Avocado pesto pasta

To welcome in the beautiful weather this weekend, I picked out a delicious and summery dish and proceeded to walk over to Kensington and get the ingredients. The outcome was a delicious meal with PLENTY left over!

This is where I do most of my vegan-shopping, "Essence of Life Organics"! Definitely a cute shop to stop by if you are in the area!

Clearly I have mad photo skills!Sorry about what appears to look like a piece of paper? Anyways, the place where the blue umbrellas are is usually where I get my cheap fruits and vegetables. If I find that its too expensive there, I walk across the street to their competition! Its a win-win really. 

So the recipe is really easy to make! Basically you pop all the ingredients into a food processor and KABAM! :)

And the finished result, topped with dried basil. mmmm basil :)

Avocado pesto pasta!

1 pound dried linguini
1 bunch basil leaves (about 2½ ounces)
½ cup pine nuts
2 ripe avocados, pitted and peeled
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about ½ of a lemon)
3 cloves garlic
½ cup olive oil
Salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

In a large pot, bring water to a boil. Add pasta and cook. While pasta cooks, in a food processor, blend basil, pine nuts, avocados, lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Drain pasta. In a large serving bowl, toss pesto with hot, freshly cooked pasta. 

Where's ma bread at?

On Friday I had my graduation gala, which aside from the obvious, gave me the chance to doll myself up, but also presented me with my first public vegan challenge. What the fuck am I going to eat at the formal? And yes, this is a challenge, because food at any event is basically the most important part of the event. I make the conscious choice to wear a dress so that I don't have to worry about my pants fitting too tight after  I stuff my face with the deliciousness of food. Thats just me.

Anyways, the beginning of this challenge first started when the bread basket was brought out to each table. Let me just tell you now, that fresh buns= weakness. But I stayed strong ya'll!!! I guess I surprised myself out of what I did next. I went to one of the supervisors of the event and asked if it would be possible to find out the ingredients of the bread and flatbread? Oh yes, I kid you not! I indeed asked! Anyways short end of the story is that I ended up getting vegan, gluten-free bread which may sound disgusting but was actually delicious especially when dipped in olive oil/ balsamic vinegar!  So thank you kind people at the Marriott for giving me bread- you received brownie points!

The hardest part from the experience was the main entree. While everyone else got chicken zucchini and potatoes, I got a vegetable assortment haha. Delicious don't get me wrong. But lets just say I had a midnight snack when I got home.

My experience going out as a vegan turned out to be a pleasant one, but it definitely gave me a perspective for people who live this lifestyle and go through the hassle of worrying about what food will there be for you to eat. To be totally honest, I think the potatoes probably had some form of dairy ingredient in them. But its really hard to go off the basis of " we can't guarantee if it does or does not have dairy". I definitely give props to those vegans who stay active in finding out what factories their products were made in to see if dairy/ eggs etc are in its proximity and choosing to not eat/buy the product if animals by-products are made in the same factory. For a girl who grew up eating whatever was put in front of her, I felt like a douchebag asking what the ingredients were in the bread. All in all, pretty dang proud of myself!

                                                                         Best part :)

I had a dream chicken fingers were chasing me...

So, unfortunately the meat cravings still persist especially my love for chicken fingers( all of those who know me well, know me and chicken fingers are pretty inseparable). Trying to narrow down the root of these "cravings"( oh yes, I went Dr.Phil on my own ass) my conclusion to my meat cravings is definitely convenience. Coming home from class, getting ready for work its so simple to just throw chicken fingers, a chicken breast, etc in the oven and 30 mins later it is done and ready to go in ma bell-ay. So the new challenge? Prepping food! Having things in the freezer ready for me to take out, whatever it takes to make it a little easier.

So whats the highlight to this daunting challenge? Well for one decreased preservatives( Legit people, its disgusting to see the ingredients you are putting into your poor little body- worse when you google it! The amount of things with animal stomachs/ skins is enough to turn me off from many products- no worries I'll save that subject for another day:)) Another reason is that, I'll be saving myself the pain of getting home from class starved and have to wait an hour and a half for a decent meal. Sara+no food= stay the fuck away. So basically prepping food will help me be a happy camper :)

On that note, I will now go into my delectable soup that I made from scratch! So the last week has had pretty terrible rainy weather/ cold- so I was craving a soup and my fantastical roommate, Brittany had tried this soup and I loved it! And of course, I love all ya'll and wanted to share the love, so here it is :)

Leeks smellin' mighty delicious*Drool*

No my happiness did not just come from soup, I also ate a slice of toasted bread with vegan butter

* drool* aha

Potato & Leek Soup

4 Medium Yukon Gold Potatoes, peeled and diced
2 Large Leeks, light green and white parts
2 Tablespoon Olive Oil

4 Sprigs Fresh Thyme, 1 teaspoon dried

1/2 Sprig Fresh Rosemary, finely minced, about 1/2 teaspoon

2 Bay Leaves

6 Cups Vegetable Stock or Water

1 teaspoon Salt, or to taste

1/4 teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper or to taste

1 Cup Unflavoured Soy Milk

Instructions

Rinse the leeks well then thinly slice
Peel and dice the potatoes
In a large stockpot, heat the oil over a medium-high flame.

Add the leeks to the oil and sweat until they are softened, about 3-5 minutes.

Pour over the wine and sauté for an additional minute.

Add the potatoes and stir well to prevent sticking.

Add the stock, salt, bay leaves, rosemary and thyme.

