The best tofu scramble recipe!

On Monday, the Pensacola Vegan Association put together a workshop at the Bear Levin Studer Family YMCA to answer any questions that people might have about going plant-based or practicing a vegan lifestyle.  First of all, I have never been in the YMCA and it is crazy!  There's a water slide! Second, we had a great turnout of like sixty people.  Perhaps they were lured in by our free food, but I talked to a pretty decent amount of people about vegan cooking and how you really don't need ANYTHING derived from an animal to make delicious food.  

One of the food items that I brought was my tofu scramble, which I have perfected over the course of a few years, trying out every tofu scramble recipe that I could find online and in cookbooks.  This is the result!  I hope you like it!

Ingredients: 

1 block of extra firm tofu

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 yellow or red onion, diced 

1/2 bell pepper, diced

3 cloves of garlic, minced 

2 cremini mushroom, diced 

1/2 cup baby spinach, chopped

paprika, cumin, chili powder

2 tbsp hummus 

1/2 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp soy sauce 

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp dijon mustard

1/4 tsp kala namak (black salt with a sulfuric flavor) 

1/4 tsp turmeric (anti-inflammatory and yellow color!)

Salt 

Press the tofu really well!  I have a tofu press, and I wrap the tofu in paper towels or a dishcloth, and press it down as far as it can go.  Usually when you are pressing tofu, you want to make sure it kind of stays together, but since you are crumbling this up anyways, it doesn't really matter.  If you don't have a tofu press, you can put it on a plate and stack other plates on top or some heavy books.  This part is really important to get the right texture, so if you think it's done, just keep pressing it for another five minutes or so.  

In the mean time, heat the oil in a large pan over medium-heat.  Add the onions and a pinch of salt and sauté until translucent.  Then add the garlic and sauté for another minute.  It should smell really good.  I usually add a little bit of salt as I go.  Then add the peppers and mushrooms.  If you like spicy stuff, you can always add a jalapeño pepper at this stage as well.  While the veggies are cooking, add a good pinch each of cumin, paprika, chili powder, and black pepper.  

Mix the ingredients from hummus until turmeric in a mug.  I know it sounds kind of weird, but just trust me.  Depending on how thick your hummus is, you might want to add a little water, because you want it to pour easily.  

Push the cooked veggies to the side of the pan.  Once the tofu is done pressing, you can crumble it with your hands straight into the pan.  Turn up the heat a little bit and cook the tofu for about three minutes, then mix it up (but not the veggies yet) and cook another three minutes, mix it up.  It should get a little brown.  Pour the hummus mixture over the tofu, mix it up and let it cook for about another three minutes.  Finally, you can mix up the whole pan!  Lower the heat a little and let the mixture cook until some of the liquid has evaporated it looks drier than it was.  Mix in the baby spinach and serve when it has wilted! 

Don't forget to salt and taste as you go!  You can add in whatever veggies you have on hand.  Sometimes I add some chopped seitan in as well.  Goes really well in a burrito with some hash browns!

Here are some bonus pics of the workshop!  We had a section on cruelty-free beauty, baking, the environment, factory farming.  Kris Howell was there as our resident vegan health coach, spreading that nutritional knowledge! It was seriously such a wealth of information and I loved being able to share it with the community.  I think we are going to plan another one, so if you missed the first one, come to the second! 

I finally got a chance to show off my cookbook collection

Courtney Northington seriously laid down the cruelty-free beauty knowledge

Vegan queen

Thanks for reading!  Let me know if you try my recipe! Ciao ciao :) 

Pensacola pizza and Italian tomato sauce

The other day while we were picking up some things after I got done with work I was super ready to go home when Peter said that we had to swing by the hospital to pick something up for his mom.  I was suspicious because 1) It was like 7:30 at night 2) He kept coming up with random details which didn't make for a very convincing lie.

After driving in what I was pretty sure was the opposite direction from the hospital, we pulled up to Ozone pizza! I was on a surprise date! Yay! I had always wanted to go there and apparently it is a Pensacola hotspot.  Also I've really been missing pizza.  Nothing can fill the void that Panda Pizza left in my soul... nothing.

It had all of my favorite toppings! Including vegan cheese.  As soon as I ordered it though, I thought to myself "Oh gawd I hope it's not Daiya."  Unluckily for me, it was Daiya.  Daiya is good for many things, but unfortunately pizza is not one of them.  So I learned my lesson there and I can't wait to go back and get a cheese-less pizza.... this time probably with thin crust also.  But it was so fun!

