In a State of Sipping Bliss Glass Dharma Straws Review and Giveaway!

What's your favorite beverage? Is it a smoothie, bubble tea, iced coffee, or a piña colada? Whatever you love, isn't it much more fun sipping it through a straw? I have the cheeriest childhood memories of slurping chocolate milk through flexible paper (and later, plastic) pastel-colored straws. Drinking anything through a straw (even maté tea) just makes me feel like a kid again.

But paper and plastic straws are disposable, and aren't we all looking for ways to live more sustainably? Enter Glass Dharma Straws—They're reusable, sustainable, and beautiful. They're so durable, they come with a lifetime guarantee! If you accidentally damage or break your straw, they will repair or replace it for free! And this is the part I love best: You don't have to choose between paper or plastic anymore!

Glass Dharma straws are also:

• Made in the USA
• Non-porous and hypoallergenic
• Handmade from borosilicate glass—the strongest type of commercially available glass on the market
• Great for all hot and cold drinks
• Perfect in specialty drinks like bubble teas, shakes and smoothies, and iced drinks
• Beautiful in cocktails—they make a highfalutin' accessory to any martini glass
• Kid-friendly and kid-safe
• You can even use them for drinking wine, coffee and tea so you don't stain your teeth. (Okay, maybe you'd raise a few eyebrows sipping your Merlot through a straw. Although maybe not—check out the snazzy little decorative dots number further down in this post.)

If you plan to take your eco-chic Glass Dharma straw with you when you dine out, I encourage you to buy a neat little hemp sleeve carrying case that will fit easily into your purse, pocket, or backpack. You can see mine on the table in the lower right-hand corner of the photo below. I brought my GlassDharma straw with me out to Manola's the other night and enjoyed sipping my Thai iced tea with coconut milk so much more. I already carry my own chopsticks, so why not my own straw? The chopsticks even fit inside the carrying case along with the straw! BYOS, is my new motto when eating out, which stands for: bring your own stuff! Speaking of which, did you know there's a movement to have restaurants encourage patrons to bring their own reusables and even offer reusables for sale as an upgrade to menu items? Check out TakeOutWithout, a company whose mission is to reduce restaurant waste. I learned about them on Glass Dharma's blog.

No, Johnny Depp didn't just walk in to the restaurant. 

I'm simply in a state of sipping bliss!

Glass Dharma straws are available in several sizes, and I really like their smaller gauge (7mm) "shorty" straws. They're 6.25" long and perfect for small children, juice glasses, martinis, and my favorite new grab-and-go beverage: So Delicious single-serve vanilla coconut milk beverage! This straw is thin enough to fit in the little punch-hole where the plastic straw would normally go in. My straw has red decorative dots on it. They also make decorative dots in Green, Blue, Amber, Clear, and Black. Yes, come to think of it, that straw would look quite grand in a glass of red wine!

I recently got a bag of acai powder from Mountain Rose Herbs and thought I'd use it to make a breakfast smoothie. Since I am prone to gulping down my smoothies rather than sipping them, I thought that sipping one through a Glass Dharma straw might encourage me to slow down and savor the the flavor. Check out the vibrantly beautiful fuchsia-like color of this one:

To make this smoothie, I blended together 1 cup cranberry juice, 1 tablespoon Acai berry powder, 1/2 cup frozen blueberries, 1/2 cup frozen raspberries, and 2 teaspoons agave.

I've had no problem cleaning my GlassDharma straws either by hand or in the dishwasher (which we seldom use). But if I ever forget to rinse one out right after using it, it's kind of nice to have a cleaning brush on hand. They're available as an optional accessory, but one is included when you buy a set of four straws.

I'm really tickled about my new glass straws. Like Dorcas Lane from the BBC series, Larkrise to Candleford, these straws are my one true weakness. (If you've never seen the show, this character says that about everything she loves.)

Would you like to win your very own Glass Dharma straws and make them your "one true weakness"? One lucky reader will win a $25.00 Gift Certificate from GlassDharma! To enter, visit GlassDharma's website, and then leave a comment here telling me which straw you'd most like to own or give as a gift. The winner will be selected in a random drawing and notified by email. Glass Dharma will also email the gift certificate to the winner.  (What I'm saying here, is please make sure that I can access your email address when you enter!) Open only to US and Canadian residents, please. Contest ends 1/31/11 Good luck!!!!

If you'd like to earn extra entries you can do any and/or all of the following: (You don't have to do any of these to win, but you'll earn 1 additional entry for each one you do and let me know about in your comments.)

• Follow this blog.
• Tweet this: Make sipping your smoothie sustainable and fun! Win a $25 gift certificate from @GlassDharma Straws! http://bit.ly/dEzLPk
• Follow Glass Dharma on twitter
• Follow me on twitter
• Mention this contest on your blog and include a link to this post.
• Post a link to this contest on your Facebook page.

A Pizza, Some Sushi, and A Winner!

The other night, just by chance, Mark and I created the most amazing Artichoke, Asparagus, Spinach, Sun-dried Tomato, Mushroom, Onion Pizza!

I usually take the time to make homemade dough, but sometimes not. (Mark rolls it out. He has professional pizza-making experience!) Sometimes I have the time to make a homemade sauce, and sometimes not. Either way, homemade pizza is still delicious! And with enough tasty toppings, you don't even miss the cheese! Because friends have been asking for the recipe since I posted this photo on my facebook page, here's the quick and easy recipe for when you're short on time:

Ingredients:

1 packaged pizza dough (I like the pizza dough made by a local company, The Bread Stop)

1 16-oz jar Trader Joe's Fat-free Pizza Sauce

1/2 yellow onion, sliced into 1/4-inch rings

8 asparagus stalks, tough ends removed

1 cup spinach, roughly chopped

1 cup baby bella mushrooms, sliced

1 15-oz can artichoke hearts, drained and sliced into 1/4"-thick rings

sundried tomatoes

fresh basil, roughly chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450°F. Roll out pizza dough and place on a lightly-oiled pizza pan or pizza stone. Bake on the bottom rack for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and gently press down any parts that have risen.

