Restaurant review: One Veg World in Pasadena

I am ecstatic to write this review!

One Veg World in Pasadena is pretty close to where we live and has become a constant in our lives. The food is perfect for us and the staff bring a level of hospitality and kindness that is rare in the restaurant world these days.

One Veg World in Pasadena is the sister restaurant to One Veg World in West Covina. It opened in July of 2015 and recently began serving breakfast. My review is based mainly on breakfast as it is my favorite meal and there are not a lot of vegan breakfast options around. Or I should say vegan breakfast options on the level of One Veg World.

First, they have donuts! They are delicious. All yeast-raised with either plain glazed, chocolate, cinnamon-sugar or chocolate vanilla. I know from experience that if you love donuts you will love these. I have indulged in many of them!

My next favorite would be the sausage breakfast muffin. They have several types of breakfast muffins and this one is my favorite. You can get it alone or as a combo, which means you can get Vietnamese coffee and garlic kale alongside if you wish. The garlic kale is dreamy. I can't think of another word. If you decide to get the breakfast muffin, it comes with ketchup on it so if you don't like ketchup for breakfast (like me) ask for it without the ketchup.

One Veg World has other options for breakfast, including a delicious tofu scramble.

We have also been for dinner and the cauliflower hot wings are delicious as are the tacos and the zesty serendipity dishes. They also have a lunch buffet Monday through Friday.

As you know, I rate restaurants based on food and service. The staff at One Veg World set the standard for kindness and hospitality. They welcome each customer and bring a refreshing amount of hospitality to the restaurant world. I simply cannot say enough about every single staff member I have encountered.

Go. Dine. Relax. Have a donut. Enjoy a meal. If you live in the area even better. If not, they are located just south of the 210 at the Lake exit. Go south, make a left on Colorado and they will be on the right.

Here is their website for more information: One Veg World

Thanks for reading!

My faves of '14: #4

Next is Modern Love restaurant in Omaha, Nebraska!

Many times in conversation with restaurant owners I talk about how vegan cuisine has just gone crazy. Modern Love is the best example of this.

Courtesy of Isa Chandra Moskowitz and an amazing staff, Modern Love blew my mind this past August when I had the chance to dine there. Every dish I tried was a flavor journey.

If you are ever even close to Omaha or need an excuse for a road trip, go! You will love that you did!

For more information, check out their website: http://www.modernloveomaha.com/

Happy World Vegan Day

I had no idea today was World Vegan Day!

I started the day by making brunch for friends, including my favorite French toast recipe and sausage. Then later today Mike is making his famous enchiladas as we have a couple of friends coming over for dinner.

My favorite things about being vegan are that I contribute less to suffering on this earth and that I get to eat incredibly delicious food.

There's a lot to celebrate. And the more I read about World Vegan Day the more I learn. Like, this is even World Vegan Month!

So spread the word. Have a potluck. Or a small dinner party. Let friends and family know why you're vegan. Bring a vegan delight to the office.

We are becoming a huge, diverse community. Let's embrace it. And let's celebrate.

I wish you a very happy World Vegan Day!

Thanks for reading!

Accepted violence at animal non-profits

We all have our favorite animal non-profit. Whether that is our local pound or a far-away animal sanctuary whose work we love and respect, most of us financially support groups that are helping animals in some way.

In Colorado we have a variety of such groups. They are a diverse lot, many companion animal groups saving the lives of mostly dogs and cats, some with huge operations and smaller ones with all volunteer fosters. I have worked with and/or fostered animals for many of these groups. I love that there are so many organizations here working to end animal cruelty and working to support companion animals who have been abused.

As a side note, the first time I met a cow, and fell in love with pigs, was at a sanctuary here in Colorado, one that is no longer around. I remember loving on the cow and being a little surprised about how big she was. And strong. And how much she loved it when I scratched her neck.

So many organizations. So many wonderful people working against animal cruelty.

Several months ago an activist friend of mine asked me if I would help with asking a local animal shelter to stop serving meet at their fundraising dinners. It is a fundamental problem that I have always thought about: Why do I have to order a vegan-specific meal at a fundraiser for a group whose mission is to end violence towards animals and to love and support animals? My point being that, in my head, all of these groups would of course be serving only vegan meals at their fundraisers.

I passed on helping for the same reason that I have passed on other actions: time. I have never in my life felt as crazy busy as I feel now. It has a lot to do with my day job, a job I am hugely passionate about, but nonetheless I simply do not have time to jump onto another campaign.

And I haven't stopped thinking about it.

I haven't stopped thinking that those of us who support animal liberation, who want to end cruelty to all animals, who cannot deep inside of ourselves pick and choose which animals to fight for and which ones to not fight for, can make our voices heard via a simple request: please make your fundraising events all vegan.

