I love The Chicago Diner

Everyone should take a look at this menu.  The Chicago Diner is a cute little restaurant.  Their motto is: Meat Free Since '83.  We had a delicious lunch there today consisting of: mozzarella "teeze" sticks, bbq "chik'n" salad with vegan ranch, a chik'n c'zar sandwich with sweet potato fries, and (my favorite) a bloody mary.

BBQ chik'n salad with vegan ranch

  

The Chicago Diner has everything that I miss about "regular" food from veggie Chicago hot dogs to gluten free items and delicious deserts like cupcakes, pies and cookies with soy ice cream.  They also have a chocolate chip cookie dough and peanut butter shake that I intend on trying next time I visit.  Who wants to go?!

Vegan skin care!

So, David gave me an early birthday present, and it was a great one!
Everyone should check out this website: Moxie Organix.
Moxie Organix offers products that are organic, vegan and chemical free.  They also smell great and are making my skin feel really soft and clean right now!  I got a very cute bag filled with little samples of their products such as natural bar soaps (Romantic Tea and Summer Orange smell amazing), face cleanser, and hydrate formula #2.  The best part was the Vanilla "Lip Cure All" with SPF.  It smells and tastes like candy on your lips.
I suggest reading these two links about the chemicals found in our everyday products:
About Moxie Organix  and My friend Michelle's guide to Green Beauty
I've been trying to be careful with more than just the food I put in my body but also with the products I put on my body.  It's great that there are small companies out there like Moxie Organix that have done their research and are providing us with wonderful, natural products.  I am definitely a fan of theirs.

"Good Friday" Pad Thai

Vegan Pad Thai

Finished product - close up

Thanks to being let out early from work, I had some time to make a nice meal for David and myself.  Above are some pictures of our Pad Thai lunch - the recipe came from my Skinny Bitch in the Kitch cookbook.  I was going to type up the recipe for everyone, but I found it on this website:  (time saver!)
http://caloriecount.about.com/skinny-bitch-pad-thai-recipe-r82380
According to the site, the recipe makes 4.5 servings.  I think together we ate about 4 of those servings.  It was really delicious so I'm happy to share the recipe with you. =) Enjoy!

Sunday night cooking

We've started a Sunday night tradition of making a new vegan meal each Sunday.  We take turns between our apartment and my sister's apartment.  So far, here is what we've made:
-Indian night: pakora and uttapam for appetizer with basmati rice, dal makhani, coconut eggplant and okra for our meal.  I think it's great how many more vegetables we are eating because of this.  I'm sure it's making us healthier =)
-Mexican night: corn tortillas with refried beans, grilled peppers, pico de gallo and guacamole
-Italian night: eggplant bruschetta and pesto pasta
-American? night: cauliflower mash, breaded eggplant (baked), and corn on the cobb smeared with Vegenaise, dusted with salt, pepper and chili powder with lime and oatmeal cookies for dessert.

It's a really fun way to be inventive and create new meals to incorporate into your week!

Cupcakes for my Valentine

I have to give credit to Raina for this recipe for vegan cupcakes, but I did add in Oreo cookies:
Cake:
Ingredients
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
• 1 cup water
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease one 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2. Sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Add the oil, vanilla, vinegar and water. Mix together until smooth.
3. Pour into prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Frosting:

• Ingredients
• 1/2 cup nonhydrogenated shortening
• 1/2 cup nonhydrogenated margarine, we use Earth Balance
• 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted if clumpy
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup plain soy milk or soy creamer

Directions

1. Beat the shortening and margarine together until well combined and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat for about 3 more minutes.
2. Add the vanilla and soy milk, and beat for another 5 to 7 minutes until fluffy.

More vegan meals

It's going to be a month since I started my vegan diet.  I'm proud to say that I haven't eaten any animals since January 16th, 2011.  But, the truth is that I have had dairy a few times: 
-On Friday night we were at a Mexican restaurant that one of our customer's owns and after carefully ordering all of our meals with no meat, cheese, or sour cream, they send over a dessert plate piled with ice cream, flan and some fried doughy things with a chocolate dipping sauce.  I had to have a few bites ... I didn't want to be rude ;)
-A couple of weeks ago, I visited my aunt and uncle's house.  Fortunately, they've been following a vegan diet also so that made it pretty simple except for the fact that my uncle makes the most amazing Penne alla Vodka in the world.  I had to have some.  I also went to their store Evergreen and I couldn't resist the sundried tomato and mozzarella pasta.  I don't get to visit them enough.  I had to take advantage.  It was delicious, and I don't regret it.
-Last thing I can think of was on Super Bowl Sunday.  That Sunday morning I had been thinking back about these deviled eggs that my friend Kim made and took to my mom's house this past Christmas.  It just so happened that the super bowl party we went to had a tray of deviled eggs, and I had one.  It didn't compare to Kim's deviled eggs so it really wasn't worth it.

