So I’ve had extremely bad luck with GF pancakes. That is until I tried this recipe here. It’s just as simple as making it from a mix (hello– only 3 GF flours involved here!) and they turned out wonderful. Time saving tip: if you’re whipping these up for a Sunday morning breakfast, prep several ziploc bags or mason jars with your dry ingredients all at once. This way you’ve got all the dry ingredients already measured out (like a DIY pancake mix) and all you have to do the next time you want to make pancakes is add the wet ingredients. Tip #2: what an excellent gift or favor idea!

In the bottom of a large bowl, mash the avocado with the other ingredients. Toss in salad fixin’s and enjoy!

In my salad pictured above, I had some romaine in there, some baby lettuce mix, carrots, snap peas, green onions, grape tomatoes and about 1/2 cup of black beans. Alongside, I had some leftover oven roasted broccoli. Together with the avocado dressing, the entire meal was about 400 calories. How do I know how many calories this was? Well, from my calorie tracking app, of course! And just because I’m trying to lose weight doesn’t mean I avoid fat and fatty things like avocados. In fact, I eat at least half an avocado every day.

Have you guys used this? I’ve been using it for about the last 6 weeks and have lost about 6 pounds so far. I sort of fell off the wagon last week and am just now getting back to logging everything. For a free app, it’s really quite impressive. If you’re trying to keep track of what you’re eating for whatever reason (weight loss, weight gain, whatever), I highly recommend it.

About a month ago, I decided to go gluten-free. Since the holiday’s were coming up and we were moving, I didn’t want to go cold tofurky and have been easing into it. As I reflect back on all of the dietary changes I’ve made in my lifetime (vegetarian, then vegan, now gluten-free and vegan), this really has been pretty easy for me. By far the hardest change I ever made was when I went vegetarian about 10 years ago. I was in college and living at home at the time and my whole way of eating up until then was totally S.A.D. (Standard American Diet). Meat was the center of every meal. We rarely, if ever, had vegetarian meals. I had no idea what lentils were. Aside from Mexican and Chinese foods, we never ate anything besides American foods. Once I was comfortable being vegetarian, it was really no big deal. Getting comfortable with it was the hard part. Going vegan was no sweat. Going gluten-free has also been not that big of a deal. I can see that eating out will be the hardest part; the second hardest part will be continuing to bake gluteny cakes and not being able to taste them (I have this weird phobia where I have to taste everything that leaves my kitchen). The baking business is really starting to take off. Had it not been getting any busier, I may have nixed the gluten cakes and specialized only in gluten-free, but since I’m getting busier and people are starting to hear about me, I can’t do that.

1. A flax egg for the eggs (doubled the flax egg recipe to replace the 2 eggs).
2. A combo of brown rice syrup and agave for the honey. I’m not super strict on honey, but I never have it in my house and have not bought it in years. And since we were moving, I didn’t have enough of any one liquid sweetener on hand, otherwise I would have probably used all agave since it’s cheaper. I never think to use brown rice syrup, even though I usually have it in the fridge but it’s probably better for me than agave. I use it so seldom that I really don’t even care.

This recipe turned out fantastic and I highly recommend whether you are gluten-free or not. Emma loved it and ate an entire piece of it the first night I made it, then asked to have it for breakfast the next morning. Matt also really enjoyed it. (Meghan, if you’re reading this post, now is the time you should probably stop since you won’t like this part. )

I had some leftover vanilla frosting that I tried with it and it was sooooo good. I’ve also turned this recipe into cupcakes (below), but used canola oil in place of the coconut oil and all brown rice syrup for the sweetener. They were yummy! As a bread, I love the addition of the oats (and I was sure to use certified GF oats), but as a cupcake, it’s too much texture. I may try to swap out the oats for coconut flour next time and see what happens. I’m new to the gluten-free-baking-from-scratch-thing and am still learning what all the different flours, starches and gums do. Experimenting has been fun!

