Reuse: Recipe Books and Doodle Pads from Used Menus

So at the moment I work at a restaurant in old town Alexandria. It's a ten minute walk, it's not my dream job but it's flexible, they have their own farm and the people are nice. One thing that erks me a lot though is that we don't recycle. Not only that but we use heavy card-stock for our menus and then after one use for a banquet they get tossed. So - little pack rat that I am - I've been saving them and making something useful and pretty.


I cut the menus in half. Hole punch them twice and then tie them with ribbon that I have squirreled away from past projects. This book I made for Rachel before her Africa trip. I used a vintage postcard as the cover and glued the plastic sheet on so she could take the postcard out and read the back still.



They're rather simple and I may jazz up the design some. Make hardback covers maybe and sew them into it. But I also kinda like how simple they are. The other side of the paper of course is printed with menu items so only one side can be used for writing but you could certainly draw or paste clippings to the menu side. I figure, even if they get used for grovery store lists its better that then just throwing them away. BUT I do hope some will be used a long time. Like the one above that I plan to write all the Thanksgiving recipes in and give to my mom so she can remake our vegan feast in the future :)

Where to (Tr)Eat Vegan: Taza Chocolate Factory - Somerville, MA

Sometimes a girl needs a treat. Lots of them. Every day. I'm trying to talk my taste buds out of craving sweets before and after every meal but well...girl's just wana have fun. I'm not a chocoholic or anything but I can tear through some brownies or a chocolate bar when given the chance so I was super pleased to fall upon Taza while I was staying in Somerville. The chocolate factory happen to be right in my friend's backyard practically and because I was there during Halloween weekend I got to partake in the Dia de los Meurtos celebration at the factory.

Know what's great about Taza? This stone ground, certified organic, bean to bar goodness is all vegan! Yay! Plus their process leaves the nutrients of the chocolate intact. That's right I said nutrients and chocolate together. Here's what they have to say: Our chocolate contains many of the vitamins and minerals that are essential to good health, including iron, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, and the vitamins A, B1, C, D, and E. And chocolate has more magnesium than any other food." That's all I need to hear.

For only 5 bucks a person, with one dollar of that going directly towards Sustainable Harvest International you can tour the factory and see chocolate being made on their vintage machines. If you live too far away you can take a virtual tour but you'll miss out on the free chocolate samples.

In March Taza and Cotton Tree Lodge in Belize will be introducing Chocolate Week. A whole week of exploring chocolate from the tree to your chocolate bar..and did I mention it's in Belize? Yeah...

They also have recipes on their website. I seriously want to try their guajillo chili chocolate mexicano cupcake recipe!

Somewhere New: Boston

So last month I decided to travel more. Everyone says this I guess but I wanted to be serious. So I made myself a little rule: Every month I will go somewhere new. Granted - some months I wont have the funds or the time to go away for a weekend but even if all I can manage is a day trip I'm going to keep to this idea. So for the month of October I chose to run away to Boston. Or Somerville to be more accurate.














Since I was here over the Halloween weekend there was lots of spooky things being offered. The Armory was offered a viewing of of the 1922 black and white silent movie Nosferatu with a live orchestra playing the accompanying music. This was my first time seeing the film and I loved it (although I was reading the book Dracula over the weekend and my brain kept doing that annoying thing where it picks out differences between the two).


The highlight of my second day was walking around taking pictures and going to the dia de los muertos festival at the Taza chocolate factory.

I really wanted to take this weekend to explore things on my own and work on my street photography a little. I ended up having the perfect weekend, eating amazing food and getting to know my old high school friend Colleen again. I can't wait to share where I go next month!

Where to Eat Vegan: Life Alive

Where do I start with Life Alive. I stayed in the Boston area for 3 days and I went to Life Alive 3 times. This hip joint touts itself as an urban oasis and during this first cold weekend of the winter season it was definitely feeling like a warm, safe haven from the streets.

The Carrot Cake Smoothie is pictured above and was sooooo good. Hemp protein, carrot, banana, coconut ice cream, almond milk and cinnamon. I added ginger as suggested by one of the friendly employees and I was not disappointed.

From soups to salads to rice bowls to smoothies, this place offered a variety of options full of fresh produce and whole grains. I quickly learned that getting a smoothie, cup of soup and rice bowl was way more food than I needed but I happily polished it all off. The next trip I opted for two "demi" sized portions. I really liked how they gave the option of a '"filling bowl", a "demi" portion or they were happy to make the whole thing into a "handy wrap".

With dish names like The Emperor, The Lover, The Adventurer, The Magician and The Feisty Child they certainly aren't the type of place to take themselves too seriously but their food was seriously amazing. My fellow customers were friendly (I made a friend!) and the staff was even friendlier. They sell dried fruit, nuts and chocolate treats by the pound and they have a healthy collection of loose teas that they encourage you to open and sniff.


Every day they serve two vegan soups. I tried a cup of their chipotle sweet potato soup.


