Autumn = Apples

Autumn is Here

Don't you just love autumn? My family and I went to the Masker Orchard in Warwick, New York for a jolly family apple picking trip. We picked around 45 apples but the variety was not great since there were only a few variety of apples ripe at that moment. We only have a few left. We love our apples. Yes we do.

Apple Tartlet


Recipe Yields 6 Tarlets 112 Cal/ Tarlet

3 1/2 Tbsp / 49g Vegan Butter, Room Temperature
48 Sheets/26 g Phyllo Dough (Each sheet around 4.5"x 2.5')
1 Large/ 268 g Golden Delicious Apple, Finely Diced
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/4 Tsp Cinnamon
1/4 Tsp Vanilla
1/8 Tsp Nutmeg
1/8 Tsp salt

• Grease a muffin pan.
  
• Peel and dice your apples and put it into a sauce pan with the salt and a tablespoon of butter.
  
• Heat up the apples on med-high heat and wait until the apples starts to let out it's juices.
• Pour the sugar and lower the heat. Let the apples simmer and continue stirring the apples until the syrup reduce into a thick syrup similar to the consistency of rice syrup.
• Add in the vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg and stir until it is combined.
  
• Then set the apples aside while you prepare the phyllo dough crust.
  
• Preheat the oven to 350 F and Lay the first sheet down and generously spread some butter on the phyllo dough, lay another phyllo sheet and spread the butter on it again. You should do this four more times, resulting in 6 layers of phyllo dough.
  
• Gently stuff the sheet into the muffin pan and dollop 1/6th of the apple filling into the phyllo shell.
• Do this 5 more times resulting 6 apple tartlets.
• Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

Another day in Manhattan

Sorry I didnt bring my camera but damn!! I love Union Square. I went with my boyfriend and we went to the green market and bought a lot of those decorative guords and indian corn. There was also a street fair with many various booths. There was a couple who had a booth selling vegan soap. Awesome! The only non vegan soap they had was the Honey Oatmeal. The couple was very nice and offered some nice tips and free samples. They also have a website so maybe you can check it out. They're booth is called the Copasoaps. They're from Phila, Pennsylvania but they sell their soaps in the street fairs on N.Y. They have the locations, time and date on the website.

My boyfriend and I also went to Zen Palate. They serve mostly vegan Asian food. They do specify whether the food contain milk derived ingredients, eggs, or dairy. Although it's a bit small, I loved the atmosphere. Their dishes are also huge so we ended up sharing our food and getting some appetizer. I didn't fully enjoy my stay there because of the other customers. There were several groups of customers who went into the restaurant not knowing that it was a veggie restaurant. When they took a look at the menu, they got up and left. What bunch of pricks. Screw them.

Thank goodness we went to some place sweet to calm my nerves. We went to Whole Earth Bakery and Kitchen. FUck Yah. COMPLETELY VEGAN. I think Babycakes is overrated. Pretty website and what not. After reading an article online about Whole Earth Bakery and Kitchen, I found out that they went through a lot since early this year, they were suppose to be scheduled to closed down due to their landlord but with support from the lovely customers of the bakery, a rally was held to keep the bakery open. Hell yah! They're still open. We got a pumpkin pie. Great treat for the fall. It tasted great! The bakery does not look the best nor was it big, it fucking rocks.

Homemade Vegan Candle

No update in over a week because I'm too caught up with school and work. I haven't had the time to truely make anything worthy but I did modified the banana kiwi muffin.

Updated Banana Kiwi Muffin

I think the last Banana Kiwi Muffin didn't taste so good. Yet and I still posted it. Shouldn't do that...

Recipe Yields 8 Loaves

1 1/2 /180g Cup All Purpose Flour
1 /120g Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 /200g Cup Sugar, Granulated
2/3 Tsp Baking Soda
3/4 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Salt

1 Medium/128g Banana
1 Small/95g Kiwi
4 /56g Tbsp Vegan Butter, Room Temp.
2 Rice Eggs or Ener-G
1/4 Cup /59 mL Soy Milk
1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1/4 Tsp Banana Essence
1/4 Apple Cider Vinegar

• In a large bowl sift together the all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt
• Preheat the oven to 350 F and grease the loaf pan.
  
