New home!

We have a new home, check it out:

http://foodinmylife.com/

Hope to see you all there!

When in Rome

I'm probably not doing as the romans do for most of the time but I'm eating pizza bianca and pizza rossa everyday and gelato three times a week, so life is good!

You can find ice cream in every supermarket 

Gelarmony - My favourite place in Rome

 From the local market

 Mother's Day lunch

my first mother's day with a lovely lunch cooked by Matteo

 Brunch at Il Margutta RistorArte

 Not even close to coffee but I really like it

Baby boy enjoying the sunny days (L)

We are the vegans

Posted this at my Facebook page and thought it was worth it to share also here.

Getting practical

If you were wondering if I already had my baby the answer is not ;-) But I'm not cooking or doing anything special in the last weeks besides trying to get as much rest as I can before the big day and that's why I'm not blogging too.


But today I'd like to share two Redwood products that we'd bought recently and are really good:


Celebration Roast: this is a Cheatin' Turkey Roast with Vegetarian Rashers. Matteo bought it thinking about Christmas but we ended up eating it a few days after and it is really good. Easy to prepare, soft and tasty.

Mixed Meat Free Sausages: this set is great for snacks and part of it was gone during a football (soccer) game last week with my mum here (she's staying 40 days with us). Once again, soft and tasty - and you can also eat with your favourite sauce (we've eaten them just with mayonnaise).

We found both products in The Health Store (located at Dundrum Shopping Centre). One more useful tips for vegans in Dublin.

Yesterday night we had friends coming over for dinner and Matteo prepared his almost famous cotechino servito con polenta e lenticchie (sausage served with polenta and lentils) and pizza and the guys brought chocolate and vanilla Swedish Glace ice cream and chocolates. It was a funny night and it was amazing for me to have friends around before the baby arrives.

Vegan job? I wish!

As you can read in my bio here I love to cook and to write and it's great when I can do both. Lately I'm not cooking that much (well, I'm cooking basically everyday but nothing special or fancy, just regular meals to give me energy and everything I need in the end of the pregnancy) but in the last months I've started to write more.


Having a vegan job is like a dream to me but it's not my priority now considering that soon I'll be a full time mom for a while! But from time to time I write articles to vegan or vegetarian magazines about vegan subjects and this really makes me happy. In December I got my first freelance article for the biggest vegetarian magazine in Brazil (called "Revista dos Vegetarianos") and I wrote about vegan paradises around the world (not places to eat, but new initiatives such as supermarkets). I was pretty happy with the final result, it's a four page article mentioned in the cover and I was even happier when the editor said I could keep sending suggestions. And now I'm finishing the second one, which will be published in their February edition :) I really hope I can find time and energy too keep doing this even after baby is born.

Also, a while ago I've written an article for the Canadian vegan magazine T.O.F.U. and the issue came on line a few days ago. It's an article about how to be vegan in Brazil and where to eat in Sao Paulo (the biggest Brazilian city), with tips from my last trip there, in May 2011. You can download the magazine here!

Let's see if 2012 brings me more writing about veganism ;-)

Happy New Year!

And why not go vegan in 2012?
Start trying it for a week or a month or the whole year or for a lifetime.
It is worth it ;-)

A very special Christmas

After reading posts and seeing pictures of Christmas meals I have to say my Christmas wasn't that special or creative this year. But at the same time it was a very special one cause it's the last month of my pregnancy and it  made everything a little bit different for me. I wasn't feeling that much into the Holidays as I've said here before and I got many cupcakes orders to delivery on the 22nd so just after everything was done I was able to think about the food for the weekend.

Matteo's mother and sister were here one more time and it's really nice to spend the Holidays with them. Can't describe how excited my mother-in-law is to become a grandma! To make things easier for me we decided to keep both menus (for the 24th eve and 25th lunch) simple and Matteo did most of the cooking this year (yes, I have the best husband in the world).

A Brazilian friend of mine is in Dublin for the Holidays and I invited her to come here on Saturday afternoon cause she couldn't come for the eve. So I baked some vanilla and almond biscuits based on this recipe. We ate them with vegan nutella and they were really good. 

