Vegan Grubbin at Sipz Cafe in San Diego

Whenever I protest in San Diego, CA (Typically against Bloomingdale's (Fur) and Sea World (Slavery) our after-protest-grub-fest has always been at Sipz! Love this place TO DEATH... It is Asian/ Thai themed vegan food with some awesome baked goods as well :) I recommend this place with my heart and soul! Oh ya and after 5pm (At the location I frequent) they serve VEGAN SUSHI (Please don't piss your pants!)

Thai Tea

Vegan Crab Rangoons 

Tangy Orange "Chicken" with steamed broccoli added and served with white rice (Did I mention, health reasons are the lowest on my vegan priority scale: FUCK YOU BROWN RICE)

Carrot Cake & Red Velvet Cupcakes

One happy stuffed vegan here... Can we protest again soon please?! ;)

Peace.Love.Vegan

Always&Forever

Amy

Online Recipe Reviews: Buffalo Tofu Sammies, Melty Cheese, Cauliflower Poppers, and Pad Thai

I love the internet and I love saving trees whenever possible by looking up online recipes and refraining from printing them out to add to my massive "Online Recipe Book/Binder"... I learned how to cook this way and met some awesome vegans in the process! VegWeb.com was where I got started (I don't log in much anymore due to some fucked up viruses that are supposedly not an issue anymore) and learned the skills I needed to be self sufficient :)

The 2 pictures above are of a Buffalo Tofu Sandwich (I had leftover homemade buffalo sauce from Spork Fed that needed to be used up)... Can't even imagine store bought slathered on this but my bestie said these were amazing even with the store bought buffalo sauce!

Melty Cheese from VegWeb is my go to "Nooch" sauce... Love me some vegan nachos... Sinfully delicious always! I almost prefer it to Daiya sometimes as I prefer homemade grub :)

Cauliflower Poppers from VegWeb are also a staple at the pad... You seriously know you are awesome when your drunken munchies consist of cauliflower... LOVE THIS RECIPE... Don't even measure anymore... Something to remember: If there is too much liquid left in the pan when the cauliflower is done cooking dump it out near the end and brown the cauli a little. (I have been pan frying these a lot more recently than roasting because it is quicker)

Lastly, Pad Thai! Love 2 recipes, one of which my future husband, The Vegan Zombie, created and the other HERE (Which I photographed). 

Peace.Love.Vegan,

Amy

Man Have I Been Eating A Shit-Ton of Loving Hut Lately

YES EXACTLY AS THE HEADING READS... I can't get enough of Loving Hut, Ladera Ranch, CA this past week and have ate takeout more than a few times (Sometimes I want to eat dank food without cooking, I confess)... Loving Hut is EVERYWHERE and the menu has similarities and differences between each location and is priced CHEAP for vegan-fare... So basically, I am going to make you green with envy (not your hippie green juice) about all the delicious vegan Asian food I have shoved in my face this week.

Starters: Golden Nuggets & Jumbo Drum Sticks

Golden Nuggets verdict: BOMB! Better than Pink Slime Mc Donald's Nuggets any day... The barbecue sauce was even better than Mc D's too and that is some hard shit to beat!

Jumbo Drumstick's verdict: Pretty good, I liked that what looked like a chicken bone was actually a SHROOM that you could eat (As in the whole thing was edible, some vegan places have the fake bone for looks but you can't eat it).

Chef's Special: Clay Pot (Keep in mind, all of this is to-go packaged)

 

This shit was BOMB, loved the sauce, can't really say it tasted fishy (Which is probably a good thing) but it was delicious and the look was spot on as well as the texture... Mad props.

Rice Dishes: Tangy Orange (I suppose it is called a "rice dish" because it comes with rice?! Though that is an inconsistent hypothesis if you look at the dish above)...

Really liked this... Reminds me of orange beef, and it came with a cute salad with some whack-ass dressing so I used some of my own since I was in the luxury of my own apartment :)

Noodles & Soups: BBQ Noodles & Pho

I have had the BBQ Noodles before at a Loving Hut in Orange, CA and they were AMAZING... These were mediocre at best compared to my first experience, maybe it was because they were to-go?

Here are the noodles mixed up and the okay-tasting Crispy Roll gone from the picture into my tum tum :)

Now the Pho was OFF THE CHAIN (Ya, I just said that)... Perfection, SOOOOOO GOOD! I will admit though, I have never had Pho with animal meat in it so I cannot compare. I have had vegan pho at an actual pho restaurant and it was bland and boring as shit (Vegans apparently don't need flavor only steamed veggies and broth that tastes similar to water)... This dish definitely changed my opinion on how Pho is DANK when done right!

Thank you for reading my reviews and if you want to punch me in the face for all this I understand. I am sorry if you live somewhere where such amazing vegan restaurants aren't like EVERYWHERE (Hey, I ain't in LA though so it is kinda "Hood" for vegan restaurants)... The times are changing, hang in there fellow vegan comrades, I am sure one will pop up soon!

