Tag Archives: Being vegan

Sweet Potato Brownies | VEGAN

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I make these so often, I can probably do it in my sleep. They are always requested by my son and DIL. The kids don’t eat chocolate, so it’s a grownup treat ONLY.

It’s SOOO easy and SOOO yummy.

Even if you’re not #vegan, don’t skip this recipe. I bet you’ll find it’s worth a try, especially if you love chocolate as much as I do.

It was so good, I’ve made it twice. The first time I used only five ingredients:

*Sweet potato, one cup cooked VERY SOFT and mashed
*Nut butter (I used almond), 1/2 cup
*Maple syrup, 1/3 cup
*Vanilla, one teaspoon
*Cocoa, 1/3 cup

Blend all ingredients by hand or in a food processor. Spread in a pie plate or small square baking dish.

Bake at 350 degrees for about twenty minutes. Let sit until completely cool.

If you have the time, the flavors are enhanced if it’s refrigerated or even frozen. I cut them into bite-sized pieces ‘cos it’s really rich.

You don’t actually NEED frosting, but who ever said no to more chocolate? Here’s my best baking hack for that…
https://enchantedseashells.com/2014/09/17/best-baking-hack-ever/

The results can be a bit dense; sometimes I add 1/4 cup all-purpose flour or buckwheat flour. It would also be easy to blend some oats for oat flour, so that’s definitely an option.

YUM. Delicious AND healthy!

P.S. This recipe isn’t overly sweet, so if you want to add more maple syrup or even a LITTLE sugar, go ahead. I thought it was perfect without any additional sweetener, but I’m a choco-holic.

The Plot Express: Vegan Fast Food Restaurant Review

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I’m always excited when a new vegan eatery opens up near me. I don’t often eat out, so it’s a real treat.

I’ve visited Veggie Grill at least a dozen times. It’s a fast-casual vegan restaurant chain that operates in California, Oregon, Washington, Illinois, Massachusetts, and New York. 

I’ve always been happy with my menu choices at VG. I love their soups and incredible (vegan, of course) Caesar salad. It’s described as romaine and tender kale tossed with Caesar dressing, mushroom crisps, ciabatta croutons, capers, almond Parmesan, and hemp hearts.

It’s consistently fresh and delicious. When I bring home what I can’t finish at the time, it holds up well.

The Plot Express. sister to the Plot Restaurant in Oceanside (haven’t been there), opened a while ago with positive online reviews, so I looked forward to giving it a try.

The first time I had the Superior Crunch Wrap with faux chorizo. I’m not usually a fan of meat replicas, but this was crunchy and yummy, albeit a bit heavy on the sodium for my taste buds.

The next time I tried The Plot Express, I thought I’d order their version of a Caesar salad for a real comparison with The Veggie Grill. The menu describes it as romaine lettuce, pickled onions, house parmesan, lemon preserves, croutons, and zesty Caesar dressing with Plot faux chicken bites.

It was a disappointment in every way. The lettuce was old, mostly full of white romaine ribs, not many leafy greens, and to make it even worse, I bit into the giant stem end of the romaine. The entire salad was drenched in so much dressing that it was barely edible with far too many croutons. The faux chicken bites were OK, but not necessary. They didn’t seem to have been freshly prepared, although I don’t really know for sure.

We were served in the outside patio. I brought the salad inside to show them the romaine stem end and the giant white ribs, but only received a lukewarm and not satisfying response.

Here’s a photo of the salad where you can see the stem end and inedible romaine ribs. It doesn’t look very appealing but I did appreciate the compostable plates and forks.

The other comparison was in their version of french fries. I LOVE french fries, but rarely indulge myself because I don’t often eat fried foods OR potatoes, so it’s a real treat when I discover great ones.

The Plot Express only offers cheesy (vegan) truffle fries. I know truffle anything is trendy right now, but I don’t like it, never have. I desire a pure, unadulterated fry that’s crispy on the outside and comfortingly squidgy on the inside, served piping hot. A friend ordered it and I searched for a fry that wasn’t completely saturated in the sauce, but it wasn’t yummy enough to make me want another bite.

Veggie Grill’s Golden fries are everything one would hope for in a fry and I’ve never been let down. I’ve also tried their Sweet Potato fries which are equally yummy.

