Opening a Young Coconut

I can't even count the number of young coconuts I've had to open for various recipes. Over time, I have come up with an easy and quick way to open them. All you need is a knife, cutting board (or plate) hammer, and bowls to store the meat and water if  you aren't using them right away.

The untouched coconut, knife, and hammer.

Cut off the fibrous white husk from the top of the coconut. Cut as close to the inner shell a possible.

Young coconuts have a natural stress line around the top. Gently hit the coconut in one point with the claw of the hammer until it gives.

Here is a picture of the hole punched through by the hammer.

Work your way around the top of the coconut in a circle, until it's ready to be lifted off.

Use the claw to pry off the top of the coconut.

The opened coconut. Pour the water into a bowl. Use a spoon to scrape the meat out of the coconut.

There you have it! I timed myself last time, and it only took me 5 minutes to get the coconut open. Hope this helps, and happy cooking!

Super-Simple Shave Ice (Raw)

Man, was today hot! I happen to have the privelege of working in un-air-conditioned elementary schools hauling heavy boxes of textbooks around. This morning, when I walked into the library of the school, it felt like stepping into a sauna. To cool off, I have come up with an incredibly simple summer treat that I know you will all love too!

Tools: Blender (or some other way to crush ice), bowl, knife, spoon

Ingredients:
2 c ice cubes
1/4 lemon
1/8ish lime
Agave syrup

Directions:
1) Blend the ice in a blender until desired consistency is reached. My Vita-Mix tends to make snow, but true shave ice has larger ice chunks. Place ice into a small bowl or cup.
2) Squeeze the juice of the quarter of the lemon and lime into the ice. Add more, if desired.
3) Squirt some agave over the top of the ice. Enjoy!

Of course, you could experiment with other fruits and such, especially if you are fortunate enough to own a juicer. This could even allow you to create syrups that you could store in the fridge for future shave ice creations! Also, I do have two other posts I've been meaning to get up, but it feels tacky to post three things in one day. Plus I need to use my laptop to get pics off my camera. Anyways, look out for two more posts very soon. Until then, happy cooking!

Flaxseed Crackers and Guacamole (Raw)

A double recipe for today! Though the crackers require a dehydrator, so only one for my non-dehydrator friends.

Crackers
Tools: Dehydrator, parchment paper or teflex sheets, bowl, measuring cup, spoon
Ingredients: Flaxseeds, water, salt and other spices to taste
Directions:
1) Measure equal portions of flaxseeds and water (1 cup each makes about one tray of crackers), and dump into the bowl. Wait for a few minutes (10-15) for the mixture to thicken, then add any spices or flavorings and mix.
2) Spread the mixture evenly on either parchment paper or teflex sheets. It should be no more than 1/8 in thick, maybe a bit more. If desired, sprinkle salt over the trays.
3) Dehydrate for a few hours at 105-115 degrees F. Flip crackers and peel off paper or teflex sheets. Cut into triangles or squares with a knife, and separate the crackers.
4) Place back in the dehydrator until completely dry.

Guacamole
Tools: Bowl, fork, knife, cutting board, a spoon is helpful
Ingredients:
1 ripe avacado
1/8ish white onion
Lemon (or lemon juice)
Lime (or lime juice)
Sea salt

Directions:
1) Cut open the avacado. Dispose of the nut. Spoon out the meat into the bowl, and mash with the fork.
2) Chop the onion, the size of the pieces is up to you, but I prefer mine very small. Add to the mashed avacado and mix.
3) Cut a wedge (about 1/6 of the fruit) out of the lime, and squeeze the juice into the bowl. Cut a very tiny wedge (1/4 of an inch wide on the outside) of the lime, and squeeze the juice into the bowl. Sprinkle some sea salt on top, and mix.

There you have it! Two simple recipes. The guacamole is based on the Chipotle guacamole, though you can look up better approximations than this. My mom also likes to add tomato to her guac, but I like this kind better. Here is a pic of the crackers and guac:

Hope you like the recipes, and until next time!