Any hotel catering manager will tell you that there has been a surge in requests for vegan and vegetarian meals. I have noticed that when people see my vegan dish delivered to the table at an event they decide they want the vegan dish. You see, these days, many hotels and banquet spots have been rocking at vegan meals. It's because we have been asking for better.

I have actually been at a big dinner or lunch and asked for a second plate because my meal was so delicious. The days of pasta with some cold veggies on top as the vegan choice are over. If they are not over where you last ate for one of these meetings/conferences, remind them that we are living in the 21st century, a time when there are a zillion delicious vegan options.

It's time to stop perpetuating violence and supporting violence against animals within the same community that is supposed to be helping animals.

Thank you for reading.

Restaurant review: Linger, still the one

It won't be a surprise to read a wonderful review about Linger. The three-level restaurant in Denver's Lo-hi are has been our favorite for a couple of years now, and I can honestly say that I have never had a negative experience there. While dining there recently, I decided to do another, updated review.

Here you go.

If you are looking for amazing service and amazing vegan food options, check out Linger. If you're looking for a wonderful place for date night, check out Linger. A night out with old friends catching up over food and perhaps your favorite cocktail, check out Linger. Lunch with an important customer or client, well, you get it now.

First the menu. Every item that can be done vegan is marked with a "v". If you look out for gluten- free or nut-items those are marked as well. Have a particular food allergy? Just let the server know and the chefs will make sure your dish is just as delicious without the item you are allergic to.

Everything is served like small plate, tapas style. International street food at it's best.

We always start with the sweet potato waffle fries. Always.

The duck buns have been my favorite since first going to Linger. Their flavor has changed, but always delicious. The bun is squishy and moist and the tofu is highlighted with peppers and other fantastic flavors.

You see, what Linger completely rocks at is layering flavors. Just when you start enjoying one flavor in the bite you took all of a sudden you are realizing there is another one.

Please note that the menu changes seasonally. This means that what I am writing about now may or may not be on the menu when you dine with them.

Mike and I have recently been loving the falafel lettuce wraps. Talk about flavor! Three wraps are placed right in front of you with a tahini sauce that I could eat by the spoonful. This plate could honestly be a meal, but why stop there.

The beet salad can be easily shared and has several textures and flavors. Even if you have given up beets I would recommend at least trying this.

And then there's the masala dosa. The wonderful Indian dish that they seem to have perfected.

There is always a vegan dessert. These days it's the candy bar, a incredibly journey filled with chocolate and peanut butter. Oh my.

The culinary director at Linger is Daniel Asher. Not only one of the loveliest people you will ever meet but one of the most creative, food-honoring, flavor enticing chefs I have ever met. And he gets vegan food. He not only gets it, he creates vegan dishes that blow your mind. 

As all of my restaurant reviews, the review if half food and half service. You will definitely not be disappointed with the wonderful servers at Linger. Service is hugely important to everyone on staff and you will notice that there is always someone coming by to make sure your water glass has something in it.

Linger has a rooftop deck and a bar that are first come, first served. We usually make a reservation for the main dining area. And do make a reservation.

Thank you for reading!

Restaurant review - El Camino

The official name of this restaurant is El Camino Community Tavern, a little long to include for a blog post title.

Mike and I were looking for lunch one day and did a search for places around our house. Most of them we had heard of or tried, nothing really exciting. Then we saw El Camino and noticed that they had tempeh tacos! Definitely had to try them!

Lunch was great, but rushed as we had to be somewhere, so we went back for dinner a week later. This gave us a chance to take our time, ask questions, try different items and just enjoy the experience.

And it is indeed an enjoyable experience! Staff is very friendly. We ate once at the bar and once in the seating area and both times had very friendly servers who knew what vegan is and who went through the menu letting us know which menu items could be vegan.

Well we had to get the tempeh tacos. They were perfect. The sauce on them was untypically very hot so the server recommended ordering them with the sauce on the side. She was spot on. The sauce was super spicy and also super flavorful. We like spice with flavor.

The enchiladas can be ordered with spinach and portobello mushrooms. I tried these for dinner and totally enjoyed them. As you might know, Mike makes the best enchiladas at home, so I am quite the enchilada snob. These are right up my alley and I can't wait to try them again.

Vegans can also order chips and salsa, guacamole, and the green chili which is even labeled as vegan on the menu! I will also say that I'm sure the chef would make any changes with items to make them vegan. They also have Soyrizo.

I have always hope for a tavern/bar in the area that would have delicious vegan food and now we have found it. As I wrote earlier the staff is supper friendly, and this includes the managers. We ran into the same manager both times and he was not only very friendly but also very into making sure we were absolutely having a good time and enjoying ourselves.

El Camino is at the southwest corner of Lowell and 32nd at 3628 West 32nd Avenue in the Highlands neighborhood of Denver. Their phone number is 720.889.7946. El Camino is the perfect place for a date night, for a drink with co-workers after work or an easy-going night out with friends. I highly recommend checking them out! Their website is here.

