VEGAN Christmas cookie extrabaganza!!!

It is no secret to our family and friends that we are two broke fools, so for christmas this year we decided to give the gift of cruelty free cookies.

My mom never did make an awesome tasting cookie (Love you mom!!) let alone gingerbread men.In fact I think I have only eaten 1 in my entire life.My curiosity got the better of me so I tried a recipe from Baking Bites. They came out PERFECT, tasted awesome and were nice and soft.

I also tried a recipe from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar for peanut butter chocolate pillows.The first thing that went wrong was when I mistook maple syrup for molasses.Since we didn't have maple syrup I decided to forge ahead with the molasses.When it came time to making the actually cookie we didn't pre-roll out the peanut butter into 24 balls so our cookies came out more like cookies than perfect round pillows. The taste Isn't bad I just hope that our parents like them.

Mac and not-so-much-cheese (but something rather like)

Today was the orientation for the humane society so starting hopefully Monday or Friday I will start actually helping out =)


Sean has been in the mood for Mac and Cheese lately so I decided to try this recipe from vegan yum yum. AMAZING, I have learned not to go into these recipes thinking that they are the perfect mimic of a non-vegan dish, so even though this is not the same stuff from childhood it is delicious.I didn't have what seemed like a lot of the ingredients (lemon juice,miso,tahini) and I added a little bit of garlic powder but it still turned out oh so good.I added asparagus topped it with some panko bread crumbs and baked it for about 10 minutes, this will definitely be my official Mac and Cheese recipe.


Last night Sean and I made some snicker doodle cookies =)

Vegan Pineapple Right-Side-Up Cupcakes

I love birthdays and holidays because it's the perfect excuse to bake something yummy.So for my moms birthday this past Monday I decided to make her vegan Pineapple right side up cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.They turned out awesome,very moist and with just the right sweetness.

 

Martins also began carrying daiya shredded soy cheese.I had heard awesome stuff about its melty and tasty goodness.I found that Its melt-ability was the best I've seen in fake cheese, It bubbled and browned much like regular cheese would but the taste did not do it for me.It had a creamy, very almost too gooey texture for me.I know that the legend of a fake cheese that taste and acts like real cheese is just that,a legend, and I dont miss cheese at all any more but I still wanted to try it out.

diaya soy cheese and mushroom pizza

In non-food related news Sean and I had a nice anniversary revisiting our teenage selves.We spent the day on Yorktown Beach where we first kissed and got married (aww I know) nothing like drinking playing some hacky sack and listening to good music with the one you love.

Thanksgiving Feast

So after a few arguments with my mom they decided to cut ham out of their holiday meal!!This Thanksgiving was the best one I have had (in memorable history anyway).
At my parents home Sean and I had mashed potatoes,sauteed green beans and spinach,biscuits,seared tofu,stuffing with gravy to cover it all.It was all topped off with an organic vegan cherry pie for desert.

Seans mom bought us a Tofurky, now the only fake meat we ever buy are these chicken patties or chicken pot pies because for one we have no desire for meat and two they generally taste like crap.So I was surprised that the Tofurky tasted very much like turkey (coming from someone who hasn't eaten meat in 7 years).Im not sure if we will have one for every holiday but its not out of the question.

In other news Sean and I will begin volunteering at Heritage Humane Society soon, super excited =).

Blah Blah Blah

So while wasting time last night Sean and I came across what seems to be the ultimate vegan cheese.I freaked out when I saw this, melty gooey vegan cheese has long been a myth to me, we currently use vegan gourmet which does melt but nothing like what teese seems to do. So on our trip to Norfolk for our 4 year anniversary we will be picking some up and seeing if it is as good as it looks.

We found Teese thanks to links on Farm Sanctuary . What they do is so beyond amazing so check them out and donate if you can (I donated $10 of the last $20 I had till next Friday, so Im pretty sure you can spare some $$ as well)

In other news it seems like I will be starting college in the summer =) It's taken way too long but thanks to Sean I now have the confidence and support to do so.

