November 3, 2010

Back to Basics

A quick post.

Being vegan does not necessarily mean one is healthy, thin, etc. However, going vegan, I did not want to become more unhealthy than I was. Since going vegan I have made a gradual progression to unhealthy eating (most of this transition was after my move to Knoxville). Because I am a student again, I stay up later and get hungry, I snack when I study, when I am bored, and in general when I am at home. I now work in a grocery store and that certainly hasn't helped any either.
I have developed some terrible habits!

So on November 1st I decided to make a change in these habits - I am going back to basics. I am starting each day with a green smoothie - a good start in the morning can only lead to good places & I am avoiding all snacks between meals. If I get very hungry in between - I am sticking with fruit.

You will be seeing some posts about green smoothies coming up, how to make them delicious and what to avoid. Go green!

October 30, 2010

Veganize Your Potluck

Unfortunately, this post will have no pictures because I haven't really gotten into the habit of taking photos of food I make. I suppose that I will need to keep a camera next to the stove.

In this post I am going to address potlucks because there always tends to be an explosion of them this time of year when they air gets crisp and the leaves start falling - comfort food! Potlucks can be a big problem for vegans because the vegan population is a minority and folks don't think of (nor should they have to) accommodating such restricted diets. But not all potluck food needs to be casserole style &  covered in gooey cheese. There are tons of vegan dishes that will please all appetites!

Since moving to Knoxville, I have joined a meetup group through meetup.com and this particular group is for vegans living in the Knoxville area. I immediately jumped on board, as I thought that this would be a great way to see what other vegans were eating, get to try these dishes, and pick up some new favorite recipes. My first (and only, thus far) meeting was an end-of-summer potluck picnic. The group brought an array of fabulous items! Doing my best to remember what we had, I recall we had a lot of salads as we were all enjoying the last of the fresh greens and local veggies we could. We had quinoa tabbouleh, potato salad, fruit salad, a layered taco-like dish, a summer squash medley, pies, cake, and tons of items which I can't remember. It was great to be at a potluck where there were no limits in my selection.

My contribution to the event was an heirloom tomato salad because it was the end of tomatoes for the season and I couldn't pass them up. I found the recipe here:
http://www.swellvegan.com/?p=799
The balsamic reduction gave it an amazing flavor and & everyone was impressed and enjoyed. It was divine!

My next potluck event, happening earlier this month, was one for the employees of my new job. I have picked up the most fantastic part-time work at Knoxville's local food co-op. The people are great, the business is something I truly believe in, and you can't find a better selection of local & organic food in one spot. Because so many of my co-workers are vegetarian (and some vegan as well) there were lots of options for me here too. A vegan mac & cheese was made and was insanely good! I have yet to get my hands on this recipe but I certainly will!

I brought a dish of Spicy Peanut Noodles which are easy to throw together, absolute comfort food & delicious! I also snagged this recipe from online, but can no longer find it. So, here it is (with my adaptations) & I've also doubled it because it was to serve a lot of people.

Spicy Peanut Noodles
Ingredients:

  • Pasta (I used one package of whole wheat shells)
  • 1 C frozen peas
  • 2 Tbsp oil (I used canola)
  • 1 C water
  • 6 cloves garlic, crushed or chopped finely
  • 1/2 C smooth Peanut Butter (you will need to use a good quality PB for this. My favorite PB of all time, Woodstock Farms, Smooth/Salted, works wonderfully for all recipes & especially this one because the peanut flavor is so important)
  • 2 Tbsp Tamari (Tamari is essentially soy sauce but it is made with more soybeans than reg. soy sauce which give sit a smoother, more balanced & complex flavor. Of course, you could easily use soy.
  • 2 Tbsp maple syrup (this is not the same as pancake syrup!!!)
  • Juice of 1/2 of a lime 
  • Hot Sauce (to taste) (The recipe calls for Sriracha, but I don't have this so I just used Louisiana Hot Sauce and it worked well)
Boil water for pasta in a large pot. Add pasta to boiling water and cook according to directions. 1-2 min. before the pasta is done, add the frozen peas and allow them to cook with the pasta. When pasta is done, drain in a colander and leave the pasta & peas in colander while you make the sauce.

Dry out the pot and put it on the stove over medium heat. Add oil to the pan & once it is hot, add garlic. Saute garlic for about 30 seconds (DO NOT LET IT BURN). Add peanut butter to pot and allow it to melt down into the oil. Watch the garlic carefully and don't allow it to burn, if it does, turn your heat down. Once PB is mostly melted, add the water and allow the sauce to come to a bil, stirring constantly and briskly to emulsify the PB and water together.

