Making Your Cake and Eating it too....

I wanted to bring forward for many people, vegan or non-vegan and even crazy people of the planet, that you can have your cake and eat it too... and you don't even need to make it from scratch.
( I bet your are drooling already)

I present to you:  Vegan cake in a box! and the best part is, you can purchase this product at any of your favorite groceries stores.  (I'm sure all the vegans of the world are rolling their eyes)
How's that Julia you ask. Well let me tell you!!  Just 2 words : Duncan Hines!! thats right, you heard me. Duncan Hines , North America's gateway to easy desserts.

I have confirmed and double checked that every ingredient in their cake mixes is Dairy and Animal product fee.  (and if any you smarty pants find me wrong, keep it to yourself and let the rest of us dream)
After much research, I have pretty much discovered that everything in it is basically Chemicals.
Lets stand up and thank the scientist for their tireless efforts to bring us these tasty treats in a box with no expiry date.
Now by no means is this product or altered version recipe of this product  "low fat vegan" in any way or even healthy in any form. So don't be suing me when your ass swells 3 times the size after you have it 3 meals a day for 5 months out of the year.
I'm not even truly sure its even safe to eat, but anyone who needs to whip up a quick dessert without  the guilt of eating baby unborn chickens, stay tune, because this is the POST for you!!

Lets first discuss the ingredients presented to us by the fine makers of Duncan Hines.  Now, I should point out that I did not go through EVERY flavor of cake mix they make, but just the Devils Food.  So don't try to come back and challenge me... because I might have to come back and smack you!!

* but first a disclaimer - this blog does not reflect the feelings or opinions of Google, the Pope, president Obama, Her Majesty the Queen or anyone else that I know or don't know, nor does it intend to slam DH corporation, as they have never hidden this information from their customers and in fact you can find all this information on their website, which is a lot more I can say for other products *

Now back to the blog:

the first on the list of course is "sugar", but did anyone really think it would be anything different.
2nd, "enriched bleached wheat flour" - good thing they enriched it after they bleached it.  For anyone who doesn't know what it means to enrich something, its when they Put back in the nutrition, like iron and B vitamins that they took out in the first place.  You might see this a lot on cereals and bread, same as "fortified" that make you think its all wonderful for your kids to eat.
Next is "Vegetable oil" , which is made up of things like propylene glycol mono & diester of fats and diglycrides - mmmm a tasty mouthful )
But just when you thought it was down hill from here... we have "cocoa powder".. Yeah, we like this one. chocolatey goodness for sure, but the fun doesn't last .
Than there is "Dextrose" because all that sugar in the beginning wasn't enough.
Next is "Sodium bicarbonate & sodium aluminum phosphate"... with some "modified starch".  I don't even want to know what is modified about it.
Then we have "poly glycerol and esters of fatty acid".... mother who?
Oh, dont forget the SALT.  Followed by the "cellulose gum, xanthen gum, maltodextrin" which i'm pretty sure is the part that helps it to stick to your ass and finally "Artificial Flavors" of course... to cover up the horrid flavor of all those previous ingredients.

So now that we are all educated of the chocolatey goodness of this delicious dessert... lets get started on making Vegan style.

Its not really rocket science, though one would think they need a degree in science to understand what I just read off, however I assure you that you will not need it to make the cake.

Now, once you have your cake mix box in front of you .. follow the clear and easy instructions on the back.

they will advise you to add 1/2 Veggie oil ( like it needs more ). Go ahead, add it in.....I dare ya.
then they have you add 2 eggs .. STOP !! put those eggs down.  instead , I used 1/2 cup of apple sauce..  Yes, simple apple sauce... make your own if you wish.  Stay away from sweetened brands if you can... because I assure you, there is sugar already in the cake mix... really , there is .  (getting hand smack out)
Then it has you add 1 1/4 cup water ... I cut back on the water because the apple sauce is already runny.  I I would start with just 1 cup... might seem too thick, but trust me, it wont cook on the inside before the outside starts to burn... SO DON'T DO IT !!
mix and back as per package instructions. 