Bring the soup to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are soft, about 20 minutes.

Add the pepper and remove the bay leaves and thyme stems.

Then blend with a hand immersion blender or a food processor until smooth.

Once slightly cooled, stir in the soy milk.

Adjust salt and pepper, if necessary.

Garnish with truffle oil, chives, smoked gouda or toasted garlic… you name the taste.

Chef Sara Suggestion:A little suggestion for those who love garlic, go garlic happy! I was out of garlic powder, but I know from past experience making potato soup that it picks up the garlic really well!:)

** Also, just wanted to add that a lot of the herbs like tyme, bay leaves etc I didn't use because I'm not freaking martha stewart and have these things handy! Use what you have-it'll be delicious:)

Oh and also, you are going to have SO much left over! I froze some, and also kept some in the fridge- just in case of a " I need food asap" emergency. 

Vegan Sloppy Joes + a Couple Other Treats

So, it is day 3 of my little vegan adventure and I must admit, I'm still craving meat( mmmmm chicken breast). But, the more I cook and try various foods( and delicious, might I add) the more confident and appealing Vegan cuisine is to me.

My first experience grocery shopping was definitely an eye-opener, in terms of being more aware of the ingredients in the products I purchased. I still find myself checking ingredients now, and also googling ingredients that I am unfamiliar with. For instance in my oatmeal there was the ingredient guar gum. Do ya'll know what that is? Didn't think so! It is an extract from the guar bean, and is generally used as a thickener. I highly suggest you start looking at your ingredients, and next time you see guar gum you'll remember my precious little blog! :)

Isn't the knowledge just making you feel warm and fuzzy?

My biggest ingredient enemy was in bread! My mom can vouch for this, we spent a good 15 minutes in the bread aisle! What I ended up getting was Stonemill bread, as depicted in my delicious tofurky vegetable sandwich. Granted, I have only had the bread toasted, since it is pretty stiff. Let just say I'm not too tempted to see what it tastes like solo.

                                                       Sandwich + Mango smoothie

Now, onto the creation of sloppy joes. So having a vegan roommate is pretty much the best thing, as they can let you in on all of their recipes and I, in turn can tell all of you! So the latest "Vegan treasure" that I encountered was TVP. Now I know what ya'll are thinking, " Sara, is that a form of crack?"

No!

Textured Vegetable Protein(TVP):
So its basically a meat substitute made from soy flour, and the added benefit is that it shares equal protein content to that of meat, contains no fat, high in fiber and is low in sodium.

So for all of ya'll who are concerned about my nutrients and such- I got 'em in check :)

With that said, Brittany and I made some delicious Sloppy joes! Actually super good. So good in fact that I ate two, HA! lol Not to mention they were super simple to make.

 Brittany,my TVP model!I bought it minced, but you can also get it in chunks! Its also really affordable,  1.99/lb.

                    Looks like ground beef, huh!? Just add boiled water to the dry mix and KABAM!

                                                       hahaha oh my little happy Sloppy!!

                                                     Me on my second sandwich, ah ha

Sadie's Diner

So with the introduction out of the way, I can now go on to the more exciting part of my adventure. Trying out food:) mmmm.

So today, my roommate( Brittany) and I went to Sadie's Diner where I had my first vegan breakfast! I had french toast, homefries, and veggie sausage!  The homefries and veggie sausage were delish- the french toast on the other hand, was lacking. I personally think my body rejected how healthy the french toast was( I think the batter had buckwheat in it). Needless to say I was unnecessarily full from breakfast, and didn't manage to finish the whole meal.  What isn't in this picture, was the amazing (fresh squeezed) graprefruit juice!

 Best Part? Cheeeap

                                                        Adelaide West & Portland

My first day as vegan is definitely giving me a run for my money. There is a potluck at work, and I am no where near confident in what to serve myself let alone my co-workers. Luckily, anything I make won't kill anyone.... I hope. With that pleasant note, I decided to make a six layer dip as shown below! I'll be sure to fill you all in on what the comments were.

                                            One of the many books I borrowed from Brittany!

Advocados, vegan sour cream, green onions, romaine lettuce, romano beans, salsa & rice chips(so good)

                                                    Refried beans- way better than it looks!

                                                          And I'm ready for the potluck :)

Please feel free to leave me vegan recipes if you know of any, I would greatly appreciate it :)

Vegan, Oh Ya!

So it is officially my first day of being vegan, and also my first day blogging! Cutting through the small talk and straight into the important information, I'm sure the few who are reading are wondering why I decided to go vegan?

Well, the answer I'm going to give is simple- but it will be honest!

I get bored easily.

Thats it ladies and gentlemen, my vegan experiment is purely based on boredom! With that said, I now  have lost about 95 percent of my audience (Thanks mom for continuing to read, haha ).

But really, I thought this would give me a great opportunity to get to know one of my greatest loves, food, on a level I have never experienced. Its definitely outside of my comfort zone, and will force me to challenge myself to not be lazy with what I am ingesting.

My blog will let you see into my 31 days of Veganism- the meals I make, the places I go for food, where I get inspiration from, the withdrawals I go through and the impact this lifestyle has on my body(...also, if  I decide to videoblog you may see tears of ice-cream withdrawals).

To further explain what I am doing( on a surface level), I have relied on Enrique and Francesco to explain....also used because they are cute and dinosaurs are awesome.

Here's to 31 days of food & adventure- cheers!

mmmmmmm...plants and meat(me before)

                                                   Mmmm..plants(me now, give or take, ha!)