Living in the Raw - Cookbook Review

Enter here before 7 p.m. on Monday, January 24 for a chance to win one of four cookbooks!

Living in the Raw contains an assortment of raw fare. It opens with some general info. on raw living, such as sprouting and transitioning to a healthier lifestyle. For these recipes you will need the usual weapons of a well-tooled raw kitchen: food processor, blender, and dehydrator. We chose to make several dips, since we do not have a dehydrator, and were very pleased with each of them.

My only complaints are against full pages reserved for short recipes, like zucchini chips, that could have easily fit the two other recipes like it. This only occurred in a few places, however. When it came to the juice section, pages were happily shared between recipes.

For the newbie interested in trying raw recipes or others who want to add a few to the collection, this book would make a great addition.

Avocado Dulse Dip

If you like avocados, you'll like this :) This seaside guacamole is just as friendly as it's cousin.














Spinach Herb Dip

This was a very nice, herby dip. I would recommend using it as a topping on pizza or on a sandwich coupled with something like the "Crab Delight." On its own it's decent, but it is best paired with something else. We only had 1/4 lb. of spinach left and the dish calls for a full pound. I love the creamy taste of avocado and was just fine without the extra spinach. The herb combination was good and I'm excited to revisit this when I have some fresh herbs in the garden!














"Crab" Delight

This was our favorite! Perhaps because we've never really made anything like this. It's made up mostly of almonds and is oh-so-filling. We added in some dulse flakes and a little veganaise to make dipping easier. I also liked the additional creaminess from the veganaise, making it a perfect sandwich filling ;)

Sproutman's Kitchen Garden Cookbook - Book Review

This book really excites me! Someday I will borrow or purchase a dehydrator and make some sprouted bread of my own. Unfortunately, I have not tried any of these recipes. The recipes I most wanted to make call for a dehydrator or, as you might guess, advanced planning for sprouting.

It is full of exciting recipes, such as Sweet Potato Raisin Sprout Bread, Sprout Pizza Dough, Cashew-Apple Nuggets, Cashew Egg Nog, Sunflower Farmer Cheese, California Wine, Coffee Ice Cream, Dried Onion Rings, Sunny Parmesan Cheese, Manhattan Sprout Chowder, Natural Sesame Halvah, Braised Tofu, and much more.

Prepare to be entertained by cute, and sometimes flirtatious, cartoon sketches, sketches ("Sproutman Meets The Marx Bros"), and poetry ("Ode to the Banana"). I also found this book to be very informative. It contains information on the benefits of sprouting, the benefits of alternatives to dairy, and benefits of light cooking (or dehydrating).

Without having tried any of the recipes, I still feel as though I have gained a lot from this book. There are very detailed explanations on the processes used in each recipe, as well as the information I mentioned above.

Some recipes do use honey, so this book is not completely vegan. But without having actually tasted anything, that was the only fault I found in this book. And luckily, there are easy substitutions for honey.

Has anyone tried any of these recipes? Feel free to list your experiences with this book in the comments!

Speed Vegan - Cookbook Review

Everything we have tasted from Speed Vegan has been very enjoyable. Besides the good tastes, one of my favorite things about this book is the personality. The titles are pretty straight forward, labeled for what they are, but it's the introductions and descriptions for each dish that entertain. Roettinger might tell a little story of how the dish came to be or tell you why he thinks a dish is tasty. I enjoyed these little snippets :)

In general, the recipes from start to finish have been speedy to make. As for ingredients, you must plan ahead. Though they are listed in the "Stocking the Vegan Pantry" section, many recipes included one or two ingredients that I do not regularly have on hand. So speedy, yes, as long as you have all of the ingredients ahead of time. Right after the pantry section are the "Jump Starts," which include recipes for other pantry items to stock. How cool! One other thing I'll mention, there is huge salad section, almost 50 pages worth. I'm really not much of a salad eater and it takes much convincing for me to remember that I do enjoy them (usually by eating one someone else has served me ;) But for those of you that do salads, there are plenty of options here.

