing when you have an almost 5-year-old hanging around your house.)

Hostess HoHos Are a No Go

Kris and I were perusing the prepacked donuts on Saturday morning. Sometimes you get a hankering for an Old-Fashioned that is kinda waxy and artificial tasting. I don't know why but stranger things have happened to us all.

So, as is tradition, we were reading the back of the packaging to see if any of them are vegan. They aren't. We wen't down to the Hostess section. Not only are they not vegan, they aren't vegetarian.

There in the list of ingredients - BEEF FAT. It actually says beef fat. Not even trying to dress it up as lard.

Now when something savory contains beef fat, sure, it's gross animal fat that is destroying your organs but when your snack cake has it that is down right gagtastic.

Lazy Vegan - Salad for Slackers

This salad falls under the "It's-too-muggy-too-cook-and-I-don't-want-to-think-but-it-needs-to-taste-good" category.

Here is how to make a salad - 

1. Take some greens - (I really like a big thing of baby spinach)
2. Dump the greens in a bowl.
3. Take some Trader Joe's Chicken-less Strips
4. Dump them in the bowl with the greens
5. Add some Follow Your Heart Vegan Ranch to the bowl
6. Toss it up with Edward and Son's Organic Onion Garlic Croutons (only eat these if you like garlic breath)

All of these can be purchased at your one stop shop Food Fight!!

It is tasty, it takes about 4 minutes to make and if you don't go crazy on the croutons on dressing it is damn good for you. Now you could do this the hard way. Season some seitan, make a cashew cream ranch, twice bake some Dave's Killer Bread, and go to your garden or local urban grower for greens. But remember, it is too muggy, and you are in no position to think about dinner. So grab these four ingredients, grab a beer, or a or a People magazine, or a "bodice ripper" and indulge. You now have the time. You are welcome. 

(Don't even think about doing the laundry with your free time...I see you, put the basket down.)

Camping and Scramble

Our first camping experience not eating animal products has just passed. Pretty successfully I might add, with maybe only a little dairy involvement. 

Normally camping food consists of bologna/lunch meat sandwiches with cheese and mayo. And of course obscene amounts of hot dogs.

Ours was no different  - just ya know way better and far less gross!!  We also prepared this ass-kickin' scramble so we could have an awesome breakfast!

Check it out!

 Meat without meat

Cheese without Cheese

Scramble without Eggs!!

Here is the Breakfast Scramble Recipe-

2  14oz packages of Extra Firm Tofu

1 Yellow Pepper -diced

1 Orange Pepper -diced

1 Large Yellow Onion -diced

2 gloves of garlic - minced

Seasoning -

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cracked pepper

1 teaspoon cayenne

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 teaspoon cumin

In a separate pan start cooking your veggies. Make them nice and soft and yummy. Use as much oil as you feel necessary.

In the other pan (I would use a dutch oven or something large like that). Pour a little oil and then crumble your tofu into little crumple bits and add it. (Medium Heat) Then sprinkle the seasoning over it and mix it all up. Add the softened vegetable and continue to mix and heat until it looks and smells good! 

Pretty easy right? Great with tortilla and hot sauce (Tapatio or Aardvark are the faves here!!) We just dumped it in a massive container and packed it in the cooler to heat up for breakfast. 

Press That Tofu

Ahhh tofu. If you are new to tofu, here is something you should know - It has a lot of excess water in it. So in order to not get overly mushy tofu (when you don't want it) you need to drain and press your tofu before you prepare it.

You can do that several ways - Two heavy plates with a can, two large books that you hate, or a tofu press.

I have been using plate method. I don't really like it because my tofu always ends up getting more pressed on one side.

As mentioned in my previous post, I got a Tofu Press on my birthday from my lovely friend Jessica (and Tim).

So here is picto-demonstration (that is a trademarked term of G.Hoyt Inc- so back off or pay royalties) on how to use it.

I marinated in teriyaki sauce this time and then I used it in a stir-fry with amazing greens from my friend's garden, red bell peppers, garlic, scallions and noodles. Delicious!

