My Favorite Quote

"But for the sake of some little mouthful of flesh, we deprive a soul of the sun and light and of that proportion of life and time it had been born into the world to enjoy".
– Plutarch

My eyes keep opening wider and wider. Since giving up meat, my life has changed so much. Not only do I feel healthier, lighter and happier, but I have come to witness the real world around me…for the first time.

Meat is everywhere. It’s in the cans of beef ravioli; it’s in the marketing signs along the highway. It’s in commercials, it’s in movies, it’s on everyone’s plate in the restaurant. Was it always like this? It baffles my mind! How could my whole perspective change in only a few months?

I am so grateful to the undercover reporters and film makers who make it their duty to show the world where our meat really comes from. If I hadn’t seen any documentaries or read any books, I would probably be eating a chicken breast right now. But, I am SO glad my eyes are finally open.

Now, I notice the ridiculous commercials that make us want meat and THEN I think of the pain and torture each animal had to go through to make all our meat desires possible. I know we don’t want to think of our meat as an animal and a LIVING creature…but that’s what it is. Period.

Think about it...we grow up reading children’s books full of animal characters. We are taught to respect living creatures; everything from a mouse to a bird, to a dog. We are surrounded by animal teddy bears. We live in awe of their intelligence. We read books about them, we pay money to see them and we always swoon and coon when we see animals. We all just love animals……but then we go to the table and eat one for dinner.

Where did this line get crossed? When did it get fuzzy? Why is it okay to eat an intelligent, loving pig while our dog sits beside us? We can keep ignoring the fact that something had to die for our meal, or we can make the decision to eat healthier. Eat healthier for the animals, the planet and for yourself.

The quote at the top of the page rings true. Why do we sacrifice a life? Because it tastes good? We don’t need meat to be healthy; we can get all our nutrients and proteins from other sources. So if you love animals, you have to really ask yourself…why am I eating animals?

I asked myself that question, and the answer was because it tasted good. It was a pitiful answer and it wasn't a good enough reason for me to keep eating meat. So I did my research. Yes, it’s a sacrifice I’ve made, but it’s honestly the best thing I’ve ever done. Not only has my palate EXPANDED; everything tastes BETTER!
I LOVE animals, and I am bewildered that I never made the connection between my plate and the face of the animal. I encourage you to do the same. Another quote to ponder...
"Man is the only animal that can remain on friendly terms with the victims he intends to eat until he eats them".
-Samuel Butler, Note-Books, 1912

Blueberry (and Chocolate Chip) Pancakes

The American’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook is a humongous book full of recipes that have been tested and tried again throughout the years. There’s everything from how make the best home fries to extremely extravagant dishes. It has tons of photos letting you know how to cut certain vegetables (for example), and step by step instructions for each recipe. I love lots of photos in a recipe book! Although this recipe book isn’t vegan, I often turn to it for certain recipes and just make substitutes where they are needed.

This is the best recipe for pancakes I have ever made. I usually will make them on a weekend and then freeze 2 per baggie and take them out whenever I want. I’ll zap ‘em for a bit in the microwave then pop them in the toaster to give them that ‘just cooked’ crispiness.

Pancakes

2 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 large egg (I substitute my powder egg replacer)
3 tablespoons butter, melted (Earth Balance or Vegan Becel)
2 cups buttermilk
If you do not have buttermilk on hand, whisk 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice with 2 cups milk in a medium bowl and set aside for a few minutes to thicken.
1-2 teaspoons vegetable oil

Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, melted butter and then the buttermilk. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, pour the buttermilk mixture into the well, and whisk very gently until the buttermilk mixture is just incorporated (a few lumps should remain). Be careful not to over mix the batter.

Heat a 12 inch nonstick skillet over medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Brush the pan bottom with 1 tsp oil. Using ¼ cup of the batter per pancake, add the batter to the skillet (only 2-3 pancakes at a time) and cook until large bubbles begin to appear, about 2 minutes. For blueberry pancakes just add the blueberries on top after you have added the batter the skillet. I also sprinkle on some chocolate chips. Flip the pancakes and cook until golden brown on the second side, about 1 1/2 minutes longer. Spread the pancakes over a wire rack. You can also put them in the oven if you want.

