Really Put Things in Perspective...

Just saw a new music video from Vegetarian Rock Star Pink, and it is really powerful, to say the least! I have not been vegan my entire life, but I have never drank milk. From a very early age, I refused to drink it because I thought it was awful, and since my mom didn't drink it either, she really couldn't enforce that I had to. I think it was kindergarten when we learned where we got milk from, and then it grossed me out even more! Even at 5 years old, I found it strange that humans drink another animal's milk. A few years later, I started understanding that mommies produce milk to feed their babies so they grow, and I always wondered how baby cows got their milk if humans were taking it. Cut to a few years ago, when I really started understanding it all, it just really bothered me and made me sad to know how baby cows are tortured and taken from their mothers at birth just so humans can selfishly take the milk that was intended for that poor baby. Milk today is so full of the antibiotics and hormones given to the cows to produce mass amounts, that all of the vitamins and nutrients are actually stripped away from the milk. Those vitamins and nutrients are then re-added to milk before being sold, so they aren't even naturally occuring in the milk anymore...and everyone knows that nutrient substitutes are never as good for you as the real thing...so honestly, there really is no plausible reason to drink cows milk in the United States anymore, but people continue.

And if you think that it is totally natural for us to drink another species' milk, let me ask you this...if you were/are a woman, would you let your pet dog/cat/gerbile breastfeed from you? The thought probably creeps you out like no other, but really, aren't people who drink cows milk doing the same thing?? So what's with the double standard??

Anyway, Pink's new music video shows this in a very real way...it honestly freaked me out so much the way she depicts the milk industry in this, but it puts in in perspective. I also love how she takes on bullfighting, which is another thing I've always been strongly opposed to. So anyway, enjoy the video, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on it!!

Seitan-Worshipper Eggplant Stirfry

Well, it’s nearing the end of the week when the pantry is a little thin and the veggies are holding on to their last bits of life. Last night when I went to cook dinner, I noticed we had some vegetables that more than likely were not going to make it until today, and we do everything possible not to throw food out, so I did one of my favorite things…stir-fry! To me, this is the absolute easiest way to use up those veggies before having to send them to the compost graveyard. I looked at the veggies that needed to be used, and although I didn’t really know how they’d do in a stir-fry together, I gave it a shot anyway, and the man and I were more than impressed at the flavor combination we created! Here is what was in my end-of-the-road stir-fry:


*Eggplant
*Summer Squash
*Green Beans
*Edamame
*Peas
*Leftover Seitan


Throw these in a wok with a little bit of olive oil, shoyu, a splash of white wine, minced garlic and crushed red pepper, toss it over some brown rice, and you have a delicious meal…AND you didn’t waste those precious veggies! I had never actually put eggplant in a stir-fry before, but it was actually really good and gave a nice texture to the mix. What are YOUR favorite veggie-stir-fry combinations??


Happy Vegan MoFo!!

Happy Herbivore's Chickpea Noodle Soup...Yes!

Sometimes, no matter how hard you wish for something, it just isn’t possible. Take this week, for example. I have wanted nothing more than to come home from work each night, grab a towel, and lay poolside through the sunset. Well, we’re supposed to get snow today, so like I said, sometimes your wishes just aren’t possible. ANYWAY, the cooler weather, if you haven’t noticed from my last couple recipes, puts me in serious soups, chilis, and desserts-mode. Last night, I was on a super tight schedule, since both the man and I were hungry, and we only had an hour from the time that we both got home until when he had to leave again, and I didn’t want him going to rehearsal on a cold night with nothing but a pb&j in his belly!

So, we looked through the pantry, and I realized that we had all the ingredients for one of my favorite soups by one of my favorite food bloggers, Happy Herbivore!! Not only that, but it’s one of the QUICKEST soups you can possibly put together, it’s super hearty and filling, and it just plain warms the soul! I took the recipe and added a bag of frozen mixed veggies to it since we didn’t have any mushrooms (the frozen mixed veggies were totally our lizard’s food, but he didn’t mind! [and yes, I do realize it’s absurd to feed a lizard organic Trader Joes frozen veggies, but he’s spoiled…don’t judge me!]). The best thing about big pots of soup like this is that you can jar it up and have it for lunches the rest of the week…yummy! Now, on to the recipe!

Chickpea Noodle Soup by Happy Herbivore
1 whole carrot, skinned
2 whole celery stalks, sliced
1 small onion, diced
10 whole cremini (brown) mushrooms (we subbed the frozen mixed veggies)
8 cups vegetable broth
1 tsp yellow miso paste
1 tsp tamari
2 whole bay leaf
4 ounces whole wheat pasta, uncooked
15 ounces chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Instructions:
Line a large soup pot with broth, about 1/4 cup. Add carrots, celery and onion and saute over high heat until onions are translucent, about 3 minutes.