Check back soon as I am going to go over my favorite kinds and brands of tofu. 

Back to Life - Post-birthday-post

I celebrated my 30th birthday last Saturday with several of my closest friends. In fact most of them were there. It made me feel ridiculously lucky.

We had a taco/nacho bar which was extremely easy to do vegan (we also threw in some real cheese for the non-V's) and a keg of Kirin. Which in no way relates to Mexican food. I just like it a lot.

I got the coolest stuff -

Check out this Vegan purse my lovely SIL bought for me. -

I also got some amazing cookbooks, a book on Food Politics, a couple books about dogs, cookies, a handmade necklace that puts anything at Anthropolgie to shame, a mix-tape and a Tofu Press! (Just to name a few - I don't want to brag or anything) The Tofu Press is getting it's own post later this week.

But it is now time to come back to the world with regularly timed blog posts! Now I know you are excited. I can tell.

So stay tuned because in two days you are going to learn how to press the shit out of your tofu. Intrigued? Grossed out? See ya Wednesday.

Bits of Not Bacon

Bacon bits are a great way to salty up a salad or a potato but since we don't want to kill anything, try these!!

Gretchen's Bits of Not Bacon - 

1/2 cup TVP (you can find it in bulk at Winco)

1 T. Soy Sauce

1 T. Vegan Worcestershire 

1.5 tsp Liquid smoke

A nice dash of chipotle powder

3 T water

Cracked pepper and salt (optional)

In a small sauce pan, boil everything but the S&P and the TVP. It is going to start boiling very quickly so be ready. Turn off heat and add TVP and mix. Dump mixture in to a frying pan. I used non-stick because I didn't want to add oil. Cook until they are dry and crispy. Add S&P as needed.

* If you aren't concerned about you waist line, then fry them up in a little oily. They will be more bacon-y.

I love them on a baked potato with caramelized leeks. They are also and ridiculously good topper for the Potato Leek Soup. Um I like leeks, apparently.

The Sexy Vegan

If you haven't heard of the Sexy Vegan (not meaning Donna or me, which of course you have heard of and are correct, hot stuff here) then you are in for treat.

Brian L. Patton aka The Sexy Vegan is hilarious!! I use that word a lot. But really he is. I recent picked up his cookbook called, you guessed it, The Sexy Vegan, and proceeded to spray diet coke out of my nose as he described the way he was born (via c-section) because "he was all backwards and shit". He also discloses how his friends caught him dvr-ing episodes of food network shows but labeling them Star Trek.

The recipes are killer. The Not Yo' Mama's Cheez Sauce is now a staple here. But honestly just read it for a laugh. Or watch his videos. It is way too easy to take yourself far too seriously with all of the this vegan business. This will knock you down a few pegs. And clear your sinuses.

140 Calories and yummy!! Hoisin Mustard Tofu

I just picked up Isa Chandra Moskowitz's newest cookbook - Appetite For Reduction. Which like all vegan cookbooks has a hella long subtitle - 125 Fast and Filling, Low-fat Vegan Recipes.

Last night I made the Hoisin-Mustard Tofu Lettuce Cups! Unfortunately the recipe isn't on her website so I can't give you a link to it. I guess you will have to get the book at the library! But I will give you the gist!

You need extra firm tofu. Squeeze the water out of it too. Fry it up (with very little oil, like a spray of Pam) with some soy sauce. Meanwhile in another pan use a teeny bit of sesame oil and cook up some diced veggies, like onions, peppers, garlic and ginger. Then add some rice vinegar to them, then add hoisin sauce and mustard. Don't let your hoisin sauce burn. I did. Wah Wah. Then toss the tofu in and mix it all up.

Tofu Cubes

 Veggies

Serve it with iceberg lettuce leaves and eat it like they were little tacos. I ate two servings which was only 280 calories and I was stuffed!!! It was delicious!!!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

It's a few days early, but we want to wish all you mamas a Happy Mother's Day!!

