Rice and Beans!

I looooovvveee Mexican food! I grew up in California so that shouldn't be too surprising. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love all different types of food, but there's just something about rice & beans, burritos, tacos, Mexican pizzas, YUM! I'm very glad you can't see me drooling right now. I had some avocados I needed to use before they went bad, so what better dish than rice & beans with some avocado on top? I added some pico de gallo and daiya cheese.

Breakfast Smoothie!

I got my box from CSA yesterday and it had a couple of apples in there. I don't really like apples much...except for in apple pie, then yum! Whenever I do receives apples in my CSA box I usually just give them to my husband for his lunch. But, this time I thought they might be tasty in my after workout smoothie. So, I dropped them in my blendtec along with some other fruits, veggies, and some water. Tasted pretty good!

Smoothie with apples, carrots, celery, broccoli, kale, fresh squeezed orange,  strawberries, and water. 

Nom Nom Truck!

Have you guys spotted the Nom Nom Truck yet? If not, then you're missing out. Ever since they made their appearance on The Great Food Truck Race last year, business has been booming for this Vietnamese food truck. They serve Banh Mi sandwiches as well as tacos. I semi-stalked their site for a while until I finally had to the chance to go to one of their locations and check  out some nom nom goodness. Did I mention that I didn't find their truck until after I became a vegan? So, I was thankful that their menu included tofu options. I tried a very tasty sandwich with some good flavors. It will be great though if they had some gardein to throw on there, but you never know, it could happen some day. :-) The video and pics below are from my most recent visit.

tofu taco.

Bahn Mi tofu sandwich. 

Home made Sushi!

I've been craving sushi for a while. It's been months since I've been to Shojin, my favorite vegan sushi place. It's not because I haven't wanted to. I'm salivating right now just thinking about their dynamite roll, but I've either haven't had someone to go with or lack of funds. So, yesterday, the hubby and I decided to pick up a few things from Whole Foods and make our own sushi at home. Yum! It was so scrumptious and oh so easy to make. It almost made me not miss Shojin...almost.

Some brown rice noodle soup to start. 

Sticky brown rice.

I pickled some carrots and cucumbers in some rice vinegar for a few hours. I also added some Sophie's Kitchen shrimp and avocado on top. 

Some organic Shoyu for dipping. I like to squeeze lime juice in mine. 

Veggie Pot-stickers. 

So, next time you're craving sushi and you're on a budget, just make it yourself! :-)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Vegan Thanksgiving Everyone! I'm so stuffed I can barely post this right now but I just had to share with you the delicious vegan food I was able to enjoy this Thanksgiving. I'm am truly thankful for being blessed with so many different vegan options. When my husband told his co-workers that he was having a vegan Thanksgiving meal this year, they asked him "what the heck are you going to eat?" Well, check out my video and pics and I'll show you all the scrumptious food he was able to eat without harming any animals! :-)

Peanut Butter Cookies. Recipe from "The Sweetest Vegan"

Stuffed mushrooms with organic stuffing.

Native Foods "Wellington"

Mac & Cheese

Mashed Potatoes

Cranberry Sauce. Recipe from the The Kind Diet.

Quinoa Salad

It's ready!

Native Foods Gravy. 

Sauteed Brussels sprouts with shallots. Recipe from Bethenny.com .

Peach & Rhubarb cobbler. 

Cornbread. 

Potato Salad. 

Taco Night!

Yummity Yum Yum! We had tacos for dinner tonight...which oddly enough, I haven't made tacos in the longest time...anyway, these tacos were super delicious! I used Yves Meatless Ground Taco Stuffers with a little daiya cheese, some vegan sour cream, and yummy guacamole I whipped up. Check out the pics!

Blue corn taco shells.

Some guac with tomatoes, red onions, pepper, lime juice, and a dash of herbamare .

Me and my Thanksgiving Turkey Buddy!

Hey peeps,

Check out this funny little video I whipped up just in time for Thanksgiving! :-)

Blanched Green Beans with Sauteed Veggies

I got this green bean recipe from the CSA newsletter and made it for dinner last night. I blanched the green beans and added them to a pan of sauteed mushrooms and caramelized onions. After the veggies were nice and cooked I placed them on top of some leftover quinoa. Yum!

Crock Pot Cooking - Black-Eyed Peas!

Have I told you how much I love my crock pot? This time I used it for some black-eyed peas cooking. I haven't had these peas in a while and honestly I had no intention of cooking some any time soon, but I found a bag in my cabinet last week. I don't remember buying the black-eyed peas (must have been my subconscious telling me to stop slacking on these delicious beans), but I'm sure glad I did. These peas came out so yummy, full of flavor and a little creamy. I wish I could take credit but this was all the handy work of my wonderful crock pot.

I added some water with a veggie bouillon cube and some spices (pepper, garlic powder, and a little red pepper flakes). I let it slow cook for about 10 hours.

What's up with food tv???

