December 2013

Eggplant was something I always thought I didn’t like, even though I’d never actually had it before. I have no idea why that would mean I didn’t like it. It was just never something served in my house growing up. However, while at my friend Jill’s house about 7 years ago, her mother served up some eggplant parmesean and my world changed. Fried eggplant covered in tomato sauce, yes please!  Ethan then challeneged me to make my own version of it. Challenege accepted!  I read about how to work with eggplant and everything I saw talked about salting and rinsing the eggplant slices to make them less bitter. Now I realized why my mother never used eggplant, it seemed to be a lot of work.  But not to be discouraged, I set out to make my own eggplant parmesean. The kitchen counter was lined with pans of salted eggplant. When

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So it’s Christmas Eve and we’re seeing LOTS of status updates on Facebook and tweets on Twitter about people being somewhat indecisive about what else they can serve tomorrow for vegans at their Christmas dinner.  Are you seeing these posts as well?  Well, if you are, please let your friends know that The Vegan Mos are here to help make the holiday less stressful. A holiday meal really needs a centerpiece.  An ideal centerpiece is visually impressive and tastes delicious.  Our Beefless Wellington is a perfect example of this.  It pairs beautifully with our garlic mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy.  If you want to do something a bit more ethnic, you can make our Seitan Marsala which also pairs beautifully with the garlic mashed potatoes.  Our Shepherdless Pie is a fabulous centerpiece because it’s so large and impressive, and it has everything in it: soy protein, veggies and covered in mashed potatoes.

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Do not let the time or number of steps* deter you from making this hearty meal. This pie is an entire meal in one dish: a stew topped with mashed potatoes and cheese.  It just doesn’t get any better.  Even the “I don’t like vegan food” people will love this.   This is great for a large crowd and the left overs reheat great. Make this on a Sunday and after cooking, let it cool completely. After completely cool, cover and store it in the refrigerator, then all you have to do to have dinner during the week is simply reheat as much as you need and keep the rest for another meal. * If you want to save a few steps, you can easily replace the TVP with chopped seitan or vegan crumbles.  If you choose to do this, you will need 3 cups of whatever you use. Simply skip

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Here is my take on an Italian classic.  This is one of my favorite dishes to make.  I will even eat the left overs cold for breakfast.  I cannot stress how much I love this.  This dish never fails to impress.  I can almost guarantee that this will become one of your “go to” dishes for company or special occasions.  One of the great things about this dish is you can actually make it ahead of time and toss it all together at the last minute before serving. I will rarely specify an individual brand to use in any of my recipes unless I think that specific brand is uniquely the best. This is one of those times. This recipe practically screams for Ray’s Wheat Meat. If you cannot find Ray’s, use your favorite seitan, but I encourage you to try an find Ray’s. If you make your own seitan,

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As human beings, we tend to be creatures of habit. This is especially apparent when it comes to the foods we eat.  All too often we stick to rigid conventions about what foods constitute breakfast versus lunch or dinner items.  Since going vegan, I’ve thrown these conventions aside, having things like soup or even a leftover brisket of seitan for breakfast. Today, instead of my regular “Ooohmega Oats” breakfast, I threw my fiber/omega mix into a different grain base, opting to have quinoa for breakfast today.  (I know quinoa is technically a seed and not a grain, but you know what I meant.) It was a delightful and very satisfying variation on the same theme. Prep time: 5 minutes Cooking time: 20 minutes Servings: 2 large servings Ingredients 1 cup quinoa (traditional) 2 cups of unsweetened almond milk (or any nut or grain milk of your choice) 1/4 tsp salt

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Ethan and I used to take long weekends down to my parents house in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. However, after Ethan became vegan, we stopped going down there. The dining options were incredibly limited, and the grocery stores were woefully inadequate. However, when we came down this summer for a family gathering, we were quite pleased with what we saw.  Now there are many new restaurants with easily veganizble options, a new Whole Foods that just opened this year and even the nearby Publix has ample vegan options. What a big difference in a short period of time.  Our routine when we arrive here is to stop at the grocery store before heading to the house, figuring we will be eating in most of the time. So, we stocked up for our weekend and settled in. We had heard of a restaurant by my parents house called Christopher’s Kitchen. Initially

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This past week, the media seized on a story that Jay-Z and Beyoncé are doing a 22-day vegan challenge.  Days after the story broke, the media reported that Beyoncé was seen accompanying Jay-Z into Native Foods (a vegan restaurant) in Westwood, California wearing a fur. Within hours, I saw this story posted all over my Facebook timeline with friends expressing outrage at Beyoncé’s audacity to do such a thing. I found myself surprised by the outpouring of animus towards Beyoncé for this.  Indeed, it is rude or, at best, insensitive to come into any vegan establishment wearing animals in any form. I try not to take it personally because I know that, for most part, folks are just totally unconscious about this. It literally doesn’t even register for them that there is something inherently upsetting about this. That said, it’s hard not to feel offended. Vegan establishments are havens to

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Being the cookie freak that I am, after hearing about Pipernilli cookies on the Our Hen House podcast, I immediately contacted them to see about doing a review for VeganMos.  Gayle over at Pipernilli was thrilled to have us do the review and sent us out samples to try. As soon as they arrived, Ethan and I cleared off the kitchen table and got to the busy work of eating cookies. The box contained 7 sample packs, each containing 2 cookies. I love the 2 cookie package idea. A collection of them in a variety of flavors would make a great gift for the cookie fan in your life. Each sample pack has a label that not only gives the name of cookie but also a description of the flavor rather than a list of ingredients. I already know what goes in to a cookie, so I loved the flavor

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