Give yourself or your mom a yummy breakfast scramble with tofu. Or maybe check out the huge collection of vegan lotions and potions at Arnada Naturals or New Seasons. Every mom out there will feel better knowing that her gift is cruelty-free. Because remember -

Get this awesome shirt at Herbivore Clothing

Thank you Costco and avocados!

Peeps!! Costco started carrying gardein™ crumble. I really like these better than Light Life's Smart Ground®. The taste is a lot milder and is has a little more texture to it. Kris and I just threw it in some marinara sauce, heated and poured it over spaghetti noodles. It was so good!! Also great for tacos.

Speaking of tacos-  Yesterday was Cinco de Mayo and I made guacamole. I think all in all I ate about 3 avocados yesterday - whoops.

Here is my go to Guac recipe - 

2-3 ripe avocados (mine came from costco too - costco is just killing it for me right now)

1 clove of garlic

1 tsp coarse sea salt (really  the coarser the better)

lime juice from half a lime

2 Dolot cubes of frozen cilantro (find it in the Trader Joe's freezer section - so damn convenient)

Couple dashes of chipotle powder

a few food grinds of black pepper

Mash up your avocados and add everything but the garlic and salt. Put your peeled clove of garlic in your pestle with the salt - grind until it is a paste then add it to the other ingredients. Don't have a mortar and pestle? Get one. You can find them for like 9 bucks at TJ Maxx. I just throw mine in the dishwasher when I am done. It totally rocks. If you use fewer avocados, it will be pretty flavorful. If you use more, just add a little more lime juice.

Then pick up some chips.

In stunning chip news Kris and I have switch teams and are now team Don Pancho and no longer team Juanitas. WHAT? I can hear you screaming. Juanita's has always been the absolute best, but recently we branched out. (Actually I think it was an accident, or they were out of Juanita's, I am not sure what happened there.) But Don Pancho, hold up better in dip, are less oily (but not too much less) and are slightly saltier. Juanita's Chilipeno still take the trophy on flavored chips though.

Book Review - Eating Animals

When I decided to change up what I ate, giving up meat was the easiest part. Something has always nagged at me about eating it and I am amazed at the number of people I hear say "I don't really eat/like meat that much." It is something I think we need to take note of. Maybe it is because they are health conscious. Maybe it is because they really don't like the taste. Maybe they are like me and it always felt, well, kinda mean. Even sushi, which I devoured on a weekly basis made me feel a little bit sad.

So why do we eat animals? And should we? 

If you are reading this blog, then there is a good chance you don't eat animals. But I still encourage you to read  Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer. I encourage everyone to read it. It might not turn you off meat, but I have very high doubts that it won't change the way you look at it.

This book is not an all out horror fest or a major guilt trip. (Although there were parts where I cried like really really hard - those of you who know me well, know that I also cry really really hard during commercials about Kleenex) It is a well presented case for not eating factory farmed meat.  And then goes on to ask, why meat at all?

If I can digress for just a sec. I recently went to Herbivore Clothing located in Portland. And I bought a couple of these buttons - 

Factory Farms Are Mean and Nasty

After reading Eating Animals I am haven't purchased factory farmed meat or eggs. And there isn't anything in the future that I can predict will make me do it again. Foer takes it one step further though and says - why eat animals at all? Even if it was raised humanely, killed in the least cruel way possible, you are still killing a sentient being to eat it.

Eating Animals has a interesting cast of farmers, activists, and butchers in the book that give you the whole spectrum of opinion through interviews. While Foer's book clearly leans towards vegetarianism, it isn't a "you're an asshole if you eat meat" kind of book. That is why I suggest it to everyone.

Recently "pink slime" and  cruel condition for battery hens are on the news every night and I feel gratitude to the host of books and movies that are coming out about the way animals are treated and the disgusting things that go on at factory farms both animals wise and food wise. I am grateful that people are taking a closer look at what is on their plate. Eating Animals will help everyone investigate a little further. Check it out at your local library, or you can purchase it here.

