Tag Archives: mofo

October 31, 2011

Halloween & Sugar Cookies!

Happy Halloween, everybody! I love the creativity involved in this holiday but, because it’s officially here, it means that Vegan MOFO 2011 is over! Boooo! Overall, it’s been fun sharing my adventures with everyone and finding out about the hundreds of cool vegan blogs out there. I can’t be too sad that it’s over knowing that I will continue, business as usual, posting on a consistent basis and meeting new bloggers! That being said, let us continue on to the delicious sugar cookies that I made for my friend’s pumpkin carving party on Saturday.

I was in a bit of a rush on Saturday, so this delicious treat was the amalgamation of a couple of different recipes. The sugar cookie recipe that I used was one that I found over at Chez Betty, whose heart cookies look adorable! The only thing that I did differently was half the recipe and roll out the dough to used cookie cutters after I took it out of the refrigerator.

Next, I tried to figure out what to do with the decorations; was I going to use sprinkles? Was it going to be topped with icing? What flavor would the icing be? Oh, the hard decisions you have to make when baking! ;) I started winging it, and this is where things get a little hazy as far as recipes go. The icing started out more as whipped frosting of the butter cream variety, then turned into a weird mess, then finally into chocolate-y goodness.

If I were to do this again, instead of whipping everything up and then microwaving it into an icing, I’d make this in a pan! So, I’ll give you an estimated recipe of what worked for me and if you try it out let me know how it goes. >_<

Ingredients:

  • 4 Tbsp. Earth Balance
  • 1 1/2 Cups Organic Powdered Sugar
  • 1/2 Cup Cocoa Powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
  • 1/4 Cup Non-Dairy Milk
  • Pinch of Salt

Directions:

  1. Heat Earth Balance over medium head until melted. Mix powdered sugar and cocoa powder together in a bowl and then slowly stir it into the melted Earth Balance until it is well combined. Add salt and vanilla to the mixture and as much of the non-dairy milk as necessary to make the icing liquid-y.
  2. Take the icing off of the heat and let cool for a few minutes, making sure to stir it occasionally so that it cools evenly. Then either pour a little icing at a time over the sugar cookies or dip the top face of the cookie into the icing. Make sure to ice the cookies over a plate or parchment/wax paper.
  3. Refrigerate for 20-30 minutes before stacking the cookies if you are planning on bringing them with you to a party!

Even after the stressing out about the unique way of icing these cookies, I brought them over to Sarah’s and everybody loved them! I probably should have made the whole recipe, but I think it’s better this way (with less cookies in my belly!).

I also brought another dish to the party, but I won’t be sharing that with you until later this week, perhaps tomorrow? :) Instead, I will leave you with the end result of our pumpkin carving party! One pumpkin is a tad NSFW, and was not done by me! Can you guess which one is mine?

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Well, of course it would be the one with vegan pizza and beer on it! And my blog initials, too, dang I’m such a nerd! :D

Again, Happy Halloween, everyone and I hope that you had a great weekend and Vegan MOFO! Stay safe and eat lots of vegan treats, I will probably just stuff my face with pumpkin beer and butter pecan icecream. ;)

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October 25, 2011

Review: Vinnie’s Pizzeria in Greenpoint, NY.

I can’t remember exactly how it was that I heard about Vinnie’s Pizzeria but, my goodness, I’m so glad that I went there. The first time I had their pizza was at their Greenpoint location with my cousin. We were both starving and walked quite a ways to the pizzeria and were welcomed by the strong aroma of fresh pizza and garlic (I’m drooling just thinking about it!). They have a wide selection of omnivore and vegan pizzas, and will top any of the vegan slices with daiya if you’d like.

After talking with one of the guys that works there, I picked out the SUPER LOADED Veggie pizza and had them put Daiya Mozzarella on top of it, along with the T. Hanks BBQ Chicken Pizza. Both slices were SO good, honestly some of the best pizza I’ve ever had, besides my homemade pizza of course. ;)

The Veggie slice was topped with steamed broccoli, artichoke hearts, black olives, oven-roasted bell peppers, garlic sauteed spinach, onions, and mushrooms; I told you it was loaded! The T. Hanks slice was covered in mozzarella and cheddar shreds, BBQ chicken, red onion and BBQ Sauce; look at that picture and tell me that you’re not drooling!

The next time I went to Vinnie’s was with my boyfriend, and we made a late night stop by the Williamsburg location. I went against my craving for a gooey, cheesy daiya covered slice of pizza pie and went with a BBA slice topped with black beans, avocado slices, pico de gallo and faux feta. And on the side? Gluttony! Kidding… sort of. :D It was actually a faux ham and cheese roll paired with marinara sauce. Yum!

