Je Slaque...and VEGAN MOFO!

Ok, I've really been slacking on the blog. I've been posting some content on Facebook and Twitter at least, but I'm not all that sure who follows there.

I'm going to try to get more posts going in the near future. I am considering taking guest posts...if you're interested shoot me an email about what you want to talk about. This is an ad-free blog though, so please no peddling anything.

In the meantime, it's Vegan MoFo aka Vegan Month of Food....and there are over 600 participants who will be blogging nearly every day about vegan goodies. So if I keep slacking in October, you'll probably find an overabundance of great content at these blogs.

The cool thing is that the Vegan MoFo site will have a blogroll and an RSS feed. They'll also highlight some of the things they found that they liked. You can find blogs by language, category, country, state, etc.

If you find something super cool, post it a link in the comments or on Facebook or Tweet me.

Happy surfing!

Super Top Secret

I started my recipe testing for Terrry Hope Romero this past weekend. A look at some of the ingredients and final products. 

Some Salad Ingredients...notice the bright red pomegranates! ::LUST::

Preserved Lemon (not cheap, but was a time saver)

Preserved lemon smells SO. GOOD.

Kale Salad with Preserved Lemon and Pomegranate

Crispy Eggplant and Skordalia

This Garam Masala Apple Pie is not-so top secret. Terry posted the recipe on her blog months ago, I guess it didn't make it into the new pie cookbook. But it was so very intriguing to me, in the end I made this one. I still haven't made anything from Vegan Pie in the Sky. haha. Also, this is one ugly textured pie, but I totally short-cutted it by using two frozen ready-made bottom pie crusts. Vegan Pie in the Sky tells you how to make one of the crusts into a top. It worked good enough for me! I really like this pie. It has a nice warm kick. Highly recommended.

Garam Masala Apple Pie

Alright, it's the end of Vegan MoFo. I was gonna try to squeeze in one more post, but it's been a long month and I'm ready for November.

Odds and Ends

I would be rockin' Vegan Mofo if I wasn't dealing with crappy health these past couple weeks. Considering the circumstances, I feel pretty good about my level of participation. A big bummer is I haven't gotten to explore the other blogs participating in Vegan Mofo very much.

Alright, moving on.

I just got my Vegan Pie in the Sky cookbook today. Whee! I need to make something with apples this weekend...maybe Apple Crisp, Cosmos Apple Pie, Apple Hand Pies, French Toast Apple Cobbler, Apple Frangipane Tart, or some kind of hybrid Salted Apple Caramel Tart thing based on two other recipes. I'll be sure to tell you all about it.

Have you made any of the pie book recipes yet?

Also, I am an official tester for Terry Hope Romero's new global vegan cookbook. :: EXCITED ::
So, over the next few months I will be teasing you with photos of things I have made from her super top secret recipes. I'm hoping to get to a couple recipes this weekend. The first ones will involve pomegranate, eggplant, and Chinese 5 Spice....not necessarily in the same recipe. And I believe I will even be making my very first seitan from scratch. That'll be an adventure.

Alright, that's it from me now. Over and out.

On the Road: Lovin' Spoonfuls, Tucson, AZ

Lovin' Spoonfuls

Lovin' Spoonfuls is a 100% vegan restaurant located near the University of Arizona campus in Tucson. I'd say that, overall, they serve vegan comfort foods; a wide variety of them at that. You can find tofu scrambles, country fried chicken, lasagna, fries, chocolate cake, stroganoff, and veggie burgers but also thai curry, dolmas, egg rolls, and polenta. They also have a separate gluten-free menu.

Lovin' Spoonfuls, Interior

They have a nice dining room with plenty of tables and booths. Or you can eat on the patio.


Two omnis accompanied me to Lovin' Spoonfuls for this visit. One got the Southwest Breakfast Burrito which wasn't as spicy or "chorizo"ed as he would have liked. I didn't try it, but it was huge.

Southwest Breakfast Burrito

Southwest Breakfast Burrito, Innards

My other companion took on two appetizers for her meal, the nuggets and fries. I stole some fries, which were average (and they needed more salt). And I snared a good few of the nuggets too. We dipped them in an apple-y sweet and sour sauce which I liked. I thought the nuggets were good, but maybe a teeny bit skimpy on the mock meat parts. I wouldn't hesitate to order their fried deliciousness again.

