Sophie's Cosmic Cafe

Usually breakfast is my least favourite meal of the day when it comes to dining out.  My usual fare of hasbrowns and dry toast gets pretty boring after so many years.  A lot of places offer a side of fruit, but it's usually melons and grapes that have been marinating in lemon juice and water and pretty devoid of taste.

So this morning when Mr. Carnivore and I went out for breakfast, I picked the place: Sophie's Cosmic Cafe.  When we first arrived, there was a bit of a line-up spilling out into the sidewalk and Mr. Carnivore grumbled a bit, but we only had to wait a few minutes before being seated.

As you enter, you're greeted by hundreds (maybe even thousands) of knick-knacks and figurines which are affixed to every nook and cranny. My favourite is the pair of glittery silver high-heel boots near the front counter.

Sophies Cosmic Cafe has a really great selection of vegetarian options on the menu, including a Mexican tofu scramble, served with salsa, tortilla chips, 2 flour tortillas and black beans.  And the portions are ridiculously huge.  I barely ate half before my pants were begging to be loosened.  Mr Carnivore had (non-veg) French Toast with berries and was sufficiently stuffed as well.  He'd be happy to go to Sophies again, and that makes me happy :)

THIS is a sandwich!

I've talked about Marmalady before, the weekly gourmet lunch cart service that serves up fantastical lunches in our staff kitchen each week.  I absolutely adore Chef Salima's colossal sized sandwiches.  If you were to compare them with a regular sandwich, it's like that scene in Crocodile Dundee where he scoffs at the swtichblade and says "THIS is a a knife".

Well, THIS is a sandwich!

Thanksgiving recap

I just realized that I never posted pics from Thanksgiving dinner.  Since the USA Thanksgiving is coming up, it seems like a good time to share a couple of my favourite dishes from our huge family dinner.  One of my cousins made an egg-less pumpkin pie that was probably the best pumpkin pie I've ever had.

And my baked yams with Dandies may look a bit strange but tasted great too.

For all mu US friends, I hope you have a delicious Thanksgiving next week!

Watermelon bunnies & Cucumber bears

I love cutting fruit and veggies into little shapes for P's lunch.  This one has fun watermelon bunnies and  cucumber bear heads.  There's also some Kashi puffs, rice crackers, soy yogurt and brown rice pasta with a chopped up veggie dog.

Another lunchbox that came home empty!  I'm sure one of these days I'll strike out and P won't like what's in her lunch, but I'm really excited that she's eating all this good stuff.

I've got Dandies for my Yams...

It's Thanksgiving this weekend here in Canada.  There's always so much hype around the US Thanksgiving, is it wrong of me to feel underwhelmed with ours?  I was talking to some co-workers yesterday about how, when I was growing up, I hated everything that was served on our Thanksgiving menu.

My mom always made a molded green jello ring mixed with cottage cheese. I forget what it's called - I want to say ambrosia salad but I don't think that's right.  In any case, it's revolting.  My cousin makes a yam dish baked with marshmallows on top, and of course there's the turkey and ham.  Blehhh.  I used to fill up on dinner rolls and corn.  Not really much of a feast, to say the least.  Weekday meals were far more interesting.

Being vegan since the age of 14, I looked forward to the family gathering more than the food that was served, but I really do wish I could do both.

This year my cousin (the yam and marshmallow girl) has invited us over to celebrate Thanksgiving at her place.  I'm determined to make it my best Thanksgiving meal ever.  So I've got Dandies for my yams, and I'm making a huge baked vegetable medley for everyone too.  There will be lots of vegan goodies, so stay tuned for photos of the feast!

Fun new VEG song with catchy verses

I received an email from Cyrus Pirasteh, Founder of OhWhyOhWhy.Org asking me to check out their new song/music video promoting the veg*an movement.

I wasn't really sure what to expect, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the song has a funky reggae-feel to it, and I really enjoyed watching the video with Preciosa.She was excited to see all of the animals in the video and when it was over she asked to see it again.

So here's the video for you to check out for yourself. It's performed by Greg Cipes and Jah Sun.



For more info about the organization behind the tunes, go to http://www.ohwhyohwhy.org

I also found the song on iTunes for $1.29.  For that price, how can you not buy it?

