Category Archives: Holidays

May 22, 2013

Spicy Vodka Lemonade

I’m flying! Okay, let me explain. I’m in an airplane right now, heading to Portland for Vida Vegan Con and am super excited. I will say that I’m not a humongous fan of flying (especially in very small planes), so I’ll be even happier when I’ve landed safely in the rain. You’ll know about it because the plane doesn’t have wi-fi, so I can’t post the blog up here. ;)

What’s even more awesome is that I am not coming home until almost a week from now! So, I’m basically expecting to gain a few pounds, be totally inspired and meet amazing vegan bloggers. Sometimes, I really don’t regret parting ways with the design industry.

I bought a new point and shoot camera for this trip, so that I wouldn’t have to lug around my fancy camera and worry about it getting damaged or hurting my neck. I’ll make sure to take plenty of pictures to share with everyone, next week!

While I’ll be busy doing bloggy things this weekend, most everyone else is celebrating Memorial Day. And people, do I have the perfect beverage for you. This ain’t your average lemonade; it has fresh ingredients, plus a kick from jalapeno and vodka.

This beverage is fantastic because you can make large batches of it and place it into a dispenser for easy refilling. Of course, you can tone down the jalapeno if it’s going to be made the night before a party, as it may be a little too spicy. Also, keep the mixture cold, because the warmer it gets, the hotter it tastes!

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Spicy Vodka Lemonade
Author: 
Recipe type: Beverage
Prep time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 1
 

A refreshing lemonade with a spicy kick from jalapeño, taken up a notch with vodka!
Ingredients
  • ¼ C. Fresh Lemon Juice
  • 1 Tbsp. Fresh Jalapeño, Sliced
  • 1 Tbsp. Agave Syrup
  • ¾ C. Water
  • 2 oz. Vodka
  • Ice

Instructions
  1. Pour the lemon juice into a glass that holds 12 oz. along with the jalapeño. Using a muddler or blunt rod-type tool, muddle the jalapeño slices a little bit.
  2. Add the agave, water and vodka to the mixture and stir until combined.
  3. Cool the drink with as much ice as you prefer.

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If you’re not into the booze thing, just leave the vodka out for a virgin drink with pizzazz. Also, I’ll have a Memorial Recipe round-up for you later this week, with plenty of awesome recipes!

PS. I made it here safely! (And am already enjoying awesome vegan food) :D

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May 16, 2013

Refreshing Watermelon Tomato Salad

The weather earlier this week was insane! You want to talk about a scorcher?  I thought that I was back working Coachella! Thank goodness I could jump in a pool to cool off. ;) I wish that I had this salad to cool me down from the inside out, though.

I was inspired by a salad that I had years ago, with watermelon, tomato, mint, and feta, plus some vegetarian roe for a salty kick. This one is slightly different, with creamy pine nuts changing up the texture, and a combination of mint and basil to make it interesting (and pretty!).

The best part about this salad is that it comes together in mere minutes. If you chill the tomato and watermelon before assembly it works out even better. This is the perfect side for a summer party, BBQ or as a light snack. Throw a little white balsamic vinegar on there and call it a day!

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May 2, 2013

Vegan Ceviche

Phew, let me tell you, it is so weird to be home again. But, definitely a relief. After a month of working my butt off in the windy, hot desert that is Coachella Valley, and not blogging at all, it is nice to be sitting comfortably at my desk and hanging out with my pups. I won’t lie, though, being forced to have a break from the internet was actually a good thing and eventually I just had to live with the fact that I would have no time to blog, etc. Before April, I was already having a hard enough time juggling my work with my personal life, and now I have to really re-access what my priorities are, but still reach my goals. Such is life!

Here are a few photos from my trip!

Pre-Coachella Show Day

Dust Storm Hellish-ness Weekend 1

About to watch Local Natives

Messin’ around in the Boutique Photo Booth

Some of our Inventory team on the last day!

One of the recipes that I made before I left, is something that I’m really excited about; especially since Cinco de Mayo is right around the corner! I had ceviche a few times in my life before I went vegan, and only once after that. The vegan version that I had was weird and involved fake shrimp which always gives me the heebie-jeebies, so I decided that I would make my own recipe!

This dish is more of a side, but may just steal the spotlight with how refreshing it is and its great flavors. Plus, it is REALLY easy to make. Once of the sneaky ingredients in it are oyster mushrooms, they have a slightly fishy scent/taste which makes this a well-rounded vegan ceviche. You can bring it to a party, serve it with a meal, make it whenever! I prefer to eat it with some salted tortilla chips and a beer. ;)

I can’t forget to mention that my mom loved this so much that she brought it to a get together with some of her quilting friends; and they all enjoyed it, too!

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April 18, 2013

Grilled Buffalo Tempeh Mozzarella Sandwich

Let me start off by saying that I miss the “real” world! I’ve been out here in Indio for two weeks and am so insanely busy. I have more and more posts saved up for you, but no time to get them up! And, cooking is out of the question, so I have almost 2 more weeks until I’m back in my kitchen at home and cooking up awesome dishes.

For those of you that didn’t hear, I’m on the inventory team in the merch tent for Coachella/Stagecoach, so I’m pretty much stuck in the desert for an entire month. What IS a relief is that I have some really great vegan options when it comes to show-day eats. Right now, there’s a Brazilian vegan booth with some great combo plates (including plantains!), a vegan Indian booth with lentil dahl, savory chutney and saffron rice, plus a RAW VEGAN booth! Pretty incredible to see veganism grow to change your typical food court booths, and even better to see it being a popular choice; even with Ruth’s Chris’ booth only a couple of stops over.

You may have heard that National Grilled Cheese day was this past Friday, and this here sandwich is my contribution to all of the great posts from that day. I tried out a new, vegan cheese substitute with this one and loved how it turned out. Plus, I absolutely adore buffalo anything, as long as it’s vegan; so this ended up being a magical combination. To make it slightly healthier I added some kale to the sautéed tempeh, which also adds great color and texture contrast. Don’t you love it when food looks as good as it tastes?

This recipe really comes together in almost no time at all, save for the sauteing of the tempeh. It’s pretty flexible as well; you can switch out the kale for almost any other green, and adding some diced red onion may just take this sandwich to another level! Maybe you prefer sourdough over seedy wheat breads, which sounds so good, or adding some tomato and avocado. Excuse me while I wipe the drool from my keyboard.

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