• Rice milk, soy milk and coconut milk for the almond milk. My favorite is coconut milk (the unsweetened So Delicious, not from a can).
• I always use canola oil. This works fine for me.
• Quinoa flour for the almond flour. I’ve always made it this way and it turns out great. I love that the coconut flour gives the cupcake a little coconut flavor and the quinoa flour gives it a little nuttiness.
• I use certified GF vanilla extract for this one. I’ve seen vanilla both ways and thought I’d go with the certified GF one, although, I’m not sure why vanilla extract would contain gluten. Perhaps the alcohol in it could be contaminated with gluten? I just recently learned that some brands of wine may be contaminated and not considered gluten-free. It’s a good thing I don’t spend more than $3 usually since my cheap wine is unlikely to contain any gluten particles.

I actually made this batch for a rainbow themed birthday party today. Here is my little friend topped with her rainbow “hat.”

Tips

While I’ve not made the jump to complete and total gluten-freedom, I have been making several small changes over the last month. The small changes have added up so that I’m pretty 100% gluten-free at home. Here are some tips that have made the transition easier:

• Buy one gluten-free item every grocery shopping trip: Gluten-free flours, pastas, cereals, breads, etc. are more expensive than their gluteny counterparts. Purchasing one every shopping trip breaks up the expense a bit. Also, most gluten-free baking recipes require several different flours and starches and making sure you’re stocked up on at least a few ensures that you’ll have what you need (or at least a suitable substitute) when the baking urge strikes.
• Keep some convenience foods on hand at all times: It’s so handy to have foods that can be whipped up quickly for times when you don’t have the time or the energy to cook something elaborate. Since I keep a loaf of gluten-free bread in my freezer and cereal in my pantry, I know that I will be able to have a snack at all times. I’ve also made it a point to have nuts, dried fruits, frozen fruits (for smoothies), and hummus and veggie dippers on hand most of the time for quick snacks or meals to go.
• Plan ahead: This is key to sticking with any diet. Make sure your kitchen is pretty well stocked most of the time. Keep things in the freezer or pantry for ease. Plan to bring your own food or a dish to share if invited to a friend’s house for dinner (and, for that matter, don’t be afraid to tell the host of your new way of eating; most people are happy to accommodate or, if they aren’t, will tell you to bring your own food). The list goes on and on, but the bottom line is be prepared.
• Don’t be offended if people don’t “get it”: Remember, most people would rather take a pill than change their diet/lifestyle. Humans are lazy like that. Many won’t understand why you’re making changes and some may not even be supportive. Don’t let it get to you; in the grand scheme of things, who cares?!
  
  Also, don’t be surprised if one of these people is your own doctor. Doctors don’t really have a clue about nutrition and many don’t embrace alternative therapies. One of my own doctors (my OB when I was pregnant with Amanda) pretty much told me that there are more important things in life to worry about since I’m doing well on my current medication and dosage when I mentioned wanting to try the gluten-free thing to see if it helped/prevented further damage to my thyroid. I still do have thyroid symptoms despite having normal labs (insane amount of hair loss, for example– I’m not balding, but I can pull out handfuls of hair whenever I wash it to the point that I bought a hair trap for my shower drain), so I wouldn’t agree with her assessment. It didn’t bother me, but I did make it a point to find a doctor who seems to be a little more open minded when I needed to find a new family doctor. While I’m on this topic, remember that your doctor works for you. If you don’t like him/her for whatever reason and are able to switch, don’t be afraid to.
• Be informed: Visit the library and do some reading about making changes. Borrow cookbooks to introduce you to your new diet. If you’re on Facebook, “like” different groups or organizations that share your interests. That’s how I came across that awesome muffin recipe. Start following blogs. The information is out there, be sure to find it. Blogs have been a great resource in helping to introduce me to new recipes and new ideas. Open a Google account and start a blog reader so you can keep track and keep up. Some of my favorite gluten-free and gluten-free-friendly blogs, in no particular order, are listed below:
  • Kristen’s Raw.
  • Making Love in the Kitchen.
  • Alisa Cooks.
  • pure2raw.
  • A Celiac’s Adventure Through Food.
  • Elana’s Pantry.
  • Gluten Free Girl and the Chef.
  • Gluten Free Planet.
  • Gluten Free Vegan.
  • Cake Maker to the Stars.