It says in the book to freeze the pancakes for up to one week and defrost in the refrigerator for 24hrs and then reheat in the oven. I leave mine in the freezer longer than that and they are still tasty!
These are great for a Saturday morning breakfast:)

Roasted Portobello Mushrooms and Cuban Style Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Tonight, I had four different cookbooks on the go. I made one main dish, a side and a dessert. It looked like a hurricane hit my kitchen!
First, I took a recipe from Veganomicon for roasted Portobello mushrooms. You marinate the mushroom caps in a mixture of cooking wine, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce and garlic. They get roasted in the oven and you serve them in-between a bun. The Cuban Style Roasted Sweet Potatoes were from a recipe in the Kind Diet. All you have to do is chop up the potatoes, toss them with some oil and bake them for 30 minutes. After they’re done you throw on some lime juice, parsley and garlic…YUM.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the roasted mushrooms. The marinating sauce was a bit strong for me, and I found the mushrooms too mushy. I needed something more substantial between that hamburger bun! I know there are lots of recipes out there that treat Portobello mushrooms like a burger patty, so maybe they keep their shape better on the BBQ.

I wanted to make some gingerbread from the Babycakes recipe book, but I didn’t have all the necessary ingredients. So, I decided to make some pumpkin bread from American’s Test Kitchen Cookbook (now you can see where all the books came into play). I have never made pumpkin bread before and all I had to do was use some egg replacer powder and some vegan butter (Earth balance). I just tried some bread right now (still warm). I’m not gonna lie to you, it’s a bit bland. It’s super moist though…but I think I need some more sugar or cinnamon or something! Maybe I'll top a piece with strawberries and soy ice-cream to give it some kick! I have to say—I like my banana chocolate chip bread a lot better ;)

I did use the Babycakes recipe book for some vanilla icing though. I failed miserably at this last time because my coconut oil didn’t melt all the way. And, I haven’t tried again (since now) because coconut oil is pretty darn expensive! So, I only made half a batch this time and I was very careful with my measurements. I know it looks a lot more like frosting this time but, I won’t be sure if it turned out or not for another few hours. When you make this, you have to let it sit in the fridge for at least 6 hours for the coconut oil to solidify again. But, if it does turn out, this icing keeps in the fridge for a month! Bonus :)

Zucchini Boats and Wild Mushroom Couscous

Tonight I made some Zucchini Boats and Wild Mushroom Couscous. I had a box of bread crumbs in the cupboard, and I noticed there was a recipe for zucchini boats on the back:
Zucchini Boats
3 medium zucchinis
¼ cup of each; red onion, mushrooms, green/red/yellow peppers, finely chopped
½ cup tomatoes, cubed
½ cup celery stalks, finely chopped
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp dried oregano
½ cup Grissol Plain Bread Crumbs

Cut zucchinis lengthwise and scoop out flesh to form a “boat”. Arrange boats in a heat proof dish.
Sauté vegetables and onion in oil for 2 minutes.
Reduce heat to low, add herbs and seasoning.
Cover and cook further for 3-4 minutes until vegetables are cooked. Stir in bread crumbs. Spoon mixture equally between zucchini boats.
Cover dish with foil and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees (F) for 15 minutes, or until cooked.
Serve with pilaf rice. Serves 4 to 6.

I only used one zucchini and halved the recipe. These boats were really delicious and I’m sure you could substitute your favorite vegetables for the filling. I think I used a little bit too much of the bread crumb mixture, because my filling didn’t quite stick together and it was a bit dry. The wild mushroom couscous was in a prepackaged box, and it was delicious! I will definitely be buying it again!

Nori Wraps and Quinoa

Another new recipe tonight for supper!
I purchased some Nori sheets the other day and I really wanted to include some in one of my meals this week. Nori is a sea vegetable (aka. Seaweed). Sea vegetables intrigue me, but I haven’t tried many yet. They are full of minerals, protein and iron. The Nori that I bought is what you usually see wrapped around some types of sushi.
For more information on sea vegetables click here:
http://www.vegsoc.org/cordonvert/recipes/sea/seaveg.html

To prepare these Nori sheets you need to toast them. You’re supposed to hold them over a low flame until they turn a bright green. Well, I have a ceramic stove so I put them on a frying pan…and they burnt (and I burnt my finger). I tried putting a cooling rack over the pan with the Nori on top… and the Nori still wasn’t turning green, it was just getting very dry and brittle. So, I tried to hold an actual flame underneath it and it just wasn’t working (It also miggght have caught on fire). By this time I was getting pretty hungry so I decided to try a wrap anyways. I filled one with hummus, sliced avocado, apple, carrots and lettuce. The other wrap I made with lettuce, tomato, carrots, apple and some left over crispy tofu slices.

I didn’t really like these wraps…but hey, that’s what I’m here for-to tell you what tastes good and what doesn’t. But, I am blaming the bad taste/texture on my inability to correctly toast them. Please leave me some pointers if you have ever used these sheets before!

