I can’t deny that I have been neglecting my blog in 2015. Here’s what has been going on:
– In December, I got a new, full-time job. Which is great! As much as I loved dropping everything and moving to Australia, it took a serious toll on my finances. So did the two moves in less than 12 months and the tempting I did August-December. So yeah to paychecks again!!! Unfortunately, with a new job comes a new schedule and an adjustment period. I have been working lots of hours to try and get up to speed with my co-workers and to earn my keep. There has been more than one night where I’ve come home at 8, had a cup of tea and a bowl of popcorn for dinner, and passed out at 9:30. As you can imagine, that not only makes me incredibly boring but it doesn’t leave a ton of time for new recipes. Unless you want a recipe for making peppermint tea and stove top popcorn. Cause I am ALL over that!
– In January, I started the Tone It Up plan, which I am loving! You can follow the link to read more about it if you are interested. Since I was making next to nothing Aug-Dec and still having to pay rent and bills, I was eating really, really poorly. I was eating a lot of free food that was available at my temp job which means I wasn’t hesitating to have pizza for lunch two days in a row. Hey! I mean, take the cheese off and that’s a free meal right there! So, once I got hired full-time in December and started receiving real, grown-up paychecks again, I decided to crack down and start eating better. The problem with this is, though I make all my own food for the Tone It Up plan, about 90% of it is from their nutrition plan, which is all under copy right. Not super helpful for a food blogger!
Despite these set backs, now that I am a bit more settled into the new job and the new plan, I am able to work out some wiggle room for recipes for the blog. I am hoping to start posting again in the next week or so. The recipes may be a little slower coming as I get settled into my job and they may be a bit more healthy but they are on their way.
Until then, here is a Valentine’s Day Round-Up for you. I’ve added to last years since I made some super fun things while in Aussie.
Tofu Mango Summer Rolls (as Boston is currently buried under a million feet of snow, give or take, I couldn’t resist adding these as a nice alternative to soups and stews. They are also a fun “Make Your Own” if you and your significant other like different things)
I want to eat ALL of these desserts. Instead, I am currently eating grapefruit. If you want to see more of what I am eating which is all vegan and Tone It Up approved, you can check out my instagram account, tiu_wickedvegan. Part of the plan is you check in regularly so be prepared for A LOT of food pics. You’ve been warned.
2. Two Girls advertised on Craig’s List for “Fall Boyfriends”. Highlights include “2 males interested in something steady/serious-ish…Interested parties should have a window in their bedroom and want to cuddle with the window slightly open to let the fresh autumn air in while a fall scented candle (that I’ll buy for you, babe) fills the room with cozy comfort”. Click here to read the whole thing. Aside from the fact that they are looking for a very specific type of dude I would never date (“Def in a frat or played a sport”), they are sort of geniuses. Why didn’t I think of this?? And is it too late to start taking applications???
3. This amazing sign my roommate emailed me. I think she found it on Reddit so my apologies for not having the source.
4. THIS SCORE! This first game score. Are we serious with this Dolphin victory? The only team I route for above the Pats are the Dolphins so I was pretty pumped they were starting the season with such a solid victory. We’ll see how the rest of the season goes.
5. Pumpkin baked goods. ALL the baked pumpkin baked goods. I just…want them all. This is insane because for some reason, I am not in the fall mood at all. I mean, usually by September 12, I have my Halloween costume at least picked out. For whatever reason, though, this year I am reluctant to embrace it. Apparently pumpkin-flavored muffins and breads and cookies and bagels…and yeah…they don’t fall into that category. I will try and not post pumpkin things until it’s at least officially Autumn but I can’t make any promises.
I hope everyone has an excellent weekend! Recipes will return next week 🙂
This is one of my more lengthy Travel Tuesday posts. I usually like my pictures to do the talking in these but so much of my experience with the Gold Coast was the people and the stories that I have to share it in text. I’ll try to throw some pretty pictures in there to break it up.
A view overlooking Brisbane, on our way out
In my last Travel Tuesday post, I talked about the short two-day trip I took to Fraser Island immediately after a week at the Sunshine Coast. After my Fraser Island trip, I was dropped off in Brisbane and was planning on heading back to Toowoomba the next day after a day in Brisbane doing city things. One of the hardest parts about moving to Toowoomba from Boston is how much I missed the city sometimes. Giving up constantly having places to go, things to see and restaurants/cafes/shops to explore was an adjustment. Toowoomba isn’t small but it definitely isn’t the New England city I was used to. So I figured I would crash in Brisbane for the night, do some exploring during the day and head back to Toowoomba that evening.
