Protein Power!

I run every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday morning (weather permitting, of course). And ever since completing the Thrive Forward cleanse in January, I've been consuming a protein smoothie about 30 minutes after my run. That's because I read all about eating the proper foods to boost recovery time while I was doing that cleanse, and protein helps rebuild muscle.

Before that cleanse, I ran often. But I never paid attention to what I was eating afterward. Since then, I've been able to tell a difference in my recovery time between runs. Plus, smoothies just seem easier to digest after a hard workout. And smoothies made with protein powders are filling for hours.

But sadly, many protein powders taste like butt. I don't care how many awesome superfoods a powder contains, if it tastes like ass, I'm not drinking it. I've sampled a ton of protein powders and, hands down, my favorite by a long shot has been Vega. Love the flavors (vanilla chai, anyone?) and the fact that it's stevia-sweetened (Healthy dessert for breakfast? Yes, please).

I was certain no protein powder could ever be as tasty as Vega. So when the folks at MRM offered to send me their Veggie Protein powders to try, I thought, "Yea, I'll check this out. But I bet it can't be as tasty as Vega."

Well, guess what? I was wrong! This stuff is right there on par with Vega. I hate to compare one vegan product to another in a review, but quite frankly, Vega has been so high above any other powder in my mind, that's the only bar I have to compare with. And Veggie Protein holds its own! Both the vanilla and the chocolate flavors are sweetened with stevia and xyiltol, and they both taste like dessert. I would even venture to say that I might like the chocolate Veggie Protein better than chocolate Vega One. The vanilla is great too, but Vega may have them beat by a hair with its French Vanilla Vega One.

How does it stack up nutritionally? Veggie Protein has more protein than Vega One (22 grams versus 15-16 grams). Vega One has WAY more Omega-3's, but Veggie Protein contains Omega 3's, 6's, and 9's. They both have some other fancy fruit and veggie extras — grape seed extract, spinach, etc. Vega One seems to have a lot more supplements and extras.

But for a protein powder, Veggie Protein has you covered. Lots of protein. Good taste.

I made some fun smoothies with each flavor. Using the vanilla flavor, I made this Strawberry-Vanilla Smoothie:

That's one cup of unsweetened almond milk, 3/4 cup frozen strawberries, half a frozen banana, and one scoop of Veggie Protein Vanilla.

And I made this Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie with the chocolate flavor:

That's one cup of unsweetened almond milk, one frozen banana, 2 tablespoons of PB2 (but regular peanut butter would work too), and one scoop of Veggie Protein Chocolate.

Both smoothies were delicious! And the chocolate PB banana one was especially thick and creamy, almost like a milkshake. So all this is to say, Veggie Protein is damn good. I'm happy to add this to my thrice-weekly smoothie powder options.

May I Be Frank?: A Review and Giveaway

Frank Ferrante

Let's be honest. Or, in this case, frank. As much I love my deep-fried tofu and Tofutti Cuties, I know that whole, raw vegan foods in their purest forms are the best bet for good health. And for people who are trying to turn their lives around after years of abusing their bodies through unhealthy meaty diets, smoking, boozing, and drugs, a healthy, mostly raw diet is probably the best way to go. At least for a cleansing period.

That's what happened with Frank Ferrante, the star of documentary May I Be Frank? It's the story of a 54-year-old overweight guy with Sicilian roots, bad habits, and failing health. But Frank makes a major change in his life path when some dudes at the famous high-raw vegan restaurant, Cafe Gratitude, take Frank under their wings and feed him wheatgrass, raw food, daily affirmations, and all that hippie stuff for 42 days.

I won't give away the ending, but as one would imagine, Frank's health takes a turn for the better as the film progresses. Throughout the film, we get a glimpse into Frank's life — his marital problems, his family issues, his former heroin habit, his health problems, and perhaps best of all, his humanity. Throughout the cleanse, Frank has his good days. And he has his really, really bad days. Oh, and we get, um, pretty damn up-close-and-personal with Frank. We're talkin' deep discussions about pooping and plenty of colonics. But hey, when you're workin' on what goes in, you gotta check out what's coming out too.