I also made a side dish of quinoa. It was my first time using it, and I really liked it…but I would like to try it with some more flavors and in some different dishes because it is SO good for you.

"Pronounced 'keen wah', Quinoa is a frequently neglected and relatively unknown superfood - containing a perfect balance of all eight essential amino acids. It is gluten-free and a great source of protein. Nothing else packs a punch of nutrition quite like quinoa".
http://quinoa365.com/

It is such an adventure to explore all these new nutritious foods! And, you don't have to be vegan or vegetarian to try some more grains and vegetables in your diet...you can just enhance your diet!

Happy cooking :)

Crispy Tofu Slices with Orange Dipping Sauce and Baby Bok Choy

This meal was really easy and fast to make. This was my first time having Bok Choy and I really enjoyed it. I had some tofu that was almost expired so I fried that up, and steamed the Bok Choy at the same time. Both of these recipes are from The Kind Diet.

Crispy Tofu Slices with Orange Dipping Sauce
Serves 2 or 3
1 package savory-flavored baked tofu
½ cup corn flour
½ cup brown rice flower

Safflower oil
¾ cup fresh orange juice
1/3 cup maple syrup

Summarized version:
Cut tofu into ¼” thick slices. And dip into the mixed flours.
Cover the pan with a thin layer of oil and cook until lightly brown on each side (about 3 minutes). Drop onto some paper towel to drain.
Stir together the orange juice and maple syrup and serve on the side, or drizzle it on top.

I didn’t have corn flour or brown rice flour, so I just used whole wheat flour and some garbanzo-bean flour I had. It says in the book you can use whatever flour you want. Although the dipping sauce was tasty it was a little bit too runny, but that’s just my opinion.

Baby Bok Choy Drizzled with Ume Vinaigrette
Steam the Bok Choy for 1-2 minutes until it starts to wilt. Mix 1 tbl of olive oil and 1 tbl umeboshi vinegar and drizzle over the Bok Choy. I only did a teaspoon each, and I didn’t even use that much. I really liked the flavor of the umeboshi vinegar though. It definitely had some kick! The tofu turned out nice and crispy, but it would have been bland without the sauce. I didn’t know what savory-flavored baked tofu was, so maybe that makes a difference. These fried tofu-strips would be really good in a hummus wrap with some veggies for some extra protein and its “meat-like texture”.
I enjoyed this meal, but it wouldn’t be one I’d make to impress an omnivore. Trial and error!

This is the photo from the recipe book. I think I did pretty good!

Black-Eyed Pea Croquettes with Dijon Glaze

These croquettes are easy to make and are packed full of taste. The recipe is from The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone. If the dipping sauce appears a bit low in the photo, it’s because I was already eating some croquettes as soon as I took them off the frying pan. Man, do they fill you up! I kept forgetting that they are composed of ALL beans. These are full of protein but I still needed some veggies on the side, so I chopped up some organic carrots to munch on. Black-Eyed Pea Croquettes with Dijon Glaze
Makes 12 medium size croquettes, serves 4

2 cups black-eyed peas, soaked overnight in water to cover
2 tbl chopped fresh parsley or cilantro
½ tsp fine sea salt
1 tbl shoyu (shoyu is the Japanese word for soy sauce and it’s how most soy sauce is labeled in the health food world these days)
1 tsp ground cumin
2 cups safflower oil for frying (definitely didn’t need that much)

Dipping sauce
½ cup barley malt syrup or rice syrup
(Alicia recommends using the barley malt syrup, but I couldn’t find any at the store. The Rice syrup was really tasty though! I found it in the health food section of the supermarket beside the almond butter, peanut butter and honey)
1 tbl Dijon mustard

Drain the soaked beans and transfer to a food processor (As it turns out, my food processor wasn’t broken, I just assembled it wrong after I washed it last time-yay!). Add the parsley or cilantro, salt, shoyu, and cumin. Blend until the beans are chopped to fine shreds, but don’t blend them to a pulp. The mixture will be slightly wet but should hold together. Form the bean mixture into something between football and UFO shaped croquettes in the palms of your hands.

Heat 1” of oil in a cast-iron skillet to about 350 degrees Fahrenheit. To test the oil, drop in a tiny amount of croquette mixture. If it bubbles furiously and rises to the top, the oil is ready. Do not let the oil get so hot that it smokes. You may need to make little adjustments to the heat throughout the cooking process to avoid burning the croquettes.

Place 4 croquettes in the oil and fry for about 4 minutes on each side. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the fried croquettes to a plate lined with paper towels.

To make the dipping sauce, stir together the barely malt syrup and mustard in a small saucepan. Warm the sauce until it bubbles.