  There are lots of great blogs/sites out there, those are just the ones that I follow. Have any that you’d like to recommend? Please do. I love finding new blogs to follow. They need only be interesting, funny, entertaining; it doesn’t have to be vegan, gluten free or even about food.

  So there’s my update on how things are going. I suspect that by the end of the month that I will be completely gluten-free. I’ve been meaning to get to the doc for another blood test and that’s the only reason I haven’t cut out gluten totally already. It could mess up the results if I were not eating gluten, I guess. Anyway, my celiac test was negative, but I want to have another one done just to see if it confirms a gluten intolerance. Seeing as how I have Hashimoto’s, it’s likely that I do have a gluten intolerance, but I’m curious to see if I can get some concrete evidence. Also, it “sounds” better to tell people that I have a gluten intolerance instead of I’m trying this new diet to see if…

  What about you? Do you have any tips for people wanting to change their diet or lifestyle to improve their health?

  ]]> http://www.missionvegan.com/gluten-freedom-an-update/feed/ 7 http://www.missionvegan.com/make-ahead-meals-part-2/ http://www.missionvegan.com/make-ahead-meals-part-2/#comments Thu, 04 Nov 2010 05:30:04 +0000 maida http://www.missionvegan.com/?p=3207 Before Amanda was born, I blogged about the various casseroles that I made and froze in preparation for her arrival. We’ve gone through them all and I thought I’d post a little update to let you all know how they turned out. When I was first googling freezable vegan casserole dishes, I had a hard time finding any recipes or tips so I hope this people helps those who might be in the same boat as I was in.

  To recap, I made a giant dish of lasagna and two smaller dishes of my enchilada lasagna (see link above to my original post for links to recipes). When we were ready to eat them, I defrosted them one of two ways:

  1. If it was the morning and I wanted to eat it that night for dinner, I left it out all day on the counter.

  2. If it was the night before and I wanted to eat it the following night, I stuck it in the fridge overnight to defrost. About an hour prior to heating, I took it out and let it come to room temperature. If your baking dish is too cold, you could crack it by putting it in a hot oven.

  Lasagna: The dish froze very well. I was concerned that the tofu ricotta would have a funny texture or taste after being frozen, since freezing tofu definitely changes the texture and I’m not a big fan. When I baked it, it came out tasting as if I had just made it. When I was assembling the lasagna prior to freezing it, I used more sauce than I normally would have and I’m glad I did. It came out perfect and I think if I would have used a normal amount of sauce it would probably have been too dry.

  Enchilada Lasagna: Again, I used more sauce than normal. It heated well and also tasted freshly made.

  Both were a success and I was so happy to have prepared food on hand those first few weeks after coming home from the hospital. I was also glad to have had a well stocked freezer because it also made it easier on my husband since he was packing Emma’s lunches for school. We still have one quart of soup left to eat, but the rest is all gone. Sadly, my freezer is not organized and tidy anymore.

  ]]> http://www.missionvegan.com/make-ahead-meals-part-2/feed/ 1 http://www.missionvegan.com/experimental-baking/ http://www.missionvegan.com/experimental-baking/#comments Sun, 05 Sep 2010 17:41:14 +0000 maida http://www.missionvegan.com/?p=3168 In my last post, I mentioned that our oven caught fire while making some oat cakes. Before extinguishing the flame with baking soda, I first grabbed my phone and took a video of it. It was just too crazy not to video and I didn’t sense that there was any danger letting the fire burn for an extra few seconds. What happened was there had been a small crack in the heating coil and that crack broke all the way through, which made the rest of the heating coil catch fire.
  
