The Vegan Place

Daily Meditation

cindymm — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:09:00 +0000

Okay, so I have committed to doing 1/2 hour daily meditation for at least 40 days first thing in the morning. Today was my 3rd day. I am hoping to start each day feeling a little more grounded and focused. I definitely feel a little calmer the last few days and better able to handle whatever life throws at me, so that has been awesome. Today was a little more difficult than the past couple of days, but for the most part I was able to stay focused. Tuesday and Wednesday I focused on my breathing, that wasn’t quite cutting it today, so I focused on the word peace. I simply breathed peace into my body, and exhaled stress. It was pretty awesome. In my adolescent therapy group, I have been teaching the girls mindfulness/meditation techniques. We do short, simple exercises and they seem to like them. I am working with them to reduce stress/anxiety in their daily lives and want them to incorporate mindfulness into their daily routines. I think everyone can benefit from incorporating mindfulness into their daily lives. It is such a wonderful way to keep yourself centered and balanced, and let’s face it with our busy lives we can certainly benefit from some daily relaxation.

Hope everyone has a beautiful day.

Happy New Year

cindymm — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 20:23:14 +0000

I hope everyone has had an awesome start to their New Year. I started mine with the flu. I am still struggling with it today, but am filling a little better. Even with how crappy I felt, I did a little cooking yesterday. A girl has to eat. Last night I did a repeat of my awesome potato leek soup. I have added some pictures so you know how the rue is supposed to look, and to walk you through the different steps. Potato soup is a New Year’s tradition in my home.

Vegan Potato Leek Soup

8 potatoes, peeled and diced into small bite sized cubes

3 leeks, finely sliced and rinsed well

3 cloves garlic

2 tbsp vegan butter spread

2 tbsp whole wheat flour

2 cups vegetable broth

2 cups rice milk

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tbsp salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

In a large stock pot, melt vegan butter spread and add garlic and leeks and saute until the leeks begin to sweet and become soft. Saute about 5 minutes. Add flour, whisk well to make into a rue (see picture of rue below to see how it is supposed to look). Add a quarter cup vegetable broth and mix well to make sure there are no lumps (see picture below). Add remaining vegetable broth and mix well. Now add potatoes, stir in. Next, add rice milk and stir. Finally, add spices, salt and pepper to taste, mix bring to a boil and the reduce heat to medium. Let cook for about 45 minutes to an hour, until potatoes have become soft. Serve in a bread bowl or with oyster crackers to make extra special.

Vegan Potato Soup Rue

Add the 1/4 Vegetable Broth and Make sure mixture is smooth

Watching the beautiful mixture cook

Finished Product, Yum

Vegan Comfort Food

cindymm — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 20:18:20 +0000

Okay, so when I am not feeling well, I crave comfort food. This morning I wanted something yummy, comforting and easy to make, so I added some gourmet flavors to our morning oatmeal. Nothing says comfort like a nice warm bowl of oatmeal in the morning. Okay, so actually it started oat as sweet breakfast brown rice, but I forgot to pay attention and burned the rice. So I had to start all over again and rice takes too long, but the flavors were the same and the result was delicious.

Gourmet Vegan Oatmeal

1 cup coconut milk

2 cups water

1/4 cup agave syrup

2 cinnamon sticks

4 cardamom pods

1/4 cup raisins

1 1/2 cups old fashioned oatmeal

In a medium saucepan heat coconut milk, water, agave syrup with cinnamon sticks and cardamom pods. Bring mixture to a boil, then add raisins and oatmeal. Bring heat down to medium, cook for about 10 minutes. Serve and top with a little rice milk. Yummy and warm. I’m sitting next to the fire place, with my warm bowl of oatmeal and a cup of tea. Makes me feel a little better already. Now if the stuffy head, achy, dizziness would just go away I would be good to go.

Mother’s Rant

cindymm — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 19:18:34 +0000

Okay, so for the most part I am a live and let live type of person, but when the living of others interferes with my personal freedoms I become a bit annoyed to say the least. Right before Christmas my family and I went to see the San Francisco 49ers play against the New York Giants. My dad and my brother are huge football fans and we thought it would be fun to take our son to his first football game. We were very excited about going to the game, as it was a family event. Altogether there were 10 of us and four kids, ages 4-11. We got to the game a little early so we could tailgate in the parking lot, my dad has to be able to tailgate before the game. We hung out with hummus and crackers and cooked some dogs, real ones for some, tofu dogs for me. We had fund hanging out. Occasionally we smelled the scent of marijuana in the air, but were able to keep the kids distracted, as nobody right next to us was using marijuana. We figured once we got into the game, things would get better. In fact, the exact opposite happened. We went into the game and shortly after it started, some people down from us lit up a joint and passed it around. A few minutes later another group of people lit up a joint and passed it around. Candlestick Park is supposed to be a smoke-free (marijuana or any other kind of smoke) environment. About halfway through the game, a group a guys sitting right in front of us pulled out a joint and lit it up. By this point I was pretty upset, because I am sitting with my son, who is 10 and has never been introduced to marijuana. I really did not expect his first exposure to the drug to occur at a sporting event. I was saddened to learn that going to a football game is not a family friendly event, and that it is definitely not appropriate for kids. I told the group in front of me to put out the marijuana cigarette because of the kids, and they did, but one of them just moved down the aisle further away and lit up again with another group of people. It seems that it is perfectly acceptable to smoke marijuana out in the open, as if it is no big deal. A couple of things I don’t understand is 1) why a person cannot make it through a 3 -hour game without getting high; and 2) if you absolutely must get high during the game, why can’t a person take the time to make some edibles, which are much less obvious, not polluting the air with marijuana, and not exposing innocent children to the drug. I wrote to both the NFL and to Candlestick Park, but neither agency has responded to my email. I would like to hear from anyone out there in the blogosphere, how would you handle the situation?

