Vegan Questionnaire
So there is this fun little vegan questionnaire going around, you may have already seen it. It comes to us via an email from Janine in England (she has no blog). Anyway, it's below. Feel free to submit your answers on your own blogs. It's a fun way to get to know each other a little better.
1. Favorite non-dairy milk?
Actually, I have three:
- Home-made almond milk - Jane whips up a batch using our Soyabella Milk Maker
every four or five days. I use this in our breakfast shake and Jane uses it for almost all of her cooking/baking endeavors.
- For cereal, I like WestSoys Plain Light - it's closest to the old fat free cow's milk I used to drink BV (before vegan).
- Silk Light Chocolate - I like this as a snack. I'm totally addicted!
2. What are the top 3 dishes/recipes you are planning to cook?
I don't do any of the cooking... but Jane's certainly got 3 recipes on the back burner that I can't wait to try. Susan's Okara Crab Cakes and her Seitan baked in Sweet and Sour Orange Sauce. And a whole bunch of new recipes Jane is planning on debuting for Thanksgiving this year.
3. Topping of choice for popcorn?
I have never been a huge fan of flavored popcorn. I prefer the regular buttered and salted variety. So it's Earth Balance for me!
4. Most disastrous recipe/meal failure?
The worst thing Jane has made for us as vegans has been Veganomicon's Mac & Cheese. I know plenty of you enjoy it, but we both took one bite and then Jane threw out the panful (something she NEVER does). It was such a disaster that we have avoided all mac and cheese recipes
5. Favorite pickled item?
There is a wonderful Japanese pickled cucumber condiment we get sometimes. I can't remember what it's called, but I know they use a bit of sugar in the brine too.
6. How do you organize your recipes?
I don't understand how Jane has the books organized, but she knows where each one lives. She's also got a ton of recipes online organized by things like: appetizers, breads, soups, breakfast, lunch, dinner, desserts, cakes, cookies, and FAVORITES
7. Compost, trash, or garbage disposal?
How about recycling? I compost all our kitchen scraps. And we're lucky, we can co-mingle all our recyclables, including all plastics, which are picked up weekly.
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)?
Turkish Lentil Stew, Strawberries (really ripe, fresh from the farmer's market) or Cherimoya, and almost any bread.
9. Fondest food memory from your childhood?
My mother made hamburgers for dinner one night; they were rocks (my mom was and still is a HORRIBLE cook). When my parents weren't looking, my brother grabbed our burgers and threw them out the third floor window. When my parents went out that night, my brother ordered us a pizza. He was 6 years older than me, and I thought he was sooo cool.
10. Favorite vegan ice cream?
So Delicious - Chocolate Brownie Almond
11. Most loved kitchen appliance?
Again, I defer to Jane.... It's her Kitchen Aid Mixer.
12. Spice/herb you would die without?
Savory: Cumin // Sweet: Cinnamon
13. Cookbook you have owned for the longest time?
Joy of Cooking
14. Favorite flavor of jam/jelly?
Blackberry.
15. Favorite vegan recipe to serve to an omni friend?
Tofu chocolate mousse. People cannot believe that it is vegan.
16. Seitan, tofu, or tempeh?
Seitan by far. But tofu is the easiest.
17. Favorite meal to cook (or time of day to cook)?
Jane likes to cook in the afternoon.
18. What is sitting on top of your refrigerator?
Because we have such a tiny kitchen, we have a ton of stuff on top of our fridge. The toaster oven lives there, along with whatever cold cereals we are eating at the moment, tea bags, two bottles of liquor, and the local phone books (what are those?). I'm probably forgetting something!
19. Name 3 items in your freezer without looking.
That's easy. Morningstar's Grillers Vegan, frozen fruit (blueberries, blackberries, and cherries) for our breakfast shake, and Trader Joe's Chocolate non-dairy dessert (our vegan ice cream).
20. What's on your grocery list?
Phyllo dough, Field Roast sausages, and tofu.
21. Favorite grocery store?
Trader Joe's. They are starting to carry more and more vegan products, and their prices are usually much better than what we get elsewhere.
22. Name a recipe you'd love to veganize, but haven't yet.
Macaroni and cheese!
23. Food blog you read the most (besides Isa's because I know you check it everyday). Or maybe the top 3?
Fat Free Vegan - Susan has the best recipes!
Seitan is My Motor - Mihl also has a great blog. Jane has had good results with her baked goods.
Bitten - Mark Bittman's blog for the NY Times.
24. Favorite vegan candy/chocolate?
Jane's chocolate truffles.
25. Most extravagant food item purchased lately?
Soy milk powder. Jane uses it in icing. It was around $14 for a canister. Sheesh!
26. Ingredients you are scared to work with?
Jane bought something called annatto for a recipe she can no longer find. It's been sitting in the cupboard for about 4 months now.
Related Information:
Mac & cheese is vegetarian, and confirms to my Hindu scriptures.
Sri – life-long vegetarian. Try beating that you “new” vegans.
Annato is used as food colouring.
Vegan Mac and Cheese (kid approved):
-macaroni
-Tofutti cheese
-a bit of Earth Balance
Bam. Can’t beat it!
(P.S. I hate nutritional yeast)
I’ve heard so many good things about trader joe’s but we don’t have any down here in FL.