It's Time...

Hello all. As I'm sure you've noticed, my postings have decreased quite significantly lately. The truth of the matter is I have a lot of personal stuff that I'm trying to get through right now, and I need to step back from everything and take a little time. I promise to have lots of delicious recipes and such for you when I'm back.

Happy Holidays.

Vegan Shoes, All Proceeds to Charity!

Adorable vegan shoes, and 100% of the proceeds go to Charity!

I know I post about ShoeDazzle a lot, but this company is definitely one of my favorite vegan companies! As a self-proclaimed shoe hoarder, this site is both good and bad for me, as each month they get more of my money (bad), but I end up with super comfortable, sexy shoes that my entire office asks about...yes, they are really that cute (good)! I have not yet been disappointed with a single pair of shoes from them. They are all so comfortable, and 100% vegan. Now, occasionally, they will carry a shoe that they did not make, but they will specify that it is not the ShoeDazzle brand, and will tell you exactly what they are made of. So far, I have only seen one shoe from another vendor on their site that was not 100% vegan. But, if you are ever unsure, you can always call their CS support, and they will definitely help you out. Once, they had a Michael Antonio shoe on their site for sale, and I called to see if it was, like their own brand, 100% vegan. The person I spoke with couldn't tell me, but took my phone number. Within 5 minutes, I got a call back letting me know that the glue of the shoe was not vegan. But hey, at least they were honest, and looked into it, instead of giving me a quick, fake answer! She also said she would notify the buyers to make sure that those things didn't occur again. So they really do try to be as animal-friendly as possible!


"Little Diva" Celebrity Charity Shoe, by Kristin Chenowith

Now, this morning, they just released one of their Charity shoes. Their charity shoes don't make them a buck. 100% of the proceeds go to different charities. The shoe that was released this morning was designed by one of my favorite celebs, Kristin Chenowith! Because she designed it, she has directed all proceeds to go to the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, which is a charity she does a lot of work with. Once again, sexy vegan shoes, a charitable cause, and a great price...what could be better than that?!

The price for the shoes is normally $39.95, which includes shipping and free exchanges/returns. If you use my invite link to sign up (http://www.shoedazzle.com/invite/1b66m166mp) you will get 20% off this already super great price. And remember...it all is going to a good charity. I love that they came out with this shoe during the holiday season, because not only can you get a great pair of shoes, but it's also a great time to give as well. Or, you could give two gifts in one...give the shoes as a gift, while simultaneously giving to charity! It's a win-win!

Okay, I know that I talk about ShoeDazzle a lot, but seriously, how can you not?! When I find a company that is animal-friendly, has very respectable regulations for their factories, and treats their employees well, it's hard to not support them as much as possible. So get your ShoeDazzle on, and shop, shop, shop!


Chenowith did good! I think these shoes would look great on ANYBODY!!

Heartland Farm Sanctuary Work Day...Volunteers in Madison Needed!

Some of our current animal residents with founder Dana Barre.



I have mentioned the Heartland Farm Sanctuary in a few posts on here, but I have some really great news to share with every one…a VERY generous family in the community has donated a home for our sheltered farm animals!!! A lovely family in the Madison area has donated their barn and over 25 acres of fenced pasture to the Heartland Farm Sanctuary, which means all of our animals can now be at one place, together! This is absolutely fantastic news, and I’m so excited to share this!




Now, the goal of HFS is to have the animals all moved to this new location as soon as possible, but a lot needs to be done to the barn/land to make it “animal-ready”. So, they are having a work day for anybody interested in donating some time to help prepare the land! The work day is scheduled for this Saturday, December 11, from 8:00 am until whenever. According to the email, it would be great if anybody who wants to help could bring the following items (if you already have them):

*Very warm outdoor clothes and boots (hello! It’s December in Wisconsin!)
*Hammer, electric screwdriver, heavy-duty nails and screws
*Work gloves
*Cardboard boxes
*pitchfork, shovel, pickaxes
*Wheelbarrow, heavy-duty outdoor brooms

If you would like to help, you can rsvp at dana.barre@heartlandfarmsanctuary.org . Also, if you are unable to help, but know someone who might be interested, please pass this information along! This is super exciting, because now the sanctuary finally has room to help even more animals in need of rescuing, which is so desperately needed in the Midwest! From what I hear, the barn is just a little bit outside of Madison, in Verona, I think, so if you can come out, that would be super-duper awesome. The more help HFS has, the sooner we can get all the animals moved out and comfortable, and the sooner we can start helping more critters that need it. So please, think about stopping by and lending a helping hand if you can! This California girl has honestly never used a lot of the “tools” that are needed (pickax?? I don’t even know what that is!), but I’m still going to offer any help I can. You don’t have to be a farm-pro, but just willing to put in some time to help the animals and a great cause. I’d love to see you guys out there, and maybe even meet some of my local followers!




