Chocolate Chip Bars and Broccoli Cole Slaw

Desserts are not my speciality so I don't make them very often but these Choc-chip Bars came out pretty good, except I baked them a little too long and they were a little harder than I would have liked. Thank goodness for vegan chocolate chips.




Broccoli Cole Slaw is a cinch to make and makes for an awesome side or light meal. I bought a package of pre-washed, pre-shredded broccoli and carrots and mixed in some Vegenaise, Mustard, Minced Garlic, and cracked black pepper.

Please Sign This Petition!!

This is a new charity that I have started donating to monthly. I only make a small donation but everything helps, right?

You don't have to donate to them unless you want to but what I would really love is for you to SIGN THIS PETITION!

Just Click on the Picture:




Thank you Friends
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OREOS!!

Healthy: no

Vegan: Hell Yeah!!

How come no one told me oreos were vegan? Oh god, I can imagine myself now slumped over my couch gorging on a whole package of yummy vegan junk food.



Here are the ingredients for the American Oreos: SUGAR, ENRICHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE [VITAMIN B1], RIBOFLAVIN [VITAMIN B2], FOLIC ACID), HIGH OLEIC CANOLA OIL AND/OR PALM OIL AND/OR CANOLA OIL, COCOA (PROCESSED WITH ALKALI), HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, BAKING SODA, CORNSTARCH, SALT, SOY LECITHIN (EMULSIFIER), VANILLIN-AN ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, CHOCOLATE.

I hear that Canadian and European Oreos still contain whey (milk product). Sad for them! Great for me!!

Veggie-Tofu Bacon Burritos

I have successfully made a batch of homemade tofu bacon!! I used the Curried Tofu marinade recipe from Veganomicon, sliced the tofu as thin as I could and baked it in the oven until it was burnt, or near-burnt rather.

For the veggies, I sauteed some onions, bell pepper, and garlic in oil and added lots of hot sauce.

Then I put the whole thing together. Brown rice, veggies, and tofu bacon, with extra lashings of hot sauce. Simple and satisfying.

Liquid Crack

I've never smoked crack but I'm sure the feeling would be similar to what I got tonight from the CURRY SPLIT PEA SOUP I just ate. I feel high and euphoric. And I'm totally addicted. I want more...but I have to save some for lunch tomorrow, damn!!

I got the recipe from ppk.com (PostPunkKitchen).

Since I got the recipe for free I have no problem posting the recipe for you here (after the pic of course).



Ingredients
16 oz dried split peas
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 medium white onion, diced small
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
8 cups water
1 carrot to grate in at the end (optional)


Spice blend
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
2 teaspoons salt
generous pinch cinnamon

Directions
Saute the onions in the olive oil at medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add garlic, ginger and spices. Saute 2 more minutes.

Add the water and stir well. Add the splitpeas. Cover and bring to a boil.

Bring heat back down to medium, let soup simmer for about an hour, until peas are tender. Grate in the carrot and serve. You can garnish with fresh cilantro if you have it on hand.

Jebus!! This is good!

Spring Is Here

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Spring is here and this means that it begins a new year of fresh American produce. When I don't buy my produce from the farmer's market I get it from the grocery store and most produce during the winter there is from South America. Imagine all the fuel it cost to ship all those fruits and veggies. I feel bad.

I made an Indian Curry Rice and Lentil dish the other day. I had a slight accident and dumped a ton of black pepper in so it was only slightly edible. Oh well, live and learn right?


Happy Spring and Easter everyone!

Artichoke Pesto Pasta

When I first became vegan I ate pasta a lot. I think that was partly because I didn't know what else to eat and also because when I was a meat-eater I would make pasta every other day.

Well, nowadays, I rarely eat pasta but I occasionally like to make it again.

It's a chore to find ready-made vegan pasta sauces unless they are Marinara-based, but I hate tomato sauce, so this caused a problem for me. I was a big Fettucine Alfredo "heart attack on a plate" type guy. I eventually found a pesto powder that was vegan and it's really good; just add olive oil and water and heat.

So tonight I made pasta and I used some of the last of the massive jar of artichoke hearts that I had left from about 6 months ago.