We haven't been on a date in forever and Ozone was so cool.  I'm not used to restaurants that have decorations that aren't pictures of the owners' family or a framed apron or something.  Ozone had these cool paintings on the wall that you could buy.  There was one with Mae West that I loved but I forgot to take a picture of it because I am a terrible blogger.

While on the subject of Italian food... I started thinking about the amazing pasta sauces that I got back home.  Jarred pasta sauces are great and convenient and I love them, but there's something so fresh and simple about Italian tomato sauce.  I tried a bunch of random recipes but nothing tasted right.  I would try to recreate it and add spices and garlic and it was never right.

I wrote to my parents and asked them to send me a sauce recipe from one of my mom's Italian cookbooks.  Once I got the recipe, I saw why I could never recreate it.  That's because there is like nothing in it.  Tomatoes, onions, white wine and salt.  That's it.  The Italians had it so right!

The recipe for this sauce came from the cookbook made by Miss Vera.  If you lived in Naples for a decent amount of time, you or someone you know probably went to one of Miss Vera's cooking classes.  I genuinely enjoyed mine! She has someone that cleans up your mess and where else can I drink wine with my mother at 10 in the morning?

Her recipe called for fresh tomatoes put through a food mill.  But I don't have one of those so I adapted it.  I decided to put it on here to give everyone missing Italian food an little piece of home.  One batch makes about eight cups of it so I plan on using it as pizza sauce and in lasagna and pasta.  There are a lot of carbs in my future.

Speaking of carbs.  My working out has been going really well! Except for the running.  I am just not a runner.  I hate running.  About a minute into all of my runs my chest gets tight and I just can't breathe.  So I started doing HIIT in addition to the toning workouts and yoga.  It's only been a month and I don't really SEE results, but I can feel myself getting stronger.

Anyways! Here's the recipe! Enjoy!

Authentic Italian Tomato Sauce
1 onion - diced
6 oz can of tomato paste
6 oz of water
1/2 cup of olive oil
1/2 cup of white wine
28 oz can of diced tomatoes
56 oz container of strained tomatoes

1. Sautee the onion in the olive oil in a pot.
2. Add the wine and continue to sautee until the wine has evaporated.

This is the strained tomatoes that I used! They were so good! Use them if you can find them

 3. Add the tomato products and water and salt to taste.

4. Let simmer to two to three hours.

ENJOY! I was going to post a pic of the finished product on my pasta, but I used spelt pasta and it looked kind of gross even though it tasted so great.  I'm going to make my own pizza though and use it as the sauce and I think it's going to be amazinggg.

A short tribute to Italian food

So again, I have fallen behind on the blogging.  It's not that I don't want to blog, because I do, and I think about it all of the time.  I think it's mostly because most of the stuff that I do, I don't think anyone would want to hear about.

I wasn't sticking to vegan as stringently as I usually do out of pure laziness and I was tired, my skin was breaking out and my body just wasn't running optimally.  I would justify it with "Oh well I'm not going to be in Italy much longer so I might as well just eat this parmigiano" or "Where else am I going to get real mozzarella di bufala?" I think I was kind of denial that I went vegan for health reasons as well as ethical ones.

It's easy to forget that Italian cuisine isn't all cheese!  Whenever I go to Il Cerbero, a restaurant within walking distance of my house, all bets are off the table, and I'm getting Penne alla Siciliana, which is penne cooked al dente with a sauce of eggplant, tomatoes and mozzarella cheese.  I always feel really terrible (physically and emotionally) afterwards but I still did it.

I decided that I needed to cut that out and this time I got Spaghetti alla Pomodoro which is just spaghetti noodles with a sauce made out of fresh tomatoes and a basil leaf or two.  It was so amazing and just what I needed/wanted.  I've never raved about a plate of spaghetti but this was so perfect.  You could taste how fresh the tomatoes were and the pasta was cooked in salted water and ooooo boy it was delicious.

A bunch of typical Italian dishes are vegan. You can veganize basically any pizza by omitting the cheese. However, I don't think Quattro Formaggi pizza would have quite the same effect.  Whenever I go to Panda Pizza, by my house (Which is honestly at least twice a week because it is my favorite pizza in Naples and the surrounding area and it is also walking distance distance from my house.  If you want to get there, put in the coordinates (40.861719, 14.065153) and it should be on the same side of the road like two mins up the road.  Go there! Get their bruschetta and pizza! You won't be disappointed!) I get bruschetta, their mixed antipasti plate (vegetarian so Peter can eat the cheese) and some variation of pizza marinara.