Golden Nuggets and Shoestring French Fries

I ordered the Route 66 Bacon Cheeseburger because I am a sucker for them. I didn't realize the burger came with chips or I would not have picked the potato salad as the side. Oh well. The potato salad was ok. It was better than my own homemade attempts have been, so I was satisfied. I'm just having trouble finding the perfect potato salad these days. Maybe it's like an alchemical delusion- the perfect version doesn't exist. The sandwich itself was good, though I have to admit I have had better vegan bacon cheeseburgers....Native Foods comes to mind.

Route 66 Bacon Cheeseburger with Potato Salad & Poore Brothers Chips

I also made sure to sample the Tempura Shrimp. These battered shrimps were so delish! My only problem was they were served with a spicy cocktail sauce which did not complement them at all. I would love for these to be served with that sweet and sour sauce or some kind of sweet chili sauce. I really want a do over on these faux shrimps, where I can eat them properly sauced.

Tempura Shrimp with Spicy Seafood Sauce

We also shared a piece of Raspberry Orange Cake. The cake was slightly orange flavored with raspberry filling and a light chocolate frosting. I neglected to snap a picture, but we all agreed the cake was really good.

Lovin' Spoonfuls even placed 3rd in PETA's Top 5 Vegan Pies ranking with their Banana Cream Pie. That's a pretty high honor!

Lovin' Spoonfuls is worth the visit. The food is pretty good and the owner is super nice. If you are in Tucson, it would be silly to miss this place.


Lovin' Spoonfuls
Ranking: ***3/4

***** awesome! Highly recommended.
**** hey, this is pretty dang good.
*** not bad at all.
** eh.
* bad. Keep looking for alternatives.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lovin’ Spoonfuls

2990 N. Campbell Avenue

Tucson, AZ 85719

(520) 325-7766

http://www.lovinspoonfuls.com/

Hours

Monday - Saturday 9:30am to 9pm

Sunday 10am to 3pm

Majans Bhuja Cracker Mix

Majans Bhuja Craker Mix

Majans Bhuja Cracker Mix is tasty. Mmm. A bit addictive too. I'd always wanted a little snack like this. And most that are similar in design have always had something just a bit off about the taste. But I liked every bit of this snack mix. The Bhuja Cracker Mix has rice crackers, multigrain noodles, green peas, peanuts, chick peas, and sultanas that are flavored with chiles, turmeric, paprika, corriander, and cumin. The sultanas fit in the least, but there are only a few of them so they are come across as just a small oddity, and they're by no means unwelcome.

There were several other mix flavors, and I'm looking forward to giving those a try too. I think I'll be using these to fill up snack bowls when friends come over.

Majans Bhuja Cracker Mix

Rating: ****

***** awesome! Highly recommended.

**** hey, this is pretty dang good.

*** not bad at all.

** eh.

* bad. Keep looking for alternatives.

[These are brand new products at Sprouts, and I found them on a display near the produce section. Not sure who else has them yet or will be getting them.]

Apple Annie's Orchard, Willcox, AZ

Picking chili peppers.



A photo journey.

My sis, bro in law, nephew and I visited Apple Annie's and picked some goodies from the land. We missed the apple picking season by one week, but we got some green beans, chili peppers, jalapenos, poblano peppers, eggplants, and okra. Sunflowers, pumpkins, bell peppers, tomatoes, and squash were also available for picking. We went kind of late in the picking season overall, so I recommend hitting them earlier in October or late September. Picking yourself is optional, all goodies are also offered already picked, but it is fun and cheaper to DIY.

Fuzzy caterpillar dancing to The Ugly Bug Ball song by Burl Ives.

Sweet Potato and Pumpkin Butters (didn't look to see if vegan, but betting so.)

Purty Corns.

Green Beans. My most favorite.

Yellow Eggplants. Not a fan of eggplant, these guys conned me into taking them home anyway.

Apple Trees. (er, I think)

Drying peppers.