Popcorn-ish (Raw)

I think that the absence of a cafeteria, my curious nature, and cravings for various cooked foods have all encouraged me to experiment a lot more with food lately. And you all are the lucky benefactors, spared of having to try all of my not-so-successful attempts. While having a Pirate marathon this weekend, one of the aforementioned cravings hit me like a ton of bricks: popcorn. Alas there is no popcorn in the raw world, but I have found an alternative that I like. You guys should all give it a try as a healthier alternative to that buttery, salty, calorie-laden gook that is microwave popcorn.

Tools: A large ziplock bag, knife, cutting surface, dehydrator (optional - this stuff is great fresh!)

Ingredients:
One head of cauliflower
Cayenne, to taste
Nutritional yeast, to taste
Salt, to taste

Directions:
1) Cut off the leaves of the cauliflower. Personally, I don't like the trunk part very much, so I usually cut that off too, but you don't have to.
2) Put the whole head down, and cut into slices. cut these slices into pieces. If you imagine the whole head, you should cut it up into small, uniform cube-ish shapes. Or at least attempt to. Leave the pieces fairly large, a little large than real popcorn is fine. If you plan on dehydrating, leave them much larger, as they shrink dramatically when dried.
3) Dump all the pieces into the bag. Sprinkle some salt, cayenne, and nutritional yeast into the bag. Start with tiny amounts; you'd be amazed how far a little of each goes! When you zip it closed, make sure to leave some air in the bag, and then shake! (Kneading the bag works well, too) The cauliflower should turn yellow-orangish.
4) Once the cauliflower seems evenly coated, taste a piece. Add more of anything as desired, and shake some more. Repeat as needed. If you plan on dehydrating, you'll want to be very light with the spices, because the taste will be much more intense after the cauliflower shrinks.

And, a very exciting development is that I bought myself a camera! So from now on, there will be lots of pictures to go with these posts, so you will be able to tell if you are horribly screwing everything up. Here they are:

My "popcorn" in the dehydrator.

Up close. It's orangish!

Sorry I have no "after" pictures. Somehow, none of the pieces made it past a few hours. The downside to dehydrating stuff like this is that it's just so tempting to reach in and grab a bit before they're done. After all, a day is a long time to wait for popcorn! Hope you like the recipe, and wish me luck on continuing this awesome streak of updating.

Strawberry Vinaigrette (Raw)

I'm back! And you should all be proud of me for remembering to post over summer. Horray! I even have a new recipe for you guys. As a raw vegan, salads are a big part of my diet. One of the most important parts of a salad, at least to me, is the dressing. In the interests of having a new recipe to post, along with the desire for some variety in my dressings, I have concocted a spiffy strawberry version of my favorite raw dressing.

Tools: Blender (a normal blender should do fine), container for storage, knife, cutting surface, 1/2 or 1 cup measure.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 c agave nectar
1/8 c apple cider vinegar
Pince salt
1/2 green onion (cut off the white part, then use about half of what's left)
Strawberries (I used 4 large ones, but just keep adding until you get the desired taste/color)

Directions:
Blend everything until you don't see any strawberry or onion bits. Store in the refrigerator, and mix well before using, as the oil will separate.

If you want a blander dressing, use less vinegar or onions. Add agave to make it sweeter, olive oil to thin it out a bit, or add vinegar and onions to make it more flavorful. I'll probably tinker with this recipe more, so I might come back and change the ingredients. Also, experiment! Try using apples or raspberries instead of strawberries. Go wild and try whatever veggies or fruits you have on hand. If you find something that works, comment to let me know!

Peace out.

Chocolate Pudding (Raw)

I can't resist giving you all a recipe. This is the only raw vegan recipe that I know isn't like, copyrighted or anything, and has the added benefit that you don't need anything super fancy to prepare it, so all of you VitaMix- and dehydrator-less readers out there can still enjoy.

