Gone Vegan

Thanksgiving Treats

2009-12-03T22:36:00.000-08:00

Sorry this is so very late. But better late than never.
I got the recipes for the cupcakes from Strawberry Hedgehog.
and the cookies from Nestle, except I used vegan chocolate chips, and enger G egg replacer, and earth balance margine.
I also made artichoke/spinach dip. But I am sorry, I don't remember where I got the recipe.

Here are my ountcomes :]

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

PUMPKIN SPICE CUPCAKES

CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

(these were listed as the cafe mocha loca cupcakes, but I just followed the recipe minus the coffee)

ARTICHOKE/SPINACH DIP

Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving.

Happy Holidays

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T11:01:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! I'm very thankful to have a great group of followers, I didn't except have this many so far. :]

So far I have made chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin spice cupcakes, and chocolate cupcakes. I will take photos today, and post everything up tonight or tomorrow.
I'm making an artichoke spinach dip right now, and some "stuffing."
I ordered this platter from one world, since the kitchen is very busy today, so I decided to make some of my own side dishes, and then a few things from one world.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving!

EDIT: November 29, 2009 @ 8:17 p.m.

So I took a bunch of photos of my baked goods, but I forgot to take a photo of the dinner from One World! But I promise it was good, I loved their mushroom gravy.
A lot has happened this week, but I plan to post photos very soon. :]

Teriyaki Meatless Meatball Sandwich

2009-11-21T12:46:00.000-08:00

So the other day I made some more of the meatless meatballs. BUT, this time I cooked them and then added teriyaki sauce instead of marinara. It was so good! The sandwich itself has a littttle bit of vegeneise, onions, and tomatoes. It was amazing.
On the side I have golden potatoes, rosted in the oven, and asparagus and carrots that I put in a pan with olive oil and salt and pepper. And then I used the tomatoe I had left over from slicing for my sandwich on the side with salt and pepper on a bed of lettuce. :]

It's not hard to cook, just cook the veggies to how you like them, and the meatballs usually take about 10 minutes to heat up since they're frozen, and I would add the teriyaki sauce at the end so the sauce does not burn in your pan, but its still flavors your meatballs.
I had to put toothpicks in the sanwich because it was falling apart without them.

Two Months Vegan...and

2009-11-15T13:21:00.000-08:00

1 month for my blog. :]
I'm proud and excited.
And again, I'm sorry for the lack of posts the last 2 weeks. I've been really busy with school since the semester is coming to an end.
Yesterday (Saturday) was the Human Trafficking Conference. It was so interesting. I really enjoyed it, and I learned a lot from it, and it was great to see people interested in learning more about the issue. I volunteered for it, as well as I had posters that my group from Sociology and I made that were on display.
They also had goodie bags for the guests, volunteer, and speakers. In the bags were a few chocolates. And one of the brands, I wanted to share with you guys. Endangered Species. It's fairely traded, as well. You can learn more about that on their website. They included two of their chocolates, and I was excited to pull one out and it have the certified vegan logo. :] One was milk chocolate, but they do have a handful of products that are vegan, and you cna help our environment, animals, and humanity by buying these chocolates. When you look through their chocolate products, most display whether they are vegan or not, as well as gluten-free.

Check out Endangered Species Chocolates

Another brand that was in there is by Equal Exchange which also has vegan chocolates, and they do all of their traded fairly as well. They explain here that most of their chocolate and cocoa products are vegan, except for 2 products, and they list them on that page.

Check out Equal Exchange

Induction

2009-11-14T00:07:00.000-08:00

I have unfortunately have not yet gotten to post up any recipes. I have been doing some cooking. I took photos using my boyfriends camera, and I forgot to upload them before I gave it back, so I need to have him send them to me, or have him bring his camera this week again!
Tonight, well last night, seeing that it is past midnight, I was inducted into Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society (Alpha Omega Alpha chapter) and I'm really proud of my self, and I'm enjoying school, and I'm working very hard.
I have a lot of work to do this week and next week, so I am going to do my best to post some yummy food and some other vegan related posts! Bare with me, the school semester is coming to an end, so it's pretty busy!
Tomorrow at the college they're having a conference on Human Trafficking, and my group in Sociology class did a presentation on women and globalization, and we were asked to do some posters for the conference related to human trafficking, so I'm excited. And also, I'm volunteering at it, not sure yet what I'm going to be doing though.