While dough is baking, using a large skillet, gently cook onions in a tablespoon of olive oil, or for a fat-free version, use 1/4 cup water.  (If you have more time, you can caramelize the onions for even more flavor!) Remove from heat, and set aside. 

Place asparagus spears in a steamer basket, and steam for 3 minutes, just until bright green in color. Remove from pot, and set aside.

Spread sauce over par-baked pizza dough, and then evenly place asparagus spears over pizza, so that each pizza slice will have an asparagus spear at its center. Arrange spinach, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, tomatoes, onions, and basil around asparagus spears, decorating as you please. Bake on center rack for an additional 15-20 minutes, until outer crusts begins to turn slightly golden-brown. 

Monday nights are sushi night at our house! It's a cooking-free night for me, and an opportunity to indulge in my favorite veggie sushi rolls: Gail Rolls (avocado, cucumber, and inari), and Crop Burning (marinated shitake, avocado, cucumber, and hot sauce) which we take-out from Sushi Domo. Aren't they pretty?

Okay, enough about food, already. Let's get to the good stuff! The winner of a copy of my favorite new cookbook, Appetite for Reduction is ....~Cee~! Congratulations! Please check your email in-box for my message. Thank you to everyone who participated in this contest. Stay tuned for more to come!

Appetite for Reduction Book Review and Giveaway!

I adore the cover artwork, don't you? It's so beautiful, I'm inspired to write another book just so I can ask Lisa Diercks to design the cover. Wouldn't you love to own a copy of Appetite for Reduction? Read on for a chance to win one!

Did I mention that Isa wrote this book just for me? Well, not really. It only feels like she wrote it for me. Actually, she wrote it for her own personal reasons. But let's be honest: Who among us hasn't eaten more than our fair share of vegan cupcakes and cookies? (Thanks in no small part to Isa.) After all that indulgence, I celebrate Isa for creating Appetite for Reduction and for filling it with so many gorgeous, delicious, low-fat, low-calorie, winning recipes.

AFR is written in Isa's characteristic easy, breezy style,—and it's peppered with lots of helpful sidebars, like the "Ingredient Scavenger Hunt". The introduction to each recipe is sprinkled with amusing tidbits like "Don't be like Dick Cheney, cook your pasta properly!" This will make you smile a lot, which is a very good thing to do when you're playing with food.

You won't find any tempting desserts in this book, but what you will find are more than 270 pages of super-satisfying soups, salads, sandwiches, sides, stews, bakes, bowls, casseroles, curries, and pasta dishes, many with whimsical names like Unfried Refried Beans, Cajun Beanballs and Spaghetti, and 2nd Avenue Vegetable Korma residing in equally adorable-sounding chapters like "Rub-Your-Tummy Veggies" and "Talk Pasta to Me (& Noodles!)." These dishes are made with easy-to-find ingredients, and you won't have to spend hours in the kitchen preparing them (many can be made in under 30 minutes!). The 14-page insert of full-color photographs will make your mouth water, even if you're not hungry and will inspire you to roll up your sleeves and get cooking. (The photo of Spinach Lasagna with Roasted Cauliflower Ricotta & Spinach is jaw-droppingly spectacular.)

If you haven't already sampled the recipe for Isa's OMG Oven-Baked Onion Rings, you'll want to go straight to page 55 as soon as you get this book in your hot little hands. (Or maybe you'd like to take a quick detour to the color insert facing page 146, where you'll find a mouth-watering photo of Isa's onion rings.) These babies brought back happy childhood memories of paper-mâché masks and huge side orders of onion rings from the Belaire Diner—but without the newspaper and the high-fat grease. Making them was gobs of fun. Eating them was even more fun!

Deciding what to make next was a bit more challenging. OK, maybe not so much. Everybody knows how much I love barbecue. I honed in on the recipe for Tamarind BBQ Tempeh and Sweet Potatoes. This was seriously the most delicious barbecue sauce I've ever eaten and by far, the easiest to make. I marinated the tempeh for over an hour and was glad I did, because the sexy-sweet, tangy-tart flavor of tamarind made the sauce really sizzle. This dish would have been great with onion rings, but since I'd already eaten like a hundred of them that day, I served it with Polenta Stuffing (one of Isa's recommendations.) It wasn't even Thanksgiving, but it sure seemed like a holiday meal!

I really wanted to try the recipe for Quinoa, White Bean, and Kale Stew, but I didn't have any white beans on hand. So instead of substituting, I chose Smoky Tempeh and Greens Stew, as I always seem to have tempeh in the fridge. (Interestingly, Isa says you can substitute white beans for the tempeh in this dish, if you happen to be out of tempeh). The seasonings in this dish (think: lots of smoked paprika) were very mellow, but blended together beautifully. Only Isa could get me excited about a dish that has lima beans in it. And this one tasted better with every bite!

Mark and I were really in the mood for pasta. But which recipe? (Pasta de Los Angeles and Creamy Mushroom Fettuccine were both contenders). I decided on Fusilli Roasted Veggie Primavera, because fusilli is fun to say and tickles your tongue when you eat it. This was one of those dishes that makes you want to sing Italian love songs while you're making it, and makes you feel like you're in Little Italy while you're eating. In a word: magnifico!

