Orange You Glad I Said Banana?

I am SO out of groceries. I hate that feeling, because being vegan means wanting to have produce on hand at all times. I was GOING to go grocery shopping last night, but the 7 INCHES OF SNOW we got hindered that plan. Instead I opted for a lazy night at home.

Anyhow, one of my favorite fallbacks for when food is limited in my house is banana bread. It's SO GOOD and I pretty much always have the ingredients around. I think everyone should already be aware -- but you know you can freeze bananas, right? As soon as they get past the level of ripeness I like, I throw 'em in the freezer and save them for smoothies or baking. So I usually have at least a few in the freezer.

This recipe is from Emeril Lagasse, courtesy of FoodNetwork.com (great site to advertise on, too...would highly recommend it for any brand). It's a simple recipe, and I've of course made the non-vegan food items into vegan options, but I think the secret to this amazing bread is the sour cream. Trust me -- give this a whirl and you'll be bringing banana bread to every party you attend this year!

Warning: if you live alone, keep in mind that baking a loaf of bread means eating a loaf of bread! :)

Banana Bread

Ingredients

• 10 tablespoons soy butter
• 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 large bananas)
• 1/2 cup vegan sour cream
• 2 eggs worth of Ener-G Egg Replacer
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 cups cake flour
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
  
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup toasted, chopped walnuts (optional - I choose to skip these!)
  

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Lightly grease a 9 1/4 by 5 1/4 by 2 1/2-inch loaf pan.

Puree the bananas, sour cream, eggs and vanilla in a food processor.

Sift the cake flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fixed with a whisk attachment. Add the butter and mix on medium-low speed until blended, about 30 seconds. Add the banana mixture in 3 batches, scraping the sides of the bowl and mixing on medium speed between each addition. Fold in the nuts.

Pour into the loaf pan. Bake until lightly browned and bread bounces back to the touch, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto wire rack to cool completely.

COK 4-Ever

I am SUCH a big advocate of Compassion Over Killing (COK) and thrilled to see that they have again launched their TV spots on MTV. Let me tell you why I heart COK so much.

About a year and a half ago, one fall evening, I was watching TV at home with the two Boo Bears (Jakers & Mabel) and saw a short, maybe 30-second, TV spot on MTV. It was this little girl sitting at a table, about to enjoy breakfast, when a voiceover asks her if she knows where her food comes from and then shows behind-the-scenes footage of factory farms. (I just checked, and they are still using that spot! Watch it here!) It's like I had never thought too deeply about it to realize that the animals on our plate do not get to frolick freely in meadows or socialize as animals naturally do. I, as someone who worked in advertising and should know better, had bought into the "Happy Cows of CA" and "Milk, Does a Body Good" messages that were being thrust at me. I didn't think otuside that frame of reference to realize it was all an advertising ploy!
The end of the commercial has a web address for tryveg.com and since I was on my computer, I immediately went to the site and ordered a vegeterian starter kit.

I pretty much went veg from that night on (still eating seafood, though). Then, the following May (2008), I attended Their Lives,Our Voices, a conference held in Minneapolis to address animal advocacy issues. And one of the sessions I sat in was led by Erica Meier, Executive Director of COK and she talked about those TV spots and how they really are impacting peoples' lives. I felt kind of out of place the entire weekend, being new to the animal advocacy scene, but I knew it was a sign. During Q&A at the end, I raised my hand and told Erica that those ads are what brought me to that very conference that weekend...and how much they changed my life. I could feel tears prickling at my eyes, because it felt so good to be able to thank the person responsible for my life change.
And by the end of that weekend, I was fully dedicated to a vegan lifestyle and have never turned back!

I have since stayed in touch with Erica and think what she and her fellow COK'ers are doing is incredible. They have a tiny office and staff in DC - and the budget of a nonproft! - but create such powerful messages. They are doing so much in the fight for animals.

So that's why these ads mean so much to me. They opened my eyes to this cause that I am so passionate about. I hope you check out their website and, if you can, donate to their cause.