And there you have it !!  easy peasy sleezy !!   It will come out so moist and tender, you won't even need any ice cream or whipped cream on top.  even better while its still warm.

And the best part is, you don't have to even cover it up, that baby will stay so moist for the next week.
If you can make it last that long. 
Thanks Mr (or is that Mrs) Hines.

DIG IN !!

PS - I felt I should also point out, that the makers of this cake mix were sure to put in bold letters, as a warning to anyone making or consuming this product that is has " Wheat Product " in it.
Thank God they point out this obvious, yet very dangerous ingredient before I made it.
I was so focus in on the goodness of the Maltodextrin that I almost missed the Wheat Flour product.

Once again the world is a safer place.

yeee haaaa.... ride em' cowgirl

so I bet many of you are wondering what happened with all the blogging... well, I am not sure.  I had many idea's , but I guess life got in the way and oh yeah... I kind of fell off the vegan wagon. Ouch, only a few bumps and bruises, no panic, I'll be ok.
Maybe in my own shameful way, the brain went and hid in the proverbial sand until I forced it out with a new laptop and a crowbar... woot woot.  OH and I promised a co-worker who is laid up in bed that I would keep blogging so she would have something to read now and then.  I guess the guilt is too much to let her down. So here I am.
Meat or no meat... lets keep chuggin' away shall we.

Now back to falling off the wagon. I didn't completely fall off the wagon, every now and then I do consider a vegan alternative to the meal I'm about to prepare, but some how get swayed back to the Porkside of the force... damn those pho restaurants, damn them to hell.
I suppose the call of the cattle is too much to resist, and the call of the doughnut, the pho, the pizza, chicken wings etc.  (maybe I should change my number)

oy vey !!


 
However, I have not given everything up.  I have stayed true to my almond milk in my coffee, I have stayed away from butter and most dairy products, with the exception of some cheeses. Damn that cheese again.  "get your paws off me you damn dirty provolone!!"
I'm sticking with my whole grains in my morning cereal and breads. But sadly, the consequences are showing on the scale once again.
hmmmm... wonder how all my other dieting counter parts are doing since New years??

So, its time to change the tactics of this whole situation.
Come on now, I can already hear you all grumbling, "there she goes, back to eating meat, couldn't keep it up, giving up...blah blah blah, now the blog will be boring"  Do not fret my friends, for I will share with you my next crazy idea.....

last weekend, I went and had a Live Blood analysis done, as opposed to a dead blood analysis, as the results of a dead blood analysis would be pointless ... as I would be dead.  Though, I would lose a lot of unwanted weight, and fat , and flesh .. oh, but then I would be feeding the bugs and that wouldn't be very vegan of me... so , lets stick to the LIVE BLOOD shall we.

So, I get this analysis done.  Its not really a test, they don't test anything and I don't remember any multiple choice questions, however, I did have to answer a simple questionnaire regarding my current health.

I won't bore you all with the full details of this analysis, however, the purpose of it all, is so that you can see what kind of "condition" or "state" your blood is in.  And then learn to eat better to reverse the effects.  Some have heard about the " eat for your blood type " diet.  This was similar, with the added bonus of knowing that your blood is crying out for help.  You can see it on the monitor which is hooked up to a microscope... the cells are pretty much group in clusters, shaking their little fists at your, giving you the finger and crap and warning you, if you don't shape up, they will ship out.

The good news is, I am still alive and I have AB type blood.  Figures I would get the odd blood type.  There are less then 5% of the worlds population...
oh sure, I couldn't have been in the 5% worlds riches people.. NOOOO .

But what this all means, is that I now can see the list of foods that I'm suppose to eat for my blood type.  And the scary fact is.. its practically VEGAN !!!!   and not only are they vegan foods, but Low fat vegan foods !!  " GET OUT ! Right?"
The goods that are considered vegan, but on the fatty side, like avocados, black olives etc are OFF my list.  Other foods that are generally ok for me, are still a high glycemic type food and I should stay away from.
The only Non vegan foods I can partake in, are turkey, egg whites, anything made from goats milk and mozza cheese... (yeah pizza).
I've decided starting March 1st , just for shits and giggles, to try and eat within my blood type.  This still gives me a bit of dairy freedom, however, since I'm not allowed caffeine or coffee, no need to worry about the almond milk any more... booo !
I will keep blogging until then and on ward !!!

