VEGAN CHRISTMAS/VEGAN RICE KRISPIE SQUARES

Happy Holidays everyone!

I had the most wonderful christmas. Its nice to be back in Campbell River with my whole family at this time of year. It really makes it feel like Christmas. Especially with my boyfriend here with us now. Since everyone was home for this Christmas my sister, my boyfriend and I decided we would all cook a huge vegan christmas dinner for everyone. We went out shopping and bought TONS of supplies. I made all the desserts the night before. I made my vegan peanut butter cups (here's the link to the recipe, http://herrrbivore.blogspot.ca/2015/01/vegan-gluten-free-peanut-butter-cups.html

and something new! Vegan Rice Krispie Squares which i'm going to share the recipe for on this post. Since I had 10 mouths to feel I figured I'd take the easy way out this year and buy a tofurky roast.( Click on "tofurky roast" to check out the holiday roasts on their website) It was my first time buying the tofurky holiday roast and I was really impressed!! Although a little small for the price of the roast it is seriously scrumptious and saved me SOO much time not having to make my own roast. Plus it came with a jerky wish stick and two huge vegan brownies that were delicious, although crumbly. It made it well worth the $24.99 I spent on it. Everyone really enjoyed it and it pulled the whole spread together. My sister made two huge trays of brussel sprouts that were roasted and eaten faster than anything on the table. My boyfriend helped prep everything with me to make our dishes. I made a turnip, sweet potato, carrot dish baked with onion, garlic and herbs. As well as nugget potatoes, baked. One huge tray of yams, gravies, a huge tray of vegan stuffing which i've already included in my blog post from last holiday season. Check it out here, 

http://herrrbivore.blogspot.ca/2014/10/vegan-seitan-pinto-bean-roast-with.html
There is also a recipe for a vegan seitan roast if you can't afford a tofurky one or you want to make your own from scratch!

I also made 4 stuffed yellow peppers that were stuffed with quinoa salad. Just in case someone extra showed up because in my house, that ALWAYS happens, We all made so many dishes we could have gotten lost in them. Everyone was stuffed completely full for the rest of the night. I think my favorite thing about christmas is the big family meals everyone has together. There is no greater satisfaction than cooking, serving and watching people enjoy your food. Especially when you know no animals were harmed in the making and your meal is 100% cruelty free. 

I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays as much as I did and wish you all the happiest new year.

See you in 2016!!!

VEGAN RICE KRISPIE SQUARE

3/4 of a bag of Dandies Vegan Marshmallows (Click their name if you want a link to their website to check out their awesome products!)
3 tablespoons of earth balance vegan butter, melted
5 cups of Rice Krispie Squares

Now this recipe is pretty easy. The hardest part is making sure you dont overcook your marshmallows. All you have to do is melt your butter in a large frying pan. One that is big enough to fit all your ingredients because this will be where you mix it together. Once your butter is melted add all your marshmallows. It should be at low-med heat. If its too high your marshmallows will go hard and crunchy. If it's too low it won't melt forever so make sure you're keeping an eye on it. Stirring it every couple minutes to make sure it's not sticking, your marshmallows will begin to melt. If its melting uneven you can flip them over to speed it up. That's what I did. Marshmallows tend to melt on one side. I swear to god these marshmallows are SOOOOOOOO much better than regular marshmallows. Not only are they chewy, good for you and satisfying they have a real food like quality to them that regular marshmallows don't. Regular marshmallows seriously gross me out haha. Who wants to eat animal bone!?!?! So while you wait for your marshmallows to melt make sure you're stirring them together to make a big pile of melted marshmallow. Once they are completely melted (around 10 minutes) begin to add your rice krispies one cup at a time. Reduce your heat to low.

Stirring while adding to make sure they are being incorporated evenly and doesn't turn into one big, gross clump. Once you have added all your rice krispies and everything is stirred in evenly remove the frying pan from heat and turn your burner off.

 Slightly oil two pans or one big one to press your rice krispie squares into. Pour an even amount into both pans and begin to press down with a spatula. This is forming your rice krispie squares so the more compact and tightly stuck together the better. So press it down for a good couple minutes but don't over do it or your rice krispie squares will get crushed.