Serve the croquettes while still hot. Drizzle with the dipping sauce or serve it alongside in a dipping bowl.

What a yummy meal! I baked some Oatmeal cookies from the same recipe book after supper. It called for dried plums and walnuts, but I used dried apricots. I also split the cookie batter into two parts. For one half I used the apricots and the walnuts and for the other half I stirred in coconut and chocolate chips—I won't tell you which batch was better ;)

These are the black-eyed peas that I used in the recipe. I love soaking beans and seeing them grow. It reminds me of those toys you used to put in the water and they'd get huge overnight. Just thought I'd share, haha!

Groceries

Grocery shopping is a whole new experience for me now. I love trying new vegetables and getting ingredients for new recipes. Everyone thinks I must spend SO much more money on groceries now that I am vegan. This just isn’t true. I’ll admit, at first it was a bit pricey because I had to buy all new spices, syrups, oils and baking ingredients-but these are going to last me for a while. Also, when transitioning into a diet that doesn’t include meat, we tend to look for meat substitutes or processed food that imitates food we used to eat…and well, yes those are expensive (but no more expensive than buying meat and milk products). Those substitutes are great to get started (and I still use them), but you need to get used to incorporating whole grains, vegetables, and beans into your diet. Yes, you might not get to have your Mom’s meatloaf again (well you could have a meatless meatloaf)….but there are so many great new recipes out there for you to try!

This Saturday I went grocery shopping and stocked up on leafy greens. I’ve read in books that once your body is clean and healthier, it will tell you what it needs. I thought-yeah right, I’ll just say I want a chocolate chip cookie! But lately, I can kind of relate to what these authors are trying to tell me. I am by no means a salad lover. I only incorporate salad into my diet maybe once a week (something I am really trying to work on). I’d rather eat my veggies raw or on the side of my main dish. But, this week my body was craving leafy greens full of calcium, iron and nutrients! There are so many options: Swiss chard, Romaine lettuce, spinach, Kale, Bok-Choy, collard greens etc. I also purchased some organic blueberries, bananas, tomatoes, zucchini, avocado, Portobello mushrooms, green onion, peppers, carrots and an orange.

When I got home I made a delicious salad to accompany my left over roasted vegetable tofu pizza. I topped it with carrots, tomatoes, fat blueberries, sliced almonds and flax seed. Then, I drizzled on raspberry vinaigrette and it felt like I was eating dessert!

I also purchased Silk Soy milk, Almond Breeze, grains (I’m going to try quinoa for the first time this week), couscous, rice-puff cakes, Gluten-free/ milk-free granola bars, applesauce, oatmeal, vegetable spring rolls, orange juice, burritos, vegetable pizza and tofu. I like buying the refrigerated tofu for stir fry and to go on top of my pizza because it’s more firm. There is also tofu on the shelf that is great for creamy recipes (desserts etc) and I recently used it in my tofu-spinach lasagna.

I had to make a trip to the health food store in Fredericton because the supermarkets never have everything I need. At Aura Whole Foods I stocked up on some coconut oil (for baking), agave nectar, Nori wraps (seaweed), Umbeoshi vinegar, organic soy sauce and more.
With all these new ingredients, it means there will be more delicious recipes to follow this week :)

Tofu-Spinach Lasagna

Tyson’s sister Tanya made me a HUGE vat of veggie lasagna before Tyson left (so thoughtful). I cut it into pieces and froze it individually. Unfortunately, I just ran out of that tasty lasagna so I had to go make some myself!

I decided to try a new recipe. This one is called Tofu Spinach Lasagna. The recipe doesn’t call for any extra vegetables, but I sautéed some onions and green peppers to put in the tomato sauce. I wanted to put in mushrooms too, but the ones in my fridge went bad-Ooops!

I was a little bit skeptic about how this tofu was going to simulate cheese, but it was delicious! The tofu sauce is best made in a food processor. But, my new food processor just broke sooo, I used my handy dandy blender and it did the trick just fine.

Tofu-Spinach Lasagna

If you're wary of replacing the dairy in your recipes, never fear—blended tofu makes a great substitute for soft cheese.

