Cookie Caper

So, last week I took the kids to sing with the preschool bunch at a nursing home.  There was a lady handing out cookies which I knew very well were not vegan.  I asked, and they had eggs.  Oh boy!  I let the kids know right away not to take the cookies because they were not vegan.  My six year old is a very responsible vegan.  You would be amazed at how children will embrace veganism when it really becomes a part of their life.  I liken it to kids who live with different religious customs or cultural practices.  It's just what we do and she is really very, very good at being vegan.  She politely says no and moves on to talk to one of her friends.  My four year old likes to live life on the edge.  I found him sneaking one of the cookies and he had eaten half of one before I caught him.  He had taken it and hidden it in his sleeve!  I explained to him again that these cookies had eggs and we do not eat eggs.  He was kind of bummed out, but threw the rest of the cookie in the trash.  I was proud of him for not throwing a tantrum because a cookie is a cookie when you are four!  It's a good thing I had plenty of cookies at home.  Ah the joys of vegan parenting!

Snack Attack.

So who thinks that vegans snack on celery and tofu?  Well, we eat those too, but they are not always all that interesting and not even as convenient as some of the snack foods available at the grocery store.  Try these...Oreos, Teddy Grahams (cinnamon, banana, and chocolate), Nutter Butters, Doritos Spicy Sweet Chili chips, peanuts and cashews, Fritos corn chips, pretzels, Veggie chips, Terra chips, Cracker Jacks, Melba Toast with Tofutti cream cheese, Wheat Thins or Triscuits with hummus, anything salty with a good salsa,  Gingersnap cookies...there's a lot of options!  For more, please visit a site that I love,
www.peta.org/accidentallyVegan/default.asp

Thai Winchester

If you are shopping on the Loudoun Street Mall in Winchester, VA, try the Thai Winchester.  My husband and I went there for lunch while we were Christmas shopping last week, and it was fantastic as usual.  We LOVE the drunken noodles, and I have to admit that the pomegranate margarita is really good.  Their food is traditionally Thai, but you can ask for anything to be made vegan.  Just tell them you want tofu instead of meat.  They are very kid-friendly as well with a great atmosphere. 

Vitamins for Vegan Kids

Vegan kids need vitamins too, even more so than adults!  We give ours the Vegan Kids Multiple by VegLife.  These vitmains are not shaped like little animals, but they are jam packed with everything they need to be healthy.  There are plenty of kids vitamins on the market, though.  If Vegan Kids are not available in your area, just make sure that the vitamin that you choose is supplemented with Vitmain D and B12.  Many of the foods that you will eat with a vegan diet are going to be fortified, but you do not want to take chances with B12.  Also avoid gel caps, which are typically made with gelatin.  FYI - anything with traditional gelatin is NOT VEGAN! 

Vegan Quiche.

For Christmas morning, I tried to make a vegan quiche. So, I am still learning, and I love to try new things. I do NOT recommend a brand-new recipe on Christmas morning, though. My quiche looked nice, especially with shredded soy cheddar on top and a nice golden-brown crust. The inside is what messed me up. I used too much egg replacer and it did not cook right. The next one will be a hundred times better now that I have learned my lesson! SO the kids and I had bagels with Tofutti cream cheese. My husband loved the quiche so much he has eaten the whole thing. To each their own!

"Hey Vegans...how do you get your protein?"

Wow, my husband and I decided this must be the MOST asked question that we get! We get our protein from a LOT of sources! We eat a lot of different types of beans, for one. That includes the mighty soy bean, which may be nature's most versatile food. Soy is the basis for tofu and tempeh, which is a course substitute for different meat-based recipes. I use soy for everything from breakfast to desserts. We also eat nuts and seeds in different forms such as peanut butter. Wheat gluten is the basis for seitan, another great substitute for meat that is high in protein. You can get wheat gluten in the organic section of the grocery or in bulk at a local co-op or health food store. Many prepackaged foods are loaded with protein such as veggie burgers and veggie dogs. Something that always helps me is referring back to the vegan food pyramid. It is clearly different from the SAD (Standard American Diet).

