Vegan Outreach’s Community Events team ended 2017 with some awesome events! From cooking demonstrations to a vegan hip-hop event, the vegan message was spread far and wide!
Gwenna Hunter, Greater Los Angeles Community Events Coordinator, organized a Holiday Soul Food event at the Alma Reaves Library in Los Angeles, CA. Chef Sol—AKA Josue Solis—captivated the audience with his personal story about going vegan. The room was packed to its capacity, and attendees enjoyed a tasty vegan meal. Chef Sol served macaroni and cheese, collard greens, cornbread, and “chicken” casserole made with Gardein products. Daiya Cheezecake was served for dessert!
Roopashree Rao, Indian American Community Events Coordinator, organized a vegan food tasting event at the Jain Temple in Sunnyvale, CA. Approximately 450 people enjoyed sampling a vegan dish, which included Kite Hill unsweetened plain yogurt in place of dairy yogurt, a popular food used in Indian cuisine. Roopashree assisted the chef and learned how to cook for 500 people. She also gave a presentation on the connection between Ahimsa and veganism.
Nzinga Young, Greater NYC Community Events Coordinator, organized an adult vegan cooking class at the Brownsville Recreation Center in Brooklyn, NY. Attendees learned how to make a massaged kale salad and discussed the ethical, environmental, and health benefits of adopting a plant-based diet. Immediately after the class, some of the attendees met as a group at their local grocery store and purchased the ingredients they’d used in the class. What a fantastic moment it is when we see how our message motivates people!
Victor Flores, Greater New Mexico Community Events Coordinator, organized an event at the Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice, in Albuquerque, NM. The Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice provides resources and a space for organizations and individuals working on peace and justice issues to network with one another and share information. Victor teamed up with local rapper I.Q. The Professor and organized—in just eight days—The Conscious Eating Hip Hop event. The event featured a number of other local hip-hop artists and delicious vegan food.
The Community Events team would like to send a big Thank You to all the volunteers and donors who make this work possible! We truly appreciate your support!
This cookbook also happens to be written by Michelle and Josh, a busy vegan couple managing a business and a household. They write:
Often we are asked for the ‘one cookbook’ that would be good for new vegans…. and we think this is it. From breakfast through dessert, simple to sorta fancy (but not really fancy because we are not!), healthy to decadent and always, ALWAYS totally yummers. We honestly live on these recipes. Baked oatmeal? At least twice a week. Kale salad? All the time. Beet burgers, tahini dressing, spinach salad, tofu feta, Sweetpea snickerdoodles… better go, I am getting hungry.
Along with the cookbook, Michelle and Josh are also going to send a combo pack of Herbivore Clothing’s stickers, buttons, and magnets.
This giveaway will run from Tuesday, May 17 through Saturday, May 21. We’ll announce the winner next Tuesday, May 24.
And while you wait for the results of the giveaway, we thought we’d give you a little taste (literally and figuratively) of Michelle and Josh’s book. This No-Bird Noodle Soup recipe comes directly from Eat Like You Give a Damn and sounds absolutely delicious!
No-Bird Noodle Soup
Serves about 4.
Ingredients
Tofu Chicken
1 teaspoon olive oil
8 ounces extra-firm or super-firm tofu, cut into ½-inch cubes
1 tablespoon reduced-sodium tamari
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes
Soup
1 teaspoon olive oil
1½ cups finely chopped carrots
1½ cups finely chopped celery
1 cup finely chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried parsley
Freshly ground black pepper
6 cups no-salt-added chicken-style broth
8 ounces angel hair pasta, spaghetti, or fettuccine noodles, broken into bite-sized pieces
Salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Directions
To prepare the tofu, put the oil in a large skillet (cast iron if you have one) or mist with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat. When hot, add the tofu; it should sizzle. Don’t crowd the tofu (cook in batches if your skillet isn’t large enough to hold the full amount). Let it cook undisturbed until crispy and brown on the bottom, about 5 minutes. Turn the pieces over and let the other side cook undisturbed until crispy and brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.
Sprinkle the tamari over the tofu and shake the skillet to coat all the pieces evenly on both sides. Sprinkle half the nutritional yeast over the tofu and shake the skillet to distribute it evenly. Turn the tofu over and sprinkle with the remaining nutritional yeast.