I’ve Moved Back Home

cindymm — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 21:35:36 +0000

I can’t believe how long it has been since I posted on this blog. I got sidetracked for quite some time with the Vegan Fashion Blog and school and life. I am sure many of you understand this. After several adventures I have returned to my virtual home and my original passion. The Vegan Place to me is more than just a blog, it is my virtual home that I want to share with others. It is a place to engage in chat about vegan and other social issues. When I think of The Vegan Place, I picture a group of friends sitting around a fire, sipping tea and discussing everything from intense philosophical issues to planning exciting vegan social gatherings and exchanging vegan recipes. I have so many things to share. I feel like I am seeing an old friend after so many years and there are so many things to catch up on.

Order of first business. I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday break. My family and I celebrate Christmas and it was certainly a busy one this year. I have some pics to post of cooking making with my son, but I will have to post them from my cellphone later. It is a trip because I posted pictures of my son and I making cookies several years ago, and when I compare the pictures to the one’s I just took, I become very melancholic because my baby has grown up so much. He gives me a hard time now about my “hippy” cookies, which I always find amusing. Unfortunately, my son is a omnivore. This is a battle I have lost with dad and grandma, as they continuously feed him animal products, but at least I know when I cook for him, he is getting healthy vegan meals. I am just thankful that he can be exposed to a vegan way of life, when he gets older he will at least have options.

I would love to hear how others have spent the holiday and to hear about your awesome holiday dinners. I know mine was great. I got some Tofu Turkey from the local health food store, New Frontiers. Normally I am not a fan of Tofu Turkey, but theirs is delicious. I also made vegan garlic mashed potatoes and cauliflower and it was delicious. No holiday dinner is complete without vegan green bean casserole. This is one my favorite recipes and one my omni family likes better than the nonvegan version. It has also become a tradition for me to make spinach pie and hummus for Christmas dinner. And of course, I can’t forget the vegan sweet potato casserole. Did I mention that I could not even walk afterwards. We had to wait until the next day for dessert because we were oh, so stuffed. I made a vegan banana cream pie that was a little soupy, but out of this world when it comes to taste.

I will post recipes later today or tomorrow. I am supposed to be working on my dissertation right now, but wanted to take a quick break to say hi to everyone. Look forward to hearing from you all soon.

I love Tofu

cindymm — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 15:33:38 +0000

It makes me so sad that I haven’t had a lot of time for posting and cooking lately. I am probably only cooking about twice a week lately. This week I made some really good food though. I made Vegan Black Bean Soup on Monday, one of my dh all time favorites, and Tuesday I made Italian Portabella Sandwiches. They were so awesome. I sauteed portabella mushrooms, some orange bellpepper and Herbes de Provence in olive oil and then added basil tomato sauce to it and let the flavors meld together. Then I hollowed out a sour dough bread role and scooped the mushrooms and sauce into the bread cups, topped with vegan mozzarella cheese and toasted in the preheated (400 degree) oven for about 10 minutes. It was definitely heavenly.

This week we also tried Fakin Bacon. I was craving a bacon type flavored sandwich. Though the Fakin Bacon didn’t taste like “bacon” to me, it did taste kind of like barbecue beef. We put on toasted bread with veganaise and it was so good. It just needs a little barbecue sauce and it will be the perfect summertime barbecue sandwich. I have been experimenting more with tofu lately and have been really liking what I taste. Last night I had a blackened tofu burger from New Frontiers (local health food store). It was so good. They put blackened tofu on a vegan whole wheat bun with veganaise, shredded lettuce, shredded carrot, sprouts, and onion. It had kind of a spicy flavor because of the blackened tofu. I could eat that for dinner every night it was so good. I am hoping to have some time in the next week to go blog visiting, because I just haven’t had the time or energy lately. I miss reading about what everyone is up to so much. Hope everyone is healthy and happy and I will visit you all soon.

Amy’s Mattar Tofu

cindymm — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 19:02:42 +0000

So I broke down and finally tried the Amy’s Mattar dinner with Daahl. It was absolutely delicious. I have tried over and over again to find good frozen Indian food and have yet to be impressed until trying this dinner. I particularly liked the Da. I could have eaten a whole bowl of that alone. If you like Indian food this is a definite must try.