*photo credit*
All photos are not my own. Found via Google Images. Please let me know if a photo is yours and you do not want it on here. Thank you!

Hearty White Bean Stew

(Finally got my camera fixed, so hopefully no more cameraphone pics!)
With the weather getting colder by the day, I am finding my mind and body to be drawn towards warm, hearty meals….soups, chilis, etc. Yesterday, I had about half of our “turkey” loaf left from Thanksgiving, so I decided to make a nice stew with it. Now, if you have ever read anything on this blog, you know that I’m a lazy cook. I like to put things together, but I like for something else to do the hard work for me. Which is why I’m so in love with my crock pot. Seriously. I can throw a bunch of stuff in it before work, pop that sucker on low, and when I come home not only does the house smell amazing, but dinner is already ready! Which, on a night like last night (I had a hysteroscopic resection of two fibroids so needless to say I was sore and a little out of it) it was nice to come home to dinner already made so I could eat and go straight to bed. The only prep on this meal is soaking some beans the night before.

Hearty “Turk’y” Stew

1 cup of dry navy beans
5 cups strong vegetable stock
2 tablespoons basil
1 tablespoon marjoram
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper (or less if you don’t like spicy)
1 onion, diced and caramelized
½ “turk’y” loaf or one package of seitan, chopped into bite-sized pieces


The night before making this, take your one cup of navy beans and soak them overnight.

Rinse the soaked beans, and add them, the stock, basil, marjoram, garlic powder and cayenne to your crock pot. Place on low for about 7 hours or high for about 4 hours.

When you have about 30 minutes of cooking time left, add your caramelized onion and seitan/loaf.

Salt and pepper to your liking (don’t add salt while it’s cooking, as this makes the beans harden and crumble), garnish with some chopped basil, and enjoy on its own or poured over brown rice. Yummy!


Seriously folks, it doesn’t get much easier than that!

Thanksgiving Feast

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday and spent some quality time with all of your friends, family and loved ones. After a rocky start (5.5 hour car ride that ended up being almost 12 hours!), and a broken phone (had no idea how I was going to call all my family that I don’t live around), I was a little stressed for the holidays, but all in all, it turned out to be okay! And aside from a few snarky comments from my anti-vegan, vegetable loathing father, it really wasn’t as terrible as I had imagined it could be. And, once he realized, after telling my man how “disappointed” he was in him for not eating meat three times and receiving no response, he finally gave up and decided to leave him alone. But, enough about big bullies who think they know everything, let’s get to the food!


I must say, our KIND food was absolutely delicious! My dad’s wife had invited her brother and his three kids, and they all tried and loved my super delicious vegan goodies…including my “turkey” roast, which I will be getting to today. The vegan spread included: Vegan Turkey Loaf, Mashed Potatoes and Mushroom gravy, Cranberries, Stuffing, Vegan Green Bean Casserole, “Butter” rolls with Earth Balance, Pumpkin Pie and Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie. A kind feast fit for a king!


I’ll be putting up the recipes as I have time this week, but I’m going to start with the Turkey Loaf, as it was my first time ever making anything like this, and it was absolutely delicious, and fairly simple, too! The recipe is from Ellen Degeneres’ website, and I hope it will be part of many of your celebrations to come!

Ellen Degeneres’ Vegan Turkey Loaf

Ingredients:
4 Cups vital wheat gluten
1 Cup bread crumbs (I make my own by toasting three slices of my favorite bread then throwing them in the food processor with some herbs)
1 Cup nutritional yeast
3 Tablespoon dried thyme
1 large onion small dice and caramelized
1 Tablespoon kosher salt
½ Cup extra virgin olive oil
4 Cups strong Vegetable Stock
1 full sheet of cheesecloth
Butcher's twine
Blackening spices
Earth Balance butter

Instructions:
Caramelize the onions over medium heat until they are golden brown. Add the onions to the dry ingredients and mix.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until a loose batter forms. Shape the batter into a loaf.

Unroll about 24" of cheesecloth on to a clean dry surface. Unfold the cloth completely and then fold it in half to form a two-ply piece of cloth.

Place the loaf in the middle of cloth and roll it up, leaving enough space to tie off at both ends.
Now tie two more pieces of twine over the center of the roast.


Place the roast into a large pot of boiling water and simmer for at least two hours (My dad’s kitchen is small and I wasn’t allowed to take up space cooking my “weird” food, so I was unable to use the stove for this part. However, I put it in a crock pot on high for the two hours and it worked just fine).

