VeganMofo Day 27: Vegan oasis at Fluid

This is Day 27 of Vegan Mofo, a month of vegan food blog posts, and this post is an introduction to Fluid Coffee Bar in Denver. 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.

When I started working at Urban Peak my first question was where to find a good cup of coffee. Fluid was the immediate response. I will be forever grateful to whoever told me that. Fluid has become the place I most frequent and I love them!

Located at Pennsylvania and 19th in Denver, Fluid is just east of downtown. The coffee is delicious, and after a couple of trips for more, I realized that they also carry Beet Box vegan pastries. This was before Beet Box opened a store front so this was huge. It is still pretty good as Fluid is closer for me than the Beet Box store front (which I also frequent!).

Great coffee and Beet Box pastries. The good news is that it doesn't end there.

Sweet Action ice cream and ice cream sandwiches. Yes! These are new at Fluid and I am so excited. Great afternoon snack.

Hungry for lunch or just something more substantial! Done!  They carry delish tofu scramble burritos as well as hummus wraps. They're heat up the burrito for you and offer it with salsa. Mmmmm.

Mango smoothie? No problem!

As any place I review, customer service and friendliness of staff are equal to vegan food offerings. Fluid rocks with friendliness. The owner Jeff and his wonderful staff are always super friendly and helpful. I honestly look forward to going in there not just for delish food options but to see these very kind people.

Also, they have meeting space. I've used it and it's perfect for a meeting for up to 30 or so.

Fluid Coffee Bar is truly vegan oasis! Check them out!

501 East 19th Avenue, Denver, 80203
720.519.4681

Thanks for reading!
vegandude@msn.com

VeganMofo Day 23: Tofu 101

This is Day 22 of Vegan Mofo, a month of vegan food blog posts, and this post is an introduction to tofu. 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.

Tofu. Just mentioning tofu can get a negative reaction. I've heard just about all of the bad things that could be possibly brought up about tofu: terrible texture, no flavor, it's just gross, soy is bad for you, etc.

I love tofu.

Blackened is my favorite. Blackened tofu sandwiches are just about my favorite food.

In trying to eat as diverse a diet as possible, I don't eat tofu or soy everyday. That is more about diversity with my food choices than anything else.

Tofu is a great source of protein and can be a main dish or part of a delicious side dish. It can even be used for scrumptious desserts.

One thing to remember about tofu is that it doesn't really have a flavor; it takes on the flavor of whatever you put on it or marinate with it. When I blacken tofu for my sandwiches, plain, flavorless tofu all of sudden becomes filled with flavor because of the blackening spices I use to cook it. The same thing with barbecue tofu; it's all in the sauce. When I make tofu scramble, it's always more flavorful the next day because the tofu has had more time to absorb all of the spices used in the scramble.

Texture is easy. I mainly use extra firm tofu. If I want it more dense I freeze it.

If you want to try tofu without preparing it at home, check out food reviews of a local Thai or Chinese for tofu dishes and go try one. In Denver, Little Ollies serves a mean tofu, especially with their General Tao's tofu. This dish is not on the menu but they will make it for you.

Tofu can be as good and as delicious as you want it to be. Grab a recipe that uses tofu form one of the food blogs on our blog page. Try it. There is an amazing tofu dish for everyone!

Thanks for reading!
vegandude@msn.com

VeganMofo Day 16: Vegan fast food

This is Day 16 of Vegan Mofo, a month of vegan food blog posts, and this post is about vegan fast food. 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.

Unless you live in a vegan Mecca like Los Angeles, New York City or Portland, having access to vegan fast food might only be a dream. Of course these days, with the popularity of vegan food and people overall wanting to be healthier, you never know where a vegan fast food joint may pop up. I recently heard that there is a Veggie Grill coming to Boulder, CO, about 45 minutes from us, and that would be awesome.

The type of vegan fast food that I am writing about, however, is vegan fast food in your own kitchen. For people who have just become vegan, and for some of us who have been vegan for years, veganism is such much easier if we become comfortable in our own kitchen. The more comfortable we are in the kitchen the better we are going to eat and probably the healthier too!

My standard go to for quick vegan food is beans and rice. In a skillet I take a can of black beans, add cooked brown rice (you can even use the instant brown rice, and some salt and pepper. I like cayenne pepper so I add a pinch of that. When the beans and rice are hot, I add fresh kale, spinach or Swiss chard. Done.

With leftovers, grab some tortillas and make burritos for later in the week.

