Showers!..vegan style ;)

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

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

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

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

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 :)