The Chubby Vegan

Thursday, June 2, 2011

The Results Are In...

Thanks to your votes, I will be celebrating my one year “vegan-versary” by setting a challenge for my Chubby Vegan readers.

$500 for Farm Sanctuary in 5 Months

If you don’t know about Farm Sanctuary, here is a little bit of information on who they are what they do:

Farm Sanctuary was founded in 1986 to combat the abuses of factory farming and to encourage a new awareness and understanding about “farm animals.” At Farm Sanctuary, these animals are our friends, not our food.

This place is so much more than a farm. It is life changing. Farm Sanctuary puts life into perspective. Look into the eyes of a chicken and tell me you can eat it. Sit on the ground with a lamb and explain how you can condone the horrible treatment he would receive in a factory farm.

I love this place. I went for the first time in May and I still haven’t been able to wrap my head around how much of an emotional experience it was. It was moving. It was magical. I walked around almost speechless by the beauty of the farm and the emotions it stirred up.

It is only right that I help raise money for them.

I am pledging $100 of my own money over the next 5 months, which only leaves $400 to raise.

Please visit the Farm Sanctuary website directly to donate… Any gift, big or small, would help them. Even if you can only give $5, do it. A gift of $20 gives you a one year membership.

So I can keep track, please shoot me an email or leave a comment and let me know if you donated.

Every gift counts... Will you join me?

Help save more lives & celebrate my "vegan-versary"… Donate today!

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Los Angeles Day One: WorldFest

“Toto, we are not in ~~Kansas~~ Pittsburgh anymore.”

Last week was my fourth trip to Los Angeles. Every time I go to LA I like it a little bit more. Each trip changes my opinion a bit more. You see different things. You experience the culture. You learn the language.

Los Angeles is like a different country to me. I don’t know what it is about LA, but there is something about it that feels foreign compared to all of the other places I have been in the USA. Maybe it is the culture of celebrity perfection. Perhaps it’s the free spirited way of life. I don’t know really. Whatever it is, life in LA amazes me.

I am dividing my trip into two posts, one about all the amazing restaurants and another about my first trip to WorldFest.

It is totally ironic that I ended up in LA on the same day as WorldFest, which is billed as Los Angeles’ largest Earth Day festival. Sign me up!

My trusty travel partner and I hopped into our rented Prius (so LA) and hit the freeway, venturing to Woodley Park on the outskirts of LA. Driving on the freeway is enough to make me want to take out a second life insurance policy, but nothing is going to get in my way of this festival.

Here is my Chubby Vegan recap of WorldFest …

I have never seen that much vegan food in my life.

There were at least 12-15 food stands, each serving exclusively vegan food. In fact, WorldFest requires that only vegan food is served and sold at the festival. The craziest was the line at the Southern Fried Vegan BBQ, which served made to order fried loveliness. As delicious as that sounds, I was not about to wait in the enormous line. So…

I may have had the best Indian food ever.

Now, take this statement lightly because it’s been far to long since I have had any Indian food. I love Indian food. Sadly, most of the Indian places in Pittsburgh are buffets that use dairy. Boo! This plate, which doesn’t look very appetizing, was incredible. I don’t even remember what was on it, except that one of the sections was jackfruit. Who knew jackfruit was so good?! Plus, this may have been one of the best samosas I have ever had. Makes sense since the place was called Samosa House.

I saw Nathan Runkle from Mercy for Animals and he is definitely NOT a chubby vegan.
Don’t know why this is important, but I just felt like sharing. If you don’t know who he is, visit Mercy for Animals and read about him. He is a really cool guy, but I feel like I need to invite him over for dinner. I may get Italian grandma on him… "EAT! EAT!"

The whole festival was powered from solar energy.
I don’t know about you, but I think that is pretty freaking cool.

LA ~~vegans~~ folks are not quite the same as Pittsburgh ~~vegans~~ folks.
Don’t get me wrong; I think we could be great friends. But I literally walked in and looked at Kelly (my travel buddy) and said, “Well, we certainly are not in Pittsburgh anymore.”

There is just something about life in LA that is different. Part of me loves it and part of me is horrified by it. Remember that whole East coast, West coast rap feud? I think it started for a reason.

More from WorldFest after the jump…

Chick-O-Stick Cookies

Have you ever heard of Chick-o-Sticks?

They are very unusual candy that tastes pretty much like the inside of a butter-finger; a crunchy candy made of peanut butter and coconut. I had never heard of them until a few months ago and I started seeing them everywhere.

I hosted an event at work around the same time that had a candy buffet. Low and behold, chick-o-sticks were on the buffet. When the event was over we had so much candy left over; literally pounds of candy. I took the chick-o-sticks and decided to do something creative with them.

What to do… what to do…

Chick-o-stick cookies sound like a good idea, right!?!?