Ingredients:
2 very ripe avocados
1 cup maple syrup (pure maple syrup - read the ingredients to make sure it's not maple flavored corn syrup)
1 cup raw cocoa powder (or regular cocoa powder, which is much cheaper)

Tools:
Bowl
Fork, blender, or electric hand mixer
Measuring cup
Spoon
Knife
Refrigerator

Directions:
1) Cut open the avocados, discard the nut in the middle, and scoop out the meat (the green inside stuff). Put this into your bowl or blender if using. If using just a bowl, mash the avocado with a fork.
2) Measure the maple syrup and cocoa powder, add them to the bowl or blender.
3) Mix/blend until smooth. Refrigerate what you don't eat.

Just as a note, this is extremely chocolatey. If you're not used to dark chocolate or raw food, you might want to try like 1/2 cup of cocoa powder and then add more to taste. I actually was told this recipe last year, and it might have been 1/2 cup cocoa, or 3/4, but I made it with 1 cup and like it fine that way. Also, if you are not a raw vegan, don't eat too much of this. Avocados have a lot of fat, especially saturated fat, so if you eat a non-raw or non-vegan diet, your saturated fat intake is probably higher than raw foodists or vegans. But this is a delicious, filling, craving-bashing recipe that I highly recommend you try.

Raw

Well, it is summertime again, which for me means going raw! I am totally excited. And this summer, I have my trusty Vita-Mix blender and Excalibur dehydrator to make the whole process that much easier - and fun. I have already made dehydrated chips and pinapple, raw brownies, and blended pudding, my favorite raw salad dressing, and raw "mashed potatoes." How did I ever survive last summer?

Anyways, for any of you who don't know, going raw means that in addition to all of the food that I don't eat, I will now exclude anything cooked or processed (as in store-bought processed, anything I blend, chop, or dehydrate myself is fine). Technically I can't heat things to above like, 115 degrees F or something like that. The theory is that if you don't heat foods above that temperature, you will not damage the vitamins and minerals and blah blah blah so it's healthier. Personally, I think it's more the lack of corn syrup, sugar, gluten, and just general nastiness that is in ALL processed foods, along with the extra vitamins and minerals from eating only fruits, veggies, and nuts that makes you feel better. But last summer when I tried it, I lost a bunch of weight, felt really good, had tons of energy, and it was just generally awesome. Now I don't know how much of this was attributed to the raw diet and how much was because of my regular sleep schedule, but I know that the rawness helped. Perhaps at the end of the summer I'll post before and after pics or something. Until then, I will only providing you all with raw vegan recipes. Until next time, happy summer, and go raw!

Peanut Butter!

Hey! Liana bugged me to update, so here you go.

Remember that banana sugar cookie recipe from a while ago? Well, I made those cookies again, but this time filled them with peanut butter. Let me tell you, they were delicious! So, here is the recipe (add this to the cookie recipe because I'm not going to re-post)

Peanut Butter Filling:
Peanut butter (the bad, corn syrup kind, not the natural stuff)
Powdered sugar

Start with a cup or two of peanut butter, and add an equal amount of powdered sugar, and mix. After a little bit, it will get difficult to mix with a spoon, so just use your hands. The mixture should be extremely stiff and taste, well, like really sweet peanut butter. If it's still really sticky, add more powdered sugar.

Now, after you make the dough for the banana cookies, divide up the banana cookies into balls of 2tbsp each. Divide up the peanut butter into little balls of about 2tsp each. Put a ball of the banana cookie dough in the palm of your hand and squish it with the heel of your hand so that it's kind of flat and round, but the edges curve up a bit, like a shallow bowl. Then pace a ball of the peanut butter mixture in the middle and flatten it a bit with your thumb. Fold over the edges of the banana cookie bowl, and press them together to seal the cookie. Place the cookie on a cookie sheet, seam side down. Do this for each cookie, and bake each tray for around 8 to 10 minutes. (350 degrees) Viola! You now have peanut butter filled cookies.

