Last Friday, I trekked over to Blossom Du Jour at ? Amsterdam Avenue, a mile walk from my work. I was enticed by Dairy-Free Fridays. Part of the Blossom series of restaurants around NYC, BDJ is always vegan, but on Fridays the shrewd fast-food eatery offers 10% off one item when you mention the promotion.

Specific day discounts are not uncommon at restaurants. However, it’s not just a “spoil yourself and TGIF” type discount. It associates vegan eating with reward. Honestly, 10% on one item is kind of a joke, but it got me in there on a day I wouldn’t typically have even bothered to leave the office.

Coming home on the train Monday night, I saw a young women with a Meatless Monday sticker on her purse. Again, this is aimed at decreasing meat consumption, if only on the surface. The advertised value for those who participate is improved health. Cutting back one day should help decrease their risks of certain types of ailments, like cancer…let’s just hope they don’t “make it up” later in the week. And that’s actually the core of their campaign: get the week off to a good start and it might stick.

My kitchen feels like Sunday morning, circa 1990. When I was a little kid, I loved creamed chipped beef. My whole family did. We’d get it out at a diner or the local IHOP or my mom would make it. Creamy and salty and sloppy on toast, you’d have to use a knife and fork.

I don’t really eat at diners or IHOP very much anymore, so I’d kind of left this dish in the past. Last winter, though, I worked as a teller at a bank. Eating my food at lunchtime, a conversation came up about vegetarian food; I like to think, with a little ingenuity, anything can be made veg*n. My manager at the time, announced that, “She didn’t care what I said,” there was no way to make “Shit On a Shingle” vegan. I had no clue what she was talking about, but as she described it, I realized it was the same Creamed Chipped Beef I’d grown up with.

Well…done.

If this was a favorite of yours too, but you’re going the route of not eating animals, this recipe from VegWeb for Creamed Chipped Beef on Toast is going to be your best option.

Ingredients: Since it’s just me, I halved the original recipe. I didn’t need extra around, daring me to eat it. Though it’s so easy to make, a second wouldn’t be too much to whip up.

• 1 tablespoon vegan butter (Earth Balance, 200 calories a tablesppon)
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk (Almond Breeze, 40 calories a cup)
• salt to taste
• pepper taste
•  1/8 cup chopped salty “meat” (Yves Meatless Canadian Bacon, 80 calories for 3 slices)
• 2 slices of toast (Whole Foods’ Mighty Multigrain, 100 calories a slice)

 Directions:

1. Melt the butter on low to medium heat.
2. Add the flour and whisk to make a roux. (This is one of those important skills Isa Chandra Moskowitz was talking about during her cooking demonstration.)
3. Once the flour and butter are  mixed, slowly add the almond milk. Stir consistently to eliminate lumps.
4. “Add the chopped meat substitute, salt and pepper and continue to stir constantly until the mixture begins to thicken.”
5. Toast the bread while the sauce is heating and thickening to the desired consistency.
6. Plate the toast, then go ahead and just pour the cream over the toast.
7. Enjoy!

Note: You can use any type/brand of non-dairy milk, bread, or mock meat (including bacon or pastrami) that you like.

Tips:

• Probably common sense, but prep the ingredients before you put anything in the skillet. (I know I tend to get ahead of myself.)
• Salt and fry up the mock meat a little before starting the gravy. Especially if you use vegan bacon, be sure not to cook it too much or it’ll be rigid/crunchy (which would be good on its own but not for this recipe).
• Don’t add flour later on or you’ll be playing a game of find the lumps in the gravy.

 Variation:

• Add crumbled vegan sausage instead, like Yves Meatless Patties, and pour it over vegan biscuits for meatless Southern Biscuits and Gravy, reminiscient of Hardees. Or another recipe for Biscuits and Gravy from Chez Bettay.

Taking something simple and adding that little extra, personalizing it, is what I find tasiest.