• Puree the banana and kiwi together in the food processor.
• Cream together the vegan butter and vegan egg. (If you are using flax or rice egg please let it cool to room temperature before you cream together with the butter or else the butter will melt.)
• Combine the fruit puree into the liquid mixture.
• Add in the soy milk, apple cider vinegar, vanilla extract and banana essence.
  
• Pour the liquid mixture into the flour mixture and combine until the two mixture are all mixed but do not over mix.
  
• Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake it for 35 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean.

Vegan Candles

For all those arts and craft people who enjoy making your own candles, there is a great site that provides vegan candle equipments. Hooray hoorah! They have very reasonable prices and a wide variety of candle base and scents. They're called Southern Scentsation. I emailed them to inquire about their product information. I didnt ask about their soap base nor do I think they are vegan.

This is the email between Beth and me.

Cookies

So damn tired. My b/f, friend and I went bike riding for more than 4 hours along bike trails. Holy Fudge!! My bum hurts like a bitch. We went down hill on a rocky, dirt rode. I hit a tree at full speed and I went flying across the path. Awesome...bruised my pelvic bone when I hit the metal rod on the bike that is between the legs. I need to go out more hahahh fudging loser :3 Anyways enough ranting.

Berry Stoned Pome Smoothie

Laced it with calcium powder and protein powder in attempt to get all the needed nutrients. It does taste more like a power shake since it's does have a slight powdery gritty texture from the soy protein. You can do without it but hey you're not getting that calcium and protein even though it's not as much as a glass of soy milk. It has more protein than a regular soy milk smoothie.

Recipe Yields 3 cups/ 144 Cal, 11.7% Dv Calcium, 6g og Protein
1 Med-Large/195g Apple
1/138g Nectarine, White
1 Cup/250g Raspberries, Unsweetened Frozen
1 Tbsp Agave Nectar
2 Tbsp Soy Powder (Now Brand)
1/2 Tsp Calcium Powder (Now Brand)
1 cup/237 mL Soy milk, plain

• Pit and chop the apple and nectarine into 1/2 inch cubes.
  
• Throw in the raspberries, apples and nectarine into the blender (hence the name of the smoothie).
• Top it off with the soy powder, calcium powder and agave nectar.
• Pour in the soy milk and blend!
  

It's really sweet from the apple yum!

Graham Cracker Raisin Cookies!!

Whoopdie doo! Need to get rid of my graham cracker. Use vegan graham cracker so watch out for em honey!! I need to perfect this cookie. My mom thinks it's sweet but I think it's fine. I think it's a bit too soft and chewy but my mom thinks it's nice soft and chewy. Hard to please so eh...

Recipe Yields 18 Cookies
1/2 Cup of Sugar
1/4 Cup Soy Butter
1 Egg Substitute (I used the rice egg)
1/3 Vanilla
1/4 Tsp Cinnamon, Grounded
8 Large/125g Graham Crackers
1 Tbsp Baking Powder
Pinch of Baking Soda
1/4 Tsp Salt

• Place the crackers into the food processor and process it until the crackers become powdered graham crackers. (Not crumb, POWDER!!)
• Cream together the sugar and the butter in a large bowl until the mixture is all nice and creamy.
• Cream the egg substitute into the creamed sugar mixture until everything is combined. (If you are using flax egg or the rice egg, let it cool down first or it will melt your creamed butter mixture)
• Put in the vanilla extract the grounded cinnamon and cream it all together.
• Preheat the oven to 350 F.
  
• Sift the graham cracker powder, baking powder baking soda and salt into the creamed mixture.
  
• Mix the dough together until everything is combined.
  
• Form into 18 balls of dough and bake it on the cookie sheets for 12 minutes @350 F.
  

