Vegan MoFo Day 21 - Upton's Ch'eesy Bacon Mac

Vegan MoFo Day 21 - Upton's Ch'eesy Bacon Mac

Today's post is more of a review. In March I met my friend Cherry in Chicago for a long weekend trip to see Pink. Chicago has many wonderful vegan options and we ate our way through many! One of our faves was Upton's Breakroom. Upton's makes things like yummy seitan bacon and packaged jackfruit dishes. The Breakroom is a small cafe at the factory. We ate there for brunch and then for dinner. 

Upton's chocolate chip waffles

Upton's seitan bacon

The cheesy bacon mac at the Breakroom

While walking around town we went into a natural foods store and saw some Upton's packaged items I hadn't seen before. One of them being a cheesy bacon mac. I vowed to someday try this tempting dish! 

Yes, I took at pic.

Yesterday was that day! The mac comes basically prepared and you just have to add the two pouches together and heat it up. It took me about 4 minutes. 

One thing that I really like is that it has the same number of calories as it has sodium. A good rule of thumb for not overdoing sodium is to have it match or be less than the calories in a dish. So this passes that test! 

While I didn't find it amazing, it was easy and tasty. I would take it camping for sure as it was so quick cooking. This won't be a regular part of my rotation, but this kind of thing isn't anyway. 

Have you tried it? Or any of Upton's other items? 

Similar to the cafe's version

Holding hands in Chicago

Vegan MoFo Day 20 - Easy Tomato Bisque

Vegan MoFo Day 20 - Easy Tomato Bisque

How is it day 20 already?? This month is flying by and Autumn is almost officially here. The weather in my part of Oregon really feels like fall and that puts me in the mood for soup! 

And what could be better than a minimal effort tasty tomato bisque? I can't remember who I got the basis for this recipe from in order to credit them. It was someone I know online, not a book or a blog. I think maybe from Dr Fuhrman's group. I am sorry. Whoever you are - if it's you let me know and I'll give you proper credit!

Tomato Bisque

1 jar tomato sauce (I use a basil sauce)

1/2 cup raw cashews

1-2 cups water

basil - fresh or dried - to taste

Everything about this recipe is very forgiving. I rarely measure anything in it. Use 1/2 cup cashews or use 1 cup. Or 1/4 a cup. It will still taste good! You decide how creamy and how thick you want the soup. Add a little vodka and put it on pasta and now you have a vodka sauce. Really, you can't do this recipe wrong.

But here are the general directions: Soak the cashews in enough water to cover them. How long? I usually do either 20 minutes or maybe a couple hours if I've started doing other things and forgotten about them. If you're having an emergency soup need, skip the soaking. 

Dump the cashew water, then puree the cashews with 1/2 to 1 cup water in your high powered Vita-mix. Don't have one of those? But I thought you were vegan? Just kidding! A regular blender will be fine especially if you did the soaking. 

Once the cashews are well blended, pour in the jar of tomato sauce (or only pour in half and reserve the rest until the end to make it more chunky). Also add a big handful or two of fresh basil or 1 to 12 teaspoons of dried basil. You have all the power in how much basil! Keep adding until it tastes good to you. I like a lot of basil! But I am joking about the 12 teaspoons. That's probably too much!

Your soup probably needs a bit more water. Or not - you decide! I add water to the mostly empty sauce jar to rinse it and get the rest of the sauce in the blender. This also gets you ready to reuse or recycle your jar. Go you! Now give your soup a last little blend. Only briefly if you want it a little chunky. Or go for smooth and run the blender until it heats your soup - if you've got one of those expensive, fancy pants blenders. If not, transfer your soup to the stove or microwave and heat until it's warm/hot. 

There it is! Have you ever heard of an easier vegan soup recipe? I mean, really. Have you? I'd like to hear about it! 

What trust looks like.

Vegan MoFo Day 19 - Vegan Mini-mall

Vegan MoFo Day 19 - Vegan Mini-mall

Portland, Oregon is a vegan mecca. Everyone knows it. But did you know Portland has a vegan mini-mall? 

Have you ever imagined what it would be like if vegans took over a block? A magical place where you could buy cool vegan clothing and accessories. Then pop in to the vegan grocery store to purchase the latest nondairy cheeses and tasty snacks. Feeling peckish? Then stop into Sweetpea Baking for a cup of joe (or chai) and a tempeh BLT. Finally last stop - memorialize your outing with a vegan tattoo at Scapegoat. Didn't realize not all tattoos are vegan? It's true! 