For dinner we got some snacks for starter and Matteo made mac'n'cheese. It was cool cause it's not an Italian dish even being done with pasta and it was appreciated by the Italians in the house. We had a vegan panettone from Vegusto afterwards and it was a really nice surprise (my sister-in-law said it tastes like the regular ones). We closed the night opening the presents.

For Sunday lunch I baked these "cheesy" crackers (the only difference is that this time I've used nutritional yeast and Redwood Soy free Cheezly cheddar style and not parmesan) and we had lots of appetizers prepared by Matteo that included guacamole and  hummus, between other yummys. For the main dish he did cotechino servito con polenta e lenticchie (this dish became very popular in the house) and we got more panettone for dessert.

As you can see, nothing fancy or difficult or even new, but it was perfect. We had a great time and spend quality time at home with people we love. I missed my family a lot again and thought about my grandma a lot too, but it's the bad side of living this far from them. Anyway I was able to Skype them on Sunday morning and this completed my Christmas.

Now I'm preparing myself for a quiet New Year's eve. What are you doing next weekend?

Happy Vegan Holidays!

"A man can live and be healthy without killing animals for food; therefore, if he eats meat, he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite. And to act so is immoral." (Leo Tolstoy)

Wishing all my dear readers a lovely and cruelty-free Christmas and wishing that in 2012 more people decide to stop using animals.

Vitamin D, veganism and information

When you're vegan you can't assume things. Searching for information is a endless "job" and I'm still impressed about how many things that are present in what we consume that we don't know what exactly they are or where they come from. In Brazil we have even less information and it's not easy to figure things out but this is one more reason to keep searching for information, writing companies, asking questions.


This week two facts about Vitamin D came to my knowledge. The first one is related to a soy milk product in Brazil, from a company called Yoki. They have a line of soy milk, with different flavours, and I read on line that the Vitamin D they use to fortify their soy milks has an animal origin (D3 and not D2, which is vegetable). This was a shocking news for a lot of vegan friends that used to consume their products to avoid consuming Ades (a popular brand that's owned by Unilever).


The second news was about Kellogs corn flakes. I read that Kellogs used to have Vitamin D2 on their cereal and recently it was replaced by D3. I don't consume them but I know vegan people who do - and one of their reasons if because these cereals are fortified with vitamins while organic ones are not.

The biggest issue for me in cases like that is that the consumer is not informed and if you don't keep reading boxes and asking for information all the time you will end up consuming something that's not suitable for vegans. I know this is a risk that everybody is dealing with when consuming "regular" products that are "accidentally" vegan, mainly because these companies don't care about veganism, they just want to reach more parcels of the consuming market. But I still believe that consumers have the right to know everything about what they are consuming.

About the Vitamin D, I'm not an expert but make sure the products you're consuming have D2 and not D3 (fortified products are the main source of Vitamin D for vegans -and also sunlight). And don't forget to check your blood from time to time to see if you need any supplements (you'll find vegan options for sure).

World Vegan Day in Dublin

Tomorrow (November 1st) the world celebrates the World Vegan Day and, yes, I think it's a day to celebrate. Celebrate the small victories that the animals are having and, most important, keep on fighting for them.


There will be an event in Dublin, the Fun Hat Table Quiz, for the World Vegan Day and I hope to see some new and old faces there (mainly non vegan people! It's a great opportunity to be around some vegans and get informed). It will be fun too!


I'm starting to bake some cupcakes for tomorrow cause Sweet will be contributing for the event :)

14 years vegan and some thoughts

October marks the month I went vegan. Back in 1997. I won't explain again why I am vegan but I feel comfortable to write about some things related to my choice here one more time.


One thing that I can say about myself is that I never stop questioning things and this includes veganism. Some people go vegan and they think that's it, they're better than other, they are doing their best and they don't need to look for more information or learn anything else about the choice they've made. I don't agree with that and seeing veganism going more and more mainstream brings me more and more thoughts.