Here’s my overall independent and non-biased review of these two vegan “fast casual” restaurants.

  1. Veggie Grill is consistently fresh, tasty, and delightful. I WILL always be happy to eat there.
  2. The Plot Express is more expensive and not up to my standards. Expensive, soggy old lettuce gets a failing grade from me. Although I like the location in Carlsbad, I won’t return. It was not a great experience.

To sum it up, for me, Veggie Grill is a consistent winner, not so much for The Plot Express. Thanks to a comment by Kevin from https://adifferentkitchen.org/, I’ll update the review to clarify that VG is also more affordable. Here’s their menu: https://veggiegrill.com/menu/

DISCLAIMER
I received no payment or other compensation for this review. I paid full retail price for my food. I have no affiliation or relationship with either restaurant. My opinion is simply my opinion.

Witches Brew | Fresh Juice Detox

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I haven’t done a food related post in a while…

I think I was inspired by my garden beets to revisit the addition of fresh veggie juices to my diet, as a liver detox cleanse and all around desire to only bring good things into my body.

Not too much prep; it’s easy!

I used beets, cucumbers, carrots, cilantro, ginger water (previously prepared*), celery, an apple, a little broccoli, and some garden kale/chard.

This time I didn’t use a juicer, I cut the veggies into smaller pieces to make it easy for the blender along with 32 ounces of water and zapped the life out of them.

What I got was more actual nutrition than a juicer because I strained it and added the small amount of leftover pulp to a pot of veggie soup I was cooking. It would be equally beneficial to add to the mix for veggie burgers.

It was absolutely delicious.I added an extra shot of ginger water because I love the spiciness. I’m out of lemons or that would have been an awesome flavor, too.

Why cilantro, you might ask? Cilantro is a powerful antioxidant and has been used to remedy a variety of liver and pancreas problems. Some people love it, some don’t.

Drink this juice to help cleanse your liver. I’m not aware of any specific issues with my own liver but I simply wanted to give it a little TLC, and if it energizes my metabolism to lose a couple pounds, I’d be ecstatic.

Our liver is not the loudest of organs as it’s not quick to show visible symptoms when something is wrong. It’s actually a multi-tasking hero that often doesn’t get enough credit. Our liver supports digestion, metabolism, detoxification, blood and hormone regulation, the immune system, and more and we mostly ignore it — or abuse it with alcohol and fatty fried foods, and MEAT.

I’ve been drinking this concoction for a few days — not a fast, although it would be great for that, too. Simply knowing I’m helping this hardworking part of my body makes me feel like I’m doing a lot of necessary self-care and preventative maintenance, like changing the oil on your car, which I confess I NEVER do.( Uh oh.)

Love your liver!

Recipe by Enchanted Seashells

*To make ginger water: Take a decent sized piece of ginger, scrape the skin, slice into rounds. Toss in a pot of filtered water to heat until simmering. Cook for fifteen or so minutes, let cool, and store in a glass jar in refrigerator. I add it to smoothies, juices, and tea.

World Vegan Day | November 1

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“Every time we eat, we have the power to radically transform the world we live in.” Ed Winters

 From the amazing and dedicated Earthling Ed:

“Happy #WorldVeganDay everyone. I hope that you can take five minutes today to tune into my new short film which will be live on my YouTube at 6pm (GMT).

It would mean the world to me if you watched the film and shared it with someone in your life who still consumes dairy products. World Vegan Day would be a wonderful day for them to make the change.

Thank you so much for your support as always, I’m so proud of this project and incredibly honoured to have worked with so many kind and talented people on it.”

Earthling Ed (Ed Winters) is a vegan educator, best-selling author, public speaker, and content creator, widely known for his viral debates, speeches, and video essays.

In 2018 Ed announced the opening of Unity Diner, a non-profit vegan restaurant in London where all of the profits go directly back into helping animals.

He was a guest lecturer at Harvard University in 2019 and 2020.

In 2020, Ed founded Surge Sanctuary, a forever home to abused and unwanted animals on an 18 acre site in England. The sanctuary is currently home to more than one hundred rescued animals.
Learn more about him and being vegan at https://earthlinged.org/