1/2 lb. lasagna noodles
2 10-oz. packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 lb. soft tofu
1 lb. firm tofu
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 cup soy milk
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
3 tsp. minced fresh basil
2 tsp. salt
4 cups tomato sauce

• Cook the lasagna noodles according to the package directions. Drain and set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Squeeze the spinach as dry as possible and set aside.
• Place the tofu, sugar, soy milk, garlic powder, lemon juice, basil, and salt in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Stir in the spinach.
• Cover the bottom of a 9-inch-by-13-inch baking dish with a thin layer of tomato sauce, then a layer of noodles (use about one-third of the noodles). Follow with half of the tofu filling. Continue in the same order, using half of the remaining tomato sauce and noodles and all of the remaining tofu filling. End with the remaining noodles, covered by the remaining tomato sauce. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

Makes 6 to 8 servings

Recipe from www.vegcooking.com

I ate this along with a Caesar salad and had scrumptious oatmeal chocolate chip muffins for dessert. Some pre-mixed muffin and cake mixes won’t have milk or eggs, but a lot of them say “may contain traces of”…so be sure to read the labels. I usually add some extra cinnamon and a bit of applesauce to make them extra moist. You can top them off with some sliced apples or some shredded coconut. I always burn my fingers when they come out of the oven because this is when they taste the best! That ooey gooey chocolate and melted vegan butter….Yumm!

Go Green!

Are you an environmentally conscious person? There are so many tips and tricks to help save the planet, one action at a time. Did you know that recycling one glass bottle saves enough energy to power a computer for 30 minutes? Or that unplugging your appliances can shave 10% off of your electricity bill? And, if you reuse a mug instead of disposable coffee cups, you can save 100 pounds of carbon dioxide per year? Reducing our carbon footprint is one of the most important things we can do to ensure that future generations will enjoy this beautiful planet. A carbon footprint is the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted as a direct or indirect result of an activity. We can not reduce our footprints to zero, because CO2 is being emitted all the time. What we can do though, is significantly reduce our footprint in small simple ways.

What is one of the best ways to reduce your carbon footprint? You guessed it! Becoming Vegan.

I purchased a small but mighty book the other day called “How to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint; 365 Simple Ways to Save Energy, Resources, and Money” by Joanna Yarrow. I learned that by avoiding meat altogether, you can cut the C02 associated with your diet by about half. For maximum impact, you can cut down on dairy products too. For every pound of beef you avoid you’ll trim your carbon footprint by up to 13lb of C02!

In the last 50 years global meat production has increased fivefold. The amount of meat a person eats has also doubled. It requires so much more land and water (and about 10 times more energy) to produce animal than vegetable protein. One of the biggest problems seen with meat production is the large amount of methane animals produce on factory farms.

“Methane traps 21 times more heat per molecule than C02. Methane is a naturally occurring trace gas and a normal part of our atmosphere. But, each cow in a factory farm produces from 100 to 520 quarts of methane gas daily. This wouldn’t be so bad BUT with all the animals we’ve bred for food, the scales have tipped…The livestock we keep-to feed us meat that hurts our bodies-produce more methane than landfills, waste treatment plants, and even the methane we use as natural gas to heat our homes!
Also, more than 50% of the corn grown in the US is eaten by animals, and only 8% for human use. While 1.2 billion people do not have enough to eat every day, we’re bending over backward to make damn sure the 20 billion cows, pigs, and chickens are getting fatter and fatter by the minute”.
-The Kind Diet

Livestock are designed to eat grass, but that doesn’t make them fat soon enough. So they are fed corn, which makes them sick (but fat). So, we pump them full of antibiotics to try and make them healthier. And now, 70% of antibiotics sold go to livestock! Not to mention the pollution from waste. The meat industry causes more water pollution in the US than all other industries combined. More than 10 billion animals are raised and killed for food every year in the United States ALONE. They have to eat and their waste has to go somewhere. This gets into our water and into the soil.

Facts:

The average American could do more to reduce global-warming emission by becoming vegetarian than by switching to a hybrid car!

Producing one pound of meat is responsible for more greenhouse emissions than going for an hour’s drive while leaving all the lights on at home.

Producing one pound of wheat requires 100 gallons of water. One pound of beef requires 25 000 gallons.

So, what if we all started eating plant based diets. We wouldn’t have to eat the meat that has eaten the corn. We would be saving water, space, and reducing pollution and methane emissions. You’d also become healthier and you’d be saving an animal’s life. All positive changes with one sacrifice on your part.

But, if veganism or vegetarianism isn’t for you, you can shop locally and save miles by buying produce directly and buy organic products (so you know your food is free of pesticides and you are supporting local farming). There are also endless sites where you can calculate your carbon footprint and see where you need to make some improvements.

There are lots of websites that cater to your other environmental questions and concerns. One fun website I like to visit is http://www.greenissexy.org/. This site was created by our favorite actress, Rachel McAdams. Her and her two friends have a mission to prove that being green IS sexy. And a wise man once said:
“Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet”
_Albert Einstein

Italian Eggplant Sandwiches

This weekend my parents were visiting and I wanted to try a new vegan meal. I am also proud to announce that my mom is now a vegetarian, and has been for a few months now. I searched some recipes online and decided to try the Italian Eggplant recipe from http://www.vegcooking.com/. This site is great if you want some new, easy, home cooked recipes. They also have some samples of menus for a full week. It’s definitely a great site to check out.

