Tagged with Vegan Bloggers Unite! …

Oct 17 2012
52 Comments
Virtual Vegan Potluck

And…the (final VVP) Blogroll, Please!

Wine Glasses

105 bloggers.
14 countries.
 18 Appetizers.
 5 Beverages.
 6 Breads.
 5 Salads.
 10 Sides.
 9 Soups.
 23 Main Dishes.
 29 Desserts.

In only have one question: Do you think there will be enough to eat?     

Thanks to everyone who has signed up for the Potluck – you’ve made me so happy!  We reached our goal well ahead of the October 25 deadline.  Now – go grab a button for your blog by visiting the VVP website Resources page.  I’ll be posting all of the “how tos” soon right here on this blog, but you can also visit the How It Works page on the website right now to get an idea of what you’ll need to do to prepare your blog post for the big day.

Stay tuned for updates on how to create your links and when to schedule your VVP posts.   This is important stuff, kids.  If you haven’t already done so, please follow The Potluck on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.  

P.S. This is the final list of participants – the one you want to use when you create your links.  Take a look at the list and see what blog comes before yours and after yours.  Then follow the instructions on the VVP website.  If you are wondering how I decided to order the blogs, this time around I randomized (via random.org) instead of alphabetized.

HOST SITE
Vegan Bloggers Unite!

Appetizers
The Veg Bar
USA
 That Was Vegan?
USA
 The Cruelty-Free Review
USA
 Queens of the Wild Frontier
UK
 Vedged Out
USA
 The Soulicious Life
USA
 Quinoa Kale and Exhale
 USA
 Rough Seas in the Med
Gibraltor
 Jason and the Veganauts
USA
 No Food With A Face
Australia
 40 Fit in the Mitt
 USA
 The Vegan Kat
USA
 VegHotPot
UK
 Being Vegan
USA
 The Misfit Baker
Canada
 Barefoot Essence
 USA
 Earthgiven Kitchen
Canada
 Lemongrass and Ginger
 Australia
 Positively Vegan
 USA

Beverages
 Little Lady Cook (Cocinerita)
USA
 Don’t Switch Off the Light
Australia
 Lorna’s Tearoom Delights
Scotland
 Veganosaurus
India
Air Eater
Canada

Breads
Spinach Revolution
 South Africa
 V is for Vegan
 USA
Afro Vegan Chick
USA
My Plant-Based Family
USA
 Recipe for Going Vegan
 USA

Salads
 In Vegetables We Trust
 UK
 Sophie’s Foodie Files
 Belgium
 Spontaneous Tomato
 USA
Cadry’s Kitchen
 USA
Veggie Nook
Canada

Side Dishes
Keepin’ It Kind
 USA
 Vegan Richa
 USA
AppleCoconutLove
USA
 The Singin’ Vegan
USA
 Glue and Glitter
USA
 Kelli’s Vegan Kitchen
USA
 Good Clean Food
USA
 Former Fish Taco Fanatic
USA
 Cook to Love
USA
 The Almost Vegan
 USA

Soups
Elephant Belly
 USA
 Vegan by Proxy
USA
 Happy To Be A Table of Two
 USA
 Frugal Feeding
 UK
 neolovesoulchild
 USA
 Vegan Gypsy
 USA
 Cocina de Nihacc
Spain
 Live. Learn. Love. Eat.
Canada
Emmy Cooks
USA

Main Dishes
GIRRL-Earth
 USA
 V is for Vegetables
 USA
 Astig Vegan
USA
 In Pursuit of More
 Canada
 My Sister’s Pantry
 USA
 Apocalyptic Diner
 USA
 Chef in Disguise
 Jordan
 The Vegan’s Husband
 USA
 Living in a Lollypop World
 USA
 Saving the World One Bite at a Time!
 USA
 Tiny Kitchen Stories
USA
 Vegan Monologue
 USA
 Juicy Dishes
 Denmark
 Compassionate & Passionate Cuisine
 Portugal
 Vegan 404 (filet not found)
 UK
 OMGosh I’m Vegan
 USA
 Jaguar Kitchen
 Brazil
 Canned Time
 USA
Luminous Vegans
 USA
 Oh My Potluck!
Canada
A,B,C, Vegan
 USA
 VegCharlotte
USA
Sunday Morning Banana Pancakes

