Festive Holiday Oats

/ Kelly / Leave a comment

Confession time – I’ve been eating quick oats lately. The kind of oats that come in a cylinder and take all of two minutes to nuke in the microwave. They’re basically the weakling runts of the oat world, with steel-cut oats and oat groats being the powerhouses that pack a fantastic nutritional punch. And even though I do have a bag of steel-cut oats in my [mostly bare] cupboard, I’ve been grabbing the quick oats when I feel like being grainy for breakfast.

I think I have an excuse, though. My mom and I bought them a couple of weeks ago when she was here helping me move into my apartment; we were staying in an extended stay hotel with a kitchenette, and we thought it’d be prudent to invest in some breakfast foods. Quick oats were the perfect solution; we’d get up in the morning, make oatmeal, and then head out for a day of furniture-shopping and bed-putting-together. After she left, I still had 3/4 of a container of quick oats, so that’s been my fall-back option when I want a quick breakfast. Since I’m not really willing to expend 20 minutes making steel-cut oats in the morning before work, I appreciate the minimal time investment.

I still feel a little guilty, though.

But a few days ago, I discovered a way to dress up my oats for the holidays, and ever since, I’ve ben unabashedly unashamed of my breakfast. It’s so simple, too. I’ve always been a fan of making oats with soy or almond milk, since I think watery oats are pretty much the most disgusting thing ever. They taste thin and generally disgusting, in my opinion. But if you make oatmeal with milk, it instantly turns into a delicious, creamy breakfast, even if you don’t have an immersion blender for that added touch of creaminess (I don’t have one of my own at my apartment, boo). So I’ve always been a soymilk and oatmeal fan.

The other day, though, I decided to add some of Silk’s seasonal Pumpkin Spice flavor to my oats. I couldn’t decide if I was wasting the precious drink by putting it in oatmeal, but I decided to give it a shot. And, oh, am I glad I did.

Festively delicious.

The result is a creamy, subtly flavorful oatmeal that requires little to no additional sweeteners. It’s seriously amazing, especially with an extra dash of cinnamon on top. I am so very glad I decided to give this a try.

I’m already thinking of what else I could do with this discovery. Chocolate Peppermint Stick Oatmeal, using WestSoy’s amazing holiday beverage? Nog Oats spiced with nutmeg?! What do you think – any great oaty ideas?

A Stickily Delicious Delight

/ Kelly / Leave a comment

Oh my goodness, guys – I don’t even know what to say! I’m sorry for the silence – apparently, moving halfway across the country and starting a real job is a bit of a time drain. Who knew?! I’m surprised and happy to note that even in my silence, my wee humble blog has been getting a fair amount of daily hits, so thanks for that! And kudos to those bloggers who manage to post regularly even during busy periods of their lives. You are better bloggers than I!

I “officially” moved into my apartment a week ago, and began work last Monday. Eventually I’ll be doing support writing, but at the moment I’m taking orientation/training classes and will be doing so for the next few months. It’s kind of like being in school again, but I don’t mind – I’m learning lots and lots about the healthcare industry, which is pretty neat. It’ll be great once I start taking classes that pertain to my actual job, but that’ll come later. For now, I’m just enjoying getting paid to learn. :)

Other than that, I’ve been settling into my apartment and learning how to live with a bit less than usual. We don’t have any living room furniture, and my bedroom is pretty bare. Right now I’m blogging from the kitchen table, but generally I sit on my bed or on the floor when I’m using my laptop. Heh. At least my new roommate is really wonderful; we get along swimmingly and I really couldn’t ask for a better situation.

Foodwise, things haven’t been too exciting lately. My company pays monthly, but because I didn’t start at the very beginning of December, I won’t get a paycheck until January. Between paying my security deposit/rent and buying a bed and some random things for the apartment, I’m pretty broke at the moment. Actually, I had to take out a loan from the Bank of Mom and Dad to cover my starting expenses! So, as you can imagine, my eats lately have included mostly potatoes and peanut butter, but, um, not together. Heh.

