Vegannifer!

My new address

Jennifer — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 17:12:04 +0000

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

Jennifer — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 02:59:15 +0000

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

Jennifer — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 13:57:49 +0000

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

Jennifer — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 03:28:33 +0000

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!

Jennifer — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 15:51:36 +0000

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

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…

Jennifer — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 15:55:04 +0000

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

Jennifer — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 16:57:34 +0000

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:

Winnie
Kim
Momo
Nik
Maria
Sherry
Tami
Maida
Elisabeth

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

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

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!

Hello birthday, goodbye MoFo!

Jennifer — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 02:51:26 +0000

Today is my birthday. I’m 34. My Dad turned 58 yesterday. A few years ago, 58 was an incomprehensible age. Now, it feels like I’m closing in on it quickly. I was 30 when I had my first daughter and that puts into perspective for me just how young my parents were when they had me (and I was their third!). Despite lamenting growing older, I still had a really nice, but low-key day.

I felt like having some falafel on my birthday, so my husband stopped at Lavash and picked up two sandwiches, some dolmades, some hummus and some lentil soup.

It was the perfect birthday dinner. Lavash’s lentil soup is undoubtedly the best I’ve ever had. Also, I asked my husband to make sure the tahini sauce was vegan and, not only did the employee know that it WAS vegan, she also let him know that their garlic sauce is vegan, too. He told her how awesome it was that she knew so much about the food and was able to tell him – without having to ask the chef – that the ingredients were vegan. She said that they make all the food from scratch in-house, so all the employees know what goes into it. I love it!

For dessert, I made the Apple Pie Cupcake (except I made a cake) recipe from 500 Vegan Recipes. I filled and frosted with an altered version of the vanilla frosting from the Babycakes book.

The cake was moist and light and was just the perfect amount of sweetness (I halved the sugar called for in the recipe). I can’t wait to taste the cake again tomorrow after it’s had a chance to settle into itself overnight. I think all the flavors are going to get along really well and turn into something spectacular. I won’t be surprised if I eat a slice morning, noon, and night until the cake is gone!

So, that’s what I ate today on what is not only my birthday, but the last day of Vegan MoFo 2010. I had a great time participating this year and, looking ahead to 2011, I think I’ll try to settle on a simple theme to make things a little easier on myself. I haven’t a clue what that theme will be, but luckily I have a whole year to ponder it! I met all of my goals but one – to create an original recipe. It’s cool, though, because I feel like that’s not something for which I really need to set a deadline. After taking such a long break from cooking to instead take care of my babies, I’m glad to have gotten back to spending more time in the kitchen and to honing my skills as a cook. I do think I improved over the month and I don’t anticipate returning to the way things were a few months ago when my family ate veggie burgers several nights a week. It was great to meet some new bloggers and discover new recipes and I hope to keep up with many of you for a long time to come! If you feel like sharing, how was your MoFo experience?

Weekend Recap

Jennifer — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 03:53:52 +0000

Hey, Readers! I have a contest going until late on November 30th. Check it out: http://vegannifer.wordpress.com/2010/11/27/end-of-mofo-pattycake-bakery-t-shirt-giveaway

Well, it’s the eve of the last day of MoFo and I never would have guessed my month would come to such a culinarily anticlimactic end. I cooked up some pretty good eats all month long and then I just got sort of lost in the frenzy of the Thanksgiving holiday. Each of the five days prior to today were jam-packed with activities, to many of which I was not required to bring food. I did get to see my 4 month-old niece who lives with my bro and SIL in LA. That was a fantastic treat and I can’t believe she’ll be almost 11 months old when I next see her. Columbus and LA are much too far apart.

My 34th birthday is tomorrow and my Dad’s 58th is today. It was awesome to have the whole family together last night for a joint birthday celebration. Pasta was on the menu, as was some crisp salad and incredibly tasty wine (as the birthday girl, I had the pleasure of finishing off the bottle). For dessert, I made two 8″ rounds of the pumpkin chocolate cake from 500 Vegan Recipes and filled it with the vanilla frosting from the Babycakes cookbook and frosted it with Babycakes’ chocolate frosting. Pure deliciousness and easily the most blog-worthy food item I produced over the past week.

Now life will return to a bit of normalcy for the next two weeks until Christmas preparations become my highest priority. We’re keeping it low-key gift-wise for the girls this year, but hopefully we’ll find numerous other ways to make the holiday special.

I’ll be back tomorrow with a birthday food rundown and a final farewell to MoFo 2010, but, until then, and only if you feel like sharing, what is one thing you do or your family does to make this time of year special?

End of MoFo Pattycake Bakery T-Shirt Giveaway

Jennifer — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 03:24:11 +0000

The end of Vegan MoFo is nearing, but not without one last hurrah! To celebrate the end of another fun and food-filled MoFo, the talented folks from Pattycake Bakery have agreed to send a Pattycake Bakery t-shirt to one of you lucky readers! Check out one of their awesome tees:

My husband, my toddler, and I all have Pattycake shirts and they’re super comfortable. If you want one of your very own, just leave a comment here by 11:59PM EST on Tuesday, November 30th, letting us all know what your favorite vegan baked good is and Random.org will help me pick a winner whom will be announced on December 1st. My thanks in advance to Pattycake Bakery for sponsoring this contest! Columbus is a cool city, but Pattycake alone is reason enough to come visit!

On a food-related note, the last few days have been a whirlwind of activity and I’ve not spent much time at all in the kitchen. For Thanksgiving, I just made more African Sweet Potato soup and some vegan mac and cheese and I just made pizza for dinner last night. We ate at my parents’ house tonight and my Mom made a totally incredible vegan chili with red quinoa, which I’d love to recreate. I hope to have at least one more food post before MoFo ends. If you feel like sharing, what do you have planned for these last few days of MoFo?