Sage Biscuits

It is really hard to find food that highlights an herb itself. Usually it’s the herb highlighting another food. So I was so pleased when I ran across this (American) biscuit recipe at TheHerbalGarden.com!

The best part is, they’re super easy, fast, and tasty! And can easily be halved or doubled.

2 C self-rising flour (DIY recipe)
1/4 C vegan mayonnaise
2 Tbsp fresh sage, chopped
1 C non-dairy milk

Optional extra herbs to throw in: chives, parsley, thyme, dill, or sage
I added fresh thyme in this recipe

1. Combine all the ingredients and mix well. It will be a bit sticky.

Learn from my mistake, do NOT use a whisk!

2. Divide the dough into the cups of a 12 compartment greased (or non-stick) muffin pan

Silicone liners means no oil!

3.Bake for 12-15 minutes at 400 degrees, until a light golden brown.

Addicting!

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We Don’t Convert People: They Convert Themselves

A Made Up Example

Person A: (admits to doing something not vegan, but excuses it) I bought a pure bred puppy, but only because I couldn’t find an American Bulldog puppy at the shelter/ I ride horses, but if I didn’t they’d never get any exercise and I don’t use spurs/ I still eat cheese but only when my mother cooks for me, because I don’t want to hurt her feelings.

Person B: Why are you even here? Buying puppies/riding horses/eating cheese are clearly not vegan activities. Those things contribute to animal suffering for reasons x, y, and z. You’re not vegan, you’re a selfish fraud.

Person A: Well now that you’ve insulted me, I’ll never be vegan! You can’t convert people by yelling at them or telling them they’re doing something wrong.

Person B: How else am I supposed to convince anyone of anything except by telling them something is wrong and then explaining why?

And then we all sit and ponder and wonder what it is we’re supposed to do to convince anyone of anything. Then we all share what it was that changed our minds.

The proponent of yelling and insults says “I became vegan after I was eating a bacon cheeseburger and my girlfriend shouted that I was a stupid hypocrite for loving dogs and eating other animals. I was upset, but then I read more about veganism and realized I WAS a hypocrite.”

The person in favor of non-confrontation says “You can’t tell people what to do. I became vegan after being friends with a vegan for five years. I admired her and finally on my own I asked her some questions about veganism and decided to give it a try.”

The tireless pamphleteer counters “Giving people information is best. I got a pamphlet at school one day and that spurred me to research animal issues and then I went vegan.”

The rocker says “Conversion by music is best. In high school one of my favorite bands put out a song about animals suffering and I found out the whole band was vegan, so I decided to try veganism myself.”

So we debate: what is the magic formula, the precise order of words that inspires someone to change. What we find instead is that when our hearts are open to compassion, in some unguarded moment, the right words, the right brochure, the right song arrives. We had role models and inspirations and examples. We had heavy tomes of information and graphic videos, but nobody changed us. We changed ourselves. We didn’t wait around for someone else to come replace the contents of our refrigerators with vegan alternatives. We didn’t say “that’s awful, but it’s just too hard to change.” We didn’t delay, hoping against hope that somehow we’d see or read something to convince us we didn’t have to give up our coveted bacon sandwiches.

Instead we painstakingly put one foot in front of the other, and many of us stumbled doing so, but we kept trudging toward the goal of a cruelty free life. We made that change and then we found ourselves here asking “how can I convince my Mom?” and “what’s the best brochure to give my best friend?” Because our eyes are open now and we can’t shut them. From this standpoint it’s difficult to understand the passive ones, the change-resistant ones, the ones who see the graphic video footage and shrug it off.

We need to keep putting the information out there, giving out pamphlets, blogging, releasing under cover videos, showing off beautiful vegan food, giving samples, whatever it is we do. Because we want to give everyone the tools they need to understand these issues when they suddenly find themselves open to understanding. We want to keep putting the plight of animals in front of people, so one day they might really see it.