However, I did receive a sweet package in the mail a few days after I moved in. I won a giveaway from Hungry Hungry Veganos, and the lovely folks from Sweet and Sara sent me a sampler pack of their marshmallows. Needless to say, it was wonderful to receive this little box after a hard day’s work. :P

A sweet surprise.

The sampler included four yummy varieties: Vanilla, Toasted Coconut, Cinnamon Pecan, and Strawberry. I’d never tried vegan marshmallows in the past, so I was extremely excited to give these a shot. Although I’d have liked to do something creative with them, my limited kitchen pantry compelled me to just eat ’em plain for dessert.

Sweet samples.

I didn’t know what to expect, texture-wise, with these little guys, but boy, was I pleasantly surprised! They’re sticky and sweet and chewy and just plain wonderful. Cinnamon Pecan is a fun flavor combination that adds a bit of crunch, while Toasted Coconut is just absolutely delicious. Strawberry is probably my least favorite variety, but it’s still a solid flavor. The plain Vanilla ‘mallows taste like the classy, grown-up version of your standard non-vegan marshmallow, and they are EXCELLENT in a steaming-hot mug of Chocolate Peppermint Stick soymilk. Just sayin’.

I’m so glad I won this giveaway! Sweet and Sara makes a damn good vegan marshmallow, and I’m glad I had the opportunity to try them.

Now I’m going to finish up my handmade holiday cards – I need to mail these out pronto! Ciao, all!

Search Term Hilarity (or, This is a Filler Post)

/ Kelly / 8 Comments

As y’all know if you read my blog fairly regularly, I’m in the process of relocating from Rhode Island to Madison, Wisconsin. Right now I’m actually quite literally relocating, so I’m trying out WordPress’s autopost feature so I can have an update while I get settled in my brandy new apartment. I’m warning you, though, this is all fluff. But it’s fun fluff! Really!

…it’s okay, I’ll understand if you don’t want to keep reading. I’ll be back soon with REAL FOOD from my REAL KITCHEN. Yeehaw! In the meantime, enjoy the fluff.

Search Term Hilarity! (or, Come On, You Know Your Google History is Equally Ridiculous)

I know that in the grand scheme of vegan blogging, my little blog is barely a blip when compared to some of the big-name bloggers on the scene. But that doesn’t mean I don’t get some amusing search terms that lead to my blog! I love checking them every so often, so I’ve compiled a list of my favorites to share with y’all. Who knows – maybe you’ll recognize one as your own! Then you’ll be fAmOuS! Well… not really. Anyway, here we go!

1. sesame seaweed rice balls – Ridiculously enough, this is my most popular search term! Geeze, you review some cheap-arse TJ’s sale item once and suddenly your blog is a hotspot for ball-lovers. Oy.

2. photoshop to wordpress “mac” – Yeah, I use a “Mac,” and it’s pretty “awesome.” Sometimes I use “Photoshop” to “create” random “illustrations.”

3. eating chocolate makes me happy – Me too, dear reader. Me too.

4. how to make kelltle corn toppping – How about, “how to spell?” Might be a more valuable search for you. Although kettle corn is freakin’ delicious, so maybe the thought of making it addled your orthography skillz. Maybe. Wait, how did THREE people spell this the exact same way?! Or was it one person searching three times and never learning how to spell? Wahhh.

5. science the vegga girl body – Am I “the vegga girl”?!? And, um, ain’t no science here – I be an English major, yo!

6. tempt hemp milk sucks – YOU suck. Tempt is yum. Fool!

7. why apples in autumn? – Um, why not?!

8. who makes bliss – YOU MAKE BLISS! But so does eating coconut-based ice cream.

9. cookies not done well – How dare you. My cookies are ALWAYS done well.

10. potatoes corn beans – I’ll take, “Ingredients in Sweet Potato, Corn, & Black Bean Burritos” for $1000, Alex!

11. o o o you know what im talkin about – O o o, no I don’t.

12. traditional cupcakes picture – Ain’t nothin’ traditional about my fun Halloween cupcakes, dude!

13. what is squash quartered – Okay, I know this is difficult, but it is – wait for it – a squash… cut into quarters. BRAIN!SPLOSION AGHHH.

