I saw @leslieconn make Ropa Vieja from Viva Vegan on Instagram and I couldn't get it out of my head so I made it using the No Evil Foods Prepper Seitan, which is packaged a little differently than most seitan because it's sort of spun together and seems like its more shreddable. I remember how I tried to shred my homemade seitan last time I made this and I didn't have great results shredding it so I was psyched to find this seitan because it was perfect for this dish. It gave it a true pulled-pork texture, even more than with jackfruit. If you can find it I would suggest trying it out with this recipe or with another shredded seitan or pulled pork-style seitan recipe because the texture was great. It did require some time to stand there and shred it but it was well worth it.


More #pastaproblems, I have made this pesto mac from Chloe's Vegan Italian Kitchen a few times in the last couple months because it's pretty much a template of the kind of food I always want to eat. If I haven't had pasta in like.. 3 to 4 days, I start to get a little twitchy. I even start to smell it when it isn't cooking. Just wondering, what's wrong with me?


My best friend's daughter just turned 2 last month! She's really into Minnie Mouse so she had a Minnie-themed birthday party and I made these Minnie cupcakes for her.


Cupcakes with cookies > Cupcakes without cookies.


I got some makeup while out shopping with my mom when I was visiting home. I wanted to try out the Born This Way foundation by Too Faced after I saw a lot of people using it in makeup videos like Rhian on WifeLife and Tashina on Logical Harmony. I like it pretty good, I use it with the Primed and Poreless Powder which is sooo silky and nice. I have been using the Becca corrector in pistachio to cover up my red spots, as my face has been extra obnoxious in growing zits all the time. I just dab a little over each red spot after primer and then apply the foundation over it. I really like the Kat Von D Ink! liner in Trooper, it makes it really easy to draw a straight line and the point never needs sharpening like pencil liners, and doesn't smudge too easily like liquid brush liners. I gifted the eye shadow primer because my eyelids get real weird when I wear shadow primer, even cream shadows, it makes the skin of my lid get sort of grainy and gross. Anyone else have that problem? I know I described that beautifully, but I think I've heard people say that shadow primers irritate their lids too.


I was having this conversation with my mom about how to get calcium from vegan sources, and I named things like oranges, bok choy, tofu and quinoa, then realized that they are all in this dish from Isa Does It. It's called something like, "Grilled Citrus Tofu Quinoa Bowl with Tahini" or something similar. I've made it once before but sort of forgot about it. I love the citrus tofu and will use that marinade again soon.


I finally made the Creamy Tomato Soup from The Oh She Glows Cookbook after hearing so much good stuff about it. It pretty much transported me back to being a teenager at Panera Bread getting the creamy tomato soup. I really liked the chickpea croutons, and at first I was skeptical because they looked dry and burned but really they are just crispy and awesome. It's always all about the croutons any time there's croutons.


Here's another buffalo tempeh salad with Terri Ranch, my new obsession. It kind of does all the stuff Hidden Valley Ranch says it does. I'm sure you have all seen this commercial, but in case you just steal your TV shows off the internet like a normal person, the commercial is set in a huge carnival/fair where the people are all selling vegetables instead of fries or cotton candy and there's a vegetable-eating contest instead of a hot dog-eating contest, and the kids are all fighting over each others' veggies, all because of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing and because it's so good. Anyway, Terri ranch is that good for me.


I have been waking up early for the past several months to "work out" but instead I mostly just sit on my radiator and have breakfast. My breakfast was particularly glowing on this morning, and I couldn't resist snapping a pic of my 197th smoothie bowl with coffee.


Another thing I got while I was out makeup shopping was the Pacifica Coconut Power Shampoo and Conditioner. I had been using the Alba Botanica Mango Shampoo and Conditioner but my hair was getting so dry and greasy so quickly, and after switching to this stuff it really made a huge difference in my hair. I definitely feel more moisture and can go at least one extra day without washing my hair again. It lathers really nicely, smells amazing and the packaging is gorgeous, as always.


I was thinking of doing an "Empties" video like I've seen some people do, where they show you the products they just finished up, whether it be stuff they purchase all the time or stuff they tried out for the first time. Either way, it's only after having used the whole product, so their opinion is fully formed on whether they would use it again or go for something else next time. If I do something like that, I'll be including this Kona Coffee scrub from Pacifica because I'm almost done with it. I have been loving it and would definitely buy it again. The smell is so amazing and it leaves your skin so silky with a tiny layer of moisturizing coconut oil. Sometimes after I use body scrubs my skin feels so dry and damaged immediately after I step out of the shower, but this really helps to lock the moisture in.


