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Giveaway: Vegan Cuts!!!

Giveaway: Vegan Cuts!!!

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Congratulations to our two winners:

Beth, who won Giveaway#1 and saves money on as much organic tahini at the dollar store as she can!

and

Sarah, who won Giveaway #2 and once bought a $60 container of coconut oil for $14.95! Nice!

 

There are Vegan MoFo giveaways happening left and right these days, but none like this one. For one thing, you get options, and all of them vegan!

Vegan Cuts is a vegan-owned company that offers great vegan products at a discount. Think of your favorite online deal site.  Now imagine if that site offered deals on purely vegan items.  Pretty great idea, right?  John and Jill are offering two prizes today.

Giveaway 1:
The first is a $50 electronic gift card to spend on any of their deals (and they have a lot of products available each week!).  Take a look at some of the products that have been featured at Vegancuts.The giveaway for the $50 gift card is available to folks in the United States and Canada, but keep in mind that some of the individual companies featured on Vegan Cuts may ship to the US only.

 

Giveaway 2:
This giveaway is for one month of the Vegan Cuts Snack Box.  The Snack Box is a subscription that delivers a box of goodies to you each month.

The Vegan Cuts Snack Box Giveaway is available to folks in the US only.

To enter the giveaways, leave a comment below by 3:00 pm PST on 10/30/2012, telling me A.) about a time you saved money on a vegan product and B.) which giveaway you’re entering.   Be sure to include a valid email address so that we may get in touch with you and send you your prize!  Two winners will be chosen randomly and announced shortly after 3:00.

 

If you’re interested in finding out more about Vegan Cuts and signing up to have their deals emailed to your inbox, click here.

Iron Chef Roundup #3: Hot Peppers, Sunflower Seeds, and Grapes

Iron Chef Roundup #3: Hot Peppers, Sunflower Seeds, and Grapes

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This week I posed the challenge of using three key ingredients in a unique dish for Vegan MoFo Iron Chef.  I am really impressed by all the entries this week using hot peppers, sunflower seeds, and grapes. They all sound like dishes that I would like to make and, more importantly, eat!

A visit to The Spade & Spoon produced a guide on how to make Sunflower Seed Tarts with Red Wine and Chili Jam. Can you believe it? I didn’t even think of wine when I thought up this week’s ingredient list. Grapes are versatile I tell you! (Left photo in image above.)

Kelly from Grassroots created a Waldorf Salad containing this week’s key ingredients (including jalapeno-roasted sunflower seeds!) and is called “Jalapeno-Face” Spicy Waldorf Salad.  (Center photo in image above.)

How do grilled tofu, taquitos, and Pico de Gallo fit in with this weeks Iron Chef challenge? You’ll have to visit Kim Cooks Veg 4U to see this inspired menu for yourself. (Right photo in image above.)

Vegan Fazool’s entry is unique for many reasons. Using the Candied Cowboys (candied jalapenos) made early during MoFo, The Sheriff, put together “The Shiny Saddle” and “The Candied Sunflower Raisin Saddlebag“. Hope the homestead makes it through the storm alright! (Photo above.)

Two contestants went the stuffed pepper approach.

Another Iron Chef newbie, The Unintentional Vegan used the ingredients beautifully in her Sunflower Stuffed Jalapeno Poppers with Balsamic Grape Dipping Sauce. (Left photo in image above.)

Opting for poblanos in lieu of jalapenos, Laura created a substantial dish from Stuffed Poblano Peppers with Sweet & Spicy Rasin Chutney. Talk about fusion! (Right photo in image above.)

When I thought up this set of ingredients, sunflower seeds in a bread seemed like a natural choice. Apparently, a couple of participants thought so too!

Take a look at Cara’s Raisin Scones with Sweet & Spicy Sunflower Seed Spread. Perhaps this is the perfect thing to eat while reading Wuthering Heights? (Left photo in image above.)

Somer went all-out with her first Iron Chef submission. This Monte Cristo is pretty epic. (Center photo in image above.)

Rubber Cowgirl’s Sunflower Biscuits with Grape-Chili Jam look like a great snack. I can just imagine the spicy sweetness of the jam on a crumbly biscuit. Mmmm mmmm. Kudos to you for eliminating palm oil from your cooking. I’m right there with you! (Right photo in image above.)

Well, that wraps up this season of Vegan MoFo Iron Chef.  Thanks to everyone who participated!  It was a lot of fun to see the key ingredients used so creatively in unique dishes.