Chocolate Chai Snickerdoodles

I am trying to branch out this holiday season with more exciting cookie recipes. I got this recipe from www.havecakewilltravel.com.
Chocolate Chai Snickerdoodles
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1/16 teaspoon ground black or white pepper
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup softened vegan margarine
1 Ener-g Egg replacer (1 1/2 teaspoon powder + 2 tablespoons warm water, whisked until foamy)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
3/8 teaspoon baking powder
Preheat oven to 350°F . Prepare cookie sheet with parchment paper or Silpat.
Mix sugar and spices in small bowl. Set aside 2 tablespoons of the mixture. Add cocoa to small bowl with sugar/spice and stir to blend.
Beat butter until fluffy. Add cocoa mix and beat until creamy. Add egg and vanilla, then flour and baking powder until combined.
Form 1 1/2-tablespoon balls. Roll in sugar, place 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. Flatten a bit as these cookies don’t spread out much while baking. Bake for 13 minutes. Let cool a bit before transferring to wire rack.

Yield: 6 cookies

Vegans on the Run

There are quite a few brands of running/athletic shoes on the market, but I have to say that you usually can't go wrong with New Balance. I swear, they don't even know that I am recommending them, but I have been wearing New Balance for years. Not only are they light and breathable, but they are usually made from synthetic materials. PLUS they are really easy to find. I use my old sneakers that I am not wearing for running to go hiking in now because of the high cost of vegan hiking boots. I have also heard that Adidas and Saucony make some synthetic sneakers, but check the tag on the inside to what they are made of. Any suggestions? Let me know!

Love of Animals

Something that we really try to do is foster meaningful relationships between our children and animals. Respect for animals is, for some, one of the most important reasons to live a vegan lifestyle. It is a proven fact that this simple act will help them to become more compassionate, tolerant, and open-minded. Just some food for thought!

Rajput Indian Cuisine

If you are in the Hampton Roads, VA area, you cannot miss Rajput Indian Cuisine for vegan noshing!!! We have eaten there several times now since we travel down that way at LEAST once a year. Their buffet has a lot of vegan items (labeled so NO guessing!), but their vegan menu (yes, they have a separate vegan menu) has about 30 different items on it all under $15.00. The food is great, the atmosphere is relaxed, and the service is wonderful. Try the eggplant bhartha, it is amazing. Kids will love the Masala.

Stuff Kids Eat - Health is Wealth Nuggets

These nuggets pretty much rock. My kids eat them all the time, and they especially love them with BBQ sauce. For picky eaters, this is a great buy. I get these in the freezer section with the veggie burgers and stuff. Once again, if you are in Northern VA, Martins grocery always has them.

Quickie Quesadillas

Another great meal that kids will love! This one takes a few products, though, so you will need to think it out before you go the the supermarket. Start with regular flour tortillas. Put a little Earth Balance (dairy-free butter spread) in a frying pan and throw your tortilla on it. Then quickly put some shredded soy cheese (I shred Vegan Gourmet Cheddar-Style) on half. I like to add sauteed onions, peppers, mushrooms, and black olives. You can also just leave it cheesy if you want to. This last time, I shredded some seitan and sprinkled that on as well. That is also what I sprinkled on the Tofutti sour cream (dairy-free sour cream available in the organic/vegetarian sectiong of the supermarket). Try Bacos (no meat!), soy beans, jalapenos, or whatever vegan toppings you can come up with as well! After you get all of you toppings on, use the spatula to fold the tortilla in half and then press down to make it stick. Then flip until golden brown on the other side. Heat all of this on medium...don't get impatient and turn it on high because it WILL burn (I know this from experience!). Use a pizza cutter to cut into four slices and serve with rice, refried beans (check the label..Old El Paso fat-free refried beans do NOT have lard, but some brands do!), salad, salsa, and/or Tofutti sour cream (you can also make your own, but I like Tofutti!). This is a long explanation, but the meal is very quick and easy.

Rundown Cafe.

