Just a quick post.

It's getting hot out. Hot sucks! Especially in Las Vegas. Fortunately this is my last year living here! I'm moving back to CA in October. I'm excited! I miss L.A! However, until I leave this place I must endure it's evil temperatures. Those of you who know me well know that I live for smoothies when it's hot out. When it's hot out there is nothing I want more than a nice, cold fruit smoothie.

Strawberry/Blueberry Smoothie

I'm not a huge mock-meat fan but I found this to be quite good. Perfect for slicing up and having it as a snack on crackers.

I think I'll buy this again and use it as a pizza topping. It honestly tastes better than any pepperoni I remember. My roommate and I ate half of it pretty quickly. Well, I mostly ate it. Couldn't help myself!

Fire Roasted Tomato Grain Meat

And finally... the only food that I've had all month that I could not get out of my mind...

The highlight of my month:

Amaretto is quite possibly my all-time favorite flavor. Coconut milk is pretty high up there also. I almost lost it when I walked down the dessert aisle at Whole Foods and found this. I opened the frozen case and this actually felt like it was staring back at me.

This was a pretty pathetic post. I know. But better than not posting anything, Right?

-Lee

I Want Tea and Black Bean Burgers!

My favorite thing to drink is tea. I absolutely love tea. My mom is a huge tea drinker. I remember always seeing her with a cup of tea the whole time I was growing up. Guess I got it from her. I have a cup sitting in front of me now as I type this. I also love mugs. I love wacky and fun looking mugs. My current favorite is my monkey mug. I have loved it since I first laid eyes on it. It was only 5 dollars. I couldn't pass it up. There's also a zebra, a giraffe and an elephant. I'll be sure to show those off in a later post.

Another favorite of mine are my black bean burgers. I make amazing Black Bean Burgers. I topped these off with sauteed mushrooms, avocado spread, lettuce and mustard.

I went over to my friend Heather's house to cook dinner for her again and decided on these because they are just amazing. I blogged BBQ black bean burgers, however you can add whatever kind of sauce you like to the mixture. I've done Dijon mustard, bbq sauce and I've also done ones with salsa. These I used a tomato based sauce (it was what was available). If using this recipe, replace the amount of bbq sauce with whatever sauce/salsa that you wish. That's the best part about black bean burgers. They can be so versatile! They worked out extremely well when I made Panko Friend Black Bean Patties.

Creamy Veggie Potatoes

These were tasty. Very filling. Hit the spot.


Zucchini/Bell Pepper tofu

Probably one of my favorite things I've had for breakfast lately!

-1 Bell Pepper, diced
-1 Zucchini, diced
-1/2 tub firm tofu, crumbled
- diced onion
-1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- garlic (fresh or powdered)
- salt and pepper to taste

Quick and easy. Dice veggies and cook them in 1 tbsp olive oil until softened. Add crumbled tofu and spices. Cook until water from tofu is evaporated. TA DA!

Dinner party success and some mobile uploads

Hello all. I am currently testing out the blogger application for iPhone. Let's see how it goes!

A little over a week ago my friend Rob let me host a fully vegan dinner party at his amazing high rise. I was completely stressed when I found out how many people were going to be there, which was around 50. Out of 50 people there were 3 vegans and 2 vegetarians.

I cooked about 6 different dishes and luckily my friend Deanna, who was hosting with me, brought a bunch of great food! I hoped and wished that would be enough, but luckily there were plenty of people bringing food as well! It was so great to see people participating even though they probably never shopped for anything vegan in their lives.

Now for the good news and the bad news.

THE GOOD NEWS: I have never received more compliments in my life. The way I was introduced to veganism was completely WRONG. I had a friend emailing me photos of slaughtered animals and trying to force information on me instead of taking a smoother, less hostile approach. And while my respect for all life is one of the reasons I chose veganism, it was just the wrong way to go about it. When I finally did go vegan (not because of that person) I told myself that I would never be THAT kind of vegan.

Most americans think all we eat is salad and I wanted to show people that that is false. I always want to introduce veganism to people in a positive way and thanks to Rob I was able to do that to many people at once. I met a lot of new people and heard more feedback than I ever have. I was even receiving feedback for Deanna's dishes which I passed on to her.

THE BAD NEWS: I have no pictures!!! I was so incredibly busy through the whole party that I forgot until half way through. By then there wasn't much left to get pictures of. I think Deanna may have some shots. I also wanted to get video footage and failed to do that as well. Buh!!!

In conclusion, it was a great time, people were happy and I only heard 1 person talking shit. I expected at least that, but coming to a vegan dinner party and talking shit on veganism seems a bit silly, don't you think? Thank you Rob for suggesting that we do this party. And for the invitation to do it again!



And now, some mobile uploads of food eaten while out and about. Beware, they are not high quality photos.

Dolmas from Paymon's:



Falafel from Paymon's:



Zucchini enciladas, dolmas and tofu stroganoff from Whole Foods:



And, 2 different trips for veggie sushi at Momo Sushi.





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The slacking is over. Back to blogging!

It's been a long time. The last blog I posted was back in July. Wow, that was quite some time ago. I've come back to blogging because I miss it. Yes, my life will be insanely hectic for the next 9 months as I prepare myself for graduation, but that doesn't mean I have to give up on what makes me happy. Blogging made me happy for the 1 year that I dedicated myself to it. It was so much fun and it helped me learn a lot more about what it is to be vegan and how to be a healthy one at that.

Ok, enough chatter. Here are a few things that I've eaten lately:

Grits and Kale/tomato/garlic tofu scramble:



Close Up Shot:

This is definitely one of my favorite things to eat for breakfast. Grits are amazing AND filling. I didn't feel hungry again for many, many hours. Plus, you can't go wrong with kale, tomatoes and garlic.

Sauteed Seitan Over Rice

When I first started cooking seitan I thought it was horrible. I followed someone's recipe and found it to be completely YUCK! That's right! Com-plete-ly YUCK! I gave up on it. Few months later, being the open person that I am, I decided to give it another go. I used Isa Moskowitz's Simple Seitan recipe from VEGANOMICON and I have never had a problem with it since. Thanks, Isa.

Israeli couscous w/ Spinach and Tempeh:

This was very good. It was one of those "I just got home from working all day/throw something together really quick because I'M STARVING" dinners. Not a complete dinner but it was midnight and I just needed food.

The PIZZA:

Now that my good friend Heather lives in town again it gives me the opportunity to cook with someone. She's not vegan but is very interested in learning about the lifestyle and is open to trying just about any food I throw at her. This pizza was simple. Red pepper tomato sauce, sliced sun dried tomato Tofurkey Italian Sausages, thick slices of mushroom and topped off with Daiya Vegan Cheese. The melting was pretty good, but what got me was the taste of Daiya. Absolutely delicious. Won't mind using this every time I make pizza. Ialso sprinkled some Athens Seasoning on the crust for a little extra somethin'.

MmMmMm... So good:


The Holidays:

Thanksgiving was a bust. I didn't cook anything! I just went to my sisters house and filled up on my brother's magical alcoholic concoctions. My family was pretty upset that I didn't bring anything that I could eat. I really should have. I have no excuses. However, Christmas was much different. I made myself Christmas dinner for the first time. I was very happy with it! Even my family was eating my food.

Mashed Garlic Red Potatoes w/ Kale, Green Onion:

Garlic Infused Seitan Roast w/ carrots, broccoli, mushroom:


My plate assembled:



No Recipes this post, but I am having a much anticipated Vegan dinner party at my good friend Rob's house on the 31st. There will be plenty of pictures and I'll definitely throw some recipes at you. I may even have video footage for you all!

-Lee