Goodnight! I'm exhausted.

Update

2009-11-09T16:26:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lack of posts this past week. I've been very busy studying and reading for my classes this semester. This past week and the next few weeks are pretty busy as the semester is coming to an end with projects and getting ready for finals. I will post what I can within the next week. I do have ingredients to make some cupcakes and donuts, so I plan to do that soon. :]

Veggie Era in Upland has become part of the Loving Hut vegan food restaruants. As of now they still have their same menu, but they did say they were going to change it up a bit, not exact of what other Loving Hut locations have, because each have different menus. They did say that they plan to keep some of their own dishes that they've had as Veggie Era. For those of you who do not know Veggie Era (or do not live nearby) it is a vegan restaurant in Upland, CA. It's one of my favorites, my boyfriend introduced me to it. They have amazing Chick'nless fried rice, and Mushroom Chick'nless. I hope they at least keep their Chick'nless fried rice.<3

I hope you all had a great weekend.
I will post as soon as I can.
:]

Alfredo With Some Squash on the Side

2009-11-03T20:12:00.000-08:00

So tonight I had some pasta with Alfredo sauce and roasted butternut squash. They were both delicious! :]

For the Alfredo, I used VeganYumYum's Hurry Up Alfredo recipe. It came out pretty good. I suggest that you guys try the recipe! :] I love it. And it was correct when she said that it is versatile and can be used for other dishes, I plan to do so in the future.

I also roasted some butternut squash. All you have to do for that is chop it up, or buy it precut, and put it on a baking sheet/pan with foil over it. Drizzle a bit of olive oil over the squash and add sea salt and pepper or any other spices you may want and mix it around so the squash can be coated. I also added a bit of Earth Balance to it as well.

EDIT//

I sprinkled on some Daiya cheese on top of my leftover alfredo pasta, and it's pretty tasty. :]

Pizza with Daiya Cheese

2009-11-02T18:20:00.000-08:00

Tonight I made pizza using Daiya vegan cheese.

What I used for the pizza:

Daiya cheese Italian blend (I added the cheese about 3/4 way through)

Vegan Pizza Dough

Pizza Sauce

Italian herbs

Thyme leaves (dried)

Basil leaves (dried)

Mushrooms

Spinach leaves (put on AFTER you take out the pizza from the oven)

Onion (this time I used brown)

Garlic

I preheated the oven to 400 degrees F.

I stretched out about half the dough (I froze the other half for another time) and I spread on some pizza sauce and I added the garlic, mushrooms, onions, Italian herbs, thyme, and basil.

After about 20 minutes I added the Daiya cheese and left it in the oven to cook a bit more and for the daiya to melt. (Entire cooktime is about 25-30 minutes for this pizza, time varies).
After I took the pizza out of the oven I added my spinach leaves.

The Daiya cheese is great. After having gone vegan I had missed cheese. I did have an Amy's Kitchen Vegan pizza with their vegan cheese which was pretty good, but besides that I haven't had much vegan cheese. I've used some Toffuti vegan cheddar slices for grilled cheese which was pretty good. One World uses daiya cheese and it's yummy. :]
A lot of other vegan places use Daiya, so I've heard.
The cheese melts and stretches pretty good. I got mine from Whole Foods, a small box for about 10 dollars. It's kind of a lot :/ I'm going to figure out if it's cheaper to order online or not. But I only sprinkled a bit of cheese on my pizza tonight so I could save some.:] Either way I recommend Daiya cheese to vegans who have not already tried it. I still need to try their Cheddar style.

Here are places I know that you can get Daiya cheese.
Whole Foods (I would call a head and make sure your local store has some)
Pangea the Vegan Store
Vegan Essentials
You can go also find out from Daiya's "where to enjoy" section to view different locations of restaurants using Daiya and retail locations with it.

