Merry Christmas

Snow has fallen, ugly sweaters have been worn, and I am soooo glad I won't have to hear anymore Christmas music. Merry Christmas from Whitney and Joseph and Zdzislaw!

...These are a few of my favorite things

Word to the wise, if you get a holiday retail job, you will be driven insane by the constant Christmas music. It has officially crossed the line from annoying me to making me want to gauge my ears out with candy canes. The combination of a certain overplayed song (which I'm still not sure how it is related to Christmas) and the end of the year lists that I love reading, has led me to create of things I have come to adore in 2010.

1. Salty Chocolate

Like a Jeff Bridge's western, it has managed to combine two things I love and make it more awesome. Chocolove's Sea Salt and Almond Dark Chocolate and Chuao Chocolatier Cafe's Sea Salt and Panko are my favorites. Both feed my cravings for sweet and salty, and I figure that the heart-healthy benefits of dark chocolate balance the badness of salt (Kinda like Spark's without the whole "kills college freshmen" side effects).

2. NPR

I can't believe people are trying to shut it down. Modern media and life can be so mind numbing, its refreshing to learn things other than which psuedo-celebutante in in rehab. I love Science Friday, The Splendid Table, Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, and This American Life. It's free and commercial free, if that is "left wing" and wrong, I don't want to be right.

3. Not being constantly plugged in.

I don't have a SmartPhone, leave my cell phone at home and hate texting, and have never gotten cable. And that's the way I plan to keep it. Though I love the Internet for all the lovely podcasts, music, blogs, and recipes it supplies me (not to mention using google to prove I'm right in petty arguments), I feel like the constant flood of social networking and shiny images make peoples insensitive and less grateful for knowledge. PS: IPads can stuff it.

4. Moustaches

I don't know, I just like 'em.

5. Soup

Soup is good anytime, but in Midwestern winters, it's a necessity. Super easy to make and there are no shortage of yummy veggie varieties. Just mix spices, veggies, grains, veg broth, and sometimes fruit. Saute this, puree that, and you have a solid, hearty meal. Soup is the true working man's food.

6. Secondhand books

Fifty cent books are a gateway drug for authors I have been sceptical about before. A ten or fifty cent risk at Goodwill or the library has paid off by introducing me to Barbara Kingsolver, Margaret Atwood, and Jonathan Franzen. Way cheaper and less soul sucking than chain bookstores.

Other things people should unconditionally love: Turkish pistachios, nutritional yeast, Community, Paul Newman, peppermint tea, black cardigans, Bobbi Brown, and composition notebooks.

We are going to Chicago to eat and have fun for a few days. I am so excited and am totally gonna stalk Oprah and climb the Sears Tower.

mofo survery #1

What's your favorite spice or spice blend?

Is it boring if I say cumin? either that or... actually I can't think of a rival.

You have $20 to spend on fresh groceries and produce for the whole week (with a fairly well stocked pantry of dry goods, legumes, grains, and spices). What do you buy?

Knowing me, I'd prolly waste it all on cereal and almond milk. If I was being good, I'd stock up on sweet potatos, onions, garlic, brocolli, spinach, and kale. Out here that would take up the whole 20 dolares.

What's your favorite way to make tofu?
Mmmm. marinated in soy sauce and white wine, coated in corn starch and flour, fried, then sprinkled with salt and pepper. I said I was vegan, I never said I was a saint.

Vegan guilty pleasure?

Ranch dressing-style dip made with dill and Vegenaise, then Snap Pea Crisps for dipping.

If you could make anyone vegan, who would it be?

Ted Nugent... lol

If you could only read one other vegan blog, what would it be?

PPK or cuteanddelicous

Were you always interested in cooking, or did veganism change the way you saw and interacted with food?

I was always super picky and lame with food. I didn't have a burrito until I went vegan at 18! I was the diet coke and pop-tart kinda girl. Veganism introduced me to cooking and being connected with my body and food.

Excluding analogues, what new things have you tried that you probably wouldn't have as an omni?

I hated mayo. Now I love Vegenaise, I guess thats's an analogue tho. I hated most sauces and toppings (ketchup, mustard, gravy).

What is the one vegan staple that everyone seems to love, but you can't get behind?

Pickles! I know they are not a vegan thing, but everyone seems to love them. Josef is the only vegan I know who shares my hatred of pickles, and that, my friends, is true love.

What was your first "wow, I'm such a stereotypical vegan" moment?

The time I got in a screaming arguement with an ex-vegan about "righteous soy" and hot dogs. Ha ha. Or when I ate toast sprinkled with nooch for dinner all week.

First recipe you veganized?

Eggplant parm, I learned to make it at the Italian restruarant I worked at, then veganized it for my boyfriend at the time.

What would you like to veganize, but haven't yet?

Creme Brulee, corn souffle, bread pudding.

Favorite kitchen utensil/appliance?

It used to be my magic bullet, until it was lost to the universe. Now, I guess its the waffle iron my sister gave me.

Most disastrous kitchen failure?

My first time using tofu, I read that I should freeze it to get a meaty texture, so I froze but didn't know to fully defrost. It had the constistency of dog food, blehhh, I think it really put my family off to the whole vegan thing for awhile.