Add the tamari/soy, hot sauce, and maple syrup. You can choose to add more of any to adjust for your taste. Once you are satisfied, add the lime juice and mix well. Add the past and peas back into the pot, stir up & you're done! 
Yum!!

I also baked some soft ginger cookies which were a huge hit! These are also easy and pulled from online:

Soft Ginger Cookies
Ingredients:
  • 4 Tbsp sugar (for rolling)
  • 2 C flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 t ground cloves
  • 1/2 C oil
  • 1/4 C molasses
  • 1/4 C soy milk (I use almond)
  • 1 C sugar 
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350Sift flour, baking soda, salt & spices together.
In a different bowl, mix: oil, molasses, milk, 1 C sugar, vanilla
Pour dry into wet & mix well
Roll into 1" ball & flatten into 1 1/2" disks. (I generally roll into a ball, roll this in sugar and flatten into a disk-like shape in my palm)
Bake 6-8 min.
Let coll 5 min before putting on a cooling rack.

And the last potluck event was a wine & finger food sort of thing. I had come across this recipe the other day & thought it quite apropos for the season. It was also a favorite of the group:
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/1425
I altered the recipe by using almonds instead of pecans, I omitted the pineapple rings, and I made the balls 1" so that they were more finger food like. I simply used a cookie scoop, dumped it into a bowl of chopped almonds and rolled around. Also, used cooking spray on baking sheet and on top of balls - a lot healthier and less messy.  SO good!!!

Lesson learned for you folks - being vegan can be yummy too!

October 24, 2010

Still Vegan

Although there was a hiatus in my blog posting - I have survived the summer (and most of the fall) and am still vegan!

As I am approaching my one-year meat-free anniversary, I realized that this blog was a positive outlet in my life and that I should get back on board again. There is much that I have not written about and many challenges which I have come across in the past 7 months. I have moved to a new city, headed back to school, and thrown my very consistent day-to-day schedule out the window. So, I can't promise that blogging will happen regularly, but I will do my very best not to miss huge gaps of time.

Because I need to be studying at the moment, I will start my blogging return with something light & quick.
This summer I was tattooed.
This would generally not be a topic of interest for those who are vegan, but the tattoo is a symbol of my dedication to my vegan lifestyle. I chose one of the symbols for veganism and had it tattooed on my inner wrist. It is a constant reminder to me of why I made this change in my life.
Many were surprised at my choice as I had only been a vegan for a few months when I got the tattoo. For me, though, choosing to become a vegan and live that lifestyle was/is not something temporary.

Notable: Not all tattoos are vegan friendly! Tattoo ink has two parts: the color (ink) and the carrier solution. To get black ink, bone char (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bone_char) is generally used. Yuck! The carrier solution often contains glycerin (which is derived from animal fats) but can be derived from vegetable bases as well. I felt that if I was getting at tattoo to symbolize veganism that I couldn't use animal products to perform the process. 
Thus began my careful research to find the closest vegan friendly tattoo shop and inks until I found one which met my standards. I chose Only You Tattoo in Atlanta, GA
http://www.onlyyoutattoo.com/
One of the owners, Danielle, is actually vegan herself. Matt, a vegetarian, did my tattoo & I am very pleased.

For aftercare of the tattoo I used Black Cat products and really liked them.
http://www.tattooaftercare.net/

Personal hygiene/bath care products is a topic which I am very interested in covering, but that will have to wait for another day.

April 20, 2010

Cheese - Vegan Style

Vegan cheese.
This seems to be the one thing that is simply irreplaceable. Nothing, nothing is going to taste like dairy cheese. Nothing can replicate a block of sharp cheddar - in texture, taste, or satisfaction.
But dear, sweet vegans, they sure do try.

I do still need to write about soy and why I am trying to avoid it for the most part - basically though it is a mucus forming agent and causes slow digestion as well. All of that is to say that I have not tried any soy-based cheeses.

Though I have written about cheese before, are my findings:
Cheese no. 1: Rice Vegan by Galaxy Nutritional Foods

Basic Ingredients: rice (in many different forms)
Rice Vegan comes in slices. Easier to put on bread for sandwiches, right? I picked up the cheddar flavor - my favorite cheese. Well, the cheese still tastes like rice. Actually, it tastes like really funky rice. Unless you are looking to eat a smooth textured rice sandwich - I would not recommend.