Daiya Foods

Product Review: Trader Joe's Vegetable Masala Burger

2009-11-02T15:01:00.000-08:00

I just had one of these for lunch a while ago, and they're delicious! They're basically made with vegetables and indian spices. I ate mine on a bun with Vegenaise, tomatoes, and onions. :]

You heat them up in a pan for about 4 minutes or so on eachside. They're already fully cooked, so you basically just need to heat them up in a pan, or you can heat them up on a grill.
I was nervous whether I will like them or not when I purchased them, and I'm glad I did, because they're so yummy.

You guys should try these burgers!

Happy World Vegan Day

2009-11-01T11:13:00.000-08:00

Happy World Vegan Day to you lovely vegans and to those becoming vegan.
I just did some grocery shopping to do for some dinner recipes and some cupcake/donut recipes, and a few other things.
I also went to One World for their buy one get one free offer for today. :]

Mushroom & Asparagus Pasta

2009-10-30T16:11:00.000-07:00

This was quite yummy. :] And quick to make as well.

I used...

8 oz of baby portabella mushrooms

Asparagus (roasted)

Chopped red onions

2-3 Garlic cloves - minced

Dashes of dried basil leaves, thyme, and italian herbs.

Olive Oil

Pasta (for this I had a mixture, but you can use whatever pasta you want)

And I sliced ciabatta bread and toasted it, drizzled olive oil on it, and sprinkled sea salt and pepper.

Put a pot of water on the stove and let it boil to get ready for your pasta.
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.
Place the asparagust on a baking sheet covered with foil, drizzle olive oil over the asparagus, add salt and pepper and mix around. Let the asparagus lay flat with none on top of eachother. Let bake for about 15 minutes or until hot and crispy (however you will like them.
When the water is boiling add some salt (sea salt :]) and then put in your pasta until it is al dente.
Heat up a pan with olive oil in it, then add the garlic and onions and sautee for a bit, and then add in the mushrooms. Sautee until the mushrooms are cooked how you like. Add in the basil leaves, thyme, and italian herbs (or any other seasoning you may want).
Once everything is done you can add the asparagus to the pan (you can lower the burner) with mushrooms and add the pasta to the pan as well and mix well. You can add more olive oil or pasta water if you need more moisture.

Guacamole Dip

2009-10-30T15:58:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite things to make. I love avocados. I love guacamole.

To make it you'll need...

2-3 Avocados (depending on how much you'll want to make)
2-3 Garlic cloves - minced
1-2 Roma tomatoes - chopped (more if you'd like more tomatoes)
Salt (I prefer sea salt)

You can also add lettuce or onions, whatever else you want to try, but the above is what I typically use.

"Meatball" Sliders

2009-10-30T15:40:00.000-07:00

I use the term sliders, because when I made these my family kept calling them sliders. :P

For these I used Mini Burger Buns (vegan) from trader joes, I toasted them. Meatless Meatballs (also from trader joes & vegan). Marinara Sauce (Newman's Own). And I grilled some onions in the pan as well. I used tooth picks to keep them together just in case. I wish I had the pretty kind. haha

This is the second time I made them, third time I tried them and they're delicious. My mom tried them the first time I made them, and she liked them. I first tasted them when my boyfriend made us meatball sandwiches on some ciabatta bread. :]

These are really good, and really easy to make, quick too. The meatballs take about ten minutes to cook. I cooked them in a pan with olive oil, and half way through I cooked the onions on one half side of the pan. And I heated up the marinara in a pot. And as stated above I toasted the buns.

The meatballs themselves are pretty good too, even down to the texture.

One World November Special Offers

2009-10-27T17:00:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, sorry I haven't posted in a few days. Saturday I went to the Che Cafe in San Diego to see 7 Generations' last show. It was also a reunion show for Gather. It was a lot of fun. :] And on Sunday I went to Cal Tech in Pasadena for the a Skeptic Society lecture by Stewart Brand.
And the rest of the time I was studying for my Philosophy midterm, which was today. And I also have a Psych midterm Thursday.