Earth-friendly Sara
USA

Desserts
 Fried Dandelions
USA
 The Little Red Journal
USA
 VegetarianVentures
 USA
 Bite Me (I’m Vegan)
USA
 Fridge Scrapings
Australia
 Bacon Is NOT An Herb
USA
 Gormandize with A-Dizzle & K-Bobo
Australia
 In Fine Balance
Canada
 Vegan Sparkles
Australia
 The Science of Food
 Canada
 The Sweet Life
USA
 Turning Veganese
USA
 SweetVeg
USA
 The Joyful Pantry
USA
 Veganville
USA
 Running Eater
USA
 Vegan Fling
USA
 Anne Sture Tucker – Balanced Living
 Canada
 An Unrefined Vegan
USA
 Too Cheap for Pine Nuts
 USA
 Veggie V’s Vegan Adventure
USA
 It Must Suck Being Vegan
Canada
 Cupcakes and Showtunes
USA
A Tablespoon of Liz
USA
 Gazing In
USA
Blissful Britt
USA
The Healthy Flavor
 USA
 Mama et de Bebe Hawk
USA

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May 12 2012
86 Comments
Bread, Virtual Vegan Potluck, Yeast Breads

Virtual Vegan Potluck: Sage & Rosemary Dinner Rolls with Roasted Garlic Coconut Butter

Roll with Butter

Rolls in BowlWelcome to the Bread course of the Virtual Vegan Potluck!  This is just the beginning of some tasty carbs – both savory and sweet – here at the Potluck.  Thank you so much for being part of our delicious plant-based event.  I know you’ve already enjoyed lots of goodies – and there are a lot more to come!  Hope you left some room on your plate for a roll or two!

No doubt about it, I’m a bread junkie.  I love kneading, baking and especially eating it.  And I love these rolls.  Simple, elegant, easy to make and packed with summery, warm, herb flavor.  (If I’d included parsley and thyme I could’ve called these Simon & Garfunkel rolls…)  Inside they’re soft and fragrant; on the outside they have a satisfying and tender crust.  They smell so wonderful fresh out of the oven.  Serve these flavorful, healthy rolls alongside some not-so-healthy but mouthwatering Roasted Garlic Coconut Butter, the recipe for which you’ll find below.  It’s also easy to make and full of flavor; the perfect complement to the rolls.

Sage & Rosemary Dinner Rolls
Makes 12

2 1/4 tsp. regular yeast (1 packet)
1 tbsp. agave nectar
1 1/4 cups warm water
2 1/4 cups bread flour
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tbsp. minced fresh sage
1 1/2 tbsp. minced fresh rosemary
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1 1/2 tsp. salt

In a large bowl, whisk together the water, yeast and agave nectar.  Set aside for about 5 minutes.  Meanwhile, in a smaller bowl, combine the bread flour, whole wheat flour, sage, rosemary, salt and pepper.

When the yeast mixture is bubbly, add the flour mixture and stir until a wet dough forms.  Add small amounts of flour – just until the dough doesn’t stick too much to your hands.  Either knead in the bowl or on the counter for about 8 minutes.  The dough will be very soft and should be smooth.

Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise for about 1 hour.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

When the dough has doubled in size, press it down to deflate and let it rest for 5 minutes.  Lightly flour the counter and divide the dough into 12 equal pieces.  Roll the pieces into balls and place on the baking sheet.  12 will just fit.  Using scissors, snip a deep X into the tops of each roll.  Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rise for 30 minutes.  (You could also make 8 rolls.  They are perfect for sandwiches.)

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Bake the rolls for about 20-25 minutes, or until lightly brown on top and firm on the bottom.  Cool rolls on a wire rack or serve warm alongside Roasted Garlic Coconut Butter.

