Vegan Stir Fry! See, Veganism Can Be Quick And Easy.

Like me! Just kidding. I'm only easy. A little on the high maintenance side. I will try to fool you in the beginning with my easy going nature, but that will soon fade away as all good things do.  Really, I have no idea why I'm single.
Any way, on to vegan stir fry! I know many of my dishes are time intensive and complicated (much like myself) but sometimes I want my food instantly! Without spending much money! So here we go.

You will need:
     *1 bag frozen veggies (I like Safeway's Stir fry veggies with asparagus)
     *1 pack vacuum packed tofu. I do love my Tofu X-Press, but this meal is meant to be made within a half          hour.
     *Mushrooms (I use about 3/4 a pound)
     *1 red onion
     *Garlic. Maybe 5 cloves? If you follow me regularly, you know I use DOUBLE THAT.
     *Favorite Stir fry sauce. Soy Sauce, Bragg's and Coconut Aminos are all good, but for this particular recipe, I used Trader Joe's Brand Island Soy Vay.
     *Some chopped green onions, for garnish.

I decided on stir fry because I am poor, yet hungry with sophisticated taste. Top Ramen WILL NOT CUT IT. (The Oriental is vegan. But don't go there. Make stir fry instead)

Chop your red onion, heat up some oil on medium heat and saute until transparent or caramelized. Cut your tofu into beautiful, professional looking triangles (I can't take credit, my friend Travis did this. And after shots at the bar, no less!)

Then, marinate triangles with sauce.

Is now a good time for you to listen to my new favorite song? Yeah, you got time - your onions are cooking. If they are looking good, add your mushrooms. Once they are cooked down a little, add garlic and tofu.

Don't hate. You know you love Shakira. She's so cute! Even...half naked. Whatevs.

Okay, back to stir fry.
Travis and I got distracted by all the wine we were drinking, (Charles Shaw! Represent!) and I burnt my pan. Here are some pics of the fiasco. Everything turned out fine, I just transferred everything to a soup pot. After transferring I added the frozen veggies. The tofu was marinated so well, I didn't add any extra sauce to my stir fry.

Done and done!

If You Live in The Bay Area, Be Stoked. Lydia's Raw Chocolate ROCKS!

You definitely want to eat this...

I bought it at Whole Foods across the street from my pad. I don't think $2.99 for a raw chocolate is too much; however, I can't buy her other raw products - I gotta pay rent!
The ingredients are straight forward and organic (except for the love? Is it gmo?). I thought it was going to be more of a truffle, like Cafe Gratitude's, with a chocolate coating over a mint filling, but it ended up being solid throughout. Whatevs.

Yes, I was also drinking a tall can of PBR. That's how I roll, yo. Anyway, the chocolate was AMAZING! You should buy one right now! It was rich, smooth and creamy AND it was flavored with MINT. Chocolate and mint = best combination ever, don't you think? It tasted like an Andes mint, no joke. I used to love those things.

Staycation! Dinner at Source in SOMA/Potrero Hill

I went out with my friend Matt to Source, the new Vegetarian Restaurant in San Francisco. LOVED IT. Absolutely everything on the menu can be made vegan, vegan cheese and all (vegan cheese is very important to me)!

Avocado Oink Burger with Cashew based Mozzarella Cheese, plus fries and a side salad.

Matt's Kraut Bow Wow (most food is made in house but the Bow Wow's are Field Roast Apple Sage sausages. Fine by me! And Matt, as it turns out.)

They also have Chicago Style dogs! I mean, "Bow Wows".

After struggling to choose a dish on the extremely extensive menu, I went with an avocado oink burger, with their homemade cashew based vegan mozzarella. I couldn't believe my taste buds. I haven't eaten a burger in over four years but my beet, celery, carrot, mushroom, bulgar, lentil, fresh herbs, soy protein, garlic, onion burger tasted like the real thing. This was best veggie burger I have ever had, and it wasn't trying to be meat. Their version is hearty, and even kind of has the look of a burger, thanks to the beets. But not in a gross way, I swear! This isn't a Boca burger like substitution -- It's just...I don't know...meaty. It's obviously made with vegetables, yet has that grilled, burgery taste. My omnivore dining companion, Matt, completely agreed -- he was blown away as well! I wasn't just being a crazy I-haven't-eaten-meat-in-so-long-these-tofu-dogs-taste-like-the-real-thing-right vegan. The cheese was so tasty, I wanted double the amount. The avocado and 'oink' bits were a little lacking, but the burger was so delicious and MIND BLOWING, I totally forgot what I had ordered, and therefore didn't even notice the other parts of my burger were shoved sparingly in the back of the pita. This is saying a lot, because I usually don't forget things like avocado and vegan bacon.

