Katy Perry Epicness

Seriously the most epic conversation ever. We all know I love Katy Perry so this is great. Had to share it.

Vegan Success

So I apparently never posted my final vegan post. So it's coming soon. After finals, most likely.

Vegan Spicy Sweet Linguine

So like I mentioned in yesterday's post, I modified Rocco DiSpirito's Spicy-Sweet Linguine alla Vodka from his Now Eat This Diet. I thought I'd share the recipe with everyone in case anyone is wanting to try the vegan version.

Ingredients:

• 8 oz whole wheat vegan-friendly linguine
• 1.5 cups dairy free marinara sauce (some store bought sauces contain cheese)
• 4 oz jar fire-roasted red peppers, cut into strips
• 2 tablespoons vegan cream cheese
• 1 tablespoon soy milk (or other milk substitute)
• 1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley
• 1.5 teaspoons hot pepper sauce
• Salt and pepper

Method:

1. Bring a large pot of [salted] water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to package.
2. While cooking the pasta, simmer the marinara sauce and peppers in a medium sauce pan. Cook, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes. Remove from heat
3. Mix vegan cream cheese with soy milk until combined. It should be the consistency of Greek yogurt. Add more milk or cream cheese as needed. Slowly whisk the cream cheese mixture into the sauce.
4. Drain the linguine and pour into a serving bowl or back into the pot. Add the sauce, parsley, and hot pepper sauce. Gently toss until the pasta is evenly coated.  Season to taste.

Enjoy! Check out Rocco DiSpirito because he has lots of great recipes and they're low in calories. His version of this pasta has only 307 calories and 7 fat grams, so this one's probably around there.

My Vegan Vacation

Note: For those of you who have said that you haven't been able to comment, I think I fixed that issue.

My Vegan Vacation: 4 Days in Melbourne, Florida

So I chose October as my month to go vegan because it didn't involve major food holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's...) so I shouldn't run into many speed bumps. Well, I hadn't thought about the fact that I was taking a long weekend to go down to Melbourne to visit my undergrad for my sorority's alumni weekend. I had a fantastic weekend and was so happy to see so many of my Alpha Phi sisters. Love them.

Sunrise over I-10.

Food was complicated over the weekend. Thursday I drove down and brought food with me for the road trip (7.5 hour drive) so that was fine. Left super early in the morning, but I love driving before the sun is up.


Thursday night I went out for Mexican with a friend and easily found a vegan option, and the waiter assured me it was dairy-free. Friday breakfast consisted of a bagel and some coffee with a friend at Panera, of course. Breakfast was a little late so I didn't eat lunch. Dinner was the challenge. Alpha Phi was hosting the 3rd Annual Red Dress Gala, a formal dinner fundraiser to raise money for the Alpha Phi Foudation in support of heart health. My sister, Norah, who is wonderful and was in charge of the event worked so hard to get a meal I could eat. The hotel that the event was being held at clearly did not understand what it means to be vegan. My salad consisted of watered down lettuce with two slices of tomato. I say watered down because I thought at first that they had drizzled it with oil for dressing, but no they just soaked the lettuce in water. No dressing. I squeezed lemon juice onto it to add some flavor and ate the tomatoes last so that I got the most flavor at the end. I was a little worried about what would come next. The entree they served was a plate of vegetables. Just vegetables. They were delicious, and I was grateful to have them but there was nothing else. No rice. No beans. Nothing but veggies. I'm clearly a rabbit. My friend next to me has a bunch of allergies so she also got a special meal. They served her after me and she got a plate of veggies and rice. I looked at her plate and said "Why can't I get rice?"

Norah and I. She's awesome.

My plate of veggies. Delicious. Not fulfilling.

 Saturday was a lot better for food. Lunch consisted of a BBQ at the APhi house. BBQ doesn't typically scream vegan, but my Little was awesome and made me a vegan dish. She made this pan-asian noodle dish which was delicious. There was also fruit, and a salsa dip that I could eat. That worked out well. For dinner I had a fantastic veggie wrap at bar and restaurant we were at for dinner. Thanks to the website barnivore.com I can easily look up alcohols that are vegan friendly so that is always helpful. Sunday was the drive back and I didn't really eat much other than chips.

