CTTVCC: Lazy Person's Grilled Cheese

Hello again, and welcome back to my cook-through of Peta's Vegan College Cookbook. The recipe I am reviewing can be found on page 63. Even though this is a super-simple recipe, I don't think I would have come up with it on my own. Why? Because I don't think I would have thought to put pickles on a grilled cheese sandwich. And by grilled I mean microwaved. And by cheese I mean vegan cheese. Obviously.

The recipe calls for:

• 2 slices vegan cheese
• 2 slices of bread, toasted
• pickle slices (optional)

I used pre-sliced Daiya cheddar style vegan cheese, which fit perfectly on the Amy's Gluten Free Sandwich Rounds, which I used instead of regular bread. Like seriously. They were the exact same size. Match made in heaven. However, when I first made the sandwich, I thought to myself: "Self, do you really need two slices of cheese? After all, there won't be any corners of bread showing, which is the real reason people use two slides of cheese, right?" Wrong. I took one bite, and I was like, "Nope! Needs more cheese!" Lucky for me that wasn't a hard problem to fix. (But once I had two pieces of cheese on the sandwich, it wasn't really pretty, so I didn't retake the picture. Not that it was THAT pretty to begin with, because the cheese melted all over everything. I figure it's more authentic that way, because college students make messes in their kitchenettes all the time, right?)

When I got to the pickles, I realized I was out of pickle chips. I went to Whole Foods, and they were totally out of dill pickle chips! There were no dill chips in any of the brands they carry. So, I bought whole dill pickles, and sliced up one of the pickles into chips when I got home. (First world pains, I know.) The recipe says the pickles are optional, but I am declaring them definitely NOT optional. If you haven't tried this combo, you haven't lived. Well actually, I hadn't tried it, and I was alive, so let me make that: if you haven't tries this combo, your life is incomplete.

This was an absolutely AMAZING sandwich. I made one for my youngest sister, and she is so hooked. I think she's eaten like 20. (Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit.) BUT STILL! I think I could survive off of these for a while if I had to. Really. I could. I cannot believe I've never thought to put pickles on a grilled cheese sandwich before though! This cookbook is genius. Has anyone else out there ever thought of pickles on a (vegan) cheese sandwich before?

CTTVCC: Thai Takeout (Hold the Takeout)

I apologize in advance for posting today's review so late in the day. Today's recipe is on page 78 of TVCC. This recipe was pretty tasty, though, I think you need a veggie like (frozen) broccoli or something to go with it. It was also a bit unclear with the amount of rice you need because it doesn't specify if the amount of rice measured should be cooked or uncooked. If it's supposed to be measured before cooking, I would recommend cutting the recipe in half unless you're sharing. I think it would probably work better with a cup of cooked rice, unless you were going to make a bit more of the sauce.

The recipe calls for:

• 1 cup rice
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce

For the rice, I used Della Basmati Brown Rice. I measured a cup of uncooked rice when I made mine.

I used PB2 powdered peanut butter because it has fewer calories and significantly less fat than normal peanut butter. All you have to do is add water to the powder to use it just like regular peanut butter.

Instead of regular soy sauce, which has gluten in it, (Why? I have no idea.) I used Bragg Liquid Aminos soy sauce. It's gluten-free and is supposed to have more protein in it than the regular stuff. It tastes just like regular soy sauce, in my opinion. I must say though, The packaging looks like it hasn't been redesigned since the 90s. Just saying.

 

Here is what the peanut butter and soy sauce looked like mixed together:

Here is the finished rice:

So, I'm not sure if this turned out like it was supposed to because of the whole not clear about the rice amounts thing. I would love it anyone who makes this recipe leaves a comment and tells me how you made it and how it turned out. Did you cook a bunch of rice and then measure out a cup of the cooked rice? Did you measure a cup of dry rice and then cook it? Really. I would love to know your opinions!

CTTVCC: Broke-Ass Cinnamon Rolls

Open your cookbooks to page 40. This is another breakfast recipe that could be eaten anytime. Or all the time for that matter. I'm not even kidding. I made one, and then proceeded to make two more because I just couldn't get enough. These were the first cinnamon rolls I've had for as long as I can remember. There aren't many pre-made vegan cinnamon rolls that I've found, and I haven't found ANY gluten free, vegan cinnamon rolls. At all. Until these anyway, because the ingredients are so customizable.