Thanks for reading!

Restaurant review - Pho Fusion in NW Denver

I have never written a negative restaurant review. I began writing restaurant reviews about two years or so ago when I decided that I wanted to brag about the places we love where we live and the places we discovered while traveling. Last year I decided to expand and started going to restaurants that I perceived as vegan-friendly and reviewing them.

Just in case this is your first time reading my blog here is important information on my review process: I have to have dined at the restaurant at least three times (I haven't always stuck to this, especially when traveling, but I do believe it's important to not review a restaurant based on one visit) and my review is based on incredible vegan food and amazing service.

Pho Fusion is an Asian restaurant on the way home from my work. I have dropped in a few times over the years. I have never been impressed with the food but dropped by once again recently out of pure convenience. I was in charge of dinner and had no clue, so just dropped in.

I have learned that Pho Fusion is Vietnamese cuisine. I learned this because once again when asking for vegan options I ended up speaking with someone who should not be in customer service, or who should have an owner-approved, kind message that lets folks know that they do not wish to have vegan customers.

I get it. I don't expect that every restaurant wants our business.

I was told that Asian cuisine was not vegan friendly in general after making the statement that I wished their menu was more vegan friendly. After my reply, the gentleman clarified that perhaps it was just Vietnamese cuisine that was not vegan friendly.

I should add that this guy was done with me the second I said that I did not want to order the two choices he gave me: hot and sour soup and fried rice (done vegan for me). I wanted dinner!

After acknowledging that the tofu they serve is vegan, and conferring with someone in the kitchen, he told me I could order the pad Thai with tofu. Done. I paid, tipped him (crazy, but I live up to the gay stereotype of being good tippers and I know I need to work on that) and waited for my to go order.

You can see where this is going. Well maybe not. I got my order, left, arrived home, told Mike how infuriated I was with this gentleman at Pho Fusion, and then we ate.

The vegan version of their pad Thai was delicious. We both enjoyed it. As I finished mine I realized there was a piece of chicken it, and as much as I dislike that I know mistakes happen in busy kitchens.

The bottom line for me is that kindness rules. If you cannot be kind to a customer then reconsider your employment in a job that puts you in front of people all of the time. And from a restaurant owner/manager perspective, if you don't want to offer vegan cuisine that's fine. Just say so. Let folks know that.

I would recommend to the folks at Pho Fusion that they incorporate a couple of vegan dishes, entrees, to their menu. They obviously have people in the kitchen who rock at making delicious vegan food.

I'm sure at this point of the post you are ready for the review. Here it is.

I won't go back to Pho Fusion. If I ever hear that they have embraced the idea of serving vegan food with a hassle then I might try it again. The deal for me is that there are so many restaurants that gladly and enthusiastically serve delicious vegan food that with better planning on my part there is simply no need to go to Pho Fusion again.

Thanks for reading.

Suggestions on being a vegan-friendly restaurant

I thought a bit about the title of this post. I kept going back to wanting to take the word vegan out of it. Most of my suggestions would make any restaurant more guest-friendly. As I am vegan and hope to have more friendly dining experiences at non-vegan restaurants, I finally decided to keep the title as it is.

We have our favorite restaurants and still find ourselves going to new places (new for us) as we find out about a place through friends or online.

If you own a restaurant, manage a restaurant, or have any interest in making a particular restaurant more friendly to potential diners, you might find this list helpful. These are obviously only my opinions, and they are based on how I want to feel when dining out.

If you don't care about vegan cuisine or about having a great place for vegan customers, or if your restaurant is already filled every day and night and you are already as profitable as you want to be, then there is no need to read this.

Here we go!

First, and this one is so important, please, please, please have your entire staff trained on the menu. If someone serving me food doesn't know what is in the food, I become concerned. If it is impossible for your entire staff to know if a dish is vegan or not, then I suggest an ingredients book that they can look at to see if a particular dish is vegan. This is also very helpful with allergies and folks who eat gluten-free. My dining experience becomes so much better when I can trust the server, and a server trained around all of the menu items is one I can trust.

Cream is not vegan. Nor is half-n-half. Training all staff on what is vegan is incredibly helpful. Even better is marking any items that are vegan or that can be prepared vegan. So helpful.

Keep your bathrooms clean. Seriously.

If at all possible, post your menu online. If you have an incredibly popular vegan dish on the menu, let people know that.

Back to training. I am quite comfortable being vegan. I don't talk about it all of the time. I mention it in a restaurant because I want to ensure I can get my dish prepared vegan. I'm not interested in if the server had been vegan, if the server loves cheese, or if the server can't imagine being vegan. This is my dining experience, not theirs.

