Rasha

Rasha

before & after

The one on top was taken the day she was found. The next picture is of her in her new home after she was taken to the groomer.

I got an email from someone who found my website and needed my help. The lady said that her son had found this dog in a park near their house. She told me that they asked around the whole neighborhood and schools, and no one claimed her. They were contacting me because the complex they live in only allows two pet per house. They were already at their limit. I came down and picked her up and was lucky enough to find her a foster home the same day. We had her scanned for a microchip, and she had one. I then called the number on the microchip to tell them we had their dog. They said they did not want her. I just couldn't believe someone wouldn't want her! She was such a sweet and beautiful dog!

After a couple weeks, her foster home could no longer keep her because she was having bad allergies. She had named her Rasha. So I found Rasha another foster home with a girl that I worked with. I knew that she would be an awesome haven for Rasha for the time being, until we found her a forever home. It had not even been a week when I got the call that they wanted to adopt her. She got along great with their other dog Saul, and they had fallen in love with her.

She is now living the life of a queen. She has quite a selection of toys, bones, and dog beds. She is regularly taken to the groomers where she is given a bath, hair cut, brushed out, deep conditioned, teeth cleaned, nails trimmed & painted, and paws moisturized. She is also taken to the park to run with Saul daily. What a life huh?

http://www.scarshelter.com/

Mug Cakes?

This is the coolest idea for a Christmas present I have seen all year! This is especially a good idea if you are on a tight budget like me. Here is my recipe for a chocolate mug cake.

Chocolate Mug Cake

1 Coffee Mug (Pick out a nice one that they can keep as a gift)

4 tablespoons flour

4 tablespoons sugar (or agave or whatever sugar substitute you want if diabetic)

2 tablespoons dry baking cocoa

1 egg - (Ener-G Egg Replacer)

3 tablespoons almond milk (or vegan milk of your choice)

3 tablespoons oil

3 tablespoons mini chocolate chips

Small splash of vanilla

Add dry ingredients to mug and mix. Then add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix. Add chocolate chips and vanilla last. Put mug in microwave and cook for 3 minutes. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, this is normal. Wait for it to cool and then give as a gift or ENJOY!

Green smoothie

Green Smoothie

2 handfuls spinach

3 kiwi

1/4 cup apple juice

1/2 scoop vanilla soy protein

1-2 Tbsp flax seeds

a tiny bit of agave

I made this with more spinach than usual because I needed the iron :)

First attempt

This is my first attempt of a recipe out of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. I started off simple. I made the vanilla cupcakes with buttercream frosting. The recipe calls for soy milk, but I did not have any and do not like soy milk. So I tried making it with my homemade hemp milk. They turned out terrific! Even my husband who is pretty much anti-anything-vegan said they were great! SUCCESS!

This picture isn't the best, because I'm not the greatest at making pretty looking food. I am big on flavor though. So as long as the flavor is great, then I'm happy.

Raw Hemp Milk

I was all out of almond milk tonight, so I decided to experiment making raw hemp milk.

3 cups cold purified water

1/2 cup hemp seeds

pinch of sea salt

1 Tbsp agave

Blend together for 2 minutes (my blender cover wasn't completely on so the milk exploded everywhere). You are suppose to use a cheese cloth over a strainer, but I was out of cheese cloth so I just used a tea strainer. This seemed to work. Once it was all drained into the jar, ta-da! Fresh hemp milk! Not bad if I do say so myself. If you have never had hemp milk, it has a creamier texture than almond or rice milk. The consistency is similar to whole cow's milk. I love chocolate hemp milk. I will be using this hemp milk to make a recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. We'll see how it turns out.

Rice

Play this game & for each answer you get right, the UN World Food Program donates 10 grains of rice. It's that simple. Please play.

Free Rice

Random pictures of my babies

My Panther baby
Panther was actually sleeping like this!

My baby, Rahjah right after we rescued him.

Rahjah was actually yawning, but looks like he's hissing. HAHA!