Add mushrooms and more broth if necessary. Continue to cook over high heat until the mushrooms are soft, about 3 minutes. Add remaining broth, bay leaves, miso and tamari. Cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add pasta and reduce heat to medium. Cook for another 6 minutes, or until pasta is al dente (adjust time accordingly). Stir in chickpeas and taste test. Add more miso or salt if necessary or desired. Allow soup to thorougly heat the chickpeas. Fish out bay leaves and serve.



I didn't get to feel the sun on my face lying poolside, but I did get to enjoy the warmth and goodness of this soup deep in my soul!



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Plastic Demons

In our house, we try to be as kind to our planet and to ourselves as possible. Now, we don’t have a ten-thousand page book of rules that we follow or anything, but we do always try to make conscious decisions about the things we do. I’m not going to give up baking just because I know that sugar is bad for me, but I do choose to create recipes using less sugar, and I always buy “kind” sugars. See? Just little things like that. We try to keep our trash down to one bag a week and compost everything we possibly can. When possible, we try to re-use our trash bag if it hasn’t torn or anything, but we don’t guilt and torture ourselves if it isn’t possible. I’m not going to live a life of restriction and rules to fit into some standard, and I want people to know that being vegan doesn’t mean you have to do so! Those small steps you take can make huge impacts!


Plastic waste that has gathered in our oceans...so sad.

One of the easiest things that we have done to lighten our footprint is to try and rid the household of plastic. Now, you’re probably wondering what on earth is so bad about plastic. Well, there’s a LOT bad about plastic, and reducing the amount that you use is something that is so simple that you can do that will not only benefit you, but benefit generations and generations to come.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the average American creates half a pound of plastic waste a DAY. That’s 182.5 pounds of plastic waste each year from one single person, which equals about 5 BILLION pounds a year in the US alone! Now, most plastics cannot be recycled, so the majority of this is filling up landfills, filling our oceans, wreaking havoc on our ecosystem and killing thousands of plants and animals each DAY. Not to mention, storing and microwaving foods using plastic releases dangerous chemicals and carcinogens directly into our food…now really…why on earth would we want that?!

But HOW do you get rid of all the plastic?! You really don’t realize how much you use until you try and cut it out of each part of your life. I suggest starting small and working your way up to the bigger things. As far as our house, these are some of the steps we have taken to remove plastics:

Shopping: This is the easiest and cheapest thing you can do…buy re-useable bags!! We got a bunch of them for fifty cents apiece at our local grocery store. They also hold a lot more than a plastic shopping bag, and you can fold one up and keep it in your purse just in case you have to run somewhere and pick up a few things.

Trash: If you don’t compost, or don’t have room to do so, don’t worry. There are brands of trashbags out there that are not made of plastic, and even more that are made out of recycled plastic. The brand we use are made of biodegradable bio-resin by Nature Friendly. You can find them at any grocery store, and they are only about a dollar more than regular trash bags. We buy the large box of 50 and it lasts us about a year!


Food Storage: Most people have a cupboard dedicated to “tupperware” or like products. Storing your food in plastic totally defeats the purpose of trying to eat right in the first place, because you are allowing your good foods to soak up toxic chemicals into them. The best things that I have found, and they are super cheap, too, are Ball canning jars! Not only do they look cool, but you can see exactly what is in them, how much you have, and you can get them in all sorts of sizes! We keep our dry storage (grains, beans, etc.) in the largest size, homemade condiments (vegan ranch and other salad dressings, etc.) in smaller ones in the fridge, and they are a great way to transport leftovers if you take them to work and such! Not to mention, they are easy to replace, and really inexpensive (I bought a new box of 16 of the large ones a few months ago for $6). Plus, when I go grocery shopping, I can look in the pantry and easily see what I need to stock up on.


Now, there is a LOT of other things you can do to reduce your plastic waste, but these three are small ones that have a truly ENORMOUS impact on our world and our health. If anything, start with these three, and educate yourselves on how to further eradicate plastic from your life when you’re comfortable with these. Best of luck!!!


Vegan MoFo!!!

Restaurant Review: Cafe Costa Rica

Yesterday was World Vegan Day, and instead of cooking a super delicious vegan meal, I carted my lazy ass to a restaurant! Okay, so I’d actually been wanting to try this place for a while, and heard they had some pretty awesome stuff, and wanted to support a local restaurant that catered to the vegan crowd. So, the man and myself travelled downtown to visit a restaurant so cute and tiny that if you blink, you just may miss…so keep your eyes peeled for this one!

