Nada Moo – When Having a Cow is Out of the Question!

Don’t you love it! Nada Moo is an Austin based vegan ice cream maker on it’s way to going national, mostly via Whole Foods. More on it in a minute, but first can I just reiterate how cool my city is? After a horrible start to the weekend – Chase’s car getting hit, his third time to be a victim of hit and run (I know, totally uncool), and my car having a dead battery – I had the best time on Saturday.

While my dad fixed my car, my mom and I headed out for a trip to the Farmers Market and Whole Foods. The Farmers Market was celebrating its 10th birthday. I learned earlier in the week that it’s ranked in the top ten in the country! The founder and director moved here from Hollywood where she used to hang out with star kids and babysit Charlie Sheen. She also had an organic produce company and sold her goods to top chefs including Wolfgang Puck and Roy Yamaguchi. Last year the market grossed $2 million, and it’s only open on Saturdays! On this Saturday, local chefs set up and served samples from their restaurants. The Lake Austin Spa chef was serving an awesome Tomato Peach Gazpacho, but sadly he wasn’t handing out his recipe. I picked out just a few things, a giant zucchini, blueberries, a beautiful sunny delight squash, and carrots with extra long tops for Smokey.





Next stop Whole Foods. They were having a peach festival and there were samples all over the place. One thing I wanted to get was vegan ice cream cones, which I found. I also got the perfect take-to-class bar for Chase and this awesome peach sauce.

The peach sauce is local and fabulous, but for $5.69 a bottle, I’m sure a homemade version would be just as good. The ingredients are simply peaches, sugar, and almond extract. The peach sauce was served with Nada Moo vanilla.

Nada Moo ice cream is so incredibly good. Why? The base is coconut milk. They have a website, but they were passing out these cards so I shot pics of it to show you their information.

I hope you don’t have to wait too long to try it because you are truly missing out on some seriously good eats!


Later in the day I took to Chase to shop at the Asian market. I picked up this huge bunch of asparagus. The beans shown with it are from the farmers market. They are my favorite green bean – scarlet runner beans. I don’t see them here very often so I was thrilled to find them.

Later we stopped at Bombay Express and I got this grilled veggie sandwich.

You can’t really tell, but it’s got three pieces of bread, which to me makes it a bread sandwich. One half had onions and peppers and the other half had potatoes. The green sauce must have been jalapeno because it seemed really hot, even for me! I took off one piece of bread and added a Southwest burger, then I had a great sandwich.

I’m looking forward to finally having a grilled dinner tonight. I hope you all have a fantastic Sunday!

Super Slaw, Yummy Raw, Roasted Cabbage, and Muffins

This Chickpea Slaw is fantastic.




Put into a large bowl 1½ cups broccoli slaw (or cabbage), ½ cup grated carrots, some sundried tomatoes, chopped fresh tomato, 1 can chickpeas, one diced avocado, and some chopped fresh chives. Add a tablespoon or two of olive oil and some salt and pepper and mix altogether. It’s definitely the avocado that makes this slaw so good.


I’m always up for a new way to enjoy broccoli, so I had to give Kati’s raw broccoli a try.

I let it marinate for about three hours and had it for dinner after yoga class. Give it a try – it’s great! I ate it plain, but thought about adding it to a salad.


Raw Banana Ice Cream Treat – not too pretty, but delicious and satisfying.

One frozen banana, ¼ cup oats, a few chopped dates, raw pistachios (my new favorite snack), and raw chocolate nibs. I’ve discovered I don’t need to cook oats anymore. I just let them soak a few seconds in rice milk or the juice of my chopped fruits, and I can get my “cereal before bed” fix. It’s like the opposite of the beer commercial – “Less taste, more filling.”

I found a recipe on the net for Roasted Cabbage.