Carefully remove the cheesecloth and place the roast on a small sheet tray and rub the roast with Earth Balance butter and sprinkle with blackening spices. Bake roast at 350 for 20+ minutes or until golden brown (25 seemed to work well for mine). Allow roast to rest a few minutes before slicing.

Restaurant Review - Bloom Bake Shop

My very first Bloom Cupcake...an experience I'll never forget!



I do have a lot of recipes to share with you all, but I am still wanting to give shout outs to all the yummy vegan goodies the man and me found around and about Wisconsin this weekend with his mother. One place that we took her to has been a favorite of ours for a few months now since discovering it. A vegan bakery. Need I say more?? Well, I’m gonna, because this place is unlike any vegan bakery I’ve ever been to.


Now, coming from Los Angeles, I was lucky enough to have many vegan options surrounding me daily. From local bakeries that baked up goodies sold at our Whole Foods out there to bakeries like BabyCakes, Sprinkles, and the like…there was definitely no shortage of vegan goodies in Los Angeles. BUT...although tasty…they all felt like they were missing…something.


A year later, we discovered Bloom Bake Shop…right around the corner from where I work. I was told about this new bakery from a co-worker, excited to tell me that although they had non-vegan items, that there were vegan and gluten free features each day as well. Of course, you say cupcake to me, and I’m there. So, I headed on down, and was greeted with the friendliest staff I have ever come across. My first vegan cupcake experience was one of the most ultimate decadence…a vanilla cupcake filled with orange marmalade…topped with a dark chocolate ganache and an orange buttercream frosting flower. I bit in, and went straight to cupcake heaven! THIS cupcake HAD what all the other ones didn’t…a touch of local love.


Bloom Bake Shop is a local, sustainable, fair trade bakery. Most of her ingredients come from right in this area…from the free range hormone-free eggs in her non-vegan products to the peanut butter used in some of her decadent treats all the way to the wind that powers her light fixtures…and what isn’t local is still fair-trade, pesticide and synthetics-free. Every inch of this little bakery is blooming (pun intended…haha) with love, and you can most certainly taste that love when you bite into these delicious, moist, dense vegan cupcakes.


So head on down to Middleton, just minutes from Madison, and pick up a box of cupcakes to share with your family, friends, co-workers…or keep them all for yourself (don’t worry, I won’t judge!). But definitely give this kind local business a try! You will not be disappointed! And the man's mother was in cupcake heaven, so take your out-of-town guests here too!!


The insanely moist and delicious vegan blondie I had this weekend!


The "Be Campy" vegan s'mores cupcake...I've had this one two or three times, and it's always a winner...and pretty, too!

Restaurant Review - Monty's Blue Plate Diner

This weekend the man’s mother was in town, and we ended up eating out much more than we usually do. HOWEVER, this gives me the chance to write some reviews on the vegetarian and vegan-friendly joints in Madison for those of you who live here or who may visit in the future. Anyway, the restaurant I’m reviewing today is one that we had gone to about a year ago, loved, but for some reason, haven’t been back since. Well, let me tell you, we will NOT be going this long again without paying a visit to Monty’s Blue Plate Diner. With their plethora of vegetarian and vegan fare, it’s really hard to not leave this place super stuffed and satisfied with vegan yumminess.

Now with Monty’s you don’t want to go there super-hungry. Go there when you are sorta-kinda hungry, because whether you go first thing in the morning or in the evening, there is ALWAYS a wait. This place is hugely popular, and if you go hungry, you’ll be absolutely famished by the time you are seated. So be prepared to wait, but be prepared to be more than satisfied with your meal as well. This place is DEFINITELY worth waiting for!

Now, their menu is not all vegetarian and vegan. BUT, it’s almost 100% local food, which is neat. And although this place is also a burger and bacon-lovers’ paradise, it’s also got a HUGE vegan menu and an even bigger vegetarian menu. The servers are also very knowledgeable about what can be veganized as well. I have had a vegan entrée before, but this time, since it was an early lunch, I wanted to try one of their breakfast options, served all day. And let me tell you, this was the BEST tofu scramble I have EVER had. And this is coming from a vegan who really hates tofu! You have to REALLY know what you’re doing with tofu to make me like it, and they have definitely won me over.

So, if you’re in Madison, I HIGHLY recommend this place! Check out Monty’s Blue Plate Diner…maybe I’ll see you there!

Also, here's a link to their vegan menu!


This was my yummy vegetarian hash made with diced potatoes, veggies and smoky tempeh. Can be served with two chicken fetuses (yuck!) or tofu scramble for no extra charge. Also served with a non-vegan biscuit, but you can sub toast (I got the rye toast and it was delicious!).


This was the man's tofu scramble and fried potatoes. He had the biscuit. How awesome do these dishes look?!