Disappointingly (for me, maybe not you....) Source doesn't not serve alcoholic beverages. What they do serve are kombucha-like elixirs made with a fermented substance called Jun. They are made with raw honey, which may or may not jive with you. They also serve raw Yerba Mate lemonades mixed with strawberry, blueberry or straight up lemon! Matt ordered the strawberry lemonade and OMG! It tasted like a strawberry daiquiri. So delicious- I was able to  forgive the absence of rum.

Everything we had was super flavorful. We skipped dessert but I will be going back for one of their 'twinkies' or 'snowballs'. VEGAN SNOWBALLS?! (hahaha insert dirty joke here. What? Sorry, usually I'm totally mature.)

Gluten free and Vegan, Baby! Let's Do This.

What does Crystal, my roommate, do when she gets back from Vegas? Well, regal me with all her stories, for one, but also take on one of my hardest dishes to make! And tell me she's going vegan! Skinny bitch in the Kitch was just the reading material she needed.
Not only does she cook my dish (maybe even better than I do) BUT SHE MAKES IT GLUTEN FREE.

Eggplant casserole, pasta on top. DELICIOUS.

Crystal took a different approach than me, she baked her pasta on top of the eggplant. And she used gluten free pasta. AMAZING RESULTS.

 It's a massive recipe, you might need more than one baking dish.

Gluten - free, cheesy, vegan heaven.

Cheesy Italian Eggplant Casserole? Veganized Eggplant Parmesan? What do I Call This? Also, YOU WANT TO MAKE IT. So You Can Scarf it Down.

OMG SIGNATURE VEGAN DISH. Why am I giving it you? I like to show off, that's why!

This is an intense one, but WELL worth the effort.

You will need:
     *1 recipe marinara sauce (I guess, if you are short on time, you could use jarred stuff. When I was a beginner, that's what I'd do. It cuts a lot of time out, and will be cheaper. But making everything from scratch is such an accomplishment!)
     *1 recipe Italian Cashew Cheese
     *2 - 4 Eggplants (Depending on how much you want to make. I like leftovers.)
     *Salt and pepper
     *Olive oil
     *Roughly a pound of pasta (I use a 13.5 oz box of Dreamfields Low Carb Penne Pasta)

Basically, we are making an eggplant Parmesan here. But it's not breaded or fried! It doesn't have dairy in it! So, it's healthier, and maybe I'm biased, but I think it's tastier (though I do love fried food, don't get me wrong. I love it when people refer to me as a health nut, I scoff in inside my head, BUT on the OUTSIDE I'm totally FLATTERED).

I like to roast my eggplant first. It cuts down on the cooking time dramatically and it can roast while I make the cashew cheese and marinara. Preheat the oven to 375. Cut your eggplant into GENEROUS 1/3 of an inch thick pieces. Liberally sprinkle each side with salt and pepper (I have coated before and ugh - too salty). Put on a greased baking sheet and drizzle each piece with olive oil. Bake for 20 minutes.

Not pretty, I know - but this is how the slices look out of the oven. I don't bother about neatly slicing them - see those potato cut mofo's in the corner? I mean, it gets covered in cheese and sauce, plus I'm usually scarfing this down alone, watching netflix movies - who am I trying to impress? I don't know, maybe your life is different.

Cook yo' pasta. I mean boil, whatevs. I like to do a layer of pasta underneath the eggplant. Ever since Crystal started making her baked mac'n'cheese I have LOVED the taste/idea of baked pasta dishes. That crunch! YUM. In a casserole pan, dish, baking apparatus, layer pasta, marinara sauce, one layer of eggplant, cheese, eggplant, marinara, cheese AND BAKE. 375 for about 20 mins or so. (If you don't roast your eggplant beforehand, it will take about 45 minutes to an hour and a half until done and you will want to cover with foil.) Test - if it's fork tender, (the bottom pieces) bake for another 5 or ten, til 'cheese' is browned.

Pasta + Marinara.

 Eggplant on top

 Layer of cashew cheese

More eggplant.

 Marinara

YES AND YES.