If you want to treat your taste buds to lots of delicious new recipes and your be very good to your waistline at the same time, don't wait another second to get yourself a copy of Appetite for Reduction. And if you'd like to win your very own copy, here's all you have to do:

1. Follow this blog.
2. Leave a comment on this post telling me what dish sounds most appealing to you and/or why you'd like to own a copy of this book.
3. Make sure I have a way to get in touch with you to let you know you've won.
4. That's it!

I'll use the magic random number generator to select a winner next week. Good luck!

I'm Mad About Mesquite!

2010 has been a glorious year of discovery for me. From astragalus root to holy basil and from chia seed to maca powder, my kitchen is now filled with the most amazing plant-based wonders. So I could not have been more excited when my package of goodies from Foods Alive arrived!

My most favorite discovery of the year is mesquite powder, a nutritious treat made from the bean pods of the algorroba tree (Prosopis juliflora), native to the Southwest, Northern Mexico, and desert areas of South America.

Mesquite is a nutritional powerhouse—high in protein, calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, zinc, fiber, and the amino acid, lysine. Its flavor is a bit hard to describe: Think malty, smoky, nutty, sweet, and sultry. It's not quite like molasses or maple, but has undertones of both.  From the moment I opened my first bag of Foods Alive Raw Organic Mesquite Powder and got a whiff of its hypnotic aroma, I fell in love. While most mesquite powders on the market are coarse and grainy, I prefer the finely-ground texture of Foods Alive Mesquite Powder. This is what I call a spoonful of golden bliss:

I first went in search of mesquite powder when I came across a recipe for raw caramel apples on rawbeets.com. It looked so simple and sounded intriguing—I couldn't wait to get my hands on some mesquite powder so I could try it. I searched all over town but had no luck finding any mesquite powder in Eugene. (They must be hiding it in a big warehouse somewhere in Springfield along with all the raw pistachios!) Foods Alive shipped out a box of goodies to me right away (why not stock up on other essentials?), and as soon as it arrived, the first thing I did was make some of that caramel! It was soooo good, I started eating this every day!

It's very simple to make. Just soak half a dozen or so nice, big, fat medjool dates in water for several hours (don't forget to remove the pits) in a jar that will fit onto your blender base, add two tablespoons of mesquite powder, and blend until smooth and creamy!

One day after making a batch of caramel I was really naughty and stuck a caramel-covered spoon in some raw cashew butter—it was pure decadence!

It's been so cold here that Mark and I have been drinking hot cocoa every night after our post-dinner walks. It suddenly occurred to me that some mesquite powder might be a nice way to spice up my cocoa. I've been enjoying hot cocoa chai and Mexican hot chocolate, but adding a tablespoon of mesquite powder gave me a delicious new recipe to add into the rotation.

This morning I woke up and found myself craving mesquite, so I made myself an incredible smoothie. I call it my Carob-Mesquite Dream. It was so dreamy-creamy good that I drank it all before I remembered to take a photo of it! (Sorry!)

It's loaded with nutritious ingredients and tastes like heaven in a glass. Here's some of what you'll be getting:

•So Delicious Coconut Milk Beverage is fortified with calcium, magnesium, vitamins A, B12, and D, and is a great source of heart-healthy medium-chain fatty acids.

• Carob Powder is rich in copper, manganese, potassium, magnesium, and selenium, and is especially rich in calcium and iron, and it contains vitamins A, B2, B3, B6 and D.

• Maca Powder contains B vitamins, calcium, magnesium, phosphorous and iron, and trace minerals zinc, iodine, copper, selenium, bismuth, manganese and silica.

• Mesquite Powder because it is ground from the entire pod, including the seed, it is high in protein (11–17%). It is also rich in, calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, zinc, fiber, and the amino acid, lysine.

• Chia Seed—One ounce contains as much omega-3 as eight ounces of salmon, as much calcium as a cup of milk, as much fiber as 1/3 cup of bran, as much iron as 1/3 cup of spinach leaves, as much vitamin C as 2 oranges,  as much potassium as half a banana, and 20% protein, 2-3 times more than most other seeds and grains.

Ingredients:

1 cup So Delicious Coconut Milk Beverage (If you want a completely raw beverage, coconut water or freshly squeezed orange juice would work deliciously, too.
1 medjool date, pit removed
2 frozen bananas
2 Tbs (you could use Foods Alive Raw Carob Powder cacao powder, too)
1 tsp Foods Alive Maca Powder (don't worry, you won't even taste it!)
1 Tbs Foods Alive Mesquite Powder
1 Tbs Foods Alive Chia Seed
1 Tbs raw cashew butter

Blend all together, pour into a tall glass, and enjoy!

I'm enjoying the superb quality of all of the wonderful products from Foods Alive. Owner Matt Alvord is a joy to do business with, and I highly encourage you to check out their website, order some mesquite powder, and discover for yourself the sheer joy of this delicious superfood. Shipping is a flat rate of only $4.95, so take advantage of the opportunity to stock up!

Festive Coconut Wild Rice with Cranberries and Pears

Just a quick post before I dash off to do my holiday meal grocery shopping. If you're looking for a tasty last-minute side dish to serve at your holiday table, this colorful recipe is a snap to put together and will impress your guests.