I headed into Portland yesterday (about an hour drive) to get my hair done at Akemi which uses all cruelty free products. I met my new stylist Bri and she's vegan! Yay! This made up for my morning experience where my massage therapist mentioned having 20 of her chickens 'processed' that weren't laying. Ugh. 

Anyway, before my hair appointment I stopped by The Herbivore Clothing Company (now with shoes) and Food Fight! Grocery at the vegan mini-mall. I like to pop by now and again and leave all my disposable income for them. 

I've loved Herbivore designs for years after discovering them at an Animal Rights conference in DC. One of the perks of moving to Oregon was shopping in the store instead of ordering online or waiting for them to come to a festival near me.  Owners Michelle and Josh have always struck me as authentically good people. And they do a lot for the community. I return the favor by shopping and more shopping. 

Herbivore recently added shoes!

Have to check this book out. Might be a sneaky way
to get veg foods in kid's diets.  

I have so many of Herbivore's shirts, but I had to have this reboot of one of their classic designs - Praise Seitan! And I loved the cut of this 'The world used to be cooler. Fight climate change. Go vegan.' tank top.  Yes, they can put all those words on a shirt and make it look good!

Probably my new favorite socks!

If you're a NW Veg member you get a 10% discount so basically my socks were free. How did I go through my life before without root veggie socks??

Next I popped over to Food Fight! mainly to get some dog treats. I use their vegan jerky as a high value treat for my girls. 

Back row: 2 bags dog treats, produce bags, pita bread, Uptons bacon mac, 1 bag dog treats
Middle row: 2 hazelnut cups, pretzel buns, Cocomels salted caramels
Front row: BBQ jerky, Violife feta and mozzarella cheeses
I put all this on my stove for the photo op. That's safe, right? 😳

So Food Fight! is not where I go to get produce as you can see. They do have a small produce section. But did you see my cart of greens from yesterday's post? I'm covered for now!

Have you had the Uptons mac? I've been wanting to try it since I saw it in Chicago in March. I went to the Uptons factory and ate at their cafe. So yummy! If you like caramels, these Cocomels are a game changer!

Food Fight! does a lot to support the local community and each month they feature a nonprofit you can leave a tip for when you pay. Such a great idea! They also do a 10% day for the featured nonprofit.

Sunset at Bye and Bye

After shopping and getting my hair done, I went out to dinner. For now I'll share this sunset as I dined, but I'll post about dinner another time. 

Tomorrow it's back to healthy recipe time!

Vegan MoFo Day 18 - It's alive!

Vegan MoFo Day 18 - It's alive!

Ugh, I really got derailed by that illness. Several days of fevers will do that to a being. I'm still tired, but feeling much better. I even went back to work yesterday! On the plus side I'm completely caught up on Call the Midwife. If you're already congested and sniffing, you might as well watch a few episodes, right? That show makes me cry! 

I've missed posting! Weird, but true. 

Sunday I hadn't been anywhere in days and was feeling very stir crazy. So I headed down to Salem to meet a friend for brunch and run some errands. I needed produce!

Salem has some veg friendly places and I already did a post about Venti's. But to my knowledge it only has one all vegan eatery. The Space! The Space is a combo restaurant and music venue. I really like the DIY vibe of the place as it reminds me so much of Durham. They do weekend brunch and dinner every night. Most nights they have live music or other events happening. Their prices are very reasonable for food or drinks. And don't forget - all vegan!! 

I have enjoyed their satay tofu wrap, tater tots (nice and salty), and their bowls. But as you may notice, I have a real love for brunch - and waffles!

Located on Edgewater in Salem, OR

Tasty treats thru this doorway!

After you go in this door, you go down a hallway, then thru a door to the outside and down a flight of stairs. Then you have officially arrived! They have both indoor and outdoor seating. And games available to play after you eat.

Brunch menu not including specials

I love a soy chai!

My friends Julie and Charlie got the loaded tater tots.
Greens make them healthy, right?

I went for the sweet waffle - loaded with black and blue berries!

I really just love a good waffle. Why don't I have a waffle maker? Because I can go places like this, enjoy a waffle, and do no clean up! Also featured here are the chickpea sausages. Very tasty! I do wish they had some tempeh bacon, but this sausage will do! And I don't know what whipped cream they use, but I really like it!

They also feature a savory waffle and had a Hollandaise burger on special that sounded yum.

These black and blue berry donuts had to
come home with me. 

Life Source haul.

After a tasty brunch and visiting with friends, I decided to stop by Life Source for the first time. Life Source is a locally owned natural foods store. I got some great finds! Their local kale was only $1.50 a bunch on sale! I also got some fresh made green juice and very tasty red grapes.

Vegan almond and peanut butter cups.

