you only see what you want to see, nothing less, nothing more

So I leave tomorrow to go back to philly. I'm really hopeing that I'll be able to cook and blog as much..I'll definitely be reading everyone else's though, so i'm sure that will inspire me to get in the kitchen. My classes for this semester start up on Monday.. not to mention on my 20th birthday unfortunately.. haha but hopefully they won't be too bad this semester :)

So I went to Vitamin World the other day to look for a new vitamin. I ended up getting the Vitamin Code ones. They're all raw and they seem to be a good pick. Only down side of it is that you have to take four of them a day..that seems a bit odd to me, but we'll see. Also while I was there I picked up two raw nutrition bars. One was the Raw Revolution brand, in chocolate cashew. I wasn't a huge fan.. it wasn't bad, I could eat it..but it was just very bland and boring. I also got a Raw Organic Power Bar in the chocolate coconut, and I did prefer this one over the other. But still, nothing too fabulous. I'd rather stick to Luna bars. :)


Okay so yeah my vitamins are in the background. But in the glass is pure awesomeness. I was thinking the other day about the new Starbucks drinks, the chocolate banana energy one..and thinking that without the whey, and plus the soy milk, it could be vegan. Welll... also realizing that I had all the ingredients on hand already, I made one myself and it was soo good.

Banana Chocolate Drink
1 banana
1 T cocoa powder (more if you want it chocolateyy)
1/2 cup soy milk
5-6 ice cubes
Sweetener, if you so desire.. i didn't and it was fine.

Put it all in a blender and pulse to blend the ice cubes. Add sweetener if needed, or even some peanut butter if you're feeling super fancy ;) Not to mention, the way written above, is all about 100 calories...depending on what kind of soy milk you used! (i used light 8th continent..so 1/2 cup was only 30 calories)
It's just such a simple drink that I love and found really refreshing.

Let's see, also for dinner the other night I made TLT's(tempeh lettuce tomato!) using Fat Free Vegan's "bacon" tempeh recipe.




I would like to ask for a bit of advice though. This is the second time that I've tried to cook tempeh and marinate it and such. The other try was using Veganomicon's hot sauce glazed tempeh. And I mean, the tempeh is always quite delicious. But honestly, I don't really feel like it marinades correctly for me. I never really taste the marinade distinctly..more just like plain tempeh. The recipe on fat free vegan was to marinate it for at least 20 minutes, which i did for about 25-30 minutes just in case. Also, I steamed it at the beginning for 15 minutes, which she said would let it marinate better.. but i still feel like the taste isnt that distinct. Any ideas? :)
Dont get me wrong, these sandwiches rocked though!

you're hot then you're cold, you're yes then you're no

So it's been over a week and that's a while for me to not blog about anything.
I haven't really been making anything lately though.
The other day for the boy I made the tried and true cornmeal pancakes (minus the blueberries) from Veganomicon for breakfast..and he really liked them. They seemed a lot easier to flip and make without the blueberries in them this time, so that was a bit easier for me.


Oh yes, and the other day I finally got a bike I really really love! It's a baby blue color, and is a "beach cruiser" and it's so adorable. I can't wait to ride it around everywhere. ;)

Today I made some oatmeal cookies that I found. I was originally going to make the ones from Veganomicon, but I didn't have any brown rice syrup, nor do I know of a place around here that carries it. Soo I found a recipe on Vegweb.com for a lowfat low sugar recipe, and honestly..you can't even tell the difference! these cookies are awesome!




I made half and half of chocolate chip and just cinnamon. For some reason, I'm not a huge oatmeal raisin fan..soo those were not included at all.