I didn't have a chance to go food shopping since I got back until tonight. So Sunday night and yesterday consisted of leftovers. Tonight though I made a vegan version of Rocco Dispirito's Sweet and Spicy Linguine alla Vodka (which has no vodka in it...). The recipe calls for yogurt and I didn't have soy yogurt, nor was I able to go downtown to Ever'man's to get some, so I experimented and mixed a little bit of vegan cream cheese with some soy milk. It seemed to make the right consistency so I gave it a try. It was delicious. And I tweeted about it and Rocco retweeted it which kind of made my night because I'm in love with him. Maybe tomorrow I'll post my modified version of the recipe. It really was good and it's pretty low in calories. Rocco has really great low-cal recipes with his Now Eat This Diet.

 

 

The sauce came out great with my yogurt substitution experiment.

Finished product.

Put it in some tuperware and brought it to my office for dinner.

That's all for now. I had a fantastic trip and made the best of it as a vegan. I didn't starve so I'd say it's a success. Look for some more posts soon.

Me and some wonderful ladies at Red Dress Gala.

Loved this in the Florida Tech alumni magazine.

My Life Month as a Vegan - Halfway!

Day 17.

Since it is October 17 I am past the halfway point of my vegan month. It is going well and it is going by fast! There are plenty of recipes I still want to try and I have lots of leftovers in the freezer. I'm definitely going to be eating vegan past this month (but not entirely vegan). I'm really enjoying this veganism and have learned so much and tried many different foods, and a lot more cooking than normal.

So since it's the halfway point here's a list of the things I've started missing:

• Eggs. I love eggs and the substitutes are great but sometimes I just want to scramble up some real eggs.
• Mallomars. If you recall from my last post I'm missing these now that it's Mallomars season.
• Candy corn. Love Halloween because of candy corn, but it's made with gelatin. I found a recipe for homemade candy corn that doesn't include gelatin or anything else that isn't vegan-friendly so I might give that a try.

Honestly I think that's it. It's a short list, but I'm not really missing anything else because I've found great subsitutes.

I'm not missing ice cream because I love this!

So on the note of Mallomars, I mentioned last time that my mom mails them to me since they are hard to find down here. Well, about an hour after I wrote the last post, I was at Publix and found a (very small) supply of Mallomars. Well, at least I know I can find them here.

Mallomars, hidden in with all the Oreos.

Pre-roasting.

 So for some reason I'm totally in love with roasted veggies lately. So one night I decided to roast up some veggies that I needed to use up before they would go bad. So I took some carrots, celery, and also some potatoes and seasoned them up a bit with oil, italian seasoning, paprika (of course), and some salt and roasted them in the oven. Delicious. Served it over some rice. It was a super easy meal and very delicious. I had leftover veggies so I put them in some tupperware and put it in the fridge (knew I'd be eating them a lot over the next few days.

Roasted veggies. So amazing.

Served with some delicious white rice.

Terrible picture but I love quinoa.

 So then the next day I didn't have much time for dinner so I thought I would have a vegan burger that I could quickly microwave. I didn't have any bread so I thought I'd just serve it over rice. But then I realized I had rice the night before with the veggies so I should come up with an alternative. I couldn't think of what else to do with them though given everything that I had in my kitchen. Then I realized that I had quinoa that I had yet to (ever) use. Yes, I've never cooked with quinoa before. So I cooked up some quinoa which I seasoned with a little bit of garlic salt. Delicious.




So I sometimes feel the need for a snack, but I've been wanting something healthy and vegan. I've made roasted chickpeas before so I was in the mood for those earlier this week. They are super easy to make. You just take canned chickpeas (I usually do two cans at a time), rinsed and drained. Season them up however you'd like. I used some canola oil, paprika (of course), some Italian seasoning, and a little bit of sea salt. Spread them evenly over a baking sheet and bake at 400 F for about 40 minutes (keeping an eye on them for the last 10 minutes so they don't burn). Delicious. Lasted me a few days (surprisingly). I might make some more tonight for my road trip tomorrow.