Unfortunately many vegans have had so much bad luck with ordering vegan, being very clear, and then getting a dish with dairy or some meat stock in it. The result is that they tell the serve they are allergic to dairy, or meat, or whatever. I'd love a restaurant that because of a well-trained staff this was not necessary.

I am vegan. This simply means that I do not eat animal flesh or any by-product of an animal. Including honey. I do not have a restrictive diet. If asked by a server if I have any food restrictions I will typically say that I do not want any crappy food, that I prefer fresh, creative dishes. That's my only restriction. Of course for those folks who have a real allergy (Mike is allergic to almonds) then this is where one would inform the server of the allergy.

Kindness rules. Unkind people should not be hosts or servers. Period.

There you have it. I guarantee that if your restaurant considers what I have just written here, you will not only increase your customer base but you will inevitably delight those same people.

Thanks for reading!

Restaurant review - WaterCourse Foods

For those of you new to my restaurant reviews, my reviews are based on delicious vegan food and on great service. Both are equally important to me.

Two weeks ago WaterCourse Foods announced that they had become an all-vegan restaurant. After 16 years of being a vegetarian restaurant, they introduced this idea to their staff on a Monday morning and introduced an incredible, new menu to the public shortly afterwards.

Prior to that Monday, I can count on one hand the amount of times I had been to WaterCourse in the past six years. Since that Monday, I have been four times. I have been twice with Mike and twice on my own. Between the two dinners and the two lunches, I have tried many of the new items. All of this is to say that my review is based on good, solid research.

Note: Before I stopped frequenting WaterCourse, I was quite the regular and WaterCourse was a huge part of my life. They even catered our wedding in 2005. 

Also for new readers, I do not review a restaurant until I have dined there at least three times. This makes sure I can make a fair review.

I love WaterCourse milk shakes. Love them. Great flavors, and now you can order one with just the glass filled (with no extra) which makes me feel better. Definitely try a milkshake.

Mike and I both LOVE the new cauliflower wings. They are delicious, flavorful, and not as filling as seitan wings.

New items include the jack fruit tacos. I highly recommend these. More flavor and great taste. The new deviled eggs are delicious as well. They are purple, which seems to be a turn off for some people but if you can get past that you'll be pleasantly surprised with the flavor.

Breakfast is served all day. I have loved the Amsterdam Hash since it was first on a menu and I still do. Now it comes in its own cast iron pan!

There are many new dinner entrees, including chicken and waffles! The Monti pasta is still on the menu and I had that last night. Loved it.

 I don't drink but noticed they have a good selection of beer and wine as well as pitchers of Sangria and Mimosas.

They all have fresh juices available.

I have many times not returned to a restaurant because of poor service. There came a point in my life when I was done with having to apologize to a server for getting in their way by showing up for a meal. Service is crucial.

All four times I was at WaterCourse in the past two weeks the service was incredible. Friendly, quick, attentive and the server even recommended favorite items. Several folks have told me recently that they stopped going to WaterCourse because of the poor service. To all of them I say it's OK to go back. If you get treated anywhere close to how I have been treated, you will be delighted. Of the four servers I have had, all rocked it. If I were to pick one that you could ask for, I'd go with Nathan.

Finally, I noticed that their price points had lowered. I think everything is priced fairly and I think WaterCourse is pretty affordable.

I so enjoy WaterCourse Foods now that I added them to my list of favorite places to eat in Denver on our blog.

Check them out. Even if you had sworn them off, check them out. You won't regret it, I promise.

For hours, go to their website at watercoursefoods.com

Thank you for reading! 

Don't fear the vegans

Having been vegan for 18 years, I have been fortunate to see the world change in regards to veganism and animal rights.

Many of these changes are good: Vegan ice cream, vegan mac n cheese, felony animal cruelty laws, etc.

I digress.

If you are not vegan, you have nothing to fear from me or my kind.

I do not hate humans. I actually spend a good deal of my life trying to help humans.

I do not hate you. You might "like" meat and to that I say that we are all on our own path. If you ask me about why I am vegan I will certainly tell you. If you don't want to know, don't ask.

No, you cannot visit me and eat meat in our home. Our home is a sacred place to us. You can dine on my husbands delicious cooking, but it doesn't include meat. You can go out for that if you really have to.

We have more in common with what you eat than you might think. Consider that vegans and non vegans eat black beans, broccoli, carrots, Navy beans, spaghetti, linguine, stuffed peppers, kale, Swiss chard, beets, bread, crackers, cookies, ice cream, potatoes, rice, cauliflower, brownies, doughnuts, cereal, oatmeal, apples, oranges, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, tofu, strawberries, mangoes, pineapple, almonds, cashews, peanuts, macadamia nuts, celery, peppers, lentils, parsley, sweet potatoes, yams, soup, spinach, tomatoes, dates, figs, Popsicles,  pinto beans, guacamole, avocados, onions, etc. Whew, so many things in common.