Tony’s Mom on her land, helping to clean it up
While in Brisbane, I had booked a cheap hostel less than a mile from the train station but my boss assured me I could stay at her practice for the evening. Free room and board? Yes please! She is a midwife and has a practice “not too far from the train station” she said. Unfortunately, I had done a crap job at packing (not surprising) and had taken most of my weeks worth of stuff from Sunshine Coast with me to Fraser Island. Which means, I was lugging it around with me in Brisbane as I hunted down my bed for the evening. 3 miles later, with a giant back pack on my back (and no, not the back packing ones. I’m talking about an overstuffed laptop bag, with my circa 2008 Macbook, and my teddy bear sticking out) and a tiny rolling bag, I found myself standing in the middle of a road, at night, with the name I was looking for but with numbers that weren’t going low enough. Turns out, I had to go across the street and go behind this little wall thing and the street continued.
The View. Those tall buildings are the Gold Coast
That obstacle tackled, I got into the practice no problem and plopped down on the bedroom to unwind before bed . An hour or so later, after going to the bathroom and planning on calling it a night, the alarm for the practice started going off. At first, I didn’t realize it was coming from my place because, well, I had been there for an hour or two. Then, my brain did the most logical thing and jumped to every single episode of Law and Order: SVU that I had seen where there was a single white girl alone in a new place where she is attacked (so like, 50% of them?). As I was creeping about this place, I was relieved to find it empty but at this point the sirens were loud and I couldn’t figure out what to do! I opened the door to see if something had triggered it and found the neighbors crowded around. Yeap, the American is making a scene! But because they were Aussies they weren’t nearly as disgruntled as Bostonians would have been and kindly came inside to help disarm the alarm. During this time, I was frantically calling my boss, who had no idea what to do, so put me through to Sharon, one of the midwives who worked regularly at this practice. She walked me through disarming the alarm and when silence descended, finally, I found myself alone with two older middle-aged men, one who was in something that vaguely resembled a white bathrobe. Again, cue the SVU panic.
Shore where we docked the boat to the untouristy beach
Thankfully, they were incredibly nice and immediately exited the facility. And I was now in contact with Sharon, who was coming to the practice tomorrow and offered to let me stay with her when she returned for the weekend to the Gold Coast. I was hesitant at first but isn’t this what traveling is for? The next morning, she arrived with a Starbucks for me and I knew it was a sign from above. So off I went to the Gold Coast!
Look how quiet the beach is! Locals know the best spots
So, I’m not sure if I mentioned this previously, but I did zero research for my stay in Australia. I’m talking, nothing. As someone who obsessively makes lists (and leaves them in purses, pant pockets, jacket pockets, books, magazines, on the fridge….), the little planning I did for this vacation is astonishing and speaks volumes to my need to get out of Boston for a while. With that said, I knew nothing about the Gold Coast and let Sharon and her husband, Tony, show me whatever they wanted. I pretty much just tagged along with them for a few days. We hung out with Tony’s mom and saw her land with a beautiful view then went shopping and had coffee with her. I had dinner with Tony’s family, all who were incredibly welcoming and tolerant of a random American with weird food issues crashing their party. I went to an untouristy little beach via boat where Tony surfed, Sharon swam and I prayed not to get a sun burn (she did eventually get me in the water). I learned that the sand on this beach was a lot softer then in the states and walking on it was the most intense work-out my calves had ever experienced. I had Easter dinner with Sharon and Tony’s parents and siblings and helped make this tomato salad. I embarrassed myself immensely by taking it upon myself to organize their 500+ DVD collection. I spread out across the living room and attempted to find cases for all the loose DVDs, then divided them into kids and adults, then sorted them all alphabetically. I wish I was kidding. I’m not. It took me two nights and in the end, I never found the Man of Steel DVD that started the whole thing. Sharon found me very amusing and told me I was welcome back to organize whatever I wanted. 🙂 Sharon and I also took an ocean side hike, which had both amazing views and crazy vegetation. Then she was a saint and took me to Starbucks (yes!) and Lush (YES!!) before bringing me back to Brisbane to catch a bus back to Toowoomba.
no tourists means I could finally get some whole shells which I had been looking for. There were none at Bondi Beach or Sunshine Coast- too many people
Sharon made me soy cappuccinos with little milk hearts twice while I was there. I’m trying to remember why I left…
Views from our ocean-side hike
ocean-side hike
I was overwhelmed by the kindness that Sharon and Tony showed me and had such an amazing time! They lived right on the water. I would wake up in the morning and sit on her porch and just relax. If I ever move to Aussie, I’m finding a house right next to Sharon and Tony’s and cooking for them every night as a huge ‘Thank You’.
