Party like a rocksta!

Feast your eyes on THAT! That is what I made for the Vegan Heat n Eat event at Ethique Nouveau that happened a couple of weekends ago right here in Minneapolis. Good times. I made a orange vanilla cupcake with zesty orange buttercream and a sugared orange wedge to garnish the damn thing. Yap. You'd better believe that shit was off the hook!

Other things that were sold: vegan chili with sweet taters, some kickass pesto and cheese sauces and vegan scones that were to die for! Ugh. Take me back.

Totally dood.

Heyyy there guys. I'm really sorry I haven't been keeping up on this blog much. I've really been trying to balance my mental and physical health right now and it has never been this challenging, what with the stress at work and the eating healthy and crap like that.

Anyhoobs, I apologize, and I'm going to hop to giving you all a dose of what I've been up to (eating). Cool beans?

Cool beans.

OK! First up! Triple Rock Social Club.

I'm just going to say one thing and be done with it about these guys-they have been a bit of a disappointment to me lately. The changes they made to their menu not only added some items but it also took away some of the best items, like that huge ass vegan burrito they had with "nacho cheez". Eff that man. But in and of itself, Triple Rock is still a great place to go for vegan bar grub. I would almost always recommend the vegan cook's revenge, as it always turns out to be something real grubby and tasty. Here's a sample of a meal that Manfriend and I recently had there:

Pictured closest is their vegan nachos which are freaking huge and fantastic. They will not disappoint. Neither will that behemoth of a sammy behind it. THAT sandwich, my friends, usually comes out of the kitchen the size of your head. It is not for the faint of heart. It is....drum roll please....THE VEGAN PO BOY. Manfriend likes to get the Minneapolis Po Boy which has mock duck or tofu mixed with taters and covered in soy cheese on a huge as bun and served with chips! Yumm. I like the vegan BBQ Po Boy with mock duck personally. It's got the same stuff, only it's slathered in a zesty BBQ sauce. Urrrgh. I want one in my mouth now. So so tasty.

OK! There's a new restaurant in town (it's not really that new) and it's connected to First Ave (the famous Minneapolis music venue). We heard they had some vegan options on the menu (and did they!) so we decided to make it a date night.

I ordered the vegan mock duck tacos while Manfriend ordered a side of sweet tater fries and a vegan lemon walnut burger. Now, I have very high standards for mock duck tacos, as Senor Wong (see the side bar for the post) in St Paul has THE BEST mock duck tacos I have ever had the chance to put in my mouth. I mean, fucking yummers man. The mock duck tacos from The Depot did not disappoint, however, they did not provide the sneaky spice and beautiful savoriness that the tacos from S. Wongs did. The sweet tater fries were crispy and delicious however! Perfectly seasoned and a great start to the meal. The lemon walnut burger... oh lordy. It was sweet and savory at the same time. I thought it sounded boring but I immediately bit my tongue (not literally) when I tasted it. It was topped with sweet bell peppers which, in my opinion, made the burger fucking fantastic! Yum. I'm making myself hungry all over again dammit.

Stay tuned for another update fairly soonish. There's a new vegan pizza in town (well...there has been for a while but I just tried it recently), and it don't take kindly to be calling "cheez-less and boring".

Rock!

MN Vegan

We now interrupt my lack of updating to bring you...

What what. MN VEGAN BAKESALE!! Which I am helping coordinate. Waha!

All proceeds are going to ARC! (Animal Rights Coalition)

Hey, Vegan Bakers - we need your kitchen mojo! Email Sarah (me!) or Melissa at mnveganbakesale@gmail.com for information and/or to register to donate baked goods!

Vegan Goodies doing Good!

Worldwide Vegan Bakesale

April 24th, 2011 at 1pm

See ya there in all its sugary (or savory) goodness, ya'll!

You know you want in on this.

MN Vegan

Un vacherin!

Check, another one down.

Vegan meringue sandwiched in between vegan whipped cream and strawberries. A very decadent (and actually, very simple) french dessert! Stay tuned for next week's vegan French dessert.

MN Vegan

C'est magnifique!

Look at this vegan creme brulee!!

Note: I will need to tweak this recipe as the creme it did not turn out as custardy as I'd hoped. It was still exciting to crack it with a spoon though! Stay tuned for the vacherin...comin' right up faster than you can say it with correct pronunciation.

MN Vegan

Oh heyyyy.

Why hello! Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Things were heating up at work and mix that with lack of sleep and a hectic non-work schedule and you got me cowering at the end of the day, not wanting to do much of anything.