Once you've pressed it all together nice and tight you can cover your rice krispie squares with either saran wrap or a plate. Make sure not to put them in an airtight container though or they will get completely rock hard. They need to be able to breath. These were a huge hit for my christmas dessert and everyone loved them and said they were just like regular rice krispie squares! Even my dad who HATES trying my vegan food. Hahaha. Hopefully you and your family enjoys this as much as mine did .
Happy Cruelty Free Cooking!

VEGAN KORMA CURRY

Hey everyone! WOW, It's been a while. Life is great and things are wrapping up nicely for 2015. I've been working my butt off at 2 jobs now so I've been SERIOUSLY busy. Between that, christmas shopping, baking, cleaning, cooking etc.. life has been non stop!  I recently got a new oven so you'll be getting some brand new awesome recipes from me for the holiday season. My boyfriend and I also went to Vancouver to see L7!!!!! Which was probably one of the best moments of my life. Ive loved that band since I was 13 so there was some serious nostalgia at that show. We also went to CARTEMS DONUTERIE while in Vancouver. YOU NEED TO GO. If you haven't stop everything you're doing and go right now. They blew me away. Stole my heart. Their earl grey donut made my week. Also the vegan apple fritters AND the apple pie stuffed donuts!? It's like I had died and gone to heaven. I really love donuts. Always have, always will. We carried home a box just so we could enjoy them at home hehehe. I did hear a rumour that they are going to make ALL their donuts vegan. Not sure if it's true yet but wouldn't that be neat!!

 I attached a link to their website on their name above if you'd like to check them out!

I figured I should check up on everyone and give you another awesome recipe to make during this holiday season. I'll be back around christmas to make a post about our christmas feast but until then hopefully this satisfies your craving.

Although Korma Curry isn't the traditional dish you'd generally serve at a North American Christmas dinner it's still an awesome dish and definitely deserves being shared. Korma generally is a yogurt or cream based mild indian dish. Generally served with fish, meat or vegetables. I made mine with a coconut cream base. It was splendid! I think a couple scoops of natural coconut based vegan yogurt would have really made it that much better, if you don't have that you can use this recipe and it'll be just as good. I'm going to be exploring a lot more into specific indian dishes to make them vegan style. It's a pretty easy thing to do since a lot of indian dishes are generally vegetarian based. That being said if you're ever in a bind for food in an unknown place you know you can always go to an indian restaurant and find some vegan friendly food. I hope you enjoy my Vegan Korma as much as my partner and I did. We are going to be having the leftovers tonight!

Stayed tuned for some more dishes coming up soon! Happy Cruelty Free Cooking!!

VEGAN KORMA CURRY

Recipe

serves 4

2 cloves garlic, diced

1/4 white onion, diced

4 small potatoes, chopped, boiled then fried

1 can organic chickpeas, drained then rinsed

1 can organic coconut milk

2 big handfuls of spinach, chopped

2 teaspoons ajwain seeds

2 teaspoons coriander*

2 tablespoons curry powder*

1 teaspoon turmeric*

1 1/2 teaspoons garam masala

dash of chili flakes

*ingredients with a star beside them are the ones you can add a little more of if you want a bit more kick to your korma. This dish is generally mild so my spices were according to a mild flavour.

Serve your Korma over a bed of rice. I flavoured mine when I made it

Rice recipe

2 cups water

1 cup basmati rice

2 tablespoons of curry powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon butter, stirred in after rice is finished and cooled a bit

First, put on your rice. I'm sure you all know how to cook rice without a rice cooker but just in case... Add 2 cups of water to a pot and turn to med-hi heat. Add one cup of rice and your spices. Stir in spices so they blend well with the rice. Place lid over pot. Once your pot of rice begins to boil reduce heat to min and open the lid slightly allowing steam to escape. Let cook for 15-20 minutes. Once your rice is done, fluff it with a fork. This helps make it not stick together in a big clump. Once your rice has cooled a bit stir in your butter. This makes your rice creamy and gives it a little extra flavour that pairs really nicely with curry. Place rice off to the side with a lid on top to keep it warm.