So, for all of you who actually read this blog, if you ever get fed up with me not posting in a while, just IM me or something and tell me to do so, because apparently I suck at doing it on my own. I promise I have recipes, I'm usually just too lazy or too forgetful to post. Happy baking!!

Olive Garden is Vegan-Friendly

Google search "Olive Garden vegan" and you'll come up with a whole long list of people saying that Olive Garden is awful for not being vegan or even vegetarian-friendly. That is utterly, completely, totally wrong. At least as far as most typical American restaurants go. All of their pastas, besides the gnocchi, are eggless, the bread is eggless, they have vegetables (quite rare, I assure you) and generally friendly staff (in all of my experience). I went there with my omni brother, dad, grandparents, and vegetarian mother, and everyone found something to be happy about.
I had the Bruschetta, toasted bread with tomato topping, for an appetizer, and the Pasta alla Marinara with a side of grilled vegetables (zucchini) for my main course. We asked our server to bring us two bowls of salad, one with dressing and one without (their house dressing is not vegan), so I ate the plain salad. You can probably ask for a dressing without cheese and egg, just a basic vinaigrette would work. If your not a salad person, their Minestrone soup is vegan. Also we asked for the server to bring a basket of bread sticks without butter and cheese on top - they just have to nab a couple before they get topped, then they bake them and viola! Vegan bread sticks. Overall it was delicious, and a great place for everyone to get something to eat.
I know this isn't a recipe, but it's still important. I wanted to set the record straight for any other vegans out there. So any vegans with omni friends, or omnis with vegan friends, can happily dine at Olive Garden without fear.

Oreos and Cake: A Match Made in Heaven

Seeing as today is my birthday (yay!) I was busy this weekend baking my favorite dessert - chocolate oreo cake with cookies 'n' cream frosting. Let me tell you, this stuff is addictive. My brother (nonvegan) can't stop eating the frosting. The height of decadence is dipping unused oreos in the frosting. I basically used the chocolate cake recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World (a must-have for vegan chefs), but have altered it enough that I don't feel too bad sharing the recipe with you. Here it is!

Tools: Oven, microwave, electric hand mixer, two large bowls (for frosting and batter - I use one bowl, and wash it before making the frosting), cake pan or muffin pans, ziplock bags, someting to mash cookies with, bowl for melting butter, large (at least 2 cup) wet measuring cup, 1 cup dry measuring cup, teaspoon measure, large spoon.

Ingredients (I made 1 and 1/2 recipes for a big cake, but this should make a smaller cake or about 24 cupcakes)
Cake:
     2 c non-dairy milk (I use almond)
     2 tsps apple cider vinegar
     2 and 1/2 to 3 c sugar
     1 and 1/2 c vegan butter (I use Earth Balance)
     3 tsp vanilla extract
     1 and 1/2 c cocoa
     2 and 1/4 tsp baking soda
     1 and 1/2 tsp baking powder
      large pinch salt
     3 c flour
     2/3 of a package of oreos
Frosting:
     2 c vegan margarine
     2 c shortening
     1/2 c (ish) non-dairy milk
     5 c (ish) powdered sugar
     1 tsp (ish) vanilla extract
     Oreos to taste, at least 1/2 of a package