So the question really is, how can we help those around us reach a point of openness and caring so that they can let themselves feel for the animals, so that they can receive the information which is honestly all around them? And if I knew that answer I’d be sitting on a mountain top somewhere showering my words of wisdom on receptive pilgrims.

Since we’re all the hero of our own unwritten autobiography none of us want to let in that creeping doubt that we’re in fact the villain of someone else’s story.

For a long time there was a fad for inspirational posters in offices, you know beautiful scenes of nature with inspiring quotes like “be the change you want to see in the world.” And many of us as vegans take that quote to heart. We are being the change, after all.

Around that same time my brother developed a fondness for snarky posters mocking the inspirational posters. He had one that looked pretty enough, a purple sunset over a beautiful ocean and a large ship. Then you looked closer and realized the ship was sinking. The poster read “Perhaps your only purpose in life is to serve as a warning to others.”

Who wants to be the warning? We have such a motivation to cast all our actions in a noble light, to tell our story so that everything we do is benign and all our actions are rooted in love, and bad outcomes are tragedies, but never our own fault. And that in turn is motivation to lie to ourselves about animals, put on blinders and believe that they don’t have it so bad, to block out the voices that tell us we can change our habits to help animals. It’s less painful to just believe we are incapable of doing wrong or making mistakes.

But in a very real sense I am the warning. I want you to try yummy vegan foods, but there’s no need for you to go through all the painful steps I went through to convince you to try them. I’ve made every single mistake there is along the way. Take the easy, high road of veganism—do it now out of nobleness and love. Don’t wait for the universe to punch you in the face to convince you you’re headed in the wrong direction. Although I guess anyone going vegan today in response to global warming and the environmental destruction caused by animal agriculture has every right to claim bragging rights to change via cosmic right hook.

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Stuffed Mushrooms

This was a historic recipe growing up at my house, with the base recipe surpassing 1977! How retro!

12 large mushrooms
2 Tbsp margarine
1 medium onion, finely chopped
¼ C green peppers
½ C vegetarian pepperoni, diced (opt)
1 clove garlic, minced
½ C crushed round crackers (appx 15 crackers)
3 tbsp nutritional yeast (opt)
1 Tbsp parsley
1 Tbsp oregano
1/3 C vegetable (or no-chicken) broth
Salt to taste

325 degrees

1. Remove stems. Chop and set aside.

2. Clean the rest of the mushroom and drain caps on a towel.

3. Melt margarine in skillet. Add onion, pepper, pepperoni, garlic, and mushroom stems. I used soy chorizo.

4. Cook until tender, but not brown.

5. Add crackers, nutritional yeast, parsley, and oregano. Mix well.

6. Stir in broth. Add salt to taste.

7. When stuffing all sticks together, it is done. You may need to add more crackers for it to thicken up.

8. Spoon stuffing into the caps.

9. Place caps in a shallow baking pan with ¼” of water covering the bottom.

10. Bake uncovered for 25 minutes at 325 degrees.

I added a little vegan cheese for fun. Enjoy!

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The Nut from Brazil

My favorite nuts are Brazil nuts which mainly come from the Amazon Valley. Brazil nuts are tree nuts, of a giant wild tree and grow clumped together in large, round, woody and extremely hard seed pods the size of a coconut.

They are very nutritious and are a complete protein so are excellent for vegetarians and Vegans. Raw Brazil nuts contain the highest natural source of selenium. They are also an excellent source of magnesium and a good source of vitamins B1, B6 and E, dietary fiber, phosphorous, iron , calcium, potassium, zinc, copper, zinc, alpha-linolenic acid and many essential amino acids.

Brazil nuts are +/- 70% fat made up of saturated, mono-unsaturated and polyunsaturated fat, but contain no cholesterol. Just 6 to 8 nuts are +/- 186 calories so if on a weight loss plan they should be eaten sparingly.

Just one nut exceeds your daily selenium requirement but it is suggested that two are eaten daily to give added health benefits from the excellent antioxidents they contain. Selenium is also said to reduce the risk of prostate cancer, osteoarthritis of the knees and heart disease.