Pre-roasting

Roasted.

So the last couple of days I haven't felt like doing much because I've been pretty sick (upper respiratory infection and viral bronchitis). Good times. So last night I didn't have much of an appetite and didn't feel like cooking anyway so I had some Amy's frozen vegan mac and cheese that I heated up in the microwave. It was pretty good and a perfect portion size when I wasn't feeling well.

Amy's Rice Mac and Cheeze.

Zucchini cake batter.

Tonight for dinner I decided to make some zucchini cakes. I found the recipe from VeganDad. I modified the recipe a little bit. I didn't have soy yogurt and Publix doesn't sell it. I didn't have time (or energy) the last couple of days to get downtown to Ever'man's so I thought I'd experiment with modifying the recipe. I used a little extra soy milk and also whisked some softened vegan butter into the wet ingredients. I also seasoned up the batter with some paprika and nutritional yeast flakes. I used about a tablespoon and a half of batter for each cake and fried them up in canola oil. Otherwise I kept the recipe the same. I didn't make it with the tomato-onion relish either, but I'll try that the next time. They came out pretty good. I want to see if I can cook them more like pancakes or maybe bake them somehow so that they aren't fried in all that oil. I had them with the rest of my leftover roasted veggies. It was a delicious dinner.

Zucchini cakes and roasted veggies.

I made 12 of these with the recipe.

This past Saturday some friends and I took a spontaneous day trip to New Orleans (3 hour drive). We left around 7:30am (when we had planned to leave at 6:30am). We went to the aquarium, the zoo, and then wandered around the French Quarter. I loved the aquarium (of course, but was sad that the penguins were on hiatus while their exhibit was renovated). We got a deal where we got admission to the aquarium, an IMAX movie, and the zoo for only $19. So we saw an IMAX about coral reefs and the destruction of them (in 3D). That was pretty cool, but sadly not narrated by Morgan Freeman. The zoo was really awesome too though some exhibits were also under renovation so there were some animals we couldn't see. We tried to find some vegan friendly restaurants (and found plenty) but the two we tried for lunch were closed. So we skipped on lunch and had an early dinner at The Gumbo Shop. I had a vegan gumbo which was pretty delicious. Everyone else's food looked awesome too. After dinner we wandered around the French Quarter. I may have gotten a hand grenade to drink (amazing). We saw some street performers doing awesome break dancing. It was a great time. Then we drove back to Pcola that night.

Audubon Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans.

Last night I did some baking. I baked some vegan banana bread with a recipe I found from a google search. I used a smaller pan than the recipe called for so I also made some muffins with the batter. It came out really amazing, and the people who have tried it agree. I call it a success.

What's left of it. I used vegan choc. chips for a couple of the muffins.

So this weekend will be my first vegan vacation. I am leaving tomorrow and driving down to Melbourne, FL to visit my Alma Mater (Florida Tech) for my sorority's (Alpha Phi) alumnae weekend. I'm really excited because I haven't been down there in a while (April, I think?). I'm looking forward to the trip, but I'm worried about my food options, especially since we have some events involving food but I don't know if I'll have options. It's okay though because I know I'll figure something out and I'm also taking some stuff with me. We'll see how it goes.

Sorry for such a long post. I'll have another one sometime early next week.

My Life Month as a Vegan Day 11

Looked great. Tasted afwul.

Okay so tonight I had the biggest vegan fail ever. Seriously, I made three different meals for dinner because the first two went almost directly into the trash. So I started off with some apple cider tofu. I found the recipe from VeganDad and it looked so delicious that I thought I'd give it a try. Fail. I used less apple cider vinegar than the recipe called for and all you could taste was vinegar. So after a bite of that I threw it out (there was no salvaging any of it) and moved on to the next try. I had some tofu noodles and I made a "cream" sauce. Cooked up the noodles, poured some sauce over them, and topped it with some vegan-friendly meatless meatballs. I learned that tofu noodles are rather disgusting. The sauce and the meatballs were great, but they were ruined by the noodles. So after that I was tired of cooking. Heated up some leftover chickpea cakes and a few more meatballs and that was my dinner.