To prepare the soup, heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. When hot, add the carrots, celery, onion, and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onion starts to brown, about 5 minutes.
Stir in the bay leaf, thyme, parsley, and a few grindings of pepper. Add the broth, increase the heat to high, and bring to a boil.
Add the pasta, decrease the heat to medium, and cook, stirring once or twice, for 6 minutes.
Stir in the reserved tofu and any nutritional yeast in the skillet. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Season with salt and additional pepper to taste. Stir in the lemon juice just before serving.
When I first went vegan, I very much enjoyed looking at vegan cookbooks with not-so-easy to prepare recipes that called for unfamiliar ingredients. I liked trying out new ways to prepare plant foods—spiralized sweet potato noodles, anyone?—because I was eager to get distance from the types of animal-based meals I had been brought up on. I don’t know why I felt the need to do that, nor do I particularly care because, after all, I acquired a lot of awesome culinary knowledge. I also had the idea that other people (i.e., non-vegans) would enjoy the obscure dishes I was preparing and it would spark their curiosity in adopting a vegan lifestyle.
Fast forward five years and you’ll find me sticking close to recipes that have short ingredient lists and often include one or more store-bought vegan meats and/or cheeses. Not only have I found preparation to be much quicker, I’ve noticed a difference in the way people respond to what I’ve prepared. More frequently than not, I hear how similar my vegan meal tastes in comparison to a meal that’s usually prepared with animal products.
The changes I’ve made over the years has also influenced the types of cookbooks I thumb through, as well as the types of cookbooks I choose to do a review on the Vegan Outreach blog. I now look for simple comfort foods recipes and close-to-home dishes that non-vegan friends and family members may be interested in preparing for themselves in their own kitchens.
When I was contacted by Jenny Engel and Heather Bell, authors of Vegan 101, about doing a cookbook review, I was excited to see that our approaches to cooking seemed pretty similar. The cookbook is beginner-friendly with easy-to-follow advice for those who’re looking to incorporate more plant-based foods into their meals. It has several easy recipes that won’t require a trip to a specialty spice market, or require a whole day’s worth of preparation.
I also want to mention that the authors, Jenny and Heather, are co-owners of a Los Angeles-based vegan cooking school, Spork Foods, which takes them to universities, health care companies, hotels, corporations, markets, and restaurants all around the world to teach chefs how to prepare tasty vegan meals. These women are sincerely dedicated to educating others about the fun and simplicity in preparing delicious vegan food.
Our first giveaway for the month will be, you guessed it, Vegan 101. So, whether you’re new to vegan cooking, or, you’re like me, and are looking to tone down the complexity of your plant-based meals, this cookbook will be a compatible friend in the kitchen.
This giveaway starts today, Tuesday, May 2 and ends on Saturday, May 20 at 12:00 am North American MDT. We’ll announce the winner on Tuesday, May 23 here on Vegan Outreach’s Vegan Living & Advocacy Blog! Enter by clicking on the giveaway link below!
In the meantime, here’s a sample of one of the many tasty, simple recipes Jenny and Heather provide in their book—Down-Home Seitan Fried Chicken. These patties take very little time to prepare and will be a major hit among your vegan and non-vegan friends and family members!
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, plus ⅛ teaspoon, divided
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
⅓ cup Ener-G Egg Replacer
1 ⅓ cups water
1 cup panko bread crumbs
¼ cup neutral-tasting oil
Directions
To Prepare the Seitan: In a large bowl, combine creamer and vinegar. Set aside for 2 minutes to curdle. Add Worcestershire sauce. Add seitan pieces and toss to coat. Add sea salt and pepper. Set aside for 10 to 20 minutes.
To Prepare the Coating: In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, ½ teaspoon sea salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper, mustard, ¼ teaspoon cayenne, and garlic powder.
Remove and reserve ¼ cup seasoned flour mixture.
In a medium bowl, whisk egg replacer and water until mixture is foamy.
In a small bowl, combine panko, remaining ¼ teaspoon sea salt, remaining ¼ teaspoon pepper, and remaining ⅛ teaspoon cayenne. Add reserved ¼ cup seasoned flour mixture and whisk until uniform.
