Friday Flashback

I spent a day hanging out in Boulder this week, and found some great things! My friend and I went to lunch at the Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse. They have a whole menu with seemingly endless tea options, and even bring you a little timer for your table to know when your tea has steeped enough. Their menu is an international blend of dishes, of which several can be requested vegan. Above is my tea choice and the Tibetan Kong Po with tofu. The inside of this building is so cool with painted ceilings and hand carved wood - definitely check it out if you're in the area. We then wandered around Pearl Street and I scored some vegan lip scrub and balm from Lush, and found a very delicious vegan cupcake at Tee and Cakes.

Another day we had a delicious lunch at Linger in Denver. Pictured are the Butternut Squash Papusas and the Pad Thai - amazing! Below are some mini bundts we made that were supposed to be vanilla and chocolate marble. They didn't come out perfectly, but they still tasted good! The bottom right is the Superfood Salad and the Curry Split Pea soup from Mod Market.

Have a great weekend!

Vegan Food Swap: January 2013

The Vegan Food Swap is back and it's time for the January reveal! We took a few months off for the holidays but I'm excited to be getting these fun packages in the mail once again.

The vegan food swap is organized by The Verdant Life and is an awesome idea! You get matched up with another person and send them a box full of your favorite vegan foods. It's a great chance to try new things and meet other bloggers! I always get so excited when a new box of vegan treats shows up at my door.

This month I sent a box to Cobi over at Veggietorials. You can see her post on it here!

I received my food swap box from Livvy at 86 Lemons. She was paired up to send me a package a few months ago, but it was so awesome that I knew another food swap box from her would be a treat! I wasn't wrong - check out what she sent me below.

* Fantastic World Foods vegetarian taco filling
* Organic Quinoa Flour (can't wait to try this!)
* India Spice rice blend

* earnest eats power grains granola bars
* gnu foods cinnamon raisin bars
* eden organic udon pasta

I've already dug into the granola bars and they are really tasty!

Thank you so much for the great vegan swap box, Livvy!

If you want to join in on the vegan food swap fun, you can sign up right here.

You don't even have to have a blog to participate - come on, you know you want to. :)

Tangerine French Toast

Even in my pre-vegan days, I wasn't really a huge fan of french toast. I would never choose it over say, waffles or cinnamon rolls. I tried to make it at home a few times, but it always came out not quite right. My husband is a much bigger french toast fan than I am, so when I was given a sample of the Vegg to review, my first thought was to whip up some vegan french toast and see what happened.

The Vegg is a vegan product that is made to resemble egg yolks. It comes in a powder form, and you need to mix it in a blender with some water to get the correct consistency. Conveniently there was even a recipe for french toast included on the package! I decided to use this as my base recipe, and added some other flavors in for fun.

Tangerine French Toast
 makes 3-4 servings

2 tsp Vegg powder
3/4 C water
3/4 C almond milk
1 tangerine, juiced (about 1/4 C juice)
few drops vanilla
4-6 pieces bread - cut into thirds
vegan butter
for garnish: powdered sugar, maple syrup, tangerine slices

Mix together the Vegg powder, water, and almond milk together in a blender.
Pour this into a shallow dish. Stir in the tangerine juice and a few drops of vanilla.
Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and melt some vegan butter.
Slice your bread into strips and dip both sides into the liquid mixture. Fry the bread in the heated skillet, adding more vegan butter as needed. Flip to cook both sides until golden brown.
Top with powdered sugar, maple syrup and tangerine segments.

When I was mixing the Vegg powder in the blender I was surprised by how much it actually smelled like eggs. It's not a smell I'm used to anymore, so it was a little weird! I was worried the french toast might taste too much like an egg, but actually the end product was delicious! I think with all the other flavors going on and the fact that I covered the french toast with a nice layer of powdered sugar and maple sugar it was hard to go wrong. The tangerines were so perfect too!

I do think that you could easily make this recipe without the Vegg in there, but if you are really missing eggs in your dishes or for someone who is still transitioning to a vegan diet, I think this product could be very useful. I was happy to test it out, and I think I'll make this french toast again!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Friday Flashback

As a part of Vegan MoFo I decided to continue with my Friday tradition of posting an update to my week in photos. It's a little glimpse into my everyday life. Also lots of cat pictures.