Note: Brazil nuts should not be eaten by anyone with even a slight allergy to tree nuts.

If you are able to get them, unshelled nuts are safer to eat, as they are free from contamination. Shelled nuts, due to their high fat levels, go rancid easily so should be kept in the fridge. They can also be frozen. So give raw Brazil nuts a try and enjoy their taste and energy boost.

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Healthy College Cookbook

I bought Billy the Healthy College Cookbook a few years back as an incentive for him to try cooking more. He did try a few things, but other than that, it’s been collecting dust. Most of the recipes are vegan-izable so I decided to use up some food in my fridge and freezer and try out some new recipes.

To use up the four PC Meatless chicken cutlets I had left, I made sesame chicken. So good! Basically, I brushed warm agave nectar on the cutlets and sprinkled them with sesame seeds, garlic powder and pepper, and then baked them. The sweetness of the agave was so nice in this dish, with just a hint of pepper. These were so simple to make, literally 2 minutes of preparation. I plan on trying out a few more of their chicken dishes.

Next I made the baked ziti. Except I used rotini. This is just rotini tossed in a tomato sauce with herbs and ground round, onion and garlic. Instead of regular cheese I used up the nacho stuff I had sitting around. I left it a bit too long under the broiler…but it still tastes great.


And a random cat picture….Zeppelin passed out on the couch

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Special Treat

I ordered some goodies from Vegan Essentials and they got here yesterday! I got Sweet n Sara’s marshmallows and amaranth graham crackers (to make smores with of course). The marshmallows taste like the real deal without the gross stuff.

I also got Ricemellow Creme, which tastes so good! And was great on my peanut butter toast for breakfast. I’ll have to figure out a way to use this to make rice krispies treats.

Soyatoo’s Soy Whip was the star of my after-work snack last night….bananas layered with soy whip and topped with some chocolate and pecans. This tastes pretty close to whipped cream in a can…although it has a bit of a taste that’s different. It was also good on my hot chocolate this morning.

Here are the crab cakes I made from Skinny Bitch in the Kitch. I’m all out of remoulade sauce, which pretty much looks like 1000 island dressing. So tonite, I’ll be serving my crab cake on whole wheat rotini with tomato sauce.

To use up some bananas, I made the banana wheat germ muffins from Veganomicon. Yummy! These are made with whole wheat and wheat germ, so they’re healthy, but the banana also gives it a great sweet flavour. And they’re only about 170 calories per muffin.

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Vegan Visitor Guide to Seattle, WA

Seattle is the most vegan-friendly city in the world. That’s my opinion at least. Anyway, I’ve lived here in Seattle for almost two years and have yet to write a visitor guide for vegans.

This is in no way a comprehensive guide to the vegan haven that is Seattle. This is merely a guide I would like to give vegans visiting the city with recommendations on what I consider to be the best.

RESTAURANTS

Teapot Vegetarian House

This is hands-down my favorite veg restaurant in Seattle. If you can go to only restaurant, definitely go to Teapot.

The lowdown:

• Vegan, Chinese
• 345 15th Ave E
• (206) 325-1010
• Daily 11am-10:30pm
• www.teapotvegetarianhouse.com

Recommendations:

• Mongolian Vegetarian
• Mandarin Crispy Tofu
• Spring Rolls
• Hot & Sour Soup
• Basil Nuggets
• Sweet and Sour Nuggets
• Teapot Curry Loaf
• Bounty of the Sea
• Gula Malacca (dessert)
• Tofu cheesecake (dessert)

Eating great at Teapot is all about ordering right. Some dishes are so-so but some are amazing. If you stick with my recommendations, you won’t be disappointed.

Araya’s

Where else can you find an all vegan Thai restaurant? Nowhere! The staff members are really nice and the food is great. I highly suggest Araya’s. It’s in the University District (U-District) right in the middle of everything.

The lowdown:

• Vegan, Thai
• 1121 NE 45th St
• (206) 524-4332
• Mon-Thur 11:30am-9pm, Fri-Sat 11:30am-10pm, Sun closed
• No website, can you believe it?!