Feathers Are For Birds, Not Hair Extensions or Jewelry

Do my eyes deceive me? Please say yes. Please tell me this isn't Ke$ha on a PETA poster. Tell me, make me understand how, exactly, does PETA choose the 'spokespeople' they feature in their ads? Seriously.....
WAIT, ARE THOSE FEATHER HAIR EXTENSIONS SHE IS WEARING? IN A PETA AD? FOR REAL? (Maybe feather earrings? This is a joke, right? That seal sure is adorbz, though.)
This feather fashion shiz has got to end. Sporting dead animal parts as accessories is just that--sporting dead animals. Not hip, disgusting. Not cute, and not ethical either - let's not kid ourselves about that.

Vegan Adventures in San Diego

When going down to San Diego, I had no intention of eating my way through the whole city. Lie. YES I DID! I also didn’t go on a road trip, I FLEW! I whisked myself away for the weekend, via Virgin America, which means I got to check out the new Terminal 2 at SFO. Two words: PLANT CAFE. Yes, it’s there. Now, normally I would not pay $8.25 for spring rolls, but my vacay started the second I wasn’t late for my flight, so I indulged. Shitake, tofu and veggie spring rolls with peanut sauce — my getaway was off to a delicious start!
Flash forward 12 hours....After much consideration (waking up in our clothes from the night before and drinking a couple more PBRs) my San Diego tour guide friend, Matt, and I chose to eat at Sammy’s Woodfired Pizza for lunch.


The location in Mission Bay is located in a strip mall. Usually, I find this incredibly cheesy, but I knew there would be beer once we were seated, so I decided to let it go.


Stone IPA is a San Diego brew, vegan and incredibly strong. Naturally, I loved it.


Sammy’s has vegan cheese (Daiya, of course — though the waiter was unsure) and a gluten free crust available (which is vegan!). I got my pizza with spinach, mushrooms, Daiya, and the gf crust. Very tasty. So much in fact, I packed this whole thing in my stomach. And two IPAs. I didn’t much feel like going to the beach afterward, but we did anyway. Another awesome thing about my Sammy’s experience is that the waiter was incredibly friendly about all my vegan questions — he checked with the back before he put my order in and wasn’t put off about anything. And he was hot. Justsayin’
Next meal on the agenda: Rancho’s. Matt and I went to the location in North Park, it’s super cute! It has the kind of atmosphere where you could bring a date, your family, or your friends. Plus, the prices are super reasonable with large portions — so, you know, 5 stars in my book. Two drinks and two entrees plus a side of guacamole came to about $35.00. I felt as though I had eaten like a KING.


Veggie Trios Enchiladas topped with Daiya. Oh, and the black beans! So good! I’d never had them spiced so well at a restaurant. My friend was so impressed by this place, he couldn’t wait to come back with his roommate. And I can’t wait to get back to San Diego for another round!
Tried to go for drinks that night, but after pizza and enchiladas (and beer all day) we were not feeling it. Oh well, the sooner we got to bed, the sooner I could wake up and stuff myself some more!
Pokez, in downtown SD, was brunch the next day. Not in the traditional sense of a Sunday morning champagne-filled brekkie, more like a, let’s drink a PBR and start our day at one in the afternoon kind of deal. What? I was on vacation!


I had heard rumors about hipsterbad service, and unfortunately, the rumors are true. I knew to expect it, so I found it funny, but forgot to mention this to Matt. Luckily for me, we are friends because we find the same things funny! Be prepared to wait/be ignored. We put money in the parking meter for 50 minutes thinking that surely, it would BE MORE than enough time. Wrong. And Pokez doesn’t serve alcoholic drinks so….that wasn’t the hold up. Food is definitely worth it though. Trust me.


It didn’t matter I had enchiladas the night before — I needed more! Two tofu and mushroom stuffed enchiladas with cabbage salad on the side. The menu doesn’t specify that the entrees come with cabbage salad, so being the glutton I am I ordered….

A tofu, potato and mushroom taco! Vegan Mexican food heaven. Except for the whole, no beer on the menu thing. And slow service, if that kind of thing ticks you off.
After my body had to go to the work of digesting everything I’d eaten in the last 48 hours, plus a little time frolicking in the Pacific, I was ready for more beer! Hamilton’s it was.


Hamilton’s, located in South Park, offers tons of beer and a vegan burger called the ‘Cattle Decapitation’, so bring your sense of humor, vegans! I was too full to eat it, but I’ve had it before and I remember it being really good. I thought I could will myself to work up the appetite to order it, but that just didn’t happen. Oh well!  All the more reason to go back to San Diego!
I’ve been home about a week and half now, and I’m still full/digesting. San Diego, how did you do it? I’m always hungry in San Francisco!