This blog is about living Vegan. It includes Vegan lifestyle, Vegan events, and anything else I find interesting.

Friday, October 31, 2008

Temptation Shakes

If you've ever been to the Chicago Diner, you know that they make the best vegan chocolate milkshake in the world. They use Temptation Ice Cream which is amazing on it's own, but uber-amazing as a shake. We finally got distribution for Temptation where I live, so we've been recreating the Diner's famous shakes:



Los's was plain, mine was topped with some soy whipped topping.


Not quite as good as Chicago Diner, but definitely a close runner-up!

OMG! It's finally back!


Thursday, October 30, 2008

Try-It-Out Tuesdays: Product Review: Kim & Scott's Chocolate Pretzels

This is more a product review than a sample I'm 'trying out' but nonetheless, enjoy!

Kim & Scott's Gourmet Chocolate Pretzels are sold in the frozen food aisle and are billed at 'healthy' because they don't contain trans fat; however, they're still pretty calorie-laden. Regardless, they're rich and delicious.




I thought that microwaving them would cause them to become gummy or chewy, but they were cake-like with a gooey chocolatey center.

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Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Recipe: Cole Slaw

This is so easy to prepare and has a great flavor:



1 bag pre-cut cole slaw
vinegar, sugar, celery salt, sea salt - mix together to taste and refrigerate overnight before serving.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Trial


I recently got a Blogger application for my iPhone so I thought I'd try it out with this funny picture of preppy George!

I hope it works!

Monday, October 27, 2008

Some Troubles

Check http://www.livingvegan.blogspot.com or http://livingveganblog.com for updates, I'm working out a few kinks....

Soya Too!

I've had several people ask about the whipped cream in the Trifle I made last week -
It's a box of whipped Soya Too, available via mail order from Food Fight Grocery!

It's SOOOOO easy to make, you just whip it with a stand mixer for about 20 minutes on medium (or 4 if you have a Kitchen Aid). You can add some confectioner's sugar or Splenda to make it a little sweeter, but I usually don't do that unless I'm using it for something like a Trifle.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Grilled Sheese

I love Food Fight. I seriously don't know what I would do without their mail-order business...If you haven't been to their site lately (or heaven-forbid haven't been there at all!) you HAVE to check it out, they have everything under the sun including Sheese, the best fake cheese available.

Here are our Grilled Sheese sandwiches, we used Mild Cheddar:



In the background are some vegan Dorritos, though when this bag is done I think we'll be 'over' it, I thought I missed the processed goodness of Dorritos, but I didn't...eating them again is just kind of gross...we've had the same bag for weeks now, I think we're used to eating so much healthier that eating Dorritos just seems weird!

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Kitchens

I like the colors of this kitchen. Los isn't that into it, but something about it appeals to me!


Friday, October 24, 2008

Local Finds

There are farms all over my area, the grocery stores also carry tons of local produce, and there's a weekend Farmer's Market nearby where you can score some delicious goodies.

Unfortunately, there are not a lot of organic farms. That said, below is my most recent score - the cucumbers are from my dad's garden, they're organic (and awesome!), the cherry tomatoes and corn are from a local farm, the tomatoes are the sweetest I've had in a very long time.

The strawberry-rhubarb jam is from another local farm, she makes an amazing array of home-canned items such as pickles, jams, 'salads' (like 3-bean salads), etc. She had a lot of delicious sounding varieties such as peach-thyme, melon-mint, cantelope, jalepeno, etc.

I could not resist making a tomato-cucumber salad - I added 1.5 Tbs olive oil, 1 Tbs 3-leaf balsamic vinegar, 2 tsp sea salt, and a large handful of fresh chopped basil.

Yum!!

The best part about shopping local is that you know the ingredients are fresh. When I bought the corn, the farmer actually went out to the field and picked a dozen ears for me, he then told me to eat them within 8 hours as he said that around 8 hours after being picked, the sugars would begin to break down. How cool is that! We ate the corn within about 4 hours, and he was right, it was incredible sweet and crispy!

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Lace Cookies



I whipped up a batch of lace cookies, they tasted amazing but fell apart almost instantly, I lined the pan with parchment paper for the second batch and that worked a little better, but they were still extremely brittle, I'll post the recipe once I perfect it...For now I'll just say the secret ingredient is lemon zest!

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Restaurant Review: Cali Burrito

Cali Burrito is a California-style burrito joint. It's fresh fast food. They have smoked tofu, which is awesome. They also have tofu scrambler burritos and SOMETIMES have smoked seitan as well.

I opted for the taco salad with smoked tofu.


You have to bring your own Tofutti Sour Supreme which is kind of a bummer since otherwise they're pretty vegan-friendly.

Cali Burrito
3104 Hamilton Blvd. (across from Dorney Park)
Allentown, PA
610-351-1791

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Woohoo!!!!




My awesome friend Dave totally hooked me up -- you can now see my blog at it's new address

http://www.livingveganblog.com

Add it to your RSS readers, yo!

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Try It Out Tuesdays: Raw Revolution Bars

I tried the Chocolate and Cashew Raw Revolution Bar.

I'm into the packaging and the name:


It says 'with sprouted flax seeds' so I thought, this bar is going to be gross, I couldn't imagine the texture of a sprouted seed in a bar - I was skeptical to say the least!

When I opened it, my hopes were raised, it looks like a chocolate bar!

Overall I was very impressed. It is definitely more tasty than Larabars and while there were some 'bits' in it, the texture was really good, the cashews were slightly crispy and the chocolate was very flavorful.