Black Sesame Cereal

My friend brought me back some Greenmax Black Sesame Cereal on her last trip to Berkley, California. She said her dad got it from Taiwan. I am sceptical, but I will definitely try it! The ingredients on the back of the package are: Black sesame, Black bean, Brown rice, Job's Tear, Wheat Germ, Medlar, Licorice Root, Brown sugar, Vitamins, & Minerals. Sounds good to me! I guess you make it like how you would make oatmeal. You just add hot water. I made some at work, and it was surprisingly good. It has a sweet sesame flavor. Not bad! I added way too much water though. At least I know how to make it now.

Chocolate Chai Cookies

I got this recipe from Vegan Joy's blogspot . I couldn't wait to try it. Please check out her blog as well.

Chocolate Chai Cookies

6 ounces good-quality semisweet chocolate
1 cup whole wheat flour
¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon grated fresh nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
pinch sea salt
½ cup canola oil
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup hot, strong black tea
¼ cup molasses
1 teaspoon baking soda
crystal or turbinado sugar, or evaporated cane juice, for rolling cookies

Chop chocolate into ¼” chunks. Set aside.

Sift together the flour, cocoa, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cardamom.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the canola oil, brown sugar, molasses, tea, and baking soda. Add the flour mixture to the liquid, mixing well to combine. Stir in chocolate chunks. Preheat an oven to 325° F. Lightly grease baking sheet. Form dough into 1” balls. Roll in evaporated cane juice, and place on the prepared baking sheet spaced 2” apart.

Bake 10-12 minutes, until the cookies have flattened slightly and the tops are cracked; they should be soft to the touch, but covered with a crust. Allow to cool 5 minutes on baking sheets, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Or eat warm, with a glass of almond milk or a cup of hot coffee. (This recipe was copied from Vegan Joy's blogspot.)

Gnocchi

Gnocchi with carrots

1 box gnocchi (cooked according to box)- drained

3 carrots chopped & boiled until soft - drained

Pesto

1 bunch fresh basil

1/2 c cashews

1 -2 garlic cloves

Olive oil to taste

Salt

Pepper

I blended it until pesto consistency. Once blended, add pesto to cooked gnocchi and carrot mix. Mix well. I also added a little chopped sage & nutmeg.

If you like pesto, this is definitely a dish for you!

Pumpkin Waffles

Well, it's november! Which to me means pumpkins and apple cider. Yes, I live on an island and it doesn't get cold, but I can pretend right? These waffles smell so good just as a batter! Here's what I did:

Pumpkin Waffles

2 1/2 c. flour

1/3 c. brown sugar

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground cloves

2 c. almond milk

15 oz pumpkin (I used can, but I'm sure you could use fresh)

1/3 c. oil

2 tsp vanilla

Mix dry ingredients in

one bowl. Mix wet ingredients in another bowl. Combine.

Cook on the waffle iron!

Wow, these things smelled amazing while cooking as well!

These were so good and so flavorful!

Beer battered tofu

I made an experimental dinner last night. I wanted to try to make some beer battered tofu. This is what I did:

Beer battered tofu

1/2 block of tofu

1/2 can or less of coconut milk

(Soak tofu in coconut milk. Overnight would probably be best. I only soaked for an hour or so and the coconut was berily tasted)

1/2 cup flour

Pepper

Garlic Salt

1/2 bottle vegan beer of your choice

Dip soaked tofu pieces in batter and fry in peanut oil. I double fry mine. So, I fry the tofu for about 1 minute, then take them out and dip them in the batter again. (Panko after the batter would probably be tasty too.) When you double fry the tofu it makes the tofu extra crunchy!

The only thing I could not figure out was a good sauce. You can pretty much use any type of sauce you want on this recipe. I tried a lilikoi syrup and also a thai sweet sauce. You can use whatever you want though!