Here we go! The winner of Seriously Delish by Jessica Merchant is:
Sue Derosiers! Congrats, Sue. You don’t have an email linked to your info so please shoot me an email at wickedveganblog@gmail.com and I’ll get all your info. Congratulations again!! 🙂
Coming up this week is a new Travel Tuesday for the Gold Coast and Cold-Brew coffee. Stay tuned!
First off, thank you for those who have been continuing to check in here every once in a while. I can see that I have had a steady stream of people checking up on Wicked Vegan and that makes me so happy! I am sorry I haven’t been updating! But let me fill you in on what has been going on.
I won’t go into too many details about my Aussie travels. I love doing my Travel Tuesday posts so I hope to restart that tomorrow. I don’t have too many trips left but I feel like I should wrap up my travels.
I ended up leaving Australia at the beginning of July and flew into California to see my old roommate and friend, Ashley. I had never been to Cali so I thought this would be a great opportunity. Plus, you know, I was just REALLY dragging my feet on entering the real world. Like, REEEEALLY. Responsibilities and bills and moving and just…nah, I’ll pass! So, clearly, the best place to go when you are avoiding being a grown up is Disneyland. I was only in California for three and a half days and you can bet your ass I spent one of those in Disney! I’ll do a whole Cali update eventually but I can tell you that I ate more In and Out then should be allowed by law and I spent so long in Disney, over 14 hours, that I almost had to be dragged out of the park cause my feet hurt so bad. It was an awesome trip, clearly!
Then I spent a little bit of time in Connecticut, reconnecting with my family and old friends and getting used to the US again. Driving on the US-side of the road again? Still not used to it. Oh, and applying for jobs. Which was not fun.
A rare sighting of The Brother. He came to visit for our Christmas in July celebration and got cozy with my guitar
Then, it was back to Boston. Way back in August of 2013, I had moved to a new apartment thinking ‘yeah! when I move back from Australia it’ll be a fresh start with fun new roomies!’ Except, then I stayed three months longer and my landlord skyrocketed the rent. So, instead it was, ‘Yeah! now I have to re-move all my stuff out that I sort of just moved into this place I never lived in’ and ‘yeah! driving a ginormous van around Boston’s tiny streets” and ‘good-bye all my furniture because it can’t fit into my tiny new place.’ It was a rough welcome back but I’m moving in with my longtime friend and former roommate so it worked out! We actually just spent the day attempting to rid our place of that standard apartment color. You know what I mean. The we-are-trying-to-be-cheerful-but-non-offensive yellow-y beige, mixed with grime from other residents. Not anymore, though! woohoo!!
oh yeah, the van was big AND it was raining while we were packing. We were all just so cheery that day. Ha!
And in addition to the moving and getting settled in, I have been temping and working part time slinging coffee. SO, it’s been a very, very crazy month back BUT, I think I’m ready to get Wicked Vegan up and running again! I can’t promise I will be posting super regularly what with the juggling two part time gigs and job interviewing but I can tell you I have some fun recipes planned and a super awesome give away coming up! So stay tuned!! 🙂
Oh, and I also dogsat for this adorable nugget this month. Don’t you just want to cuddle him?? Ok, I think ending on a cute dog pic is really the best way to go. Fraser Island trip will be up tomorrow!
Last week I was on fire! I had a breakfast, Travel Tuesday, Lunch and had dessert plannd. That is what I want every week to look like!
But, then the house got a new router. And my Macbook HATES it. Like, with the fire of a thousand suns. I turn it on and it freezes after about a minute. We’ve rebooted the router, we’ve messed with my Macbook, I’ve sacrificed small children to the computer Gods but nothing works. Ironically, I can get free wifi at McDonalds though *groan*
So, to spare myself any unnecessary trips to Maccas (Aussie slang for McDonalds. They crack up when I try to pronounce it), I’m just going to go on a bit of a hiatus until things get worked out, which hopefully won’t be for too long.
If you have any recommendations on fixing issues with a Macbook and a Billion router, email me. If your suggestion works, I’ll shower you with an uncomfortable amount of gratitude.