To Cook the Chicken: Add oil to a heavy skillet and heat over medium-high heat.
Dredge each piece of seitan in flour mixture, then dip into egg replacer mixture, and finally coat in panko mixture. Shake off excess panko.
Carefully place coated seitan pieces into hot oil. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until golden. Turn over and cook about 2 additional minutes, or until golden. Once crisp, place pieces on cooling rack over baking sheet. Serve warm.
Recipe Tips/Variations
To test your oil for the perfect cooking temperature, heat it up until you see ripples. Then, stick a clean wooden tool into the oil. If bubbles appear, you’re ready to fry.
The past few years, vegans have seen a huge growth in the availability and variety of non-dairy ice cream. Brands like Häagen-Dazs, Ben and Jerry’s, and Breyers now have vegan versions that occupy shelves in the frozen section of the store, fulfilling almost any flavor craving you might be having!
Get ready to scream—again—for vegan ice cream because Halo Top Creamery recently released seven coconut-based ice cream flavors.
I had the very difficult task of sampling Halo Top’s dairy-free varieties, and I will tell you that I enjoyed every single flavor! I’m a sucker for peanut butter, so naturally my immediate favorite was the Peanut Butter Cup. But if you’re a fan of caramel, you’re going to want to try the Caramel Macchiato and Sea Salt Caramel. Oh, and cinnamon lovers rejoice—they’ve got a Cinnamon Roll flavor just for you! The remaining flavors include, Chocolate Covered Banana and plain Chocolate.
Excited? Us, too! Use Halo Top’s store locator to track down these pints. Many stores are just starting to get them in, and they’ll eventually be available nationwide!
A few months ago, we featured Sunny and Elizabeth—two women who formed a close friendship after being connected through Vegan Outreach’s Vegan Mentor Program (VMP).
Today, we bring you a story of two families who, similar to Sunny and Elizabeth, became good friends after being introduced through the VMP. In this interview, we’ll meet both families, hear about their paths to veganism and the role the VMP played in bringing them together. Most importantly, we’ll see pictures and get the tasty details about their Thanksgiving holiday, which they celebrated together in sunny Florida!
Tell us about yourselves and your families.
Natalie Mindrum: My name is Natalie Mindrum. I work in the airline industry overseeing a real estate portfolio that includes the New York City region. My husband, Adam, is a fellow vegan, and we have two vegan kids, ages 7 and 5, and two vegan rescued canine companions, Leyla, a beagle-mix, and Stuart, a Rhodesian Ridgeback/Pitbull mix.
Kristine Casart: My name is Kristine Casart, and I’m a full-time mom of three vegan kids, ages 9, 6, and 2. My husband, Tim, and I also take care of our vegan beagles Leif and Lars. I’m also very excited about this project that I just started called Mom Vegan Love. So far I have a Facebook page and Instagram. I try to show people how fun it is to be vegan.
What were your respective vegan journeys like?
Natalie: I became vegan back in 2007. I read a book by E.O. Wilson called The Diversity of Life, which got me thinking about how similar humans are to the animals on our plates. Then I saw Earthlings and the rest was history. My boyfriend, now husband, was a bit resistant in the beginning, but now he’s been vegan for nearly a decade, too—for the animals. I decided to become a mentor for Vegan Outreach’s VMP because I wanted to meet fellow vegans and I was interested in helping people who were trying to go vegan.
Being matched with Kristine and her family, who lived just a few minutes away from us, was more than what I could have hoped for from the program! It’s led to what I hope will be a life-long friendship!
Kristine: I first watched Forks Over Knives about four years ago and wanted to go vegan overnight for health reasons. My husband was not quite ready at the time, and we started by transitioning to a vegetarian diet. About 2 ½ years ago we watched Earthlings together. We completely made the connection and went vegan for the animals that day.
I absolutely love us as vegans! Getting rid of asthma, allergies, low immune systems, and stomach issues has led us to enjoy life to the fullest. Opening our hearts to live according to our core values and letting love and compassion be our guide is just amazing. Our only regret is not having gone vegan sooner.
