New Local Vegan Product!

Hello All!
I hope you had a wonderful Fathers Day :)  We ate chinese with some church members so today wont be a blog of my vegan sunday lunch.

I do how ever have some wonderfully exciting news!  For everyone local I hope you find some time to go to Ingles and look in the dairy department.  There is a new wonderful vegan product in stock!  Its called Vegan Valley! (thats the link for the Facebook page go check out their stuff!)  This a product that is made in Greene County!  They are located in Mosheim to be specific.

I found out about them by a luck of the draw!  One weekend day while working at Ingles I saw someone new come in and tell my manager that he was setting up for samples.  Of course I was excited because who doesn't love samples?  So once I got a chance to go check it out I did.  I found out that the product was a dairy alternative for cheese type dips and sauces!  I tried the Cashew Jalapeño and I was hooked!  It was spicy and smooth and had a great taste!  I stayed a few minutes and talked to guy offering samples.  He and I talked vegan and that ingredient list should be basic and simple.  He said "We have pickled our selves" and I couldn't agree more.  My choice to eat vegan is so the foods I am eating are basic and not processed.  Eating the simple foods with good spices taste better to me and make me feel better than eating some quick fast food.  At times it is hard in our culture but we need someone willing to step up and put their product out there.  I hope their products take off and everyone one enjoys them!  People need to see that being a vegan doesn't mean just eating grass and tofu.  I am so excited to have this new product locally.  I know that Ill be sharing it with others and cooking with it!

So go on out and try it!  Vegan or not, step out of the box and try something new! The ingredient list is simple and not full of processed foods thats are so bad for you.

The Second Vegan Sunday!

Lets Talk Lunch!
So today was my second attempt at vegan sunday with my family! It was another success! My boyfriend was able to join us today for lunch and he is a picky eater.  Between my stubborn sisters tastebuds and his picky eating I was nervous how well lunch would go over.  My mom found a recipe for vegan Mac & Cheese so we decided to go for it! The menu went as follows: Pork tenderloin for the meat eaters and fake meat for me, green beans, tossed veggies in the sauce from last weeks meal, and vegan mac & cheese.  (A little strawberry ice cream was made for dessert too but that wont be included in this)

The mix of broccoli, squash, and roasted red peppers were good with the sauce and goat cheese.  I enjoyed it but I think the sauce was better with asparagus.

The recipe for the mac and cheese was really simple and quick!  Surprisingly it was a hit with our picky eaters at the table!  We sent my boyfriend home with extras and he was thrilled.  Joke is on them it has tofu in it!  Silken makes the recipe really creamy and thick.  I think the taste was pretty good but it needs more work in my opinion.  It seemed to be lacking a little flavor.  Mom and I can't decide what it need though.  If you make it and figure it out let me know! 

Enjoy your vegan sunday!

Happy Munching:)

Cupcake Chaos

Hello all :)

This is a quick little post about what a pitiful baker I can be some times.  In excitement for starting a new week at Upward Bound with my staff I decided a batch of cupcakes were in order for us after having such a rough week last week.  I thought 'Hey! Strawberry cupcakes with vanilla frosting sounds awesome! Lets make it vegan!'

I quickly found a quick and easy way to make vanilla frosting and off to the store I went.  I picked out a box of strawberry cake mix and a few things I needed for the frosting.  The mix was not completely vegan but I was working on a time crunch and didnt want to end up rushed to make a cake mix from scratch.  I blended up with banana to replace the eggs and once whipped up I thought I had puffed up a bottle of Pepto! Tasted and baked great but a little too fluffy and pink for my comfort.

Now the icing is where the chaos comes in.  The recipe called for 3/4 cup of powered sugar, 3/4 cup of margarine, and 1/8 a cup of vanilla almond milk.  I didnt measure out the milk to well and ended up adding 1/4 a cup instead.  Well little did I know at the time that simple mistake would come back to get me.  I ended up with soupy frosting.  I knew that adding more sugar would make it thicker so I kept adding... and adding.... and adding...... and almost 2 bags later I finally had sorta thick frosting. (kinda)  I also had enough frosting left that I could make about 3 more batches of those cupcakes and still have enough frosting! 

Lesson of the day: I need to be more precise and actually follow the directions, and patience.  I love to cook and bake but I need to work on my skills more :)

Happy Munching

Vegan Sunday Kickoff!

Hello Bloggers! I am glad to be back in the states and ready to enjoy vegan foods again!
With my job I have this summer I live on a college campus Monday-Friday so cooking is not a choice for me.  So because of that I am starting 'Vegan Sundays'!!!!! My mom and I picked out for a vegan meal to cook :)  (With an added bonus the whole family sat down to eat together! WOW)

The meal consisted of pesto pasta (vegan), asparagus with goat cheese dressing, rolls, and chicken for the meat eaters!

The pesto was really simple to make, and I think we decided we liked it as a whole.  It could have used a little more flavor and needed to be a little smoother.  We will learn how to tweak it next time we make it!  It was a simple combo of almonds, tofu, onion, and a little chardonnay.  I don't have the link right now but when I have it I will post it in the comments or the bottom of the blog.

Asparagus with a red pepper vinaigrette and goat cheese sounded strange to me.  I fell in love with it! If the asparagus was grilled it would have perfected the recipe!  Goat cheese crumbles on top of red peppers has so good! The flavors played so well off each other.  I suggest both of these recipes! One I have them they will be listed down below :)

The rolls were not vegan of course, but I cant seem to turn down a hot Sister Schubert's roll.

Im happy to be back in the kitchen!
Happy Munching




The Recipe Links: Alfredo Sauce and Asparagus Salad!