I was already writing this post when I saw today's post of Happy Herbivore, which brought me to one of my main thoughts: to me veganism is about respect. Respect for life. Non-humane and humane. And I have to say, it's a way easier to respect the animals in the world we live today. Humane beings know how to disrespect others so well that it makes me feel sad. If you show respect for the others, respect will come back to you, that's how I think. And we, vegan people, should show even more respect. You won't create empathy being disrespectful with people who aren't vegan. And it's not you who is loosing with this, it's the animals. Being vegan is not about yourself or your ego, it's about that ones who can't defend themselves. If you want to be their voices, be kind as they are.

When I see someone like Lindsay saying she doesn't embrace the term 'vegan' anymore I feel sad, but I can understand. The difference between her and me, right now, is that I'm up to do the opposite: I will always say I am vegan cause the world need to know that there are different kinds of vegan people. Taking a stand for me is one thing I can do for the animals. Does it make me better than you or her? Absolutely not. This is just my way of thinking and acting and, as I said before, discussing, reading, talking, listening, questioning and (always) learning is a great way to be vegan (and to live life in my opinion).

This month I'm celebrating 14 years of veganism, with a healthy and vegan pregnancy and even more love and respect for the animals. I have some more thoughts to share with you regarding to veganism and I'll do this during this month.

An amazing vegan guide to life!

One day in the past I wrote here that I would do another giveaway and this day just arrived. Today is a great day for me (despite the fact that my internet at home is being a total bitch) cause I sent my dissertation proposal for the Master in Journalism I'm doing (and hopefully will be finished after this summer!). It will be about vegetarianism and press coverage in Ireland. I'm not so much excited about the course itself but I have to say that I like my topic and I hope I can do a good job.

Getting back to what really matters here, this giveaway is also important to me. Before the idea of this book came to my knowledge I was a fan of this girl's blog and when she contacted me to be part of the book I couldn't not be more delighted! I answered the questions she made, send a picture and waited for the book to come out. It's out now for a few months but just last week I got my copy. And I decided to buy one extra copy to make the giveaway.




The Vegan Girl's Guide to Life, by Melisser Elliott, is amazing. It's not a book just for girls but for everybody and it's full of great tips, recipes and stories. I asked Melisser to answer a few questions about the book to this post and, as usual, she was very nice and came back to me with the answers very quickly:



How did the idea of writing a girl's guide come?
I was approached by Skyhorse to write a book and I felt like there were so many amazing cookbooks out there, I wanted to go a different direction. I felt like there needed to be a hip guide to the vegan lifestyle that took an approachable tone, so I decided to write one!

What was the most interesting/funny part of the writing process?
The funniest part for me was, I was on the road for a lot of the time I was allotted to write the book. That means, the book was written all over the world on airplanes, in the back of cars, on trains, and even large parts of it were written on my phone!

You're touring a lot to spread the word about the book. Which are your favourite places/events till now?
NYC is always amazing, both events there were great, plus you can't beat the food. Manchester turned out the be the sleeper hit of the tour. I had SO much fun and the turn out was great. Seattle was also a fun one, as was Philly.

If you could give just one advice to people that are thinking about becoming vegan, what would you say?
As the Morrissey song goes, "Do Your Best and Don't Worry"! Everyone makes mistakes, but going vegan is the best thing you can do for the animals, the environment, and yourself, so strive to make the best choices each day. If you slip up, don't quit, just keep trying to do the very best you can.

Thanks a lot, Melisser!

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The giveaway

The prize: 1 copy of the book The Vegan Girl's Guide to Life, by Melisser Elliott.

Who can enter the giveaway? It's open to everybody in the world!

How to enter: just leave a comment saying what's the hardest topic on veganism to find information about.

Dates: the entries will be accept from today (February 24th) until March 7th. The winner will be announced on March 8th. If the winner is not a blogger user, please come back here to check the blog post of March 8th and get in touch with me because I will need the winner's email :)

Increase your chances! You can do one or more of the following things, return here and leave a comment saying which one you did (leave a comment for each extra entry so you can have more chances):

a. Tweet about the giveaway and mention @GlaucexVx and @urban_housewife
You can use this text: "All about (vegan) food (@GlaucexVx) is giving away a copy of The Vegan Girl's Guide to Life, by @urban_housewife http://bit.ly/dXBWXs

b. "Like" the All about... (vegan) food Facebook page and "like" the wall post about the giveaway. You should also "like" The Urban Housewife page on Facebook (it's not part of the giveaway but it's worth it!).

c. Write about the giveaway in your blog and leave a comment here with the link.