Roasted Garlic

Roasted Garlic Coconut Butter

Roasted Garlic Coconut Butter

1 head garlic, roasted and squeezed out and mashed
1/4 cup + 2 tsp. soy milk
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1/4 + 1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp. + 1 tsp. refined coconut oil, melted
1 tbsp. canola oil
2 1/4 tsp. soy lecithin granules
1/4 tsp. xanthan gum

Combine soy milk, apple cider vinegar and salt in a small bowl and set aside for 10 minutes.

Gently melt the coconut oil.  In the bowl of a food processor, combine the mashed garlic, soy milk mixture, coconut oil, canola oil, soy lecithin granules and xanthan gum and process for 1 minutes.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl and make sure no lecithin granules are sticking to the bottom.  Process for an additional minutes.  Pour mixture into silicon molds or ice trays and freeze for at least 1 hour before removing from trays and using.

(Base recipe courtesy of VeganBaking.net.)

Sage

Sage, flowering

Rosemary

Rosemary

Thank you so much for being a part of the Virtual Vegan Potluck!  We’ve all had a lot of fun planning and putting this event together and sharing it with you has been the best part.  I know you will find many delicious vegan recipes to add to your repertoire.  To read about the origins of the Virtual Vegan Potluck, please visit this post.

And now it’s time to visit another participating blog.  Either click one of the icons below to be taken to the preceding blog or the following blog in the Potluck, or click here to be taken back to Veggie What Now in the Salad category – or – click here to move forward in the Potluck to visit Cocina de Nihacc with a delicious offering in the bread course.  )If you would like to go back to the very start of the Potluck, please click here to visit Vegan Bloggers Unite!)

Go Back Button

Go Forward Button

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Apr 23 2012
41 Comments
Breakfast, Brunch, Chocolate, Dips and Spreads, Virtual Vegan Potluck, Waffles

Banana-Chai Buttermilk Waffles with Cocoa-Coconut Butter

Waffle, Close UpHave you signed up yet for the Virtual Vegan Potluck??  It’s easy to do – just visit the VVP page to get the details, then send me an email at [email protected] or leave a comment letting me know you’ll be participating and to what course you’ll be contributing.  I’ve added a Board to my Pinterest page for the event and will pin a photo from each blog that signs up for the event.  You can find me at: http://pinterest.com/unrefinedvegan/.  I’ve also added an Events page on Facebook here and you can also keep track of things at An Unrefined Vegan’s Facebook page.  While I’m at it, you can find me on Twitter at @AnOlive.

So far 25 bloggers from all over the planet have signed on – thank you!  Thanks also to Lidia at VeganBloggersUnite! for posting about VVP today – and – thanks to those who have Tweeted about it, mentioned it on Facebook or have written about it on their blog.  I really appreciate your help in spreading the word.  I’d love to get 100+ (gulp!) to participate, so if you are so inclined, please invite other food bloggers to join in.

Phew, okay.  It’s Monday morning and in my household, waffles help ease the sting of the first day of the week.  I pop frozen homemade waffles in the toaster oven and for the time it takes us to consume them, it’s Sunday morning redux.  Especially if they are chai-infused waffles.  (Yep, chai again.)  If you didn’t know by now, I just adore the complex and rich warm flavors that are “chai.”  This time I’ve created a waffle around the flavors of cinnamon, anise, cardamom, cloves, a tiny smidge of black pepper all complemented with roasty banana flavor.  And then I topped the waffles with homemade cocoa-coconut butter, but the usual waffle-toppings would work just dandy, too.

Banana-Chai Buttermilk Waffles with Cocoa-Coconut Butter
Makes 3+ 8″ waffles

1 cup spelt flour
1/3 cup oat flour (I used regular oats and processed them in a food processor)
1/2 cup almond meal (I used the meal left over from making almond milk, dried and processed in food processor)
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. powdered stevia
1/4 tsp. anise seeds (ground in coffee grinder)
1/4 tsp. powdered cardamom
2 pinches ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground ginger
2 tbsp. egg replacer + 6 tbsp. water (whisk together until frothy, then let sit for a minute)
1 large, very ripe banana, mashed
1 1/2 cups vegan buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Cocoa-Coconut Butter

Combine the flours, almond meal, baking powder, salt, baking soda, stevia and spices in a large bowl.