Everything we tried took 30 minutes or less to prepare, that includes chopping veggies and all prep. I'm not very good about pulling everything I need out of the cabinets before I begin, so it even makes time for that ;)

The color images are tasty, but the black and white images I could do without. I don't think they add much to the book and many of them look a little grainy and unimpressive (perhaps due to printing). If you have flipped through this book and had similar thoughts, making you question the book's quality, I would suggest that you give this one a second chance. Once you have gathered the ingredients and made a few recipes, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Since this book is about the speed, I will list approximate cooking times for each dish, based on my experience. Sample recipes can be found on Alan Roettinger's website, the author of Speed Vegan.

Glass Noodle Salad with Spicy Peanut Sauce
Start - Finish ~ 30 min.
Haha...know what I said about salads? Well, I was being honest. Although, pasta salads are more likely to catch my eye. But we didn't eat this one as a salad. We couldn't find any glass noodles (or mung bean threads) and decided to warm this dish up with sprouted wheat noodles instead.

Often I am disappointed by the heat level of "spicy" dishes in cookbooks, but this one was pleasantly spicy. Not hot enough to need a sip of water between every bite, but enough to enjoy and recognize it as a spicy dish.

We substituted sprouted noodles for the glass noodles and cashew butter for the peanut butter. We may have added a little more garlic as well; I used 3-4 cloves. The cucumbers made this dish fresh and crisp, and every ingredient in the sauce blended to leave my mouth savoring each component. If you like to tweak recipes as you go, I would definitely recommend trying the sauce "as is" on the first round. Other things that would go great in this dish: green onions and avocado.

Tofu and Soba Noodles with Hot-Sweet-Sour-Pungent Sauce
Start - Finish ~ less than 20 min.
It has been many months since we made this dish. But what I can tell you is, we liked it so much that it became a quick meal staple. We just wore this one out and haven't added it back into the rotation.

Hominy Hash

Start - Finish ~ 25 min.
Do you gaze with longing at small diners wishing there was something on the menu for you? Does your mouth start to water when you hear the words "homestyle cookin'?" If so, then this might be a dish for you. A different take on the traditional hash, this one uses hominy instead of potatoes and smothers the whole dish in tomato paste. It's really great. This was my first time (to my memory) that I have every eaten hominy and it will not be the last. And since it's so cold outside, it seems only fair to post the recipe so that your belly can be overwhelmed with a warm, filling happy feeling.

We did not make the garlic oil, or have any on hand, and I have no doubt that it would have been a spectacular addition. The dish is good, either way. We actually used 2 cans of hominy, one white and one golden. We used a 6 oz. can of tomato paste. For the sausages we made a black bean version of a recipe from Vegan Brunch and we would happily do it again ;)

Thanks to the kind folks at BPC, I get to share this recipe with you. Enjoy!

Hominy Hash
4 Tbl. olive oil
4 (3 oz.) vegan Italian sausages
1 red onion
2 stalks celery, finely diced
1 green bell pepper, finely diced
1 can (15 oz) white hominy
1/2 c. tomato paste
1/2 t. sea salt
1/4 t. ground black pepper
2 Tbl. chopped fresh parsley
1/2 c. Garlic oil
Sriracha sauce (optional - but I highly recommend it!)

Put 2 Tbl. of olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Crumble the sausage into the pan and cook, stirring constantly until it has browned lightly (about 2 min.). Transfer to a plate and cover to keep warm.

Return the pan to the heat and add the remaining 2 Tbl. of olive oil. Add the onion and cook, stirring constatly for 1 - 2 min., or until softened. Add the celery and bell pepper and cook, stirring, for 2 min. Add the hominy and cook fo 2 min. Add the tomato puree, salt, and pepper. Cover the pan, decrease the heat to medium, and cook for 5 min., or until the vegetables are tender.

Add the sausage and parsley, stirring well until the mixture has warmed through. Serve at once with garlic oil and Sriracha sauce on the side.

My First Blogiversary! (and giveaway :)

Cam and me playing in the snow last winter

[This giveaway is now closed]

One year ago today I started this blog. Inspired by reading so many wonderful vegan food blogs (secretly ;) I finally decided to try it out myself. It has been wonderful. Mostly because I have had the opportunity to meet so many wonderful bloggers online!
SO the main event of the day: a giveaway!! Something I have been meaning to do for many months now, but might as well start this year off with a bang, right?