1. Some tasty chickpea tacos
2. Fun new vegan nail polish from etsy shop A'dor Beauty
3. Another batch of my pumpkin chocolate chip cookies!
4. Minnie found a box.
5. Peanuty stir fry

Have a great weekend!

Vegan Food Swap: September 2012

It's time for the September vegan food swap reveal!

The vegan food swap is a wonderful idea created and organized by The Verdant Life.
You get matched up with a person and send them a box full of your favorite vegan foods. It's a great chance to try new things and meet other bloggers!

This month I sent a box to Theresa over at Zesty Vegan. I hope you enjoyed your treats!

I received my box from Livvy at 86Lemons. Check out what she sent me:

• True North Almond Pecan Cashew Clusters
• Bob's Red Mill Natural Granola
• "Let Them Eat Vegan" by Dreena Burton

Wow, of course my favorite thing was the "Let Them Eat Vegan" cookbook! There are so many recipes that sound amazing and I can't wait to start trying them out. You can see the Raisinet cookies from the book in Livvy's post here. Yum!!

Thank you so much for the great vegan swap box, Livvy!

If you want to join in on the vegan food swap fun next month, you can sign up right here.

Friday Flashback

1. I finally bought some new vegan makeup - Ecco Bella
2. I found cocomels!
3. A dinner my husband made me - pasta with zucchini and yellow squash. :)
4. Smashed kidney bean tacos
5. Baked mango tofu
6. Kitty nap time


Have a great weekend!

Vegan Food Swap: August 2012

It's time for the August vegan food swap reveal!

The vegan food swap is a wonderful idea created and organized by The Verdant Life.
You get matched up with a person and send them a box full of your favorite vegan foods. It's a great chance to try new things and meet other bloggers!

This month I sent a box to Kyleigh at The Only Vegan I Know. Hope you liked it Kyleigh!

I received my box of vegan food from Stephanie at Vegan Mainstream. Check out the great snacks she sent me:

Here is a list of what was in my box:

• Go Raw Pizza Flax Snacks
• Evelyn's To Go Cookies
• Fruit Bliss Apricots
• Just Great Stuff Superberry Acai Bar
• Candice Foods Chocolate Fudge Energy Bar
• Justin's Maple Almond Butter
• Panda Raspberry Licorice

My favorite was definitely the Evelyn's cookies. They were like a cross between oatmeal raisin and spice cookies -yum! The flax snacks are very tasty crumbled on top of salads, too. Thanks Stephanie!

If you want to join in on the vegan food swap fun, you can sign up right here.

Friday Flashback

1. Delicious Avocado Strawberry Quinoa salad
2. Minnie!
3. Is it sad to admit I like frozen pizza on my recipe blog? Well, I like this one. For emergency no time to cook nights, of course. :)
4. My new favorite snack - smashed avocado on toast with cracked pepper.
5. My produce delivery this week featured some pretty heirloom tomatoes.

Have a great weekend!

Vegan Food Swap: July 2012

It's time for the July vegan food swap reveal!

The vegan food swap is a wonderful idea created and organized by The Verdant Life!

This month I sent a box to Jessica. She doesn't have a blog, but maybe she'll decide to make one soon? Enjoy your box, Jessica!


I received my box of vegan food from April, who blogs over at April's Mooseathon. She sent me some awesome goodies!

Here is a list of what was in my box:

• Himalania Goji Berries
• Rishi iced tea
• Endangered species dark chocolate espresso bar
• CoGoBar
• Bonnieville's Power Cookie
• NRG Bar

Thanks April!

The chocolate bar did get a little melted from it being so hot outside, but I put it in the fridge and it was totally fine - just a little misshapen. :)

If you want to join in on the vegan food swap, you can sign up right here.

Friday Flashback

1. My sister's party featuring the Champagne Cupcakes
2. I found vegan marshmallows!
3. Banana "soft serve" with chocolate chips
4. I used the marshmallows to make s'mores. :)




Have a great weekend!

Vegan Food Swap: June 2012

It's time for another food swap reveal!