5 Worst Forest Foods

While I was eating lunch @ work today I skimmed through the Metro News and came across an article that screamed at me to be read, and shared on the blog.

5 worst forest foods by Romina McGuinness

1. Beef
2. Palm Oil
3. Rice
4. Corn
5. Soy

It's no surprise that beef is number one, but the rest of the culprits are every day foods on many vegan plates, and it really got me riled up that they blame the entire soy consumption on vegetarians! "More and more people are choosing to consume less meat, a decision that has led to an increase in soy, the main ingredient in making tofu (a staple of the vegetarian diet.) Soy covers some 11 million hectares of forest across South America."

The Author, Romina McGuinness, makes no mention whatsoever of the cattle ranchers who are destroying the rainforests to plant soy that becomes animal feed. If the article took a more neutral/less biased position backed up by actual facts, it would have been a far more interesting and believebale article.

Thumbs way down on what could have been a very imformative lesson about how our dinner plate is linked to deforestation.

I commented my feedback in their article pointing out the oversight. Feel free to do the same.

You can read the full article here.

Marmalady's Vegan Pesto & Eggplant Curry Spread

A while ago I wrote about Marmalady who brings a wealth of delicious lunches to our office every Wednesday with her lunch cart service.  Chef Salima told me about some new vegan items that she was adding to her catering menu and asked if I would be interested in sampling them.

 Would I?  Heck yeah!

First up was her vegan pesto - when she first told me that there was no nutritional yeast in her recipe, I wondered if would still have that je ne sais quoi...and I'm happy to tell you it did not disappoint!  It is already so packed with flavour, there's no need for nooch.  Chef Salima uses walnuts instead of pine nuts, so there's a good dose of Omega 3 in her pesto too.  You can buy the pesto at Drive Organic on Commercial Drive in Vancouver.  I made brown rice elbow pasta and slathered on some pesto. Deeelicious!!

The other sample she generously bestowed me with was a huge sandwich with a vegan curry eggplant spread (also available at the Drive) Sadly, I can't find my photo of it, but I can tell you it was mega-delicious and if you have a chance tyo get yourt hands on some, you should get it.

Marmalady now has a website: marmaladycatering.com.

Another soy-free lunch, bento style!

Can you tell I'm really digging these bento box lunches?  I went to Daiso on the weekend and stocked up on little bento gadgets so I can make fun things like the little army of bunny shaped pancakes in this vegan bento lunch box. I put blueberry syrup in the small container beside them.

A navel orange and kiwi fruit are next, followed by a 1/2 sprouted grain bagel with sunflower seed butter. I had to cut it in half again to make it fit.  The last section has black beans and green beans with a 1/2 corn on the cob left over from dinner tonight.

Canada Day Recap: Brick Oven Bread, Greasy Fries and Solar Powered Street Lamps

Yesterday during our Canada Day festivities, I discovered an amazing jewel of a bakery.  It's called Romania Country Bread, and I was lured in by a Romanian man sitting outside the bakery at a checkerboard table, telling the throngs of passersby that inside was the best bread we have ever tasted.

He was not kidding.

If organic stone-ground whole wheat bread is your only product, it better be good- and trust me, it is fantastic!  The rustic loaves come in two sizes, 1/4 kilo for $5.00 or 1 kilo for $10.00.   The reason their bread is so amazing is because it's made the bread was supposed to be made - in a massive brick oven.  I was talking with some people outside of the bakery and apparently it took them years to get a permit from the city to build this oven because of fire safety hazards and such.

I bought two of the 1/4 kilo loaves. One of them was mostly eaten by the time we got home (yes, I shared).

We also visited Pajos at the beach to grab a veggie dog and greasy fries served in a cone of paper.  I love how the picnic tables have holes carved in them to accomodate the cones of fries.Unfortunately Pajos doesn't have do-it-yourself condiments, so this is what I got when I asked for mustard & relish.  (Note the ketchup and absence of relish.) It's a good thing I like mustard!
 

And the final highlight of my day was not food related, but environmental.  A lamp post unexpectedly powered by a solar panel and wind turbine.  It's part one Richmond BC's pilot projects and I hope we see more initiatives like this become mainstream. 