Here's the deal, I will give away two books.
How to play:
* Leave a comment with your first and second choices of the four books listed. Be sure that you leave a way for me to contact you. (If your e-mail address is connected to your profile, that works)
* All winners will be chosen at random and announced on Monday, January 24.
* The first person drawn will receive their first choice.
* The second person drawn will receive their first choice, if different from the first winner's, and otherwise, their second choice.

What can you win??

Before the giveaway is over I will post a review of each book. Most reviews will pop up next week.

Book Reviews:
Living in the Raw
Speed Vegan
Sproutman's Kitchen Garden Cookbook
Sweet Utopia
- Chocolate Chip and Nut Streusel Coffee Cake
- Chocolate-Covered Almond Tangerine Balls

Chocolate-Covered Almond Tangerine Balls

Chocolate-Covered Almond Tangerine Balls
from Sweet Utopia by Sharon Valencik

4 small tangerines
2 c. sugar
1 lb. raw or lightly toasted slivered almonds
1 c. choc. chips or 6 oz. semisweet choc. (melted)

Squeeze the juice from 1 of the tangerines and strain it through a fine-mesh strainer.  Combine the juice with the sugar in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil on medium heat, stiffing often.  Lower the heat slightly and simmer for 10 minutes.  Let cool.

Rinse and peel the remaining tangerines.  Place the peels in a small saucepan with enough water to cover them completely and bring to a boil.  (Save the fruit to eat at another time.)  Boil the peels for 5 minutes *start timing after the water boils).  Drain and rinse the peels under cold water.  Drain again and pat them dry thoroughly with paper towels so there is minimal moisture on the peels.  Remove any black spots.

Combine the peels and the almonds in a food processor and process until finely ground, stopping to scrape down the sides of the container as necessary.  You may need to process them in 2 batches, depending on the size of your food processor.  Do not let the mixture become a paste.  Transfer to a bowl, add the juice mixture, and stir with a wooden spoon until evenly combined.

Shape into 1-inch balls using wet hands.  Let the balls rest uncovered at room temperature for 8 to 12 hours to dry out a bit.

Dip the balls in the melted chocolate until evenly coated all over.  Arrange the coated balls in a single layer on waxed paper and refrigerate to allow the chocolate to harden.  Store layers of balls between waxed paper in a sealed container in the refrigerator.

______
Don't these sound delicious?  The pic. is from the book because I still have yet to try them.  But if any of you do soon, feel free to send me the pic and I'll put it up ;)

More from Sweet Utopia:
Chocolate Chip and Nut Streusel Coffee Cake
Book Review

This weekend I am headed up to Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage with a few girlfriends.  And I'm psyched!  We're staying at the Milkweed Mercantile  and attending a canning seminar.  I will try to take some photos, but sometimes I get a bit carried away and forget to use my camera.  Regardless, you WILL hear about the adventure ;)

Chocolate Chip and Nut Streusel Coffee Cake

Maybe your taste buds are aching to have a go at a recipe from Sweet Utopia after reading my last entry.  Here's the first promised recipe.  Of everything I tasted, this was by far my favorite and I hope that you enjoy it, too!  As I mentioned, you can replace the granulated sugar with date sugar and it tastes great.  Everything else we kept the same.  For the vegan butter substitute I think we used Coconut Oil.  We did not have a springform pan and just used a 9 in. square pan, which worked just fine.  Also, we do not have an electric mixer and did not find it necessary.

Chocolate Chip and Nut Streusel Coffee Cake
from Sweet Utopia by Sharon Valencik

For Coffee Cake:
2 c. AP Flour
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1 1/4 c. granulated sugar
1 c. soy cream cheese
1/2 c. vegan butter substitute, room temp.
3/4 c. soymilk
2t. white vinegar
1 t. vanilla extract
1 1/4 c. nondairy choc. chips

Streusel Topping:
1/3 c. granulated, brown or turbinado sugar
1 1/2 t. ground cinnammon
1/2 - 2/3c. chopped walnuts or pecans

Preheat oven: 350 degrees.  Oil and flour a 9 in. springform pan.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl.  In a separate large bowl, combine sugar, cream cheese, and "butter."  Beat with an electric mixer until smooth.  Beat in soymilk, vinegar, and vanilla extract.  Add the flour mixture and stir until just combined.  Fold in chocolate chips.  Pour half of the cake batter evenly into the prepared pan.

