Dessert First: A Vegan Chocolate Chip Tasting and Video!

And, really, what's wrong with starting with dessert, first?

A Vegan Chocolate Chip Tasting (all brands are semi-sweet):

Three Store Brands: Whole Foods 365, Wegmans and Trader Joe's.

Two National Brands: Ghirardelli and Enjoy Life (Mega Chunks!).

So, what did we think?

Here's my very first Vegan Fazool Video, starring my highly discerning son :-) and ever thorough husband...

What will they like??

And here is the feedback from the tasters in my class, who, for the most part, agreed with my family.

#1. Whole Foods 365: (Zero!) favorite votes, and no one liked it.  

(Sorry, WF! Chin up!)

#2. Wegmans: (1) fave vote from class, everyone agreed they really liked it, and it was my personal favorite=(2) fave votes.  A great overall chip.

#3. Ghirardelli: (2) fave votes from class, tied for 1st for my hubs=(2.5) fave votes.  Creamy, a bit bittersweet and with a rich, vanilla taste. YUM.

#4. Enjoy Life Mega Chunks: (1) fave vote from class, but mixed reviews overall.

#5. Trader Joe's: (3) fave votes from class, positive reviews overall.

Remember, this was an uncooked, straight-from-the-bag chocolate chip tasting.  

It would be interesting to see how all the chips might fare when baked into cookies, now wouldn't it?  

What's your favorite vegan chocolate chip?

Birthday Bonanza 2013!

I'm another year older as of yesterday, and that means it's time for my annual birthday post!

This year feels like a new beginning, a rebirth, winter melting into spring...

Sweet Potato Birthday Blondiefly with Vanilla Glaze 

Isn't she pretty? 

Blondie recipe was from Vegan Cookies Take Over Your Cookie Jar.

Store bought Chocolate Butterfly Cake.  So pretty!

 Birthday Eve Pizza.  All vegan, all organic, CSA and homemade!

Roasted CSA Peppers and Fennel with CSA Home Dried Herbs and CSA Marinara

Onto the birthday meal...

Birthday Beans!  

Organic Red Kidney Beans, Georgian Style with Walnut Cilantro Pesto and Jasmine Rice.

These are SO good.  

OK, on to the gifts!

I shopped at Wegmans for some cute kitchen gifts to myself...I love Wegmans!

 Cute kitchen towels (winter--citrus and spring--flowers themed!) and a bunch of winter/spring themed Ann Clark cookie cutters!

 

 The Dragonfly

 

 The Pineapple

A nice Mountain Bear waking from his winter hibernation, ready to emerge into a forest blush with green.

The King's Crown and the classic Butterfly.  Also, what I call "chef's socks," padded running socks that I layer over my regular socks to support my feet for longer hours in the kitchen (inside my Crocs, of course).

Raw Revolution...Rabbit Food? :-)  

The Vegan Easter Bunny probably gives them out!

JK.  I wanted to try these raw, vegan bars. They look great!

And I had to try Kettle's Spicy Thai chips.  OML.  They are fantastic. 

A lid from hubby for my biggest cast iron pan that he gave me for Xmas, an awesome loaf pan with a matching lid by Anchor (I really like this U.S. based company and their products) and my chef's socks again :-)

And what did Grandma Margie get me?

 Hmmm...Unopened padded envelope.

 Taped with some kind of rainbow, hippie, mail tape? :-)

 What could they be?

 Home drawn card :-) We all love Grandma Margie's cards!

Cute zip up, workout shirt, and, um, yup! More socks! Another kind I like to layer for working in the kitchen.

My mom is psychic that way.

At this point, Ollie could take it no longer...

She had to visit the gift table to see what was going on...

Yeah, she only looked when I called her :-)

Lastly, what did hubby get me?

This super cool bracelet! It's Rainbow Flourite and Amethyst (my birthstone).

It's from this cool shop a town over called The Crystal Tree.  Thanks, Michelle!

And a few more fun things from our local kitchen supply store: 

Syrup dispenser, squeeze bottles (for my sauces!) and a dough scraper!

And, drum roll, please...courtesy of Mom B...

Ta-dah! The Excalibur!