Two demi sized plates: the Goddess rice bowl on the right (their signature dish) and the Warrior Salad on the left. The Goddess is comprised of carrots, beets, broccoli, dark greens, tofu and short grain brown rice topped with the Ginger Nama Shoyu Sauce. They reccommend adding avocado, which of course I did! The Warrior Salad is red lentil humms with tofu, peppitas, carrots, spring greens and a sweet miso sauce.

Located on 765 Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge MA their hours are 8am to 10pm Monday through Saturday and 11am to 7pm on Sunday. Open every day of the week so you have no excuses not to go if you are in this area!

Vegan Mofo: Boston Beans

In preperation for my weekend in Boston I decided to indulge in a little beans for breakfast (I know it's a British thing but whatever) on toast. Words aren't very necessary here - just construct and broil until hot and melty. Simple.

Vegan Mofo: Liebster

Rachel at Passing Daisies was kind enough to award me a Liebster!

Basically, this liebster means "dearest," "beloved," or "favorite" in German, and this award is to spread love and bring attention to blogs with under 200 followers during VeganMoFo! It is a shout out to your favorite blogs. A "hey look at these blogs you may not know yet" to your followers, and just a general pat on the back to pass along. How sweet!

Here's how it works:
1. You show your thanks to the blogger who gave it to you by linking back to them.
2. You reveal YOUR top 5 pics for bloggers with less than 200 followers, and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
3. Post the award on your blog.
4. Bask in the love from the most supportive people on the internet and fellow vegan mofos!

My awards go to:



1. Sonnet of For the Love of Food. This Seattle girl makes my list because she combines great food, travel, photography and homemade beauty products in such an enjoyable way.




2. Richa of Hobby and More who also happens to be a Seattle girl has this great blog where she not only posts her original recipes, many of them Indian and veganized, but she has also been posting a weekly charity or aid group that she loves. Her most recent one featured Help For Animals India which features Menaka - this lovely elephant pictured above.



3. Jen of The Raw Cooked Vegan because she makes raw food look delicious - like these raw tacos! I would love to try to incorporate more raw food into my diet -sans cashew because I'm allergic :(



4. Monica of Dorm Room Kitchen for her colorful, lovely photography and hand drawn sketches. So pretty!



5. And of course Miss Vanessa K Rees of V. K. Rees Photography. She may be new to the world of food photography but she is in no way new to the world of vegan food or photography in their own rights. I asked her recently about her process and she said she likes to think of it as a painting. She includes the 6 elements of style (shape, form, color, texture, space and value) and voila - beautiful art. Currently she is calling for recipes! Give her things to make and photograph and she will even send you the photograph for use on your own blog.

So there you have it - go visit their blogs and give them some love!

Vegan Mofo: The Best Fried Rice and Chocolate Avocado Pudding

One of my favorite things to make is fried rice. It's easy, it's tasty and it's filling. The oils that I use in my fried rice were originally gathered by Alicia Silverstone in the Kind Diet but we differ on ingredients to go in the rice. This dish is great because it's customizable. You don't need to measure things, you don't have to follow a set of ingredients, just keep tasting till it tastes right! As with a lot of Asian dishes, I have found, a lot of knowing when the dish is done is based on smell. If you want your fried rice to have a saltier flavor, add more tamari till it smells salty. If you want it to be more vinegary add more vinegar until it smells like you have enough. Personally I prefer more salt to vinegar but to each his own.

Fried Rice for 2

1 cup basmati brown rice, cooked
3 organic carrots, sliced into rounds but not peeled
1/2 red onion, diced
1 portobella cap, cleaned and sliced
toasted sesame oil
brown rice vinegar
braggs liquid amino or tamari
(also consider things like peas, kale - which should be added at the same time as the rice, cabbage, daikon, adzuki beans or water chestnuts)

1. Heat about two tablespoons of toasted sesame oil in your cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots and mushrooms. Sautee until the onions are getting translucent and the carrots and mushrooms have taken on a darker, saturated color - about 3 or 4 minutes.

2. Add the already cooked brown basmati rice. Stir the veggies and rice together to mix. Start adding your vinegar and tamari a little at a time. I tend to do about 1-2 tablespoons worth of tamari first, then about a teaspoon of vinegar. Taste.

3. Let the rice and veggies keep cooking until the carrots are soft but certainly not mushy. Keep seasoning as needed. I would guess that I use roughly 3 tbsp of tamari and perhaps 2 tsp of vinegar in all. Serve hot topped with sesame seeds, shriracha or just as is!

For dessert I have been somewhat obsessed with avocado pudding lately. I don't remember where I first saw it but I jotted down the ingredients from somewhere and then just finally got around to making it. SO GOOD!



Oh were you expecting a picture of it? I ate it all....

Avocado Pudding

2 ripe avocados
1/2 cup maple syrup
3 tbsp lemon juice
6 tbsp carob or chocolate powder

1. Put it all in a blender. Blend. Eat.

This dessert is so simple and so tasty. Everyone I have made it for, and I have made both carob and chocolate, agree that it has so much more complexity and character than your standard pudding, while still satisfying that fat-kid desire to finish (or start) the meal with a Snack Pack.