Happy Canada Day to all my Canadian readers, I hope you had fun celebrating Canada's 143rd birthday :)

Oh, Canada...red white and GREEN lunch

I started with a red & white theme for Preciosa's lunch todayin keeping with her daycare's Canada Day theme...but I didn't feel right not putting something green in her lunch.  I couldn't do it.  So we've got vegan cream cheese and vegan "Canadian Bacon" on homemade bread, celery with sunflower seed butter and golden raisins, a white nectarine, salt & vinegar CheeCha puffs, and Glutenfrreda raisin flax oatmeal, with a little container of peas tucked under it.

Canada Day Lunch Box

Ever since the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, Preciosa has been randomly singing our national anthem  "Oh, Canada."  She's going to be very excited this week at daycare when she finds out the theme of the week is "Canada Day."

I thought it would be a fun suprise if her lunches this week were also inspired by this theme. I made her a Canadian flag sandwich with strawberries & vegan cream cheese on a slice of homemade bread. Next to the flag sandwich are some bright, juicy gem tomatoes, and above those are potato salad balls a la Vegan Lunch Box, and last but not least, soba noodles with a bunny filled with Bragg soy sauce.

Here's Preciosa's latest rendition of "Oh Canada":

Might as well have cooked green eggs and ham...

I made a big batch of hummus last night.  I love hummus.  Love it.  I'm going to end up eating all week in my lunch, along with a big pack of gum so my poor co-workers don't suffer the wrath of my garlic breath.  I also made a lentil rice pilaf which i thought was great, but Preciosa wanted no part of.  She ate a few grains of rice but if it was mixed with a lentil, there was no way it was going near her mouth.  The sweet potato mash was okay, but kind of reminded me of the baby food I used to cook for her.

The plethora of leftovers found their way into both of our lunches today.  Apparently Preciosa cried whenever they tried to get her to eat her lunch.

Blue Corn Tacos & Laptop Lunch #2

I bought these beautiful blue corn tacos (Whole foods 365 brand) because they are so pretty.  I baked some corn bread from La Dolce Vegan, chopped up a bowlful of peach salsa, and served them with refried beans.  It was a super yummy quick and easy dinner.

Unfortunately I used almond milk in the cornbread recipe, so I couldn't put any cornbread in Preciosa's lunch - there's a strict no-nut policy at her daycare.  I made her a little burrito filled with the peach salsa and refried beans, left yesterday's corn & beans in the hopes they would get eaten, a packet of oatmeal and some apple slices with a squeze of lime, and some gummy vitamins completed the lunch.  The corn and beans came home for a second day in a row.  Strange, because she has eaten them before.  I guess she just isn't in the mood this week.

Little girl, big appetite

Little preciosa is getting big - her appetite is too big for her poor little lunch kit so it's time for an upgrade.  I knew I wanted something that was going to be durable enough to last for a long time, it had to be environmentally friendly and of course, it had to be cute.

I ended up getting a Laptop Lunch; the BPA-free bento style lunchbox made famous on the Vegan Lunchbox blog.  I always enjoyed making Preciosa's lunch, but now it's even more fun.  Maybe it's the fact that her lunch actually fits inside the box, or maybe it's the cute pink containers, or the pink floral carrying case...or maybe a combination of all of those things.

Preciosa's first laptop lunch featured an English muffin with sunflower seed butter, a vegetable patty with green beans and corn, peaches & raspberries, gummy vitamins (vegan) and soy yogurt.  She wasn't interested in the beans and corn but everything else got eaten.

When life hands you eggplant...make Baba Ghanouj!

A friend came over for dinner recently before she left for a vacation,  and she unexpectedly brought over a huge bag of produce - she didn't want to throw it away but she didn't think it wouldn't last until she got back from her trip.  Among the goodies were asparagus, tofu, cilantro, fennel, and grilled eggplant.

I was almost finished making dinner (avocado rolls and tofu) when she arrived, but she insisted on making a fennel salad, which I had never tried before.  I can't remember exactly what she did - I think she just chopped the fennel, tossed it in some olive oil and sprinked on some freshly ground salt and pepper.  In any case, it was super delicious and I'll have to ask her exactly how she made it next time I see her.