First vegan cookbook?

How it all Vegan, it was my how-to manual when I first changed. I love the PB Cups still.

What question about being vegan do you HATE answering?

What do you eat?! Like the food world consists of eggs, meat, and dairy. I usually respond saying "There are about ten things I don't eat, and a whole universe of things that I do."

If you could tell the world one thing about vegans, what would it be?

We are not elitists or snobs. This isn't a diet trend and being vegan can be easy and fun. I'm with Isa when she says that veganism should be the lifestyle of the people.

Funniest vegetable?

??? Sweet potatos, I guess, because they kinda look like wangs.

What is a family recipe you have veganized?

Our no-bake cookies with oatmeal, peanut butter, and cocoa. And Sonoran Enchiladas. Not much to veganize. It was a shake and bake kinda family.

Weirdest food combination ?

Anything+ potato chips.

Is there something you wish you could veganize, but can't/couldn't?

The only thing I wish for right now is a fully equiped, stocked kitchen, so I could have an answer to that question.

Favorite ways to prepare tofu, seitan, tempeh, any other vegan proteins?

Stirfry when I'm being healthy. Pan-fried and breaded when I am being Whitney.

Are your pets vegan? if so, what do you feed them?

Mostly, I feed him Nature's Recipe Vegetarian Canine Formula and make him dog treats out of peanut butter. Idk, tho, does poop count as vegan? Cause he eats a lot of that when I leave him unattended.

Favorite non-dairy milk?

Almond Breeze Vanilla. Its the cheapest and healthiest avialable out here. Rice Dream is good for a treat, tho.

What’s one “vegan myth” you’d like to squash?

Where do you get your protein? lol. Protein is not hard to get. I also hate that veganism gets a rap for making ppl sick.

Stuffed Mushrooms

I made stuffed mushrooms for the first time! I usually leave that task to Joseph because he always makes delicious faux-sausage stuffed baby bellas. However, I was craving some super bad and he was working late. After running back and forth a couple times asking for cooking tips, I finally threw together:



Roasted Garlic Stuffed Mushrooms



...and they were delectable



First:



Roast one bulb of garlic (remove most of skin, drizzle with a lil oil, wrap in aluminum foil, cook at 400 for 35 minutes)



Then:



1 container baby bella mushrooms, stems removed and reserved



1/2 onion, diced



Marinate the mushroom caps in a 1:1 balsamic vinegar and olive oil mix. Saute the mushroom stems and onion until onion is translucent. Set both aside.



Toast 1/3 cup walnuts. Pulse in a food processor until crumbly. Once onion mixture is cooled, add to food processor and pulse. Squeeze the delicious innards of the roasted garlic into the f.p. and pulse.



Mix in 1/2 cup bread crumbs Season with salt and pepper. Remove mushroom caps from marinade and stuff with walnut/onion/garlic concoction. Place in a lightly oil baking dish and cook at 350 for 15 minutes.

I made these with a sheperds pie and they paired well. We ate 'em all and let god sort them out.

Vegan's Guide to Phoenix, from a Phoenican at large

When I tell people out here that I'm from Phoenix, they give me a twangy "Well, you're a long way from home. Why are you here?" Like I was blown here in a tornado. The Midwest has its good points. The beautiful Autumns, first snowfalls, the trees everywhere, delicious veggies in the spring, my bunny friends, the lady next to me at a stoplight drinking a Bud light... well maybe not the last part.

Abundant in veganism, or animal rights, it is not. I'd like to think the scarcity of a decent, fast meal makes me appreciate food more, but that point is really hard to hold onto when it is 10pm, Joseph and I are driving around looking for something, ANYTHING, to quench our ravenous hunger. "Remember the vegan crab puffs at Green?" I say, like a reminiscent junkie. "Remember being able to get falafal at every street corner?"

I lived in Phoenix for twenty years, three as a vegan, and learned many things: Phoenix is fickle, Phoenix is fleeting, one day you will have discovered the perfect vegan brunch and the next month it is closed down (Coughs, Mandolin Tea Room, Coughs). Or they used to be vegan; then they sold out and now their only vegan option is a pb and j sandwich (Three Roots).

But I am here not to discuss what is no longer. I am here to discuss the everlasting present.

Green is prolly the most popular, and one of the few strictly vegan, eateries. They do an all-American, fast foodie take on veganism. Some of it is on the richer side, like the Spicy G Po' Boy (Joseph's favorite) or the BBQ Chicken Sandwich (My favorite and winner of some national award). The sides are yummy, like the aforementioned crab puffs, buffalo wings, and the thyme fries. They also do salads and Tsoynamis, which are like Blizzards and oatmeal cookies, which are like Lil Debbies. The staff was always friendly and the setting is casual, with bike spokes and Daniel Jonston (sp?) lyrics posted on the walls.

Mediterranean food is available practically everywhere in the Valley. Skip the chains like Extreme Pita and the Pita Pit, their falafal is bland and crumbly. The best spots are the mom and pop places like Haji Baba by ASU. Just be wary of the sun-crinkled, hungover co-eds.