Oatmeal Cookies (low fat, low sugar):
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt (i used a little less than a tsp..)
1 1/2 c oats
1/2 c sugar
1 tsp cinnamon (i used 2 tsps in the half without chocolate chips)
1 egg replacer (i used flax seeds)
1/2 c mild oil
1 T molasses
1 T agave nectar
3 T water
1 tsp vanilla (oops i forgot to add this...guess its not that necessary!)
1/4-1/2 c semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all the dry ingredients (flour-cinnamon) in a large bowl. In another small-med bowl, mix all the wet ingredients (egg replacer-vanilla). Add the wet to the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Add the chocolate chips. Roll into little balls and place on greased cookie sheet. Flatten out with a fork so they cook nicely. Bake for 13-14 minutes. Should make about 24 cookies...

although mine came out to be 21, but hey whos counting. ;)

a stranger with your door key, explaining that i'm just visiting

So I'm back from philadelphia for the mean time and I had a really great time up there! We went to the show on Tuesday night, which had Rookie of the Year, The Graduate, PlayRadioPlay!(my favorite),My American Heart, and Secondhand Serenade..if you've heard of any of those..high five! So that was fun.

While we were there we spent the day on south street and such on tuesday. For lunch, we stopped at Gianna's Grille, which I've only eaten from once and all I had was a canolli (but it was an absolute wonderful vegan canolli!) soo I really wanted to eat lunch there. I was torn between the sandwiches or a piece of pizza..and finally went for pizza. It was pretty good, but I wouldnt say that it was picture worthy. Cody got a meat-filled cheeseburger..bleh, but I like that they have vegan and non-vegan foods..so anyone can eat there and hopefully try vegan stuff! For dessert, we split a piece of the chocolate peanut butter crunch cake. oh my. this was AWESOME!

The cake was so moist and perfect, and the icing was soo peanut buttery and delicious. I loved it. :) Next time I go though..I'll choose a sandwich over the pizza. and definitely get another dessert. ;)

Oh yes, also while I was there, I got to finally see my new apartment! Its sooo adorable, i'm in love with it. It's directly on Main Street in Manayunk, so the location is PERFECT. And it has a cute little balcony and everything. I'm so excited! I'll be back in Philly in 2 weeks from today...but unfortunately we don't move into the new place until the beginning of September..but it's worth the wait!

you lost the game you never even played..

So tonight I'm going back up to Philadelphia, just for 2 days. There is a show tomorrow night at the Trocodero that I'm really looking forward to with PlayRadioPlay! playing..soo it should be a fun time. Plus I can't wait to be near vegan restaurants again! :) Govinda's is definitely calling my name..yumm. Hopefully I'll get a nice pretty picture while I'm there..

Soo I had watched the video on everydaydish about the author of My Sweet Vegan cooking the whoopie pies. They looked awesome! So last night I randomly decided that I needed to make them. And I had not too long ago learned that the Giant in my town has tofutti sour cream and cream cheese, so I was able to use the sour cream in the recipe! They turned out smashing, of course. This cookbook is another to add to my need to buy list!




The icing was a bit ...i dont know the word..haha but they tended to get a bit messy..so I put them in the fridge and this made the icing set a bit better in the cookies. They taste like a better version of Devil Dogs in my opinion..(which were a childhood favorite!)

Whoopie Pies (from My Sweet Vegan):
1 c plain soy milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 c all purpose flour
1/2 c cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c margarine
1/4 c granulated sugar
1/2 c packed brown sugar
2 T vegan sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract

For Filling:
2 c powdered sugar
1/3 c vegetable shortening
3 T soy milk
1 tsp vanilla extract.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together milk and vinegar and set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside. In large mixing bowl in a stand mixer, cream together both sugars and margarine until creamy. Add the sour cream and mix until smooth. Take the milk mix and the flour mix and alternately add in batches to the margarine and beat until fully combined. You may have to scrape the sides to really get it mixed! Use an ice cream scoop and drop 3-4 T of dough at a time onto greased or with parchment paper cookie sheets. Leave about 2" between each, as they will expand a little. Bake 10-14 minutes until top is just cracked and let them cool completely. To make Filling: Put mixer on low and beat the sugar and shortening together. Add the soymilk and vanilla. Once sugar is incorporated, turn the mixer on high and really whip it for about 2-3 minutes to make it light and fluffy. Drop a dollop on one cookie and cover with another, gently pressing down. Repeat with all the cookies! :)

And if your icing turned out like mine, (messy but sooo delicious nonetheless) just put them in the fridge for a bit and that should make them easier to eat!