  

  Well, I had already made some muffin batter that was bound for the oven as soon as the oat cakes came out and, not wanting to waste it, I had to think of another way to “bake” it. I used my apple-carrot-raisin muffin batter recipe, but added in one small grated zucchini. So, instead of making mini-muffins, which was my original intention, I ended up making it into a loaf and “baking” it in my slow cooker. The slow cooker method worked out really well, even though it took like 20 times longer to bake than if I had been able to bake them in the oven. Oh well– they still got made, we still get to enjoy them, and I didn’t have to waste any food.

  

  To bake in your slow cooker, you will first need a loaf pan that fits in there. You will also need the little trivet thing that comes with the slow cooker (it’s the rack thing that people probably use to make something like a pot roast). Put the trivet in the bottom of the slow cooker and fill the bottom with boiling water. Mine took about 5 cups of water and I think it’s important to use already hot water since the slow cooker would take forever to heat up all that water. Once you’ve got all that assembled, put your filled loaf pan on top of the trivet, cover and turn the slow cooker to high. It should be done in about 4 hours. If you wanted to prepare this at night to bake while you are sleeping, I imagine cooking it on low would do it. Low would probably take anywhere from 6 to 8 hours.

  ]]> http://www.missionvegan.com/experimental-baking/feed/ 2 http://www.missionvegan.com/make-ahead-meals/ http://www.missionvegan.com/make-ahead-meals/#comments Sat, 04 Sep 2010 17:19:59 +0000 maida http://www.missionvegan.com/?p=3162 UPDATE: To read about how these turned out after defrosting and heating, check out this post.

  In preparation for the baby’s arrival, I spent the day yesterday making some one-dish-meals that could be frozen. My idea was to make something that had veggies, protein and carbs all in one so that we could eat them by themselves and get a well-rounded meal out of it. If I have the energy, I can throw together a salad or something to accompany the dishes, but we’re still getting lots of nutrition if we just eat them by themselves.

  Also, my 4-year-old starts Pre-K on Wednesday and I wanted to have some homemade snacks on hand for her lunch at school. I ended up making a batch of zucchini brownies (her favorite!) and Dreena’s Easy Pleasin’ Oat Bars. Unfortunately, I’m all out of freezer space so the oat bars may not make it in there. I’ll move some stuff around today and see if I can’t find any more space. I also wanted to make a batch of mini muffins, but my oven caught on fire right when I was taking the oat bars out. I had already made the batter, so I’m experimenting on “baking” it in my slow cooker. I’ll post the results of that when it’s done. (The oven fire was very minimal, in case you’re worried. The heating coil at the bottom had had a small crack in it for a while and I was concerned that it would break one day. The fire started at the point where the crack was and traveled like a sparkler firework along the length of the coil. I put some baking soda on it after taking video of it and it went out. On another side note, a small plane crashed into the lagoon directly behind our house on Thursday, so if things happen in threes maybe that means the baby is coming this weekend!)

  Anyway, back to the food. In my freezer, I have a giant dish of lasagna (the individual lasagne made into a regular lasagna– double the tofu ricotta recipe and add some fresh spinach), two small dishes of enchilada lasagna, 3 quarts of Minestrone soup, 2 quarts of cooked black beans, 1 quart of lentil and brown rice taco filling, and 1 quart of cooked chickpeas. To freeze the casseroles, I first put a sheet of Press’n Seal wrap directly on top of them to keep out any air and to keep any ice crystals from forming, then I topped it with the lid that came with the Pyrex baking dishes. Also, for the zucchini brownies, I individually wrapped each one in Press’n Seal wrap and then put it in a glass food storage container with a locking lid. I will do the same if I’m able to make space enough for my oat bars.

  A quick note about the zucchini brownies. I use this recipe here, but this time I made them with half applesauce, half oil and half whole wheat pastry flour, half all-purpose. They turned out great! Oh, and I also added some dark chocolate chunks.