Friends Don't Let Friends Eat Bad Food

One of my dear friends, Shannon, is moving to Prague in just a little over a week. She's finally chasing her dream of teaching English in Europe. I'm really happy for her, but really sad for me. She works at the agency, so work will be slightly less fun each day. But again -- I've got to support her for going after her dream. And who knows, maybe I'll finally make my way to Europe to go visit her sometime soon!

Anyhow, Shannon, myself and another friend (Allison) got together at our other friend Carrie's house earlier this week to make pierogies. Carrie's family makes them fairly often, and they are big in Europe apparently. And I just plain like to eat. :) The girls let me veganize the dough by using Ener-G Egg Replacer instead of an egg and luckily the dough turned out great! We did a filling of feta/cream cheese that the non-veg ladies ate, and then we did a filling of mashed potatoes/onion/garlic/shredded soy cheddar. SO GOOD. I think I had eaten them when I was younger at my elementary school friends' house. Her family was from Germany, so I guess they really are big in Europe (wow, I sound really ignorant-American, don't I?).

So I encourage you to give these a whirl. Easy and not a lot of ingredients. I didn't take any pics of the finished product, as ours weren't that attractive -- just tasty! But I will post a pic of the 4 of us, post-cooking (I love how no one pointed out that I was covered in flour...clearly you can see who did the rolling-out of the dough!)

Oh! And how could I forget about Carrie's sweet baby, Charlie? I'll throw that pic in, too! (Jakers doesn't really get along with dogs well enough to have "friends', but Charlie's pretty close!)

Pierogies

DOUGH:
-2 cups flour
-2/3 cup cold water
-1 tsp salt
-1 1/2 tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer + 2 tbsp warm water

Combine into dough, roll out to just thinner than pie crust and use ~3 inch glass or cup to cut out circles.

FILLING:
Make mashed potatoes however you like 'em and add sauteed onion, garlic and shredded cheddar cheese. We eyeballed the amounts. Let filling sit for an hour or two for best results. (Can also do filling of other soy cheese blends, if you like.)

Place about 2 tsp of filling in middle of pierogie circle, and fold over, pinching edges to seal. Drop into pot of boiling water. When pierogies float to the top, they are done. Remove and let cool. ENJOY!

Comfort Food Solves Everything

This Sunday night, I was exhausted from a weekend of stress - of course worried about my grandma. I wanted to enjoy some comfort food on the couch with Jake & Mabel and hit the hay early. I have this recipe for Broccoli Chowder sitting on my counter for weeks now, waiting for a night to make it. This seemed like the perfect night. (Note: recipe is from LifeScript.com...want to give them credit!)

It's all very healthy ingredients - and for those who are not vegan, you can use regular sour cream and cheddar cheese, but I'm telling you, the soy stuff tastes just as good in this recipe and I find a little less animal-suffering-flavoring when the real stuff is left out. :) And I had a second helping for lunch today -- trust me, this only gets better the longer it sits in your fridge. Although, I can't make promises after TOO many days of sitting.

I thought I'd add a picture, too! I've taken pics of some of my other recipes, but they usually don't turn out looking so appealing. I'm moderately happy with this set of photos, so I'll stick one in. I just always feel like things taste better than they look for me!

Broccoli Chowder

• 
  

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large onion , chopped (1 1/2 cups)
• 1 large carrot , diced (1/2 cup)
• 2 stalks celery , diced (1/2 cup)
• 1 large potato , peeled and diced (1 1/2 cups)
• 2 cloves garlic , minced
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (definitely don't do more than this...I was surprised at what a kick 1/8 tsp can have!)
  
• 3 1/2 cups vegetable broth (two 14-ounce cans)(<--I used 3 1/2 c. of water and mixed in 3 tbsp of veggie broth powder...the same stuff I use in my kale soup recipe!)
  
• 8 ounces broccoli crowns, cut into 1-inch pieces, stems and florets separated (I used 4 medium-sized stalks of celery...I really think you can be generous with the broccoli and be OK with this recipe!)
  