Recommendations:

• Pad Thai
• Veggie Beef with Peanut Sauce
• Spring rolls

Araya’s also has a weekday buffet from 11:30am-3pm. All you can eat for $7. Fill up on spring rolls!

Bamboo Garden

Another all vegan restaurant (except for the fortune cookies). Be sure to ask for no fortune cookies…they are not vegan. This is a good Chinese place. The food comes out pretty quickly and virtually all seats are booths. The downside is that this isn’t the healthiest food. Most of it is deep fried gluten. When you want protein or want to be filled up, head here.

The lowdown:

• Vegan, Chinese
• 364 Roy St
• (206) 282-6616
• Daily 11am-10pm
• www.bamboogarden.net

Recommendations:

• Corn chowder soup (everyone loves this)
• General Tso’s Chicken
• Mandarin Chicken
• Sweet and Sour Chicken
• Vegetarian Sausage and Chicken in Black Bean Sauce

Bamboo Garden is good and I definitely get into moods for it, but it’s not super healthy. The only real thing that bothers me is that this is a vegan restaurant serving non-vegan fortune cookies. It baffles me.

Cafe Flora

Amazing food…for brunch. Don’t bother going for anything but brunch. Their lunch and dinner is awful and most all items cannot be made vegan. In fact, I’m only going to list their brunch hours below. They really cater to vegetarians. You know, those people who just refuse to part ways with pus-filled dairy.

The lowdown:

• Vegetarian, Modern
• 2901 E Madison St
• (206) 325-9100
• Sat-Sun 9am-2pm
• www.cafeflora.com

Recommendations:

• Sticky Buns (amazing!)
• Family Platter
• Grilled Asparagus Scramble
• Hoppin’ John Fritters

Brunch is really good. If you go, get there as early as you can. They’re super busy for brunch.

Chaco Canyon Cafe

A nice all vegan, modern, half raw cafe in Seattle’s University District. I really like this place. They’re very environmentally and socially conscious. They recycle and compost nearly everything and all virtually all organic.

The lowdown:

• Vegan, Modern
• 4757 12th Ave NE
• (206) 522-6966
• Mon-Fri 7am-9pm, Sat 9am-9pm, Sun 10am-4pm
• www.chacocanyoncafe.com

Recommendations:

• The Elvis smoothie
• Raw Tropique smoothie
• Artichoke Melt (my favorite)
• Tunaless Melt (my wife’s favorite)
• Cilantro Pesto Melt

Chaco Canyon is also somewhere you can go to just sit and hangout. They have free wifi. Big plus.

Cyber Dogs

An all vegetarian hot dog restaurant in downtown Seattle! I love this place. It’s really tiny but awesome.

The lowdown:

• Vegetarian, Hot dogs
• 909 Pike St
• (206) 405-DOGS
• Daily 10am-Midnight
• www.cyber-dogs.com

Recommendations:

• El Bandito
• Spudnik

Everything except the corn dog can be made vegan. I highly suggest the El Bandito. It’s sooo good! In addition to eating good food, you can play Pac Man or surf the net at one of their computer stations.

Mighty O

An all vegan donut shop in Seattle, near Green Lake! All of the donuts are vegan and mostly organic. However, they do offer dairy as an option for coffee drinks, which is extremely lame. Many “vegan” places in Seattle do this. It’s stupid. Anyway, order their donuts, let them know it sucks they serve dairy, and take a nice walk around Green Lake with your amazing vegan donuts.

The lowdown:

• Vegan, Donuts
• 2110 N 55th St
• (206) 547-0335
• Mon 6am-1pm, Tues-Fri 6am-5pm, Sat-Sun 7am-5pm
• www.mightyo.com

Everyone loves Mighty O. You must go to Mighty O while visiting in Seattle. No trip is complete without doing so.

Carmelita

Looking for a vegetarian restaurant with a nicer atmosphere? Try the upscale Carmelita in Phinney Ridge (my neighborhood). They do accept reservations and I highly suggest you make one.

