My hubz and I decided that we are going to Boston Veg Fest again this year. Last year besides getting to hear Sarah Kramer speak I wasn’t overly impressed. I was hopping for more information about vegetarianism and not just tons of products (and there weren’t as many samples as I expected). However I’m open to trying it again and seeing what is there this year.
I am also excited because we have decided to stay in Lowell again this year (Boston was just too expensive for the night…..Lowell=1/4 of the price and only 30min away). Also Lowell has Life Alive which has delicious, healthy food and is amazing. Also planning on hitting up Prana Cafe in Newton Corners, Grezzo and our favorite Bagel Rising.
UPDATE: ALL PARTNERS HAVE BEEN PICKED AND E-MAILED OUT. PLEASE MAKE SURE TO CHECK YOUR E-MAIL AND CONTACT YOUR PARTNER IMMEDIATELY. IF YOU HAVE NOT HEARD FROM YOUR PARTNER BY MONDAY 11/2/09 PLEASE CONTACT ME.
It’s time to do another Vegan Care Package swap! Last year around this time I organized a swap and it went over really well. I am hoping that this year will bring on an even better turn out.
If you are abloggerand are interested please comment here and send me a note to Lindsay (at) cookingforaveganlover dot com with an e-mail address that you would like to be contacted by. Please in include the following in your note as well: Name, Location, blog URL, and whether you are will to ship internationally or not.
Please do not send me your address. I will match people together, give each other your e-mail addresses and then you can go on to exchange mailing addresses.
Please expect to spend around $20-25 on VEGAN goods, if you would like to spend more than do so, however, do not be disappointed if your partner does not do the same.
Please enter to participate by October 29th, 2009 Closed. I will match people up and let them know their pairs by October 30th, 2009. You will have one month to gather your items and mail them out- so all packages should be mailed by November 31st, 2009. Once you receive your package please photograph the contents and make a post to your blog detailing what is in your package, link to your partners blog and a link to this posting.
I am excited to see how many of you are interested out there. Like I said this went very well last year and it’s a great way to meet people and try new products.
My husband’s Vegan Care Package
from the care package swap of 2008
*Please note that this exchange is based on trust that whoever is participating will follow through, so if you don’t feel like you can participate to the full extent then please do not respond to this.
Please check your spam to see if you have messages from me. Keep an eye out for an e-mail on the 30th from Lindsay[at]cookingforaveganlover.com – i have heard that e-mails from me are going to some peoples spam for some reason. You may want to just add me to your contact list so it doesn’t go to spam. thanks!
One of my husband and my favorite places to dine in Burlington is A Single Pebble this amazing family style authentic Chinese Restaurant that has a great number of vegan options. Our favorite dish, well one of them we have so many, is Double Garlic Broccoli which is broccoli, garlic, cashews and chili flakes and this delicious soy based sauce.
I was rummaging through my fridge last night trying to decide what to make for dinner based on which produce needed to be used first and I remembered I had bought some broccoli at the Saturday farmers market that I hadn’t used yet. As well I had a huge bunch of Asparagus that was in need of being cooked up, I decided I would make my version of Double Garlic Broccoli and cook the asparagus 2 ways.
Double Garlic Broccoli
Makes 4 large servings, can easily be cut in half
Ingredients:
4 Cups broccoli florets
1 Tbl vegetable oil
8 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
1 tsp chili flakes, more or less based on how hot you like things
¼ Cup of water
2 Tbls soy sauce
½ Cup raw cashews
½ tsp toasted sesame oil
Directions:
Heat the vegetable oil in a walk over high heat.
Add the garlic and chili flakes and let cook for 30 seconds then add the broccoli and toss together.
Turn down the heat to medium-high and add the water, for 4-7 minutes until the broccoli has softened.
Add the soy sauce, cashews and sesame oil.
Serve as a side dish or as a main over brown rice.
Cheezy Asparagus
Makes 4 small side servings
Ingredients:
15 spears of asparagus
1 Tbl olive oil
2 Tbl nutritional yeast
½ Tbl goya adobo (if you don’t have this use salt& pepper & a pinch of garlic powder)
Directions:
1.Heat oven to 375F. Place the asparagus in a baking dish.
Toss the asparagus with the oil, nutritional yeast and adobo.
Place dish in the oven and bake for 15min
Plate and garnish with chopped scallions.
