Veggie Goes Vegan

When comedians are vegan

They have funnier answers to the questions veg*ns get tired of answering that you or I would have.

Case in point, comedian Myq Kaplan, in this article on Thrillist:

Things People Say When You Tell Them You're a Vegetarian/Vegan

Enjoy!

From The Huffington Post: 30 Things Veg*ns Don't Want to Hear Anymore

Link: 30 Things Veg*ns Don't Want to Hear Anymore

I can't say I agree with the proposed comebacks to each of the 30 questions. But I agree that one does hear them a lot.

I do get asked about protein.

I do hear about how cheese is un-give-up-able (that would be because of the Casomorphin, which makes it addictive, btu definitely give-up-able).

And so on and so forth.

And what you see online in comments is far worse than anything I hear from real people who know me. (I know, I know...never. read. the comments.)

Still, if you're veg*n you'll probably relate to this post and it might give you a good comeback or two.

20 Ingredients I Can’t Live Without | The Kind Life

Via: 20 ingredients I can't live without on The Kind Life 

These are the most important ingredients I need in my fridge or pantry, no matter what. If you have these, I feel like you’re pretty much set. This list might be especially great to share with any flirts that you know to get them started! 

I love Alicia Silverstone and the Kind Life, so I'm a little depressed that of her 20 items she can't live without, I only regularly have 8 on hand.

I did buy Ume plums when I first read her book. And I confess I never have tried them. They're still sitting in my fridge, I think. I'm guessing they don't last forever.

Sigh.

Well, it gives me something to aspire to. Again.

Veganize It! Roasted Brussels Sprouts from Hilah Cooking

Found this recipe on #BlogHerTV, and it looks yummy (and can be oh, so easily veganized):

I would suggest using maple syrup in place of the honey Hilah uses to get a richer sweetness, but I could also see using agave syrup.

Either way, I'm totally trying the wasabi powder trick...I've had a jar of it in my pantry for ages and only used it once! I look for any excuse to cook up some brussels sprouts, and this is a good one!

This week's bookmarked recipes

I started something during Vegan MoFo that I tohught was worth keeping up: Each week I bookmark a lot of cool vegan recipes I find round the web, and each week I should share those with you!

So here are this week's bookmarks:

Veggie Fixation posted a round up of their own: Their favorite holiday recipes.

Manifest Vegan's Pumpkin Spice Rice Pudding sounds amazing, and so seasonal :)

It's no surprise Pumpkin is a theme, so I also bookmarked the Vegan Chickpeas' Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pancakes and Chubby Vegan Mom's Pumpkin Mac & Cheese.

Cat Food Sandwich combines some of my favorite foods for Fettucine with Brussels Sprouts and Pine Nuts

Brussels Sprouts are also the main ingredient of Kitchen Opera's Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Apples and Almonds

The fall and winter bounty is on full display with these other heart, savory choices:

Cupcake Kitteh's Leek, Mushroom, Kale Pie

Kitchen Opera's Collard Green with Roasted Vegetables Wrap

Naked Vegan Lunch's Curried Butternut Kale Stew and African Peanut Stew

And finally, a couple of other yummy-sounding creations:

Big Mike's Eats' Vegan Cherry Cake

Peaceful Pantry's Wasabi Sesame Noodle Salad

and

VegHead's Creamy Avocado Soup

Haven't tried any of these yet, so if you have, please let me know how they turned out!

Vegan MoFo Day 31: Well, I did it!

That's right. We are at the end of the road. Cue Boyz II Men because I survived Vegan MoFo. I posted 23 out of 31 days in October. Of course if you look a little more closely, I clearly had trouble sstaining the effort. I blogged 14 out of the first 15 days in the month. And 9 out of the next 16. 

I cooked some new recipes. I share my most reliable go-to ingredients and meals. I went out to several restaurants. I brought the variety, I will give me that.

My pictures are not really very good, and I don't feel comfortable reprinting entire recipes from other folks, so I'm probably an annoying blogger.

But I did it!

Today being Halloween, we had a potluck at work, and I stopped and picked up a dozen vegan donuts at Whole Foods. These are moist and, to my mind, indistinguishable from regular donuts. They were so good I forgot, once again, to take picturesof them before they were gone. 

Because oh, yeah, that's the other thing I do. I forget to shoot the food I'm eating, sometimes at all, but often only when it's half-eaten and not nearly as attractive.

