Being Vegan at Parties

Let's face it. If you're vegan and you've had to go somewhere that's not vegan, like a friend's house or a family gathering, it can be a bit tough.  Especially if you're the only vegan.  And you should still be considerate.  So, what is the proper etiquette for being a vegan guest?  Here's what we think.

Proper Vegan Guest Etiquette:

1. When you get the invitation, mention that you are vegan (If they don't already know). You don't want to seem rude at the party/gathering/event not eating any food.
2. If they ask what they can make for you, be careful.  Don't ask for anything crazy.  No tofu dishes.  Mention that you can eat most sides without butter, and offer to bring a dish that you can eat.
3. The day of the event, eat before you go! Being hungry and not having many options to eat will definitely make you a party pooper.  And you want people to like the happy, energetic vegan that you are! If you bring your own dish, you probably won't need to eat much before you go, however.
4. At the event, try not to be defensive about being vegan.  Come up with answers to the common questions before you go. Some of the most common ones include "How do you get your protein?", "What do you eat other than vegetables?"  and "Why are you vegan?".  Have a positive attitude and try to have thoughtful answers. So, really, one of the most important things is to be the bigger person.  You're already healthier! Try and be kinder too. 

Neal Barnard, M.D.'s Scrambled Tofu

*In case you'd like to know the scrambled tofu recipe we enjoy that I was talking about in the last blog, here it is. This comes from a Wonderful book that was the turning point for my husband & I 19 years ago. Please read if you ever get a chance. I re read it once a year.There are so many great recipes in here.

Chickpea-tofu salad

So my son & I are enjoying a day off of school today & decided to make up a healthy lunch to eat. Here's what we came up with. :) *We used leftover scrambled tofu from our Sunday Breakfast meal yesterday....the idea is you can always come up with creative salads. You can never become bored with salads. Be as creative as you want! Here's our version.


Ingredients:
Romaine lettuce (1 head, shredded in big pieces& rinsed & dried)
Fresh Spinach(rinsed & dried)
Fresh Kale(rinsed & dried)
Can of chickpeas(drained)
Approx.1/2 cup leftover scrambled tofu*
2 TBSPNS Tahini
1 sheet Nori (shredded)
2 TBSPNS Gomashio
Sprinkle of S&P(to taste)
2 TBSPNS Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Mix in a big bowl altogether & enjoy as a salad or as my son suggested put in a wrap...Yummo!
(He's so smart:) )
* My favorite scrambled tofu recipe is Dr. Neal Barnard's recipe from the book that changed my life"Food for Life".

Going off to College

In my preparation for school, I've found a few special books that I think will help a lot! It's going to be tough to start college in a few weeks, especially as a vegan, but these books should be a big help.

PETA's Vegan College Cookbook is currently my favorite, because it's all about cooking vegan in the microwave or without cooking! It's pretty awesome.  I found it cheapest at Walmart for $8.99.

PETA's Vegan College Cookbook

The Naked Roommate: And 107 Other Issues You Might Run Into in College is a cool book that has nothing to do with being vegan at all, but a lot to do about college, and what to be ready for. I found it cheapest online at Barnes and Noble for $1.99.

The Naked Roommate

Babycakes is a great vegan, gluten-free, amazing cookbook.  It takes a little more effort to create the dishes, but they are delicious! Their bakery in New York is also #1 on my bucket list.  

Babycakes

Flying Apron's Gluten Free and Vegan Baking Book is another great vegan and gluten free cookbook, which also takes more effort, but is always worth it.  

Flying Apron's Gluten Free and Vegan Baking Book

These are my must-have books for school, what do you think? Do you have any to add?  I'm hoping these will keep me busy and fed at school!

Vegan Products to Buy on a Budget

Vegan products are notoriously known for being expensive.  But it doesn't have to be that way!  There are actually many that are cost-effective and vegan AND work really well!  I have a few of my favorites and suggestions!

1. E.L.F products.  By far the best, cheapest, make-up company I know, And it's vegan! I just purchased an eye shadow set full of colors I could use for $8.  And there were 32 different shades! If you're a new customer, get 50% off a $20 or more studio line by using this code: ECS50F at checkout.  Sign up for emails and get even more great deals!
2. Aeropostale.  This clothing store has pretty great prices.  You know what else? They almost never use real fur, leather, or animal products.  Check them out! (But always check the labels just in case!)
3. Converse.  Not the cheapest shoe out there, but they can have good sales and are 100% vegan. Get free shipping or 60% off clearance by going to the site now!
4. Bath & Body Works.  They don't test on animals, and give millions of coupons and sales! Get $10 off $30 by entering F139274 at checkout
5. Seventh Generation.  They are eco-friendly AND vegan, and have everything from cleaning products, to personal care, to tampons!
6. Wet n Wild.  This cute make-up company is mostly vegan, just beware of Carmine, which they state is, "relatively harmless and is considered an all-natural ingredient" but is an animal ingredient nevertheless.
7. PETA.  They are all about vegans, and offer tips, advice, clothing, prizes, school supplies, free e-cards, things to do in your free time (instead of spending money), and all sorts of rewards for helping animals if you join their street team! To get $10 off $50 at PETA, enter the code EWEB10 at checkout.
8. The All Natural Face. OMG. This is my favorite face makeup company ever.  They have the best foundation and concealers, and AMAZING prices.  Go there, now!  I recently stocked up on school makeup with a 50% off groupon (now expired). But sign up for emails to get free stuff with purchases and always look for coupons!

