CTTVCC: Not-Just-For-Hippies Granola

Welcome to the first recipe of my cook-through of the Vegan College Cookbook! You can find it on page 36. As you can see from the title, this is a breakfast recipe. Or a snack or dessert too, I suppose. The book calls it breakfast though.

The recipe calls for:

• 1/2 cup vegan granola
• 3 tablespoons rasins or chopped dates (optional)
• 1 tablespoon almonds or nut of your choice (optional)
• 1 (6 oz container) soy yogurt (your fave flavor)

For the granola, I used Peace Cereal brand in french vanilla, which already has almond slivers in it, so I didn't add any additional nuts. It's gluten-free for those who have that limitation.

I don't really like raisins, and I didn't have dates, (except for tonight! ;P just kidding.) Anyway, so I used craisins. which I do like. Very much. Though, to be honest, I didn't measure them. I just kind of tossed them on top. But that's the thing about this recipe, It's super-customizable, and because it's not actually baking anything, the proportions don't matter quite as much.

For the yogurt, I used blueberry flavored Amande brand vegan yogurt, which is made from almonds instead of soy, but like I said, who cares? I've kind of been watching the amount of soy I eat anyway because too much soy can cause problems, kind of like too much of anything can cause problems, and sooooooo much vegan food is soy-based. (Besides, my favorite health-food grocery store has been running sales on the almond yogurt.)

So here is the finished concoction:

 
I am declaring this rather delicious. I'll probably end up eating the rest of the box of granola this way because I don't love eating granola in just milk without anything else. It's like trying to eat crumbs with a spoon. It doesn't really work for me. Actually, I hadn't even meant to buy granola when I picked this up last week. It was on sale, and I just grabbed it thinking it was flakes with a little bit of granola to make it not boring like the brand's other cereals. But good thing I had it, that way I could make this recipe, right?

I hope you all enjoy this recipe! Got feedback? I'd love to read your comments!

Cooking Through The Vegan College Cookbook

Hi, everyone!

So the vast majority of feedback I've been getting about this blog is that people love the posts about food. Which makes sense, right? I mean, vegans have to eat too. So, a while back, I came up with this brilliant idea to cook through PETA's Vegan College Cookbook. After all, I'm going to be starting college in the fall. Though, based on my experience so far, the food tastes good whether or not you're in college. If you don't already have a copy, you can buy one at the PETA webstore for about $15 (plus shipping and handling,) or you can join the Peta2 Street Team, if you haven't already, and earn lots of street team points by completing a bunch of missions under the Take Action Page, many of which can be completed online by sharing images and videos, or signing petitions etc. that help improve the quality of life for animals around the world. Then, you can go to the Street Team Store and trade in some points for a copy of the Vegan College Cookbook. Easy. Just like the recipes inside.

The plan is for me to give you all my opinions, variations, tips and tricks, etc. about each recipe. That way, you might be encouraged to try a recipe that you wouldn't have otherwise, and you can be sure that your food will come out delicious every time. I will be making all of the recipes gluten-free because of my health needs, but for those who are blessed enough to be able to eat as much normal bread as they want, (people without gluten allergies,) you can make your vegan food as full of gluten as your heart, or your stomach, rather, desires.

For example, I already did a post about Breakup Pudding, which is a recipe Peta2 sends out on little recipe cards quite frequently.

Just to let everyone know, I'm not going in the same order as the cookbook. That way, I can make food for which ever meal I want during the day, and I can pick a recipe that I already have ingredients for. (That way I don't get stuck racing to the grocery store before it closes.) Also, because of the way the cookbook is set up, I can get better variety in my food. I mean, honestly, I love peanut butter, but with the Spotlight section on peanut butter, I could get sick of peanut butter foods really quickly.

Also, because I'm somewhat lazy, I'm going to be abbreviating "Cooking through the Vegan College Cookbook." I'm already getting sick of typing that whole thing out. (First-World Pains, huh?) I think I will shorten it to CTTVCC (Cooking Through the Vegan College Cookbook,) and VCC (Vegan College Cookbook.) I might actually type it out once per post, (I'm not really sure,) just so that new-comers to the blog aren't quite as confused.