Happy Grilled Cheese Day!!

It's National Grilled Cheese Day! Seriously. Google it.

Let me share my favorite grilled cheese recipe and let me just say one thing - "All Hail Daiya!!!"

What you will need -
Earth Balance Butter Spread
Some kind of delicious bread - May I suggest rye -it can be found in vegan varieties and it rocks socks. (focaccia is also frequently vegan an makes an awesome panini style sandwich)
Filling -
Roasted Red Peppers - You can roast your own but I think jarred are just fine
Caramelized onions - Yellow or sweet are best.
Mozzerella Daiya Shreds

Spread the buttery on the bread, put the filling between two slices, and grill it up!!! I like it with a little mustard or horseradish to add some zang!!!  Thank me later by sharing pictures or your creations.

Happy Friday! Bean with 'Bacon' Soup and Stuffed Mushrooms- Oh My!

Happy Friday everyone! I have been meaning to blog all week, but I never seemed to find the time.  I did make some amazingly yummy recipes this week, so I wanted to share a few of them with you.  Let me know what think after you try them.

Bean with 'Bacon' Soup- So delicious and super easy!

You will need:

4 carrots finely diced
6 15 oz cans  Organic Great Northern White Beans ( half drained )- you can use dry beans, soak them etc.
64oz Organic Veggie Broth
8oz Organic Tomato Paste
1 Tbsp Liquid Smoke
Salt
Pepper
Garlic
Herbs Provence
Large Soup Pot


1. Place Carrots and Garlic in pot with a little olive oil.  Saute until slightly softened.

2. Add in the rest of the ingredients. Bring to boil for about 5 minutes, then simmer for at least 30 minutes.

Enjoy!



Vegan Stuffed Baby Portobello Mushroom Caps (Sorry I did not capture a picture to share)

You will Need:

6 Mushroom Caps
1 Zuccini
1 Carrot
1/2 Bell Pepper
1 1/2 cups Cashew Cream
1/4 cups Nutritional Yeast
Garlic
Salt
Pepper
Herbs Provence
Olive oil
Baking Sheet

1. Prep mushrooms- Clean, remove stems, and take a spoon and remove gills. Drizzle tops with Olive Oil, and place top side down on baking sheet

2. Mix remaining ingredients in a bowl. Season to taste

3. Spoon mixture into mushroom caps evenly.

4. Place in a 400 preheated oven. Bake for 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Turning 30 and Chili Cheese Dogs

Those of you that know Donna and I intimately (not necessarily biblically) know that we are turning 30 this year. Donna's big day is only a week away! Well we have made a pact or a promise or whatever that this year we will finally have healthy bodies. We have started taking yoga from the super wonderful Astara. (click here for her studio's facebook page) and we are both eating a plant based diet. At least she is and I am there about 95% - going out to eat is still a challenge for me so I end up opting for vegetarian vs ordering just french fries again. So I  have some room for improvement. I don't even really like cheese anymore, it is just the a convenience trap (blah blah blah excuse excuse)

The results so far are that I have far less symptoms of IBS aka my poops are way better (we are intimate now if we weren't before) and Donna and her family's health have improved since she and her daughter have both a milk allergy and a gluten allergy. Plus the stupid hussy has lost a bunch of weight, not that I am jealous or anything....

But we still have a ways to go. I would rather stick a hot poker in my eye than don a bathing suit. When I told Donna that, her response was the same but involved paper cuts.

So in honor of our soon to be new awesome bodies, I am going to post a "before" 30 pictures. Then after we are well into our 30th year and looking and feeling enviable, I will post an after.

So what we want to know is - besides the obvious eat less and exercise more - what are your favorite ways to promote wellness for yourself?