I could be a better blogger. I could probably be a better vegan too. But with both veganism and blogging: I just keep trying!

How was Vegan MoFo for you/

 

Vegan MoFo Day 11: The promised vegan interview

Ack, OK. trying to recover from missing a day yesterday :( I could have done a quick and dirty link to something, *anything*, but I figured that wasn't really the point.

As I mentioned hearlier in the week, I interviewed Leesa Rowland and Lisa Gaye from Two City Girls this week. The full interview is published on BlogHer. 

Let me just tease to the post by sharing the final question I asked each of the L's (and myself) and all of our answers:

BlogHer: If you had to articulate why you're a vegan (and others should be) in one sentence, what would it be?

Leesa: My go-to argument is this: The lives of animals are more important than my appetite.

There's plenty to eat without eating animals. Plenty to wear without wearing animals. It's the compassionate choice.

Lisa: It leads to a sweeter life.

Elisa (couldn't resist adding mine, especially given that my name fits right in!): I (and all humans) do not *need* to eat animal products to thrive, and if it is more kind, more eco-friendly, and more healthy to not do so, why on Earth would I?

Thanks to the Two City Girls, Leesa and Lisa, for the fun chat and their words of vegan wisdom. Read the whole interview here:

Happy World Vegetarian Month!

 

Vegan MoFo Day 1: Let's Try This Again, Shall We

 That's right, folks, it's time for Vegan MoFo. That special time of year (October) when vegans attempt to blog something vegan-y every single day of the month.

I have tried in the past, and I confess I have failed.

But I am nothing if not forgiving of my own failings, and so I shall try again.

Yes, I'm listed on the 2012 Blog Roll, and yes, that means that when you subscribe to the ENTIRE MOFO LIST via RSS, as the kind Vegan MoFo folks have enables one to do, I will be included.

Now, I know I have one special thing lined up for this: An interview with cult film star Leesa Rowland, who also just so happens to have launched a vegan cooking channel on YouTube. I'l be posting it on BlogHer.com and cross-posting it here.

But other than that, I'm on my own.

As JL and I agree: We're cray-cray to take it on, but I just couldn't resist.

Idea: I'll just link to JL's post every day and add "I agree!" What do you think?

No, no. I'm really going to try. I actually loves me some blogging and would like to get back to doing it more consistently. It may be a #pipedream, but I'm kicking it off with Vegan MoFo.

Join me :)

VegCookbookClub May Cookbook: Veganomicon

This month the Veg Vookbook Club I try to be a part of is cooking out of Veganomicon, by Isa Chadra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero [affiliate link]. I've had this book for a long time, and conisder it the one, true, must-have vegan cookbook for all.

The picture at left is the Sauteed Kale, Seitan and Brussels Sprouts. 

The book is full of great recipes that are simple enough to feel achievable, but combine ingredients creatively enough to feel like it was worth it to actually buy the book.

Two of my other favorite recipes are the Mac Daddy vegan mac & cheese (must-try, no really) and the Corn-Edamame Salad (to which I add avocado to make it even more awesome).

The Kale, Seitan and Brusselse Sprouts feels insanely healthy and tastes savory. I think it would be very easy to replace the kale with collards, or even spinach, if you're not a kale fan. Either way you're getting a lot of iron and protein in this dish...makes you feel like going to lift weights or something!

Do you have Veganomicon? Do you agree with me it's the Desert Island Vegan Cookbook? If not, what do you think is the DIVC? 

Starbucks ends use of cochineal extract in response to furor

 As I first shared on March 29, we’ve learned that we fell short of your expectations by using natural cochineal extract as a colorant in four food and two beverage offerings in the United States. Our commitment to you, our customers, is to serve the highest quality products available. As our customers you expect and deserve better – and we promise to do better.

via blogs.starbucks.com

Online activation and agitation works.

End of story.

A vegan barista forwarded a picture of the changed ingredient formulation of Starbucks's strawberry frappucino mixture to a vegan bloggers. Firestorm ensued. Starbucks reviewed and is changing their change.

if you ever wonder if it's worth it to raise your voice, wonder no more.

SOPA
Komen-Planned Parenthood
JC Penney-Million Moms

Just these last few months real online outrage has spurred real offline change.

This is, IMO, inarguably awesome.