Apparently it was in Martha’s Everyday Food magazine. I roasted some mushrooms with it. It would probably look better with green cabbage, but I love purple and always buy it instead. Before roasting it’s tossed with some olive oil, salt, and pepper, and after roasting, with some balsamic vinegar. I ate it, but I’m not sure how much I liked it. It was in the oven almost an hour and really not worth that much time. Maybe some of you could give it a better flavor and enjoy it.

I also made some Banana and Dried Plum Muffins.

That’s right – I like prunes! When is the last time you had prunes? Do you like them too? I made this batch low fat and low sugar, but I also used gluten free flour mix, and I wasn’t thrilled with the texture. I’ll try it again with whole wheat pastry flour and if it turns out better, I’ll post the recipe.


My second yoga class was better. I didn’t fidget, but I still have trouble letting go at the end of class. See, I never sit at home, unless it’s here at the computer. I always figure there’s something I should be up and doing. That’s why I never watch shows on tv or go to movies. I think it’s great when other people enjoy them. It just seems like a waste of time for me, unless it’s informational like news, health, food, travel. Anyway, when I got bored with relaxing at the end of class, I started to think about what to have for dinner when I got home. I thought of broccoli. A big hunk of broccoli. A hunka chunka broccoli. “A hunka chunka broccoli” played over and over in my head. I have never said that before in my life! My head must be a real mess. (Amey, I think I need help!) I appreciate all of you sharing your yoga experiences and giving me encouragement.

Another Indian Meal and First Yoga Class

Sorry it’s Indian food again, but I promise they aren’t repeats!

As of the last post, Chase and I were in for a long, miserable weekend. He had no a/c in his apartment and his car was in the shop. We got the car back Sunday afternoon and the air conditioning was fixed on Monday evening. Chase and Smokey both came over to stay with me as long as they needed. I made Smokey a place in a bedroom closet. Chase read his textbook to him while I started our Indian dinner.








It was 94 degrees out. We were hot, hungry, tired, and short on time since we didn’t get Chase’s car picked up until around 4:00. I looked through my cookbooks for dishes to fix that required few ingredients and little prep time. I liked most of what I picked out. Chase loved everything and ate like a champ. The entrée was Madhur Jaffrey’s Aloo Gobi. And just like Bazu said, no onions or garlic in this dish.

For the sides, Indian Veggie Salad from Vegetarian Cuisine from South India – carrots, cucumber, tomatoes, corn, and green pepper, and all the usual spices. This would have been great if the bell pepper hadn’t been bitter. I added balsamic vinegar to the leftovers to made them edible.

Tomato Rice with Spinach from Rice and Spice – Basmati rice with diced tomatoes, onions, and fresh spinach – very yummy.

Peas Poriyal from Vegetarian Cuisine from South India – “Poriyal” is a dry curry, so this is just peas, spices, and toasted coconut. This dish was nice on its own, and really good when eaten with the aloo gobi and rice.

We also got some naan bread from “Curry in a Hurry.”

I must admit dessert was my favorite part of this meal – Oatmeal-Peanut Bars from Peanut Butter Planet. I had leftover ground chocolate chips to sprinkle on top.

These bars were moist and peanutty, and if I had made a nice chocolate glaze for the top, they would have been perfection.

Finally, I have to tell you that I had my first yoga class Monday night! I was really looking forward to it after my not so productive or relaxing weekend. I absolutely loved it. I’m taking the Beginner’s Series, and I’ll be going on Monday and Wednesday nights for 4 weeks. I’m still going to my trainer on Tuesday evenings too. At Monday’s class I learned that I am a very tense person and my sister may be right when she says I have ADD. I have such trouble being still. When learning poses, I would get bored and begin to fidget because I was ready to move on. I got really mad at the end of class when we were supposed to be totally relaxed and I realized how tense my face was. I was mad that I had to be told to relax my jaws and my eyes, because I thought they were relaxed. I began to think about all the things I needed to do when I got home at 9:30. I was finally able to relax again, and I promise you I felt my sinuses drain out of their cavities and what seemed like out of the back of my head and right onto the mat. But then I got in traffic on the way home and I was all tense again.

