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Month: October 2012

Round-Up: Yes We Can!

Round-Up: Yes We Can!

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I can’t put my finger on why, but over the last few months I’ve become completely enamoured of the idea of canning things. Maybe it’s the danger (get it wrong and you could inflict the plague upon your family!), maybe it’s the promise of preparedness for any situation (no, I won’t share my canned peaches, neighbour who laughed at my zombie contingency plan), or maybe it’s just my deep-seated desire to leave everything behind and join the Country Women’s Association (vegan lamington, ladies?). Whatever the cause, I’ve been super excited to see some Vegan MoFo-ers sharing my enthusiasm for all things fermented and preserved this year. 

Bobbie at The Vegan Crew has got the whole process covered, from picking to preserving, finishing up with some homemade pear-based ‘honey’! Why bother the bees when you can make honey yourself? 

The Picky Vegan offers us a recipe for authentic kimchi, as well as some great recommendations for books about preserving and even the best kinds of jars to use. 

The fermentation gets a little more unexpected at Kohlrabi and Quince, where Kelly is fermenting… hot sauce? I have to try this! 

This apple thokku, or Indian cooked apple chutney, is a perfect candidate for canning- if you can keep yourself from eating it all immediately, that is. Check out Rithika’s great chutney theme at Vegan on the Prowl for some more inspiration! 

Kate at The Spade and Spoon has made a meal in a can with these smoky paprika baked beans (finally, I can enjoy my post-apocalytic dinner without other survivors asking me where I get my protein). 

And if you’re wondering what to do with all this canned food, besides looking at it and congratulating yourself for your self-sufficiency, it’s Tami at Vegan Appetite to the rescue. In addition to some handy tips for canning novices, she’s offering up some recipes using your own preserved produce. First up are these barley, beans and greens-stuffed peppers using home-canned Cajun tomatoes and harissa. 

Cooked too much in a MoFo frenzy? You know what to do! Can it, and enjoy the flavours of MoFo all year round!

Vegan MoFo 2012 – The Complete RSS List

Vegan MoFo 2012 – The Complete RSS List

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We had to keep the bundles in categories this year because Google seems to be limiting the number of subscriptions it will allow in a bundle. However, there are two ways you can create a folder containing all the feeds.

Option 1 is a lot easier, should work with any RSS reader, and as an added bonus, you’ll get the latecomers included in your feed list. Honestly, I’m only including Option 2 because I wrote those instructions out first, before I found a way to share the OPML file. Also, I can have a hard time letting go of something once I’ve started.

Option 1

Download the OPML file containing all the feeds here.

Follow the directions to import the file into your reader here. In Google, you can import the feeds by clicking on the gear icon to go to Reader Settings and following the instructions under the Import/Export tab.

Option 2

  1. In Google Reader, click the gear icon on the right side of your screen and go to Reader Settings.
  2. Click the Subscriptions tab.
  3. Select the “Change Folders” drop down next to any of your 2012 MoFo Feeds.
  4. Click Add New Folder.
  5. Enter your desired name (e.g. 2012 Vegan MoFo).
  6. Then, you’ll need type the name of the MoFo Folder you’d like to add to your complete list into the “Filter by name, folder, or URL” box on the right (e.g. 2012 MoFo Healthy and Whole Foods). You will need to do this for each MoFo folder. The reader just does not seem to like adding a large number of feeds at once.
  7. From here, click on the “select all XXX subscriptions” in the top left of your screen.
  8. In the “More actions…” drop down, select the folder you created in step 5.
  9. Repeat steps 6-8 until all of your feeds are collected in one folder.

…and there you go, all of your 2012 MoFo feeds in one handy folder

Giveaway- Beans, beans, and more beans!

Giveaway- Beans, beans, and more beans!

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And our three randomly selected bean-loving winners are: Veronica, Peggy, and Kalamckala.  Check your email, you three, and congrats!

I’m willing to bet you, faithful Vegan MoFo readers, go through a substantial amount of beans in a month.  Wouldn’t it be great to have several pounds of these nutrient-packed legumes shipped to your front door…for free?!  I mean, if nothing else, it would save you a trip to the grocery store and allow you to spend more time MoFoing.

For the second year in a row we’ve received a great giveaway from the folks at PNW Farmers Coop.  Three lucky people will win three two-pound bags of non-GMO lentils, garbanzo beans, and split peas, sustainably-produced by family farmers in the U.S. Pacific Northwest.  That’s enough to last you quite a while, I’d imagine!

If you need bean inspiration, why not turn to your fellow MoFoers?

Two Vegan Ladies cooked up some adorable Lentil Sliders that look both tasty and satisfying.Or how about some Moroccan Pumpkin Hummus, recipe provided by Robin Robertson?


