3 unconventional uses for quinoa

So, you went wild and bulk purchased a little too much quinoa.  It's not like the quinoa won't keep, but you are growing tired of your standard quinoa and veggie fare.  Here are some wonderful, unconventional ways to use quinoa.

Photo credit:  Wholly Vegan

Brussels sprout slaw

There are a few vegetables that feel like absolute treats to me!  Baked sweet potatoes, with their oh-so-rich creaminess, their oh-so-sweet aroma, and their oh-so-satisfying warmth, are a given!  One of my favorite breakfasts is a baked sweet potato.  Sometimes I even dollop hummus on there.

Roasted brussels sprouts have always been up there for me, too.  In fact, another one of my favorite breakfasts is a mountain of roasted brussels sprouts.  

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm sure you've all heard of procrastibaking, or baking as a form of procrastination.  For the last few days, I have not been doing that at all.  Instead, I've been procrastinating baking. And cooking. And even thinking about what I might bring to my family's Thanksgiving potluck.

The vegansaurus pinterest has been a useful, if not slightly overwhelming, resource to make my last minute decision.  And a surprise Buzzfeed roundup of vegan Thanksgiving dishes had me drooling.  I didn't even spend time pouring over my cookbooks, because while I scrolled through Buzzfeed, I found  it.

Photo credit: homemadelevity.com

Lady Power Playlist

In college, I ran with two good buddies of mine three times each week.  Those runs were usually pretty short, but we took the 45 minutes together to de-stress, to talk, to rant, to laugh, to celebrate, to catch up, to socialize.  Whether we were doing a jog to St. Olaf across the river, a quick run through our small college town, or a hilly stretch of miles through the arboretum, we found peace as we moved with each other.  

My friends' incredible personalities and genuine care came on each of our runs.  When I broke up with an ex, was noticeably stuffy and puffy from having cried all night, my friends pushed me through the run, smack talking said ex, making it impossible for me to conceal a broad, toothy, nearly painful smile, and encouraging me to "single girl shimmy" immediately.

Pumpkin muffins with craisins and dark chocolate

Do you remember what I was saying about fall?  About the feeling that comes with the flavors, the smells, the colors, the season?!

Well, I certainly haven't forgotten.  My autumn lust remains in full force.

Which is why P.S. Cooper, boyfriend/bestfriend hybrid of the year, received eight (though I made nine) pumpkin muffins this morning.  To make these autumnal breakfast treats, I halved a recipe I found online and made a few small tweaks, reflected below.  

Coffee Roundup! ...with recipes for every special diet

"I think I'm drinking too much coffee!  I think I'm drinking too much coffee!"

I own a mug adorned with an image of a visibly jittery individual rattling off this phrase, over and over again.  Often times, I wonder if I'm becoming the very person on the front of my coffee cup.  

With this round up, I don't have to worry if I'm drinking too much coffee.  The concern, instead, becomes "I think I'm eating too much coffee!"  But then you see how much coffee is actually in each of these recipes and you realize it's NBD.  Consume your coffee with abandon, go wild!

Photo credit: Hell Yeah It's Vegan

Vegan Chocolate Cake with Coffee Buttercream Frosting

Recipe

Roasted and stuffed acorn squash

IRL and in the blogosphere, autumn is my absolute favorite season.  Bloggers fill their pages with seasonally-inspired projects and dishes.  From pumpkin round-ups to easy decoration tutorials, the posts are festive, alluring, fun.  I read them with all of my senses, imagining the warmth of a vegan pumpkin spice latte or the deep chocolate scent of pumpkin swirl brownies in the oven.

During vegan month of food, I began following Julie at My Apologies for the Novel and since then, I've fallen for post after post that she shares.  This fall season is no different; Julie posted about everything from festive sweets to halloween decorations.  Her stuffed acorn squash looked delicious! And luckily, Julie suggested some recipe modifications in her post.  I used her suggestions and recipe to create a very similar dish!  I played with savory and sweet spices in this recipe, using both sage and cinnamon (you could venture into adding some maple syrup, if you want!).  I was worried about how the spices would play off one another, but I was surprised by the result.  Next time, I want to try for a creamy texture with the wild rice filling, maybe pureeing and using some of the roasted squash in the rice.  Over all, though, the squash was not only hearty and filling, it felt like autumn in my mouth. Exactly what I imagined when I read Julie's initial post, and exactly what I crave during the autumn months.