That being said, the one thing missing from this film was the "what goes in" — the food! Other than a reading of a one-day menu of Cafe Gratitude meals Frank must eat and shots of Frank tipping back wheatgrass now and again, we never see him eat! There's much more attention paid to colonics and self-discovery, which is all fine and good. But I wish I could have seen a few of Frank's breakfasts, lunches, and dinners.

But despite that one flaw, May I Be Frank? is a magnificent look at transformation and the amazing power of human will. The film has been around for some time, and it's made a name for itself in vegan circles. But I'm blogging about it now because it was recently released on DVD, so anyone can watch it outside of the film fest circuit.

You can buy a copy here. But you can also enter to win one of two copies (courtesy of Cinema Libre Studio) by leaving me a comment about your favorite raw food dish. Be sure and leave an email address if you don't have one linked to a Blogger or Wordpress profile. I'll randomly pick two winners on Monday (May 6th) night. Good luck!

Oh, and here's the trailer.
May I Be Frank Trailer from Cinema Libre Studio on Vimeo.

The Dream of 2008 Is Alive In My Kitchen

Remember 2008? Can you believe that was 5 years ago! Well, back in 2008, the vegan blogosphere was all aflutter with love for the Isa and Terry's Chickpea Cutlet from Veganomicon. Quick trivia question! Anyone remember when Veganomicon was released?

If you said "November 2007," you would be correct. So it makes sense that the chickpea cutlet recipe was all the rage in early 2008. I was on the chickpea cutlet love bandwagon. I posted about it here and here and here (and I even included a recipe for Curried Pattypan Squash & "Chicken" Saute Over Quinoa using chickpea cutlets).

Anyway, in an effort to gain back some of my lost youth (I was still in my late 20s in 2008!), I decided to take it back to the old school with Chickpea Cutlets this week:

These meaty cutlets are made with mashed chickpeas, gluten flour, and spices. And they're just as toothsome as any pre-made plant meat. I smothered this one with some onion gravy that I'd been saving in my freezer. Yes, gravy freezes beautifully in case you've ever wondered.

I served my cutlet with Joni's Mac & Cheese from Vegan Food Gifts and some canned green beans topped with Phoney Baloney's Coconut Bacon:

And for a close-up of those beans. Canned green beans may sound boring, but trust me, coconut bacon makes them magical. But coconut bacon can make anything magical:

What were you doing in 2008?

Vegan Meetup!

A week or so ago, I got an email from a guy interested in buying a couple copies of my cookbook. He's a local guy, and he wanted to know where he could find my book without having to have it shipped. I replied with a list of local stores that carry Cookin' Crunk — Whole Foods, Booksellers at Laurelwood, Burke's —and I also offered to meet him somewhere if he wanted to buy signed copies directly from me.

This was shortly after I'd posted a review of Vegan Secret Supper by Merida Anderson, and in that post, I whined about how I wished someone would local would start a vegan supper club. So Chris, the email guy, suggested I come by his family's house for a vegan dinner. He'd invite some friends. I could invite some friends. I could hand over the signed cookbooks. Why not?

So that was Saturday night. Paul and I drove to Bartlett to meet the Harrises and their friends, the Newsomes, for dinner at Chris and Amanda Harris' home. Perfect strangers, just like Larry and Balki (okay, I know that lame joke dates me ... I don't care). Everyone at the party was vegan except for Paul and Chris and Amanda's son Nate (he's working on it though). Oh, and the dog Rosie.

Amanda did the cooking for the dinner party. She started with a fantastic Mushroom Bourguignon served over vegan-buttered French bread and a salad with homemade vegan ranch:

This was amazing, y'all. Everything was delicious. The rich wine sauce soaked into the buttery bread, and the mushrooms were all nice and meaty. Even Paul loved it, and he's such a picky omni. Oh, and that vegan ranch? I could have chugged the whole bottle, but that wouldn't have been appropriate for a dinner party with new friends.

After dinner and a glass of wine or two, we had dessert — Strawberry Cobbler and Rice Dream:

I wish my iPhone camera had done a better job with this photo. The color is all off, but let me tell you. This was the perfect spring dessert — sweet, ripe berries tucked into a crisp, buttery cobbler crust paired with cold, vanilla ice cream.

