An Adventurous Day in This Vegan Life

Posted on 8:41 PM - by Tammy In: , , , , ,
I am not sure what came over me, but I got all adventurous - vegan style - today. First, there are a couple of products, both cheeses that I have been wanting to try... Dr Cow and Teese. Now, I completely understand why Dr Cow isn't available locally, but I have no idea why the many local natural / vegan / whatever groceries have not picked up Teese... it seems like I can't go a week without one or more of the vegan blogs I follow making something with it. So, today I ordered them BOTH off of VeganEssentials.com. I can't wait to get 'em!

The 2nd adventure I had today was that I made vegan buffalo wings... anyone who knew me in my omnivore days knows that one thing I loved and did a pretty darn good job of making, was buffalo wings. Now that I have been vegan for more than a year, I decided it was time I tried them. I found a wing recipe here at Don't Eat Off The Sidewalk and even found a vegan blue cheese dressing recipe here at Munchy's page on Group Recipes and the verdict? WOW! I couldn't be happier! The only things I did different or want to note are:
  • I had to double all of the dipping ingredients for the wings. It's probably because I used my fingers and a great deal of the ingredients ended up coating my fingers, but nonetheless...
  • I did not use the posted sauce recipe as I have a favorite that was given to me years ago by one of the best wing makers ever, Jon Jay.
  • I omitted the tofu from the blue cheese dressing. It seemed like it was only there for the texture and I did not have any thawed.

Check 'em out!






No Cheese Pleese!

Posted on 4:42 PM - by Tammy In: ,
So, those who know me know that not too long ago, I lived by the credo "there is no such thing as too much cheese" seriously... and this is a long standing obsession. I remember going to OOB Pizza on Lisbon Street in Lewiston when I was in high school. I went with my best friend at the time, Veronica and we ordered a triple cheese pizza and the thing had to of had a solid inch of pizza piled on top of sauce piled on top of crust... it was fabulous! But as it turns out, I had no idea what I was missing!

Nowadays, pizzas are piled high with artichokes, roasted red peppers, kalamata olives, fresh tomatoes, spinach, caramelized onions... and not one bit of cheese. Who knew cheese-less pizza could be so fabulous!?!?

This particular gem was made with a garlic artichoke sauce instead of the traditional tomato sauce.

Spicy Thai Stew

Posted on 5:21 PM - by Tammy In: , , ,
So, maybe I am actually back in the practice of adding to my blog? Or maybe I am so excited about things I have been cooking lately, that I want to share it with someone!! Tonight, it is a Spicy Thai Stew. I found the recipe at Vegan Peace, reprinted from Dreena Burton's The Everyday Vegan and it was fantastic. There are a couple of ways I deviated from the recipe: I used chili paste instead of the chili pepper, I used natural peanut butter instead of the almond butter, I used bok choy instead of chard and I used way more than 4 Tbs of cilantro, perhaps double that - what can I say, I L-O-V-E cilantro. I also served it over brown rice and it was really REALLY good - a keeper! Take a look:

Motivations to be a Vegan... & Why the Heck Doesn't Anyone Make a Vegan Pancake?!?

Posted on 9:01 AM - by Tammy In: , ,
I'll start with the second topic mentioned in my title: Seriously, I mix together two cups of whole grain pastry flour (I am sure any would do), 1 tsp of baking soda, 1 tsp of baking powder, 2 cups of soy milk and 2 TBS of oil and voila - perfectly delicious and simple vegan pancakes. Of course, I rarely make a pancake without including blueberries, lots of small native Maine blueberries, so I beg the question: why is there no restaurant in this wonderful city that will make such a thing?

And now, motivations to being a vegan. I am a vegan for health reasons. I've suffered from chronic aches and pains throughout most of my adult life, in one form or another. I have tried PT, regular exercise, supplements - all to no avail. Then I went to a OT who suggested I remove sugars from my diet. I did it for a month and I did feel better, but seriously, no sugars, ever?! No juice, no wine, careful on the fruits and veggies I eat?? Needless to say, not the ideal diet for me. So then I was at the gym one day, sweating my tail off on the elliptical and I caught the end of Ellen where she has these guests I had never heard of - Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin. I could only catch a snippet of it, but what I hear, I like, and it turns out they wrote a book, so I buy it: Skinny Bitch. Then, like a week later, I am sitting at a restaurant and a friend of mines parents tell me about another book The China Study, and then it's on! I try it for a month and I am hooked - both on the food I have been eating and how I feel. This is how I came to be vegan for health reasons. I still wear leather and wool and alpaca and hell, I even bought a yak sweater for my husband this past Christmas. Does this make me a bad vegan? Or maybe I'm not a true vegan? Do I have to stipulate that in conversations with other vegans? Oh, I also eat honey! The whole thing is a little confusing to me. Truly, I am comfortable calling myself a vegan but it does get a little weird for me if I go to a vegan event and I am sporting my leather Danskos.

Don't get me wrong, I have seen some footage and read some detailed accounts about the treatment of animals that absolutely disgusts me, but I am just not sure I can take that step to remove all animal products from my life. I also do NOT want to become of those people that protests and throws paint. The one exception to this is that I would protest a circus... they are disgusting and they make me sick.

So, what do you think: are there other people who share my practices? Maybe I should call myself a "dietary vegan"?

Vegan Whoopie Pies!

Posted on 8:37 PM - by Tammy In: , ,

Wow, so it's been 4 months since I have done a post here. I guess I do not feel too bad about that because my blog isn't very interesting to begin with so I am sure no one missed my riveting posts but also because I have been oh-so-busy with the website at my place of employment. So, needless to say, when I come home, the last thing I want to do is post something to my blog. but here I am...

Last night I made vegan whoopie pies! I am not a huge dessert person but one thing I have always loved was chocolate and peanut butter. My husband likes dessert alot, so I try and make something sweet on occasion, but since I have gone vegan, I have been pretty disappointed with my endeavors. Either trying to veganize an old favorite recipe or trying something out of a cookbook... it just hasn't gone well. However, I picked up the latest copy of VegNews, and among other things, inside, there was a recipe for vegan whoopie pies. I opted for the peanut butter filling alternative ending and I have to say, they came out pretty darn good. In all honesty, the filling is not as fluffy as I would like, but like I said, they taste pretty darn good!

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