14. you are beautiful mirror – Either someone’s got a pretty attractive mirror or someone else has invented a mirror that tells your reflection that it’s beautiful (which would be pretty awesome). Or, um, maybe it’s just got somethin’ to do with Operation Beautiful.

15. vega vegan blog spiralizer kelly / la vida vegga / kelly vegga – OMGOMGOMG IF ANY OF YOU WERE ACTUALLY SEARCHING FOR ME THEN I LOVE YOU FOREVER AND EVER CUZ NOW I FEEL FAMOUS. If not, disregard this message.

And that’s all for this edition of Search Term Hilarity! We’ll be back to your regularly scheduled – and delicious – programming soon. Ciao, friends!

Chocolate Fail?!

/ Kelly / 1 Comment

I AM LEAVING FOR MADISON TOMORROW MORNING. At 5:55 AM. Good heavens; this is real. I am turning into a real live person with a real live job! Insanity.

Anyway, I have a wee post for now, but then I’m going to try that auto-post feature so that I’ll have some sort of content while I’m busy moving halfway across the country. So, um, keep your eyes peeled for that. In the meantime, here is a small review of yet another drink mix I scored from that giveaway a month or so ago.

I received both the chocolate and the vanilla variations of this vegan protein powder in my bag o’ swag. Although I am a little wary of protein powders as a rule, I gave the vanilla variety a shot last week – I just dumped it into my normal Green Monster and hoped for the best. Unfortunately, the result was nigh undrinkable, unless you are a fan of powdery-flavored/textured beverages. Yeah, um, not me. If I’d used less powder and more actual yummy things, I bet it would’ve been better. But… I didn’t.

After that disappointment, I thought that the chocolate variety might work out better. After all… it’s chocolate, and I’d like to think that anything made with chocolate is automatically going to be delicious.

Sludge?!

Unfortunately, that may not be true. I kept this smoothie simple – the powder, vanilla almond milk, a banana – in the hopes that it would be lovely and thick and delicious, but really it was just thick, like a pudding except not as yummy. Drat. At least it was drinkable. It probably would’ve been more than passable with the addition of some sort of chocolate ice cream, but I was making do with what I had. Oh well. At least I tried.

Well, I’m off to do some final packing and whatnot. Ciao!

Sweets for a Sweet Sister

/ Kelly / Leave a comment

It’ll be my little sister’s 18th birthday in 11 minutes. I guess she’s not actually “little” anymore, what with her being a legal adult now, and what with her being 3 inches taller than me, but you know what? She’ll always be my baby sister.

So when Mom asked me to make some vegan treats to accompany the decidedly non-vegan ice cream cake Rhiannon requested for her family party yesterday, how could I refuse? I decided to whip up a batch of the Cookies ‘n Cream Cupcakes from VCTOTW using some accidentally-vegan Oreos.

Yum in my tum.

Mmm. I love that this frosting looks and works best just haphazardly slapped on top of the cupcakes. Don’t get me wrong; I enjoy whipping out the ol’ pastry bag and piping beautiful swirls of frosting atop my cuppers, but for reasons of time and laziness, this method gets an A+ in my book. And these little guys didn’t just look pretty. Suffice it to say that these cuppers were absolutely delicious and received rave reviews from the omnis who tried them. Great success!

Even though my sissie was feeling a little under the weather on the day of her party, it was still a great evening. All our little cousins showed up, even the ones from out of state, and we had fun bonding with the kids and being amazed at their boundless energy. So even though Rhiannon had to head back to college today (she was home for Thanksgiving break) and therefore won’t be spending her actual birthday with us, it was okay. We enjoyed the time we had together, and that’s really all that counts.

So, happy birthday, little sister. :)

My wonderful sissie.

Reflections on Thanksgiving

/ Kelly / 2 Comments

You’d think – what with the fact that Thanksgiving is a pretty food-centric holiday – that I’d have some photos of our T-day spread. But do I? No, no I do not. But trust me on this – it was a good one.

