Whoot Whoot

 so we have had a delicious past couple of weeks. I just wish we had more places around where i live that cater to vegetarians! so far my Fav place to go is Which wich http://www.whichwich.com/ . there are not many in the US but they are AMAZING!!

VEGAN chocolate cupcakes

So if you are me tonight, your craving chocolate, u want to eat cupcakes, but have no eggs or milk. but you do have earth balance and chocolate almond milk. so i begin my search for vegan cupcakes.... these are amazing!! I did not have wheat flour, so i just used complete all purpose  flour.. i also made icing instead of butter cream using melted earth balance....

Eating out

 So im finding more and more that I hate to eat out! when ever we go out to eat I have to customize my order, then the server acts all weird like I'm crazy. Then when I explain that I am vegetarian they show me to the seafood page. I do understand that some vegetarians do eat seafood, but some dont.  I stumbled a page that had a good example of the etiquette of dealing with a vegetarian Dealing with Vegetarians

Dealing with Vegetarians Source http://www.theveggietable.com
If you're not a vegetarian, the thought of cooking for or eating with someone who is may seem rather daunting. In fact, it's really not that difficult, if you follow a few simple guidelines and use common sense.
First of all, try to think of vegetarianism as a collection of food allergies. That is, consider each item (beef, chicken, eggs, dairy, etc.) the person doesn't eat as an allergy to that food. That makes one very basic rule very easy. If you were allergic to beef or eggs, you certainly wouldn't want to eat something with beef broth or eggs in it, even if you didn't know they were there. Likewise, a vegetarian does not want to eat meat products, whether visible or not.
With that basic rule out of the way, here are some important dos and don'ts for dealing with vegetarians. Some of these guidelines may seem rather silly to you. They seem silly to me, too, but after 15 years of vegetarianism I have experienced all of them more than once.

DO	DON'T
Do ask the vegetarian what s/he can and cannot eat.	Don't make assumptions based on your experience with other vegetarians.
Do know that for most vegetarians "meat" includes everything in the animal kingdom (including fish and fowl) and "animal products" include eggs, all dairy, gelatin, and honey.	Don't ask "what about chicken? what about turkey? what about fish? what about shrimp? what about eggs? what about cheese? what about milk?"
Do use vegetarian substitutes in the vegetarian/vegan dishes you prepare, like vegetable stock, olive oil, and soy milk.	Don't figure it's ok for a dish to contain meat products as long as the vegetarian doesn't know about it.
Do ask vegetarians if they have any food allergies or if there are any non-animal foods that they do not eat/enjoy.	Don't assume that just because someone's a vegetarian that s/he is not allergic to any vegetables or that s/he loves all vegetables.
Do, if possible, set aside a portion of your regular dishes before adding the meat.	Don't assume the vegetarian will be ok with picking meat off pizza or out of sauce.
Do make an effort to serve vegetarian dishes other than salad and bread; you can even make two versions of many foods.	Don't feel you have to make dozens of vegetarian dishes or do amazing things with tofu.
Do be open-minded about trying vegetarian recipes.	Don't assume that vegetarianism is boring.
Do read packages to make sure that a product contains no meat or other unwanted ingredients.	Don't just look for meat, dairy, or eggs; there are a number of less obvious animal products.
Do use a separate set of cooking utensils for the vegetarian dishes.	Don't stir, for example, chicken soup and minestrone soup with the same spoon.
Do know that vegetarians appreciate the extra effort you are making.	Don't feel you need to make a meatless version of every single dish.
Do let your friend know which dishes are vegetarian.	Don't announce that there's a vegetarian in the room.
Do know that that there are numerous vegetarian sources of protein and other nutrients.	Don't assume that vegetarianism is inherently unhealthy.
Do accept that vegetarians have chosen vegetarianism for themselves and no one else.	Don't feel threatened, or assume that s/he wants you  to feel bad about your diet.
Do understand that vegetarians aren't trying to annoy you.	Don't take offense if s/he refuses certain dishes.
Do understand that there are numerous reasons for vegetarianism, but in the end it usually comes down to a personal choice.	Don't challenge the person about why s/he is a vegetarian, or about eggs, leather, and other "borderline" issues.
Do know that most vegetarians believe in the right of each person to choose his/her own diet.	Don't let a handful of rude, in-your-face vegetarians make you think we are all like that.

Pulled "Pork" sandwich

So Since becoming vegetarian all i have wanted is a good pulled pork. so i found this recipe  Pulled "Pork"
Source: Vegetarian times 

Pulled “Pork” BBQ Sandwiches

Serves 6

The sauce in these sandwiches may taste like an old family recipe that has been simmered for days, but the simple ingredients and short cooking time make it easy to whip up whenever you have a craving for barbecue.

• 2 Tbs. olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
• 12 cloves garlic, minced (about ¼ cup)
• 1 15-oz. can tomato sauce
• 1 Tbs. horseradish
• 2 tsp. molasses
• 2 tsp. cider vinegar
• 1 tsp. lemon zest
• 2 8-oz. pkgs. seitan, shredded
• 6 sandwich rolls
• coleslaw for garnish, if desired
• hot sauce, to taste

1. Heat oil in saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, and sauté 7 minutes, or until soft. Add garlic, and cook 1 minute more.
2. Stir in tomato sauce, and cook 3 minutes. Add horseradish, molasses, vinegar, lemon zest and ½ cup water, and simmer over low heat 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Fold in seitan.
3. Fill rolls with with barbecue mixture, and top with coleslaw, if desired. Serve with hot sauce.

Fridge Change

 So in the last week we have changed almost all of our fridge over to more vegetarian/ vegan friendly things. I have  lactose issues so we have changed over to rice milk, and then went form butter to earth balance butter spread.

Im having fun trying to make sure that im getting all the recommended daily doses of vitamins, fruits, veggies, grains, beans, dairy/ dairy sub, and LOTS of water .

 

AMAZING Vegetarian lasagna

So I made an amazing lasagna, usually I'm not a pasta person, but this was great.

makes about 10 servings, ( or a weeks worth of left overs for two people)
preheat oven to 350

1 package of morningstar(tm) crumblers
1 can of mushroom and garlic pasta sauce
1 can of tomato paste,
1 large redpeper diced
1 large yellow pepper
1 large green pepper
3/4 cup of shredded carrot
1 box oven ready lasagna noodles
4 cups mozzarella
1 can parmesan
1 16oz container of cottage cheese
optional 6 slices of pepper jack cheese

First brown the crumblers then add the pasta sauce, tomato paste, peppers and carrots, let those simmer till the peppers and carrots are tender. mix well.  then put a little of the sauce mixture at the bottom of the pan that your using then put a layer of noodles on top of that. then put 1/3 of the remaining sauce on top of that, then a layer of mozzarella (or pepper jack if u want a little kick) then a layer of noodles. Next another 1/3 of the sauce  then cottage cheese, then noodles,  then last 1/3 of sauce  rest of the mozzarella (or all of the mozz if you didn't use the pepper jack), and then the Parmesan cheese on top of that.  bake for 20-30mins untill the cheese ontop starts to golden and brown.

ENJOY

Day 12

So typically around week two I start to go threw meat withdraws, and feel sleepy all the time. although if its like the first time I went veg-head , the withdraws stopped at 1 month. The two positives to these first two weeks is that my boyfriend is taking my vegetarianism seriously, and may partially join me. Secondly I have noticed my stomach has began to flatten, and I feel healthier. I have also joined a vegan vegetarian website  called VegWeb, it has a lot of awesome recipes, tips on going vegan, also AMAZING community threads. Everything from meeting and dating vegheads, to crafting in an ethical way.