Garlicky Asparagus
Makes 4 small side servings
Ingredients:
15 spears of asparagus
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 Tbl olive oil
S+P
Directions:
Heat oven to 375F. Place the asparagus in a baking dish.
Mix together the oil, garlic, S+P and pour over the asparagus
Place dish in the oven and bake for 15min
Plate and garnish with the garlic that has been left at the bottom of the pan.
Last night I made the Fried Udon Noodles from Alicia Silverstone’s The Kind Diet and they were pretty good – and it made a ton of food. The recipe says 2 servings so I doubled it so that we would have food for lunch tomorrow however not only did it make enough for for lunch tomorrow it made enough for dinner as well. The dish was over all good, I was slightly apprehensive of the large amount of paprika but it was surprisingly good. I felt that the dish again lacked salt same as yesterday – I sound like I just love salt since it’s been my major complaint but I really don’t I like just enough to enhance the dish and this one called for too little. I also thought it needed a little heat- I would have add some chili flakes or jalapenos to the dish next time. This time we just added a little hot sauce and it was great. Overall I have been very impressed with The Kind Diet, it is informative, and has had some very good, inspiring recipes.
I still hope to make the Brown Rice Waffles this week and the Black-eyed Pea Croquettes but we will see.
Also: 19 participants! Can we make it 20??? Only 2 more days to sign up for the Vegan Care Package Swap: http://bit.ly/1qCKhZ
Recently Pacific Natural Foods sent me a number of items to review and although I would love to try them all I think that a giveaway is a must. Pacific Natural Foods carries a number of vegan items which include:
I currently am in the process of trying the various products out and have currently tired the Almond Milks and Creamy Butternut Squash Soup. I have really enjoyed both and used the Almond Milk in Peanut Butter, Date and Banana smoothies as well as in granola. The soup my husband and I had with a sandwich and it was very good – slightly under seasoned for our taste so we added a touch of salt and pepper but it was creamy and delicious otherw
ise. I will update this more when I have the chance to try the other products.
So now for the giveaway: There will be one chance to win Nut or Grain Beverage- you will have a choice between Almond or Oat milk, an Ice Tea, and a coupon for 1 Free Pacific Natural Foods item. There will also be 2 additional chances to win a coupon for 1 Free Pacific Natural Foods item.
To enter:
Leave a comment – let me know if you would prefer Almond or Oat milk
Extra chances (if you already do any of these let me know):
Twitter about this giveaway @cookveganlover (leave me a comment)
Last night I decided to try another one of Alicia Silverstone’s recipes from The Kind Diet- Adzuki Beans and Squash, I served it with garliky collards. This was the first time I had ever cooked with adzuki beans and hubbard squash (it calls for kobacha but I couldn’t find any at the co-op so I chose a different one). The dish was great and something new for my husband and I, however for my taste and my husbands it lacked a little salt so I added about a teaspoon of Braggs to both of our dishes. Also neither of us loved the kombu, however I have to say for 3 new things all in one dish it was pretty good and it will take time to adapt and try new things.
Toinght I am going to try the Fried Udon Noodles so look out for pictures and my thoughts on the dish.
Thursday I made some delicious Spaghetti Squash with Sauce and Gimme Lean Sausage Balls:
I roasted the spaghetti squash in the oven for 40 min at 350F
The sauce was made from a large diced red pepper, garlic, crushed tomatoes, salt and pepper, dried basil and dried thyme.
For Friday night dinner we had a Mexican Plate: Brown rice, Refried black beans with almond cheese, Corn and Red Pepper Salsa, Mexican tofu and Sour Supreme. To make the Mexican Tofu was made with vegetable stock, chipotle chili powder, dried cumin, goya adobo, and paprika.
Saturday night dinner I didn’t get to photograph but it was Sausage and Cheese WafflePanini from Alicia Silverstone’s The Kind Life. This sandwich was amazing- we had it on Vans 97% Fat Free Waffles, with Tofutti mozza slices, arugula, vegan sausages, sundried tomatoes and a veganaise and apricot jam mix. So delicious!
This evening I decided to try two more of Alicia Silverstone’s recipes- the Mushroom, Leek and Pea Risotto and the Caesar Dressing- both of which were great. The dressing was amazing although not as much of a “Caesar” as other recipes I have tired but regardless it was amazingly delicious.
