A Vegan Baby

While having a baby isn't an excuse for slacking on the posts for many many months now, I do have some cuteness to make up for it.

Welcome Eames (who is now 3 weeks old...)!

Vegan Sushi

Though the very real possibility of having a boy and all the renegotiating that comes with that has pretty much taken precedence over everything else, I wanted to make sure I got a picture of the vegan sushi we made for the shower posted before an actual baby trumps even the idea of posting a blog. Our good friend's Patty and Mary hosted our baby shower here in CO, and last time we had a party at the castle, Josh and I painstakingly crafted vegan candy corn for hours on end because Patty had a thing for it in her pre-vegan days. Since then, I ran across an idea for vegan sushi that I knew she would love given her affinity for Swedish Fish and I knew I had to make it for the shower. While the sushi received rave reviews, I have to admit that I thought it was disgusting (good thing to since it is basically what amounts to a diabetic coma in bite-sized pieces for me at the moment). It' simply a batch of vegan rice krispy treats topped with Swedish Fish and secured with the apparently rare and hard to find toxic green fruit roll-up.
Patty loved them and so did everybody else. In fact, I wasn't able to get a picture of them fast enough but, luckily, Jen snapped a picture of them on her camera phone before they were completely devoured.

High on Corn Syrup and Sugar: Patty, Josh, Dalyn, and Mary

You've Got to be &^%$#!!? Kidding Me.

I'll admit that this only partially works as an excuse since I hadn't been posting regularly anyway. But, I found out 2 weeks ago that i have gestational diabetes and the resulting drama of glucose tests and home blood testing and experimenting with food to see what I can eat has left me wanting to think about anything but food (for more on the diagnosis experience and how the hell an active vegan can possibly get gestational diabetes, see my other blog: www.thedalyn.blogspot.com).

Fortunately, I see a dietitian tomorrow so we can sort this mess out, but there seems to be little rhyme or reason to what makes my blood sugar spike. However, I do know that if I stick to protein and veggies, I seem to do alright. That said, I threw together a mustard crusted tofu over roasted root veggies the other night and it was quite good. It's based on this recipe, though I added the greens, onions, ginger, and lime juice to some leftover roasted root veggies that we got from a dinner a friend made us. Turns out, it was tasty and diabetic friendly!

Road Trip: SLC

We decided to hit the road for a trip to Salt Lake City over Valentine's Day weekend. Many, many people looked at us a bit askance when we said we were headed to to SLC, but we went for a number for reasons. The biggest reason happens to be that SLC houses the closest Ikea to Denver and therefore flocks of Coloradans swarm into the area on weekends looking for cheap, modern furniture and reindeer balls (I'm assuming). We were indeed looking for cheap furniture, but we were also looking forward to some good vegan food and a little time in the Salt Lake City Bike Collective. Neither were disappointing; frankly, there's some good shit going down in Zion.

Exhibit A: The Avalanche
Exhibit B: Biscuits and Gravy
Exhibit C: The Mountain
Exhibit D: The American Diner
In retrospect, it was probably good that we only stayed in town for Saturday and part of Sunday. Josh and I hit up Vertical Diner for breakfast the first morning we were there, and immediately decided to come back the following morning to try more of there breakfast. I would gain 20 pounds if I lived any closer than 7 hours to this place. While I loved my first breakfast, The Avalanche, with its sampling of all the breakfast staples including divine pancakes and awesome homemade sausage, Josh's fried chicken-style seitan was undoubtedly the best seitan I've ever had in my life. And it was fried perfectly.

The only disappointment was that neither of us had room for dessert with our breakfast.

Hoppin' John, Skippin' Jenny, and a Belated Happy New Year

Despite having no relationship to the South whatsoever, I decided that I liked the idea of having a New Year's tradition. I also always like the idea of making another recipe from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slowcooker (one of the 3-4 cookbooks I use incessantly). I tweaked the recipe just a bit by adding some smoked paprika, crushed red pepper, and steamed collards. I read somewhere that collards are supposed to bring even more prosperity, and who couldn't use more prosperity?
Served with Trader Joe's cornbread (imported by rental car along with some two buck chuck and other goodies), this is one New Year's tradition that I'd be happy to repeat.

Holiday Road Trip Food

I seem to have more excuses than I have blog posts and, frankly, I don't really have an excuse for that. One of the things that's kept me outta the blogosphere was our holiday road trip. For ten glorious days, we left Colorado behind and headed west for family, presents, vegan eats, Trader Joe's, and Ikea. Did I already say it was glorious? Unfortunately, I forgot my camera in half the places we ate, but I did manage a few shots and I think I can still remember them well enough to describe what I didn't snap.