Huzzah!

Watch out, CSA! Here comes the Excalibur to dehydrate your behind!

A huge thanks and many hugs to Mom B.!  All my dehydrated happenings will be chronicled here soon...but, for now, what's next?

Well, how about re-hydrating something dried?

 XL Favas! Never made 'em before, but can't wait...

They are soaking right now.

Thinking I may make Fava Beans with Spiced Salt, a recipe from Mediterranean Street Food, my newest library procurement, a hubby's pick (great choice, hubby!).

Thank you to everyone who made my birthday special, it was a great one!

And, now, onto my birthday weekend!  

(Don't birthdays last at least a week? )

Pantry Stock-Up and Testing for Joni!

My pantry was hurtin' and I needed groceries, so today we did a monster Wegmans run (a mistake on any Sunday, but unfortunately necessary today) followed by an Asian Market run.  I just signed on as a tester for Joni Marie Newman's new book, Vegan Fusion, and I needed to replenish my sauces, vinegars, canned goodies, Asian noodles, frozen things, and to find some Jackfruit in brine!

I'm ready for you, Joni!  So psyched! 

Canned Jackfruit in brine: check!  Now I'm gonna do some gournet cooking, yeah, baby!

 Got some more agar powder, both for Joni's recipes and to make more vegan cheese from Artisan Vegan Cheese.  This agar powder is from Thailand, "Telephone" brand? We'll see about that...

Here is an interesting soda that has regular sugar and not corn syrup.  It's going into Joni's Spicy Korean BBQ Jackfruit!

Saw these Fresh Korean Noodles in the refrigerated section of the Asian Market and couldn't resist.  They look so gorgeous!  

Other finds...

Two kinds of "Vegetarian Mock Duck" (which is vegan, of course).  

I was looking for this last year and couldn't find it, but it was above the canned jackfruit!  I also got Chinese Roast Duck Mix, a spice mix to flavor that mock duck you see before you (also vegan, don't worry!).

  Who knows what will happen when I actually combine these entities, but I couldn't resist!  

A local tofu, Nature's Soy, which is made in Philadelphia, and another local tofu, made in Cherry Hill, NJ (the store's own homemade tofu).  I LOVE that homemade tofu.

These are frozen, vegan shrimp and they are REALLY good.

They are called "Healthy Food," I love it.

Because I bought SO many heavy things like cans and bottles, I got an awesome, free canvas bag!

And a free packet of these little envelope/pouch things...

I guess it's just an ad for the store?  What are you supposed to put in there??

Does anyone know? I can't read the writing on the front of the envelope (obviously), but I think that would help.

Oh! And I already tested Joni's recipe for Sweet Chili Sauce!

Ta-da! It's delicious.  I may make the Sweet Chili Grilled Tofu next, or start on the BBQ Jackfruit recipe...oh the choices! 

Hope you all had a great weekend.

BTW, here's what I made this morning, before all this shopping:

White Lightning Blend (I'll post the recipe soon) Isa and Terry's Basic Chocolate Cupcake with vegan Betty Crocker frosting ("Rich and Creamy Vanilla" appears to be vegan!). I think it worked to keep me going all day.

Go forth and prosper.

XOXO

Claus's Kraut, Cubes, Kale, Noodles and Oodles

I've been busy trying to get ready for Santa.

First, I made him some CSA Sauerkraut from scratch!  I hope he likes kraut.

 I started the kraut on Tuesday, November 20th.  

It was four big cabbages (two white and two red) from my CSA, hand cored and sliced, with a few carrots thrown in, plus Kosher salt. I sprinkled salt on as I went, no more than maybe a tablespoon per head of cabbage) and caraway seeds (sprinkled in as I packed it into the bucket).

My kraut making techniques are a combination of Sandor's instructions, this and these and some videos on youtube. There are tons of videos on different techniques on YouTube, too, just put in "homemade sauerkraut" and a ton come up. Here is Sandor's video (great! But, who doesn't love Sandor?) and this nice Gramma also uses a big, food safe bucket like the one I got FREE from Wegmans (see below!!).

