Black beans Suprise

Some weeks you find yourself having a major sweet tooth. To my dismay I had one of those weeks last week. I couldn't get chocolate off my mind, so I settled on a more natural sweets...

I was searching for a more wholesome treat when i stumbled upon black bean brownies. You heard me right. I went for it and I actually like them :) I wouldn't recommend bringing them to a party, but I would definitely make them again ( don't knock it till you try it). I added some vegan choc chips to my recipe to give it even more chocolate and I think that helped them taste better. You can find the recipe at

http://www.greenereating.com/. I have fallen head over heels for this site because it has tons and tons of vegan recipes. Being vegan has really brought out my adventurous side!

-Elisha

FYI for Az Vegans

If you are a novice vegan living in az, there is a helpful site that I recommend checking out: http://azvegan.com/. This site has a list of local restaurants and it tells what vegan food they offer. This weekend I went to Chipolte after discovering that there vegetarian burrito is vegan as long as you omit the cheese. Oh my, it was delightful. Maybe not the healthiest thing I have had lately, but my taste buds were pretty happy about it. Speaking of un healthy foods, Reins and I have discovered the yumminess of Cherry Brook sweets http://www.cherrybrookkitchen.com/ not only are they vegan but they are also gluten free. We made their chocolate cake this weekend on our girls day and it the cake left us totally satisfied. Thanks Cherry Brook!
-Elisha

"Ice Cream"

If you are in the mood for something cold and sweet, nothing beats "ice cream". I have to say that I do miss the dairy version of ice cream. But if you are going to indulge this is my advice

Rice Dream is lame! Seriously just skip it. I was so bummed out by it.

Do go ahead and buy yourself some Purley Decadent Mocha Ice cream. This one was totally yummy. And just a little tip, ice cream always taste better when you dish it up in a pretty glass and drizzle some coco sauce on top.

-Elisha

First timer

How do you celebrate your first official weekend back to eating sweets.... You try the red velvet cupcake from Sprinkles. It was our fist taste and it was delightful. How great that they decorate the cupcake with V for Vegan!

I just couldn't help myself...yum cream cheese frosting

I made my first vegan recipe this last week! Yes I have to say I am quite proud of myself, I really need to step it up and cook some recipes more often. I tried 2 recipes this week...

The first recipe was the Ceaser Salad from teh Kind Diet. It had quite a zing to it, I might lessen the garlic. However, I did enjoy the salad and felt so proud that I managed to eat 12 ounces of greens in one sitting. Unfortunealty it left me with worse garlic breath than the pitta jungle hummus. Its was serious business. So lock yourself up for day after you eat the salad, otherwise you may loose all your friends. Don't say I didn't warn you
Recipe 2 came from Ruthann. It was simple and quite good and it was my first time using tofu. On a happy note one serving packed in over 15 grams of protein. But the bad side is each serving was about 500 calories, which is a little over kill for me.

Here is a picture of the finished product: Cold Sesame pasta salad.

My goal for this week: introduce myself to the green smoothie. Not really sure how it will taste, but I do know I still need to amp up my greens intake. One green smoothie can pack in 2-4 cups of greens. I'll let you know how it turns out!

-Elisha

Hello Dessert!

About this time tomorrow Reins, mom and I will be feasting at Green. whats even better than that news? The fact that this time we will be able to indulge in a tsoynamis. Yes my friends, its been one month with out our delicious treat and this renion is going to be so sweet. Unfortunatly Reins and I only survived 3 weeks without giving in to sweets, but hey we figured thats close enough! Tomorrow is going be a fablulous day!
-Elisha

A Time to Give Thanks

I would like to dedicate this post to my friend Lo! The reason being is that I will be referencing one of her beloved singer/songwriters Alanis Morrisette!! Lo be loving some Alanis! This post is basically a little opportunity to give thanks to all my homies who have supported me being vegan! I would NOT like this post to be in any way similar to Alanis morrisette's song "Thank U" circa 1998! Nice as it was for Alanis to say thanks,that song was the worst! It made my ears bleed so... Ok thank you's bring it! I am lucky in my life to have such great friends! Honestly to all my pals, thanks for your positivity and encouragement! I really enjoy being vegan! My sister and I are having a nice time and feel great! I even really appreciated my green salad two days in a row! It is a rare thing that I did not have to force feed myself those leafy greens! A life change is happening! No, not menapause. Come on, I am only twenty eight. - Reina

Simple yet Delicious

I have yet to mature and start making some recipes. The good news is there have been some vegan meals that are totally simple yet quite delicious....

