Elvis has left the building...

Over the past week my blog post have slowed down quite a bit. The reason for this is that I'm no longer a memphian, but have relocated to Dallas! Dallas is my hometown and I'm happy to be back. The city also has a good amount of vegan options restaurants for me to explore. Stay tuned for some of those visits!

Also, Check out the site dallasvegan.com! Pretty awesome!

Tom Delonge - Vegan shoes

No Meat? No Cheese?

There are two answers to these two questions for me.
1st - Why do I not eat meat?
The mistreatment and abuse of animals is unacceptable. The factories that cram chickens in close quarters, pump cows full of steroids, and prod pigs around have no respect for those animals.  There are plenty of behind the scenes footage of these incidences and watching any of those videos shows people bullying around these poor animals.
Would you want your household pet treated this way?

Besides the abuse side of the argument, it's healthier to have a plant-based diet. There is a handy book called "The China Study" by T. Collin Campbell & Thomas Campbell that covers how our food habits are linked to cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.

So the next question usually is why not eat the hippy farm chicken, pork, & beef that is not shot up with steriods and has cows drinking mimosas in a field while listening to beethoven their entire life? 
I don't believe any animals should be slaughtered for our food, regardless of how awesome their life was.

So what about fish?
Regardless of cognitive ability or abundance, I don't believe any animal should be slaughtered for our food.

2nd - Why do I not eat dairy?
I have a few reasons for this question as well. Firstly, although the cows are not being slaughtered to provide us the milk, they are still mistreated. They are also pumped full of chemicals so that they produce way more milk than they are actually supposed to. Also, by the time the milk is pasteurized to kill all of the puss, dirt, bacteria, & poo in it they have to refortify it with calcium and vitamin D so you are actually getting something out of it. 

Fender Pawnshop Series

Okay, Fender, get out of my head! Seriously! The new Fender pawnshop series is ridiculous. One of my favorite things to do is come up with whacked out fender models that don't exist but should. Fender climbed right inside my brain on this one. I am totally going to pick one of these puppies up. I love that Fender is putting out inventive guitars like this. They seem to be pushing the envelope a lot recently. It's great to see a classic guitar company that is not just relying on their tried and true staples of their brand, but is coming out with affordable, rockin' guitars that are unique and super vibey! Thank you Fender!

If you want to steal some of my ideas come and get'm:

Morrissey - Meat is Murder Interview

Huey Burger

Huey's is one of my favorite restaurants in Memphis! Their black bean burger is awesome, the fries are great, and it's a great atmosphere. I always get the black bean burger with some avocado on top.

Huey's
7 Locations in Memphis!

Vegan French Toast

This was a no brainer, super easy recipe. It's also possibly the best french toast I've ever had! Instead of soaking the bread in egg, you use a blend of soy milk and bananas. This version of french toast has an even sweeter taste and the consistency is awesome!

Ingredients

• 2 bananas
• 3/4 cup of soy milk
• 2 tsp of cinnamon 
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract
• 6-8 slices of bread

Combine ingredients in a food processor, soak bread in mix, and cook over medium heat with melted vegetable margarine (I use earth balance)

Southern Fried Chick'n

 I've posted this before, but used a Gardein Chick'n Scallopini. These chick'n filets are awesome and fry up a bit better than the scallopini.

Ingredients:
- Gardein Chick'n Filets
- 1/3 cup of flour
- 2 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp of ground pepper
- 1 tsp of salt
- 2 tbsp olive oil

Heat oil in pan over medium heat. Mix flour, pepper, salt, & paprika and coat the four chick'n filets. Fry the chick'n in the hot oil for 2-3 minutes on each side. Serve with some southern approved vegetables, I chose some green beans & homemade mashed taters. Yee-haw!

Where do you get your protein?

One of the most common questions to a vegan or vegetarian is, "If you don't eat meat, where do you get your protein?" This question is awesome, because it's based on that the good ol' food pyramid we all learned in elementary school. The old school pyramid taught us that meat, fish, & eggs were all in the meat group and those are your protein. Fortunately, the newer food pyramids now being taught at least mention meat substitutes in that category. In this country, there is a huge amount of emphasis put on the consumption of meat and dairy. So much so, we believe that not consuming either of these will lead to a deficiency in protein.
So where does a vegan get protein since they do not eat a good chunk of the food pyramid. When I became vegan, I was shocked to find all the foods that are actually high in protein. I felt like I was being lied to about meat and dairy and that we have very little idea of nutritional content of what we are actually eating.