Since going vegetarian ~4 years ago, Thanksgiving and I have had a bit of a rocky relationship. There was the year when Mom didn’t realize that I wouldn’t want to eat gravy made from turkey juice, and then the general lack of interesting side dishes (my family keeps our veggies simple, for the most part) made Thanksgiving a bit boring. So it was no wonder that I was a bit apprehensive about my first Thanksgiving as a vegan. But then I decided to take matters into my own hands to make sure I wouldn’t be dissatisfied when we all sat around the table, forks in hand, ready to dig into our plates heaped high with yummy food.

First, I decided to add a new veggie to our traditional side dishes. I was inspired by this post on shredded and roasted Brussels sprouts, so I decided to give it a try. Then I wanted to make a vegan pumpkin pie, so I checked out VegWeb and decided that with so many five-star ratings and good reviews, this one looked promising. Finally, I wanted to make a vegan version of the cranberry-orange bread that is an appetizer-table staple at our Thanksgivings. VegWeb provided me with the recipe for Sweet and Spicy Cranberry-Orange Bread, which I happily made on Thanksgiving Eve along with the pie.

This year, my family was lucky in that my aunt from Colorado is staying with us for a couple of weeks. Since she is also vegan, I knew I’d have an ally in the kitchen. My mom is also mostly vegan these days, so between the three of us we made darn sure that there was enough cruelty-free mashed taters, gravy, and stuffing to keep our plates full even during second helping time.

So, the results? I have to say, this was the most delicious and satisfying Thanksgiving experience I think I’ve ever had. My plate was so full of colorful, beautiful vegetables and the other aforementioned Thanksgiving accoutrements that I couldn’t help but smile at it. Besides my Brussels sprouts, we had broccoli, corn, homemade cranberry sauce, and an absolutely delicious roasted yam and apple dish that my aunt made. I ate two big plates at dinnertime, but when dessert time rolled around, I still had room to test out my pumpkin pie.

Happily, the pie was really yummy. I’d been a little concerned about it because it sort of separated from the sides while baking, but it tasted just fine. The tofu wasn’t noticeable at all, other than a tiny textural weirdness I noticed after each bite. I wish I’d gotten an omni’s reaction, but between the non-vegan apple pie, lemon meringue pie, and cheesecake, the omnis in the family had their mouths too full to try some humble pumpkin pie. And the cranberry-orange loaf was phenomenal! My vegan aunt especially loved it; she doesn’t do a lot of baking and was surprised at how easily it could’ve fooled an omni.

I was also gratified when my cousin’s wife asked for my Brussels sprouts recipe. I didn’t season the sprouts with anything more exciting than olive oil, salt, pepper, and a bit of garlic, but I think shredding them made them easier to eat and allowed for lots of more of those crunchy bits to form. Yum!

Of course, there were some less than-pleasant-moments when my omni cousin felt it necessary to comment on the alleged quality of vegan food and the superiority of stuffing cooked inside a dead bird’s body cavity, but I made a conscious effort not to let it get to me. I wanted to enjoy my food, my family, and the day itself. I’m happy to say I did just that.

So, Thanksgiving? Greeeat successss! :)

Sorry for the boring, picture-less post! I’m making cupcakes for my sister’s big 18th birthday party, so I’ll be back with those soon.

Happy, Happy, Happy Thanksgiving

/ Kelly / 3 Comments

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends! To the rest of you, happy Thursday – I hope it’s excellent.

I’m posting at quarter past midnight after spending a wonderful evening baking with my mom and sister and then playing a fun new game (San Juan) with my parents and brother. Now I’m going to do a little more packing (I move in a week! EEK!) and then head to bed to rest up for the big day tomorrow. Here’s a little peek at the scene in the kitchen this evening:

Cavorting in the kitchen?!

Rhiannon takes a break from her celery-chopping duties and pretends to down some nutmeg while I whip up a pumpkin pie and look skeptical… silly sisters!

I thought about making a big, photo-filled “I’m Thankful For XYZ” post today, but instead I’ll keep it simple. I’m thankful for a supportive, loving family; for wonderful, loyal friends (both bloggy friends and “real life” friends!); for my two sweet doggies (you’ll meet them soon!); for the fact that I am soon going to be starting a great new job in the middle of an economic slump; and finally, for the simple fact that I am able to celebrate Thanksgiving in comfort.