Peace.Love.Vegan

Amy

Easy Meals Always Seem Asian Themed These Days...

I think I consume an Asian themed dinner the majority of the week... Stirfry's are so easy to "Slop" together whether they develop in the form of a rice, noodle, or tofu based dish... Seems that I always have the items on hand to throw together some bomb fried rice! Pictured above is fried rice: Room temp (or cold) cooked Calrose rice, ALWAYS seasoned with Bragg's, Sweet Chili Sauce, Rooster Sauce and fried up in some olive oil... The additions to the base recipe this time were some frozen mixed veggies, diced red onion, and diced homemade baked teriyaki tofu.

Above is some fried rice with the same base seasonings. I then added leftover Japanese eggplant that I had sauteed with garlic and sweet chili sauce some julienned carrots and sauteed diced yellow onions.

And next we move to the INFAMOUS RAMEN NOODLE... Maruchan Oriental Flavor BITCHES and they also have a Spicy Flavor (BE A VEGAN & READ DEM INGREDIENTS) that is vegan as well that can be purchased 5/$1 at your local 99 Cents Only Store... I am not saying this is vegan health food that will have you shitting rainbows and flying with unicorns but it tastes GOOD. I always cook the noodles first but not too much, strain and rinse them with cold water and set aside, use some noodle cooking liquid/ broth/ water to cook up the veggies (Here was some sliced red onion and a pre-chopped broccoli carrot mix), then drain extra liquid, add seasoning packets and noodles, mix and eat :) LET'S MOVE RIGHT ALONG...

Tofu Stirfry's... Vegan staple here kids... If you have a Tofu Press (I have the Xpress) your life is that much easier... Or you can be a damn granola-hippie and do the old heavy-pot-on-top-of-tofu-wrapped-in-paper-towels-method (TREE KILLER!!! CALL THE VEGAN POLICE!! TREES FEEL PAIN TOO OMG)... Anyways, take the drained and pressed firm tofu, cut it into cubes and pan fry that bean patty until it's golden on all sides (The best you can), then pair with some special sauce.. The night I made this, Veggie Broth, Bragg's, Agave, Garlic, and Chili Flakes tickled my fancy... Threw in some broccoli florets at the same time and paired my stirfry with some freshly cooked Calrose (aka "sticky") rice.

Pictured above is another tofu stirfry with sauteed Japanese Eggplant, Bamboo Shoots, String Beans, Onions and Boy Choy for the veggies... A spin off from a Thai Green Curry recipe from a cookbook my friend facebook messaged me... The sauce was sugar, coconut milk, green curry paste, Bragg's and veggie broth, thickened with a cornstarch slurry.

Peace.Love.Vegan

Amy

The Post-A-Thon... 2011 Week 43 and 44

I have been eating and I have been taking pictures amongst all the drama and craziness in my life... Time to get back to normalcy and lay low... Let's get real

Let's start off with polishing off some leftovers... Spicy Eggplant with Tofu and some fried rice... I have really started to dig Japanese eggplant if you can't tell by now.

My last VWAV Stuffed Bell Pepper topped with vegan sour cream and paired with Homemade Refried Beans garnished with fresh tomatoes, cilantro, and green cabbage.

Viva Vegan's Potato and Kale Soup... Never bother with making the vegan chorizo anymore cause it's like an extra hour or so of effort and I like the soup as is.

I love me some brussels and these are the rest of the Maple Brussels I made... I ate them for breakfast cause I'm weird like that... Dipped in barbecue sauce... Don't judge

I love that vegan food doesn't go bad fast! Seriously, leftovers can sit in my fridge for practically 2 weeks for the most part without getting gross... That's awesome!

I made a batch of Crock Pot Seitan a few weekends ago and finally did something with it!

I sliced half the batch of seitan into strips, shook the strips in a ziplock with some cornstarch, fried the coated strips in oil, once they were nice and golden I turned off the heat and added some barbecue sauce and stirred to evenly coat... Served these puppies up with some Japanese eggplant that I fried in oil and coated with sweet chili sauce and some kale salad.

Here is the Kale Salad (Before I slopped some of the end of it onto the dish above) in all it's glory. Recipe HERE (Scroll down halfway to Tess Challis)... Lemme get that Kale Salad!

I found a tube of Soy Chorizo AT THE 99 CENTS STORE! I fried it up with some chopped green bells, onion, and garlic and made my skinny ass some tacos. Here they are topped with Homemade Refried Beans, vegan sour cream, green cabbage, and cilantro.

Here they are again with sliced shrooms, vegan sour cream, green cabbage, and cilantro.

I also made some brown mexican inspired fried rice colored with Viva Vegan's Annatto Infused Oil, cumin, oregano, S&P, onions, garlic, and cilantro... Topped with some chunky homemade guac.

