Vegan Gal

Cupid's Day

2012-02-14T04:50:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Hope you enjoy it whether with a significant other, family, friends, or showing self-love to yourself, we all deserve it :)

have you ever felt like everybody's watching...

2012-02-03T13:59:00.000-08:00

A bit ago Jason & I visited DC again for a weekend. We love having our weekends away every now and then and DC is always a great place to visit! We lucked out with the weather as well and it wasn't too bad!

We arrived on Friday night and went out with my brother since he lives down there. We of course, had to go to RFD which is Jason's favorite place and has a HUGE menu of millions of different beers. It was okay, and loud, but I know Jason likes it. :)

On Saturday we walked all over! I love wandering around different cities and seeing everything they have to offer. We went to the museums and saw the Andy Warhol exhibit which was really awesome.
We also walked over to the Eastern Market which is in the Capitol Hill area of DC. i had never been over there before but there were so many awesome vendors!
Including a PICKLE stand!!

They offered tons of different pickles on a stick that you could get for only $2. We definitely had to try them and they were SO good!

After walking around all day we rested for a bit in the hotel and then ventured out for dinner. I had never had ethiopian food before, and heard that DC had a ton of awesome ethiopian restaurants to check out so I figured it'd be a great place to try it for the first time.

We ended up making a reservation for Etete. They were located on 9th St and not a far walk really from our hotel. Nothing in DC is really thattt far away.

We started out with the Sambusa which was a roll filled with lentils, green peppers, jalapenos, and onions. They were delicious!

I wasn't sure what to really order, so I asked for the vegetarian plate and she ended up putting both of our orders together on the injera.

Sorry for the low lighting! It was very dim in there which I thought made a great atmosphere. I was the girl though, that asked for a fork, even though I know you're supposed to kind of eat it all with the injera in your hands. Ahh well.. I tried! Everything on it was absolutely delicious though!
It had collard greens, cabbage & carrot, split peas, red lentils, and some amazing sauces that tied it all together.
Definitely not the last time I'll be going to an ethiopian restaurant!

On Sunday we met up with my brother again for brunch! I had heard about Sticky Fingers a lot and I knew I had to try it out for myself. They are located at 1370 Park Rd NW.

It was absolutely adorable on the inside and even though small, we were able to find a spot outside to eat our brunch.

I ordered the tuna melt sandwich. Tuna is one of the things I really enjoyed pre-vegan days, so it was great to have a substitute!

Jason & Brian both got the same thing - the breakfast burrito. It was a whole grain tortilla, tofu scramble, black beans, tomato, spinach, and daiya cheese!

yeah, not the juciest of pictures for the burrito, but under all that spinach there was definitely tofu scramble!

We couldn't leave sticky fingers without trying their beautiful desserts!

My brother tried the famous cinnamon roll. It was as big as our heads. At least.

But oh so good. They had a great deal for the cinnamon roll & a cup of coffee together. I would love to live near by and go there for breakfast and eat that - every day. Hah...

Jason & I split the cupcakes..

We chose cookies n' cake cupcake and a peanut butter fudge cupcake, of course. Those are our favorite flavors for anything, I think.
Of course, they did not dissapoint and not a crumb of anything was left!
It was great to catch up with my brother and we both really enjoy going to DC. hopefully one day we can get down there for the cherry blossom fest!

enjoy your weekends & hope the superbowl is fun for everybody whether you care about the football, the food, the commercials, or seeing Madonna perform! :)

Honeymoon in Jamaica

2012-01-21T10:40:00.000-08:00

The day after our wedding, Jason & I flew out to Montego Bay, Jamaica for our week long honeymoon!
I remember waking up that morning SO early but SO excited and ready to be on relaxation mode for a week. Plus we were still in that JUST married wedding high :)

The flight was short, about 3 hours or so, which made it easy to get through. I'm really not a fan of long flights/travel times. Our resort was Secrets St. James and it was absolutely perfect for us! We chose to be in the preferred club and I'm not sure exactly how much of a difference it made because it all looked so great! It was an all inclusive resort, which I think is the best way to go when you truly just want to relax and not worry about anything!

This was the view outside of our porch, might I add a porch with a soaking tub on it :)

The resort was very accomodating to me as a vegan as well.
For breakfasts, I brought a carton of almond breeze with us so if they had cereal i could eat that. Fortunately, they also had soy milk available so I had enough for coffees as well. They had tons of fruit, and my stomach cannot tolerate most melon-y fruits (pineapple, cantaloupe, honey dew, watermelon) so I didnt get a chance to enjoy those but their apples & bananas were great.

After breakfast our day usually went straight to the beach!

This was perfection and how we spent most of our days.. ipod, kindle, fruity island drink (the rum punches were SO good), and the beautiful beach! I read the help most of the time I was there, was a great beach read!..although I did tear up at the end :)

For lunches, they had options of cafes being open that were at the pools or the international buffet was also always open for lunch. The buffet was easiest for us since I could find all the vegan things instead of just ordering something and hopeing it was vegan, and Jason could find whatever he wanted as well.

This is what my usual lunch looked like..filled the plate mixed greens, then tons of veggies and toppings! Their black beans & rice were so good and they checked to make sure they were all vegan for me. They also always had salsa everywhere so I was in heaven.

After lunch we'd usually wander around the resort, or go back to the pool or beach. We did do zip lining one day and also snorkeling which was exciting and scary. Apparently I'm very afraid of jelly fish..enough said haha.

For dinner, the resort had six different sit down restaurants to choose from. Each night 4 of them were open, so sometimes a different one was open on certain days than the others, it made it nice to have options.

Our first night we ate at the asian restaurant, called Himitsu. This quickly became our favorite and we ate there 3 out of the 7 nights!

Our appetizer, they had vegan spring rolls! They were so tasty. Also, our waitor was SO entertaining..his name was Alex and he kept us comfortable and made our visit really enjoyable. We even became facebook friends! :)

this was my entree the first night I was there. I was unsure of exactly how vegan everything was but this dish was perfect! It was basically a tofu vegetable stir fry but the sauce on it was very light and flavorful, a perfect first night meal.

The last night of our honeymoon we ate again at Himitsu, and I decided to test them and see what else they could make me.

They made me the sweet and sour chicken but with tofu instead with a ton of veggies. It was so delicious and I was glad they were able to make something special for me.

Another night we tried out the italian restaurant, called Portofino.

Italian food isn't one of my favorite, but this was a good option and Jason really likes italian. We started with a mixed green salad and bruschetta.

As simple as the bruschetta looks, the topping was very flavorful and you could tell it was really fresh!

As for my entree, it wasn't anything fabulous but it worked and Jason really enjoyed his course there so it's all good. They basically gave me a big ol' plate of whole wheat pasta with marinara and a rare vegetable here and there.

They also had a jamaican restaurant, called Blue Mountain, but we did not eat there. It was mostly a seafood place and I thought it might've been hard to find a vegan option.

We did try the mexican restaurant though, called El Patio.

Of course, there was chips and salsa. The resort always had chips and salsa on every buffet bar and menu..it was awesome :)

I was a bit dissapointed with the vegan option for the mexican restaurant though.

It was basically a plate of greens, tomatoes, black beans and corn with a sauce glaze. I thought that they could have done better from looking at the menu but it was still a decent option!

We ate at the French restaurant one evening as well, I don't have pictures from it though but it was basically a big plate of grilled vegetables with a side salad.

So even though some restaurants were better than others, they were ALL willing to go out of their way and make some sort of vegan option for me. This was very appreciated and made us so happy to have stayed with this resort!

We had so much fun and it was complete bliss everyday. It felt like we were always looking at a postcard, it was so beautiful.

for our next all inclusive island resort trip, we would definitely stay again with Secrets! They have locations all over the place too! :)

A vegan's wedding pt. 2

2012-01-03T17:50:00.000-08:00

It's 2012 and i need to finish posting about my wedding so i can move onto a NEW YEAR!
this blog is going to be getting a lot of changes soon hopefully!

Back to one of the best days of my life :)

After the ceremony and celebrating, we had the cocktail hour. 3 out of 5 of the hor dourves were vegan friendly.

We had served bruchetta:

Veggie spring rolls and root vegetable kabobs:

The other choices were meat-options.
What I had tried was very good though!

For the sit down portion of the wedding, we started out with a fruit salad which consisted of honey dew, cantaloupe, blueberries, and strawberries all drizzled with balsamic.

The second course was the house salad which was already vegan - mixed greens with tomatoes, cucumbers, sunflower seeds, and an herb vinagrette.

Before the wedding we had the guests choose their main entree with a choice of chicken, salmon or a vegan option.

Of course, I opted for the vegan option. This is a picture of my friend Kate's, since I didnt have my camera with me obviously, but it was a vegetable timbale with zucchini, green beans, roasted red peppers, spinach and mashed potatoes (mine had rice though..) with a balsamic drizzle. The veggies were cooked perfectly!

The best part of the meal was definitely the cake though!
It is from Desserts, International in Exton, PA and they did a marvelous job on creating the exact cake that I had wanted and vegan friendly!!

Each layer was alternated between the two flavors we couldn't choose between ; chocolate cake with peanut butter ganache/mousse and vanilla cake with a raspberry preserve..they both were soo good and usually i'm more of a chocolate-person, but the raspberry was SO delicious!

Each piece was served with vegan vanilla ice cream!

It was definitely a fabulous day for me and one that i will never forget, and so thankful for all of the people in my life that came to celebrate it with us.

Get excited for Vegan Gal in the new year!! :)

A Vegan's Wedding

2011-12-04T09:31:00.000-08:00

So even though my wedding was almost 3 months ago (wow..where did the past 3 months go?!) I'm finally finding some free time to blog!
I've definitely been cooking and eating at some amazing places lately, so I'll have much to catch up on writing about.
I'll share my wedding moments with you first though! :)

The day before my wedding was spent running around with my maid of honor doing a couple of last minute things. Nothing stressful - getting mani & pedi's and prepping myself!
We had our rehearsal at the country club at 4:30, which went fine!

My something blue's! :)

Followed by our rehearsal dinner at the Dueling Kurtz House in Exton. I had eaten there twice before and although their menu doesn't have anything really vegan on it, they made me a delicious butternut squash risotto both times and it's been great! They made it for all the vegetarians that were at the dinner as well.

Jason's mom made the cute table names and place cards for all of the guests. It was a great idea and was really cute on the tables! she had named each of the tables after places we had been together, of course Jamaica hadn't happend yet but it was where our honeymoon was going to be!

^Us at the rehearsal dinner.

The rest of the evening we went out to a local bar with our bridal party and other people who were in the area to celebrate our last night before being married! It was great spending time with everyone but I was ready for the next day!!
That night I did manage to get a couple of hours of sleep, and my sister Emily, maid of honor Emily, and bridesmaid Kate all stayed with me that night which was great!

The morning we woke up pretty early, and ventured out to Target to get some coffee and last minute things for our "brunch" at the salon!

We were to be at the salon by 9:00 so I had made muffins and gotten some fruit to munch on while we were getting our hair & make up done.

The bridesmaids all dolled up! :)

After getting to the country club, they were nice enough to supply some wraps for the bridal party and make me a special veggie wrap!

My bridal party helped me get dressed and prepped for the ceremony!

We then had photo shoots around the country club with our fabulous photographer, Tiffany Atlas.

My wonderful bridesmaids :)

We had our pictures done before the ceremony, so yes we saw eachother before we walked down the aisle, but it was very romantic and special to have our own moment seeing eachother in private before the ceremony :) Made me so much less nervous as well seeing him beforehand!

The ceremony went wonderfully. My aunt and Jason's friend Tim both had readings in the ceremony that we chose, as well as a song that we had the audience sing a verse from. We also had a sand ceremony instead of the traditional unity candle. The sand worked out great and now we have the pieces of it to decorate our home.

I'll post about the rest of the wedding in my next post! The cocktail hour, dinner, and of course the CAKE! :)

The knot will be tied :)

2011-09-08T11:23:00.000-07:00

This vegan is getting married this saturday...9/10/11

Thus the blog & blogworld will be neglected for a bit! I have much to think about/get married/go on honeymoon to Jamaica!

See you in a few weeks!!

^^What we based our cake off of, will be much different though! :)
And of course, vegan. Vegan chocolate cake with peanut butter mousse and vegan white cake with raspberry mousse. Yum! :)

Vegan 23rd Birthday!

2011-08-30T14:28:00.001-07:00

I had my 23rd birthday last thursday (August 25th) and it was a wonderful day from the night before to the end of the evening.

The night before my birthday, Jason & I met with our DJ to finalize all the music details, which was very successful and I'm really excited for the music that will accompany our wedding reception!

Also Wednesday night, I made the Tofu Saag Paneer from Skinny Bitch, although it was AWESOME (even Jason thought so!) I did not take a picture. The blended spinach with coconut milk made it look very unappetizing(think baby food), so we just ate with our eyes closed and it was delicious anyway :)

That night Jason wanted to give me my birthday presents early (even though I said I should wait!!) and they were all wonderful! The Adele CD, Just Dance 2 on Wii (SOO much fun!), the dkny golden delicious perfume and lotion, a bottle of grey goose (classssy alcohol haha), an H&M giftcard, and a car charger for my phone!! All awesome gifts. He's pretty amazing. Oh, and one more thing which i'll get to in a minute..

Thursday, my actual birthday, was spent at work doing medication training. Not the most exciting thing, but when I went upstairs to see my clients and grab a bottle of water, they all sang to me and I had a TON of birthday cards they all hand made me throughout the day sitting on my desk. They really do make you feel like Miss America..I love it. :)

When I went home for my lunch break I got a knock on the door from the florist that is doing our wedding, with a beautiful sunflower bouquet from my parents!

Thursday after I got home, I met Jason in Wayne to go to White Dog Cafe for dinner. I've been wanting to try this place for a while and they recently opened a location in Wayen. They also have one in center city, Philadelphia.

Despite having a 6:30 reservation on a thursday, it was pretty empty! It did have a few tables in the first room filled up as well as on the other wall from where we were sitting. It did get much busier around 7:30 or so.

We of course started with some delicious birthday wine - a Reisling, which is my favorite kind of wine!

We started with the Vegetable Antipasto.
The site states it as "local seasonal vegetables, herb infused oil, saba, true leaf microgreens."

It was really delicious and had golden beets, regular beets, tomatoes, a puree of vegetables..

Compliments of the chef, we received glasses of gazpacho which was delicious and I've love to order this next time as a starter!

For my entree, I chose the Cashew Crusted Tofu, which the site lists as it comes with "buckwheat noodles, red chile aoili, asian vegetable slaw, and ginger soy sauce." Our server informed us that the red chile aoili was not vegan, so that was left off.

The tofu was really good and the vegetable slaw was perfectly seasoned. I thought the entire dish was wonderful, and I know that they change up their menu according to the seasons, so I'd be excited to go back and try some of their other vegan offerings in the fall!

Jason also got me a vegan birthday cake from Whole Foods!!

This was AMAZING!!
The chocolate mouse icing was phenomenal and the cake was moist and still very moist and decadent days after for leftovers!

My birthday was definitely a fabulous one and my last one as a single lady ;)

stay young, go dancing

2011-08-01T14:03:00.001-07:00

Thanks to my fiance's family having an amazing garden and an abundance of fresh summer vegetables, it's been quite easy to have delicious produce with our meals lately!
When we left from NJ the other weekend, we left with a ton of zucchini, yellow squash, the sweetest cherry tomatoes ever, eggplant, and a few regular tomatoes.
I was hesitant at first to take the eggplant.. a) i've never cooked with eggplant and b) i'm not sure i really like eggplant.
I love baba ganoush, definitely, but grilled or on a plate I've usually never really been a fan. although i always try to be!

I tried to think up something to make that would utilize a bit of all the vegetables into one dish, I definitely don't want them going bad! I did freeze some of the squash which will be great for quick meals, but the zucchini & tomatoes I didn't want to freeze.

I figured a ratatouille would be perfect! I love using Whole Food's website to find inspiration for recipes, and their summer harvest ratatouille sounded perfect!

Summer Harvest Ratatouille:
1 bell pepper, seeded cored, cut into thick wedges
1 eggplant, cut into 3'4" slices
1 yellow squash, cut into 3/4"slices
1 zucchini, cut into 3/4" slices
1/2 c water
1 large tomato, seeded and chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic
1/6 t red pepper flakes'
1 T oregano
1/4 c fresh chopped basil
1 T dried parsley
1/2 T red wine vinegar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Have a baking sheet ready, place peppers, eggplant, squash, and zucchini on sheet. Bake, turning once halfway through cooking, moving to the bottom shelf if originally on upper, until browned (about 30 minutes.) Cool slightly, then chop.

Meanwhile, pour water in heavy pot, add tomatoes, onion, garlic, and pepper flakes. Bring to a boil, lower heat, cover and simmer until tomatoes are soft, about 20 minutes. Add chopped roasted veggies to pot, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in basil, parsley and vinegar and cook for 5 more minutes.

This dish was divine! We both enjoyed it and the fresh vegetables made it even better.
I definitely love the summer vegetables out now and see zucchini pasta in the near future ! :)

Showers!..vegan style ;)

2011-07-28T13:05:00.000-07:00

Over the past month or so I was lucky enough to have two awesome bridal showers for my upcoming wedding! (44 days and counting!!)

My first was in June in long island, NY with a lot of my family from that area.
I know firsthand that Long Island is hard to find vegan-friendly establishments, so I was excited to see what my mom had planned and come up with!
Where she picked definitely did not dissapoint..

I knew the shower was that day, so I got ready with my mom & sis in the morning and Jason drove me over to the place in the afternoon.
It was at New Grand Buffet in Islandia, and it was a really great time.

The theme was cherry blossom

It all looked so beautiful and the decorations and favors were wonderful!

The buffet didnt offer toooo many vegan options, but the staff brought our a personal plate of veggie sushi rolls and they also had a teriyaki station where you could choose just about any vegetable and they stir fried it in this amazing sauce! It was definitely easy to find something vegan friendly here, I loved the idea of a buffet so everyone can get what they really want!

My mom also went to the trouble to order a vegan cake for the shower! She got chocolate with a Delicious peanut butter frosting. it was realllly good!

Also - the favors were cherry blossom candles as well as vegan chocolate wedding rings!

The shower was great and it was so wonderful to see family and have everyone there!

My 2nd shower was this past weekend -- and not only was it awesome, but it was a COMPLETE surprise!! I thought I was going to Jason's family's place for the weekend and stopping by a pampered chef party on saturday at his sister's..little did I know it was actually a bridal shower for me! I'm not the biggest fan of surprises (that whole having to be in control thing...) but this was definitely a great one!!

Me with some of the ladies from the shower..sorority friends, girlfriends, my mom! I was so surprised to see everybody!

The food was AWESOME! Emily ( my maid of honor aka my bff!) had catering done from Miss Rachel's Pantry which I have heard about numerous times on blogs and everywhere saying how GREAT it is.. it did NOT dissapoint!

These were the vegan BLT bites - toasted bread with smokey coconut "bacon" tomato and lettuce..
And the Pizettes with roasted tomato, olive tapenade and arugula...

These were the amazing vegan quesadillas with mango salsa!

She also made vegan seitan skewers with pineapple and grape tomatoes, I didn't get a pic of those though!

Uhh, can you say YUM?! I wish I worked in center city to get in on her lunch club!

The desserts definitely did not dissapoint either!

My friend Kate, who is one of my bridesmaids(!!) made the delicious vegan cupcakes! It was her first vegan baking adventure, and she did an amazing job! I was lucky enough to try both flavors ;)

Emily's mom went to vegan baking as well -- and made delicious lemon cookies and heart shaped sugar cookies, which were both SO delicious!

All of the fabulous vegan candy didn't heart either ;)

Both of my showers were definitely wonderful and will be things I will remember forever as great moments with such supportive friends && family. I'm truly a lucky gal to have such great people in my life!

Oh, sing one we know

2011-07-12T13:40:00.000-07:00

For a while now at my old apartment and now my new one, I've been getting the magazine Vegetarian Times, thanks to my fiance who ordered it for me :)

I always love looking through them and bookmarking recipes that I can't wait to make.
They always seem to fall to the back burner though, and I have so many issues that it's hard to go back to see what I truly want to make.

I made two the past couple of weeks from two different issues that were definitely "blog worthy."

The first one was from the May/June 2010 issue! This whole issue was jam packed with recipes that I wanted to make.
I actually chose one that wasn't even vegan! Of course, I vegan-ized it but subbing the cheese with vegan cheese.

The magazine had a whole section on "packets". these being food you put into aluminum foil packets and bake it and it comes out cooked and delicious!
I chose the "Tomato Mozzarella Packets with Polenta"
I have yet to cook with polenta prior to making this, i've only ever had it out and loved it but was intimidated by the packaging in grocery stores to even know what to do with it!

This was a VERY simple recipe and paired with a side of mixed greens, made a delicious meal!

Tomato-Mozzarella Pakcets with Polenta:
1 16 oz tube prepared garlic-herb polenta, cut into 16 slices. (I used sundried tomato)
2 large tomatoes, each cut into 8 slices
16 pitted olives (I omitted this)
4 tsp garlic olive oil (I just mixed olive oil with garlic powder)
2 t balsamic vinegar
1 tsp dried italian herbs
4 oz (1 cup) shredded vegan mozzarella cheese (i used vegan gourmet)
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place 4 16" lengths of aluminum foil on work surface. Fold foil in half from short side. Unfold. Shape corners and edges of one half into semicircular "bowls" with 1/2 inch sides. Coat insides with cooking spray.
Place 4 polenta slices, slightly overlapping in each foil semicircle. Arrange 4 tomato slices over polenta. Drizzle each serving with 1 tsp garlic olive oil and 1/2 tsp balsamic vinegarn, and sprinkle with 1/4 tsp italian herbs, season with salt and pepper. Top each with 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella. Fold other half of foil over ingredients, and seal edges in overlapping folds until packets are sealed. Transfer to baking sheet and bake 25-30 minutes.
Remove baking sheet from oven, and transfer packets to serving plates.
It will be hot when you open them, and it was easiest for me to dump them upside down (that's why you don't see the cheese in my photo, it was on the bottom from flipping it )

I would definitely make these again, they were a super easy, delicious meal! i'm trying to find more things to do with polenta now!

The other recipe I recently made was from the Vegetarian Times recent issue - the July/August 2011 magazine. this magazine also had a TON of recipes I'm planning on making soon!!

I made the Zucchini-Quinoa Lasagna first from it. Since I already had vegan cheese from the polenta left over, I wanted to use it up instead of ending up staying in the fridge too long and throwing it out!

This recipe was quick, easy, and I loved using zucchini instead of the traditional pasta noodles!!

Zucchini-Quinoa Lasagna: (serves 6..I halved it for the two of us, and still had leftovers for lunch!)
2 large zucchini, cut lengthwise into 12 1/4 inch thick slices
1 t salt
2 c low sodium broth
1 c quinoa
1/2 c tomato sauce
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 t dried oregano
1/4 c fresh basil leaves, chopped
1/4 cup parsley leaves, chopped
1 25 oz jar marinara sauce
1/2 c shredded vegan mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place zucchini slices on bed of paper towels and sprinkle with salt, then cover with paper towels and let stand to release moisture.
Bring broth, quinoa, tomato sauce, onion, and oregano to a boil in saucepan.
Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and summer 25 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat, and stir in basil, parsley, and cream cheese if using.
Spoon 1/3 cup marinar sauce over bottom of 8 inch square baking dish. Blot remaining moisture and salt from zucchini slices and lay 4 zucchini slices over marinara sauce in pain. Spoon half of quinoa over zucchini, and cover with 1/3 cup marinara. Repeat with 4 more zucchini slices, remaining quinoa, and 1/3 cup marinara. Top with the rest of stuff and the shredded cheese. Bake for 30 minutes or until zucchini is tender and the top is bubbly.

This recipe was awesome, hands down. It's from the blog section of the magazine,and from peasandthankyou.com blog!
I hadn't heard of that blog until the magazine came out, so it introduced me to a new blog to read up on all the time! :)

I'm glad I've been trying more recipes from Veg Times, it really is such a great magazine to have! Their cookbook has been really great to flip through as well! :)

i don't know what i'm looking for but i know that i want to look some more

2011-07-01T13:36:00.000-07:00

When life (or your mom) hands you a big bag of blueberries..
you make blueberry muffins!

In reference to the blueberries that my mother and I picked a few weekends ago while I was home, I wasn't sure how I could use them all up without wasting the delicious berries if they went bad!
Sure I could freeze some, but fresh, picked yourself blueberries deserve to be eaten sans freezer!

Jason requested blueberry muffins for quick breakfasts throughout the week..what a fab idea!

I went over a few muffin recipes, before finally going to my favorite baking cookbook.
The Joy of Vegan Baking.
this book has never failed me!
i've made quite a lot of the recipes from it, and they have all been stellar results.
These muffins were no exception!

Can you tell that sunflowers are my favorite yet? ;)

Blueberry Lemon Muffins:
2 cups flour (I used whole wheat white flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
zest of 2 lemons
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup milk (i used unsweetened almond breeze)
1/3 cup canola oil (i used vegetable, and only 1/4 cup)
1 teaspoons lemon extract (i didnt have this..)
1 tablespoon of white vinegar (i used apple cider)
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a muffin tin.
In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda, salt and lemon zest.
In a large bowl, mix sugar, milk, oil, extract, and vinegar. mix well.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until just mixed. Don't overstir!
Gently fold in blueberries with a rubber spatula.
Fill muffin tins 2/3rd fulls.
Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 22 minutes.
Let cool before devouring ;)

They were great and lasted a while, even after keeping them in the fridge after a few days.
Joy of vegan baking never lets me down :)

days pass and turn into weeks

2011-06-27T16:59:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago I went down to Salisbury MD to visit with my parents, go to my friend's wedding, and have my own bridal dress fitting!
It was a very eventful weekend and was plan filled!

The dress fitting went great! Luckily, the dress that is 10 sizes too big can be adjusted to fit me..what a relief! We've already bought it and I fell in love with it so it's great that it will work!!

After the dress fitting, my mother & I went blueberry picking.
I love getting fresh fruit, and I think we both ate more bluberries while picking than we actually put in our buckets! We got a huge tub full and my mom packed me a ton to bring home which I've been using in cereal, baked goods, and just eating by the handful to get a lovely dose of antioxidants!

While home, Jason & I went out to dinner with my parents in Rehobeth Beach. I wanted to go there after my dad mentioning that there was a vegetarian restaurant out there that he had heard about. It was called "Planet X" and I had looked up the menu and it sounded amazing! More of a sit down, nice gourmet dish menu! They serve meat options, but have a ton of choices for vegans! Not to mention, the atmosphere is very awesome -- tons of buddhas and zen lighting and decor!

Heres the outside as we were approaching, already I knew I would like it!!

This was a view from our outdoor table. I felt like we were in a treehouse! It was a great atmosphere and all the comfy couches and pillows and lights really added to the feeling of it!

This was my dish..the only vegan dish that was ordered that night. My parents both opted for the salmon and Jason got the steak.
My dish was described as "crispy tofu red thai curry, seasonal vegetables, basmati rice, crispy wonton sticks, toasted coconut"

It was great! The option was either tofu or shrimp, obviously I got the tofu which was perfectly cooked! Not too mushy--not an overly fried--just firm enough to get the flavor with the delicious curry sauce!

Usually I'm hesitant to order a curry..i don't like it coming out soup-like..but Planet X's dish was the right amount of sauce to vegetable/tofu ratio! Plus the staff was super accomodating and very friendly! :) We all left happy with our dishes..

After wandering around Rehobeth and seeing all the cool shops and sights, we found the Dogfish Head brewery restaurant.

I'm in no means a beer drinker. I'll have one every once in a while when with Jason and that's the only option, i much prefer wine. However, I was very intrigued at Dogfish when I saw that they had peanut butter vodka! I've never seen this flavor of vodka before, I've had whipped creme vodka and many other flavors..but never peanut butter! First... I had no idea what to mix it with..so I asked the bartender. He said most people get it mixed with the grape vodka for a peanut butter & jelly martini. Sounded perfect in my book!!

Peanut Butter & Jelly Martini.
Holy WOW! This was awesome! I figured many food bloggers would appreciate this..now if only they'd make an almond butter vodka! ;)

Rehobeth is definitely one of the COOLEST beach towns!
I'd definitely love to go back and try annie bananie's -- it's an all vegan "ice cream" place using frozen bananas as the ice cream! so cool!

this fire grows higher

2011-06-14T13:29:00.000-07:00

As the warmer weather keeps coming, the thought of soups & warm comfort foods are being pushed way out of mind.
However, one of my favorite soups is absolutely perfect for summer weather!
Gazpacho, of course.

I've made it once before a couple years ago and wasn't completely satisfied with the results. I like lots of green pepper flavor and good seasonings to balance it all out. Plus it's so great to make a meal without even turning on any appliances other than a blender..or magic bullet in my case. Which reminds me of how excited i'll be to get a REAL blender and food processor on the registry :)
I love my magic bullet, but trying to make a large amount of anything in it is quite tough..

I gathered a few ideas from blogs and forums for how to create my perfect gazpacho.