My only complaint was that I would have liked it to be just a tad sweeter, but I guess that really isn't what they are going for.

Overall I would purchase this item and try other flavors as well!


*If you have a product you would like me to review, please send an email to j88nny@hotmail.com.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Hot Chocolate

I know it's summer, but hot chocolate is just so comforting!

Mine is topped with Marshmallow Cream and shaved chocolate:


Los' is topped with whipped cream and cocoa powder:

Sunday, October 19, 2008

This Week's Brunch...

Carob-Chip Pancakes!

The carob chips in these pancakes are the perfect sweetness - sometimes I think chocolate chips are too sweet for brunch...

They are topped with some homemade mocha syrup and soya whipped topping!

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Biscoff Biscuits

If you've flown Delta lately you've probably been served delicious Biscoff biscuits. They are vegan (woohoo!) and deliciously light, crispy cookies with caramel after-tones. They're available for purchase from their own website (which is often not working) and from Amazon.com.

Friday, October 17, 2008

Soy Chicken Fingers

An awesome friend of ours sent a care package from Food Fight and in it was a box of Soy Chicken and we've been hooked ever since.



It's super-easy to make, you dump the contents of the package into a pot with 2 cups water, cover, boil, simmer for 15 minutes, remove from heat, let stand for 5 minutes, enjoy!

I breaded them and baked them for 10 minutes on each side to make chicken fingers:
Paired with some marinara sauce for dipping - we polished off the whole box for dinner - yum!

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Test 1

xxx

Smart Dogs

I am a huge proponent of Smart Dogs, I think that for omnivores, they're the most hotdog-like soydogs. They're REALLY good for you as compared to regular hotdogs and I frequently try to sell people on that fact. I've won over my parents and several co-workers, I find that once someone tries a Smart Dog they can't deny that they satisfy that craving for a hotdog.

Here's one with all the fixin's - chili, ketchup, mustard, and cheddar Sheese:

I make mine by lightly frying the Smart Dog with a little PAM, toasting the bun in the process.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

The Trouble with Trifles

The Trouble with Trifles

We had some friends over for dinner so I made a vegan trifle for dessert.

I prefer a rich trifle as opposed to a more traditional fruit trifle.

First, I whipped up some cream:

Then I layered the bottom with vanilla cake, lightly moistened with French Vanilla Silk Creamer and espresso, and vanilla pudding. On top of that was mocha mousse, chocolate cake, caramel mousse, and finally whipped cream.

The top was sprinkled with chocolate shavings and caramel and the coup de gras, a sugar disk:


The layers:

We enjoyed it with some tea:

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Rosemary Potatoes

These are like a mix between french fries, homefries, and mashed potatoes.

They are sauteed and lightly fried potato wedges seasoned with sea salt, garlic, and fresh rosemary.

The end result is a soft, mashed potato inner with a crispy, savory outer 'crust.'

Monday, October 13, 2008

Restaurant Review: Vinnies Brooklyn

Vinnie's is a vegan-friendly pizzaria in Brooklyn.


I tried the ham roll, it came with vgan mozzarella cheese, ham, and sauteed veggies. It was amazing!


LinkIf you're in the neighborhood, check out Penny Licks just down the block for dessert, or stay at Vinnie's for some delicious Vegan Treats!

Vinnie's
Bedford Ave. Between N. 8th and N. 9th
PHONE: (718) 782-7078

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Sunday, October 12, 2008

This Week's Brunch...

Vegan Treats Marshmallow Cream Doughnut!

Vegan Treats varies the types of doughnuts they carry daily, this one is a marshmallow cream doughnut - the filling is similar to the Bavarian Cream but with a marshmallow flavoring - yummers!!!

Saturday, October 11, 2008

'Ramen"

This is the best ramen I've ever had, it was at a Japanese Restaurant in Stroudsburg, PA, the chef came out to our table and asked what types of things we liked and then served us this and called it 'ramen' -- it was 4 or 5 diferent mushroom varieties, sauteed onions, baby bok-choy, and some other vegetables that I couldn't identify...


Clearly, calling it ramen is an understatement.

Friday, October 10, 2008

There's nothing...

like fresh watermelon for dinner!

Thursday, October 09, 2008

Pesto Snack

I have bunches and bunches of fresh basil on my porch, so I've been making small fresh batches of basil. This dish is chopped tomatoes, lightly sprinkled with sea salt, and toped with fresh pesto, served with some Dr. Krackers.



My recipe:
1/3 cup toasted walnuts
1 1/2 cups basil

Blend in food processor until well chopped and blended, serve immediately!

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

More Oodles of Cupcakes

I love these mini-cupcakes!


These are chocolate, with chocolate pudding, topped with chocolate-mocha ganache and drizzled with royal icing.

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

New Glasses

I was given some new 'wine' glasses - so I made a Nojito....

And cleared out some space in my sideboard!

Leather-Free Designers

I really like designer clothes/bags/shoes but unfortunately most are 1. leather & 2. way out of my price range!

More recently though, I LOVE how many designers are doing compilations with larger, less posh stores like Payless, Target, LeSportsac, etc.

Right now you can score a totally vegan (100%PVC) Anya Hindmarch bag at Target for $20 - $50.


A Stella McCartney bag (nylon and PVC) from LeSprtsac for $225



Or Vera Wang bags AND shoes from Kohls for $30-$50



I just love it!! :)

Monday, October 06, 2008

My Porch

I love my porch, I'm sad that it'll have to be dismantled soon as the weather gets colder :(