The smell is the only thing that I liked about the pudding. Sure we know product pictures are enhanced for texture, but when you see the side by side, it looks NOTHING like the original. I had to actually look for rice grains. It’s as if rice was suddenly expensive? It’s not like this product is fully organic and thus the ingredients are sparingly used? I don’t know what the justification is exactly, but rice pudding should have more than 10 grains of rice in it.

I can’t say I will buy this product again. Mat told me he didn’t like their chocolate pudding either, so that’s that. Too bad too because their packaging just suckered me in. So pretty!

Oh, my fur babies. I love them so much.

Filling:

10 medium sized potatoes boiled and cubed
1 tbsp brown lentils
1/2 large white onion
4 garlic cloves
1/2 tbsp cumin
1/2 tbsp garam masala
1/2 tbsp curry powder
1/2 tsp pink salt

To get the most out of your spices, I suggest heating them up first on medium heat with a tiny bit of oil and then adding in the onion and everything else. The spices are amazingly fragrant. Use less if you’re not so inclined, but this is how we like ours. The lentils are VERY easy to burn, so be careful with that. They’re supposed to be crunch apparently. I am on the look out for a dosa frying pan, so let’s hope I get it right and the mixture to boot.

Fingers crossed I’ll get it right.

The cats are settling in quite nicely, they have taken to the new house and are happy as can be. They’ve even become closer and don’t fight as much, which is really nice.

They have their own room again and love watching the birds and squirrels in the backyard.

Things will pick up again, just a matter of settling other renovations and then things will finally be in place. Ah, change.

There are rules about these things and here they are:

The Rules:
• Post 11 random facts about yourself.
• Answer the 11 questions made by the person who nominated you|
• Create 11 questions for the bloggers you pass the award to.
• Choose 11 bloggers to pass the award to and mention them in your post.
• Go to their blogs and let them know that they have been nominated
• No tag backs.

11 Random Facts about me:
1. My favourite colour is green. My eyes are also green. I own quite a number of green shirts.
2. My favourite number is 3, multiples of 3, I am the third child, my birthday is 06.30, no way I’m giving you the year!
3. I am allergic to kiwi, I never cared for it anyway.
4. I was supposed to be left handed, but I can still do things with my left hand.
5. I truly hate cheesecake. I don’t care for the texture, the taste, oh it’s just beyond me how anyone likes this thing. Thank God Mat also hate this vile dessert.
6. My favourite band is Radiohead, I am very fond of British rock. I used to rock out to the Beatles as a little girl.
7. I love Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory, I could watch it for hours, even though I hate musicals I love this movie.
8. I have a fascination with old keys, they really spark my imagination for the stories behind them.
9. I’ve been writing since I was 6. Wrote my first ‘book’, the school physically made my story into a book and I still have it today. I’ve written a play about a 1930′s radio show and how the producer planned to kill everyone. Yeah, just your average kid.
10. I love the smell of wet denim because it reminds me of being caught in the rain during summer thunderstorms while riding my bike.
11. When I can’t sleep I picture myself in a fully loaded 1950′s kitchen making a cake. I never get past sifting the flour.

Nicole’s Questions:

1. What is your favorite local restaurant (and extra credit: what’s your favorite dish)?
Mengrai Thai in Toronto – their pad woo sen – FANTASTIC!

2. If you could live in any city/country where would it be?
San Fran, we visited a few years ago and it stole my heart.

3. Are you currently working on any personal or professional projects you’re excited about?
I’m always working on Concept Branding (social media/copywriting services), Vegan Bloggers Unite! and reviving my beloved Air Eater.

4. What’s your favorite way to wake up and what’s the first thing you do?
Other than looking over and seeing my dear husband? I enjoy when the cats decide to nibble or lick my ear. The first thing I do is yawn, rub my eyes and look bewildered, then prepare a very big proper brunch: tofu scramble with veggies, tofu sausage, cucumbers/tomato and mixed green with fresh juice or water.

5. What’s your favorite holiday and how to like to celebrate?
I suppose that would be Christmas. I enjoy putting up the tree and decorating. Each year we buy a new ornament to celebrate another year together. I enjoy the festive drinks, not eggnog, that’s just nasty, but more so hot chocolate variations.

6. What would you have for your “last supper”?
What wouldn’t I have is the question. I’d have my very guilty pleasure of sweet potato noodles with a vegan version of Kraft dinner cheese. It sounds nasty, but my goodness is it ever tasty. That plus a plethora of other foods: raw coconut ravioli with cashew sauce, raw coconut cannelloni with strawberry sauce and sweet cashew cream, raw tomato bread sandwich with alfalfa sprouts, avocado, cashew mayo and tomato, I could go on.

7. What is your idea of the best weekend ever?
Waking up late, having a big proper brunch (tofu scramble with veggies), tofu pups sliced and sautéed, tomato/cucumber/mixed greens with balsamic and vinegar and home made potato cubes fried up nicely. THEN – go out with Mat to see a bunch of cute shops out of the city and go on a picnic adventure.

8. What is your professional job and do you love it?
I am currently focusing on my social media business Concept Branding. I do love it. I enjoy writing copy, helping clients figure out their social media strategy and I don’t have to wear nylons.

9. What do you normally have for breakfast?
Currently, Silver Hills gluten free bread and Tofutti cream cheese. I do not drink coffee. Ew.

