When Your Peanut Butter Could Be Better

...you've already switched to the natural kind, but the next step is Naturally More. It has more fiber-4 grams per serving, less fat, 10 grams of protein, omega-3s, and flaxseeds. It tastes great, too, more toothsome than the traditional stuff. So my french professor asks what I had for breakfast, and I tell her peanut butter on toast (pain toasté avec le beurre de cacahuète), so she tells me how fattening it is and asks why I'm slim. I reply "Je suis actif" with a blush, but I should have just 'fessed up and launched into a campaign for Naturally More.

Playing Favorites

A little more pumpkin love...

Smashing Pumpkin Dishes

Plus extra tofu appreciation...

Soy What?

Respect The Sandwich

I often hear the words "You look like you need a sandwich". So I've been listening. At left, those whoopie pies you've been hearing about are now being hawked at Infusion (1001 S. 10th Street).

The Fakin' Bacon BLT at Red Hook (765 S. 4th St.) trumps the OG with mashed avocados. So you could probably call it the BLTA:


This Cheeseburger Deluxe is not on a dollar menu.
But it's worth $4.95 at Essene (719 S. 4th St.):

Veg Out: Viva Las Vegans

Viva Las Vegans is back, and if you go to Drexel, you're gonna eat well this semester. If not, you should field trip it at least once just to see what you're missing.

Check the menu, which offers typical food cart eats, veganized, along with fries for $1 and 3 types of shakes-chocolate, vanilla, and a flavor of the day.

I had to go with the bacon burger on a whole wheat bun, which also came with veggie beef crumbles on top of the smoked bacon strips. Interesting, curious, and RIGHT ON.


Could I handle a shake with that? At only 8oz, instead of the behemoth 16-20oz that fast-foodie Americans are used to, no problem. It was the perfect size, and today's flavor: Butterfinger. Made with 365 Brand Soy Cream and Silk, it was legit. Total cost of lunch: $7

Make sure you go before 4pm, they close early. Like vegans don't eat dinner.

In The Kitchen With Kelly: Orange Spice Pancakes

If I miss class, I might as well get a decent breakfast going in the kitch. That means vegan pancakes, with fried maple ham (Yves veggie, let it sizzle in a frying pan with a touch of cinnamon and syrup).

Vegan Orange Spice Cakes

1 1/4 cup flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. oil
1/3 cup orange juice
1 cup soy milk
2 tsp. vanilla
2 tbsp. maple syrup
2 tsp. ground cinnamon (add nutmeg too if you have it)
orange zest, optional

Mix together dry ingredients in one bowl, wet ingredients in another. Add wet to dry, do not overmix. Get out your non-stick pan and go for it. I'm assuming you know how to make pancakes from here.

Makes 6-10

Sprinkle with cinnamon and top with orange jam or soy whip, if you can get past the cloying taste of soy.

Veg Out: I Eats Me Spinach

If you ever crave spinach, and an iron-needy lass, I do, then you know that a Sarcone's Spinach Hoagie (spellcheck does not approve of the word hoagie), will take care of you. It's packed with enough of the sauteed green goddess to pump you up, the sharpest provolone around if you're lacto, roasted garlic, and long hots, on the best roll you'll ever eat. I added mushrooms and pickles to mine, and discussed the elements of sandwich with my new friend behind the counter, Mr. Hoagie Maker. To recap:


Sarcone's Deli, 734 S 9th St, 215-922-1717

Found: Carrot-Tahini Dressing In Philly

After discovering Dojo's carrot-tahini dressing, I've been on the lookout for something similar in Philadelphia. Essene offers up a version at their salad bar, and while it's not as smooth or flawless as the original, it'll do. Shown here, with crispy tofu and greens, or dinner at Chez Vedge when turning a knob on an oven just seems like too much.

Pies, Fries, & Feasts

Yes! I, too, am way devoted to vegan whoopie pies, especially the kind with mint cream.

Vegan Whoopie Pies

But is there a vegan takeover at Uwishunu? Those fries do have style. Basic Four also does a little somethin' called vegan scrapple at breakfast. Gag some down just so you can say you did. Every time I mention a vegan version of a food, my whole family goes, "vegan WHAT?"

French Fries, Sweet Potato Style @ Basic Four

How'za 'bout a free vegan feast on Saturday? Festival Of India hits the Parkway.

Festival Of India

Veg Out: Reading Terminal Rustle

The Fair Food Farmstand in Reading Terminal Market is good for many things, among them Philly-made vegan StarBars and Slow Rise Bakery goods. I picked up the Campfire S'mores flavor, my favorite apples-McIntosh and Honeycrisp (both are more tart and juicer than other varieties), and Pequea Valley Farms maple yogurt.

But I was not yet sated. To my bounty I added a loaf of 9-grain bread from LeBus, and apple butter from Kauffman's. Do not let the out-of-towners discourage you. Take the Terminal back.

Veg Out: Hung Vuong Appreciation

I admit that I'm not yet fiending for vegetarian grilled eel and roast faux duck. But give me some canned meat subs, Chinese Restaurant Tea (that's what it's called!), cheap blocks of tofu, and you can have all my dollar. It's quite mellow in here, too. No bumping into ex-boyfriends, and I can further develop my body language by communicating through gestures and hope that an Asian family will adopt me when they find me lost in the noodle aisle.

Hung Vuong Supermarket, 1122 Washington Ave. , 215.336.2803

This Week In Sugar & Spice

Vegan beef tacos at Cantina require only two things for maximum enjoyment: An ace mojito and a guacamole slap. I accepted all three with gusto.