Then I couldn't help myself. These almond and peanut butter cups were super marked down and a bag of each came home with me. Have you tried these? So yummy!

After Life Source, I picked up a couple things at Trader Joe's. The employees at TJ's are always so nice! When I was checking out the cashier asked if I was having a good day. When I said yes, he asked what I'd been up to so far. I told him I'd been to The Space to have brunch. "Space?!?", he exclaimed. I said yes as I'm very good friends with Elon Musk. We had a chuckle and as I was explaining what The Space was another cashier overheard and said he really liked it there. Another asked what kind of food they had. They said they were both interested to try it. And no spaceship required!

I love this kind of informal activism. If I see someone uncertainly looking at the vegan deli slices for example, I'll see if they would like any suggestions. Everything we can do to reach out and normalize vegan foods - the better!

As a healthcare professional, I really can't get
behind these bumpy gourds. 

Hopefully I can stay on track with posting now. We are over halfway thru Vegan MoFo already! Have you checked out the other blogs? Some really great posts! Here's a link to the Week 2 Roundup! Any favorites I should check out? 

Vegan MoFo Day 13 - Sick Day

Vegan MoFo Day 13 - Sick Day

I've been sick most of the week. There seem to be two strongly held opinions about vegans and illness - one being that we are all sickly humans moments from death and the other being that veganism will protect us from any illness. Neither is true. 

Vegans can be strong athletes. Some of them hold records for lifting or endurance racing. Some of us just do the occasional hike and call it good enough. 

Vegans also get sick. They can even get cancer...and die of said cancer. There is no magic cure all. We do a disservice to the animals when we build up this idea that going vegan makes you invincible. We create self doubt and shame in vegans that get sick or don't get to what society thinks is an ideal weight. Then when they get sick maybe they figure they are doing it wrong and abandon their ideals. 

Do I believe that a well balanced heavily non processed vegan diet is best and can even reverse some illness? Certainly! I've seen it happen and read about many instances as well. 

But I also go the flu this winter (first time in probably 20 years) and I'm sick right now. This doesn't make me a bad vegan. I'm not sure an extra ounce of kale in my smoothie would have prevented this illness. 

Tomorrow's post may or may not happen. I get a couple days ahead and I'm now caught up. I thought I was feeling better (and told a colleague so), but now my temp is back to 101. 

Luckily having the flu this winter taught me I needed to be better prepared. I have ginger ale, basic meds, and a stockpile of trail mix. I may make some instant ramen if I get a burst of energy. Or not. 

What do you do as a sick vegan? Any go to foods you keep on hand? And how have you seen shaming around illness or weight in the vegan community? How do you deal with it?

Be vegan. Even if you get sick sometimes. 

Vegan MoFo Day 12 - What in your fridge?

Vegan MoFo Day 12 - What's in your fridge?

Here I go, continuing to disregard the suggested themes!

There are many intimate and vulnerable experiences in life. 

Some that come to mind: Letting someone read your diary. Showing someone your Hulu/Netflix watchlist. Letting people see inside your fridge. 

Really? Inside your fridge? I'm not sure why that feels so vulnerable and personal to me. Perhaps in part because the vegan community can be judgmental (often worse in regards to each other). Perhaps in part because of how hard I am on myself. Not sure entirely. 

Does it feel a bit scary to think about posting your fridge? Well, I'm diving in! Be kind. :) 

Hibiscus tea, lots of tofu, basil, Field Roast, hard cider,
carrot juice, plums, Miyokos and FYH cheese.

Spinach, apples, cashew yogurt, more tofu, apples, bagels.

Butter, cream cheese, chocolate, garlic, condiments,
Smartdogs for my pooches.

 Have you had the pesto Vegenaise? I love it! Really classes up a Tofurky and spinach sandwich.

Almond milk, peanut butter, lime lemon and orange juice, & beer.

There are lots of greens in the crisper too. I promise! Also cucumbers and a few green beans. So what do you think? Would you feel vulnerable showing the world the inside of your refrigerator? I'm a big fan of doing things I find scary (within reason). It's liberating! What do you do that scares you?

Ellie and her friend Max living their best life.

Vegan MoFo Day 11 - Swiss Chard Pie

Vegan MoFo Day 11 - Swiss Chard Pie

Today we return back to ultra healthy vegan fare. You may notice I vascilate wildly between healthy meals and vegan comfort food. That's how I roll. For now at least! 

This recipe is a long time favorite of mine. I've been making this for years and it's always a crowd pleaser. 