To make the streusel topping, combine the sugar and cinnamon.  Add the nutes and toss until evenly mixed.  Sprinkle half of the streusel topping over the batter in the pan.  Pour the remaing batter evenly into the pan and sprinkle with the remaining streusel topping.

Bake for 50 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown on top.  Cool before removing from the pan and slicing.

Thanks to the Book Publishing Company for allowing me to share this wonderful recipe with you!

Sweet Utopia

With a book like this, what's the first thing I do?  Flip through the pages and drool over the pictures.  And oh man, everything looks mouth-watering tasty! And believe me, I wanted to try everything.  (Check out this site for more images and recipes;)  So, I would like to take a moment to thank the Book Publishing Company for tempting me with such delicious things straight out of my mailbox and then giving me the opportunity to share such things with you!

A Little Education

Like many cookbooks on the shelves these days, Sweet Utopia by Sharon Valencik contains a "Stocking the Kitchen" section to inform you of anything you might need for the recipes.  Next, in "Succeed in Vegan Baking," Valencik shares a few tips on particular ingredients, including substitution and conversion charts.  Vegans with an assortment of cookbooks or experience will be able to skip this section, but these things are helpful for those new to vegan baking.  I am disappointed to see Nonvegan Alternatives listed in the substitution chart and, in general, find most of what this chart contains common sense.
 

The Sweets

What comes next?  What do you think?!  The good stuff, that's what.  All of the sweet treats are divided into five tasty chapters:  Decadent Cakes, Scrumptious Cookies, Creamy Cheesecakes and Pies, Velvety Mousses, Puddings and Cremes, AND Luscious Treats.  Most of the titles are pretty descriptive in their offerings, but let me clue you on what you can find in the last chapter.  Luscious Treats includes coconut tiramisu, chocolate-covered almond tangerine balls (I'm still dying to try these!), chocolate-rose halvah balls and more!  Over at Vegan Family Style, Debra has collected the whole contents page if you would like to check it out.

Sweet Tastes

We tried the Chocolate Chip and Nut Streusel Coffee Cake, Very Berry Corn Muffins, Tahini-Coconut-Oatmeal Cookies, and the Cocoa-Berry Cake with Berry Cream Frosting :)  For the Tahini Cookies I basically followed the recipe and even with regular raw sugar these were subtly sweet, which suited them fine.  For the other three we used alternative sweeteners, date sugar for the most part.  The Very Berry Corn Muffins were about what you would expect and were a pleasant afternoon snack.  The Cocoa-Berry Cake was interesting.  I don't think that ours turned out very well because perhaps other changes needed to be made to accommodate the sweetener change.  I did, however, enjoy the texture of the cake, though the flavor wasn't exactly what I was hoping for.  Now, the Coffee Cake?!  This was my favorite!  It was amazing.  We used date sugar in the cake and in the streusel topping and this worked out just fine.  The texture and flavor were both quite desirable and it looked quite nice, too.  With a cup of the coffee on the side, well, what do you think?  AMAZING!

Overall

I think this is a worthy purchase.  Valencik has created some interesting, new spins on old favorites and made some gourmet-style treats seem quite obtainable from your home kitchen.  You may have to pick up some new ingredients that you wouldn't normally have on hand and put aside some extra time in the kitchen.  But I think you will find it all quite worth your while :)

***Stay tuned for a couple of sample recipes.  I will feature one that I made and one that I am dying to try.  You can also expect more cookbook reviews with a GIVEAWAY at the end.***

Contest Preview

Way back in April I mentioned that I would be having my very own contest :)  Well, it's coming up in the next week or two.  First I will be reviewing Sweet Utopia and provided you with sneak peaks at a couple of recipes.  Since we still have yet to purchase a new blender or food processor, I have not tried many recipes from Living in the Raw or Sproutman's Kitchen Garden Cookbook, but I will still provide short reviews.  I have, also, tried some tasty goods from Speed Vegan and you can expect a review for it, too ;)
The contest will take place the week after next and the winner will receive the book of their choice. 
Until then, be sure to check out the Book Publishing Company for more great books!