This was my first time cooking with eggplant, but I have learned it is very versatile. You can fry it, bake it, grill it…you name it! I look forward to trying new recipes with this in the future.

The coated eggplant in this recipe was delicious. We just bought store made marinara sauce (always read the labels carefully because a lot of red sauces have parmesan cheese hidden in there) and poured it on top of our toasted subs. A side of corn on the cob completed this new tasty meal.
Italian Eggplant Sandwiches
Turn your kitchen into a New York deli with this zesty Italian sub. Molto buono!
1 eggplant
1/2 cup soy milk
Egg Replacer equivalent to 1 egg
Salt to taste
1/2 cup flour
1 cup Italian-style bread crumbs
4 sub rolls, sliced
1/2-1 cup marinara sauce

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Peel and cut the eggplant into 1/4-inch slices and set aside.
• Combine the soy milk and egg replacer and a pinch of salt (if desired) and mix well. Set up a breading station with one bowl for each: flour, egg replacer mixture, and bread crumbs. Dredge the eggplant in flour and shake off the excess. Submerge the eggplant in the egg replacer mixture, shake off the excess, then coat evenly with bread crumbs. Place the eggplant in a single layer on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake, uncovered, for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the eggplant is crisp on the outside and tender inside.
• Place the eggplant slices on the sub rolls, top with marinara sauce, and serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings

I think next time I’d try to spice it up a little…maybe use some salsa, or even treat the eggplant slices like chicken and make a sub with veggies. Dad got a little creative with his and added olives and spices. I just have to say that it feels so good to eat an entire meal that has been cultivated from the earth. Knowing that no animals were harmed and no flesh is inside of me; it is one of the greatest feelings I have ever had.

Trip to Montreal

Last weekend Melanie and I traveled to Montreal to visit our bestie: PO. It was a great weekend full of laughs, heart to hearts and a lot of driving! We ate a lot on the road and went to some great restaurants.

On the way up, I took a cooler filled with fresh blueberries, almond milk, hummus, sandwiches and left over vegetarian pizza. I also took some air popped popcorn, trail mix, granola bars and graham crackers with melted chocolate chips and peanut butter (these delightful treats were a big hit)!

The three of us went to an all vegan restaurant called Aux Vivres on Saturday. Boy, was I excited! The food was extremely good, and it was great because we all got to try each other’s plates and experiment with some new food.

I ordered the smoked Montreal sandwich. It was my first time trying slices of seitan and it was tasty! It also came with a side order of coleslaw (that I haven’t had in ages).
PO ordered the potato and chickpea curry, which had a side of chutney, whole grain brown rice and greens. Melanie ordered a green salad with a scrumptious dressing, along with sweet potato fries and chipotle ketchup (she claims they were the best sweet potato fries she has ever had)! Yay :)
And of course, I got carried away with dessert and ate a whole slice of mixed berry “uncheescake” to myself. AND then…I took home a chocolate apple cake slice for later.
PO and Melanie shared a delicious piece of succulent carrot cake (as you can tell by the photo).
We all left with content full bellies! And I got to have some cake for later :)
The rest of our trip consisted of a lot of snacking (Melanie and I were bottomless pits), shopping, exploring and catching up. And, on our last night we had some good old fashioned pub food before we went out on the town. All in all, it was a very successful vegan trip with great friends.

Friday Night Pizza...

It’s Friday night and I was craving some pizza!
I popped in an Amy’s Roasted Vegetable (no cheese) pizza into the oven. It’s already topped with shitake mushrooms, red peppers and sweet onions. I crumbled up some tofu and put it on the top for my protein. This bakes well in the oven and has a nice texture when it's done.
A garden salad from Superstore was the sidekick to my pizza. It had mixed greens, tomatoes, mandarin oranges, sliced almonds and red onion. I drizzled it with some light Catalina dressing.
You could also grate your own cheese to top off this pizza, but I find it’s just as delicious without. There were so many more tastes than just a plain pepperoni slice!

Don’t judge until you try it :)

Summer Candy

Want a nutritious snack on a hot summer day? I took some frozen strawberries and blueberries, plus a banana and threw them all in the blender. Voila-homemade popsicles! I also added some orange juice for a little kick. Mix and match and make some of your own summer popsicles. I like knowing that when I’m grabbing one of these, I’m also getting my servings of fruit.
How refreshing! :)

Quick Food Fixes...

