Dun-Well Doughnuts FTW!

Vegan donuts, oh how I love thee,

let me count the ways...

1. I love how no animals were harmed in making you...

2. I love how you still taste just as good, if not better!...

3. I love how you play hard to get, so I enjoy you even more when I find you...

4. I love how good you look in that icing...

5. I love how I don't care how fattening you are, because you are oh so worth it...

6. I love how you are spelled donuts and doughnuts...

7. I love you because you are a donut, and that's reason enough!

If you read my post yesterday, you know that I recently visited New York for the first time (if not, you can find my post here), and finally got to go to a vegan fast food style restaurant. After I left there, I hoped my happy butt back on subway like a real New Yorker (well not really, I'm far to excited about riding the subway to be confused with a real New Yorker), and went across town to Dun-Well Doughnuts. They have over 200 flavors of vegan donuts, so it was kinda a bummer that they only had 3 in stock when I visited. I chose to try two of them, a raspberry glazed and a vanilla glazed with chocolate sprinkles. I'm happy to say that I approve them both, unlike this years presidential candidates... 

 

Donuts as big as your hand!!!  

Wait a minute... ice cream?

Yep, they have vegan ice cream too. I got the cherry vanilla, because apparently fast food and donuts weren't enough! When in Rome Brooklyn, am I right?...

Happy Vegan Mofo!

Vegan Fast Food, New York Style!

My friend Jessi and I were lucky enough to score free plane tickets, so we used them to take a trip up to New York to visit our good friends Pj of Vegan CineGrub, who was getting married. It was my first time visiting New York, but it won't be my last.

One of the most exciting things to me about New York was the number of vegan/vegetarian restaurants they have...TONS of them. I live in the small town of Plant City, right outside of Tampa, and even though the name sounds hopeful ("Plant" City), and I love my town, most people here don't even know what the word vegan means, or how to pronounce it, much less how to cook vegan food, which is very unfortunate because Plant City is a big fruit and vegetable farming community. Tampa doesn't have many choices either. Loving Hut is Tampa's only all vegan restaurant, and I am not a fan of our Loving Hut. So I was completely blown away by the number of vegan restaurants that New York has to offer.

I've been to plenty of vegan restaurants in St. Pete and Orlando, so I'm used to all of the hippie dippie foods and the flower teas, and I like them, but judge me all you want, I was looking for a place that had some good ol' fried vegan fast food for a change, and I found all I could ever want and more at Foodswings in Brooklyn, New York.

Behold, Vegan Potato Skins!!!

Fried Vegan Chick'n Cutlet Sandwich

They even have vegan milkshakes!

I wish I could show you more food, but as soon as I saw Vegan Potato Skins on the menu, every other food choice had to take a back seat. But they have something for everyone including, burgers, hot dogs, corn dogs, drumsticks, Philly cheese steaks, milkshakes, cheese fries, punk fried, metal fries... you get my point. Check out their menu here, and plan your trip today!

What is your favorite vegan food hot spot?

Happy Vegan MoFo!

How I Roll... Vegan Peanut Butter Cinnamon Rolls!

Who can resist a big ol pan full of ooey gooey vegan peanut butter cinnamon rolls? Not anyone in this household, that's for sure! I have been eyeballing this recipe for a long time now from one of my favorite vegan foodie blogs Bjorkedoff (Please come back Evan!!!), but was too intimidated to try it out until just recently. It was very time consuming and labor intensive, but TOTALLY worth it!

Behold! Heaven on Earth!!!

Is your mouth watering yet?

Find the recipe here, and leave Evan a comment begging him to come back to his super awesome blog! I followed the recipe as written except I made a double batch of the peanut butter filling, because I wanted to go into a sugar comma... goal accomplished! I also put the extra peanut butter filling on the top of the rolls as well as the insides... I think I gained 10 pounds just baking these! He forgot to list the ingredients for the icing, so I used a basic glaze recipe. See below.

Cinnamon Roll Glaze

2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup vegan margarine

enough non dairy milk to thin out

Happy Vegan MoFo!

Chickpea Tacos w/Fresh Tomato Avocado Salsa

Never under estimate the power of the chickpea!

