It seems like the obvious first choice for a vegan eating out post would be Revive Cafe, Loving Hut, or even Charlotte’s Bakery (which, sadly, does not have a website). But, I decided to go with something unexpected – vegan tamales.

I ran in to Casa de Tamales today, and got a gourmet trio combination – three tamales with rice and beans.  There were only three vegan tamale options available – soy chorizo con papas (served with fresh guac), portobello and asparagus (with chiles, in a red chile masa, also served with fresh guac), and sweet corn. So, I had to get one of each.

I don’t know how I feel about the soy chorizo one, honestly. I’m going to have to try it again. It was almost too “meaty”. It was definitely hearty, and had just enough spice to satisfy.

The portobello and asparagus is my favourite (so far!). It’s a little spicier than the chorizo tamale, and the guacamole served with it cooled it down perfectly.

The rice and beans are totally vegan, and completely delicious.

I was full by the time I got halfway through the second tamale, so I haven’t yet tried my sweet corn tamale. I’ll update this post tomorrow after I eat it.

The staff said they were working on veganizing some of their non-vegan tamales (jalapeno and Daiya cheese is one they’re tossing around!). They said they’ll be posting all menu updates on their Facebook page. Check it out and show some love!

Overall, it was a great experience.  The restaurant is fairly small, and doesn’t look like it could handle a huge group. Prices are low (for a ton of food!). Dine-in, take out, or, they deliver ANYWHERE in the contiguous US (except Ore, sorry, Oregon).

For orders of a half dozen or dozen (of the same type of tamale), call ahead – it’s an automatic 30 minute wait for them – they’re all handmade fresh. 559.275.9300

Find them at 3747 W Shaw Ave; Fresno, CA 93711 (in front of Old Navy, next to a National Guard recruitment center)

Update!

I ate the sweet corn tamales for breakfast the day after – it was the perfect breakfast. They were pretty sweet – they’re definitely a dessert (or breakfast) tamale. I’ll definitely eat them again.

About two weeks ago, I found Amande yogurt at Lassen’s Natural Market. I had to pick up every flavour they had, as I’ve heard great things about it. I ended up with a fridge full of blueberry, raspberry, strawberry, peach, cherry, and coconut flavoured almond based yogurt.

Amande yogurt is sweetened only with natural fruit juices, it’s gluten free, soy free, Kosher, and non-GMO.

And, it tastes good. Actually, it tastes pretty great. I ate them all plain, except for the raspberry. I used that in a batch of brownies, and they were amazing. My favourite flavour was definitely coconut, and I will be buying more of that. I think it was the best yogurt I’ve ever eaten. The rest of the flavours really weren’t so much better than the (much cheaper) soy-based yogurts I buy, that I’m a convert.

Overall, it was a great experience. I wish it wasn’t so expensive, as I’m on a tight budget, but, I definitely recommend trying them at some point. Especially the coconut one.

This week, SnarkyVegan sent a handful of bloggers two martini recipes to customize.  The other bloggers include:

Jen-o-Joon

SnarkyVegan (of course)

The Tasty Vegan

Amanda Eats SLC

Little Things Big Things (check out her MummyDogs below the martini recipe!)

Tak-Home-A

Will Work For Veggies

Pumpkin Spice-tini:

pumpkin mash:

2T pumpkin pure

1T thick plant milk or creamer (I used Trader Joe’s Coconut Beverage)

1T agave

1tsp pumpkin pie spice

Mix in shaker (filled with ice) with -

1 1/4 ounces (shots) vanilla vodka

1/4ounce rum

1/4 ounce buttershots (butterscotch schnapps)

Rim martini glass with crushed graham crackers (blend graham cracker crumbs with pumpkin pie spice and sugar)

Decorate with creepy eyeballs, graham crackers, or ginger cookies.

Graveyard Martini:

Line the rim of a martini glass with crushed chocolate cookies – to get the cookies to stick, dip the glass on a plate covered with Kahlua (use what’s left on the plate in your martini, if you don’t want to waste).

Drizzle a bit of chocolate syrup inside the glass, let it run down a bit.

In a shaker, mix:

1 1/2 ounce Chocolate Liquer

1 1/2 ounce Vanilla Vodka

1 ounce Kahlua

splash of thick plant milk (I used Trader Joe’s Coconut Beverage – it’s thicker than So Delicious Coconut milk, but not as thick as plant based creamers)

Shake well. Top with spooky marshmallow ghost and some crushed chocolate cookies.

I made the ghost out of my last two Sweet and Sara plain marshmallows – I just cut them with a knife to give them a ghostly shape (they were stuck together).

This morning, I made myself a pumpkin latte. The original recipe was from my friend K, who got it from the Crock Pot Girls on Facebook.

Ingredients:

3T instant espresso

6C plant milk

7T pureed pumpkin

2 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Sugar – to taste. (My milk was unsweetened, and I used oat milk, which I’m not a huge fan of, so I used a bit more sugar than I would have if I had used sweetened)

3T vanilla (less if your milk is vanilla)

Whipped topping – I still have some Rich’s leftover, but if you can find Soyatoo & like it, use it! (If you can find a place to get Rich’s and you’re not a restaurant – please let me know!)

Mix all of these in the crock pot. Cook on high for twoish hours. Top with whipped topping and a sprinkle of cinnamon

I think coconut is my favourite ingredient. If I see a recipe that includes it, or a (vegan) product that includes it, I can’t say no.

Today, I made coconut brittle (or, German Chocolate Cake Brittle). It was terrible. I’m pretty sure I know exactly what went wrong, and I will be re-making it. Unfortunately, I used up the last of my coconut shreds when making it, so, it’s going to have to wait until I make it to the grocery store (an hour away) to buy more.