  Here’s what my freezer looks like now:

  

  There’s also some convenience food in there from Trader Joe’s– their vegetable burritos (on the left side), the mini pizzas (on the top– for the kid), and some of their vegan noodle bowls stuffed way in the back. I’d say we’re set for at least a little while!

  As we eat the pre-made freezer meals (I suppose we’ll have to get a new oven first!), I will report on how they tasted. I tried to Google some information on freezing certain things (like I wasn’t sure how the tofu ricotta would freeze and defrost), but I couldn’t really find much information. I’ll also update this post or link to my new post about it in case some other Googler is looking for the same information.

  Come on, Baby! We’re all set for your arrival!

  ]]> http://www.missionvegan.com/make-ahead-meals/feed/ 4 http://www.missionvegan.com/exciting-news-new-recipe/ http://www.missionvegan.com/exciting-news-new-recipe/#comments Wed, 01 Sep 2010 17:06:16 +0000 maida http://www.missionvegan.com/?p=3146 Should I keep you all in suspense or spill the exciting news first? Hmmm… tough call. Okay, okay– here’s the exciting news:
  

  Some of my recipes are featured in a free “Back-To-School” e-book. Yes, it’s free! Alisa over at One Frugal Foodie and Go Dairy Free had the brilliant idea of producing this e-book to help moms and dads with the back-to-school transition after seeing the back-to-school grocery ads featuring cheap cereals and other convenience items that contain little nutritional value. It was a great idea and, of course, healthy eating is something I fully support.  The book is not vegan, but there is a good selection of recipes to suit everyone’s needs and some can probably be made vegetarian or vegan with a quick swap of ingredients.  Download your free copy by either clicking on the image above or by clicking this here link.   My biggest, sincerest thanks to Alisa for coming up with this awesome idea and for putting so much time and effort into it.  And thank you to everyone who participated and contributed their recipes.  I hope this e-book is a big success and kids everywhere are able to enjoy healthy, homemade breakfasts and lunches.

  Here are the direct links to the recipes of mine that are included in this lovely gem:

  • Sweet Potato Waffle
  • Granola
  • Faux Tuna Sandwich Filling
  • Black & White Hidden Treasure Burritos
  • PB&J dilla

  This new recipe is a spin on my Whole Wheat Oat Bread recipe, which is also featured in the e-book.  When this recipe was chosen for the book, I realized how long it’s been since I’ve made it so I thought I should give it another test before the book became available.  While testing it, I actually improved upon it and came up with a few substitutions for some of the ingredients.

  

  Whole Wheat Oat Bread for the Bread Machine

  1 1/4 cups warm water
  2 tablespoons vegan margarine, canola/veg oil or olive oil
  1 teaspoon salt
  1 cup all-purpose flour
  2 cups whole wheat flour
  4 TB vital wheat gluten*
  1/2 cup rolled oats
  2 tablespoons brown sugar, maple syrup or agave
  1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
  2 TB flax seeds

  Put ingredients into bread machine in the order suggested by the manufacturer.  Use medium setting.

  *In lieu of vital wheat gluten, you could use white bread flour and wheat bread flour in place of the all-purpose and wheat flours.  Adding 1 TB of vital wheat gluten for every one cup of regular flour is a DIY way of making bread flour.  I add an extra TB just for kicks.

  ]]> http://www.missionvegan.com/exciting-news-new-recipe/feed/ 2 http://www.missionvegan.com/farmers-market-tips-for-making-your-produce-last/ http://www.missionvegan.com/farmers-market-tips-for-making-your-produce-last/#comments Wed, 25 Aug 2010 22:54:42 +0000 maida http://www.missionvegan.com/?p=3127 Today was my farmers market (FM) day and I thought I’d post a picture of all the stuff I came away with. I could have gotten a lot more, but it was too hot and I wanted to get in and out. I stopped at only a few of the stalls at only one end of the market and that’s all I could handle.
  