~This was my snack of pita chips with hummus and garlic sundried tomatoes~

Vegan 28

A Vegan MoFo survey
1. Favorite non-dairy milk?I would probably have to say chocolate hemp milk, but I also love chocolate & plain almond milk.
2. What are the top 3 dishes/recipes you are planning to cook?Tomato Basil Pasta - from veganyumyum
Apple Ginger Upside Down Cake - from veganappetite
Paprika Tofu w/ Mexican Balls - from atebitvegan
3. Topping of choice for popcorn?I don’t care much for popcorn, but maybe plain w/ vegan caramel sauce, mmm.
4. Most disastrous recipe/meal failure?A casserole with vegan “ground beef” in it. It was disgusting and I haven’t tried anything with vegan ground beef again!
5. Favorite pickled item?This one is hard. Probably mango, but I also love pickled papaya, onions, garlic, PICKLES, anything really!
6. How do you organize your recipes?I don’t. Most of them that aren’t from a book are in a shoebox in my kitchenJ
7. Compost, trash, or garbage disposal?Garbage disposal, but I am working on a compost. It’s not really a common thing in Hawaii, but I am getting one!
8. If you were stranded on an island and could only bring 3 foods...what would they be (don't worry about how you'll cook them)?Avacado, Some type of Thai Curry, &….Onions or Garlic probably. This is assuming that there is already vegetation on this island (vegetables and mangos, coconut, etc.)
9. Fondest food memory from your childhood?I was in guam & palau, so vegetable lumpia & red rice! Also, fresh coconut, mango, papaya, AHU (which is tapioca starch, coconut milk, coconut, & sugar)…OH and fresh tortillas!
10. Favorite vegan ice cream?Coconut Bliss is my favorite brand so far.
11. Most loved kitchen appliance?Kitchenaid, Rice cooker, & my sticky rice maker ( which I’ve never used, haha)
12. Spice/herb you would die without?maybe….basil or pepper ESPECIALLY pohnpei pepper
13. Cookbook you have owned for the longest time?Probably my Chamorro cookbook
14. Favorite flavor of jam/jelly?I love apple butter, orange marmalade, ANY type of homemade jam is always best.
15. Favorite vegan recipe to serve to an omni friend?Desserts or stirfry probably
16. Seitan, tofu, or tempeh?Tofu all the way. I don’t like tempeh.
17. Favorite meal to cook (or time of day to cook)?Breakfast is always good any time of day or dessert, haha!
18. What is sitting on top of your refrigerator?Cereal, baskets, macadamia nuts, that’s pretty much it I think, oh and soy powder.
19. Name 3 items in your freezer without looking.Coconut Bliss Chocolate flavored, strawberries, & lot’s of mixed vegetables.
20. What's on your grocery list?Basil, Cashews, tomatoes, tofutti sour cream, breakfast patties, that’s all off the top of my head.
21. Favorite grocery store?Down to Earth & Whole Foods
22. Name a recipe you'd love to veganize, but haven't yet.Lemon Chicken…some how…some way….
23. Food blog you read the most ?
Probably Vegan Dog’s Life because he updated it every day!
24. Favorite vegan candy/chocolate?I haven’t really tried many, but probably any dark chocolate.
25. Most extravagant food item purchased lately?I usually wait until stuff goes on sale. Probably Agave (not on sale Hawaii priced).
26. Ingredients you are scared to work with?
Vegan-rella, and “ground beef” ew!
27. Favorite food cart?
Hmm, we don’t really have any here…
28. Top 3 favorite cuisines!THAI, Japanese, & Mexican.

Egyptian

Today for lunch my husband took me to an all you can eat egyptian place in town. I was so excited, because this was my first time going to an egyptian restaurant! They had falafels, fries?, hummus, pita bread, tabouleh, potato salad, basmati rice, and okra & tomato stew. That was it as far as vegan goes. The non vegan stuff they had was meats, yogurt dip, greek salad(with cheese), and rice pudding. The hummus, falafels, and tabouleh were my favorites :) One of the things that struck my interest on the menu was the egyptian coffee. I love coffee! So I ordered that even though it was $4.00 and the standard coffee was $1.95.

My plate:)

The lady failed to mention that the coffee was TINY! It was espresso sized basically. I was a little disappointed with the size, but then again what do I know. I did enjoy the flavor of the coffee a lot though! You could really taste the cardamom in it, and I love that there was no milk in it! I really enjoyed it!

Vegan dog biscuits

"Hello, can I have my treat yet?"