This recipe is loosely based on about 10 different recipes ;)

Gazpacho:
2 cups of tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped.
1 cup of cucumber, peeled seeded and chopped.
1 cup green pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 cup onion, chopped.
2 cloves garlic
1 cup tomato juice
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 teaspoon dried parsley
2 teaspoons dried basil
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon dill seasoning

Place half of the veggies and all the garlic and seasonings in a blender with tomato juice and vinegar and puree. Add the rest of the chopped veggies and just pulse a few times to finely chop, but still have chunks in your soup!

Easy, no?
If you are stuck using a small blender, or magic bullet like I was, it was easy to puree the first half and then add in chunks of veggies at a time. Taking some of the mixture out into the bowl you will be using to serve it in helps make room as well.

Definitely a great summer meal on a hot day :)

why is everyone so serious

2011-06-10T13:19:00.000-07:00

Even though I do not live as close to center city Philadelphia anymore (I'm now in the Exton area) my best friend still lives quite close so we get to do our weekly "date nights" sometimes in her area. I always get excited driving out there and seeing the familiar buildings and places that I had spent the last four years in. I love living out here with my fiance as well and the new area that I've grown accustomed to, but I still definitely love going back! Luckily it's still only a 30 minute drive so not too bad!

Anyway, this past date night was in Philadelphia. We had planned on grabbing some takeout from Blackbird and enjoying some wine back at her place, but considering the temperature was nearing 100 degrees and there wasn't any air conditioning, we decided it'd be best to go somewhere instead.
I knew it was Beer Week in Philly and neither of us had tried The Belgian Cafe before, so that was a perfect opportunity to try it!!

The appetizers sounded more enticing than the meals, so we chose three to split to eat during our non-stop gab session, as usual. :)

The first one we got was the Edamame Hummus. I had remembered hearing about their sweet potato hummus, but that wasn't on the menu this time.

The hummus was great! It had cashews on top of it which added a crunch, and it came with the crispy wonton chips and red pepper slices. It was definitely a great option!

The next appetizer was the vegan barbecue wings. According to the site, it is corn meal crusted seitan with their spicy barbecue sauce. It came with the celery and blue cheese which wasn't vegan but also came with the vegan aoli sauce which was really good! I enjoyed the wings better on their own though since the sauce was so good!

Our last appetizer was the stuffed tofu. It was pieces of tofu marinated in Spaten Optimator, stuffed with dried cherries (my fave part!) cashews, cilantro, and garlic. According to the site at least, but I distinctly remember having pieces of red pepper in the mix as well! This tofu was a-mazing. Definitely something so different than the regular tofu options that are usually available!

Of Course, being Beer Week in philly, we had to drink some beers!

We figured being at the Belgium cafe we should drink belgium beers. I'm no beer expert, in fact I rarely drink it, more of a wine-o, but I knew which types of beers I liked and didn't like. After the waitresses suggestion, our first beers were drafts from Ohio..not exactly international but still good none the less!

After looking through the actual bottled beer list, we chose Delerium Tremens for our second beers. I've had this beer before from RFD in Washington D.C....I chose it based on its banner that read "The Best Beer In The World" and had a cute pink elephant next to it, how could I say no? Since then I've had it a few other times and I really enjoy it!

Seriously..how could you not like a beer with a cute pink elephant on it??

I'd definitely love to go back to the Belgian Cafe sometime soon, it was a great atmosphere and the food was awesome and so vegan friendly!
There's just too many places in philly that I already want to try so hopefully one day I'll get back there :)

Oh where does the time go?

2011-06-02T14:07:00.001-07:00

4 months later and I'm posting again.
I seem to fall in this rut often within the past year or so..
Although I still read other's blogs all the time and am always inspired to keep going with mine, but yet I always put it to the side. I still take pictures of all the fabulous food I've been making though "just in case" i'll blog about it.
In which I will!

I have another cookbook review.
Appetite For Reduction by Isa Chadra Moskowitz, aka the vegan goddess of wonderful foods and cookbooks (veganomicon, vegan cookies/vegan cupcakes, vegan brunch..yes they're all great!)

I was intrigued by this book however because it was focused on healthier foods with less "fake meats" and more using pure vegetables and "real" food. Not that I don't love a delicious seitan scallopini, but sometimes resorting to how delicious just vegetables can be is a nice refresher.

I was able to get this book at a Border's that was closing, so I got a great discount! They had a lot of different vegan books that I was tempted to buy at such a great deal as well, but I already have quite the bookshelf full of them.

The first recipe I made from this was the Chickpea Piccata and Caulipots (pg. 115 and 54)

I love piccata sauces so I knew this would be good, and I loved the idea of a healthier mashed potato using half cauliflower as well. There were a few variations of the caulipots but I stuck to the original recipe and they turned out great.

Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes (Caulipots): (serves 4)
2 russet potatoes, cut into 3/4 inch pieces
1/2 head cauliflower, cut into florets
1 tablespoon of olive oil ( I used smart balance instead! made it taste "buttery" like mashed potatoes i'm used to!)
2-4 T of vegetable broth
1/2 teaspoon of salt
several pinches of freshly ground black pepper

Place the potatoes in a 4 quart pot in enough cold water to submerge them, making srue there are about 4 inches of extra water on top for when you add the cauliflower. Bring the potatoes to a boil. Once boiling, add the cauliflower and lower the heat to a simmer. Let simmer for about 15 minutes, until the potatoes and cauliflower are tender.
Drain them in a colander, return them to the pot, and use a potato masher to mash them up a bit. (I think i used a bottom of a cup, but I added a masher to my wedding registry!) Add the olive oil (or smart balance), 2 T of broth, and the salt and pepper and mash a bit more. Use a fork to make sure its seasoned well. Add more broth if needed and taste for salt.

These were so great and I honestly would have had no idea there was cauliflower used in it except for I made them.

Chickpea Piccata: (serves 4)
1 cup thinly sliced shallots
6 cloves garlic, sliced thinly (i used a jarred minced garlic, about 3 teaspoons)
2 tablespoons bread crumbs
2 cups vegetable broth
1/3 cup white wine (i used pinot grigio because it's great to drink as you cook)
pinches of black pepper and dried thyme
1 16 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup capers with a little brine
3 T lemon juice
4 cups arugula (I used spinach)

Preheat a large, heavy bottomed pan over medium heat. Saute the shallots and garlic for abuot 5 minutes, until golden. Add the bread crumbs and toaste tehm by stirring constantly for about 2 minutes. They should turn a few shades darker.
Add the broth, wine, salt, pepper, and thyme. Turn up the heat, bring the mixture to a rolling boil, and let the sauce reduce by half; should take about 7 minutes.
Add the chickpeas and capers and let heat through, about 3 minutes. Add the lemon juice and turn off the heat.
To assemble correctly, and if you made the caulipots as well -- put on a plate the spinach or arugula, then top with a serving of caulipots, then a serving of chickpea picatta so the spinach gets warm and it all goes together perfectly!

These two recipes I think would win over any omnivore easy. It's such a comforting and delicious, yet extremely healthy meal that anyone would enjoy it. :)

The next recipe I tried from the book was the Red Thai Tofu (p.149) and Green Beans with Thai Basil (p.98).

Both of these recipes were great, and went together perfectly for a delicious meal :)

The flavoring and seasonings on the tofu were perfect and the way of cooking it made it just enough crispy and firm to not be on the mushy side.
The basil in both of these recipes really brought it all together.
However, for both of these recipes it calls for fresh Thai basil.
I could not find this type in the stores near me, and regular basil leaves worked just fine! As I've been learning with a lot of recipes..don't be intimated by the complex ingredients, as long as you can find something similar in your local stores then the recipe will be fine and have your own twist to it!

Another recipe that we made was the Mango Baked Beans.

I'm back and forth with this recipe. i halved it for just Jason & I, and it still made a TON. I'm pretty sure the leftovers ended up being trash after being in the fridge for too long though. :(
The night that I made it and we ate it I really did like it.
I also made the accompanied corn bread with scallions with it and that gave it a nice touch and was great to dip into the bean sauce.
The mango added sweetness to the beans and bbq-ish to it which was a nice contrast.
I don't think I'd make this again though, but it was nice to try and a great easy weeknight meal!

The most recent meal that I've made from AFR was the 2nd Avenue Vegetable Korma.
This was AWESOME!
I always have trouble when I eat out and order a vegetable curry.
It always comes to me the way I don't want it to -- more of vegetables in a "soup" then vegetables with a sauce on top. I like coconut milk in my curries, but not my vegetables drowning in it.
That's why I prefer to make my own curries with coconut milk at home. Plus I can make it with light coconut milk, which in my opinion is much better than the full stuff..it just has a less overpowering taste but still brings on tons of flavor!

This recipe made a ton and was great the next day as leftovers over spinach!
Any indian-inspired meal I'm instantly drawn too, and usually very happy with so this was no different. It was great to use such fresh veggies for it as well. The zucchini was a nice change to the usual veg lineup.

This cookbook is truly great and I've been bookmarking many other recipes from it that I plan on making in the future.

My only demise? There is no dessert section!!

While I know Isa's cause of this book was to be "healthy" after making Vegan Cupcakes and Vegan Cookies cookbooks, it would still have been nice to see some "healthier" versions of her own desserts that she's come up with!

That's okay though, my "healthy" cookbook of Happy Herbivore has delicious fat free carrot cake cupcakes that we made to tie me over, which I'll review next time. ;)

Another recipe tried from the book was the

as we know it

2011-02-16T17:30:00.000-08:00

As a christmas gift from my friend I got the new skinny bitch cookbook.
The first book, Skinny Bitch in the Kitch was given to me by my aunt 3 years ago for Christmas..and what was the push to lead me to finally take the plunge into veganism that January.
As I became interested in different vegan cookbooks and recipes, I realized how much I did not really like the recipes from skinny bitch. They seemed very simple, (recipe for vegan cheeseburger - 1 vegan burger patty, 1 slice vegan cheese, 1 vegan bun..not too complex and not really cooking..)
However, the book by Kim Barnouin, one of the skinny bitches, that recently came out is very different, and I absolutely love it!
The pictures in the book are wonderful and the recipes are even better :)
So far I've made three of the recipes, but I have many of them bookmarked and will be making them soon, I'm sure.

My first recipe out of the book was the Tempeh Tomato and Tarragon Stew on page 208.
The recipe made 4 servings, and since it was just Jason & I, I knew there would be plenty leftover.

This stew (mine was more soup-like than stew-like, maybe thats why we had so much leftover!) was really easy to make and I had never cooked with swiss chard before, so I was excited to try it out!
Funny though, as i took the swiss chard out to cut, I actually had no idea what to do, and had to google it. First time for everything!
Jason made his verrry delicious garlic bread to go along with this, which was a fresh baquette from the store with smart balance, garlic, and dried basil. He does make some delish garlic bread! :)

Tempeh Tomato and Tarragon Stew:
2 T oil (you can use spray for the cooking if you'd like)
2 cups 1-inch tempeh cubes (I kept the recipe the same otherwise, but only used 1 cup of tempeh..which was one package, seemed like 2 would be a ton!)
salt and pepper to taste
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 celery stalk, diced
3 T minced tarragon
1 T minced thyme
1 bunch swiss chard, thinly sliced
2 1/2 c diced tomatoes
1 15 oz can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups red wine
4 cups vegetable broth

Heat a large saucepan over medium high heat with cooking oil/spray. Add the tempeh and saute for 5 minutes until golden brown. Season with salt and pepper and remove from saucepan and set aside. Add onion, carrot, and celery to saucepan and saute for 3-4 minutes. Add tarragon and thyme, and saute for 1 more minute. Stir in the swiss chard and cook for 6 minutes. Return the tempeh to the saucepan and stir in the tomatoes and garbanzo beans. Add the wine and simmer for 8 minutes until liquid has reduced to half (mine never really reduced too much..hmmm...)Pour in the broth and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and cover. Simmer for 20 more minutes and serve hot.

As much as I really enjoyed this soup the first night, I did not enjoy it as much later in the week for lunch reheated. I'm not the biggest fan of the flavor of red wine, so I think after sitting in the fridge for a few days, the flavor really took over. If you like red wine, you'll really enjoy it though :)

Another recipe I made was the Spicy Vegetable Curry on page 222. Another thing I really like about this book is that there are a ton of ethnic dishes! I love ethnic foods..indian, thai, chinese, etc so I was really excited to make a lot of them!
This curry came along really quickly, so it was a great week night meal when I didn't feel like cooking a long recipe. I didn't get to take any pictures of this, but I highly recommend it, it was great!
The recipe calls for mushrooms, eggplant, and okra. I really really don't like mushrooms, eggplant isn't one of my faves either, and I could not find okra. Thus, we used veggies we liked - broccoli, bell peppers, and any other random veggies we had on hand. It's a really versatile recipe which makes it even better.

One recipe that caught my eye first while skimming through the book was the Asian Macaroni & Cheese. It seemed like such a different approach to the usual mac & cheese, so I was really excited to make it. Plus I have yet to make my own vegan version of the dish, although I have had the packaged vegan mac & cheese's which have been pretty good.

Sorry for the bad lighting, my apartment really isn't the greatest place to take food pictures.

Asian Macaroni & Cheese:
2 cups cauliflower, cut into small pieces and stems removed (i just used a bag of frozen cauliflower florets..yeah, lazy way out I know)
1 cup light coconut milk
1 cup water
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp white miso paste
1/4 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp salt
pinch of pepper
1 tsp potato starch
2 T oil
1/2 c firm tofu, drained and cut into cubes
2 1/2 cups cooked macaroni (i used heart-shaped macaroni, in the v-day mood!)
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
In a medium saucepan, cook 1 cup of the cauliflower with the coconut milk and 1 cup water over medium high heat until soft. Add garlic, nutmeg, miso, soy sauce, mustard, salt, and pepper. Cook about 3 minutes and add potato starch to thicken. Pour the mix into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth and creamy.
In another saute pan, heat oil and saute the rest of the cauliflower and tofu over medium high heat until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. In a lasagna-style pan, add the macaroni, cauliflower, and tofu mixture. Mix in the cauliflower and coconut milk sauce. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs on top, and add the garlic powder over breadcrumbs. Bake 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

I halved the entire recipe, and it still made a ton. I also used an 8x8 pan instead of a lasagna style pan since I made less. Also..white miso paste..I had been looking for it everywhere for a while, and finally found it in a natural food store near me. The darn jar was $13! After coming home and adding the 1/2 tsp to the recipe, I really do not think it was needed at all! So expect a lot of recipes soon to be incorporating the miso, the jar is huge!

Anyway, this dish was fabulous!
And days later, it was still just as good.

I really cannot wait to make more from this cookbook, just so many awesome refreshing recipes in it!
Next post I'll be doing a DC trip review, we went there this past weekend for valentine's day and tried a few awesome vegan friendly places! Plus I met Lindsay Nixon aka Happy Herbivore, and that in itself was awesome!
Take care!
<3

Hey 2011!

2011-01-02T16:17:00.000-08:00

So it's 2011...
one more year until 12-21-2012, but we won't think about that, right? ;)

Also, the year that I'm getting married!! Almost 8 months away!
Should be a good year, to say the least!

I'm not exactly one to make resolutions, but I do want this year to be filled with health and happiness, that's not too much to ask I hope.

I've started off the year right with cooking though!
One thing I would like to work towards is cooking more indepth recipes..usually when I'm feeling lazy a stir-fry works or a heated boca burger, but I really want to make more recipes that take time in the kitchen. I love being in there and cooking and making up a recipe that both my fiance and I enjoy.
Plus, for the month of January, Jason has gone vegetarian!!
Even more reason for me to make delicious vegan food for him so maybe I can sway him into making it a year-long resolution ;)
Just kidding, I love him no matter what.. but I do like that he at least always tries and usually likes the vegan foods that I cook or that we eat at vegan restaurants!

We spent our Christmas' this year apart at our own families, but we both made it back despite the snow to our apartment on Sunday for our own Christmas.
I had made the vegan crabcake recipe from myvegancookbook.com a few months back, and though it took forever to make, Jason really enjoyed it.
We chose this to be our Christmas dinner. Since it was snowing out when I left from Maryland, I had plenty of time to get back to Pennsylvania and go out to the store to get the ingredients for the cakes!

They came out as good as the first time! We ate them with sauteed asparagus in white cooking wine and garlic, with a side of mixed greens. Also, we used the vegan sauce on the website for the crabcakes (so good! and who knew that Kraft Creamy Italian dressing was vegan!).
Here's the link to the recipe..I highly recommend making these for a perfect vegan crab cake!
http://www.myvegancookbook.com/recipes/recipe.php?id=67

My new years was also really good, but our dinner was supposed to be the Ethiopian Seitan & Peppers from Vegan with a Vengeance. The seitan took MUCH longer than I had anticipated, and since we were supposed to go out around 8:00, they did not happen that night.
Instead, we had this recipe tonight. I had made the seitan from VWAV on Friday and refrigerated it in the broth until tonight. I also halved the recipe since it was just the two of us, but it still made enough for 4 servings, so we saved 2 pieces of seitan for another recipe for this week.

Here's the seitan recipe from VWAV:
Makes 6 cups (we halfed the whole thing for us, and still had half the recipe left over!)
2 cups vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup cold water or veg broth (i used water, was still fine!)
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 T tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 tsp grated lemon zest (i left this out..oops, hey it still tasted great!)
for broth:
12 cups water
1/2 c soy sauce

in a large bowl, mix vital wheat gluten, nutritional yeast, and flour. in a seperate bowl, mix the wet ingredients through lemon zest if using.
pour wet into dry and combine with a firm spatula. knead the dough for about 5 minutes until spongy and elastic. let the dough rest for a few minutes and in the meantime stir together the broth ingredients in a large saucepoit. roll the dough into a log shape about 10 inches long and cut into 6 pieces of equal size. place into broth. partially cover the pot and leave a little space for steam to escape and bring the broth to a boil.
when the broth has come to a boil, set the heat to low and gently simmer for an hour, turning the pices every now and again. (this was hard for me, the seitan seemed very mushy, but i was able to turn them without breaking them too much!)
turn off the heat and let the broth and seitan cool for at least 30 minutes.
after, i put the seitan pieces and some of the broth into a sealable tupperware until we were ready to use it. if you're going to use it right after, then continue with your next recipe.

Ethiopian Seitan & Peppers:
For puree:
I used diced chile peppers in a can from target, the recipe called for 6 serrano chiles, seed and chopped..but the can worked fine!
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 tsp cardamom (left this out..)
1/4 tsp tumeric
1/4 tsp cloves (used allspice instead)
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 c red wine (i used sherry cooking wine)
3 T olive oil
seitan, cut into strips
2 green bell peppers, seeded and cut into 1-inch strips

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Place all puree ingredients in a blender and puree until relatively smooth. (I used my magic bullet)
Place the seitan strips and peppers in a 9x13 inch baking dish, smother with the puree. Cover with foil and cook for 20 minutes. Remove foil, flip the seitan and peppers, and cook for 20 more minutes.

We ate this with a simple sauteed brocolli and califlower dish with garlic and soysauce..but the book recommends rice and veggies. Take your pick!

We both agreed this recipe was great and a definite make-again.
I would love to try an ethiopian restaurant in philly and see the vegan options that they have!
Hope everyone else had a great new years as well! :)

NYC - some repeats and new finds!

2010-12-01T16:33:00.000-08:00

About a month or so ago, Jason & I went to New York City for the weekend. We've been there together a ton of times since we've been together, and each time we always have a blast and see tons of stuff! :)

This time we tried a few new places, vegan-wise, so that was really exciting for me anyways!
We bustled through the traffic on friday night and had a reservation that evening at Blossom for dinner. We've been there a few times before, and it's Jason's favorite, so of course we had to go while we were there. I did not take any pictures, due to the poor dim lighting of the restaurant and the fact that I've been there a bunch of times before. We split the Cape Cod Cakes for appetizer, basically vegan crab cakes, and they were SO good! Jason got the Port Wine Seitan which he's had before, and is really awesome, and I ordered the Pistachio and Pepper Dusted Tofu, which was a new one for me! I really enjoyed it, the pistachio crust and sauce was really good, but of course, Jason's seitan was better ;)

The next day we wandered around the city, went to central park and did a bunch of sight seeing and such. I love just walking around new york :)

For lunch we went to The Candle Cafe. We've been to Candle 79 before for dinner, which is a lot like Blossom in terms of upscale vegan gourmet food, but the cafe sounded like a good lunch idea!

I was a bit thrown off when I saw the menu, and saw that it was almost identical to the menu of Candle 79, including the prices! For a crowded and cramped "cafe", you'd expect it to at least be cheaper! However, when I see the menu for dinner I am less opt to order a sandwich or salad for dinner, so this was nice to finally try the lunchy part of the menu.

I ordered the greek salad. Which included a tofu feta cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers, chickpeas, and a delicious greek vinagrette dressing! I was really glad to have tried this, I loved it! :)

Jason ordered the Tuscan Seitan Parmesan Sandwich. Sorry for the bad pictures! The lighting wasn't that bad, but for some reason they just wouldn't come out clear. Anyway, he really enjoyed his sandwich :) I had a bite of it and I really liked it as well. It came with delish fries and a side of mixed greens!

For dinner that night I wanted to try a new place. Someone I knew had recommended Pukk as "the best" vegan place in nyc. Taking this recommendation into consideration, I thought we should try the best!

The inside is really small and modern looking, I liked the feel for it a lot. You basically sit on top of the people next to you, but I didn't mind the small-ness!
The menu was super small..literally. The book was so tiny and hand-held!
They had a lot to choose from on the menu though. It's an all vegetarian thai place, and since I love thai food, I was hopeing it would be really good.

I loved our appetizer! We started out with Vegetable Roll, which was mixed greens, tofu, and pickle daikon with smoked soy sauce. I loved that it wasn't fried too, I'm fonder of spring rolls that are steamed instead of fried :)

Jason's dish (and of course, the better one!). He ordered the Duck Basil which was with onion, bell peppers, and "spicy sauce". I really like mock duck a lot, almost everywhere that I've tried it I always love the consistency of it. Pukks was really really good.

My first dish. The Green Chicken Curry, which had bamboo zucchini and basil. Looks kind of like matzo ball soup, in my mind. Anyway, I took a bite out of this and really did not enjoy it. I don't know why I order Currys when I'm out, I enjoy them much more when I made them myself (I really do not like coconut milk but sometimes they make them without, but this one they definitely used coconut milk). Anyway, to make a long story short, they took the dish away and I quickly chose something else as my main.

I chose the Green Delight. This was basically just a veggie stir fry, with broccoli, spinach, and napa in a garlic sauce. I enjoyed it though, much more than the curry, so I was happy they were easy going with changing my meal.
I will say, I do not agree with the statement of Pukk being the best vegan place in nyc. (and because of this, i lost a facebook friend..true story) since I have a lot of thai places near me in pennsylvania which although they serve meat, they have an extensive vegetarian menu and are much better than Pukk! Maybe another time I would have had a better experience though..

Anyway! I saved the best part of the trip for last :)
While at a bar one of the nights, I googled on my phone where Stogo was. I had been to Lula's Sweet Apocathery before, and LOVED the ice cream there, but I heard that Stogo was just as good, if not better from some opinions. I knew I had to try it!
Just so happend the bar we were at was only a few blocks from Stogo!

Jason and I's ice creams!!
I ordered the Apple Pie A La Mode. Jason ordered the Chocolate Peanut Butter.
Why did I order the apple ice cream? I do not know, because about 2 bites in I asked Jason if he would want to trade, and luckily he said yes :) His was much better haha.
Not to mention there was skipping down the streets of NY and screaming "i got stogo!" ....but we won't go there ;)

Anyway! New york was awesome, and the new places we tried, I'm glad we got to try them! Hopefully next time we can try some more as well :)

Us in central park :)

Lots of Apples!

2010-11-16T13:35:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago a group of people at my work went on an outing to an orchard not too far from us, and came back with tons of fresh apples and pumpkins! I was quite jealous I did not get to go on this outing..
So Jason & I went to the orchard the weekend after to get some apples for ourselves!
The orchard is Highland Orchards, and not only did it have TONS of different types of apple trees, but they had a really interesting market with tons of different local produce and local foods, and a huge pumpkin farm that you could pick your own as well!
I was just interested in the apples ;)
We took the bus they had to the trees and I was more than excited to pick my own apples from the tree. Especially Granny Smith! (my absolute favorite apple!)

Yes, I ate an apple freshly picked from the tree..not sure if that was the most sanitary thing to do or not haha but hey I didn't get sick :)

so we got a smaller bag of apples, but still had waay too many that the two of us could consume in a normal amount of time.
I knew I had to find some apple recipes!

Since the weather had been getting cooler, I figured that soup was in order.
After stumbling upon different apple recipes, I knew I had some pureed pumpkin left in the fridge too, so I wanted to combine the two. This soup came out TOO good!

Apple Pumpkin Ginger Soup:
15 oz canned pureed pumpkin (I had a little less than this since I had used a bit for something previously, maybe 2 Tablespoons taken out of it?)
3 granny smith apples, peeled cored and chopped (note to self - I need an apple peeler!)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tsp minced garlic
3 cups vegetable broth
some frozen veggies (I used a bag of cauliflower)
1 1/2 tsp grated ginger
1/4 tsp cinnamon
salt to taste

In a large non-stick frying pan, mix chopped apples, onions, garlic, and ginger. Add about 1/3 cup of water and cook on medium high heat until apples and onions are soft and all the water is gone (approximately 7 minutes). Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes. Place apple mixture into blender (I used a magic bullet..another note - i need a blender!!) and puree until smooth. It will look like an applesauce-type consistency. In a large soup pot, mix pumpkin, apple mixture, and vegetable broth. Salt to taste and add cinnamon. Toss in veggies and let cook until heated throughout. Top with more ginger and pepper and serve warm.

This was such a simple recipe and was SO tasty, especially on a cool fall day. :)

Even so, that recipe used 3 apples..I still needed another recipe to use up some more apples!

My family was coming to stay with us for the weekend to do a trip to Syracuse, and since we were leaving early in the morning, I knew something quick for breakfast would be a good idea! The Joy of Vegan Baking has succeeded yet again. I can't find a recipe from this book that isn't perfect! Definitely one of my favorites :)
I decided on the Apple Pecan Muffins. My mother is still talking about how she wants me to make them again! They were quite good.

Apple Pecan Muffins:
2 c unbleached all-purpose flower
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons Ener-G egg replacer
4 Tablespoons of water
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups peeled and chopped raw apples (this came to about 2 medium sized)
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease your muffin tins(or use pretty papers like i did :) ) In a medium sized bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
Mix the egg replacer and water together in a small bowl to get a thick consistency.
In a seperate bowl, mix the applesauce, oil, sugar, vanilla, and egg replacer. Whisk until creamy smooth. Add to the flour mixture and stir until well blended but do not overmix. Still in the apples and nuts. It will be thick, but that's okay. Fill the muffin tins three quarters full and bake about 20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

I definitely see these being made again while I'm home for the holidays, maybe for a thanksgiving brunch? :)

I have lots more to blog about, and I know i've been SERIOUSLY slacking..I have been quite busy lately though, but I have tons to share! Including NYC reviews and more recipes!
Till then :)

one two

2010-10-05T12:30:00.000-07:00

After months of craziness, I finally am finding time to BLOG.
:)
and i hope i have lots of time after this as well.
Let's see, new apartment, new roommate (aka my fiance <3), new job, a whole new atmosphere! The change was something to get used to, but I think I'm getting the hang of it now and getting into routine.
My job has been going pretty well, I had CPR training today, so that was exciting and probably a good thing to know how to do! I work with mentally and some physically disabled adults, so it's a bit of a handful at times but for the most part I've really enjoyed it so far! Not what I want to do ultimately..of course..but a step in the right direction and a job to tide me over until I go back to school and get my masters! I'm looking to do something collaborating the psychology degree I have and a masters in nutrition..perhaps nutritional therapy or become a dietician? We'll see what I choose, I've got a while before going back!
My main focus right now until I go back (which I'm planning on next January) is my health and well being, and of course, Jason and I's wedding next September!
We officially set the date and signed the papers yada yada for September 10th, 2011! Theres a lot to do before then, but I know it'll be fun and I'm really excited to marry him :) :)

I've been cooking a bit here and there while living here, although it gets tough sometimes working long days. A few weeks ago though, we made a recipe from the Candle Cafe cookbook. I've only made one thing from there before, the seitan picatta with white wine and caper sauce, so I was excited to try something new from there!
We made the Tempeh Scallopini with Shallots and Mushrooms and to go along with it the Asparagus, Almond and Tomato Salad with Mustard-Dill Vinaigrette.

Are those..Mushrooms on top?! I have a strong feeling of hatred towards mushrooms most of the time (which is a major dissapointment, and I really WANT to like them since their in so many vegetarian options but I really just don't at all) and Jason shares the mushroom hating with me, but I figured they were to add flavor to the sauce. We ended up picking them off..I did try one though! haha

I'm usually iffy about tempeh as well, and prefer seitan in mock-meat dishes, but the sauce went really well with the tempeh and I think was very good! Also, the mustard-dill dressing was awesome! I've been thinking about making a big batch of just that to keep in the fridge!