So far, my vegan adventure has been a successful one. I find the one thing I have to do is prepare, prepare, prepare. I went home again last weekend, and you’ll learn quickly that not a lot of places have vegan options. Vegetarian is pretty easy (stir fry, salad, quesadilla, or pasta)…but milk will sneak in where you least expect it to.

For example, I went out to eat with my parents and the only thing on the menu I could eat were the onion rings. So, I had some greasy (but yummy) onion rings with a side of tomato. There was a salad option, but who wants to eat a salad every time they go out to eat?! Plus, all the salads there had creamy sauces.

Here are some quick snack/ lunch ideas that I love and that I have tried so far. Please feel free to share some more!

Quick Lunch ideas:

-Vegetable hummus wrap
Topped with lettuce, tomatoes, bean sprouts, match stick carrots and cheese…the possibilities are endless!
- BBQ pitas
Using BBQ sauce, top pita with fake chicken strips, red onion, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, cheese and spices. Bake until cheese melts. - Chickpea sandwich
Mash up chickpeas and add vegan mayo, along with chopped green onion-or other vegetables…and salt and pepper. It has a tuna sandwich texture.
-The versatile salad
Throw in a different green each time and throw in some sliced almonds, carrots, chickpeas or other beans, tomatoes, strawberries or other fruit. I really like Renée’s chilled dressings; a lot of them are vegan.
- The versatile sandwich
Use some fake sliced meat, piled high with veggies, pickles, mustard or mayo—any way you like it! I like toasting my bread for any sandwich because it makes it taste that much better!
-Burritos
Buy them frozen and take them out for lunch.
- Meat free burgers with any topping you like
- I’ve been making big batches of things like soup and putting them into individualized containers. There are also tons of yummy vegetable and bean soups out there. I like the Amy’s brand.
- Salsa bean cakes (see previous post)
- Make a pizza with your favorite toppings. There’s even fake pepperoni out there if you’re craving it. Freeze some to have for later.
- Nachos with salsa, green onion and peppers. Use some veggie ground and top with cheese—yumm!
- Spring rolls and rice
- Fake chicken nuggets and fries
- Bagel with Tofutti cream cheese, topped with fruit or eat with some veggies.
- And don’t forget the classic PB&J sandwich…or some toast with PB and banana

Snacks:
-Air popped popcorn with vegan butter and sea salt
- Celery with peanut butter and raisins
- Granola bars
- Trail mix
- Fruit salad
- Any baked goods, frozen and taken out whenever you desire them
My favorites are chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter bars, banana bread and cupcakes
- Tofutti ice cream treats
- Nacho chips with salsa and hummus
- Chopped up veggies with vegan dip (I like Renée’s Caesar dressing)
- Almonds or any other type of nuts
- Raisins or Craisins
- Soy yogurt with oatmeal and fresh fruit
- Banana with peanut butter

The list goes on and on! I am still venturing out and trying some new, more difficult main dishes…I will be posting along the way!

Jenna :)

This Little Piggy...

Since becoming vegan, I have a new favorite animal: the PIG!
The more I learn about them...the more I fall in love. I would LOVE to own a potbellied pig. They are adorable and VERY intelligent. Whenever I watch a video on animal abuse, I can't take their screaming; I just want to save them all...if only I owned a farm! Well, we can all help save them by becoming vegetarian :)
I really liked this page from http://www.goveg.com/:

Here are our top 10 reasons to keep pork off your fork and put delicious Babe-free alternatives on your shopping list instead.

‘Meet Your Meat’: Pigs

1) Porking You Up
It’s a fact—ham, sausage, and bacon strips will go right to your hips. Eating pork products, which are loaded with artery-clogging cholesterol and saturated fat, is a good way to increase your waistline and increase your chances of developing deadly diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s, asthma, and impotence. Research has shown that vegetarians are 50 percent less likely to develop heart disease, and they have 40 percent of the cancer rate of meat-eaters. Plus, meat-eaters are nine times more likely to be obese than pure vegetarians are. Learn more about animal products and your health.

2) Pigs Have Feelings Too
Ninety-seven percent of pigs in the United States today are raised in factory farms, where they will never run across sprawling pastures, bask in the sun, breathe fresh air, or do anything else that comes naturally to them. Crowded into warehouses with nothing to do and nowhere to go, they are kept on a steady diet of drugs to keep them alive and make them grow faster, but the drugs cause many of the animals to become crippled under their own bulk. Learn more about cruelty to pigs. Check out these videos from pig farms in Oklahoma, North Carolina, Nebraska, and South Dakota.