So it breaks down like this,
Animal-based protein:
1 serving of ground beef (22-30 grams of protein)
1 steak (40-50 grams of protein)
1 serving of chicken breast  (23-35 grams of protein)
1 fish fillet (20-25 grams of protein)
1 egg (6 grams of protein)
3 oz of ham (19 grams of protein)
3 oz of cooked pork (22 grams of protein)
slice of bacon (3 grams of protein)
1 cup of milk (8 grams of protein)
1 slice of cheddar cheese (7 grams of protein)


Plant-based protein:
4 ounces of tempeh (20 grams of protein)
4 ounces of tofu (9 grams of protein)
3 ounces of seitan (31 grams of protein)
1 veggie burger (13 grams of protein)
1 stalk of broccoli (5 grams of protein)
1 cup of beans (12 grams of protein)
1 cup of lentils (18 grams of protein)
1 cup of soy milk (7 grams of protein)
1/4 cup of almonds (8 grams of protein)
1/4 cup of cashews (5 grams of protein)
2 tbsp of peanut butter (8 grams of protein)
Those are just some raw examples. There are also plenty of store bought vegan meals that are high in protein such as Yves, Tofurky, & Gardein.  Those range from 13 to 25 grams of protein depending on the product.

There are plenty of other places you can grab a healthy dose of protein from as a vegan which makes it easy for you to eat the correct amount of protein for the day. We have an over emphasis on protein in this country and consume way more than the recommended intake we should have. For a 30 year old man the recommend protein intake is 56 grams of protein. So eating 4 slices of bacon & 1 egg for breakfast, hamburger for lunch, and a chicken breast for dinner you can easily see how you would be way up above the recommended daily allowance for protein (and I didn't even include the protein from any vegetables, starches, or grains you might have had).

So where does a vegan get their protein?
Through tempeh, tofu, seitan, lentils, beans, nuts, veggies, and some of the places you do too.

Chick'n salad sandwich

I made this with Gardein chick'n fillets, grapes, celery, apples, miso mayo, and curry. The chips are Pop Chips and are delicious.



Alicia made one with no curry and vegenaise instead of the miso mayo. It was awesome!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Chick'n Piccata with Lemon, Capers and Artichoke Hearts

I picked up a couple of the chick'n filets from Gardein and felt inspired to make some sort of chick'n dish with capers. My mom used to cook a chicken dish with capers and it was one of my favorite things ever, so this was my attempt to do the same type of dish. I found the recipe on foodnetwork.com, here it is veganized:

Ingredients

• 1 Gardein Chick'n Filets
• Salt and ground black pepper
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth
• 1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, quartered
• 1/4 cup drained capers

Directions

In a shallow dish (or plastic bag), combine flour, lemon zest, paprika, and garlic powder. Mix well. Add chick'n and turn to coat. Remove chick'n from flour mixture and shake off excess flour.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chick'n and saute 2 minutes per side, until golden brown and cooked through. Add lemon juice, wine and vegetable broth and bring to a simmer. Simmer 5 minutes, until chick'n is cooked through and sauce thickens. Add artichoke hearts and capers and simmer 1 minute to heat through.
Here is the original recipe.

The original recipe serves it as a dish with rice & lima beans. My mom always served the chicken with asparagus, so I went the asparagus/potato route.

Thanks mom!

Gardein Crispy Chick'n

We hadn't tried the Gardein crispy chick'n yet, and since it used to be one of our favorite Chinese dishes we decided to give it a shot. I modded the recipe a little bit to try to pay homage to a restaurant in Dallas we used to eat at called Cathy's Wok. They had an awesome crispy sesame chicken, so I tried to get as veganly close as possible. I made the chick'n just as the directions on the back called for, but added steamed broccoli into the sauce with the chick'n after it had finished cooking. I also changed the sauce a bit by heating it in a sauce pan and added 2 tablespoons of agave nectar, 2 table spoon of rice vinegar, and some ginger. After the sauce cooked together for a few minutes, I added the chick'n and the broccoli to the sauce, served it up on a bed of rice, and then put some sesame seeds on top. It's been about 8 years since I've had the Cathy's Wok original, but I gotta say I think it's pretty close!