We do feel like the odd couple on the block sometimes though, ha ha. After a trip to California 1 ½ years ago, where vegan felt so much like the norm, I felt the need to find like-minded people closer to home. Meeting Natalie and her amazing vegan family has been just what we needed. We definitely feel like this is the beginning of a life-long friendship, and we’re so grateful to Vegan Outreach for setting us up.
Natalie (left) and Kristine (right)
Kristine, you just moved from Illinois—where you and Natalie met—to Florida. Have you two been able to spend time together since relocating?
Kristine: Yes! We all celebrated Thanksgiving together last year back in Illinois. Natalie and her family cooked an absolutely amazing meal for all of us, which I still dream about. We were thrilled when they could come down to Florida this year so we could return the favor. We had so much fun!
Give us the scoop on your Thanksgiving!
Natalie: Tim and Kristine are amazing cooks! I’m always telling them that they need to open a restaurant. We felt so excited to get to hang out with them in sunny Florida and eat their incredible food. I’m still thinking about the carrot lox and blueberry cheezecake.
Kristine: We had so much fun during their stay. Feels like a dream, truly something to be thankful for!
If you could offer one piece of advice to an aspiring or new vegan, what would it be?
Natalie: Remember that veganism isn’t about your own personal purity—it’s about reducing animal suffering. In the beginning, just do your best and don’t beat yourself up if you make a mistake. Remember to be compassionate to your fellow humans too, including yourself!
Kristine: Make the connection to where your food comes from—watch documentaries. Finding out that plants have plenty of protein and the health benefits of a plant-based diet made it possible for me to finally pull down the veil and make more compassionate choices.
Just take it one meal at a time and have fun! We love Pinterest for recipes—just type in whatever you’d like to eat and add the word Vegan. There are so many delicious options at your fingertips. Sign up for a mentor through Vegan Outreach, the support and companionship is amazing.
The author of the recipe, Kacy Franzen, is a dedicated animal activist, certified health coach, and lover of food. If you’re a fan of this recipe, check her website and Instagram.
Isn’t holiday baking great? Unless you’re lazy. Then you know what’s better than holiday baking? Not baking!
For example, melting a couple of ingredients together and turning them into chocolate truffles with a festive candy cane coating—easy as that! So turn on some Christmas music, pour yourself a little vegan nog, and whip up these delightful little treats that your friends and family are going to love!
Candy Cane Truffles
Yields 12-16 truffles.
Ingredients
10 Peppermint Candy Canes
1 ½ Cups vegan chocolate chips
½ cup coconut cream
½ teaspoon peppermint extract
Directions
Place the vegan chocolate chips in a mixing bowl and set aside. In a small saucepan, heat the coconut cream over medium heat for a few minutes until it begins to simmer. Pour the hot coconut cream over the chocolate chips and cover. Let the mixture sit for five minutes.
Add the peppermint extract and gently mix everything together until melted and well combined. Refrigerate until firm, about 3 hours.
While the chocolate is chilling, place the candy canes in a plastic bag. Use something heavy to smash them into little pieces (I used a rolling pin). You can also crush them up in a food processor.
When the chocolate is chilled and firm, use a teaspoon to scoop out chocolate and form into little balls. Then roll the balls in the crushed candy canes to coat.
Place the truffles on parchment paper and put them into the refrigerator to chill until you’re ready to share—or enjoy all to yourself!
Nothing will impress your holiday guests more than an entirely vegan cheese platter! Tune in to watch Kim Sujovolsky, founder of Brownble, demonstrate how to make a spreadable, creamy, cashew and chive cheese and that will make for a perfect holiday-themed platter!
Festive Cheese Platter
Yields 2 round cheeses.
Ingredients
Cheese Base
1 ½ cups raw cashews, soaked in water for 4 hours or overnight
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¾ teaspoon salt
1 ½ tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons, plus 2 teaspoons coconut oil
2 tablespoons chopped chives
1 ½ teaspoons agar agar powder, diluted in a bit of cold water
1 tablespoon water—use only if needed to help your blender run. The less you use the better
Cheese Decorations
Chopped chives
Smashed pretzels
Whole pretzels—for adding on top of the cheese
Crushed pink peppercorns
Platter Additions
Fresh fruit—strawberries, raspberries, figs, grapes, etc.
