Bring It On Down To Veganville

Hey everyone!  Just wanted to stop in and share this video of Justin Timberlake breaking it down about Veganville.  It's definitely the place to be.  Check it out at MediaITE.  I promise you it's worth watching.
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/bring-it-on-down-to-veganville-justin-timberlake-reprises-his-rapping-homelessville-mascot-on-snl/

Hope this brings a smile to your faces.

1 Year Anniversary

On January 2, 2013 I posted this to my facebook page but I should have posted this here....

Exactly one year ago I began a new chapter in my life. I made the decision to try a vegan diet on top of my already strict diet of no wheat, soy or corn products (due to food allergies). It has turned out to be a great decision. I never thought I could live without cheese, pizza, burgers, etc... It's not as hard as I thought it would. In fact it's easy most of the time. To anyone out there thinking of changing your lifestyle (gluten free, soy free, vegetarian, vegan, whatever) I suggest trying it for a month, after a month you will realize you don't need those things you thought you couldn't live without.

Olive Garden

I have this craving for pasta today so I looked around at some of the places to see who had gluten free pasta.  Turns out Olive Garden has it but after looking through the list of other allergens I found that soy is in almost every single item they offer.  How is this even possible.  I thought italian food was cooked with olive oil but they must use soybean oil.  I can't seem to think of any other ingredient that would be in everything.   I always thought italians use olive oil in everything. Just goes to show you that you never know what you are eating unless you ask.

Earthlings Viewing Party

Hey Everyone!  So, it looks like my life is starting to quiet down again and I'll have time to write on a regular basis again.  I'm still a little overwhelmed by all of the events I attended and the kindness of strangers.  I really plan on writing about it all but it may have to wait another week.  So in the meantime I'll just tell you about a recent activity I did.

One of my friends had a small viewing party for Earthlings.  Earthlings is a documents about the abuse of animals for food, clothing, entertainment, and medical testing.  It was a pretty intense fill with a lot of graphic images but it was also really informative and shocking.  I still can't get over some of the things we do to animals for the sake of beauty or food.  It makes me wonder how I went so long ignoring it all.  It really is a film that everyone should see at least once but be prepared to cry.

To make the evening slightly more enjoyable we decided to each make a vegan dish to share.  Nicole made a vegan mac and cheese from scratch.  She used a cashew cream to give it a cheesy flavor.  She also made a Faux Tuna salad from chickpeas.  Both were delicious.  I made the Roasted Sweet Potato and Black Bean Warm Salad Roasted Sweet Potato and Black Bean Warm Salad recipe from the Oh She Glows.  This turned out really well.  The cilantro and lime made a tasty dressing for the onions and sweet potatoes.  I highly recommend trying this salad out for parties.

Tasty Vegan Dinner

Nicole also has a blog called Yay, nomz!  Be sure to check it out.  There are some fun recipes on there.  She also just got back from Lebanon and tells you all about eating veganese.

Also, I just wanted to say thanks to Erin Red of Red Radio for interviewing Jaime K from Save the Kales.  I was procrastinating writing and listening to to Jaime talk about how much her blog changed her life and gave her an outlet for her passion sparked me to get back to this again. So, thanks ladies!  I've mentioned Erin Red in one of my earlier posts.  Jaime K has a blog and also has a vegan cooking show that airs on a channel in PA but you can also watch it on her blog.

Here's the recipe from Oh She Glows:

Roasted Sweet Potato and Black Bean Warm Salad

Yield: ~4 servings
Ingredients:

• 3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
• 1 large onion, preferably red, chopped  (1.5 cups chopped)
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled
• 3-4 tbsp fresh lime juice (Juice of 2 limes), to TASTE!
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 2 cups cooked black beans, drained (14-15oz can)
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, minced (made about 3 tablespoons minced)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment or non-stick mat. Place chopped sweet potato and onion onto baking sheet and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Mix to coat. Season with a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, remove and toss veggies to ensure even cooking. Bake for  another 20-25 minutes until veggies are tender and slightly brown around the edges. Remove and set aside. The total time I roasted the veggies was about 37 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, prepare the dressing by mixing the following ingredients together in a bowl: 2 tbsp olive oil, 1/2 tsp kosher salt, 2 minced garlic cloves, 3-4 tbsp fresh lime juice (to taste), minced cilantro, and 1/2 tsp cumin. Now mix in the drained and rinsed black beans and stir well.
3. When the veggies are done cooking, place them into a large bowl. Pour on the dressing and mix well. Serve immediately, warm. Makes about 4 servings.