OK, I admit it. I snuck in tofu knowing many people haven't had the pleasure of creating a delicious tofu dish.

We eat "real food". I have heard from folks who do not want to visit us because they can't eat real food. Seriously, you will get plenty of real food from a vegan.

People choose to be vegan for a variety of reasons. Mine is that I love animals and want to live my life in a way that does least harm to all living beings. The only ones who need to fear that are the ones who profit from killing and torturing animals. And that fear is really only around money.

We go to work, plant our gardens, volunteer, and try to add to our communities. Nothing to fear there.

We want a world similar to the world you want.

And just like that world, we are as diverse in our beliefs and how to make change than any other community.

If you would like more information on veganism in its many forms, check out any of the links on our main blog page.

Thank you for reading!

Do not be afraid - of the kitchen!

"Veganomicon" is a great cookbook to help you get comfortable in the kitchen.

If where if you live is anything like the Denver metro area, restaurants are serving more and more delicious vegan items. Mike and I love going out, and as I have written in several posts, we have our favorites for sure. (Note to reader: you can check out our favorite local places to eat by clicking the tab from the main page.)

Although vegan food options are becoming even more amazing in restaurants, I still believe that the best vegan food can come right from the kitchen.

Your kitchen.

I know, I'm sure some of you are like I used to be and are probably rolling your eyes. Many years ago the normal dinner at my place was a couple of Amy's burritos and tater tots. When a met Mike, that type f meal became known as a Dan meal.

Once in a while we decide on a Dan meal for dinner. Life is busy. We both give it our all at our jobs so when we come home a Dans' meal is an easy choice. But for me, things have certainly changed in the kitchen.

I am no longer afraid.

You don't have to be either.

Here's an example. Back in January of last year during the time I was laid off, I decided to use that time and make delicious dinners for Mike. One day I found this amazing recipe for African Peanut Stew. It looked complicated, but I wanted to give it a go. So I jumped in. I went to the market and got the ingredients, came home and read the recipe a couple of times, and then started to create. With my favorite Latino music playing and the dogs eagerly waiting in the kitchen, I rocked it.

Of course the test is if other people like it, and Mike loved it. Such an amazing dish.

There are so many vegan cookbooks out there that I have to believe there is one just for you. Check them out. And some of the links on our main page will lead you to some great recipes. Also, many cookbooks have introductions before the recipes to let you know what you will need to have great experiences with their recipes.

You don't have to be afraid of the kitchen anymore! You can create delicious vegan meals right in your own kitchen!

So grab a vegan cookbook, throw an apron on, and rock it! Oh, and then tell me what you made!

Thanks for reading!

Humane slaughter?

NOTE: If you do not want to think about animals being killed for food you might not want to read this post.

Recently I saw a photo of an experiment that was testing how long a gas would take to kill chickens. I wont show the photo but I'm sure you can find it on Google.

It seems outrage against animal cruelty in the food industry has sparked interest in those who profit off of killing animals to see if they can do this without looking bad to consumers.

So have an animal. Let's say a pig. Typical, factory farm pig killing is not pretty. It's not something the pig wants to go through. I'm sure the pig would much rather go take a nap in some straw or go splash around in mud. Nonetheless here she is being hung up and slaughtered.

All so someone can have their bacon.

Again, if you want to see this process you can find it on Google.

I do not believe in humane slaughter. The bottom line for me is that if the animal had the opportunity to walk or run away from being killed, they would.

I became vegan because I wanted to do as little harm to all living beings as possible while going through this thing called life. I do not want to be the cause for the death or suffering of another being. I realized that I did not have to participate in the slaughter.

I see marketing words like "humane slaughter" and "humanely raised" all of the time these days. To me that's all they, marketing terms. There is no legal definition for what that means and in the end your humanely raised pig is going to be terrified as she is trucked off to be killed.

There are so many people who love animals but still eat them. They either don't want to think about what happens to them to get to their plate or they have simply decided that their taste buds are worth it. Or, they just don't know another way and really don't know how to begin a life that truly includes loving animals.

Just because we have always done something doesn't mean we have to continue to do it.

There are resources galore to help people who have decided they want to stop participating in the slaughter. The world is changing and vegetarianism is alive and well. And when I write the word vegetarianism I mean no meat and no meat by-product. There are communities all over the world that are there to support you!

Thanks for reading.

An 18-year vegan

At 47, it's difficult to believe that it's been 18 years since that amazing day when I was 29 and decided to no longer participate in all of the cruelty that was happening in order for me to eat meat. I became a vegan.

I have never really looked backed.

No, it hasn't been difficult.

Difficult is being tortured, living in fear, being constantly abused and beaten and then eventually slaughtered just so someone can eat.

In the last 18 years veganism hasn't changed at all. It still is the simple notion that I can be healthy and live an amazing life without having to consume meat or animal by-products. If you are just learning about veganism, it means no meat and also no dairy, eggs, honey, etc. For me it also means that I do not wear animals, products like leather or even silk.