I’m not quite adjusted to getting home late Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. I promise to visit you all soon!

Namaste.

Salad Daze

This cold salad meal turned out to be the correct call Friday night when Chase found himself without air conditioning in his new apartment. He couldn’t leave Smokey and come over, so I took a sampling of these delicious salads to him. I’ve included my recipes, but they are perfectly suited to adapting to your own tastes. I made them a day ahead and let them sit overnight for maximum flavor.

Sesame Ginger Slaw. This slaw is so easy to put together using store bought ingredients.




Mix together one package broccoli slaw, ½ cup alfalfa sprouts, a handful of grapes, and ¼ cup Litehouse Sesame Ginger Dressing (which as best I can determine is vegan).


Millet Salad. The was my favorite. The key to this flavorful salad is to toast the millet before cooking it in vegetable broth.

Mix together 1 cup cooked and cooled millet, 1 or 2 Roma tomatoes, ½ cup fresh greens, and ¼ cup chopped onion. Make a dressing of equal amounts of lemon juice and olive oil (I used 1 tablespoon), and a pinch of salt, and pour over the millet mixture. Top with mashed avocado (or sliced, if yours isn’t too mushy!) and serve over a bed of more greens. I think some olives and tofu feta would be a nice addition. Quinoa instead of millet would work well too.


3 Bean Salad. Another simple recipe that is so filling and flavorful.

Mix together ½ pound steamed green beans, 1 can red beans, 1 can chickpeas, chopped onion, and fresh parsley. Make a dressing of 1-1/2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, 2 teaspoons agave nectar, salt and pepper and pour over beans. Serve chilled.


Tofu Salad . Everyone has their own favorite version of this one. Chase and I don’t like celery or mayo, so here’s my spicy version.

Mix together 1 pound crumbled firm tofu, 4 or 5 chopped green onions, and ½ cup grated carrots. For the dressing I mixed together approximately 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, 1 teaspoon wasabi mustard, 2 tablespoons tahini, 1 tablespoon cider vinegar, salt, and black and crushed red pepper. Serve on bread with lettuce, tomatoes, etc.

I made these into sandwiches on whole grain buns, then made my delivery.

It was 90 degrees today, but Chase’s balcony was nice and cool with a pleasant breeze. Smokey has spent plenty of time out there too. I came home and made myself a salad plate.

Here’s one more salad for you to try. Raw Tabbouleh from Dr. Stonielove. This is seriously good and lends itself to lots of variations as well. I added carrots, and later added cilantro and used it as a green salad topping.

We’re up early this morning for repair work on Chase’s car. Hopefully his apartment a/c will be fixed sometime today. Things aren’t going so well for him, huh? I’ll have to come up with a great Sunday dinner to cheer him up.

Stay cool!

100th Post! A Memorable Memorial Day

Memorial Day in Austin is a day of rain. It ALWAYS rains on Memorial Day here. At 6:00 a.m. the storms began and my power went off. By 10:00 a.m. we had 2 inches of rain. It has rained every day for the past six days, over 7 inches this month. My yard can’t hold any more water!







Memorial Day 1981 was one of our worst floods. 10 inches of rain fell in four hours. Shoal Creek, which runs from midtown to downtown and normally flows at 90 gallons per minute, peaked at 6 million gallons per minute. Needless to say it overflowed its banks. 500 cars were swept into the creek, 13 people died, and there was $36 million in property damages. One of the hardest hit was Whole Foods. It was just a small storefront and completely ruined. Mr. Mackey and friends were going to have to give up their dream, but the community rallied and private donations rebuilt the little hippy store with great produce we had come to love. The rest, as they say, is history.





The plan for this Memorial Day was to pick up Chase in the morning at his new apartment, assess what furnishings he needs, then shop at IKEA. And then while Chase put his new things together, I would fix a dinner to celebrate his new apartment and my 100th post.