Anyways, I hope that this blog series is helpful to everyone, and that you have tons of fun cooking through with me! If you've made a recipe, I'd LOVE your feedback. Especially if you use one of my alterations. Really. It would make my day. <3

Gluten-Free, Vegan Cheese Melties

Recently, I have had to go gluten-free for medical reasons. That makes being vegan extra difficult because a lot of psuedo-meats and other vegan proteins are made with wheat. Also, a lot of gluten-free products aren't vegan, so it can get hard to balance. Really though, one of the things I miss the most is just bread. My inner carboholic has a hard time dealing with it, trust me. However, I found a fake sandwich round bread that is really delicious. Amy's Gluten-Free Sandwich Rounds are the perfect size for most veggie burgers, and they taste amazing. They also pair up perfectly with Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet Mozzarella for a delicious snack.
 

 

 

(FYI, when this cheese melts, it really melts. like, it turns to liquid. So, be very careful once you've heated it.) 

Really people, even if you aren't gluten-free, you should really try this stuff. It is so good and it goes perfectly with tomato soup, Ramen, pasta (gluten-free if need be,) or just about anything.

Cutest Vegan Alive Contest

Hi everyone!

I'm entered in Peta2's Cutest Vegan Alive Contest for 2013! Whoever wins gets a free photo shoot and the chance to be on an ad for peta2. Which I would absolutely LOVE to do. Anyway, please vote for me! I'm kind of losing really badly. You have to enter an email address to confirm that it's not the same person voting over and over again, but if you don't want to receive emails from them, you can unsubscribe right away.

Anyways, this is me begging you to vote for me:

Are my begging eyes good enough? (Sadly I didn't use this picture for the contest. Next year! Next year.)

Thank you all so much for reading, and voting, and being awesome people!
Much Loves,
Kerry Aileen

Purple Carrots for Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day everyone!
I didn't realize they existed, but look what I found in my local organic grocery store. . . Speaking of earth. Isn't that cool? I mean, I knew Indian corn comes in different colors, but I had no idea that carrots could be multicolored. Veggies are so cool!

To All You Cat Fans

A friend of mine sent me an interesting infographic/story about cats. . . and kitty litter. . . that was really rather fascinating! There were a lot of things I didn't know about in this brief history of cat litter, and being a cat owner, I am very thnankful that my house isn't covered in poo and ashes. WHAT? Yeah. Read this article, and then come back here, and tell me what you thought of it! Not exactly sure if it's violating copyright laws to post the actual image, so it might not stay forever. But the link will stll be there. If you like it, like it on their actual page too.



The site that this was published by looks like a site I could easily get sucked into. Forever.

Sorry for the super-short post. And the fact that I haven't been posting as frequently. School. It has kept me busy. But I've got several posts half-finished and up my sleeve, and that includes stuff about food. (I know that's all you guys really care about. I see through your ruses.)

Ditch Dairy

Enough Said. This infographic thoroughly disgusted me. Seriously, this covers all the pro-dairy arguments I've ever come across. I'd say this is pretty convincing. Who ever made this is pure genius. This has a creative commons license, so you can share it with all your friends and family who haven't cut milk out of their diets. The best part of getting rid of milk is the substitutions you can use. There is such an amazing variety of substitution products. I will be posting about my favorite dairy substitutes soon.

Any Comments? Thoughts? Leave a comment!

Quick, Good-For-You Breakfast

It's been awhile since I've posted much of anything, but here's an original recipe that's cheap, vegan, and allergy friendly. No gluten, soy, corn, peanuts, etc. Now, before you turn your nose up at oatmeal for being boring, old-people food, let me tell you this is one of my favorite morning recipes. So yes. Oatmeal.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup of oats
1 tablespoon of milled flaxseed
1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
8 oz of very strong brewed tea (flavor variable)
Sweetner to taste (typically 1 packet of 0 calorie stevia sweetner)

Instructions: mix all dry ingredients together in a microwavable bowl. Add tea to bowl, and microwave for 1 minute to 1 minute and 30 seconds. Stir and allow oatmeal to cool enough to eat. Enjoy!