The recipe calls for:

• 1 slice of white bread (or 5, ya know. In case you're addicted.)
• vegan margarine, to taste
• cinnamon, to taste
• sugar, to taste

I used gluten-free bread from a local bakery. Cutting off the crusts, and then smashing it flat reminded me of the good old days, way back in elementary school, when we did that to our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the cafeteria. Good times.

For the vegan margarine, I used original Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Spread. Then I put on a very generous amount of cinnamon, (Because I absolutely love cinnamon,) and sprinkled a bit of raw sugar on top of the cinnamon.

Once I finished microwaving it, I rolled it up, and decided I was too impatient to cut little min-cinni-rolls out of it, so I just ate it as it was. I did that with the other two as well, except for that they began to fall appart as I was rolling them, so I stacked them on top of each other, and rolled them up together. Then I decided that was much better, because it was the perfect bite size. Aren't they just adorable though?

I hope you all loved these as much as I did! This recipe is definitely an A+ in my book. You know it would probably be great for baby-sitting. and by baby, I mean toddlers or older. Because aside from accidentally getting cinnamon all over the whole kitchen if your cinnamon decides to explode, It's not that messy since it doesn't have any of that sticky sugar-paste-sause-stuff on top.

CTTVCC: Not-Just-For-Hippies Granola

Welcome to the first recipe of my cook-through of the Vegan College Cookbook! You can find it on page 36. As you can see from the title, this is a breakfast recipe. Or a snack or dessert too, I suppose. The book calls it breakfast though.

The recipe calls for:

• 1/2 cup vegan granola
• 3 tablespoons rasins or chopped dates (optional)
• 1 tablespoon almonds or nut of your choice (optional)
• 1 (6 oz container) soy yogurt (your fave flavor)

For the granola, I used Peace Cereal brand in french vanilla, which already has almond slivers in it, so I didn't add any additional nuts. It's gluten-free for those who have that limitation.

I don't really like raisins, and I didn't have dates, (except for tonight! ;P just kidding.) Anyway, so I used craisins. which I do like. Very much. Though, to be honest, I didn't measure them. I just kind of tossed them on top. But that's the thing about this recipe, It's super-customizable, and because it's not actually baking anything, the proportions don't matter quite as much.

For the yogurt, I used blueberry flavored Amande brand vegan yogurt, which is made from almonds instead of soy, but like I said, who cares? I've kind of been watching the amount of soy I eat anyway because too much soy can cause problems, kind of like too much of anything can cause problems, and sooooooo much vegan food is soy-based. (Besides, my favorite health-food grocery store has been running sales on the almond yogurt.) Amande Yogurt has live culture bacteria, (which are NOT animals, don't worry. They're in a totally different scientific kingdom.) Anyway, the live cultures are really good for your digestive system, and supposedly consuming live culture bacteria helps your body respond better to stress and recover from stress faster.

So here is the finished concoction:

 
I am declaring this rather delicious. I'll probably end up eating the rest of the box of granola this way because I don't love eating granola in just milk without anything else. It's like trying to eat crumbs with a spoon. It doesn't really work for me. Actually, I hadn't even meant to buy granola when I picked this up last week. It was on sale, and I just grabbed it thinking it was flakes with a little bit of granola to make it not boring like the brand's other cereals do. But good thing I had it, that way I could make this recipe, right?

I hope you all enjoy this recipe! Got feedback? I'd love to read your comments!

Cooking Through The Vegan College Cookbook

Hi, everyone!

So the vast majority of feedback I've been getting about this blog is that people love the posts about food. Which makes sense, right? I mean, vegans have to eat too. So, a while back, I came up with this brilliant idea to cook through PETA's Vegan College Cookbook. After all, I'm going to be starting college in the fall. Though, based on my experience so far, the food tastes good whether or not you're in college. If you don't already have a copy, you can buy one at the PETA webstore for about $15 (plus shipping and handling,) or you can join the Peta2 Street Team, if you haven't already, and earn lots of street team points by completing a bunch of missions under the Take Action Page, many of which can be completed online by sharing images and videos, or signing petitions etc. that help improve the quality of life for animals around the world. Then, you can go to the Street Team Store and trade in some points for a copy of the Vegan College Cookbook. Easy. Just like the recipes inside.

The plan is for me to give you all my opinions, variations, tips and tricks, etc. about each recipe. That way, you might be encouraged to try a recipe that you wouldn't have otherwise, and you can be sure that your food will come out delicious every time. I will be making all of the recipes gluten-free because of my health needs, but for those who are blessed enough to be able to eat as much normal bread as they want, (people without gluten allergies,) you can make your vegan food as full of gluten as your heart, or your stomach, rather, desires.

