Chili Night & Happy Herbivore's Cooking Demo!

Sunday night I whipped up some delicious chili in my crock-pot. It's been a while since I've had any warm and hearty chili, so my belly gladly welcomed it with opened arms.

Check out the recipe here: http://veganwhat-stephanie.blogspot.com/2011/12/crock-pot-cooking-chili.html.

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending Happy Herbivore's Live Cooking Demo at Whole Foods. I've been a fan of Lindsay's for a little while now and I love her idea of making yummy vegan food in a low-fat and healthy way. I have a couple of her books so I was very excited to eat some of the yummy recipes I've been reading about, from the author herself. Want to see what I ate??? Check out the pics and video below!

Minestrone Soup.

Healthy "Cheesy" Mac & Cheese

Quick & Easy Pad Thai

4 Ingredient No Bake Cookies

Black Bean Burgers

Me with Lindsay

I had a great time! I would have taken more pics but the crowd was so quiet in the beginning that I was embarrassed to take a picture with my loud camera.lol Next time I won't be so shy and I will definitely have a book for her to sign :-)

Have you tried Coconut Water?

I'm not a fan of coconut but this chocolate flavored Zico coconut water is delicious. Not only is it yummy but it's full of electrolytes, potassium, and iron. The chocolate flavor has 20 grams of sugar per bottle so you might not want to drink it everyday, but after my tough workout this morning, it was a welcomed treat. :-)

Been gone too long!

Hey guys! I know I've been MIA for a while but I'm back and hopefully I can start posting more consistently again. Here are some of the yummy things I ate last week:

This has become one of my favorite salads. I love making crispy tempeh and adding it to some greens, avocado, tomatoes, onion, chia seeds, and hemp hearts. Topped with some spicy mustard and a little balsamic vinaigrette. 

Here is some delicious veggie soup and lemon vegan shrimp from Lotus Vegan Restaurant. 

Chickpea patty with steamed kale and little potatoes sauteed with spinach and mushrooms.  I know you're not supposed to eat  a lot of potatoes but I just LOVE them.lol 

Have you tried Kelp noodles? They're great for Asian inspired dishes but this time around I used them as a replacement for pasta. They're also raw and gluten free. I added some Gardein crispy chipotle lime fingers. Yum!

Black bean patty w/daiya vegan cheese, tomato, and onion. I grilled the zucchini with an amazing marinade I found online. Here is the link:  http://www.thekidscookmonday.org/2012/07/16/grilled-zucchini-with-herb-marinade/

Brown rice breakfast cereal with Tone It Up's bombshell spell drink. 

Finished the week off with my second trip to Doomies Home Cookin Restaurant. The hubby and I were a bit famished after catching an early movie on Saturday, so we decided to stop by Doomies and munch on some grub. 

Calamari. Tasted a bit more like breaded fish fillets than calamari but it was still yummy. 

Chick'n fingers. 

Vegan Cheese Steak Sandwich. OMG it was good!

Doomies fried Chick'n is my fave. 

So much yummy food! I can hardly stand it. lol

My day at LA Vegan Beer Fest!

When I first heard about the LA Vegan Beer Fest coming up I wasn't that excited, because I'm not a beer drinker. But, when I heard there would be some yummy vegan food to munch on, I decided to give it a chance. I went online and checked out what food trucks would be stopping by and immediately I began to salivate. So, bought some non-drinking tickets ad patiently waited for the grub. I had such a great time. The weather was beautiful, cool vegan peeps to meet and catch up with, and the food was Delish! I was a little disappointed that the non-drinking tickets were 25 dollars on top of having to pay more for food. So, I did suggest to some of the vegan food trucks that they should really come together more often, so we won't have to wait for special events to see them all at once. It would be more like a monthly/bi-monthly basis like they do for First Fridays (A monthly event for trucks to come together...held every first first Friday of the month). Man, it would be awesome if they did that and then we wouldn't have to pay extra on top of paying for food and we would also have more of a selection to try from instead of having to chase around one vegan food truck at a time.lol One can hope! :-) Anyway, I'm done rambling. Please check out the video and the pics. If you didn't make it this year the you might want to give it a try next year, especially if you're a beer lover...and a vegan food enthusiast!

Vegan Band,

Curry fries from Fresh Fries.

Buffalo Ranch fries from Fresh Fries. These were Amazing!

Vegan Bands.

Maple Crumb Cupcake from Amanda's Bakery. My fave!!!

Maple Coconut "Bacon" doughnut from Amanda's Bakery.

Molasses Cookie from Amanda's Bakery.

BBQ slider from Doomies. 

Fudge Brownie from Doomies.

Fried "chicken" sandwich with Mac & Cheese from Southern Fried Vegan.

Tempeh "Meatball" sandwich from Seabirds Truck.

Seabirds classic Beer battered Avocado Tacos.

Black Bean Sliders from Seabirds Truck. 

Spicy Jackfruit tacos from Seabirds Truck. 

Hubby holding some fries from Fresh Fries. 

Curly Fries from Fresh Fries. 

Vegan 1 Year Anniversary!

Hey everyone! I hope you are all having a wonderful day so far. Yesterday, I celebrated my 1 year vegan anniversary! :-) Well, I didn't really get to celebrate because I was stuck at work from sun up to sunrise.lol...but I did meet someone who was curious about my vegan lifestyle and it was nice sharing my experience with them. I seriously can't believe it's been a year, it just flew by. I can honestly say that this vegan journey has been amazing and I can't wait to celebrate another year. Thanks for sharing in this incredible vegan life with me! :-)

Tone It Up's 5 Day Slim Down Day 5!

Woo Hoo! I made it through the 5 day slim down! It was a little rough especially with the cramps and everything, but I actually enjoyed it. I'm proud that I made it through without caving in and giving up and I can honestly say that I don't mind doing this again in the future. Before I was terrified of it and now that it's done, it's not scary anymore. :-) Check out my video and what I had for my last meal on the slim down.

Tone It Up's stuffed mushroom...I added vegan shrimp, nutritional yeast, red peppers, tomatoes, and leeks.

Tone It Up's 5 Day Slim Down Day 4!

Hawaiian "shrimp" (Sophie's Kitchen-Vegan Seafood) with pineapple salsa and kale.