We stayed for an hour so past dinner, just chatting about all kinds of stuff — coffee, Skrillex, East Coast/West Coast 90s rap drama, baseball memorabilia, tattoos, India, and of course, veganism.

Before we left, I had Paul snap a picture of the supper club crew:

Left to right, top to bottom: Elizabeth, Eric, Rachel, Amanda, Chris, Houston, Hannah, and me.

Anyway, it was a blast meeting new vegan friends! Thanks Chris and Amanda for having us over!

Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale Success!

Our Memphis veggie group, Food Awareness, held our second annual Memphis Vegan Bake Sale this past Friday night. Our sale is in conjunction with the Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale, and ours always benefits the Memphis & Shelby County Humane Society.

Grawemeyer's, a German-American restaurant on South Main, graciously let us use the space in front of their shop again this year. Our sale took place during the monthly South Main Art Trolley Tour, when art galleries along South Main (one of the city's art districts) have openings and other special events going on. We had the sale on that night last year too, and since we had perfect weather last year, we had tons of foot traffic.

But this year, Mother Nature decided to bring a few thundershowers through, so we had less traffic. And every time the sprinkles started, we had to pull our tables under the restaurant's awning. But despite the crappy weather and having less business than last year, we still raised $600 for the Humane Society, only $100 less than last year! Go us!

Cassi and I both ordered Vegan Bake Sale tees from the Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale website!

We had so many contributions from Memphis' most talented vegan bakers. I mean, bakers came out of the woodwork for this!! We filled up two long tables with sweets, and bakers kept dropping things off throughout the night. So I'll just apologize now for this incredibly epic photo-heavy post. I made Vanilla Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World because they were easy and cute:

And I made White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Blondies from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. Here there are before packaging:

And there they are all wrapped up and ready to sell:

I also made from Lemon Cooler Cookies (shortbread balls rolled in a lemony powdered sugar) from Vegan Food Gifts. Also pictured here are Nicole Dorsey's Cranberry-Ginger Cookies:

Stephanie (Poopie Bitch on the PPK) of Swell Baked Goods brought all kinds of awesomeness.

She made several savory items to go against the bake sale grain. And, of course, she had sweets too. There's were Olive Boules (mini bread bowls!), Cheezy Chive Scones, Cheezy Bacon Scones (made with coconut bacon!), Chocolate Whoopie Pies, Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars, and Cherry Berry Crumb Cake:

Cassi, a friend of mine who just went vegan a month or so ago, made these Almond Butter Chickpea Chocolate Chip Cookies. They were low-cal and gluten-free!

 

Leslie, my friend who is obsessed with all things Indian, made some Indian treats. There were Masala Tea Cakes and Rava Ladus (creamed rice and cashew balls):

And she made Coconut Burfi! If you've never had burfi, you're missing out. It's like Indian milk fudge minus the chocolate. So good! It was almost gone when I snapped this pic!

 

Shay took some time out from being a new mom to make some super-duper Fudgey Brownies!

Treats with a Twist blogger Melissa Kerras made these Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls (I forgot to write "peanut butter" on the label, but I'm sure people could figure it out ... they smelled heavenly), which were gone before I had a chance to buy some:

She also made these amazing Chocolate Chunk Cookies. And yes, I did get to sample those. Yum!

Dawn Vinson of the Downtown Memphis Commission made Chocolate Chip Cookies and Key Lime Raspberry Bars. I didn't get to try either, but I heard people raving about those lime bars all night!

Amy Schiller made three delicious treats! Orange Cupcakes!

Peanut Butter Blondies (I just had one today ... OMG!). People were raving about these all night:

And Cheezy Popcorn (made with nooch):

 

Valerie, who maintains the Memphis Vegetarians/Vegans Facebook page, brought some delicious Orange Cranberry Scones with a Vanilla Icing:

And she made some crazy awesome gluten-free Chocolate Chip Cookies using the Babycakes recipe. Behind her cookies are some delicious Cowboy Cookies (chocolate chip, coconut, oats, and pecans) made by a generous mystery baker. Her husband dropped them off at the start of the bake sale and just said his wife baked these to contribute. How awesome!

 

Vivian made some Chocolate Coma Cupcakes (these had chocolate chips inside!). So good! I had a leftover one yesterday. Yum, yum, yum!