It is super easy.

My annual physical with my doc has  become a testament to what veganism, and paying attention to putting good things into my body, means to my health. Uber-low bad cholesterol. Great numbers when looking at protein, B12 and other things that tend to be a concern for people who are not vegan. My doc even tells me now that there is a huge difference between blood tests of someone who eats meat and someone who doesn't. As in those who do not eat meat get better results.

Kale? Yep. I love it. I also love dates, blueberries, Swiss chard, collard greens and dark cherries.

Miss cheese? No way. To me dairy cheese means cruelty. It means veal calves and inhumane actions that I just can't support.

Last year I did my first half-marathon. I'm not saying that if I ate meat I couldn't do it, I'm simply saying that as a 47 year old vegan I did it.

Vegan athletes are everywhere. The strongest dude in the world is vegan.

And so are elephants. Yep. And rhinos.

Thinking about veganism? Go for it. There are a ton of helpful links right here on our blog page to help you out. And we would help you too.

Thanks for reading!

VeganMofo Day 29: Sunday brunch potluck

This is Day 29 of Vegan Mofo, a month of vegan food blog posts, and this post is about my favorite meal: brunch. Since I am not a food blogger, most of my posts for Vegan Mofo will not be recipes, rather experiences I have with vegan food and sharing people, places and things that have brought me and continue to bring me amazing vegan food.

I titled this "Sunday brunch" as for us Sunday is the easiest day to have a brunch with friends. I have written blog posts in the past about brunch potlucks we have had, always fun and always filled with delicious food.

I can't write or think about brunch without mentioning Isa Chandra Moskowitz's "Vegan Brunch", one of my all-time favorite cookbooks.

This cookbook is a must in any vegan kitchen. The Brazilian French Toast is so incredibly good, and so easy. For a brunch potluck it's perfect.

The great thing about brunch is that you can prepare breakfast-type items or dinner type items. It's the perfect meal. And the best thing about a brunch potluck is that you get to enjoy delicious vegan food with friends and family, and also get to try dishes that you might never have tried to make.

A vegan brunch potluck is also an incredible way to show friends and family who are not vegan how delicious vegan food is.

All you really need is a living room or backyard to fit a dozen or so I just love coffee so coffee is a big part of our Sunday brunch.

If you'd like to offer guests a base dish, try scrambled tofu in a crock pot. The flavors just continue to make the tofu that much more delish and it ensures that there is plenty of a filling dish. And it will stay hot throughout the brunch.

Good food. Good friends. A Sunday brunch potluck is awesome!

Thanks for reading!
vegandude@msn.com

VeganMofo Day 15: I love Mexican food!

 My love for Mexican food is today's subject for my post for Vegan Mofo, a month of vegan food blog posts. Since I am not a food blogger, most of my posts for Vegan Mofo will not be recipes, rather experiences I have with vegan food and sharing people, places and things that have brought me and continue to bring me amazing vegan food.

If you are a regular reader of The Gay Vegans blog, then you already know that I love Mexican food and that my favorite place for amazing vegan Mexican food in Denver is Tarascos.

Mmmmm. I am salivating just thinking about it. When I first became vegan there were very few Mexican restaurants that made any of their re-fried beans without lard. It's a lot easier these days. My experience is also that if a place has lard in their re-fried beans, they might offer whole beans as an option.

The wonderful thing about living in Denver, and probably many other places, is that as vegans we really don't have to settle for just a plain bean or bean and rice burrito. Thank goodness.

My favorite meal at Tarascos is the enchiladas espinacas, spinach enchiladas. So delicious. Add in fresh-made guacamole and an agua fresca made with fresh fruits (and maybe fresh veggies) and you are good to go.

Sopa Tarasca is also one of my favorites, just a simple bean soup with flavors that will drive your taste buds crazy!

It's easy to not remember that Mexico is as diverse as the US, probably more so. This means the food options just go on and on. What I have listed are just some of my favorites, dishes I eat all of the time. I would love to hear about your favorite vegan Mexican dishes!

Thanks for reading!

VeganMofo Day 12: Restaurant relations

 Getting to know restaurant owners is the topic of my post for Day 12 of Vegan Mofo, a month of vegan food blog posts. Since I am not a food blogger, most of my posts for Vegan Mofo will not be recipes, rather experiences I have with vegan food and sharing people, places and things that have brought me and continue to bring me amazing vegan food.

This is so important for vegans on many levels. Mike and I have come to realize that the more relationships we build with restaurant owners, the better we eat and the better vegan food gets in our area.

Have you ever heard the quote "Shitty vegan food is bad for veganism"?

So true.