PS. AOS LEITORES BRASILEIROS: mesmo não traduzindo o post, o sorteio do livro vale tambem para o Brasil e para respostas em português! Basta responder à pergunta com um comentário. Para aumentar as chances, basta divulgar no Twiter ou no seu blog (e postar um comentario aqui com os links) e se clicar em "Like" (ou "curtir") na pagina do blog no Facebook e também no post sobre o giveaway (e sempre voltar aqui e deixar outro comentário dizendo que fez isso também!).

Peanut butter "cheese" cake

Let's go back to the main topic of this blog: vegan food. If you're stopping here for the fist time I have to warn you that I am not a chef or a genius in the kitchen, but I love cooking and decided to create this blog do share my experiences about cooking and living as a vegan.

For the Christmas evening I baked a vegan peanut butter "cheese" cake. To make the "frosting", or last layer, I used the "crema pasticcera" mix that I had at home, bought in Italy. It's creamy custard filling very popular there. I would say that for the next time I do this cheese cake I would go with a chocolate layer, makes more sense.

Peanut butter "cheese" cake

Crust:
1 1/2 cups vegan cracker crumbs
1/3 cup white sugar
1/4 cup vegan margarine

"Cheese" cake
1/2 package extra-firm silken tofu
1 package vegan "cream cheese"
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 175°C.

For the crust, stir together the graham cracker crumbs and the sugar in a medium bowl. Melt the margarine and incorporate it into the dry ingredients, forming a crumbly mixture. Use your hands to press this mixture into the bottom of a 7 inch round springform pan (all the recipes use the 9 inch pan but this recipe is for a smaller cake). Make it further up in the sides to form a lip at the edge of the crust. Set aside.

For the filling, drain the tofu of any excess water and blend it in a food processor or blender until smooth. Add in the vegan "cream cheese" and blend it again. Add the peanut butter, the sugar and vanilla and blend it again for 2 or 3 minutes (or until it achieve a very smooth and homogeneous consistency). Add the mixture over the crust and spread it.

Bake it for 35 to 40 minutes.

Refrigerate the cake for at least 8 hours before serving. You can serve it with soy cream too.

Can I make this at home?

One of my reasons to go to restaurants is to have the chance to try different, original and tasty vegan meals, things that I haven't the talent (and experience) to cook myself. One other good reason is that some days a good food is a ready food. And you know, I'm not having the time to cook and when I do, I'm too tired to try new adventures in the kitchen.

But there are two different kinds of thoughts that usually go through my head when I'm looking to a menu or to the meals of the days in the restaurants:

1. "Could I make this at home?" - This is what I think when I try something really good and different that I'd like to eat more often (and that I wouldn't have the money to buy that often). I really like to try to find out all the ingredients used in a meal and think about the way it's made. I know that most of the times I won't be able to do exactly the same, but I enjoy trying and also adding some personal touch to those "restaurant meals".

An amazing spaghetti al pesto salad that I had at Cornucopia last week

2. "I could make this at home!" - On the other hand, this is a not a good thought. Well, not a good one for the chefs and restaurants, I think. Sometimes I ask for a meal and after trying it, the first thing that comes to my mind is "F**k! I could make it home, better and cheaper!" And this second thought really annoys me. I know how practical is not having to go to the kitchen to prepare a meal, but I always expect to get something at least not so trivial when I'm in a restaurant.

I know that I'll always have one of these two thoughts going out to eat, no mater where, but I hope I can have more of the number 1.

First blog giveaway and recipe!