Review: Conscious Box!

I use the phrase "I love" a little too freely. I love anything from food I've just tried, to people I just met, to ideas on a friend's blog, to an animal I have a picture of on my phone.  I love quickly and easily.

It's no exaggeration when I say that I love the premise of Conscious Box.  By virtue of what a subscription box is -- a monthly package filled with small samples of snacks and products, each individually wrapped, each with the potential for the sampler to discard if she's uninterested -- they inevitably create waste.  

Conscious Box creates an earth-friendly, conflict-free alternative to your typical subscription box.  The company also offers a gluten-free and a vegan version of the subscription box but not a gluten-free and vegan option.  At $19.95/month, and slightly less if you pay for multiple months at once, it's pricey for the amount of products you receive.  Still, the peace of mind from conscious consumerism is in the price, and I opine that it's worth it.

Bloggers dropping books

October was a big month for me.  Not only did I grow another year older, but two of my favorite vegan bloggers released books!  Matt Frazier, of No Meat Athlete and ultramarathon fame, released his very first book, and Isa Chandra, cookbook veteran, vegan kitchen queen, and collaborator at the Post Punk Kitchen blog, published another.

No Meat Athlete: Run on Plants and Discover Your Fittest, Fastest, and Happiest Self

Released October 1, 2013 -- Available now!

Published in Chickpea Magazine

Chickpea Magazine is a zine-like vegan quarterly filled with gorgeous photography and inspired recipes and DIY projects. And when I say it's gorgeous and zine-like, I mean it.  It's free of advertisements and absolutely beautiful from cover to cover. Seriously, look:

I'm honored to have my words on being vegan and dating omnivores in the Fall 2013 issue of Chickpea.  And, though it was tempting, I don't argue that as a vegan you should avoid omnis when you play the field.

A birthday tribute to habits old and new

I turned 24 on Friday the week  before last and in a flurry of dog sitting Nena the burrower, usual suspect pup walking, beginning a new job, celebrating via brunching, vegan cake and soy ice cream devouring, and relishing in warm wishes from friends and family, I did not take much time to reflect on the last year and to meditate on this one to come.

In my first post graduate year, I fell out of a lot of habits that I took for granted; habits I earnestly  believed were natural, innate things that I just did and enjoyed.  I thought that I woke up at the crack of dawn, I loved running 40 miles/week, and that I devoured books because "hey, that's what I do" and because my body wouldn't have it any other way.

One year later, I'm finally realizing these weren't inherent things. I had built my affinity for running, my morning person cheeriness, and my propensity for planned or on a whim productivity.  I had, very unknowingly, created habits.  And I slowly, but oh so surely, let them slip in a frustratingly rocky year.

Young at Heart Mutt Mosey

I spent Sunday making oily popcorn, attempting to move an inane amount of sweets that 84 wonderful volunteers baked, and battling a trio of bumble bees that wanted nothing more than to pollinate the hot apple cider we were selling.

What for? The Young at Heart Mutt Mosey!

photo credit: Young at Heart Pet Rescue

The Mutt Mosey is a 1-mile walk for dogs and their owners through a beautiful forest preserve in Port Barrington.  No fall fundraiser is complete without a pet costume contest, a bake sale with homemade doggie and human treats, and non-stop sightings of the most adorable senior pets!  All in all, it was a successful day; the Young at Heart Mutt Mosey raised around $18,500!

Pumpkin brownie cookies

It's fall flavor time!  Nst nst nst nst.

What better way is there to get started than with a vegan and gluten-free dessert?! A brownie-cookie hybrid celebrating my love of pumpkin and my addiction to chocolate!

Pumpkin brownie cookies

Review: Vegan Cuts!

A few days ago, I received a subscription box from Vegan Cuts! Since then, and with the help of hungry hippo brothers, I've dug into the delicious snackies from Vegan Cuts.

Let me start by saying that from the subscription boxes I've seen (I've received Conscious Box and a boy pal of mine subscribes to BirchBox), none of them match up to Vegan Cuts in the number and range of products you'll be exposed to through your subscription.  In this first box, I found...