It’s called the Café Costa Rica, and it’s literally in the basement of an old house with two tables outside, and three tables inside. You walk inside, and the smells are deliciously overpowering. You’re greeted by a friendly hello, and asked if you want to sit inside or outside (outside?? It’s like, 35 degrees outside! Do you real Wisconsin folk really still sit outside when it’s that cold?! Sheesh!) We took the small corner table and were handed menus that were nothing more than a piece of paper that looked like it had been laminated like, 20 years ago. The menu was entirely meat…steak, chicken, pork, veal, fish. Oh boy…maybe we went to the wrong place. Wait! At the very bottom of the menu in small print it said, “Can make any meal vegetarian/vegan. Please ask your server.” My first thought was, how the hell do you make veal vegan?! But, when our server arrived at the table, I obviously asked, how can you make these meals vegan? Our server then began to describe how they can “veganize” any option you would like. For example, they can marinate tofu steaks in the sauce the veal is made with, or use patacones in substitution for any meat on the plate (patacones are fried green plantains). As soon as our server mentioned the patacones substitution, I immediately began to salivate. I ordered the Burrito but stuffed with patacones instead of beef and no cheese. The man ordered a jerk marinated tofu steak. And we sat, anxiously awaiting our food.

Look at the SIZE of that thing!!!


His looked equally as delicious!


Hell Yes I'm in Heaven!!

To say we were please with the outcome would be an understatement. For one, my burrito was bigger than my thigh (and this chubby latina vegan has some serious thighs!) and the aromas were enough to make me sing out loud. Then, we got down to the real test…the taste. All my wildest fantasies seemed to come true in that very moment. It was honestly the best meal I have had in AGES. The man cleaned his plate. I have lunch for two days now.


Overall, I’d give this place a 9/10 (no parking makes it lose a point, which is going to be difficult for when it gets snowy!). We will definitely be back, and if you are a Dairyland Vegan like myself, I HIGHLY recommend Café Costa Rica!

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Thank you all so much!

Pan de Muerto y dia de los Vegans!!!

First off, I want to say HAPPY VEGAN DAY to everyone!!! I hope everyone has a day full of yummy vegan goodies ahead of them! I was a vegan baking machine this weekend, between Halloween and dia de los Muertos and everything else, so I have lots of yummy recipes to share with you this week! But, in honor of my favorite day of the year, el dia de los Muertos, I thought I’d share a recipe that turned out super fantastically amazing!! Now, this is not my recipe for pan de muerto. I must tell you that. I would LOVE to take credit for this recipe, but I gotta give credit where it’s due, ya know?! Anyway, this recipe is from the blog VeganMania and it is incredible!

a dia de los Muertos altar in San Diego I visited a few years back.


Now, I’m sure some of you are asking, what the f*ck is pan de muerto?? Pan de muerto is a Mexican bread that is traditionally served on el dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) to celebrate and honor your ancestors who have passed on. It is sweet bread that is typically decorated with pieces that resemble bones, or if you’re really crafty, the bread can be shaped like a skull. It is eaten at the altars that are set up on this day to honor your loved ones. And, it’s just a damn tasty treat, if you ask me!


Vegan pan de Muerto
3/4 cup lukewarm water
4 tsp active dry yeast
1 cup Earth Balance melted and cooled to room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 lb medium firm tofu, pureed until smooth
1 tbsp orange blossom or rose water
1 tbsp orange or lemon zest
1 tsp salt
up to 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
up to 2 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1 tbsp soy milk
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Mix the yeast with the warm water and let sit for five minutes. Stir in the melted Earth Balance, the pureed tofu, the sugar, the orange blossom or rose water, the zest, the salt and 1 1/2 cups of each flour. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, alternating between the whole wheat and the unbleached, until the dough forms a sticky ball. Turn this onto a lightly floured board and knead for about 10 minutes, adding more flour as necessary to prevent sticking. Place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a clean cloth. Allow to rise in a warm spot until it has doubled in size — about 90 minutes.

Punch the dough down and knead a couple of times. Lightly oil baking sheets (I used two pizza pans), and form the dough into two round loaves. You can break off a bit of dough and roll it into long snakes or strips to form skull shapes or bone shapes to arrange on top of the loaves, if you like. Let these loaves rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour on the pans, preheat your oven to 375 F, then brush the loaves with the 1 tbsp of soy milk and bake for 30-40 minutes.

Remove the loaves from the oven, brush with a little extra melted Earth Balance, and immediately sprinkle with the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture.


I'm not that artistically blessed, so this was my version of "bones" on my bread...don't judge me!


YUMMY FREAKING YUM!!!