There's two things I've been missing lately.  One of them is eggs.  The other one is chicken wings.  This past week, Davey has been experimenting with tofu scramble, and it's been very delicious.  Not to mention that it normally comes with a side of tater tots which makes it that much better.  We went to brunch with some friends to Tweet, and I tried their tofu scramble.  David's was much better.  I'm a very lucky girl.
We tried these "chicken" wings from Whole Foods a few weeks ago, and they were really good!

 Here are some other meals we've been having.  If anyone wants any recipes, please let me know.  We've been trying to write everything down so we can make it again if it comes out good or adjust the ingredients if it needs something different. 
-fresh squeezed orange juice (sometimes with vodka which is also vegan)
-other juices we make with our juicer: the last one we made was tomato, celery, lemon, apple, pear and carrot
-fruit smoothies: soy, almond or rice milk with banana, strawberry, blueberry, almonds, cashews, almond butter, cinnamon, vanilla extract and Nopalina (a flax seed mixture)
-oatmeal with fruit and/or nuts and soy milk
-guacamole and chips
-potato pancakes made with daiya cheese inside
-hummus with pita bread or in a sandwich with veggies; our Whole Foods has a giardiniara hummus that is so good that it's almost always sold out
-veggies breaded with garbanzo flour and fried (my uncle just taught me how to make this; we need more practice with it)
-veggie patty sandwiches
-spaghetti with Davey's Cuban "meat" sauce made with a ground meat substitute from Whole Foods (can't remember the name)
-french fries
-frozen burritos: we buy Amy's or Evol foods brand
-peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
-salads
-no cheese pizza (we like these two; they're from Whole Foods)

I'm thankful for everyone reading my blog and the comments I've been getting. This past week I've had one family member tell me they're going to try cutting meat out of their diet and another friend of mine even made a vegan dinner!  It really means a lot when I hear from friends and family members that are interested in how we've been eating. 

Vegan Sushi Night

Last week I came home to this ...

 

We had gone to a sushi making class the week before, and we were very excited to make our own sushi.  One night last week I came home, and David set up everything for us to make our own sushi.

He made the sushi rice, and chopped up some baked sweet potato, avocado, carrots, and cucumber for the sushi roll ingredients.  He even pickled some fresh ginger (look at the small cup in the middle).

The sushi came out really great for our first time, and it tasted delicious.  The best part is that everything was vegan!  

Other ingredients we used were: organic tamari (soy sauce), edamame, sriracha (hot sauce), lemon/lime, nori paper and sesame seeds.

Here are some more pictures of sushi night.  It was so much fun =)

Vegan and delicious ...

We bought these at Whole Foods.  They're just like Dibs which I love, but these are made with Almond milk.  

Some other yummy foods we've had in the last few days:

-Coffee with Almond Milk

-Oatmeal with blueberries and raisins

-Hummus and veggie sandwich

-Apples and Pears

-Lentil soup (We wrote down the recipe; it was so good!)

-Rice with Black Beans with maduros

-Salad with vegan Chicken wings

-Veggie Pad Thai (ask for no egg or fish oil)

-Coconut Curry tofu with rice

-Vegetable Soup

back to veganism?

So, I recently came across this video.  (Thank you to Raina for finding it and posting it up on Facebook) I don't normally watch a lot of videos on YouTube, but veganism is a topic that has interested me for a while now.  Ever since I read this book ...

 The lecture is long, but I really recommend watching it when you have some time.  It is very touching and informative, and it has caused us to totally change our grocery list for the week. 
A couple of years ago, I tried out a vegan diet.  It was not easy at all, and it took a lot of thought and planning since it's almost impossible to find food items that don't contain milk, meat, eggs or cheese.  Because of this, I remember having to carry vegan food around with me at all times.  Despite of all that, I do remember feeling a lot better.  I felt healthier, lighter and more energetic which was really great!
I'm glad I came across this lecture because it reminded me of the health consequences of eating animal products.  Besides that, the video clips of animal cruelty will be stuck in my mind for a very long time.  In future blog posts I plan to write about some of the vegan meals we'll be making, and I will share the recipes with you.  Wish me luck!