And then I topped off the Artichoke Pesto Pasta with a nice helping of vegan parmesan cheese and nutritional yeast. DELIGHTFULLY DELICIOUS!!

Garlic Bread and the California Coast

Wow! Today was just beautiful. The sun was big in the sky and no clouds could be seen. In a couple days it will officially be Spring and today I could definitely see that Spring was in the air.

For work I had to travel 2 hours by car (one way) to Pebble Beach (Monterey area). It was the perfect day for a field trip out of the office. Once I left San Jose and reached the sweet smell of pines in the Santa Cruz Mountains I realized that this was a time to treasure. I don't know if I'll ever have another work day like this in the next few years so I really soaked it up.

I left my camera at home but here are some sights I saw on my day out.

Lexington Reservoir:


Watsonville Artichokes:


Sand City:


Monterey:


Pebble Beach:



Garlic is my favorite vegetable/herb/spice thing. So I only thought it natural to make some Ranch Garlic Bread. I threw together some Vegan Ranch Dressing, then mixed in about 6 cloves of minced garlic and then spread it all over the inside of a mini baguette. I wrapped it in foil and baked for about 20 minutes then unwrapped it and broiled for a few more minutes. It went especially well with a mixed green and purple salad.

TOFU TOFU

Tofu "Egg" Salad is a staple in my diet. I make it about once a week or two weeks. It just is so amazing. There are a lot of different recipes out there but my favorite is the one in "How It All Vegan!" by Sarah Kramer and Tanya Barnard.

I posted this recipe before but it deserves special mention because I love it so much. I eat it just out of the bowl or as a sandwich or stuffed in pita or tortillas.

If more people knew about this salad mix, I think that regular egg salad would be abandoned for this more healthful alternative.


Tofu "Egg" Salad:

1 14oz. or 16 oz. firm or extra firm tofu, drained and pressed
1/2 cup soy mayonnaise (I use Vegenaise. It's truly amazing.)
4 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
or
2 tbsp. dried parsley
1 pickle, minced
1-1/2 tbsp. prepared mustard i.e. the squeeze bottle kind
1-2 stalks green onion (spring onion), chopped (optional)
1 large stalk celery, diced
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. turmeric


Crumble or mash tofu into a medium mixing bowl and add remaining ingredients. Mix together well and chill before serving.

Mexican Pita Pizza

I LLLOOOOVVVEEE avocados and have been eating them a lot lately. But they are a touchy fruit. You never know exactly when they are just ripe enough. Sometimes I cut one open and it's all brown on the inside and then other times they are squishy on the outside but when I cut them open they are so firm that it's hard to mash them up. It's alright though, I take it all in stride. The only thing I don't like is how expensive they are. I really only buy them when they're on sale or if I get them cheap at the farmer's market.

Mexican Pita Pizza:

-Get a whole wheat pita bread
-Mash an avocado and chop up a little tomato and cucumber; mix together with 1/2 tsp. lemon juice, 1/2 tsp. hot sauce, 1/8 tsp. salt, and 1/8 tsp. garlic powder.
-Mix some vegetarian refried beans with taco or burrito seasoning
-Spread beans on pita and put in oven at 350 deg for a few minutes
-Take out the pita and let cool for a few minutes
-Spread on guacamole mixture and then top with more chopped tomatoes, olives, and anything else you like
-Eat and enjoy

Another Egyptian Dish and Pygmy Marmosets

Well, it looks like I'm running with a theme here. Another Egyptian-inspired recipe for dinner tonight. Call me Tutenkhamen! I'll get to the recipe and picture in a little bit.

I am a new regular on Yahoo Answers where people ask a question and all the people online can answer their question. It's fun but it's really addicting. I spend quite a bit of time in the Vegetarian/Vegan section and there's a lot of crazy stuff going on there. It's like a war-zone sometimes because someone will ask a legitimate question and then a "troll" comes in and says some crazy comment like "EAT MEAT" or "OH MAN, A NICE JUICY STEAK SOUNDS GOOD RIGHT NOW." It's kinda funny.