Olives
Extra pretzels
Toast points
Dried fruit—apricots, dates, dried figs, etc.
Directions
Drain the cashews from the soaking water and add them to a blender. If you didn’t soak the cashews ahead of time, place in a pot of boiling water for about ten minutes and drain.
Add the garlic powder, salt, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, and coconut oil. Blend together, scraping down the sides as needed until you have a thick cream. Depending on your blender, you may need to add a tablespoon of water to help it run.
Transfer the creamy mixture to a small pot and fold in the chopped chives.
Add the agar agar—diluted in a bit of cold water—to the pot and mix.
Heat the mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly. Let it cool slightly while you place some plastic wrap over two flat ramekins or small containers.
Divide the cheese mixture between the two ramekins, placing the mixture on top of the plastic wrap. Press it down well into the ramekin with a spatula since this will be your mold. Wrap the top with the plastic wrap.
Place the cheeses in the fridge for anywhere between 4 hours to 24 hours, depending on how firm you like it. It will still be a creamy cheese, but the more you leave it the more sliceable it will be. You can also increase the agar agar if you want an even firmer cheese.
Right before serving your cheeses, carefully remove them from the molds by pulling a bit on the plastic wrap, and then remove the plastic.
Place the extra chopped chives on a plate and carefully place the cheese over them so that they stick to the top. Turn it over and place it on your platter. Repeat the process with the second one, only this time using the crushed pretzels and smashed pink peppercorns.
Stick some whole pretzels on top of the pretzel-peppercorn topped cheese for a beautiful and festive look.
Add any additions you’d like to your cheese plate—from fresh fruit to different breads and toast, dried fruit, olives, etc.
Last month, Vegan Outreach’s Community Events team organized some amazing events—cooking demos, dairy-free food samplings, iAnimal virtual reality viewings, presentations, and discussions. Read on for all the exciting details!
Victor Flores, VO’s Greater New Mexico Community Events Coordinator, organized an event at the U.S. Army White Sands Missile Range military base, located in the Tularosa Basin of south-central NM. During Victor’s presentation, the soldiers, staff, and a few children watched the video, Draw My Life: A Cow in Today’s Dairy Industry, which was followed by a Q & A session. “We had interesting conversations and the audience was very engaged!” said Victor.
Everyone enjoyed samples of dairy-free products from companies including Daiya Foods, Miyoko’s Kitchen, Follow Your Heart, and several more! Victor and the awesome volunteers will definitely be back soon!
Roopashree Rao, VO’s Indian American Community Events Coordinator, and volunteers, took part in the 2017 Dallas Diwali Mela festival, which celebrates the Hindu Festival of Lights. This is one of the largest Hindu festivals in the U.S., drawing over 60,000 people, most of whom are Indian Americans.
Roopashree handed out VO booklets, food samples, and participated in many conversations about a compassionate lifestyle. Commenting on the event, Roopashree said, “It was BIG, and I just wish I had had even more volunteers!”
VO’s Greater NYC Community Events Coordinator, Nzinga Young, teamed up with Chef Naliaka Wakhisi, founder of NYC Vegans of Color Meetup group, and organized several hands-on cooking classes at the Brownsville Recreation Center in Brooklyn, NY. Several elementary and middle school students attended.
Nzinga stated, “The curried kale and chickpea tacos were a huge hit among students and staff alike. Kids who were wary about cooking kale were eating it raw midway through class.” Nzinga plans to continue her cooking classes at the Brownsville Recreation Center after the holiday break.
Gwenna Hunter, VO’s Greater Los Angeles Community Events Coordinator, teamed up with VO’s Director of Outreach, Vic Sjodin, inviting pedestrians at Venice Beach to take a peek into the lives of factory farm animals via iAnimal virtual reality.
Gwenna re-told a particularly moving interaction from this day of outreach—“It was so powerful. One of our viewers, Corey (pictured below, middle), was initially laughing. I could see his demeanor and energy shifting after a couple of minutes into the experience. After he was done, Corey explained how he had no awareness of the cruelty these animals had to endure.”
