Samuel Smith's Organic Raspberry Ale

I really wanted framboise this evening, but was feeling too cheap to buy it, so I decided to try Samuel Smith's Organic Raspberry Ale. All Samuel Smith beers are certified vegan by The Vegan Society - how cool is that?!? I found it to be more beery and less fruity than framboise (though I think that's actually malt liquor and not beer?), but still very tasty and refreshing. It's also available in strawberry and cherry.

Cheers! xoxo Chelsea

P.S. Cookie says hello!

New shoes! Wahoo!

You know I love me some cute vegan shoes, and I can't pass up an amazing deal! So when I saw a post on the PPK about a website selling J-41's for $19.99, I had to get two pairs! I've always been intrigued by their eco-friendliness, Jeep technology, and soy-based inks... but way too cheap to buy a pair. About half of the J-41's on the website were vegan, but I don't know if that's true for J-41's in general.

J-41 Seville, cute and shiny!

Not as sporty as I was expecting (yay!)

J-41 Palm Vegan, make my feet look big, but they are! So that's ok :)

P.S. Sorry ladies, but it appears the sale was only a one day thing! Check www.6pm.com for other crazy deals :)

Gyros!

After making the seitan from the last post, Jesse got all excited reminiscing about gyro meat and how much seitan reminded him of it. He just had to make a seitan gyro! I've never had a gyro, but I love falafel sandwiches so I figured it would be tasty. He made another batch of VWAV seitan with marjoram and some Greeky spices, tabbouleh, and tzatziki with soy yogurt! It looked really good, but... I really didn't like it. I think the problem was that I didn't like the tzatziki on the warm sandwich. I liked everything individually, just not in one sandwich. Jesse, on the other hand, ate gyros for breakfast, lunch, and dinner the next two days! Boys are so weird!

gyro-style seitan cookin' up

Dinner's ready!

Happy almost-Friday, everyone! xoxo Chelsea

Hail Seitan!

I buy seitan every now and then, and I especially like the Cast Iron kind, but I've always been intimidated by the idea of making it at home. Baking is my biggest kitchen challenge, and I think it was the whole kneading the dough part that freaked me out. The recipes being more than a page long didn't help, either... After having baking successes in the last few months, I decided to try out seitan! I used the recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance (omitting the lemon zest), and it was wicked easy, cheap, and tasty!

Seitan blobs on the stove forever! I got bored so...

I took a picture of my new shoes. Cute, huh? $6 at Ross!

And I needed a drink with all that waiting! Vodka, natural soda, and canned berries are a good combo! :)

Still simmering... time for a Cookie photo shoot!

She loves the camera!

Finally, it was all ready! I simply sliced and sauteed the seitan, and served it with salad and the Crash Hot Potatoes that Jessy and Shellyfish have featured on their fabulous blogs - what a dinner! Even though I didn't cook the potatoes long enough to properly squash them, it was good eatin'!

Mmm mmmmmm!

Crunky testers and CHOCOLATE!

I tested two side dishes for Vegan Crunk's upcoming cookbook this week - Mess O' Greens with Turnips and Mashed Sweet Taters. Both of these recipes were freakin' delicious, but seriously - the greens recipe would be worth the purchase price alone! I doubt I will ever make greens another way again. I enjoyed them with baked tofu. Oh yeeeeaaaahhhhh.

More greens n' turnips with a tempeh sandwich

I told you I really like 'em! I made them again last night to go with Jesse's new favorite sandwich - marinated tempeh and onion. I found some Annie's marinade's at Grocery Outlet a few weeks ago for $1.49! I should have bought more...

Pretty place setting!

I spent a few hours yesterday reclaiming the dining room table for eating. Well, most of it at least. There's still a drill press on the corner of it. You see, living in a one bedroom apartment, our dining room also serves as our office and Jesse's workspace/hobby space. Moving and organizing everything was a pain in the butt, but the room feels twice as big and it just makes me happy! Yay :)

Chocolate pancakes topped with Special Cocoa Spread and maple syrup and hashbrowns

I did a swap on the PPK last month, and got a box full of awesome stuff from New Jersey! One of these awesome things is a chocolate spread from Israel, very similar to Nutella but without the nuts. It is quite delicious on pancakes as well as on cookies, in a peanut butter sandwich, and of course - right out of the jar! I am in chocolate heaven!!!

Happy Easter if you celebrate, and if you're a heathen like me - you should eat some chocolate anyway! xoxo Chelsea

My first sushi!

Why have I not made sushi before? It is so super duper easy! A few weekends ago the Radical Cheerleaders for AR had a fundraiser party, and one of the squad members made a ton of sushi for it. I was inspired when I heard how cheap it was!

A few pointers:

Rice Vinegar is a must. Just cook your sushi rice in a rice cooker, then mix in about 2 T. of the vinegar. Voila!
Use some Tofutti Cream Cheese. I forgot I had it in the fridge until I was on my 2nd roll!
Don't buy wasabi in a tube. It's weird. The powdered kind is actually good, just mix it with water to make a paste.
Have a little container of water nearby when rolling to rinse the sticky rice off your fingers. It will also help to seal up the end.
Play around with the arrangement of rice and veggies. I never figured out how to get the veggies in the middle instead of on the side, but I will! Have fun!

Ready to roll!

My first couple rolls

So cute! Except for the weird wasabi! haha

Don't forget dessert! Strawberries and bananas with leftover ganache from VWAV Raspberry Blackout Cake. And a boozy concoction of coffee liquor, vodka, and chocolate almond milk :)

A couple nights later, Jesse made some fancy sushi that put mine to shame! haha Behold:

So pretty! That's baked tofu and marinated tempeh on the nigiri, and miso soup on the side :)

Nigiri close up

Have a great week, everyone! xoxo Chelsea

I'm baaaaaa-aaaaaacccckkkkkk!

Hello everyone! Jeez, I have been gone for a long time! My computer died, so I've been using the laptop and took a long time to figure out how to download pictures on it (did you know that you can stick your memory card right into most laptops? I had no idea...) and then I hurt my back, got the flu, and had a really intense (but in a good way!) couple weeks at work, and somehow just got out of the habit of even logging into blogger. How have you all been? I hope life has been treating you all well! Happy Spring! Please enjoy some food porn!

Vegan Crunk's tester Sweet Potato Pecan bread

Inside shot! This stuff was so yummy and easy to make!

Pizza with Trader Joe's herby crust, FYH mozzarella, and lots of veggies (and don't forget the walnuts!)

Potato tofu veggie scramble and my cute little tea cup!

Voodoo Doughnut expanded their vegan offerings! I will never eat another cake doughnut again!!!

After drooling over dairy spinach dip at a potluck, I went home and made my own!

Jesse asked me what I wanted for dinner, and of course I replied with, "NACHOS!" Here's what I got - my own friggin' nacho bar!

Delicious!

Lemon Gem cupcakes from Vegan with a Vengeance

Reubeny sammich - tempeh, sauerkraut, grilled onions, and a Vegenaise/ketchup/hot sauce blend

Mac and cheeze and kale and shallots

And what's a blog post without some cute kitties???

Zoey and Cookie sleeping in the top of their cat tree

Cookie loves to give me baths :)

Next up, my first attempt at sushi! Woohoo! xoxo Chelsea