The Blue Nile, an Ethiopian cafe in Tempe, has decent falafal, but their combo platters, which you pick from choices including stewed eggplant, squash and spicy peas, then sop up with injera, are their strength. They also do raw food Sundays and have (creamy!) vegan orange cake.

I have only been to Chakra 4 Herb and Tea House once, but would have gone more had it been closer and if I had one of those jobs that pays you a lot. Everything was out of my price range, but they had inventive tea selections (chai!), artisan chocolates, and raw options, especially dips. It has funky daytime hours, like Inn Season Deli (vegan tamales on Mill Ave.), so they are hard to catch.

The only vegan buffet I've ever been to in Udupi Cafe in Tempe, a vegetarian Indian spot just down the street from Green. The lunch buffet is worth catching and gorging on, but I preferred getting an appetizer platter with samosas and pakoras, and splitting a huge entree with Joseph.

I don't know what weird conspiracy/cult thing they have going on at The Loving Hut, formerly the Vegetarian House, but I do know four things: 1) Their banana cake sucks. 2) Their lemongrass chicken most certainly does not suck. I can never get enough of those little crispy things. 3) Ditto that for the sweet and sour pork, which my very much carnivorous brother-in-law recommended to me. 4) Their rosewater lemonade was the best lemonade I've ever had.

I also have the guilty-pleasure chains that I miss, like Chipotle and P.F. Chang's. I remember going veg and being all "Aw this is so fun, being vegan is easy", then eating a burrito the size of a small baby. Grocery stores don't carry tofu out here, if they do it's 4 bucks a pop. In Phoenix, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Sprouts, and Sunflower Markets are bountiful. You can snork nooch, get vegan cookies, and get tofu for a buck. Here, I have to drive 100 miles to get that delicious fairy dust known as nutritional yeast.

Yes, the middle of nowhere has its draw backs, but travelling has introduced me to the random vegan yumminess strung throughout the country...

Holy Snaps, It's Vegan MoFo

What with all this hub-bub over Halloween, and the elections (which are almost as rowdy as Halloween, seeing as the shop is next to a Democrat Party stronghold/headquaters), I forgot it was the Vegan Month of Food.

Fail! But seeing as the vegan moto is partially, "at first you don't succeed, put down the cheese and try again", I will try to be more diligent in my postings.

Incidentally, this is the first year I know what Vegan MoFo actually means. I've just spent the pass few years thinking vegan bloggers were super badass and gnarly, like they would take a shot of scotch and slap you in the face with Gardien if you insulted tofu. ANYWAYS...

Seeing as the Midwest, my current basecamp, is less than veggie-friendly, I used the shop Halloween Party to stage a level one vegan infiltration:

Cupcakes

I baked the Golden Vanilla Cupcakes and Chocolate Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World topped with Fluffy Buttercream Frosting then splattered raspberry syrup on the tops to match my zombie costume. Since becoming vegan, I've fallen into the habit of buying people's love and acceptance with baking. It's a slippery slope, because now every birthday/holiday I end up having the role of cupcake lady. In fact, I was even tempted to bake something for the Democrats next door, like maybe some black and orange cupcakes for Christine McDonnell that have leftover witch toppers on it. Instead I just sacrificed a chocolate chip scone to an effigy of Abraham Lincoln and called it a day.

Good news is that everyone from devout hunters to hockey moms were into the cupcakes, even after they found out they were vegan. Sage's dad even suggested I open up a cafe, seeing as the healthiest place to eat in Yankton is a place at the mall that also sells wigs too. Yuck.

Sugar-free Posts for Mum

My mum is giving sugar for the days leading up the the Shun the Sun Marathon that she organizes. (Yeah, my mom is more metal than your mom, don't be jealous).
I decided to dedicate some recipes for her that are both refined sugar free and things that we both enjoyed when I was a kid. I didn't grow up in one of those "make everything from scratch" families. I frequently ate Pop-Tarts for both breakfast and lunch. Sunday night dessert was white cake mix dumped over canned fruit. Now, there is a time and place for such things in life (except for the Pop-Tarts, bleech), therefore these recipes easy to whip up without have to whip out the blender and oven.

Mayan Hot Chocolate

Spicy, Low-Cal, but still decadent

2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk

3 tbs. cocoa powder

1 tsp. cinnamon
Tiny pinch of cayanne pepper

Dash of salt

2 Tbs. Agave Nector
or
3 tbs. Truvia (stevia powder)



Mix spices, cocoa, and agave. Add almond milk. Heat over low on stove or zap in microwave for

90 seconds. Tops with Ricemellow Creme if desired.


Pumpkin Easecake
Yeah, That's Right, Clever Vegan Wordplay

1 can pumpkin
1 tbs. cinnamon
1/2 tps. nutmeg
Pinch Salt
2 tbs. agave
or
2 tbs. Truvia


Mix in bowl. Heat for two minutes in microwave. Serve warm or chill in freezer for 20 minutes.
Top With:
6 oz. vegan Tofutti plain cream cheese
3 tbs. Agave
1/2 tps. vanilla extract

Mix until homogenous. Chill if desired.