Thank you for your patience and hopefully you will hear from me soon!
So, I did some more traveling. Finally! I went to the Sunshine Coast with the kids I nanny for and their mom over the kids’ April vacation. She had to work, the kids and I had no plans so we just hung around- beachside. It was fun. I didn’t do too much exploring down there because I didn’t have a car but I walked down to the Maroochydore Esplanade (they had starbucks and vegan fro-yo. Life made) and made it out to the Australian Zoo and Currimundi Beach.
Note: My camera had a terrible crash at Bundi beach back in December and it just hasn’t been the same since. Just a wee bit fuzzier then I like. I think I need a new lens 😦 😦 Also, some of these are off an old Samsung phone. Moral of the story- These pictures aren’t the best but I’m trying not to obsess over them. Trying be the key word.
Beach time and Maroochydore Esplanade walk:
I built a sandman! Think more Frozen “Do you want to build a snowman?!” and less Metallica
Vegan lunch one day at Raw Energy. I ordered the Mexican Roll Up with no sour cream. Yum!
and followed it up with some Soy Chocolate Fro-yo at Yogurt Land. I was SO happy about this.
Australian Zoo:
Perentie, Australia’s Largest Lizard
AHH!! Crocodiles!!
Cassowary
and more koalas!
Robert Irwin picking up a little croc. He’s only 10!
Kangaroo just chillin’
aww, cute baby giraffe…
and baby tiger!
and, last for the Sunshine Coast, Currimundi Beach:
Currimundi had beaches…
…and a shallow lake area
We saw this randomly at a little airport. I don’t know anything about planes but I know that I sort of love this one!
I’m here for a week with the mom and the kids then I’m off to spend a few days at Fraser Island. I will be back in action around Easter with new recipes and new Travel Tuesdays.
If I don’t talk to you before Easter, have a great holiday!
Since I moved to Australia, I’ve gotten totally hooked on the Big Bang Theory. It was one of the few US shows that was played regularly when I got here and it reminded me of home. I won’t even tell you how little time it took me to get through all the seasons. It’s embarrassing. Anyway, when I heard Mayim Bialik (aka Amy Farrah Fowler from BBT) had released a vegan cookbook, Mayim’s Vegan Table, I was so excited!
As I mentioned in my Touching Base post last week, I really wanted to make sure that I gave Bialik’s book a good look through and tested recipes before giving it a review. I didn’t want to just post a recipe given to me and tell you to go buy the book because it’s an actress I like. It took a little bit of time but I’ve read the book cover to cover, made some of the recipes, tested it on the kids I nanny for and feel I can give it a good shake. So, let’s do this thing!
Hot Pretzel Challah Bread. Recipe Below!
Overview and Pros:
Bialik co-wrote the book with Dr. Jay Gordon, a California-based pediatrician and pediatric nutritionist, and their goal in writing the book was to present “fun foods- foods that can please finicky toddler palates, and a lifestyle that is not expensive, time consuming, or only available if there are vegan restaurants”.
The book definitely met this goal. It starts with an introduction of the vegan diet, breaking down what vegans eliminate from their diet, why and what they can replace these foods with. This section is organized, concise and approachable and manages to avoid getting preachy. It also presents ideas on what to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner, which is super helpful if you don’t know where to start. Dr. Gordon also includes tips throughout this section on how to talk to your kids about eating well, cutting out french fries, etc.
The recipes that the duo present include everything from breakfast favorites to entrees, to dessert. The bulk of the recipes are family staples that kids already love- french toast, mac and cheese, baked ziti and cookies. There are new recipes, like zucchini pie and a sushi bowl, and a number of Jewish staples, like Matzoh Ball soup, Challah Bread and Rugelach.
The book also contains pantry staples, Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen shopping lists and a list of calcium rich foods, all helpful for new vegans.
The two authors also stress a relaxed approach to a vegan lifestyle, suggesting gradual changes and slow switches. They aren’t making outrageous promises of bodily nirvana if you give up meat and dairy. This is a refreshing, realistic approach that I think most families can appreciate and introduce into their lifestyle, even in small ways.
French toast (I used some homemade sourdough bread) with a side of fruit.