Tempeh Scallopini with Shallots and Mushrooms (from Candle Cafe) Serves 6, we halved it though.
Marinade:
1/4 c soy sauce
2 1/2 c water
1 garlic clove, minced
2 bay leaves
Tempeh:
2 8 oz packages of tempeh
1/4 c evoo
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
4 shallots, thinly sliced
1/2 pound white button mishrooms, thinly sliced (we just used the kind in a jar since we knew we would probably not be eating them)
1 c all purpose flour
juice of 2 lemons
1/4 c red cooking wine

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a mixing bowl, mix the marinade ingredients and stir well. Cut tempeh in half lengthwise, then cut into thirds to make 6 pieces per package. Place in a baking dish and pour marinage over it. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove and set aside to cool, reserving the liquid.
In a large saute pan, heat the evoo and add garlic, shallots, and mushrooms. Cook over medium heat until tender, about 5 minutes. Remove mushroom mix with a slotted spoon and set aside. Put the flour in a large shallow bowl and dredge the tempeh pieces. Add the marinade to the pan and heat through. Add the tempeh pieces to the pan and cook over medium heat until tempeh is nicely browned, about 3-4 minutes per side. Add lemon juice and red wine to pan and simmer until liquid is reduced by half. Stir in mushroom mix and heat through. Spoon the sauce over the reserved tempeh and serve!

The salad doesn't really need a recipe, it's pretty easy, but I went by it anyway :)

Asparagus, Almond, and Tomato Salad with Mustard-Dill Vinaigrette also serves 6, we halved it too!
2-3 pounds of fresh asparagus
6 cups of fresh salad greens (we used a mesculun mix)
1 c cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 c sliced almonds
Break off the tough ends of asparagus stalks and discard. In a large saucepan, bring enough lightly saletd water to cover the asparagus to a boil over high heat. Add the asparagus, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook for 3-5 minutes just until tender. Drain well. chill the asparagus for an hour. (we didnt wait an hour...)
Toss the greens and tomatoes together with 1/3 c of vinaigrette. toss the asparagus in a seperate bowl with 2 T of vinagrette, then place over salad greens. Sprinkle with almonds and add more dressing if you'd like.

For the dressing:
1 c safflower oil (i believe we used vegetable since that's what I had)
4 cloves garlic, sliced
1/4 c fresh dill
2 T dijon mustard
1/2 c red wine vinegar
1/4 c water
Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. :)

I'm really looking forward to trying more recipes from that cookbook, but I feel like I have so many books that have been left untouched that I need to make things from them!

In a couple of weeks we're going to NYC for the weekend and we'll be going to a few vegan places, of course :) Jason already said Blossom was a must, which I have no problem with :) We're looking to try a few new ones too though!

Hope the weather is better for everyone else! It's been so cold and rainy and dreary here, hopefully it'll get sunny again soon :)

three shooby doo

2010-06-30T10:51:00.000-07:00

It's going to be a tough one for me to update this on a normal basis.. we cancelled our internet (even though it has not been working in over a month so thats not really a difference) and so currently i'm updating from my school library, even though i'm not technically a student anymore haha.

Anyway!

Things have been going pretty well. I have my ups and downs, but for the most part there have been many more ups :)

First off - Jason and I are engaged!!
We left for Disney World on the 12th of june and he proposed to me the night before.. :) :) I'm super excited to be his fiance, he means the world to me.

I really want to say what a fabulous time I had in Disney World though! Not only was it a ton of fun and great to spend all that time with Jason, but they were VERY vegan friendly! It made it super easy to get really delicious vegan meals there :)

For dinners, we had reservations each night at a difference place in one of the parks. Our first night we ate at the 50's Prime Time Cafe. Other than an awkward entrance from the host, the meal wasn't that bad. I don't have a shot of it, but it was not my favorite of the meals..basically a pasta and veggie dish. It was a cute set up though, set as a theme of a 50's kitchen.

The second night we ate at Marrakesh Restaurant in Morocco in the Epcot park.

They definitely had a great option for vegans! For our appetizer, we split the Moroccan Salad combo for two, which had hummus, baba ganoush, falafel, and tabouli with crisp pita chips!

My meal was the Vegetable Couscous. The couscous was really flavourful and fluffy and the vegetables were grilled perrrfectly :)

The live entertainment of music and a belly dancer definitely added points to the meal :)

This could have been one of my favorite meals while in Disney..

Another night we ate at the Sci-Fi Dine-in Theater in Hollywood Studios.

The inside was so cool and creatively decorated! You got to eat in the back of a car :) With a huge "outdoor" movie screen in front playing old sci-fi clips. It was definitely a really cool experience for dinner.

My entree there was Seared Marinated Tofu. It was grilled tofu with a mango relish sauce with veggies and rice. The sauce was a-mazing!

What great presentation they had there as well! This probably ties with the moroccan meal as my favorite. The tofu was grilled so well, not too mushy but not overly-crisp. :)

We also ate at China in Epcot one of the nights too. I had the vegetarian stir fry, which was tofus and veggies stirfried with rice and an asian sauce. Not the most exciting meal in Disney, but it was just great to have the option at every restaurant we went to.
Also exciting - at a lot of the ice cream stands (including the one in our hotel) you can specially ask for Rice Dream or Tofutti ice cream! I had the vanilla rice dream one night, wasn't the best, but nice that they even had it!..but next time I'd ask for tofutti instead. :)

Lunches were pretty easy to do around the parks too - most of them had a veggie burger and salad option and a few of them had a grilled veggie sandwich option as well. For breakfasts, our hotel had soy milk in the fridge with cereal as well as other quick options. I think it's pretty great that Disney was able to accomodate a vegan diet so well, and made the trip even better :)

(Us in animal kingdom..which was one of my favorites, the giraffes were so cute!!)
It was a fantastic trip and the vegan options were great,...hopefully I'll be able to update sometime again soon! Hope everyone is enjoying their summers :)

guess whos back? back again..

2010-05-24T07:03:00.001-07:00

It's been a LONG 4 1/2 months..but I'm back, and I really really REALLY want to get back to posting regularly and checking up on everyone else's a-mazing blogs! :)

So what have I done since January?
Well, to add to the "food obsessed blogging cliche'"...i ended up going in-treatment for an eating disorder at the beginning of April. Yeah, not my proudest or most glorious moment, but I did it and I'm out and yeah.
I did learn a lot being there, and I hope it carries with me..
One thing that sure doesn't fly at an eating disorder treatment place is being vegan..vegetarian was allowed though which helped a bit..
And yes, for the first time in 2 years I ate eggs (well..egg beaters) and dairy. Did I die? Did I get sick from the lack of it in my diet? No..
I ate it, and carried on.
But since I've been out, I, of course, went back to an all vegan diet and will continue to do so for the rest of my life :) :)

Since I've been out I still go to an outpatient place 3 evenings a week, so no worries, I'm still receiving some sort of care for it.

I don't usually get that personal on my blog..mostly just keep it to the food stuff, but I feel as though it's an important thing to address. Especially since SOO many blogs out there, vegan or not, are from people who are either struggling with an eating disorder or are recovered and showing inspiration for others. So I know I can relate to a lot of readers and other bloggers and not feel too off.

But hold on..that's not allll I've been dealing with since January..
Even though I had to go away in April, I still was able to finish all my tests and papers for my LAST semester of college...thus being able to walk and graduate last weekend!!

^My brother, me and my sis outside of my graduation! :)

After the graduation ceremony, we had a get together with my family and my roommate's family at our favorite Mexican place, Adobe Cafe. They catered the food, and Vegan Treats was the dessert!

The peanut butter bomb cupcakes..definitely a fave :)

My graduation was exciting and I'm SOO glad to be done with college..at least this part of it anyway. I know grad school will be in the somewhat soon future, but for now, I'm just going to enjoy living, the summer, and trying to be care free.

This past weekend I got to try a newww vegan place in Philly that I've been wanting to go to for a while!
I've been to Govinda's before, the sandwich shop with the amazing vegan cheesesteaks and tuna wraps, but I've never eaten at the fine dining part of it.

We made a reservation there, just in case, but when we got there and for the majority of our meal, we were the only people eating there. However, they have many tables downstairs, and even more upstairs! You'd think they'd be busier..

Despite it being pretty empty, the food was definitely worth it :) Plus, they're BYOB, so bring a bottle of wine and it's even more enjoyable ;)

We started off with the black bean and roasted red pepper dip to share. It came with spinach chips as well to dip in it, and had melted vegan cheese throughout it. Definitely would get this again, the seasoning on the beans were soo good and I was glad they were whole and not pureed. The roasted red peppers were my favorite part though :)

For my meal, I got the vegan chicken caesar salad. Caesar salad used to be one of my favorites before going vegan ( i was unaware that the dressing had anchovies in it until my freshman year of college..thanks emily! haha) so I was really excited to try Govinda's vegan version. At first, I couldn't tell the difference between if I was eating a crouton or a piece of "chicken"...but I was able to differentiate between the two after having pieces of both haha. It was good though, the dressing was an orange-ish color though, as opposed to the traditional creamy looking caesar dressing, but it was really good anyway.

Jason got the Grilled Pepper Steak...which was pieces of seitan and grilled vegetables with an a-mazing sauce and then a bunch of rice in the middle haha :)
It was really good though, and the seitan was cooked perfectly. His meals are usually the better of the two haha ;)

Dessert was awesome, of course. From Vegan Treats, was the peanut butter bomb cake! Anything with their peanut butter bombs on top is a favorite :)

For brunch the next day, we went to Honey's Sit 'n Eat on north 4th street. I've heard about this place before for brunch and that they had a few vegan options..

However, as far as brunch went, the only option was really the tofu scramble, which was okay because I really wanted it anyway. They also had veggie sausage, which Jason got with his non-vegan brunch, but he said was pretty good. The tofu was good, but most scrambles usually taste the same..can't really mess them up!
I'm not sure if I'd go back here for brunch again, as I would have to get the same thing.. Mi-Lah definitely has a great vegan brunch though on the weekends, with TONS of options! :)

Hopefully I'll be posting again soon and keep up with this again,I've really missed it!
<3

so much for resolutions

2010-01-20T09:27:00.000-08:00

Let's pretend that I have updated once a week like I said I would.. ;)

Anyway! Unfortunately, I don't know where my cord for my camera is, which has a TON of pictures and good food that I've made and gotten in the past few weeks that I really want to share..but I can't seem to do that without uploading them :( boo.

Hopefully I'll find a cord I can use or find a place to buy one soon though...
I do have a few foods from before then though that i've made..(from thanksgiving, wow that was a while ago) BUT they were good regardless so I'll share :)

For the meal

This was a cabbage salad that my mom made, and it was abbbbbsolutely delish! Not quite traditional thanksgiving-ish food..but it would be really good to whip up anytime. It had ramen noodles in it, which added a nice different crunch to it with vinegar and cabbage. She has the recipe, but I'd definitely make it again soon..

For dessert I made two things. This was the apple cobbler that I made, which was a lot like the one I made last year. I used granny smith apples, peeled and corred, with a crumble on top consisting of oats, brown sugar, and vegan margarine. It was really good and not toooo sweet which was nice with the apples.

I've never had pumpkin pie since this one. Last year I attempted to try pumpkin pie by making a chocolate pumpkin pie... I think I ate one bite and couldn't eat any more. I really did not like it, maybe it was the chocolate mixed with pumpkin that threw me off. Anyway, I did think this pie was eat-able. edible? hmm...
haha it's quite strange, I really like pumpkin flavored things, like coffee and tea and such..but not quite a fan of pumpkin pie. I'm a strange one, I know.
Other people enjoyed it though, so I blame my tastebuds :)

Vegan Pumpkin Pie (that other people will like if you don't like pumpkin pie) ;)

1 16 oz can pureed pumpkin
3/4 c sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
1 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2-3 T cornstarch
1 package of silken tofu
9" vegan pie shell

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Blend pumpkin and sugar. Add salt, spices, cornstarch, and tofu and mix well. Pour into the pie shell and bake for 15 minutes. Lower the heat to 350 and bake for an hour. Chill and serve.

Not going to lie, when I first blended it all and put it in the shelll, I thought woo its done! and was about to put it in the fridge without baking it! haha such a pumpkin pie newwwwbie. :)

So sorry for old shtuff, however they're quite good anyway and needed to be touched on ;)

I have lots of good stuff to share (think AWESOME reviews of products from Christmas, as well as a recipe from Candle 79!! )

So I'm hoping that I'll be able to find something to upload my pictures for soon!
Off to class in a bit, only the 2nd week and I'm already feeling the bore of classes...hurry up may!! :)

2010 for Vegan Gal

2009-12-31T10:41:00.000-08:00

So as 2010 is quickly approaching (as in less than 12 hours!!), I felt it quite appropriate to get back on here and update one last time in 2009! (ooh i'm quite the poet..kind of)

Anyway, I'm very excited for the start of this year. 2010 = my graduation year!
one more semester to go..for undergrad anyway!
Also, as exciting and amazing that 2009 was for me, I feel that 2010 can only get even better..so that's definitely something to look forward to :)

I don't have any recipes or food reviews or pictures to post right now, I have plenty of them from the past month or so..but I want to dedicate this post to saying goodbye to 2009 and hellllo to 2010! But no worries, I'll get to them eventually ;) Let's just say I got a spiralizer for Christmas and I know how to use it..woo!

What was so amazing for me in 2009?
Well within the first month of it I met Jason, who is amazing beyond belief and I've fallen quite in love with him..so that alone can make the whole year amazing ;)

In March I saw Chelsea Handler, my favvvvorite, live at the Tower Theater. Which was ...awesome!

I also spent 5 weeks of the summer in London with Emily. Which I posted a ton about all the awesome vegan places and cool spots we found. It was definitely a life experience that I will always be very grateful for.

I got through my first semester of my senior year in college, which was a toughie- (hellooo advanced research project) but managed to get through it with quite good grades! (hellooo A in advanced research!! awesome!)

I was able to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas at home with my family, which is something I am very thankful for. And also that I saw Chloe one last time before she passed away this past month.

(My brother, me, and my sister last year..my mother hoarded all the pics from christmas and thanksgiving this year!)

So! That brings us to this new year. And like many others, I definitely have some resolutions that I am going to be working towards.

For one, This Blog. Vegan Gal is something that I never want to give up. I know I've become less connected to it as far as blogging as much as I used to (used to be a couple times a week! now i'm lucky if its been a couple a month!). I still read others blogs all the time though, and love getting inspiration from them!
So my resolution for Vegan Gal is to blog at LEAST once a week. I'm really hoping I succeed at this one.

Two - In connection to blogging at least once a week, that means I'll have to get cooking more often! Being in college, things get quite hectic and leaves very little time to make fun vegan meals. So, I'm going to try to get in the kitchen more often and cook cook cook! :)

Three - This one is more of something I want to continue doing as opposed to start doing. This past year I've realized I've finally let myself rid of the things that I was not happy with, and fill them with things that do make me happy. I want to continue this and not let myself fall into places that I was not happy with them. Examples being - for many years of my life I was in a relationship(s) that I knew myself I was not happy with at all. But I stayed there, comfort perhaps? But I finally got rid of that and now I'm in a relationship where I'm very very happy. Also, I worked at Applebee's for 2 1/2 years..not liking the food I was serving people, not liking some rude customers I dealt with, and not liking the way management was - in other words I didn't like it at all! Finally, I no longer work there and now I work at Mugshots and I'm much happier there :) So I'm planning on keeping this up!!

Four - Do well in my last undergraduate semester!!! Crucial, peeps. This is the last of the last until I finally get myself to grad school, so these grades have to come out looking quite nice :) I feel I can do it!

Five - FINISH one of the bunches of songs I've been playing on the piano! Currently I'm working on "We're So Far Away" by Mae, and it's a beauuutiful song on the piano, it really is. But I don't want to start another song until I finally finish this one. Yes, this means more banging on my keys in frustration (i can be quite the frustrated pianist sometimes, haha pianist..) BUT I am determined to finish this one, and I know my sense of accomplishment will be great once I do!

Okay. I think that's basically the gist of what I'm hoping will come from the new year! My plans for the evening? Going out in Center City! woo! Hope everyone has a wonderful and fun New Years!!
See you in 2010!

how is there a countdown to a countdown??

2009-11-23T12:32:00.000-08:00

I definitely wanted to get a review-post up about austin before thanksgiving, because I know (hopefully) I'll have tons to share about that!

Anywayy, about a month or so ago I went to Austin, Texas with my fantabulous boyfriend and aside from the warm, beautiful weather (except for the last rainy day..) the super cute town atmosphere, and the fun/interesting street of bars and restaurants...it was aweeeeesome for vegans! quite perfect, i must say :)

Thinking of texas, one wouln't exactly imagine a vegan friendly place admist the hamburger loving cowboys it would be known for. howeverrr..it was quite the opposite, at least in Austin anyway.

Within walking distance of where we were staying, was the biggest Whole Foods I've definitely ever been to. Aside from the huge salad and hot food bars that are in most Whole Foods, they have a ton of different food stations to get food to go from as well - including a sushi bar, mexican food, "american" food with grilled sandwiches, and a bunch others. it was quite overwhelming, and seemed impossible to actually make a decision on what to eat!

Although there were so many choices and it was hard to pick, I'm definitely not complaining..choices are always nice ;) just hard when youre only there for a short time! After wandering around the aisles, we found yet another station near the produce..the all vegan and mostly raw food! definitely found my pick...

Just this station though had SO many options that all sounded great! I've never had spiralized veggie pasta before, and they had that in a bunch of different vegetables with a few sauce options, so I decided on that.

This is what inspired me to ask for a spiralizer for Christmas (wink wink, mother!). Wow..it was a mix of beets, carrots, and zucchini all spiralized to pasta-shaped with a pad thai sauce on top. They also had an alfredo and a marinara sauce as well..which I'd love to try.

I was torn between the pasta and the taco salad they had, which had cashew sour cream, seitan on top, and guacamole. Luckily, Jason got it so I got to try a bit anyway :) It was definitely really good..and the sour cream was much better than some vegan sour creams I've had before..

Honestly, I could've spent all the days we were there in just the Whole Foods...but I suppose theres more to Austin than a grocery store :)

While wandering down Guadalupe Street, we went to this cutesy little toy store which had some of the most random stuff in it. But next door I spotted a sign (I always have my vegan-radar on) that said vegan soft serve. Uh...yeah?

How cute is the dancing vegan softserve??

Knowing we were about to go to dinner somewhat soon after this, we decided to split something instead. I definitely had to try something! We shared a Butter Finger Milkshake which was awesome! I've heard of the vegan butterfinger pieces, but I've never tried them..they were great in the shake though, I'm sure they'd be great to bake with sometime..

Soo dessert before dinner, but that's okay ;)

Since I have quite the obsession with New Harmony in philly, the a-mazing all vegan chinese place, I was suuuper excited to hear that there was a vegan chinese place in Austin as well!

Veggie Heaven! Indeed it was. It was pretty small and crowded inside, with not much of an attentive wait-staff, but the food definitely was awesome.

We started off with spring rolls -- his fried, mine steamed. I'm pretty sure this was the first steamed spring roll I've had, and as much as I like the crispy-ness of the fried ones, the steamed was quite good!

I had ordered the Lucky 7, after much debate, which was 7 fried tofu balls made of celery, carrots, chestnut, vegetable protein, and breadcrumbs are cooked with broccoli, baby bok choy, cauliflower, carrots, napa cabbage, onion and garlic in a slightly sweet and spicy red sauce The "balls" tasted more like a type of falafel, but were reallyyy tasty, especially with the sauce.

Not gonna lie, I don't really remember the specific name for what Jason got..but it was pretty much the same sauce I had with veggies, and fried strips of tofu instead of the balls that I had. They were both really good, although the sauce did have a bit of a spicy kick to it! As did many of the things we had while we were in texas haha...

Austin was definitely an awesome place..and I'd looove to go back sometime, since there was so much there that I loved, and I'm sure tons that I didn't get to see that would be great :) I guess it does kick the stereotype a tad bit, doesn't it? :)

can you tell me which flowers gonna go?

2009-11-03T17:45:00.000-08:00

so it's been a month..and between my computer not working, my camera breaking and then getting a new one but losing the battery..it's been a tough one to blog ;)
i've definitely been having some awessssome vegan eats though, so no worries on that one.

a couple of weekends ago the roomie and i went down to baltimore for a concert. oh, but not just any concert.. we saw Hanson with HelloGoodbye.
Quite a show, I must say. My inner 12-year old hanson fan was just bursting out of me and I was quite pumped for them!

While we were in Baltimore, we looked up a vegan place (which btw...emilys gone pescitarian, soo AWESOME for her! :) )
we found there was a "soul food" type place in the city..which we love the Nile Cafe in philly which is kind of vegan soul food, so this place sounded good. It's called The Yabba Pot and i was definitely amazed by how delicious their food was! You know this girl loves her veg soul food ;)

The Yabba Pot was a very hole in the wall place but the inside of it was decorated beauuutifully!

I loved the decor for the seating area, the tables and chairs were all so unique and cute. and the huge gorgeous butterfly on the ceiling was definitely something to look at :)

Where you ordered your food, they offered some wraps and sandwiches, but once emily and I saw the hot food buffet and saw that you could get 6 different things for a sampler, we were sold. We do love our food all together..and we wanted to try everything, so this was perrrfect for us. They also have a lot of juices that you could get, which we did not, but i've heard they are quite good and refreshing!

Our sampler plate. We chose to get one with the 6 different things on it to split, wanting to save room to try their desserts! Over brown rice, we got a raw kale salad, a black bean saucey dish, a chickpea curry, a collard greens and cabbage dish, seasoned mushrooms and tomatoes, and the most AMAZING tasteing "chicken" i've ever had. honestly, i tried to cut it..and thought I hit a bone so I was a bit freaked out at first, only to find it was on a toothpick (silly me) but the chicken was SOO delicious, i'd definitely get an order of that again.

Everything was awesome, and it was a perfect amount to split between the two of us, and still want some dessert.
Unfortunately though, all they had on the dessert front was a pumpkin pie..which neither of us are too fond of (i know, i know, everyone loves pumpkin..except for this chica) but we did venture to the awesome Whole Foods in baltimore and split a peice of raw strawberry shortcake. No picture available, but trust me..it was deeelish. :)

Also! I finally got to try the PB&J Larabar
Bloggers were not wrong..this bar is AWESOME. I'm not a huge fan of larabars, some flavors I like, and some I don't..but this one is definitely a keeper!

And for the hanson concert?
Let's just say it was prettttttty awesome!

Me and Zach Hanson..;) you know you have mmmbop on your itunes, don't even pretend..haha.

Also when I was home on sunday my mother made me a deliish dinner that I must share. It's not often..ever..that I get dinners from my mom soo this was quite exciting since usually mine are quick meals the roomie and I make up in about 10 minutes. :)

Butternut Squash Chili! And mannn this was tasty. the squash and the beans were quite delicious in it :) thanks mom!

As for the recipe, because I definitely recommend making this soon! especially with butternut squash in fullll bloom right about now..

Butternut Squash Chili:
2 T olive oil
1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/2″ cubes
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 Tblsp mild chili powder
1 1/4 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp oregano
1/8 tsp chipotle chili powder or cayenne pepper to taste (for spice)
1 15-oz. can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup water
1 15-oz. can kidney beans
salt and pepper to taste

Peel and chop squash and set aside. In a large soup pot, heat oil over medium-high heat. Sautee onion and bell pepper until soft – about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sautee 2 minutes more.

Add seasonings and stir well to coat. Add tomatoes (and their juice), water, squash, salt and pepper to taste, Cover and reduce to a simmer. Cook 20 minutes.

Add beans and adjust seasonings, if necessary. Cover and cook until squash is tender, but not disintegrating – about 30-40 minutes.

Have a good week! Soooon I'll be posting about the how AWESOME austin texas is for vegans..oh it was wonderful!

my heart like a kick drum..

2009-10-03T14:32:00.000-07:00

school has been keeping me quite busy lately with papers, mid term exams (how is it midterms already..?? i do not know.) and whatnot.. so sadly this makes my blogging fall to the back of the to-do list.

but i do have fun stuff to share about being in new york and a deliccccious veganized dessert recipe that i made last week!

a couple of weekends ago i was in new york with the boyy and of course, had a fabulous time :)
but we made some more stops at some fabbulous vegan places in the city.
on friday night we went to Baby Cakes for dessert after eating some tofu chinese food at a random spot.
Since I had been to Vegan Treats the weekend before, I was expecting something as awesome as that.

the outside and the sign-age was definitely very cute :)

I apologize for the bad and dark picture quality..I recently got a new camera and haven't quite figured out all the good settings to use..but i'll get the hang of it soon, hopefully..

Up first to try from BabyCakes was the frosting shots!

Ever since I heard that they had shots of frosting there I was already excited..i loove frosting so this sounded like an amazing idea. We both tried the chocolate and the vanilla..I was a bigger fan of the chocolate.. Oh and isn't he a great hand model? ;)

Minnne.. I chose the chocolate mint brownie cupcake.. it was reallllly tasty, and the frosting was perfectly minty without being too much. The cake was also super moist, de-lish!

If they didn't have the cookie sandwiches, jason would have been pretty upset haha he'd been looking forward to trying those..and luckily they had them. it was quite delicious as well :)

I will say that even though everything I had from BabyCakes was verry scrumptious, they had a much smaller assortment than I had been expecting, but there was still a few really good options there. I'd definitely love to go back and try another cupcake sometime though! :)

For dinner on saturday night we went to try out Candle 79.
Last time we came to the city we went to Blossom, which was soo awesome, so we had our expectations high for Candle 79 to hopefully be justttt as amazing.
I'd definitely say it was..

For an appetizer, we shared the Guacamole Timbale, no picture was taken though, but i assure you it was delicious and gone :) The description - chipotle black beans, caramelized onions, tomato-cucumber salsa, tortilla chips, ranchero sauce ...the caramelized onions in it was a really good combo with the salsa.

My dish was really good. I liked it more than what I got at Blossom I think, but they were both different so it's hard to tell. I got the Carribean Jerk Grilled Seitan which was brown ale black bean sauce, sautéed collard greens, caramelized onions, plantains, mango-papaya salsa, jalapeño-cilantro coulis

talk about amazing. the fruity salsa was perfect with the spiced veggies and plantains.

Jason got the Seitan Piccata, which is their "classic"..everyone talks about how amazing that dish it.
creamed spinach, grilled potato cake, oyster mushrooms, lemon-caper sauce
It was really good, and the sauce was really good over the seitan. It reminded me a lot of what he ordered at Blossom..which was also quite good.

Definitely too full after all this to try dessert at Candle 79, but I have heard good things..the specials of the day all sounded really good as well!

Also while we were in new york we stopped in the Whole Foods..i'm not sure which one it is or how many there are in nyc..but it was jam-packed! all I wanted was some almond butter and rice dream chocolate, but the line was wrapped around and it seemed pretty silly to wait for that. guess people in ny love their whole foods ;)

So last week for my sorority we were having a bake sale to support one of the sisters causes.. I dooo enjoy baking for bake sales, especially for non-vegans!
I wanted to make something that I hadn't had in a while, I mean cookies are great..but it's nice to switch it up a bit.
I remembered last years bake off someone made Magic Cookie Bars and I kept thinking how much I used to love those pre-vegan days!

These were soo good! Just as I remember of Magic Cookie Bars..soo many good flavor combos with the walnuts, chocolate chips, and coconut over a tasty crisp graham cracker crust. perrrfection. People at the bake sale seemed to enjoy them as well ;)

Magic Cookie Bars:
1/3 cup extra firm silken tofu
1/3 cup vanilla soy milk ( i used almond breeze)
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon of cornstarch
1/4 cup earth balance
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
2/3 cup flaked coconut
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray and 8x8 baking dish with baking spray. In a blender, puree tofu, milk, sugar, and cornstarch until smooth. Put margarine in a bowl and melt in the microwave. Add graham cracker crumbs and mix until well moistened. Pour into baking dish and press to coat the pan. Pour tofu mixture over the crust. Sprinkle with nuts, coconut, and chocolate and press all into dish firmly with a fork. Bake for 30 minutes, until lightly browned and the coconut is crispy.

I found this recipe on Fat Free Vegan and was soo excited to try it out! have i mentioned how much i LOVE her site? no? well i do. :) a lot. i'm even in the group on facebook..haha..

well i'm off to enjoy some vegan mexican food, margaritas, and enjoy whats left of the weekend! happy saturday! :)

party in the usa

2009-09-11T09:20:00.001-07:00

so i'll be honest and admit that i'm a huge miley cyrus fan..and her song party in the usa is constantly getting stuck in my head lately... don't hate, you know her songs are catchy! ;)

haha on that note..
last weekend my fantaaaabulous boyfriend and i went to Vegan Treats in Bethlehem, PA...you know, the super amazing all vegan bakery that sends their delicious-ness to TONS of places in philadelphia, nyc, and all over the east pretty much!
linkage - Vegan Treats
caution: by looking at the menu, you'll feel the urge to go there immediately..or at least whip up some delicious desserts yourself ;)

most people probably don't get this excited over a bakery...but being a vegan..you all can definitely understand how excited I was. :)

anyway!
I definitely got to try a few things, and they were all a-mazing, of course!

despite the silly stop-and-go traffic, we finally got there..i'd say it was worth it.