For example, I already did a post about Breakup Pudding, which is a recipe Peta2 sends out on little recipe cards quite frequently.

Just to let everyone know, I'm not going in the same order as the cookbook. That way, I can make food for which ever meal I want during the day, and I can pick a recipe that I already have ingredients for. (That way I don't get stuck racing to the grocery store before it closes.) Also, because of the way the cookbook is set up, I can get better variety in my food. I mean, honestly, I love peanut butter, but with the Spotlight section on peanut butter, I could get sick of peanut butter foods really quickly.

Also, because I'm somewhat lazy, I'm going to be abbreviating "Cooking through the Vegan College Cookbook." I'm already getting sick of typing that whole thing out. (First-World Pains, huh?) I think I will shorten it to CTTVCC (Cooking Through the Vegan College Cookbook,) and VCC (Vegan College Cookbook.) I might actually type it out once per post, (I'm not really sure,) just so that new-comers to the blog aren't quite as confused.

Anyways, I hope that this blog series is helpful to everyone, and that you have tons of fun cooking through with me! If you've made a recipe, I'd LOVE your feedback. Especially if you use one of my alterations. Really. It would make my day. <3

Gluten-Free, Vegan Cheese Melties

Recently, I have had to go gluten-free for medical reasons. That makes being vegan extra difficult because a lot of psuedo-meats and other vegan proteins are made with wheat. Also, a lot of gluten-free products aren't vegan, so it can get hard to balance. Really though, one of the things I miss the most is just bread. My inner carboholic has a hard time dealing with it, trust me. However, I found a fake sandwich round bread that is really delicious. Amy's Gluten-Free Sandwich Rounds are the perfect size for most veggie burgers, and they taste amazing. They also pair up perfectly with Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet Mozzarella for a delicious snack.
 

 

 

(FYI, when this cheese melts, it really melts. like, it turns to liquid. So, be very careful once you've heated it.) 

Really people, even if you aren't gluten-free, you should really try this stuff. It is so good and it goes perfectly with tomato soup, Ramen, pasta (gluten-free if need be,) or just about anything.

Cutest Vegan Alive Contest

Hi everyone!

I'm entered in Peta2's Cutest Vegan Alive Contest for 2013! Whoever wins gets a free photo shoot and the chance to be on an ad for peta2. Which I would absolutely LOVE to do. Anyway, please vote for me! I'm kind of losing really badly. You have to enter an email address to confirm that it's not the same person voting over and over again, but if you don't want to receive emails from them, you can unsubscribe right away.

Anyways, this is me begging you to vote for me:

Are my begging eyes good enough? (Sadly I didn't use this picture for the contest. Next year! Next year.)

Thank you all so much for reading, and voting, and being awesome people!
Much Loves,
Kerry Aileen

Purple Carrots for Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day everyone!
I didn't realize they existed, but look what I found in my local organic grocery store. . . Speaking of earth. Isn't that cool? I mean, I knew Indian corn comes in different colors, but I had no idea that carrots could be multicolored. Veggies are so cool!

To All You Cat Fans

A friend of mine sent me an interesting infographic/story about cats. . . and kitty litter. . . that was really rather fascinating! There were a lot of things I didn't know about in this brief history of cat litter, and being a cat owner, I am very thnankful that my house isn't covered in poo and ashes. WHAT? Yeah. Read this article, and then come back here, and tell me what you thought of it! Not exactly sure if it's violating copyright laws to post the actual image, so it might not stay forever. But the link will stll be there. If you like it, like it on their actual page too.



The site that this was published by looks like a site I could easily get sucked into. Forever.

Sorry for the super-short post. And the fact that I haven't been posting as frequently. School. It has kept me busy. But I've got several posts half-finished and up my sleeve, and that includes stuff about food. (I know that's all you guys really care about. I see through your ruses.)

Ditch Dairy

Enough Said. This infographic thoroughly disgusted me. Seriously, this covers all the pro-dairy arguments I've ever come across. I'd say this is pretty convincing. Who ever made this is pure genius. This has a creative commons license, so you can share it with all your friends and family who haven't cut milk out of their diets. The best part of getting rid of milk is the substitutions you can use. There is such an amazing variety of substitution products. I will be posting about my favorite dairy substitutes soon.

Any Comments? Thoughts? Leave a comment!