Back to food- I made the Cauliflower and Pesto soup with pasta shells from Chloe's Vegan Italian Kitchen, which was super amazing. The only thing I would do differently next time is puree the soup in the vitamix instead of using an immersion blender. I also added more broth than called for because there wasn't really enough to simmer the cauliflower. But I think it would benefit from a silkier base than what you get with an immersion blender because when you use one of those it just can't get to that silky level.


When I ran out of Terri ranch I used the Follow Your Heart one, not quite as good but certainly does the trick when you're in need of a ranch dressing like now. I used to exclusively make my own dressings but it just takes time and this bottle is easy to grab and even bring with me to work, and I just am a lazy person I guess. Stop making me apologize for not making my own dressing!


It's not summer yet, and I'm happy about that, but I made summery food recently, with salad, BBQ Tofu, and potato salad. Alex made rice-a-roni because he wanted to help. He tries.


We visited Maresa at her new shop on E 9th over the weekend and got some macarons. It's right near Tompkins Square Park so we took them to go and ate them there. This one is Peanut Butter Brownie, dare I say my favorite flavor of Maresa's Macs. Can't be sure though.


Her shop is also right by Superiority Burger, which we had yet to try until then. It was really amazing. Alex got the burger, which he deemed so-so, and I got what was called "the new creation" which was tofu skin cooked in a way maybe Philly Cheesesteaks are cooked with some aioli and pickles. That was so great! I loved it and would order it next time again for sure. We got the Burnt Broccoli salad to share and then after we were done we ordered more food, the sloppy joe, which we devoured before taking pictures.


The main event was the Ice cream. It was Rhubarb Sorbet and Labne. The top has the rhubarb and the bottom has the labne. I haven't had ice cream this good since.... I can't remember. I don't know if I have ever had ice cream this good!


That same day we had been to NYC Veg Fest and had a great time hanging out with our friend Belinda, who has come to VegFest with me a few times. We got lots of great food, saw a few talks, and tried lots of new products. Some highlights were Ponycakes in orange-blossom-tahini-black sesame-something, Love Beets juice who also had some great balsamic marinated beets, and the Sex Kitten eye shadow palette that 100% Pure was selling for about 1/2 price! I think they're normally $45 and I got mine for $27 or something like that.


Alex's favorite kind of meal is a simple stir-fry. This worked out especially easy for me on this particular day because I had all of the ingredients I needed to make the Cast-Iron Stir Fry from Isa Does It, which is rare that I would actually have everything I needed. There's always at least one thing you didn't get or don't have. So yeah I was especially proud of myself for remembering this recipe existed and realizing I had everything I needed for it. This is so simple and awesome and I don't know why I don't make more stuff like this all the time.


At VegFest, there's always a guy doing a Vitamix demo. I have the Vitamix, and I think I bought it after the first demo I saw there, but it's still just too fun to watch the guy make all the stuff and do his demo. He always makes soup that is so fast and a bell went off in Alex's head that he could make that some night for dinner. So on monday night I came home from work and he had this soup almost ready and it was just as good as the one from the demo <3.


 The May Vegan Cuts Beauty Box came and it's one of the best so far! I pretty much deem every box that has a makeup brush in it the best. So this brush is the softest brush ever and it's from an all-vegan and cruelty-free makeup company called Terre Mere. It had a mini body scrub, a toner and a face oil. It also had a lip gloss, but I'm not really a bright-red-lip-gloss kind of girl and I saw a bunch of people get blushes and bronzers instead and got really jealous again!!!!! The cycle continues.

I begin most days when I open my eyes at 6:47am and say to myself, "I'm going to get up in 13 minutes, work out, eat a healthy breakfast and lunch, and not eat pasta again for dinner." 13 minutes later I am snoozing super hard, I add extra almond butter to my oatmeal, eat leftovers for lunch, and definitely eat pasta for dinner. This has been especially true for the past few weeks, so here's a picture of not an exception. This is pasta with pesto sauce and breaded tofu with no vegetables. Sue me.


