VeganMoFo: Party.

Hmm, last MoFo day : ( [Oh, right; Happy Halloween !]
A friend threw a party for his birthday last night and who would've imagined ?; all the food was vegetarian !
I helped him to make this little pita bites:

: )

Filled with pea/spearmint spicy spread, cucumber and tomato slices.

That got dressed later.

Hmm.. plain green beans.

kittehhh

I couldn't stay all night, but I enjoyed the short time I was there.

VeganMoFo: TJ and San Diego; Part III and more beer.

I'm not in the mood to write a lot, but here are some things I got at WF and walmart.
Some other things were standing lonely in my home's pantry and I decided to bring them, too.

Hmm.. I love Alternative Baking Co. cookies ! This one was a bit too sweet for my taste, but nice afterall.

I wanted to go to a 100% veg restaurant yesterday and got lost because of some stupid people's directions. I went to Sanborns instead, wich is a non vegan-friendly chain of restaurants.

I got a salad, french fries and this beer (Negra Modelo), soo good.

VeganMoFo: TJ and San Diego; Part II

This is the place I went after going to Pizza Fusion and before grabbing some tacos.
It's one of my favorite bars in downtown Tijuana and it already has the halloween vibe on !

I prefer to celebrate Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) though, because it's a national holiday.
But come on ! Who doesn't like to go to costume parties and eat lots of candy ?
(I know those aren't the original things someone would do to celebrate All Hallow's Eve, but I insist it's still pretty cool AND fun).

I went to WF after having dinner with my family and got this beauty:

Hmm.. Fluffy vegan goodness.

I got to make the Beer-battered Tofu from Vegan Brunch (finally !)
and I wasn't dissapointed; it's pretty tasty.
The only bad thing about this is that I had to use crappy lager beer.

Hmm.. Raw hummus wraps (from Nature's Express.. but I got them at WF, too) !
These were awesome !
The only thing I didn't like is that there's mint in them. -_-

VeganMoFo: Condesa 3.0 / Beer !

Oh f yeah !
I love it here.
My original plan was to have lunch at a restaurant in the Roma neighborhood, but I ended up in the wrong metro station and went to The green corner again instead, hehe.
I had my cinematographic language class at 4, but the waiter didn't tell me the lentil soup was made with chicken stock. Ughh, I told him it was okay to not have the soup, but I got the lunch of the day and he insisted on replacing the soup for another one.
I took his offer, hah. Had a delicious black bean soup instead with fried tortilla strips on top and couldn't make it -err, to school-, oh well !

I had the Tofu a la mexicana, too. I was a bit skeptical about the dish but Oh was I so wrong.. The tofu was delicious !
Cubed tofu pan fried and mixed with juicy diced tomatoes and minced green bell pepper and onions. So simple yet amazingly flavorful !
The dessert was mehh, so I had some sorbet from Roxy's.

Key lime and tamarind.

A friend got the flu, so, he asked me to go to his place to pick up a video we had to present today..
I went to a bar to wait (he wanted to meet up in an hour, so..).
I had a beer.

Indio beer from random bar in Av. Tamaulipas.

I finished my beer, was on my way to his house, when he called and told me that he was at the hospital to get his blood tested or something like that.
I kept walking and stopped by the Barracuda !
It's a burger restaurant, 50's style.
They have some vegetarian options that can be easily veganized.
Hmm..portobello burger..
I wasn't hungry, heheh, but still, I got an order of french fries and another beer.

Heineken !

I'm not that into mixed drinks, but that looked nice (and cheap) !

More Indio (DRAFT !!) and on the house..
Ohh, there's nothing better than getting delicious draft beer for free, hah.

My friend pseudo-ditched me, the cab central I called didn't have any cabs near the restaurant and had to wait more ! Uhh..
The bartender got a little pitty on me, tried to hit on me and served me this beauty of a beer, hahah.
Ohh, what a day.

VeganMoFo: TJ and San Diego; Part I

Well, as I assume that some of you know, I'm from Tijuana and not from México City.
I visited my family and of course, I had to visit my beloved SD, too, hah !

We went to Pizza Fusion.
Behold !
I now give you some crappy cellphone food p0rn !

Personal pizza: Multigrain crust, tomato sauce, FHY vegan cheese, crimini mushrooms, roasted garlic and (not so yummy) veg mock beef. Hmm.

