VeganMoFo

We have our winners!! Congrats to Nathalie who said  “I would love to try to Cocomels coconut milk caramels!” You are the winner of the $30 gift certificate.

And  Denice Lucas who said “I am DYING to try the vegan cheeses. I am a cheese freak and would love to find a vegan alternative.” You are the winner of the $15 gift certificate!

Thanks for playing everyone, and remember that the 10% off coupon code is good for the entire month of October!

Since I’ve relocated to the Midwest, Vegan Essentials has become my friendly neighborhood vegan grocer. Ok, maybe they are hundreds of miles away, but still, that’s the closest I’m going to get to my precious Dr. Cow Nut Cheeses and my fave whipped topping in the world (Healthy Top, if you gotta’ know.) After placing a few orders that were always prompt and well-packaged, I knew that whenever I had reason to thank someone, I’d do it with a Vegan Essentials gift certificate. When it comes time to show some love, forget hugs, I give ‘em marshmallows or whatever their heart desires. And this month, dear MoFoer’s, Vegan Essentials wants to show YOU some love!

In this giveaway, everyone’s a winner! For the entire month of October, Vegan Essentials is offering 10% of all items, with use of the coupon code “mofo.” So get your chocolate, your cheezes, and even your vegan twinkees on! I suppose I always look at a VE order as a chance to get cool treats that I can’t normally find. But they also have clothing, vitamins and books! Yep, they’re not called Vegan Essentials for nothing.

And the fun doesn’t end there. Vegan Essentials is also offering two gift certificates to two lucky winners today! The mama gift certificate for $30 and the baby gift certificate for $15.

To enter, just leave a comment below by 1pm EST tomorrow, Monday 10/8, telling us which Vegan Essentials product you are dying to try *or* talk about a recent order and how awesome it was! Be sure to include a valid email address so that we can contact you. The two winners will be randomly selected and announced around after the giveaway has ended. This offer is worldwide, open to all. Good luck!

*only exceptions are cat/dog food over 9 lbs. in weight and cold shippers for sending frozen items.

Congratulations to our winners, Susan and Penny! Check your emails, ladies. To those that missed out, don’t despair because we’ve got more Australian-friendly giveaways lined up this month. Just keep checking back! 

Vegans of the world, we’ve heard your cries (uttered through mouthfuls of vegan cake). While giveaways are great fun, they’re often less great for those who get left watching from an ocean away. Well, Australians, I’ve come on board from our nation’s capital, and I’m ready to tackle the serious issues. Forget the carbon tax- I’m running on a mandate of free baking supplies for my fellow local vegans.

Are you tired of having to interrogate strangers at bake sales about what you can eat? Or worse, are you sick of having to use your mouth (which could be better used munching on delicious vegan brownies) to tell people which items you’ve made are vegan, gluten free, nut free, or all of the above? Allergy Riders have got your back, in super cute style.

Their baking cups and food flags are perfect for vegan bakers and those with allergies. They’ve even got our xgfx brothers and sisters covered! No longer will you waste precious eating time poring over handwritten ingredient lists or discussing your food choices with others (not that we mind, it’s just that sometimes those discussions are best had on a full stomach).

Allergy Riders have kindly donated two prize packs, each containing two packs of baking cups and two packs of food flags of the winners’ choice. Two winners will be randomly selected at 11am AEST tomorrow. To enter, leave a comment here (with a valid email address) letting us know which sweet or savoury treat you always keep an eye out for at bake sales. Australians only, please! 

Winners!

Lisa Marie: The vegan food gift I’d most like to receive is a trip back to NYC for dinner at Candle 79. Does that count? I really miss that place. 🙁

I’d really like The Best Veggie Burgers on the Planet. I’ve had it on my wishlist for a while.

Veronica: There’s a few things I’d like but I really need a tofu press! Hearty Vegan Meals for Monster appetites would be best for me, I have a 13 year old who plays baseball & football and he definitely has a monster appetite!

Adeline: A pumpkin pie. I just can’t get it right for some odd reason.

Vegan Food Gifts or Hearty Vegan. [you’ll be getting Vegan Gifts]

Check your email shortly!