The best bruschetta I have ever had in my life

Panda's bruschetta is on a different level, one day I'm going to recreate it, or get the balls to ask them for their recipe.  There's definitely a little bit of vinegar in it.  I'm going to figure it out some day.  Their antipasti plate is also great.  My father said that it was a rip-off because it's basically just pizza toppings but that is incorrect because they have grilled and marinated eggplant on it that is to die for.  There's also zeppoline, which is a Neapolitan appetizer that is fried balls of dough and seaweed.

The pizza at Panda is amazing and you might think that as a vegan, you are only limited to Pizza Marinara, which is pizza with tomato sauce, garlic, oregano and a few basil leaves, but you're not.  Sometimes you might want to stick with the classic like I did last night, but in Italy, you can get basically anything on your pizza.  Here are a few things that I have seen people get on their pizza: Rucola, friarielli, french fries, olives, peppers, corn, mushrooms, fresh tomatoes, artichokes, eggplant, zuchinni and the list goes on.  If I'm not getting normal marinara, I like to get it with rucola, peppers and mushrooms.

Pizza marinara

Another one of my non-vegan weaknesses is Subways's Chipotle Southwest sauce. If I'm getting Subway, you better believe I'm getting SW sauce.  Southwest sauce is basically a mixture of ranch/mayo/something mildly spicy/red food coloring. Hold the cheese, but please smother my meal in Southwest sauce, thanks. I realized that this is completely ridiculous  and I need to cut it out. I've found a solution in bringing a bottle of "creamy" vegan salad dressing with me when I eat at Subway. Lately  I've been using Organicville's Non-dairy ranch and  I've been Southwest sauce clean for two sandwiches now.

If you too are trying to kick your Southwest Sauce habit, check out this copy cat recipe here and look at how gross it is.  Recipe Here.

Anyways! Changing gears here.  I devoted an entire blog post to my favorite Italian meals because I'm not going to be eating it for much longer.  That is correct, I am leaving the nest for a second time and finally moving out of the house.  Peter and I are moving to Pensacola, Florida.  I've never been so I'm super excited.  I'm going to keep doing UMUC online and then maybe I'll apply to UWF in the spring? I'm not really sure, I just know that I have to get a car and a job and I'm a little scared but a lot excited! If you're in Pensacola and want to rekindle our friendship, message me! Peter will be taking classes so I'll probably be bored until I get a car or a job!

Ciao ciao!
x - Katelyn

ps.  On Thursday I received my Erin Condren life planner and it was the happiest moment of my life and I cried a little bit.  About six hours later, I left it outside of my house on a ledge, never to be seen again.  Probably picked up by our trash guys.  After a few temper tantrums, I got a new one but I probs won't get it for a month.  I was so excited about getting myself organized and I LOST IT. I didn't even have it for more than 24 hours.  I hate myself.  It was so beautiful.  RIP Planner.

If you too would like a planner like mine, click HERE.  I got all of the add ons, like the pens and the pen holder and the thing that holds it closed and now they are all GONE. Kill me.

Budapest part 1

I'm currently blogging from Budapest, Hungary.  But this isn't any ordinary vacation.  I'm here for Peter's sister, Anne's wedding.  I got here on Saturday and I leave on Sunday.  I was lucky enough to have visited Budapest before with my family, but I didn't appreciate, so this is Round Two and I'm loving it. 

Let's start with the prospect of being vegan in Hungary.  There is basically nothing.  About 95% of the dishes feature meat heavily and if they don't the main component of the meal is grilled cheese.  Other than that, there is the celery in my Bloody Mary and a variety of pickled vegetables.  I'm a little ashamed to admit it, but I caved and I commenced vegetarian mode.  I'm with about half of Peter's entire extended family so it's not like I can be like, can we please go somewhere that serves vegan food.  Yes, I could have ordered the grilled veggies without the grilled cheese on top, but I'm on vacation and I decided to go a little crazy.  Peter ate most of the cheese though.  He's basically vegetarian now, which I'm really proud of/psyched about.   