I thought it was super cute inside..it was very pink and adorably decorated. They had a ton of articles from VegNews and other vegetarian magazines on the wall of their reviews and such.

We were going to each get something, but seeing how big this one dessert was, we decided to split it..gooood idea. Awesome for me, they had peanut butter soft serve! That was a must to get..but I wanted to try something else as well. I promise under this mountain of soft serve, there was a scrumptious peanut butter cup brownie. The peanut butter on that brownie was the most amazing thing I've had in forever. oh my love for peanut butter <3

We got some stuff to go as well, and I wanted to bring something for the roomie, of course! My first instinct was to get her the raspberry bar, but there were so many choices I really didn't know what to choose..so I called and of course she picked the raspberry bar as well haha.

She said it was quiiiite tasty..i figured ;)

I also brought home a Cookies N Cream filled donut..

I was really hopeing that they would have a boston creme donut, since those were my favorite before going vegan, but a cookies and cream filled donut was definitely good enough! The frosting was soo creamy and delicious..

No wonder people go a bit crazy for this place, everything we tried was SO good. I definitely recommend heading out there if you're not too far away! Or you can order stuff off the website as well..which might be an easier idea ;)

This weekend I'm going to New York and trying out Baby Cakes..so I'll see how that is up against Vegan Treats! I'm sure it'll be just as delicious :)
have a fabulous weekend!

birthday recap

2009-09-02T15:48:00.000-07:00

so between not having a camera for a bit and having trouble uploading pictures from my phone...i am FINALLY posting about my birthday..which was last week. :)

i can definitely say that i had a really good birthday..
when i got back from class that day (boo for classes on your birthday!!) i had a package from mi familia!
it was an all vegan snack basket!!

so pretty! i didnt want to mess up the wrapping and basket..but i was definitely eager to see what all this fun stuff was!

So what do we have here? Lara bars! Cherry pie & Ginger snap..i've never had the ginger one before so that should be fun to try.
Panda black licorice! I loooooooooove licorice..which not many other people do, haha but its one of my faves :)
All-natural potato crisps..
Cocoa-Java Almonds.. ooommmggg these were so amazing. i usually go for the more salty / spicy types of nuts...but these were so delicious.
Dried Pear Crisps by the same people of the potato ones.
These fun crunchy things called "Sticks & Twigs" which kind of make you think of pretzels except they dont taste like pretzels and aren't pretzels..haha they're made from quinoa, flax, and a bunch of other awesome things! they're realllly good :)
there were also a few more granola bars from brands i had never heard of..but they were all organic and natural and delicious! :)
Thanks Ma! ;)

So for dinner on my birthday we went to this restaurant in Mt. Airy called The Black Olive. I saw it on vegpa.org, which has a listing of all the vegetarian and vegan restaurants in pennsylvania. they have a website, but it really doesn't have much information on it at all except for its an all vegan restaurant.. i read some reviews and they all said it was great though and had vegan cake..which was what i wanted haha. i'm really glad we went though, all the food we ordered was really delicious!

as an appetizer, we shared the vegan crabcakes..
i took a picture, but it came out really bad and does them NO justice..thus i wont waste posting it..however, these were SO delicious! i don't think before being vegetarian i ever had a crabcake, so I can't exactly make a good comparison..but "the omnivores" at the table haha thought they tasted just like the real deal..

For entrees, after a LONG debate of which one to get, I finally decided on the spinach lasagna.

i made quite a good choice. it had a delicious layer of vegan cheese on top that melted perfectly on it..yum. i haven't had lasagna in forever so this was just perfect. it also came with a side salad that had this really good berry vinagrette with it..

the lovely roomie got the tofu wrap

i didn't get to try this myself, but she said it was quite delicious. it had a bunch of different veggies and beans and tofu in it.. :)

the lovely boyyyy got the seitan steak!

The "steak" came with mashed potatoes and asparagus as well. I tried a piece of the seitan and it was pretty good! The sauce on it was really good.. it tasted a lot like the seitan you can buy prepackaged in whole foods or tj's though..but they cooked it really well so it was quite tasty.

Annnd for my favorite part of the meal..I mean you can't have a birthday without cake, right ?? ;) Luckily Black Olive had a few choices..

I chose the German Chocolate Cake

I've had a lot of german chocolate cake in my lifetime, haha considering its my dads favorite, and even last year I made a vegan version for him! But I was really excited they had it here too. It was so delicious, the cake was perfectly moist and the frosting was definitely deliciously coconuty and scrumptious. The frosting was definitely my favorite part ;)

I didn't get a shot of emily's cake though..she got the lemon cake, which was really good and not too tart. the frosting on it was delicious though, of course...that is my favorite part of any cake though haha.

They had one other cake, which was the double chocolate cake, that jason got..and that was really good too! luckily my german chocolate cake had the same frosting as the double chocolate on top, so i got the best of both worlds haha ;)

So this place was really delicious and I'd definitely love to go back again, especially since there were a few things on the menu I still had my eye on as I ordered my lasagna ;)

My birthday night was quite good as well..definitely a 21st ;)

don't you just love the sash and tiara? haha bit much, but it was fun :)

one more time with feeling..

2009-08-17T19:30:00.000-07:00

While I was on vacation my camera decided to be really awesome *note sarcasm* and the stop the display screen from working...
i can still take pictures on it/upload pictures from it..but I just never know what I'm taking a picture of..and that can usually be a problem! :)
I have a nicer camera as well, but the battery on that one seemed to die just as I got home as well! Such luck, no?
Thus I am camera-less, but hopefully that will change soon and I'll be able to take more pictures/do more reviews as much as i want.

I did however make some cupcakes for a party my roommate and I had last week..and I used her camera to snap a picture..they were WAY too cute to not take a picture of!

kind of spring-esque, aren't they? maybe not the right season, but i thought they were cute anyway ;)
plus lets just say i didnt even get to try one..they were gone by the end of the party, but that might be because SOMEONE ate 6 of them!! i won't put the blame out there, but i was a little bummed i didnt get to try one, however, from everyone else i heard that they were quite delicious!

I used the vanilla cupcake recipe from Joy of Vegan Baking, which I haven't used before. Usually my go to is always Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World .. (which BTW I need to get on getting Vegan Brunch VERY soon!!) I thought they baked the same, and I guess they tasted good too so that's a good switch up recipe!
For the frosting..I noticed we didnt have any powdered sugar in the house at the last minute, so I made one using regular sugar?
I found it online..and I have to say it didn't come out as "fluffy" as using powdered sugar..
I also used a pre-packaged thing of pink and yellow fondant that I had gotten for Christmas that I never got a chance to use yet! Fondant is SOO super easy and makes everything look adorable..I'll definitely have to use it again :)

So other than that I've just been attempting to "live up" the rest of my summer.. school starts up again in 1 week from today!
However..it will also be my birthday in a week and 1 day from today!!
Not just any birthday, though..
In recognition of my favorite game as well..
I'll be the big bad

Okay maybe not that big or bad..but i'm still super excited ! :)

hope everyone is enjoying the rest of their summers as well and hopefully i'll be able to post and do some reviews soon!
<3

conclusion of my euro-trip ;)

2009-07-31T08:49:00.001-07:00

So since I've been back to the states, I really haven't had much time to keep my blog up to date with the last of my food-finds in europe as well as stuff i've made since i've been back! no worries though :)

Rewind to being in Dublin, Ireland..
where the mentioning of being vegan was looked at like it was a disease..
even trying out a chinese buffet, i had thought before going in that there had to be at least an all vegetable dish or tofu or something!
not hardly..i ended up with a plate full of cut up tomatoes and cucumbers with some soy sauce.
however!
while trying to find something else in the city, we stumbled upon a Govinda's!
And I had just recently learned that the Govinda's in Philadelphia actually IS an international chain and the one in Dublin and London are all connected! how coooool ;)

The food was set up in a way that you picked your size plate, and then chose from the "buffet/bar" what you wanted on it.. unfortunately not everything was vegan..a majority of it was just vegetarian, but the things that were vegan were really good!

This was my plate, which consisted of basmati rice, vegetable samosa, whole grain bread, lentil curry, and a mix vegetable dish. it was quite delicious :) finally..some vegan food in ireland !!

Despite the food, Dublin was still absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!

The Dublin Castle!

Howth area of Dublin, right on the water. Quite a lovely view :)

Fast forward back to London...
After we got back from Dublin, we only had 9 days left in London to explore and do everything else we wanted to do before we had to come home..so that meant a really strict schedule that we TRIED to go by..haha some things got a little rearranged though ;)

We found a really awesome health food store really close to our apartment though, so that was exciting! We had bought sandwiches to take on the plane with us incase the food wasn't good...but realized they might not let them take us through security, so we ate them while in london and they were delicious! Mine was a vegan stromboli sandwich! :)

Also in the health food store I really wanted to try the soy chocolate milk, but none of them were cold..so I picked strawberry instead..

This was AMAZING! I'm glad I got to try this flavor instead.. it reminded me exactly of those nesquick strawberry syrups with milk..except a million times better and better for you :)

Another RANDOM find that we stumbled upon while going down a wrong street, was a vegan cafe literally down the street from our apartment! I hadn't even seen it on Happy Cow or anything like that.. but I'm really glad we found it because it was suuuper awesome.

The board..it seemed as though they changed up the menu & soup everyday..which is definitely a good idea. I cannot remember the name of this place actually..and it was so tiny that i couldn't even look it up online!

A lot of the vegan places we had gone to throughout London did the same sort of concept..you choose the side of the bowl and then fill it with whatever you want. Emily & I really LOVED this idea..because we definitely dont mind our food touching, and we think it tastes better all mixed together anyway. ;)
My bowl was a bed of greens and a potato salad, a lentil and chickpea dish, and a vegetable dish. it was all really good mixed in. :)

While we were in London for the 5 weeks, we kept passing a TON of McDonald's..and they all advertised for this "spicy veggie burger"...i was intrigued..so we looked it up online and checked if it was vegan or not.. it IS if you get it without the ranch sauce...
Although I am not one to support McDonald's...I think it was pretty cool that they were willing to have a vegetarian and vegan option for customers if they choose so instead of choosing their gross burgers. SO it was one of our last days in London, and i tried it..

See the bite taken out of it? That was the only one that was...
Unfortunately, I WANTED to like it..so I could think wow way to go mcdonalds!
but it was soggy..and the first time I got it they messed it up and put the sauce on it, so I had to go back and get a new one.. but it was just mushy and not very good..nor was it spicy at all!
Sorry McDonalds...at least you tried.

Now that I've been back in Maryland and Philadelphia..I've done a little bit of cooking, definitely not as much as I'd like to..so hopefully the baking will shine through me again and I'll be back in the kitchen with some new things soon! :)

Vegan in London pt. 2!

2009-07-06T09:48:00.000-07:00

As we're exploring more and more of London, i've found soo many awesome restaurants and cafes that cater directly to vegans, as well as others that have so many vegan options! I'm becoming more convinced that it really is more veg friendly than the states! It's gonna be a bummer to go back.. ;)

One place that we actually have been to a couple of times since being in London is located in the Camdentown Market area.. It's an all vegetarian cafe, with the majority of the options being vegan, and also has a smoothie/juice bar as well as music and social events in the evenings!

Inspiral Cafe & Lounge on Camden High Street.
So far from there I've gotten a lunch bowl, which shares the same concept as a lot of the cafes around here... you choose a size bowl and then pick from the hot and cold food bars as to what you want. I really like this concept a lot, since it lets you try different things, but I guess you have to choose carefully if you don't like your different foods being mixed!

The first time that we had went, we had actually already eaten lunch at a mediocre cafe where I had a sandwich..but we should have waited a little longer and we would've found Inspiral instead! We were so excited for it though that we ended up getting one of the smoothies anyway..all made with soya milk!!

Organic vodka in your smoothie, anyone? ick..can't say that sounds very good at all!
However, I got the Berry Bliss smoothie and it was really really good! Very fresh tasting and perfectly creamy with the soy milk! :)
This place also has an "ice cream" section... and we were planning on trying it out one day when it was actually really hot in london! I sampled the Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream, hoping for something delicious...unfortunately it was made with wheatgrass and spurlina.. which I don't mind those at all in a smoothie or something like that..however, I was expecting sweet, delicious ice cream...not quite what I had in mind..so we ended up passing on that.

Skip to another all vegetarian cafe located in the Soho Area of central london..called Beat Root

This was located just a street away from the VitaOrganic vegetarian cafe we went to a few weeks earlier, but we wanted to try something new.
The people working there were really friendly and they had a ton of options.. only two of the options were not vegan too..so that was exciting that I could try a lot :)
Same as Inspiral...the concept is you choose the size box and then pick whatever you want to fill it... I love getting a whole mix of different things..usually I just say "whatevers vegan"... ;)

Everything that I got was SO good!
Theres a mixture of a potato curry dish, brocolli and sprouts with peanuts in this really good "creamy" sauce, a quinoa dish, and a few others I can't really remember..but I really thought everything I got was so delicious. :)
They also had a few things for dessert as well, and we chose a chocolate crispy ball to split..

it tasted like a chocolate covered rice krispy treat..except even better ;)
SO good! This might've been my favorite vegan cafe place so far in london...

So as if London wasn't amazing enough by having the Veg all vegan chinese buffets on nearly every street... we were lucky enough to stumble upon by accident an all vegan Indian buffet as well!!
It's called Indian Veg Buffet and it's located around the Islington area of London.
First of all, it's only 3.95 pounds for all you can eat... so that was pretty sweet to begin with..
We can in to see what it looked like before we decided on it, and once we saw the curries we knew we had to eat there.
London is actually pretty well known for their impressive indian food..i'm not so sure if this vegan version of it is as good as the omnivore version..but I was a huge fan ;)

My plate.. they had four different curry options available, along with many different sides to choose from, naan bread, and a few different rice dishes. I chose the chickpea curry and the spicy cinnamon potato curry. The rice I got had a really good seasoning to it as well and went perfectly with the curries. Everything I got was soo good, of course :)

ALL around the restaurant they had these different posters regarding how healthy a vegetarian and vegan diet is as opposed to a meat-filled diet. It was really cool to see so much information on it everywhere!

Yay for the benefits of a cruelty free diet!! :)
Not gonna lie..this guy totally thought I was taking his picture though and I think I made him blush ;) haha oh the things I do for taking blog pictures!

This place was definitely amazing and I'm so excited there are soo many vegan "buffet" options as well as different places to go for just a quick lunch..
Another thing that i've noticed in a lot of places is they have a TON of different vegan mediteranean foods as well..such as tabouli salads, hummus and falafel, chickpea salads, etc. It's so easy and convenient to just pick these up from grocery stores and such for a quick meal!
In a nutshell, I've basically fallen in love with how vegan friendly london is.. :)
We only have 4 days left of our european vacation though, so i'm a bit bummed about that..but at least it's been an AMAZING experience..

Next up I'll post about the not so vegan Dublin, Ireland! :)

Vegan in Valencia, Spain!

2009-07-02T11:27:00.000-07:00

I've been traveling all over London as well as Spain and Ireland, but have had no time to post!
I've been trying to find vegan food that is actually good...as opposed to a side salad of lettuce and tomatoes...and some places have definitely been harder.
Take Valencia, Spain for instance...
I definitely had a much harder time finding vegan food here...even trying to tell people that I was vegan was quite difficult! the language barrier could have been something to do with this as well though...
Valencia has a lot of italian food places though, which was quite surprising..as we were expecting to eat a lot of spanish food..not as much though.
anyway, the first place we went luckily the waitress spoke english, so I explained to her I wanted something all vegetables and no cheese or meat...
She brought me out this..

It was a toasted piece of bread covered in a tangy marinara sauce and topped with tons of grilled vegetables, including tomatoes, artichokes, brocolli, and a few others as well!
For such a simple meal, it was really really delicious, so I was glad she was able to help me out there! especially for our first meal..since we were both just so hungry from the flight..
Other meals were mostly salads...that I had to customize to tell the server not to put any eggs or meat on it..
but regardless, I was only there for 3 days so luckily the monatony of the plain boring salad wasn't tooo awful.
There were though really nice looking Falafel eateries everywhere though..

Can't really go wrong with falafel wraps..
that surprises me a lot about not just valencia, but also in london... there are SOO many places with falafel.. which i absolutely love and usually have to search for a falafel place in philly!
So even though the food in Valencia isn't quite vegan or vegetarian friendly..
The beach was beautiful..

Warm sunny beaches was exactly what we needed as opposed to London's rainy and chilly weather...
The architecture in Valencia was absolutely gorgeous as well..

It was definitely a fabulous 3 day trip to the beach...I'd definitely recommend anyone going, it was a really beautiful city. Just make sure to try and find some vegan or vegetarian places before hand and it should be good ;)

Vegan London Adventures pt. 1 !!

2009-06-11T03:41:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone from London!! :)

We got here about a week ago, and so far it has been absolutely amazing. The town we're staying in is so beautiful and has so much to do! I really feel lucky to be able to experience all of this.
Coming to London though I was a little bit nervous about where I would find good things to eat. I knew I could rely on salads, but I knew that would drive me crazy to only eat salads for 5 weeks!
however, that is not the case at all!!
Honestly, I feel as though London is much more vegetarian and vegan friendly than Philadelphia! Or anywhere in the states for that matter.. it's crazy!
Every restaurant has a "V" for vegetarian next to food items (not vegan though..so make sure you point that out..) and on all the food products they have little symbols as well..

yes, even the ketchup..in case you didnt know it was vegetarian, haha. :)

Also..another thing that is awesome about london in general for vegans, is that ALL the coffee places have soy milk!! I hate that being home my only option is usually Starbucks to get a coffee with soy milk.. or smaller coffee places, but as far as chains go, its usually just Starbucks. Not quite the same here..every place we've gone so far has offered it! :)

that would be a most delicious soy latte from this really awesome coffee shop right down the street from our apartment!!

The first place we found that was all vegan was a place called Veg. It's a all-vegan chinese buffet!! It reminded me a TON of New Harmony in Philadelphia, which I'm in love with and has the most amazing food! We were soo excited to see this place here in london..plus its SO very cheap. and we've passed a lot of them as we're walking around, so it must be a all vegan chinese buffet chain??? CRAZY! :)

The front of it..they all look the same and are really easy to spot! :)

The inside..was SOO cute and beautifully decorated. I will say, that is what impressed me about it over New Harmony..not that new harmony doesn't look good, just the decorations here were much more intense.

and of course, the food!! They had a lot to choose from on the buffet, and i'm not sure if it changes up any time or if different locations had different things. but the food we had was awesome, so i wouldn't mind if it stayed the same. they had plenty of tofu and seitan dishes, vegetable dishes, sesame toast, a fruit salad that looked amazing but i avoided (fruit in other places never is a good idea for me!! weird, i know..)
but yes, this place is awesome, and for only 3.50 pounds for take-away, i think it was 4.50 pounds to eat there for lunch, it was quite the deal!! :)

While we were in Central London seeing Big Ben and The Eye and all that fun stuff, we looked up a vegan restaurant to stop in for lunch while we were down there..
I found a place called Vita Organic, and it was absolutely amazing as well!!

The entrance for it, although the directions did make it a little hard to find! Luckily someone we stopped and asked for directions were already on there way down the street and had told us how good the food is! :)

all vegan and some raw!! :)

The buffet of food. You got to choose how many "scoops" you wanted and which ones you wanted..only a pound a scoop! another awesome deal!

My plate.. I chose 3 things, a chickpea curry, the green vegetable dish, and the other spicier vegetable dish. They were all really really good and tasted good all mixed in with each other too!
They had a huge juice bar as well, and some vegan cakes and desserts..although they were a bit pricy. Everything there looked amazing though. We'll definitely have to go back again before we leave!!

So far in London I've encountered no problems what so ever finding something delicious and vegan! So i'm very excited about that and I can't wait to try out more vegan restaurants here!!

We're off to Valencia, Spain this Saturday though, so we'll see what the vegan food is like over there!! :)

they made a statue of us, and put it on a mountain top

2009-06-02T11:29:00.000-07:00

So I finally found some time to bake today now that I'm home and I'm really glad because I've missed it :)
I recently got Happy Herbivore's fabulous new e-cook book...Backyard Vegan..and i'm in love! it has soo many delicious sounding recipes that i'm really excited to make. Earlier today I made the PB&J Cookies using strawberry preserves.
the result?

delicious-ness!
The preserves taste really good in it, and the cookies are just peanut-buttery enough but not overly sweet with the preserves also. Perfect. They don't really spread though, at all while I baked them, so if you make them definitely don't be scared to make the jelly-centers even bigger to fit the preserves in there better. The root beer float cupcakes sound like my next creation from there... they sound so clever ;) and who doesnt love a root beer float..in cup cake form??

Also!
A couple weeks ago I made scrumptious pizza while I was still in philly.

The dough was a really simple recipe that I had found through other blogs..

Vegan Pizza Dough:
1 package of instant dry active yeast
1 cup warm water
1/2 tablespoon sugar
3 cups of flour
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoon of salt

Add the water, yeast, sugar, and 1/2 cup of flour into a mixing bowl. Stir well and let sit for 20 minutes until it gets bubbly. Add the olive oil, salt, and 2 cups of flour and mix well with a wooden spoon until together enough to knead on a floured surface. Knead for about 10 minutes, while adding more flour at a time to create a soft, elastic, slightly sticky dough consistency. Form the dough into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl, while adding some oil to the top to prevent drying out. Cover with a kitchen towel and let sit for 2 hours, or until the dough doubles in size (mine took about an hour and a half.) Punch dough down and divide into 2 small balls, and place in large zip lock bags (or wrap in saran wrap if you realize you dont have zip lock bags..like i did...boo) and refrigerate overnight. Let the dough get to room temperature before ready to use, and roll out to the size you want when ready. :)

So the dough I thought was pretty good..although we might've overcooked it a bit, but other than that I thought it was a really good recipe to use!
The sauce that I had used was just a creation from heating up a can of diced tomatoes with seasoning, extra basil and oregano, chopped garlic, and about 2 T of tomato paste, and then putting it all into a blender to minimize the chunks.
The pepperonis were the Yves brand..which I had never had before, but I was quite pleased with how they turned out.
The cheese was Vegan Gourmet mozzerella, which actually shredded quite easily with a regular cheese grater, so I was quite pleased with how that turned out..not to mention it really DOES melt! soo that was great.

So yeah basically, the pizza was awesome, and I had really missed pizza with melty-cheese ;)

Today I stopped by the health food store for a couple of things and saw a new random product and decided to try it out :)

Chee-Cha Puffs in Sea Salt & Spiced Pepper flavor.

I'm a huge fan, they're really air-y..but the seasonings and spices for them are so good. and with only 90 calories for 2 cups! how exciting, i know. ;)
They're also gluten-free, so if gluten is a problem for you then i'm sure you'll like these as well.

Well off to MORE packing.. I leave in 2 days for London and I have lots to pack still...maybe i'm just trying to fit too much? no way haha :)

hardcore superstar, by far, you're the ultimate.

2009-05-17T15:03:00.000-07:00

So I haven't really been baking or cooking much of anything lately..
having classes over has been SUCH a relief this past week though.
its so nice to not have the stresses of having papers or tests or anything! freedom! :)

Last week though I did find this amazing place..yet only 3 miles away from my apartment!
It's called Weaver's Way Co-Op and its a co-op store in the Germantown/Mt. Airy part of Philadelphia that has couple stores as well. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect before I went,
however, I had been on a MISSION to find Whole Soy Frozen Yogurt..and i had yet to find it ANYWHERE..including whole foods and other super markets that usually carry a lot of soy products. But on the Whole Soy website, they said that Weaver's Way carried it..so I had to make a stop!
Alongside the AMAZING chocolate hazelnut frozen yogurt... (oh gosh its so good)
I also wandered the aisles and picked up a few other things, including some new flavors of fruit leather (i'm addicted to these) and a bag of nutritional yeast!!
I've yet to have ever cooked with this..so i'm SOO excited to make some delicious cheesy recipes!
In a nutshell, Weaver's Way had SO much to offer..plenty of different vegan foods, produce, and they also carried a lot from Mosche's line of vegan sandwiches! It is a $30 charge per year though to become a member (since i wasn't a member I had to pay 10% more..not a big deal though) and you have to work 6 hours of the year there..which I think would be totally fun anyway! When I get back from london..i'll definitely look into joining it :)

Anyway!
Onto my super amazing weekend which also included super awesome vegan food ;)
This weekend I was really lucky enough to stay in new york city with my incredibly awesome boyfriend. and also extremely lucky that he was totally up for trying out some awesome NYC vegan eateries!
On Friday we went to Lula's Sweet Apothecary, which I had heard about ALL over the "blog-world" being amazing vegan ice cream with a huge assortment of different toppings.
It definitely lived up to its reputation ;)
Although the ice cream maker was apparently broken, they still had 3 flavors of soft serve to choose from; vanilla, twist, or cake batter. The list of toppings on the wall definitely seemed like a good amount to choose from as well!

This was mine, which included Cake Batter soft serve with mint newman-o cookies, and deliciously amazing hot fudge. oh how i've missed hot fudge.

This was the boyyy's...he got the Twist soft serve with the mint newman-o cookies and coconut whipped cream! The whipped cream was quite delicious..i've missed that too!

I also got a chance to go to Blossom for dinner last night, which I had also heard a ton of awesome reviews about..
The place definitely has a very small and cute atmosphere..and I really liked the setup a lot! The menu wasn't huge but had a good amount of things on it..and had me torn between a few options.
The pictures however are not the best...due to my camera wanting to stop working..so I couldn't see what I was taking a picture of..note the un-centeredness haha. oh well, trust me..it was gooood ;)

I decided on the Crispy Thai Tofu with Bok Choy,rice and this delicious tangy coconut-milk based sauce. Sooo delicious! The tofu was crispy enough just the way I like it and the bok choy was really well done also. I'd definitely get it again.

Okay so not the most flattering of pictures, BUT this meal was AMAZING. It is the Seitain Scallopini, which was seitan cutlets in a a white wine, lemon, and caper sauce. uhh....wayy too good! I totally would've gotten this instead if I knew how awesome it was!

So yeah, both of these places definitely lived up to the expectations..pure amazingness ;)
New york is just so amazing in general, as well as full of awesome vegan places..i'm quite jealous ;) surre philly isn't bad either i suppose!
After the long weekend i'm completely tired though, so i'm definitely looking forward to a nice long sleep tonight.
Hope everyone has a wonderful week!!
:)

i've been dancing around the truth

2009-05-01T08:28:00.000-07:00

It's been an extremely busy past few weeks, but today is FINALLY the last day of classes for the semester! I cannot even explain how excited that makes me..this semester had definitely been a long one, a good one..but really long! And it's so refreshing to know that it's almost over. :) Senior year..here I come! crazyness!

So aside from being busy with exams, papers, and presentations.. I have cooked a couple of things. And I'm making something this weekend for our sorority Senior Sendoff...so I'll make sure to post about that next week ;)

While I was home a few weeks ago I made the Vegetable Skillet from myvegancookbook.com
This site is just amazing, the recipes are all SO awesome!!

There it is alongside vegan mashed potatoes and cooked asparagus with garlic... scrumptious meal!

Bean & Vegetable Skillet:
1 medium onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 medium zucchinis cut into 1/4" medallions
1 medium eggplant, diced
14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained (i used fire-roasted...soo good!)
14.5 oz can white beans, drained and rinsed
1 c water
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/8 tsp black pepper
i added about 1/4 tsp of cumin as well, just because I <3 cumin. :)

In a large skillet, cook the onions, peppers, zucchini, garlic, and eggplant with cooking spray for 10 minutes on medium heat, stirring often. Add water, tomatoes, thyme, red and black pepper, and cumin, cover and cook for 7 minutes. Uncover and add beans and cook for 5 more minutes on medium heat until zucchini is slightly crisp.

This recipe made a lot and made me realize how much I really do like eggplant! It was really good in this recipe.

Last week my mom came up for a study abroad meeting at school, so she was here for the weekend. I wanted to make something for her, not to mention I couldn't let the people from work down, I was bored of making cookies and brownies..so I decided on a healthier? dessert. I chose the Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins from joy of vegan baking, of course! This simply is my go-to for all my baking needs, the recipes all have come out perfect! And these muffins are no different.

The recipe definitely made more than 12 as well, or maybe I just had small muffins. Either way, there were plenty to give out and everyone loved them. I did add peanut butter to mine, of course, just because there really is no better combo than bananas and peanut butter... + chocolate chips..perfection!

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins:
2 cups of flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 c canola oil
4 ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 c water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease muffin tin, or use super cute cup cake papers like I did.. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, and salt. In a large bowl, beat the sugar and the oil. Add the banana and the chocolate chips. Stir in the water and vanilla until incorporated. Add the flour mixture and stir until just mixed. Fill the muffin tins and bake about 30 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

Onto some London news - it's official that we're leaving on June 4th, arriving in London early on June 5th and staying until July 10th!! I'm SO super excited and hopefully we find a good place to rent while staying there. I've already looked at a ton of vegan restaurants in london..and wow! I was expecting it to be hard to find places there, but there are so many that I can't wait to try them!!