• 1 cup grated soy cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup soy sour cream
• 1/8 teaspoon salt , or to taste

1. Heat oil in a Dutch oven or large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot and celery; cook, stirring often, until the onion and celery soften, 5 to 6 minutes. Add potato and garlic; cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Stir in flour, dry mustard and cayenne; cook, stirring often, for 2 minutes.
2. Add broth and broccoli stems; bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to medium. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Stir in florets; simmer, covered, until the broccoli is tender, about 10 minutes more. Transfer 2 cups of the chowder to a bowl and mash; return to the pan.
3. Stir in cheddar and sour cream; cook over medium heat, stirring, until the cheese is melted and the chowder is heated through. Season with salt.

Grandma Helen

The weekend was a tough one. My grandma was rushed to the hospital on Friday morning, as it appeared she was having a stroke. It turned out to be bleeding in her brain -- caused by the meds she is on to prevent a stroke. The irony makes me sick. So I spent most of the weekend driving to and from Mora, MN (about 80 miles north of Mpls), hoping to see some improvement in the situation. My Valentine's Day consisted of the hospital and terrible chinese food with my Dad.

Please keep my grandmother in your thoughts and prayers. She's been through so much in her life. If it's God's will, I know she will come through this, as well.

A Girl Needs Her Omega-3s!

I was in a big cooking mood last night when I got home from work. I started out making some guacamole, thinking I'd have a taco salad for dinner. But once I finished having a few chips & guac, decided steamed broccoli sounded delish -- random, I know. So I steamed some broccoli and topped with with nutritional yeast, to give it a bit of a cheesy flavoring. It's the best a vegan can do, really. :)

Then I remembered I had purchased some tempeh when I was at Whole Foods last weekend. If you haven't tried tempeh, you are missing out! It's basically a cake of fermented soybeans. By fermenting the soybeans, you are left with a higher amount of protein, fiber and vitamins - things everyone needs more of! I haven't done too much cooking with it, but I have fallen in love with a recipe for Tempeh "Chicken" Salad my cousin, Leah gave me. Leah has been a vegan for many years. (Her mom is my Aunt Sanda, who passed along the Kale Soup recipe to me -- so it's a trusted source!) I always thought it was a strange diet choice, but of course now totally understand. She has such a warm heart and a kindness for animals and our earth. I appreciate her wisdom. She has been so supportive of and helpful with my vegan lifestyle.

I digress...as usual. So she made this recipe as sort of an appetizer at both Thanksgiving and Christmas this past year. I DEVOURED it. It looked strange at first, but it tastes so good. It really is similar to a chicken salad, but not so heavy and mayo-y. She just served it with crackers (I prefer Triscuits or Ritz), but I've also put it in wraps or between bread for a nice sammy! It's easy, makes a good amount - which keeps well int he fridge for several days - and is really healthy! Oh, and this is also a great way to work in flax seeds. I bought some awhile back, after learning how high in protein, fiber and Omega-3s they are - but have not found a good dish to work them into...until now!

Tempeh "Chicken" Salad

8 oz pkg of tempeh (recipe calls for the 3-grain tempeh, but I used the garden veggie tempeh)
1/4 c. sunflower seeds
1/4 c. flax seeds
1-2 carrots, shredded
1 stalk of celery, finely chopped
1/4 c. onion, finely chopped
1/4 c. finely chopped parsley (I used about 1 tbsp dried parsley)
1 1/2 tsp dried basil
2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup soy mayonnaise
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tbsp sea salt
1/2 tbs soy sauce
pepper to taste

* Cut tempeh into approx 1" cubes and steam for about 10-15 mins, until tender. Remove from heat, allow to cool a bit and crumble into mixing bowl.
* Saute sunflower & flax seeds over med heat for 4-5 mins or until golden. Remove from heat and mix with crumbled tempeh.
* Add carrot, celery, onion, parsley, basil and garlic to tempeh mix.
* In separate dish, combine olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper and soy sauce. Add to tempeh mix.
* Add mayo and stir well.
* Serve on sandwich or as dip for crackers.

