Archive for the ‘Food’ Category
Giving Thanks Vegan Style: The Complete Guide to an Animal Friendly Holiday
Posted by Mandi | Filed under Cooking, Food, Lifestyle
This Thanksgiving, give thanks for all sentient life by choosing to have a meat free celebration! It is very possible to have a fun, delicious and eventful holiday without the morbid dead bird tradition. I promise! To help you plan this upcoming holiday I’ve compiled a somewhat comprehensive guide to an animal friendly Thanksgiving. Lets get crackin’.
The Bird Substitute
This all depends if you are a fake meat kind of person or not. You don’t have to go with mock turkey as your main course, although some like to go that route to keep their meal somewhat traditional.
Tofurkey: The most popular turkey substitute I can think of. This is fairly easy to prepare and comes with gravy, dumplings, and amazing wild rice stuffing that is already inside! Just by choosing a tofurkey, half of your meal is complete.
Celebration Roast: A gourmet version of the tofurkey. This is an artisan-made vegan grain meat with a sausage-style stuffing made from butternut squash, apples, and mushrooms.
You can also make your own from scratch!
*For tips on how to prepare your faux roast go here.
Seitan Stuffed Squash - An interesting alternative to the main course.
Nut Roast - A delightful concoction of various nuts, spices, and bread in loaf form. There are tons of different recipes, although this one sounds pretty good.
If you want to go all out, try some veg stuffing.
The Sides
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Trick or Treats
Posted by Mandi | Filed under Food, Lifestyle
Halloween is just around the corner, and what are you going to do to avoid being the weird lady that gives out apples? Are you the house most likely to be skipped? Here are some yummy vegan-friendly treats to help you (and everyone else) enjoy this haunted holiday a little more.
*These are of course, for the sugar loving herbivores.
For the Trick-or-treaters (and you later):
Candy
Airheads taffy
Atkins peanut butter bars
Blow Pops
Brach’s Cinnamon Hard Candy
Charms lollipops
Chick-o-Sticks
Cracker Jack
Cry Babies (more…)
Pumpkin Season= Pumpkin Chili
Posted by Mandi | Filed under Cooking, Food
After viewing this picture, my mouth began to water and I at once began a quest for one. The idea of pumpkin chili has never occurred to me before!!! But it sounds so right! Here is the recipe I found here with a few minor alterations. Oh, how I love fall foods! (more…)
Happy World Vegetarian Day!!
Posted by Mandi | Filed under Awareness, Food, Lifestyle
Happy World Vegetarian Day everybody! Today is the day that kicks off Vegetarian Awareness Month! So be sure to schedule a veg-themed party, potluck, presentation, or even taste testing to spread the word of all the benefits of a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle! Check out the official site to see how you can participate.
Today also kicks off Vegan Mofo, courtesy of The Post Punk Kitchen. Blogs all around the world are taking time to write as much as they can about vegan food during the month of October! (I’m not much of a chef so I will gladly step aside and let the experts have a hand.) Check out the list of participants here.
This should be an exciting month, so stay tuned!
Heaven in Creamy Dessert Form <3
Posted by Mandi | Filed under Food
Sorry to have two food posts in a row, but I just wanted to briefly share my love for this amazing treat that I have just discovered: Turtle Mountain’s Purely Decadent Dairy Free Ice Cream made from Coconut Milk!!!! This yummy dessert was a sweet relief in a vegan world overloaded with soy everything. I have only tried the Mint-chocolate chip version, but the others look delicious as well. Shall I list the reasons why I love this oh so much? Okay then..
- You can taste the coconut flavor, but it is not overpowering and it compliments the other flavors perfectly.
- Mostly organic.
- Sweetened with agave.
- Contains only 11 ingredients including the chocolate chip components . (And all are easily pronounced)
- Tastes like heaven.
For more about Turtle Mountain and their products go here: http://www.turtlemountain.com/
Berry Fennel Salad
Posted by Mandi | Filed under Cooking, Food
This is the perfect late summer salad. Good for when you want something light and delicious, but you really don’t want to spend the whole day slaving over a hot stove (honestly, who ever wants to do that?).
Ingredients:
Salad
50g walnuts
¼ cucumber
½ fennel, very thinly sliced / shredded
85g watercress, thick stalks removed
1 round green lettuce, washed and dried
150g blackberries, washed and dried
150g raspberries, washed and dried
Dressing
150g silken tofu
5½ tablespoon good quality French dressing
1 slightly rounded tablespoon caster sugar
Method
1. Preheat oven to 200C / 400F / Gas mark 6. Spread walnuts out on a baking tray and put in hot oven for about 4 minutes until lightly roasted. Remove from oven and cool.
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Restaurant Review: Red Bamboo, NYC
Posted by Mandi | Filed under Dining Out, Food
I recently had the pleasure of dining at this self proclaimed “soul café” in the heart of the West Village. Red Bamboo is a vegetarian establishment with the majority of the menu being vegan. (Thankfully, all desserts are vegan.)
When we first entered, the whole place smelled like bug spray or some other kind of strong chemical. That made me weary, but the smell seemed to fade quickly.
I liked how the non-vegan menu items were clearly marked, and casein and whey were taken into consideration. You would be surprised how many restaurants serve soy cheese containing casein as “vegan”. I noticed they seemed to specialize in mock meat and although I don’t particularly fancy it, I decided to live on the edge. (more…)
Veg Etiquette
Posted by Mandi | Filed under Dining Out, Lifestyle
Unfortunately, some vegans come off as demanding, difficult, and even elitist to unsuspecting omnivores, especially in a situation that involves food. Here is a random and possibly incomplete list of etiquette that I, personally, have found to be beneficial in remaining likable and respectful to others while still holding tightly to my ethics.
1. When eating at a friend or relatives house, do not expect them to make anything special for you to eat. They probably will, but if you don’t get your hopes up, you won’t be disappointed. Always eat a little bit before you arrive so you are not famished. Also, bring something small that you know you can eat (side dish or dessert). If they successfully and purposefully make something you are able to eat, let them know how appreciative you are -even if it tastes like rubber.
2. When out to eat with parties of 3 or more, order last. If you order last, the rest of the table might not notice you giving the server the third degree about the possibility of butter being used to cook your veggies. Also, if the server has to go back and speak with the chef, and decides to do it at that moment, the rest of your party might get irritated that they have to wait to place their order.
Quinoa Craziness!
Posted by Mandi | Filed under Cooking, Food
As a vegan, there are plenty of reasons to love quinoa (all together now: ‘KEEN-wah’). It is a complete protein. It is a good source of dietary fiber and phosphorus and is high in magnesium and iron . It is gluten free and considered easy to digest. It is fun to say.
There seems to be about 8,375,835 quinoa recipes for every reason it is fabulous. This weekend I made Chickpea-Quinoa Pilaf, found in the holy grail of veg cookbooks:Veganomicon. It was nummy.
Other quinoa recipes:
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