Are you familiar with Susan Voisin's blog fatfreevegan.com? Susan is one of my favorite people even though we've never met in person. I love her recipes and food pics. I tell a lot of people about the blog including some of my patients. She has delish recipes which feature ingredients most people are familiar with and they are healthy. Don't be fooled by the fat free title - this food is yummy! Her recipes do contain fat, but in the form of whole foods, not oil. And in many cases the recipes can be modified to be even lower in fat if desired. 

You can search her recipes on the blog by ingredient or recipe name, but also by tags such as pressure cooker, vita-mix, or asparagus (I love her roasted asparagus soup recipe). 

I often make little tweaks to her (and everyone's) recipes, but I have never been disappointed. She even includes nutrition facts label info on the recipes. For this recipe I usually use a lot more nutritional yeast and turmeric than she calls for and less cayenne, if any.

Rainbow chard is so pretty. 

Remove and dice the stems as they get cooked first. 

Cooking stems. 

Then add the leaves and cook down. 

In the oven and ready to go!

What are your go to vegan recipe sites? Do you usually follow a recipe exactly or give it your own touch? 

Swiss Chard Pie from https://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2009/06/savory-swiss-chard-pie.html

Ingredients

• 12 ounces chard , 340 g
• 1 medium onion , chopped
• 2 cloves garlic , minced
• 12 ounces lite firm or extra-firm silken tofu, drained (1 package Mori-Nu is 349 g)
• 1/4 cup plain soy milk (60 ml)
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1 tablespoon potato starch or cornstarch
• 1 heaping tablespoon raw cashews , optional*(1/2 ounce or 15 g)
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/8 teaspoon turmeric
• 3/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
• 1 pinch nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves (or 1 tsp. dried)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Spray a 9-inch ceramic pie pan lightly with non-stick spray.
2. Wash the chard but do not dry. Remove the center stem from each leaf. Set the leaves aside and chop the stems into small pieces. In a large skillet, sauté the onion and chard stems until softened (about 5 minutes), adding a tablespoon of water if necessary to prevent sticking.
3. Meanwhile, cut the chard leaves into bite-sized pieces. Add them to the pan along with the garlic, reduce heat, and cover. Cook until all chard is wilted. Remove from heat. If any water has accumulated, drain it; then spread chard in bottom of prepared pie pan.
4. Place tofu and remaining ingredients in a blender, and puree until very smooth. Pour over the chard in the pie pan. Use a spoon to gently open holes through the chard so that the tofu mixture penetrates it. Smooth the top so that tofu layer is even and covers all the chard.
5. Bake for 30 minutes, or until center is set. Remove from oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Vegan MoFo Day 10 - Cornbread Cafe in Eugene

Vegan MoFo Day 10 - Cornbread Cafe in Eugene

I took yesterday off blogging! I looked at the guidelines again and our goal is 20 posts this month. I was really tired this weekend and got caught up on a lot of sleep - so no post Sunday. 

The first restaurant I ever dined at in Oregon remains one of my favorites. When I flew out here for my initial job interview I was supposed to fly directly to the coastal town of Coos Bay. But after missing a connection due to mechanical problems and then missing my rebook because I was helping with a medical emergency at the San Francisco airport, I instead flew into Eugene two hours away. Eating a delicious vegan meal within 30 minutes of landing sure didn't make me hate Oregon. 

An adorable old school diner, Cornbread Cafe is all vegan and focuses on comfort food. Warning - if you're allergic to cashews you can still eat here, but several things will be off limits to you. You can dine here for breakfast, weekend brunches, lunch and dinner (except Sunday). Lots of delectable options. Some of my friends feel the food is too greasy or heavy here, but I wonder if we order different things. I don't usually get anything fried. I leave feeling full, but not that icky full feeling. 

Sometimes it's sunny in Oregon. 

Even the menu is cute!

I am such a fan of their French toast!

BBQ seitan, mac uncheese, potatoes and cashew gravy, cornbread.

Strawberry milkshake with cashew ice cream. 

Shaded outdoor seating.

Maple bacon cupcake. 

Lots of desserts including gluten free options!

I'm originally from Louisiana and I can vouch that the cornbread here is legit! So yummy! The recipe is in a cookbook - I think it's the Happy Cow cookbook. I haven't tried making it yet though. Have you? 

I've eaten at Cornbread Cafe many times since moving to Oregon, but that first time is still special. After being in airports all day I stuffed myself on vegan comfort goodness and I remember thinking, Oregon might be good. Then I drove a rental car the 2 hours to Coos Bay. It was one of the most gorgeous scenic drives I've ever done and I passed park after park. So many trails, campgrounds and such. I fell in love with Oregon. There is no place like it. I hope if you come visit you will get a chance to explore more than just Portland!

Drift Creek Falls