I love food shows! Whether it's a great chef sharing some yummy recipes, a host checking out food dives I've never been to, or a cooking challenge show where they have like 15 minutes to whip up something fabulous, I will watch each show with the greatest enthusiasm! But, since becoming vegan I can't watch these shows like I used to, it's always "veal this" or "fried chicken that" and it just pains me that there are no vegan chefs on tv (especially since there are so many vegans/vegetarians that are always looking for new recipes) and no cool vegan cooking challenge shows like top chef, iron chef, or chopped. There are so many vegan restaurants around on the west and east coast, so where are the vegan tv chefs? Even if we only had one show on that gave quick and simple vegan recipes, new and seasoned vegans would soak this up, and it would show people how easy it is to go vegan. Come on Food Network!

Amanda's Bakery & Cafe...t-shirt giveaway winner!!!

Hey guys! So, I finally got my hands on some vegan doughnuts! This weekend I made a morning trip to Amanda's Bakery & Cafe and scooped up a few treats. I've been craving doughnuts for the longest and seeing tons of doughnut shops all over the place it doesn't make it any easier. So, it's definitely nice to know that I can treat myself to a coffee and doughnut every now and then. Check out some glazed goodness below:

I also want to give a special shout out to my t-shirt giveaway winner Valenciamn5! Thanks again to everyone who participated! :-)

Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead. Have you seen this film???

I checked out this film called Fat Sick & Nearly Dead tonight and I thought it was incredible. It was recommended to me by someone who tried a vegan lifestyle for a short while, but decided it was not for them. They did, however, really enjoy this film and thought, since I am vegan I should give it a look. I should also point out that in the few weeks that I've shared about my vegan lifestyle with this person they've told me that they have tried veggie meat and have cut back on animal meat, which I think is super amazing! Anytime you decide to take out meat, dairy, and eggs out of your diet you are one step closer to better health and giving animals a chance at a decent life.

Back to the film...It's a documentary about this man named Joe, who is from Australia, very rich, overweight, and very sick. After seeing quite a few doctors and taking tons of medication he decides to treat himself by going on a 60 day juice fast. He starts his journey in New York and then decides to go cross country. Along the way he faces food temptation, interviews people about their health and eating habits, and gets people to try his cool juice (out of his juicer which he has charged up in the back of his car).

But after the 60 days is over, Joe realizes that his journey is not over. On one of his stops he met a man named Phil, who is severely overweight and oddly enough has the same condition Joe has. Joe offered Phil some juice, advice, and help if he ever needed it. Well, once Joe is nice and settled back in Australia he gets a phone call from Phil asking for help. I don't want to spoil too much of the film so I'll stop here.

If you haven't seen it yet PLEASE watch it. It's so inspiring and encourages people to not only change their own health for the better but to always remember to pay it forward. I feel like this is one of the reason why I love blogging and doing videos, because I can't keep all this good health to myself. Sometimes people need others to show them the way. If no one showed me I can't imagine how unhealthy I would be right now.

Crock Pot Cooking - Collard Greens!

Flavorful smells of greens and spices permeate my apartment and my stomach growls in anticipation of the foodie goodness that awaits me. I'm a little ashamed to admit that I haven't done much cooking with my crock pot. I remember my mom putting together all sorts of delicious combinations of food and spices, throwing them into her crock pot, letting them slow cook, and then sitting down to a delightful dinner. Recently I've gotten really excited to use mine more and come up with new ways to slow cook some yummy flavor into my veggies, grains, and beans. Check out my collard greens below.

Collard Greens in my Crock Pot.

I added some water, a veggie bullion cube, pepper, garlic powder, and a little bit of red pepper flakes.

 I let these slow cook for about 10 hours and I freezed the rest so I can heat them up for Thanksgiving. :-)

Urban Food Crawl's First Vegan Cupcake Competition!

Sunday, I had the privilege of attending Urban Food Crawl's first ever Vegan Cupcake Competition. When I first heard about the event I was so psyched! I mean, who doesn't want to load up on cupcakes and vote for their favorite??? The art was amazing, the people were enthusiastic, and the cupcakes were fantastic! There were so many different sweet and delectable flavors to choose from, I could barely keep up. I tried to pace myself but that was impossible because my eyes kept darting to the next tasty treat awaiting me. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures because I was so busy stuffing my face but I did manage to get some cool video footage. Please check out the event below:



Here are the list of the Cupcake Companies from the event:
Amanda's Bakery & Cafe
Babycakes NYC
Bake You Happy
Clara's Cakes
Courtesan Cupcakes
Crushcakes & Cafe
Jamaica's Cakes
No Udder Desserts
Raw Bites
Sweet Alexis

Garlic and Greens Soup

Have you heard of an animal activists named Colleen Patrick-Goudreau? Well, of course you have! She has a wonderful compassionate website, books galore, and she speaks at events across the country. I have acquired two of her books and both have some incredible recipes. Today's recipe I actually got from her website; it's her garlic and greens soup. She says it's perfect for when you feel a cold coming on so check it out! 

You should be able to use any greens. I used kale for this soup.

Vegan Cookies! And T-Shirt Giveaway!

Hey guys! Isabella's Cookie Company has the most amazing vegan peanut cookies I've ever tried. I've been hiding these delicious cookies from you because they usually have a limited supply at my whole foods...and I was afraid there wouldn't be any left if you found out how scrumptious these cookies are!lol But, now I've decided to cave and share with you how much you need these in your life, especially if you're a cookie lover.

Also, I'm doing another giveaway! This time it's a t-shirt that says "Go Vegan!" Check out the video for more details.