Cheater, Cheater Pulled Pork Eater......

Well, I did it again, I allowed myself a cheat day, however, if you think back on it, it was actually more like a cheat week last week.
I guess because I dont have this burning urge to save the planet and all of gods creatures, because like most people, its easier to be in denial for the good of the pulled pork and bacon and grilled chicken.  So many of us like to believe that there is a special land where cows are dancing and singing and all to happy to fill those buckets up with milk and hand them to the farmer, who takes such good care of them and tucks them in every night to bed.... yeah... NOT,  but we believe in this anyways, every time we scoop into some ice cream, saute those mushrooms in butter and eat that multi-topping cheese covered pizza.  Forget Jersey Shore !! Hello Jersey Cows... ( in Snooki's case theres not much difference. - oops did I just think that out loud?? ) Anyways, I'm sure you get my point.

Because of the land of denial, I allowed myself for a whole week to come up with excuses to allow myself to indulge in non-vegan fare.  Everything from not upsetting the boss at office lunches, because the vegan restaurant was closed, as well as, " this dish has less fat in it then the vegan dish".  And once I allowed myself to cheat in the afternoon, well, I might as well cheat in the evening too... so I did!!  Pulled Pork for lunch and the a small pizza for dinner.  And not just any pizza, the New York Club at Rosodos (In Port Moody, look them up in the book ), which has every kind of meat you can think of ,
plus 3 different cheeses... Go Big or Go HOME!...

Guess what all those excuses got me... 3 added pounds back on. Yep, you heard it here first folks.  All that extra fat and processed food, 3 pounds came back. Now, I'm sure in the grand scheme of things, its mostly water weight from all the added salt that was probably consumed at the same time...so, I'm not pulling the steak knives out just yet and slitting my wrists. I'll save that for the next Jersey Shore episode.
The realization of the 3 lbs sent me back on the straight and narrow for about 4 days.  Then it was Friday again.. and what is Friday you say?? Friday is Pho day... and my denial land of the world of pork came flooding in and a few other excuses too...and I had my pho... my vermicelli noodles w/ spring rolls.  And God said, "a table for 3", And it was good. And we rejoiced.  [julia: 2-4-12] .
And then the next day, which is today, I went off to a party that was a pot luck.  And like all good foodies, I made my famous beef and pork laden chili...and it was good and again we rejoiced and then took a handful of ant-acids.

The one thing I have not done, is given up the hope and optimisum that I will continue to try and turn my eating habits around, and seek still the goodness of the vegan way of life.
A month later, and I still haven't taken the jump off the cliff into the world beyond my comfort zone.  Unless you count that one dish I made that was so bad, we all threw it out. (not up) Even the dogs couldn't be bothered to try and dig it out of the trash.
I have learned, that when any person tries to change a way of life, in order to obtain something they think they don't have now, that without a "change in thought and belief system" , old habits die hard, and usually end up kicking and screaming until you start to make excuses once again to jump right back into the comfort zone.  Maybe that's why its called comfort food. 

Tomorrow is a new day, and there are more cows and pigs and chicken to save... and I will continue to fight the good fight for all animal kind... at least until the next pho Friday!!

Lets Talk Dirty Shall We..

Can we talk dirty? Come on I know you want to.

You know what I'm talking about...everyone is doing it.  Some do it more often then others. Others try not to do it at all, but then the urge is too strong.  Some do it at 37,000 feet, some people have to get help doing it.  Some people actually make porn movies doing it...
In some cultures they do it in different positions, but the experience is always the same.

You know what I'm talking about....going to the bathroom of course.  What did you think I was talking about? (perverts!)