Well, we couldn’t get out in the morning storms, so I ruined a cake while waiting for the rain to stop. (My sister had a hard time on her flight home.) The rain finally stopped at noon. First stop, Chase’s apartment. Here’s the view from his balcony.

He just loves his new place. He also loves his laundry room.

It’s his new pet rabbit, Smokey!

Shhh! The apartment manager doesn’t know. He’s just 8 weeks old and so sweet. Chase swears he researched excessively on how to properly care for him. He’s wanted a pet for so long, so I hope this one works out.

IKEA was a madhouse! We spent 3 hours there and got most of the things on our list. I was tired when I got home, but ready to cook. On the menu was VWAV BBQ Pomegranate Tofu and Coconut Rice, Veggie Chickpea Cobbler, broccoli, and cake, which didn’t happen. Chase proclaimed this one of the best meals I’ve ever made, so – YAY! The BBQ sauce for the tofu is really, really good. It was unlike any recipe I’d used before, so I was pleasantly surprised. I added some cumin seeds and mustard seeds to the rice and used lemon instead of lime. It was excellent.

The cobbler was also really delicious, which is a good thing because I made a huge pan of it. I sautéed all my veggies – sweet potatoes, carrots, onions, green beans, cauliflower, and corn – until softened, then added in a can of tomatoes, a big can of chickpeas, and a mix of spices I didn’t write down, but included cumin, coriander, and oregano.

While the veggies simmered I made a baking powder biscuit dough with sunflower seeds and nutritional yeast, rolled it out, and cut it into star shapes. The stars went on top and it baked for about 12 minutes.

We had extra biscuit dough. Luckily, I found my Man in the Moon cookie cutter and we made more biscuits.

Here’s my plate. I had to have a half piece of BBQ tofu.

So about the cake…. I wanted to make a strawberry ice cream cake roll. Let’s blame the humidity for the cake cracking instead of rolling. I saw the crack, but continued anyway, thinking maybe everything would just freeze back together. Nope. In a panic I scraped as much of the melting ice cream and fresh sliced strawberries into a store bought graham cracker crust. I couldn’t bear to throw a 15 x 11 inch cake into the trash, so I picked up pieces of the ice cream soaked cake and put them into a bowl. Quite a few strawberries were still stuck to it. It looked good in that bowl. I took a bite. I had bread – or rather, cake pudding – a vanilla ice cream soaked vanilla cake with strawberries! Oh boy, it was rich tasting and so deserving of a bowl instead of a trash bin.

I also had a half filled graham cracker crust. Plan B – stop at the store for more Tofutti and make Strawberry Ice Cream Pie. Of course it’s yummy. It’s got ice cream and fresh strawberries!

This is already a lengthy post, but I’ll take this opportunity to say how fun it is to be a part of the vegan blogger community. I enjoy immensely all the knowledge and recipes we exchange. I actually GET a lot more than I GIVE. I can’t imagine ever tiring of cooking or blogging. Some bloggers have reflected on their favorite posts when they reach a milestone. I looked back on mine and thought “Why did I post that? It looks like crap!” Even if my food didn’t turn out perfectly, my favorite posts are ones where Chase and friends were involved in the preparation of the dinner. Cooking and eating should be fun and enjoyed regularly with family and friends. That’s when food tastes the best.

By the way, here’s what today looks like…..

Texas Caviar, Lots of Veggies, and Extreme Chocolate

I wanted to get in a quick post before I take these dishes along with tofu for Chase and brownies (David Lebovitz’ Supernatural Brownies – terribly nonvegan) to the family barbecue (chicken and sausage) at my parents’ house today for the last day of my sister’s visit. I don’t know if I ever mentioned this, but when my parents last moved many years ago, the house didn’t come with a stove and my mom said she was tired of cooking and didn’t want one! My dad barbecues and she uses the microwave, crockpot, or hotplate. She did make a fruit salad for today, but otherwise I do all of her baking and cooking.