Mike's version of fast food is his Chik'n and Dumplings. These are delicious and one day soon I will have recipe. I love coming home on a chilly day to the smell of his Chick'n and Dumplings. He basically throws into a pot mixed veggies, water and bouillon and tops it off with Bisquick dumplings. You can add Beyond Meat strips or not, depending on your taste. I remember bringing these to a non-vegan potluck with over a hundred people and a woman from Texas came over to Mike to tell him that his dumplings were perfect!

 This as leftovers makes a great lunch.

I have gotten to the point where I can whip out a great Tofu Scramble in under ten minutes. I've posted my recipe here and it works great for a quick, healthy breakfast and also for breakfast burritos for later in the week.

On the not so healthy side, grilled cheese sandwiches are awesome. Bread and Daiya cheese and you are good to go. I use soy butter to make them but you could use oil or nothing at all with the right skillet. Add some delish soup and boom, another quick meal.

We try (or I should say that Mike tries!) to make a great, delicious sit-down dinner every night, it just doesn't work out all of the time. Having quick options and a few things in the fridge for a last minute dinner will make life so much easier for you!

Salud!

Thanks for reading!

VeganMofo Day 3: Blackened tofu sandwiches!

Welcome to Day 3 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.

My all-time favorite food to make at home is blackened tofu sandwiches! They are easy, delicious, and can be served and any side dish, or none at all!

Three ingredients: tofu, blackening spice, bread and veganaise!

You'll need a skillet and a spatula, and a knife to slice the tofu.

I set the heat on high for the skillet. Ours is one of those cool, German skillets so no oil is needed. You can still use it if you'd like.

Take your tofu and cut into slices, the thickness depends on what you like for a sandwich. Place the pieces of sliced tofu in the skillet and sprinkle your blackening spice on all of the pieces. At this point I usually lower the heat to medium. Flip the tofu slices, sprinkle blackening spice again and keep cooking.

Meanwhile, place your sliced bread (Dave's Killer Bread of course!) and spread veganaise on each piece.

Once the tofu is browned on both sides, use your spatula to remove it from the pan and place slices on the bread. For me it works out to two slices per piece of bread.

This should make four sandwiches depending on how thick you cut your slices.

So delish, and almost a weekly meal in our home.

Note: It may take you a few tries to find a blackening spice that is perfect for you. Most grocery stores carry a couple, and certainly spice shops.

Enjoy!

Thanks for reading!

My first recipe! My favorite tofu scramble

Yes, you are on the right blog. This is The Gay Vegans. I am not a food blogger and am super excited about this! This is my first recipe, and I am super stoked to share it with you!

Lately I have been making tofu scramble on Sundays for breakfast, and making enough so I can make tofu scramble burritos for breakfast throughout the week. Today I realized that after using so many recipes and a lot of tastes by trial, the recipe I now use is completely my own, and one I would like to share with you.

Here is what you need:
1 chopped onion
A splash of olive oil
2 tomatoes chopped
1/2 bag of frozen hash browns
salt and pepper to taste (I love a lot of pepper)
A box of tofu, extra firm (I think this is 1 lb)
Some fresh chopped garlic (to taste)
1 tsp of Tumeric
1 tsp of Cumin
1/2 tsp of Cayenne Pepper (if you want, you can make this 1 tsp!)
2 cups or so of chopped kale or spinach
One chopped avocado

Additions that I like but are not necessary for a scrumptious scramble:

A vegan sausage, crumbled
An additional green like Swiss chard
Daiya cheese shreds

Let's make tofu scramble!

Grab a skillet, put on high heat and add the olive oil and the onion. Once the onion starts sizzling go ahead and turn the heat down to medium. When the onions start to brown, add the tomatoes and then add the frozen has browns. Spread the hash browns out so the whole skillet is covered with them. Add salt and pepper and let the hash browns cook. I usually cover the pan for a few.

Then mix the hash browns and continue to stir them so they cook. When the hash browns are starting to brown add the tofu and spices. Now it's coming together! Keep mixing and stirring. When the tofu and hash browns look all cooked (and the tofu is yellow), go ahead and add the greens and avocado.

Note: If you're adding vegan sausage, add it before the veggies. If you're adding an additional green, add it with the greens. Cheese can be added with the veggies.

Serve and enjoy. This makes enough for Mike and I for breakfast with leftovers. Add some Dave's Killer Bread toasted with soy butter!

You can make breakfast burritos with the leftovers, wrap in foil and put in the fridge for a quick breakfast another day.

I hope you love this recipe as much as I love it! Please let me know what you think!

Thanks for reading!