We ask ourselves the age old question, "Does a bear shit in the woods?". Why do we ask this? Has no one ever seen a bear shit in the woods?  I don't really recommend that you sneak up on any bears, especially why they are shitting. Of course, this would be a good time to escape a bear, if you have already been captured.
I think I know why we ask this question... because based on the bears diet of sticks and berries and some fish, I doubt anyone would know what bear poop even looks like.  We'll, just ask a VEGAN!

You knew we had to get to the subject sooner or later..... 

Years back when I did my high protein-low carb diet with lots of veggies and salads, one of the foundamental supplenments I learned that one should take was some stool softener.  All that fiber really gets a girl into a "bind".  Maybe its all the cheese, maybe all the lettuce. or all that yummy dry chicken breast.  However, if you didn't drink the water, bathroom time was trouble and left you wishing you had eaten a McDonalds cheese burger to keep things moving.

Now, I knew going into the vegan way of life, that I might have to deal with some situations that left everyone in the room looking at the dog, however, I was also expecting to have to pull those ducolax pills out once more. How wrong I was!! 
Not only is the situation a loose matter these days, but sometimes its an urgent one as well.  Sneezing is not always my friend.
There is a reason I have always referred to Blueberries as "Scrubbing Bubbles".

Maybe I should consider a cleanse?? but dont fool yourself folks, all those sticks, seeds and berries do clean out the pipes, whether you want them to or not.  

I haven't yet sat down and compared any bathroom habits with another vegan, and I'm sure if I found one over the age of 50, they would be more then happen to provide me with many a tale...but for now, seeing that this post is already in the crapper... I think I'll leave the subject along for everyone to discover themselves.

Angry Birds, Pigs & Cows....

Its been another fun filled weekend of eating out and again, feeling deprived by the lack of choices there are for vegan in a normal restaurant.  Shame! Shame!

Its final !!! just no eating out!! Or time to hunt down one of these Vegan friendly restaurants.
I WILL admit it, so I can sleep at night... Saturday night I fell to pier pressure when faced with NOTHING on the PHO 99 menu that could be consider vegan or even vegitarian.  And, like all lovers of food, I caved and had my favorite dish... the spring rolls with vermicelli and salad.  Unfortunately because they are "pre-made" and made with pork, I didn't make the 21 days without meat.  (really, I'm crying inside). 
I was doing so well, especially when we were dragged for Fish and Chips with my father-in-law.  I wasn't able to keep the low fat part down, but did good with the vegan, as I stuck with the deep fried mushrooms and pickles w/ chips.
I have to say, after eating the spring rolls, the after affects where totally NOT worth the taste bud satisfaction.
I had stomach cramps and its a toss up whether or not the bad perfume at Save On gave me a headache or if I was getting one from the meat.  I was drinking gallons of water all night long, something I wasn't doing at all since becoming vegan AND I woke up with my face all puffy. !! Totally not worth it!! Now, if I had eaten a pulled pork sandwich, mmmaaayyyybbbeee it would have been worth it.


Sunday night we did Applebees... with all their tempty tasty cheesey, greasy treats, they had nothing on the menu that was particulary vegan or vegitarian, (with the exception of the 3 cheese penne) , however, Applebees was at least very accomodating to requested changes.   Since my low fat diet was out the window this weekend... I ended up with having their Philly burger, only, I subbed the pattie with a veggie patty, had all dairy and cheese product removed, leaving me with the saute veggies on a patty and bun.  A touch of their dejion mustard, some added tomatos for moisture, and I had a darn good burger. And if anyone who also ready my facebook status is reading this, yes, I scrapped the Shrimp Teriyaki   pasta for the burger.  Thats the down fall for the waitress taking too long to get to the table and taking our order. !
This item totally full filled my burger craving. 

I have come to the conclusion, that if you are going to be a vegan, for both the health of your body, the safety of small fuzzy animals and not so small and fuzzy animals everywhere, you can pretty much eat anywhere, with the exception of Pho 99... with a bit of menu twisting.
However, trying to maintain this type of diet for the mere health and diet reasons, just stay the hell out of the restaurants all together. My lazy cook habits are following me into this new way of life.  Time to get back to soup and mush.... which are quite tasty. 