I was originally going to make hummus but I wasn't sure how long this eggplant would last in the fridge so I decided to turn it into a dip which turned out to be absolutely delicious with my organic yellow baby carrots.  The meal turned out to be quite a clash of several cuisines but everything tasted so good we stuffed ourselves to the gills.

Eggplant Dip (baba ghanouj)

2 cups cooked eggplant (grilled and seasoned)
1 tbsp tahini
juice from 1/2 lemon
2 garlic cloves
salt and pepper to taste

Combine ingredients in food processor or blender and blend until smooth.

Goji Green Tea Raspberry Muffins

Ah, Saturday.  Unfortunately there is no sleeping in when one has an energetic 2-year-old, but at least it is a day of slower pace for me.  No rushing to get out the door and squeeze into an over-capacity subway train on the commute to work.  Not on Saturday.  I can relax and enjoy my 3 feet of personal space and fresh air today.

My Saturday started at 6:30am today.  As I said, it's hardly sleeping in, but the "Mommy, I'm hungry"chant over and over drove me out of bed and into the kitchen.  While Preciosa devoured a cup of soy yogurt, I made myself a cup of goji berry green tea and was inspired to incorporate the tea into a batch of muffins.

I've used tea in muffins before and I had a bag of frozen raspberries begging to add their intense flavour and natural sweetness to a sugar-free weekend treat. 

Goji Green Tea Raspberry Muffins
2 cups unbleached white flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 packets Stevia
2 tbsp agave nectar
3 tbsp ground flax + 6 tbsp water
1/2 cup hot water with steeped tea
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/4 cup oil (I used olive oil)
3/4 cup (frozen) raspberries

Preheat oven to 400F.  Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and stevia in a large mixing bowl.  In a seperate bowl, combine all remaining ingredients except raspberries.  Pur wet mixture into dry, and stir until just mixed.  Fold in berries.  Pour into lightly oiled muffin tin and bake for 20 minutes.  Remove from muffin tin, and cool on a cool slightly before devouring.

 

Preciosa could hardly wait for them to cool before she got her hands on one.  Halfway through eating her warm muffin, she asked me to put peanut butter on it.

And just a recap and some photos from my recent 10k run that I mentioned in a previous post:  I was one of 50,000 people that came out for the Sun Run on Mother's Day, May 9th.  At the finish line there was plenty of fresh bananas, oranges, water, juice, and live music.  And a very cute little girl waiting for her mama.  It was the perfect Mother's Day gift.

Z4VBNSMYGWSW

Soy-free lunch and wannabe Mexican dinner

Happy cinco de mayo!  While I really wanted to whip up an amazing Mexican meal tonight, I was in a hurry because I had to meet my training partners for a run.  It's our last practice before the 10k run we're doing this Sunday.

I did manage to make Spanish rice, with some veggie ground round and a side of steamed veggies with "melted" soy cheese.  There's also some perfectly rip avocado on top.  I just adore avocados!  Did you read my haiku about avocados? If I had a can of black beans I would have added it to the veggies before I put them in the oven to melt the cheese. 

And here's a pic of Preciosa's soy-free lunch:  oatmeal, animal cookies, brown rice pasta with tomatoes & mushrooms in olive oil & garlic sauce, fresh pineapple, a sunflower butter &  mango jam sandwich, and chicpeas with corn.  If it seems like a lot of food for a 2-year old, it is both breakffast and lunch.  All of it was eaten except a couple of animal cookies.

In with the seed butters and all kinds of beans!

It seems like there's an increase in the number of children with peanut allergies these days.  More and more schools and childcare programs are introducing no-nut policies.  Such is the new rule at the daycare that  Preciosa attends, which makes things a bit more difficult when I'm trying not to rely too much on soy products for  protein.  Gone are the days of cashew sauce on pasta, and almond butter sandwiches for lunch.

It's completely understandable, as two of the children at the center have severe allergies.  Now, if only someone could have a meat allergy...all joking aside, there's still plenty of acceptable protein sources out there.   In with the seed butters and all kinds of beans! 

Today I sent Preciosa on her way with french toast on freshly baked whole wheat & rye bread, with organic maple syrup, rice vermacelli with teryaki tofu & veggies, strawberries, and soy yogurt.