Hope everyone has a good weekend!! Only 2 exams until the semester is truly over! :)

i listened in, yes i'm guilty in this you should know this..

2009-04-10T08:12:00.000-07:00

This post is just drenched with chocolate...
I warned you ahead of time ;)
Not even on purpose really, I guess I just was on a chocolate-fix this past week or so..nothing wrong with that though.

I did a take-two of the peanut butter brownies that I tried to make a few weeks ago, but turned into a pan of a too gooey mess!
So I used an old brownie recipe that I knew worked well... and I just mixed up peanut butter and spread it into the mixture..
It came out pretty well, however for some reason these did turn out a bit cakey-ish than when I remember making them..

I used the same recipe from this post.

But I did bring them into work last week, and they were all quite pleased and happy with me again :) so that's always good.

While doing a quickie whole foods trip last week, I saw they had the So Delicious Coconut Milk Yogurts in an array of flavors..and I've been meaning to try these for a while. I've tried the coconut milk ice cream made by them..in the mint chip..and was VERY impressed. I am not a fan of soy yogurt though.. I've tried REALLY hard to like it though, but I just can't get over the texture. so I was hoping for good things from this!

Again, i tried REALLLY hard to like it..
seriously..
with each bite I'd be like "it's not..that bad..."
honestly, I really did not enjoy it at all. the tangy ness through me off as well as the texture. maybe i should try a different flavor..
but it was kind of a big dissapointment because i used to LOVE eating yogurt pre-vegan days.. and I'd really like to find a replacement that I like. any suggestions ??

Another fun thing that I found that my mom had told me she had seen in my hometown in maryland ...and I hadn't heard anything about these..

Nasoya Silken Creations.. they had it in the shoprite near me randomly, in the refrigerated tofu section, and i really wanted to try it out! they had it in all three of the flavors, strawberry, vanilla, and..my choice..dark chocolate.

I was thinking of what to make with it, and I thought that my usual peanut butter chocolate tofu pie would be AMAZING using it..

However, I must say..on the package it says to be used in recipes or eaten straight from the box. I gave the straight from the box thing a go just to see how it tasted..and wowwww I think I might just buy it to eat! It tastes like AMAZING chocolate pudding..perfect consistency..and I'm really excited to try the other flavors out like this.

I figured it would already be SUPER chocolately so I halfed my usual 1 cup of melted chocolate chips to only a half of a cup..as well as I left out the soy milk since the tofu was already a pudding-consistency as opposed to when I use the usual silken tofu.
I will say, it did not firm up as well as previous times that I had made this pie and used regular silken tofu.
It was more of a pudding-pie..which..is still quite amazing.. but a bit messier.
I put it in the freezer however in hopes of it firming up quicker, and the next day it was a frozen-ish consistency... but kind of like an ice cream cake texture..which was actually really good! :)

And lastly for the chocolatey-goodness of this post..
my sorority had its retreat for the new girls this semester last night.. and since it was late night-ish we were asked to bring a dessert for it. Of course I jumped at that opportunity, how can I ever turn down making a baked good for others to eat ? Plus, it was thursday..and i couldn't let the friendly applebee's co-workers down!

I tried out the chocolate mint chip cookies from Joy of Vegan Baking. This book never lets me down!

These cookies were AWESOME.
People at work were upset that I didn't bring more of them, and were raving about them all night! I still love that they don't ever believe they're vegan too ;)
I got to the retreat a bit late due to work, but a few of the girls were able to try them and said they were really good. So theres definitely another keeper in that book.. :)

Chocolate Chip Mint Cookies:
1 egg replacer (I used Ener-G)
3/4 c vegan margarine
1/2 c firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 c granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/4 c cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter and sugars together in a large bowl by hand or with electric mixer at high speed. Beat in the egg replacer as well as the vanilla and peppermint extracts. In another bowl, mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Add to the butter mixture along with the chocolate chips. Stir well until mixed, but do not overmix. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto a nonstick cookie sheet, and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Should make about 1 1/2 dozen cookies

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!! I'm going home tomorrow to be with the family for Easter, so I'm really excited for that :)

theres not a lot to give if you're giving in..

2009-03-30T18:17:00.000-07:00

So one of the nights that I was home my brother and I as a duo made dinner for the two of us.
I will say though, even though he does make meat dishes, he does have quite a good mindset for cooking! He seems to always think of interesting types of meals and such..

Onto that, he decided to make homemade spaghetti from scratch, which seemed like an interesting idea that I hadn't really thought to do.. I mean spaghetti is just so simple to pull from the box and boil in a pot!

He had used only about a half of a cup of flour, 1/4 cup of water, and about a tablespoon of salt. Then formed a dough with it and rolled it out, and cut it into spaghetti-like strips. Make sure to roll them out quite well though..they did seem a bit thick!

The sauce that we made was just a can of crushed tomatoes, mixed into it was sauteed green peppers and onions with garlic and a bunch of italian seasonings such as basil, oregano, parsley, etc.
It tasted quite delicious and really fresh tasting as opposed to a sauce from the jar! It was so simple as well :)

I had some pinenuts in the cabinet from when I made the macaroni casserole from previously in the week...as well as my brother had gotten fresh basil, so I found a simple recipe for pesto and blended that up..

I belive I just used olive oil, pine nuts, basil, and garlic. It was a bit garlic-y..maybe use less of that..but it was really good!

all together now!!

The pesto was put on a toasted piece of french bread, alongside the homemade spaghetti with the sauce. Quite delicious!

Oh, I had attempted this past week to make a new recipe that I found for "extra fudgy" vegan brownies...
fudgy they were!
I had mixed in some peanut butter into the recipe to make it extra decadent.. however the brownies were TOO fudgy and couldn't even be picked up :(
I will say though..digging into the pan with a spoon could have been a good option..but I didn't think that seemed respectable enough when trying to let other people try them... ;)
hopefully going back to my "safe" brownie recipe this week will make them much better.

and we'll send up our shooting stars and comets..

2009-03-24T12:01:00.000-07:00

So I'm back in Philly at school, and going back to class and work yesterday was just unreal! It really didn't even feel like I had nearly a week and a half away from here at all!
Oh well.. on the bright side, only 38 days (including weekends!!) left until the last day of class.. but hey, who's counting? ;)
this just means the closer to being in london i will be..so i'm pretty pumped.

While I was home though I did get a chance to make a few more things! so that was super.

My parents had left on vacation for a majority of the time that I was home, leaving my two siblings and I to fend for ourselves while they baked in the beautiful Dominican Republic sun... i'm not bitter, i promise :)

So I cooked a tad bit..
One night I found a really simple recipe for homemade falafel, and decided it was something to try. The only time i've made falafel before was using a box mix from Fantastic Foods where you just added oil, i believe. Which were awesome though, so I'm definitely not complaining.. but I felt better about making it from complete scratch this time.

The recipe made quite a bit, and I managed to fit three of them in a pretty big sized pita filled with lettuce, tomato, and hummus :) delicious!

Falafel:
1 can of chickpeas
1 small onion, finely minced (okay so mine wasn't exactly minced persuay..still came out good!! haha)
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
3 T chopped parsley
3/4 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp tumeric
dash of red pepper
2 T flour

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Drain and rinse the chickpeas, and then put them in a bowl and mash with a fork. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Form into ping-pong sized balls and put onto an ungreased baking sheet, and flatten down a bit with a fork. Bake for about 10-15 minutes, flipping halfway through and they'll be done when they're golden brown. You could also try frying these up, but I figured baking was better ;)

For dessert the night before this, on the last night my whole family was home, I decided to make a Hot Fudge Cake. I stumbled upon this recipe while searching for a hot fudge recipe..craving a hot fudge sundae one night..haha but this cake just seemed too good! And made me think of those non-vegan but delicious looking lava cakes that i serve to people everynight at applebee's...

Hot Fudge Cake:
1 1/2 c flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/8 c sugar
9 T cocoa powder, divided
3/4 c soy milk
3 T vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 c hot water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and 3 T of cocoa. Stir in soy milk, oil, and vanilla and mix until smooth. Spread in ungreased 9x13 glass baking pan. In a small bowl, mix brown sugar and 6 T of cocoa. Sprinkle over the batter, and pour the hot water over it all, but do not mix. Bake for 45-50 minutes and serve warm!

I originally found this recipe from jewishvegan.blogspot.com, but it says its truly from Taste Of Home, but just with soy milk as opposed to regular.
I did in fact half this recipe though, and I made it in a 8x8 pan..which kind of made it look like brownies, but this was definitely delicious.
And the fudge sauce stayed delicious and gooey for days after as well :)

Back to the grind of work though now, but hopefully now that spring break is OVER spring weather will finally start to appear! one can only hope ;)

we've gotta live the best we know how to

2009-03-15T15:18:00.000-07:00

So I'm home for spring break in maryland..
and even though its not exactly a spring break destination... with the rain and cold weather.. it's still nice to be home and relax. :)

Before I left though I made a recipe I think I found on vegweb a while ago, it seemed quite simple and quick to make so I thought my friends at work would really like it.

All it was, was to melt a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips (shoprite brands is vegan! yay) and mix it with a tsp of peppermint extract..
and then dip Ritz crackers in the mixture, put in the fridge to harden them up..
and they're quite tasty! kind of like a thin-mint..kind of sweet and salty..
but very simple and delicious.

I brought my cat Ziggy home for spring break with me, and I was a bit nervous about having to keep him in my room for an entire week since I have a dog at home and I didn't know how they'd react to eachother. After having Ziggy keep me up all night the first night, we decided to see if they would be able to roam around the house together.
Luckily, it hasn't been too bad.
Ziggy likes to pretend he's tough, but when hes on the same ground level as my dog, he runs away scared.. but they're fine and they don't actually fight, so luckily that's been taken care of :)

Yesterday I made dinner and dessert for my family, and I decided on the Mariachi Macaroni from myvegancookbook.com (which I just recently stumbled upon and LOVE!)
The casserole was awesome! Since I don't have nutritional yeast..and most macaroni dishes usually call for it..I was excited to see that this one didn't. And yet, the sauce still tasted absolutely amazing and creamy and wonderful. :)

Maybe not too photogenic..but definitely delicious!

For dessert I wanted to make something delicious, but not too filling since I knew the macaroni would be a bit heavy. Theres another dessert that I definitely have my eye on to make sometime this week while i'm home though!
But I made Peanut Butter Coffeecake, which some could call it banana peanut butter coffee cake as well, since i could definitely taste the banana...which made it even better. :)

I believe it is originally from crazyveganmom.blogspot.com. :)

For the topping:
1/2 c light brown sugar
1/2 c flour
1/4 c peanut butter
3 tablespoons of margarine

For the cake:
2 1/4 c flour
1 c brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 c soy milk (i used almond breeze..yum!)
1/2 c peanut butter
1 ripe banana, mashed
1/4 c margarine

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and grease a 9x13 baking dish.
To make the topping, mix the flour and sugar together. Then with a fork, mix in the peanut butter and margarine to make a crumbly texture and set aside.
For the cake, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and soda, and salt. Then add the milk, banana, peanut butter, and margarine. Beat this until smooth, approximately 3 minutes. Pour mixture into the baking dish and top with the crumble topping. Bake for 30 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

If I were to make it again, I might add more banana..just because I LOVE the combo of banana and peanut butter and having the banana even more pungent would be delish. or maybe chocolate chips as well ;) but thats just me.

I'm sure I'll be baking up some more deliciousness while being home, and I hope if anyone else is on spring break, that yours is much sunnier and warmer for you! :)

and you're finally free to twist and turn like a skeleton key

2009-03-06T08:42:00.000-08:00

Okay so i'm sad to say i don't have any new, fun, interesting food.
spring break is next week so our grocery trip wasn't even that exciting..just the basics till we get back and will splurge at whole foods and tj's!
no worries though, when i'm home..i'm sure i'll be cooking up tons! :)

HOWEVER!

i do have quite exciting news regarding myself!!

First up.. as its quite apparent, I had gotten my first tattoo this past October of the vegan society symbol sunflower on my foot..and i love it. and it was painful and i'm a huge pansy. BUT i've been thinking ever since how badly I wanted another one..
and so the roomie and I both got what we wanted this past saturday!!

it's on my right ankle..right above the ankle bone..and i absolutely LOVE it! it's still in the healing process right now..so not exactly looking its best..but once its nice out I can't wait to show it off!!

now i will admit, there is one more that I want.. but i think i'm going to hold off until summer ;) i guess it is true...they are addicting.. even with someone like me who is scared to death of getting her doctor shots!

okay exciting news number two...
I received my acceptance letter from my school and then got through two phone interviews and got accepted into American Intercontinental University in London!! for the Summer 09 semester!!

i'm SO SO SO excited. The semester is from June 5th until July 11th. Which I think it just long enough to really live there and experience it, without feeling like it's tooo long. it should be an amazing time...
although i've heard it's a bit difficult for a vegan diet.. but i'm not too picky..so i'm sure i'll be okay! :)
If anyone has been to London or has any recommendations or tips or anything, definitely let me know!!

Oh! And in other exciting very UPCOMING news.. i'm going to be seeing Chelsea Handler tomorrow night at the Tower Theatre!!
I'm obsessed with the show Chelsea Lately, and I think she's going to be hilarious. I hope she brings along chuey!

Have a wonderful weekend!!
I promise I'll post about delicious food next time ;)

thats why i wrote this song to sing..

2009-02-26T12:39:00.000-08:00

How is it already thursday???
i feel like this week has just blown by me and I ended up with today. ;)
crazy-ness! 2 weeks till spring break though..which equals a week and a half of NO school work and no waitress work! i'm pretty stoked.

So since I didn't have anything last week to bring into work..I made sure I bought ingredients to bake up something scrumptious this week..
"chocolate chip cookies" is of course, a frequent request.. but theres only so many batches of cookie a girl can bake in only a short time span!
However, I will admit, I'm a huge fan of chocolate chip cookies.But wanted something a bit different..
Which perspired the idea of chocolate chip cookie bars
which actually do taste quite a bit different! in a good way though, of course.

I basically took the same ol' "tried and true" recipe from Joy of Vegan Baking (i really need to make new recipes from this!!)
and spread it out into a 13 x 9 pan.
The cooking time was a bit off..and I honestly wasn't sure when to take them out or when I did, if they were even close to being done or not.
I'd say the total time they were in was probably close to 25- maybe 30 minutes?
I checked on them a few times..decided they were still too "mushy" and would put them back..
However! They came deliciously wonderful. :)

I made a batch of chocolate chip blondies over the summer..which was not what I wanted from this recipe..and not what I got..so it worked out well. The blondies I made were much more of a chocolate chip cake, but these were more like chocolate chip "brownies" consistency?

Oh! And I did not take any pictures..
BUT this past sunday.. I was lucky enough to go to the New Harmony Buffet!!
New Harmony is an all vegan chinese restaurant in the city, which basically has EVERY thing that a regular chinese restaurant menu would have..except everything is vegan! uh perfect!
But usually they have a $12 buffet once a month..and its usually on a monday, which I always work so I've never been able to go. But they switched it up and it was this past Sunday.. and oh my gosh i've been missing so much!! haha
The only thing that was a BIT off...was they had a fried shrimp on the buffet..
which look WAY too much like the real deal.. shape..white with pink like real shrimp..
it was quite strange, i mean of course it wasn't real..but i think it just looked too much like it, the roomie and i were a bit thrown off! haha
this is another MUST go to restaurant in philly. :)

tonight we're the constant buzz

2009-02-18T15:44:00.000-08:00

This past week so far has been kind of busy for me, but over the weekend I got to try a new all vegetarian restaurant in the city that i've heard a lot of reviews on!
We went to Mi Lah Vegetarian, which if you're familiar with Philadelphia vegan restaurants, you may know about Horizons, which is an up-scale all vegan restaurant, and people have been comparing the two. I actually went to Horizons last Valentine's day, and it was amazing. I might have liked Mi Lah better though..?

Onto the food.. the roomie and I decided to drive down there, which I do not suggest doing ever. Parking was miserable to find, and not to mention..all the parking meters in the city have gone up! So that was a downfall..and we were extremely hungry so driving around searching for parking was not a good start...

However, once we got there, we were so excited that the parking problem was just a vague memory.
We had a reservation, since we went on Valentine's day, but for lunch I don't think you really need it. Our menu was limited, since we went for lunch instead of dinner, but the options they had for lunch were enough to choose from.

To start, we both had the soup of the day - tomato bisque

The cup was pretty small, but it was quite delicious! However, I saw someone get a bowl of soup, and it looked huge..so I'd probably just stick with the cup. The tangy and sweetness of the tomatoes were perfect while we waited for our entrees to come out.

For my entree, I got the Vietnamese Hoagie which was "marinated tofu, pickled green papaya, chile veganaise, carrot, cucumber, and cilantro."

I could definitely see myself getting this again. It was so delicious, and the seasoned veganaise was perfect, as well as the seasoned tofu. There was a bit of oil/perhaps just veganaise or tofu "sauce" dripping out it, which made me realize it would be an awful date food.. the sauce dripping, the tofu falling out, the turning the head to the side to take a bite...not too attractive. However! It was so delicious, and I was with my roomie..thus it was perfect. :)

Emily's entree - Grilled Flatbread Pizza which was "white bean and tomato puree, kale, and fried shallots"

We swapped bites mid-way, and I tried hers..it was really good. The flatbread was perfectly "grilled" and the whitebean puree was delicious with a hint of garlic. I definitely would try it myself another time, as well as the other flat bread pizzas sounded really good too!

We asked for a dessert menu, and we were torn between two..so since it was V-day, we went a little crazy and got both ;)

This would be the Oreo Cake...it was two brownie consistency cakes with cream in between them..reminded me a lot of a Whoopie pie, with a scoop of Vanilla soy cream (I believe I read somewhere they used Temptation) and delicioussss chocolate ganache all over it. Heaven.

Peanut Butter Custard. It was warmed thick decadent peanut butter custard with a scoop of vanilla soy cream and strawberry preserves on top. This was absolutely amazing and I would eat it every day if i could. With a mix of the strawberry and peanut butter, it tasted like a PBJ. scrumptious!

Basically, this place was amazing. The lunch prices weren't bad either, I noticed on the dinner menu online that it is a little higher, but they have a lot more options for entrees for dinner, so i'll definitely be going back..hopefully soon!

Also...best part.. on Sundays from 11 until 4, they feature a Vegan Brunch, for $20 a person, you get a cup of coffee or tea, a plate of fresh fruit, homemade muffins and scones, a pitcher of either Bloody Marys or Mimosas (uh mimosas please!)
Plus an option of the many bunch entrees they have, including pumpkin pancakes, tofu benedict, seitan and waffles, etc.
I need to request off of work a Sunday Morning and make it my mission to get there..this sounds amazing. !!

basically, if you're in philly, you must make sure you squeeze in a stop at Mi Lah.. and let me know so i can come too ;)

the bays got stories that we don't know

2009-02-13T08:51:00.000-08:00

It's Friday!! :)
Even when I don't have plans for the weekend..just getting up to friday is always such a satisfying feeling...but luckily this weekend is jam-packed with things so I'm especially excited!

I had quite the dilemma this week though! On such a simple task - finding a heart shaped cookie cutter
And what irked me the most was that my parents got me this HUGE thing of a million different cookie cutters, including many heart ones, but I left it at home :(
Thus, I went to about 7 stores looking for one..and couldn't find one at all! It was quite ridiculous, especially so close to the big V-day!
Luckily I was at the mall wednesday night, and my friend helped me find one in this cute little kitchen store!
Problem solved ;)

So I present to you my special cookies for Valentine's Day

So scrumptious! I used the same sugar cookie recipe i used for my Halloween Cookies from the fabulous Joy of Vegan Baking.
I also used the Royal Icing recipe from the book, which i've never used before. But all it is was 1 egg replacer (I used Ener-G) a tsp of lemon juice, 3/4 c powdered sugar, a tsp of vanilla. it came out really well..although i spilt a little extra lemon juice in it on accident, and you could kind of taste the tart-ness in it..but still good! haha oh well ;)

The guys at work approved..and thursdays have now become "Tasty Treat Thursday"
haha they do get dissapointed when I don't have anything for them on thursdays... but I love when people love the stuff I make, so I definitely love bringing stuff for them!
all this talk about love..

hopefully people at our party tonight enjoy them as well..i mean seriously, what college party can you go to and expect vegan baked goods??? haha mine! :)

Hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's Day!

realization is key

2009-02-10T08:04:00.000-08:00

Happy Tuesday! :)
Hope your week has been going good for everyone so far. I had quite an interesting and fun weekend so the school/work week has kind of been in the back of my mind.
I'm really excited for this weekend though, already, I know.. ;)

But Friday night is Friday the 13th as well as the day before Valentine's day, thus we're having a party at our apartment to celebrate! Should be quite a fun time, and the "I need a perfect outfit" dilemma is already sorted through, so no stress there.. just a fun time coming up!

Also for Valentine's Day, this is the first time in 4 years that i've been not only single, but also not with the same guy! So this is quite a self-empowerment/new/fabulous experience for me! :)
I know during the day the roomie and I have a lunch date at this moroccan all vegetarian restaurant in the city! So I'm super excited for that, and I will definitely have a review for it ;)

Okay! On to some eats!
Last week after grocery shopping, I got all the ingredients to make the Curried Tempeh-Mango Salad Sammiches from Vegan with a Vengeance. This is the first recipe I've tried from it since I got it from Emily's mom for Christmas.. (so sweet of her!!) and they came out sooo tasty!!

I used a yellow onion instead of red for the sandwiches afterwards, but for the rest of the recipe I followed it to the T. I loved the sweetness of the mangos and the spicyness of the dressing..soo perfect. Although I'd probably add some more curry powder, since that flavor was what I was REALLY expecting..and it wasn't too strong.

Heres the recipe since its just so-o delicious and really easy to put together.

Curried Tempeh-Mango Salad Sammiches (VwaV)
1 8oz package of tempeh
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 cup mango, peeled and chopped into 1/4" chunks
1/4 cup scallions, chopped
For the dressing:
3 tablespoons of vegannaise
2 tsp curry powder (might wanna up this one!)
juice of 2 limes
2 tablespooons of apple cider vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp hot sauce (i upped this one too..but i love hot sauce)
For sammiches:
2 large pitas, cut in half to make pockets
thinly sliced red onions
lettuce
extra mango slices

Tear the tempeh into bite-sized pieces and place in a small sauce pan. Cover with water and add the soy sauce. Cover the pot, bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes. Drain and transfer tempeh to a bowl to cool.
Meanwhile, whisk together the dressing ingredients.
Add the mangoes and scallions to the tempeh. Add the dressing; mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour. Serve in the pitas with the lettuce, onion, and mango. Delish!

I'm already falling in looove with this cookbook. I have another recipe lined up for next week that i'm pretty excited to make! :)

Oh, and just to share my new favorite/weird snack..

I bought a box of Cinnamon Puffins a few weeks ago to try something different since I had only had the peanut butter ones before (which are fabulous)
they're really quite tasty, but I think I prefer the PB puffins. Butttt when you add a handful of them to your coffee...the mix is perfect! The puffins get tender and coffee-tasting...and your coffee gets cinnamon deliciousness tasting! perfect combo, no? ;)

your life is hype, your love is hype

2009-02-03T11:57:00.000-08:00

It's slightly snowing outside, nothing too bad luckily, but nothing good enough to cancel classes. hopefully tonight we'll get something good ;)
I did however have my afternoon class cancelled today, which was nice, and gave me some time to finally do laundry as well as get some delicious sushi (yes i love cucumber rolls, as boring as they are to regular sushi-eaters, i find them fabulous!)

This past weekend I found a new place to go for lunch/dinner. My roomie and I have decided that we are experts at finding awesome, new places! And it seems pretty good so far!
I found this place called The All Live Cafe
which I saw on the website, they did not have a menu on there, and that they were only open on saturdays and sundays during the day and at night for dinner. So I called and asked what their menu was like, and she told me that it was 85% Raw and all vegan! sounded perfect, no?

So the roomie and I headed out with the address, according to mapquest it was only about 3 miles away..awesome!!
We drove down the street it was on and passed the address, and did not see a restaurant..at all. just lots of houses! So we called again, and she said it was inside the building through a fence...... nervous.... haha but we went inside and I'm so glad we did!!

Isn't that just the cutest eating set-up ever??!

The menu was typed up on the papers that you picked up at the door, and she said that it changed a bit every weekend. They're only open on weekends, but they do a service for $100 a week where they deliver you a whole weeks worth of meals!! That's an awesome price, for AWESOME mostly raw, vegan food! I really think that'd be a great idea to do once in a while.

We were STARVING when we got there, so we decided to start with a bowl of the Chickpea Chili. It was VERY delicious! It had a hint of cinnamon in every bite, which really made it different, and very savory. perfect way to start the meal.

For your meal, you can choose 3 items on the menu for $10 and they are served in portions over a bowl of spinach mix. we both ordered different things to try a little of it all.

My bowl.. It consisted of Sangi, which was mixed veggies cooked with mild indian spices, No Meat, Nutmeat, which was walnuts, onions, and savory herbs, and Wild Rice, which was sprouted wild rice with fresh kale, peppers, onions, and herbs.
At first bite, i LOVED them all. However, after a few more bites of the No Meat, Nut meat, I was not that impressed with it, and left it in the bowl afterwards. The other two were so delicious, and blended well together!

Emily's bowl, It consisted of Marinated Cabbage, which was green cabbage marinated in savory herbs, Quinoa Salad, which was quinoa with fresh vegetables and cilantro, and Forbidden Black Rice, which was black rice with kale, marinated onions, peppers, and herbs. All of hers were really delicious too, and I wasn't sure how I felt about cabbage, but it tasted awesome! I might've liked her combo better ;)

After the delicious meal, we knew we had to try the raw desserts they had! There were a choice of three, the raw cheezecake, the raw carob cheezecake, and the apple pie. We talked to our server, and she said the apple pie was the least heavy, even though the carob cheezecake definitely sounded good...we were getting pretty full.
So we decided on the pie.

We already started eating it before I remembered to snap a picture ;) Yes, it was that good!
It was fiji apples and sweet spices in a date and almond crust.
It was perfect! Raw desserts just taste SO much better and less processed and fake tasting than regular desserts.
perfect way to end the meal.

Needless to say, we will definitely be back in a near weekend! It was amazing, the woman that worked there was very very sweet and it was just a wonderful experience. Oh, how I love finding these small little places of awesome vegan-ness. ;)

i wake up every evening with a big smile on my face

2009-01-29T11:45:00.000-08:00

Thursday classes are done... meaning its soo close to the weekend!! :)
its been a bit icy and snowy lately, so the roads have been a bit tricky to drive ..or just walk on, without moving around a bit. hopefully the sun today will melt it all and ill be able to walk normally without making sure i'm not about to slip on ice! :)

So yesterday I went to Acme to get some chocolate chips because I knew I wanted to bake. Usually I can find a store-brand semi-sweet that are vegan, which is always lovely, but if not then I go for the Ghiradelli, which is fine too, a bit pricier, but they taste great. Unfortunately, all of Acme's had milk in them and they didn't even have Ghiradelli! Ugh, Acme is not cool.
But I finally got my chocolate chips..not sure what brand they were, it was one i'd never seen before..but on the packing it said "Dairy & Gluten Free" so I was happy :)

Anyway! What I really wanted to bake was BIG chocolate chip cookies. I'm a huge fan of the regular sized homemade ones, but I wanted those that you buy from a store that are always so big and mushy and delicious. So since I didn't have too much of a reason for baking (i'll get to that later ;) ) so I decided to half the recipe from Joy of Vegan Baking (my favorite cookie recipe!!). The regular recipe said it made one dozen...but I halved it and made them pretty big and I got 6 of them out of it...doesn't make much sense, does it? ;)

delicious. absolutely delicious.
this was the first time I had baked cookies using Ener-G...and it worked magically, of course :)

share your knowledge

2009-01-25T15:27:00.000-08:00

So I've honestly not posted in what..2 weeks, i believe? ridiculous! :(
But i've really not been making much that has involved more skilled baking/cooking than using a microwave. i know, it's shameful. but living on your own in a college apartment, you just don't want to cook fancy foods! convenience and cost is where its at.. which sums up what i've been eating, i mean aside from eating food from restaurants, I've been eating a lot of Amy's foods (the shepards pie is definitely one of my favorites!!) Dr. McDougall soups, Lightlean "turkey" sandwiches, etc.

however, my roomie made this DELICIOUS vegan sausage soup last week (using the tofurkey brand spicy sausage links) and it was soo amazing. i did not snap a pic or anything, but take my word for it ;)

We've also made another hungry girl recipe, her Sassy Salsa Soup. Which was awesome!! Who knew putting pumpkin in a mexican-ish soup would be so fabulous??
(I definitely recommend everyone to get this cookbook, even though majority of the recipes are not vegan, it's SO easy to veganize them!!)