But over all, I am down 7lbs in 20 days. Slow and steady.  I've decided that I am going to continue with type of eating, if only because I feel better and I am starting to see what the effects of eating meat has on the human body. Once I have all the data on that, I will be blogging, so that I can share the good news with all you meat eaters .  Yes, I'm evil ... I dont think I was this bad when I became a Non-smoker. 

If you would like to try a yummy breakfast idea, we had these this morning for our breakfast. Even Matt thinks they are yummy, and so super easy.  The best part is, because there is no dairy, this would actually be a great recipe for you campers. Less food to make sure stays cold,


Buckwheat Blueberry Pancakes : 

In small bowl combine: 

1/2 c buckwheat flour
1/2 c cornmeal
1/2 tsp baking powder  ( NOT soda)
1/4 tsp baking soda   ( NOT powder)
1/4 tsp salt

In larger bowl combine :

1 ripe banana ( mashed to hell)
2 TBS maple syrup
1 TBS vinegar
1 c soy / rice / almond milk
1 c blueberries  ( fresh or frozen )

Once you have mixed wet items ( excluding the blue berries ) in large bowl, mix im dry ingredents until all lumps are gone and you have a pourable better.  You might have to add a touch of fake milk to thin.  THEN add the blue berries  ( or any berry you want really ) . 
cook on your griddle same as you would any other pancake , top with more berries and / or maple syrup.

ENJOY !!!

dial 410-VEGAN ....

I thought I would post yet another nummy vegan dinner idea for anyone to give a try.  Actually, its not unlike something most of use eat all the time.  In fact, I looked up to see how much of this product do Americans eat in one day.
The answer:   If you laid pizza down on the ground, Americans eat more than 9 acres of pizza each day!
- and I'm convinced that this answer is WAY too low.  9 acres is not that much... maybe in One city.
And don't you high and mighty, better then the Americans,  Northern snow biting, Mountie lovers, think you are any different, except the answer would be :  4 Hectare !!

Thats alotta pizza pie !! ( in my best Dean Martin Italian voice ).
And what is worse, is there are numerous pizza chain restaurants that are ready to bring the fatty greasy, cheesy goodness to your door in 15 minutes... this is so guilt doesn't have time to creep in and ask you "what the hell are you doing?" .
I had my first pizza craving today, so unlike most people, instead of calling up my favorite pizza man, Papa Leos, I hit the grocery store and made my own!! 

Now, I could have gone the easy route and purchased some form of already pre-made, processed pizza crust, or pita bread or wrap thing of some sort... but I decided I was going to make my own pizza crust, Vegan style.
Despite the weird sort of gray color, it actually came out very tasty.
The nice thing about anything being a weird gray color is it helps to make you think twice about eating it, which in turn cuts down on your calorie consumption.   I think where I went wrong, is the recipe calls for raw buckwheat flour, where I just used the buckwheat flour that I had. It still works

Keeping to the Vegan way of life,  I of course topped my pizza with fresh veggies.  The boys of course went with dead unidentifiable animal meat product in a stick form,  they call pepperoni , topped with even more animal produced, calcium depleting , heart clogging cheese. (but I'm not bitter)

Some suggestions are , fresh spinach or basil , green, yellow, orange or red pepper, onions, garlic, mushrooms, brocolli.   - to make sure these are cooked through, you can roast them in the broiler once your pizza crust is done or cook ahead of time.   If you must, you can saute, but this just adds added fats and grease that you dont need.
A taster version of adding fat if you must, is to marinade the peppers in some balsamic vinaigrette the night before, the grill them on the bbq or broiler... mmmm... thanks to my friend Barbara , this is very tasty tip.

Here is the recipe:   This is also gluten & yeast free as well.