Grilled vegetables and mozzarella

However, when I'm not eating out with Peter's family, I explore my vegan options.  I bought the HappyCow app for my phone and I've looked around at what's nearby.  Today Peter and I ate lunch at Thai Wok, which is my favorite kind of place.  Where you basically build your meal by choosing the base (I chose rice noodles), your add-ons (I chose tofu and mixed vegetables) and your sauce (I chose pad thai sauce, which I made sure did not have fish sauce in it).   If you go there, make sure that you ask for no eggs in your noodles because I made that mistake.  It wasn't listed in the description, but it was in there... I considered sending it back but I didn't.  I also got the Pad Tea and it was phenomenal.  

But this blog post isn't about how I screwed up at being vegan, it's about my trip to Budapest!  The first night we had a traditional Hungarian meal (I had the grilled veggies which I showed above) and then Peter, his sister Jackie, his brother Kevin, cousin Ian and I went out to explore Budapest.  We ended up riding a giant ferris wheel which is very similar to the London eye, just smaller. 

Then on Sunday we all slept in and then met up at the Hard Rock where I had my first Bloody Mary ever.  Something about tomato juice just always turned me off, but it was so so tasty.  I had a normal one and a spicy one and ooooooo boy I will be having more of those in the future!!

Then we went and ate lunch and walked down this long street with people selling old things and things that they have made.  I am trying to be fiscally conservative on this trip so I didn't buy nything but a few things caught my eye, like this one Soviet Union-era hat and a flask and some "energy crystals", but let's be honest I do not need an energy crystal.  We also found this random old car show with a bunch of cars and motorcycles.  Peter was super excited about it. 

1998 Lotus (I have no idea the significance of this)

Then Peter and I walked along the water, where I was STUNG BY A BEE.  It hurt so terribly.  This was only the second time that I was stung by a bee and I'm not going to lie, I cried.  THEN Peter and I stumbled upon a beer festival, where we killed about two hours waiting for dinner.  It's crazy being in a city where there are so many things to do!

Then we met up with everyone for dinner in a boat/restaurant on the water.  Peter and I communally ate a Greek salad, stuffed shells, gnocchi in a parmesan cream sauce with porcini mushrooms and spinach and this thing that was basically lasagna but instead of noodles, there were potatoes.  The view was so beautiful and by the end of dinner I was no longer terrified by all of Peter's relatives. 

Then we went back to the hotel for sleeeeeps.  This morning we slept in again.  Peter and I ate at Thai Wok and then met up with everyone.  It's his brother's birthday, so we went and did this cool Trap thing where they basically lock you in a room for an hour and you have to solve a series of riddles and use random props in the room to get out.  The guide (for us it was Robert) can see you and hear you to help you if you need a hint or an idea.  We definitely utilized Robert but I think we did a pretty good job getting out of it.  We finished right before our hour was up.  We were in the medieval room.  There was also an Egyptian room that looked preeeetty cool.  You can learn more about the Trap thing HERE.  I would definitely recommend it to anyone visiting Budapest.  It's only an hour and it's really fun!

So far I am LOVING Budapest.  If I was here by myself I would probably try harder to find vegan options, but it's not my priority.  But I'm having the time of my life right now.  I've been keeping up with the World Cup religiously and I am super duper excited to watch Team USA play tomorrow night!! Italy is out but it's whatever.  I think this is the year for a non-European team to win but it will probably end up being Germany or The Netherlands. 

I'll post more as the trip goes on!!

ciao ciao! - Katelyn

A Very Vegan Day in Sorrento!

On Thursday, Peter, my new friend and coworker, Tasha and I went to Sorrento for the day.  It was amazing.  I just planned on doing the usual down there, see the views, try the free limoncello in every single shop, pet some puppies, but Tasha found this wonderful store/restaurant conveniently located by the train station near the center of Sorrento! So we had to go.  I'm going to take you through our day.

We got a late start in the morning so we decided to drive.  My car has seen better days, so let's just say after the windy, twisted roads on the about 1.5 hour drive to Sorrento, I needed a big old glass of wine. 

When we started our walk, we ended up near this giant lemon grove in the middle of a city block.  It was a pretty long walk through the grove, and it ended at a limoncello tasting-station.  Unfortunately, around then, the weather started to get bad so we were running from raindrops for a bit.

Tasha took this in the lemon grove

Then we get to Mondo Bio (click here for more info), which is the sixth ranked restaurant in Sorrento, to find that it's also a store and that the restaurant doesn't open up for a few more hours so we decided to walk around and see the shops and the views.  When I go to Sorrento I like to do this thing where I get a free sample of limoncello at every shop that I go to.  You usually end up hitting about 5 shops.  Worth it. 

