My new address

Hello! I am so happy that I took the opportunity to write my Vegannifer! blog, but I realized last winter that lack of time (work, kids, blah de blah) had essentially taken all the joy for me out of preparing food and writing about it (never fear, though; I still do prepare food and I will never lose the joy of eating it!). I’ve decided to stop posting on Vegannifer! and, when the mood strikes me, I’ll post vegan-related stuff on the blog I recently started. Most of what I post there will likely be about my kids, but I hope the blog will evolve more into a personal online journal where I can post ideas, thoughts, feelings, RECIPES (!), photos, et al.

If you’re interested, please visit me over at http://okeydokeyartichokey.wordpress.com/

Best,

Jennifer

Earth Day trip to Loving Hut

My husband and I took the girls tonight to the recently-opened Loving Hut vegan restaurant in Reynoldsburg, OH. We live about 20 miles across town in an area north of Ohio State’s campus and, with an abundance of vegan-friendly restaurants in our area, we’re not often compelled to drive so far for dinner. We couldn’t resist the chance to go to Loving Hut, though, so we headed out and I am so happy we did. Our experience was 100% positive. There were a ton of menu items and I would have happily eaten any (or all!) of them, but I settled on the ladyfingers for an appetizer, for which “like!” was my youngest daughter’s review, and the Thai curry for my entree. My husband had the BBQ sandwich and golden soup and said he anticipates soon craving that meal again. My girls each had a strawberry smoothie and – for once! – no complaints! It might be hard to imagine any kid would complain about having a smoothie for dinner, but my oldest complains about everything dinner-related, so the fact that she didn’t complain even once is a great testament to how good that smoothie really was. Besides the high-quality and DELICIOUS food, the Loving Hut staff were incredibly nice! One was so sweet to my girls and kept calling them “beautiful angels”! So cute!

I really loved the Loving Hut and wish so much that it was closer to home. Hopefully we’ll make it there at least once a month and I recommend for all Central Ohio folks to check it out. It’s an easy trip, too, for anyone passing through Columbus on I-70.

Check it out:

http://www.lovinghut.us/reynoldsburg_01/

Good last-minute, vegan-friendly gift idea

If you still need to buy a vegan-friendly gift for a special someone, check out this great deal from Plum District (a Groupon-like company):

$20 for $40 Worth of Natural Products from Abe’s Market

http://www.plumdistrict.com/deals/abe-s-market-20-for-40-worth-of-natural-products-from-abe-s-market?sub=true&utm_source=Subscribers+List&utm_campaign=f6e2ee7e7e-122110+-+Plum+Deal%3A+%2420+for+%2440+Worth+of+Natural+P&utm_medium=email
Happy Holidays!

Really, really good black bean soup

There’s no picture for this post because I didn’t anticipate this soup being photo-worthy! To my pleasant surprise, this quick and easy black bean soup is (as the blog title says) really, really good!

1 small yellow onion, chopped
2T oil
1 can of light coconut milk
2 cans of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 to 2 cups of water (depending on how thick you want your soup to be)
1T cumin
2t curry powder
1t chili powder
1/2t garlic powder
1/4t celery salt
1/8t chipotle powder
1T Bragg’s or soy sauce
1t vinegar
Sriracha to taste (I probably used a teaspoon or two)

Pour the oil in a large pot set over medium heat and add in the chopped onions. Sauté until onions begin to brown. Add in all remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Remove the pot from the heat and use an immersion blender to puree the soup to the desired consistency. Serve the soup with a dollop of plain soy yogurt or vegan sour cream mixed in. Enjoy!

Vegan Groupon!

Check this out – Groupon Columbus is spreading vegan love today!

$25 for $50 Worth of Prepared Vegan Meals from Wellness Forum Foods in Worthington

Half Off Prepared Meals in Worthington

Wellness Forum Foods

Worthington

$25

Buy

Value

$50

Discount

50%

You Save

$25

Buy it for a friend!

• Time Left To Buy

• 13 hours
• 9 minutes
• 0 seconds

84

bought

The deal is on!

Tipped at 9:01AM with 25 bought

• 

The Fine Print

• Expires Jun 10, 2011
• Limit 1/person, may buy 1 add’l as gift. Valid toward delivery; available in Franklin and Southern Delaware Counties Monday – Friday between 3 pm and 7 pm. Allow 24 hours for delivery. Pickup hours 9-5 daily. May redeem across multiple visits.
• See the rules that apply to all deals.

Overwhelmed…

Wow.  Does anyone feel like it’s hard to even catch your breath these days?  MoFo, Thanksgiving, birthday, now Christmas and being busy, busy, busy at work and then at home with kids.  I originally thought January was going to be dreadful, but now I’m longing for it because maybe it will provide an opportunity for some rest and catching up on all the projects that are currently being ignored.

I hope to get some time this week to let you all in on a few things I’ve cooked up recently and to give a review of Hal and Al’s, a vegan bar here in Columbus at which I FINALLY got to eat this weekend.

I hope you’re all doing well and am I ever in the mood to just sit back and read about some good vegan food!  I’m crossing my fingers that I’ll get the chance soon!

Pattycake T-Shirt Contest Winner

Okay, folks, here we go!

The list of contestant, based on the order in which replies made prior to 11:59PM EST on November 30th were received, is as follows:

1. Winnie
2. Kim
3. Momo
4. Nik
5. Maria
6. Sherry
7. Tami
8. Maida
9. Elisabeth

And the winner, as chosen by Random.org, is……

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

1

Timestamp: 2010-12-01 16:54:54 UTC

#1 – WINNIE!

Congrats, Winnie!  I’ll send you an e-mail with directions on how to claim your tee.

Thanks for playing and Happy Holidays!  Columbus had its first snow of the season this morning!