Ingredients:

1 cup wild rice
1 cup long-grain brown rice
3 3/4 cups So Delicious Coconut Milk Beverage (I used Original)
1 cup dried cranberries
1 pear, diced
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Directions:

Rinse wild rice in cold water and drain thoroughly. Place wild rice and brown rice in a large saucepan with the coconut milk, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until rice is tender and milk is absorbed, about 45 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and fold in cranberries, pear, and nuts (if using). Serves 6-8.

Book Review—Skinny Bitch: Ultimate Everyday Cookbook

My hardcover copy of Skinny Bitch Ultimate Everyday Cookbook is sitting on my coffee table instead of hiding on my bookshelf. Like its stunning author, it's just that gorgeous! If you're up against the clock and wondering what to get your favorite vegan cook for Christmas, you'll certainly score points with this book. The photographs are as sexy as any eye candy has a right to be, and the recipes are far above the ordinary—exciting enough to inspire even the most seasoned vegan gourmet.


Kim Barnouin, who is coauthor of the wildly popular Skinny Bitch, has created a collection of knockout vegan recipes. The mouth-watering photographs and descriptions peppered throughout the book made me want to sink my teeth into each and every one of them. But where to begin?

Let's see ... thumbing through the pages, I arrive at something that looks like a fusion of Asian cuisine and Italian food. (That's two-thirds of what Elizabeth Gilbert [and Julia Roberts] ate in Eat, Pray, Love!) And here are both in one sublime recipe: Asian Macaroni and Cheese. Coconut milk, miso, and Panko breadcrumbs give this dish a distinctly Asian twist.


The rich, creamy sauce makes it unforgettable.


I thought I might escape reviewing this book without embarking on a personal culinary challenge. Then the recipe for Crêpes with Raspberry Sauce beckoned to me. I've always been intimidated by the thought of making these ultra-thin pancakes. Kim made it sound easy though, and I figured it was a good time to give my new crêpe pan a workout. After a bit of trial and error, I finally figured out how to get the batter just the right consistency, and I found myself humming the melody of Jamais Seule by Loane and enjoying the process.


The raspberry sauce was simple and sweetly satisfying. Eating my homemade crêpes was like transporting my palate to Paris!


My favorite recipe in the book's entire collection is this fancy-shmancy Caramelized Pear and "Cheese" Crostini with Balsamic Reduction. You'd think that something so complex and tantalizing ought to be reserved for dinner parties or romantic rendevous, but I had so much fun making and eating them, I won't be waiting for a special occasion to enjoy them again. In all honesty, you could just give me a shmear of vegan cream cheese on toast, and I'd be happy. But add the sensuous flavors of caramelized pears and a really good balsamic (I used Bistro Blends Black Mission Fig Balsamic Vinegar), and you've transformed it into an incredible indulgence. I'll be making these lovely little canapés anytime I want to feel special.


When it came to choosing a baked good recipe, I really wanted to try the Pistachio and Cardamom Cookies. To my astonishment, there wasn't a raw pistachio to be found anywhere in Eugene! And while roasted, salted pistachios are abundant, I still wondered if there might be a pistachio shortage, so I googled it. According to at least one source in November (S. Kamberg & Co. Ltd.), the 2010 pistachio crop is at a record high, at least 25% larger than the record 2007 crop! So why no raw pistachios? No one here seems to have a clue.

So while my cookie fantasy had to go on the back burner, I settled on this enticing recipe for Pumpkin Pecan Banana Bread. (Yes, you read that right!) If you're like me, you love pumpkin bread and you love banana bread, but would you have ever thought of combining the two? (I wouldn't have.) When I peeked into the oven to see how this baby was coming along, I was amazed to see how high it was rising! (So high in fact, that it almost didn't clear the rack above it.)


Since Mark is avoiding nuts at the moment, I decided to substitute chocolate chips for the pecans. This was one seriously tasty dessert bread.



Just in case my little review has not thus far convinced you that this is a cookbook you'd love to give or receive, here's the for recipe for Kim's Pumpkin Pecan Banana Bread from Skinny Bitch Ultimate Everyday Cookbook excerpted by arrangement with Running Press Book Publishers. Copyright © 2010. Enjoy!

Ingredients (for 10 servings):

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups pumpkin purée
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup almond milk (I substituted So Delicious Coconut Milk Beverage)
1 cup evaporated cane sugar
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 banana, mashed
2/3 cup chopped pecans (I substituted dark chocolate chips)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Lightly oil a large loaf pan and dust with flour.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and salt. In a separate large bowl, beat together the pumpkin purée, oil, and milk with an electric mixer until well combined. Add the sugars, vanilla extract, and banana, and beat until creamy. Stir in the pecans (or chocolate chips). Add teh flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and stir until all of the ingredietns are well combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake 1 hour. Remove from the oven and put on a wire rack to cool completely.

Persimmons, Some Coconut Milk, Corn Chowder, and a Book

It's not often that a recipe on someone's Facebook page gets me so excited that I feel the need to jump out of my seat and make it on the spot. But Noelle Ferrada-Kelly's Persimmon Ginger Smoothie had just that effect on me yesterday morning. And since I just happened to have two very ripe Hachiya persimmons, a healthy stash of So Delicious Coconut Milk Beverages, and some fresh ginger hanging around, I had everything I needed to make myself one helluva tasty breakfast!

 

No sooner did I finish drinking that absolutely sublime smoothie, than So Delicious posted a link to recipe for Vegan Bailey's Irish Cream recipe! I'm not a big drinker, but seriously, one of the things I've really missed since going vegan is Bailey's Irish Cream. I didn't have any coffee on hand, so I'll have to make this another day. But it sounded so incredible, I just had to share the link with you.

