House Vegan.: November 2012

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Red, White and Blue Nachos and National Nacho Day Giveaway

It’s National Nacho Day! And Election Day! I’m celebrating the dual occasion with these ‘Merican Red, White and Blue Nachos! They are made with blue corn tortilla chips, Food for Lovers Original Vegan Queso, Gardein Crispy Tenders, white beans and fresh tomatoes.

Wanna make your own? ~~Food for Lovers is giving away 1 jar of Original and 1 jar of Mild Vegan Queso to one lucky winner from this blog. That’s two jars for one person~~! Just leave a comment telling me your favorite nacho topping (other than queso obviously!) Winners will be chosen at random at 11:00 PM CT tonight and announced by midnight. This is open to US residents only – sorry!

In addition to this blog, Food for Lovers is giving away the same prize on a few other awesome vegan blogs. They’re also giving away a Mega Prize to one awesome Nacho Day participant. That means you have several chances to win! ~~Visit the pages below for more details~~. Happy National Nacho Day!

Thank you to my two wonderful commenters! Food for Lovers will be announcing the winners today so please check out the Facebook page to see if you’ve won. You both had amazing odds!

itsjustnachoday.com
facebook.com/itsjustnachoday

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Citrus Garbage Disposal Refresher

I love to use left over citrus to refresh my garbage disposal. We do a lot of cooking in our kitchen and this is a perfect way to get rid of raunchy sink smells. Just:

Slice the citrus into 1/2 inch slices
Spread the sliced fruit across a tray and freeze for two hours (or until they are completely frozen)
Store the frozen citrus in a jar, bag or tupperware in the freezer.

We keep a jar in our freezer just for frozen citrus slices.

To refresh the garbage disposal, drop one piece of the frozen citrus down the disposal and turn the disposal on. A fresh citrus scent should waft out of the disposal, leaving no trace of whatever garlic, onion or other noxious smells were plaguing it before. You can do this multiple times, but it’s best to use one citrus slice at a time.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

October in Retrospect and an Autumn Spread for Grownups

October was so much fun. My husband and I:

Celebrated our 7 year dating Anniversary
Joined a fitness boot camp
Did a few Halloween Dinner and Movie nights
Attended a Hawaiian Murder Mystery Party
Went to all the October USC game watches
Brewed three different beers (Blonde Ale, Pumpkin and Poor Richards)
Introduced my 13 year old niece to Freaks and Geeks
Went to a beautiful birthday brunch where we ate the best food ever. (And drank the best drinks ever!)

We had fun all the way through October 31st when we celebrated Halloween with our dear friends, Chris and Crystal. We visited, watched movies (It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and Bride of Frankenstein) and, of course, ate!

I put together this Very Grown Up spread of Halloweenish foods. Notice the pumpkin serving bowls. I’m very proud of those! Beautiful and eco friendly!

Top Left-Right: Snack O’ Lanterns filled with fruit salad and A Dirt Cake Pumpkin Patch (with peanut butter cookie pumpkins!)
Bottom Left-Right: Pumpkin Fluff with Maria Cookies. Water Crackers with Sweet Potato Hummus. Mushroom “Bacon” Onion Dip with Potato Chips.

The full experience.

I had so much fun cooking for this get together. The Pumpkin Fluff and Mushroom Bacon Dip were my favorites. Here are links to some of the inspirations and recipes in this spread:

Pumpkin Fluff – Made vegan with Mimicreme Healthy Top and vegan pudding mix
Sweet Potato Hummus
Snack o’ Lanterns

I’m sad to see October go, but I know November will be fun. Our calendar already has great things scheduled. And I’m doing Organized Christmas so I know I’ll be busy!