Chow Vegan

Vegan Donuts At Whole Foods

July 18, 2010 By chow 20 Comments

I never knew Whole Foods had vegan donuts. I spotted them the other day in the display case over at the baked goods section. I haven’t had a donut in years.

I debated whether or not I should get one. I went to the gym earlier in the morning, so I could have one. Or two. Right?

Posh Bakery supplies the donuts to Whole Foods in the Bay Area. All-natural, they’re the cake kind with icing on top. There’s quite a few flavors to select from, I went nostalgic and got the Maple and Chocolate ones.

They’re actually pretty good, taste is just like a regular donut, slightly greasy and all. They seem fresh and they’re the right size, about three inches in diameter. Not too big and not too small.

Seeing as I won’t be making my own anything soon, it’s a totally affordable treat at .99 each.

Getting Rid of Some Fat

July 7, 2010 By chow 7 Comments

I got rid of a few pounds of fat, easily and painlessly, and without breaking a sweat. It didn’t even cost me a dime. I just searched the kitchen cupboards for any unwanted fat and traded it in for less fatty foods.

Last month, Galaxy Granola kicked off their first ever Fat Swap at the Palo Alto Whole Foods. “Fruit not fat” is their motto and they’re aiming to lose 10,000 pounds of fat in 90 days.

While there, I also tried a sample of the Galaxy Granola, it’s baked with fruit instead of oil. It’s good and has less fat than other granolas, but only the Not Sweet Vanilla is vegan. All their other flavors have honey in them.

The next fat swap is this Saturday, July 10th at the Cupertino Whole Foods. But you don’t live in the Bay Area?

You can still participate, just pack up your fatty food and mail in the box. They’ll send you back an equal weight of healthy alternatives, ie, send in a bottle of oil and get apple sauce back to use in baking.

Seems like a great deal to me if you got any high fat food lying around. For some reason, I didn’t have that much (probably because I ate it already). Check out their website for the all details, rules and deadline.

Mini Raw Mixed Berries Cheesecake

June 30, 2010 By chow 17 Comments

Another recipe spotted on dreaminitvegan.blogspot.com that I absolutely had to try – raw strawberry cheesecake. Perfect for a 4th of July celebration, it’s a cool, easy, no-bake dessert.

Typical me, I made a few tweaks to the recipe. Mixed berries instead of just strawberries – with the bounty of berries available at the farmers market nowadays, I just had to use them all.

For the crust, I replaced the pecans called for in the recipe with almonds since I already had almonds. Besides I’m too lazy to go to the store for a single item. The recipe makes enough crust (sides and bottom) for two 4″ mini pans.

I like my crust to be on the thick side. If thinner, there’s probably enough for three pans or more if the crust was only on the bottom. I used quiche style pans since I didn’t have mini springform ones.

I made half of the original filling recipe and I still had some left over. I used the rest to make a crust-less cheesecake. The filling came out really purple. I ended up using more of the blackberries as they got a little smashed on the way home from the market.

Mini Raw Mixed Berries Cheesecake
Makes 2-3 mini cheesecakes
Adapted from dreaminitvegan.blogspot.com

Crust
1/2 cup raw almonds
2 Medjool dates, pitted and chopped
1/4 cup shredded coconut
Pinch of salt

Place almonds in a food processor and pulse until crumbly. Add the dates, coconut and salt, continue to pulse the mixture into fine crumbs.

Coat the pans with raw coconut oil. Press the mixture into two 4-inch diameter mini pans, going up the sides and bottom, packing it well into the pans. Set aside.

Filling
1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked overnight
1 cup mixed berries, any combination of blackberries, blueberries and/or strawberries
2 tablespoons agave nectar
1/2 tablespoon freshly-squeezed lemon juice
Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon raw coconut oil, melted

Pulse the cashews in a food processor until crumbly. Add the rest of the ingredients except the coconut oil and pulse until smooth.

While pulsing the food processor, slowly add the coconut oil until blended in. Spoon the filling into the prepared crusts.

Place in the freezer until firm. To serve, defrost in the refrigerator for about an hour. Top with additional berries.

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