Simple Sausage

Submitted by HayGurl on Tue, 08/07/2018 - 11:42
Sausage pizza

Ok it’s official. I am the world’s worst blogger. I guess I have a lot of things working against me. It started with a website crash which required my IT guy (aka my spouse) to re-publish everything. Followed by a lot of things on my plate including civic engagement (I joined a city commission and publish a very informal voter’s guide every year), starting a new side-gig as a group fitness instructor, and planning my wedding reception (the getting married part was way easier).

Follow Your Heart to Vegan Ranch

Submitted by HayGurl on Fri, 07/06/2018 - 19:38
Vegan Ranch ingredients arranged into the shape of a heart

They say that the way to a person’s heart is through that person’s stomach (actually that’s not quite how “they” say it, but I’m not going to gender it). That’s probably why everyone wants to get their loved ones sweet things for Valentine’s Day. Well, I’m not going to do it. Been there, done that, and you don’t need another blog post on candy this time of year.

I’m talking about ranch!

Salad Double Feature!

Submitted by HayGurl on Mon, 04/30/2018 - 22:46
Creamy Kale Strawberry Salad

OK so I tend to binge—both on food and on catching up on blogging. Luckily my actual food binges tend to be on the healthier side and this time it is salads. Yes! I have not one but TWO salads for you to try! Both involve kale because in about two weeks it will be one of the most readily available locally grown vegetables here in MN. 

Creamy Kale Strawberry Salad

Dressing Ingredients:

Smooth Operation!

Submitted by HayGurl on Mon, 04/30/2018 - 22:36
Top view of a Banana Peach Berry Smoothie

My mouth decided to fall apart in my early 30s so I of course I had to have yet another procedure earlier this month. Naturally that meant smoothie time! This is one that I have been making since I bought some cheap frozen peaches at the co-op like 7 years ago. There’s not much to it, but it’s a real sweet treat!

How to Cheat and Succeed at Vegan Seder

Submitted by HayGurl on Sat, 04/14/2018 - 20:59
Matzoh Ball Soup

This past weekend was Passover and I spent some of the time with my “chosen” (see what I did there) family at Vegan Seder. I learned a lot of things about parsley and salty tears, plagues, parting the sea and being pardoned by the angel of death. I might have missed a few things, but to be fair we went through like 200 pages of content in about 30 minutes. My greatest achievement for the evening however was mastering a vegan matzoh ball. 

Beeter Burger

Submitted by HayGurl on Fri, 04/13/2018 - 22:24
Sliced Beeter Burger

Whether it’s Beyond or Impossible, seems lots of folks these days are looking for a better burger. I suppose I’m no different. A million years ago (i.e. 3) when I started down this whole blog path, I was making a different kind of veggie burger every week. I even thought I would do a burger a week. Well like everything else in life I am way behind that, but some beets recently came into my life so I thought I would give it another go. Beets make a great base for burgers because of their brilliant color and their chewy texture.

Vegan Guatemala

Submitted by HayGurl on Thu, 03/22/2018 - 21:37
Sunset on Volcan Acatenango

Sorry for the delay but I just got back from a 10-day excursion in Guatemala (and before that a weekend in San Francisco. I am soooo behind!). It was fun, cheap and super easy to be vegan. Many things intimidate me about traveling abroad, and upholding the ol’ vegan diet thing is one of them. It was really easy to adhere to my diet and I didn’t even have to eat corn and beans the whole time (though lots of times I chose to!!).

Pepperoni: A Work in Progress

Submitted by HayGurl on Tue, 02/20/2018 - 21:07
Pepperoni Pizza

This week my friends & I had a pizza and movie night. I’m the kind of person who longs for that fully-loaded supreme pizza replica kind of thing. Of course, no mainstream supreme pizza is complete without pepperoni. Unfortunately, the store near my house doesn’t carry veggie pepperoni, and while most would probably consider it a lot easier to drive across town until I found some somewhere, I for one  (as someone who hates driving and loves cooking) find it much more enjoyable to try making it myself.

Tofu Taco Dip!

Submitted by HayGurl on Fri, 02/02/2018 - 22:31
Actual text from a friend reading "Erika! I have an emergency! I need your Taco Dip recipe for the game on Sunday. You know, the pinkish one with lettuce and black olives that everyone in WI makes."

I don’t know where it originated but my friend is right; Wisconsin is crazy about “taco dip.” If you are not from Wisconsin, it’s almost what it sounds likeyou’re your idea of a taco is closer to that of Taco Bell’s that Danny Trejo’s. Subtract any meat, substitute corn chips for the shell, and put all the fillings into neatly arranged casserole layers and you have yourself a taco dip. Perhaps an appetizer to some, but my family used to have this as a main course. I never really cared for it too much until I started making a vegan version when I was in high school.

Green Shakes

Submitted by HayGurl on Fri, 02/02/2018 - 16:10
Green shake surrounded by spinach leaves

Hello internet! It has been a long time since I have last written. Blogging for me is a lot like journaling these days, I vow to write more often and I’m basically the only one reading it. But once I renewed my domain and paid for the web hosting I realized I really need to do it or I am just throwing money in the garbage, and I really hate throwing things out.