Anyway, I was on there today and someone asked "What is your favorite animal?" I have never really had a favorite animal but today I thought about it a while and I think my favorite is the pygmy marmoset.

Here's a pygmy marmoset:



Aren't they cute? I remember seeing some in Victoria, Canada at the Crystal Garden which no longer exists. But I have a great memory of those little creatures.

So back to the food!!

Warm Spinach-Dill Brown Rice:



Ingredients:

1 medium onion, diced
1 T. (15 ml) olive oil
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
small handful fresh dill, chopped
1 15 oz. (445 ml) can tomato sauce
1 10 oz. (295 ml) frozen spinach, thawed
1/2 cup (120 ml) water
salt and pepper to taste
1 t. (5 ml) ground cumin (optional)
1 t. (5 ml) ground ginger (optional)
1 t. (5 ml) ground coriander (optional)

Preparation:

-Saute onions in oil until softened
-Add garlic and dill and saute an additional 2 minutes
-Mix in cumin, ginger, and coriander, if using
-Add tomato sauce and salt and pepper and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low
-Simmer for 10 minutes on low heat
-Add spinach and water, bring to a boil again
-Cover and simmer on low heat for 15 minutes
-Serve with warm brown rice

Nile River Red Lentil Soup

Have you ever made African-inspired food? I have never made it before and I haven't even eaten Ethiopian food yet. But, I was jealous of all those people who have eaten it and fell in love.

I have made only three soups before and the first (Creamy Potato Asparagus soup) was a throw away recipe. The second was a Creamy Garlic, Potato, Celery soup which was really great. But even that can't compare with the soup I made for dinner.

I got this recipe from www.ivu.org (International Vegetarian Union). It is called Nile River Red Lentil Soup (recipe follows pictures)


This is while it was simmering. Looks interesting, huh?




And after it's all done and blended in the food processor it looked like this:




Nile River Red Lentil Soup:

Ingredients:

1 T. olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup red lentils, rinsed
2 t. ground ginger
2 t. ground cumin
2 t. ground coriander
4 cups vegetable stock or water
2 slices lemon, about 1/4 inch thick each
1 medium tomato, chopped
1/2 t. cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste
small handful cilantro

Preparation:

-Heat oil in medium stockpot on medium high heat
-Saute onion and garlic until softened
-Stir in lentils, ginger, cumin and coriander and mix well with onion-garlic
-Add lemon slices, veggie stock, tomatoes, cayenne, salt and pepper
-Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover pot and simmer for 35-45 minutes
-Take the pot off heat, discard lemon slices, and let cool for a while
-Puree soup in blender or food processor with cilantro, reserving some cilantro for garnish
-Serve in bowls with extra cilantro and extra cayenne or paprika, if desired

I didn't have injera so I ate this soup with pita bread instead.

Please, MAKE THIS MAKE THIS MAKE THIS!! It's so good!!

It's My 1st Veganniversary!

Celebrate! Celebrate! I have now been vegan for a year and it's been a lovely journey. At first, I was miserable in a cloud of despair because I couldn't stop thinking about the creatures whose lives are filled with terror and disease. And while it obviously still saddens me to think of these poor souls, I try to focus on the fact that none of my money has directly gone to support such a cruel industry. In the process, I have become more aware of my health and the environment because the three issues go hand-in-hand.

All of my friends and family have been pretty supportive and I'm very thankful for that. For anyone who doubted my switch in lifestyle, I hope you can take note now that I am doing very well, thank you very much.

And I'm going full speed ahead.

Benefits:
-In the first few months of veganism I lost 30 pounds and ever since I have maintained a steady weight without even thinking about what I'm eating or drinking.
-I have not found any scary bits in my food, like bones, gristle, tumors or lumps, etc. because those problems certainly don't exist in plant foods.
-I feel I am thinking more clearly than I have in past.
-I have learned to cook up a storm in the kitchen with new and exciting ingredients. No one helped me to learn to cook but I got all my tips from cookbooks, online recipes, a lot of experimentation, etc.

Negatives:
Just one!
-It's difficult to find foods in restaurants that are vegan-friendly, although not impossible. It's better for my health and my wallet, anyway.

So here's to the first year gone, there's lots to come.