California Burger

Inspired by my trip to LA, I decided to make a California burger for dinner. For the patty, I went the quick route and used a Boca vegan patty which is delicious. If I would have had more time cooking it, I think I would have used a portabella mushroom or the Yves meatless beef burger. I didn't want to use a regular hamburger bun, so I used a french bread that was made without dairy or egg.  Finally, the burger is topped with fresh cut avocado and underneath has a little bit of BBQ sauce. For the side, sweet potato fries seemed like they would go with this awesome burger perfectly.
I love putting avocado on burgers. It makes it almost like having cheeseburger. Avocado's are very healthy and contain 20 vitamins and minerals. They also allow the body to absorb even more nutrients from the other foods eaten with them. So go make some guac or top your burger with a delicious avocado!

RP Tracks Memphis

 RP Tracks in Memphis has amazing BBQ Tofu! It could be my favorite BBQ Tofu I've ever had, so much so that I'm completely addicted to their BBQ tofu nachos. RP Tracks is a very vegan friendly establishment with a menu including buffalo tofu fingers, BBQ tofu sandwich, BBQ tofu burrito, nachos, and a veggie wrap. The restaurant/bar has a great vibe with friendly and helpful wait staff. Make sure you check out RP Tracks and make it a place you frequent often!

www.rptracks.com
3547 Walker Ave
Memphis, TN 38111
901.327.1471

Vegan Substitutes

One of the struggles to cooking for a vegan diet is knowing what you can substitute for recipes that call for non-vegan items. There is a ton of great products out there that are perfect substitutes for these items. Here are some of my favorites:

Animal Product = Plant Based subsitute

Egg = Ener-G Egg Replacer
Honey = Madhava Agave Nectar
Mayonnaise = Miso Mayo
Butter = Earth Balance
Milk = Silk soy milk or Almond Breeze milk
Chocolate Chips = Ghirardelli Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
Cheese = Daiya for shredded cheese or Vegan Gourmet for a block of cheese
Sour Cream = Tofutti Sour Cream
Cream Cheese = Tofutti Cream Cheese
Grated Parmesan Cheese = Vegan Grated Topping
Grated Cheddar Cheese = Nutrional Yeast
Evaporated Milk = Better Than Milk Soy Powder (made twice as strong as directed on can)
Whip Cream = Soyatoo Soy Whip
Chicken Broth = Imagine Vegetable Broth
Chicken = Gardein tuscan breast for chicken breast & Smart Strips for chicken strips
Sausage = Gimme Lean Sausage
Ground Beef = Yves Meatless Ground
Turkey = Yves Ground Turkey
Deli Meat = Tofurky has a wide range of deli meats from phillystyle steak to roast beef & oven roasted or hickory smoked turkey

Tofu can be used to fit the bill for a good amount of animal based foods as well such as scrambled eggs, cheeses, custard, creams, eggs in recipes, meats, etc.

Propagandhi talks vegan...

Propagandhi is a punk rock band from Canada. They have lyrics in a quite a few of their songs regarding their vegan lifestyle and cruelty to animals. This can be seen is songs like: Meat is Still Murder, Purina Hall of Fame, & Human(e) Meat (The Flensing of Sandor Katz). Go get a Propagandhi album today, I highly recommend "Supporting Caste" or "Less Talk, More Rock"

Random Food Photos

I was going through iPhoto and found a few photos of vegan food that I made that have not shared and just figured I'd throw them all up at one time:

Hopkins County Stew

"Sausage" Biscuits

Chocolate dipped strawberries (made by Alicia)

Iced Gingerbread (made by Alicia)

Vegan Chili 

Hummus Pita & Chili

 Portabella Mushroom Steak

Eating while traveling

I was in LA most of this week for business meetings.  Most of the meals were provided, served buffet style, and had meat or dairy in most every dish. The nice thing about LA is when I told any of the wait staff that I was vegan I didn't get the "huh? do what?" look. They were definitely accustomed to having to prepare food for veg people.

One of the nights for dinner, they served what they called a "cauliflower steak." It was absolutely amazing and was served on a bed of lentils and seasoned with curry, paprika, and black & red pepper. It actually looked way better than the steak & chicken dishes others were eating. I love when someone takes pride in cooking all types of food, not just the meat dishes they made for everyone else. The moral of the story is always speak up to the wait staff about being vegan. If they truly want to deliver great service, they will do everything they can to make sure you have a happy dining experience. And you will be proving the need of the establishment to have vegan options and will cause people to put some more thought to what they eat.

Memphis Vegan Restaurants

There is a good chunk of vegan friendly restaurants hidden in the city of BBQ ribs. These are not large chain restaurants, as I covered in this blog post.  I have been to a few of these places, and can't wait to dive in and try the rest of these local vegan favorites.
All of the dishes listed are ordered without dairy if they come with a dairy option to make them vegan.