Yesterday though, I made the Moroccan Lentil Soup from Happy Herbivore's blog. My mom made it for me while I was home for winter break and feeling a bit under the weather.. and i loved it so much! The curry powder and cumin in it really make the soup, and blending half of it in a blender and then adding it to the rest of the soup really makes the consistency SOO perfect!
I definitely recommend making this soup ASAP!

Deliciousness in a bowl..although when my mom made it, of course it was better ;)

Oh and I must talk about my most recent food obsession. Not so new, but for me, it's really hard to find a bar that I REALLY like.
I'm a huge fan of eating Nature Valley granola bars for breakfast and stuff..they're really delicious and most of the flavors are vegan..which is rare for granola bars that they sell in most supermarkets.

But I've seen the Gnu bars on SO many blogs and the 12 g of fiber with low calories REALLY made me excited to try these! And they're awesome! I've tried all the flavors, with the banana walnut bread or the chocolate brownie being my favorite, and the orange cranberry one not being one that i'd get all the time (something about orange flavored things just don't work for me!)

oh and the cinnamon raisin one of course is delicious too! :)

Oh, and ANOTHER awesome new food obsession - Trader Joe's Fruit Floes!
I'd take a picture, but the 4 bar box was gone in 2 days between my roomie and I! We tried the Carribean flavor, and with every bite we kept saying "oh my gosh these are sooo good"
we will definitely be stocking up and trying the different flavors on our next TJ's trip!

Well back to classes tomorrow, this is the first FULL week of classes..all 5 days..ugh! haha i'll make it though.
and hopefully it wont be two weeks till I blog again!! haha of course it won't! :)

i put myself in a picture of success

2009-01-11T09:09:00.000-08:00

I made it back to philly yesterday and since then i've basically just been unpacking! You don't really realize how much you have until you pack and unpack it all :)

The second to last night that I was home I made another recipe from the lovely hungry girl cookbook (i might be obsessed..thats okay)

I made the Dan Good Chili, which was ALMOST vegan..it had worcestire sauce in it, so i just left it out, and i'm not sure if it even made a difference. i doubt it! (I subbed in celery and left out corn too..soo the recipe is a bit different from her actual one in the book)

Dan Good Chili:
4 1/4 c canned tomato sauce
1 can of diced tomatoes with green chilies
3/4 c black beans, drained and rinsed
3/4 c light red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 c chopped onions
1 large red bell pepper, chopped
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
1 3/4 c chopped carrots
3/4 c chopped celery
1 1/2 T chili powder
2 tsp crushed garlic
1 tsp ground cumin

Place tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, chili powder, and cumin in a large pot. Stir over low heat. When mixture is heated, add the garlic and continute to cook for 5 minutes. Add carrots and celery and and continute cooking over low heat. Meanwhile, over medium heat, cook onions, and peppers for 3-5 minutes in a large pan with just 1/2 c water. They should still be a little crunchy. With a slotted spoon to drain water, add veggies to large pot. Add beans to the pot and mix well. Cook over low heat for 2 hours, stirring every 20 minutes or so. Chili is done when carrots have lost their crunch!

Just a heads up, at first taste, I thought it was quite spicy. My mother thought it was too..of course the guys didn't..or didnt admit they did ;)
So I suppose if spice isn't your thing you should probably reduce the amount of chili powder, but I thought it was a really good spice after the first bite!

Oh yes! And I also made cornbread to go with the chili. I used Happy Herbivore's recipe for thanksgiving, but I wanted to try something different this time. I used one that I just randomly found on VegWeb..but it came out really good! So heres the recipe, i definitely suggest making it alongside the chili!

Cornbread:
2 egg replacers (i used ener-g)
1 c soy milk
1/4 c oil
1 c flour
1 c cornmeal
1/4 c sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray 8 inch baking pan with nonstick spray. In medium bowl, whisk flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add "eggs", milk, and oil and beat until just smooth (do not over beat). Bake for 20-25 minutes.

So I don't start up with classes until Wednesday..so these next few days are going to be quite relaxing, and i'm really looking forward to it. :)

Have a wonderful, relaxing Sunday!!

so why do you leave these stories unfinished..

2009-01-07T13:23:00.000-08:00

So break is almost over already! I'll be going back this weekend.. It's gone by extremely fast, but I'm definitely ready to get back and get in the swing of things again. I can feel it's going to be a good semester. :)

I have been eyeing a lot of the recipes still from Hungry Girl, and her Butternut Squash fries seemed so simple and delicious, I had to try them.

Yes, they look a bit..overcooked on the ends..but they weren't, and I felt that they needed to cook a while to be crispy..how I like my fries ;)
I've never worked with butternut squash before, so it was something new for me. I was definitely VERY pleased with them! Only problem was one squash didnt make that many fries..and i wanted more! I'll definitely be making these again and again..they're so simple and scrumtious..especially with ketchup of course.

"Bake-tastic Butternut Squash Fries" from hungry-girl..my fave.
1 medium butternut squash
enough salt to season
Preheat oven to 425 degress. Use a sharp knife to remove the ends of the squash, cut in half widthwise and then peel squash halves using a peeler. Cut squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Cut squash into french fry shapes. use a paper towel to pat pieces to absorb excess moisture. Put squash onto a cooking sheet and add a light mist of nonstick spray on pieces and sprinkle with salt. Bake for 20 minutes, flip pieces over, bake for another 20 until they're crispy enough for you.

Yesterday I wanted to make a dessert that I hadn't made before..and something really delicious too, of course.
So I looked through my notebook of recipes that I've been meaning to make, and I decided on one that used to be on veg web..but got taken off for some reason. Anyway, it was by this baker called Chef Lindsay, i believe, and I remember she had a TON of awesome looking desserts..but i guess she deleted them all off of it? anyways, luckily I had copied this one down!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies.
2 1/2 c flour
1/2 c cocoa powder
2 c brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 c brewed coffee
3 tsp vanilla
3/4 c + 2 tablespoons of soy milk
1/3 c oil
1/4 c sugar
1/2 c softened margarine
2 c chocolate chips
1 tablespoon of oil

For brownies: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. prepare a 9x9 pan. Sift 1 1/2 c flour, cocoa, 1 1/2 c brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. In another bowl, stir coffee, 2 tsp vanilla, 3/4 c milk, and 1/3 c oil. Stir wet into dry ingredients and mix well. pour into pan and bake for 25 minutes (mine took about 35 until the toothpick came out clean). let cool.
For cookie dough: Mix 1/2 c brown sugar, 1/4 c sugar, and margarine until light and fluffy. Add 2 tablespoons of soy milk and 1 tsp vanilla, blend well. Lightly pour in 1 cup of flour and mix, while folding in 1 cup of chocolate chips. Spread over cooled brownies. Refrigerate while making glaze.
For glaze: In microwave, melt 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 tablespoon of oil. Stir until smooth, and spread over cookie dough and refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving.

yes, they're amazing. Although, I will say that the brownie recipe was VERY cake-like. So if you want them to be truly BROWNIES, then I suggest using your favorite brownie recipe, and then continuing on with the rest of the recipe. But the cake like consistency was VERY delicious regardless.

for christmas I got a day-to-day calender of quotes from the Dalai Lama..and today's was really nice and i thought i'd share it. :)

"the fact that there is always a positive side to life is the one thing that gives me a lot of happiness. this world is not perfect. there are problems. but things like happiness and unhappiness are relative. realizing this gives you Hope."

hope your day is fabulous. :)

end of the line

2009-01-04T10:47:00.001-08:00

I know it's already the 4th, but happy new year, 2009, and i hope the best for everyone. :) oh and btw... its my year anniversary of being vegan!! :)

For my new years, I had left salisbury and went to delaware to ring in the new year. It was a really good time and i'm glad that I did.
I know that 2008 had a lot of difficulties and changes for me..so I'm hopeing that 2009 will bring new beginnings and a lot of happiness. Guess we'll see!

While I was in college park a few weeks ago, I had picked up some Millet to make something with. I've never had millet before, so I was kind of excited to try a new grain out. I chose the Mexican Millet from Veganomicon, and it turned out really well! Aside from me being the only one eating it though, I probably should've halved it.

My brother had mentioned last week that he had wanted the chex mix snack, puppy chow. well he's not even here right now but I decided to make it yesterday anyway. And with it being vegan, it was just as good as I remember it being.

Vegan Puppy Chow:
9 cups of chex cereal
1/2 cup of peanut butter
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

In a saucepan over low heat, melt the chocolate chips. Add peanut butter and mix until smooth. Remove from heat and add cereal, and stir until coated. Pour the sugar into a large zip lock bag and add the cereal mix to it. Shake it around until it's all coated, and transfer to an air tight container. I put mine in the freezer afterwards, and then after it was hardened enough I'm keeping it in the fridge. :)

For Christmas, my roommate had gotten me the hungry girl cookbook, which I was super excited because I've been a fan of hungry girl for a bunch of years! (I get her daily emails that i get excited for everyday haha) Yes, a lot of her recipes are not vegan..but i found that a lot of them are easy to veganize. This morning for breakfast I made her best baked apples. So simple, and so delicious!

I halved the recipe for myself and it came out so good.

Bestest Baked Apples:
4 medium apples (i used granny smith)
1 can diet black cherry soda (i used diet dr pepper)
1 no calorie sweetener packet (i used sweet n low)
dash of cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Core apples and put in casserole dish (I sliced mine too so i could eat them in a bowl). Pour the soda over the apples. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sweetener. Place dish in oven for 45 minutes until apples are tender. Serving warm is best!

i have another recipe from the cookbook that I'm going to be making this week..and i'm pretty excited!
Have a great sunday!!

yeah you make me merry, make me very very happy

2008-12-30T12:28:00.000-08:00

So my holiday was very nice and relaxing, and also included a trip to new york to see some of my family up there, so that was nice as well.
It's been quite nice having plenty of time to sleep in, relax, and catch up with people..so it's been a really nice break so far! and to think i still have about two weeks left! :)

For Christmas eve dinner I wanted something festive, and I saw on a few people's blogs the Sweet N Salty Stuffing, with the recipe on Yeah That Vegan Shit's blog.. soo I decided to make it.

My mom and dad both had a chance to try it as well, and they seemed to enjoy it. However..I was not a fan. I love craisins so I thought I would love it, but for some reason the seasonings were throwing me off..and honestly I don't think I really liked stuffing to begin with..I just thought it would be a good idea. Meh, oh well. I thought it looked quite pretty though! :)

For dessert however, I also made another recipe from her blog which was the crunchy chocolate pie or something of that sort...and this..was awesome!

The pie filling was a recipe that I had made before from vegweb that I had used a while back..but I thought it was an awesome idea to make chocolate covered pretzels to throw on top!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie:
1 package of firm silken tofu
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 c peanut butter
bit of soy milk to get to desired texture
a vegan graham pie crust

Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave. Add the tofu and chocolate to a blender and blend until smooth. Add peanut butter with about 1/2 c of soy milk to start. Blend until smooth and add more soy milk if needed, should be a mousse-ish texture. Add to pie crust, and use garnish with chocolate covered pretzels or just chocolate chips. :)

For Christmas I got a lot of really nice stuff... but vegan-y wise I got a gift basket filled with tons of vegan goodies!

It included a box of peanut butter crunch cliff bars, chocolate covered cherries and peanut butter truffles from Pangea, vegan macaroni and cheese, vegan rice krispy treats, a giant peanut butter chocolate cookie... can you tell i LOVE peanut butter and chocolate yet? ;)

I have yet to make the mac & cheese yet, but when I do..there'll definitely be a review! I also got Fondant and lots of little cut outs for it..so i'm super excited to make adorable cupcakes soon!

Hope everyones new year is wonderful, see you in 2009!!

if my senses fail, stay with me till they go...

2008-12-23T17:45:00.001-08:00

So I'm home for winter break, thus the fall semester has officially been OVER! pretty sweet, and the grades weren't too bad either ;)

soo yesterday was the first day since being home that i really got a chance to make something. I wanted to make lots of delicious baked goods..since I feel like that's definitely needed for the holiday-times.
I decided on cookies and fudge!

as requested, I made the chocolate chocolate chip cookies from the ppk, which I had previously made about a year ago. In fact, I'm pretty sure it was my first vegan cookie recipe. awwww. :)

The recipe calls for using flax seed and soy milk as the egg replacement, but I had just recently gotten Ener-g egg replacer (so much quicker than getting out the blender and blending flax seed all the time!) so I switched it up a bit. I really don't think it made a bit of difference, they were still just as tasty as I remember them being the first time I made them.

I also decided upon a snickerdoodle recipe, since I don't believe I've had a home made snicker doodle, but a cinnamon sugar cookie sounds pretty good.

These came out pretty well. I was a bit nervous because they didnt seem to be done when I took them out, but the recipe said they'd look that way. Anyways though they tasted delish.

I found this recipe on a lot of blogs, so I'm not too sure where it originated from..hmm..

Vegan Snickerdoodles:
1 c margarine
1 1/2 c white sugar
1 tsp vanilla
4 T soy milk mixed with 2 T cornstarch
3 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cornstarch

2 T cinnamon
4 T sugar

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together the margarine and sugar until smooth. Add the vanilla and soy milk mix and beat well. In a smaller bowl, mix flour, salt, baking powder, and cornstarch together. Stir into wet ingredients and mix well. In a very small bowl, mix cinnamon and sugar. Begin rolling cookie dough into small balls and roll them in cinnamon mixture until completely coated, and place on ungreased baking sheet. Press down on each cookie to make "fork marks". Bake for 12-14 minutes, cookies will still look soft when taken out! Let them cool for 10 minutes on the pans, and then on a wire rack until cooled completely.

I attempted to make Peanut Butter Fudge from bjorkedoff.blogspot.com, but...that did not work well for me. I assume that I did not let it boil long enough perhaps? Either way..it never set right in the fridge and was still quite gooey after it was supposed to be done. That went into the trash..no pic :( i'll have to try that one again sometime..

However.. I did make chocolate fudge that came out really good!

With half of them, I added my wonderful find that I got from MOM's in college park this weekend!

These are great! Although I do find that they have a bit of a different consistency of a regular marshmellow, of course, but they are soo delicious and i love them. haha I really wanted to get the peanut butter smores they have, but unfortunately this was all the store had. I'm excited to use them in other recipes!!
I also picked up some agar-agar flakes...so i'm excited to make something with those too! :)

I hope everyone has a relaxing and wonderful Christmas! And if you don't celebrate Christmas, I hope you have a wonderful and relaxing day regardless.. :D

they won't see us waving from such great heights

2008-12-11T12:25:00.001-08:00

So I don't have anything interesting that i've made to share..
basically we've been eating out or making boca burgers and veggies for lunch ;)
but we leave for a month soon so that's why...otherwise i'd be making some delicious food. anyways.

I do have a vegan food review from 7-11!
yes..that's right, 7-11 the convenience store that sells plenty of non vegan calorie filled doughnuts and packaged snacks.
BUT!
don't be fooled. because 5 of the locations in Philadelphia offer many vegan choices from the brand Moshe who makes different vegan sandwiches, etc. in the city.
And lucky for me, one of those 5 locations is right up the street from my apartment!

I went in and saw the assortment of the different things to try..

there was a vegan chicken salad sandwich, seitan steak sandwich, un turkey sandwich, hummus sandwich, lentils and spinach burrito, vegetarian fajita burrito, vegetarian spring wrappers, these asian noodle things, and manyyy many others :) they all looked delicious and i really had a hard time deciding for my first time!

emily got the seitan steak sandwich and I got the vegetarian spring wrappers. We also bought salsa and were super excited to try these Guacamole chips..only to get home and I realized they were not vegan. :( BUT thats okay. the spring rolls made up for it. :)

Anyway, mine were AWESOME! the sauce that it came with complemented them perfectly and was really delicious. Emily's sandwich was also quite tasty, but it tasted pretty much just like a chicken salad sandwich would taste, I would think. So maybe next time i'll try the chicken and see if it's much different from the "Steak". It was also really cool that they had the ingredients and nutritional information posted on each item as well!
Anyway! this was just really convenient and awesome to see that 7-11's in the city are offering these options for vegans, and for people who might not know it's not really meat!

one final down, 3 to go next week! good luck to everyone else taking their finals :)

talk and talk and talk it out

2008-12-05T10:39:00.000-08:00

okay so we all know the scenario..
it's late at night, theres not much food in the house, but you really want something sweet and super quick and easy.
this was the dilemma last night for my roomie and i..after having late night food in the first place, we both really wanted something deliciously sweet afterwards, but didn't want to wait for a while with complicated ingredients or a long time in the oven. thus, I can to the decision to make something using my favorite combo..chocolate and peanut butter, of course.
i present to you these:

haha yes, probably the simplest idea ever, but yet was perfect and so tasty! The coconut on top makes it look like snow and winter-y, how cute :)

Anyway if you come to a problem late at night when you just want something tastyyy quickly, i definitely recommend making up some of these.

Mix 1 cup of peanut butter, 1/2 cup of coconut, 4 tablespoons of agave nectar, 1/2 cup of chocolate chips in a bowl. Mix around, but it'll be pretty sticky. Roll them into balls and in a plate of 1/4 c cocoa powder and more coconut. Put the balls in the fridge for about 15 minutes and they should be fine to eat then, but we learned they're much harder and more "ball-like" the next day.. we just didn't want to wait until then ;)

Woohoo for last day of classes too!!!!! :)

and thats one for the show

2008-12-01T10:20:00.000-08:00

So I'm back in philly from home for thanksgiving break, I would've updated sooner with what I made, but I left my camera cord and such in my apartment. I had quite a lovely thanksgiving, and I hope everyone else did too. :)

Oh, And I used that Hain's vegetarian gravy packet, and it actually tasted awesome! It went really quickly at the dphie thanksgiving dinner and I doubt anyone knew it was vegetarian! I wish I had bought more for my thanksgiving at home..

Since I had seen Happy Herbivore's e-cookbook for the pudge free holidays, I was so excited to make a lot from there for thanksgiving! First up was I made the cornbread from it.

I absolutely love cornbread, so I was really excited to try this. It called for unsweetened applesauce, in which that became a problem when seeing that the applesauce in the house was Homestyle sweenetened..even with chunks and brown sugar! Well, I made due and used it anyway. I did not reduce the sugar in the recipe, which I should have.. since these tasted very sweet for cornbread, even more so of a dessert -ish type of food. However, I love sweet foods, soo I absolutely loved it this way! The apple chunks in it from the applesauce made them even more delicious!

For my main dish, while my family ate away at the turkey, I made the Maple-Glazed Vegetables from her ecookbook.

I did enjoy this a lot. I think it may have been better if I used perhaps a different asortment of vegetables or added tofu or tempeh to it. But otherwise, the sauce was really good and I'd definitely use that again.

I was really excited to make dessert. I honestly don't think i had ever eaten pumpkin pie before, but I felt as though it was something thats supposed to be at thanksgiving (not sure why since I don't remember my mother ever having it there..) buttttt I made the Chocolate Pumpkin Pie, in hopes that the chocolate would make it more delicious.

But sadly, I think i've come to conclusion that I just don't like pumpkin pie. at all. I think I really just want to like it, more so than I actually do. Oh well..other people ate it so I guess that's good.

Also for dessert I made an apple cobbler type thing.

I used a recipe from ppk and it came out really good!

Apple Crisp:
4 lbs of granny smith apples, cored and thinly sliced
1 T cornstarch
1/2 c water
1/2 c light brown sugar
1/2 c sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nut meg
1/4 tsp allspice
1 c quick cooking oats
1 c flour
1 c light brown sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 c oil
3 tablespoons of soy milk
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Dissolve cornstarch in water. Place apples in 9x13 baking pan. Add first two sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice and mix well with apples. Pour cornstarch mixture over all. For topping, mix oats, flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. Add oil, milk, and vanilla and mix well. Crumble over apples and bake for 45 minutes.

This recipe was really super simple, and made a whole pan full, so I'll definitely be using it again. paired up with my chocolate peanut butter soy ice cream..it was awesome! :)
well off to unpack my suitcase and huge bag of clothes that are all over my bed..not a fan of unpacking!

crashing through the parlor doors, what was your first reaction?

2008-11-22T09:54:00.000-08:00

so I've been eatings lots of really delicious food lately, however, not too many of it has come from me making it.
tonight however, my sorority has its thanksgiving dinner, so I'm going to make mashed potatoes for it. My roommate is making green bean casserole using a vegan cream of mushroom soup, so theres two things I can eat. haha it'll be fun though.
I'm using Happy Herbivore's recipe for the mashed potatoes, and I'm also going to be making them for thanksgiving next week..so I'm sure they'll be really delicious. :)

I went to the philadelphia library today to pick up a book for my class that I needed and I typed in vegan just for funsies to see if they had any good cookbooks there..and they didn't have many, but they did have Eat Drink and Be Vegan by Dreena Burton..so I'm really excited to try some things out from it! I've been wanting it for a while.
Also, in the walk to the library I saw a sign for a nutritional/dietary food store in Germantown. (yes, germantown the place that also that vegetarian restaurant was that seemed so sketchy!) haha but I went in and the guy that worked there was super friendly and they had a lot of different vegan groceries and vitamins! It was really nice.. although a bit pricey since it was such a small health food shop. I did however pick up this packed of Hain pure food vegetarian brown gravy mix. It says to just add water, so i'm a little skeptical haha but I figure I can make a bit for tonight and see how it tastes. I've never heard of it before..

how bad could it be right? ;)

So this morning I really wanted something warm for breakfast to start my day, and our kitchen is quite limited right now since we're leaving for thanksgiving break in few days. So I concocted an oatmeal breakfast :)

I used 1/2 cup of oats, 1 cup of water, about a teaspoon of cocoa powder, a good amount of raspberry preserves, and a little bit of chocolate chips. Soo delicious! Tasted like chocolate covered raspberries..yum :) i love oatmeal.

okay well off to re-write a paper.. only a week and 1/2 left of classes!

and i was your silver lining as the story goes

2008-11-12T12:37:00.000-08:00

So last week my roomie and I were deciding where to go for lunch and we thought of this place that was near our old apartment last year..that we always talked about going to but never actually went to. (you know how that goes..)
We used to live right near Germantown..an outskirt of Philadelphia that isn't exactly the nicest neighborhood..and I remember seeing on menupages that there was a vegetarian restaurant right on Germantown Ave called The Nile Cafe. The menu online showed many different sandwiches, salads, mock meats,..even a questionable veg roast duck and spicy fish. And..a dessert menu which instantly wins me over anyway. ;)

So we finally went. And we walked inside and at first you walk into this store which has lots of different things such as books, cds, incense, different body treatments, etc. It was pretty cool.
And then you walked past it and to the restaurant..which is really just about 7-8 tables past the window where you ordered, which you could see the entire "homey" feeling kitchen.

It says it's a juice bar as well, though I did not ask, I didn't really see any place where they would've made different juices, but hey maybe it's hidden.

Anyway, I asked the woman at the window to see a menu, but she said they didn't really have one, and that they just cooked up different things basically all day and you could choose from what was already there. She had enough soup left for my roomie and I to share a cup while we waited for our food. It was a Lentil Vegetable soup..and quite delicious!

We weren't sure what we wanted..but she told us that she had a creole, another vegetable dish that I don't remember because I don't think I liked that kind of vegetable, mockmeat of fish, mockmeat of duck, and mockmeat of BBQ chicken. She nicely let us sample each of the mockmeats to choose which one we wanted, and we decided to go with the bbq chicken, though they were all quite good! We shared a plate because we were saving room for dessert, and it came with the chicken, rice and we chose the creole.

Everything was awesome! the sauce on the chicken was the best bbq sauce I think i've ever had, and it felt like such a home cooked meal, i loved it! The woman was also super nice and made us feel really comfortable with the stuff knowing it was our first time there.
We finally got the dessert, and I chose a scoop of vanilla caramel and a scoop of cookies n cream ice cream. Emily got a scoop of chocolate and a scoop of mocha ice cream. Both choices were really really awesome. :)

This place was such a different atmosphere than the usual vegan cafe's that i've been to in philly, and I really appreciated that. I know I'll definitely be back, especially since it's so close and I'm excited to see how they change up the lunch menu everyday! :)

Okay so I've been tagged by two super wonderful blogs for the 7 facts survey..so I'll do it ;)

1. I'm really really into the Twilight series and sometimes I admit it and sometimes I don't haha but everytime I see a commercial I get really excited and I can't wait to see it in theatres!

2. My ipod is full of underground, compelling, indie music that I really really enjoy.. but I have a seperate artist folder called "Stuff" which I have all my rap that I like to listen to when I feel gangster or get ready ...or just in the mood for it haha but I keep it all under there so it doesn't look like I just have a bunch of T.I. or Lil Wayne haha.

3. I have a bit of an overwhelming lust for Nick Thomas, the singer of the spill canvas. I first heard their song "the tide" about 6 years ago(yes wayyyyy before mtv had ever even heard of them) and I fell in love with them ever since with what talent at composing such heartfelt meaningful lyrics they had. But I really like Nick a lot even though everyone says he looks like a bear :(

4. I hate rainy days. I'd prefer to just stay in bed watching a good movie all day..but mostly I hate them because they make me have ugly hair all day.

5. I love having dreams. I get really dissapointed when I wake up and I don't remember any from the night before, but I love waking up and rethinking about them all day and trying to analyze them. A bit of a Freudian, I know. ;)

6. Freshman year of college I was sooo determined to transfer back to my hometown and finish school there, but luckily and thankfully I did not. Now I couldn't ever see myself doing that and I think I've learned a lot from being up here instead.

7. I honestly don't even know how I wound up with Psychology as my major, I mean I was interested in it in high school but I guess I just wasn't interested in anything else enough. I really hope to go on to do something with nutritional psychology. Though it does make me really really nervous when people tell me that there isn't hope for a good job with just a bachelors in psych, and that you have to basically go all the way. But we'll see ;)

So a lot of people have already been tagged for this one, but if you haven't been...then I officially tag you because I love reading these! :)

it keeps getting better

2008-11-09T11:34:00.000-08:00

so i've been a bit mia for the past week or so...mostly super busy with school! from now until thanksgiving, i have more presentations/papers/exams then i know what to do with..it's a bit overwhelming, but once thanksgiving break gets here, I'll pretty much be carefree. can't wait :)

I did have time to bake last week though, so that was fun. On Thursday my sorority had a bake off..and yes, i'm the only vegan in the sorority, so not much for me to taste-test..other than my own. Butttt other people got to try what I made so that was exciting for me. :) I wanted to try again from VCTOTW, since the icing on the cookies n cream one didn't work out too well for me. I chose the Peanut Butter Heavencakes since who doesn't love a good pb and choc combo??
It was the same basic chocolate cupcake recipe as the cookies n cream one, but instead you fill the middle with the peanut butter cream frosting and then you're supposed to make a chocolate ganache for the top..
welll... leave it to me to have to change the plans.

I was excited once I put them in the oven because the frosting for the middle tasted awesome and I was just hopeing they'd come out right. After baking when I checked on them, the peanut butter cream was just ooooooooooozing everywhere! All over the pan bursting out of the cupcakes. hmph. :(
I didn't use that much in each cupcake, I'm thinking maybe I just had them too full in general? I thought they were a nice 2/3's full...hmm. maybe next time only 1/2?
Well anyway, so I scraped the frosting away off the pan and there was still a nice amount still in the cupcakes. But the tops were sunken in and they didn't exactly look that pretty. So I knew that just having ganache on top wouldn't make them look any better. So I whipped up some more of the butter cream frosting and just frosted them all with that, adding a few chocolate chips to the tops instead of the ganache.
Needless to say, they tasted awesome, and isn't that what matters? ;)

So even though I couldn't try anyone else's delicious looking treats at the bakeoff, I had more than enough of my own, so I'm glad they were so delicious! :)

On Friday I finallyyyy got to try this vegetarian restaurant in Germantown that noone has ever heard of..and it was amazing. So once I get the pictures off of the roomie's camera I'll give a review of it...it was quite an interesting place!

yay phillies :)

2008-10-30T11:26:00.001-07:00

soo in case you didnt already know, the phillies won the world series.. so it's been pretty exciting around here haha. you know, the screaming and beeping of horns outside from the moment they won until about 1:30 this morning. ohhh well..theres a parade for it tomorrow in center city and i'd really like to go. we'll see :)

I've been in the halloween spirit lately because it's definitely one of my favorite holidays. Besides Christmas..which I like the weeks before Christmas more than the actual day though. :) Anyway, so I made another recipe from Joy of Vegan Baking. This book has yet to let me down!

boo!