The lowdown:

• Vegetarian, Modern, Upscale
• 7314 Greenwood Ave N
• (206) 706-7703
• Sun, Tues-Thur 5pm-9pm, Fri-Sat 5pm-10pm, Mon closed
• www.carmelita.net

Only a few items can be made vegan, but this place is worth the visit. It’s a great place to eat on special occasions or for a nice night out.

Kitaro

A veg-friendly sushi restaurant with a separate vegan menu.

The lowdown:

• Veg-friendly, Sushi
• 1624 N 45th St
• (206) 547-7998
• Hours
• No website

Kitaro is not all vegetarian but they have a separate vegan menu! Vegan sushi! The owner is quiet but extremely nice. I really like giving him my business. I highly recommend Kitaro, located in the Wallingford neighborhood.

GROCERY STORES

While you’re in Seattle, screw Whole Foods. Check out and support the co-ops!

Sidecar for Pigs Peace

Sidecar is Washington State’s only all-vegan grocery store. It’s more of a convenience store. I’m super spoiled in Seattle. Have I mentioned that yet?

Sidecar is located in the University District and sells vegan dog and cat food, frozen convenience foods, vitamins, candy, toiletries, kitchen items, shirts, and more.

Also, the manager is really nice. Say hi to Doh when you go.

www.sidecarforpigspeace.com

PCC Natural Markets

A local chain of co-ops in the Seattle area. PCC is one of the best places to shop in Seattle. I love PCC. They’re my neighborhood market. I go here most all of the time.

www.pccnaturalmarkets.com

Madison Market

A local co-op in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle. I love this co-op. I stop here whenever I’m in the neighborhood.

www.madisonmarket.com

CAFES

You’ll find that free wifi is available at all coffee shops here in Seattle. If you walk into a cafe and they’re asking you to pay for or don’t have wifi, leave. You found the one place that doesn’t have free wifi. (I still haven’t found it.)

Anyway, avoid Starbucks and Tully’s like the plague. Check out and support the little guys. The coffee is much better anyway.

Caffe Ladro

A local chain of awesome cafes here in Seattle. All coffee served at Caffe Ladro is organic, fair trade, and shade grown. Plus, free wifi. Beat that!

www.caffeladro.com

Wayward Coffeehouse

This is my favorite cafe to hangout in here in Seattle. Hands-down. I’m sitting in Wayward right now actually, writing this blog post.

Like Caffe Ladro, Wayward serves only organic, fair trade, and shade grown coffee. And, of course there’s free wifi.

I’d have to say the best tasting coffee in Seattle is Caffe Ladro, but the best place to sit in a cafe is Wayward. Plus, their coffee is almost as good as Ladro’s. The interior is very spacious and they’re only really busy late at night. You’ll most likely have your very own table. I can’t say enough good things about Wayward Coffeehouse. Oh, they offer a few vegan sandwiches as well!

www.waywardcoffee.com

Trabant Coffe & Chai

Vegan specialty chai drinks in the University District! Think coffee drinks like lattes, only with chai instead!

Be sure to ask for your drink to be made vegan with soy milk. Trabant has two chai mixes (one is vegan and one isn’t). They offer soy and rice milk.

Trabant tends to be quite crowded due to its proximity to the University of Washington (UW). You aren’t always guaranteed a seat; however, the chai drinks are amazing. Don’t know what to order? I suggest the Hazelnut, made vegan with soy of course.

www.trabantcoffee.com

Wow, that was a lot of typing. That list isn’t even close to comprehensive. I’m sure my fellow Seattleites reading this post are thinking, “You forgot …” There’s just too much to cover.

You can view a pretty comprehensive list of vegan, vegetarian, and veg-friendly restaurants in the Seattle area at Veg Seattle.

Or, you can certainly contact me anytime with your questions, via the “Email me” link on the right side of my blog or by leaving a comment on any post.

Popularity: -1% [?]

