Vegancuts

I'm excited to share with you what I received in my February Vegancuts box. Just like the consciousbox which I shared with you in my previous post, the vegancuts box is also a monthly subscription company. They box is filled with different vegan snacks as well as some vegan products. If you were looking to try out or discover new vegan snacks then this box is for you. The box is around $19 a month and you can chose how often you want it sent to you. What's great about vegancuts is the ability to shop for vegan products and food without subscribing to the monthly service. Although they do sell some products that are featured in their monthly products as well.

Taken straight from the Vegancuts website:
Vegan Cuts is run by a vegan couple, John and Jill, who really want to see more people shopping with vegan ethics. A commitment to buying vegan food is a great start, but you can also make a positive difference by choosing vegan options when purchasing clothing, shoes, accessories, body care products and everyday household items. This is why Vegan Cuts features a range of vegan products and encourages members to shop vegan by promoting opportunities to save money while eschewing animal cruelty.

Below I will share what products came in this months box.

A small sticker with the company's logo

A note from the founders of Vegancuts

An offer for an online cooking school and a free coupon code 

Now onto snacks 

A square of chocolate mint from the company Righteously Raw

A cherry filled chocolate from www.sjaaks.com

A raw bar from BudiFree

A peanut butter toffee crunch protein bar from PureFit

3 samples of tea packets (earl grey, chamomile blend and jasmine green tea) from Serengeti Tea Company

A packet of gummy candies from Surf Sweets

Toasted Coconut chips from Dang

Lentil Chips by the company Simply 

Hemp Lip Balm from by The Merry Hempsters

I was happy to see that a few products that had caught my eye in the supermarket were included in this months box. Although I haven't tried most of the snacks I did try a few with my sisters. The Lentil chips are good, sort of a cross between a potato chip and a tortilla chip in my opinion. My sister pointed out that the lentil chips taste like pork rinds and I have to admit they do (how ironic). The chocolate mint is bitter but that's to be expected since its 82% raw cacao. The cherry chocolate heart is my favorite because it wasn't bitter and I did enjoy both flavors. The gummy candies were just like regular gummy candies only not too sweet (I'm not into candy but my sister really liked it). The last things we tried was the toasted coconut chips which were slivers of hard coconuts. The package says it can be used with yogurt, cereals and the like but I'm still on the fence on what I would pair it with. 

Hope you enjoyed this post and those that are vegan or just interested in vegancuts should definitely sign up and see how they like it. 

-Melissa

Conscious Box

I am back with a new post to talk about a subscription service called The Conscious Box. It is a natural eco-friendly company that allows you to sample different products from ethical business every month. You receive sample size products as well as a few full size products. There are 3 different boxes you can choose from, the classic box, vegan or gluten-free and they are all the same price, $19 a month plus tax. This subscription box is a good choice if like me you wanted to test out different eco-friendly companies at once.

Taken from the companies website:

How Does Conscious Box work?

Conscious Box is a monthly subscription service focusing on sustainability, environmental stewardship, and social responsibility. You’ll receive one Conscious Box per month, and you can choose the plan that works best for you or purchase a gift for a friend or loved one!

• Get a variety of unique pure & natural products every month
• From organic food to vegan beauty products, you’re sure to find new favorites
• Discover ethical and purpose-driven businesses of all sizes
• Get content on daily living tips, exciting monthly themes, and creative ways to use your box!

This is February's Vegan Conscious Box

This is how the box looks (I had to turn it on its side to cover the shipping label)

This is how it looks inside, there were two coupons, a postcard and two notes from the company

This was a full size chocolate bar by the company Kallari

There was a full size packet of Instant Oatmeal by Country Choice (They also included a coupon for $1 off a box of Country Choice Oatmeal)

A full size container of Ginger Pastilles from St.Claire's Organics

A sample pack of Gluten-free crackers by Crunchmaster

A full size pouch of Organic baby food by Nurturme

Two small pieces of dark chocolate by Equal Exchange (they also included a coupon code for 20% off and free shipping on your 1st order)

2 Sample sizes of Liquid Probiotics by Florax DS

Full size Dehydrated Raw Vegetables by Awesome Foods

The Nutcracker

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to see The Nutcracker Ballet at Lincoln Center. It was an early Birthday gift to myself. The Nutcracker is one of my favorite ballets so I wanted to see it before the season was over. The performance was wonderful, what really stood out to me other than the dancing were the costumes and sets which were done beautifully. Here are just a few photos I took whilst there.