3) Pigs and Playstations
Think that you can outplay a pig on your Playstation? You may be surprised. According to research, pigs are much smarter than dogs, and they even do better at video games than some primates. In fact, pigs are extremely clever animals who form complex social networks and have excellent memories. Eating a pig is like eating your dog! As actor Cameron Diaz put it after hearing that pigs have the mental capacities of a 3-year-old human: "[Eating bacon is] like eating my niece!" Learn more about pigs.

4) Pigs Prefer Mud, Not Crud
Pigs are actually very clean animals. If they are given sufficient space, pigs are careful not to soil the areas where they sleep or eat. And forget the silly saying “sweating like a pig”—pigs can’t even sweat! That’s why they bathe in water or mud to cool off. But in factory farms, they’re forced to live in their own feces and vomit and even amid the corpses of other pigs. Conditions are so filthy that at any given time, more than one-quarter of pigs suffer from mange—think of your worst case of poison ivy, and imagine having to suffer from it for the rest of your life. Learn more about what happens to pigs in factory farms. Check out the mange-ridden pigs on these South Dakota and Nebraska pig farms.

5) Farming Family Values
Factory farms are pure hell for pigs and their babies. Mother pigs spend most of their lives in tiny “gestation” crates, which are so small that the animals are unable to turn around or even lie down comfortably. They are repeatedly impregnated until they are slaughtered. Piglets, who are taken away from their distraught mothers after just a few weeks, have their tails chopped off, their teeth are clipped off with pliers, and the males are castrated—all without painkillers. Learn more about cruelty to pigs.

6) The Manure Is Blowing in the Wind …
A pig farm with 5,000 animals produces as much fecal waste as a city of 50,000 people. In 1995, 25 million gallons of putrid hog urine and feces spilled into a North Carolina river, immediately killing between 10 and 14 million fish. To get around water pollution limits, factory farms will frequently take the tons of urine and feces that are stored in cesspools and turn them into liquid waste that they spray into the air. This manure-filled mist is carried away by the wind and inhaled by the people who live nearby. Learn more about how factory farming damages the environment.

7) Bacteria-Laden Bacon and Harmful Ham
Extremely crowded conditions, poor ventilation, and filth in factory farms cause such rampant disease in pigs that 70 percent of them have pneumonia by the time they’re sent to the slaughterhouse. In order to keep pigs alive in conditions that would otherwise kill them and to promote unnaturally fast growth, the industry keeps pigs on a steady diet of the antibiotics that we depend on to treat human illnesses. This overuse of antibiotics has led to the development of “superbacteria,” or antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains. The ham, bacon, and sausage that you’re eating may make the drugs that your doctor prescribes the next time you get sick completely ineffective. Learn more about the effect of eating meat from sick, diseased, and drugged animals.

8) Hell on Wheels
More than 170,000 pigs die in transport each year, and more than 420,000 are crippled by the time they arrive at the slaughterhouse. Transport trucks, which carry pigs hundreds of miles through all weather extremes with no food or water, regularly flip over, throwing injured and dying animals onto the road. These terrified and injured animals are rarely offered veterinary care, and most languish in pain for hours; some even bleed to death on the side of the road. After an accident in April 2005, Smithfield spokesperson Jerry Hostetter told one reporter, “I hate to admit it, but it happens all the time.” Learn more about cruelty to pigs during transport.

9) Killing Them Without Kindness
A typical slaughterhouse kills up to 1,100 pigs every hour, which makes it impossible for them to be given humane, painless deaths. The U.S. Department of Agriculture documented 14 humane slaughter violations at one processing plant, where inspectors found hogs who “were walking and squealing after being stunned [with a stun gun] as many as four times.” Because of improper stunning methods and extremely fast line speeds, many pigs are still alive when they are dumped into scalding-hot hair-removal tanks—they literally drown in scalding-hot water. Learn more about what happens to pigs at slaughter.

10) Ditch the Bacon and Get Fakin’
Save pigs from hell and yourself from bad health by feasting on faux pork products instead. Stuff a sandwich full of Yves brand veggie ham slices, or throw some Lightlife Smart Bacon into a sizzling skillet—the freezer and “health food” sections of your local grocery or health food stores are packed full of these and other tasty substitutes. Check out VegCooking.com for hundreds of recipes, product recommendations, vegan meal plans, and a shopping guide.

Think before you eat another sausage link—order a free vegetarian starter kit full of delicious recipes and celebrity features today!

I will never eat one of these playful and intelligent creatures again! I know it might sound lame, but I love watching videos on YouTube of cute pigs, playing around and being free!
Here's a cute video....they actually remind me of my dog Dexter because he also runs around with SO much energy and love for life :)