I’d have to say, I did love the ham roll and the pizza was good; but, I loved the Greenpoint location better. The people that worked there were super down to earth and it was more of a family spot, as opposed to the slightly obnoxious, hipster crowd of the Williamsburg location. I strongly recommend that you head over to the location nearest to you!

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October 24, 2011

Spaghetti Squash with Marinara & Focaccia

Let me start off by saying that it’s quite obvious that I’m a squash lover. Most of my family and friends are aware of this and if you didn’t know it yet, you soon will! I love all types of squash; the light and crisp summer squashes, the hearty fall and winter squashes with their hard shells and squashes with unique textures that are great for substituting noodles in pasta dishes!

The post today is about how much I love spaghetti squash and a great marinara sauce for it. Spaghetti squash is great for casseroles as well as pseudo pasta dishes, and is so easy to prepare that you’ll wonder why you even bothered to boil some starchy store bought noodles for your awesome sauce (whichever one you like). I prefer to bake mine, but if I’m running out of time I use the microwave; so now you have no excuses NOT to use this wonderful specimen of a squash. ;)

I made this dish while in New York, so that my cousin could try out some of my cooking. It went terrifically with the Mediterranean Focaccia that I made, and the crisp romaine salad with yellow cherry tomatoes and fresh mushrooms. This dish would also be great with some garlic bread and putting black olives in the marinara would definitely take it up a notch!

Ingredients (Servings: 4)

  • 6 Medium-Sized Tomatoes, Roughly Chopped
  • 10 Pieces of Sun Dried Tomato
  • 1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
  • 3 Cloves of Garlic
  • 1/4 Cup White Onions, Diced
  • 4 Button Mushrooms, Chopped
  • 1/2 tsp. Dried Oregano
  • 1/2 tsp. Dried Basil
  • 1/4 tsp. Dried Parsley
  • 1/4 tsp. Crushed Red Pepper
  • Salt to Taste
  • 1 Medium-Sized Spaghetti Squash, Roughly 4 Cups Once Scraped Out

Directions:

  1. Wash off your spaghetti squash and slice it in half. Place face down on a baking dish and fill the bottom with water until it is about 1/4″ high and poke several holes in the rind with a fork. Bake at 350°F for about 25-30 minutes or until the rind is soft when you poke it.
  2. While that is baking, heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Saute garlic and onion in oil until the onions are clear. In the meantime place the fresh and the sun dried tomatoes into a food processor or blender and puree until completely smooth, you may need to do this in two batches depending on how big your appliance is.
  3. Pour the tomato mixture into the pan along with the mushrooms and herbs/spices. Stir together and let simmer for 15 minutes over low heat, stirring occasionally.
  4. When the spaghetti squash is done baking, what 5-10 minutes for it to cool slightly and scrape out the insides with a fork. Drain it in a colander if there is a lot of excess moisture, then mix it into the marinara sauce. Serve warm and top with a pinch of nutritional yeast if you want the same effect as Parmesan cheese.

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October 21, 2011

Champs Restaurant in Brooklyn, NY.

On my first Friday in New York, I went over to New York Adorned and got tattooed by Brad Stevens. It was a pretty cool experience and the shop had a good vibe and cool people working there. Brad is vegan so I asked him for some suggestions as far as good restaurants in the Greenpoint/Williamsburg area, especially for a good breakfast. His first suggestion was Champs, a restaurant/bakery that has gone through some changes in the past year, for the better!

So, for a late breakfast the next day, my cousin and I ventured a mile or so in the unusually warm weather to Champs. We walked in and all of the tables were full with a short wait, so as soon as the seats at the counter opened up we grabbed them and set our eyes on the menu. I ended up getting the Bionic Breakfast that included a “mountain of potatoes with sauteed mushrooms, peppers and soysage topped with spicy tofu sauce” and my cousin got the BLT with tempeh bacon, tomato, lettuce and veganaise on whole wheat bread.

The spicy tofu sauce was an awesome touch to the breakfast bowl, and I had a bite of the BLT and it was very good. My cousin isn’t vegan, but she said that she absolutely loved it! After that, we just HAD to get a dessert, since this place is part bakery after all. We decided to get the peanut butter chocolate tart, and split it in half. Although, out of the whole dessert, I ended up eating most of it and totally not regretting it. It had a super rich peanut butter chocolate filling in a chocolate cookie crust.

And the aftermath…

Ha ha! So, after a few cups of coffee and enjoying the food, I would have to say that I really enjoyed this place and I’d love to go back there someday! If you’re in the area I highly recommend heading over to Champs for some breakfast or lunch.

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