Last night I had a successful dinner attempt with only one try. I made some stir fry with bean sprouts, baby corn, mushrooms, water chestnuts, tempeh, and served it over rice. It was rather delicious, something that was super easy to make, and another one of those foods that you can just use whatever veggies you have.

Delicious tempeh stir fry which I served over rice (and have several servings of leftovers).

So one day last week I had the realization that since it is now October it is Mallomars season. If you're not aware, Mallomars are a delicious treat from Nabisco that is basically a smores cookie. It's a graham cracker-like cookie topped with marshmallow and covered in a chocolate coating. They are delicious. Over 70% of them are sold in the NY Metropolitan area though, so they are hard to come across down south. They are also only made from October to May since they melt so easily in the summer months. I got a packed from Mama Ceal this week and of course it had a box of Mallomars in it because she always sends me some when it's Mallomars season. Well, at least they don't go bad so they will be an amazing treat after my Vegan Pledge is over.

Sad that I can't eat Mallomars. They will make for a great post-vegan celebration.

Last night (or this morning rather) I had the sudden urge to bake cupcakes. It was 2am. I almost did, but then my rational thoughts took over and I knew that as soon as I would put them in the oven I would have the sudden urge to sleep. So I passed on that, but I plan on making some more chocolate cupcakes this weekend and possibly some cocount cupcakes as well.

Haven't had any other exciting vegan cooking extravaganzas. I'm hoping for some deliciously successful cooking adventures this weekend. And maybe a meal out at Sluggo's.


Here's the trailer to Food, Inc. It's a great documentary that has encouraged me to be a conscious consumer. I'm not trying to turn everyone (or anyone) vegetarian or vegan, but you should know where your food comes from and how it gets to you. I think I may see a documentary day coming up soon. This weekend perhaps?

My Life Month as a Vegan Day 8

Hey look at this... two days in a row for blog posts! Go me!

So yesterday I had my first vegan baking experience. It went really well. Yesterday morning I went shopping at Ever'Man's in downtown Pensacola, which is a natural foods store. I was so happy there. They just have so many options for vegans and I loved it. Can't wait to go back.

Just out of the oven. Baked a minute or two too long.

I first made some chocolate cupcakes from a recipe I found from Oh She Glows. I baked them a couple mintues too long so they were a little overcooked on the outside but still so delicious. The almond "buttercream" frosting was delicious, but a little too almond-y for me. So I think next time I might do half almond extract and half vanilla extract.

Frosted. I even got some vegan sprinkles which were the ugliest colors ever, but still good.

I also gave chocolate chip cookie dough truffles that I found a recipe for from Chef Chloe. They were delicious. I brought them to my staff meeting this morning and people loved them. They were super easy to make too.

The best part about vegan cookie dough is that you don't have to worry about eating raw eggs.

Cookie dough in the freezer.

Halfway there. Look delicious.

Seriously so good. They were a hit.

I hadn't thought about dinner last night until I was hungry so I needed to put something together pretty quickly. I made a portabello mushroom burger which was delicious.

My delicious portabello burger. Threw on some vegan cheese, sliced tomato, and veganaise and mustard. Yum

Today for lunch I made myself a tofurkey sandwich. I had some Italian deli style tofurkey, along with some tomatoes that I sliced up, some vegan cheese, and veganaise and had it on wheat toast. I was a little worried about veganaise at first because it just sounds gross, but it's just an oil based spread and it tastes just like mayonaise. The sandwich was really delicious. It was a nice change for lunch.

Tonight for dinner I really wanted to make some soup. Today felt like fall so it was definitely a night for soup. I even wore jeans and a pair of boots today. I'm so happy the fall weather is here (I just wish I was up north to really experience fall). I made a simple vegetable soup. The thing I love about making soup is that you can just throw in whatever you have. So I used vegetable stock and water and added potatoes, cauliflower, carrots, celery, Great Northern Beans, mushrooms, and seasoned it up. It was delicious and I made plenty so I could freeze some of the leftovers to have another time.