I bet it doesn't involve eating kick ass Chili Cheese dogs!! Which are not so low in the calories but oh so good, here is how to make them just in case you want to over indulge -

-1 Can of Organic Trader Joe's Vegetarian Chili
-However many Jumbo Smart Dogs you want (one is enough for me)
-Daiya Cheddar Shreds
-A hot dog bun - let me suggest against the whole wheat Trader Joe's buns. They were dry and not pre-sliced - what the hell? I have to slice my hot dog bun?! What is this, Game of Thrones?!?!

Cook the dog, put it in a bun, cover it with heated chili and top it with the faux-cheesy. Totally awesome. Oh and I didn't take a picture because I ate it too quickly.

But really tell us what make you feel awesome. We will compile a pretty list and put it up for all to see.

Lazy Vegan - Microwave Popcorn

Have you noticed even butter-free microwave popcorn has milk as one of the ingredients?! Well I have, because I love popcorn and I am getting sick as hell of having to clean my pots and pans every time I want to make some. And if I buy another appliance we are going to have to buy a storage unit to house them all so an air popper is out of the question. 


Thus my quest for dairy-free microwave popcorn awesomeness.


The holy grail? Bearitos Organic No Oil Added Lightly Salted Microwave Popcorn - you can get it unsalted too, but why? Come on it is only lightly salted. 

My one complaint - 
Hey Bearitos, update your packaging and website. Seriously, this is a good example of why you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, but I thought twice about buying this based on the complete lack of design. Good design (and sex) sells - the scary bear and the stale looking popcorn....not so much.

Vegan Irish Hand Pies

Savory hand pies are traditionally filled with meat. If you are reading this blog there is a good chance you want none of that, but still want the savory goodness wrapped in a flaky buttery crust. (hold the butter).


Well this year I came up with a recipe to satisfy your needs. A long time ago I saw a Martha Stewart recipe for the meat version. This is sort of based off of that. But with ingredients added, changed and mixed around a little.


First you need pie crust. There are a million blogs out there on how to make the perfect pie crust. I use the simple ratio - 1 stick of Earth Balance Buttery Sticks : 1 cup flour: tiny bit of ice water. Pulse the Buttery (cut it up first) and the flour in your food processor. Then turn on the processor and slowly add little bits of ice water. When it starts to stick together, you are done. For these pies I also add in salt and fresh cracked pepper to create a savory crust.

Here are some pictures of my process. If you haven't made pie crust before, the number one thing you need to remember is everything needs to super cold. Use ice water and cold cold cold Buttery (keep it in the fridge or freezer between making batches). I made 4 batches. But the recipe I am giving you only needs two. Stick them in the fridge for at least an hour before baking.

While your dough is chilling, make your filling. (ahhh rhyming)


Filling - 
2 cups shredded cabbage
2 cups diced Yukon Golds or red potatoes
1.5 cups diced yellow onion
1 package Original Smart Ground Veggie Protein Crumbles
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/2 tsp Vegan Worcestershire  (we use Edward and Sons)
A good dash of Thyme
Salt
Pepper


Get all your veggies chopped and in a pan with a bit of oil. While they cooking mix your tomato paste, thyme and Worcestershire, in a large mixing cup with 1 cup of water. When your veggies are starting to brown and smelling good, add the veggie crumbles. Get them good and mixed up. Then add your sauce mixture on top and turn the heat down to a simmer. Let it simmer until the potatoes are soft. Turn off the heat, mash it up a bit and then let it COMPLETELY COOL. Otherwise your pie crust will melt.

Once it is cool. Roll out your dough to about 1/4 inch thick. Cut it into 6 inch squares (you can pick a size but I like mine snack sized) or circles or whatever you like. Scoop about a 1/2 cup onto one side of the square and then fold the other side over it. Crimp the edges with a fork and cut some vents in the top. 

Bake at 400° for about 12 minutes. I am going to prep mine and then freeze them until St. Patty's so mine will take about 30 minutes to bake. Remember the ingredients inside are all cooked and ready. So all you need to is get the crust baked. If it looks golden and delicious, they are done.