Cheese no. 1: Vegan Rella


Basic Ingredients: water, tapioca starch, brown rice flower, canola oil
Vegan Rella comes in a block and is not as hard as cheddar but isn't mushy. Again, I chose the cheddar "style" but I am not sure if they had other options. This cheese is pungent, repulsive really. And as for taste - I would compare it to the squeeze nacho-cheese that you would get at a sporting event. That doesn't quite describe the taste though.


Before I get to cheese number 3, let me explain the excitement behind this. I read quite a bit of vegan blogs to find recipes, learn about my diet, etc. Well, everyone in the vegan blogging world has been raving about Daiya Cheese. This cheese, until 2 weeks ago could not be found at your grocery store. Daiya just went retail last week and prior to that they were only selling to commercial restaurants (pizza parlors mostly.) Any vegan that had tried the cheese at a pizza joint seemed to want to get their hands on this stuff - pronto!
Vegan cheese has a tendency to not melt or stretch well. Also, it doesn't seem to taste like real cheese - but clearly that is not the top issue. 
Well, I got on the ball and magically, just as I was finding out about Daiya it was making its retail debut. Put in the request at Greenlife and viola - 4 days later it is on the shelf!
I immediately picked up two packages of the shredded wonder cheese, cheddar & mozzarella. 

Cheese no. 3: Daiya Mozzarella



Basic Ingredients: Here is the WOW factor folks - this is the "healthiest" vegan cheese I have found yet! It has the fewest calories, folks. A blurb from their website:
Daiya contains no casein, the protein found in dairy products, no soy, and no common allergens, animal products or cholesterol.
Water, tapioca (which is from the cassava plant) and arrowroot flours, canola and safflower oil, coconut oil, pea protein, inactive yeast

I used the mozzarella version for my favorite quesadilla recipe which contains the following: fire roasted tomatoes, black beans, corn, cilantro, lime juice, and various other items. Unfortunately, I forgot to take photos. It did indeed melt and stretch. It didn't taste bad. It gave the quesadilla the good, creamy texture and flavor - which is what I suppose I was looking for. In this recipe, the cheese does not have a dominant flavor so I found it to be a great substitute. 

Cheese no. 4: Daiya Cheddar



Basic Ingredients: The same as the mozzarella.
I used the cheddar version to make a grilled cheese sandwich on sourdough bread. Because grilled cheese is one of my favorite comfort foods, I was anxious to give this one a try. 

This is the cheese - yeah, it doesn't look too appetizing up close and personal.





Used Earth Balance for the 'butter'


The cheddar melted and streched as well. It looked great! But taste is where the dissapointment set in. The cheese just doesn't taste good. I am not really expecting it to taste exactly like cheddar, and I could live with a cheese like that. But this cheese just doesn't taste good. It was creamy and satisfying texturally, but I found that I couldn't eat the center of the sandwich. I only ate the edges because in those areas the bread had enough balance with the cheese so that it wasn't too dominant of a flavor.




I have decided that vegan cheese just will not satisfy. It will substitute in a pinch (only if it is not meant to be the dominant flavor of the dish). I think that all the vegans who were excited about this cheese had certainly not had real cheese in quite some time. Folks, it has almost been 2 months since I have gone vegan and the day before I did - I had a celebration of cheese! Yes, I did and it was glorious.

April 12, 2010

Pancakes for Everyone!

Vegan pancakes really are possible. No, they do not taste like "regular" pancakes. Yes, they are still delicious.

Whipped up some of these on Sunday morning after a late night out and in preparation for my day-long hike. Although I cannot remember where I found the recipe (it was somewhere on the web) many people seemed to agree that this was a good one.
The consistency is similar to that of Bisquick pancakes (which were my favorite). If you are used to the extra-fluffy light things you might find at a pancake shop - don't look here. The non-vegans liked them (not quite as well as the usual, but neither did I). They seem to be a good substitution for the "real thing." I doubled the recipe since I was feeding a group of people and it worked well.



Pretty Darn Good Vegan Pancakes 

Ingredients:


1C flour (I suppose you can use whichever type you have at hand. I used unbleached)
2t baking powder
1/2 t salt
3 T sugar
1t vanilla
1 egg replacer (I used Ener-G)
1 C soy milk
2 T veg oil

Directions:

Mix the wet ingredients (vanilla, egg replacer, soy milk & veg oil)
Mix the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, sugar, salt)
Pour the wet into the dry and mix until smooth.