I love to freeze it in individual serving size containers so that I have ready to go meals whenever I need them.

Hope you've enjoyed! More posts to come soon!

My Life Month as a Vegan

So for the month of October I have decided to go Vegan, and I think I'll blog about it! Yay blogging! because I'm one of the worst bloggers in the history of blogging. So this past week has been a bit busy which made my first week as a Vegan a bit challenging, but I'm hoping to put up a new post every 2-3 days (we'll see how that goes...).

The first couple of days of Veganism was rough because I hadn't gotten the chance to go grocery shopping for vegan-specific items, and my supply of food in my apartment wasn't very Vegan Friendly. Once I got a chance to shop it became so much easier.

For breakfast I haven't been doing too much since I don't generally eat breakfast anyway (most important meal of the day, I know). I have been trying to eat some oatmeal most mornings though and I add a touch of brown sugar and cinnamon to give some flavor (cut up some apples for it too if I happen to have any).

My favorite oatmeal. No surprise that it is Irish. :)


Lunch has mostly been salad. I've been eating most of my lunches at the campus dining hall and my option is limited to a terribly bland salad. I'm hoping to do something else for lunch this week.

The dinners is where it's been at this week for me. The first night after shopping I needed a quick, easy meal so I made vegan sloppy joes from a mix I had gotten. It was real easy to make and I served it on some vegan wheat bread. It was very delicious and the leftovers made for a wonderful midnight snack the following night.

The sloppy joe mix on the stove. So easy to make.

Sloppy joes served on vegan-friendly wheat bread. Delicious.

The second night I also needed a quick meal since it was a class night for me. I bought some Amy's vegan stir fry frozen meal. It was rather delicious and perfect for when I was in a rush in between finishing my paper and going to class (yes, I was procrastinating...).

Friday night was the Homecoming Tailgate before the men's soccer game (we won!!), but a tailgate doesn't sound like a vegan's dream dinner. It wasn't. I did find the chips I could eat, and we did have vegan burgers. Too bad the buns weren't vegan, but luckily I brought my own vegan bread. :) That worked out for me.

Yesterday I went to my supervisor's house for his housewarming party. We had pre-established that I needed to bring my own food so I brought some Creamed Kale and Cajun Chickpea Cakes (both recipes courtesy of VeganDad). I brought plenty to share and everyone who tried them seemed to love them so I call it a success. I thought it was pretty delicious.

Creamed kale. Yum.

Cajun chickpea cakes. So delicious!

Okay so that's all for now. More to come in the next couple of days (including some vegan baking attempts!!)

The busy life of, well, me.

I'm not really a workaholic but I do have a tendency to take on a lot of responsibilities. As an undergrad I was quite busy being involved in pretty much everything. Yes, I was that kid.

Now I'm in grad school. That alone makes it pretty busy, right? So I got a job because I needed to pay the rent and bills. Then I got another job that would give me great experience for when I graduate and get a real job. Pretty busy, but manageable.

And then I got a new job. That's 3 for those of you keeping count. I'm making good money but very very busy. Tired too. Time management has become very important for me. Good thing I established those skills a while back.

My new office (well it's a desk in a larger office) has a window. That's an upgrade from my other office. But the wireless doesn't work down here. Oh and I have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing for this new job, but no one else does either so I guess that's good.

Good times. Hope ya'll are doing well.

Sneak Peak

So I know I said last month that I'm going to use this blog to showcase my photos... and that's still what I intend. So while I'm getting back into my photography and working on getting some of my older stuff posted, here's just a little sneak peak into some of my work. Also, I would just like to add that you'll need to be patient... I'm working two jobs and I'm a full-time grad student. Life is a little busy right now. But I am working on it.

 

So I'm sure you're all wondering why on earth they all say DG Photography... well, back in high school that's what I decided I would call my photography 'business' (endeavour is more like it...) It's not my initials, it's not anyone's initials. It's kind of a long story, but it reminds me of who I am, the awesome friends I have, and the life I am so thankful for.

Hope you like these and come back to see some more in the (hopefully) near future.