Nearly all of the ingredients can be bought in bulk. Oatmeal, flaxseed, cinnamon, and sweetners can be purchased at stores like Costco. Oats and flaxseed can be bought in bulk from specialty grocery stores. Buying larger quantities reduces the cost significantly.

The oatmeal base has fiber and protein, flaxseed has protein and omega-3, cinnamon has Antioxidants, and tea has vitamins and caffeine in addition to Antioxidants. All of these are essential to a balanced diet and help kick start your day.

Now, my favorite part about this recipe is how variable you can make it. The variation is in the tea. Using a variety of flavors helps to keep this basic food from getting boring. I prefer to steep my tea overnight for oatmeal to get the maximum amount of flavor from the tea. Because it is a morning food, I would suggest black tea because it contains more caffeine than other blends. Some of my favorite teas to make oatmeal with are black chai, black apple chai, black vanilla chai, morning thunder (a black matcha tea,) black Madagascar vanilla, nutcracker sweet (a holiday tea,) and orange black teas. Other non-black teas that are good include sugar cookie sleigh ride (a holiday tea,) green chai, green tea with red Antioxidants (strawberry and orange,) spiced apple herbal tea, raspberry herbal tea and others.

The best part of this easy breakfast is that it is filling; high in protein and fiber; omega-3 rich; full of caffeine, vitamins, and Antioxidants (depending on the tea you use;) and only 100 Calories!

Vegan in a Meat World

So, on Christmas my mum didn't want to cook anything for dinner. I think that she actually just didn't want to deal with the clean-up. But who can blame her? Well anyway, not very many places are open on Christmas Day. We ended up going to T.G.I. Friday's which is one of those restaurants where I can't eat like  anything. The only appetizer I could have was pita wedges and hummus without the added tomatoes (just because I don't really like them,) cheese, yogurt, and whatever else it was that they put on it that wasn't vegan. It wasn't bad hummus, but I felt like I was getting WAY over-charged for it. Though I must admit, soft, grilled pita bread is amazing. The only vegan entree I could find was a black bean burger though I had to order it without all the toppings except the avocado. I have recently developed quite a liking for avocado. It also came with candied onions that are vegan, but I really don't care for onion.

I put a layer of french fries on top of the avocado and gave the rest to my sisters. The burger was really good! It was spicy enough to have a good flavor, but not too spicy. And the creaminess of the avocado helped make the burger not too spicy. I loved it! If you are ever there, I would recommend trying it. Granted, I probably wouldn't pick T.G.I. Friday's as a first choice for restaurants probably because my meal choice options are so limited, but I survived holiday meals with my family. Though, afterwards, I went out and bought myself an avocado. I want to get some spicy black bean burgers too. I've heard that Gardenburger brand spicy black bean burgers are amazing. Maybe I'll do a post later about recreating this entree.

F.Y.I. They have no vegan desserts other than their fruit cup, but that was really lame. I could have made the same thing or better from the stuff in my fridge. (Same with the appetizer honestly.)

Well, if you happen to try this veggie burger, let me know what you thought. Happy Holidays, Everyone!

Fur Fight

I don't know who made this picture. A friend of mine emailed it to me a while ago. However, the message is still true. I have never been a big fan of wearing fur, leather, or any other animal products. I hardly even wear faux fur, or faux leather. I try to avoid the appearance of evil, so to speak. 

Not all people share my views on wearing animal products, especially certain celebrities, such as Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, (The Trollsen Twins, as Peta2 dubs them,) and don't even get me started on Lady Gaga's notorious Meat Dress and other cruel fashion atrocities! 

People need to understand that these beautiful animals actually have to DIE for them to wear fur. Now, some people wouldn't be phased by that, in which case, they may have some deeper problems to deal with. Some people just don't really think about it enough. I know that when I was very little, I thought that wearing fur just meant that the animals would be running abound nekkid. Of course, I understood that it was mean to take their fur away, but it didn't really occur to me that the skin comes with the fur, and that the animals die when people take it. 

Let's raise awareness and spread the message that only beautiful animals, and ugly people wear fur. Share, and upload this image to your social networks to help keep people from making fashion a faux-pas!