Bob's Red Mill 10 Grain Hot cereal has a cream of wheat texture and it also packs in lots of nutrition ( unlike cream of wheat)....

Add some SO Delicious Coconut Milk ( this milk is sweet and creamy and definitely the best dairy alternative I have found. It doesn't have the funky after taste that soy milk does)....
Then sprinkle it with some berries and you've got yourself a yummy and feeling breakfast. This has been one of my staples since being vegan

Josh was kind enough to make us dinner this week ( this is only the second time we have eating dinner together since I turned wholesome) he sauteed some asparagus and some onions with olive oil and seasoning and they were some of the yummiest veggies I have experienced. I even ate up all of the rings of onions he made ( that is new for me, i used to run the other directions whenever onions were present). We topped of the veggies with a brown rice blend. Just some advice for veggie lovers check out the superstition market on Higley and Main, it may change your life forever! They have herbs for 25 cents and bell peppers for 15 cents sometimes and much much more.

Here is me with my veggie vegan pizza from whole foods. My face looks hungry like a wolf...Speaking of wolves reins and I concluded that finding fellow vegans is just darn amazing! When you find out someone is vegan you have this automatic bond and connection, friend at first sight kind of thing. I know what you are thinking, " what does that have to do with wolves?" Let me tell you. Reins and I are team Jacob ( twilight reference), we have been ever since we read New Moon years ago. When we go to twilight events/movies and see other Team Jacobs it is like we have stumbled across gold! When you see a Team Jacob you just know that they are a good time and have to have some personality because well, Jacob is lots of fun. Now we have the same feelings toward fellow vegans. If you are vegan than you have an understanding of why the heck we eat they way we eat and no explanation is needed. So to you all you fellow vegans and team Jacob's, Hollah!

I HEART Whole Foods!

Since the beginning of our vegan journey Whole Foods has had a special place in our hearts. They have every product you could ever need as a vegan. However, last Friday I made a discovery that made me fall completely head over heels for Whole Foods! Josh was kind enough to go shopping with me as part of our date night. We hit the whole foods in Chandler. They have a smoke house in one section where they smoke meatloaf and hot dogs and other goodies which Josh was checking out. And so I decided to check out their deli/pizza food area and what I discovered was beautiful! Whole foods makes fresh vegan meals to order which include pizza, burritos, salads and sandwiches. I could actually order food from somewhere besides Green and Pita Jungle! SO I ordered myself a few slices of vegan cheese/veggie pizza and we picked up Hungry Howies for Josh on our way home. We sat eating our pizzas and watching a movie and it was fabulous. Now Josh and I can hit up whole foods for date night and he can order from the smokehouse and I can order from the deli. Thank you whole foods for making delicious vegan fare, I truly love you for it!

xoxo,

Elisha

P.S. to our dissapointment we found out that the whole foods in Tempe does not have the smokehouse or the vegan pizza's and burritoes

Tsoynami Break

Ok ladies Elisha and I did it! We went to green this weekend and did not get Tsoynamis! It was different for sure. I NEVER see people walk out of that place without delving head first into a Tsoynami of their choice. It was nice to be back at Green. Elisha and I have not been for a few weeks,and I missed it dearly!! My meal was so delicious as well! Do not get me wrong, I am not giving up Tsoynamis forever. I am not that strong. We are jut taking a month long break...not a full on break up. I still have very Strong feelings for the Tsoynami. I just need a little time to think about things and get my priorities straight. -REINA

Easter...Our First Holiday as Vegans

Eater will be a little different this year. Last year we made homemade easter chocolates, died eggs and dined on ham. This year we are letting the pigs be safe ( no ham for us) and giving the chickens a day off from laying eggs. Though I do have to say I will miss me some deviled eggs- those things are so scrumptious. But the truth--no matter how cheesy it sounds--is that when I see pictures of bunnies and chickens I feel good inside to know that I will no longer cause harm to them. I have no judgement for those of you who will be feasting on animals this weekend, I am just saying that the vegan diet does give you a sense of peace. To further complicate Easter Reins and I are off sweets :( however, we have never gone a holiday without a treat so we will see how this pans out....Reins and I are trying to come up with a recipe to make for our Easter feast, but no ideas yet. Where is Alicia Silverstone when you need her? Happy Easter to you all!

(animals love us so much that they let us dress them up in doll clothes and take pictures. Jut one of the perks of being vegan) Have a Happy Easter!

-Elisha