Super Fruit – Avocado

Avocados are native to Central and South America and have been cultivated in these regions since 8,000 B.C. The avocado is also known as the Alligator Pear, due to its shape and the leather-like appearance of its skin. Avocado is derived from the Aztec word “ahuacatl.”

Nutrition wise they are a good source of vitamin K, vitamin B3 and B6, vitamin C, vitamin E, folate, copper, beta-carotene, phosphorus, iron, dietary fiber, and contain far more potassium than a medium banana. They are also lower in sugar than most other fruit.

Often avocados are avoided by dieters due to their high oil content, these oils contain oleic and linoleic acids that are effective in lowering the LDL cholesterol and increasing the healthy HDL cholesterol, so the extra calories/kilojoules are worth ignoring. Oleic acid also offers significant protection against breast cancer.

Their high folate content make them excellent for pregnant women by ensuring healthy fetal cell and tissue development. The vitamin B6 in avocados helps relieve morning sickness as well. Regular consumption of avocados strengthens the body’s immune system due to their high anti-oxidant levels and lutein content. Add an avocado a day to your diet and enjoy all it’s health benefits.

Avocados are also an excellent beauty aid and a simple avocado face mask can soften and hydrate dry skin.

Note: People who are allergic to latex type fruits like bananas should avoid avocados.

A ripe, ready to eat avocado is slightly soft. Unripe avocados can be easily ripened by putting them into a paper bag and storing them in a cupboard for a few days. There are many varieties of avocado but the most popular are the Hass which has pebbled dark green or black skin, and the Fuerte which has a smooth, bright green skin. Once ripe they can be stored whole in the refrigerator. Note that once cut they will turn black after a while from exposure to the air so either eat right away or dip in vinegar or lemon juice.

They are wonderful in dips, salads, smoothies, cold soups and sandwiches.

For information on Avocado Oil see my other blog entries Avocado Oil (with Beauty Recipes) and Awesome Avocado Oil (with Food Recipes).

Technorati Tags: avocado avocado+recipes vegan+recipes rawfood

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Black Bean & Sweet Potato Enchilada Pie

Here is a casserole recipe we created on a whim a few weeks ago, and I am just now getting it up on my blog! I wanted to make some sort of lasagna, but then also wanted Mexican food.. so I created this with a Mexican Lasagna in mind, but it turned out to be more of a casserole or pie. This is incredibly filling, and very good. We served it to a large group of my hubby’s friends, and everyone loved it.

Ingredients:

• 1 large sweet potato
• 1 can black beans, drained
• 1 package soft tofu, crumbled
• corn tortillas
• sliced olives
• diced onion
• enchilada sauce
• diced red pepper

Directions: Peel sweet potato, and dice. Brush potatoes with olive oil and bake in the oven on 400 until soft. Meanwhile, saute onion in olive oil, then add the black beans. When the potatoes are cooked, mix them with the black beans. Line the bottom layer of a 8×8 glass dish with tortillas. Add a layer of bean/potato mix, top with tortillas. The next layer add the crumbled tofu, then top with a layer of tortillas. Top that with the beans/potatoes, and another layer of tortillas. Then cover completely, liberally, with enchilada sauce, and top with olives and diced peppers.

Popularity: -1% [?]

Product Review: Shopper’s Drug Mart Nativa Organics

Shopper’s has launched a huge organic food line, at affordable prices. There’s a lot of different products out, much of it vegan-friendly.

One of those products, their cookie buttons, is my favourite so far. The box comes with 6 100-calorie snack packs. And the cookies are good! They’re just mini chocolate chip cookies. And I love the snack pack size…I haven’t had any of Nabisco’s but they don’t look very substantial, they look like a lesser version of the real thing. Not so with the cookie buttons.

Also, I got their natural microwave popcorn. Three boxes for 5$! It was obviously an introductory price, but I’m glad I stocked up, because it is very good. I’ll make it my regular popcorn…they don’t sacrifice any taste, and it’s organic.

Check out a Shopper’s near you.

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