Getting home from work, I stared at my fridge full of veggies, then to the bab on my kitchen table. I really should just categorize some of my last fews posts as “How To Use A Loaf of Bread.”

On a pizza making kick, my sister had whipped up a large pot of tomato sauce using one small can tomato paste, a large can of crushed tomatoes, minced garlic, basil, bay leaves, oregano pinched (all spices added to taste), so I helped myself.

The result was a variation on your average Sloppy Joe, which is essentially just ground beef, tomato sauce, and spices on a hamburger bun. I loved Sloppy Joes as a kid; I even had one on the 4th of July, to celebrate my 9 year anniversary.

My mom always used Hunt’s Manwich, which is on PETA’s Accidentally Vegan List, see Condiments. Just replace the ground beef with your favorite brand of meatless ground crumbles.

For this variation on your classic:

• 1/2 tbsp vegan butter
• 1 serving of Boca crumbles
• 2 slices of diced portabella
• 1/3 of a yellow pepper, diced
• tbsp green olives
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce (fresh made or from a jar)
• 2 tspn hot sauce
• dash of salt and pepper
• 2 pieces of Whole Foods Mighty Multigrain bread

1. Melt the butter in a skillet.
2. Heat the veggies and meatless cumbles, turning occasionally, until throughly cooked.
3. Pour in the tomato sauce, hot sauce, and spices.
4. Toast the bread.
5. Plate the bread and pour the pan’s contents over the bread.

I don’t have Celiac Disease but I’ve been asked by a few friends who have it, if I have any recommendations. Whether something is veg*n friendly is really my concern. As I have scanned the labels for my own concerns, I have come to notice gluten-free labelings as well. So for all my gluten-free friends out there, here’s some of my “Accidentally Gluten-Free” Favorites.

Nature’s Path: Both the cereals below are listed as vegetarian and gluten-free. I’ve been a little hesitant about this company after their round-about response to my whey query. Judging their ingredients, these cereals do appear to be safe.

• Crunchy Vanilla Sunrise
• Crunchy Maple Sunrise

On the Go:

Larabar has to be my number one grab and go. All gluten-free and nearly all vegan, how they get can get between 5-7 simple ingredients to taste like Key Lime Pie or a Cinnamon Roll is uncanny. 

Mock Meat Substitutes:

Lightlife has about 5 gluten-free, certified vegan options.

Soups:

Pacific Brand Soups

Pizza:

Amy’s Kitchen is an entirely vegetarian/vegan company. They have 100+ products for those with gluten intolerance, including 5 rice crust pizzas. The company has a Special Diets section for those with Celiacs, among others for various Illnesses and Allergies.

Alcoholic Beverages:

If you want to know more about gluten-free beer, click here. And for a listing of some gluten-free alcohol, click here. For vegans, please cross-reference with Barnivore’s extensive vegan alcohol guide.

Sweets:

Liv Lovely Cookies

Sharon’s Sorbet

Purely Decadent Non-Dairy Frozen Dessert made with Coconut Milk

•  I love to mix things up; this is both Soy Free and Gluten Free.
• Certified Vegan by Vegan.org.
• Cherry Amaretto is my favorite (so far), with only 130 calories a serving/4 servings a container, zero mg sodium and cholesterol. (Note: Don’t eat the whole container in one sitting, please. Coconut milk has some amazing health properties, but one serving does have 25% of your daily value of Saturated Fat. Enjoy over time.)
• Want to try SoDelicious. Request a coupon.

Gluten-Free Fast Food (Not veg*n): While I whole-heartedly encourage a veg*n deit, this is the bone I’m throwing any non-veggies who may have stumbled upon this page, as a reward for making it this far.

Recipes:

Mixed veg and non-veg gluten-free recipes from BBC’s Good Food page.

Gluten-Free recipes from Fat Free Vegan.