In many of the restaurants that we have listed on our main blog page, we are asked all of the time what we think about this dish or that dish. It's because the owner or the general manager knows us, and knows that we will give an honest opinion. After all, we want restaurants that serve delicious vegan food to do great business.

If you find a restaurant that has a few good vegan dishes, we highly encourage you to get to know the owners and/our management staff. Let them know you're vegan and that you love their restaurant. Let them know that you would come more often if they had more vegan dishes to choose from, unless they already have a lot.

A good relationship with those who run restaurants really go a long way. And it could mean that a particular restaurant starts creating some of the best vegan food you have ever tried.

Restaurants want to be busy. They want be full. We can help them with that, if they want to be creative and focus on amazing vegan food. Many restaurants in our area do this, and it helps their brand and their bottom line.

Try it.

Thanks for reading!

VeganMofo Day 10: Eat your veggies!

 
Eat your veggies! is my post for Day 10 of Vegan Mofo, a month of vegan food blog posts. Since I am not a food blogger, most of my posts for Vegan Mofo will not be recipes, rather experiences I have with vegan food and sharing people, places and things that have brought me and continue to bring me amazing vegan food.

NOTE: I realize that a post titled "Eat your veggies!" won't get a lot of reads. I still wanted to write it.

I remember those frozen packages of peas and carrots growing up. We had them a lot. And frozen corn. There were years that we had a garden and I remember being excited about my mom serving veggies from the garden.

I don't think I was one of those kids who didn't like his veggies. As much as I love sweets, I love veggies even more these days.

Mike has this incredible garden in our back yard. This year he is growing kale, Swiss chard, butternut squash, potatoes, cheery tomatoes, zucchini and squash. I love all of them.

Kale, who have thought?! I love kale. I have written about it several times. Whether in a smoothie or as a side dish sauteed with garlic, I could eat kale every day. Same with peas, Swiss Chard, spinach and, wow, this could be a long list.

Then there are those veggies that I am just learning about, like the purple bell peppers below. Yes. Purple.

I had never seen purple bell peppers before. I have this same experience at new farmer's markets, especially when Mike and I travel. Being vegan means we will never, ever be bored with food. There are just too many options.

I digress. So eating my veggies is not just something I do because I like them. It's so important, as a vegan, to make sure my body gets everything I need. Nutritionists say anywhere from four to eight servings a day. That may not seem easy but it is.

And adding veggies to any meal, or using them as the main dish, is awesome! Every vegan cookbook has a dozen recipes for dishes like this, and each of them bring a variety of flavors, textures and colors to your plate.

So go for it. And if there is a veggie that you just love, more than any other veggie, let me know!

Thank you for reading!

VeganMofo Day 7: Meet other vegan bloggers

Suga helping me with The Gay Vegans blog.

Welcome to Day 7 of Vegan Mofo, a month of vegan food blog posts. Since I am not a food blogger, most of my posts for Vegan Mofo will not be recipes, rather experiences I have with vegan food and sharing people, places and things that have brought me and continue to bring me amazing vegan food.

We are well into VeganMofo and this day I want to write about vegan bloggers. Veganism is well represented by bloggers and I think because of vegan bloggers veganism is so much more accessible.

Ever since day one of The Gay Vegans I have tried to promote other vegan blogs, whether the blogs are mainly about food, activism or nutrition. Need a dinner recipe, check out a vegan blog. Worried about B12, there's a vegan blog for that too!

Being that this is VeganMofo I am particularly thinking of vegan food blogs. I think Saturdays during VeganMofo will be dedicated to vegan blogs I love.

Recently Mike and I were in Los Angeles and were able to have dinner with Kristy Turner and her husband Chris. Kristy's blog is Keepin' It Kind, http://keepinitkind.com/ and is one of the blogs I check out throughout the week. Her recipes are amazing, creative, well thought out and keep me salivating! Kristy excels in not only giving you a great recipe but adding tantalizing photos that make you want to, right at that moment, run to the grocery store to get ingredients for the dish so you can make it right away!

Another blog that I highly recommend comes to you from two people I totally love, Carmella and Carlo! Holy cow these two are the sweetest. Their blog is The Food Duo, and believe me they know good vegan food: http://www.thefoodduo.com/ ! They cover pretty much everything from recipes to vegan food items to restaurants. They also (no surprise) are the creators of the Hug a Vegan movement! Check them out!

Finally for today I'd like to introduce you to Bianca Phillips, whose blog Vegan Crunk makes me homesick for Virginia just thinking about it. Bianca is from Memphis, Tennessee and she has a cookbook by the same name as her blog. Check her out here: http://vegancrunk.blogspot.com/ Great recipes and wonderful insight into what to do when you are in Memphis. I simply adore Bianca and think you will love her blog.

Thank you for reading!