Cons:
The downside is the book has some recipes that lean heavily on vegan substitutes, such as vegan cheese, vegan sour cream, vegan yogurt, etc. As someone who has done the transition from vegetarian to vegan, I know these can be a great crutch. They can also be hard to find! In Australia, I have yet to find a vegan cheese. So, forget about anything more unusual, like vegan sour cream! I’m not even sure I saw that in stores in the states, outside an odd Whole Foods or so. I’m concerned that the lack of availability may turn people off to some of these recipes, such as the Mac and Cheese. I would have liked to have seen some suggestions on what to use if shredded vegan cheese couldn’t be found. Is there a substitution? Maybe a homemade cheese sauce? The Raw Nut Cheese recipe that was included as a substitute for ricotta is a great start but, as someone without access to any vegan substitutes, I would have liked to see more.
Also, the cookbook tends to lack stories from the authors. I don’t have any of my cookbooks here in Australia to quote but I know one of my favorites, Peas and Thank You by Sarah Matheny, another family vegan cookbook, has almost a full page story before each recipe. Definitely not the norm, but very entertaining! I think even Alicia Silverstone’s cookbook, A Kind Diet, included various stories such as heading to the rain forest with Woody Harrelson. These stories elevate a cookbook by making it more memorable and interesting. As a celebrity, I understand and respect that need for boundaries but I would have liked to get a little bit more of a glimpse into her personality, her life and hear stories from her kitchen.
Kneaded Pretzel Bread, before it started rising
Recipe Review:
Now, let’s get down to the recipes! After all, that’s what matters, right?? In the reviewing process, I chose 4 random recipes to review as well as the 5th one which I get to share with you. I made: Rainbow Smoothie, Udon with Edamame and Peanut Sauce, Bev’s Banana Bread, Hot Pretzel Challah Bread (which I will be including below) and Cocoa Brownies. Most of these came out amazing!
I am obsessed with the Udon noodle recipe and the Pretzel bread. I hid the Udon noodles so that I wouldn’t have to share them with the kids. True story.
The banana bread also went like crazy. When I saw the 13 year old carve off another huge piece, I actually had to pause and remind myself, he doesn’t even like bananas! It was gone within a day.
The greatest success, though, was the rainbow smoothies. It started a huge smoothie revolution in the house. During the afternoon, I’ll make up smoothie packets for each of the kids and freeze them. When the kids come home from school, I just throw the contents of the packet into the blender with some liquid, blend it all up and serve it with sliced up veggies. It has replaced the single fruit/cookie snack which was the norm. Even Liz, my boss, has gotten in on it!
Thumbs up from the boys for the Rainbow Smoothie
The cocoa brownie was the only recipe I had difficulties with. They just didn’t seem to solidify enough! They tasted good but were definitely an ‘at home’ treat. I had to chill them to get them solid so I wouldn’t recommend sending them to school in a lunch box or bringing them to a party. I felt they were too gooey. This was truly the one hiccup I found in the recipe portion of the book. We loved the rest of the recipes!
Here is the recipe for the Hot Pretzel Challah bread that I am allowed to share with you. I am so in love with this bread. I still have some in the fridge and am dreaming of it slathered with jam for breakfast.
Hot Pretzel Challah Bread From Mayim’s Vegan Table by Mayim Bialik and Dr. Jay Gordon Published with permission from Da Capo Press / Da Capo Lifelong Books
Makes 2 Loaves Challach; Serves 8
Challah is the traditional braided Jewish bread served on the Sabbath and Holy Days. It is known for it’s crusty exterior and soft and slightly sweet inside.
A vegan company in Los Angeles makes a pretzel challah that is not only crusty on the outside, but tastes like the best soft pretzel ever. This recipe takes a little bit of work to get the crust just right, but it will not disappoint! It’s best eaten warm on the day it’s made, as the outer crust can get hard the next day. Dip in pretzel salt or kosher salt and add sesame seeds, if you like. Serve with mustard.
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
6 teaspoons sugar
1/4 cup lukewarm water
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 cup canola oil, plus more for bowl
3 cups bread flour
2/3 cup baking soda
salt or sesame seeds, for sprinkling
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium glass bowl or measuring cup, combine the yeast, 1 1/2 teaspoons of the sugar, and the lukewarm water. Leave for 10 minutes, or until foamy.
2. Meanwhile, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, on medium-low speed, mix the remaining 4 1/2 teaspoons of sugar, 1 cup of water, and the kosher salt and oil. (This also can be done by hand with a whisk.)
