I know it's not a lunch, but I wanted to share a picture of the vegan Christmas Goodies we're giving out as a gift to neighbors, family, and friends this year.First, thank Isa's new book
for telling us all about Kopper's Chocolate Lentils. That's right -- vegan "M&Ms"! (Can you believe it?? They really do exist!) I made up a batch of Back-to-School Chocolate Chip Cookies (page 24 in Vegan Lunch Box) and added some plain "chocolate lentils" for candy coated crunchy cookie goodness.Next to the cookies is a little fudge star. Someone commented a few months ago that the chocolate icing I used for my Graduation Hats and Lamingtons turns into yummy fudge when refrigerated, so I decided to take that basic recipe and turn it into this recipe for Vegan Fudge.
Next to the fudge are two Berry Delights, a kind of jellied candy made with fruit and nuts and rolled in powdered sugar. And to add to all the sugary delight, there's a happy snowman bag filled with more chocolate lentils, this time mint flavored.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you!
I had absolutely no idea there were vegans in Kennewick...
ReplyDeleteOf course... I'm still shocked that the walla walla valley has 78 wineries!
So much has changed in the 15 years since I've moved away from Richland!
Another great recipe for gifts is this one for homemade (and vegan!) Tootsie Rolls. If anyone has made these with a substitute for the corn syrup, I'd be interested in hearing about it.
ReplyDeleteHey cool blog. I am not vegan but no harm in learning new things. Peep into My Blog for some unique and interesting Christmas related info and ideas.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy your blog, and it has inspired me (as a teen vegan) to create my own blog. While I am new to the blog world and my blog still needs some work, im really liking the experience so far. Well i wish you all the luck in your blog and in selling your book(i hope to buy it soon). thanks agian for your great blog!-kelsey
ReplyDeleteVery cool for the Yule. Happy Holidays.
ReplyDeletevegan m&m's, excellent. The one thing I have been looking for and haven't been able to find are vegan "whoppers." If anyone knows something I don't about this mystery, tell me. I am assuming malted soy milk powder might be an ingredient, but haven't tried this yet.
ReplyDelete--eleni binge
ps - an easy egg substitute that works every time - 1/2 t baking soda, 1 t baking powder, 2 T flour, 3 T water, mixed together w/a fork...
aw
ReplyDeleteanyone be lucky to get that plate of sweets
Teddy
Merry Christmas ! Love the ideas you have shared with us through the year.
ReplyDeleteI plan on making some of those Christmas lima's this weekend
Happy Christmas, Jenn! I was wondering, my Mum and I are looking into eating more meatless-meals and a recipe that I would like to make calls for "bean curd." Is that tofu, or something special? Thank you- your blog is an inspiration!
ReplyDeleteI used to make a mean batch of VEGAN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES! Yumm...got to get a baking dish so I can start cooking and sharing the recipes!
ReplyDelete>>a recipe that I would like to make calls for "bean curd." Is that tofu, or something special?
ReplyDeleteYep, that's just good old tofu! :-)
I am a long time lurker who very much enjoys your wit and recipes. Wonderful, wonderful!
ReplyDeleteI'm coming out of hiding with a question. Where do you find vegan chocolate chips and what brand do you use? Having information on good vegan choc chips would make me a superstar to my boyfriend.
Thanks much. Happy Holidays
Hi, Lucinda -- They carry vegan chocolate chips in the health food bulk bins section at my local grocery store. I think the brand is Sunspire. Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate chips also appear to be vegan, and Tropical Source makes a vegan chocolate chip.
ReplyDeleteOf course, you can always buy vegan chocolate bars and chop them into chip-sized pieces, too. Sometimes chopped chocolate tastes even better than premade chips!
So, this is off topic but... an anonymous and generous friend from one of the Vegetarian Boards I frequent (I'm pretty sure I know who it is) sent me your book as a Christmas gift. What a treat! I am so thrilled!!
ReplyDeleteEven though my kids are older and pretty much past the cute little colorful lunchbox stage, ("Mom! That's so embarrassing!") there's tons of great ideas. (actually, I've gotten ideas off here for some time now).
My teenagers were especially excited to see the tamales in your book- they've taken those in there lunches for years and thought they were the only ones to be so innovative.
A merry vegan christmas to you! Nice to read about vegan food, inspiring! :)
ReplyDeleteHappy new year!
Jennifer, your fudge recipe was a lifesaver! I don't know how we always manage to forget that the stores close early on Christmas eve....but I think we usually make it under the wire. This time....we had no stocking stuffers except for the mandarine oranges we had on hand! We were trying to figure out what to do....then Paul said "weren't you talking about making divinity?" and I said "there's no way to make divinity vegan, but Jennifer posted a fudge recipe..." I looked at it and we had all the necessary ingredients (not the optional ones). Only problem was that I had half the amount of powdered sugar needed, so I just halved the recipe. The only adjustment I had to make was to use a bit more milk (I used Silk nog) because the dry ingredients were not moistening all the way, oh, plus I popped it in the microwave because the chocolate wasn't melting all the way. Probably both of those were because of it being a half recipe.