Texas Caviar – a lot like my black bean salads, but made with black-eyed peas. I had to leave out the cilantro for the haters.




Okay, I know I make roasted veggies all the time, but I wanted to show you the vast assortment I prepared today in a huge roasting pan. It has yellow squash, calabaza squash, baby bella mushrooms, onions, garlic, red pepper, broccoli, and cauliflower, and is seasoned with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and rosemary.



New Potatoes, Green Beans, and Carrots with Chives – It is what it is. (I was going to roast them too, but changed my mind at the last minute.) Boiled potatoes, local green beans, and carrots, dressed with olive oil, white wine vinegar, salt and pepper, and fresh chives.

Extreme Chocolate and Macadamia Nut Tartlets with Caramel Sauce – this will probably be my submission to Urban Vegan’s Vegans Gone Wild! recipe contest. It’s a pastry crust filled with a mixture of 99% dark chocolate, macadamia nuts, and dates, and topped with caramel sauce. Definitely an adult indulgence and a total sensory experience.

So Chase’s move took the whole day yesterday, but he’s in his new apartment. He’s sorry he couldn’t make time to go to the veggie dog eating contest. It was supposed to rain all day but didn’t, so that was a relief. And now that Chase is moved in and my sister leaves tomorrow, I promise to visit you all real soon and hopefully have another post by Tuesday.

Spicy Curries, Kullum, and Cake

I cooked all day and it was totally worth it. First I baked a loaf of Chickpea Potato Bread. I couldn’t taste the small amount of chickpea flour or potato flakes in it, but it was very good bread with a nice crust and texture.

The next thing I made was cake, but we’ll get to that in a bit. I baked some tofu for Chase. (I’m still abstaining.)

I made Spicy Chickpeas and Potatoes based on a recipe from Foods That Don't Bite Back, using your basic Indian spices and two cans of Rotel tomatoes. I made these early and let them hold over a low heat quite a long time. They were really tasty (and still steamy in this photo).

The most involved dish was Kullum, or Cabbage Rice, from Rice and Spice. First I prepared Basmati rice and carmelized some onions. Then I tempered the spices, added in some mild green peppers and instead of cabbage, I used broccoli slaw, and let the slaw soften. Then I put the onions in the bottom of pot, then half the rice, all the slaw mixture, then topped it with the remaining rice. It basically steamed while I fixed the rest of the meal, then got mixed altogether before serving. I didn’t really understand the layering procedure, but we really enjoyed this rice dish. It was a delicious departure from the norm.

Finally I made a Broccoli and Pepper Coconut Curry. It was really spicy tonight! I’ve been using the same Mae Plo green curry paste for years. Since this time the curry seemed especially hot, I asked Chase to check the ingredients. The list included mild green chilies and SHRIMP paste - ahhhhh! Darn those fish ingredients! I started using this paste pre-vegan and didn’t think to check the ingredients. Oh, well, the stuff was too spicy anyway, even if I only used a teaspoonful! Say No to Mae Plo!

I had to make strawberry avocado salads for Chase and Liz. Chase usually just tolerates salads, but he really really liked this one.

Here’s my spicy plate…..

….and here’s our spicy table.

All the dishes turned out really great, and thank goodness I made a cool cake for dessert. I made LDV’s Yella Cake and poked in some blackberries (I’m overstocked with blackberries!) and added in cinnamon and allspice and extra Mexican vanilla. I made VCTOTW pineapple topping to spread over it.

I had stored it in the refrigerator and we were anxious to have something cold and soothing. The cake is so moist and perfect, and the pineapple topping is killer! I served it with extra berries – oh so good.

Chase wasn’t feeling too good tonight, but he said this meal and a couple of slices of cake brought the first smile of the day to his face. That’s why I keep cooking for him!