In My Happy Mailbox

A couple of weeks ago something wonderful came in the mail.  3 new cookbooks to peruse!

Familiar with the Book Publishing Company?  If not, you need to be!  They are an independent press located at The Farm, an intentional community in Summertown, TN.  They have a wide selection of vegan, raw and vegetarian titles in their collection.  BPC is "dedicated to publishing books that promote a healthful and sustainable lifestyle."  If you weren't already, I bet many of you are interested now ;)  Besides books their website features cooking videos, articles and more.  Check out this article, "America's Tragic Love Affair with Processed Meats."


Over the next couple of months I will be reviewing these books.  The kind folks at BPC have encouraged me to post a few recipes along the way.  So get ready for some exciting new recipes to try and a CONTEST!  I'm so excited because this will be my first one!  After I have reviewed all three books you will have the opportunity to win the book of your choice.  So stay tuned!

Tofu Benny and my second hat

 

If you don't own Vegan Brunch, you should find access!  Try requesting it at your local library if it's not a good time to buy it or borrow it from a friend (if you're lucky enough to live near many vegans).  Every single image looks amazing.  Seriously.  I remember discovering scrambled tofu, VwaV style, and realizing that we could have homestyle vegan breakfasts that matched our omnivore days.  What a delight!  I am a breakfast lover, which means that there is rarely a time that it doesn't sound good :)

Now, let's take it to the next level.  We once made the Greek Tofu Benedict from Veganomicon, which turned out quite nice, served up with a tahini dill sauce, tomato, and olives with a side of fried potatoes.  It was actually my first "benedict" and a good experience.  When I asked Adam what he would like to celebrate his 3rd Veganversary (which was actually in January) he wanted Tofu Benny from Vegan Brunch (one of the incentives for gifting it to me at Christmas) and I was happy to oblige.  We've talked about making English Muffins for sometime and this seemed like the perfect time to start.  We made the English muffins in the book, using spelt flour and they were great.  Just as good as the store and we know all of the ingredients without spending $5 for the "good stuff."  The only other changes to the English muffins that we made were coconut oil instead of margarine and we did not add sugar to the yeast.  For the tofu marinade the only thing I substituted was apple cider vinegar for white wine vinegar, which worked out fine.  For the Hollandaise sauce I used lime juice instead of lemon and apple cider vinegar for white wine vinegar.  All of these changes were made to accommodate what we had on hand.

These babies were served up with Breakfast Sausages that I mentioned in yesterday's post and a little spinach and raisin salad on the side.  Delicious!  I highly recommend this recipe.  The tofu had a wonderful texture and the Hollandaise tasted amazing!  Strangely, the texture of the Hollandaise sauce really reminded me of egg yolk.  Has anyone else had this experience?

And, how about a pic of my second completed hat?

This was meant for Jordan (my brother), but was a bit bigger than he wanted.  For some reason I had decided to add a few stitches misunderstanding what the yarn was capable of!  But, I will say that I am very proud of how smooth the top turned out compared to the last (which you can't really see in this picture).  And my parents were quite happy to receive it, so all is well!

I plan to start a Flickr account soon and then you can see each of us styling it if you choose :)

Pantry Raid Mash-up

For last night it was a pantry raid for a meal to toss together.  Here's what I ended up with:                                 

Pantry Raid Mash-up

leftover falafel

28 oz. diced tomatoes
1 carrot (thinly sliced)
sm. head of broccoli (chopped up)
1 1/2 - 2c. black beans

1 onion (diced)

1 c. cooked rice

2-3 cloves garlic

7-8 mushrooms (sliced)

1 1/2 - 2 c. water

basil

oregano

cardomom

coriander

pepper

Saute onion for 3-4 min.  Add carrots and mushrooms and saute for 5-7 min.  Add garlic and saute for a min. or so longer.  Then add falafel, broccoli, tomato, water, black beans, rice and spices.  Heat through and serve!