I know this might sound crazy, but today was the first day I had ever given my dog peanut butter, and guess what? He loves it! So I am making him some really simple No-Bake Peanut Butter Balls. I found this recipe on It's A Vegan Dog's Life's blog. I changed a few things in the recipe only because I did not have all the ingredients:)

No-Bake Peanut Butter Balls

2 cups natural peanut butter

1/2 cup nutritional yeast

1 Tbsp. flax

2 cups whole grain cereal (no sugar added)

2 Tbsp shelled hemp seeds

Mix. Roll into balls. Store in the refrigerator.

I LOVE the second picture! He was trying to get all the peanut butter out of his teeth:)

Oh, also, I had an acai bowl...but Sonic wanted some of that too.

Thai sticky rice

Thai sticky rice


1 cup sweet rice
1 3/4 cups water
1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 can coconut milk
pinch of salt
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. arrowroot powder dissolved in 2 Tbsp. water


I soaked the sweet rice in 1 cup water for 20 minutes. Add 3/
4 cup more water to the rice, plus 1/4 can coconut milk, 1/4 tsp. salt, and 1 Tbsp. brown sugar. Pour all into a pot. Stir.
Bring to boil, then partially cover with a lid (leave room for steam). Turn the heat down to medium-low & simmer for 20 min. Remove the pot from the heat and leave the lid on tight for 5-10 more minutes
Make sauce and pour over dessert.


Sauce


Warm the rest of the can of coconut milk together with 1/4 cup sugar, a pinch of salt, and 1 tsp. vanilla flavoring over medium heat for 5 min. Add arrowroot to sauce and stir until slightly thick. Once it starts thickening, remove from heat.

And ya, I added some chocolate coconut ice cream to top it off :)
Coconut Bliss has lots of wonderful products. Check out the Coconut Bliss website HERE. Their products are dairy, soy, and gluten free. They sweeten their products with agave, and they are all VEGAN! Woo hoo! Coconut Bliss comes in a variety of wonderful flavors including Pineapple coconut, naked almond fudge, chocolate peanut butter, naked coconut, dark chocolate, vanilla island, mint, cherry amaretto, and much more! I could rave about them forever, but I'll stop. Just go check them out!

Falafel & Naan

Tonight's dinner was falafel & naan. I was lazy because I get off work late now, so I just used the box falafel. I mixed it according to the box and formed it into patties. I broiled it instead of deep frying it. I tried to go the healthy route tonight ;) After it was cooked, I whipped up a sauce to spread on the naan. My husband said that the sauce made the dish to him. Here's the sauce:

Dill Sauce

1/2 cup veganaise (plain vegan yogurt would work great too)

1 tsp dill (or as much as you want to taste)

pepper (to taste)

1 garlic clove- chopped

Easy enough huh? So I took out the naan and spread alot of this sauce on it ( I LOVE dill), then added the falafel patties and some spinach.This recipe would also be great with lettuce,

cucumbers, & tomatoes. I was working with my limited ingredients that I had though.

*This picture isn't much to look at by let me assure you, it was tasty!*

Well, I'm busy drinking my kombucha trilogy & watching this new show called "V", and so far I like it. Will blog more tomorrow!

Vegan Cookbooks

I know that these books are old news to most people, but I finally broke down and bought them. I am so excited and can't wait for them to come in! Oh, and I pre-ordered the movie Food Inc while it was still in theaters , so that should be coming any day now.

I've seen some amazing looking cupcakes come out of this book.

This is the one I can't wait for!

Milano Freezer

Tonight for dinner I had gelato. Nutritious huh? My husband and I tried out this new joint in Aiea called Milano Freezer. I had read some good reviews online and decided to try them out. The main reason I wanted to try them out was because I heard that they had dairy-free options. So I was so happy to find out that they had egg-free, dairy-free gelato. This was my first time ever trying gelato. As you can see, we sampled quite a few flavors. The whole bottom row was dairy-free. They had mango, blueberry, pinapple, apple, and more. I got the green apple. It tasted pretty much exactly like an apple jolly rancher!

Damn tree huggers :)

The little creek with crawfish.

Everyone always calls me a crazy tree hugger, so I figured I'd just go ahead and go with it.

The love of my life and me :)

Isn't this tree just amazing??