Fried rice topped with spinach

Being that tomorrow is payday ( not like that really means anything, this whole check is going to bills) our refrigerator and pantry are quite bare. I intended to make a typical asian stir-fry but we had about a tablespoon of soy sauce left and no veggies. We did however have spinach that I didn't use for the spinach pockets I made for Halloween.I decided to fry the rice with the little bit of soy sauce we had as well as with a little bit of garlic,crushed red peppers,garlic powder,pepper and salt. I then sauteed the spinach in olive oil with the same seasonings. It was pretty delicious =)

Vegan Spinach & mushroom pocket/Vegan Marbled cupcakes

Yesterday I had a few friends over for Halloween, good times to say the least.I struggled with what to make for omnivores.I didn't want to make anything that was trying to be like a non-vegan dish (cheese pizza or whatever) I found a pizza pocket recipe but I decided to do a few things differently.For starters I made the dough from scratch, when I looked at the ingredients for the pilsbury pizza dough it says to use I saw some questionable ingredients.However I am happy to report that everything was pretty much gone by the end of the party.




Pizza dough

2 Tablespoons of Dry Active Yeast (2 packets)
1 1/2 cups of Lukewarm water
3 Teaspoons of salt
6 Tablespoons of Olive oil
3 Cups of all purpose flour
Seasonings of your liking (I used basil,oregano,garlic powder & pepper)

Filling
I did not measure the ingredients I used in the filling so this is my best guesstimate, you are your best tool, fill it that way you'd like.
1/2 a clove of garlic,minced
1 bag of baby leaf spinach, chopped slightly
1/4 of an onion
A small container of sliced mushrooms


Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water and let sit.Put the flour in a large mixing bowl and mix in seasonings & salt. Mix in oil and water/yeast mixture.Let sit for 5-10 minutes covered with a damp towel.Roll out on a floured surface,I worked with about half of the dough at a time.Cut off the edges so that it forms a large rectangle,cut this rectangle into 2 and roll out each rectangle so that the dough is thin enough to work with and cook through but not so thin that it rips.cut your two rectangles in halve so that you have a total of 4 rectangles.Spread about a tablespoon of olive oil on the entire surface of the dough.Sprinkle salt and pepper then add diced onions,mushrooms,garlic and spinach to on side of the rectangle making sure to lave an edge.Pick up the opposite side and cover the filling rolling the ends in.Bake at 400 degrees until golden brown.This made about 11 pockets.


For my cupcakes I resorted to vegan cupcakes take over the world, in my opinion an essential recipe book for every vegan.

Personal

It feels as if i could scream and scream and scream till my voice was long gone and no one would hear a single thing.Helpless.I feel helpless.Its that feeling when your dreaming and the person you love more than anything dosnt love you and you cry and cry and cry and you feel it even though your dreaming and it isnt real and you tell yourself it isnt real, you have to sit there and tell yourself it isnt real.And I wonder if im normal, I dont think the majority of people in modern society would think im normal.And I feel like physically grabbing passer bys and shaking them yelling WAKE UP! WAKE UP!I feel like I cant breath like im locked inside and I can see the light bulb on the ceiling but its far to high.I dont know what to do. I care too much and everyone seems to care too little.Its all because I cant do anything to save their lives and they die every minute of every day and Im screaming PLEASE WAKE UP!

Just a rant

It seems that every decision we make, even something as simple as what we choose to eat, has a increasingly higher impact on things we dont even stop to think of.Where we shop, what we buy carries a weight that no one seems to comprehend. When did we start eating food with ingredients we couldnt even pronounce?Why do we belive these things are good for us when the propoganda that says so Is funded by the very industry that produces it?When did we all become so gulible, the disconnect is infuriating. We give our babies sugar rich foods, fucking soda in a sippy cup. We've become so lazy that most people eat a few fast-food meals a week(even then how many of the other meals are really homemade and not over processed, nutrient lacking, prepackaged crap)Look at the American diet today compared to 50 years ago, look at over-all health of then and now. The saddest part is that people are throwing up their hands and saying oh well. Will they say oh well when they out live their children?Find a back bone, get off your ass, learn some simple facts about good nutrition.Do it for your family if not for yourself. When I see people going to burger king at 10:30 at night I cant help but think where did we go wrong, when did this become acceptable.

  I have been vegan for almost 2 months ( and this time im making sure I get all the things I need) and I have never felt healthier in my life, I have never felt so comfortable in my own skin.

Yummy sugar cookies

 Another recipe I found on vegweb a few years back. Super soft better than store bought cookies.

"Buttermilk" biscuits

Thank GOD for these biscuits from Jewish Vegan!!!Fluffy and delicious.