Hummus: The Rap

Well hey there!  Sorry I haven't posted in a while.  It has been a crazy two months.  I've been so busy I've had very little time to myself or time to write.  I'm about to head out to the All Good Music Festival so I still need to pack and prepare for that trip.  I just wanted to stop in and post this hilarious video I saw recently that I thought some of you might enjoy.  I promise to fill you all in on all the things that have been going on as soon as I return from All Good.  I have a number of different events to report on and some tasty foods to tell you about.  Enjoy the video for now!

Ubon Thai Cuisine - Late Mother's Day Celebration

View from the patio seating at Ubon

Tuesday night my brother and I took my mother for dinner at Ubon Jeenwong's Thai Cuisine for a late Mother's Day dinner (both my mom and brother were working Mother's Day).  I really didn't know what to expect.  I hadn't heard much about Ubon.  We were just looking to try some place new.  Turns out Ubon was an excellent choice.  It's located right on the Wilmington Riverfront in the Shipyard Shops.  They have outdoor seating which looks right out onto the river.  We chose to sit outside and it was a great evening for it.  I let the waiter know about my allergies and that I was vegan right away.  He was really helpful.  In all honesty there really weren't too many options on the menu for me.  I could only have the curry options but they did offer 4 different kinds of curry so at least I had a few choices to work with.  I chose Kaeng Khiao Wan which is a green curry.  They have a heat scale of 1 to 5.  1 being mild and 5 using ghost peppers which from what I understand are insanely hot.  I went with a heat level of 3.  I also asked for extra vegetables since Tofu isn't an option for me.  My brother went with the curry dish, Massaman, which is a curry with peanuts and lemongrass at a heat level of 3.  My mom decided on a noodle dish, Kwitel Pad Khi Mao.  It served with wide rice noodles with basil, thai herbs and seasonings.  I thought this dish sounded delicious and would have been my first pick but it turns out that their base sauce contains soy.  My mom is a little bit of a lightweight when it comes to heat but still braved a level 2.  I can say that all of us enjoyed are meals.  The heat level was just right, the spices completed it well.  The portions were a good size.  I managed to eat most of my dish.  The server took the time to make sure we were all doing okay and when my mom informed him she was struggling a bit with the heat, he suggested some raspberry tea to help soothe the heat.  She took the offer and it really helped.  I have to say this is one the best experiences I've had since I've found out about my allergies and made the switch to being vegan.  They really tried to accommodate me as much as they could.  They even made sure to prepare my food on different surface then everyone else's meal so there was no cross-contamination.  I have never had any restaurant even offer to do this before.  So with that said, I will definitely be going back there for the excellent service and really tasty meal.

This is what a vegan with allergies eats at a Thai restaurant. Yummy!

Sunday Chili

It appears we have a Sunday ritual.  Every Sunday we make a large pot of chili.  I think we finally perfected it this weekend.  It had just the right amount of heat, was pretty thick and had a great flavor.  Chili is really easy to make since you can just throw all the ingredients into a slow cooker and leave it cooking for 4 to 6 hours, leaving us plenty of time to enjoy the day.  The part that takes the longest is chopping all the peppers but my boyfriend seems to enjoy that so I let him take care of that part.  The best part about making chili on Sunday is there is always leftovers for the week. 

Here's what we do:

Ingredients
1 lb 13 oz can Black Beans
1 lb 13 oz can Red Beans
13 oz can White Beans
2 cups soaked Lentils
(2) 6 oz cans tomato paste
1 lb 12 oz can diced tomato
1/4 cup sundried tomato chopped
2 cups vegetable broth
1/3 cup cooking red wine
1 orange pepper chopped
1 red pepper chopped
2 jalapeños chopped
1 serrano pepper chopped
2 long red chili peppers chopped
1 medium yellow onion chopped
1/2 cup chipotle in adobo sauce (chop peppers)
2 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp crushed red pepper
1 tbsp salt

Put all ingredients into slow cooker.  We generally taste it as we are cooking and adjust seasoning as we feel necessary.  Cook on low for 6 hours, stir occasionally.  Serve and enjoy!  It's as easy as that.