I made VWAV's Hummus again... Legit, though my tahini was kinda whack and I could tell this was much lower in fat and creaminess because of it... I don't mind though since it was for my next creation...

VegWeb's Fresh Folds with Balsamic Reduced Caramelized Onions... Oh my! Delicious <3

Folded in all it's sloppy glory <3

Peace, Love, Vegan <3

The Post-A-Thon... 2011 Week 42 and Korean Potatos Recipe

Hey peeps! As you all know, I batch cook and eat leftovers. It makes being vegan easy on me as I prefer to eat homemade food whenever possible since I know what I am putting in it! I had lots of leftovers to eat all week for lunch and dinner. Lunch is usually a big salad for me everyday or soup and dinner is the meal I like to eat something spectacular. Here are some of the things I consumed this week.

Last weekend I made some bomb nachos using almond pulp from making almond milk and subbing it (I used double the amount) for the cashews in the Melty Cheese recipe (So if you made the whole recipe it would be 1/2 cup alomond pulp). I also added a little white miso to give the nooch sauce a sharp chedddary taste. Very good!

Tofu is such an easy thing to throw together into an easy meal. Two of my current favorite dishes are VW's General Tao's Tofu and SP's Spicy Eggplant with Tofu. I make them almost weekly.

General Tao's Tofu with brown rice fried up with sesame oil, garlic, Braggs, S&P, and kale.

Spicy Eggplant with Tofu topped with Sriracha and paired with brown rice fried up with frozen peas and corn, Braggs, and Sriracha.

Spicy Eggplant with Tofu paired with Maple Glazed Brussles and brown and white rice fried up with frozen peas, Braggs, Sriracha, and kale.

VWAV's Stuffed Bell Peppers were a centerpiece of many meals this week with fried rice of some sort or Homemade Refried Beans for pairing.

 VWAV's Stuffed Bell Peppers paired with white rice fried up with peas, kale, Braggs, avocado, salsa and cilantro. This fried rice remix was my favorite of the entire week. Most days I would take leftover fried rice or just plain rice and rejazz or just jazz it up. Rice is so versatile and easy to make into an awesome side dish in minutes. I just cook it in the morning while I am getting ready for work in my rice cooker and then let it cool down during the day and it's ready to fry up when I get home from work... Simple planning peoples!

VWAV's Stuffed Bell Peppers topped with some chipotle mayo type drizzle, Roasted Rosemary+Sage+MapleSyrup+S&P Carrots, and Homemade Refired Beans.

VWAV's Stuffed Bell Peppers topped with vegan sour cream, Homemade Refried Beans topped with cabbage, cilantro, and hot sauce

Korean Potatoes

Korean Potatoes Recipe

Ingredients:

2.5 pounds baby potatoes (Red, White, or PURPLE), halved

1 large yellow onion, thickly sliced

1/2 bunch green onions, thinly sliced

1 T cornstarch mixed with 2 T water

Sauce:

1 T sesame oil

10 cracks black pepper

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup garlic, minced

1/2 cup Braggs or Soy Sauce

1/2 cup water

Directions:

Place potatoes in a large pot and spread evenly

Whisk sauce ingredients and add to the potatoes.

Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling turn the heat to a simmer. 

Cook the potatoes for 15 minutes and mix then top with sliced yellow onions, cover and cook for another   15 minutes and mix again. The potatoes should be done by now, if not cook them covered for a bit longer. 

Add the cornstarch + water slurry and the green onions and mix until the sauce thickens.  

Korean Potatoes with brown rice fried with Braggs, Sriracha, frozen peas and corn, and plain cashews.

Peace, Love, Vegan <3

Awesome Saturday! Vegan Dining at Thuyen Vien in Anaheim CA!

Holy smokes Thuyen Vien in Anaheim California is freakin AMAZING! I want to go back tomorrow for realzzz people! Take a seat and embrace yourself for some food porn and if you're ever in So Cal, get your fanny over to Thuyen Vien. Almost everything is vegan except like five "fish" dishes... kinda wonder why they even bother...

So my amazing step mom treated me to lunch today and this is what we had:

Thai Iced Tea... Solid

Spring Rolls... Wrap these in the lettuce leaf with some of the mint and double dip your heart out in the sauce

Banana Flower Tacos... Plain ingredients that somehow become heavenly

Fried Rice Thailand Style... Loved it! Tofu chunks, fake meats, cilantro, delicious short grain rice... Add some chili paste and now we're talkin :)

Soy Chicken Garlic with Special Sauce... Good, standard TVP chunks with some good sauce and green onions, no complaints

Eggplant Claypot Sensation... Eggplant is the new love of my life, this melts in your mouth, I will be fantasizing about this tonight <3

Vegan Flan... First vegan flan experience, epic, no difference!

Vegan Cheesecake... Solid, no complaints

Get your ass to Thuyen Vien HERE IS THE MENU.