I know I said I've fallen hard into a pasta rut, and I have. But this picture was taken like 5 weeks ago, and it is an amazing stir-fry with basil and gnocchi. They sell packaged gnocchi at my bodega and I always forget about it, but it takes like 2 seconds to cook and also rulz. New tattoo! Team Gnocchi! Wait, too many letters and too few knuckles!


I know what you're thinking... "this isn't pasta either." But you're WRONG. This is orzo, which IS pasta!! This is the Tempeh Orzilla from Isa Does It, and also from her blog a million years ago, when I first made this and fell super deep in love with it. So deep we text late at night. It is SO good. It's a stellar combination of tempeh, spinach and sundried tomato. I added some cherry tomatoes on top for a nice pop of flavor, and sprinkled vegan parmesan-- fairy dust, if you will, made from almonds, nooch and lemon zest.


Alright, this is straight up not pasta. But it is also from like 4 weeks ago so maybe pre-pasta rut. This is the Lemony Cannellini beans from Chloe's Vegan Italian Kitchen, over mashed potatoes with some added broccoli. There's some amazing broth made from white wine, nooch and almond milk to soak up with some bread (more carbs!) or with the potatoes. This dish is literally perfect. I know I call every bean my favorite at one point or another but cannellini beans are totally my favorite. Swear.


I left my dark and stuffy apartment one time and bought this breakfast sandwich during lunchtime at Toadstyle. I also got fried broccoli. I wanted fried cauliflower but Alex doesn't like cauliflower. Worst, amirite? So instead of your typical tofu/daiya/tofurkey breakfast sandwich, this one has polenta as the "eggy" part, homemade hollandaise, tomato and avocado. It was nicely unique!


Remember that time I was making #irresponsiblepurchases at Haymakers? I bought all this stuff: Terri ranch dressing, Califia farms Almond creamer, Sriracha Just Mayo, Barry's Adzuki bean fresh tempeh, 2 of my fave So Delicious plain unsweetened yogurts, No Evil Foods Seitan, an espresso chocolate Ponycake (gift for Alex <3), Meow Meow Tweet grapefruit deodorant, daiya alfredo mac and cheese, Earth Balance Mac, Miyoko's winter truffle, and the Vegan Egg.


Since I'm sure you want to know my feelings on all of these products, keep reading. The Terri ranch is single-handedly responsible for any salads I ate during my pasta rut. My fave dressing so far! The Califia farms creamer is pretty much a staple for me, still haven't tried the Just Mayo (it doesn't go on pasta..), and the yogurts are long gone, because they are so good. I LOVED the tempeh, so yeah, go Barry! I made a Buffalo tempeh salad (!) with some Terri Ranch and loved it so much. I made an amazing Ropa Vieja from the No Evil Foods Seitan, which is easily shredded. Super good and will definitely buy again. I am a shamefully big fan of all of these mac and cheeses in a box. I grew up in the 90s in the McWorld era, so if you don't understand me you're too young to get me, or you're my mom and you are like, yup, exactly that. You already know about my feelings on the Vegan Egg, and this is my favorite flavor of Miyoko's cheese second only to the Fresh Loire Valley in a Fig Leaf. This deodorant smells good but it just doesn't work. Wish it didn't cost $14, but shame on me for even spending $14 on deodorant. I have been applying it 3 times a day in order to smell good. I recommend it for you if you don't do anything that makes you sweat, sit in air-conditioned places for the whole day, don't walk around or get mad. I sweat when I get mad, so sometimes I put this on more than 3 times a day.


I made this for a brunch party my parents had! It is the "Lazy Morning Frittata" from Thug Kitchen Party Grub and it was delicious the day-of, but the leftovers didn't reheat very well. It is super pretty and kind of perfect for a brunch party. Plus my mom let me use some of her stash of Polish Pottery and it made it look even better.

So I have been so into making oatmeal in the morning lately. I hadn't really ever made it from scratch before, and only ever ate those Quakers instant oatmeal packets, which after reading the ingredients really didn't interest me anymore. So all this time I have been like, RIP oatmeal, when I could have been making amazing homemade oatmeal every day. What I do is: bring 1 cup almond milk and 1 cup water to boil in a saucepan, stir in oats (old fashioned rolled) and reduce to simmer, stir every few. When it looks almost the consistency that I am into, I stir in like 2 tablespoons of almond butter and 2 tablespoons maple syrup. It makes 2 servings so I just pack the other serving in a container for the next morning. Once it's in my bowl I top it with extra almond butter, chocolate covered chia seeds, and some frozen berry that is in my freezer, this one is raspberry. Sometimes I do another swirl of maple syrup too.