So, I’m going to try the coconut challenge one more time today with a coconut cream pie (with meringue topping — Many, many thanks to Hannah Kaminsky for showing that meringue can actually be done vegan!)

I promise to update this by the end of the day with gorgeous (well, you know, standard) pictures, a delicious recipe, and lots of love for coconut.

8:02pm – Update

I made it tiny, because I’m a sucker for tiny food.

I used my favourite pie crust for this recipe.

Then, make tiny pie crusts in a large muffin pan (large muffins, not large pan ^_^). Bake at 415 for about 20 minutes. Set aside.

I also changed up my go-to pudding recipe.

You’ll need:
1/3 Cup Sugar

3T cornstarch

a shake of salt

1 can light coconut milk

a splash of vanilla

about 1/2C shredded coconut (mine was sweetened, but, generally, I avoid sweetened dried fruit)

Combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a smallish pot. Slowly whisk in coconut milk (add it too fast and you’ll have lumpy pudding – sick). Add vanilla. Heat on low until thickened. Stir in coconut.

Pour into your tiny pie crusts. Top with whipped topping (I had some Rich’s, but you can use Soyatoo if you can get it).  I didn’t top it with meringue because I got lazy. I may top the remaining 11 with it tomorrow. I promise to let you know!

I’ve been posting VeganMoFo pins on Pinerest, and there are a handful of others doing the same! Check out http://pinterest.com/brontosaurkelly/veganmofo/ to follow along!

Seitan Pot Roast – Serves 2

Ingredients:

1/2 recipe Cracked Coriander Seed & Chai Tea-Rubbed Vegan Steak (by Jenn Shagrin, from The Vegan Girl’s Guide to Life by Melisser Elliot) — or, your favourite seitan recipe. Enough for 2 people.

1/2 large sweet potato

1/2 very large parsnip

3 garlic cloves, cut in thirds

1/2C no beef broth

Add all ingredients to 2qt crock pot. Cook on low 4-6 hours, or until seitan is cooked and veggies are tender.

VeganMoFo.com is giving away a ton of lightlife products today. To enter, all you have to do is show off a photo of your fridge.

Check out everything they’re giving away!

·         Smart Dogs ·         Smart Dogs Jumbo ·         Tofu Pups ·         Smart Deli Bologna ·         Smart Deli Ham ·         Smart Deli Pepperoni ·         Smart Deli Turkey ·         Smart Links Breakfast ·         Smart Bacon ·         Gimme Lean Beef ·         Gimme Lean Sausage ·         Smart Ground Mexican ·         Smart Ground Original ·         Organic Flax Tempeh ·         Organic Garden Veggie Tempeh ·         Organic Smoky Tempeh Strips (Fakin’ Bacon) ·         Organic Soy Tempeh ·         Organic Three Grain Tempeh ·         Organic Wild Rice Tempeh ·         Smart Strips Chick’n ·         Smart Strips Steak ·         Smart BBQ ·         Smart Chili

Awesome! This is a huge giveaway!

I share a fridge with 4 omnivores, so, it contains eggs and milk and Velveeta. (But check out all the space for more fake meat!)

Save potato skins, carrot skins, pepper tops, ends of green onions, or any other veggie bits you cut up and aren’t going to use. I also use cleaning out my veggie drawer as an excuse to make broth – any vegetables that are going bad or are past their prime. I like to throw in some thyme, bay leaves, and any fresh herbs I have on hand.

Fill your 6qt crock pot to the top with vegetables. Then fill it with water. Cook on low all day long (or overnight). Store in canning jars in the fridge or the freezer.

When I read about making bread in a crock pot, I was a little dubious, but had to try it. I decided that, instead of experimenting with a new bread recipe cooked in a new way, I’d use my favourite, tried-and-true, never-fail bread recipe. It’s the Outrageously Easy BIG Bread from VegWeb.

I use this recipe for everything from cinnamon pull-apart bread to dinner rolls (perfect for Thanksgiving!).

Anyway, I didn’t make any changes to it this time. I just threw it in the slow-cooker and let it rise (first rise) for about an hour, then punched it down, and turned the slow-cooker on low – it rose the second time while the crock pot was warming up.

The bread was a little more dense than it is when you cook it in the oven. I may let it rise a little longer the second time when I make it again? I have no idea if that would actually make it less dense. Either way, I’m not super concerned – it was awesome.

This weekend’s ingredients – coffee and bananas.

My dish – Mocha Banana Bread Pudding

Happily, this dish has enough coffee in it to please coffee lovers, but not so much that it’ll scare away coffee haters. If you want it to taste more like coffee, it’ll taste great with more added.

Ingredients:

1Loaf Sweet French bread

2 cups of your favourite vegan creamer (I actually used some Rich’s vegan whipped topping, un-whipped. If you like Soyatoo or can get your hands on Rich’s use it)

2 of your favourite plant milk

1C sugar

1/4C Earth Balance, melted

2T EnerG + 1/2C water (mixed)

3tsp instant espresso, dissolved in 1/2C water

2 bananas, sliced into coins

1 scant cup of vegan chocolate chips

Cut french bread into cubes. Put them into a bowl and keep overnight to get a bit stale.

The next day – put bread into 6qt crock pot.

In a separate bowl, mix creamer, milk, sugar, Earth Balance, EnerG mix, and espresso. Pour over bread and let sit for about 15 minutes. Gently mix in bananas and chocolate chips.

Cook on high for 2-3 hours. Low for 4-6.

Try not to sneak too much of the bread while it cooks.