Ice Cream

I just wanted to give a shout out to my favorite ‘ice-cream’: Purely Decadent. Some soy ice creams out there are really fluffy, or just don’t taste that great. I’ve been eating this ice cream for a few years now. It has a harder texture than most dairy free ice cream, and their flavors are delicious.
My favorite flavor by far is Peanut Butter Zig Zag. I love making a small ice cream cone whenever I need a chocolate fix!

Purely Decadent is:
•Dairy Free Lactose Free
•Less than half the fat of Super Premium Dairy Ice Cream
•Contains only 65% of the calories
•Cholesterol Free
•No Trans Fats
•Certified Vegan
•Certified Made with Organic Ingredients

'Reel Life' at the Farm Sanctuary

After learning about the Farm Sanctuary, and watching all of the great work that they do, I know I wanted to be a member and support their cause.
I know I have blogged about this sanctuary before, but I wanted to share some of their new “Reel Life” videos that they have made about everyday life at the farm. It’s so amazing to see how these animals live and how happy they are in this environment. I can’t wait to go visit!
They also have some informative videos on all animal subjects under their media section of their website.
http://www.farmsanctuary.org/

Rescue Chocolate Is Here!

My Rescue Chocolate has arrived!
If you haven’t heard of Rescue Chocolate before, it’s a non-profit organization where every month, 100% of the net profits are donated to animal rescue organizations around the country. When I ordered mine in December, the proceeds were donated to Austin Pets Alive!

Austin Pets Alive is proud to announce their 2010 accomplishments, including saving over 3000 cats and dogs from Town Lake Animal Center’s euthanasia list. The year’s results prove the organization’s ability to increase number of lives saved, bringing the city as close as it has ever been to its no-kill goal.

I ordered each type of chocolate bar and some dark chocolate hearts filled with raspberry ganache. I wasn’t sure if this vegan chocolate was going to be tasty or not…but, guess what: IT IS!
My favorite chocolate bar was the Peanut Butter Pit-Bull. Their Chocolate Fix bar (plain chocolate) is also delicious. I definitely recommend buying some of this chocolate, because you get to have your chocolate, and all of the proceeds go towards saving animals!
Rescue Chocolate is “the sweetest way to save a life!”

Enjoy :)!

Breakfast

Dorset Cereal is a line of granolas, muesli and porridge. They’re full of nutritious, simple ingredients to create great tasting healthy cereals. I have the Simply Delicious Muesli-and it's just that!

Hello from Dorset. We make unadulterated breakfast cereals that are honest, tasty and real. All our recipes are created here in Poundbury, Dorset. We believe life’s too short to settle for second best, and that simple pleasures are often the most rewarding. Like walking barefoot in the morning dew, an ice cream on the beach or jumping in puddles just for fun. Homemade granola is still my favorite, but Dorset Cereals are great when you don’t have the time to make your own. For breakfast, I usually have Multigrain Cheerios, topped with Kashi Cereal or Granola. I always try to have some fruit, usually blueberries or a banana. Some books talk about eating leafy greens and vegetables in the morning. I don’t think I’m ready to eat steamed collard greens when I wake up, but I am trying to break the routine and try some new more nutritious breakfasts…so I’m looking for some suggestions. What do you have for breakfast?

VeganYumYum

I must say I really like the VeganYumYum recipe book. I’ve made a lot of the recipes out of this book already. She uses so many great photos, and a lot of the recipes have common ingredients. Here are two more recipes that I have tried over the last week…

Golden Chickpea and Artichoke Salad
1 Tbsp oil, plus additional
1 15 oz can chickpeas, drained
5 to 7 artichoke hearts, drained and sliced lengthwise
1/4 to 1/3 c sliced almonds (toasted if desired)
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp fresh chopped parsley

Heat oil in seasoned wok or cast-iron skillet. Add chickpeas and cook over medium-high heat for 10 minutes, stirring only occasionally to prevent burning, until chickpeas are golden brown all over. When done, transfer chickpeas to large mixing bowl and set aside.
Add more oil to pan and sauté sliced artichoke hearts until browned. Add artichokes to bowl of chickpeas.
Toast almonds in dry skillet (if desired) and then grind them in food processor. Add almonds to artichokes and chickpeas. Season salad with lemon juice and salt and stir in chopped parsley. Serve warm or at room temperature, adjusting seasoning if needed.

This chickpea salad tastes great and it’s full of protein. It was a bit dry, so I added some more lemon juice. I ate it along with some baby bok choy that was sprinkled with umeboshi vinegar and salt and pepper.

Vegetable Fried Rice With Tofu
This recipe includes almost every vegetable under the sun. It’s a pretty basic recipe for rice, but what I love is how the tofu is prepared. You fry your tofu pieces in oil until it gets crispy on both sides. Then, mix 1tbl soy sauce with ½ tsp of ginger powder and add that to the tofu while it’s still in the pan. The result is a crispy, glazed, delicious piece of tofu. For those of you who say they don’t like tofu, it might be because it wasn’t cooked right, or it had a rubbery texture. I say it’s ALL about the texture with food. Frying your tofu like this, and then adding it to any stir fry would be a great place to start.

Christmas Dinner

Christmas has past, and the feasting was good! It was so nice to have family around…and so much food was shared. Tyson’s sister hosted a fabulous Christmas dinner. She fixed everything with Vegan Becel and made sure all the side dishes were milk free. She even made stuffing separately, so my mom and I could have it! Tyson made a Tofurkey to bring for Mom and I, and it was a lot better than the one we (my mom and I) cooked for Thanksgiving. He says, it was better because it was cooked with LOVE (from him). We ate mashed potatoes with herbs; a sweet potato dish encrusted with cranberries, brown sugar and nuts; asparagus; glazed carrots; and of course, vegan stuffing! Everything was so delicious. I brought the dessert which consisted of Apple Strudel and Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie. Topped off with tea and coffee, it was a perfect meal.