Saturday, September 29, 2012

A Little Pre-MOFO Excitement

 I'm so excited I could just pee my pants. Don't worry, I know how to use the bathroom. MOFO is almost here and I wanted to hold off posting until October 1st--but I just couldn't wait! So I've got some stuff to blab about.

  • What's a MOFO, you ask? Well--it's the Vegan MOnth of FOod. Vegan food bloggers from all over the world throw it down about all things vegan. It's a very exciting time for us grass munchers. Many people pick a theme, but the ultimate goal is to write at least 20 entries during the month-(historically October). Some people write more.

  • I've also made philanthropy part of my MOFO-ing. This year is no different. I really want to go to Vida Vegan Con next year, and can't afford it. Instead of telling you the boring details of how broke I am because of this shitty economy, I'm going to humbly ask for help and hope that those of you who are more fortunate can help me out, because I'd do it for you. I'm hoping I can take pledges from you, my dedicated readers, use some of the money for plane fare, and give some of it away to my local food bank. Are you game? Please tell me you are. You can send your buckaroonies to jennifermolica@gmail.com at PayPal. I have 228 followers on the blog and 400+ on twitter. If everyone gave me at least $1, I could easily afford a ticket and to give plenty to Mother Hubbard's Cupboard, my local food bank. I've written about how I utilize the food bank in this article.

  •  I wanted to share with y'all the first real meal I made for myself  to break that streak of the no-appetite I had a while back. I was watching an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives and was inspired by a greasy spoon's use of blueberry bbq sauce. If it makes animal flesh taste good to omnivores, then it must make plant based meat AWESOME for us bad-assed vegans. Really, just leave the pig out of it. Haven't you seen Charlotte's Web or Babe? If you haven't seen either of those, shame on you.

The sauce is really a no brainer. Just take 1 c. fresh or frozen blueberries and puree it with your favorite bbq sauce. I also added a little habenero hot sauce (about a T or two) to the mix for some heat because I'm a hot sauce whore.

I think the mixture was the following: 1 pkg tempeh, 1 c bbq sauce, 1 c blueberries, 2T habenero hot sauce, 1/4 c. quick cooking oats. Blended all of it in the food processor and made 4 patties. If you exercised some caution, I'm sure these would be grill friendly, provided you cooked them on some foil. I'm not much of a rrriot grrrill girrrl because those adventures always end in disaster.
 Here are the burgers looking really purple.
 Finished product. Woah, was it foodgasm-y.
Complete plate with bullseye beet salad and muddy waters potato salad. I'll give y'all the potato salad recipe next month during MOFO.


Monday, September 24, 2012

I'm BAAAAACK and Vegan 2012 MOFO theme revealed!


Okay, dedicated readers of family, friends, and fellow dorks. I'm back. And so is my appetite. Finally, right? I have been eating all three meals and some snacks for a couple of weeks now. Yay!

So I've had some time to think about what I really want to do with this blog. That PITA Vegan needs a makeover, don't you think? So I thought I'd start with my 2012 MOFO theme starting in October. What's a Vegan MOFO, you ask? It's the vegan Month Of FOod, and all of us veg heads from around the world devote an entire month to blogging about all things vegan. I'm a huge fan of the AMC series The Walking Dead, and wanted to make a MOFO zombie apocalypse theme, only dedicated to plant based foods instead of brrrrraaaaaiiiiins. I'm still taking a break until then to sling some hash in the kitchen, take pictures, and pick my nose. But I won't eat the boogers because, while that might technically be vegan, it's gross city.

Another goal of mine is that I want to use my talents in writing to up the ante of my voice on this blog. I've taken a mostly nicey nice tone with my writing, keeping the vegan peace, trying not to be too obnoxious, and I still want to say that I'm not one of those Douchey Mc Judgey vegans. I just don't have it in me to be the food police-(hum the tune to that one song by Cheap Trick).

What I DO have is a really an enormous and sarcastic mouth, so I'm gonna be bringing more of that to the table. What does this mean? Well, I'm going to attempt to be funny and make fun of the ridiculousness that is known as the omnivore diet, which will seem like I'm making fun of you. Why? Because everyone gagged at my booger joke in the earlier paragraph, but there are some of you out there still eating cheese and that's fucked up. Americans want to know why they are so sick? Look no further than the fork you bring to your mouth. Seriously, no one would dream of eating brains, but you'll eat a hot ham n' cheese? Makes no sense at all to me.

I'll be writing about more than just food, but my vegan obsessions, namely other famous vegans. Because it is important to know that there are so many of us in this wacky army of grass munchers--enough to put up a good fight once it becomes 'packy time-(thanks Patton Oswald). And I'll still stand by my ideals to say that being vegan is NOT hard, NOT expensive, and can be a ton of fun. It also makes one incredibly sexy, so says my many admirers. Hey, a dozen dorks can't be wrong--am I right or what?

So, I'll see you in October ready to bring on the vegan version of scrambled brains, zombie fingers, and some other fun stuff. Then I'll be back to my old once or twice a week blogging self in November.

Thanks for sticking with me during this tough time. 2012 has been brutal. With the new Jew year here, I want to turn it all around for myself and for you dedicated readers.