I know from experience that these are great companies and products.  Give them a try!  Do you have any products you like using?

Breakfast Cookie!

 A Breakfast Cookie? Why Not have a cookie for breakfast? They are delicious! Not to worry ~ they're healthy!! It tastes like a dessert, but it's disguised!! Hope you enjoy this delicious recipe:

Ingredients

You will Need:
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup natural applesauce
1/2 cup natural Peanut Butter(we like Smucker's)

oats, applesauce, and peanut butter

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt
3 TBSPNS. vegan mini choc chips(We Love" Enjoy Life" brand)

Vegan Chocolate Chips

4 TBSPNS. frozen raspberries
2 TBSPNS. Maple Sugar(You can substitute Brown Sugar or 1/2 TBSPN stevia if you wish)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix the applesauce with the peanut butter.
Add all of the other ingredients with the applesauce mixture.
With a cookie scoop, put on a greased cookie sheet(We use Spectrum organic all vegetable shortening)

Vegan, Organic Shortening

Bake for 15 minutes.
Take out & cool on cooling rack for 10 minutes.

Onto the cookie sheet

Makes approx. 24 cookies, depending on size.

How to Dye Your Hair with Kool-Aid

Dying my hair!

Want a new color that lasts a week?  You can try a crazy new color for cheap with kool-aid!  I've done this two summers in a row and I have a lot of fun with it.  Last summer I did an all-over red in my hair, and this year I did different colored streaks of red, orange, and blue.

Kool-aid is accidentally vegan, so it's a great way to dye your hair on a budget!  I got my kool-aid packets on sale for 10 cents each.  I spent a whopping 40 cents on my hair dye!  It is temporary though, so it doesn't last as long as regular hair dye, but it lasts longer than one wash! Last year it lasted 2 weeks, this time I'll have to see how long it lasts!

Kool-Aid Hair Dye

If you want all-over color:

1. Mix 3-5 packets of kool-aid with just enough water and conditioner to make a paste.
2. Cover the area to avoid kool-aid stains and wear throw-away gloves.
3. Work the paste into sections of hair, covering every strand from root to tip. (Or wherever you want the color)
4. Wrap your hair in plastic wrap, cover your pillows in rags so they don't stain, and sleep on it!
5. The next morning, unwrap your hair and rinse it out  in the shower.  Do not shampoo, but condition your hair.  It will look really cool when dry!

If you want streaks:

       Follow the above but use less kool-aid, in different colors if you'd like, and cover strands with tinfoil once you've applied the color.

And, voila!

This is a fun, creative way to go crazy with your hair without doing anything permanent.  Have fun!

Natural Eye Makeup Remover

Olive Oil Make-up Remover

We girls love to wear our makeup sometimes & we try to wear natural with the best ingredients in them. Taking off the makeup is another story! I don't want to go through all of the trouble(not really trouble) of putting on beautiful high-quality makeup, then ruin my face with a chemical-laden product of a makeup remover. Mandi & I have found a great solution!! OLIVE OIL!!! :) It glides on smoothly, will not irritate your face(seriously, ladies) & takes that makeup right off!! Yay!! You can keep the oil as is, a dab or two on a cotton ball or find a recyclable tin or what-not & pour in & freeze overnight, then glide off with a tissue or a clean finger(don't double -dip with same finger for bacterial reasons) & wipe carefully on eyes. Voila!!