I forgot to photograph a few more goods that arrived after the sale started. I'm missing a picture of Deirdre and Hannah's scrumptious Cake Balls. And I'm lacking a picture of Katie's Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Candy. But I can attest that both were very yummy! I tried to buy many of the treats at the sale for myself before they were all gone.

I do, however, have a picture of our bake sale mascot — Flicka! Katie, who does some PR work for the Humane Society, brought an adoptable pit mix named Flicka to meet and greet the customers. She only jumped on the table and tried to steal a cupcake once. Flicka was so well-behaved and such a charmer. She came from a bad situation, and when she was rescued, she was all skin and bones. But look at her now! She's up for adoption at the Memphis Humane Society if you're interested!

Thanks to all the amazing vegan bakers! And thanks to all of our customers for helping us raise money for pups like Flicka!

Fried Okra for One!

Before I get into tonight's post, I need to remind y'all about Friday's Memphis Vegan Bake Sale! If you're local, stop by the South Main Art Trolley Tour from 6 to 9 p.m., and pick up some cupcakes, brownies, cookies, and other treats to benefit the Humane Society of Memphis and Shelby County. I hear there will be some savory treats too (vegan bacon cheddar scones, anyone?).

Now, about that fried okra. A couple night's ago, I was craving fried okra. But we all know that fried food doesn't reheat so well. So what's a girl to do when she just wants a single serving of fried okra? Well, here's what.

Fried Okra for One
----------------------------
2 Tbsp. whole wheat pastry flour
2 Tbsp. cornmeal
Pinch of Cajun seasoning salt
Pinch of garlic powder
Pinch of onion powder
Pinch of paprika
1/2 cup sliced okra
2 Tbsp. coconut oil 
Mix together the dry ingredients in a small bowl.

Heat the oil in a cast iron skillet or other heavy-bottomed pan.

Toss the okra slices into the flour mixture and toss until all slices are evenly coated (note: there's no need to dip okra in any kind of binding agent or liquid first because okra's natural sliminess helps the flour mix stick).

When the oil is hot, carefully drop the okra slices into the pan. Stir to coat. Allow to fry for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until okra is browned.

Drain on paper towels before serving.

Eat Out for a Cause!

If you're a Memphis reader, you definitely have TWO chances to eat out for great causes this week. And if you're a reader who lives elsewhere in the U.S., you may still have TWO great chances to help people and animals while dining out.

Dining Out for Life
Thursday, April 25th is Dining Out for Life, a day that restaurants all over the country elect to donate a portion of their proceeds from that day's sales to organizations that help people living with HIV/AIDS.

If you're in Memphis, you have more than 30 restaurants to choose from. And guess what? One of those is Imagine Vegan Cafe! They're giving 50 percent of their lunch and dinner sales to Friends for Life, a nonprofit that helps people with HIV/AIDS through housing programs, wellness education, a food pantry, and support services. They also provide free HIV tests and prevention services to people all over the region.

If you stop by Imagine Vegan Cafe on Thursday night, I'll be there as the Friends for Life ambassador, meaning I have to go table-to-table to talk to folks about FFL's programs. But there are plenty of other local restaurants to choose from. I posted the entire list on Memphis Gaydar, my LGBT blog for the Memphis Flyer.

If you're not local, that's okay! Plenty of other major cities participate in Dining Out for Life on Thursday. Check out the website to see if there are any participating restaurants in your area.

Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale
Now, for chance #2 to help out while eating out.

Here's a shot from last year's bake sale. And yes, Vaughan is dressed in vegetables.

On Friday, April 26th, Food Awareness, our local veggie club, is hosting our second annual Memphis Vegan Bake Sale in conjunction with the Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale. We'll be set up outside of Grawemeyer's restaurant at 520 S. Main during the Art Trolley Tour from 6 to 9 p.m.

And all the money from every cupcake, cookie, pie, scone, brownie, or whatever that we sell will be donated to the Humane Society of Memphis & Shelby County. Last year, we raised $700!

There's a chance we may even have an adorable, adoptable pup from the Humane Society hanging out with us, because who can deny buying a cupcake from an adorable pup?

If you're not in Memphis, check out the Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale site to find a sale in your area. They're being held all week all over the world!