Italy Grape


Can someone please tell me what exactly are they? They were labeled Italy Grapes but I googled it and there were just listing of wine grapes. The chinese name for it is also Italy Grapes so I don't know. They are about 3/4 inches in diameter. The skin is also quite thick and the flesh is a bit tart but also has a hint of grape/plum flavor. I don't know please do inform me of this odd fruit.


Tempeh mixed Veggie Sandwich


Mixed veggies...You can tell me about it. Yes that is bokchoy. I dont even know what kind of sandwich it is hahah. Fried tempeh with soy sauce, Bokchoy, pan fried tomato with sweet relish and dijon mustard on pumpernickel. Que? Asian stuff with some non Asian stuff hahah yay!! It tasted pretty good though. Muahahah oddball

Lipton Diet Citrus Green Tea and Wrigley's Orbit White

Lipton Diet Citrus Green Tea
I called the company up using the number on the back of the bottle 1(800)657-3001. I spoke with one of the representative named Lin. I asked whether any of the ingredients contained any animal products or are derived from any animals. Lin quickly said no as if she has been asked many times before.

Here are the ingredients : water, citric acid, green tea, natural flavors, sodium hexametaphosphate (to protect flavor), phosphoric acid, potassium sorbate and potassim benzoate (preserve freshness), ascorbic acid (to protect flavor), aspartame, acesulfame potassium, calcium disodium (to protect flavor), caramel color, yellow 5, blue 1.

Although they may not contain many animal products, they do contain a lot of chemicals!! whoop dee doo.

Wrigley's Orbit White

I also called to inquire about the orbit white product and lo and behold, all flavors are vegan! I called 1(800)974-4539 and spoke with Kerry, Cari, Carry ( however you may spell her name) and asked her whether or not the spearment orbit white contained any animal by products and she also responded quickly ask if she has been asked this question a million times. In fact she said all of the orbit white contains no animal products.

Here are the ingredients: maltiol, sorbitol, gum base, acacia, natural and artificial flavors, mannitol; less than 2% of glycerol, soy lecithin, aspartame, acesulfame k, sodium bicarbonate, carnaba wax, BHT (to maintain fresshness)

All the flavors contains the same ingredients with the exception of colors.

Wintermint contains: Colors (titanium dioxide, blue 1)
Bubblemint contains: Colors (titanium dioxide, red3)
Peppermint contains: Colors (titanium dioxide, blue 1)
Spearmint contains: Colors (titanium dioxide, yellow 5, blue 1)

First week of School

College sucks butt. This semester is more hectic than my previous semesters. Despite all the load I want to start a a vegan/vegetarian club at my school I need to recruit some vegan/vegetarians first. I know no one there let alone any vegan/vegetarians. I need to devise some things to do and plant out each meeting. I'm at a total lose. Some suggestions would be nice :3

I didn't cook much either. I have no idea what I've been eating this whole week...I've been eating Energy bars. Hahah a lot of luna bars, organic food bar. Oofz those are so gritty but it doesn't taste that bad after a while. They do have 22g of protein AWESOME. I've been eating a lot of durians too. Yayyy durians everyday. It's my fucking life.

Calcium Enriched Banana Raspberry Shake
It sucks that I have to go to work right after class so I don't get a chance to eat lunch and I start work at 1. I don't want to go to work and work for only 5 minutes and take my lunch break. I decided to make shakes so I can type as I chug down my shake. Sorry no picture because I had to rush to work. This shake is also calcium fortified since it's quite important for women to get a sufficient amount of calcium or else by the time we're 40, we're screwed.