The Community Events team certainly had a jam-packed outreach schedule in November, and the team is looking forward to December as we hit the ground running with more outreach opportunities!
As the Outreach Coordinators’ leafleting tours come to an end, we’d like to acknowledge this semester’s most prolific leafleters of Vegan Outreach’s Adopt a College Program.
We’ve asked each of the top leafleters to share their favorite memory from this past semester—their stories will surely leave you feeling inspired!
“The memory that really sticks out for me this semester was leafleting Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, NY. Not only was everyone incredibly friendly, but they were so interested in learning more about speciesism and veganism in general.
I had several engaging and unforgettable conversations with students, including one student I’m still in contact with today. I’ve given him a ton of resources, social media pages to follow, recipes, etc. He’s working on his full transition to vegan living!”
Alexis leafleted at 63 schools this semester and distributed 41,685 leaflets.
Jevranne Martel, Outreach Coordinator
“One memory that stands out was an interaction I recently had on Prince Edward Island. When I arrived in Charlottetown, I headed downtown to do outreach. I handed information to two younger gentlemen who quickly turned around to ask for more information. They were really excited to see activism happening on the island because they’d been learning more about these issues.
One of them not only wanted to go fully vegan but also wanted to get more involved and do activism. We had a wonderful, detailed conversation. I’m certain he will be an amazing activist for the animals!”
Jevranne leafleted at 58 schools this semester and distributed 32,695 leaflets.
Rachel Shippee, Outreach Coordinator
“My favorite memory is from the first day of the semester when I leafleted at the University of Iowa. I met a student, Breanna, who stopped to let me know she went vegan after receiving a Vegan Outreach booklet last year. We also had a great team of volunteers that day and handed out over 4,000 leaflets! It was a great start to the semester.”
Rachel leafleted at 33 schools this semester and distributed 39,499 leaflets.
Sam Tucker, Australia Outreach Coordinator
“My favorite day of outreach this semester was at Victoria University, in Melbourne, Australia. Vegan Outreach, Animal Activist Collective, and Truth Riders all worked together to support the launch of the Victoria University Vegans club.
We handed out 1,100 leaflets and about 30 people watched Animal Equality’s iAnimal Virtual Reality. We showed videos on TV screens, wrote chalk messages, plastered the campus with posters, fed countless students delicious vegan food, had in-depth conversations about reducing consumption of animal foods, and nearly 100 people signed up to join the new vegan club on campus!”
Sam leafleted at 34 schools this semester and distributed 55,723 leaflets.
A huge congratulations to these Outreach Coordinators and those highlighted in Part I.
And a big thank you to all of Vegan Outreach’s supporters—who directly fuel our work—Outreach Coordinators, and volunteers! Because of you, many animals will be spared a life of suffering.
Donate in honor of a leafleter today to keep their work going.
If you were a kid in the late 90s and early 2000s—or a parent to young children during this time period—you probably remember when Yoplait’s Go-Gurt made its way into grocery stores and quickly became all the craze and hype. As a kid who didn’t know what goes on in the dairy industry, I thought tubed yogurt was pretty darn cool. It required no utensils, and it gave kids a perfectly valid excuse to slurp their food.
I admittedly ate this kid-marketed snack all the way through high school. And even as a five-year vegan, I still feel a sense of nostalgia whenever I see tubed yogurt. Not nostalgic for the taste, but for the memories of childhood it brings to mind.
I didn’t anticipate eating a tubed yogurt again simply because there wasn’t a vegan version. But last week, as I was scanning the non-dairy yogurt section at a nearby natural food store, I laid eyes on one of Kite Hill’s newest products, Almond Milk Yogurt Tubes. Yes, you read that right. Vegan tubed yogurt.
After picking up the remaining items on my list, I gleefully drove myself home, marched my adult self up to my apartment, and enjoyed a delicious Wild Berry yogurt tube. The yogurt was deliciously creamy, but not-too-sweet. I finished with a smile and a slurp, of course.
If you want to join me in the happiness of eating vegan tubed yogurt, head on over to Kite Hill’s website to see where you can buy a box. And while you’re there, check out the other new products Kite Hill has recently released, including Greek-Style and drinkable yogurts.