Directions:
1) Preheat the oven to 350. Add the apple cider vinegar to the milk in the measuring cup and set aside for a few minutes to curdle. Melt the margarine in a bowl.
2) Mix the milk mixture, sugar, margarine, and vanilla together in the bowl. If the milk is cold, the margarine may resolidify. If this happens you may want to use the electric hand mixer to break up the chunks, but don't worry, by the end of the recipe the butter will be incorporated.
3) Add the cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and mix well.
4) Add the flour, one cup at a time, to the mixture.
5) In a plastic bag mash the oreos. I like largish chunks in the cake, but not larger than 1/6 of a cookie.
6) Bake the batter. I used two circular springfoam pans, which took about 30 minutes. (Just check it periodically - I don't really remember how long it was.) Cupcakes take about 10 to 12 minutes for each batch. If you're using something different, just cook the cake for 20 to 25 minutes, check it, and go from there.
7) While the cake is cooking, make the frosting. This is really subjective - that's why all the measurements have "ish" next to them. Melt the butter and the shortening (seperately - Earth Balance shortening takes forever to melt), then add the milk, sugar, and vanilla. Mix with the electric hand mixer until well incorporated. If it's too thick, add more milk, too thin, more sugar. Basically just keep adding stuff until it tastes good, but a bit of advice, leave it slightly runny. If you want it more buttery, add more butter, if you want it to taste more like commercially available frosting, add more shortening. When it tates good, crush up the cookies into fine crumbs (I put them in a bag and used a rolling pin on them) and add them in. Keep adding cookies until you get the desired taste.

Here's a pic!

 

Indian Food!

In the spirit of updating this thing more often, a new albeit short post for today! When I go home one the weekends, I look forward to food. Vegan food. Lots of it. But lately, I've found that me and my parents have gotten into a Sweet Tomatoes/Chipotle/Chinese food/Noodles & Company/chickpea casserole rut. Now I love this food, but it gets boring after say, a year. So I took things into my own hands, and decided to try two Indian dishes off this awesome site: 72 Vegan Indian Recipes. We tried the Spinach & Chickpeas and Beancurd (Tofu) in Tomato Sauce. The tofu thing is really good, the spinach one is kinda bland and my parents didn't like it, but I still think it's good. We also had Basmati rice, which is delicious. I can't wait to try out more of these recipes, and I'll let you know what's good!

Cinnamon Rolls

Hey, sorry I haven't posted in forever. I have been baking, so I promise that from now on I'll update at least once weekly.

So last night, I decided it would be nice to make cinnamon rolls for my parents. I found several months ago that if you prepare cinnamon rolls, put them in the pan, and then instead of letting them rise for 40 minutes in a warm place you put them in the fridge, you can cook them the next morning and they turn out great. It's the perfect birthday or anniversary surprise, especially for us night owls who are never awake before our parents on the weekends. The recipe is a combination of a vegan recipe and a bread machine recipe, so here it is.

This makes 15 cinnamon rolls. This recipe will work with or without a bread machine, but it's much easier with one. Also as a note, I totally forgot to add the cinnamon to these, and they still tasted good, so you can really easily modify the filling and add or take away whatever you want. Like if you don't have walnuts, just leave them out! I'd suggest using more brown sugar and margarine if you do that, so you still have enough filling.

Tools:
Oven, fridge, bread machine (makes it easier, but not neccesary), food processor (for egg replacer; optional), 13x9x2in pan, nonstick cooking spray, rolling pin, bowl for dough (if you don't have a bread machine), bowl for melting margarine, cup measure, tablespoon measure, teaspoon measure, bowl for filling, sealable container for icing.

Ingredients:
Dough:
      4 and 1/2 tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer (equivalent of 3 eggs)
      1 cup(ish) water
      1/4 cup melted margarine (I use Earth Balance)
      3 and 1/2 cup flour (I like white for this recipe)
      1 tsp salt
      1/3 cup sugar
      1 and 1/2 tsp quick active dry yeast
Filling:
     3/4 cup firmly packed (or 1 cup loose) brown sugar
     1 tbsp cinnamon
     1/2 cup margarine melted
     3/4 cup chopped walnuts (or to taste - I just keep adding until it's nice and chunky)
Icing (I always have to make 2 or 3 recipes, because who doesn't like icing?)
     1 cup powdered sugar
     2 tbsp margarine
     1/2 tsp vanilla extract
     2 tbsp milk (I use almond)