Now time to make Korma!

Wash and chop all your vegetables. Grab a medium sized pot. Fill it half full with water and turn to med-hi heat. Place a lid over top. This pot will be to flash boil your potatoes.

This helps give them a good consistency and ensures they are cooked fully. Once the pot of water has come to a boil, add your potatoes. Boil for five minutes. Get a large frying pan. Add some olive oil and turn to med heat. Sautee your garlic and onion with a dash of the ajwain seeds for 5 minutes.

 Drain your potatoes and add them to the frying pan along with your coconut milk, chickpeas and spinach. Stir everything together then add your spices. Mix all your spices in really well. By this point your coconut milk should be bubbling a little bit and that means you're ready to reduce your heat to min, place a lid over top and let it cook for around 25 minutes. You can cook it for a little bit less if you want a more creamy base. If you want a less creamy base cook it for a little longer but keep an eye on it so you don't over cook it. Stir the frying pan every couple of minutes to make sure nothing is sticking. This also helps the spinach blend in with the coconut  milk which helps make your base for the dish. Once you have your desired consistency remove the frying pan from heat and stir it once more. Allow to cool for 5 minutes. Serve it over a bed of rice or some naan bread and there we have it.

Veggie Korma!

A VEGAN'S ROAD TRIP ACROSS CANADA

Hello everyone! I just got back from my 6 week road trip across Canada and it was EPIC. My mom and I started from Vancouver Island and drove all the way to the Prince Edward Islands. We left in the second last week of August and it couldn't have been better. We had amazing weather all along the way and saw so many wild animals! We saw elk, caribou, a bear, deers, a fox, whales, porpoises, a baby moose, tons of cows, herds of bison, tons of horses and big horned sheep. We did so many different things but I would have to say the highlights were; going to Toronto to visit my family, driving on the icefield parkway from British Columbia to the Columbia Icefields, Standing on Glaciers in the Columbia Icefields, Old Quebec City, The red shores of PEI, Banff, All of the 15 waterfalls we saw throughout Canada, riding a boat into Niagara Falls, The hopewell rocks in New Brunswick, the hoodoos in Drumheller, Alberta and of course all of the amazing vegan food I had! It definitely wasn't always the easiest thing finding vegan friendly food everywhere, Especially Alberta! They mean it when they say it's "cattle country". It's hard when you're on the road too because you're not sure what time you're going to pass places and if they will be open or how easy they are to get to. Another concern of ours was that we had a truck and trailer so parking was an absolute MUST. I managed to find a handful of really awesome places all throughout Canada and wanted to share them with you! If you plan on doing a roadtrip to one of these places soon I highly recommend checking out any of these places for some quality cruelty free food. Other than that... bring lots of trail mix and smoothies haha! 

Here's a couple pictures from our travels

A herd of Bison in Alberta

A herd of Elk in Banff. Alberta

My mom and I standing on the Athabasca Glacier 

 A shot of the Columbia Icefield

The red shores in PEI

 Niagara Falls in Ontario

Aldo the donkey that lives in the heart of Old Quebec City

My mom and I at the Hoodoos in Drumheller, Alberta

The Hopewell Rocks in New Brunswick

Kakabeka Falls in Ontario

Montmorency Falls in Quebec

Old Quebec City in Quebec

First stop! Banff. The Wild Flour Bakery. (link attached to name)

Now unfortunately I can't seem to find any of my pictures from this particular place but it was really good!! I got a coffee, blueberry muffin, granola bar and vegan cookie and everything was perfection. It's locally owned which is always good and the people there were really friendly. I really hope to go back to Banff soon so I can revisit this place and get some pictures because it was super cool inside. If you're making a stop to Banff be sure not to miss this place, they are only open till four! Check out their website for more info! Since I don't have a picture of this place I will leave you with this, 

The Bow River in Banff, AB

Next stop Saskatoon, Saskatchewan!