Here, You Try It

My family has not embraced my veganism as I had hoped they would. Don't get me wrong -- they haven't disowned me or called me stupid. But I guess I was envisioning my lifestyle change impacting them more than it has. I'll give my mom credit -- she will call me from the middle of Costco and ask me I've ever tried "this stuff called hummus" and when I assure her it's tasty, she buys a 1/2 gallon of it -- for me. She has also bought me a 50-pack of Boca Burgers. So I think that's her cute way of trying to help. While she's not interested in making the change herself, she'll load me up with some vegan delicacies. :)

Thinking about my mom's attempt to embrace my new lifetyle made me suddenly remember a stew recipe I got from her. It was in the local newspaper - the Minneapolis Star Tribune one Sunday and she went out of her way to cut it out, call me to tell me she cut it out and then make plans to get together that week so she could give it to me. I made it that same week and was really pleased with it. You've got to enjoy black beans for this to be a winner in your book -- and I do, so it was a hit! And I feel like there might be some fun variations you could put on this recipe, with some additonal veggies perhaps, but I'm not confident enough to suggest any. :) I'm just always a fan of recipes that call for a lot of things that I have around my house already, so I can make it on a whim and don't need to spend a fortune at the grocery store to make that happen.

Anyhow, here's to you, Mom... :)

CUBAN BLACK-BEAN STEW WITH RICE

Serves 4.

• 1 1/2 c. long-grain white or brown rice

• 1 tbsp. olive oil

• 1 medium red onion, chopped

• 1 clove garlic, minced

• 1 red bell pepper (ribs and seeds removed), chopped

• 2 (19-oz. cans) black beans, rinsed and drained

• 1 (14.5-oz.) can vegetable broth

• 1 tbsp. cider vinegar

• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano

• Coarse salt and ground pepper

• Optional garnishes: lime wedges, fresh cilantro and sliced radishes

Directions

Prepare rice according to package instructions. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and bell pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, 8 to 10 minutes.

Add beans, broth, vinegar and oregano. Cook, mashing some beans with the back of a spoon, until slightly thickened, 6 to 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Fluff rice with a fork. Serve beans over rice, with garnishes if desired.

Jakers is Scared of Cattle Anyways

I've decided to finally take the final step into my vegan lifestyle -- vegan pet food. This was a big decision that I've gone back and forth on, but I now feel confident to take the plunge. There was a booth at the animal advocacy conference at the U of M that I attended last year (Their Lives, Our Voices) with vegan dog & cat food. So that got me thinking that if I'm making this change, why not have Jakers & Mabel make this change?

However, I mentioned this to both my veterinarian and the owner of a cute little pet food store near my house and both encouraged me NOT to do this. Their reasoning was that, naturally, cats and dogs are carnivores. Looking back at their ancestors (tigers, lions, wolves, etc) they are inherently meat eaters, so it would not be beneficial to make my cat & dog into vegans. This totally made sense, and so I decided not to make the change. I couldn't risk the health of my own pets in the name of animal advocacy -- it seemed counter intuitive.

However, every time I'm buying them food, I have a twinge of guilt. There are still animals suffering and being slaughtered for their food, just as for human food. So I would buy seafood varieties, trying to feel less guilty (not that it's OK to kill fish!)...but there was still that twinge of guilt in my stomach.

After talking the whole thing over with a friend of mine (Erica Meier...she's the Executive Director of an amazing animal advocacy group called Compassion Over Killing), I am totally on board the vegan train. She pointed out to me that NOTHING about my cat and dogs life is natural. Its not natural to keep them inside of a condo for their whole lives. It's not natural to feed them in little serving dishes. It's not natural to feed them beef and pork and chicken (in the wild, they would be catching rats and mice and little song birds). It's not natural to spay and neuter them. Nothing about domesticated animals is natural, when compared to their ancestors. So why is this any different?
What it comes down to is being sure they are getting the nutrients, carbs and fats that they require out of their food. Cats need taurine -- and just like how humans can get protein elsewhere -- cat food can have taurine supplements.

So while I am already able to see this is going to be an expensive change (keeping in mind, I already give my pets the top-of-the-line, costly food), it's one that is totally worth it. Less animal suffering and my pets continue to be well-fed and healthy!