And also I wanted to show you this crazy beautiful weird heirloom tomato I found at Whole Foods recently. Isn't it amazing?!  I've never seen anything like it.

Steamed banana bread with chocolate pudding

The April 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Esther of The Lilac Kitchen. She challenged everyone to make a traditional British pudding using, if possible, a very traditional British ingredient: suet.

Suet far from a vegan ingredient - I can't even describe it for you because it grosses me out.  But I didn't let that stop me from finding a way to make a super delicious pudding cake!  Instead of baking in the oven, British pudding cake is steamed by placing a heat proof dish in a saucepan of water and covered with a lid.  It was my first time cooking a dessert this way, and it does take a lot of paying attention so that the water doesn't all boil away to nothing. But the result is soo worth it!

I definitely got my chocolate fix from this challenge, and little Preciosa got a nice suprise in her lunch when I gave her some leftovers the next day.

Steamed banana bread with chocolate pudding:

Easter Weekend: Bunnies and Egg Hunts

The Easter Bunny visited our house this weekend!  Our bunny brought healthy treats like raisins and organic animal cookies.  Gordita is two years old now, finally old enough to search and find the hidden treats.  We shared her delight as she gingerly opened each plastic egg to take a peek at what was waiting inside.

After an egg hunt around the house, we joined in the local Easter parade, walking alongside the bagpipe players (or in Gordita's case, riding her tricycle).  The parade ended at the park where we took photos with the Easter bunny.

I baked a big delicious loaf of PPK banana bread in the afternoon, and cooked a huge veggie stirfry with brown rice and spicy peanut sauce for dinner.  It was a yummy happy Easter for us, and I hope it was for you too!

Mashed Yam and Potato Shepherd's pie

When the cherry blossoms bloom, you know spring has arrived.   Crisp morning air and warm afternoon sunbeams greet me as I commute to and from work.  And then there's the rain.  Unpredictable and inevitable, it is virtually synonymous with the Pacific Northwest.  It rains here more often than not, and on those cold, clammy evenings, I find myself craving a hearty home cooked meal. 

Enter vegan Shepherd's pie.  Underneath the mashed potato crust, it barely resembles the Shepherd's pie (also called Cottage pie)  that my English ancestors once baked.  I don't think I've ever made the exact same shepherd's pie twice, because it's always a mish-mash of whichever vegetables happen to be in the crisper.  That's one of the things I love about it.   But one thing you do need is potatoes.  Unfortunately I was well on my way to assembling my pie when I realized I only  had 3 red potatoes - not quite enough to cover the vegetable layer.When I remembered that I had a large yam that I had bought with the intention of making yam fries, the rest is history.

There's three parts to this recipe:

• mashed yam/potato crust
• sauteed vegetable filling
• cheez sauce.  

Mashed Yam Shepherd's Pie

Ingredients for mashed potatoes
3 red potatoes, cubed and boiled with skin on
1 large yam, cubed and boiled with skin on
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
2 tbsp Earth Balance (or other vegan margerine)
- Make mashed potatoes with these ingredients.  I'll spare the details on how to do this as I'm pretty sure you already know how to make mashed potatoes.

Recipe for Cheeze sauce
"Cheez" Sauce from Get Sconed's Adapted Version of the New Farm Macacorni and Cheez

Ingredients for vegetable filling
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small yellow onion, diced
1/4 cup frozen corn
1/4 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup fresh broccoli, sut into bite-sized pieces
2 cubes frozen spinach
1 tomato, diced
(use whatever veggies you have on hand, be creative!  I've also used mushrooms, cauliflower, carrots and wax beans)

Directions
Saute the onion with olive oil in a large frying pan or wok over medium heat.  Once onion becomes translucent, add the corn, peas, broccoli and spinach.  Cover, and let steam for 5 minutes.  Remove lid and stir occasionally until all of the vegetables are al-dente.

Pour cheez sauce over vegetables, add tomato and stir gently until combined.  Pour into casserole dish.  Using a spatula, spread mashed potato over the cheezy vegetable mixture.  Grind some sea salt and white pepper if desired, and bake in 350 oven until mashed yam/potato cover is slightly golden (about 30 minutes)

Enjoy!