  
  Today we got: a small bag of tiny potatoes; a big bunch of red chard; 3 artichokes; half flat of strawberries; a random assortment of peaches, nectarines, and pluots; 3 melons (all different kinds); and a bag of baby spinach and salad mix. All for $36 and from only 3 different farmers. Everything is certified organic, except the melons. I’m not so strict on the organic title for fruits that are peeled, but I do wash them prior to peeling or cutting so that if there is any pesticide on the outside that it won’t come into contact with the part that does get eaten.
  
  Storage:
  
  I could smell that these melons need to be eaten quickly, so I stuck them in the fridge the minute I got them home. That’s pretty much all I did for those, the artichokes and the peaches. The guy who I get peaches from is pretty expensive at $3.50 per pound, but he will have “sortouts” available for $2 per pound (those that are really ripe or slightly bruised). I only buy from the sortout bin because I will inevitably bruise them on my way home anyway, and it lets my money go a little farther. His fruit is the most delicious too. I won’t buy from anyone else, even if their prices are cheaper. Also, he has at least 10 different varieties of peaches, nectarines, plums and pluots– his selection is amazing!
  
  
  
  Strawberries: a random lady at the FM gave my this storage tip for strawberries and it really works! When you bring them home, put them in a large tupperware container (or glass food storage container, whichever your preference) and refrigerate. They will keep for at least a week this way. What I like to do is sort through them and only put the firmest ones in my tupperware. Ones that are soft or overripe I’ll refrigerate in one of those green baskets that they come in and eat those first. DO NOT WASH THEM prior to storing them– only wash right before you eat them.
  
  

  Greens: this is a great way for washing and storing your greens and I have to give credit to Rachael Ray and my mom for these tips. To wash, fill a big bowl or your sink full of cold water. Put your greens in and give them a good shake. All of the dirt and bugs will sink to the bottom of the water. Remove the greens from the water and place onto a clean kitchen towel and arrange in a single layer. If you have more greens than what will fit in your towel in a single layer, put a paper towel on top and add another layer on top of that. When all of your greens are arranged, roll the towel up like a burrito. Store in a plastic bag in the fridge. They will keep for about a week this way, but be sure to check them every few days to make sure they aren’t wilting. If they do start to wilt, use a spray bottle to get them damp again or place a damp paper towel on top of the greens to rehydrate them.

  How Long Will This Last Us:

  I know this looks like a lot, but we are big fruit eaters around here and I suspect this will last us through next week. I think Emma and I eat 5 servings of just fruit in a day and I like to pack my husband a container of fruit to take to work in the mornings. The veggies will for sure be gone by next week, but we may have some fruit still floating around. Besides that, I could go into labor at any time and at least the house will be well stocked with fresh fruits and veggies if I’m not around for a few days.

  Tips for a Greener FM Experience:

  • Take your own bags: this goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway since I see so many people who don’t do this.  I take my own cloth bags for carrying my haul, as well as several smaller produce bags for things that you pay for by weight.  You can see one of them in the lower left of the first photo above; it’s what is holding our potatoes.  Using those provided plastic bags is so wasteful, especially if you are using a separate plastic bag for everything you’re buying (i.e. potatoes in one, carrots in another, etc.)!
  • Take back everything that you bring home:  what I mean by this is that I save all of those strawberry baskets, the 1/2 flat cardboard box and any rubber bands and take them back the next week.  Besides being less wasteful, it saves the farmer some money because they don’t have to continually replace these things and that’s when they can pass that savings on to you.  Speaking of savings, you can generally get some awesome deals if you hit the market near closing time.  The farmer would rather give stuff away at a discounted price than take it back, especially if it’s something that won’t last them until their next market day.

  That’s all I can think of off the top of my head. Do you have any green shopping tips to share?