Getting Bombed, Vegan Style

The extremely offensive Irish Car Bomb cocktail has been a staple of our St. Patrick's Day parties for a few years now.  Well they didn't start out as parties. They started out with a few of us drinking them and watching Boondock Saints. (you know, 'cause they are Irish.) Well, that became annual and then it became quite the shindig.  Here is my picture from last year. -

So this year, with my constant attempts to be animal-product free, I figured I needed to make an ICB without using your run of the mill Irish Cream.

~~~~~

For those of you who don't know this is how you make an ICB -

~8oz Guiness Stout in a glass

~A shot glass filled half-way with Baileys Irish Cream

~Jameson Irish Whiskey floated on top of the Irish Cream.

You drop the shot of Whiskey and Irish Cream into the Stout and chug.

~~~~~

So I put myself on the mission of making the perfect Vegan Irish Cream. 

Well apparently my very I should have been a Mixologist, because I came up with a slammin' alternative. I couldn't pry it out of Kris' hands. (Not that he is really that much a booze snob, but he would tell me if it sucked.)

Without further ado...

Vegan Irish Cream

2 parts vodka

2 parts Torani Irish Cream flavoring

1 part So Delicious Coconut Creamer  - French Vanilla

Keep everything in the fridge including the syrup. This will make it nice and thick. Now I am guessing you can make a big ol' batch and keep it for about as long as the creamer is good. I haven't tried it though, so trust your digestive health to yourself or someone with a medical license. Also this is more alcoholic than you average Irish Cream. About 26% alcohol vs 17%. (I should brush up on my math skills - it is actually 16% so essentially the same.) It will also be slightly darker in color. 

REMEMBER THIS - We want you to be able to enjoy this recipe for many years to come. Like 80! So please please PLEASE have a good time and get a designated driver, call a cab, crash on a couch and offer yours to an inebriated friend. We love you and we want you safe.

Stay tuned - tomorrow you will get my Vegan Hand Pie recipe!! 

Vegan Bolognese Sauce

Hello, Our lovely readers!

Yesterday, I decided to make Spaghetti for dinner. While I was in the kitchen, I decided to take it a step further. We just had gone grocery shopping, so I had tons of fresh veggies to choose from. The sauce was so good that Jasmine (my 10 year old daughter) asked for a second helping of just the sauce!

This does require a lot of chopping, but it is so worth it! (luckily, I had my favorite little helper to assist) So put on some music, get yourself a nice beverage and get busy!

You will need:

1 eggplant
1 zucchini
mushrooms (I used portobellos and crimini)
1 onion
2 carrots
2 stalks of celery
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 green bell pepper
minced garlic
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 large can tomato sauce
rosemary
oregano
basil
thyme
red pepper flakes
salt pepper
a teaspoon-ish amount of Earth Balance
a few drizzles olive oil
a few dashes of liquid smoke (I know it sounds crazy, but trust me)
red wine (optional)

Dice up all veggies into small pieces. set mushrooms, onion and garlic aside.

Place mushrooms in pan with some olive oil. add the liquid smoke. (this is going to add a bacon like flavor to the sauce, and the portobellos add a bit of meat like texture) Saute, and set aside.

Saute the onions and garlic. add the rest of the veggies and saute. Once everything is looking done, add the mushrooms in. Stir to combine.

De-glaze pan with red wine.  Not much, just about a 1/3 of a cup. (you can skip this step if you like)

add in the tomatoes, sauce and seasonings (to taste. I just wing it)

Stir to combine all ingredients. Cover and simmer for at-least 20 Minutes (really, the longer it simmers, the better it gets)

Serve with your favorite pasta. ( I used Trader Joe's brown rice pasta) This would also be great in your favorite lasagna recipe, any recipe that calls for a marinara sauce, or even over steamed veggies.

Enjoy!

I want!!

Here are a few of the latest vegan accessories I can't keep my eyes off of!

Lady Luxury Beige Handbag - $40.00

Soda Ronald Oat Beaded Moccasin Flats - $23.00

Not a Nugget Eco Friendly Chick pendant - $25.00