The Great Pumpkin

I know Halloween is over, and everyone always seems to skip Thanksgiving all together (What's up with that?!) so I have to blog about my pumpkin obsession while the window is still open.

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending Thanksgiving WITH the Turkeys at Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary in Maryland. It was great fun! The animals are always the best part of course. Something to make the day even more eventful was the Vegan Potluck. Everyone brings a dinner/ dessert dish to serve about 8 people. Naturally my team and I contributed as well, and I thought I'd pass the recipe along. Here's where the pumpkin comes in: Be excited.

Vegan Mini Pumpkin Bundt Cakes with Pumpkin Cream Cheese

What You'll Need:

...for the actual mini cakes:

1 Box Trader Joe's Pumpkin Bread Mix

1/2 cup of Vegetable Oil

1/2 cup of Unsweetened Apple Sauce 

* Did you know: 1/4 cup of unsweetened apple sauce is the equivalent of 1 egg in a baking recipe?! GREAT to know for friends with egg allergies, and well vegans (duh). 

1/2 cup of water

Cooking Spray/ Margarine

...for the cream cheese:

1/2 cup of Canned Pumpkin

8 oz (1 package) Toffuti Cream Cheese 

1 Tsp Cinnamon

1/4 cup of Sugar

...for yourself (duh):

1 large mixing bowl

1 small mixing bowl

1 whisk 

1 mini bunt cooking tray

1 icing gun (Ok not really, but I do recommend this if you want to pretend you are on Top Chef)

1 friend (No worries. If you don't have this, the recipe is fairly easy and the end results may help you get one)

1. Preheat Oven to 400 Degrees

2. Combine Water, Applesauce, and Vegetable Oil in a large mixing bowl.

3. Add Pumpkin Bread Mix (The whole damn thing)

4. Whisk all ingredients together until you get a nice consistency. Not too thin - should stay on the thicker side.

5. "Grease" (aka finger the bunt tray with earth balance) or "lightly coat" the tray with a cooking spray

6. Fill the tray with the batter about 2/3 full *Caution: These things rise faster than tweens at a Justin Bieber concert. 

7. Put the tray in the oven and bake for 18 minutes. They might need a little longer because every oven is different, but this is the time that worked for us. 

8. Let Cool (10-12 minutes worked for this)

9. Remove from tray and proceed to decorate (YESSSS) 

While the minis are baking, you can make the cream cheese. I actually googled a recipe for pumpkin cream cheese and went according to that based on what I had available at the time. 

1. Empty package of Tofutti Cream Cheese into a small mixing bowl

2. Empty Canned Pumpkin into a small mixing bowl. *I used Trader Joe's organic canned pumpkin. (Not like you care, because there's probably 80 million types of canned pumpkin at your local grocery store this time of year. However, for the purpose of sounding like I know what I'm doing, I decided to tell you what I used in the example of all the people on Food Network)

3. Whisk Cream Cheese & Pumpkin together. It should be really thick and have a very "fluffy/airy" look to it. 

4. Add in cinnamon and continue to mix. The recipe I went by actually called for Pumpkin Pie Spice, but I didn't have that so I improvised. 

5. Continue to mix and add in sugar to taste. Maybe you're like me and you don't really care for sugar. Maybe you have a bit of a sweet tooth. Either way you may need a friend to help you gauge this ;) (Thanks for your help, K!)

6. Have your significant other assemble your new icing gun so you can make cool designs when the minis are done.

Benefits of this recipe include that it is cholesterol and butterfat free. The minis are not a total diet kill. The recipe is virtually low in sugar and fat altogether. It's also packed with awesome pumpkin and fall flavors. Plus, The Great Pumpkin hold's a lot of its own benefits too including potassium, vitamins C & E, fiber, and more! Most importantly, my boyfriend and I had a great time making them. Cooking and baking offer a nice change of pace for activities to enjoy together as I'm learning :)

What Are You Thankful For?

Aside from lattes, shopping sprees, Sam Adams, and the love of my life, I'm gonna go with freaking cute animals on this one.