Another great place to eat is the Rundown Cafe in Kitty Hawk, NC. Vacationing on the Outer Banks this year? You can't miss the Rundown cafe! They have some great menu options for vegans and vegetarians if you are looking for a place to eat out instead of making one more trip to the grocery store to get something you forgot. If you eat here, be sure to ask for a table on the balcony so you can watch the ocean. Also check out the fish pond out front and eat the portabella mushroom burger.

Vegan Chocolate Chip Coookies (by popular demand)

Homestyle Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies (recipe by Dreena Burton)
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
1⁄4 cup unrefined sugar
1⁄4 teaspoon sea salt
1⁄3 cup pure maple syrup
1⁄4 teaspoon blackstrap molasses
1 – 1 1⁄2 teaspoons vanilla
1⁄4 cup canola oil (a little generous)
1⁄3 cup non-dairy chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350°F (176°C). In a bowl, sift in the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Add the sugar and salt, and stir until well combined. In a separate bowl, combine the maple syrup with the molasses and vanilla, then stir in the oil until well combined. Add the wet mixture to the dry, along with the chocolate chips, and stir through until just well combined (do not over-mix). Place large spoonfuls of the batter on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and flatten a little. Bake for 11 minutes, until just golden (if you bake for much longer, they will dry out). Let cool on the sheet for no more than 1 minute (again, to prevent drying), then transfer to a cooling rack.
I make these for every holiday and event, and they are the BEST chocolate chip cookies ever. I have heard this from vegans and omnivores alike. You have to taste them to believe it!

Mushroom Hunters

While out at Mike's grandmother's farm, we went for a hike and came across this fantastic mushroom, called Hericium erinaceus, or the Bearded Hedgehog. It is quite edible, and very delicious. Be careful, though, if you are out and see mushrooms. ALWAYS check first to make sure that it is edible. But for a vegan, this is a GREAT meal option. The slices of the mushroom were bigger than your typical veggie burger and there were a LOT of them. This one mushroom could feed a whole room full of vegans, haha!

Vegan Thanksgiving 2009

Although we have been vegan for nearly 3 years, we have never invited our family to have Thanksgiving at our house. Well, this was the year!! And I have to say, it was a success. First of all, you can't go wrong with a fire in the fireplace and lots of great wine. But our menu was one that no omnivore (person who eats meat and plants) could pass up. We had: Tofurkey, baked corn, green beans, rolls and bread, mashed potatoes and vegetarian gravy, twice-baked potatoes, cranberries, stuffing, squash, apple pie, pumpkin pie, vanilla soy ice cream, and homemade chocolate chip cookies with coffee. The pies, by the way, were bought and baked...I did not have time to make pies from scratch. Mrs. Smith's makes great pies that have no eggs or dairy in them, but be sure to CHECK YOUR LABELS! So we were all very stuffed, very thankful, and had tons of leftovers for days!

Quickie Soup and Sandwich

Another fast meal: Large can of tomato soup (store brand!) mixed with water or plain soy milk, and grilled "cheese" sandwiches. Just use soy cheese (Vegan Gourmet is pretty easy to find) and Earth Balance buttery spread. Serve with applesauce or some other quick veggie/fruit! This meal always gets two thumbs up from the kids!

Green Festival D.C. 2009

Once in a while we get out without the kids, and we recently went to the Green Festival in Washington, D.C. What a great time! There was so much to see, and lots of great environmental and vegan resources. This year, of particular note, the food court was entirely veg and it was something to see. We ate SO MUCH! Mark your calendars for fall of next year, folks, because if you are in the D.C. area, the Green Festival is NOT to be missed.

Breakfast!

Can you believe it's VEGAN? What a fantastic, hearty breakfast to try when the whole family is home on the weekend! Fry up some potatoes, buy some vegan sausage (or make your own) and make it into patties, and whip up a tofu scramble that is sure to please. Simply fry up some peppers, onions, and mushrooms, add some crumbled tofu, and sprinkle on some nutritional yeast, turmeric, salt, and pepper. This was a holiday breakfast for us!

Activism Firsthand.