Iron Chef Challenge: #3

Iron Chef Challenge: #3

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It’s Friday, which means it’s time for me to post this week’s secret ingredients for the Iron Chef Challenge. Participants will then use these ingredients in a unique dish, blog about the dish, and post a link to the recipe in the comments below. On Sunday I will do a roundup of the participating blogs’ dishes.

Our first Iron Chef Challenge this MoFo season brought you one ingredient. Then we raised the bar with two key ingredients. Have a seat; this is a shocker. This week, our final week of Vegan MoFo Iron Chef 2012, we will have THREE key ingredients! This pure Vegan MoFo craziness is brought to you by our key ingredients…

Hot peppers, sunflower seeds, & grapes

Hot pepper varieties abound, so choose any (or several) that you’d like. If you’re sensitive to heat, remember to discard the seeds and ribs. If you’re really sensitive to heat, go ahead and use a sweet pepper. We’ll be none the wiser.

Key ingredients can be used in  any form.
Psssstttt. Updated to add this hint: Raisins.

A quick review of our few simple rules/guidelines:

1. Whatever you come up with has to be new, nothing from a cookbook or a blog, not something you posted last week that happens to involve the secret ingredient(s). It’s fine to use a recipe for a jump-off point, but make it your own!
2. Entries are due at 3 pm PST on Sunday.
3. Have fun and be creative!

Allez Végétalien Cuisine!

Monday Roundup: Warm n’ Hearty Autumn

Monday Roundup: Warm n’ Hearty Autumn

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Okay.  So, I have always loved this time of year.  The air is crisp.  The sweaters appear.  Plus, everything is apples and pumpkins.  But my absolute favorite thing is eating hot food on a cold autumn day while snuggling with my dog.  Bring on the goodness!

Confident Cook, Hesistant Baker made me do a double take with these absolutely dreamy looking mashed parsnips.  I don’t even know if I’ve had or like parsnips, but I definitely need this in my mouth hole STAT!

If that wasn’t lovely enough, take a peek at the roasted tomato, artichoke, and chickpea sauce that Vegan Fazool made!  Totally droolworthy!

Ultimately, nothing says autumn like apples.  I could probably write an entire separate blog dedicated to the organic honeycrisps that I’ve been eating lately.  Jes adapted a recipe and created some killer looking spiced cider!

Amber made some delicious looking broccoli polenta cakes.  Broccoli. Polenta. Cakes.  With sauce!

 For true seasonal inspiration, you just have to see the crazy sauce that is Cadry’s Thanksgiving kebabs.  Greatness!

That’s all for now, folks. So, what are some of your favorite warming dishes?  Don’t forget to comment with the links!  Happy mofoing!

Iron Chef Roundup: #2

Iron Chef Roundup: #2

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Okay, so maybe potato and sesame as key ingredients were not so challenging.  Easy “challenge” or not, you all really rolled up your sleeves and delivered with this one.  I would love to

Veganolution made two dishes: a Sweet Potato Sesame Soup, which looks creamy and delightful, and Potato Sesame Buns. These two entries look like they would pair beautifully!

Big Mike took the opportunity to make something that evoked memories of his childhood, while enticing his adult palate. I am definitely going to give his Vegan Sesame & Potato Knishes a shot.

You had me at “sauerkraut,’ Mike.

Potato breads are pretty great, but think. care. act. took it to another level by making Potato Bread Sticks with sesame seeds.

I was hoping for a potato salad entry and the funcrunch files delivered with a Potato Salad with Tahini Dressing.

Get ready for Easy Vegan‘s Rosemary Potato Pizza with a Garlic Sesame Dipping Sauce.

Oh yeah.

Kirsten utilized sesame in its oil form to make her Thai Sweet Potato Cakes with Cashew Sour Cream.

There were some Sesame Crusted Eggplant Cutlets atop Sweet Potato Hummus happening over at Veggie Fixation. What a great use of ingredients!

Don’t Fear the Vegan lives and dreams Vegan MoFo, concocting, Sesame Coconut Encrusted Portobello Stuffed with Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Teriyaki Mushroom Gravy.

Take a look at My Munchable Musing‘s fusion Sweet Sesame Shepherd’s Pie.

This Sesame Crusted Tempeh Asian Salad with Fingerling Potatoes sounds healthful and flavorful. Good work, Kim!

Colynn‘s Vegan Redskin Potato and Kale Gnocchi in White Whine and Sesame Reduction looks like it should be in a fancy schmancy restaurant.