Anyways, I have a guacemole post I plan to do later this week. It's something I made often, and I took photos of it yesterday.
For this post, I'm going to post about some specials that One World is having for the month of November (plus halloween).

For Halloween, Saturday, Oct 31st they're having a $5.50 combo. It comes with pumpkin soup if you are dining in. And you get a choice of their Classic Star, Teriyaki Wrap, Indian Curry, Harmonic Melody, One World Teriyaki Kabobs, Imperial Eggplant, or Primevera Pasta. And if you have children under 12 they'll get a halloween cupcake.

For Nov 1st, which is World Vegan Day, you can order any item off their menu and get one free (of equal or lesser value). This special is all day on Nov. 1st.

They also have their buffet Nov. 11th. When I have information on that I'll try to post it.

And of course on Tuesdays from 3p.m. - 7 p.m. they have their entire menu for only $5. Which I am about to go to after I finish this post! :]

And also! One Word is open on Thanksgiving.
They also have a vegan turkey for Thanksgiving. You can purchase sample slices starting at the beginning of November to taste it.

ONE WORLD VEGETARIAN CUISINE

//Edit//

Their Pita Pizza appetizer is yummy! As well as their Delightful Pasta. My boyfriend had the Spicy Jambalyan Pasta, which I had a little taste of their "crescents" which are supposed to be like shrimp.
We shared a banana split which was amazing. As well as ordered their Thai Banana Rolls to go (which is one of my favorite deserts from one world).

Scrub-A-Dub-Dub

2009-10-23T23:35:00.000-07:00

This post will be regarding 2 body washes.

The first is by SHIKAI. The frangrance I have tried is Pomegranate, and I looove it. And another plus is the "gentle and soap free," it never made my eyes burn if it got in it. :] haha

(sorry for the fingerprints on the cap, haha)

SHIKAI shower gels come Pomagranate, Vanilla, Honeysuckle, Sandlewood, Gardenia, Yuzu, Coconut.

They use natural and organic ingredients. And they also carry hair care, facial care, and lotions; as well as a few other products.

I was running out of my SHIKAI Pomagranate body wash, and I decided to try something else just to see what else is out there, though I will definetely by SHIKAI again. I recently bought Nature's Gate Body Wash, in Papaya, and trust me, it smells amazing!

I suggest to try these products out :]

I found mine at Whole Foods, but I am sure you find them elsewhere, you can check at the company's store locator on their websites, which are listed below.

Shikai

Nature's Gate

Edamame Pesto

2009-10-22T20:02:00.000-07:00

So tonight I made edamame pesto. I found the recipe over at the Post Punk Kitchen. You can find the recipe here. The one in the recipe is made with spinach linguine, I made mine with regular. This is the second time I have made this recipe. I always make it to the four servings, because I like having some left over :] I definetly enjoy cooking like this, isntead of already prepared frozen meals. I love cooking from recipes or making my own.

It's pretty easy to make. I have to use my blender, I need a bigger food processor.
I definetly recommend this recipe.

I also had some asparagus on the side. :] (They were roasted in the oven with olive oil and salt & pepper).

And for desert I used ZenSoy chocolate pudding with some Soyatoo Soy Whip cream and cinnamon on top. :]

Yummy.

Dear followers :]

2009-10-22T19:35:00.000-07:00

It's been a week since I started the blog, and I have 10 followers already. :] I was afraid of not getting any. So I am very thankful for those of you following the blog. And if you could help out by spreading the word of the blog that'd be great, and I'd be just as willing to do the same for your blogs. :] I can't wait to read your blogs, and share mine with you.

I'm going to post up a yummy pasta dish in a bit.

Don't you hate it when...

2009-10-20T18:49:00.000-07:00

You're excited to find some product you think you'll like...but then it just taste icky?
Well that just happened to me.