There were a bunch of old men zesting the lemons to make limoncello, it was pretty cool.  

Soooo muchhhh limoncello and meloncello.

We all made some purchases and went on our way.  We decided that we were too hungry to wait for Mondo Bio Cafe to open and that we would be totally fine with eating a second time in like an hour and found a cafe to sit at.  We asked for the Vegetarian menu, and ordered a LOT of bruschetta, some grilled vegetables, french fries and a bottle of wine.

Yummm bruschetta

 We still had a little bit of time so we decided to go out and see the view of the coast.  Even though it was a little rainy, we were not disappointed!

The church courtyard right before the view of the coast

A pic I took before the weather started to get bad

Finally it was time to go to Mondo Bio and purchase tons of vegan items!!! I was super duper excited.  So was Tasha.  I think we both spent like 45 euro, which is basically like 65 dollars.  We got there at around eight, and the store closes at eight and the restaurant closes at like 8:30 so we had to make it quick.  It had everything I wanted!!! TEMPEH, SEITAN, NUTRITIONAL YEAST, all sorts of vegan lunch meats, some vegan cheeses.  It also had a very large selection of organic produce for sale.  Safe to say it is one of my favorite places in the Naples area now.

About half of their refrigerator selection after Tasha and I cleaned them out

A few of the items I picked up! Check out the basil tofu and rice milk mozz.

Then after we finished up with our shopping, we sat down to have a nice meal, even though we had eaten about an hour previously, but whatevs.  Tasha and I both got gnocchetti alla sorrentina with vegan mozzarella and Peter got an organic egg omelet.  The gnochetti were pretty great!! The tomato sauce was obviously fresh and I can't wait to go back and try their seitan-stuffed ravioli!  They also had an extensive selection of vegan wines to choose from but I had to drive back in a few, so I abstained.  

 I already started to make tempeh bacon and I have a feeling that I'm going to be making a few more trips there in the future!! Also, on the way back, my data was used up on my phone so we had no GPS and all of the streets that we needed to take us home were closed because of a Holy Thursday procession, so we had a pretty rough time getting home, but we made it eventually! 

Here are some pics from Tasha's camera!

Sometimes we are just awkward

To any vegans/vegetarians living in the Naples area, I HIGHLY recommend checking out Mondo Bio Cafe! The address is Via Degli Aranci, 108-110, 80067, Sorrento, Naples.  There's parking up the street that isn't too expensive.  Maybe a 10 minute walk.

Overall, it was a great day.  I love showing people around the Naples area and I am SO glad that Tasha looked up this restaurant/store.  I will probably return as soon as I use up all of my tempeh and once the weather gets perfect it'll be an even better day trip!!

ciao ciao! xo - Katelyn

Recipe Thursdays - Vegan Lasagna

I am obsessed with lasagna. Nothing satisfies like layers of tomato sauce, noodles and cheese cooked to perfection.  Making a lasagna without cheese might sound like sacrilege, but I assure you that this lasagna lives up to expectations!
I got invited to a dinner party at my friend and former neighbor, Erika's new house and I told her I would bring a dish.  I spend a lot of time on Pinterest (code for: I am obsessed with Pinterest and have over 1000 recipes pinned - see my Vegan board HERE ) and I very fortunately stumbled upon THIS recipe for vegan lasagna with a "Basil Cheeze" sauce. 

My attempt at being artistic pre-oven.

 I was so excited to make it because I was still riding my mushroom stroganoff cashew sauce high. I was like 95% sure that I had all of the ingredients that I needed. Unfortunately I was very wrong. I had no basil, no zucchini and maybe a cup of spinach. I was pretty close to not making it.

But I had to, I was a superhero. I could do anything. Anything I made was going to turn out phenomenally. I MADE VEGAN CHEESE. I COULD DO ANYTHING.

So I made a risky move, I substituted baby spinach for the basil. I was so scared that it wasn't going to work because after all it is a "Basil 'Cheese'" sauce. And because I didn't have any spinach left to put in the vegetable mix I threw some kale in that beeyotch.

Vegetable mix 1.0

IT.
WAS.
AWESOME.

I undercooked it a little bit but other than that it was amazing.  The next time around I used the basil that the recipe actually called for but I kept the kale because I really liked it in there and I added mushrooms.

NEW BLENDER. WHAT IS UP.