Hasselback Potatoes? What? I like how I’m learning new things from Kristi while making a mental note to try this at home. The flavor mixtures sound great in these three variations!

Colorful!

It makes me happy to see that several of you, Iron Chef participants, are fitting the challenges into your themes. Suburban Vegan did just this with a Spanish Omlet with Sesame Romesco Sauce.

V.ora’s Vegan Way was home this week to Austrian-inspired Sweet Potato Dumplings with Sesame Crunch. These look goood.

These look goood.

Only the second sweet dish entered in the challenge, Bite Me (I’m Vegan)‘s Sesame Sweet Potato Muffins represent the challenge well and look like a yummy breakfast-to-go.

Okay, and because I didn’t want to make this post waaaay too long by filling it with photos, here’s a collage of the dishes mentioned, but not represented pictorially above.

Iron Chef Challenge: #2

Iron Chef Challenge: #2

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Chopped was fun last week, wasn’t it? Man, those entries looked amazing! We will now return you to your regularly scheduled Friday programming.

The weather is a little on the gray-side here in the Pacific Northwestern United States, so as of late, I’ve been filling up on stews and hot things. However, I realize not everyone is in “fall mode,” so I wanted to choose ingredients that are used year-round in hot and cold dishes. Perhaps you’ll end up cooking up a stew or casserole. Or maybe you’ll make a salad or spread. There are lots of options. And, not only are these ingredients widely available, they’re pretty inexpensive.

The secret ingredients are…..

Potatoes and Sesame

All forms of these ingredients will be accepted, and although they’re not technically closely related, we’ll include sweet potatoes. Keep in mind that there’s a whole world of spuds out there, so you don’t need to feel limited by the “same old” varieties.

A quick review of our few simple rules/guidelines:

1. Whatever you come up with has to be new, nothing from a cookbook or a blog, not something you posted last week that happens to involve the secret ingredients. It’s fine to use a recipe for a jump-off point, but make it your own!
2. Entries are due at 3 pm PST on Sunday.
3. Have fun and be creative!

To participate, just comment below with the link to your blog post by Sunday, 3 pm PST.

Unfortunately, this challenge is not well-suited for our raw participants. Remember not to eat raw potatoes, please! Also, avoid the green parts of potatoes, which indicate a high solanine content. Read about potato toxicity here.

Dine-Out Friday Round-Up

Dine-Out Friday Round-Up

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Happy Friday, MoFo-land! Jess here, and my travelin’ bug is itching, mere days away from heading across the US and spending the rest of the month in New York. In the theme of vegan sightseeing, aka seeking out delicious, cruelty-free cuisine, I wanted to visit some blogs today who are dining out and showing off what’s available in their own towns, and beyond.

Alien’s Day Out snags the LAST VEGAN PAIN AU CHOCOLATE at the Veggie Holic Bakery in Hongdae, and it is awe-inspiring:

IMG_6702.jpg

Michele shares a glorious grilled cheese from Portland’s Cheese Cart on Vegtastic Voyage:

More Portland! Alice B of Silver Threads tries Sizzle Pie, for some New Maps out of Hell.

Not that I’m trying to rub it in, but I happened share some Rabbit salad & breadsticks at the other Sizzle location earlier today, myself.

Next up, the Gloria Gaynor biscuits from Biscuits & Groovy on Lone Star Plate.

I don’t know what to say besides I want to eat that plate. It will happen.

Moving on! Pumpkin chocolate sundae at Lula’s on A SoyBean’s blog (and more ice cream, treats from Cake Thieves and Sweet & Sara Marshmallows that I’m so stoked to get my hands on next week!!!)

More sweets, please:  Pecan Crumb Cake with Gingerbread Icing from the Deerly Beloved Bakery blog, who’ll be at two local street fairs this weekend, for those of ya in the Norwich (UK) vicinity!

You should go and report back, because I’m jealous.

Not exactly on my round-up topic, but come on, these vegan (and gluten-free!) corn dog mummies from Fork and Beans are so dang awesome:

Lastly, a very Hungry Caterpillar fruit snack from Fried Dandelions, because I continue to be a sucker for cutesy edible art:

See you next time!

Thursday Round-Up: Open All Nite

Thursday Round-Up: Open All Nite

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Hello fellow vegans!  Since I knew I’d have to do this roundup all late night styles, I decided to look at food that is best served in a late night eatery.  Can you imagine it?