VeganMofo Day 5: Daily doses of goodness

Welcome to Day 5 of Vegan Mofo, a month of vegan food blog posts. Since I am not a food blogger, most of my posts for Vegan Mofo will not be recipes, rather experiences I have with vegan food and sharing people, places and things that have brought me and continue to bring me amazing vegan food.

I have always felt like being vegan is super easy. It's also easy to forget that food sustains and that it is important to get all of the right foods in you to be healthy. As one who loves sweets, I have to pay particular attention to this.

I'm not a nutritionist. I'm a 47 year old guy who tries to be as healthy as possible. So I read a lot and pay attention to people who are food nutritionists, especially ones who are vegan. ( I have web links to a couple of them on the main page of our blog.)

Here are a few things that Mike and I always have in our fridge and cupboards. They might be for a snack, a full dinner or as a side.

Kale. Yes, we hear all about the goodness of kale and I sure am a believer. Whether it is from our garden, one of the local Farmer's Markets or a grocery store, we buy and consume a lot of kale. I like it in smoothies and lightly sauteed with salt, pepper and garlic. Mike makes kale chips which are delish.

Blueberries. Frozen blueberries to be exact. A constant in smoothies. In season we buy fresh ones for cereal and salads.

Swiss chard. Oh my. This is one of my all-time favorite veggies and another one of those that is uber good for you. In a salad or pasta, smoothie or with garlic as a side dish. Mmmmm.

Vegan yogurts. Vegan yogurt? Yes, there are plenty of choices out there. Great for snacks or for breakfast. I like any peach or dark cherry flavor.

Hummus. No surprise here. Store bought or home made. So good for you and so delish.

East Pastry cookie dough. Vegan cookie dough. In your fridge. Enough said.

This is a very short, just some of my favorites. For people newly vegan or checking veganism out, I hope this helps. For everyone else, I hope there is something here that you are curious about if not already eating a lot of.

Thank you for reading and for supporting my attempt at Vegan Mofo!

VeganMofo Day 4: Mike's famous cinnamon roll recipe!

Welcome to Day 4 of Vegan Mofo, a month of vegan food blog posts. Since I am not a food blogger, most of my posts for Vegan Mofo will not be recipes, rather experiences I have with vegan food and sharing people, places and things that have brought me and continue to bring me amazing vegan food.

I wasn't sure if repeating a favorite recipe was against the rules or not. Since this recipe is our all-time most read blog post, I felt that it just had to be part of Vegan Mofo.

I have to say that these cinnamon rolls are so amazingly delish! I love them! They will blow your mind, and many people will not be able to believe that they are vegan. They are a great way to show people how awesome veganism is! Once you've baked them let me know what you think!

I would also like to add that I love to bake! I didn't used to, but I do now. And you don't have to be an awesome baker to make these cinnamon rolls. Try it!


Vegan Buttermilk Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients:
• 2 packages active dry yeast
• ¼ cup warm water (110 degrees F)
• 1 ½ cups soy milk (hemp milk and oat milk work just as well)
• 1 ½ tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 tbsp earth balance nondairy butter, melted
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour (you can replace 2 cups with whole wheat pastry flour for a “healthier” result
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ cup earth balance nondairy butter
• 1 ¼ cups packed brown sugar
• 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon (try to find fresh ground. I use Vietnamese Saigon Cassia Cinnamon)
• 1 ½ tsp vanilla bean paste (optional)

Directions:
1. In a small saucepan combine the soy milk and apple cider vinegar and let sit for 10 min. This is your nondairy buttermilk
2. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 min.
3. Heat the nondairy buttermilk till warm to the touch. Add the 2 tbsp of melted nondairy butter and oil to this mixture.
4. Pour the nondairy buttermilk mixture into the yeast mixture; mix well. In a separate bowl combine the flour, salt and baking soda. Stir the flour mixture into the liquid 1 cup at a time, until a soft dough forms. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead 20 times (do not over knead the dough). Cover and let rest for 15 minutes.
5. In a small saucepan melt the ½ cup of nondairy butter. After melted remove from the heat and add the brown sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla bean paste.
6. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out into a large rectangle. Spread the brown sugar mixture over the dough, roll up into a log and pinch the seam to seal. Slice into 1 inch pieces and place cut side up in a lightly greased 10X15 baking pan. Cover and let rise 30 minutes or cover and refrigerate overnight (note you can also divide up the rolls into smaller pans and freeze. When you are ready to use these frozen rolls pull out the night before and let sit on the counter overnight to thaw and rise). If baking immediately, preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
7. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown. Let stand for 2 to 3 minutes before frosting.

Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:
• 4 ounces softened nondairy cream cheese (tofutti cream cheese works best)
• ¼ cup softened nondairy butter
• 1 ½ cups confectioners’s sugar
• ½ tsp vanilla
• 1 ½ tsp soy milk

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix with an electric mixer till smooth and creamy.

As always, thanks for reading my blog! And let me know what you think of the cinnamon rolls!