Serving up cohesion: my first dinner party

Last week, I hosted a dinner party.  Who on earth do I think I am?

Well, I can tell you that I am not a dinner party hostess extraordinaire, because I still know nothing about dinner parties.  Evidence?

• I rolled a spoon, fork, and knife in an ugly paper napkin and put it on the left side of each plate.
• I placed mismatched wine and champagne glasses on the right side of each plate.  Since the theme, which no one except myself knew existed, was "all of the mismatched things," the plates were also mismatched.
• I served the soup when only one guest had arrived, and I let him eat it before anyone else showed.
• I tried opening red moscato with a cork screw. Pro-hostess tip: you needn't a cork screw if the cap is a twist off.
• I later blamed the cork incident on the soup-sneaking guest.
• I allowed an unexpected guest a spot at our table, a la Cher from Clueless, because it does not say RSVP on the statue of liberty.

I'm not ashamed.  In fact, I'd say it was mostly a success.  I think there are worst things I could've done than ignoring all of this:

image from didyouknow.org

Almond crusted tofu with cumin

Almond Crusted Tofu with Cumin

Cilantro lime brown rice

I could write a recipe for cereal with almond milk in the time it will take me to write a recipe for cilantro lime brown rice.  But I think this background dish really does make a difference when you need to spice up what you've been eating.  And think about it: it's not going to take you any extra time -- what are you really going to do while the rice cooks?! -- and it'll cost you maybe an extra $.27 each time you want to make a decent-sized batch of brown rice to add cilantro and lime.

Hopefully that's enough convincing for you!  Here's how to get it done:

Chicago VeganMania!

Any given day that I make it into the city without complaining about ass hole drivers who love their horns more than they love their mommas is a good day.  Thanks to Chicago VeganMania today was a great day! It was the fifth annual festival celebrating veganism in the Chi.

And the fun didn't stop there for Chicago vegans.  Though, it did for me.  As I type, I'm missing out on an after party complete with pierogis and other Polish vegan eats.  But alas I needed to come home.  I can't be out late with the people of my generation.  My circadian rhythm would slap me if I tried or even thought about it for too long. I especially feel like I'm missing out because I just ate two apples and a perfectly spotted banana for dinner. Remind me why I'm considered an adult.

Enough jibber jabber.  Here are the highlights from today's events:

NONPROFIT ORGS When I found Farm Sanctuary on Facebook I fell in love with their mission: to give a second chance, a home, and love to farm animals that would've otherwise been slaughtered or left to die because of our completely screwed up^2 factory farm situation.  I always wondered if we had a local equivalent. Today, I found out that we DO.  It is SASHA Farm in Manchester, MI.  It's about a 3.5 hour drive from Chicago.  The friendly man in charge of the SASHA Farm booth at VeganMania said tours are not common and the last event of the year took place today.  However, he also said he is rallying for more tours, more public awareness that the farm exists and does what it does, and even shuttles running to and from Chicago to bring members of our vegan community to the farm to learn more or volunteer.  AWESOME!  Go like 'em on Facebook!

photo cred: SASHA Farms on Facebook

Vegan enfrijoladas

"Es mi cocina."

The three words my mom uses when she wants me to get out of her way in the kitchen.  They're kinder than "get the hell out," less cutesy than "skedaddle," and more true to her possessiveness with cooking and the kitchen space than anything else.

I understand where she's coming from, too.  There are times when we really can't share a kitchen.  There are reasons, boy are there reasons, why.  That's for another day.

For today, I want to share a recipe my mom and I agree on: enfrijoladas.  My mom learned to make these when she babysat a boy named Ramoncito in Mexico City.  Ramon's mom taught my mom, Jubita, and then my mom taught me how to make this enchilada spin-off.  Of course, if Ramon's mom knew what I'd do to this recipe to make it vegan, she might regret ever sharing cooking tips with Jubita.  But she doesn't know.  And the vegan recipe 1) doesn't threaten the integrity of the original and 2) is just as delicious as the original (according to my mom).

This week: Cola de fuego, squats, and friends

Something on vegansaurus caught my eye.  It was this (and the video, links, etc that came after.):

Marketing mutts -- brilliant! Every pet is unique; I love the way naming mixed breeds has been able to highlight how desirable it is (and has always been!) to adopt a pup regardless of pedigree!