Monday, September 30, 2013

Mulling Over MoFo Memories :)

Happy National Hot Mulled Cider Day!
Celebrate the passing of another magnificent month of vegan madness with a mug of steamy warm spicy cider...makes me happier than Pooh bear lickin' a honeypot.  ;)
Did you find new friends and discover new deliciousness this month? Did you explore exotic countries and cuisines? I sailed from Scotland to Singapore, from Austria to Australia, from Brooklyn to Brazil, piling up recipes to try in the coming days...yippee! A zillion thanks to everyone who participated and shared and encouraged and inspired...vegan MoFo'ers, you rock!  :)

Spice up your own homemade cider...

from Brittany at Real Sustenance

from Nancy at Spicie Foodie

Or mull up some farm-fresh cider...

from Mary at Mitten Machen

from PETA

from Sarah at The Sweet Life

from Darla at Bakingdom

from Gina at Running to the Kitchen

Mulling spices make a superdelicious gift...just mix the dry spices together and pour into a little paper bag, print out a label with the recipe on it and close the bag with a colorful ribbon...kind of like this but with spices instead of seeds.
You can use tea bags or spice bags with a recipe tag tied on, bag it and box it or double-quadruple the recipe and put it in a little jar or tiny tin.

Don't forget a vegan-love mug too!  :)

If you are spice-deprived or just too lazy, errr...busy to fix a mix, you can buy it!
Mulling Spice from Simply Organic
Mulling Spice from Davidson's Organics
Mulling Spice Bags and Gift Packets from Olde Tradition Spice
Mulling Spices from The Spice House
Mulling Spices from Penzeys Spices

What was your most fun MoFo post to write? Did you virtually visit a new vegan in a foreign country? Who or where would you like to really visit and what vegan yumfulness would you like to try? What's your favorite Fall get-all-toasty-inside drink?
Cheers!

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Pasta with a Heart

After reading an article or two and signing a few petitions, I started hunting for independent pasta makers focusing on organic pastas and offering vegan-friendly egg-free shapes. Delightfully I declare there's an army of these artisan makers! I don't yet know about their socio-political leanings, but at least they are compassionate and aware of what they do and how it affects people and the planet. They put their heart into their work. And that's a good place to start.  :)

Plus you get extraordinary creations like Organic Black Bean Spaghetti, Rasta Pasta, Beet & Carrot & Sweet Pea Penne, Lemon Pepper Thyme Linguini, Everything Bagel Fusilli, Vegan Parsnip, Carrot, & Sage Ravioli...yumza!

Artisans abound...
Dalla Terra Pasta -- Appleton, WI
Earth Angel Organics -- Hungry Horse, MT
Flour City Pasta -- Pittsford, NY
Pastamoré -- Denver, CO
Sfoglini -- Brooklyn, NY
The Phoenix Pastificio -- Berkeley, CA

Additional advice...
• Check out your local specialty store, health food store or co-op to find locally-made artisanal pastas...be sure to read ingredients and watch for eggs, dairy and honey.
• Search your favorite vegan blogs for handmade pasta recipes...you'll find everything from buckwheat pastas to bean-based pastas...then practice, practice, innovate and practice!
• Explore youtube channels and raw/vegan blogs too...you can learn to spiralize or noodlefy a zillion oodles of fruits and veggies

Have you ditched corporate brands for handmade alternatives? Do you spiralize? Who is your favorite pasta maker?
Yes, yes and my Aunt Clare.  :)

Bakin' and Buzzin'

Happy National Coffee Day!
Sip your vegan espresso, cappuccino, latte or frappe, and rock some java into your chocolate!

from Sherry at Exploits of a Vegan Wannabe

from Doron Petersan via VegNews

from Shaheen at A2K - A Seasonal Veg Table

from Nicole at A Dash of Compassion

from Ana Fernández

from Cookie and Kate

Do you cook or bake with coffee? Care to share a java-jazzed recipe? Who makes your favorite cup of coffee?  ;)

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Hocus Pocus Strawberry Pie! :)