Recipe Yields 2 Cup/ 198 Cal/cup

1 Large Banana, Chunks
1/2 Cup Frozen Raspberry
2 Tbsp Agave Nectar
1 Cup Soymilk
1/3 Tsp Citrate Calcium (I used NOW brand since it's Vegan)

• Place the frozen raspberries in the blender first then put in the chunks of banana on top of the raspberries
  
• Pour in the soymilk and put in the calcium and the agave nectar.
• Blend it on high speed.
  

ed Bean/Green Bean Buns
Buns buns buns!! Sorry didn't measure out the amount for the filling so I only have the calorie intake for the buns not the filling

Portuguese Sweet Bread

Recipe Yields 8 Buns/262 Cal/Buns
1/6 Cup/8 Tsp Warm Water (105- 115 F)
2 1/2 Tsp Active Dry Yeast
1/2 Tsp and 3/8 Cup/6 Tbsp Sugar
1/6 Cup/ 8 Tsp and 1 Tbsp Warm Milk
3/8 Cup/ 6 Tbsp Margarine, Warm (Soy Garden)
1/2 Tsp Salt
3 Flax Egg ( I used 1 1/2 Flax Egg and 1 1/2 Rice Egg)
2 1/4 Cup All Purpose Flour

Red Bean/Mung Bean Filling

Recipe
Red Bean/Mung Beans
Water
Sugar
Oil

or you can use canned red bean or mung bean at the asian markets.

To make the filling

• Prepare the filling first if you are making your own by soaking the red beans in one bowl and the mung beans in another bowl for at least 4 hours or overnight.
  
• Boil the red beans until the beans are cooked and soft.
  
• Drain out all the water and blend the beans in the blender until it becomes a paste.
  
• Then put the paste in a sauce pan and pour a small amount of oil (same amount you would for sauteing that much vegetables) and enough sugar for you to sweeten that batch of red bean.
  
• Cook it on med to high heat until it reaches the consistency of a thick paste. (around 5 minutes)
  
• Follow the same instructions above to make the mung bean paste.
  

To make the bread

• Combine the warm water, active dry yeast and 1/2 tsp of sugar together. Let it sit for 5 minutes or until the liquid mixture starts to bubble and rises to about double the size.
• Then combine in the sugar, warm milk, butter and salt.
  
• Then pour the "eggs" and 2 cup of the flour and mix it until it forms into a dough.
  
• Knead the dough and add in the remaining flour. If the dough is a bit too wet add a bit more flour.
• Knead it for 10 minutes. Cover it with plastic wrap and let it sit for about and hour or until it has double in sized and the dough retains the punctures of your fingers when you poke at the dough.
  
• Punch down the dough and separate the dough into 8 balls.
  
• Fill each ball of dough with the bean fillings.
  
• Preheat the oven to 350F.
  
• Let the shaped buns rise for about 35 minutes or until it has double and the passes the finger test. (Same test you would use to test for the first rising)
• Brush the buns with the remaining soy milk and bake for 30 minutes at 350F.

NOW Food
You have to love NOW food. They have an awesome amount of vegan/vegetarian supplements. I just go the calcium citrate and the soy protein powder from them and I already had the calcium citrate + vitamin D pills. Awesome. Hm... I would consider these items a staple we need protein to survive and calcium too especially for women. Women tend to lack calcium so by the time they reach their middle ages, their bone mass has decrease to half it's original bone mass. Osteoporosis, slouching and fracture limbs are some of the symptoms of low bone mass. Watch out women!! BUILD EM BONES!!



Calcium Citrate
1 Tsp = 700mg = 70% of our DV (DV is 1000mg)
Although it says powder, it's not as fine as powder sugar. It's a bit gritty like cornmeal. It also has a tint of sourness towards it since it is derived from citrus items. It's great for sprinkling it on food items. The sour taste can easily be covered up by salt, sugar or anything.

Soy Protein
1/4 Cup = 21g =40% of our DV (DV is aorund 52g-53g)
NOW food brand soy protein powder is unflavored. Unlike the flavored soy protein drinks, it does not contain sugar so you can sprinkle your soy protein powder into salty food as well yay!
It taste like soy so it's not so hard masking the taste. Create a sauce for your tofu dish. Whatever you want! Make your own soy protein shake. Vanilla, chocolate, strawberry. Use your imagination. You are not limited to the vanilla flavor or chocolate flavor that they have at the health food stores.