The next thing I knew, So Delicious posted a link to a recipe for Vegan Corn Chowder on Jen's A Life of Sugar and Spice blog. It looked very rich and creamy, and it was such a cold, wet day, that by lunchtime, this sounded like the perfect pick-me-up. Basically, Jen substituted So Delicious Coconut Milk and Earth Balance for the dairy called for in the original recipe from allrecipes.com. She noted that it wasn't as creamy as she'd hoped it would be and that she'd try using So Delicious Coconut Milk Creamer and a little less water the next time she made it. That sounded good to me, but I also wanted to reduce the fat, so I used half the Earth Balance called for in the original recipe. I also omitted the parsley, and in hindsight, I wish I would have added some nutmeg. Still, it was dreamy creamy and very warming!

Here's how I made it:

Ingredients:

1 large onion, chopped
1/4 cup Earth Balance Buttery Spread
2 cups water
2 cans cream-style corn
4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 cups So Delicious Coconut Milk Creamer (Original)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

In a large soup pot, saute onion in Earth Balance until tender. Add the water, corn, and potatoes, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 16-20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Reduce heat to low. Stir in the creamer, salt, and pepper. Cook for 5-10 minutes or until heated through, stirring occasionally.

And the best part of my day arrived courtesy of Bob the mailman. I couldn't have been more excited to rip open the package he delivered today and find that my copy of Appetite for Reduction had arrived! Isa wrote this book especially for me. (She doesn't know that, but I do!) I can't wait to sink my teeth into it! Review to follow soon.

Oh, What a Feast! and A Few of My Favorite Things

Yesterday's Thankful Day meal was truly a feast! I made Allison Rivers Samson's Meatloaf Remixed, Mushroom and Apple Stuffing with Mushroom Gravy, Healthy Exposure's Sweet Potato, Pear, and Chickpea Tzimmes, Bryant Terry's Citrus Collards Redux (with cranberries instead of raisins), C'est La Vegan's Chocolate Chip Date Cake, and Jennifer Raymond's never-fail Pumpkin Pie.

The most fun I had all day was whipping up the Soyatoo for the pumpkin pie!

Today is Black Friday, the day when consumerism runs at its most rampant. I prefer to celebrate Buy Nothing Day today and thought that instead, it would be a great day to share a few of my favorite things that you might like to buy on some other day. (It goes without saying that whiskers on kittens are a few of my favorite things). Any of these would make a wonderful gift for yourself or someone you love. Enjoy!

I can't begin to express how much I love my Moo minicards! They're half the size of standard business cards and are a creative, fun way to introduce yourself! They're completely customizable, and you have the option of selecting a different photo for every card. Here are just a few of my cards featuring photos from my food blog in all of their full-color glory:

Lulu's Raw Chocolate Alchemy Bars are handcrafted in small batches and made with low-glycemic coconut palm sugar and organic, fair-trade cacao beans.

I once read a blog in which someone said they thought that maca tastes like feet. Well, I don't know what feet taste like, but admittedly, I'm not a huge fan of the taste of maca. But I am impressed with all of the health benefits attributed to maca, including its ability to: increase energy, stamina, and endurance, regulate hormonal imbalances, enhance memory, and act as an anticarcinogen and antioxident. So when I heard that Lulu's Chocolate Bars contain maca, I thought this might be a delicious way to get some maca into my diet and indulge my chocolate obsession at the same time. My favorite flavor is the Coconut Cin Bar, which ... well ... doesn't contain any maca. It's an infusion of cinnamon, dark chocolate, coconut, and the sensuously smoky flavor of my new favorite superfood: mesquite! I also love the Aztec Crunch Bar, and Chocolate Maca Chunk, which does contain maca.  The Maca Green Bar and Chocolate Maca Chunk are also very tasty ways to get your daily boost of maca.

Anyone who has ever met Robert Cheeke can't help but be wowed by his energy, enthusiasm, effervescent personality, and yes, his stunning physique. He's a walking bundle of compassion in action, who lays to rest the myth that award-winning muscles of steel can only be built upon a diet that contains animal protein. In his book, Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness, Robert shares an inspiring road map to help you go from flab to fab no matter what your starting point, and from unhealthy omnivore to totally ripped, lean, mean, and vibrantly healthy vegan, if that's your goal. Robert's motivational style of writing got me pumped up enough to get my butt back into the gym. And if this book can do that for me, it will make the perfect gift for anyone who needs a little fire lit under their tush to help get them off the couch or away from the computer and back into action.

You've heard of Latisse? It's touted as "the first and only FDA-approved prescription treatment for 'inadequate or not enough' lashes." Nothing could horrify me more than the idea that a healthy woman would use a glaucoma drug to grow longer, darker, or fuller lashes. What I find most astonishing, is that when you look at the before and after photos on Allergan's website, there is nothing wrong with model's lashes in the before photos! Now, what woman wouldn't love to have longer, fuller, darker lashes? I know I would. But would you really want to use a drug that can permanently change the color of your from blue or green to brown? And is it really worth the the risk of any of a number of other "side" effects like eye redness and irritation, uveitis, macular edema, cataract, reduced intraocular pressure, and vision problems, just for longer, more luscious lashes?

There are many non-prescription products on the market that will do the same thing, without such harmful side effects and for significantly less than the $120/month Latisse will set you back. One such product, GrandeLASH-MD recently came to my attention. I wanted to be sure that this was a cruelty-free product, so I wrote to the company's owner, Alicia Grande. She promptly replied, "GrandeLASH-MD has not been tested on animals. It was tested on 55 humans through a plastic surgeon and opthamologist. There are no animal-based ingredients, and it's paraben-free." Made with peptides, vitamins, and botanicals (see the full list of ingredients here), the company claims that you will see results in as little as 4-6 weeks. Of course, I was skeptical. While I would love longer, darker, fuller, lashes, I felt that my wimpy eyebrows needed more immediate help, so I decided to try GrandeLASH-MD on my eyebrows first.