So pretty especially during the winter time

Beautiful theater, I was on the second tier 

I could see the orchestra pretty close

The first floor, I like how it looks like a set in this photo 

Big beautiful statutes

The Nutcracker, a ballerina and Mother Ginger (not featured)

The fountain outside of Lincoln Center

Pretty Christmas tree across the street from Lincoln Center

Chuck Bass!

What I wore: Cobalt blue skater dress from Express here , I paired it with a black blazer(but a cardigan would have worked better), a black patent belt, black tights and black flats from asos here

Tempeh Tuesday's

I've decided to have a theme for certain days, Tuesday being about Tempeh dishes. If you don't already know what tempeh is I will tell you a little about it.

Tempeh is slightly fermented soybeans cooked and constructed to form a patty. It is high in protein, calcium, iron, is cholesterol free and low in fat. It has a grainy almost nutty texture and a very slight nutty flavor. It can be baked, boiled, fried or barbecued which makes it a great alternative to meat. It is higher in protein than tofu. If you do not like tofu, tempeh might be a good choice for you.


I absolutely love tempeh and think it's a shame I wasn't introduced to it much sooner. I use tempeh in alot of different dishes that I make because it is so simple and easy to prepare. There are countless ways of using tempeh and I specifically like to use it as a substitution for any dishes that might contain meat. I try not to eat too much tempeh because it is soy and I like to limit the amount of soy I intake as a whole. I still am not 100% on the tofu bandwagon (but I am slowly getting there) so tempeh is the best alternative for me. I use it in tacos, as burgers, you name it.

For this TempTuesday I will share a really quick and easy lunch idea that I made for myself.

I wanted some type of sandwich or burger even but rather than make a veggie patty I decided to make some barbecue tempeh.
Super simple all you will need is: Bread, Tempeh (can be half a package or less depending on how much you want), Greens (I used lettuce and tomatoes but whatever greens you want is up to you), Vegan Mayo (I used Vegenaise), 1 tsp Nutritional Yeast, BBQ sauce (either homemade or a vegan friendly brand. Optional: Paprika (I seriously add it on almost everything), garlic, salt and pepper.

I opted out of toasting my bread because I wanted it soft. I smeared some vegenaise on one side then sprinkled the nutritional yeast on it because it would adhere rather than fly everywhere when I tried to eat it later. Then I placed the lettuce and tomatoes on top of the mayo and yeast and sprinkled a little salt and pepper.

In a pan I pan seared the tempeh that I cut in half with garlic, paprika, salt, pepper and barbecue mix. I let it cook until it was golden on both sides and then placed it on the other side of the bread.

It was so simple and took 5 minutes top! Definitely filling and worth the effort to make.

I say go out and get some tempeh so you can try it out for yourself, the most I've paid for a package of tempeh is 2.99. They even come mixed with other grains if you like. So its a definite affordable substitution.

Enjoy!

Cheesy Scones

I wanted to get back into baking and saw a relatively easy and quick recipe for Cheesy scones. I've never made scones so this was a first time thing for me, I did add and change a little bit of the recipe.

The ingredients are:
2 cups All purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup vegan butter or shortening
1/2 cup Daiya Cheddar style shreds
1 cup Soy Milk or other non-dairy substitute
*I added 1 tbsp of Flax and 1 tbsp of Nutritional yeast

For cooking instructions simply click on the link above which will take you to the page.

The one thing I swapped out was the Daiya Cheddar and I used the Daiya Mozarella instead. I had a package of mozzarella opened and figured I would use that up instead of opening the cheddar. As a whole it was really easy to make and came out good. My only complaint would be that it didn't rise as much as I would have liked (but that could be due to the thickness of when I rolled it out to cut) and it wasn't very  cheesy (but that's because I used the mozzarella instead of cheddar).

I'm definitely going to give this a try again and make my own adaptations.

Update of Sorts

So I've found myself in a bit of a rut, food wise. At the beginning of my vegan journey I was so enthused about cooking new different dishes, and now I'm not. I keep blaming it on the season, saying because it is hot outside I don't want to cook anything too complicated. Honestly its a little bit of that mixed with allowing myself to get comfortable with minimal effort.

