Vegan Exchange Numero Tres

For our next installment of our Vegan Swap, we were paired to receive goodies from Janessa of Epicurious Vegan. I got to meet Janessa oh-so-briefly last summer at Vida Vegan Con, the extraordinary vegan blogger conference of which she is a co-founder and organizer.

She sent us a super thoughtful and really nice package. I adore the card featuring one of the Portland bridges that she sent (from Lark Press). It makes me even MORE nostalgic for Portland than I usually am when I gaze at it, a daily occurrence because I set it in a prominent place.

She also sent us chocolate, chocolate darling dear chocolate. Fancy and delightful-- one a fig, fennel and almond bar and the other chocolate raspberry. Wow, wow.

And yummy yummy sprouted crackers, which my son couldn't wait to try...India black salt...and lime sugar!!! !!!!  Yes, that's !!!!!!! The black salt really does add a strangely deliciously eggy flavor not usually found in vegan food, and I'm saving/hoarding the lime sugar for some autumn cupcake baking. All of these things are really great and the kind of thing that intrigued me but that I wouldn't necessarily purchase for myself. I think that is one of the great beauties of this idea!

Thank you so much Janessa, and if you, dear reader, are down with trying out the swap, get up in Cat's email box here!

Vegan Exchange Numero Dos

I'm jealous of my past self-- the one who noshed on these cookies and this candy bar.

You may recall that my kid and I are enjoying the vegan exchange run by Cat at The Verdant Life. We had a glitch in that we didn't receive a package in May, but June's package was from Janna over yonder at Nom Vegan Nom. Yeah, ok, Janna's package was SUPERB!

Those multi-seed crackers? Delicious. My son still asks if we have any.
Those chocolate chip cookies? Gone rather quickly.
Those gummi bears? What the what? They were so good.
That chocolate bar? Son never saw it.
Ramen and rice and beans? I had a bachelorette weekend and they were just right for my cooking-for-one lifestyle!

Thank you so much Janna, we loved our goodies but most of all, we loved your card. We are crazy for kitties!

Potluck Picnic in the Park

Even though we haven't been mealgrouping it in the way in which we began, we've all been sharing meals together semi-regularly. I will be posting more on pulling together potlucks later, but I wanted to share our most recent potluck, which was a picnic in a local park. It was summer weather, there were adorable children playing, delightful adults chatting and fireflies as the sun went down! And all of the food was so, so good.

Summer picnic! (photo by Dianne Wenz of Veggiegirl)

The menu included...

• Pasta salad with black beans and cilantro
• Quinoa mushroom risotto
• Bean salad
• Carrot salad with a light lemon dressing
• Corn salad
• Watermelon salad
• Bread with pesto spread
• Slow cooker focaccia 
• Lima/edamame hummus
• Cookie dough balls
• No-bake double chocolate torte (click for the recipe, do not be daunted by the avocado)

...and an adorable baby!

Vegan Exchange Numero Uno

One of my favorite kids and I signed up for The Verdant Life's Vegan Food Exchange. We were paired to send a box to Vegan Princess in an Omni Kingdom and we received an awesome, awesome box from Esther at A,B,C Vegan!

Esther emailed me ahead of time to check in and to ask if we had any particular likes or dislikes. I told her we like a lot of healthy foods but we LOVE chocolate. Man, did she hit the nail on the head with the box that she sent to us!!

1. She sent us brownies from one of our family's favorite bakeries of all time, Sticky Fingers. YES!

2. We also got a fabulous chocolate bar - Sea Salt and Nibs from Madecasse. I highly recommend!

3. She made us chocolate dipped macaroons, which were heaven in a bite. I love chocolate and coconut together.

4. In the healthier category, she sent us Pizza Flavored Flax Snax which are delicious. I've had them before and they are a great healthy, on-the-go snack. She also sent Kaia Food's Garlic and Sea Salt Sprouted Sunflower Seeds. We've enjoyed snacking on these and I also made a yummy kale pesto using them as a base as well.

5. Esther also sent us a very cool card which she made herself! It reflects many of her great attributes: sunny and inspirational.

Are you swooning? I was.

Thank you so much, Esther, for the wonderful package, and thank you to Cat for coordinating this fun swap. It is a great, fun project. Check out some other swaps that went on this month. We're looking forward to next month!

Interested in swappin'?  Then hop on over here and sign up!

Checking In!

Vegan Ice Cream at Go Lightly!

Hello, hello!! We've missed you when we aren't being REALLY busy. Since we've been away, we've been so happy to have been featured on Our Hen House -- thanks, Jasmin and Mariann!

Our official meal share is on a hiatus right now, while we put energy into other projects. Besides the variety of ice cream that she offers, Jen C. has vastly expanded the vegan lunch offerings at Go Lightly, which have become a hit with vegans, veggies and omnivores alike. Watching her business grow and thrive is wonderful. Her food is fabulous, so please come check her out (an easy and fun trip from Manhattan, or check out how close she is to you, Jersey folks!).

In the meantime, Jen G. has been having a series of monthly vegan potlucks for friends of all eating persuasions. Each month has been a fun and yummy experience (and no two alike) and they all tend to feature freshly baked bread. Stay tuned for some photos, updates and tips about hosting a series of vegan potlucks.

Finally, in the spirit of communal vegan delights, I wanted to point you to this great sounding opportunity: Cat at The Verdant Life is starting up a vegan food swap. Click on over if you would like to sign up. Who knows, maybe we'll become vegan swap buddies?

Chana Saag, Brown Basmati Rice and Two Chutneys

Date:  10/28/2011
Cook:  Jen G.
Menu: Chana Saag (Indian Greens with Chickpeas), Brown Basmati Rice, Green Chutney and Sweet Carrot Chutney

The Vegan Slow Cooker continues to be a great resource. Tonight I made Chana Saag (with kale) and served it with brown rice and two chutneys: a green chutney and a sweet carrot chutney. It was my first time making both-- I'd add some salt to the green chutney next time, and less sugar to the carrot chutney. Heaped in a bowl all together, it was a delicious meal.

I delivered the goods to Jen at one of our local bookstores, where we gathered around Terry Hope Romero, who was swinging by our fair town to talk about baking, pie, Thanksgiving, life and stuff like that. Oh. I have a new book about making pies. Yes. Vegan Pie in the Sky.

There is a Boston creme pie calling my name.

Mushroom Hot Pot

Date:  10/24/2011
Cook:  Jen C.
Menu: Mushroom Hot Pot with Black Pepper Grilled Tofu

Jen cooked up a delicious mushroom hot pot, inspired by today's post on the PPK. It was another instance of me feeling very grateful for meal group since I had a long and unpleasant day, including driving for 6 hours and eating lunch at what some people refer to as the world's worst restaurant (without hyperbole). Living in such a vegan-friendly place, one does get a little accustomed to restauranteurs taking veg*ns into account.

Jen's soupy meal was deliciously flavored and added much needed warmth and flavor to my day. It was eaten so quickly that there is no photographic evidence of it's existence.