In honor of the many delicious vegan meals we had on the road, I've compiled out Holiday Road Trip Vegan Eats 2008 Top 5 list:

5. Pure Luck. (LA, CA) In our quest to scope out the Bicycle Kitchen, we stumbled onpon what just might be the coolest corner in LA. All in one small little corner, there was a vegan restaurant, a bike shop, a community bike shop, and a local ice cream establishment with 5 vegan flavors of ice cream. Being a committed non-dessert person (even in the midst of pregnancy), I can't comment on the quality of the ice cream, though Josh managed to nod and express his enjoyment monosyllabically while enjoying the Banana Oreo ice cream. And, while I didn't love my Jackfruit carnitas burrito, the chickpea salad and tofu pesto sandwiches were quite good--as were the lemonade and homemade tortilla chips.
4. Hugo's Tacos. (Studio City, CA) I've been wanting to try Hugo's for quite some time and our trip to LA was the perfect excuse to go just a bit further and hit up Studio City for some tacos. The soyrizo, potato, and zucchini tacos were really good (though I wished I'd picked a different salsa for the top), but I think I preferred the soppy mess that was Josh's Ahogada Torta. It wasn't pretty and it didn't look easy to eat and the jumble of flavors was a bit confusing, but it somehow worked.
3. Green. (Tempe, AZ) Since we discovered it, our trips to Phoenix have always included a trip to Green in Tempe. They've expanded to include some grocery items now, which made me sad given that they had the Cheddar Teese and we still had 2500 miles to drive before getting back home. To reinforce the pattern, I wasn't thrilled about my entree. Unlike Hugo's Torta, the Mexicali burger did indeed have too much going on. The hummus, nacho cheeze sauce, vegan mayo, and spicy chipotle was sauce overload. I couldn't tell if the patty was any good or not. But, goddamn if the rosemary fries, artichoke gratine, crab puffs, and chocolate mint tsoynami weren't enough to make up for it.
2. Fresh Mint. (Scottsdale, AZ) This vegan(?) Thai restaurant has fake meats that satisfied even the most devoted omni's at our table. But, the real standout here--and the thing I'd go back to Scottsdale for over and over again--is the dessert. Even though we were full, we decided to give the banana fritters a try. I'm might have to turn in my sweet toothless badge. With coconut tapioca topped by fried bananas and chocolate sauce, this is one of the best desserts I've ever had.
1. Mozy's Cafe. (Encinitas, CA) The Tamale Burrito. I don't even know what else to say except that it's the most ridiculous, divine thing I've ever heard of and it never fails to delight me.

*Stay tuned for the conclusion of the road trip food. You won't want to miss it.

Bagels! Bagels! Bagels!

I thought I'd start by offering you the goods and, believe me, this picture actually does them a lot of justice. The reality is that these jalapeno bagels were a disaster, barely look like bagels, and adhered to the wax paper like a thrift store price tag to a $4 salad spinner. However, I am proud of myself for trying and they actually taste delicious. If I can get this recipe fine tuned, I might actually save myself some money, because...Well, I'll be honest: I eat bagels like they're going out of style. I'll defend the variety and nutritiousness of my diet against just about anything or anyone, but there is an exception. I eat the same thing for breakfast every day--or damn near. In fact, I'd say 28/30 days.

My morning goes something like this: wake up, drag ass downstairs, cut jalapeno bagel in half, put one half in the toaster, slice cucumber, tomato, and avocado, pull bagel out of toaster, spread Toffutti cream cheese on bagel, top with salt and lemon pepper, add cucumbers, then tomatoes, then avocado (all in a pretty flower pattern), and eat. My morning bagel is like coffee; I can't start the day without it (and, I actually often follow it some time later with a coffee beverage of some kind).

Now, I can stop my incessant hunt for adequate jalapeno bagels, whose habitat is inevitably far from mine. I can just make them. As soon as I get the dough to rise in sometime less than 30 hours. And, as soon as I can figure out a way to separate the bagel from the paper. And , I have to admit, it would be nice if they looked remotely like bagels, though they do have a vaguely croissant-ish look about them.

But, for now, I'm happy with the bits I can pull off the paper and dip straight into the cream cheese container. In fact, that very act even feels a little triumphant.

(I do want to add that I think this recipe will work. The bagels turned out crispy on the outside and deliciously chewy on the inside--just like a bagel should be.)