Vida Vegan Con

Click over to my It's a Cookbook! blog at http://toservevegetarians.blogspot.com/ to see my posts from the Vida Vegan Con (the first ever conference for Vegan Bloggers, August 26-29, 2011 in Portland, Oregon) and our 5 days in the Portland area. Many posts with pictures of so much vegan food (corn dogs, pizza, soft serves, pastries, doughnuts, lasagna, cupcakes, cupcakes and more cupcakes....)

Here's a teaser:

These were at the opening reception...with one more Gluten-Free option (coconut).

Fettuccine Alfredo

The Happy Herbivore, page 163.

This is a simple sauce to make, although I would add a couple things to pep up the flavor. (Yes, this might pep up the number of calories a tad, too, but it shouldn't be too bad.) After I made and photographed this (and tried a bowl), I added chopped fresh basil, which I think is a more pleasant flavor than parsley, some white wine and walnuts, along with more salt and pepper. Next time I make this I will reduce the non-dairy milk by about 1/4 cup and add a 1/4 cup of white wine after I have heated the sauce. Pine nuts are nice, touch, too. To add an even creamier mouth feel and richer taste, I would add a little non-dairy sour cream to the sauce. 

I like this dish and like the fact that the protein is in the sauce! (Silken tofu.)

I used brown rice spaghetti so this version is gluten-free.

• 1/4 cup white wine adds about 50 calories total, but reduce by 9 calories of unsweetened almond milk not added. (+10 cal/serving)
• 2 Tablespoons non-dairy sour cream adds 85 calories. (+22 cal/serving)
• Using 1/4 cup pine nuts or walnuts (~188 calories/an ounce!) adds 376 calories, (+94 cal/serving)

Did the DD eat it? Didn't try it.

DH: Liked it, would eat it again. (4 out of 5) He thinks regular Fettuccine Alfredo is too greasy.

Would I make this again? Yes!

Rating: 4 out of 5 Forks (5 with my additions)

Chocolate-Zucchini Muffins

The Happy Herbivore, page 45. 

Yum! Easy to make and taste divine.
I made both mini-muffins (about 10 minutes in the oven) and regular sized muffins.
My batch:

• Gluten-free with Bob's Red Mill GF Mix and 3/4 tsp Xanthan gum replacing the regular flour.
• And as you can see, I also added walnuts (1/2 cup).
• Used only one chocolate chip on top of each muffin instead of the 1/2 cup option.
• I used the low-sugar (1/2 cup) option and I think it could have gone even lower.

My DD loves them and I had a hard time not eating them all in one evening.

Did the DD eat it? Yes! Loved them!

Would I make this again? Yes! Easy and tasty and healthy. I might reduce sugar even further.

Rating: 5 out of 5 Forks

Five books and the Photograph Uproar

Who'd a thunk there'd be SO many vegan diet cookbooks out? I'm flabbergasted as I guess I am coming late to this party.

I've just discovered Alicia Silverstone's book and have added it to the blog. I knew it existed, I just wasn't aware that it was a weight-loss cookbook.

As soon as I decided to make this a larger book blog, my personal and professional life got very busy. In my case, this means not much time for experimental cooking, photography and blogging.

I promise to get this up and running and up-to-date with all my previous posts channeled over from the Moskowitz and Me Reduction Project blog in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, I have become aware of an uproar at VegNews Magazine (one of my favorites, I'll admit) about their using SO many stock photos of food that in fact, are not vegan at all, but photos of the unhealthy stuff the rest of the world eats: meat, dairy and eggs.

See more info at the original blog that "broke" the story from www.quarrygirl.com: http://www.quarrygirl.com/2011/04/13/rant-veg-news-is-putting-the-meat-into-vegan-issues/

Let me tell you right now that all my photographs are:

1. My own photographs that I took with my sweet little hands. (Except for cookbook covers.)
2. My own cooking effort from a recipe in one of the five books.
3. All vegan. All the time. I'll tell you when I deviate from the recipe, but it won't be non-vegan even when I do.
4. If I use a stock photo, it won't be of a recipe. Any stock photo will be non-food or clearly vegan. (Like flowers, people, sunsets, tomatoes, etc.)

The Books are here!

All three of the new cookbooks arrived at once and guess what....I'm overwhelmed! I'm prepping for leaving for a few days for a professional conference and am barely cooking any kind of meals, much less cooking from any of the cookbooks and photographing results! But I promise, once I'm back next week, there will be additions to this blog. Chef AJ's book STARTS with desserts...so I have a feeling you'll see some of those.