  ]]> http://www.missionvegan.com/farmers-market-tips-for-making-your-produce-last/feed/ 1 http://www.missionvegan.com/rainbow-grocery/ http://www.missionvegan.com/rainbow-grocery/#comments Sun, 13 Jun 2010 17:52:31 +0000 maida http://www.missionvegan.com/?p=2853 Rainbow Grocery, located at 1745 Folsom Street in San Francisco is the only place to shop for groceries.  I wish I lived closer (or maybe they would consider expanding and opening another location down the peninsula… say in Redwood City?) so that I could shop there all the time.  I have a very sad confession to make:  in the 3 years that I lived in SF, probably less than a mile away from Rainbow, I never shopped there once.  Why?  Because the line of cars waiting to pull into their teeny tiny parking garage was such a turnoff!  Rainbow now validates parking for some of the garages in the area (or maybe it did the whole time and I never knew).  Anyway, the point is that this place is awesome and you really should make a point to stop by whether you are visiting San Francisco or whether you live there/nearby.

  Why is this place so great?  First off, they are a worker-owned co-op, meaning that the people who work there are the owners.  Pretty cool, right?  Secondly, they are very vegan friendly.  There is a huge selection of vegan baked stuff (from local bakeries) like cupcakes, cakes, cookies, scones, etc.  They are also very Raw friendly.  Third, they have the most insane bulk foods section you’ve ever seen in your life.  I did happen to take my camera with me so that I could post some photos of it, but I chickened out at the last second.  I didn’t want to look like a weirdo taking photos of dried beans and rice, so I used my iPhone instead so that I could look as if I were texting/emailing/Facebooking all the while casually snapping photos.  Why I was concerned about looking like a weirdo in SF is anybody’s guess– the town is full of ‘em!!

  Most of my pictures are blurry, but you can read some of the bin labels if you zoom in and look closely.  None of these are repeats (photos of the same thing).  I’m not joking when I say that the bulk section is HUGE:  bulk spices, teas/coffee, beans/legumes, rice, pasta, cereals, flours, sugars, candy (lots of vegan ones too), nuts and nut butters, olives, dried fruits, oil, soy sauce…. seriously, if you can think of it, it’s probably in the bulk section.

  

  Above:  bulk candies… notice how many are vegan!  Vegan gummy bear things, peanut butter cups, nut cluster things.

  

  Above: granolas galore!

  

  Above: more cereals

  

  Above: any kind of flour you could ever need

  

  Above: more flours

  

  Above: cereals… notice how many are Raw!  How cool is it that you can get raw granola in the bulk section?!

  

  Above: Rice, rice…

  

  Above: …and more rice!

  Aside from the bulk section, Rainbow also carries lots of hard-to-find vegan goodies like Dandies marshmallows.  They stock them all the time!  They also have all kinds of vegan cheeses, even those soft ones that can be spread on crackers.  I’ve never tried them, but I’m impressed that they carry it.  The fruit/veggies section is all organic and mostly locally grown.  The peaches smelled so delicious when I walked by, but I just couldn’t bring myself to shell out $3.50 per pound for them.  Likewise with the plums.  We did, however, stock up on bananas and in addition to being fair trade, they were so sweet and yummy (and comparable in price to my local store or Whole Foods).

  The vitamin section is also out of this world, but I didn’t take the time to look through it.  We had been there long enough and my kiddo was hungry and ready to leave.  I could seriously waste hours in this store just looking through everything.

  The price of most items was comparable to or maybe a little bit more expensive than Whole Foods.  By that, I mean like the loaves of bread, boxes of cereal, etc. were comparable in price to WF.  The prices on the bulk items is very reasonable, the most expensive items being the Raw cereals at $8 per pound. I know that sounds like quite a bit, but for the Raw stuff that sounds like it’s probably the going rate.

  Anyway, the bottom line is– if you’re looking for something and can’t find it at any other store, chances are good that Rainbow has it.  I just wish it was closer!

  ]]> http://www.missionvegan.com/rainbow-grocery/feed/ 0 http://www.missionvegan.com/blog-food/ http://www.missionvegan.com/blog-food/#comments Tue, 04 Aug 2009 22:58:30 +0000 maida http://www.missionvegan.com/?p=2117 I haven’t had the motivation to cook lately.  Just one of those funks.  But I feel really bad every night when dinner time rolls around and (1) there’s nothing ready to eat or (2) it’s something easy and lazy.  Last week I decided that I would make a new dish every night from recipes on blogs that I enjoy reading even if some haven’t been updated in a reeaaallly long time (ahem!!!).  It didn’t really work out as I had planned it, but I did manage to make a fair amount of dishes that I’ve never made before.