Sabrina's gets into a fall mood with this week's brunch specials, among them the brown sugar cinnamon pancakes with chocolate chip pound cake, cranberries, and peach vanilla syrup. There were no cranberries left, so it was topped with berries instead. Moms went with her usual, the deceptively meat-y veggie burger on a shiny bun with parmesan fries.



Tastykake Spice Cake Krimpets and Carrot Cakes are on shelves under really bad convenience store lighting as we speak. They're not vegan, but this one is: Vegan Spice Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting

Veg Out: Veggie Cabaret

Artists For Animals are taking on the Fringe this weekend with Veggie Cabaret, a showcase of veg comics who share their experiences in the meat-eating world. Laugh, eat vegan food, or think about how funny it was when your grandpa accidentally ate your falafel that was sitting in the fridge because he thought it was an Arby's sandwich.

Veggie Cabaret, Fri.-Sat., 8pm, $15, The Rotunda, 4014 Walnut Street

Veg In: Footballin'

If you're a football vegan or you know one, chances are you feel pretty lonely with your sad bowl of veggie chili while everyone else feasts on buffalo wings and 800-layer nachos. It's gonna be a long, hungry Eagles season in Philly, and how are you going to get through it? Easy like a motherfucker if you're on your game.

Buffalo Tofu: Easy to make, 4 ingredients, simple genius.

30-Second Vegan Chili Cheese Dip: Amelia Bedelia couldn't screw this up.

Grilled Beer Brats: Those sprouted wheat hot dog buns are gonna make this shit happen.

Veg Out: GreenFest

A man spends 2 hours creating a figure out of root vegetables, potatoes, and a pumpkin. It's South St., it's the GreenFest, and it was bound to happen. This year's fest was at least 4 times the size of last year's. I started a membership with American Vegan Society, and they gave me 3 issues of their magazine and a 20% discount on their selection of cookbooks. I gave in and bought Vegan With A Vengeance, although I realize they've got a new book called Veganomicon coming in October. I took in a green wedding, sustainable clothing fashion shows, and tons of informative booths for alternative energy sources and economical building and household products.

I can tell you this much: My next mattress will be from the Organic Mattress Store.

And I know it was meant to be an inspiring event that could jumpstart changes in lifestyle habits, but it was such a depressing reality for me and I decided against taking pamphlets and free samples because it felt like potential waste when I could stand there and talk with the actual spokespeople. I'm an environmentalista, which means I buy every issue of Vogue but I recycle it. I can come to terms with not needing a miniature LaraBar just because it was gratis.

In The Kitchen With Kelly: Pumpkin Muffins

(Pumpkin Spice Muffins)
There should have been a pumpkin Spice Girl, but there wasn't.

Someone out there understands, though, so I found some recipes for these and soon we were making babies. Feel free to add pumpkinseeds, walnuts, raisins, or chocolate chips to 'em, as they are both pretty basic.

Pumpkin Spice Muffins
Pumpkin Muffins

Get Baked

It's like a vegan bakesale up in here.

Vegan mint fudge brownies! (At Red Hook)


Vegan cupcakes I baked for Dark Horse And The Carousels, who opened for PBJ on Tuesday night.


V cupcakes with chocolate frosting! (From Essene)

Veg Out: This Week In Tofu

My tofu game has been quite impressive lately. Observe:

A buffalo tofu wheat wrap at J&H; food cart on Temple's campus. Nice kick. Bad angle.

At White Dog Cafe, I started with a grilled brie appetizer that was not impressive. The bread was beyond crusty. I'm going to call it rocky. It was not a proper tool for which to navigate the wonders of brie. A grilled citrus marinated tofu pita with curried slaw and tangy cucumber yogurt dressing improved the state of things, although I had a hard time finishing it. My appetite was not worthy.


Ida Mae's Bruncherie recently opened for dinner, so I took my mom and sister, who both ended up ordering chicken and chicken. They are the whitest women alive. My mother thought my tofu was french toast, until I gave her a look. The charming space is ratcheting up dinner prices and focusing more on New-American cuisine than their homey Irish comfort food offered during the day. They're clearly not aiming for Fishtown natives, or my family, but hell, as a veg foodie, I was excited. I went for the salad, an interesting mix of greens, candied nut brittle, granny smith apples, and sprouts in lemon vinaigrette, followed by tempura tofu, which came with bok choy and cabbage. The presentation of both dishes was excellent, but the taste was simply okay. I thought the sauce on the tofu triangles was too salty and the portions weren't balanced, but Ida Mae's is still working things out, and I plan to return soon.

Veggie Tales: Stick It In Your Hole

Dunk further into vegan donuts with me. I even learned a thing or two about using flaxseeds as a baking sub: Faux Your Consideration

James Saul snaps into meatless jerky, jerquee, and jurky. It's nice to know that there are so many options, even if eating sticks of dried beef (faux or no) never really appealed to me: Top 5 Meatless Jerky

2potatoes Vegan Catering

If vegans are coming to your party, and you don't offer a platter of un-turkey clubs and espresso chocolate cupcakes, you're not even a good friend.

I first caught wind of 2potatoes Vegan Catering about a year ago, included them in Top 5 Unlikely Caterers, and awaited the day when I would need sustenance at a rave and turn around to find a counter of vegan dreams.

It has happened. Please hire these ladies for your events. It's only righteous.

Rizumu.us/2potatoes