Yummy good for you pizza

As my husband well knows I don't have very fond feelings for whole wheat but I thought It would work well for pizza dough ( and getting my body ready for baby I've found its good for Folic acid,Iron,phosphorus,magnesium and vitamin E!)So this is a modified version of a recipe from vegweb.

Topped with mushrooms and soy cheese YUM

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour
(Im not sure this really made a difference feel free to use all of either whole wheat or all purpose)

1 tablespoon yeast

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Follow the instructions on vegweb =)
I meant to add some seasonings to the dough but of course I forgot, I found that it still tasted very good.After mixing the dough I found it still too wet so I added more all purpose flour till it got to a workable consistency. The next time I make this I think I will roll it out a little thinner (It took what seemed like forever to cook) and add more veggies and sauce.

Vegan cherry hand pies

I got this recipe from vegan yum yum and instead of using blueberries I used my favorite,cherries! Beats a pop tart by miles.

Vegan Chocolate cupcakes with buttercream frosting!

Today is my big brothers birthday so I had the perfect opportunity to try out this recipe from Vegan cupcakes take over the world.I am happy to say they taste as good as they look.

1 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup canola oil ( I used veg.)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extr. /chocolate extr. or more vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt






Butter cream frosting
1/4 cup non-hydrogenated shortening
1/4 cup vegan  margarine
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
half of 1/4 cup soy milk (I suck at fractions)

Preparation -Cupcakes
Always preheat oven and line pan with cupcake liners before you start mixing anything. Whisk soy milk and vinegar and let sit while you begin to mix the flour,cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt in another bowl.Add sugar.oil and extracts to your milk/vinegar mixture and beat till foamy.Add wet mixture to dry mixture and mix together.Fill cupcake liner 3/4 the way and bake for 18-20 minutes.

Preparation -frosting
Beat shortening and margarine together until fluffy.Add sugar and beat for about 3 minutes. Add vanilla and soy milk and beat till fluffy, 5 to 7 minutes.

General Tao's Tofu

 Another recipe from Vegweb !!! Absolutely delicious- we basically devoured it in 10 minutes and were left VERY full. Sorry for the quality of the picture I couldn't find my camera so I used my cell phone.

Babies on the brain

Ever since Sean and I got married something has changed in me that I never thought would, I WANT A LITTLE BABY! I swore up and down that I would never want a baby but now I see that It Is a chance to raise someone good in the world, the world needs more good people. Well ever since I've had babies on the brain I've been thinking about the speed bumbs we are going to hit as he or she grows up. No trick or treating? Birthday nazis? It's going to be hard to raise a vegan baby simply because I know one day they will be curious as to what a "real" cupcake tastes like. Hopefully I can learn to cook so well that they wont even care what their friends are eating =).




In other news I finally got my copy of "Vegan cupcakes takeover the world" I CANT WAIT to try these recipes out. Im thinking of doing some for Halloween super excited.

Ink Not Mink!

Vegan bagels

I got this recipe from vegan with a vengeance I didn't have the wheat gluten and I had to use flax seed as I had no sesame seeds =(

I found them a little bland so next time I think ill add some seasoning to the mix.Other than that i am very impressed.

I've never made any sort of bread from scratch so this is quite an accomplishment for me! I've been vegan for about a week now and I have not even noticed making all this yummy food.

Simple delicious Vegan blueberry muffins!

Both my husband and I agree that these muffins are f*****g delicious.Though these call for blueberries I cant see why you couldn't use any other fruit.

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup soy milk
1/4 cup oil
1 cup frozen blueberries

Before you even get to mixing preheat your oven ( 350 degrees) and place baking cups in pan (recipe makes about 9 muffins)

Mix together dry ingredients then add soy milk and oil,when thoroughly mixed add blueberries

Fill baking cups to about the 3/4 mark

Bake for 30 minutes or until light golden brown

Go Veg!

This will be the first and only time I do this.(this blog is meant to focus on the happier side of life YUMMY VEGAN FOOD)

I urge you I plead with you, make the choice to choose a vegetarian or vegan life style (preferably vegan =) ) I know it may seem like a foreign concept but if you really ask yourself I know you'll see the right answer. Animals are not ours to use for food,clothing or entertainment.

Don't go on living blindly. Don't accept this cruelty.