The next time I go to the health food store I will definitely be picking up some more of these to keep on hand for those hectic days when I don’t have time to cook.

Tofutti Cutie Peanut Butter Heaven and Dinner Flexibility

cindymm — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 12:15:04 +0000

I don’t know how many of you have tried the peanut butter Tofutti Cuties, but they are to die for. The chocolate is so chocolaty and the peanut butter ice cream is perfect and creamy. My whole family is hooked.

Last night I made a new variation of the nachos from the night before. I took most of the same ingredients and put them into a tortilla and made quick and easy homemade burritos. They were delicious, even better then the nachos I think.

Vegetarian Tortillas
Vegetarian Refried Beans
Guacamole
Tofutti Sour Cream
Taco Sauce
Green Onions

Wrap all ingredients up inside the tortillas and enjoy!

I have been doing simple cooking this week while adjusting to the new work schedule. Anything that I can cook in minimal time with maximum leftovers. I plan on doing a big thing of mashed potatoes tonight and make a big pot of Native American beans this week (can easily be converted into burritos and nachos, love the flexibility). Anything that I can cook in bulk and then turn into several dishes is definitely right up my alley.

I have picked up a couple of Amy’s Indian Food frozen dinners, but have been scared to try them, because all of the frozen Indian Food dinners I have tried so far have not been good and I love Indian Food. Nothing is worse then being all excited to try something and having the taste in your mouth and what you get tastes nothing like it and barely edible. Has any tried the Amy’s Indian Food dinners? If so, how were they? If I get brave enough to try them this week I will report back to you all on how they tasted.

Vegan Nachos

cindymm — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 19:05:58 +0000

It is funny, because I read the other day something about Tofutti cream cheese and Tofutti sour cream having partially hydrogenated oils. Apparently Tofutti cream cheese and sour cream comes in two versions, with or without hydrogenated oils. There was a whole discussion about how the non-hydrogenated version tastes chalky. I thought, Oh my God! I have been consuming partially hydrogenated oil, and I didn’t even know it. Because the Tofutti I eat tastes great, and the comments about how it isn’t very good were many, I just assumed I had been eating the hydrogenated version, based on the discussion. So the next time I went to the store I read the labels, and it turns out that the stores I shop at don’t even carry the hydrogenated version. That being said, I still love the products and don’t think they taste chalky at all, so there is no reason for the hydrogenated version.

I suck at remembering to take pictures of the food I make and last night was no exception. It sucks to, because my nachos were so pretty and tasted so absolutely fabulous. Anyway, here is the recipe and I will post pictures the next time I make them.

Vegan Nachos

1 can vegetarian refried beans
4 green onions chopped
1 cup Tofutti Sour Cream (non-hydrogenated version)
1 cup guacamole
1 cup salsa
1/2 can chopped black olives
4 cups tortilla chips

Heat refried beans on the stove until warm. Line a medium sized baking dish with chips. Cover the chips with refried beans. Top beans with salsa. Top salsa with guacamole. Top guacamole with sour cream. Then top sour cream with onions and olives. That’s eat, quick and easy dinner and oh-so-delicious.

Guacamole

1 ripe avocado
1/2 cup vegannaise
1/2 cup salsa (add more if you like your guacamole spicy).

Mash avocado and mix in vegannaise and salsa. Serve with chips or place on top of your favorite burrito, taco, or nachos.

Some Vegan Musts

cindymm — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 19:55:24 +0000

Well, I have survived my first week of work and am re-adjusting to getting up at 4:45am. Luckily I only work a couple of blocks away from work since I have to be there at 5:30am. I have been making dinner in bulk so that I have nutritious vegan foods to take for lunch. We don’t use microwaves or plastic, so I have to take things that are either good cold (like my cold spaghetti today), or that I can heat in the morning and put in a thermos (like yesterday’s Vegetable Chowder). Thank goodness I still have some leftovers, because that will pretty much cover lunch this week. Tonight I am making vegan nachos. I will post pics and the recipe tomorrow. I am pretty excited about them. I have an idea in my head for how I want them and hope the taste matches what I imagine.

I got a great new vegan cookbook for Christmas. It has a lot of great recipes, many of which use tofu. I have been wanting to try some of the recipes because I don’t usually cook with tofu, mostly because I don’t know what to do with it, so I am psyched about learning how to cook with it. The cookbook is called Vegan Planet by Robin Robertson.

Has anybody used any of the recipes from this book? If so what are your favorites? I am looking forward to trying the French Toast and the Tofu scramble.

Also very exciting, I posted about Scheese a couple of months ago and had heard it was now available in the U.S. but couldn’t find it anywhere. Well, I just learned that you can order it through Vegan Essentials. Whole Foods is starting to carry it in very limited cities (Tempe, AZ among just a handful), but only the very lucky will have the opportunity to walk into a store and purchase whenever for now. I am definitely wanting to order some. My son loves cheese and I am hoping that this will get him off of it for good.