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!

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

Our vegan business

Long before The Gay Vegans blog, Mike and I created our vegan business, Cruelty-Free World. We did this as a result of always having to buy vegan products, like belts or bags, online. Our goal was to show people that they could purchase awesome bags, belts, wallets and purses without harm to animals or humans (everything we sell is sweatshop free too) as well as offer the same products in their own community.

We decided that we didn't want a bricks and mortar place, but instead would go to festivals and farmers markets and sell our vegan products. We connected with companies already making amazing vegan products, like Splaff, Hempys and Queen Bee, ordered our favorite vegan cookbooks, bought a tent, and in May of 2006 did our first festival.

Our second goal became to raise money for animal rights and human rights groups. Cruelty-Free World generates direct support for groups making the world a better place for all living beings as we donate 100% of the profit from Cruelty-Free World to non-profits. Yep, 100%.

The best thing about all of this is that we have a blast, and we get to meet so many wonderful people that we might not have met had we not done this. We also get to talk with people about veganism, why we are vegan, and about the groups we support. Cruelty-Free World has become a wonderful way for us to introduce veganism to thousands. I love talking about my favorite vegan recipe or the latest amazing vegan meal we had at a local restaurant. The one on one conversations with people brings a lot of fun for us.

I love watching Mike talk about one of the cookbooks we sell, surrounded by folks who have never bought a vegan cookbook, with all of them getting more and more excited. We also pass out free PCRM veg starter kits, but if we can sell someone a vegan cookbook, there is a great chance that they will go home and experience for themselves how good vegan food is and how easy it is to prepare.

Recently we have been at the Neat Markets here in Denver, a monthly vegan pop-up shop. Our next festival is the annual Boulder Creek Festival coming up on Memorial Day weekend in Boulder, CO. If you're around that weekend come and say hi.

Thanks for reading!

Set up a library display!

I am at our local library having just set up our vegan display. I wanted to share this with all of our readers as this is a wonderful way to promote your activism regardless of the cause. Our local library has let us set up a vegetarian/vegan display three times now, and each time prior to this they have gotten incredible feedback. Last time we did this they set up an assortment of veg and vegan cookbooks and they couldn't keep up with the demand to check them out!

I love our local library and come here often. I frequently check in with them to see when I can get on the list for the display. I'm not sure what the policies are where you live, but here in Jefferson County, Colorado, one basically just needs to sign up on the list. Displays are on a monthly basis so once you sign up you just wait until your month comes and then arrive the first day of that month to set up your display.

For our displays we have used vegan food item boxes to promote the wide variety of vegan foods. This time I just set up the display with several vegan cookbooks, veg starter kits from PCRM and Vegan Outreach, and a couple of tshirts from PETA and Mercy For Animals. I like to keep the display simple and with plenty of room around the items in the display so folks can easily read the information and book titles. If you have a local event coming up and have a card or flyer to promote it, I highly suggest adding that. With Veg Fest Colorado coming up later this year I also added their postcard to our display so people can learn about that event.

Setting up a library display is such a great way to promote and educate around what is important to you. Hundreds of people a day will see this display and if our past history maintains, many of those will check out a veg cookbook. And it barely takes any time at all to plan it and set it up.

Please let us know if you set up a library display. We'd love to hear all about it!

Thanks for reading!