Ah, a vegan that loves animals. I know you're all surprised. Anyway, another thing to be thankful for is free yummy food! Ok, seriously the words free + this economy + food = you are definitely interested. Don't front ;) If I've peaked your interest in the slightest then you should come to...

THIS<3

Veganatte does Chipotle

So I'm thinking it would be fun to post a "fast food" option once a week. I'm not going to lie, you won't find me posting anything from Burger King, McDonalds, or anything that might have fallen off of a Rutger's Grease Truck. I'll admit that I'm not the healthiest person alive or anything (Oh, Beer, how I love thee..), but I'm certainly not sending myself on a fast track to fatness either.

Anyway, my point is that while there are some days that I do like to fix myself a little something, other days I'd much rather veg out ::drum roll:: no pun intended and pick up something instead. In a perfect world (which in my version includes sparkly blinking signs so you'll never get lost anywhere and free coffee for all) this will accomplish a few things:

1. Let people know that being a vegetarian doesn't have to mean being difficult or starving
2. Vegetarians can eat at "normal" places
3. Our omnivorous friends may want to add more veggies to their diet. Even if it's just one meatless meal in a blue moon.

So here's what I opted for at Chipotle last night when I went to dinner with my omnivorous love:

"Veganatte Burrito Bowl"
*ahem: please do not harass Chipotle and ask for a Veganatte Burrito Bowl. I'm only promoting my blog and stroking my ego. Hey, it could happen, right?
Black Beans
Peppers & Onions
Corn
Lettuce & Tomato
HOT Salsa
Guacamole

These usually come with rice, but I opted out and got more beans in exchange. Also, if you'd prefer, you can still add cheese/sour cream. I'll be lenient in suggesting that, but I'm not about to endorse the flesh no matter how much of an environmentally friendly establishment we're talking about here. Another noteworthy option* At some locations, Chipotle even offers a "garden blend" option which is a blend of vegetables and gardein protein. Stay tuned for a future gardein<3 blog feature by your's truly.  It's not a long list of ingredients, but I can assure you I was pretty damn full afterwards. Also, I suppose now is a good time for me to warn you - I may steer clear of fat, cholesterol, grease, etc..but I do tend to cross the line with a sodium affair or two. It's nothing a quick potassium recharge and a tall glass of water can't fix though.

So there you have it! My very first official weekly fast food option. Yeah, I'll work on the name.

Xoxo
Veganatte

Miso Hungry but I Don't Wanna Fork Around

After a few weeks of blogger's hiatus, I'm ready to bounce back. I've been home for a few weeks now, and started a new internship with yet another animal-friendly organization. As always, for confidentiality and don't wanna blow up my spot-ality they shall remain nameless. I'm considering writing a book on veganism and relationships in the future, but for now, I'll stick to whatever inspires me. If anyone's got any suggestions (or blog bitching), feel free to send it my way...

This post's inspiration happens to be last night's dinner (which partially became today's lunch..) I'm talking about SUSHI! Why do I love it so much? Maybe it's the convenient bite size morsels, maybe it's the fact that I'm too lazy to fork around my entire plate some days, or maybe it's just my secret salt-loving vice of a personality...Whatever it is, I love sushi.

Sushi was one of the things that kept me super hesitant to go vegan. I'll say it loud and proud: I was a spicy tuna addict. I found california rolls undeniable (..daisy dukes bikinis on top - Sorry couldn't resist). And yes, sometimes I do still crave these tastes but for sushi lovers out there it's important you know you can still be vegan and eat sushi! Some favorite options of mine have become:

Avocado cucumber rolls
Sweet Potato Rolls* I know what you're thinking: Puh-Lease! It's a potato in rice - It's obviously not for the carb-o-phobics out there, but seriously give it a try!
Asparagus Rolls
Miso Soup
Green Salad

The best part is you can usually get a pretty good bang for your buck! The worst part is, if you're like me you will probably get two pairs of chopsticks with your order, because people will assume it is for more than one person. Oh well. So[y] delicious, more for me :)