Veggie Crockpot Chili

The weather has been cooling down here in Houston and that's the perfect signal to break out the Crockpot. There is nothing better than coming home to a hot, already prepared, comfort food meal after a long day of work. (Did I mention I work way more at my new job? 9 or 10 hour days with a 15 minute lunch are common.) I knew this week would be busy, so Monday night I set up a chili recipe that only needed to cook for 3.5 hours. I soaked my beans and cooked those in the small crockpot during the day, but I could have made canned beans and used one less appliance. This two bean chili recipe is from The Vegetarian Slow Cooker. Interestingly, the second bean is green beans! Pinto beans, green beans, corn, zucchini, and sauteed onions are cooked in the crockpot and a sauce made from soaked ancho peppers, jalapeno peppers, and cilantro is added near the end. The zucchini is sauteed, chilled, and then added with the sauce actually. It is tasty and I like the crunch of the green beans. I tried to make some bread in my bread machine to go with this, but it didn't rise very well and was too dense. I ended up eating the leftovers with crackers during the week.

Dosa Factory - Houston, TX

VSOP had dinner at Dosa Factory recently. I'd been there once before, so I was glad to return. I ordered a chettinad spicy dosa and the dude ordered the masala dosa. The masala dosa is the only one that comes in a traditional presentation, which was a bit of a surprise to us. Since the restaurant is currently offering free appetizers with each dosa purchase, we picked the Manchurian idli and onion vada. We were even given a free dessert, that soy rice pudding again. Nom nom nom. Onion Vada



Manchurian Idli



Masala Dosa



Chettinad Spicy Dosa



Rice Pudding

Junk Food

For Halloween, I made pizza using a pre-cooked crust and sauce from Whole Foods, Daiya mozzarella, and Tofurky pepperoni. A friend and I had plans to watch a scary movie and hand out candy to kids in his neighborhood. I was a little late because the road I wanted to take was flooded. I also made Isa's chocolate and vanilla cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, adding orange food coloring to the vanilla cupcakes and half of the frosting. I forgot to take a picture, but I put little jelly pumpkins from Whole Foods on the cupcakes. The chocolate cupcakes got orange frosting and a black pumpkin, whereas the vanilla cupcakes were dyed orange but had white frosting and an orange pumpkin. Cute. I grabbed a container of sour bats from Whole Foods too. I made homemade candy corn again, I think that will be a yearly tradition. Clearly, I like sugar. :)

Halloween 2013

Had to share a picture of my Leeloo (from the Fifth Element) costume! It's my most revealing costume ever and I got a lot of compliments on it. It feels sooo good to be back in my normal body. After the anxiety-induced weight loss of 2010 and the depression-induced weight gain of 2011, I spent part of 2012 losing most of the weight and the first part of 2013 to lose the last few pesky pounds. I'm glad to feel normal again, mentally and physically. :) The dude also got a lot of compliments for his costume.

Vegan Cheese Party/Girls' Night

I met a bunch of new vegan ladies at Texas Go Vegan Week events this year. I decided to organize a girls' night for my friends and these new ladies. I went with a vegan cheese party. I had ordered a couple cheeses from Door 86 Vegan Cheese, but decided to order one 3 oz block of each flavor after inviting so many people. I invited 8 ladies and 7 were able to attend. The last person didn't feel well that night unfortunately. I bought a bunch of crackers (including gluten-free varieties for some of the guests), baguette, and grapes. Other people brought fruit, homemade Artisan Vegan Cheeses, Heidi Ho Veganics cheeses, vegan wines, and Newman's Own PB cookies. Nom nom nom. Everyone had a great time and I was glad that it went so well. I had to borrow a table and some folding chairs from friends, but we managed to fit into my tiny place. :)

Texas Veggie Fair - More Shopping & CAROL ADAMS

This will be my final post on the Texas Veggie Fair! To round out my daily shopping, I picked up another shirt and some books. I really wanted to see Carol Adams speak. I saw her name on the speaker list and knew that she wrote The Sexual Politics of Meat (on Amazon here. It's supposed to a fundamental piece of literature in the movement, so I really wanted to see her. About half-way through her talk, I realized I read one of her books in her college called Beyond Animal Rights: A Feminist Caring Ethics for the Treatment of Animals (on Amazon here). I hope to read some more of her work over the holiday season this year.

Action for Animals booth - awesome shirt!



Books - Vegan for Life (on Amazon here) and Vegan Freak (on Amazon here)



CAROL ADAMS!!!!!!!!!!

Texas Veggie Fair - Herbivore Clothing

I was super excited to see that Herbivore Clothing was coming to the Texas Veggie Fair. They use different t-shirt companies so each company's sizing is slightly different. I like trying on my clothes before buying them. I also called Herbivore in advance and requested a hoodie and a sign. They were planning to bring long-sleeved shirts and tees, but a vegan hoodie would be lovely. That's the best part about interacting with a small company, they really care! After shopping and eating all day, I swung back by the booth for the big tote bag. I was on the fence at the start of the day, but had enough cash left at the end of the day to afford it. :)