If I had to describe Joni’s recipe style to someone who was unfamiliar with her, i’d probably say “Girl doesn’t mess around.” My impression of Joni is that she isn’t interested in putting out a book that isn’t designed to knock some socks off. There is no recreating the tofu scramble, or jumping on the latest health trend to cash in. Her love of comfort food combined with Celine Steen’s creative use of ingredients created one of the best vegan cookbooks of all time, Hearty Vegan Meals For Monster Appetites. Unapologetically decadent, it is the book to pull out when you really need to wow someone.

Long before she hooked up with Celine, Joni had self-published her own book and was working on a veggie burger book for years. Good things come to those who wait, I know when I got my copy I thought, “How can anyone come up with 100 veggie burger recipes and not just repeat themselves?” If you have the book, you know that Joni took things that you would never think of making into a patty and did it.

Her new book (number six!), Vegan Gifts just came out. I can’t tell you much about it since I don’t have it, but I can tell you that Kurt Halsey (tween fan girl squee) illustrated it, and if you look at Joni’s flickr account, you can see pictures of many of the recipes. Mixes, cookies, snacks, and canned goods galore! I know every year I struggle to think of new food gifts to give people (also I always end up eating half of those buckeye ball myself), so I personally can’t wait to get my hands on it. I wrote a guide to vegan cookbooks on my blog a few months ago, and one of the points I mentioned for buying a new book is, does it fill a hole in my collection? The answer here is a big YES. And with Celine taking the photos, you know it’s just as nice as the books she’s done with Joni.

But if you don’t want to take my word for it, why don’t we just give you a book for funsies?

Joni has offered up a copy each of three of her books today, Hearty Vegan Meals, The Best Veggie Burgers On The Planet, and Vegan Gifts. Please say which book you would like so you don’t win one you already have (if you’d be happy with any, feel free to say so as well). Simply comment here, telling us what vegan food gift you’d most like to receive for [winter holiday that you celebrate/refuse to participate in]. Three winners will be picked tomorrow morning at 11 am CST, US only (we have UK and Aussie only giveaways coming, don’t worry!).

Our main winner is CQ: My family and I don’t really…”gather”. But one time I was meeting up with my parents and my grandma (whom I hadn’t seen in a long time) for lunch in NYC, and despite my having explained to my parents a zillion times what I would and would not eat, and gave them a list of possible restaurants where we could eat, they chose a restaurant that wasn’t on my list and sure enough, it was a Chinese restaurant where everything (including the sauces) had meat in it. We had to leave and go find somewhere else to eat. It was…yeah, pretty awkward.

Also, my Field Roast contact said I could pick a couple of more winners to receive a coupon, so we have two runners up!

Kirsten: I’m a newbie, but the latest experience that kind of qualifies was my sister saying on the phone, “so are you now going to be a vegan?” Kind of reminded me of the time my mom asked, “so are you going to come home for Christmas and be gay everyday?” Yes people, every day, all day!

Marti: [rant with some cuss words]…(OK, THAT rant isn’t going to win me any Field Roast, but I decided not to put up with ANY family not-vegan drama many years ago and that’s pretty much the end of the story…) But look, it did!

Check your emails shortly!

Ah, fall. The changing leaves, the cooler weather, and…the holidays! Depending on how you spend your fall/winter holidays and with who, they can either be great or a miserable experience. I cook our Thanksgiving dinner, but on Christmas we truck it to grandma’s house, and of course there’s no food for me there. So if I don’t feel like making something and bringing it with, i’m out of luck.

That’s where things like the Field Roast Celebration Roast (which I did take with me a few years ago) and Hazelnut Cranberry Roast En Croute come in handy. Sometimes there’s no leftovers from Christmas Eve, sometimes you have the flu, sometimes you are just lazy, okay? And a mini-roast or a fancy pastry-wrapped roast are a lot nicer than the granola bar you have stashed in your purse.

The kind folks at Field Roast have a special package today for one very lucky winner, two free product coupons (one for each product mentioned) and a t-shirt! Simply comment here and tell me your most awkward vegan family gathering experience. A winner will be chosen tomorrow at 11 AM, CST. US only!