  6 Layer Bean Dip from Disposable Aardvarks Inc.

  Dippers were hemp and veggie tortilla chips with flax seeds (hey, you gotta get in those Omega-3s!), and some veggie crudite.  This was good, but I put on way too much sour cream.  I think we all would have liked it better if I’d not been so heavy handed with the sour cream, especially since it has the same consistency of the beans and it was pretty impossible to scrape off.

  While on the topic of sour creams, I tried a new brand that I’m not sure I’ve blogged about before:  Vegan Gourmet Sour Cream Alternative.  It was good and I would use it again, but I think I still prefer Tofutti.

  Next up are Mini Samosa Wraps from The Veggie Guy.

  I left out the crushed red pepper.  Even with that, these still had a little kick to them (good for me because I like spicy).  Emma even tried a few bites and, while she wasn’t wild about them, she didn’t spit it out.  These were good, but it was too much of the same texture for me.  Mushy potato inside and soft tortilla outside.  I was really missing the deep-fried crispy texture of a traditional samosa.  Flavor-wise, these were spot on.

  Sloppy Joses over Polenta from One Frugal Foodie.

  The original recipe calls for ground turkey, so I substituted a vegan ground “beef.”  Also, I couldn’t find polenta in a tube for some reason, so I had to make my own and it actually turned out really good.  To make the polenta, I used 2 cups of veggie stock and 2 cups of plain, unsweetened soy milk and 1 cup of polenta.  Yum!

  This recipe was really tasty (and made excellent taco filling for a leftover night), but my hubby had the brilliant idea of just using corn bread in place of the polenta next time.  So much easier and a better texture.

  

  Chili from Vegannifer.

  I didn’t follow the recipe exactly, but I think it still turned out pretty close to the original.  Changes I made to the original recipe:

  1. I omitted the cubanelle pepper and tomato.  I just used 1 onion and 2 green bell peppers and added some chopped celery because I had some that needed eating.
  2. In place of water, I used veg stock.
  3. In place of pineapple juice, I used a tropical carrot juice.
  4. I don’t know what Vegebase is and I didn’t have any, so I didn’t use it.
  5. I didn’t have red beans, but substituted one 15 oz. can of black beans and one 15 oz. can of garbanzo beans.
  6. I omitted the rice.
  7. I didn’t have cilantro flakes or chipotle powder and omitted those as well.
  8. I had leftover Sloppy Joses and threw that in the pot too (just the beefy part, not the polenta).

  After all those substitutions and omissions, this chili recipe was pretty good.  Next time, I won’t add the seitan chicken.  It’s good with it, but we’ve been indulging a little too heavily in the fake meats lately and I feel off.  I’d rather not eat those as often as we have been.  Later this month, I think I’m due for a fast/cleanse of some sort.

  Spicy Jalapeno Pizza from Tofu N Sprouts.

  I prefer a veggie heavy pizza as opposed to a cheese heavy pizza.  I think this pizza is a good blend of the original recipe and my personal pizza preference.  Please do read through the original recipe as there are LOTS of great vegan pizza making tips.  One such tip: prebaking the pizza dough and then broiling the cheese.  From now on, I will prebake my dough then broil the cheese to melt it, then put the veggies on, then broil some more.  When you try to make a pizza with lots of veggies and vegan cheese, the water in the veggies makes the cheese too wet and it’s not the most pleasant thing to eat.  But, if you broil it first to melt the cheese, then add the veggies, it makes a perfect pizza.

  It’s probably also worth mentioning that I just used the Pepper Jack rice cheese and jalapenos.  I didn’t add any of the other stuff to the dough… as I mentioned previously, I am lazy.

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