I’m not sure how I got this link, but it came to me… and looks very interesting!

Here’s what they’re saying:

“Florida VegOut 2010
A special retreat celebrating ANIMALS, PEOPLE and the EARTH
March 25 – 28, 2010

Clarion Hotel Airport Conference Center, Jacksonville, Florida
2101 Dixie Clipper Rd. at the Jacksonville Airport, 2 miles west of Interstate 95

Take a mini vacation, socialize, have FUN and share an extended
weekend with caring, compassionate, like-minded people.”

Listen to this pig! Oh – and check out www.vegslc.com (I stole this from them… they have awesome stuff)!!

So… hopefully you’re already following @JDNORTON because he’s just awesome. You should also be following his alter-ego, @vegslc.

He’s launched a great site in Salt Lake City… thus the VEGSLC name.

They’re going to talk food… vegetarianism… veganism… share recipes, local restaurant reviews, and a lot more.

So if you’re looking for a fantastic extension of your vegetarian experience… check it out!!

VEGSLC

I haven’t posted an update in over a month. That’s WAY too long. Sorry about that.

I’ve been Vegan now for almost seven months, and I’ve never felt better. We found some amazing places in London… check out SAF if you’re there. Wow. They make cheese (vegan) that’s FANTASTIC! Even with crackers… wow. We actually went two times in one week because it was SO good.

We tried to go to Vanilla Black which also looks great… but they were closed. No sign on the door, but a call to their number revealed that they were out for the holidays. Will definitely try them the next time we’re in London.

I’m amazed at how easy it is to eat Vegan… and equally amazed at how easy it is to slip – on accident. I didn’t… but ALMOST did. I bought these MINTS have BEEF in them!?!?!? Mints… like Altoids… with BEEF GELATIN!?! I don’t know what to say. I brought them home because I wanted them… but now will have to give them away.

Anyhow… hope you’re having a GREAT start to a FANTASTIC year and decade – 2010 is the beginning of great things to come.

OH – and more vegan fun recipes and stuff WILL be coming.

Happy Friday!

So… you’re probably vegan, or vegetarian, or thinking about it. I mean, why else would you read this blog? Intellectual curiosity… perhaps… but I digress.

One of my VERY FAVORITE things… is great RANCH DRESSING. And the mixes have TOOOO many ingredients (and often one of them is milk or milk by-products). So I set out to find the very best one.

This one is a combination of a few that are out there – with our own special twist. We used it as a special topping on Spaghetti… mmmm. Was really good. I’ll bet it would be great on Pizza, too.

And SOOOOO easy. I think I’ll make some more RIGHT NOW!!

PopVegOnline
Fantastic Ranch Dressing!! YES It’s Vegan!!
–
1 cup Vegan Mayo
½ cup almond milk, Don’t use FLAVORED VARIETIES (e.g. Vanilla)
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon fresh lemon juice
½ teaspoon dried parsley
Method

So easy… so wonderful. Just dump everything in a bowl… and mix it up.

Chill before serving. And put the dressing in the refrigerator for a while, too. LOL.

Seriously – NOTHING could be easier… or more pleasing… than this.

Of course… you can adjust the thin/thick-ness with more / less almond milk.

From the Vitamix site… mmmmm.

Yield: 3 1/2 cups (840 ml)
Speed: Variable to High
Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients
2 tablespoons (20 g) chopped onion
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 pound (277 g) fresh spinach, washed
2 cups (480 ml) low sodium vegetable broth
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
3 ounces (85 g) tofu

Directions
1. In a large fry pan, saute onion in olive oil over medium heat until translucent, about 4 minutes.
2. Add spinach and cover. Stir periodically to make sure spinach wilts evenly. Cook for about 5 minutes or until all spinach is wilted slightly.
3. Place all ingredients into the Vita-Mix container in the order listed secure lid.
4. Select Variable 1.
5. Turn machine on and quickly increase speed to Variable 10, then to High.
6. Blend for 3-4 minutes or until heavy steam escapes from the vented lid.

Health Classification: Low Cholesterol, Heart Healthy, Vegetarian, Vegan

Meal Type: Soups

Vegan Mofo Continues!!

Grilled Artichokes

I made this for the first time today… and the basis for the recipe came from VegWeb.com – but I have changed it up a bit. They’re an amazing resource… of course… but here’s my take.