The vegan (and gluten-free !) brownie. SO GOOD.

I owe you the vegan tacos pic (I have a friend at a Taquería, you know.. hahah).

Edit: Here's the pic !

Just guacamole, delish salsa and diced onion.

VeganMoFo: Rajas con crema and.. spaghetti ?

Iceberg lettuce salad with soy sauce chipotle dressing
(soy sauce, lime juice, crushed chipotles, agave nectar and sesame seeds) / steamed carrots and swiss chard

Yesterday's leftovers mixed with spaghetti

Oh yeah !

PS.
Sorry for the crappy pictures, heheh.
The veggies were..bleh.
The salad was great and the spaghetti too.

VeganMoFo: Rajas con crema.

Lady F cooked chard and roasted some poblano peppers for me today.
She opened a can of corn too and I really didn't know what to make with those veggies.

I had a silken tofu package sitting on the counter top for more than a month, until I remembered I wanted to veganize one of my favorite dishes ever; Rajas con crema !
They're normally made just with poblano peppers and corn (and sometimes onion), but the chard was a pretty good addition.

There are no exact measurements; anyway, here's what I used:

1 (12 oz./349 g.) box Firm silken tofu
2 tbsp. Nutritional yeast
1 tsp. crushed jalapeños
Hot sauce (just a bit)
dash of Garlic powder
Salt to taste
Water (to desired consistency)

Blend, heat in a sauce pan, throw in the veggies and serve (I served it over brown rice, hmm). That's all.

The nooch made this sauce taste almost like the real thing.
This is the first time I make a sauce out of silken tofu and it was great (so creamy !).
Well, I -kinda- lied. The pine nut crema from Vegan Latina calls for silken tofu, but this is different.
I will totally make this again !

VeganMoFo: More portobello madness.

Well, I thought making a garlicky curry marinade for the portobello mushroom I was planning to eat was a good idea, but I was wrong.. It was a GREAT idea.
It consisted of dried minced garlic, curry powder, soy sauce and some water.
I pan-'fried' some steamed spinach and carrots in the same pan where I cooked the mushroom and added a bit more soy sauce and sesame seeds to have on the side (and steamed potatoes with ketchup and habanero sauce -again-).

VeganMoFo: Stuffed portobello and cucumber/carrot salad

I got some portobello mushrooms last Tuesday ♥
I still have some veggie meat and I didn't want to have a portobello sandwich again, so I thought, hmm, why not stuff it ?
The elder lady I live with cooked some carrots and potatoes and diced cucumber for me.


Oh, and lucky me, because I'm currently loving this combo: Cucumber, soy sauce, lime juice and sesame seeds. The perfect cucumber salad.
I didn't know what to do with the steamed carrots, so I just tossed them with the cucumber thing I made.

Gotta go.
Today I'm going to a friend's band concert and I have to pick up my ticket at the hotel they're staying at. Good thing it isn't too far from my house.

Give them a shot if you want, here's their myspace page.

VeganMoFo: Penne 'Bolognese'

Hmm, I love whole wheat pasta and this was the perfect opportunity to open the w w penne bag I bought when I first got here.


Bad thing it wasn't as good as it looked : (
The leftovers were pretty tasty, though.
The sauce was a little bitter and I used all of it for that serving, so for the leftovers, I just used some plain tomato sauce, the veggie meat and added a little salt.. Oh, greatness.

I really don't have a recipe, but I used tomato sauce, (drained) crushed tomatoes, salt, garlic, parsley and more garlic.

Three years ago, I wasn't attending school, so, I had lots of free time and I spent most of it trying to perfect my marinara sauce recipe. And I did; at least I think so, hah.
I wish I could eat some of it right now : (
When thinned, it was the best tomato soup ever !

VeganMoFo: Soy Milk

Oh, I remember the first time I tried soy milk. I was a little weirded out at first, but now I love it.
I bought a plain silk carton once (about 5 years ago), forgot about it and some months later a Dr. gave me a box with 10 cartons aprox. It was awesome !

I still don't like to drink soy milk straight (unless is flavored), but I couldn't live without it.

The summer of 2005 was the summer of granola w/ soy milk for breakfast ♥
and now is the fall of corn flakes w/ crappy soy milk, mehh, so boring !

