Vegan on Board!

Vegan on a cruise? Yes, it's possible.



My cousin and I just turned 21, so we went on a cruise to the Bahamas with our family to celebrate. I thought I would share my experience being vegan on the cruise with you all in case you were curious. Seriously people, it's so possible!

First, you should know that we took the Norwegian Sky Cruise, so I really can't vouch for any other cruise lines. However, I can't imagine that they would be very different as far as trying to accommodate alternative diets. Let me start by saying that not only was there plenty for me to eat, but the food was actually good.... like... excellent even!

Now, the buffet gets a little tricky to navigate because you can't be certain exactly what's in everything. However, if you eat at the restaurants and let them know what you can't eat ahead of time, they will make special accommodations for you. Seriously, they actually said "what would you like us to make for you?"..... so you don't just have to settle for fries and a salad. Just to be safe, I fibbed and told them I was allergic to eggs and dairy. That really hit home because they made sure to ask the chef about all the ingredients. So to the best of my knowledge, everything I ate was 100% vegan.

Since it was a 21st celebration, we have to start out with drinks. This was their special drink one day called, "Cool Runnins" (best movie) which was a combination of fresh bananas, pineapple and rum.




Then of course there's my favorite, the pina colada...



For appetizers I had some spring rolls that were out of this world. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures, but trust me, they were pretty too. Other than that, I had pineapple that was marinated in Rum with a mojito mint syrup and topped with shaved coconut. This was actually served with a cream, but they were nice enough to make me a dairy-free version from scratch.



Then another night I had the Mediterranean fruit with Amaretto... complete with Peaches, Plums and Grapes!



They also offered vegetable tempura on the menu. However, their batter had egg so instead they brought me lightly steamed and seasoned veggies with an excellent scallion-ginger dipping sauce and wasabi rice wrapped in nori...



Salad with a Sherry Walnut Dressing and Candied Walnuts



Moving on to entrees...
They brought me a spread I couldn't believe. One plate was enough.... but three!? Can you tell we were in awe?



First they brought out spicy veggies with crispy fried tofu. I know, it looks kind of boring but it was so much more delicious than I expected...


Obviously it was good judging by the left overs ;)


They also prepared me a tofu curry, a potato lentil stew and rice



...Complete with naan and lentil crackers



Vegan dessert is hard to come by anywhere let alone out at sea. However, two nights they offered a delicious sherbet. The first night was a decadent strawberry and then the last night I had lime (pictured below). If sherbet won't cut it for your sweet tooth, I recommend doing what I did and bring along a couple vegan chocolate bars or candy so you can fulfill that craving.



And here we all are, incredibly stuffed, posing with the waiter that was nice enough to accommodate me!



All in all, being vegan on a cruise is possible. I even ate better food than I normally do. So my advice is, talk to someone ahead of time, let them know your dietary restrictions, and they will take good care of you from there.

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Thanksgiving Ideas

Pumpkin Squash Soup



Level Of Difficulty: Easy but some prep work required
Pots/Pans Used: 3

Ingredients

3 cups butternut squash, cubed
olive oil
2 pinches cinnamon
s&p

2 TBL Earth Balance
1 onion, chopped
4 carrots, sliced
1 can chickpeas
2 cans of pumpkin puree
1 can coconut milk
4 cups vegetable stock
1 tsp ginger
2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3/4 tsp cinnamon



There is this tea house in Tampa that makes an awesome Pumpkin Soup and I decided it's probably as good a as time as any to try and make a version of it. My version is actually pretty different, but still packs a bunch of Autumn punch. Hope you enjoy it...



First you want to preheat your oven to 400. In a bowl, coat your cubes of butternut squash with a couple TBL of olive oil, 2 pinches of cinnamon, and salt & pepper. If you want, you can cube the whole butternut squash, bake it, and just set aside whatever you don't use for the soup. That's what I did. If you do decide to do that, I provided a quick little recipe below this that you can use the extra squash in. Lay the cubed squash out on a baking sheet and bake 15 minutes, move them around, and then another 15 minutes. Meanwhile, you can get the soup started. First, melt the Earth Balance and saute your onions and carrots. Once tender, add chickpeas, coconut milk and pumpkin. Let this simmer a couple minutes and then add the veggie stock, ginger, curry powder, salt, pepper, and cinnamon (Whenever your squash is done, add that into the mix as well). Let the whole thing simmer for 20-30 minutes and then serve! I like it best with a side of rice to dunk in.