I am so happy I got to participate in this great event organized by The Verdant Life. It is so fun to pick out things to send to another vegan blogger. This month I sent a box to Sarah over at Good Story Sarah.

I received my box of vegan food from Heather, of Sunday Morning Banana Pancakes fame. I've admired her blog for a long time, so I'm sure most of you have visited her, but if not you must go check it out! She has wonderfully creative recipes and lovely photographs, too. I mean, just look at this cake. Seriously.

I was so excited to be matched up with Heather because I knew she would pick out some amazing things to send me - and I was right!

Here is a list of what was in my food swap box:

1. Bona Chia Spinach Fettuccine
2. True North Almond Pecan Blueberry Nut Clusters
3. Bare Fruit Granny Smith Apple Chips
4. Flamous Falafel Chips
5. Very Berry bars from Enjoy life
6. Authentic maple syrup from NH!
7. Barney almond butter
8. Artisana cashew butter
9. Carrot Cake Lara Bar
10. Raw Revolution bar
11. Green SuperFood bar
12. Smackers chocolate spirulina patties
  

So excited to try this!

 

She also sent me this cute Guatemalan worry doll!

Thank you so much for all the fun vegan food, Heather! We already tried the chia fettuccine, and it was so delicious! :)

Don't forget to go check out her blog - Sunday Morning Banana Pancakes.

If you want to join in on the vegan food swap, you can sign up right here.

You can check out the other participant's posts below!

Friday Flashback

1. Delicious summer salad from that's so vegan
2. My husband made me sushi. :)
3. Black bean pumpkin chili
4. Vegan candy bar, found at whole foods.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Friday Flashback

1. My AMAZING new roller skates from Moxi! Animal free skates in animal print! Seriously beautiful. Best purchase ever. I may do a whole post on them soon!
2. Udi's Vegan Supper Club was great again this month: Lemon Potatoes, Asparagus with bread crumbs, and Eggplant Zucchini Moussaka for the main course.
3. Falafel pie recipe
4. Finally found some of the Food for Lovers vegan queso to try - I like it!
5. Dessert at Udi's - pudding with rum raisins, toasted coconut, pineapple and pistachios.


Have a great weekend!

Vegan Food Swap: May 2012

I am so happy that I got to participate in the Vegan Food Swap, organized by Cat at The Verdant Life.
Such a great idea! I had so much fun shopping for vegan treats to send to The Radioactive Vegan, and then a box of goodies appeared at my door!

The blogger that sent me food this month is Theresa, from Using Coupons to Decrease Debt.
She sent me some delicious snacks, including a few things I hadn't seen before!

 Here is a list of what was in my package:

• True North almond pecan crunch nut clusters
• Ginger chews
• Surf sweets gummy candy
• Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips (love these for baking!)
• Primal seitan jerky strips: thai peanut and teriyaki

What a fun idea! I can't wait to participate again next month. If you want to join in on the fun, go sign up at The Verdant Life!

Thanks again for the vegan treats, Theresa! :)

Friday Flashback

 

 

1. Lemon Quinoa and Butternut Squash

2. Delicious potato and veggie tacos
3. My awesome new vegan wallet from cotton purr!
4. Amy's chocolate cake, plus strawberries


If you are in Colorado, don't miss Udi's vegan supper club on Monday night!

Have a wonderful weekend! :)

Vegan Beauty Products

Just wanted to share a few quick pictures of some recent purchases. I decided I would update my products slowly. When something runs out, I will buy a new version (if needed) that is vegan/cruelty free. I was interested in upgrading my products to less toxic versions even before I started eating vegan, so this is exciting. (Does anyone else get excited about soap? I might be weird.)

 

So far my favorite thing is the Hugo Naturals Shower Gel. It has a great light scent (but not too strong) and works well. I love it and am totally buying more from this brand. It's awesome that it says vegan right on the front!

 

 

Next on my list is going to be replacing some of my makeup items. I use a lot of Tarte products now, which are cruelty free, but after some research I found out that not everything they carry is vegan. Thankfully my favorite lip tint is... but I need to find a new type of concealer and mascara.

Any recommendations on brands for makeup or other beauty products?