With that, I’ll end this post. I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving, the one day when overeating is practically requisite. ;) Enjoy!

Aunt Irma & PMS Escape

/ Kelly / 2 Comments

Last night, I did a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad thing.

I told my mom to shut up.

And not in the “Aw, shut up, Ma, you silly girl, you!” way. Not in the quintessential 90s-styled “shut UP!” manner, either. Nope, I straight-up said, “Shut up, Mom,” rude as can be. I was immediately taken aback by my words; my eyes went wide and I apologized as I saw the hurt in her eyes.

There was no good reason for it, either. I was on my laptop, purchasing plane tickets for both of us and trying to figure out pricing and make sure we were on the same flight. She was sitting too close to me and leaning over my shoulder and commenting, and my weird-ass personal space issues and love of doing things myself issues flew up and resulted in a moment of supreme irritation, when I lost my temper and yelled at her.

Maybe  saying “shut up” doesn’t seem like  a big deal, but my parents never, ever swore or told us to shut up when my siblings and I were kids. We were raised in a household of mutual respect between parents and children, and although my feisty spirit occasionally manifested itself in some less-than-respectful diatribes directed at my parents (especially during my teenage years!), generally we maintained that respect. So, naturally I was a little weirded out by the way those words had poured out of my mouth, unpremeditated and unwanted.

Afterwards, I was in my room thinking about the incident when I happened to notice the remaining goodies from the Pixiepine drink mix giveaway I won. A PMS Escape drink mix was atop the pile, and when I saw it I had one of those super-cliche lightbulb moments.

“Aha!” I thought. “Aunt Irma is on her way – no wonder I got so irritated and overreacted!” Oh, you’re not familiar with Aunt Irma? Maybe you know her as Aunt Flo[w]? Or the Crimson Tide? Yeah. Well, no matter – an Aunt Irma by any other name would result in the same utter crap of PMS.

I hate PMS. Hate, hate, hate it. I despise feeling out of control and knowing that my hormones are controlling my feelings and, occasionally, behaviors. Some months, I just get angry and irritated. Others, I start tearing up at a cheesy episode of Golden Girls or a tender moment in a book. Occasionally, I have extremely rough patches, where for months at a time I totally lose control and experience extreme PMDD symptoms. It straight-up sucks.

Enter this PMS Escape mix. I’m pretty skeptical when it comes to stuff like this, but I figured, what the heck? I’ll give it a try! According to this website, PMS Escape “is a patented blend of simple and complex carbohydrates that are clinically shown to elevate serotonin levels… reduc[e] irritability… improv[e] mood” and “decreas[e] feelings of stress.” Huh. Not bad. I was going to drink it last night, but then I noticed that the package said to take it on an empty stomach (one hour before eating or two after). I’d just had a delicious dinner of Dad’s veggie chili, and I was about to pop some apple crisp into the oven to enjoy during The Office, so I decided to wait until this morning.

How very... pink.

So as soon as I woke up, I poured myself a glass of water and stirred in this shockingly pink powder. Now, I never drank Kool Aid as a kid, and I tend to steer clear of most powdered drink mixes, so I had no idea what to expect as far as taste. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. It tasted similar to a Vitamin Water, except slightly more unnatural, but not in a really offensive way. If it had been way too sugary and fake fruit-y, I probably wouldn’t have been able to stand it, but I didn’t have a problem with this drink. Unfortunately, I think I didn’t use enough water, so a bunch of powder gathered on the bottom of the glass, making the last few sips pretty impossible to swallow. All in all, though, it wasn’t bad.

As far as effectiveness, well, I don’t really know! I didn’t feel very irritated all day long, but who knows if that had anything to do with the drink. I’d assume this is the sort of thing you need to drink a few times for the vitamins and minerals to do whatever it is they’re supposed to do to balance you out, so I didn’t really expect to get results from one glass of the stuff. But I figured it couldn’t hurt to try, and who knows – maybe it did help. I’d certainly try it again if another packet came my way. :)

Also, random – after writing this post I Googled “period euphemisms,” cuz they’re fun and I’m weird, and this PPK thread was the third result. I LOVE VEGANS SO HARD.