I love almond milk too, but I can't get it here.

VeganMoFo: Personal cooking challenge.

I want to know if any of you'd want me to veganize a mexican food recipe.
Would you ?
If the answer is yes, comment please.

Since moving away from Tijuana to México City, I haven't been able to experiment and upload more recipes to the blog, but I want to make a big effort this month just because it's VeganMoFo : )

I know that I don't have many readers, but I really want to bring up some food challenges into my life, hah.

VeganMoFo: Downtown / Condesa 2.0

Today, I went to Centro Histórico (downtown) and took some pictures of all the riots and manifestants that were remembering the 41st anniversary of the Tlatelolco massacre.
All the walking and the picture-taking thing made me feel pretty hungry and I had this (only 15 pesos !):

Grilled corn with lime, chili powder and salt. Hmm : )

I returned to Condesa (Tamaulipas, again !) and got some beer at a place that sells lots of flavored mezcal. I don't like mezcal, plus, some bottles have a worm in it; not my style.

Mini coronas and (giant !!) fava beans with chili powder. (please, ignore the cheese in the back, haha, it wasn't mine).

VeganMoFo: Condesa.

Condesa is a neighborhood here in México City and by far, one of my favorites.
I recently quitted a class, so I have lots of free time in the morning/early afternoon.
Near Patriotismo metro station is Tamaulipas Ave., that has the best ice cream shop ever.
I had to stop there before having lunch.

Mandarin / key lime sorbet

After having the icy treat pictured above, I went to The green corner.
The green corner is a local chain of natural food restaurants and markets.
I only had enough money to eat, so I didn't buy anything : (
Next time I will : D !
I chose the Macrobiotic menu from the daily menu choices.
I got mushroom soup, wheat berry picadillo, brown rice (plus other sides) and hot green tea for 85 pesos. (I'll post the pics later).

The restaurant is outside and the market inside.

Update Oct. 23: The food !




There's another Roxy ice cream shop across the restaurant, so, I couldn't resist having more sorbet for dessert, heh.

Pineapple !

I got to my school by 4 and by 6 I was off to starbucks to have a soy latte and some good reads (I couldn't read because a couple in other table was having a loud conversation, HMM. DAMNIT !)

VeganMoFo: School eats.

Hello. This is andi, blogging for VeganMoFo !

This is gonna be fun.

I can't eat at my place because I go to school from 1 to 6, so I'm constantly looking for vegan eats at the university.

First, the vegetarian panini (sans cheese and butter).
It's just red pepper, zuchinni, carrots and jalapeños, but the bread is really good.

almost done with it. hee.

and salad from the salad bar..

cucumber, raw mushrooms, crappy corn, jícama, iceberg lettuce and crushed pecans with tamarind dressing.

ohh yeah ! this was pretty good, actually.

Crappy food made good food.

I haven't had the chance to cook elaborate meals, because I don't have the time or I'm too tired when I do have it.
I've been living from pre-packaged food and bland veggies as I predicted somewhere in the PPK.

Papa con chorizo (potatoes and soy chorizo, sauteéd), curried veggies (canned veggie salad [HAHHA; peas, pigeon peas, carrot, potatoes, green beans] with a little tomato sauce, garlic, soy sauce, habanero sauce and lots of curry powder) and some fried plantain slices in the back.

But, let me tell you that not everything's so bad, because I really enjoyed this meal. The only fresh stuff in there were the potatoes in the chorizo, and the spinach and the mushrooms in the curried veggies. Everything else was canned, from a box or from a plastic bag, hah [except for the plantains, of course].

The veggies were pretty good and spicy, the plantains sweet and perfect and de chorizo was awesome, too.

I already have an idea for VeganMoFo (kinda lame, but at least I finally have one !). I'll be posting about restaurants, natural goodies stores and I'll try to make up some recipes (I don't promise anything !).

Take care.

I'll be back..

For VeganMoFo !

I don't have a theme yet, but I'll be posting, that's for sure !

I've been eating out..

And I don't have any pictures !
I don't like to carry my dSLR with me for obvious reasons. I ride on buses and take taxis every single day and I don't feel comfortable with the possibility of being robbed while walking back home.

Well..