Pasta! This is the Pasta Pomodoro from Chloe's Vegan Italian Kitchen with a dollop of pesto on top, because more pesto. Hard to go wrong here. You don't need help understanding why I am in love with pasta, tomatoes and basil.



Be back soon with hopefully less pasta, more makeup/beautystuffs, and hot with news.
<3,
KZ

You guys I made a ton of pies for Thanksgiving! They told me I didn't have to cook any food, and in hindsight, I really should have, but I figured I could at least supply the desserts. I did make a seitan roast and some cashew-creamed onions (which were an inexplicable hit) but they were so easy it was like I didn't cook at all. These pies on the other hand, weren't. I'll explain:


My family on my mom's side has a lot of food allergies. I'm vegan so I'm guilty of being a pain in the ass but we also have a variety of dairy allergies, that I suppose I willingly encompass, so that lets them off the hook. But we also have some corn allergies -- which are trickier than you'd think if you consider what contains cornstarch, corn syrup, cornmeal... powdered sugar! I've figured out how to dodge that one but that's another story. The biggest allergy offender of all is that eight of my relatives on that side of the family don't do gluten. Some of them choose to avoid it (I think?) and some of the kids are super allergic, and I could never live with myself if I made a little kid sick by feeding them something that was accidentally contaminated. So: what made this pie process so difficult and lengthy was that everything I made this with needed to be either run through the dishwasher or soaked in boiling water. It was otherwise easy, since I only had to swap out one or two ingredients to make these pies gluten free. So about six hours later I emerged with these cheesecakes and pecan pie. I served them with the new SO delicious coconut cool whip and they loved it. In fact, my little cousin put only the cool whip on her plate for dessert.


I've been in curry mode lately. It's all I've wanted to eat, being in the spirit of winter and all... I'm pretty sure that curry was invented for the purpose of winter. There is nothing like eating a spicy hot curry on a freezing cold day, and having that heat in the back of your throat to warm you up. I still haven't made a bunch of the curries and soups from Isa Does It, so I've been digging up on that chapter lately. Above is Chandra Malai Kofta, which I have already made twice this month. It's basically these zucchini meetballs over some rice with a spicy curry sauce over the top. I like to make the kofta into mini meetballs instead of big footballs, for maximum zucchini meetball impact. I also sauteed up a bunch more zucchini and threw that in as well for some vegetable nice. It really is aromatherapy and I suggest you make it NOW.



It is open season for chili. This is me doing what I do best, which is pile guac onto things, eat cornbread and drink beer while watching Twin Peaks.


We had ourselves a serious Meatball Weekend. Saturday we went to the first of two Holiday Shop-Ups in Bushwick, where we got beers and macarons. Five, to be exact. The flavors I picked were pecan pie, french vanilla quince, gingerbread and I also got two hot chocolate marshmallow. I ate them all within ten minutes. Okay I shared some with the BF. But I could have eaten all five. Swear.


We decided to skip the food at the Shop-Up and deliberated whether we wanted Champs for lunch or to try somewhere new. We passed Roberta's on the way to the car, and I'm like, "Hey! Everyone talks about how good that place is!" And so we went in and got pizzas! The only vegan option is the Rosso, which has red sauce and garlic -- HOWEVER, This sauce is out-of-control good, and the sauce is clearly what makes or breaks a pizza. I added mushrooms to mine along with a ton of chili flakes and this chili oil that they have on the tables. It was amazing. I ate all of it. The next day we were hanging out with a friend and mentioned we'd been there the day before and loved it, and he said he loved it too and that we should go right away for dinner. So I literally went again. The very next day and got the very same thing. Meatball.


We found the strength to tear ourselves away from beer and pizza for a quick second to eat some doughtnuts from Dunwell, too.


Sunday we did some Christmas shopping and fueled for lunch at Terri in the Flatiron area. I got the chicken caesar wrap and Alex got the vegan meatball sandwich (meatball weekend). I liked his better I think. My chicken was too chickeny. I'm vegan, so...


Monday I made a giant batch of Down Home Curry from Isa Does It which couldn't have been more perfect for warming the soul. It fed us four times each. Also I have been tearing it up on bass. More to follow.