10. Currently what is your favorite song or band?
Radiohead – they rule all.

11. If you could be any fictional character who would it be and why?
Alice in Wonderland. She had all the fun.

My questions for the nominees:

1. What was the first dish you ever prepared by yourself?
2. How adventurous are you in your cooking/baking?
3. What gave you the inspiration to write your blog?
4. What’s your favourite movie?
5. What book can you not live without?
6. What’s the best concert you’ve ever seen?
7. How many times have you moved in your life?
8. Who inspires you?
9. What’s been the best dish you’ve ever made?
10. Do you have any fur babies?
11. What are your blog goals?

My nominations:
1. An Unrefined Vegan
2. Marty’s Flying Vegan Review
3. Rachel in Veganland
4. The Vegan Kat
5. The Veggie Nook
6. Until We Eat Again
7. Vegan ESP
8. Vegan Monologue
9. The Trim Vegetarian
10. What Will We Eat?
11. Your Daily Vegan

Like this:

I’m also going to be hosting, via Vegan Bloggers Unite!, the bi-annual Virtual Vegan Potluck. As if I don’t have enough to keep myself busy, why not. If you haven’t signed up do so here.

Thank you for being so considerate, I loved all of your emails, and kind words. I want to get back into the swing of things, so this is me dipping my toe into the proverbial water.

They offer a lot of different gluten free bread. At first I really didn’t have high hopes. I mean, sure they look fantastic, but what will they taste like? Naturally, I had to test them out by making a Banh Mi. What is this you ask? Here’s the Wiki explanation: the term bánh mì only means bread without any fillings, the term is used to refer to a type of meat-filled sandwich found in Vietnamese bakeries abroad, especially in US, Canadian, Australian, and French communities with substantial Vietnamese immigrant communities.

Before I became vegan I must admit I did eat a few of these when in Chinatown. They were incredibly cheap and being a student that was appealing enough. Now that my viewpoint has changed, considerably, I knew this is what I wanted to make.

How to veganize this sandwich?

Ingredients:
1 tbsp Vegenaise (or enough to cover the top/bottom of the sandwich) I added 1/4 tsp of minced garlic to the mayo for a kick
1/4 cucumber then sliced horizontally (I used a mandolin)
1 medium carrot spiralized or thinly sliced
2″ of a daikon radish spiralized or thinly sliced
1/4 cup cilantro
2 strips of tempeh
2 tbsp mushroom pate
1/2 tbsp lime juice

I followed the recipe for pickling the carrots/daikon and mushroom pate from The Chubby Vegetarian.  The carrots/daikon have to be made in advance, but IT IS WORTH IT. Seriously. I cannot express the joy, the dancing around the kitchen joy that I felt when biting into this sandwich. The bread baked up so nicely and we assembled everything so quickly it was still warm and DELICIOUS! Yes, this requires caps. If you have been waiting for a gluten free bread that will not disappoint I highly suggest you try this one. I wish I worked for these people because I’m going to be buying a lot of this product. Even if you’re not gluten free, this bread is incredibly tasty and you don’t miss a thing, it’s the same consistency and delivers an amazing crunch.

As this wouldn’t be a true Air Eater post without nutritional information here you are:

There you have it – the sandwich that made me come out of hiatus.

PS, the planning for the Vegan Bloggers Unite! Conference is going very well with a few changes. We’ve had to change the date and remove the vendors. It’s a long story. I’ll explain it to you when you’re at the show.

Happy eating!

I do not want to abandon my blog, so this is a time out to focus on the ConFest. Now why am I calling it a ConFest and not a conference? One half of the venue we pick will be the conference part for vegan bloggers (speakers/workshops/product demos) and the other half will be a festival with vendors for anyone welcome to enjoy.

With that in mind – thank you everyone for being so supportive. I love the very kind emails I receive asking about ingredients or my experience with certain products. Thank you for thinking of me!

A big hug goes out to all of you and I hope you’re able to attend the VBU! ConFest in Toronto 2013!

Today is a screw it kind of day.  Mind you gluten free readers, you always have to check with the deli you shop at, and if you’re very sensitive I’d skip this as you never can be sure with cross contamination. I do try to eat at least 80% gluten free, but I am human as well and as I don’t have an issue with it I do like to enjoy it in small quantities.

I am a huge fan of variety and keeping to a budget. If I can get a little bit of what I like I am an extremely happy camper.

Sorry I didn’t take close up pictures I was very eager to eat. As you can see I was able to get a decent amount of food for $6.03! Not bad for a local grocery store. I haven’t had couscous in a very long time and I must say I liked it, but not as much as I thought I would. I would much rather have ordered more quinoa and perhaps another option. What I like about these kinds of portions is the nutritional labels. I am a bit obsessed with looking at them and who wouldn’t be interested in knowing how much sodium is in something before ingesting it?

Needless to say I had a great lunch followed up by organic apple sauce and an organic banana. When I eat items raw I tend to be picky about them being organic, I suppose in my head I assume the pesticides are killed off when cooking with conventional items. I suppose sauces, salt and other tricks can be used to mask a taste. Nothing beats eating a fully clean meal with organic ingredients. Recently I tried a conventional apple and I couldn’t finish it. I don’t know if this is mental or not, I like to think I can tell the difference after eating organic for a while. There’s something about conventionally grown food, it’s waxy, stale or is missing some lack luster.

Do you eat organic?