Black Bean Burgers

Yummy, these are!! We make these on a regular basis....at the very least, once a week...especially in the Summer. They're made quickly & they're better for you than those processed bean & other veggie burgers & great for protein! They're so good too!! Let us know what you think of them! Enjoy!(oh... and you can substitute other beans once in awhile too if you feel like being different one day. : ) )

Ingredients:
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 small green pepper, diced
1 can black beans (or whatever you prefer)
1/2 cup all purpose unbleached  flour
2 slices of a healthy bread, crumbled
1 clove garlic
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. celery salt
1 tsp. paprika
salt & pepper to taste
1 TBSPN. natural ketchup, certain Hunt's brands are good, or homemade if you'd like
olive oil or avocado oil for frying

Directions:

1)Sautee the onion, pepper, garlic, with some oil.
2)In a Large bowl, mash the beans until almost smooth. Add the sauteed onion mix. Add rest of the ingredients minus the flour. Then add flour, 1 TBSPN at a time.Combine well, with spoon. Mixture will be mushy & thick.
3)Form beans into patties, to size preferred.
4)Fry burgers in rest of oil til browned well & crispy on both sides(approx.3 minutes on each side)

Makes 6 or more burgers depending on size.

I hope you can try these sometime. Enjoy!!

How to Clean Makeup Brushes

Makeup brushes carry all the dirt and germs from your face and the air, and make it easy to get sick and break out!  It's important to clean your makeup brushes 1-2 times a week!

This is how we clean our makeup brushes:

First, gather all your brushes, a gentle face wash (I use Simple), and a towel or tissue to dry them on.

Then, take your brush and rinse it in warm water.

Put a dollop of the face wash into your cupped hand and swirl the brush around until it's sudsy.

Rinse out the suds and makeup until the water is clear.  Do this for all your brushes, and let dry.

If you do this often, your brushes will stay clean, and so will your face!  Make sure to use makeup brushes that don't have real animal hair.  My favorites are EcoTools, Bare Escentuals, and E.L.F. 

How do you keep your makeup brushes clean?

Chocolate

Chocolate, Chocolate, How I Love thee..... Dark Chocolate is the tastiest, most Heavenly creation ever invented!! It is loaded with antioxidants & benefits & it makes me happy!! There are a lot of ways to enjoy this Beautiful dessert. One way my family enjoys it is homemade. My kids made my husband & me heart shaped chocolates for our anniversary. They were yummy & beautiful. We also love it in milkshakes & ice cream, to name a few....Here are 2 of our favorites.

Homemade Chocolate

Recipe for homemade chocolate:
          1/4 cup organic cocoa
          1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
          1-2 Tbs.  real  maple syrup, depending on how sweet you'd like it.

*Place in cookie molds(or free form it) on top of wax paper on a cookie sheet. Place in freezer for at least an hour & enjoy.

Recipe for a homemade chocolate "milk shake" (vegan):
          Follow recipe for our chocolate/peanut butter vegan ice cream (below-one of our first postings)
          frozen rice whip
          almond milk (we just eye ball it for amount needed)
          pour in glass with shaved dark chocolate for decoration along with chunk in middle(we like Lindt or               use the homemade)
       

Tropical Smoothie

It's Summer & we all need a special treat once in awhile, so here's a recipe for a yummy tropical smoothie. Put an umbrella in it & sit out in the yard & pretend you're in the Caribbean!

Tropical Smoothie

Ingredients: 1/2 fresh pineapple, cored, peeled & chopped
                  2 bananas
                  2 cups  coconut milk
                  8 ice cubes
                  optional: sprig of stevia plant or mint

Blend altogether in a blender, put in a pretty glass with a decoration, lay out on a chaise lounge & Enjoy!!
Don't forget some Beach Boys music in the background...."and you'll have fun, fun, fun..."

Pineapple and banana

Nice Cream!!

This chocolate pb nice cream was put in a homemade choc. bowl!

We'd like to share a delicious Vegan recipe with you. It's a fantastic alternative to ice cream, but there's no dairy in it!! No one will guess that it's actually vegan! The secret ingredient is bananas & it is sooo creamy!! It's as delicious, if not more than, ice cream. The magic of it is you can combine many different flavors. We'd like to share with you our all time favorite: Chocolate Peanut Butter Nice Cream.

Tools needed:

A Freezer

Food Processor

Spoon or spatula

Ice cream scoop

Ingredients:

Bananas (6)

Natural Creamy Peanut Butter (We Love Smuckers Natural)(4 Tablespoons)

Organic Cocoa Powder(2 Tablespoons)

vegan cool whip(frozen) ( we like rice whip)(as much as you want)

optional: can add nuts, vegan chocolate chips, vegan oreos, any topping desired)

Directions: 

                 Cut bananas in coins, place on parchment paper on cookie sheet & freeze for at least 1 hour.

                 When bananas are ready, pour in food processor with remaining ingredients, minus the toppings)

                 with spoon or spatula stir around every now & then to work it in

                 Be patient....it takes a few minutes to get creamy. It's very crumbly & chunky at first.

                 With an ice cream scoop, scoop into your favorite dish or cone, put toppings on if you'd like &                      ENJOY!!! Yummm!!

This is a strawberry-flavored nice cream!