At school:
There are 3 cafeterias and I've only been to one of them.
There aren't any vegan options in that one (not even 'veganizable' options) besides fresh fruit, but there's a salad bar outside where I have many veggies to choose from ; )
I usually don't order nothing there, eat a lärabar or something and wait to get home and eat properly, but last friday I was starving and decided to give the salad bar a try.
I'm not pretty sure, but of the 6 dressings available, I think only one is vegan (sesame-peanut).
I didn't really ask, so I got mine dressed with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.

Out in the streets:
Gigantic tacos : O !
I got one filled with mashed potatoes (with added pickled red onions and red sauce) and other one filled with sauteéd nopales and onions (with added green sauce) and ate them while riding on the metro back to my house.

Chamoyadas :{ ) !
I'm addicted to that stuff.
I used to eat raspados while I still was in high school and missed them so much.
They're pretty much the same thing.
Shaved ice with fruit syrup (mango, tamarind, lime or pineapple...), drizzled with hot sauce, chamoy, lime juice, plus chili powder and salt. (Ughh, not my fave..)
I got one yesterday from an ice cream shop, but instead of shaved ice and fruit syrup, they serve it like this: One or two scoops of your water-based 'ice-cream' (sorbet ? well, I got orange and pineapple) and chamoy (that wasn't chamoy !! it was more like tamarind chili syrup) and miguelito (ahhh I love miguelito. miguelito's a chili powder candy).

I got a chamoyada at a mall and it's way better than the other I got to taste.
Your choice of mango, lime or tamarind slushee with chamoy, chili powder (sugary : ) like miguelito) and a topping (there are some to choose from).
Hands down, one of the best I've ever had !
The place is called Chilim-Balam, and it's a mexican candy shop. They sell some gringo candy too, haha (like wonka candies !!), but it's mainly mexican candy.


I think that's it..
I'm so darn hungry right now !

I'm stuck in my bedroom because the lady that rents me the room has some visits (family).
I'll use this as an excuse to finish my loads of homework and eat later.

My pantry-closet

Yes. That's what I said. A pantry-closet !
The lady (the one I'm living with), went to the market with his brother, but she forgot to ask me what I eat.
I bought lots of stuff and I had to store some of it in my closet, because the pantry is full of shiz.
There are some things that I got that the lady already had (the difference is that some of mine are organic and NEW.. the garlic powder looks like it has been sitting there for eons).
One of my housemates, told me that the day she first arrived to the house, the lady go a little mad at her because of the things she got (and that the lady already has).
That's the main reason I'm "hiding" my stuff.
The other reason, is that there's almost no space.
Anyway..

Whole wheat spaghetti and penne rigate, yellow mustard, agave nectar, chipotle and jalapeño relishes, v8 juice, crushed tomatoes, organic ketchup (WTF : D?!), tomato sauce, safflower oil, garbanzo beans, garlic powder, curry powder, mushrooms, chia seeds, a chocolate/puffed quinoa bar and dried epazote.
(there's more [like quinoa, brown rice, magda squash, mushrooms, potatoes, tabasco and soy sauce], but I stored it in the kitchen).

Everything in order..

Finally. I'm here !

I'm staying at my uncle's.
Yesterday, I went to Nutrisa (a frozen yogurt/yogurt soft-serve place).
I didn't know, until some weeks ago, that they have some kind of healths food micro-market inside.
They have some vegan options like what I got: Brown rice cakes !
I ate two with almond butter (I managed to bring a jar from home n_n) and a sliced apple on the side.

The cakes. A mexican brand, I believe.

The babies. Blondie the old hairy chihuahua and Ringo the young...pomeranian ?.

Today's my birthday n_n

I can't believe I'm already 20..
O_O !
I'm happy because I have the feeling that this year, the celebration won't be as crappy as last year's.
The bad thing is that I feel pretty sad too..
A friend from middle school passed away and I don't even know what exactly happened to her.
She was a good person with lots of qualities.
I hope that her family and closest friends recover pretty soon from this terrible loss.

Well..
Here's what I've eaten so far..

CARB BOMB:
VB Perfect pancakes with real maple syrup (grrr, the last ml) and crappy potato-good seitan (the seitan is a vegan latina test recipe) hash with lots of ketchup.
Don't know how I managed to eat everything.

Oh yes... And I'll be off to get some sushi in 2 hours.