Saturday, August 15, 2015

Vegan Mofo is Coming, and I Signed Up!!

Mouthwatering vegan for sure!

I made another recipe from Mouthwatering Vegan. It's a dish I had never heard of, called Tava. According to the description, Tava is a traditional Greek lamb(no) recipe. Well, in this vegan version no one has to be killed for a delicious, hearty dinner. It's basically potatoes, thick slices of tomato, and onion baked with some herbs, veggie stock, and lemon juice. The recipe called for cutting strips of a vegan burger to substitute for the lamb, but I had half a block of tofu that I needed to use, so I cut that into strips. The tofu really soaked up all the juices and became toothsome and delicious. I served mine over some Orzo pasta, and it tasted like summer. I am really loving this book. I need to pry myself away from it so I can make some recipes from my other library books!
I also attempted to make a gluten free, vegan chocolate cake using this recipe. It's okay. I feel like baking is where gluten free is a struggle, at least for me. I've tried a few gluten free cookie and cake recipes, and they just are always a little off. There;s something about the texture of this cake that just doesn't please my tongue, and also I can very faintly taste beans. I don't want to taste beans in my desserts.
The frosting is the best part.
I think from now on I'll leave the gluten free baking up to the professionals, and stick with vegan baking the traditional way. The frosting is really a ganache I made with some vegan white chocolate chips, and a little coconut oil. It really is the best part!
In scarier news, I signed up for Vegan Mofo this year! It's my firs one. Last year I had really just started blogging, and I didn't feel ready. I don't know if I'm ready this year, but I;m going for it. I've learned sometimes you have to jump off that ledge of fear. As I've been reflecting on my life, I can see how many times I've let fear stand in my way. I look so forward to Mofo each year, and I really can't believe I'm going to be partaking! They are doing it a little bit different this year. You can Mofo with twitter, instagram, YouTube, and whatever other platforms exist. They also are having Prompts for each day, such as "veganize a restaurant dish", "recreate a favorite childhood dish", and so on and so forth for thirty days. You get an E-mail reminder of the prompts. I was really looking forward to having a theme that I thought of, but this could be fun too. The rebel in me wants to do it my way of course, but I will try to be well behaved, and follow the prompts. This way is just forcing me to plan ahead a little, not be so spontaneous. Some of the prompts definitely require a little thought. I feel like there has been so much positive attention in the media regarding the vegan or plant based lifestyle, so we have some momentum. It's a really great time to get some more attention, and focus on how amazing vegan food can be! Are you participating in Vegan Mofo this year? If not, are you excited for all the blog reading?

10 comments:

  1. I looked at the Vegan MoFo prompts and think that they could be inspiring! Some seem more challenging than others, but I think they are all doable! It's funny how you like to be a rebel just for the sake of being a rebel ;-) ! I get it, but sometimes it's just easier to go with the Vegan MoFo flow. Plus, there are 2 free weeks of planning your prompt content. I think the corn of the cob Vegan MoFo participant banner is the best of the three, followed by the tomato and then the broccoli. Are you going to use all three banners?

    I am excited for you and hope you win a 2015 MoFie Award, so that when I get back I can see it on your blog somewhere. I will try to vote for you, if I am able. Best of luck, but I think your contributions will shine.:-).

    Swayze got me to buy those Cotton Candy grapes today! (See her recent video) If you haven't tried these grapes, I think you'll want to get a bag or two. Concords are good; but I think you'll find that these are better. Probably the best grapes I've tried thus far. Because these grapes were $3.99/lb, I have decided that the tentative Swayze vegan, is a very bad influence indeed!

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  2. I've been waning to try those grapes for so long. I still haven't seen them anywhere, but I'm really hopeful that they will pop up somewhere.
    I haven't checked the banners yet. I guess I need to go back to the website. I love corn on the cob, so that would probably be my first choice.
    I'll have to check out Swayze's newest video. I know she's going to really make me want cotton candy grapes!

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    1. Don't do it! You'll really want cotton candy grapes! And, I can't believe that they actually taste like cotton candy! So good! Swayze will make you want to find them . . . she's sneaky that way ;-). Wegmans had only 5 bags left, and I bought just one. I now wish I would have bought an additional one. Nature is something!

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    2. I can't believe Wegman's has the cotton candy grapes once I leave the Wegman's area! I watched a video on Buzzfeed where they tried them, and the people were amazed! I wonder how they do it??

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  3. I was just watching Whitney's recent WAVE video, and she is reading the Four Agreements for the first time . . .but it wasn't the e-book version, but the actual book. Hmmm ;-)

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    1. I watched that yesterday too! I was kind of shocked that she had never read it, but somehow it had slipped through the cracks with me too. I'm going to pick that book up and finish it this week. Life kind of got in the way of my reading for awhile, but when I saw her reading that, it inspired me.

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  4. OMG! Thanks for the reminder! I will participate once again! I am headed over to sign up so I don't forget again!

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  5. Yay! I'm excited too, it's my first year!!

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    1. I see they have prompts this year...not sure how I will do with that but I will sure try! LOL

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  6. I'm nervous about the prompts too!

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