The Griffin Takeaway

*link to their website attached

The griffin takeaway was amazing! It was a really cute store. I wish I got a shot of the inside. They had a bunch of baked goods and different treats in cold cases in the front as well as a menu to order from on the back wall. Its all feel good food. Comfort food. Tons of gluten free options and everything looked AMAZINGGG. You could tell these people were pros. Definitely a must if you're in the area. You won't find anything like it around there! Haha. I had an avocado sandwich with artichokes and roasted red pepper on their housemade bread(which was the best vegan,gluten free bread I had ever had.)I also got a vegan, creamy, curry cauliflower soup, a vegan blueberry muffin and a vegan peanut butter nanaimo bar. Everything was way too good and I was super impressed. I highly recommend them! Check it out! 

Next stop, Winnipeg Manitoba!

Falafel Place *there is a link attached to their name

My falafel with fries and banana peppers on it.

Housemade onion rings!

This place was SO GOOD. If you're looking for something hot, spicy and filling come to falafel place. You will not be disappointed. By the time I finished my israeli falafel (which is 8 falafel balls, hummus, lettuce, tahini and fries inside a pita topped with banana peppers) I could barely even eat the onion rings. I obviously did eat them because I mean, LOOK AT THEM. They were super good. Best vegan onion rings I had had in a long time. With a really interesting, unique menu and a really chill atmosphere inside it made for the perfect stop on our trip after doing some long drives. I would say it's a must do if you're in the Winnipeg area. It was one of my favourite places along the trip. ABSOLUTE must do for falafel lovers. You will think you'd died and gone to heaven. Check out their website to see all the funky stuff on their menu. 

Next stop, Toronto Ontario.

This was my FAVORITE place on my trip. Of all the vegan places I went to this one stole my heart.

The big carrot *click the name for the link

My vegan jambalaya and vegan shrimp with a veggie samosa!

The big carrot is the BOMB. So much to choose from where do I begin. The cafe there is to die for. I have never seen such a diverse arrangement. They had ANY type of food you could think of. 

Established in 1983 from a group of individuals who dreamed of an organic, non gmo market to shop at, the big carrot is the best destination in the city for health nuts. I had SO many different things here. Vegan muffins, vegan shrimp, vegan butter chicken, a vegan butter chicken wrap, fancy yogurts and health bars. I could go on forever. I stocked up here for most of my drive home. The prices are really good and the service is great. Although there was so many other places to go in Toronto for vegan food, this one impressed me the most. The store itself looks really funky inside and there is a juice bar/coffee shop connected to the building as well as the cafe. If I lived in Toronto it would be very hard not to spend my entire pay cheque here. ABSOLUTE must check out if you're in Toronto. I wouldn't have even found it if my uncle didn't take me there so I'm really grateful for that!

I went a couple other places in Toronto like

Live Organic Food Bar *click name for link 

I got a really fancy burrito and it was good but my dessert totally blew it out of the water. It was so good for you and yummy to eat!  Highly recommended for their desserts! If you're looking for a healthy treat this is the place to go!

The only place I ran out of time to go to that I really wanted to check out was Apiecalypse now pizza in Toronto!
http://www.apiecalypsenow.com/gallery/home/

This place looks really neat with tons of innovative pizza ideas and a punky theme that totally sets the right mood. If you're looking for a slice this is the place to go. There's tons of snacks and baked goods there as well. One day I will go back to Toronto and I will go here!! I'm still highly recommending it though because I've heard great things and I love punk/metal pizza places!
Check out their website to see their awesome pizza menu!

Next stop, Ward Island in Toronto!

The Island Cafe  *click name for website

This was one of my favorites by far! The centre islands in Toronto are really neat. You take a really really old ferry across for about 15 minutes and BAM, you're in a completely different place. Full of little cottages, hippies and animals this place is a must stop for earth loving tree huggers. We stopped at The Island Cafe to get some food on our travels. This place was COOL. It was set up really neat. You can tell someone did a lot of work to make this place look good. They have a garden outside with amazing flowers. Just go check it out for yourself. You'll love it!

My Thai Tofu wrap from the Island Cafe












Next stop, Montreal Quebec!

The Copper Branch *click the name to see their website!