Urbanites visitng the Farm. Phone call while picking peppers? No problem!



Gourds



Sunnies.



Pumpkin Patch

Our Harvest Bucket

Amande Almond Yogurt

Amande Raspberry Almond Yogurt

First, the semi-disclaimer. I have never been a yogurt fan. When I went vegan I found soy yogurt to be far superior to dairy yogurt, edible even. And even more so, I liked the coconut yogurt when it arrived. Still, these yogurts are only once in a while eats, I don't eat them often. So, after  my successes with the soy and coconut-based gurts, and the fact that I like almond milks, I figured I'd easily welcome the Amande into the fold.

I was wrong. I discovered that I am not a fan of almond-based yogurts, or at least not this brand. I tried both the raspberry and the blueberry. I definitely think this could be just my personal deficiency somehow, as there are people out there who love the unsweetened almond milk which I think is bitterly disgusting. And as you can tell, I am not much of a yogurt fan to begin with. But I did find out that my hairstylist had the same disappointing experience with the Amande yogurt.

I don't like to give vegan products bad ratings, and I usually just don't review products I don't like, but I felt like I should do this one. You read my disclaimer, it really could be me and not the product.

Amande Almond Yogurt

Rating: *1/2

***** awesome! Highly recommended.

**** hey, this is pretty dang good.

*** not bad at all.

** eh.

* bad. Keep looking for alternatives.

[I'm pretty sure Whole Foods is the only place that has this. I suppose Sunflower Market might, but I almost never go there to know for sure.]

Tofutti Yours Truly Cones....(translation: Vegan Dessert Drumsticks!)

Tofutti Yours Truly Cones

I LOVE these. The End.

Wait, I do have a request for Tofutti. Please make some with peanuts on top and with vegan caramel in the middle. These ones have crunchy cookies on top, and that's yummy, but not ideal. Thank you. Also, sometimes the cones are soft and sometimes they are crunchy. It's random, but not unlike what I remember for non-vegan drumsticks. Nature of the frozenated cone.

The End. For real this time.

Mmmmm! When they talk about visions of sugar plums dancing in heads, they really meant visions of sugar cones.

Tofutti Yours Truly Cones

Tofutti Yours Truly Cones
Rating: **** 3/4

***** awesome! Highly recommended.

**** hey, this is pretty dang good.

*** not bad at all.

** eh.

* bad. Keep looking for alternatives.

[Sprouts definitely has these. Fry's Marketplace and Whole Foods might as well.]

Kenike's Veg*n Restaurant Wish List

I am completely jealous of Kristin at Will Travel for Vegan Food. The kind of jealousy, greed, and gluttonous feelings that could lead one to the dark side. But not the dark side forever, I know I would be able to cross back with the right Jedi assistance.

Anyway, thinking about Kristin's year of hitting every single vegan restaurant in the USA had me thinking. Maybe I can't do this trip, but I can pick a few must-eat-at, bucket-list places to visit. I thought I'd share my top restaurants-to-visit list. Of course, each of these places is outside of Arizona, because it's an easy assumption that I will visit all of the vegetarian/vegan restaurants here in short order.

So, not in any particular order...

1. Madeleine Bistro, Tarzana, CA

2. Millenium, San Francisco, CA

3. The Chicago Dinner, Chicago, IL

4. Candle79, New York City, NY

5. Spiral Diner, Dallas/Fort Worth, TX

6. The Fixin' To, Portland, OR

7. The Wynn, Las Vegas, NV

8. Seabirds Truck, Orange County, CA

9. Dirt Candy, New York City, NY

10. Shojin, Los Angeles, CA

11. Portobello Vegan Trattoria, Portland, CA

Posthumous Honorable Mention: The VegiTerranean, Akron, OH
Sadly, Chrissie Hynde's vegan restaurant, The VegiTerranean, closed. It was a place I really wanted to try.

::takes a respectful moment::

***

So, people, what is on your list, or perhaps more importantly, what should I add to mine?

Lush Mint Julips Lip Scrub

Lush Mint Julips Lip Scrub

Lush makes vegan lip balms, tints, and scrubs. I had heard about the Mint Julips Lip Scrub a while back and thought about giving it a try. I finally picked it up last month.