In a smaller bowl, whisk together the egg replacer, banana, buttermilk and vanilla extract.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just until the dry ingredients are just moistened.  Let the batter sit for about 15 minutes.  (Turn the oven on to 200F so you can warm the plates and keep the cooked waffles crispy – and heat up the waffle iron, too.)

Lightly spray waffle iron with cooking oil and ladle on the batter.  Cook for about 4-5 minutes and gently remove waffle and place on oven rack to keep warm while you prepare the rest of the waffles.

Top with a dab, slab or slice of Cocoa-Coconut Butter and your other favorite waffle toppings!

Coconut-Cocoa Butter

Chai Waffle w/ Butter

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Mar 15 2012
18 Comments
Activism, Food News, General, Vegan Blog Carnival

A Few Good Vegans/A Carnival of Vegans (Volume 2)

Before I kick off Volume 2 of A Carnival of Vegans, a few administrative tasks:

1)  You can find Volume 1 of A Carnival of Vegans right here.

2)  Have you listed YOUR vegan blog on The Vegan Feed?  What?  No??  Why not?!  Do it!  And what about submitting a post or two to Vegan Bloggers Unite! – no reason to put it off any longer. Get your unique voice heard!

3) Belated thanks and big, virtual hugs to my fellow bloggers, Rachel in Veganland, Former Fish Taco Fanatic, The Adventures of Vegan Charlie and In Pursuit of More for sharing various blogging awards with An Unrefined Vegan.  I feel honored to be on your various radar screens!

Cupcakes and Kale:  If you haven’t found this blog already, you’re in for a treat.  Jess’ photos are lovely, her recipes sound awesome and if you head over to her blog right now, you can go a little green with envy over her pictures and stories about traveling vegan-style in Spain.

Desayunos Veganos 365:  I was feeling pretty smug about my breakfasts until Lorna at Tearoom Delights introduced me to this blog.  I love the idea of this project and though Nihacc is not even three months in, I’m hoping he has a similar project lined up for when he completes his vegan breakfast posts for the year.  The photos are real eye candy.  Check out Cocina de Nihacc as well.  My Spanish is lousy, but it looks good, too!

Cucumber Salad

One Poor Persnickety Vegan:  Having a tendency towards the persnickety myself, I was drawn to this sweet blog.  Tasha shares how to she eats well on a tight budget, but the appeal of this blog for me is that, just like me, she’s also down on excess sugar and fat.

Push Mower

Terra Not Terror:  I’m including this green-minded vegan blog for a couple or reasons.  1) A while back, Terra – even though she didn’t know me from Eve – was brave enough to allow me to write a guest post on her blog.  2) Her blog is a great resource for ways to reduce, reuse and recycle.  3) I just plain like her.  4) I want to encourage her to start blogging again!  So please, go visit her blog, leave comments and tell her you want to hear more from her!

The VegBar & Project See Life: I first met Barbie through her VegBar blog – all about sharing food with friends and family – and I immediately felt her warmth.  Now I’m hooked on Project See Life where she shares her journey from deep depression to a full and joyful embrace of life and everything it has to offer.  It’s raw and true and beautiful.  Barbie isn’t vegan (she’s vegetarian), but she is way vegan-friendly and I couldn’t imagine creating a list of excellent vegan blogs without including hers.

VeggieWitch:  Oh, Denise!  She says she “posts often and often with passion,” and it’s so true!  You can feel Denise’s energy and spirit right through your computer screen.  She keeps it interesting by writing about everything under the sun.

Fashion Food Fight: I love the simple creativity of this blog.  Yes, it’s a vegan food/recipe blog – but it takes that idea and adds a little twist by having her beautiful friends “model” some truly yummy looking food.

I’ve barely scratched the surface here!  There are so many more vegan blogs that I’ve jotted down to be included in future Carnival posts.  If you’ve found one that you think ought to be recognized, let me know and I’ll add it to my list.  Or, if you write a vegan blog that you’d like to see mentioned here, send me your link!

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