Packed with fiber, protein, valuable phyonutrients, and the ability to lower cholesterol, reduce blood sugar, and decrease cardiovascular risks; these little legumes are worth writing home about. Just one cup of chickpeas contains a whopping 12.5 grams of fiber, and as little as 3/4 cup of chickpeas a day can help lower our LDL-cholesterol, total cholesterol, and triglycerides in a one-month period of time. Chickpeas are a super food in my book.

Let's not overlook their taste, chickpeas are awesome, so creamy and full of flavor. You can add them to just about anything with great results, as I did here in my Chickpea Tacos.

For more information on why chickpeas are so good for us, go here.

Chickpea Tacos with Fresh Tomato Avocado Salsa

Fresh Tomato Avocado Salsa

2 roma tomatoes

1/2 avocado

the juice of 1/2 lemon

1/2 tsp coriander seasoning

1/4 tsp garlic powder

dash of salt

Chop tomatoes and 1/2 of avocado into small chunks. Put into bowl. Squeeze in 1/2 lemon and stir. Add other seasonings. Taste and add more seasoning if needed. Let sit in the refrigerator while making tacos.

Chickpea Tacos

makes 4 tacos or double for 8

4 taco shells

1 can of chickpeas

1/2 package of taco seasoning

1 cup of water

garlic powder to taste

cumin powder to taste

* optional: 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

Add a dash of oil to a medium sized pan or spray with cooking spray, just enough to prevent sticking. Heat pan to medium-high. Rinse chickpeas under water and then add to pan. Cook until lightly brown or to your liking. Add 1 cup of water to the pan. Stir in 1/2 packet of taco seasoning, nutritional yeast (if using), and other spices until well combined. Let come to a low boil. Cook uncovered for about 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Turn the heat down to low, cover and let simmer for about 10 minutes for full flavor. Heat taco shells at 325 degrees for about 3-5 minutes.

Assemble tacos by adding chickpeas first, taco sauce if desired, lettuce, and tomato avocado salsa. Or give them a personal touch by adding your favorite toppings.

I promise you wont regret making these. They are so fast, easy, and full of flavor. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

~amber

Pizza Pie, A Montage!

Who says vegans can't enjoy a good pizza?!? Blasphemy!

Everyone loves a good pizza pie, so why is it so hard for people to understand whenever a vegan says they love pizza? It doesn't have to be dairy ridden to be good. I actually find it to be quite the opposite. I like pizza more now as a vegan than I did when I consumed dairy. Vegan pizzas are more flavorful, not masked by ungodly amounts of dairy filled cheese like the other.

Making homemade pizzas is allot of fun. You can involve the whole family. Try out some of my recipes and get creative by adding your own special touch, I promise you would regret it.

I give you... Pizza Pie, A Montage!!!

click on the descriptions below for links to the recipes

Loaded Vegetable Pizza

with Green and Yellow Bell Peppers, Mushrooms, Onions, Olives

and Homemade Cashew Cheese

Crust recipe from Vegan With A Vengeance, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

Diced Tomato Bruschetta Pizza

with Homemade Cashew Cheese

Crust recipe from Vegan With A Vengeance, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

Zucchini, Yellow Squash, Garlic, Tomato Mini Pizza

with Potato Cashew Cheese Sauce

Tomato Garlic Mini Pizza

with Potato Cashew Cheese Sauce

Mediterranean Style Pizza

with Olives, Banana Peppers, Sun-dried Tomatoes, Mushrooms, Onions

and Follow Your Heart, Vegan Gourmet Mozzarella Style Cheese

Sliced Tomato Bruschetta Pizza

with Follow Your Heart, Vegan Gourmet Mozzarella Style Cheese

Vegetable Mini Pizza

with Zucchini, Yellow Squash, Green Bell Peppers, Onions, Tomatoes

and Potato Cashew Cheese, on top of fresh Tomato Sauce

Loaded Tomato Mini Pizza

with Fresh Roma Tomatoes, Caramelized onions, Sauteed Garlic

and Potato Cashew Cheese, on top of fresh Tomato Sauce

~ * ~

So make tonight... PIZZA NIGHT!!!

What is your favorite pizza combination?

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Fluffy Butt wants to know if you have entered our Catnip Toy GIVEAWAY for today?

Me and my furry friends are giving away (1) catnip toy a day until Sunday, October 16th, in honor of National Feral Cat Day 2011. Make sure you enter!