The sugar scrub smells so good, like a York Peppermint Patty. Mmm. Technically, this is not food for the Vegan Mofo, but you can eat the scrub. And it tastes really good too. Its main ingredients are castor sugar and peppermint oil, plus jojoba oil, vanilla extract, tagetes oil, limonene, and flavoring.

If you need to eliminate some dead skin cells from your lips and moisturize them, this is a good bet.


Lush Mint Julips Lip Scrub
Rating: ****

***** awesome! Highly recommended.

**** hey, this is pretty dang good.

*** not bad at all.

** eh.

* bad. Keep looking for alternatives.

[We've only got one Lush store in Arizona, but you can also order most of their products online.]

Lush

Scottsdale Fashion Square Mall

7014 E. Camelback Rd., Unit #1020

Scottsdale, AZ 85251 

(480) 946-5874

Four Vegetarian/Vegan Food Festivals

If you are like me, you haven't made it to any vegetarian/vegan food festivals yet. For one thing, we don't have one here in Arizona and attending one means a road trip. But luckily, Jasmin Singer of Our Hen House and VegNews Correspondent visits four vegetarian food festivals and gives us a taste of each.

The four: New York Vegetarian Food Festival in NYC; Mad City Vegan Fest in Madison, Wisconsin; Maine Vegetarian Food Festival in Portland, Maine; and NOLA Veggie Fest in New Orleans.

True Food Kitchen Special Deal via Ecorazzi

Ecorazzi is celebrating their 5th anniversary of existence, and they are hooking us up with special deals at vegan/vegetarian/sustainable restaurants throughout the country and offering prize packages through Facebook and Twitter. You have just this week to take advantage of each, October 12-19, 2011.

The Arizona/Phoenix area restaurant deal:

True Food Kitchen, Many Vegetarian Options, $$ (Phoenix & Scottsdale)

$20 vegetarian/vegan Pre Fixe Dinner Menu including appetizer, entree, & dessert. Does not include tax & tip.

Twenty smackaroos for 3 courses?! That is a sweet deal!

The Facebook contest requires you to 'like' the Ecorazzi Eats page, and then submit your name and email address.

The Twitter contest requires you to tweet a photo of your meal or someone eating a meal at the participating restaurant. For us Phoenicians, that means True Food Kitchen. I tweeted a pic of their drinks on the patio. ::fingers crossed!::

Go forth and get your special meal deal at True Food!

Coming Soon: So Delicious Coconut Milk Nog and Mint Chocolate

I am super excited to try these new seasonal coconut milks from So Delicious! I might even do a face-off between Silk and So Delicious Nogs. I love the Silk Nog, as you may remember.

I think they should have called the nog, Coconog. And Cocomint for the other, too match.

I can't wait to get my filthy paws on them. Let me know if/where you see them locally! Thanks for the heads up, Vegan MoFo.

Laughing Giraffe Organics Goji Cacao & Maca Snackaroons

Laughing Giraffe Organics Snackaroons

Occasionally, I like to dabble in raw vegan foods. I'd probably eat more premade, storebought raw food snacks, but they're just usually a little more expensive than I prefer. Plus, it's like playing Battleship. Miss, Miss, Hit, Miss.

Well, friends, the Laughing Giraffe Organics Goji Cacao & Maca Snackaroons are serious hits. These delicious nuggets are made from: unsweetened coconut, agave nectar, almonds, extra virgin coconut oil, vanilla extract, cacao, goji berries, maca, and Himalayan pink salt. No more, no less.


Laughing Giraffe Organics Snackaroons



Mmm. What else to say about them? They're little macaroon balls of gluten-free sweetness. But not too sweet, and one little snowball is  quite satisfying. I'm gonna have to try some of the other flavors.




Laughing Giraffe Organics Goji Cacao & Maca Snackaroons
Rating: ****

***** awesome! Highly recommended.
**** This is pretty dang good.

*** not bad at all.

** eh.

* bad. Keep looking for alternatives.

[So far, I've only seen these at Whole Foods.]