3. Add the yeast mixture to the mixing bowl, beating well. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour. Raise the speed to medium and knead for 4 to 5 minutes, until smooth, satiny dough forms. It will have almost a matte finish (see picture at the beginning of the Recipe Review section). If you are kneading in the flour by hand, it may take a few minutes longer to get a good, smooth texture.* Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a clean dish towel and allow the dough to rise in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours, or until double in size.
*Wicked Vegan Note: If you are making this by hand, add the yeast mixture into your sugar/water/salt/oil mixture and continue to whisk until while combined. Set aside these wet ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, add the 3 cups of bread flour. Make a little crater or well in the center of the flour. Pour your wet ingredients into the crater. Begin to fold your dry ingredients into your wet ingredients using a wooden spoon or your hands (I used my hands). Keep gently folding the ingredients together until you have formed a dough ball. Once your ingredients are all together, take the dough out of the bowl and begin to knead the dough on a clean, floured surface. Mine still took about 5 minutes to reach the satiny dough form that Bialik mentions. Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a clean dish towel and allow the dough to rise in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours, or until double in size.
4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
5. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. If the dough is sticky, knead in more flour, a little bit at a time, until the dough is easy to roll. Divide the dough into six equal balls and roll each into a long strand. Braid the three strands of dough into a challah for a total of two challahs. (Wicked Vegan note: This is going to seem silly to mention but each strand should be about the size of your baking sheet. I got a little overzealous with my first loaf and it was too long for my back sheet. It ended up being more snake-like then braid-like. This also made the next step more difficult. So, reign in your enthusiasm for the strand making and keep them in proportion to your baking sheet.)
6. Bring 8 cups of water and the baking soda to a boil in a pot with a wide opening. Gently and carefully, lower a challah into the baking soda solution. Using two wooden spoons or spatulas, carefully turn the challah so both sides get equally covered in the water, or bathe the top with spoonfuls of the solution. Remove after 30 seconds and place back on the parchment-lined pan. Repeat with the other challah.
7. Brush the top of each challah with some water from the pot and then top with salt or sesame seeds (Wicked vegan note: I hate pretzel salt so I just lightly sprinkled table salt on top and it was perfect)
8. Bake for 30 minute, or until starting to brown. (Wicked vegan note: my cook time only took 15 minutes so watch your bread closely)
As soon as I pulled these out of the oven, the first loaf went in under 10 minutes. I acutally had to hide the second loaf so that I would have something to photograph in the morning! It was so, so good! I’ve been on a big bread making kick and I suspect this will be made again…like, this afternoon! The kids loved it too. It works great as a morning snack with some fruit.
Overall, I think Mayim’s Vegan Table is a good family, vegan cookbook for beginners. It is a well-organized, no nonsense cookbook which has a variety of recipes that will satisfy everyones taste buds from kids to adults. After testing a number of recipes, I would recommend it for those thinking of experimenting or switching to a vegan diet. Trust me, one bite of this pretzel bread and you will be agreeing with me!
Hello, Everyone!! I just wanted to touch base about a few things that are coming up this week. I hope you all had a great St. Patty’s and are powering through those hang overs.
First up, I got 3 times the amount of views Sunday and Monday because of St. Patty’s Day. If you came and checked out the site or recommended Wicked Vegan along the way, I thank you!
If you came this weekend to check out Wicked Vegan and are coming back for more, I doubly thank you! I promise I’m not normally quite so quiet.
Which brings you to my second point- I haven’t been posting a lot of recipes lately because I am reviewing a cookbook which I hope to have up in the coming days, which I can’t wait to show you! If I am putting my name to something, I take it very seriously. I always look at celebrities who hawk hair products and make-up with severe skepticism because you know good and well they aren’t using that cheap crap they sell at Wal-mart! Their foundation is probably 3 times the cost of that stuff and made from baby’s tears or something.
With that said, before recommending a cookbook, I want to make sure that I have tried some of the recipes so I have a fair assessment of the book. I know everyone has a thousand different things they could be spending their money on so I want to make sure I’m as honest as possible.
Because of this, most of my energy, money and funds has been going toward the recipe in this book. As always, there is only little ol’ me eating the food on this blog so if I’m making recipes out of this cookbook, chances are I’m not also making completely separate items for here. It’s just the way it works, which is why I don’t review cookbooks often.
So, with that in mind, thank you again for reading Wicked Vegan. I love my little blog and I love when it gets some attention. And tune in later in the week for the review if you are looking for a new cookbook. Cheers!
wickedvegan.com 