Cooking/Baking:

Try Bob’s Red Mill for the basis of your gluten-freen baking and cooking needs.

Cosmetics:

Ecco Bella Organic Cosmetics

• For veg*ns and gluten-intolerant, please be sure to read the product descriptions carefully. Some products are gluten-free, some vegan, some both. Any questions, please contact the company.
• Disclaimer: I have yet to try this brand personally.
• Available at select Whole Foods as well as other natural foods retailers.

I saw these last month at my local Whole Foods and was pleasantly surprised. There are currently four Candle Cafe Vegan frozen entree varieties.

These are nice, light meals currently going for $5.99 a pop. I’ve lucked out that the ones I’ve grabbed I’ve had $1 coupons for.

• Ginger Miso Stir-Fry (200 calories; 840mg sodium; 6g fat; 27g carbohydrate) – This dish has a little spice to it.
• Tofu Spinach Ravioli (320 calories; 750mg sodium; 10g fat; 28g carbohydrate) – I’m not the biggest fan of the smell of vegan cheese, so my suggestion would be to close your nose when you’re popping it in the microwave. After you heat it up it meals and tastes good.
• Seitan Piccata with Lemon Caper Sauce (210 calories; 920mg sodium; 3.5g fat; 32g carbohydrate) – This was actually my favorite. It’s creamy with a lemon sweetness that’s not too overpowering.
• Macaroni and Vegan Cheese (300 calories; 880mg sodium; 12g fat; 41g carbohydrate) – Pretty tasty. Kind of hard to mix. After heated, pour into a bowl and stir so the cheese coats all the noodles.

Read more from Farm Sanctuary, VegNews, and The Girlie Girl Army. And if they’re not already in your local Whole Foods’ freezer section, hunt down the manager and request them.

Late Friday night, after the day that wouldn’t end..actually, just wouldn’t end the way I wanted it to…I was in need of some confort food. So, my sister and I headed to Williamsburg, Brooklyn for some FoodSwings. We weren’t alone; many are lookin’ for a little comfort after the long work week and vegan fast food seems to hit just the right spot.

I like to try different things, but I had a major craving for their Chick’n Cordon Bleu Sandwich. Essentially it’s a breaded chick’n patty layered with fried sham, vegan cheese and a sweet mustard sauce with lettuce and tomato on a roll. It’s a pretty good combination.

It’s not like traditional Chicken Cordon Bleu though. It just simply has the components. If you’re really up for giving a try at whipping up a veg*n variety, try these recipes from Veggie Converter and Vegetalion, which looks closest to the original. If you’re keen on a variation of the classic, try this recipe from Do Life Right.

Alternatively, if you’re more of a, ‘The Kitchen? You mean that room with the microwave in it?’, two brands have you covered. Try the Tex Mex variation from Gardein, Santa Fe Good Stuff, or the lacto-ovo vegetarian Cranberry & Goat Cheese Chick’n Cutlets from Quorn. (While I steer clear of the ingredient because of its possible contact with animal rennet, Quorn also makes Gruyere Chick’n Cutlets if you’re a vegetarian that does consume whey.)

Subway’s got a new shtick. Each month Subway is featuring a new sandwich. May was the Orchard Chicken Salad Sandwich, this month it’s the Italian B.M.T, and apparently last month was the Chipotle Chicken and Cheese. For how much marketing went into the Turkey and Bacon Avocado Sandwich, though, if you forgot all about that other…what was it called again? Well, it’s okay.

The heavily promoted sandwich was for the company’s promotional tie-in with the much anticipated release of Green Lantern, starring Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively. The marketing meetings must have been painful, ‘It’s for Green Lantern. Avocados are green. It works.’ [(Forget that Bok Choy, Green Peppers, Lettuce, Spinach (nix that, already taken), Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts, Cucumbers, Green Beans, Celery, are, um, yes, all green.]