Vote for Jakers in '09

The Humane Society of the United States has a great campaign going on right now. It's called Spay Day 2009 Online Pet Photo Contest (I think they might do this every year, but I've just never been involved). Everyone can upload a picture of their pet and encourage friends and family to vote for them between now and March 6th. Prizes are awarded to the top 500 finishers and then there are also additional winners who are selected by the celebrity judge panel. The hitch is that to win the prizes, you need a minimum of 100 votes.
Jakers has zero. :(

Oh, I failed to mention that it costs $1/vote. But it's for a good cause -- to promote the spaying an neutering of pets all across the country! So go ahead and head over to the site and vote for my handsome baby.

Maybe I should have gone with the argyle sweater picture.... :)

You Don't Need a Reason to Carbo-Load!

Happy Sunday! I've had a busy week/weekend. I spent Thursday through Saturday in Washington D.C., visiting friends. I really love that city. Not only is it quite veg-friendly, but they have an amazing public transportation system (the Metro) and a lot of my friends live out there, too! Oh, and of course there's my brother and soon-to-be sister in law who are going to be buying a house there soon. Good times. (Shout-out to Kristen Hines for letting me stay with her all weekend!)

Anyhow, I boarded Jakers for the very first time while I was out of town. It was a much better experience than I anticipated. I brought him to a new place called Now Boarding - right by the MSP airport. It's really convenient, because you can drop off & pick up 24/7, so I was able to bring him at 4:30am on Thursday and get him after 9pm on Saturday -- no where else would let me do that. PLUS, you can leave your car there and they offer a shuttle to bring you to/from the airport. It was great!
The only hitch is that I did the online reservation for him, putting his name as Jakers (I never call him Jake, his given name). So when I arrive at 4:30am on Thursday, I'm over-tired and really emotional and fully crying by the time I walk in the door with him. The woman at the desk greets us, saying "This must be Jackers!" (rhyming with crackers). Well, I didn't correct her right away, so by the time she had called him Jackers a dozen times, it was too late. So not only was he super devestated to see me abandon him, I'm sure he was thinking, 'Who the crap is Jackers!?' *sigh* But I called to check on him a few times over the weekend, and they assured me he got a lot of attn and snuggles, and he was happy as a lamb when I arrived last night, so I will definitely be using Now Boarding again!

But now that Jakers (Jackers, if you prefer), Mabel and I have been apart all weekend, I've decided to stay home for the Superbowl. Insted of going to a party where there's a ton of snack foods I can't eat, I'm going to stuff my face with lasagna and snoogle on the couch with my babes! This vegan spinach lasagna recipe is one I found on cooks.com, but I've made some changes to the measurements & ingredients. I've also opted for a square pan, as a 9x13 pan would make WAY too much lasagna for one person...not that I couldn't handle it. :) Oh, the vegan cream cheese addition was also a change I made -- it makes it just a bit creamier! I like that you don't need to cook the lasagna noodles, as the moisture in the recipe will steam the noodles while it bakes. It's also something you can make in advance and throw in the fridge for a day or so until you're ready to bake it.

Vegan Spinach Lasagna
adapted from cooks.com recipe

15 oz fresh spinach, well washed
8-10 lasagna noodles, uncooked
1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 c. onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled & chopped
14 oz (1 block) soft tofu, mashed
8 oz soy cream cheese
1 tbsp dried parsley
1/4 dried oregano
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
7 oz soy mozzarella cheese
1 lg jar of marinara sauce, any variety

Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Coat square cake pan (I think mine is 8"x8" or 9"x9") with nonstick spray.

Cook spinach in large pot of boiling water for 2 mins. Drain, chop and set aside.

Heat olive oil in small skillet and saute the chopped onions & garlic for 3 mins, but do not brown.

In a large bowl, combine mashed tofu, cream cheese, sauteed onions & garlic, parsley, oregano, sea salt and pepper. Add spinach and stir well.

Put 3-4 tablespoons of marinara sauce in the bottom of pan to coat. Put down 4-5 uncooked lasagna noodles, overlapping slightly (you'll need to break an inch or so off, to make it fit in the pan). Place half of tofu/spinach mix in a layer over noodles, then put half of mozzarella on top of that.

Repeat process again (marinara, tofu/spinach mix, cheese) and then end with marinara over the top of everything. Cover with tinfoil, sealing along the edges, and bake at 350 for 60 minutes. Let cool ~10 mins then slice and enjoy!