Washington DCs Woodlands Vegan Bistro

What a great month of Vegan MoFo!

Grateful to the organizers, bloggers and sponsors for food, fun

And the cruelty-free good time!

NATIVE FOODS,

the mainly west coast chain serving up delicious vegan eats, 

and my go to restaurant when flying to/through LAX,

debuted in DC this weekend. 

My 82 year old cousin, celebrating his 6 month vegan-versary, had lunch at the 

Native Foods soft opening on Saturday, his first time eating at one of their places.

He forgot to take pictures, being a new vegan and all.

He says good crowd, okay location more geared toward weekday workers than people driving in,
though they plan to open a couple more in the Washington metro area,

yet only okay food,
a bit bland for his native Southerner tastebuds.

He knows vegan can be tasty,
since he cooks it that way at home,
and it is served that way at his favorite DC restaurant,

WOODLANDS VEGAN BISTRO.

He shared it with me during my visit last month, and I did get pictures!

Sweet potato cheesecake, eggplant parmigiana, zucchini and collards.

Cornbread, strawberry cheesecake, Mac & cheese, collards, vegan beef & broccoli over brown rice.

Okra, vegan beef & broccoli over rice, eggplant parmigiana. 

Mac & cheese, collards, vegan beef & broccoli over brown rice.

This is his go to dining choice, eat-in or take out, where he tries to go at least weekly, 

To support the business, and because "the food is so Good!"

Woodlands Vegan Bistro
also serves it deliciousness via
Food Truck!

NFL Game day snacks, kale chips & Sinfull Bakery's goodies

We are mega fans of our hometown NFL team,

THE HOUSTON TEXANS!

Homemade door wreathe proudly proclaims 

Texans fans live here!

Snacks for Sunday's Football watching!

Sinfull Bakery's

Monkey Bread Muffins

And apple-pear hand pie

Homemade Kale Chips!

My basic Kale chip recipe:

2 bunches kale (your choice, curly or dino)

Marinade:

1/4 cup tamari

1/4 cup oil packed sun dried tomatoes, undrained

3 Tablespoons nutritional yeast

3 cloves garlic, minced

Wash and dry kale. 

Remove stems/ribs (save for smoothies), 

and tear into medium sized pieces.

The pieces will shrink when dehydrating.

Process marinade ingredients in high speed blender

(using my Vitamix again), and process until fairly smooth, 

stopping to scrape down sides as needed.

Massage marinade into kale pieces.

Dehydrate on teflex sheets for 2 hours at 115 degrees.

Turn and dehydrate on mesh screens until crisp, about 8 hours.

Can also be baked in 200 degree oven until crisp. 

Unsure about the oven timing since I have yet to try it;

watch carefully to prevent burned chips.

Alternative quickie marinade -

use your favorite vegan bar-b-q sauce.

Ripe Cuisine's Food Truck debut

Houston's Vegan food scene just keeps expanding!

Welcoming our newest Food Truck

To Saturdays

Urban Harvest's Farmers' Market at Eastside

RIPE CUISINE!

Today's Menu Board. Market Frittata below.

Sophie's Kitchen Vegan seafood

1st Friday of Fall 2014

Last Friday of MoFo 2014

Seemed like a good time for seafood.
Fellow Vegan MoFo blogger and_i_say at A Little Vegan Blog in Big Ol' Texas
wrote about Gardein Fishless Fillets on Day 23.
One must need a reservation to find those in stores, 
cause my closest WF was out...again...

So I settled on Sophie's Crab Cakes, 
sautéed with shredded potatoes, from my farmer's market haul posted couple days ago.
The disc on my food processor is excellent for shredding vegetables.
Next time, I'll try the spiralizer, or Veggetti, to see how they compare.

Taste was okay for store bought instead of homemade, less 'seafood-y' than I remember crab cakes tasting.
But hey, it has been 11+ years.
If I buy them again, will definitely 'dress them' more.
Maybe marinade in Old Bay Seasoning...

Sunshine's vegan takeout

Advocacy court day.

Grateful for Houston's expanding selection of Vegan options at restaurants.

Take out from

SUNSHINE'S Vegetarian Deli and Health Food Store

Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd, southeast of Univ. of Houston.