Served up with cornbread from The Joy of Vegan Baking.  The only changes I made with the cornbread recipe were: 2 Tbs. agave to replace sugar and 1/4 c. sorghum flour in place of 1/4 of the AP flour.  I picked the sorghum flour up on sale (yeah freight store!) and have added it here and there to baked goods for fun ;)

Something exciting to mention:  Saturday I went to a Kitchen Garden program at the library and I am so psyched to get started this year!  Adam and I have dreams of growing most of our food some day and I'm hoping to expand this year (last year we only grew tomatoes and peppers).  Sunday, Bobbie (fellow librarian and friend) and I are off to hunt for seeds at nearby Baker Creek :)

Simple Sushi and PETA's Vegan College Cookbook

Isn't he a handsome cat? Adam took this amazing picture last night while I was making sushi. He captured some other wonderful Cameron faces, but I thought everyone should see this one at least ;)

Well, I will show two more since they are sushi related. That is, Cameron kept me company while I made sushi...








 
Simple Sushi

At our house we use pretty simple sushi fillings most of the time. This makes it a fairly quick and easy meal, if you don't count how long it takes me to form and roll since I'm a bit obsessive about things being spread out evenly...even sushi rice that no one will see in the end...who knows why.

Simple Sushi veggies include: cucumber, carrot and avocado.

Sushi Rice: Remember that the rice to water ratio when cooking sushi rice is different than most others (I always have to look it up to be sure). But with sushi rice it's more or less a 1:1 ratio, you can add a Tbl. spoon or two fo good measure, but I'm not sure it's necessary. If you use much more water than that you will have sushi rice slop and will probably need to use it for something other than sushi, pudding or breakfast perhaps?

Is sushi rice (Japanese short grain) really necessary? YES! This rice will be stickier to enable the rolls to stick together.

After it is done cooking transfer it to a bowl. Add a bit of brown rice vinegar and brown rice syrup and mix. From what I understand this is for flavor more than anything else, so it's up to you. I almost always see some sort of rice vinegar suggested and often times sugar or some other sweetener. We once had a bag that called for brown rice syrup and that seemed like a natural choice to us.

Allow it to sit and cool before adding to the rolls.

There are many tutorials online and tons of information on sushi out there, so do a quick google search and you will find all you need! And if you do anything wild and crazy, or extremely wonderful I'd love to hear about it.

PETA's Vegan College Cookbook

The library is a great place to take a sneak peek and try out cookbooks.  I picked this one up recently to see what it is all about.  Well, the title and blurb on the back pretty much cover it:
"Let PETA turn your dorm room or apartment into the campus destination for amazing vegan food! Inside are the 275 simplest, most scrumptious recipes for college vegans on a budget - and the best part is, the most complicated kitchenware you'll ever need is a microwave..."
This book aids those who have little experience and little time to cook. Not to mention those who have made the switch while trying to live off cafeteria food, who will now be able to whip up quick and easy vegan meals.  It gives helpful tips on stocking quick-fix foods and vegan alternatives to things the new vegan may fear to be without.  Though I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who likes to spend time in their kitchen or has been vegan for years, it's a perfect care package gift for that niece or nephew in college considering veganism ;)

Creamy "Crab" Pasta and Orange Agave Chocolate Chip Cookies

Creamy "Crab" Pasta

Last night we tried Match Meat "Crab". We haven't eaten crab for three years, so our memories may be a little hazy. It wasn't worth the $12 spent. The texture was decent and it had a fishy flavor, but it didn't really seem like crab specifically. So if you feel like splurging to try something new, feel free, but I didn't find it to be worth the dough. We are however interested in trying another flavor sometime, like chicken for this "Chicken Picatta" or perhaps one of the great looking recipes I've seen on Vegan Thyme recently: Country Fried "Steak" and Moroccan Crab-less Curry. So who knows we may give the "crab" another try someday.