Seeing is believing! The before and after photos were taken 60 days apart. And although I have no idea how it works, I am astounded by the results.

Lunchsense lunchboxes intrigued me for quite a long time before I finally got my hands on one. I'd seen them at trade shows and thought they were the ultimate in lunchbox organization.

The lunchbox is lead free, and all the nifty little storage containers it comes with are lockable, microwave, freezer, and dishwasher safe, 100% airtight and watertight, stain resistant, and BPA free.  It comes in three sizes, and I chose the medium sized one for myself, but wish I would have gotten the large size since Mark is the one who packs a lunch everyday. Still, I packed up Thanksgiving leftovers for him to take to work today, and it all fit! Get yourself one of these babies, and it's guaranteed to be the last lunchbox you'll ever buy!

Here's one of those it's got-nothing-to-do-with-the-holidays-but-it's-a-delicious-discovery-nonetheless ideas. I've never been a huge fan of deep-fried foods, but since becoming a McDougall girl, one of the foods I've sorely missed is onion rings. Then I came across a post for Isa's OMG Oven-Baked Onion Rings (that woman is a vegan culinary genius!), and I couldn't resist trying them. They are better than any fried onion rings I've ever eaten in my life! They've got so much flavor and none of the greasiness!

A Festive Holiday Treat! Rosewater-Glazed Lemony Cranberry Cookies

I love Autumn! It's the season of colorful foliage, pumpkin pie, and the time of year when Pizza Research Institute starts putting cranberry sauce on their vegan Chef's Choice pizzas! My recipe for these super-moist and chewy Rosewater-Glazed Lemony Cranberry Cookies was recently featured on my friend Millie's Nuestra Cena blog. But just in case you missed it, I'm sharing it with you here. I sometimes make these cookies with a lemon glaze, but the rosewater glaze looks so festive, I can't resist making them this way for the holidays! But the glaze is completely optional. These cookies are very rich and delicious without any glaze at all!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Earth Balance Buttery Spread, at room temperature

1/2 cup evaporated cane crystals

1/3 cup firmly-packed organic brown sugar
1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
1 1/2 tsp Egg Replacer plus 2 Tbs water

2 tsp pure vanilla extract 

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tps aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 1/2 cups chopped pecans 

1 1/2 cups chopped fresh cranberries

Rosewater Glaze (optional—see recipe below)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F and lightly grease two large cooking sheets. Whisk together Egg Replacer and water in a glass measuring cup and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl mix together on medium speed, Earth Balance, sugars, and lemon zest. Beat in Egg Replacer mixture and vanilla until combined. Set aside

In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and cinnamon. Gradually add the dry mixture to the wet mixture, then gently stir in the pecans and cranberries.

Drop by large teaspoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until cookies are golden brown. Remove from oven, and let cool slightly before removing to cooling racks.

Prepare Rosewater Glaze while cookies are cooling. Drizzle the glaze over the top of completely cooled cookies. Makes 2 dozen cookies.

Rosewater Syrup and Glaze

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups evaporated cane crystals
1 cup of Organic Red Roses (I buy them from Mountain Rose Herbs)
1 cup water

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a gentle boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for 45 minutes, until syrup has thickened. Remove from heat, and when cooled, strain through a fine-mesh sieve. Pour syrup into a squeeze bottle, and place candied rose petals into a container with a tight-fitting lid. Refrigerate syrup and candied rose petals for up to two weeks. Candied rose petals can be enjoyed as a sweet treat just like candy, and the syrup is divine on crackers or toasted English muffins, over Purely Decadent Vanilla Bean coconut milk ice cream, and as a glaze for cakes and cookies!

Happy World Vegan Day!Living Vegan on the Cheap

If not for the heavy taxpayer subsidies to the meat and dairy industries, the prices consumers would pay for them would be so high, as to be out of reach for most Americans. The impact of meat consumption on the average family's food bill today is less than half of what it was in 1970. But the cost of consuming animals can't be calculated in one's food bill. The impact of intensive factory farming and its end result, cheaply produced animal products, is doing more damage than ever to human health and the environment, not to mention the animals themselves.

Still, I get sticker shock each time I fill up my grocery cart. Organic produce is still significantly more expensive than conventional pesticide-laced options, and I'm hard pressed to find a decent whole-grain bread for much less than five dollars a loaf. Buying from bulk bins rather than cans, boxes, and plastic packages and making everything from scratch are certainly money savers, but who has time to soak dried beans or make her own bread every day? I certainly don't. And even though I've all but eliminated every last vestige of fake meat from my diet, tofu still costs 50% more than it did just two years ago, and let's not even begin to talk about the cost of Daiya vegan cheese. I've calculated that the average meal costs me between four and five dollars per serving, which is one reason why lately, I've slipped back into depending on takeout several times per week. By the time you calculate in the time and energy used for meal preparation, a tasty vegan meal from one of favorite food carts really doesn't cost that much more. But I've joyfully discovered that there is a way to create deliciously satisfying vegan meals on the cheap and do so without spending hours in the kitchen. Enter my new favorite book—Robin Robertson's Vegan on the Cheap.