Serves 4 people.
–
2 Artichokes
Olive Oil (not EVOO)
1 large Lemon
1 teaspoon thyme, dried
3 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon sea salt
½ cup Olive Oil (not EVOO)
6 cloves Garlic, pressed or microplaned
1 tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar
1 teaspoon Salt
½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
½ cup veganaise, for dip

Method

Prepare the Artichokes
==============
Cut off the sharp times on every leaf using kitchen shears.
Chop off the tops and the stems with a chef’s knife.
Cut the artichokes lengthwise and “work” all the leaves a bit… just to loosen it up.
Using a serrated spoon or knife, remove the hairy part near the heart while leaving the meat intact.

Using the lemons, rub a small amount of juice over the tips of the leaves where they were trimmed, and put juice on the meat and inside leaves.

Preheat the grill to medium high. Outdoor gas grills work great.

Make the Marinade
============
Take the 1/2 cup olive oil, 6 cloves garlic, balsamic vinegar, salt, and fresh ground pepper, … and combine in a small to medium bowl. Whisk together until combined and smooth.

In a separate bowl, mix the Veganaise and 2 to 3 tablespoons of the marinade mixture together. Whisk until smooth and consistent in texture and color.

Pre-Cook the Artichokes
===============
Fill a large pot with water about 5 inches deep. Add a tablespoon of olive oil, 3 cloves crushed garlic, the leftover lemons, and a tablespoon of dried (or sprig of fresh) thyme.

Put the artichokes in the water, stem side down. Bring to a boil and boil for about 20 minutes or more, until the outer leaves move fairly easily. Too short a time, they won’t come off… to long, they’ll come off on their own.

Remove them from the water and drain in colander. Leave them for a few minutes.

GRILL ‘EM
======

Brush the outsides of the artichokes with the marinade and place them outside down on the grill, and baste the insides with marinade. Grill at medium high heat for 3 to 5 minutes.

Flip them over and do it again for another 3 to 5 minutes, inside-down. Re apply the marinade prior to flipping.

EAT ‘EM UP!
=======

Serves 4 happy people.

There won’t be much left… except a pile of artichoke leaves.

ENJOY!

So… I’m asked – a lot – “so, you’re vegan?!?” Sometimes followed by “…so do you eat fish? or eggs?”

But even after explaining that… I’m often met with a blank stare – and the silliest of questions: “So, what do you eat?? Beans and rice?”

And while beans and rice is, somtimes, on the menu… I wated to let you know what I’ve had to eat today.

Just because.

Amaze your friends.

So… it was a birthday day… we started out with a pretty serious brunch.

Oatmeal… with strawberries and organic cane brown sugar.

And – before you ask – NO! That was NOT it.

We also had the Tofu Scramble w/ Vegan Sausage that’s mentioned on this site… nomnomnom.

And we had the Biscuits from this site. More nomnom.

And we had a NEW dish – DINER POTATOES (recipe to come soon)… much nomnomnom.

And we were FULL!! and HAPPY!

So… we were going to skip lunch (since we ate at 11:30 a.m.) and just do an early dinner.

But noooooo. We were hungry mid afternoon.

So – I made grilled artichokes. First time. With lemon, and olive oil, and garlic, and balsamic vinegar, and garlic, and a little more garlic. Boiled ‘em. Grilled ‘em. Ate ‘em. Amazing. Incredible. RECIPE ONLINE.

Then we were again temporarily satiated.

So what to do for dinner? It’s a bit cold out, so we decided to make a new recipe for CHILI with a cornbread topping!

And, wow! It was nomnomnom good, too!

Had organic kidney beans… and tomatoes and tomato sauce… and organic corn… and a bit of cocoa powder, and more great stuff.

It turned out FANTASTIC!! The corn bread topping was really cool – I’m amazed that it stayed intact. You do the first part on the stove… then finish it off in the oven. MMMMMM.

That recipe’s coming, too. Soon.

But I just wanted to put it out there. I got my protein, my carbs, my nutrients, my mmmm feeling… all from veggies and veggie stuff. Very little of what I make comes out of a box or a bag… as you know if you read this blog. I didn’t eat tree bark and sand. I’m not relegated to beans and rice for every meal to make the “magic formula” work and keep me alive.

So what do Vegans eat, anyway?