Happy Strawberry Cream Pie Day!
Raw pies are magically easy to make (lotsa fun to make with kids!) and everyone loves them, even non-vegans...also known as vegans-to-be. Make this for your next family dinner and ~☆Hocus Pocus☆~ you could veganize them for life!  ;)

from Deliciously Ella

from Jozi (Un)cooked

from Christy at Vegan2Raw

from Susan at Fatfree Vegan Kitchen

(if you sub in agave for the honey) from Carissa at Mama in the Kitchen

from Naomi Rose at The Gluttonous Vegan

from Susan at Rawmazing

from Laury at The Fitness Dish

from Dawns Raw Kitchen

from Sara at Veggies For Real

What's your favorite kind of pie? Have you ever made a raw dessert?

Friday, September 27, 2013

Double Lovin' Friday

Happy National Chocolate Milk Day and Hug a Vegan Day!
Double win for the vegans!  :)

If you buy it, beautify it!


from Blue Diamond Growers using Chocolate Almond Breeze

from Silk using Chocolate Soymilk


from Kelly Reckas using Earth Balance Chocolate Soy Milk

Or start from scratch!  :)

from Kristin at The Fancy Sprout

from Diana Stobo

from Carissa at Mama in the Kitchen

from Melissa at My Whole Food Life

from Chocolate-Covered Katie

Moo-torials...
Almond Milk in Under 1 Minute + Chocolate Almond Milk Bonus (Video) from Candice at The Edgy Veg (this girl is supercrazyawesome!)
Almond Milk (Video) from Karen Knowler, The Raw Food Coach
How To Make Almond Milk (Video) from Clean & Delicious with Dani Spies
My Favourite Homemade Almond Milk + Step By Step Photos from Angela at Oh She Glows
Homemade Almond Milk from Cathleen at Vegan-Nutritionista

Make your milk and share the vegan love!
If you could hug any vegan, who would it be? How are you celebrating Chocolate Milk Day? Who you huggin' for Hug a Vegan Day?  :)

Happy Hug a Vegan Day!

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Start Flexing Your Hug Muscles!

Tomorrow is Hug A Vegan Day!  :)

Sowing the Seeds of Appley Greatness

Happy Johnny Appleseed Day!

Johnny Appleseed was a squealingly awesome apple-loving, animal-loving dude...he planted apple nurseries throughout Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and West Virginia which helped early Americans establish settlements, and of course gave them yumful applesauce and apple cider! He was also exquisitely kind to animals and eventually became a vegetarian. September 26th was Johnny Appleseed's birthday, so dig into some appley treats and celebrate!
There is some debate over exactly what kind of apples old Johnny planted but most historians lean towards the glowingly green tart Pippin...here are some Pippin-friendly recipes to get your apple party started.  ;)

from Cookie and Kate

from Reboot With Joe

from Raley's

from Judi and Shari Zucker via VegKitchen

from Janet at Gonna Go Walk the Dogs

from Nikki at Fresh Young Coconut

from Lisa at Raw on $10 a Day (or Less!)

from Zel's Vegan NutGourmet

Check out just a few of the over 7500 apple varieties!
What's your favorite kind of apple? Do you enjoy baking with apples? Care to share a favorite apple recipe link?

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

The Art of the Papaya

Happy National Papaya Month!
Papayas, nicknamed "fruit of the angels", are sweetly filling and velvety smooth and jammed full of healthy goodness, especially vitamin C! I love eating them fresh from the market but it's also fun to see papaya artistry in action... 

from Kathy at Healthy. Happy. Life.

from Teenuja at Veganlovlie

from Mary at Fit & Fed

from Yelena at Cooking Melangery

from Rebecca at Blissfully Vegan

from Vicky & Ruth at May I Have That Recipe

from Nancy at Spicy Foodie

from Anya at Golubka

from Maria at Flavors of Mumbai

from Lynne at RawCurious

from Gail at Cooking at the Pacific Outpost

Dulce de Papaya (Candied Papaya) from Jackie at La Casa de Sweets is one of my favorite little tropical treats. What's your favorite?