If you’re all about the split peas, perhaps Cupcakes and Kale will inspire you with  her Curried Chana Dal Soup.

To enter, leave a comment below by 4:00 PST 10/3/2012, telling us about your favorite bean or bean dish to prepare.  Be sure to include a valid email address so that we can contact you.  Three winners will be randomly selected and announced an hour (or so!) after the giveaway is closed.  This giveaway is open to folks in the U.S. only.

Roundup: Taco Tuesday

Roundup: Taco Tuesday

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It is my belief that if all the veganmofo participants in all the land got together we could make the most fabulous tacos. First we could get My Whole Deal to start pressing some homemade corn tortillas because homemade always wins and then the xGFx-ers could join the fun. Plus she’s got that salsa book which will totally come in handy.

The first thing I’d add into our tacos would me X Means No Onions‘ version of mushroom fajitas because they sound delicious and they also can feed a ton and there are like 600 of us. Plus it uses criminal mushrooms, I can just hear the Fiona Apple song. 

I like to have greens in my tacos because eating greens makes me feel like I’m a super healthy person and I can eat all the ice cream I want. So I think this butternut and kale saute with pecans from Good Good Things might be the perfect tasty element.

If all those fibrous greens are a little too much for your palate another way to enjoy them is Fo Reals Mom‘s Kale Pesto. The recipe has sunflower seeds, miso, and nooch so I think it would be a fantastic addition to any taco. Maybe I’ll try it!

A lot of people love a creamy melty cheesy element on their tacos, especially for those American-style smart ground/lettuce/tomato versions and I think Vegan Nom Nom‘s Melty Delicious Vegan Cheese looks like just the thing. It uses agar AND tapioca starch so it’s firm  and sliceable or melty if you heat it up. She used it for nachos and they look like something I could eat all day.

There’s No Fu like Tofu roasted some poblanos and I think roasted peppers -especially with a cheesy sauce- make tacos amazing so we’d make sure to add those as well. 

I need to have something a little crunchy or I’m just a little bit unsatisfied so I think these roasted pepitas from Vegan Fazool would add a bit of snap to the taco. She says the trick is to warm them up in the oven to dry them out before you roast them. I’ll have to try it because my pepitas never turn out very crunchy.

I love having a sweet element with my dinner and I think this Warm Beet and Blood Orange Salad from HipsterFood would be a great side dish to any taco. Although now that I think about it, that’s a lot of kale for one meal. Whatever, we’re all eating vegan, we can handle it.

And you know what, if this is all getting too complicated maybe we should just go to Mexican Radio in Hudson New York. The Food Duo‘s post about it makes it seem like the ideal place for a fiesta, they have wonderful artwork, lots of hot sauce, good beer, and all sorts of vegan dishes like carne asada fries that you can’t find just anywhere. Really, go check out the whole post and then report back here. Ok you don’t have to report back here. Just keep on blogging!

And btw if you don’t get a ton of spam you might want to consider turning off the captchas for the month of mofo. It seems like they are getting harder to figure out (or maybe I’m just getting older) so disabling them might mean we can leave more comments.

Happy Mofo!

Giveaway – Earth Balance!

Giveaway – Earth Balance!

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And our winner is, The Radioactive Vegan, who says “I would gladly wrestle James Spader in a vat of most anything.” ME TOO, GIRL. Check your email!

First giveaway of the year, woo! We starting off with a familiar product, but this year we are going to have more books and more international friendly giveaways. I know for a fact that the UKers have a giveaway coming up that I am very, very jealous of.

Our giveaways operate in a simple fashion: we ask a fun question, you answer. If you win, we’ll post it here and email you. Make sure that you leave your email address and that it’s an address you check regularly. If we can’t get a response from you in a timely manner, we will pick another winner. To check if you won, simply come back to this post shortly after the time listed at the bottom (which will vary depending on when each giveaway is posted).

Onward!

I already waxed nostalgic about how Earth Balance saved my early vegan existence last year, so this year i’ll just point out some newer products they have: coconut peanut butter, cinnamon and roasted garlic (not together, ew) coconut butter spreads, and three varities of vegan mayo! The soy nog will also be coming back this year. The Mindful Mayo is pretty good and a little bit cheaper than some other brands, personally I haven’t spotted the flavored spreads in the wild but if you have, let us know how they are!

If you are concerned about palm oil, read Earth Balance’s statement here and keep in mind that the free product coupons are good for ANY product, so you can enter and use them on palm oil-free products if you win.



Today, Earth Balance is offering one lucky winner a bamboo cutting board and a year’s supply of Earth Balance (12 free product coupons)! Just comment here, telling me who you would wrestle in a vat of Earth Balance (keep it PG, folks). This one is open to US and Canada, a winner will be randomly chosen tomorrow morning at 11 am CST.