I helped Dale from New Leaf Vegan Society by running the table for an afternoon at the Watermelon Park Music Festival. We had a great time and met some cool people! For food I set up a "Vegan Milk and Cookies" display with three kinds of plant based milks and began chocolate chip cookies...mmmmmmm...

Vegcast.

Do you love listening to podcasts like I do? Try Vegcast! It is a great for the whole family to listen to. Vance Lehmkuhl is very entertaining, and they always have great guests and music. The kids love the theme song!

Spiced Banana Pancakes Recipe.

Spiced Banana Pancakes
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1 Tbsp. ground Flaxseed (totally optional)
1 ¼ cups soymilk
3-4 medium bananas
Earthbalance (vegan butter, available at many grocery stores)
1. In bowl, combine dry ingredients and set aside.
2. In blender, combine milk and ½ the bananas. Mix with the dry ingredients well. Chop up the rest of the bananas and add to the mix.
3. Preheat the oven to about 190 degrees.
4. Put a little Earthbalance in the pan. Pour about ¼ cup of mixture for each pancake. Cook until bubbles form on top and then flip. Keep cooking until brown and yummy.
5. Put onto a plate that will not melt in the oven and keep adding the pancakes as you cook them. After you add the cakes, put the plate in the oven to keep them warm.
6. Eat with vegan sausage and hot coffee or juice! These pancakes are super-moist...bananas make a great substitute for eggs!

Stir Fry Quickie!

We do eat at home once in a while! Here is a great stir-fry. I get the bag of frozen stir-fry mix at the grocery. I also go to the co-op or the My Organic Market for quick, frozen mock meats. This one is an Asian pepper steak, and my friends cannot believe that it is not real meat! Heat it up really quick with some soy sauce, throw it on top of some noodles or rice (Minute rice, of course), and you have a great vegan meal that fits snugly between getting home and all of the other things like homework, gymnastics, scouts, you name it!! Whew!

New Leaf at EarthFest.

This is my friend Dale Ball from the New Leaf Vegan Society. We met at the Earth Fest in Berryville, VA, and have done a few events together since then. We will hopefully be able to keep doing tables at events some more in the future. We did really well with this event by utilizing VegFund.

The Yabba Pot.

If you are in Baltimore, a GREAT place to bring your family is the Yabba Pot. We really liked it there, and the food was really good. There is so much to do in Baltimore, you should make a whole day of it. The Yabba Pot is all-vegan and the prices are reasonable. Try the BBQ tofu and the Chick-un salad! Kids will love it too, as it has a great atmosphere...we loved all the colors.

We Recommend...

If you are ever in Richmond, VA, we highly recommend the Panda Veg restaurant. It is 100% vegan, family friendly, moderately priced, and even has a vegan buffet in the evening! There are so many choices! We ate there twice in one day, once when we pulled into the city, and once after we spent the afternoon at the Richmond Science Museum.

Vegan S'mores

We finally got a hold of some "Sweet and Sara" vegan marshmallows from the My Organic Market this summer and had S'mores for the first time in ages!

Latest Vegan Potluck.

Our vegan round table today was very successful! We ate a LOT of great food, met some new vegans, and had a great time. This was the first vegan potluck for Mike, and he was really into it. It is amazing that he has been vegan for two and a half years and had never been to a potluck/get-together before! I did my vegan banana pancakes demonstration for the group, and this time I added chocolate chips. You! We had all sorts of goodies like vegan quiche and blueberry pie. I can't wait for the next time!

The New Leaf Vegan Society.

I am starting this today because we are about to leave for a vegan baking get-together. My friend Dale is the director of the New Leaf Vegan Society, and it has been a great outlet for my vegan social networking! Here is a photo from the demonstration that I did last year.

In the beginning...

Veganism plays a major role in the lives on me, my husband, and my children. I have been playing around with the idea of starting a blog that shows the real-life aspects of being vegan with kids in this crazy, fast-paced world. I get about 20-30 or more questions a day about what we eat, wear, how the kids cope, etc. Hopefully, this will be a great record of how one family did it and how it has changed our lives for the better in so many ways!