I cooked these on my "griddler." The pancakes do "bubble" when they are ready to flip. They golden nicely & taste sweetly of vanilla.
I had maple syrup from some of my baking and did not enjoy it on my pancakes. Much too sweet. I suppose that I am accustomed to the thick high fructose corn syrup version of "maple syrup". I think that these would be tastier with blueberries or bananas thrown in. Think I will give it a try next go-round.

On another note:
I made a product request at Greenlife last Tuesday and they had it in the store on Sunday! It was a fantastic surprise! I will be sure to write about my very thrilling discovery next!!

April 10, 2010

The Recipe Book Purge

When I left home for college in 2003 I took with me a book of recipe cards containing my favorite meals from my childhood. Among this collection included: baked mac & cheese, twice baked potatoes, pizza, chocolate chip cookies, lasagna, sweet & sour meatballs. All of these were my comfort foods which I gladly cooked up for roommates over the years.
As well as this cookbook, I started collecting recipes found in our local newspaper, which has a "food" section every Wednesday, and recipes found online. My collection was housed in a giant 3 ring binder with yellowed newspaper recipes pasted to card stock and slipped into page protectors. Each section contained a table of contents & comments could be added after each dish was prepared for the first time.
This week I purged my recipe books.
I have decided that returning to animal products is not something that I wish to do - and my recipe books, with their unopened pages, needed to reflect this. The only section which truly stayed in-tact was the "veggies & sides" collection. My sister has since inherited 6+ years of the best recipes I've found.
What I need now is to start my vegan cookbook collection. I have come across numerous books with rave reviews that I am dying to pick up. I need to just spend the money to do it because I have found myself eating the same things again and again. It certainly doesn't help that I am a very picky eater either. Mostly it is veggies stuffed into hummus spread tortillas for lunch + fruit on the side. Dinner is harder - as I come home hungry and haven't pre-prepared anything in ages. Soups don't appeal to me when the weather is warmer - so I am going to need to figure things out. But dinner thus far has been anything from steamed veggie pot-stickers + veggies to baked sweet potatoes or even a peanut butter slathered tortilla and various munchies.
I have been pretty good about eating my greens after I ended my smoothie cleanse and my blood is showing that my iron levels are great - something that always suffered for me as an omni.
Now I just need to make sure that I am eating balanced meals.

April 1, 2010

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes with Fluffy Buttercream Frosting & a Brownie Bonus


More vegan baking adventures!
As I mentioned in the last post - birthdays gave me an excuse to try out some new goodies.
For the birthday girl:
Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes with Fluffy Buttercream Frosting.
Yum!
The recipe is from the cookbook: Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World
http://www.amazon.com/Vegan-Cupcakes-Take-Over-World/dp/1569242739
This book is now on my cookbook wishlist because they turned out fabulously!
The only drawback about these cupcakes is that they only made 12. I suppose that this is so you don't overindulge, because although they are vegan - they are still sweets & that's fine - just everything in moderation.
Here is where I found the recipe:
http://www.chow.com/recipes/10794
I followed the recipe using almond extract w/o alcohol (which is more syrupy) for the second extract ingredient. Again I was without dutch processed cocoa so I used the Hershey's Special Dark. The cupcakes were not quite as chocolaty as I would have liked but chocolate cupcakes are never have a very strong chocolate flavor. The consistency was wonderful - very fluffy and moist.

For the frosting I used this recipe:
http://www.chow.com/recipes/10856
Incredible!! If I were not vegan - this would still be the recipe I would choose. I have never in my life used shortening & intentionally did not read the label (even though it is vegetable based and non-hydrogenated) because I just didn't want to know. I did use the Earth Balance "buttery sticks" and they worked well.

I did have quite a bit of frosting leftover. It probably would have been enough to frost 24 cupcakes, so you could double your cake recipe. I, however, chose to dispose of the remainder by spreading it on graham crackers (you can find vegan brands).

yum yum yum.

The brownies I did not document with photos & they were less successful. For the birthday boy I made this first batch because it seemed very healthy:
http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/Scrum-Diddly-Umptious-Vegan-Brownies-150473
They were more cake like rather than gooey. Two of my testers said that they were not sweet enough and actually used the word "bitter chocolate". Well, I didn't want anyone having a bitter birthday brownie so I tried this recipe:
http://people.tribe.net/arize/blog/3e60a521-dd86-44d5-82d2-92bc846782ca
This recipe had more of your traditional brownie taste but I found them to be too oily - the kind where you have greasy fingers after eating. They were very very moist and had a better chocolate flavor in my opinion.
I am very happy with the cupcake result but think that I am going to need to do more baking to find the perfect vegan brownie.