Buckwheat Pizza Crust :   Preheat Oven to 375 F

In a large mixing bowl, mix together these following dry ingredents :

2 1/4c  Raw Buckwheat flour
1/2 c    tapioca flour   - kind of seems like corn starch, look in the baking soda/pwd , sugar isle
1/2 tsp sea salt  ( get over it, I just used table salt for pete sake ! )
1/2 tsp baking SODA .. not powder :)
1/4 tsp garlic powder

In a separate bowl mix the following wet ingredient :  ( i just used a 2 cup measure cup for easy pouring )

1c warm water   - you can find this in your local sink
1/4 c extra virgin olive oil    - since i was low fat, I cut this down, since you have to use it to grease the pan
1 TBS  honey or agave nectar  - I went with honey since it was already in my cupboards
1 TBS  Apple cider vinegar

Pour the wet into the dry and whisk together well, until you see long dough strings formed. The dough will be thinner like cake batter. If it is too thick to whisk, add a tad more water.

Oil a pizza stone generously with olive oil ... ( I have my stone pampered chef bar pan... because yes, I'm pampered , so I cant comment on the use of a regular cookie sheet. ..but let me know will ya.)
You might want to oil your hands a bit as well, but scoop the dough onto the cookie sheet and spread it evenly to each corner.  (I'm sure spray PAM would work as well too.)

Once you have shaped out your dough, stick in the oven for 20 minutes or until top of crust is golden brown.

Then, you should know what to do... slap on that SAUCE of your choice, even organic bbq sauce, throw on your favorite veggies... I went with mushrooms, green and yellow peppers, lightly sauted onion w/ garlic and fresh spinach .

Topped with shredded soy cheese ... ( I use the daiya cheese from Save On foods , thanks to my good friend Chris )

Wa La !!!  when the moon hits your eye, like a big Vegan pie, thats amore!!

-Thats mine on the far left.
-Give any one brownie points if you can guess which one is Matts  :)











this is a pre-cooked photo... silly me was so hungry and this was so delicious, that I ate it before I thought to take an up dated photo... duh!

T.M.F.I .....

It appears that many of you have been patiently waiting and anxious to know how this new vegan way of life is effecting my weight over the almost 2 weeks... well, let me tell you.  (you asked for it if you continue on)

I started the challenge on January 2nd , after 5 days (Jan 6th) I was down 2 lbs...woot woot you say.  I was all aglow with my progress, despite the bitter under tone of "others" I know on various new years diets who have lost maybe a few more then me.  But HEY ! thats ok, its allllll water weight. 
I have resigned myself to NOT get on the scale more then once per week.  I did not want the results of the scale to effect what I ate or how much I ate.

So today I jumped on the all important machine.... and of course, I was UP 1.5 lbs... (frickity frack).
However, not shortly after my devastating blow, there was a knock at my mother nature door.  And for many of you who know me very well, realize that this unexpect visit, comes few and far between.  (and for those who dont know me well... you do now, whether or not you want to...but I did warn you a paragraph ago).

Yes, there she was, Aunt Flo... who I had not seen in quite sometime, was standing in my door way with ALL her luggage.  And well ladies... we allll know what happens when Aunt Flo shows up... husbands get kicked to the dog house, co-workers hide under their desks, and of course, alll the luggage adds up on the scale. 
So, I am not sweating buckets just yet. In fact, having only put 1.5 lbs back on, instead of 4 or 5, tells me that chances are , before she showed up ... I was down more weight.

But here is the important part... I FEEL SOOO MUCH BETTER !!!  I dont feel bloated, with or without help. Meal time doesn't turn into a Post Turkey Dinner Thanksgiving session with the pants 1/2 zipped and our hands tucked in under the waist band like we are Napolian, relaxing after a long day in the battle field.
Though after eating some meals, I feel quite full, I don't feel sick or feel the need to lay down and take nap. And the feeling of being full, is usually gone within 1/2 hour after eating.
I'm lighter in my steps, I'm finding going down stairs a bit more balanced, going up, well that sucks no matter what. ...hhhehehe. 
My clothes feel not so restricting, and despite trying not to do any added exercise for the first month, I'm finding it very difficult to sit still in the evening. 
So, unfortunately for now, we will all have to wait one more week to see the true efforts of all my work.  And lets hope that Flo is on the next Red Eye out of here.. (pun intended) .
Until then.... keep Vegan'ing !!