Kale salad with spaghetti, and wheat toast.

Whole wheat pasta, vegan beef crumbles in tasty marinara sauce.

Good groceries. Will try vegan tacos next time.

Not everything is vegan, yet most of hot deli items are.

Farmers Market score#1 - Gundermanns organic

So empowering to know where your food comes from,  

Giving Thanks for and shaking the hands of the people who grew it.

Luckily, Houston area has the wonderful people at

Gundermann Acres

<gundermannacres.com>

providing organic produce year round.

$20. very well spent.

Fresh black eyed peas

Sweet & fingerling potatoes 

Red potatoes

Cucumbers.

Yes, this Florida Gator fan in Texas rocks her Gator bag at market!

Sliced and layered the red potatoes with fresh green beans from another market vendor,

Atkinson Farms (more on them tomorrow),

with cashew cheese sauce in crockpot (yay! No oven heating up house!) for comforting 

New Potato Green Bean Casserole.

New potatoes and Green Bean Casserole

Sauce:

1 cup cashews, soaked overnight, drained.

1 cup nutritional yeast

6 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon seasoned salt

1 1/2 cups non dairy milk (I used unsweetened coconut milk, because it was on hand)

1/2 cup vegetable broth

1 teaspoon liquid smoke

Pinch cayenne

Pepper to taste

1 1/2 pounds green beans, trimmed and sliced

2 pounds new (red) potatoes, scrubbed well, sliced and kept in cold water to prevent discoloring.

(I used organic potatoes, so did not peel them.)

1 tablespoon paprika, for garnish

Lightly oil crock pot.

Blend sauce ingredients in high speed blender or food processor until smooth. 

(I used my Vitamix.)

Spread thin layer of sauce in bottom of crock pot.

Layer 1/3 of potatoes slices, then 1/2 of green beans, 

and 1/2 of remaining sauce

Layer another 1/3 of potatoes, remaining green beans, then remaining potatoes.

Top with remaining sauce.

Cover and cook on low 7-8 hours, until potatoes and green beans are tender.

Enjoy!

Savory Sinfull Bakery Kolaches

Good friend, and very talented baker extraordinaire, 

Dylan Carnes, Proprietress of the vivaciously vegan 

Sinfull Bakery

<sinfullbakery.com>

(sinfully delicious baked goods without the guilt of animal cruelty)

has expanded her savory goodies from these luscious pot pies 

to sensationally savory kolaches!

And, she's doing a kolache Pop up in a couple of weeks!

(Only Sinfull's kolaches are guaranteed to be vegan at this event).

And yes, Sinfull still serves up Texas sized cinnamon rolls!

Sunday Brunch Radical Eats

It's Sunday, 2014 MoFo Day 21.

Meeting friends for brunch buffet at formerly all-vegan, 

now mostly vegan/vegetarian, with some omni-offerings made in separate kitchen,

RADICAL EATS!

Started off with waffles, watermelon and bread pudding.

Followed by stuffed bell pepper, with side of homemade tortilla chips, salsa & cheese.

Bahn-mi, black beans and purple breakfast potatoes, with more waffles on the side.

Yes, purple breakfast potatoes...delicious!

Wouldn't be southern Sunday brunch without biscuits and gravy.

Huge Thank You to Radical Eats' Proprietress, Chef extraordinaire, visionary, 

Staci Davis,

for keeping it real with good, hearty vegan eats

Rawsomely good Game Day food

Saturday, College football Game Day!

With the exception of my first born's alma mater, 

Texas A&M Aggies leading SMU by a wide margin,

my other games are uncomfortably close.

Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Navy

(Navy is my second born's alma mater; this game always a tough one.

I'm Rutger alum, Navy Mom, so to be safe I usually cheer for whoever has the ball.)

and My Florida Gators at Bama.

Today's game day food, from vegan vendors at

Urban Harvest Eastside Farmers Market.

Pat Greer's Kitchen YaYa's

Raw Vegan Garden Burger

and Asian Fusion kale edamame salad.

Dessert from where else

Sinfull Bakery.

Mini cinnamon rolls.

GO GATORS! BTHO Bama!