Leftover Squash?



Now, like I said, if you want to bake the whole squash to take for lunches or use in other recipes, that's great too. Here is a really simple recipe I whipped up to bring to work as a lunch. Just combine the squash with some brown rice. Sprinkle some cinnamon and drizzle some maple syrup over top. Mix it up and you've got a delicious side.

Sweet Potato Balls



Level of Difficulty: Quick and Easy but you will get messy!
Pots/Pans Used: 2ish

Ingredients

1 pkg Sweet & Sara Toasted Coconut Vegan Marshmallows (or you can use plain vanilla)
4 sweet potatoes
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 cup maple syrup
cornflakes (frosted or unfrosted, up to you!)

Here is a dish that can easily replace a sweet potato casserole, while still providing that ooey gooey marshmallow goodness. This recipe was recommended to me by one of my friends, Lindsey Mills of soul food, a while back. It's actually originally a Paula Dean recipe (if you can believe it), but it's super simple to veganize. Here is my version...



Makes about 12 Sweet Potato Balls

WARNING: you will get messy. In either an oven or a microwave, soften your sweet potatoes until they are mushy and good for mashing. Remove the skin and in a large bowl, mash em up. Add the orange juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and maple syrup and stir well. Preheat oven to 350. Then take your marshmallow and form a ball of mashed sweet potato around it. This is the really messy part because it seems to stick to everything. Now roll the ball in cornflakes and set it on a baking sheet. Repeat until you run out of sweet potatoes. Bake them in the oven for 15 minutes. Keep an eye on them though, because the marshmallow will expand and sometimes burst out of the ball. Once they're done, dig in!



Have a great Thanksgiving, everyone!

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Central Florida Veg Fest!

So a few weeks ago, I headed over to Orlando with some friends for the Central Florida Veg Fest. It was definitely bigger than the Tampa one and there was plenty of vendors to choose from. I ate so much delicious food and I thought you veg foodies would appreciate a show and tell. Okay, let's just cut to the chase and get on with the food porn...

We started out with this scrumptious Meatball Sub from Ethos Vegan Kitchen



Then we headed over to Z-Cafe for some Spicy Korean BBQ Tofu Tacos with Veggie Slaw



and......... A FREAKIN' VEGAN HOSTESS CUPCAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





Then we took a much needed break to walk around and look at other booths. Finally, once we had room in our tummies for more goodies, we moved on to Khasiyat for this Indian Platter... complete with rice and chickpeas, a samosa and a fried dessert... thingy.



Then we finished it off with this Chocolate Cupcake with Rosewater Frosting and Marzipan Filling from Raphsodic Cooperative Company.... AMAZING!





I Heart Veg Fests!

Check out more Pictures from the Fest on VP's FB !

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Lita's Famous Spaghetti Sauce

Level of Difficulty: easy!
Pots/Pans Used: one

1 large can tomato puree
1 large can whole tomatoes, chopped
1/2 to 1 can full of water (use the empty tomato puree can. Whether you use 1/2 to whole can depends on the texture you want your sauce to be)
6 oz can tomato paste
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 small green pepper, chopped
olive oil
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp basil
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp sugar
salt & pepper to taste

My grandmother, aka "Lita", gave me official permission to share her famous spaghetti sauce with all of you. This has been a coveted McKeon family recipe for a while now. Lita also shared with me the story of where it came from... Apparently, when she married my grandfather she was primarily a baker with absolutely no cooking experience. This is pretty mindboggling because she has turned out to be a pretty fantastic chef. Anyways, her and my grandfather were friends with an Italian couple. When Lita expressed a need to learn some simple recipes, the wife of the couple came over and showed her how to make this authentic Italian spaghetti sauce. The cinnamon in the sauce really makes it unique and brings out some flavor pizazz. You could use it for lasagna, eggplant parm, anything.



Saute vegetables with some olive oil in a large stock pot. Add all the ingredients. Heat well for a few minutes without bringing to a boil. Reduce heat and cook on low simmer for three hours. Add water if needed to thin. If you want, you can double the recipe. My family usually makes a big batch and freezes the extra sauce. From my family to yours... enjoy!

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