Directions:
     1) Process the egg replacer and water in the food processor until it's nice and fluffy. Place it into the bread machine. Measure all other ingredients for the dough, and place them in order into the bread machine. Make sure that the flour completely covers the liquid, and that the yeast doesn't touch the salt (wipe down the teaspoon before measuring the yeast).
     2) Select dough or manual cycle - don't use the delay cycle.
     3) While the dough is being made, make the filling and the icing. I usually wait until the dough has 30 minutes left so that the filling is fresh. Put the icing in the fridge.
     4) When the dough is done, remove it and place it on a clean surface. You can use nonstick cooking spray or flour on the surface to make sure the dough doesn't stick, but I didn't need to. Cover and let rest 10 minutes. Greace the pan.
     5) Flatten the dough using the rolling pin or hands into a 15x9in rectangle. Using the back of a spoon or a knife, spread the filling evenly over the rectangle, leaving about an inch on the 15in side without filling. Make sure to spread the fillling to the edge on every other side.
     6) Roll the dough tightly, beginning at the 15in side that does have filling. When you get the other side, pinch the edge of the dough (this is the edge without filling) into the rest of the cylinder. (This is pretty difficult, and if it's not completely together, don't worry. Just roll the log so that the seam is on the bottom, so it doesn't come apart while you're cutting it.)
     7) Cut the roll into 15 slices. I usually cut it into three even logs, then cut each of those into five rolls. Place each roll into the greased pan. Don't worry if some of the filling spills out, just put that side up in the pan, it'll still look and taste fine.
     8) Place the pan in the fridge overnight. They can stay in there from 4 to 8 hours, so it doesn't really matter when you make the dough.
     9) In the morning, heat the oven to 375. Take the icing out of the fridge so it can soften. Bake the rolls for 23 to 28 minutes, or until they start to turn a golden brown. Eat rolls with icing, and enjoy!

If you don't have a bread machine, everything is the same except for making the dough.
     1) Prepare egg replacer in the food processor, as described above. Add all the other ingredients. Starting with a spoon, then using your hands, knead the dough until combined, then continue to knead the dough for a few minutes, making sure it is soft, smooth, and elastic.
     2) Shape dough into a ball and leave it in the bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 1 to 2 hours, until it is doubled. During this time, prepare the filling and icing. When I made it it didn't really double, so that's fine.
     3) Punch the dough down, then place it on a clean surface. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Then follow steps 5-9 above.

My brother's home on spring break this week, and entertains himself by taking pictures of just about everything. So here are a whole bunch of pictures:

The dough rolled out, with the filling.

Me rolling the dough...

And pinching it. I found that if the moister the dough is, the eaiser it is to pinch.

The whole thing rolled

The unbaked rolls, on their way to the fridge.

My brother's plate - two cinnamon rolls with frosting, and fruit. Delicious!

I know this recipe is pretty time consuiming, but it's worth it if you love cinnamon rolls. Well, I'm making dinner tomorrow for my mom, so hopefully I can post that.  Also the 24th is my birthday, so watch for a post about my absolute favorite vegan cake recipe. Can't wait!

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

I promise, not everything I bake has bananas in it. I just had some leftover bananas from the cookies.

Being vegan can be problematic, especially around breakfast time. Most of the typical American breakfast is animal-based. Eggs, cheese, milk, sausage, bacon. So preparing a breakfast that is both vegan and still reminds me of a breakfast can be a challenge. This morning, I made a quick batch of banana chocolate chip muffins. I was thrilled to find that the whole process took less than an hour, mostly baking time. I used a recipe from "The Joy of Vegan Baking," so I can't put it online without breaking copyright laws. However I highly recommend this book (for non-vegans as well!). It's one of my two or three go-to books for all my basic recipes.