ReplyDeleteAnd the kids *love* it! Even (non-vegan) Zac said, Mom, if you make fudge again, make this kind! And it was super easy and fast, so we weren't up all night doing this.
About chocolate chips--yes, Sunspire makes great vegan chocolate chips. Ghirardelli, however, may be vegan but is not exploitation-free. They could not certify that their chocolate didn't come from the Ivory Coast, where children are taken as slaves (their parents are promised they'll have a "better life") and used to harvest the cacao beans. I don't buy chocolate that may have come from the Ivory Coast anymore, because I wouldn't want my children treated that way, and I don't want any children treated that way. I was told that any chocolate that is Organic is not child-slave-labor chocolate.
You may already know about these, but there are also Whizzers (produced in the UK)which are vegan and wheat/gluten free M&M type things. Yummy. Happy Holidays! Thanks for such a wonderful blog!
ReplyDeleteVegan M&M's!!! You may have just made my son's life!
ReplyDeletei found this fudge to be extremely sweet. how would you adapt it to be more "dark chocolate", more for adults? add more chocolate chips?
ReplyDelete>>how would you adapt it to be more "dark chocolate", more for adults? add more chocolate chips?
ReplyDeleteYes. Also use unsweetened nondairy milk and leave out the optional marshmallow.
Yay! I received your cookbook for Christmas and I am so excited to try out some of the recipes. I've been drooling over the pics for the last year and now I can make some of my own.
ReplyDelete:)
Crystal
My wonderful mom got me your book for Christmas (after I showed her your awesome website).
ReplyDeleteAs a vegan, a registered dietitian, and hopefully one day a mom - I have to say - You ROCK!
Thank you for your inspiration and for being such a great example for all!
Actually...I had never heard of that book before! And it's about blogging, too!
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the happiest places I've come across in blogdom, and I linked it awhile ago. Actually about a year ago. So glad you are still here and making lovely vegan foods. You could work as a food stylist! Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteJust dropping by to say I miss your fantastic lunch ideas, but we all deserve a rest. I hope you have a Happy New Year. I got your book as an early Christmas Present and love it.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
My husband and I love visiting your blog. I stop by often for creative inspiration:). Thank you for sharing your great ideas and recipes. I wish you and yours the very best in 2007.
ReplyDeleteGod Bless,
Celeste (and Noel) Green
I love your site with the enticing photographs. My son and I are attempting the GreatBigVegChallenge which aims to turn him from a veg phobic to a vegetable lover. We are attempting to munch our way through the A to Z of world vegetables - we try out recipes sent by people around the world and blog the results. Please come and visit our site - I would love to have a reciprocal link with vegetarian and vegan bloggers to learn more about cooking vegetables...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.greatbigvegchallenge.blogspot.com
There is another vegan m&m type candy that we get at our local co-op from a company called sunspire. I really like them because they have no refined sugars & the dyes are made from natural vegetable dyes. They even have a peanut & almond one. Yum!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.worldpantry.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce/ExecMacro/nspired/sunspire/home.d2w/report
Hmmm, you might double-check those Sunspire candies. The ones here contain milk powder.
ReplyDeleteGroovy new pic, JenniferShmoo! Got my copy of your cookbook with your autograph. You're a sweetheart for doing that!
ReplyDeleteVery nice!
ReplyDeleteThe jellie treats look like turkish delight. yum (and vegan if traditional).
Some sad news...and some good news...
ReplyDeleteI just called on the Chocolate Lentil M&M's to double check...and they said that they have 2 varieties: plain and mint.
Sad News...
The website says that the plain ones are "parve" which means no dairy.
But when I called, the person I spoke with said that the PLAIN ones are NOT PARVE. Meaning that they have dairy in them. (So this would mean that the website is incorrect in labeling them as "parve".)
Good news...
She said that the MINT variety of Chocolate Lentils ARE "parve" (dairy free.) :-)
They were busy at the time so they didn't tell me what ingredient was in the plain chocolate lentils that made them non-vegan, so someone could follow up another time to find out if they were curious...
I'm totally looking forward to trying the mint chocolate lentils...and will be writing an email to the company to let them know that their website is advertising the plain chocolate lentils as parve (vegan) when it seems as though they actually aren't.
I just called Kopper's Chocolates to verify if the plain and mint lentils were vegan. My family was psyched about the possibility of having them after seeing them on your blog!
ReplyDeleteThe mint ones DO appear to be vegan, as there was no dairy or other animal products in the ingredient list, according to the representative on the phone. Also, they have a matte finish on them so they do not require any kind of glaze to make them shiny.
Unfortunately, any of the shiny lentils, including the rainbow ones seen in this blog post, are NOT vegan! The chocolate is not the problem; it is dairy free. It's the shell that's the problem. The shell on all Kopper's chocolates that are shiny contain bees wax, carnuba wax, and/or confectioner's glaze to make them shiny. The plain rainbow lentils DO contain bees wax, making them a no-no for vegans.
Sorry for the bad news! We were so excited to have an alternative to Whizzers. But hey, at least the mint lentils are vegan.
thank you
ReplyDeletechat sohbet muhabbet