And if you "can't" stop eating meat don't support the biggest purveyors of cruelty, factory farms. That means no taco bell, no kfc, no McDonalds basically no to 90% of the meat in America. Whenever you get that fast food craving REALLY stop and think about the pain and suffering that went into making that hamburger or chicken nugget.


For things to help motivate you I've provided a list of things I've found through the years

Books
-Eating Animals by Jonathan Foer: I ABSOLUTLY love this book, it's not too pushy into deciding what to be it just gives you the facts in a very relatable way.If your my personal friend ill even let you borrow my copy if it might change your mind.

-Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser: Very  good book on factory farming and what really goes into commercialized food. No real push toward vegetarian lifestyle (I dont think the author is even Veg.)

Documentary

I watched this one not too long ago and I liked it a lot (from what I remember there is nothing too gory)
http://www.sprword.com/videos/foodinc/

The beginning was very good but I had to stop watching it when they slaughtered a "kosher" cow because I started crying.
http://www.sprword.com/videos/earthlings/


Please take a stand. Choosing the food you buy is your way of voting. Vote for compassion and humanity. If you need any help or have any questions feel absolutely free to contact me.

Easy vegan biscuits

So during my breaks at work (Barnes & Noble) I've been pouring over vegan cook books. My manager asked me the age old question "So what do vegans eat, grass?".I don't blame him I was ignorant the first time I went vegan, well ignorant and a lazy teenager.I am so ready to try all these things and share them with you.

A late night craving led to these yummy biscuits.

This is my version of a recipe I found on vegweb.com. It really does need some sort of seasoning or I don't think it would turn out as yummy. Would go great with gravy

2 cups Flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons vegan  butter
3/4 cup milk
pepper,garlic powder,oregano to you liking

Mix dry ingredients together first then milk and butter. The only way to truly mix it is with your hands =). When all ingredients are mixed lay dough out on a slightly floured surface and roll out to a 1/2 inch thickness.Using a cookie cutter or small cup cut out and place on baking pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until light golden brown.

This made 7 biscuits like the ones in the picture and one freakishly large one that we made just for fun. So I would imagine it makes 9-12 biscuits

Vegan pancakes

I got this recipe form staciejaye on vegweb.com and i can say it truly is the best pancake vegan or otherwise.

It says to mix the wet and dry ingredients separate,then combine, but in excitement last night (the munchies did not help either)  my husband and I accidentally mixed everything together It still turned out delicious

1 cup white all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg replacer

1 cup soy milk

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Grease pan with non-stick spray or butter, wait till hot then pour out the size pancake you would like. When bubbles begin forming  flip over. Recipe makes 4 pancakes.

Chapter One

Let me introduce myself

 My name is Ashley I am 20 years old and married to the love my life in March of this year. I've been vegetarian/vegan for 6 years now  this is my third time going vegan but this time is different. Much like in the book "Eating Animals" by Jonathon Safran Foer I am looking to the future of my family and I want no part in the suffering of animals.

 This Is my husband who I love more than anything in the world =). We have been together for almost four years and they have been the happiest of my life.




 We have 3 animal children

Ewokk Captain Frye

                                                              

Tegan Issac Frye

Mogwaii Pikachu Frye

                                                            


I think it is only appropriate that my first post be about the whole reason I am here, my re-embrace of a vegan lifestyle. Now that I am married and the possibility of a baby in the not so distant future I feel  now more than ever is the time to take a stand.

I guess the first time I questioned my parents teachings was at the age of 6. I remember my mom was preparing dinner, chicken. Of course it is common sense now but at that age I did not connect this greasy seasoned "drum stick" with the white feathered cartoonish chicken from Little Bear (my favorite book at the time). I asked her where it came from and the answer sparked a sense of guilt within me. Why was this chicken on my plate when we had two dogs and a cat?What made that chickens like less valuable than pickles or even mine?

Pickles my childhood friend

When asked about their views and beliefs on animals in food most people express that same feeling of guilt, remorse and sympathy but that is quickly overshadowed by their desire for that must have 1/2 pound hamburger or triple decker bacon covered whatever. I do not understand how weak a person can be to say one thing and do another. As a human being we were given the most awesome power of conscious thought and the power to manifest that thought into reality. Animals are helpless for the most part. They look to us for protection, shelter and food. Nothing gives us the right to take away their lives simply because they cant speak up. It is not acceptable to treat animals as cruel as we do. I will have no part in it.