OH MY GOD. This cafe. Exactly what a vegan would be looking for on the road. It's healthy, quick, there is tons of variety from breakfast to power bowls and tons of house made vegan burgers. The entire place is vegan. They have a huge menu to choose from. I honestly could have come to this place several times as I wanted to try EVERYTHING on their menu. I only went once though and I had the tofu scramble breakfast sandwich with a smoothie. Everything was perfect though. It felt like I was at home. You could really tell they were making everything from scratch. Highly recommended if you're wandering around downtown Montreal looking for something plant based to eat. They are opening more locations as well. Check their website to see!

Next stop, Fredericton New Brunswick
Isaac's Way 
*click the name to check out their site

This place was AWESOME. What a spot for a restaurant. Right on the Saint John River. In a building that was made in 1858. With indoor and patio seating! It had a great relaxing vibe and it was busy so you know it's good! We choose the patio of course because of the amazing view.

The food was great. With a real farm to table mentality you can tell these people carry some strong ethics about their cooking. They accommodated the whole vegan thing very well. With lots of options of their menu for everyone, it's a good restaurant to go to if you're with a crowd of meat eaters, vegetarians and vegans. My mom had these zucchini egg patties that looked phenomenal and I had their Peanut Thai Tofu. The sauce was done REALLY well. I thoroughly enjoyed it and was completely stuffed afterwards. Even though the place was really busy the atmosphere was so lovely I didn't even feel like leaving when I was done. This is the place to go if you're looking for a place to go out and eat in Fredericton!  

Next stop, Charlottetown PEI

Freshii

Now unfortunately I don't seem to have tons of photos from Freshii but it was great! It's a chain opening up across Canada. They have great choices for every kind of eater. Its an innovative alternative to "fast food." All the food they have there is healthy. Really healthy. Its pretty awesome. Also its inexpensive. So if you're a traveller whose looking to get your protein for cheap, look for a freshii! I saw quite a bit of them along the way so it should be easy to find. I went to the one in Charlottetown as well as one in Toronto. Both of them were really good! Definitely a place worth checking out. 

Now at this point my mom and I had to decide to turn around and start driving back. 

My next stop is.... MONCTON NEW BRUNSWICK 

I know what you're thinking. What the heck am I going to eat in Moncton? Which is what I thought when we were driving into the place. Its pretty small. Very old. You wouldn't think you'd find any animal free food there because it's mostly fishing/hunting country out there. Luckily for me I managed to find a delightful little treat right in town. 

The Zen Garden.

This was by far the coolest vegan/vegetarian place I went to across Canada. It was the bottom of an old character house that had been converted into a little restaurant. The people that run the place live upstairs. They have a variety of their own teas they make themselves, as well as faux meats, dumplings and other various frozen items you can buy to take home with you. The menu was great. They had pictures, names and descriptions for pretty much all their meals. It was sort of chinese/buddhist cuisine. I had the best vegan dumplings I have ever had there. The presentation of the food was so neat! I loved it. I got a rice roll stuffed with shiitake mushrooms, wrapped in a bamboo leaf! That was something totally new to me and it looked great. The service was great. The food was SO CHEAP. Like seriously CHEAP. If you're starving and you have 5 bucks in your pocket this is the place to be! The owner was super nice and even knew where Campbell River was which was surprising. STOP AT THIS PLACE!!! You will not be disappointed. It was some of my favorite food on my trip.

 

My insane meal of vegan spring rolls, stuffed mushroom roll wrapped in bamboo leaf, shiitake mushroom dumplings and vegan fried rice.

One of my last stops naturally had to be BOON BURGER in WINNIPEG

http://boonburger.ca/

Boon Burger is the BEST. Its 100% vegan. Canadian owned. It's a company with strong ethics which I love. They have an awesome menu with tons of great ideas for different kinds of burgers. It can be a quick take out place or a sit in restaurant. I didn't get a chance to go in and eat but when I went to get my "bacun cheeze burger" it looked really cool inside. A super hip place. Its really nice to go to a burger place that is completely vegan. It's a rare thing to find in the prairies haha. So if you're around Winnipeg don't mess up and miss checking out this place. Click on their website and check out their menu. You will want to make a trip just go to eat there!