Happy New Year!

The beginning of the year! What does it mean to you? A fresh start? A time to try something new? Get healthier or start a juice cleanse? A great time to try a vegan diet! Also known as Veganuary...

Every January, Vegan guides, plans and recipes are shared so people can try it out! More and more, people are realizing the benefits of a healthy vegan diet (skip the Junk food and french fries friends) and making changes to improve their health which also happens to help animals and the environment too.
Check out why at the Vegan Society

According to Live Kindly, approximately 100,000 people have pledged to go Vegan this month and it keeps growing! What is driving this? I believe it's education and awareness through social media, it is getting easier and easier with more vegan restaurant options, documentaries (thank you netflix) and innovative and exciting new products. Have you tried the Beyond or Impossible burgers or Daiya Jalapeño Havarti? Amazing! For many reasons, going vegan is becoming mainstream. Have you considered or started a vegan diet? If you want to learn more, sign up here. Veganuary Sign Up

Why do you think being vegan is getting more and more mainstream? Have you signed up or do you plan to? Share your experience here...

Bok Choy on a Budget

Pretty impressed I was able to pull off this dinner from what is left in the fridge and pantry on a ---Thursday! Bok choy and 'shrooms go together quite well with garlic, soy sauce, red pepper flakes and some dried ginger!

Artichoke hearts - 3/4 of a jar in the fridge. What to do with those? We were in a restaurant where they were an appetizer on the menu. Bread crumbs, garlic, lemon juice, and some more red pepper flakes yields a delicious result!

No recipe, less than 30 minutes and quite a result! And I promise I'm not biased. This was delicious to all who ate it! All two of us :)

By the way we bought these veggies and more that fed us all week at Trader Joes for under $30! They have the best prices around although I hear there is an Asian market nearby that can beat those prices! I have to check it out.

Check out Rich Roll on youtube! He has a video that shows you how you can buy a good amount of vegetables for less than $25 at Trader Joe's!

https://m.youtube.com/user/richroll66

Autumn Wine Tasting and Plant Based Food Pairing

On this lovely, blustery fall day, we were lucky to gather with some of our closest friends and family to enjoy an afternoon of wine tasting and food pairing.

See the menu here...all plant based!

I didn't even think of it being vegan, but it was! Everything was delicious, in my opinion. Others said they liked it too and even asked for the recipes....It was great to see what pairs really well with the foods we love...

Menu
Bruschetta with artichokes and sundried tomatoes
Creamy Butternut Squash Soup Shots
Risotto StuffedMushrooms
Roasted Fall Vegetables
Chocolate Ganache Cake
And
WINE!!!!

All the recipes or sources are here:

Focaccia with red onion and artichokes (sans cheese)
http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipe/artichoke-and-sun-dried-tomato-focaccia/

Soup-Pumpkin - Veganized by exchanging almond milk for dairy etc...
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/11/pumpkin-soup/

Roasted Butternut squash, Roasted fall veggies
Ordered from a nearby market - Brick Farm Market in Hopewell, NJ

Risotto stuffed mushrooms
http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipe/risotto-stuffed-mushrooms/

Chocolate ganache cake (Vegan) from Whole Foods