When I first took these out of the oven I thought they were going to be a miserable failure. They looked terrible and didn't taste as good as I had hoped. But, after they cooled they were delightful and actually looked really cool; almost like a crackled Halloween cookie.

Whoever said you couldn’t use leftovers?

One Year Vegan-Versary

This weekend marks my one-year “vegan-versary.” It was one year ago this weekend that I decided to make the jump from 7 years of vegetarianism to choosing a vegan lifestyle.

Memorial Day is a fitting time for a change in one’s life. Beyond its significance of celebrating the lives of fallen soldiers, Memorial Day has always meant a time of change and renewal for me. It marks the end of the school year for children across the country. It defines the beginning of summer. It was when, in 2003, I decided that giving up meat was the right thing to do.

It is a time to remember the past and hope for the future.

It also brings with it many celebrations. Fireworks, backyard parties, and the “opening of the pool” are traditions that happen right around this time at the end of May. This is my season and I think it is time to celebrate.

So how should I? One year of choosing a cruelty free life is so exciting to me that I just want to mark it in someway. But, I need your help. I have chosen 4 celebration ideas and I want you, my loving readers, to vote!

Give away 3 copies of Skinny Bitch, the book that started it all for me.
Host a vegan only summer barbecue at my house for family and friends.
Set a goal to raise $500 for Farm Sanctuary through support from Chubby Vegan readers.
Make my first video entry sharing how I make one of my favorite recipes.

Take the poll on the top of the right side of the page ----->

Take the poll on the top of the right side of the page ----->
Take the poll on the top of the right side of the page ----->
Take the poll on the top of the right side of the page ----->

The poll will close at midnight on Friday, May 27th.

Thank you for following me on my journey. Looking forward to seeing the results!

Saturday, May 21, 2011

I Heart New York

I love New York.

I have made that clear here and here. From the first time I got off the train in Manhattan I knew there was something special about NY for me. I felt like Madonna when she arrived in New York and said, “take me to the middle of everything.”

Note: Most moments in my life can be directly correlated to a Madonna moment or song.

I jump at any chance I have to be in New York, which I really believe is the center of everything. Culture, art, food, scandal, love, live, and everything in between can be found in New York. GUSH

I was in New York last week for a brief work trip and had the chance to try out a couple vegan eateries. Here is the good, bad, and ugly…

1. One Lucky Duck

I have posted about One Lucky Duck before when they had a promotion on Daily Gourmet, but I finally had the chance to visit. First off, it was my first time in Chelsea Market and it was so fun! One Lucky Duck is tucked away in a large room of vendors and is predominately raw with lots of delicious juices, smoothies, and raw yum-yums. I asked for a smoothie suggestion and was led to the simple banana, cashew milk, and cinnamon. Seems so boring, but was so delicious. It was the perfect treat for a humid NY day. Yum!

2. Caravan of Dreams

The name of this place makes me chuckle, so I had to visit… Let me start with the positive. The atmosphere in this place is amazing. It is SO cute and just has that perfect level of underground NY that made me feel like Andy Warhol at a 1974 café. I had the maple and tamari smoked tempeh, which was just lovely; a fusion of flavors that blended perfectly.

My travel partner got the red lentil and roasted cauliflower cakes. Sounds good, right? She took one bite and damn near spit it out. The cakes were spiced with curry, which she is NOT a fan of. Problem is the menu had NO mention of curry at all. We all know many people have a love / hate relationship with curry and it is a really strong flavor. Yet, they completely disregarded this and left no mention of it on the menu. My travel partner is a new vegetarian and I know how disappointed she was. Clearly, I was too. She ate around it, but I hate when people have to do that. So, if anyone from Caravan of Dreams reads this, I hope you will adjust your menu in the future. A simple change would lead to a world of difference.

Ice cream perfection after the jump…

Sweet Potato Lasagna

“Normalizing” vegan food is one of my favorite things.

I always say how often people get scared of what vegan food is. I had someone ask me once, “Did you try the food before you decided to go vegan?”

Why, yes. I have eaten a vegetable before.

Normalizing vegan food to me is about making things that don’t sound odd or scary to non vegans. I guess people get freaked out by words like seitan and tempeh. If you say tofu; it usually equals an instant nose scrunch. That would never stop me from making it; I might just conveniently avoid saying it… (CV Disclaimer: Please tell me if you have a soy allergy. I don’t want you kicking it at my next chubby party)

This recipe is from one of the kings of normalizing vegan foods, VILF Rip Esselstyn. Rip is the author of the Engine 2 Diet, which is an excellent book detailing how a vegan diet dramatically improved the health of a group of firefighters in Austin, TX. The stories in his book are great and the recipes are all really simple and sound delicious! The book is a great gift for someone who is thinking of “easing" into a vegan diet.

If health reasons turn the switch to a plant based diet for someone, I will take it!

This lasagna is big and unbelievably hearty. There are just so many vegetables in it; I don’t even know what to do with myself. Make this… Now!

Recipe after the jump…