I can't believe it took me so long but I am finally doing the first giveaway of this blog! In August I will celebrate the 2nd anniversary of the blog (and I missed the 1st one, still can't believe that). Time is really flying and it's cool to see that I'm still enjoying writing here. Cause of the blog I got in touch with amazing people and could met personally some of them. I decided to cook more and I'm writing more in English too. I won't write anymore about it today cause I have too much to share: the giveaway and a vegan raspberry "cheese cake" recipe.

First, the recipe! I finally got back into my kitchen last Saturday to bake and I decided to make a fruit vegan "cheese cake". Matteo loves chocolate (also do I) and most of the time I end up making everything with it. He wasn't here last week, my sister-in-law can't eat chocolate, so it was a perfect occasion to try this new experience. I ended up making a mix of two recipes I had and it worked very well.

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Vegan Raspberry "Cheese Cake"
Crust:
1 1/2 cups vegan graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup confectioner's sugar (or regular granulated sugar or brown sugar)
1/4 margarine

"Cheese" Cake
200 g extra-firm silken tofu
1 package vegan cream cheese (I used Tofutti Creamy Smooth)
250g fresh raspberries
3/4 cup granulated sugar (or brown sugar)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 tablespon salt

Preheat your oven to 175°C.

For the crust, stir together the graham cracker crumbs and the sugar in a medium bowl. Melt the margarine and incorporate it into the dry ingredients, forming a crumbly mixture. Use your hands to press this mixture into the bottom of a 7 inch round springform pan (all the recipes use the 9 inch pan but this recipe is for a smaller cake). Make it further up in the sides to form a lip at the edge of the crust. Set aside.

For the filling, drain the tofu of any excess water and blend it in a food processor or blender until smooth. Add in the vegan "cream cheese" and blend it again. Add the sugar, vanilla and salt and blend it again for 30 seconds. Add the fresh raspberries and blend it for more 2 or 3 minutes (or until it achieve a very smooth and homogeneous consistency. Add the mixture over the crust and spread it.

Bake it for 35 to 40 minutes.

Refrigerate the cake for at least 8 hours before serving. Add 3 tablespoons of raspberry jelly over it. You can serve it with soya cream too.

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A big inspiration!

I have to say that since I decided to start baking (and also cooking more), some people had a HUGE influence in my life, being great inspiration. One of those incredible people is Hannah Kaminsky, author of the amazing My Sweet Vegan cookbook. I got in touch with her many times, for different reasons, and she have always been amazing. I love the recipes of her book and I love her blog, Bitter Sweet.

And about two months ago I did an interview with her to prepare a profile article for the German magazine I'm writing for. You can see the page here and I'll post the article in English in the near future. It was a pleasure to write this article and I have much to thank this girl.

Besides all this, she (and her publisher) gave me the permission to give to my lovely readers one copy of one of her new e-books: Mission: Impossible Pies that you can buy on-line. I already have it and I loved all the recipes and wanted to share the book with you!

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The giveaway

The Prize: 1 copy of the e-book Mission: Impossible Pies, by Hannah Kaminsky.

Who can enter the giveaway? It's open to everybody in the world!

How to enter: just leave a comment saying what kind of vegan food do you prefer to cook: salty or sweet and the reason.

Dates: the entries will be accept from today (July 26th) until August 4th. The winner will be announced on August 6th. If the winner is not a blogger user, please come back here to check the blog post of August 6th and get in touch with me because I will need the winner's email :)

Increase your chances! You can do one or more of the following things, return here and leave a comment saying which one you did (leave a comment for each extra entry so you can have more chances):

a. Tweet about the giveaway and mention @GlaucexVx and @bittersweet__
You an use this text: "All about... (vegan) food (@GlaucexVx) is giving away a copy of Mission: Impossible Pies, by @bittersweet__ http://TwitPWR.com/MGB/"

b. Join the All about... (vegan) food Facebook page and "like" our wall post about the giveaway.

c. Write about the giveaway in your blog and leave a comment here with the link.

PS. AOS LEITORES BRASILEIROS: mesmo nao traduzindo o post todo, o sorteio do ebook "Mission: Impossible Pies" vale tambem para o Brasil e para respostas em portugues! Basta responder a pergunta com um comentario. Para aumentar as chances, basta divulgar no Twiter ou no seu blog (e postar um comentario aqui com os links) e se clicar em "Like" (ou "curtir") na pagina do blog no Facebook e tambem no post (e sempre voltar aqui e deixar outro comentario dizendo que fez isso tambem!).