R.P. Tracks 
BBQ tofu nachos
BBQ tofu burrito

Huey's
Black Bean Burger

Trolley Stop
Vegan Pizza
Monday Night is Vegan Night

Fuel 
Vegan Nachos
Tofu Scramble
Veggie Burger

Balewa's Vegan Gourmet
Vegan Burger

Brother Juniper's
Tofu Vegi Scramble

Mellow Mushroom
Vegan Pizza w/ daiya cheese

Three Angels Diner
Tofu Scramble
Mock Egg Salad Sandwich
 
Cafe Eclectic
Black Bean Burger 

Deja Vu Creole Soul Food 
Veggie Burger
Vegan Tacos
Mock Chicken Salad
Mushroom Hoagie Rolls
Vegan Pasta Dishes
Spinach Mushroom Quesadilla
Veggie Rolls

Hi-Tone
Sunday Vegan Brunch Special
Vegan Pizza
Veggie Burger

Imagine Vegan Cafe
All Vegan Menu including hot dogs, chicken nuggets, steak, desserts, etc.

Vegan iPhone App

VeganXpress

VeganXpress is like a portable menu for Vegans! The app has a list of restaurants and the vegan options you will find at each of them. A good grip of these restaurants have some surprising vegan options or even items you can combine to make a vegan entree. The one thing you will want to do is to double check with the restaurant that the items listed are actually dairy & egg free. The making of these items varies from location to location throughout the country, so something that is Vegan in Denver could possibly not be vegan in Memphis. Great app for the vegan on the go, or if you need to make some quick choices about where you eat.

Another De Armond M75T

I got a new (well, new to me) De Armond M75T. These guitars are amazing! The pickups are hot, but have a cutting clear tone. No muddy tone to be found here! A couple of things I did to this guitar is change out the pickguard (it came with a clear pickguard) & add some Sperzel tuners. I bought it from Guitar Center Chattanooga, Thanks Chad!

Mike Ness: Meat's Not Green

Mike Ness is one of my favorite musicians & Social D is one of my favorite bands. Here is Mike talking about animal cruelty and being vegan for PETA2. Can't wait to see these guys play in Dallas at the end of April! WOOT! Also, yes, I am aware that the hot rods behind them are gas guzzling, non-hybrid vehicles. I'm not sure driving a Prius would make you to rockabilly.

Famous Vegan Musicians...

Betcha didn't know these cats were vegan...
Fat Mike - NOFX
Propagandhi
Alanis Morissette
Joan Jett
Rikki Rocket
Chrissie Hynde - The Pretenders
Moby
Barry White
Dave Davies - The Kinks
Wierd Al
Morrissey - The Smiths

& vegetarian
Mike Ness - Social Distortion
Elvis Costello
B.B. King
Bonnie Raitt
Rivers Cuomo
Kelly Clarkson
Avril Lavigne
Kevin Eubanks
Tom Delonge
Tommy Lee
Travis Barker
Billy Joe Armstrong
Phil Collen
Paul McCartney
Joe Jackson
Lenny Kravitz
Cindy Lauper
Peter Buck - REM
Meatloaf
Peter Gabriel

Bob Dylan
Billy Idol

Tons more check'm out:
http://www.happycow.net/famous_vegetarians.php
http://www.vegan-gal.com/famous_vegans.html

Gardein Trio's

Picked up some Gardein Trio's from whole foods. These are made in less than 5 minutes in a microwave and are perfect to take to work for lunch. The thai chicken is in a creamy-tomato based sauce. The burgundy trio are like gardein's beef tips, if you have tried these you know that you'd have no idea they aren't real beef.  They both come with a side of rice. It's the exact right portion size for lunch and is so quick and easy to make. Go pick some of these things up! 

"Honey" Seared Tofu

This is my version of "Honey" Seared Tofu.
Ingredients:
1 14 oz Package Firm Tofu
1/2 Flour
1 tbsp pepper
1 tbsp paprika
1/2 cup vegetable oil

8 tbsp agave nectar
1 tsp ginger

4 tbsp rice vinegar 1 tbsp chopped garlic

Heat oil at medium heat on stove. Cut tofu into squares. Combine pepper, paprika, & flour and coat the tofu squares with the mixture. Fry the tofu in the oil, takes about 2-3 minutes to fry.

Combine agave nectar, ginger, rice vinegar, & garlic in a sauce pan and heat over medium heat for 5-7 minutes. 

Cover fried tofu with the sauce and serve over rice or with vegetables.

Sir Paul McCartney "If Slaughterhouses Had Glass Walls.."