The book:

And the muffins:

Banana-Sugar Cookies

So I promised my roommate that, in exchange for a favor, I'd make her some cookies. Went to Woodman's and got some flour and bananas, because there was some communal sugar, vanilla extract, and baking soda that I could use. The flour and bananas were less than $3 together. Buying all the ingredients would have probably been closer to $10, but hooray for sharing! I made chocolate chip cookies several months ago substituting banana for egg, and they were pretty good, so I decided to leave out the brown sugar and chocolate chips for these, and they turned out to be pretty good! Here's the recipe (it's all just estimation, so feel free to adjust the proportions)

Makes about 16 medium-small cookies.

Tools:
Oven/cookie oven with trays, cooking spray/extra margarine, some sort of measuring cup, microwave, microwavable bowl, larger bowl for mixing, (large) spoon, fork, oven mitt/towel, plate or container to store cookies.

Ingredients:
1/2 c vegan margarine (I use Earth Balance)
1 and 1/4 c white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 very ripe banana
1ish tsp baking soda
Pinch salt
1 and 1/2 c flour

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 (The cookie oven I use is just on and off, but I assume it's 350). Melt the margarine in a microwave-safe container. Dump it into the larger bowl and add the sugar and vanilla, then mix. Microwave the banana for 20-30 seconds to soften it, then mash it as well as you can with the fork. Combine with sugar mix. Add the baking soda and salt, and mix. Add about a cup of flour, and if the batter is still too soft or sticky add more. Grease a pan. Form the dough into balls, about 2 tbsp per ball. Flatten them with your hand a bit before putting them in the oven. Cook for around 8 minutes, checking often. They should turn light brown around the edges. You can also try poking the center with your finger - if the cookie deflates a lot, they aren't done yet. Let them cool a bit before eating.

Here are some pictures:

I can't wait to make these again, to try modifying them. Like I said, this was originally a chocolate chip cookie recipe, so if you replace half of the sugar with brown sugar and add chocolate chips, you get banana-chocolate-chip cookies. But adding walnuts or chocolate chips, or maybe topping these with some peanut butter frosting, would be delicious. Well, that's it for now, and happy baking!

About Me!

So, thought I'd be selfish for a bit and post about myself. I promise, the next post will be food-related.

Basically, I'm a 16-year-old vegan who loves to cook. I'm never sure whether to be complimented or insulted when one of my omni friends tells me something I made doesn't taste vegan at all. I decided to start this blog to share some of my recipes, food tips, and anything else that has to do with food, with my friends and (hopefully!) other vegans.

Most people ask me why I'm vegan, and how I came to be vegan. Though I was raised omni, when I was ten, I decided to try vegetarianism for a few weeks just for the fun of it. But when my aunt and grandparents expressed doubts that I would really be able to stick to it for more than a day or so, I took it as a challenge. I really didn't start to think that eating meat was wrong until several months later. Five years later, I watched an Oprah show on the treatment of dogs in puppy mills. At one point, Oprah (or someone else) said "My god, those dogs are being treated like livestock!" I was shocked - it was okay for cows and chickens to live like that, but not dogs? The next day, I went vegan. Since then, I have come to believe that it is wrong to use other living animals for food, in any way.

Now, about this blog. I go to a residential high school, so I have to deal with the same issues as vegans in college do. My goal with this blog is to offer recipes and advice that are easy and cheap. And when I say easy and cheap, I mean it. I hate it so much when cookbooks or people say that a recipe is easy or cheap, and you end up needing a blender, food processor, microwave, and oven for it. I usually have less than $20, which needs to last me a couple of weeks. The only tools I have at my disposal are a dull knife, small cutting board, bowls, silverware, a microwave, and a small cookie oven. That's it. So I promise to be as honest as I can with my recipes, with the hopes of helping some other poor, starving, or just plain lazy, vegans out there.

One last thing before I sign off is that I don't eat honey. Now I know that there are vegans out there who do eat honey, and I respect that. Though I do consider honey an animal product, I understand why some vegans may eat honey, and I don't think that there is a purely rational argument against eating honey, since it's more an issue of belief.

With all that said, I bid goodbye for now.