I'll start off by saying that I normally prefer cooking from scratch from recipes I find, or by coming up with my own. But during school time because I have a lot of reading to do, I sometimes don't have as much time as I'd like to cook from recipes, so when I don't have time to do so, I resort to finding something quick to make, such as a frozen vegan meal.

I had bought Vegetarian Plus' orange chicken...I did not like it. And I was sad that it was not as good as I was hoping. I don't like being harsh on products, but I tried eating it, and had a hard time doing so because I did not like it. :[

So I resorted to making a quick stir fry.
And I'd like to add, that the stiry fry I made is one of my favorite recipes that I make.
Except today, it was good still, but I didn't put as much in as I normally do. Tonight I just used teriyaki sauce, minced garlic, chopped onions, and chopped carrots.

I'll be making my stir fry soon that I enjoy so much. And I'll have the recipe up.

Spinach Florentine Ravioli

2009-10-20T17:35:00.000-07:00

I'd like to try making my own ravioli from scratch, but this tastes just as good as making it from scratch in my opinion. :] It's by the brand Rising Moon Organics (I found this at the frozen section of whole foods). And this is, as you can see, certified vegan. It's delishish!

So to make this I brought a pot of water to a slow boil. You don't want it to rapid, because it'll tear the ravioli apart.

After it is brought to a slow boil, you add the ravioli.

Once it is done you can add olive oil to it, which I did, or you can put it in a pasta sauce. I put some marinara sauce in a cup to dip them in. I couldn't decide if I wanted to mix them in it or not, so I just dipped them. :]

Here is my outcome.

Next time I think I'll mix them in with the sauce, but either way they were amazing even with the sauce on the side.

And like I said I'm working on getting some backrounds so the pictures will look nicer. :]

So besides showing what I made for dinner last night, I'd also like to do a mini-product review of Rising Moon Organics. As I mentioned in the beginning, it is delishish. It's spinach with vegan ricotta. I would definitely buy the Spinach Florentine Ravioli again and probably try their other ravioli.

I'll end this post in a question.

Does anyone have any favorite places they like to do vegan grocery shopping in the Los Angeles area and the surrounding areas?

Quick Post

2009-10-19T13:35:00.000-07:00

I haven't forgotten to post already. I haven't been home this weekend. And besides that I have a lot of reading to do this weekend for school.
But I have tons of ideas for posts, and I will be posting this week, most likely sometime tomorrow.

:]

Veggie Pizza Galore

2009-10-16T01:24:00.000-07:00

So tonight my I made pizza. :] It was pretty yummy. It's actually pretty simple to make, especially if you have dough that's already made.

Here's before the toppings:

And then I decided to just use olive oil instead of pizza sauce. Then I added the toppings.

And once it was out of the oven...

It doesn't look much different from before being cooked and coming out of the oven.

I put the broccoli on just half of it because I was unsure if I'd like it...but I did!

Here's the recipe, but more of a list of what I used, because I think with pizza once you have your dough made unless it's pre-made, you just add whatever toppings you want, and how much you want...

Vegan pizza dough

Olive oil - enough to cover the dough after rolling out
6 oz of Artichoke hearts (thawed)
Broccoli
Baby bella mushrooms
Olives
Onion - chopped
Garlic - minced
Dried basil
Dried thyme
Italian herb

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Estimated time in oven is about 20-30 minutes, or when the dough is cooked throughout, and the toppings are heated as you desire them to be.

I plan to make my own dough from scratch pretty soon.

I'll have better photos for my posts once I get my backgrounds made. :]

One World, One Love

2009-10-15T23:10:00.000-07:00

One World Vegetarian Cuisine (yes it is vegan) is one of my favorite vegan restaurants. I've been there several times. The first time I ate there I had their Circle of Love which is their veggie "chick-un" and mushrooms in their house sauce and it comes with rice or pasta salad. I would say this dish is alright. The next time I went I had their Pure Supernova Pasta which consits of rainbow rotini with their veggie "chick-un," broccoli, mushrooms, and their alfredo sauce. Which was really good. I loved their alfredo sauce. :] I've also had their Vermicelli with Grilled Teriyaki and Imperial rolls, which is pretty good as well.
I've had two of their apetizers, their Spinach Quesadilla which comes with salsa and guacemole, which is amazinggggg. And also their Chili Cheese Fries, which are also quite tasty!