Avocado Haiku

Avocados have such a pretty color, don't you agree? I think it's one of my favourite colors in Mother Nature's rainbow.  Though I've tried several different varieties of this little power-nutrient fruit, the only kind that seems to be available in my area is the Hass variety.  When you look at the knobbly brownish-green skin, it's hard to believe that there is something so creamy, rich and smooth inside.  It's like another example of the old saying "don't judge a book by its cover."

I made up a haiku about Hass avocados the other day while I was cutting one up to add to a salad.
 

Hass avocado,
rough alligator skin with
rich buttery flesh

Haikus are fun, I think I might try to make up some more!

I Heart Tofu!

Happy Valentine's Day!  I started of this day of love by making heart-shaped tofu.  There's no telling what sweet treats I'll devour for the rest of the day, so I wanted to begin the day on a healthy note.

Heart-Shaped Tofu
1 block, medium-firm tofu
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp Braggs

Directions: Drain the tofu and pat with a paper towel or clean dish cloth to absorb excess water. Slice block of into 4 slabs and use a knife to cut out the heart shape (you could use a cookie cutter if you have one).  Heat frying pan to medium-high and add olive oil.  Using a spatula, transfer the shapes into frying pan.  Sautee 2-3 minutes on each side, using a splash of Braggs after each turn.

Vegan Cupcakes take over a 2 year old's b-day party!

People always make comments about how it works when my vegan daughter goes to a birthday party, and how she's gonna miss out on this and that when she's in school...I don't really think that saving the lives of animals can be looked at like missing out on anything.  I usually let the person know that gordita gets her own treats at birthday parties and she's perfectly happy with it.

I usually bake a vegan cupcake for her to take to the party, and a lunch too, depending on what's being served.  Asking the host/esswhat will be on the menu in advance is always the best way to plan ahead.  In fact, at one party I took gordita too, one of the other kids wanted to eat the lunch I had made gordita instead of the pizza that was ordered.

To celebrate my little one's 2nd birthday last week, I made the Golden Vanilla cupcakes and the Basic Chocolate cupcakes from VCTOTW and they were all gobbled up by children and adults. And why not?  They are so delicious.  I liked the chocolate ones better, but then again, I like anything chocolate - I'm a chocoholic.

I also had made a batch for gordita's daycare group and the children and staff there loved them too.  If you don't already have this cookbook, you should run out and buy it.  Or stay where you are and order it from Amazon.

Cheers to Vegan Cupcakes, they really do rule the world!!

More 21 Day Vegan Kickstart Deliciousness and Sheese

I don't always follow the rules.  For example, if a recipe calls for blueberries but I only have blackberries, I'll make it with what I have.  That's what happened with these pancakes.  I also didn't have any buckwheat flour, so I used rye for another breakfast recommended by the 21 day vegan kickstart program.  Pancakes rock!  I like how wholesome these pancakes are, and if you want to give them a try, you can get the original recipe here.

And in case you need to see another breakfast scramble:

I crumbled some medium cheddar style Sheese over the scramble.  I haven't found a fake cheese yet that I'm crazy about, but when I tried this flavour of Sheese, I could not believe how closely it tastes to the real thing.  I even asked my non-vegan dad to taste it and he liked it.  Sheese has been around for a few years, it's usually over $8.00 for an 8oz package at my local supermarket so it's not something I usually buy.  But I'm having fun making things with it, like the grilled Sheese sandwich below.

21 Day Vegan Kickstart: Day One

Happy New Year to you and yours.  There's an old tale that says the way you bring in the new year will set the tone for the year to follow.  I spent last night rocking out to Band Hero and drinking green apple martinis at a house party, so I'm excited to see how the year unfolds.

I made some peanut butter cupcakes from VCTOTW to bring the party.  My attempt at writing 2010 in white chocolate went horribly wrong, so this is the rescued version of the cupcakes.

Have you had a chance to check out the 21 Day Vegan Kickstart?  I can't wait to try some of the recipes.  Today's breakfast was apple-cinnamon oatmeal.  I subbed in apples instead of raisins, but considering that I'm not the biggest fan of oatmeal, I liked it well enough.  Tomorrow's breakfast promises to generate much more enthusiasm from me, I swear.