Robin Robertson is one of my favorite vegan chefs. She has eighteen cookbooks under her belt, including the ground-breaking Vegan Planet, which holds a treasured spot in my extensive cookbook collection, showing many pages that are well-worn and stained. Her latest book, Vegan on the Cheap: Great Recipes and Simple Strategies that Save You Time and Money features 150 enticing recipes that cost between 50¢ and $2.00 per serving. Now that's a money-saving idea I can really wrap my lips around!

Vegan on the Cheap contains a cost comparison chart, meal-planning tips, menu ideas, and other smart-shopping tips. Searching through the recipe index, I found many familiar favorites like Lasagna and Coconut Curry Rice, and a few surprising dishes with intriguing names like Skordalia, a creamy Greek garlic sauce, Pot au Feu, a French mélange of root vegetables, and Bobotee, a South African curry-seasoned casserole. The apples, raisins, and almonds in Robin's Tempeh Bobotee tempted my taste buds enough to dig head-on into this recipe first. The casserole looked great out of the oven,

and even better on my plate!

Pronounced with the emphasis on the second syllable, bobotee (or bobotie) is traditionally made with ground meat and an egg-custard topping. There's a surprise in every bite, which has nothing at all to do with animal-based ingredients, but instead comes from the apples, raisins, and almonds. It's a bit like eating your favorite stuffing, but heartier, because of its protein-rich tempeh base. Making Robin's bobotee inspired me to create my own curry blend, since I wanted a mild curry, and the only curry powder I had on hand was rather hot. And I impressed myself with Robin's recipe for Cheepskate Chutney. Pineapple, assorted dried fruits, ginger, brown sugar, and just a tiny bit of red pepper blended beautifully together.  It was so gorgeous that it almost made up for my sloppily plated casserole, and it was quite possibly the best chutney I've ever eaten!

The next recipe I tried confirmed that there is no sacrificing taste for economy. I first came across photos of this dish on Keri's I Eat Trees blog. (Go there if you want to see stunning photos of this dish and several others from Vegan on the Cheap.) Take a look at the Deconstructed Enchilada Bake:

Doesn't it look a little like a Jackson Pollock painting? Made with mashed pinto and black beans, it was deliciously wholesome and hearty and a snap to put together! (There was no need to fill and roll enchiladas or make a complex enchilada sauce.) I just love finding tasty new money- and time-saving ways to enjoy beans, don't you? Beans have never sounded very appetizing to me, but put them together creatively with a few well-chosen ingredients, and they open a whole new world of culinary magic. The Cheezee Sauce topping made the dish taste rich and creamy while going easy on the fat and calories.

With recipes for Walnut Crusted Tofu with Spinach and Orange, Indian Spiced Lentil Ragu, Pumpkin Spice Cake with Chocolate Glaze, and Chocolate Chip-Walnut Rice Pudding, I can't wait to sink my teeth into all of the recipes in this wonderful book. And I'll be buying several more copies to give away as Christmas and Chanukah gifts.

Following are the recipes for the Deconstructed Enchilada Bake and Cheezee Sauce from Vegan on the Cheap excerpted with permission from  John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Copyright © 2010 by Robin Robertson. Happy World Vegan Day! Enjoy! And don't forget to check out my holiday recipe for Rosewater Glazed Lemony Cranberry Cookies on Nuestra Cena this Friday!

Deconstructed Enchilada Bake

Ingredients:

1 Tbs olive oil (I made this McDougall friendly, and substituted 1/4 cup vegetable broth)
1/4 cup minced onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 cups cooked or 1 15.5-oz can pinto beans, drained, rinsed, and mashed
2 Tbs water
1/4 tsp salt
Black pepper
1 1/2 cups cooked or 1 15.5-oz can black beans, drained rinsed, and mashed
1 24-oz. jar tomato salsa
8 7-inch flour tortillas
1/2 cup Cheezee Sauce

Directions:

Heat the oil (or broth) in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, cover and cook until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic, chili powder, and cumin and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add the pinto beans, water, salt, and pepper to taste. Cook, stirring frequently, until the flavors have blended and the mixture is well combined, about 5 minutes. Add the black beans and 1 cup of the salsa. Mix until combined. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly oil a 9x13-inch baking pan. Spread a thin layer of the remaining salsa on the bottom of the prepared pan. Arrange half of the tortillas on top of the salsa, overlapping as necessary.

Spread the bean and salsa mixture over the tortillas in the baking pan, then top with the remaining tortillas.Spread the remaining salsa on top of the tortillas and drizzle with the Cheezee Sauce. Cover with foil and bake until hot and bubbly, about 30 minutes. Removed from oven and let sit for about 10 minutes before serving. Serve hot.

Cheezee Sauce

Ingredients:

2/3 cup nutritional yeast
3 Tbs cornstarch
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 cups plain unsweetened soy milk
1 Tbs olive oil
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp yellow mustard

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, combine the yeast, cornstarch, salt and garlic powder. Turn the heat on medium and whisk in the soy milk. Cook, stirring until the sauce thickens, about 1 minute. (I cooked it for 3 minutes.)

Remove from the heat and stir in the oil, lemon juice, vinegar and mustard. The sauce is now ready to use. If not using right away, refrigerate the sauce in a container with a tight-fitting lid, where it will keep for several days.

Why Didn't I Think of That? Pumpkin Pie Coconut Chai!

As soon as there's a chill in the air, I start yearning for hot herbal tea. My favorite blends include lavender-lemon and holy basil-spearmint before bedtime. The holy basil helps me sleep blissfully through the night, despite a snoring husband and perimenopause.