I find that my meals now (maybe 90%) center around rice and beans. Not that I don't like rice but it gets so boring eating it so much during the week that I've become uninterested in really cooking. It's become more of a need to eat to sustain myself rather than cook and eat because I like it. Nothing I've eaten has actually satisfied me in months, if I'm being honest the last time I had a satisfying meal was around Christmas.
I'm tired of not enjoying anything I eat, I should derive another emotion other than apathy.

So because of this I am going to make a huge effort into cooking again, I'm going to try out some recipes and see if I get that spark back. I have also been considering going Gluten-free and at least 50% Raw but rather than do them both I think I will have to try one at a time. I want to try Gluten-free first but something tells me that it will be harder for me to do than becoming 50% raw. Anyway everything in baby steps, right?

Mofongo

A couple weeks back I had a hankering for this Puerto Rican dish. It is a plantain based dish that is traditionally filled with fried pork skin. Although Mofongo comes with different variations like chicken, beef, shrimp etc. Never having made this before and knowing that I wouldn't be able to get a vegan version in a restaurant I decided to make my own. This dish is a bit time consuming and not something that can really be made with a small amount of time. Nonetheless it's delicious and should be given a try at least once. To accompany the Mofongo a pot of rice and gandules/peas were made.

Ingredients:

4 green plantains (will make two Mofongos)

4 slices of Vegan Bacon

Olive Oil

Garlic (preferably pureed)  

Salt and Pepper to taste

Vegetable Oil for frying

Pilon (similar to a pestle and mortar only made of wood and taller.

Deep cup (something like a coffee cup)

Optional: Water to boil

* You can cook your pieces of  vegan bacon before the plantains or afterwards. I like sprinkling a bit of salt on them because I think it gives it more of a realistic flavor. Also cook the bacon until crispy but not burnt, just enough to make it easy to crumble.

1. Peel the skin off of the plantains. Cutting the plantains in wheels make sure to cut them somewhere around 1/2 inch to an inch in length. If they are too small it will later make it hard to mash them.

2. Set the cut plantains in a bowl of salt water for about 5-10 minutes.

3. Take a pan and pour some vegetable oil (enough to cook the plantains). Let the oil heat up before the next step.

4. Drain the plantains and place the wheels in the pan to cook on low-medium heat. Make sure you cook the plantains evenly on both side enough so that it is cooked inside but isn't crispy on the outside. You do not want to fully fry the plantains.

5. Set the cooked plantains aside on a plate with some paper towels to drain some of the oil. *You want to work while the plantains are still hot, if you let them sit too long it will be harder to mash them when they are cold.

6. Now take some of the wheels of plantains and place it in your pilon OR your deep coffee cup. If using the cup find something suitable to mash the plantains like a mortar. Mash the plantains up together adding some olive oil (not too much) and some garlic, salt and pepper (to be fair I use adobo instead of the salt and pepper). Do not over mash the plantains you want them to mix together but they don't have to be all completely mashed since its common to find some unmashed pieces in mofongo. Also add in the bacon (1 or 2 pieces per mofongo) at this time making sure to crumble it in. *You can add in more olive oil if the plantains are too dry, not too much to make it greasy but enough to adhere everything sufficiently together.

7. Flatten the top of the plantain's that you have mashed and using a knife run it around the mix to make it easier to get it out of the pilon or cup. 

8. I like to set a flat plate above the opening of the cup or pilon and then turn them both upside down so that the mofongo can go onto the plate flat side down. 

9. You now have it plated and can serve with some rice and beans or by itself. 

*Mofongo is normally served with a sauce on the side called Mojo which is basically a Garlic sauce. It is very easy and quick to make, you will need:

Vegetable oil

Garlic

Adobo/ Salt and Pepper

The measuring is up to you but basically you are mixing all three ingredients together and the amount of garlic you put in depends on how garlicky it will taste. You pour a bit of it onto your mofongo and it gives it yet more flavor.

*OPTIONAL: Another way to make the mofongo if you do not feel like standing over a stove watching the plantains to ensure that they do not get crispy is to boil them. This is a more time saving way and simpler I dare say. You simply have to cut the plantains and boil them in a pot of salt water. Let them cook until they are cooked all the way through but not overcooked, 5-10 minutes will do. After draining the water roughly mash them and place them in a pan with a little bit of olive oil. Let them get a bit crunchy and then place them into your pilon or cup to mash and mix with the ingredients. Follow the rest of the steps above and you will get the same end result. 

This is a delicious dish that is easy to adapt. I enjoy making these and my family enjoys eating them. 

Give it a try and enjoy!