For starters, it ain’t no stinkin’ diner without a little soup.  Kzcakes‘ tortellini soup and Jovanke’s pumpkin and leek soup caught my eye.  Nothing like a warm bowl of goodness on a chilly night.

 

If you decide “no soup for you”, why not pull a Benes and get the big salad?  Look at this beautiful salad from Becca Williams.  Roasted beets, apples, and cherry tomatoes?  Fork yeah!

 Of course, it’s not a fictitious late night vegan restaurant without that sammich action.  Weekly Vegan Menu is slangin’ cheese steaks.

If you like your late night food smothered in gravy, just check out what Sal  is doing to some mighty fine chickpea cutlets.

You know there’s no such thing as late night eating without a little dessert.  Take a looksie at this caramel apple pie from The Table Fort.  Drool.

Well, that’s all for now, folks!  I hope everybody is enjoying all the blogging!  Keep it up!  We are almost halfway there.

Giveaway – Vegusto

Giveaway – Vegusto

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And the winner is, drumroll please…. Eva!! Congratulations Eva, check your emails shortly and get ready to do some serious eating!

Have you heard of Vegusto? Do you live in the UK & Ireland? If so today’s your lucky day becuase we have an epic giveaway for you! If not you should check ’em out anyway, Vegusto make some seriously awesome vegan cheeses. Isa included them in The Post Punk Kitchen 100 at the beginning of this year and Quarry Girl described their cheeses as “The most life-altering/game-changing vegan cheese to date”.

I’m lucky enough to live around the corner from a store that stocks these amazing nut based cheeses & I’m not ashamed to admit that I’ve almost eaten my way through the entire range. Vegusto don’t just make cheeses though, oh no, they also make a fantastic range of mock meat products including sausages, burgers, roasts and slicing sausage.

Today Vegusto are offering you the chance to win a £30 mixed pack of their cruelty free meats and cheeses. This’ll look a little like the above picture of their Bronze Starter Kit.

To enter please leave a comment below by 3pm BST tomorrow telling us what you would do with a block of Vegusto vegan cheese. Please make sure to include a valid e-mail address so that we can get in contact with you. The winner will be randomly selected and announced after the giveaway has ended. This competition is only open to people residing within the UK & Ireland.

Wednesday Round-Up

Wednesday Round-Up

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Hey Vegan MoFo-ers! Welcome to the first ever round up from the Brighton branch of MoFo HQ. I hope you’re as excited to be reading this as I am to be writing it! If you know me online or in that thing they call “real life” it will come as no surprise to you that I’ve been fixated on desserts recently & today is no exception. I’m in love with everything sweet! Cookies are always a favourite and I wish that I had one of Amey’s DiSaronno Cookies in my hand right now. These beauties were made by Mihl over at seitan is my motor, I love the story behind them too but you’ll have to head over to Mihl’s blog to read it!

The second cookie I would pop into my mouth Cookie Monster style are these PB&J Thumbprints from Joanna Vaught. As a massive lover of all things Christmas (Yeah, I said it!) I’m loving Joanna’s 30 Days of Christmas Cookies & Treats theme this year.

As a self confessed sugar addict I’d never say no to a muffin, especially not one as peachy as this Peach Punch delight (d’ya see what I did there?!) from fellow Vegan MoFo volunteer Erin at Meet the Wiko’s.

Another beauty that I would happily gobble up at breakfast time is this Molasses Raisin Bread from The Vegan Cookbook Aficionado. Yum! You Canadian’s have really got it going on in the bread department!

If you’re looking for a more serious dessert then check out this Pumpkin Pie from Mipa at Alien’s Day Out. As a Brit I’m still not sure how I feel about pumpkin in dessert but this looks truly spectacular.

If you’d like to pair your chocoholic tendencies with your sweet tooth then this is the dessert for you. This tofu based Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse from an unrefined vegan is definitely something I’ll be bookmarking to make in the not too distant future!

If you’re looking to get really crazy with your dessert then I think this Ginger Maple Miso Ice Cream from Spabettie would be right up your street. I’m a huge lover of the combo of sweet & salty and this intriguing flavour would be my first choice at the ice cream parlour.

Last but by no means least we have a treat for your furry companions. These Peanut Butter Dog Treats from Kelly Peloza’s book The Vegan Cookie Connoisseur were made by Easy Vegan for her adorable friend Ralphie’s birthday, Happy Birthday Ralphie!