Things I Learned in Madison + a Very Green Smoothie

/ Kelly / 2 Comments

So you know how I’ve been blabbing about going to Madison to apartment hunt? Well, I went, I met my new roommate, we looked at lots of apartments, and we eventually filled out an application. Exciting! It was a great weekend which provided me with fodder for a list of Things I Learned in Madison:

1. Afghan food is really yummy.
2. Afghan food is really yummy except also kind of evil when it hides egg yolks in a salad dressing.
3. The best way to convince hardcore omnis that being vegan isn’t so difficult might very well be to assent to lunch at McDonald’s, then eat a surprisingly filling salad and prove that finding vegan food is not actually all that difficult.
4. Being in a McDonald’s after not entering a fast food joint for years is sort of depressing.
5. I am an inveterate people-pleaser.

Number five was the sort of revelation that shouldn’t have been revelatory. The apartment we chose isn’t in downtown Madison; it’s much more on the outskirts of the city, practically in farmland. This is what my roommate wanted, and although I’d have preferred something smaller and more centrally located, I’d rather have her be happy and content with a larger apartment than make a fuss and have her be dissatisfied later. I don’t know if that’s a good quality or if it has something to do with my history of low self-esteem and desire to please everybody without becoming a hassle, but there it is. At least the place we chose is right on the bus line, so my carless self will have easy access to downtown. Hooray for that.

Anyway, enough pseudo-introspection – onto the food! I tried Vega Whole Food Smoothie Infusion for the first time today, since there was a packet included in the drink mix giveaway I won a few weeks ago. I decided to just add it to my normal Green Monster, which resulted in an Extra Green Green Monster. Heh.

Mmm, green.

You may notice that my smoothie seems rather diminutive. This is because we only had half a banana left, so I had to scale down my Green Monster. I used less kale and soy milk than usual, but I still dumped in the entire Vega packet. This is probably why my smoothie seemed a little grainy and powdery; I’m sure if I’d had more liquid, it would’ve worked out better. But the taste didn’t disgust me and I had no problem finishing it, so that’s good, right? I’d love to try Vega with an all-fruit smoothie – maybe next time! All in all, I approve. :)

I wanted to say that I needed this infusion of greenery to make up for unhealthy eating while in Madison this weekend, but then I realized that it wasn’t actually true! I ate pretty healthily in Madison, in part because I always travel with a stash of raw food and/or granola bars. Something like a Raw Revolution bar makes a great hotel breakfast and fills me up for a few hours. I also got to experience a small taste of Madison’s wonderful restaurants when I had dinner at an Afghan place and had a tasty spinach, potato, and carrot stew. I can’t wait to try more restaurants when I move out there for good IN TWO WEEKS.

…AHH!

A Call to Action

/ Kelly / 2 Comments

Hey, everyone! I’ve returned from my weekend apartment hunting in Madison! Happily, my new roommate and I were successful in our search and are just waiting to hear back about the applications we turned in yesterday. More about that later; now I’ve got to talk about something much more important.

Hopefully everyone is aware of Chocolate-Covered Katie‘s wonderful charity page view drive, Operation Chocolate-Covered Kindness, and hopefully you’ve all been clicking your little hearts out lately. Unfortunately, one rather sad individual left Katie a mean-spirited comment, accusing her of faking things on her blog and manufacturing the charity drive as a way to make money for herself. Understandably, Katie was upset by this accusation, and responded here. As you might imagine, devoted CCK fans have left lots of lovely supportive comments, but I think we can do more. So I’m challenging all of you to double your Operation Chocolate-Covered Kindness efforts, starting right now. Go over to Katie’s blog and spend a few extra minutes following links and checking out all her recipes. Let’s show our support for Katie and her project by making it even more successful!

Charity has never looked better.

Look, I’ll make it easy for you – here for your viewing ease are a few links to some tantalizing CCK recipes. Go wild! Click away! And let Katie know that one sour grape doesn’t have to spoil the whole bunch. ;)

Get your healthy, raw Fudge Babies here!
Learn how to perform the amazing Melted Banana Trick!
Celebrate the season with Pumpkin Pie Mousse!