I used the Sugar Cookie recipe, and bought sprinkles and orange decorating icing from walmart in the party aisle, which suprisingly was vegan! :) basically just sugar...but hey who said sugar cookies were healthy? This made is a lot easier for me because lately my icing skills haven't been very good :(

Sugar Cookies (from Joy of Vegan Baking):
1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup non-hydrogenated, nondairy butter, room temperature
3/4 cup graulated sugar
1 egg replacer (i used 1 T flax blended with 3 T water)
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a bowl, mix flour and baking powder and set aside. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg replacer and vanilla and beat for another minute. Add the flour mix and beat until a smooth dough. Divide dough in half and wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about an hour, until firm enough to roll. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove dough and on a lightly floured surface, roll out to a thickness of 1/4". Cut out the cookies with cookie eased bakinutters and put onto grg heet. Refrigerate for 10 minutes so cookies will keep their shape. Put into oven and bake 12-15 minutes until just browned on the edges. Decorate with frosting and sprinkles!! :)

I really liked the simplicity of this recipe, with the ingredients. In a lot of sugar cookie recipes I was looking up involved tofu or some random ingredient, which obviously is not necessary. These tasted just like the sugar cookies I had this past Christmas, non-vegan days. So I'm looking forward to making them for this upcoming holiday season!
Hope everyone has a great halloween! We're having a party tonight, and I'm being a greek goddess! I'm excited :)

and you didn't even notice when the sky turned blue

2008-10-23T12:07:00.000-07:00

The weeks are just flyyying by and I can't believe it's already midterm time! I have to register for classes for next semester in 2 weeks...its insane! haha but I guess it's all good because I have a lot to look forward to. :)

This past week I made a brownie recipe that I found on veg web. It struck me as interesting because there wasn't an eggreplacer in it...so I was curious as to how everyone was saying how "fudgy" they were. I've made brownies before and they've been either too oily or too cakey. These turned out really well though!

Brownies: (found on vegweb)
2 cups flour
1 cup water
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Boil water and 1/2 cup flour over low heat, stirring constantly, until it becomes a thin gluey paste. Remove from heat and let cool. Mix sugar, salt, vanilla, cocoa, and oil. Then add flour-water mixture and mix well. Add the rest of the flour, baking powder, and chocolate chips and continue to mix. Spread into a greased 7x11" pan and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes, until a knife comes out clean.

I would definitely use this brownie recipe again because it was so simple and they came out fudgy enough.

Last weekend I had some leftover tofu from a stir fry I had made the week before, and I wasn't sure what to do with it. More stir fry? Well, of course..but I wanted to try something new. I've never made a tofu scramble before, and I see them on everyone's blogs all the time and they always look soo good! I was never a huge egg fan..I actually don't remember the last time I ever ate eggs, even as a vegetarian I stopped eating them cooked for breakfast and such.
But I decided to give it a try. And it came out soo awesome! My roomie really enjoyed it too, so that was a plus. I added lots of salsa to mine, because I basically eat everything with salsa. that or peanut butter..never both though. haha

All I used was a green bell pepper that I had, some garlic, season all, a bunch more random seasonings, a bit of hot sauce and soy sauce. haha but blended allllll together, it was quite tasty! :) I'll definitely have to experiment with some more scramble recipes.

Well off to pack..I'm going home this weekend for the first time in a while so I'm pretty excited. :)

you can have whatever you like

2008-10-15T12:27:00.000-07:00

so still no luck on finding the cord for my nikon..haha butttt i just switched the memory card into my other camera and i can upload them. :)

so i really wanted to try another recipe out from joy of vegan baking..so i decided upon the peanut butter cookies with chocolate chips. peanut butter and chocolate..you can't really go wrong.
anddd they didnt..they were absolutely delicious!

Peanut Butter Cookies: (From Joy of Vegan Baking)
1 3/4 c flour, sifted
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 egg replacer (I used 1 T flax blended with 3 T water)
1 1/4 c packed light brown sugar
3/4 c peanut butter
1/2 c soy milk
3 T vegan margarine
1 T vanilla extract
1/2 c vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt and set aside. In a large bowl, mix together sugar, peanut butter, butter, milk, and vanilla. Beat until well blended. Then add egg replacer and blend. Add flour mixture and chocolate chips and mix. Drop the cookie batter by tablespoonfulls onto ungreased cookie sheet and flatten slightly with a fork to create criss cross pattern on top. Bake for 10-12 minutes until cookies are just turning brown, be careful not to overbake! Remove from oven and let cool. :)

So those I was really happy about. Also the sorority I'm in was having an Alumni Event this past weekend, so I had the opportunity to bake something for that as well. I still had not gotten around to making any fun cupcakes from VCTOTW, soo that was a must! I decided upon the Cookies N Cream ones.

Okay so taste wise? Awesome!! The cupcakes were perfectly chocolate-y and had oreo crumbles throughout them which were great. The icing was soo sweet and delicious that I loved it with the contrast of the dry-er cupcakes. But ...those look NOTHING like the picture in the book :(
The frosting definitely did not get to the consistency that I was aiming for..thus I could not put the half of a cookie on the icing like in the picture. I think maybe the milk did it? i added 1/4 cup of soy milk like the recipe said..but obviously it didn't work out right. I kept adding more sugar & butter to it too to hopefully even it out...nope...nothing. anyone make these and have more successful frosting??

food wise for me hasn't been anything too interesting..our kitchen is seriously EMPTY ...luckily we're going grocery shopping on friday..i've been living off of canned soups and popcorn! haha nothing wrong with that though ;)

if you jump i will jump too, we can fall together

2008-10-10T18:16:00.000-07:00

Okay so I have pictures on my Nikon of two things that I baked last week that were AWESOME (no i'm not saying what yet) buttt I can't seem to find the cord to upload the pictures. so that's being saved for next time haha.

anyway i have much more exciting news.

Sooo last week I went to Kingdom of Vegetarians which is an all-vegan chinese restaurant in center city with my friend. The food.. was AWESOME! i got general tso's "chicken", hot & sour soup, these fried banana things for dessert..and tried some other stuff. it was amazing so I told my roomie about it, and she got pretty excited.. so we treated ourselves to a day of lunch and manicures&pedicures haha. can't go wrong with that! :)

Soo we started off with soup! I got the Won-Ton soup and Emily got the Hot and Sour Soup since I told her how awesome it was!

Then we got two appetizers to share, the Spring Rolls and the Pork Dumplings

The spring rolls were very very tasty, and awesome in the duck sauce they serve! I would not order the pork dumplings again though, we actually didn't even finish them. They were quite soggy and just not that tasty. Oh well, win some, lose some!

For the entree, I wanted to get something different even though I lovvvved the general tso's. So I ordered the Kung Pow Chicken, which the waitress told me had lots of veggies and had peanuts in it! so I thought i'd love it. Emily ordered the general tso's too, good thing! haha

Kung Pow!

I really liked the variety of vegetables that were in my dish, however between the two, I'd definitely choose the general tso's again. the peanuts in it were really good too.. I just felt it was lacking in sauce (but i love my dishes with lots of sauce so that could just be me)

So yeah, next time i'm going to try all new food haha i LOVE this place.<3

So afterward we went and got pretty manicures and pedicures, because I woke up and I had myself convinced that today would be the day that I would finally FINALLY get my tattoo.

I'm not going to lie, it was extremely painful. haha and everyone says your foot hurts the most, but hey, i'm the biggest baby in the world and I got through it! =D I'd say definitely well worth it!

man shapes himself through decisions that shape his environment

2008-09-30T08:49:00.000-07:00

So after the past 3 weekends of leaving philly and going to New York for different reasons, I am hopeing I'm back here for a while at least! I'm pretty sure my next break is at the end of October, but that's enough time :)

So I made the Chocolate chip scones from Joy of Vegan Baking last week. This is my second recipe out of this book(first being the AMAZING choc chip cookies) and they came out really well! I had multiple test-tasters, so that was always nice haha.

Chocolate Chip Scones:
1 egg replacer (i used flax seed blended with water)
2 1/2 c flour
1/3 c sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 c non hydrogenated nondairy margarine
1 c vegan chocolate chips
1/2 c non dairy milk
cinnamon for sprinkling on top

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Lighlty oil a cookie sheet. In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the margarine and cut into small pieces with two knives to create a coarse crumbly batter. Stir in the chocolate chips. Add the milk and egg replacer and keep mixing to a minimum. Mix with a fork until the dry ingredients are just moistened. Gather the dough into a ball and place on a lightly floured surface. Pat dough to a 1/2 inch thick round and cut into 8-10 triangle pieces. Place them 1/2 inch apart on the baking sheet and sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake for 12-15 minutes until tops are golden brown.

I wasn't sure if they were done or not, since they never really got that "golden brown" on top.. but they tasted really good and completely done, so I guess maybe my oven is weird. ;)
For the sorority, we have an alumni tea this weekend..so the girls have to bring something such as an appetizer or dessert, etc. I'm figuring this is a perfect opportunity to finally whip up some beautiful cupcakes from VCTOTW, so i'm really excited! I'm thinking the cookies n cream ones? Or maybe there are other favorites?

Oh yes! and i'm also really really excited because tomorrow i'm going to this vegan chinese restaurant in the city with a new vegan friend, so that should be pretty sweet. :) i've heard about the place for a while sooo i'm excited i'll get a chance to go..definitely expect an awesome review :)
well off to finish this never-ending paper that I keep procrastinating about ;) ohhh college..

phosphate free!

2008-09-24T10:54:00.000-07:00

It's starting to cool down now and as much as I like the fall/winter months..I really do not like being cold, at all, and I'm cold all the time. it's a bummer..but at least the leaves will be changing and it'll be beautiful. :)

So I bought lentils because I lovvved the snobby joes from Veganomicon I made over the summer, and I really want to make them here. But I wanted to make something new with the lentils, so with half of them last week I made a lentil salad. It came out pretty good.. I could eat it just by itself, but I found it to be more substantial and delicious on top of lettuce with a bit of italian dressing.

Lentil Salad:
1 c dried lentils
1 diced medium sized carrot
6 thinly sliced green onions
1 diced red bell pepper
1/2 c chopped cilantro leaves
1/2 c chopped italian parsley leaves
1 minced clove of garlic
1/3 c lemon juice
1 T olive oil

Bring 3 cups of water in a large saucepan to boil over high heat. Add the lentils and bring to medium low. Cover, and let simmer for 15 minutes. Drain the lentils well and spread them out to cool quicker. Toss the rest of the ingredients with the lentils aside from the lemon juice and oil in a large bowl. Drizzle oil and juice on top. Eat then or ontop of lettuce with a bit of dressing as i chose :)

So we also have a new addition to our family! Meet Ziggy!:

This cute little kitten is soo hard to get a picture of! He will never stop moving! I can't even find him asleep to get a good picture. One day :) But we adopted him on Monday from PAWS (the animal shelter in philadelphia) and he's so adorable. Usually I'm not much of a cat person, I prefer dogs, but he's so cute so it's okay. :)

you don't have to say a word to me

2008-09-16T08:24:00.001-07:00

Okay so the cooking is still not going so well, but with classes and work and homework..it can get difficult to find time to go to the store and get the stuff and make something delicious.
this past weekend i went up to Syracuse, New York for a football game. The football game was the downside, since syracuse lost, however, I did find my possible new favorite vegan restaurant?
I looked up on happycow before I left to see if there were any vegan places in the area..and only a few showed up, one being the Strong Hearts Cafe. I looked over the menu online and it looked really good, not to mention they had quite a list of flavors for milkshakes as well! Soo I wrote down the address and we luckily got a chance to go there after the game.

The cafe was inside of a building, which looked to be perhaps an old office building? I'm not sure really..but it was a good size, and had a bunch of tables for eating in. The menu when you first look above the cash registers and such was for all of their beverages..they had hot cocoa, brewed teas, many different coffee drinks(think cappucinos and machiatos with tons of different flavor shots!), and an extensive list of milkshakes, which i'll get to :)
The food menu was on the other wall across from when you come in, with a few salad options, a bunch of sandwich options including options like seitan, blt's, chicken and chickpea salad sandwich, etc. Not to mention an impressive looking breakfast menu, which is served all day, including french toast, waffles, pancakes, tofu scramble..etc..
I knew that after I ate I would want a milkshake, so I didn't want to fill up too quickly, so I chose a "chicken" caesar salad.

I was really excited to try the dressing, since I used to really enjoy caesar dressing. It was a darker color, but absolutely delicious! It had just the right amount of garlicy-ness to it that made it taste great. The croutons were also really crunchy and delicious. The chicken strips on top were very familiar to the morninstar chickn strips...I'm not sure if that's what they really used though, but I love morningstars so I loved these! The only thing missing is it would've been sweet to have some vegan parmesan on top, but hey..it was really good without.

This is the sundried tomato seitan sandwich with tomato and vegan mayo on it. I only had a bite, but it was really good! And the toasty-ness of it made it perfect.
So after eating, and trying to decide on which milkshake flavor to get, I decided on a favorite, Chocolate Peanut Butter

I've had a lot of milkshakes..before being vegan, but actually I haven't had one since being vegan. But this by far was the best milkshake, vegan or not, that I've had! It was soo perfect. I also got to try the chocolate coconut milkshake, which was also really good..especially if you love Mounds bars or just the combo of the two in general..it was really coconut-y but not too overly fake sweet coconut tasting. just right.
They also had plenty of baked goods at the front that the guy told me they make most of them there, such as mocha cupcakes, mint chocolate cupcakes, scones, whoopie pies, etc.
So if you're ever in the Syracuse area, definitely make a stop at the Strong Hearts Cafe. You will love it, i'm sure :)
Oh, and the best thing? On Fridays & Saturdays, they're open until 2 AM. oh I would kill for a vegan milkshake at 1 in the morning ;)

soo its been a bit...

2008-09-04T15:37:00.001-07:00

OKAY so i'm finally somewhat situated into the new apartment and the internet is FINALLY up and running.. soo i'm excited to get back on here. unfortunately, i have yet to cook anything post-worthy (ex:tonights dinner was banana peanut butter on toast..exactly, however quite delicious) but i have had some awesome vegan sandwiches and such ...but forgot to have my camera with me...guess ill just have to get them again ;)

by the way, ive moved to main street in manayunk in philly, if anyone knows where it is. and its seriously completely perfect. i'm so excited to be here.

expect lots of restaurant reviews ;)

i'm super excited to read everyone's blogs again though. i just wanted to update just to say i havent completely dissapeared..just moved..and hopefully ill be completely situated shortly. a much better update will be coming soon, promise!

now off to read everyone else's wonderful blogs. :)

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

2008-08-21T06:50:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-17T15:04:00.001-07:00

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

2008-08-08T07:12:00.001-07:00

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..

2008-08-04T12:32:00.000-07:00

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!

you make me love you

2008-07-30T12:41:00.001-07:00

So I got back from new york on sunday, and it was a nice time..seeing family and such. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to see any vegan restaurants or food stores while I was there, but that's okay...next time haha.

I did get my cousin's fiancee The Joy Of Vegan Baking for her bridal shower though.. I really hope she actually uses it! She's a dietician and really health conscience (not sure why she isnt at least vegetarian then..hm) so I'm sure she'll appreciate it..hopefully. I was looking through the book and I was like man I really NEED this book..haha the recipes in it look soo good. I will definitely be ordering it soon.

While in new york, I picked up the book Twilight by Stephenie Meyer..

I have heard SO much about that series..and I didn't know what the fuss was all about. But I've got about 30 pages left of it, and I must say..it's really good! Definitely hard to put down too..so I really like it. I'm excited to read the rest of the series..and the movie is supposed to come out in December..so that should be really good too!

So my sister's birthday was yesterday.. as if I needed an excuse to make a cake. I looked around online.. and I was trying to narrow down the types. I found online the recipe for the Vanilla Golden Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World (no I still do not own this book..unfortunately..i need it!) and I figured I could just double the recipe to make a cake. And then figuring that who doesn't love funfetti cake? Soo it was born. I also used the Buttercream Frosting from the VCTOTW book as well.

I found the recipe online in actually numerous places, So I'll post it in case someone else for some odd reason doesnt own the book either. I plan on getting it soon soon soon.

Golden Vanilla Cupcakes: (Ingredients are doubled for the cake version)
2 cups soy milk
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 1/2 cups flour
4 tablespoons of cornstarch
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 + 3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup non hydrogenated margarine
3/4 + 3/4 cup sugar
4 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/4 cup rainbow sprinkles (for funfetti version!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 pan or 2 circle pans (thats what i used..). Whisk the soy milk and vinegar together in small bowl and set aside a few minutes. In a large bowl, beat together soy milk mix, margarine, sugar, vanilla and almond extracts. Sift in the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and soda, and salt and mix until no large lumps are left. Add the sprinkles and mix in. Put into pan(s) and bake for about 22 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

Vegan Buttercream Frosting:(i doubled this for the cake but it came out WAY too much frosting..so it'd be best to stick to the original amount)
1/2 cup non hydrogenated shortening
1/2 cup non hydrogenated margarine
3 and 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup soy milk

Beat the shortening and margarine together until well combined and fluffy. Add sugar and beat another 3 minutes. Add the vanilla and soy milk and beat for 5-7 minutes until fluffy and icing consistency.

Add more sprinkles to the top and you'll have a beautiful rainbow funfetti cake!

you were the best thing summer gave me..

2008-07-23T13:54:00.000-07:00

So i'm leaving tomorrow for new york to visit family and such until sunday.. so that should be fun..not to mention the nice 5 days off from work. woot.
i'm excited to perhaps find some vegan restaurant or a good grocery store with vegan stuff..we'll be on long island so i'm sure there'll be something around there!

Last week for dinner one night I made the sweet and sour meatballs I found in a vegan starter kit book we snagged from Warped Tour. They were the first recipe in the magazine that I saw that I wanted to make, and I'm really glad I did! They came out really good..the sauce was delicious and I lovve the gimmelean so it was a great combo.

Vegan Sweet-and-Sour "Meatballs"
1 lb. ground beef substitute (I used Lightlife Gimme Lean in the sausage one..tasted awesome!)
1/2 green pepper, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 slices white bread (i used wheat..whatever!)
2 egg replacers (i used flax)
salt and pepper to taste
oil, for frying
6 oz. chili sauce
5 oz. red currant jelly (this was a bit tough to find, but luckily i did!)

Combine all ingredients except the oil, chili sauce, and jelly in a bowl and stir until well mixed. Heat the oil in a skillet, using enough to coat bottom of the pan. Form "beef" mixture into 1-inch balls and fry in the oil until browned. Meanwhile, place the chili sauce and jelly in a saucepan over medium heat. Heat and stir until smooth. When the mock meatballs are finished cooking, add them to the sauce and stir to coat well. Simmer over low heat for 5 to 10 minutes.

I served them with brown rice and used the extra sauce over it. Was quite scrumptious!

So tonight I'm going to see Dark Knight..i've heard a lot of good things about it so i'm pretty excited. 2 and a half hours long though.. wow! haha it should be really good though!

Oh, and also thanks SO much from Shelby for this fab award!

That's really awesome and honestly I give every single blog that I comment on it, because they're all so great and keep me inspired! :) So woohoo!

why did i ever let you go mamma mia, now i really know

2008-07-19T20:45:00.000-07:00

Yes I saw Mamma Mia tonight in theatres..and it was awesome! I definitely recommend anyone to go see it! I have yet to see it on broadway, but the movie version was really really good. And the whole movie I knew the main girl looked familiar..but I realized who she was at the end! The really dumb, ditzy girl from Mean Girls. haha I must say, it was really weird/refreshing to see her play the character in Mamma Mia, such a different role from her old one!..and much better!

Soo I wanted to make chocolate chip cookies again yesterday but I wanted to try a different recipe..even though the other one I made a couple weeks ago came out really good (just wanted to test the waters, i suppose) So I made a recipe I found on a website called Thin Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies. All excited and such, I made them. And yes, they came out really awesome! So then I compared the recipe with the previous cookie recipe I made..and yeah basically the exact same recipe. haha I was so bummed! Butttt....this one is a bit easier and just as good! Instead of 2 egg replacers that were in the other recipe, this one was just 2 T of applesauce..which made it a bit easier (no blending of flax seeds and such..) So that was a relief..and from now on I'll use the applesauce. :)

And what's better than a perfect chocolate chip cookie?

Mint fudge ice cream in the middle OF COURSE!
it was quite scrumptious!

I promise that I don't just make desserts..although thats how it seems lately! it is my favorite to make though.. haha next post will be real food. :)

you don't even like boys

2008-07-16T07:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday i went to Warped Tour in Virginia Beach.. soo much fun! We've been going each year for the past 4 years..so it's always a summer "tradition" I suppose you could say. I saw a bunch of really great bands! Let's see.. Jack's Mannequin, Cobra Starship(my favorite! i got to their stage an hour early so I could be super close!), Story of the Year, Gym Class Heroes, and Katy Perry were the ones I really enjoyed. I really like Katy Perry a lot! I remember when I first heard her song "I kissed a girl" on the radio I thought it was kind of stupid, but yet it got stuck in my head and I listened to the rest of her CD, and it's sort of like a guilty pleasure. haha but she's so darn cute that you pretty much have to like her! :)

Soo it was ton of fun. And stopping by the Action for Animals table is always neat too..lots of vegan recipes and stickers and PEOPLE! I really feel like people who pick up the papers from the table that day really do learn something..so that's always good. :)

Oh! and the fudgy wudgy brownies did end up being baked! We froze some of the blueberries from picking, so I just used those in the recipe. They came out really good! My whole family was a bit skeptical of the blueberry and chocolate combo.. but yet my whole family really liked them soo I guess it shows that blueberries are quite scrumptious with chocolate. :)

I did take another..better picture of them but when i was making room on my camera for warped tour, I accidentally deleted it. :( but trust me, they're really good! the tangy-ness of the blueberries really worked well with the chocolate.

And I have to give a really good product review..because it totally deserves it.
The So Delicious Mint Marble Fudge.

I am a huge ice cream fan. I always was before I became vegan..coldstone was like heaven for me. I don't have an icecream maker, so I've purchased a few brands and flavors of vegan ice cream from the store. I've tried Temptation brand's cookie dough, which was pretty good..I've tried lots of flavors from Soy Delicious..and they're all good..but i feel that they all were just kind of icy consistency..I mean a little creamy, but definitely not like what I missed from Coldstone or other ice creams. But this flavor was PERFECT. It was soo creamy and so delicious and I'm really glad it comes in such a big container. So there you have it..soy ice cream that has the perfect creamy consistency. yum!

i can't imagine all the people that you know, and the places that you go..

2008-07-11T20:48:00.000-07:00

So lots of exciting news has come my way!
I'll save the cutest and best for last :)

Well I found a place to live for this upcoming school year! Woohoo...And not to mention.. it's on Main Street in Manayunk above one of the shops! Yesss.. perfect location. I'm so super excited. I haven't actually seen it yet haha, but my roommate was in philly and saw it and told me and took pictures and such..and from the pics it looks nice! But I told her just to go ahead and sign the papers, I mean, we only have a month left until we have to move so time is getting short! But I'm so excited to move in!! :)

Onwards.. to a food portion of the entry..
The other night I made the Barbecue Baked Tofu from Veganomicon(surprise surprise, i know haha.) I figured Cody would really like it, since he says he prefers tofu over tempeh..which is weird..i feel that tempeh has more of a "meaty" texture than tofu does but whatever. Unfortunately, he got through 1 1/2 pieces and then said that the consistency was a bit much for him. But hey, he liked the sauce! The rest of the fam seemed to like it a bit i hope. I enjoyed it though! The sauce was so awesome for it! I used the barbecue sauce from the cookbook, and it was delicious. Very tomato-ey, but very very good.

Okay, so On July 10th at 9:53 PM Amberlynn Markah Elzey was born! Yes, my best friend Amanda finally had her baby! And she is the most beautiful, precious baby I have ever seen. Seriously, she is just gorgeous!
Here's a pic of me and my best friend with her beautiful baby.

Quiet! Babys sleeping! :)

When summer is over we will dream of spring..

2008-07-08T08:37:00.000-07:00

Well I had plans of making the fudgy wudgy blueberry brownies.. but after looking in the fridge this morning, I noticed that all of the "grabbing a few" blueberries has really added up. Oh well, I like them on their own anyway. :)

However, I did make the Blueberry Corn Pancakes from Veganomicon the other day. What a good idea,Bianca. They came out really well, but I think I've decided that fruit in my foods probably isn't my favorite combo. But the cornmeal pancake part of it was really delicious!

We also had two bananas that were really really ripe, and I'm not a fan of eating really ripe bananas..so I figured banana bread was in the making. I was going to add blueberries to it, just because we had them, but stuck with just banana. I used the Lower Fat Banana Bread recipe from Veganomicon(yes, i really need a new cookbook because all my recipes are coming from there lately haha but its okay because they're great). The bread itself came out really good, but it was much less sweet than another banana bread that I had made before. It tasted really awesome with peanut butter on top though.. my two favorites = banana & peanut butter.

Well off to enjoy my day. I'm attempting to find stuff to decorate my new room when I move back to Philly next month.. but I have to many ideas that it's getting a bit hard to really narrow down which ones I want to do! I love decorating though, so it's fun. :)

this is my mind, it goes over and over the same old lines..

2008-07-05T06:02:00.000-07:00

So my 4th of July was good..aside from the fact that the only fireworks I saw were between trees while in a car. We went to the Shorebirds baseball stadium to see them, when it started to pour and storm..and it was pretty bad. So we waited a while but it didn't really show signs of clearing up, so we eventually left..and got completely soaked on the run to the car. But it's okay, I had a really good day anyway. :)

So I've been searching tons for a really good chocolate chip cookie recipe. The previous attempts have not sufficed for me at all. They've come out to where they don't spread, so really they're cookie "balls". And they've come out just not tasting the way a good chocolate chip cookie is supposed to taste. I found posted online a recipe from the book The Joy of Vegan Baking. And no, I do not have this book..though I've looked at it many times pondering on whether to get it or not. But I said 'if these cookies come out the way I really want them to, I'm definitely getting this book!' So looks like I'll be ordering it! :) These cookies not only spread and actually looked like cookies, but they tasted awesome! I feel like the day after, they taste even better.. but nothing beats a cookie still warm from the oven.

And since i found the recipe posted on places online, I'm going to post it.. because I really think it's a recipe a vegan neeeeeds to have. And then go buy the book :)

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Have a nonstick baking sheet ready. Have two egg replacers made and ready. (I used 2 T of flax seed and 6 T of water in a blender.) In a large bowl, cream together 1 cup of softened margarine (I used smart balance), 3/4 cup granulated sugar, 3/4 cup brown sugar, and 2 tsp of vanilla extract. Add the egg replacer mix and stir well. In another bowl, mix together 2 + 1/4 cup of all purpose flour, 1 tsp baking soda, and 1 tsp salt. Gradually beat the dry mix into the wet ingredients until well combined. Stir in 2 cups chocolate chips. Bake on a cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes.

Mine didn't really get "golden brown" but I like mine chewy so I was really happy with how they turned out.

Yesterday we went blueberry picking..

So the blueberry recipes will begin soon! I'm thinking pancakes.. and perhaps fudgy wudgy blueberry brownies from Vcon? I think so!

your brown skin shining in the sun..

2008-06-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

So the baby shower was this past weekend and it was really nice and I made for it again, the chocolate peanut butter rice krispie treats because they really are so amazing. I also made the Deli Style Macaroni Salad from Veganomicon.. I didn't get a chance to take a picture.. and I'm not gonna lie, it wasn't the best thing I've had. I used to really like macaroni salad before my vegan days. For some reason though, using veganaise really just puts me off. I'm not sure why.. I eat it when restaurants use it and it's fine.. but I think just using it throws me.. weird. Same with tofutti cream cheese and sour cream.. I think just the fake dairy products in general don't go well with me haha.

For dinner a couple nights ago I made the Hot Sauce Glazed Tempeh and Messy Rice from Veganomicon.

The messy rice was really really delicious and I'd definitely make it again. The tempeh.. was just okay. I am a huge fan of tempeh, I usually prefer it over tofu and seitan. The glaze didn't really get to where I was expecting it to. Perhaps I didn't let it marinate long enough? Although I did it for the hour and I flipped them as well.. So I'm not sure where I went wrong on that one. hmm..
I really want to make the barbecue one from the book as well but hopefully that one will come out better? hmm...

is it possible for the world to look this way forever?

2008-06-25T07:32:00.000-07:00

So I haven't really been making much lately up until yesterday. No reason really..just haven't been motivated I suppose.

Anyway, yesterday I made.. well I guess I can't really say i made it.. but I prepared a Tabouli Salad which was so delicious. I got it from the health food store and it's a brand called Fantastic Foods. Basically all I did was add olive oil, tomatoes and cucumbers to it. But hey, it was still delicious and quick! I've also made the falafel from that brand.. and they also came out really good. I think next I want to try the Tofu Scramble..I still have yet to even make one on my own..

Also I really wanted to make something for dessert..and with me, you can never go wrong with a recipe that has peanut butter and chocolate in it. it's by far my fave combo. So I made the Peanut Butter Chocolate Rice Kripsy Treats... which I found on a bunch of blogs but finally made myself. The result? Sooooo delicious! Just what I was going for :)

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Bars:
In a small saucepan over medium heat, mix together 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of corn syrup until hot and bubbly. Remove from heat and add 1 cup of peanut butter and mix well. In a very large bowl, add 6 cups of rice crispy cereal and 2 cups of chocolate chips(i used giradelli semisweet..my fave). Add the peanut butter mix and stir well so it's all coated. Pour into a 9x13 pan and flatten out. Let cool for an hour before cutting and serving.