Food that helps us live longer, healther lives… while helping to offset global greenhouse gases, reduce rainforest destruction, and resource exploitation. Oh, and then there are the animals. Those helpless animals that depend on humans for humanity. And they just don’t get it. I won’t even begin to discuss the abysmal conditions they’re subjected to – even in the best of circumstances. We’ll save that for another blogger… or at least another post.

The options available to Vegans are rich, flavorful, and fulfilling – and are fantastic for our bodies and our lives. They help us live healthier and happier today… and contribute to better health every day in the future.

In case you wanted to know!

So – I made this pizza the other night for the fam.  It ROCKED!!!   I used to love barbecue chicken pizza – so I veganized it.  I made barbecue tempeh with LOTS of carmelized red onions on a homemade pizza crust – topped with vegan cheese.  I found that if I use Follow Your Heart cheese and shred it on smallest section of the grater – it will melt.   This was so freaking good…..will get the recipe together and put it on the site.

Ok – not very good at this blogging stuff yet – so just adding the recipe to this post.  Patrick will have to do the “official” post to the site later.  I apologize now for any typos….:)

Enriched Pizza Dough:

1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast

3/4 Cup warm water

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/4 cup soy flour  ( I didn’t have any so I used Rice flour)

1 1/2 T ground sesame seeds

1 tsp salt

Pinch of sugar or natural sweetener

1 T olive oil plus more for spreading

1.  place the yeast in a small bowl.  Add 1/4 cup of the water and stir to dissolve.  Set aside for 5 to 10 minutes.

2.  To make the dough in a food processor, combine the flours, sesame seeds, salt and sugar pulsing to blend.  With the machine running, add the yeast mixture through the feed tube, along with the olive oil and as much of the remaining 1/2 cup water as necessary to make the dough hold together.

To make the dough by hand, combine the flours, sesame seeds, salt and suger in a large bowl.  Stir in the yeast mixture, olive oil, and remaining 1/2 cup water until combined.

3.  Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 3 minutes.  Transfer to a large oiled bowl.  Spread a small a small amount of oil on top of the dough, cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place to rise until doubled in bulk.  About 1 hour.

4.  Use immediately or store for up to 8 hours in the refrigerator or for 3-4 weeks in the freezer.  Make sure it is tightly wrapped in plastic.

So  now for the tempeh.  If you are used to it – you know that you must steam or poach the tempeh first – for about 20 minutes.   If you poach – you must drain/dry off the tempeh…OK – so now on with this recipe  I made it up – so this is a little loosey goosey.  Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.

2 8 ounce packages tempeh steamed and cut into 1/2 inch x 1 inch pieces

LOTS of purple onion…I used 1 giant – and I mean GIANT onion cut into whatever shape makes you happy  :).

olive oil for pan frying

barbecue sauce – whatever you like – just as long as it is vegan – and you will need about 2 cups of it

in a large skillet/saute pan –  pan fry your tempeh in olive oil in batches so that you can brown each side.  Start with 2 T of olive oil – and add more if you need.  Set aside.

In the same pan, saute your onions until soft.  Add the tempeh to the onions and then pour barbecue sauce over mixture.  Gently stir making sure that everything is coated.  Reduce to a low heat and simmer for about 15 -20 mintues – making sure the tempeh has soaked up the sauce..

WHEW – OK – while the tempeh is simmering slowly – soaking up the goodness….go get the pizza dough.  Punch it down then roll it out on a lightly floured surface.  It makes a pizza approx 12 in round.  (you decide the thickness)  Gently place on a pizza pan and bake on the lowest rack in your preheated 450 degree oven for 10 minutes.

Once pizza crust is ready – I spread the barbecue tempeh and onion fabulousness over the pizza crust – and then grated Follow Your Heart cheese over the top.  I used both the mozzerella and cheddar styles.   Bake in the 450 oven for approx 10 minutes.  Watch it carefully to check the cheese.  I think I baked this for more like 20 minutes – but cook to your hearts desire.  ENJOY!!!

HELLOO world.  This is Shana – adding my thoughts and experiences now that I am officially a vegan WHOHOOOO.  Today is also my birthday – so I thought I would start this year right.  Last year was full of sickness and surgeries, but now I am uterus free and ready to start a new life!!!  During my down time from surgeries I read the book Skinny Bitch….and it has changed my entire perspective on many many things.  I highly recommend it.  I look forward to sharing recipes and possibly bringing back our cooking show…..thoughtsssss??????