October! The coolest kid on the playground!

Though it wasn't planned, it's fitting that I started this blog in October. It's my favorite month and the beginning of my favorite time of year. I know not everyone shares this feeling but it's how I feel and I absolutely LOVE the Fall! The weather (if you live in the right place) starts to change and, though the leaves on the trees are technically dying, everything smells and feels like it's coming alive or waking up!  The air is crisp and the produce, like the leaves on the trees, are vibrant and gorgeous!  Everything just looks smells and tastes so much better! Yay Fall!

I could go on and on but I won't. I'll get right to the purpose of today’s (and probably a few more) post.  The best part of October, the big "to do" at the end of the month that leads us all merrily into the holiday season and then the New Year... MY BIRTHDAY!!  Kidding!  Though my birthday is at the end of the month, I am actually talking about HALLOWEEN!!!  Mwahahahahahahaaaaaaa!!  Every single year when Halloween starts to approach (by that I mean October 1st and NOT August 1st when every store, restaurant and mall start to put up their Halloween decorations and merchandise) I start to get so excited!  It's the perfect reason (not that I really need one) to go all out and have fun in the kitchen!  With or without my kids, it's a blasty blast!

When I thought about my first food entry on here, I have to admit, this was not what came to mind.  I honestly thought I would blow you away with a fabulous fall recipe like you see in all the other amazing vegan blogs out there.  Seeing that this is my blog and I just talked about having Halloween fun the kitchen, I thought I might start with that.  It won't be anything too crazy or complicated. Though, if you still want to feel inspired, we will be going green with 1 of these 2 recipes. I know I know... you're on the edge of your seats.  I don't blame you, this is very exciting stuff!  (Hehe)

Heeeeeeeeeeere we go!

The Ghastly Green Slime Shake!  (a.k.a. Green Shake)

This drink is neither ghastly nor slimy as the name suggests.  It's just a fun Halloween name when you have kids and cool Halloween cups to put it in.  Does it scare people even in regular cups?  Yes.  Should it?  No.  The shake itself is actually quite yummy, VERY versatile and can be had any time of the day (or year).  

This was a drink inspired by the Vita-mix website. Of course, I do not have a vita-mix yet but this is beside the point.  I can dream!  I go on the site to look at the recipes and imagine a better time when I, too, will get to blend things in a way they could only dream of being blended.  Alas, that day is not today.  For now I use my regular blender at home and she does a wonderful job on her own.  IF I am over working her, she hasn't let on yet so I keep blending.  As I was saying, the Vita-mix website.  They inspired me to start playing with different ingredients to come up with a yummy green shake (among many other thing) about a year or so ago.  Since then, I have tweaked  a little here and there and come up with something simple yet very enjoyable.

Halloween Pancakes
(a.k.a. Pancakes)

The only thing that makes these "Halloween" pancakes is the set of molds I used while making them. The recipe is a basic pancake recipe I have been working on and tweaking for a while, trying different flour blends, ingredients and different measurements to make sure flavor and consistency comes out the way they should.  Truth be told, it's hard (though not impossible) to come across fluffy vegan pancakes.  When you omit ingredients like eggs you have to work hard to find a way to make sure they're not missed.  This is what I have managed to come up with so far.  It's been tested several times (closest to this was using 1 cup unbleached AP flour and 1 cup whole wheat flour resulting in denser pancakes but still delicious) and I am sure it won't be the last time.  I am pretty happy with the results and feedback I have gotten back so far.  Let me know what you think.

Introductions and a work in progress...

It all started with my kids.  I guess it always does, right?  I am a former culinary student/pastry chef/New Englander, stuck in a small town down South for a bit and like the "About Me" section of my profile says, I am also a full time mom of 2 beautiful little girls.  We had just moved into a new house and I was starting to change all my habits.  I needed to get back to being "me" again instead of crazy zombie mom who just barely made it through each day.  The changes started with food and exercise and then educating myself about the healthier lifestyle I wanted to lead, learning about which foods were better for me and which foods I absolutely had to get rid of.  At that time being vegan wasn't even an idea in my head.  Nor was being a vegetarian.  I cut out some meat though.  I stuck with chicken, fish and, on the very rare occasion, flank steak.  It was my all-time favorite and I was lucky because it was so lean.  Yay!  I cut out white flour and did everything whole wheat or multigrain. I even found a great cookbook series to cook from for my girls.  Oddly enough, I ended up eating out of there a lot too.
It was only when my very best friend Angelle started coming to visit more and more that I ended up leaning towards the veg side of things.  She had been diagnosed a type 1 diabetic a few years before and was only now (by becoming a vegetarian) starting to figure out how to keep her blood glucose levels closer to where they needed to be.  I remember worrying that she'd end up getting sick or starving to death when she came down but it turns out the only difference in our diets was meat.  That was easy enough to work with and since I wasn't the only one cooking for a change I got to try things I hadn't thought of before.  It was like a whole new world was opening up right before my eyes (and taste buds)!  After she left I hit the web and went vegetarian crazy!  I won't lie and say I didn't eat any meat after that.  I did.  After some time, though, I decided to stop ignoring my body.  Each time I would eat meat I would feel very lethargic, slightly guilty and, if I am being completely honest, a little gross.  It just didn't sit right anymore.  I figured my body was telling me I was on the right track so who was I to argue.
A few months later Angelle decided to change her diet again and go a little bit further.  She became a vegan and added some raw elements in there as well.  Her visits after that became another food adventure/experiment I was happy to take on for her as well as for myself.  At this point it is important that you know I am a firm believer in being smart about trying out new food choices like raw food.  If you jump in with something exotic you may blow it for yourself (if it's not what you expected) and not want to try it or anything like it again.  I always go with something I know I am a fan of.  Like dessert.  I know I love chocolate so the very first raw food I tried was  Jason Mraz's Chocomole.  DEFINITELY a great way to bash through THAT wall straight into the world of raw food and veganism!  HOLY DELICIOUSNESS, BATMAN!!  I still enjoy this treat any chance I get.  Not to mention that once I was comfortable with his recipe, I was able to start making adjustments and make it a little more of my own.  (Btw... not only do my little ones love to eat it but they also get to help mommy make it from time to time. I digress.)  
Once again my best friend opened up new food worlds/possibilities to me and my very excited taste buds.  I went back to the net and started the vegan/raw food journey.  It wasn't long before I realized my location made the raw food option practically impossible so I started to focus mainly on being a vegan.  Now, THIS was very hard as well but MUCH easier to manage the further into it I was getting.  A few of the local grocery stores sold the dairy free (and even soy free) butter as well as soy, almond and rice milk.  I also noticed I had many baking staples available to me locally as well as agave nectar.  It's the very "vegan specific" types of supplies I end up having to order online.  This is fine. It's just a matter of figuring out what I need when and if I can afford it all.  Basically this is still very much a work in progress and thanks to sites like Fat Free Vegan Kitchen and the very first AWESOME vegan cook book I bought when I first started  (Vegan With A Vengeance) I have been able to not only sustain being vegan in a town that has probably never heard that word before but also branch out to find more books and recipes as well as start to create my own!
So now we have come to the present.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my kids become full vegans (it's always their choice) but for now they are 50/50 and willing to try everything mommy makes so THAT is good enough for me.  I am hoping this blog will start to find itself as I write and explore more.  For now, it, like me, is a work in progress. So I will be adding some of my own recipes (looks like I'll have to start writing them down) and sharing some favorites I have found and will continue to find along the way.  I am open to any and all feedback.  Recipes, tips, questions; the floor is yours. Well.. ours. 
Ready.  Set.  GO!