I also adore chai tea, and Mountain Rose Herbs makes an incredible red roiboos herbal chai called Firefly Chai. When I read a post this evening on the So Delicious Facebook fan page that mentioned Pumpkin Chai Tea, it sounded so delicious, I just had to try making my own recipe. It was so yummy, I finished the cup before I finished typing these first two paragraphs!



Ingredients:

1/4 cup pumpkin purée
2 Tbs So Delicious Coconut Milk Creamer (I used French Vanilla)
1 cup brewed chai tea
1 tsp sweetener of choice (optional—but I used agave)
dash of nutmeg

Directions:

While brewing your tea, mix the pumpkin and creamer in a small cup and heat in a microwave for 2 minutes. Pour the tea mixture into the pumpkin (or visa versa), add sweetener, stir, sprinkle with nutmeg, and enjoy!

P.S. I'm excited that my friend, Millie, has invited me to be a guest on her blog with my favorite holiday cookie recipe! Watch for my Rosewater-Glazed Lemony Cranberry Cookies on Nuestra Cena next Friday!

How Now, Dr. Cow?

Let the wine and cheese party begin! I've been talking about how good Dr. Cow Tree Nut Cheeses sound for quite a long while, so it was about time I tried them for myself. I'm not kidding when I say "holy cow!" The innovative folks at Dr. Cow have made the art of making vegan cheese even more flavory and savory. With textures, mouthfeel, and flavors that are remarkably reminiscent of aged dairy cheeses, Dr. Cow Tree Nut Cheeses are sure to make the phrase, "how will I live without cheese?" obsolete.

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As soon as I got my package home, I couldn't wait to rip open the little compostable corn container of Cashew Cream Cheese. Its pearly-white loveliness beckoned to me from under the peekaboo lid. Dr. Cow's Cashew Cream Cheese just seemed to be crying out for me to try it with Dr. Kracker crackers. What a perfect pairing—it was love at first bite! ♥♥♥ Smooth, creamy, rich, and delicious. Everything a girl could ever want from a cream cheese. And yes, I do think it would be very geshmak (that's "tasty" in Yiddish) on a cinnamon-raisin bagel!


Dr. Cow's Cashew and Blue Green Cheese is strikingly colorful in its mold-colored rind and has many other characteristics of dairy bleu cheese, like its sharp and somewhat salty taste. But happily, it doesn't share dairy bleu cheese's distinctive smell. It would be delicious with pears, raisins, and walnuts. And I cannot wait to crumble some into my next salad!


The caramel-colored Aged Macadamia Nut Cheese is very soft and spreadable. With just the faintest hint of herbs des Provence, it reminded me of a cross between Reblochon and Morbier or even German Quark. (Yes, before I knew better, I very much used to enjoy my cheeses!)


Dr. Cow's Aged Cashew & Brazil Nut Cheese surprised me with its delightfully smoky flavor, and the blonde-colored Aged Cashew Nut Cheese was both pleasantly mellow and wonderfully sharp. But my favorite cheese of all was the Aged Cashew & Hemp Seed Cheese. Its texture was firm but creamy, and it had a decidedly sharp bite. Its creaminess was the perfect match for some crunchy apples from my happy apple tree! 


So, what's the secret? How do the brilliant folks at Dr. Cow make their 100% raw organic artisan cheeses taste so very much like cheese made from cow's milk? It's simple. (Well, it's simple to say. I'm not at all sure that it's simple to do). They use the same process that is used to make traditional dairy-based cheese: They prepare a nut curd using some of their own home-made acidophilus (friendly bacteria) and a little royal pink Himalayan salt. And it's even more wonderful that they do it without adding any preservatives, stabilizers, artificial ingredients, or additives of any kind. While these cheeses are made with whole-food ingredients, they're not low in fat—after all, they're made from nuts. Now you may be thinking, "What's a McDougall girl like Gail doing eating this stuff?" Well, Dr. Cow Tree Nut Cheeses come in dainty packages, which makes it easy to enjoy them as delectable little indulgences. Like coconut milk ice cream, cashew whipped cream, and so many other decadent treats, they're a wonderful way to occasionally add some lovely flavor, texture, and excitement to your meals.

Hopefully by now you're asking yourself where can you buy all of this deliciousness. Check out Dr. Cow's store locator to see if there's a store near you that carries them. If not, you can order them online directly from Dr. Cow or from Vegan Essentials or Pangea. You can even order them online in Canada from upayanaturals.

Now you can tell all of your friends who say they can't give up dairy because they can't imagine living without cheese that there are some really great new alternatives. Challenge them to kick the dairy habit for a month. After thirty days, ask them how they feel. (You know they're going to say they've never felt better.) Then invite them to slowly start trying some of the cheese alternatives out there. (Some guidance here would be a good idea. After only thirty days, you may not want to start screaming about the cheese-like joys of adding nooch to everthing.) You might even buy your friend a little "congratulations gift" of Dr. Cow Tree Nut Cheese to help celebrate their dairy-free month and encourage them to keep on going! Here's my list of favorite vegan cheeses in no order of preference, because each one brings something uniquely delicious to the table:

Dr. Cow Tree Nut Cheeses
Ste Martaen Cheeses
Nacho Mom's Ultimate Vegan Queso
Sunergia Foods Soy Bleu and Soy Feta Cheeses 
2014 Update: Sunergia Foods Soy Bleu and Soy Feta are now from VegCuisine
Daiya Deliciously Dairy-free Mozzarella and Cheddar Cheeses
Vegan Gourmet Cheese and Cream Cheese Alternatives
Wayfare Foods We Can't Say It's Cheese Hickory-Smoked Cheddar-Style Spread

What's your favorite?