Coming soon...

Hi everyone! Today is the day for the talk. I plan to pick up the pace a bit after that and thought I would give you a taste of what is coming up. ;)

I plan to post recipes and photos of some of our current favorite things to eat, including a tempeh potpie!

Is anyone interested in a swap? I know that December can be a little rough for many people, but perhaps we could do a simple holiday card exchange, homemade or store-bought. Either way, we will definitely get the ball rolling in January!

There is a lot of great vegan literature out there! I have been reading bits and pieces of things to prepare for the talk. I will post some of my recommendations very soon! If you have read anything wonderful, please post about it in the comments! You can also check my Twitter profile (bird icon on the left) to see a few quotes from my readings.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful December so far!

November is here and so am I

Hello out there!! Sorry for dropping off the blog-world for another month. It will happen ;) Lately I've been feeding my new obsession: swap-bot. It's so great to send out happy bits of mail and find some in my box in return! Speaking of, if you would like a bit of happiness let me know or e-mail me with your snail mail addy and I would be happy to send a note or bit of mail art your way. It might be a few weeks (as I will discuss in a minute), but I'd be happy to do it. I'll be loading some photos up to Flickr soon and will be sure to post a link here.

In other news, next month I am giving a talk on vegetarianism, veganism and the in-between. The program is titled "Demystifing Vegetarianism." Isn't that an awesome title? A branch manager for one of the other library branches in town asked if I would be interested in hosting this and I had to say yes. I'm very nervous about it, but I am so excited for the opportunity to share some ideas with the community and promote any changes that people are willing to make (or consider)! I'm definitely a team player and value others thoughts and ideas, so if you have given a similar talk or have any helpful tips or thoughts please send them my way! The vegan blog community is AMAZING and I would love to hear your thoughts! If you're not a vegan, what sorts of things would you want to hear about? I will keep you updated with anything interesting that comes along in the process. 

We have a winner...

Congratulations to ikkinlala!!

This book had been banned by the Republic school system, very close to where I live. The Springfield-Greene County library system received a grant allowing Sarah Ockler, the author, to come and speak in the area. It was an amazing opportunity for the community and I'm so happy to be able to celebrate and pass on the love of banned books! For the curious, here's my previous blog entry about the giveaway. To learn more about the book here's a link to goodreads.

Yo swappers! Want a sweet treat in the mail?

Vegan MoFo Swap 2: Sweet Treats

 

**This swap has been postponed until further notice. Please feel free to comment or contact me if you are interested and I can let you know when it happens :)

Did I mention that we are having two swaps this month? Well, that was no lie!

Sweet Treats Swap:

* You will send a package with one sweet item (regular sized candy bar, large cookie, etc.) to one other person! Feel free to send a sample of smaller chocolates or sweets, as long as they are equal in value to a regular sized item it is fine ;) You are welcome to send more, but this is all that is expected ;) Sweets may be store-bought or homemade!

* To sign up, leave a comment below or send me an e-mail. Please contact me if you have any dietary restrictions, allergies or general dislikes (people who don't like chocolate do exist! strange, I know!). I will pass that information on to your partner, but do not let this keep you from signing up!

* Sign-ups close on Mon., Oct. 31. You will receive your swap partner's information sometime the next day.

* Swaps should be sent out by Fri., Nov. 11. If you are unable to send it at that time, please send early or do not sign up.

* If you are a first time swapper, please send your snail mail info. to me at aveganfox[at]gmail[dot]com

* Questions or thoughts? E-mail me or comment below!

This is just a fun way to send a little sweetness in the mail :)

By the way, I am getting very excited about mail swaps, mail art, postcards, etc.! If you are interested in doing a separate, one-on-one swap please e-mail me and we will set something up!

VeganMoFo: Pumpkin Harvest Curry

A few days left for the Banned Book Giveaway!

Last night I met up with an awesome group of vegans, vegetarians and anyone else interested! We have a group set up on Facebook for anyone in the area to join. This was our first meet-up and around 15 people showed up! Next month we're going to have a vegan Thanksgiving potluck and I'm psyched!

Over the past year I've become very intrigued by mail art and mail correspondence in general. I've mentioned the bookmark exchanges on goodreads before and these have really added to my interest. A week or so ago I signed up for swap-bot. If you like receiving and sending mail you should definitely check it out! Feel free to look me up and give a shout ;)

Here's a package I sent out this morning (my first bit of mail art; before postage):

There's an awesome crew of vegan bloggers in the Vegan Cooking and Cookbooks group on goodreads. In honor of Vegan MoFo we decided to hold a cooking challenge! Each of will make a pumpkin dish and post about it on our blogs. I will list links to each of their entries at the end!

