Journey to Vegan

Cupcakes Galore

2009-10-29T08:22:00.000-07:00

I recently purchased the book "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World" and lets just say I'm hooked. Now this really isn't good for my diet haha but these cupcakes rock!!! I've actually only had time to make one kind so far but they were so good I made them twice. Pumpkin chocolate chip cupcakes with cinnamon icing, is sounds different I know. This is was honestly the first time I have even eaten anything with pumpkin in it, they were amazing. I really wish I would have taken a picture but I didn't know I was going to create a blog at the time. But don't worry I plan on making them again along with the 74 other recipes I want to try. The guys my husbands works with are really going to love me. Since I don't want to eat 15 cupcakes myself I ship them off with him to work haha. They loved the pumpkin ones thats for sure. Ok ok enough about my new cupcake obsession.

I tried a new recipe for dinner last night. It was lentils and rice and of course I made a few changes to the recipe. It was pretty good and I actually remembered to take a picture!

The last picture was taken after I added the soy sauce, which did make it taste even better.

LENTILS and RICE

2 cups brown rice
1/2 cup lentils
5 cups water
1 large onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 tsp Better than Boulion vegetable
black pepper (to taste)
dash of cayenne

Bring the rice, lentils, onion, carrot and garlic to boil in the 5 cups of water. Reduce heat to low and add the vegetable and other seasonings. Cover and simmer over low heat for 45 minutes. Serve with soy sauce.

serves 6

It Tastes So Good

2009-10-28T07:32:00.000-07:00

My taste buds are probably amazed lately, they are actually getting flavor!! I have tried so many new foods in the past seven weeks alone I'm excited to see what the rest of my life will bring. I have tried so many new foods and recipes and so far I haven't found anything that I don't like (well except mushrooms...I have learned that I am not a mushroom person). I now love zucchini, yellow squash, broccoli, snap peas, peppers, kiwi, lentils...oh the list goes on and on. I am going to start sharing these delicious recipes. One thing I have been struggling with is pizza. I love pizza....goey, cheesey pizza. But cheese comes from milk and milk...is something that I don't want to ingest. I do not want to support the dairy industry, what they do to the cows is sometimes far worse than even those raised in the meat industry. It is ungodly cruel and I cannot stand the thought of it. I will find a way to get past this. In fact, I think I already have. The other night I made Pesto Pizza and it was AMAZING, so amazing that I had to share it with another vegan (my husband is an omnivore, although he did enjoy the pizza). So here I go running across the alley carrying a piece of delicious pesto pizza...guess what? She loved it too. I didn't think to take a picture of it as I'm new to this blogging stuff, but trust me I will take on next time I make it. I actually compiled and tweaked a few different recipes to get to the one I made so here it is:

PESTO PIZZA

Crust:
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup soy milk
1 tsp sugar ( i used evaporated cane juice)
2 tsp active yeast
1 3/4 cups flour ( i used 1 cup unbleached white and 3/4 cup of whole wheat)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil
fresh herbs if you want

Warm water and milk to just warmer than lukewarm. Add sugar and yeast to warm liquid. Sift flour and salt then form a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add warm liquid, olive oil and herbs. Mix and knead dough for about 3 minutes. Cover dough and let rise for 30 minutes. Then roll out to desired thickness and size.

Pesto Sauce:
3 cups fresh basil
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
4 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 cup olive oil

In a food processor, blend together the basil, pine nuts, garlic, salt and pepper. Slowly add the olive oil, while blending, until well mixed.

Pizza Toppings:
1 cup baby spinach
1-2 cups of shredded vegan "mozzerella" cheese

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Place the prepared pizza crust on a baking sheet. Spread pesto sauce evenly over crust. Evenly add the spinach. Then add desired amount of "cheese". Bake for 10-12 minutes. Makes 1 large pizza (approx 8 slices)

From the Beginning

2009-10-27T21:22:00.000-07:00

I've tried this once before, going vegetarian that is, not blogging. Moving to the west coast was a wake up call. Apparently I didn't know everything after all. Yes, I has heard of vegetarianism. No, I did not know of anyone who was one. Well now I do. I will admit that it was my newly made friends vegetarianism that inspired my research. I had never been a big meat eater, avoiding cows for all twenty-one years I have been alive. Food and I have always had a problem...I have always been a horribly picky eater. My main staples have always been chicken and turkey. That is until my findings led me to believe that there is another way to live. I had never considered the possibility of living without the consumption of meat but now I can not imagine consuming an animal, an animal that was more than likely treat very inhumanely. I have stumbled upon quite a bit of interesting information all of which I will be more than happy to share with you, and intend to share throughout the creation of this blog. There are many reasons why I have made to ultimate decision to become a vegan. First there are the animal cruelty reasons, yes I do have a heart. There are many things many of us do not know, or choose to ignore, but once I was informed I could no longer ignore reality. There is one video that completely changed the way I view food and I think that everyone should watch it. It is the "Meet Your Meat" video. http://www.disclose.tv/action/viewvideo/11158/Meet_your_Meat/
I will warn you though, the video is rather graphic. I have also chosen to take on this life style for health, environmental, and world hunger reasons (all of which I will delve into throughout this journey). I also hope to leave behind the characteristic of being picky. I want to explore the various foods out there and give my taste buds something to roar about.
It was about seven weeks ago that I last consumed animal flesh and I honestly do not feel deprived in any way, shape or form. In fact, the thought of even eating a bite of chicken or turkey actually makes me ill. I have officially tackled vegetarianism. I wish I could say the same for veganism, but that is a much greater step to tackle. It is a work in progress and I guess that fact that I am doing the best I can and taking it one step further each day is all that matters. I am going to share this journey with everyone through this blog, I will share the struggles and the successes, as I will share all the new found knowledge I have and will continue to incur.