Our first giveaway! Make soymilk (nutmilk) and tofu at home!

Back in November I was at the Southern Plains Land Trust annual fundraiser emceeing the event and had time to do some shopping at their silent auction (a little too much shopping some might say). I kept bidding on the Soyajoy G3 Soymilk Maker and by the end of the night it was mine. The folks who make it had generously donated it to SPLT for the auction and I thought it would make a great Christmas gift for Mike.

Score! Mike loves it. And we soon purchased the tofu maker so that we (Mike) can now make fresh soymilk AND fresh tofu at any time. We can also make hemp milk, almond milk, macadamia nut milk, etc. You get the idea. I wanted to bring that up for those of you who do not consume soy. The maker is versatile and has totally changed our lives. Fresh, home made tofu tastes so much better and we keep thinking of all of the packaging from tofu and soymilk containers that we no longer use!

If, like me (Dan) you might be thinking that you would not be able to make your own soymilk or tofu even with this machine, don't worry at all! It is super easy and you will love it!

Because of how much we LOVE this product, and because we have never done a giveaway on our blog, we thought this would be the perfect fit.

The better news is now there is a Soyajoy G4 Soymilk Maker and this is what the winner will receive.  And don't worry, we wouldn't give away a soymilk maker without giving you something to use it with. So we asked our friends at Laura Soy Beans to offer a 20-pound bag of non-GMO soy beans and they immediately said yes! The folks at Laura Soy Beans have been amazingly friendly and kind to us as we began the adventure of making our own soy milk. http://laurasoybeans.com/

The giveaway also includes the added tofu maker, which we love.

No need to go to any website or sign up anywhere. To be included in the drawing all we ask is that you send us the name of your state representative. That is the person who represents you in the state capitol where you live. This will not surprise our regular readers as we write often about engaging these very same people. If you do not know who represents you in your state capitol please click here and you can find out: http://votesmart.org/ Depending on where you live, you might need to enter your nine-digit zip code to get the list of who represents you. We ask for the name of this person not so we can contact them but so you will know who they are! NOTE: In Canada it would be your MLA, Member of the Legislative Assembly.

Remember, it's your state representative we're looking for. We will check the names we draw to make sure the person you sent us is correct. And of course if you need help searching we will help.

We are also giving away four copies of the cookbook that changed my feelings on baking and one I use all the time, "The Joy of Vegan Baking" by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.

Are you ready? Please send the name of your state representative via Twitter, our Facebook page, as a comment here or emailed to vegandude@msn.com

We will take entries trough Friday, March 15th at noon Mountain Standard Time.

Thanks for reading!

Cooking at home

We know several people who have decided to explore veganism in 2012 and we want to support them as much as possible. One of the ways we promote veganism is by feeding people amazing vegan food. Many people who are not vegan yet are completely surprised by how delish "our" food is.

One doesn't need to be a chef to create a simple, scrumptious vegan meal. There are many, many vegan recipes out there, and to find some amazing ones just click onto one of the links we have here and check out some of the bloggers we adore who blog about cooking and post recipes. You'll go from WOW to YUM in a matter of minutes as you create their recipes.

I am a great example of one who thought cooking vegan would be tough, but love it. Mike does most of the cooking so me warming up leftovers from his creations is easy. Yet I am pretty good in the kitchen too. One of my favorites is cooking up some fresh kale or swiss chard. It is this easy: heat up a little olive oil in a cast iron skillet. Chop up the kale or swiss chard and add it to the heating olive oil. Add a tiny bit of salt and a nice amount of cayenne pepper and boom, there it is. This is more of a side dish but if you add your favorite bean and maybe some beets it can become a full meal.

We use the cast iron skillet a lot. It's a great tool for cooking.

Another easy dish is a simple scrambled tofu. Most vegan cookbooks have a recipe and they are simple. I love making this on a Sunday morning, just add toast with my favorite mango pepper jam! Scrambled tofu is just firm or extra firm tofu crumbled up in your perfect cast iron skillet with a little olive oil, some onions (I usually saute the onions first, then add the tofu), nutritional yeast, tumeric, some kale or swiss chard, a tiny bit of salt, some pepper and you are on your way. When I want to be decadent I add Daiya cheese. Mmmmm.

Cooking at home is so much fun. I love cooking with Mike. It adds to a perfect date night. And each time you make something you can change the recipe a bit and begin creating a whole new dish.

Try it out and let us know what you made. And we'd love to hear about your favorite vegan recipe. Finally, don't forget to check out some of the vegan cooking blogs linked from our site.

Thank you for reading!