Brazilian vegan products

Since we have arrived in my city, Belo Horizonte, I've been buying a lot of vegan products. Some of those I tried when I lived here, others are new ones. It's great to see how vegetarianism and veganism are becoming more known in Brazil. It's a slow process but it's working. Yesterday I went to a health fair and all the food there was vegetarian or vegan (I will blog about in the next days).

Here there is a small list of some of the stuff I bought:

1. Biscuits/cookies: I love them and Brazil has some good options. My favorite one is not exactly a biscuit but I love it: Goiabinha. It has "goiabada" (one kind of sweet done with sugar and guava) inside and it's really delicious.



2. Naturis soja: soya chocolate pudding.


3. Guarana with açaí: Guaraná Antartica is a national soda made with the fruit guaraná. It's really good and I miss it (Matteo bought a big bottle of Guaraná Antartica in Dublin, at the Brazilian store, but it was out of gas and it was too much expensive, so we just gave up on trying to have it there). And now there is this new option, with açaí (if you're not Brazilian, you know the fruit as "acai" but it is written with the "ç" and it sounds like "assai" - something like that). It's amazing. I could drink it everyday.



4. Batata palha temperada: this is a kind of potato chips in strips, very crisp and tasty. This one has also onion and parsley and it's perfect with a lot of sandwiches. I really miss it.

5. Shampoo and conditioner Ecologie: this company is very good and does not test on animals. I choosed the products made with pomegranate and wheat protein and they're really awesome.


I'll have more products to post in the next days.

PS. It's winter here and I'm enjoying amazing sunny days with 20°C. Today it's colder, so it's 13°C.

All about... The Happy Pear

Dublin has some vegetarian restaurants, most of them with good vegan options, but it's not a big list, so every time I go to a place here I feel like I will be writing in the blog about something or places that people already know, but I still think it's worth it to spread the word and to give different points of views of the same place.

This time I'm not writing about a restaurant in Dublin, but in Greystones, a lovely coastal town located on Ireland’s east coast. I went there before (the last time in March with a couple of friends) but had never been in the vegetarian restaurant The Happy Pear. I had read a good post about it at the blog of my friend Aoife (Adventures in Veg) and I couldn't wait to try the food there. So, a couple of weeks ago I went there with Matteo and my mother-in-law in a lovely and sunny Saturday (with our luck, we just got off the train and the weather changed, but it was still fine).

The Happy Pear is run by two twin brothers and it is, in fact, a natural food market with a café and a restaurant. The place is always crowded, with tables outside and at the first floor. They have a good selection of salads, main courses that change every day, soups and desserts. Me and Matteo had a paella + potato salad + hummus and my mother-in-law had a squash lasagna (vegetarian) + fruit salad. My meal was delicious. And I also had a slice of chocolate with nuts, really, really good.

After you eat, go to the food market and I'm sure you won't leave there with nothing in your hands. They have a lot of amazing homemade products and organic fruits and vegetables. I bought a strawberry jam, peaches and bananas. And their prices are good too, cheaper than Dublin.



If you come to Ireland and decide to take a short train trip, go to Greystones, walk on the beach and have a nice time at the Happy Pear :)

Keep on fighting

Fight for those who have no voice. That's why I am vegan.
Fight for yourself. That's why I am straight edge (I will write about this).
Fight for a better world.
And believe that you can make the difference. Every single day of your life.

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"'Cos we are the new kids,
We've got our heads,
We'll keep on fighting,
'Til old ways are dead"

(7 Seconds)

The good and the bad

The good: going to a vegetarian restaurant and listening that "everything today is vegan".


The bad: going to a meeting against carted stag hunting and having to listen to just animal welfare arguments. (Just to make clear: this is a very important issue and the Irish bill is not a bad thing, we just need more than that.)




We need more. The animals need more. The world needs people that take a stand.