So my best friend's baby shower is this saturday..and everyone is supposed to bring a dish. After making those rice krispies, I'm pretty much sold on making more and bringing those.. I think I might also make the pineapple black bean quinoa salad I made a while ago as well.. It was quick and sooo delicious so I think it'll be perfect for it. We'll see.. I'm excited to go this weekend though.. It's so much fun picking out cute baby stuff for her! :)

sh sh shake it

2008-06-17T06:49:00.000-07:00

ive been having a hard time sleeping lately and i dont know why..i dont work until 12 today so i can sleep until 10:30..but for some reason i just can't :( it's not good because then later, i'm exhausted..and that's never fun...
so my weekend was nice..i worked a lot but on father's day i made a cake from the ovelove.com.. the chili chocolate cake. it came out really good..the cake part was better than the cake from the mint chocolate cake, i think. the icing though didnt really get the consistancy I was after until being in the fridge the next day. but it was still good the first day..just gooey :)

Also for father's day we got him an espresso machine, which he really liked..thus the espresso cup in the backround. It's pretty strong,but I really enjoyed it.

Earlier in the week I made the Pineapple Cashew Quinoa Stirfry from Veganomicon.. It came out awesome! I especially loved the toasted cashews in it..it gave it a great nutty crunch to it..yum. :)

The recipe for it calls for the quinoa to be cooked in pineapple juice though, which I must admit, I liked it better by itself when I cooked it in the vegetable bouillon.. but in the recipe you couldn't really tell so it as still quite good.

Prepare the Quinoa by combining 1 cup quinoa, 1 cup pineapple juice, 1 cup cold water, and 1/4 teaspoon of soy sauce in a medium sauce pan covered over high heat until boils. Stir a few times and bring the heat to medium low, cover, and cook for 12 to 14 minutes, until liquid has been absorbed and quinoa is fluffy and translucent. Uncover, and let cool. Let refrigerate for about an hour until added to stir fry. For the stir fry, use a large 11 inch nonstick skillet pan. Have 2 sliced scallions, 2 minced garlic cloves, 1 diced red bell pepper, 1 cup cooked edamame, 1/2 cup fresh basil sliced, 2 cups fresh pineapple in small chunks all ready. Place cashews in the dry pan and heat over low heat stirring until lightly toasted. Remove cashews and raise heat to medium, and add 3 tablespoons of peanut oil, the scallions, and the garlic. When garlic starts to sizzle, add pepper. Stir fry for 2 minutes and add edamame. Stir fry for 3 minutes and add basil, stir another minute and add pineapple and quinoa. In measuring cup, mix 3 tablespoons of soy sauce and 3 tablespoons of vegetable stock and pour over stir fry. Stir fry for another 10-14 minutes until quinoa is very hot.

Well off to another day at work! Hopefully a good one! =)

no, nothing takes your place. your emptiness too great to fill.

2008-06-09T21:17:00.000-07:00

So I have the next three days off from work and I'm pretty happy about that. I really don't mind working though..i mean yes it's quite tiring and a bit unfair thus far.. but i actually like waitressing. :)
What shall i do with my spare time? The boy is away until sunday..so i've been a bit lonely about that one. i mish him a bit...a lot..
i haven't really been making as many sweets and desserts since i like to make them for him to try..he usually loves all the desserts i make and i like that he can help me eat them, otherwise i'd probably eat them all myself.. har. :)

the mint chocolate cake that i made for the woman at my mom's work came out great! she said everyone loved it..so i was really happy about that. She brought some home too..and i loved it..so definitely a keeper. She even took a picture of it for me to post. :)

The other night for dinner I finalllllly made the chickpea cutlets from Veganomicon. All I hear is how fabulous they are, so I finally got around to making them. And they really are as good as everyone says they are.. I was really impressed with them. I made them with the mustard sauce also in the book, and the two went together perfectly. Although for the sauce, next time I might use just a bit less mustard..it really is extremely mustard-y..if thats a word ;)

Yum, i absolutely love asparagus too. we picked it up from the farmer's market that they have downtown on saturdays in salisbury that i never even knew about until recently.. we also got a really nice tomato plant that seems to be doing great! so far theres been 4 cherry tomatoes that have turned red..but we eat them as they ripen so we haven't really used them in salads or anything yet..oh well they're pretty delish.

off to enjoy my days off and sleeping in hopefully!

and you swear there'll be no bad news..

2008-06-06T08:06:00.000-07:00

So the apple peanut butter caramel bars from Vcon are probably one of my favorite desserts..not just to eat but to make as well. It's weird that this is a top for me, since there is no chocolate in it, and i'm quite a fan of chocolate.. i guess the rest of it is so good that i don't even miss the chocolate in my dessert! har.

anyway, i thought that cutting up six apples for it was a bit much, but it actually layered realy well with that many. The peanut butter caramel was what really made it though, it was just sooo delicious. Although a bit difficult to make..and it did not come out like it said in the book.. saying it should slide off in ribbons off the fork.. this was not achieve at all. It was more clumpy than ribbons of caramel, but that definitely did not effect the taste.

My mother asked me to make a cake for someone she worked with since today is her birthday, so I chose the Mint Chocolate Cake recipe from vegrecipes.org
I didn't get a chance to try it yet..so i'm hopeing it came out good! The icing was quite delicious though..and i love a mix of mint and chocolate, so hopefully she does too. :)

Mint Chocolate Cake
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a 9x13 baking pan. Mix 2 1/4 cup flour, 4 1/2 T of cocoa powder, 1 1/2 cups sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add 1/2 cup vegetable oil, 1 1/2 tsp of baking soda, 1 1/2 T of white vinegar, 1 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract, and 1 1/2 cups cold water, stirring quickly. Once smooth, pour batter into pan and bake for 25-30 minutes. Let cool and add frosting. Frosting: melt 1 12 oz bag of chocolate chips in a saucepan over low heat, add 1/4 cup of soy milk and 1 T of peppermint extract and stir until smooth, adding more milk if needed.

Hopefully i'll get to try it later on to post back on how it was! :)
oh and tomorrow is my first day actually on my own at work, and making tips! lets hope i bring back lots of money..har.

its as simple as something that nobody knows...

2008-05-31T13:59:00.000-07:00

Well it was a beautiful day out.. until now, its raining and storming and gross. Summer thunderstorms aren't that bad though, they're actually pretty peaceful in a different way, I think.

So I found a recipe in veganomicon that i wasn't really too crazy about. the edamame and corn sesame salad.. meh. I really love edamame..and usually just eat it plain but I thought this would be pretty good. I think it was the dressing that I didn't find that appealing to me, I suppose.

I also made cookies the other night, they're all gone now though, but they were pretty awesome. I've seen them on a lot of different websites but I'm really not sure what cookbook they're from..if they are even from one. But they definitely should be, because I assure you..they are awesome! Especially for a chocolate/peanut butter fanatic like myself, i really loved them.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. In a small bowl, sift 1 1/2 cups of flour, 1/2 cup cocoa powder, and 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda. In large bowl, beat 1/2 cup softened margarine, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1/2 cup brown sugar. Add 1/4 cup soy milk and beat well. Gently mix in flour mix 1/3 at a time. For filling, mix 1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar and 1/2 cup peanut butter in a bowl and beat until sugar is absorbed and peanut butter is stiffer. Add 1/3 cup chocolate chips. It should be solid enough to form into balls, add more sugar if its too oily/thin. Take the chocolate dough in pieces smaller than a golf ball and flatten into disc on parchment paper. Place teaspoon of peanut butter mix on center of dough, fold dough over peanut butter ball and seal edges. Roll dough into ball. Places balls on sheet, seam down, and bake for 8-10 minutes. yum. :)

So I started training and it's been going fine so far! I had today off..but I work tomorrow at 3:45 until close..wow it's going to be a longgg night. Oh well, I'm actually pretty excited to start working on my own and such. :)
I made dinner last night which came out really well. I made the Snobby Joes from veganomicon. I thought they were awesome, though the mother said they were a bit spicy..meh I like a spice though. :)

Okay so maybe not the most appetizing looking sandwich..but quite delicious none the less!
Next concoction from veganomicon? apple peanut butter caramel bars are definitely calling my name ..mmm. :)

there's no need to complicate..our time is short

2008-05-28T06:31:00.000-07:00

i really wish i could sleep later, but for some reason on my lassst day before actually working i end up waking up at 8:30 and unable to fall back asleep. :(
yep so i start training for serving tomorrow at 10:30..i suppose it's not that early but still. i'm really excited to start serving! hopefully i won't mess up tooo much..

so the first recipe i made from veganomicon was the mango blackbean quinoa salad..except not really. we decided to go for pineapple instead of mango.. which still tasted absolutely awesome.

can i just say that i loveeee quinoa! i was so impressed with it, not just in the salad..but just after I cooked it in the veggie bouilon, it was delicious! i'm looking to make the pineapple cashew quinoa stirfry next...

so of course i had to make a dessert too. so it was tough deciding which to make first, haha but i decided on the jelly donut cupcakes. i've never really been a huge fan of jelly donuts, so i'm not really sure why i was so pumped about this recipe. meh, they came out great though and i was quite impressed.

yumm. i just thought they were absolutely adorable as well. :)

feels like another warm day today..yesterday was soo humid it was really uncomfortable. i'm looking forward to a sunny warm day so i can finally go to the beach. hmm hopefully soon! :)

my rollercoasters got the biggest ups and downs

2008-05-25T06:34:00.000-07:00

So I finally got a job..well two technically. I was hired for unos..but then realized that would be kind of silly to memorize the menu for 3 months just to probably never work there again. thus, i went over to applebee's and told them i was a transfer from philly blah blah and they called my manager and he said "definitely" take me sooo i go in tuesday at 10:30 to talk to the managers and such. i'm pretty excited to go back so at least i know kind of what i'm talking about since ive already been working at an applebee's since september. woohoo. :)

Oh speaking of finallys (i'm not so sure if thats a word..meh) i alllso finally got veganomicon. i know i know, no big deal because every vegan has already had it for forever. but i've been swooning over it for a while and never actually got it and now i do and i'm super excited. only problem is what to make first!

I did have a bit of a fluke with cookies this past week though. I still had so much soy yogurt left..and the thought of just eating soy yogurt kind of makes me feel nauseous..thus i've been searching for lots of recipes using it. i found these yogurt chocolate chip cookies online..on allrecipes and it wasn't a vegan one(they used real yogurt and butter) but a vegan said they had used it and supplemented the ingredients. I did not like how they came out..kind of like spongey cookies..and not that tasty aside from the entire bag of chocolate chips in them. Hmm..cody liked them so i told him they were alllll his haha. :)

yes i didnt even bother taking them out of the saran wrap haha

Buttt the other day, i found a recipe from ppk.com for chocolate chip blondies (my dad says i need to stop putting chocolate in everything haha..its true though, but it only makes things better!) i could still see the yogurty spongeyness to them as with the cookies, but it worked much better in a "brownie/cakey" like way than a cookie way. I think they are quite delicious!

yumm. kind of like a chocolate chip muffin tasting..delicious none the less.

Blondies with chocolate chips (from ppk)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and oil a 8x8 brownie pan. In medium bowl, sift together 1 1/4 cups flour, 3/4 tsp baking soda, and 1/2 tsp salt. In large bowl, mix together 3/4 cup soy yogurt, 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons of oil, 1 tablespoon vanilla, and 2 tablespoons of molasses(i had none so i used maple syrup). Mix with wire whisk. Add 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of sugar and wisk until combined. Fold in dry ingredients in batches slowly, wisking as you go. Fold in 3/4 cup chocolate chips. Pour into pan and bake 35-40 minutes until top is firm.

Mine never really got completely firm, which is why the middle pieces are a bit cakier..but i think they taste the best :)

Well i'm off. hopefully making a delicious dinner from veganomicon tonight.
i've had quinoa for over a week now staring me down to be used..so i must. i've never had it before so i'm a bit excited. :)

being unemployed is not very fun..

2008-05-20T10:24:00.000-07:00

So i've been home for over a week now..and still..no job. :( i've applied at a bunch of places but i guess i'm not needed. hmph. I couldn't even go back to fuddrucker's/u-turn...they closed down last week completely! so i suppose i'll just go out yet again today and fill out a million applications. one of them is bounddd to give me a shot,..hopefully. :\

Anyway, last week my brother's girlfriend, Christine came for a night and so I made a dessert for us all to enjoy while she was here and such..as if i needed an excuse to make a dessert haha. There were two pretty ripe bananas just begging to be made into something delicious, so I decided upon a banana coffee cake from fatfreevegan and it came out fabulous!

I also made some french toast for my mother for mother's day last sunday..
and i even remembered to take a picture! but unfortunately, I erased all my pictures on my camera before I had the chance to upload it..what a shame, because they were really scrumptious! tasted just like french toast that i remember. :)
i'm sure i'll make them again sometime soon though, cody really likes french toast so perhaps one day soon for him i will. :)

well off to continue the never-ending job hunt....hmmmmmm...

The conclusion of my sophomore year..

2008-05-10T10:15:00.000-07:00

So I came home on thursday after two out of four finals. I still have two more on monday, so once those are over, so is my sophomore year officially! It's so crazy how quickly it's going by.
I'm glad and sad that the year is over. It was by far more enjoyable than my freshman year. I had all intentions of transferring after my freshman year and I thought I would do it after my sophomore year. But now I definitely do not want to at all! I suppose being in the apartment as opposed to the dorms definitely helped out a bit. I'm not the kind of person that can easily share a tiny room with two other girls and a bathroom with 85 other girls. I like to have my own space and time to myself as well! Which was perfect in the apartment! Next year it will just be me and my one roomie who i've lived with since freshman year..we're looking for a house to rent in Manayunk! I'm so excited to live down there. So many good vegan eats! And tons of stuff to do as well..should be an awesome year! :)

Aside from being done, yesterday was my dad's birthday. And every year we always make him a german chocolate cake..which is delicious..but not vegan. :( So I found a recipe for the frosting and made it. I cheated a bit with the cake though, it's not made from scratch.. I just used the vegan duncan hines box mix and replaced the eggs with flax seed mix. The cake was a bit crumbly though..but tasted delicious anyway.

He enjoyed it as well so I was glad. For the frosting:
Boil together 1/2 cup vegan margarine, 3/4 cup sugar, 1 1/2 cup shredded coconut, 1 cup crushed pecans, 1/2 cup soy milk(i used almond breeze), and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Stir constantly for 12 minutes. Remove from heat and put onto cake while still warm but not soo hot.

I also made cinnamon buns. Which took me forever to make, with the rising of the yeast and everything. But was WELL worth it. These things were SOOOOO delicious. No joke. I think they were amazing. and the icing was just perfect on top.

The recipe was a bit complicated, well for me anyways, but still it was worth it.
Mix 2 1/2 teaspoons of active yeast, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 cup warmed soy milk in a bowl and let sit until foamy. Add 2 egg replacers, 1/3 cup melted margarine, 4 1/2 cup flour, and 1 teaspoon of salt. Mix well and knead for 5-10 minutes. Dough should be firm and smooth, not stick (I had to add more flour to get it not sticky..at first it was a sticky mess!) Set aside in covered bowl and let double in size. After dough has doubled (not going to lie..i did not notice mine get bigger the first time) put dough onto flour work surface and cover for another 10 minutes. (this was when i noticed it did get a bit bigger). In small bowl, mix 1 cup packed brown sugar and 2 1/2 tablespoons of cinnamon. Roll down into large rectangle and spread dough with 1/3 cup softened margarine and sprinkle evenly with cinnamon mix. Roll up dough(this was fun!) and cut into 8 sections with a sharp knife. Place rolls on a cookie sheet and cover for another 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake for 15 minutes until golden brown. While baking, beat together 1/4 cup margarine, 2 cups confectioner sugar, 1-2 tsp of vanilla and enough soy milk to get consistancy of frosting desired. Pour onto warm rolls before serving.

So now i'm off to find a job, and hopefully one that i'll actually enjoy this summer.. last summer i was stuck being at work at 7 a.m. most of the time! not cool..

Yay friday.

2008-03-28T15:37:00.000-07:00

So this week went by super fast..which is pretty good. Only five weeks left of the semester! How crazy is that..and then half of my college career is over. oh no.

Anywayy, today the roomies & i all had off work, which was nice. So for the afternoon after classes we went to Ardmore to do some shopping. We had lunch at this Farmer's Market which was so cute! Everything they had looked so delicious, although the majority of it wasn't vegan. boo. I ended up getting this spicy eggplant basil tofu from the chinese food section. It was really delicious!
After the farmer's market we headed to trader joes and picked up a few things. I got some tempeh, smart dogs, veggies, and a couple other random things. From whole foods I got the tofutti cuti mint chocolate chip ice cream sandwiches. I'm really looking forward to trying them, i've heard gooood things about them! And my roomie got cookie dough ice cream from Temptation which I've also heard awesome things about. :)

I forgot to post a picture of another thing I made while I was home! My mother and I made these delicious vegan peanut butter cups.

The only problem with them was the chocolate was much more solid than the peanut butter filling so it would kind of smush out a little bit..oh well, they were still delicious! And really easy to make.
Microwave 1 1/2 cups of vegan chocolate chips (we used ghardelli semi-sweet) for about 2 minutes until stirred creamy. Spread chocolate into cupcake papers for bottom layer so you fill the crevices as well. Put into freezer so the chocolate hardens. In a bowl, mix 1 cup peanut butter and 1/4 tsp of salt and fold in 1/2 cup of sugar. When chocolate has hardened, put peanut butter mix in microwave for 1 minute, let it cool a bit and then put as second layer over the chocolate. Microwave another cup of chocolate chips and use as top layer over the peanut butter. Place in freezer and eat when they've hardened!
We took them out of the freezer and put them in the fridge after,, which made the peanut butter not as hard. Anyway you eat them though, they're still delicious..i mean it's chocolate and peanut butter, whats not to like?

So I had a can of white kidney beans in the closet for a while because I had intentions of putting them in a soup I made a while ago, but never did. Soo I saw in my Skinny Bitch recipe book a recipe for white bean dip. And I made it..quite delicious!

I did however add a bit of hot sauce to mine, due to my love of spicy-ness and hot sauce. I ate it with pretzels but I can see myself eating it with tortilla chips as well.
I mixed 1 15 oz can of cannellini beans, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 1/8 teaspoon of pepper and 1 tablespoon of basil and 1 tablespoon of parsley in a food processor. Then afterwards I added about 1 tablespoon or so of hot sauce. Delish!

Well hopefully i'll come up with a good recipe to make with the tempeh I bought earlier..until then. off to enjoy my weekend! :)

The weekend home in review

2008-03-25T08:30:00.000-07:00

So I decided to make a dessert and I stumbled upon a recipe for vegan samoas. The recipe called for brown rice syrup, which I was unable to get at any store in salisbury..so i substituted half maple syrup and some sugar and well..i'm not sure if that's why they didnt taste like samoas or not, i doubt it. they weren't bad though, quite tasty actually! just not samoas haha.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix 1 1/2 cups rolled oats, 1 3/4 cup flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1 cup shredded coconut, 1/2 cup chopped pecans, 1/2 cup chocolate chips, 1 cup brown rice syrup(i used about 1/2 cup of maple syrup and 1/4 cup sugar), and 1/2 cup of oil in bowl. Put on lightly oiled baking sheet and bake for 14 minutes. (mine took about 11-12 minutes)

For dinner that evening I wanted to make something that my parents would like. I loved cooking with tempeh so I went through store after store in salisbury and finally found some in Giant Food. Things are so hard to find in salisbury, it's ridiculous! Even the health food store said they used to have it..but stopped since they didn't sell enough. Oh well. Anyway, I originally had the intention of making a recipe that I found on vegweb.com called "Spicy Peanut Butter Tempeh" It had some pretty good reviews and I love peanut butter so I figured how bad could it be.
Well the recipe called for coconut milk, and I'm not sure why mine tasted so off..maybe I just don't enjoy coconut milk, but it wasn't very good. Luckily my mother helped me out and we made a different sauce for it that was quite tasty. Saved the tempeh!

All I did really was dice up and fry a package of tempeh with broccoli, onions, and peppers in a bit of olive oil. As for the new sauce that I used instead of the recipe on vegweb.. it was just 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup peanut butter and 1/4 cup soy sauce all mixed over a burner. Probably one of my favorite sauces..and it tasted absolutely fabulous over tempeh and rice. This was quite a filling meal too!

For some reason I had a huge urge to make banana bread as I was home too. Not sure why, but bananas are just so delicious and I was just really craving it. I already had a banana bread recipe saved on my computer, and it called for a lot of ingredients including egg replacers, soy milk, a bit of vinegar, and a bunch of other ingredients. So I searched more for a quicker and easier version. The version I found was for banana nut bread, but I don't particularly enjoy nuts in mine so I ditched them. Anyway, this was so simple and came out so moist and delicious!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a loaf pan. Mix 3 mashed bananas and 2 tablespoons of oil in a large bowl. Stir in 2 cups of flour, 3/4 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking soda, and 1/2 cup applesauce. I also added just a bit of cinnamon which also gave it a nice taste. Put mixture into loaf pan and bake for an hour.

This is such an easy and versatile recipe that I feel like anyway you wanted to add things would be quite easy to do. The applesauce wasn't in the original recipe, but I found that it made it more moist and didn't hurt it at all. Too bad I forgot to take some back to philly with me!

Take me back to the warm weather!

2008-03-23T18:27:00.000-07:00

So spring break has come and gone and I'm back in cold dreary philadelphia.
Well hopefully it will get warmer soon!

Daytona Beach was beautiful..low 80's with lots of breeze so it never got too hot. wonderful!

doesn't that just scream a postcard picture saying "greetings from daytona" haha.

anyway..i got back to maryland on wednesday and i did lots of cooking! I'll post pictures and what I made and such tomorrow..I have a lot of unpacking and homework to do tonight..
night!

So i like to run away and not post for a while..excuse me.

2008-02-23T16:16:00.000-08:00

So I realize I have not posted a blog since I've been back in philly..
but not because i haven't been making delicious vegan food..
because i most certainly have. :)

Let's see..since i've been back..
well emily brought back a huge box of duncan hines brownie mix, which happen to be vegan before you add the eggs.. so using a flaxseed egg replacer,we made a batch of em for a sorority pot luck. They turned out really tasty, yet really oily and hard to even pick up. Soo we made another batch about a week later just for us and we used less oil and they turned out fabulous. :)

Last weekend I made a chicken salad for me to munch on throughout the week..i used 3 grain tempeh (which i absolutely loved cooking with/eating!) veganaise, celery, some spices and viola! it was quite delicious, and i loved it in these whole wheat pitas that we had picked up.

What elsee? Oh yes! We had a cookie-swap for the sorority 2 weeks ago as well. Unfortunately, I couldn't eat anyone else's cookies, but I made a vegan black and white cookie for everyone.. wish i took a picture, because they looked and tasted fabulous! Emily made a vegan cookie too so I would have two cookies to eat. :p she made an oatmeal cherry chocolate-chip cookie...also quite lovely! So between those two, I wasn't even tempted with those other animal-cruelty cookies! haha.

Tonight I was thinking of something to make using the rest of the celery I had from my chicken salad..and decided I would make a soup!

Nothing better than soup. :) I used a vegetable bouillon cube that i picked up from whole foods, the rest of the celery,carrots, green pepper, onion, diced tomatoes, green beans.. bassssically almost any veggie you can think of. haha :) its delicious and i made a ton though, so hopefully it'll last me through the week!
I go home next weekend though so maybe I can find some good vegan stuff to bring back with me when i'm there. :)

Dinner and dessert?

2008-01-11T08:28:00.000-08:00

So after being bored and not having much to do during the day yesterday, I decided to make something scrumptious.
I first made these chocolate chocolate chip cookies..which turned out like such

I was excited to find out that the Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate chips were vegan! They're so delicious and they made the cookies just perfect. Everyone enjoyed them..my boyfriend told me I have to make them for when he comes to visit! :)

As for the recipe:
Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grind 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon of flax seeds in a blender until it becomes a powder. Add 1/2 cup of soy milk and mix for another 30 seconds. In a large bowl, sift together 2 cups of flour, 3/4 cup of cocoa, 1 teaspoon of baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. In another large bowl, cream together 3/4 cup canola oil and 2 cups of sugar. Then add in the soymilk/flax mixture and mix. Add 2 teaspoons of vanilla. Fold in the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in batches. When it gets too tough to stir with a spatula, use your hands to make a doughy texture. Add the chocolate chips. Then place on 1 inch balls on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Viola!

That brings us to the other boredom dish I made..A chipolte taco salad..

I was a little skeptical of the dressing ingredients, but it turned out pretty good. A bit spicy though, I might use a little less of something next time I make it.
The dressing was 1/3 cup chopped cilantro, 2/3 cup soy sour cream, 1 tablespoon minced chipolte in adobo sauce, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1 teaspoon chili powder, 4 teaspoons fresh lime juice, 1/4 teaspoon salt.
And in the salad i just put 4 cups of romaine lettuce, I grilled up some of my chkn slices (i used morningstar), 1 cup of halved cherry tomatoes, a diced up avocado, 1 can of black beans, 1 can of corn (both rinsed & drained)

The salad itself was delicious ( I'm a huge fan of salad with lots of stuff in them!) But perhaps less spice in the dressing. You be the judge.

I go back to my apartment for school the day after tomorrow, so I probably won't cook up any more concoctions until I'm back there. It's hard to cook there though because I'm always either working for dinner time or something else comes up. Hopefully i'll find more time to cook this semester though. I'm excited!

Goodbye dairy, hello vegan world!

2008-01-08T21:25:00.000-08:00

Yes, rumors are true.
After many years of contemplating and wishing I had the balls to make the transition of being a vegetarian to being vegan..I'm finally doing it.

I'm not sure what made me finally say it was really time. I mean, I knew that I would eventually one day, but right now is interesting. I suppose a new year, a new diet change? Or maybe it was the recipe book my aunt had given to me for Christmas, Skinny Bitch In The Kitch. I saw the book and was a bit shocked at the title since it was given to me from a what I thought was my quiet-spoken aunt. It was all in good fun though, because after reading the introduction I saw that the two authors were vegan so I knew the recipes in it would be good. Just reading the introduction for the book about their views on meat and dairy, made me see how much I loved these skinny bitches. I was so intrigued by their views and ways of expressing them as well as their recipes, that I thought I should get their first book, just entitled Skinny Bitch. It didn't have recipes, and it wasn't exactly a "diet book", but basically just shared their thoughts and views on the meat industry, consuming dairy, eating unhealthy, buying organic products, etc. Though some may find their writing to be a bit rude with their somewhat vulgar language, I find it to be an entertaining way to hear about what they believe in.

So I took the approach in making my first recipe out of the book. I tried the "East Coast Lasagna." I originally wanted to make the fettucini alfredo, but due to lack of good vegan food variety, I could not(there is no vegan parmesan or vegan creamer to be found in this small town, even in the health food store. ) SO the east coast lasagna it was. I was excited because I made the sauce from scratch and even the ricotta cheese(tofu in a food processor with a few other ingredients to spice it up.) The pasta was whole wheat and I used Morning Star beef crumbles as the "meat" and soy mozzarella cheese in it as well.

So after it taking about 2 hours to make and cook, I was excited to try it myself, let alone let my family have some! It was shared between myself, my mother, my father, and my extremely picky boyfriend who usually denies anything healthy and has all his sandwiches vegetable free. Go figure.
Anyway, aside from the onions in the sauce, my boyfriend actually liked it! I was quite pleased with that. My parents seemed to like it as well, but they were both a bit skeptical at first. There was a lot of leftovers though, so I've been heating up pieces for quick dinners thoughout the past week. Still tastes amazing after being reheated a week later in the microwave! Job well done!

So there you have it. I can be vegan, as well as make a delicious lasagna for even meat eaters to enjoy. I've seen so many good recipes online, you have no idea how excited I am to get in the kitchen and start cooking!

2007-07-08T17:26:00.000-07:00

A first blog. I suppose I should make it interesting.
I'm not sure what I'll exactly be blogging about.

I suppose I'll talk about current affairs that I'm dealing with.

It's July the 8th. of 2007. Just the date of today is incredible.
Who would have thought this is where I would be on this day?
Sitting in my room on my summer break of my soon to be sophomore year of college in the city of Philadelphia.
Incredible.

Things have been going quite well. I thought my freshman year of college would have been much more difficult. But not really.
It sure was an experience though. Being in a place where I knew not a single person, it was quite an adventure for the not-so-outgoing me. But I managed to survive, and make friends along the way.
I remember first attending the sorority events..thinking it was not for me and I was just going to the events for something to do, not taking them seriously. And I ended up pledging. And the girls that are in it are all so interesting and nice to hang out with so I'm extremely glad that I did. Joining a sorority was definitely not something I saw myself doing before I went to college. But then again, Delta Phi Epsilon at my school isn't exactly like other typical sororities so I guess it's a bit different.

I told myself I would go to college and come home a vegan. That didn't happen. I suppose the whole eating in the dining hall had some sort of intereference with that. Not really, I could have if I wanted to. I suppose living in an apartment and having only 10 meals a week at the dining hall this year would make it a lot easier to make the transition to a vegan lifestyle.
We'll see how that one goes when I leave in August.