Yes, You Can Haz Cheesecake.

Yes, you can haz cheesecake. These are the pumpkin cheesecake squares from Kittee's 'zine Papa Tofu. So no more excuses about how you can't go vegan because you can't give up cheesecake. These morsels are sweet, creamy, and well--cheesy. The main ingredient is tofutti better than cream cheese, which is kind of expensive, but really worth it. The crust is a shortbread pecan sort of thing, so imagine glorious pumpkin cheesecake goodness on top of a pecan sandie and BOOM! you have this dessert that was meant to impress. This made a fabulous end to our Thanksgiving meal.

Product Review: RAAW Juices

 These It Tastes RAAW juices were available to me while shopping at my local food bank. Both were really good! The raspberry lemongrass was amazeballs and made a great mocktail when mixed with ginger ale. It does have a perfume like aftertaste, but not so much to be gross--that's just how lemongrass is.

The passion fruit and wheatgrass blend was refreshing as well. I'm grateful to have such a cool food bank that carries treats like this so I can experience new products. Otherwise I wouldn't be able to afford such a luxury.

Speaking of afford, 'tis the season to donate to your local food bank. It doesn't matter how much you give, just give. A dollar goes a long way. For example, $1 buys about 7# of food where I shop. If you don't have a local food bank to donate your green energy to, consider giving to Mother Hubbard's Cupboard.

Chili Mac!

I made this with a Soy Kaas Cheddar block. They make both vegan and vegetarian cheese, and I got a free block of it. I did not like this cheese. It wasn't acidic at all, and needed some miso and vinegar to the mix to make it tang like a good cheddar cheese should. This would have been much better with Daiya or Teese.

So Chili Mac. My favorite. When I was little my aunt would make this with deer meat. Gross city! These days I make mine by mixing my favorite vegan chili with my some vegan mac n' cheese. It's a no brainer. For those of you contemplating veganism, you don't really need too many cookbooks in the beginning. Just go to the library and get some books for cryin' out loud, see what you like, and then make a purchasing decision. I started with Vegan with a Vengeance and that gave me the initiative to really dive into this thing. There's also so much out there on teh interwebz where you should never feel deprived of something you love eating. Vegan haggis or vegan Menudo? Ew. That might be your thing, though so don't be afraid to use that Google search engine.

Rebooted and Ready To Roll

Nice to be back. I usually take a week or so off after MOFO because my brain is fried from all the activity.

I warned you I'd be on with the sass, and it's on. No more Ms. Nice Gal. You wanna be vegan? I can help you. Give this a chance and you'll see how awesome your life can be. The next few posts will be about vegan cheeses and cheese inspired dishes to get you off the dairy-go-round.

So Fall is in full swing and that means comfortable and cozy Autumnal dishes. Back in my pregan days, the  favorite was broccoli, cheese, and chicken casserole, the legend dish of any church potluck. But then I went vegan and thought I could never have it again. Not so. One of the biggest excuses people have for not going vegan is this inexplicable love affair with cheese. I was in that boat too.

 Then I had kids and learned that cows have to be in lactation mode to make milk, Duh. And that means continuously being pregnant for about 4 years until becoming a pair of boots. When I breast fed both my babies, it was exhausting. I was never one of those dames that rocked pregnancy. It was awful. I couldn't imagine being pregnant over and over again like that just to make people milk, cheese, and ice cream. Fuck you. No thanks. And I haven't even touched on how much fun it is to have mastitis. Yeah, that's right. Cows get that too. There's more in that milk than just milk, kids.

So if you are a cheese addict, my tough love words to you are nut up and cut the cow out. Now. Don't wait. It's not the cheese you crave, it's the company. It's the fatty-salty-stretchy that can be achieved by using any of the vegan cheeses out there.

I made this casserole with cooked rice, Ms. Dash, Daiya cheddar shreds-on clearance for $2 a package, broccoli, and Gardein chick'n strips, which I found on clearance for $1.89 a package. Everything was ready in less than 45 minutes, including prep time. This is so easy to make and you'll hardly miss the real live cruel version after having this. But veganism is so expensive. Shut up. I'm sick of your excuses. The ingredients to make this are no more expensive than getting quality cuts of meat and cheese from an animal. You know what's REALLY expensive? A heart attack, cholesterol controlling medications, and going to see the doctor all the time because you feel like shit from all that dairy. I'm done hearing it. Just do it. Just quit. Now. Don't worry if you don't make the shift perfectly. I know you can do this. If I can do it, you can do it.

Cheese Insanity Replacements rated best in:

• Cost: galaxy nutritional foods vegan shreds
• Flavor: Daiya cheese, Teese
• Freezes well: Follow Your Heart cheese

Note all three freeze well. 

One I'm not so wild about:

• Cheesely
• Soya Kaas Vegan cheese

What I use when I don't want vegan cheese but want that cheese like flavor and fat:

• Avocados mashed and mixed with a little salt
• Hummus
• Nutritional yeast mixed with some salted cashews

Cookbooks to help you with your cheesly desires:
The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook

Best vegan queso:
Food For Lovers Queso

Vegan cheese tips:

• Don't eat raw, it doesn't work and tastes gross.
• Use sparingly, some of the flavors are strong if you're not used to it.
• Try, try, and try again. Find one that you like and stick with it.
• Cost? Most brand names  have online coupons.

I love you. Stop making excuses. Go vegan.