St Patrick + St Pierre

My favorite party holiday, St Patrick's Day, is happening this Sunday!!! With the added bonus of the there being a UFC fight with George St-Pierre fighting the title match today. We are going to DVR it and watch it tomorrow. So don't you think about spoiling it for me.

So....

+

Equals one heck of a party.

We will be featuring the same food and drink as last year. Vegan Irish Hand Pies and Vegan Irish Car Bombs.

What to do for our man from America's Hat?! Well unfortunately I don't have time to figure out the best way to make Poutine. So I am just going to buy some of those delicious vegan maple cookies from Trader Joe's and maybe get a Canadian Whiskey for good measure.

Will post pictures on Monday, in what I am sure is going to be a headache fog.

CHEERS!!!!!

Beauty featuring Body Butter

VanVeggie has decided to start sharing awesome vegan beauty finds we come across.

In order to make it on to the blog they need to be 

a) vegan - containing no animal byproducts

b) cruelty free - meaning the products were not tested on animals

c) super awesome - which is the smell, look, or work great. (or they are really cheap)

Donna has a lot of experience with cosmetics, she has worked for MAC and Bobbi Brown and was the make-up artist at the Salon she used to work at. I am not so well versed, but I have a weird addiction to buying drug store cosmetics and so my "good deal" radar is pretty accurate. 

Above stated radar is what led me to - Trader Joe's Coconut Body Butter

Straight up here is the first thing you need to know about it. It is $3.99.  THREE NINETY NINE!! You can probably dig that kinda change out from the sides of the seats in your car. At least in my car you can. 

Okay so 3.99! Next it is a huge pot. 8 oz (227 grams) (So cheap and huge...like your mother Trebek.) And it has a flip-top!!

Next is the texture. It actually feels like frosting. When I put it on I felt almost perversely decadent.

Now here is the only downside for me which may not be a downside for anyone else. The fragrance.  It smells delicious, like edible. But I am kinda over the whole scent of shea butter and coconut. I seriously felt like a frosted cupcake that got drunk on Malibu. The good news is it wasn't so strong that I was bothered by it all day. Plus Sir K thought it smelled great. So really this is just a personal thing.

The sum-up is - worth the buy, would be a great addition to a gift for vegan or omnivorous friends or for yourself!

Quinoa Taco Salad

In my house, not only are we vegan, but we also have to be wheat/gluten free, and now our daughter  has to be soy and sugar free as well. This can make cooking.....challenging. I have had to do a TON of research (still do daily)  I am constantly trying new things, and try to have an arsenal of quick and easy recipes that I can pull together on the fly. Because guess what? If my day/evening gets crazy, we cant just order a pizza, or drive thru somewhere to grab a quick dinner. *Look for future posts with tips for being plant based and allergen free =)

Right now, we are quite fond of Quinoa. I like to cook up a large batch on sundays to use through out the week.  The other night, it totally came in handy as I through together this super yummy recipe last minute. 

Quinoa Taco Salad

You Will Need:

1 1/2 cups cooked Quinoa

1 can drained Organic Black Beans

1 can drained Organic Pinto Beans 

1 package taco seasoning (I use Trader Joe's Taco seasoning, if I don't make my own. It is one of the only ones that doesn't have gluten or soy in it)

Shredded Lettuce

1 handful of tortilla chips, crushed

Taco Toppings- We used diced avocado, diced tomato, olives, salsa, green onions, bell peppers. You can use whatever toppings you wish, Some Daiya pepperjack or cheddar shreds with a dollop of "Sour Cream" would be great.

1. In a large skillet, heat up the Quinoa and beans. Add Taco seasoning, and cook as directed.

2. Place Lettuce on plates (or in bowls) Place about a cup of 'Taco Filling' on top of lettuce.

3. Add toppings, and finish with a sprinkle of crushed tortilla chips on top. 

4. Enjoy!

Recipe - Broccoli Pesto

I am on a huge broccoli kick right now but I am getting seriously sick of stir-fry. I was stoked when I came across a recipe for Broccoli Pesto in the Happy Herbivore cookbook. Unfortunately the recipe isn't on her website and so I can't give it to you exactly, you will have to buy the book for that but I can give you my variation on it.

Pesto Broccoli -
2 Heads cooked broccoli
.25 cup silken tofu
appox 1 cup basil leaves
1 large clove garlic
Juice from 1/2 lemon
Sea Salt and Pepper

After you cook the broccoli, blend all the ingredients until smooth. Then toss with freshly cooked pasta. I really like whole grain pasta with this because it adds a nutty flavor. Also instead of silken tofu, an avocado might be tasty.

Happy New Year!!!

Now that it is 2013 maybe I can start blogging a little more. That is how it works, right? One day passes and for some reason the next signifies a fresh start. Logically, it makes no sense but I still love a new year.

So in celebration I am going to give away a $20.13 gift certificate to Herbivore Clothing. Don't worry out-of-towners, you can use it online.

How do you win this? Leave a comment below or on our facebook page. You have until 12am PST 1/2/2013  1/3/2013. Then a random comment will be selected as the winner!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Oh and I can I suggest this - for your hangover?

Breakfast Scramble - only add home fries, biscuits and this gravy. With a Vegan Bloody Mary you are all set. To make a Bloody Mary vegan just use vegan Worcestershire sauce. Easy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Update 1/3/2013

WINNERS!!!!!
Stephanie R and Eileen C - Woot Woot since you are the only two comment leavers, you both get one!

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.