One of my favorite dishes at One World is their One World Grilled Teriyaki Kabobs! I had this Wednesday night for dinner.

These are the kabobs pictured here. They are served with fresh steamed vegetables and lettuce and cilantro and onions. You have the choice of white or brown rice, white rice is pictured above. You also have the choice of pasta salad instead of rice. I think so far this is my favorite meal.

As you can see I ordered out last night. Another dish from One World I enjoy is their Golden Masterpiece which is teriyaki balls with their sauce and it comes with lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes and your choice of rice or pasta salad.

One World's deserts are amazing. At least the one's I have tried! I have had their Thai Banana Rolls. They're amazing and I could eat them anyday. The last few times that I have ordered desert though I have ordered their Divine Cheesecake. Which I ordered last night as well.

All I can say about this cheesecake the first time I had it was, I was shocked it was vegan, in my opinion it's pretty close to the real thing.

I enjoy eating at One World's restaurant, as in their actual facility, besides the food. The staff is very nice and sweet. The have a tiki like theme. And the restaurant has photos of famous vegetarians/vegans on the top of a few walls. Once a month they have a buffet featuring certain dishes of theirs. They also have a certain dish featured as their weekly special. And what is even more amazing is that (for a limited time) every Tuesday from 3p.m. to 7p.m. they offer everything on their menu for $5. My boyfriend and I went once on a Tuesday and got an appetrizer to share, each our own dish, and desert to share for under $20 dollars. One World is doing this due to the economy to show their thankfulness to their customers and to help them out. Which I think is wonderful! It really is a great way to enjoy more of their food. I'd go any day to eat there.

One World is located in West Covina, CA near Edwards Cinemas.

She's Gone Vegan

2009-10-15T18:23:00.000-07:00

I decided to keep this introductory post pretty short and simple, but if anyone would like to know anything into more detail, please feel free to comment or email me. :]
I had been determined for quite a while to become vegetarian. That day came June 15, 2009.
But I didn't want to stop there. September 15, 2009, veganism became me (officially). I actually started a week or so before. Since today marks my official 1 month of being vegan, I decided to start the blog today.

I chose this for the animals, of course. I chose this for the environment. I chose this for my health.
It's actually a lot easier than I imagined. I've already had friends and acquaintances question why I have become vegan, how can I not eat meat, cheese, or drink milk (which was one thing I had never quite liked drinking on its own unless it was chocolate; soymilk is actually quite tastier in my opinion, I started drinking it before I even became vegetarian), and I have been asked what I eat being vegan. I chose this for numerous reasons.

Veganism has made me feel better physically. I feel healthier. I'm not sure exactly how to put that feeling into words, but I know I can definitely feel the change. When I'd be stressed sometimes I'd feel sick to my stomach, or occasionally after eating something dairy-ish I'd feel sick, though I don't think I was exactly lactose intolerant. But since being vegetarian and now vegan, I have felt better. And I also feel better all around. I'm proud to say that I am vegan. And I definitely enjoy the food, hence the creation of this blog. :]

As for this blog, I plan to share my adventures of being vegan. Share recipes I create. Show in photo's those recipes that I try out (and of course leave a link/credit to the author!). I plan to review restaurants and products. I plan to do a lot with this blog, and I hope it becomes successful. I hope it gains a nice amount of readers! :] I hope to meet nice new vegan friends, as well. My boyfriend is vegan, and he's helped me a lot! I borrow his books, he helps me with products and introduced me to restaurants and products. He's shared research and information with me, that I am ever so thankful for. One of my best friends is vegetarian. And by, I guess you can say announcing?, that I am vegan on myspace/facebook, I have found out that one of my friends is actually vegetarian, and the another vegan.

Okay, so this wasn't as short as I was aiming for. :]

I will start posting my adventures soon.

Can't wait to share them. :]