For the pasta sauce I used this Creamy Basil Pasta Sauce found at About.com:Dairy Free Cooking. After following the directions (before adding noodles) I added the "crab" (which had previously been fried in olive oil), some fresh spinach and freshly ground pepper. Then we tossed in fettuccine noodles.

At Mama Jeans that night Adam found some wine from Kaiken on sale to go with dinner. Last summer we were on a Cabernet Sauvignon kick, so naturally he gravitated toward it. We haven't picked up wine for awhile. This one wasn't quite dry enough for me. It was slightly sweet and tart. I am no wine expert, so that's the best description you're going to get!

Orange Agave Chocolate Chip Cookies from VCIYCJ
These were pretty tasty. The only thing I substituted was coconut oil for canola oil because we already had it on hand. I generally like soft cookies, but these were a little cushier than I would have liked. That is, until they cooled. A few hours later I discovered that they had developed a nice crispness on bottom while retaining a softer interior. Delightful :)
I still have yet to taste a perfect sugarless chocolate chip cookie, but someday!
I'm so please that this book offers several recipes with alternatives to sugar. If you do not yet own VCIYCJ, be sure to check out the PPK for a sneak preview ;)

More to come: Sushi, zines and a nomination...

Want a free cookbook? (and more)

This could be yours:

To get your copy head over to Vegan Family Style! Even if you have a copy of this book this blog is worth a visit. I just stopped by in the midst of my hitting familiar and new blogs adventure and am very glad I did! Recent entries include: raw desert, orange pudding cupcakes and green smoothies.

It's wild. I've been to so many blogs the last couple of years and sampled many recipes, but I just didn't really interact. Crossing that line still feels a little strange. But believe me, I'm quite anxious to get involved in the online vegan world. I haven't had many vegan friends and it seems wonderful to have this whole community available.

So, next up my first hat! I'm pretty psyched because I'm not great about finish projects unless it is some sort of assignment, like for work, school or perhaps a gift. I started knitting recently (actually this was a second go at knitting) and I finally completed something! Now I'm ready to begin a new project or two.

Eats and Drink of the day:

Banana Oatmeal Breakfast cookies (VCIVCJ)

First attempt from VCIYCJ! I'm very excited about this book. Just flipping through, every pic is absolutely amazing. Today I had to try something. We had a couple of very ripe bananas, so that was a start. I chose the recipe for Banana Oatmeal Breakfast cookies. Going
with the things we already had: I substituted pecans for walnuts. I didn't have quite enough oats, but threw in some pumpkin seeds. We didn't have dried cranberries, but I look forward to trying it with these next time! Despite the changes they still seemed wonderful and I'm excited to try the rest! This recipe already uses brown rice syrup and agave, so there was no need for a sugar substitute.

Falafel Reubens

With toppings minus thousand island.










After toasting with mixed green salad.







Chickpea Cutlets (VWAV) and gravy, roasted brussel sprouts and roasted potatoes

A tasty dinner with Chickpea cutlets covered in shiitake gravy, roasted brussel sprouts and potatoes. The brussel sprouts were seasoned with oil, garlic and salt. The potatoes were seasoned with oil, garlic, salt, pepper, paprika, thyme, rosemary, coriander, oregano and lemon juice. Thanks to the lemon juice and coriander combo these were slightly tangy and delicious!

Brews in Review

Well, Adam has been working at a local liquor store for the past 6 months or so. He just recently got a job at the library and will no longer be there, so we are taking advantage of the discount while we still can :) Tonight he brought home a 6 pack of Tripple (New Belguim) and one tall pint plus 6 oz. of Deep Enders Dark Porter (Anderson Valley).

Tripple wasn't bad. I don't really have a lot to say about this one, it was decent. I will say that New Belguim Brewing Co. is known to be a very sustainable crew, so that's a good thing. Not to mention they put out a fine line of beers.

Now the Deep Enders Dark Porter. Oh, this was wonderful. This beer had a wonderful clean, smooth dark malty taste. The maltiness was not overwhelming, but just enough to add a little sweet tang. Another great thing about these guys? Solar powered! I highly recommend this beer! Lucky for us, Adam will be able to get a 12 pack of these babies for $22 :) Those will definitely last us awhile!