VeganMoFo 2012 is here!

VeganMoFo 2012 is here!

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Helloooo, MoFo-land! This is Jess, one of your round-uppin’ organizers, and I’m so gosh darn excited to welcome everyone in to the sixth-ever Vegan Month of Food! VeganMoFo VI is here!

Every year, the themes seem to get well, more and more exciting, with unstoppable returning favorites and new folks alike – from folks passionately covering regional cuisines and positively obsessing over new ingredients, to folks busting out day-of-the-week themes, and of course, those bloggers with themes that are downright awe-inspiring, like the now-legendary, two years of vegan gravy from Marti at More Than Tofu-N-Sproutz and the captivating ‘Around the World in Thirty Days‘ from Amey (one of our lovely MoFo organizers) at Vegan Eats & Treats.

Over at VeganMoFo-brainstorming central, the Post Punk Kitchen boards (join us!), we’ve been sharing theme announcements and they include: The Walking Fed, zombie-themed fun at That Pain in the A*s Vegan, all things Canadian over at Cookbook Aficionado, cleaning the cupboards and using all those random ingredients you forget you bought at Cooking the Vegan Books, fall foods from Hot Vegan Chickpeas, mantras & oats at Including Cake, Buffy-themed food at Busted Afternoon (whoa), days of the week including a Go-Go Gadget Monday at Vegan in Brighton (one of our new MoFo organizers!), cooking for kids at The Common or Garden Vegan, more days of the week featuring Lingonberry Tuesdays (!!!!) at NorthernVeg, 30 Days of cooking from Tofu Cookery at Vegan for the Win, Frocktober & vegan food at Meet the Wikos (with Erin, another one of our new organizers), waffles galore at Muffin Topped, and a month of food holiday-celebrating at Noochtastic! are just some of the ideas floating around. Please share yours! I’m trying my first year of day-of-the-week themes myself with something of a spreadsheet ready in advance  as opposed to a more on-the-fly approach. Gosh, how do you guys do it?!

Roasted Carrot Waffles from Day One of MoFo 2012 on Muffin Topped

Reminders & Fun Links

There may seem like a lot to keep up on, but it’s all awesome, so listen up!

Let’s start with the big official 2012 Blogroll & RSS Feed details.

If you’re like me, you’ll get lost – in a good way – on this for hours.  Here are the feed bundles.  This is further divided into: Where in the World, by Language, the United States of Blogging, by Category and the PPK MoFo-ers. Just try and keep up. Really.

If you want to talk MoFo with other MoFo-ers all MoFo day, head over to those Post Punk Kitchen VeganMoFo forum to discuss MoFo-everything in one place. MoFo!

If you want even more and more MoFo (we know you do!), keep up with the official Facebook page, follow the twitter @VeganMoFo with hashtag #VeganMoFo. ALL THE TIME.

Want a banner for your posts and/or website? Go here and make sure to link back.

New for 2012, we have an Instagram! Ooooo. Follow it at @VeganMoFo, and use the same tag so folks can see what you’re up to, #VeganMoFo, on your photos.

We’ll also be debuting one week of Chopped among-st the Iron Chef competitions and other generous giveaways for folks all around the globe – so, stay tuned for rules & prizes!

And hey, if you have questions, please email VeganMoFoBlog [at] gmail.com and an organizer will get back to ya.

Is this your first year? Are you a seasoned MoFo-er? Do you have the best theme ever? Let us know!

 HAPPY MOFO VI!!!!

 

Adding latecomers to the RSS feed – you can do it!

Adding latecomers to the RSS feed – you can do it!

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Every year, we have people who miss the deadline and ask if they can still get in. And as explained in the FAQ, even if we were able to add new blogs to the bundle once it’s been made, we’d have to repost a new link and people would have to re-subscribe to the new bundles. That’s still true, but I finally thought of a very simple solution.

Please only post in this thread if you missed the deadline to sign up!

Step 1: If you missed the deadline, in a comment on this post with your RSS feed link. Not your website URL!
Step 2: Interested parties click on your link, add you to their feed reader on google, and then drag and drop your blog name (in the left hand column) into the VeganMoFo folder. Ta da! This still relies on people adding your blog themselves, but it’s better than a kick in the pants.

I made a poorly cut-and-pasted image in photoshop (featuring Vegan Crunk because I know she missed the deadline) if you don’t know your way around google feed reader.

So there you go! I will tweet this link occasionally over the next week to remind people to come and check for any new additions. I hope this helps!

Also, you may notice that there isn’t one big overall bundle this year – apparently google now limits how many feeds you can put in a bundle, so we had to do it by each category and then ‘everything else’.