"Friends"giving

I could not have had more fun with this newly invented holiday!  When I first decided to call it "Friends"giving I was only thinking about a Thanksgiving meal shared with friends, but the more I talked about it I realized that any vegan thanksgiving meal should be called "Friends"giving because it's friendly... No one gets harmed on "Friends"giving because ALL the food is cruelty free!

The event began with Tempeh Sausage Pastry Puffs (Vegan Brunch).  I made them in a different shape than the recipe called for and was very happy with the way they looked and held together.  I would say that they were delicious, but I never even got the chance to try one.  They were gone before I knew it!

My roommates Chris and Alexis made a fresh salad.  It was very yummy and the salad dressing came in a spray bottle!  How fun is that?

I made Caramelized Onion Butternut Roast with Chestnuts (Veganomicon) for the third time this holiday season and I have to say that the third time was a charm!  It was perfect!

Sarah made these amazing green beans.  They had almonds and sauteed onions and were so good I could eat them all day!

For the main course I made Pumpkin Seed-Crusted Tofu and Baked Pumpkin and Cranberry Relish (Vegan With A Vengeance).  It turned out well although it had a rough start.  The tofu I defrosted and stuck back in my fridge refroze because my fridge sucks, so Sarah and I had to run out at the last minute to get more.  I was still cooking when everyone arrived... Leia helped with the tofu and the pumpkin and Sarah and Nick helped with the cranberry relish.  It is always so nice to have help in the kitchen, thanks everyone!

These are mine and Sarah's plates.  I didn't get a picture of the Sweet Potatoes that Alicia made, but you can see them featured on both our plates.  They were made "Mexican" style and were quite possibly the best sweet potatoes I've ever eaten!

This is everyone that came and ate with us minus Kipp who was taking the picture.....  The second picture we took for my Mom.  She LOVES to have group pictures of everyone posing as Dr. Evil.  This one is for you MOM!

For dessert I made Gingerbread Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting (Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World) and Leia made a Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake with a Cranberry topping.  Leia and Tony worked very hard on the topping and I think it was well worth it!  Great job guys!

 Dessert was awesome, but the best part was everyone chipped in and cleaned up!  I didn't need to wash a single dish!  Love you guys!  "Friends"giving could not have been more perfect!

A Trip to Karyn's Cooked

Tonight I got to hang with two of my favorite ladies, Liz and Danni.  Danni's family is in town and all of them happen to be vegetarians so, we decided to go to Karyn's Cooked (738 N. Wells St.) my favorite vegan restaurant in Chicago!

The menu is magical to me!  It is so rare to go to a restaurant and have choices. 

We ordered SO much food it was ridiculous!    We started with Buffalo Wings, Peanut and Barbecue Thai Skewers, and Jerry's Pizza...

The appetizers were delicious! I'm not usually a huge fan of seitan, but they did it right at Karen's...
Everyone got something different for a main course, and all of us were equally pleased!

I ordered The Flautas. They were filled with a mixture of tofu and carrot and were covered in vegan sour cream and came with homemade Pico De Gallo, Guacamole, and Refried Black Beans.  It was an excellent choice!  Delicious!

Liz ordered The Stuffed Eggplant without bread.  She is a South Beach  eater, so this was here real only option that fit with her diet...  She let me try some and it was very yummy!

I believe that this was a jerk tofu wrap, but I could be wrong.  It looked tasty though!

Danni's sister got the Lasagna.  She raved about it so I'm sure it was good!

Danni got the Taco Salad Bowl. It was HUGE!

Danni's bro got the Steak Sandwich.  It looked incredible!  I am definitely getting this on my next visit!

As you can see I ate almost everything on my plate!

 After all the food and drinks we were too stuffed to eat dessert, but also could not pass up the opportunity for gourmet vegan dessert! So we ordered it to go.

After I digested most of my food I dug into my dessert...  Coconut Cake. Yum!  I loved my trip to Karyn's Cooked!  Thanks Liz and Danni!!!!!

Sharing Vegan Cookies

 Today I decided to make cookies for the class that I tutor.  Most of the kids in this class are familar with how delicious vegan cookies are, since I have had many of them in previous classes, but some of my new students were still skeptical. 

I made Chocolate Chip Cookies (Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar)

When I got to school, I forced Milton, my favorite security guard, to sample his first vegan cookie... He said it was okay, but he was sure that the kids would not be impressed.  I didn't have any worries though.  I knew the kids would devour them!

Some of the other teachers tasted them and they seemed to like them....

The true test came in with my class and as expected, I won them over with my baking powers! They could not believe that the cookies were vegan.  Some of the even sampled some Almond Milk that I brought to go with the cookies so that they could  have the full vegan experience. When class was over they were all sure to let Milton know how wrong he was and told him that the cookies were not just "okay", but they were "Amazing".  Looks like Sharing Vegan Cookies was a great success!