In the future I think I would use less nutritional yeast.  I've found that in most recipes that call for nutritional yeast, I always wish there was a little less.  So in this recipe I would probably add less yeast and more cashews to get a creamier and less tangy flavor. 

In the recipe it says to be careful to not under-season the vegetables because they will taste bland.  Well let me tell you, my vegetables were so perfectly seasoned that it was ridiculous.  I splashed some balsamic vinegar in there, I twisted my garlic and pepper grinder copious times and I'm pretty sure that I added some red pepper flakes.  It wasn't too much though.

I'd have to say that my favorite part about this dish was the assembly.  Repeating the tomato sauce, noodles, "cheese" sauce and vegetable layers didn't feel like work.  I genuinely enjoyed piecing it all together and it really didn't take long at all. 

And it wasn't ugly at all either

Overall the dish was a success.  My friend Lesly even said that it was very good and I know that if it tasted terrible, she would definitely tell me that it tasted terrible.  I think it could have benefited from a little bit of fake meat.  I think that an Amy's Sonoma burger would have tasted really great in this recipe and I am going to try it in the future.  Also next time I have more time on my hands I'll be using my own tomato sauce! 

All done! So delicious I can't even.

  Dinner at Erika's was great.  She ordered pizza at a place where you can literally get it by the meter.  She got me my own little meter of marinara.  There was so much pizza.  Where at a traditional dinner party there would be a table runner, here there was pizza.

She also flawlessly made martinis for everyone.  At the end of the night after everyone left, Erika, her husband Alessandro, Peter and I had prosecco poured over mango sorbet as dessert and it was delicious.

mmmm prosecco and sorbet

Hey self, looking good.

ciao ciao! -Katelyn

Recipe Thursdays - Mushroom Stroganoff

As many of you know, I got my Isa Does It cookbook in the mail.  Since I've gotten it, I've made a few recipes which I'll blog about in the future but my favorite so far has been the Mushroom Stroganoff.  I'm not going to type out the recipe because I'm too lazy, but you can find the recipe HERE.

I didn't make it with the tofu because I was kind of crunched for time and wasn't sure if I was going to make it out of the house in time so I sacrificed what I'm sure would have been a delicious addition to this dish.  Also I used bowties (or "farfalle" in Italian which basically means "butterfly") instead of fusilli because I love bowties and think that they are just so darn cute.

Mushrooms and onions sauteeing with garlic and thyme. 

 In the past, I had been intimidated by cashew-based sauces, so this was my first one ever.  It was so easy! It just seemed like so much work... the soaking and the blending.  I really thought I was too lazy for that.  In Isa Does It, Isa Moskowitz, the author says "ABS" or "Always be soaking", so now I always make sure to have some cashews soaking in case I need to use them.  I really really really want a new blender though.  This must be what it's like to be a grown up... to want a blender more than anything else. 

Adorable little bowties cooking

 I remember growing up my mother would make stroganoff and I would flip out.  It was my favorite.  Sometimes I would put soy sauce in it because I was a rebel.  Making this recipe in the future, I think I would add more mushrooms because I love mushrooms.

The mushrooms and onions soaking up the white wine and tomato paste

 This being my first time making a cashew based sauce, I was bound to screw it up a little bit and I did.  I didn't blend the cashew and vegetable broth mixture enough.  I thought maybe it was the blender, but on one of the next recipes that I tried I blended longer and the results were better, so this was my bad.  But it was still great!  The sauce thickened in about five minutes and it was so so tasty.

The sauce thickening

I was really proud of myself for this recipe because 1) it was my first cashew-based sauce 2) I made it really efficiently in a short amount of time 3) it was delicious! I had TWO people tell me, so I know I'm not deluding myself. 4) I used my mom's cheap Chardonnay from a box as the "dry white wine" ingredient and it was still amahhhhzing.

yumyumyumyumparselyyum

It was so good that I forgot to take a pic before I started eating.  Whoops.

Also I binge-read this one blog called Vegan Runner Eats and THIS is by far my favorite post on there.  It teaches you how to maximize the health benefits of your plant-based diet by eating certain foods together.  It's really interesting and I really recommend reading it.  She's also a really good example of how cutting back on meat, eggs and dairy (or eliminating it completely) can help your body run more efficiently!  She runs marathons!

ps. here's a bonus pic of the delicious bruschetta I got at dinner last night at Il Cerbero.

yummm. and of course wine.

ciao ciao! -Katelyn

UPDATE: I made this today with some sautéed seitan and I added a few splashes of soy sauce and it was amazing!!