Once your cabbage is sliced (phew!) put a little at a time into your "crock" and pack it down to push out all the air.  I used a potato masher.  Keep adding and pushing until it's all in there.

 Carrot top :-)

Now you need a lid/plate or other covering that *just* fits inside your crock.

My plate didn't quite fit, so I made a plate out of aluminum foil, I just pushed the foil to the edges of the bucket.  I used a triple thickness.  I hope that's a legit method :-)

Weight it down with something really heavy.  I used water inside two, huge freezer bags made to hold soup (according to their marketing, anyway):

Snap the lid on, if you have one (or make one out of a towel or cheesecloth or something) and wait.

You want the brine to come up over your "plate" so the kraut is always submerged.  It should happen in about 24-48 hours, longer is also fine, it seems, as long as it is airtight and mold isn't forming, leave it alone. 

You can see the liquid is above the plate and the bubbles indicate fermentation is happening!

P.S. I got the big bucket for free at Wegmans! 

A big thanks to the awesome Joni Marie Newman for suggesting I check with my grocery store for a big container! I love Joni.

My Italian friend in the Wegmans cheese department sent me to bakery to check out my request for a big (preferably glass) jar or bucket.  They had a large, food grade plastic bucket and they gladly gave me one.

Their bakery department orders icing in these big guys (it's a 15L bucket, which is about 4 gallons)

I open it outside to scoop and re-pack the kraut! 

Baby Klaus's Kraut (One Week Old).  Delicious, mild and crunchy!

I have to remember to re-check the kraut tomorrow, hoping for a richer, more sour kraut!

I've also been breaking into the frozen stash of CSA stuff:

 This is the sauce from the Squash Mac I made in October.  I sauteed six cloves of garlic in olive oil and added about eight cubes of the sauce, also added a bit of hot pasta water to thin it out.  

It was perfect for Penne & Broccoli!

 With home made chickpeas!

My favorite "Stellar Stuffed Mushrooms" from The 30 Minute Vegan.

These are so amazing.

And this may look plain, but it was great.

 Sauteed Kale and Mushrooms in Oil, Organic Lemon juice and Garlic with Kosher Salt & Pepper.

And I found an organic, vegan vanilla pudding powder at the grocery store!

If you want to make The Veggnog Cake and can't find that Bird's powder or don't want to order it, I bet this stuff works pretty good.

I'll try it the next on the round of Veggnog Cakes!

This was dinner last night (I added rich, garlicky chickpeas, too)

 Dinner last night was the Kale and Friends Salad  Organic Kale and Brown Rice Salad with Dried Organic Cranberries, Sliced Almonds and a Organic Winter Citrus Vinaigrette. 

I also added rich, garlicky chickpeas (pressure cooked in rich broth, olive oil and salt).

In a large bowl, place one bunch of kale leaves, washed and chopped mixed with 1/3 cup dried cranberries, 1/3 cup slivered almonds, and 1/3 cup of sliced grapes (if you want) or slices of mandarin orange.  Dress this first with 2.5 T of the dressing.

Cook 1.5 Cups of brown rice and dress that with another 2.5 T of the dressing, put the hot, cooked and dressed rice over the kale salad mixture and stir very well.  The kale will cook a tiny bit and soften nicely.

Winter Citrus Vinaigrette: 1/3 cup of olive oil, 1 clove of garlic smashed, 1 tsp Kosher Salt, bunch of pepper, juice of one organic lemon, one organic orange and about 1 tsp of combined orange and lemon zest. Whisk like hell.  Pour 2.5 T over your kale salad mixture and 2.5 T over your Brown Rice.

This was breakfast this morning!

Old Fashioned Oats with Flax, Organic Grade B Maple Syrup, Vietnamese Cinnamon, Vanilla, Bananas and Chopped Pecans.  YUM. 

Lunch Today: A version of Hornswaggle Salad.  My favorite!

Besides eating, I am also working on oodles of homemade gifts:

Many mini loaves are in my future. My Vegan Sticky Gingerbread is up first.

Ollie and I are also working on hand made Christmas gifts for the family:

Handmade Gift Post Coming Soon! 

Hang in there everyone, "the holidays" will be over before you can say

HO HO HO

XOXO