If you couldn’t actually eat the thing, cause, you know, that whole, yummy avocado on a bed of dead animal thing…Tofurky and Smart Deli can help you out with that.

Don't judge my avocado too harshly. It was delicious.

• Italian Roll
• Annie’s Italian Dressing
• Whole Avocado
• Tofurky Turkey Slices
• Lightlife Smart Bacon Slices (pan fried)
• Romaine Lettuce
• Tomatoes
• Roasted Red Peppers
• Galaxy Foods Vegan Grated Parmesan

In brightest day, in blackest night, nothing can’t be veg*nized.

(Um, yeah, don’t rub your eyes; you did just read that.)

I love my old standards at Subway…pretty much either a bunch of veggies in a bowl or on bread. Sometimes it’s nice to have a chnage of pace. Last week I saw a commercial for Subway‘s second Sandwich of the Month: Orchard Chicken Salad Sandwich. Pretty much chunky chicken salad with diced apples, golden raisins, cranberries, and celery. Simple enough. Now, I could have made a chuncky chick’n salad using Quorn Naked Cutlets and vegan Mayo, instead I went with a premade container from One Stop Natural. If I do this again, I’ll find a softer hoagie roll; I just grabbed one from the loose container at my local grocery. Tasty outcome. The celery adds crunch and the cranberries and raisins add sweetness. I admit, I used Craisins rather than fresh cranberries. I also piled my chick’n salad on spinach rather than lettuce. Give it a try and veganize.

• 32oz Whole Foods 365 Organic Vegetable Broth
• 1 cube Rapunzel Vegan Vegetable Bouillon
• 3 cups water
• 2 stalks Celery
• 4 medium Potatoes (peeled)
• 6oz fresh Baby Carrots
• 40z summer squash (sliced)
• 1 oz Onions (diced)
• 8oz can of whole sliced Mushrooms (I used the brand Giorgio)
• 15oz can of whole spears Baby Corn on the Cob (sliced; I used the brand Reese)
• 14.5 can of Stewed Tomotoes (I used the brand Del Monte)
• 6 cloves of Garlic (diced)
• Dash of Basil Leaves
• Dash of Oregano
• Dash of Cayenne Pepper (optional)

While most people choose between broth/stock or bouillon, I lack forethought and had to used both. I also tend to use the liquids from the canned vegetables. You don’t have to. If you want to use fresh, even better. For sure though, toss the hardest vegetables, like you carrots and potatoes, into the pot first. This will give them the maximum time to soak in the liquids and soften. I kept my burner on medium and it took about 30 minutes to get the vegetables tender. This is just a really simple comfort food that can be whipped up with whatever veggies you’ve got on hand; I’m just here to implant the idea in your head.

So, after seeing Jake Johnston’s Vegan Potato Skin recipe on Play With My Food, I decided to invest in a big ole’ bag of potatoes. However, by the time I got around to making them, I’d used up some of the ingredients I’d purchased. So, I sort of just did my own little twist.

• Medium Potatoes (Make sure to clean you potatoes really well. I used medium potatoes, but I’m planning a do-over. Smaller ones will cook faster. If you do go with medium potatoes, extend the cook time; don’t rush these.)
• Vegan Butter (I used Earth Balance. My vegan butter was in the place of the original recipe’s vegetable oil cause I thought the butter would blend better with the ingredients I was going to use.)
• Hot Sauce (After the potatoes had been baking for at least 30 minutes, I spread the sauce over the tops to let it soak in.)
• Vegetarian Chili (I used Health Valley Organic brand, which doesn’t seem to have any ingredients that would be problematic to vegans, but any chili will do.)
• Fried Diced Onions (I fried these up while I waited and sprinkled them on top, before I added the cheese.)
• Daiya Cheddar Shreds (Once I piled everything on top, I sprinkled these on top and put them back in the oven to melt.)
• Tofutti Sour Cream (I really want to try Jake’s recipe in the future! I just have to not eat all the cashews.)