I've been (not very closely) following the Crazy Sexy (non) Diet book for information on how to feel better and not worry about food so much and it has really helped. I am a (almost) changed woman! Love it. I would recommend this book to anyone that really wants to learn how to eat not only better, but saner.

Anyways, hmmmm where have been lately...ah yes. Ecopolitan! If you look up Minneapolis on HappyCow.net, you'll find that there's one completely vegan restaurant here and this is Ecopolitan. It has a completely raw vegan menu and I personally love going here because I can eat and eat and still not be completely full. The food is delicious and presented so artfully and the portions are not too bad either.

Ok, I know what you're thinking. "Sarah, aren't you going to talk about the fucking food?"

Patience, little goat, patience.

WHAMMY!

I started my meal with a carrot/orange/ginger juice. I fucking loathe carrot to the core, but I really liked this! It was sweet and the ginger and orange overpowered the carrot so I didn't taste much of it at all! Yum. A perfect start to my meal.

Ok, so now I'm all high on delicious juice right? RIGHT. But next came the main dish!

The taco salad! I usually either get this or the living pizza. This salad is huge, has tomatoes and red peppers and a fake spicy lentil meat as well as avocados drenched in a cashew-y spicy dressing. DAMN. This salad was fantastic! I felt awesome after eating this too. High five!

Ok I had to do dessert. I get it every time I go to this place and it is ALWAYS necessary. Always.

You were probably thinking "raw vegan dessert? Bleh. I rather chew on a shoe" but NO! STOP THE NONSENSE.

This is the fruit parfait (I believe they make it from whatever's in season) and it is fucking ginormous. Mine was a strawberry banana ice cream and dates, coconut and nuts for the crust at the bottom. Basically raw vegan heaven in a parfait cup. The ice cream is smooth and sweet and the crust has just enough delicious gooeyness to make me always come back for more. I didn't stop until it was gone, people, and you won't either.

Now I know what you're thinking...Sarah, what's going on with the Vegan French Pastry Challenge?

Didn't I tell you to hold your pants on? Yeesh.

Hokay. The Vacherin! I will be making this next and I think I'd like to make it with berries. It is described as meringue and berries alternated in layers to look like a fancy little cake. Vegan meringue? How am I going to do that, you ask? Ok seriously, enough with the questions today. OFF I GO!

MN Vegan

Happy V Day ya'll.

Keep it classy and don't have like the worst day ever like I did. Smooches!

XOXO

MN Vegan

5 years, here I come!

It's time to begin fresh. Tomorrow marks the five year anniversary of my relationship with Manfriend. He has changed so much and I am so proud of how far he's come as a person. I also have done some changing for the better, and it's time to seal the deal for real. Hee.

I don't mean marriage, I mean healing. Manfriend and I have been through very rough times in the past and though we've been working to try and rise above it all, it has been a rough ride up until this last year.

I would say the biggest thing I've learned is to keep in mind that people do change, though it's very hard to do. Not many people would stick it out through a tumultuous rollercoaster like ours, but I'm glad to say that we have. We have seen the best and worst of each other and even if some point in our lives we go separate directions, he will always be a good friend. There's nothing like true forgiveness.

OK! Enough of that crap, I got to get this show on the road, people and I ain't slowing down for anyone. I've got a health/sleep/exercise/attitude overhaul in the works and this time it's going to...work. I'm determined!

Guiding me soundly will be Kris Carr and her Crazy Sexy Diet book that I got for the five year anniversary from Manfriend! I'm ready to rid myself of sugar cravings, mopy-ness and the like and this book definitely has been showing me the way. Kris Carr is a cancer survivor (to clarify, she actually still has it as it is a very rare form of cancer that never goes away but has dramatically improved her health by kicking many bad habits) and she is one powerful case of kickass. I admire her. With lifestyle changes, I need boundaries (which is why calorie counting worked so well for me, but in the end lead to chipped nails, digestive problems, etc. yuck!) and she not only gives very detailed descriptions about how to get your health (not weight! Wahoo!!) back on track, she gives you proof that it works-her! I'm super excited to try the juice cleanse and the 21 day kickstart thingy. I'm really optimistic!

Click here for her website, which has tons of good information about how a mostly vegan, raw/whole food diet really is the best thing you can do foryourself. Move over Skinny Bitch (though I still love you, SB), here comes a healthy smack in the face.

I will still be baking my schtuff-don't think there's not room for that in this diet! Get ready for one of the most decadent of the French desserts in my next update. It's going to be a freaking magical.

Peace and ohhhmmm,

MN Vegan