07 | August | 2008 | Vegan Verve

Quote Of The Day!

August 7, 2008 at 8:30 am (Quotes)
Tags: Alexander Hamilton, Quote

“Those who stand for nothing fall for anything.”

–Alexander Hamilton, 1st United States Secretary of Treasury, military officer, historical figure–

All I have to say is: believe in something so strongly that you are willing to fight for it. Whether that be veganism, animals, human rights, your spouse or whatever you wish. I just think that everyone should have a passion in life, otherwise your life will not be full.

Vegan Strawberry Ice Cream Review!

August 7, 2008 at 6:00 am (Recipes, Reviews)
Tags: Review, Strawberry Ice Cream, Vegan

Yet again, I come to you speaking of lovely desserts from Sara at the Innocent Primate blog. This one is a WINNER! I’m not actually a fan of strawberry ice cream, before veganism and now. Perhaps I just don’t like the fact that fruit, a.k.a something healthy, is invading my good ol’ fashioned bad for you ice cream! Leave my ice cream alooooone!!! Okay, freak out aside, this strawberry ice cream was delicious! If you enjoy fruit in your ice cream, then you just MUST try her Strawberry Fields Forever ice cream (even a little nifty title huh). Hell, even if you are on the fence about fruit and ice cream, I demand you try this! I pulled out the demand card!

**Waiting patiently to try ice cream**

Woo hoo! It is complete and ready for me to consume.

The only change I made to Sara’s recipe was to use light coconut milk. I only had organic lite coconut milk available and refused to drive to the store just for full-fat coconut milk! The lite coconut milk did not seem to hinder the taste or creaminess of the ice cream. This came out super smooth, creamy and just luscious. I can only imagine how creamy it would be with full-fat coconut milk. Is it possible that it could be creamier? I dare not even contemplate such a thing! This was already much creamier than soymilk-based ice creams you buy and/or make. Although, I haven’t tried Purely Decadent’s new line of coconut ice creams. After this experience they in fact may need to be tried………oh yeah.

I’m not usually one to share, but when they are furry balls of love I can’t resist. My two boys LOVED the ice cream as well, and wanted way more than the spoonful I was willing to dish out. After all, they shouldn’t have too much sugar….they’re hyper enough already

A doggy ice cream party!

Don’t be fooled by their tame appearance. This mutual sharing of the spoon soon broke down when Bruiser decided all the ice cream should be HIS and only his. Turns out Bruiser shares as well as I do

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Dessert, Snack? And More Dessert!

August 7, 2008 at 3:00 am (Food, Recipes)
Tags: Chocolate Chip Cookies, Fudgsicles, Granola, Recipe, Vegan, Vegan Fudge Bars, Vegan Fudgsicles

The dessert bug hit me the other day. Perhaps it was my cravings for something sweet, or perhaps it was the fact that it actually didn’t feel 120 degrees in the house!! Regardless of the reason, I baked up a storm. Although”baked” isn’t the correct terminology for one of my desserts. Perhaps, baked and froze would be a better option.

I ordered popsicle molds off of Amazon some time ago, and have been using them endlessly since. Well a full set of 6 became available after Matt consumed the popsicles they once included, so I knew I had to try something new! Vegan Fudgsicles, Fudge Bars, whatever you wish to call them, were in fact calling my name. Usually when I first try an idea, I try a similar recipe first. This time, I followed a recipe so little that I can in fact proclaim this one as mine! The Fudgsicles (or Fudge Bars….I’m torn) came out rather well. They are rich, creamy and yummy. They are not overly chocolaty, but they have enough to cater to a chocoholic’s heart (like me).

Vegan Fudgsicles!!

Fudgsicles

1 package Mori-Nu Tofu (soft, firm, whatever you have–I actually used firm since it’s the only kind that is organic)

1/3 cup cocoa

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 Tbsp canola oil

1/4-1/3 cup soymilk (I used chocolate)
Pinch salt

Just blend all ingredients in your blender until smooth. Pour into popsicle molds, leaving 1/2 inch for expansion. This recipe actually made slightly over 5 popsicles, so feel free to drink the remaining liquid! Yummy chocolate shake!! Then freeze for about 3-4 hours. If you are impatient, just check them after 2 hours! I let them set overnight.

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Snack time!

Now I do not know if this actually classifies as a dessert, but I did make it during my dessert-aholic venture the other day! I had been meaning to make granola for some time, I had been making it weekly but have tried to avoid heating the kitchen as much as possible these days! I always make granola that includes cashews, raisins and coconut. This time was no different. I love to have this in soy yogurt, as cereal (as it is actually rather nutritious since I add flax meal and wheat germ to it before baking) and in parfaits. It is always a good go to snack for someone like me who has to snack constantly or she becomes, well, crabby

Granola: so it's not much to look at, but it is sooo good!

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Chocolate chip cookies. Is there any better phrase to be uttered? Perhaps vegan chocolate chip cookies would be the best phrase after all. I love my own chocolate chip cookies and have made numerous changes to it since I became vegan. Each change has succeedingly made it better (well there were some disasters, but lets not focus on the negative!

). My newest venture regarding my chocolate chip cookies was to make them “healthy”. If you’re thinking “how on earth can you make them healthy??”, then you’re on the right track. You see, I would like to imply that simply adding flax meal to the cookies will in fact make them healthy, and convince myself of this I will. So, by using flax “eggs” rather than my usual applesauce (which, lets face it, is also healthy indeed! So I guess these cookies were always healthy

), I would have healthy chocolate chip cookies.

I was somewhat disappointed by the job done by the flax “eggs”. The batter tasted better to me, but the cookies themselves came out less moist than I desire. With the applesauce “eggs”, the batter tends to have a hint of applesauce in every bite, which isn’t a terrible thing but when you are looking for a full on bad for you taste, you become rather disappointed. But the applesauce does result in delicious and moist cookies. I’m thinking of varying the recipe to include 1 applesauce “egg” and 1 flax “egg”. My vegan chocolate chip cookies are forever changing….but will forever remain an AWESOME dessert!