For this challenge I decided to use fresh pumpkin. I've only cooked with the canned stuff and pumpkin seeds in the past, so I thought this would be interesting :) I picked out a leaning medium pumpkin that I took fancy to at a local produce stand, but from what I've read since you might want a smaller pumpkin. Evidently, smaller pumpkins are ideal for cooking as they will have more flavor. In the end, we were pleased with the results, so no complaints from this house!

Pumpkin Harvest Curry 

I just threw in spices that appealed to me in the process so please adjust and experiment to suit your tastes!

The Goods:
1/2 med. pumpkin
1 pkg tempeh
1 zucchini
2 sm. or 1 lrg. red pepper
1/2 red onion
1 can coconut milk
1 c. water (add more as needed)
sesame oil
tamari or other soy sauce
curry spice mix
cinnamon
coriander (freshly ground)
garam masala spice mix
ginger
lemon juice
pinch of salt (if needed)

Pumpkin:
Divide the pumpkin into eighths and roast at 350 F for 30-45 min. Set aside.

Zucchini, pepper, and onion:
Slice and fry at medium-high heat in a dry skillet (I use cast-iron) for 1-3 minutes. You want these to stay crisp to add a little variety to the textures in the dish.

Tempeh:
Add a little sesame oil to the skillet. The skillet should already be warm from the veggies. Toss in tempeh and splash a little tamari or soy sauce on top. Once brown, set to the side. 

Curry Sauce:
Add sesame oil to the skillet. Add all spices and stir around for 30 seconds or so. Add enough water to cover the bottom of the pan and mix with spices. Let this sit for a minute or so. This is the base of your sauce, like using a curry paste. Add the coconut milk and cup of water and mix thoroughly. Then let the sauce simmer over medium low or medium heat for 10-15 minutes.

Putting it all together:
Mix everything into the sauce, add a splash of lemon juice, and let simmer for a few minutes. You want everything to absorb a little of the flavor of the sauce without losing the crispness of the veggies.

Serve over rice and enjoy!

 

Pumpkin Cooking Challenge!

Pumpkin Oatmeal Squares ~ Plenty Sweet Enough

Pumpkin Curry with Lentils ~ A Cowhugger's Life
Vegan Baked Pumpkin-Bourbon French Toast with Pepita Caramel Syrup ~ The Blooming Platter of Vegan Recipes

Sweet Potato Pumpkin Lasagna ~ Carrot Top Vegan

Liebster Award ~ Thanks Farrah!

Thanks Farrah! Farrah's a new vegan who has an awesome blog that you should definitely check out ~ Carrot Top Vegan.
 

"Liebster" is German for 'dearest' or 'beloved' but it can also mean 'favorite'. The idea behind this award is to bring attention to blogs with fewer than 200 followers and show some support.

The rules of winning this award are as follows:

1. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.

2. Reveal 5 of your top picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.

3. Post the award on your blog.

4. Enjoy the love and support of some wonderful people on the www!

I am so honored to receive this award a second time :) Especially because it means that I get to share the love! Once again it is so freakin' hard to choose! For this round I have chosen some of my fav's over 100, but still under the 200 follower mark (last time I tried to stay under 100) and some newer fav's. Once again these are all AMAZING blogs that you should check them out!:

*Vegan Flower*

 *Coffee & Sunshine*

*Vegan CineGrub*

*VegSpinz*

*Bread Without Butter*

Liebster Award ~ Thanks Val!

Thank you so much Val! Please check out her blog, A Cowhugger's Life. As some of you know I'm a huge fan of goodreads. We have a great vegan group on goodreads with awesome bloggers, like A Cowhugger's Life ;) In the past I've been really bad about award posts, so I'm posting this asap before it gets left behind!

"Liebster" is German for 'dearest' or 'beloved' but it can also mean 'favorite'. The idea behind this award is to bring attention to blogs with fewer than 200 followers and show some support.

The rules of winning this award are as follows:

1. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.

2. Reveal 5 of your top picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.

3. Post the award on your blog.

4. Enjoy the love and support of some wonderful people on the www!

It is NOT at all easy to pick, but all of these bloggers deserve it! They are all awesome and you should check them out!:

*Zombie Cats Eating Plants*

*Vegan and so Forth*

*Dandelion Vegan Blog*

*lovinlivinvegan*

*Budgeting with the Bushmans*

Want to get in on the action?:
* Recipe Swap ~ sign-up by Oct. 15
* Book Giveaway ~ sign-up by Oct. 18