Chin Chin's - Las Vegas (New York, New York hotel)

We just got back from a long weekend in Vegas. My husband Mike had to go to a conference, and I went to sit by the pool at MGM.



We drove down as it is about an 8 hour drive from our house. So for our first night of dinner in Vegas we were very tired from the drive down and we were looking for a place close by. We did not want to get back into the car. We headed over to Chin Chin's at the New York, New York hotel.

I had read that they could make anything on their menu with tofu so I expected a lot of options. When I asked the waiter, he informed me that the brown sauce (which is used extensively on the menu) contains fish sauce. This means no Kung Pao, no General Tso, etc. That doesn't mean that you are left with nothing, but the choices are much more limited than originally expected. Things still on the menu included the Lemon Tofu, Orange Tofu, and the Almond Tofu. Also the waiter told us that the pot stickers are ok for vegans. You may want to double check this as we didn't have a lot of trust in our waiter's knowledge about what was ok.

We ordered the Pot Stickers and the Orange Tofu and brown rice.





This was just enough food for 2 people. The food was ok and low priced. Our total dinner bill was around $25 bucks, which is pretty good for Vegas. So, if you need a dinner in Vegas, this place is alright (not fantastic, but it's ok).

Thanksgiving Mini Pot Pies

When Vegan Dad posted these cute Mini Pot Pies that he was testing for Canadian Thanksgiving, I knew I had to try them. Gravy, potatoes, carrots, cranberries, white beans, and puff pastry - yum. They turned out pretty good. Mine aren't as pretty as his, which I am attributing to thinner puff pastry (Pepperidge Farm). I think that the thinner puff pastry would have done better if I'd cut it larger than the ramekin so that it would sit more on top of the gravy.



I only have 4 ramekins, so the rest went into a casserole. I randomly placed puff pastry scraps over the top. Do you see the blueness on top underneath the puff pastry? I used blue potatoes and red carrots because that is what I had from the farmer's market.



This would be a great recipe to serve to any non-vegan friends coming over for dinner.

Modifications:
- I don't like the texture of mushrooms, so I put my gravy in the vita-mix and blended it all up before assembling the pot pies.
- I could not find fresh cranberries, but was intrigued by the idea of the cranberries in the pot pie, so I used 1/2 cup dried cranberries reconstituted in boiling water.
- High Altitude directions - parboiled the potatoes 2 min, carrots 3 min (things take longer to cook up here as we have a lower boiling temperature).

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

With all that fresh pumpkin in the fridge, a batch of muffins occurred this weekend. Although I have a couple of good pumpkin muffin recipes, I saw this one by Nicole at Another One Bites the Crust and it looked healthier and easier than the other recipes. These muffins are 100% whole wheat! And, they are really good.





Modifications:
- High Altitude -> 375 F temperature, 1.5 tsp baking powder.
- I topped mine with some cinnamon sugar.

Field Roast Meatloaf Review

I got a big order of fun stuff from Vegan Essentials last week and I included a Field Roast vegan meatloaf in the box. According to an email I got from Field Roast, this item will be more widely available in grocery stores soon.

This was a super easy dinner. The meatloaf went into the oven slathered in ketchup and covered in foil for about 30 minutes and then I added more ketchup and cooked another 15. I made some mashed potatoes and broccoli while it was in the oven.



The flavor of the meatloaf is terrific. Field Roast always seems to get things right and I haven't tried any of their products that I don't like. The only thing we didn't quite like about it was that the meatloaf has a spongy texture to it. After a few bites, we decided we liked it anyway. If my local Whole Foods gets this in, I see it becoming a regular item in our house. The loaf is small and is at most 4 servings. The leftovers make great sandwiches.

I also think that it would make a great pizza... meatloaf crumbled on the pizza along with some carmelized onions and maybe some toasted broccoli. Yum!

Roasted Broccoli and Sausage Pizza

I was home alone the other night and needed an easy dinner. I really didn't want to cook, didn't want to go get take-out, and didn't want to go to the grocery to rectify the empty fridge. So I poked around and found some week old, floppy broccoli, some vegan Field Roast Apple Sage Sausage, 1/2 cup frozen pizza sauce, and frozen Daiya Italian style vegan cheese. Of course, this means pizza. I was out of flour, but found bread flour which actually worked pretty well for the crust.

For the crust, I used a recipe out of Vegan with a Vengeance. I don't ever follow crust recipes though, just ingredients. Here is what I do. I throw all the dry ingredients into my food processor, then mix the proofed yeast and any other liquids required and drizzle that into the running food processor. Once it comes together, pulse a few more times, then turn out onto floured countertop. Knead a few times, form a ball. Place in a lightly oiled bowl, roll around to oil the ball, cover with plastic wrap and put in a warm place for an hour. Punch down, reform into ball (or 2 balls depending on recipe amts), and rest for about 30 minutes.

For the roasted broccoli, place chopped broccoli on a foiled sheet pan. Toss with some olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast at 375F for about 25-30 min; stirring after 15. In the last 5 minutes, add a clove of pressed garlic. I chopped this more after roasting to make it go better on the pizza.


Here is a pic of the pizza. This picture should teach me not to take food pics while I am on the phone! Every single one was crooked in the same direction that my head was tilted.


The pizza was just pizza sauce, roasted broccoli, 1 chopped Field Roast Apple Sage Sausage, and about a cup of Daiya vegan cheese.

Now don't ever buy canned pumpkin again!

Ok, you can buy pumpkin puree in a can, but please, just don't do it in the fall when you can make it yourself. It's so easy and I'm going to show you how step by step.

First, you want to get some Sugar Pumpkins. These are small cooking pumpkins.


Preheat oven to 375F. Then, cut the pumpkin in half.

All your fruit and a bonus prize

What if I told you that you could get all the fruit you need for the day AND get Omega 3s, Omega 6s, fiber, protein, probiotics, antioxidants, and a 1/2 the vitamins, calcium, b12 that you need for the day in your breakfast? I think you wouldn't believe me.



Well it's true. I'm in love with Vega Complete Whole Food Optimizer. I put in one scoop of the Natural Flavor** into my smoothies and barely notice it. And yes, it does contain all of that. Take a look at the label (Note that the label shows amounts for 2 scoops, so divide by 2).


Click to zoom in

It is kind of expensive, but seems worth it to me. When I am out of Vega, I hit Whole Foods on a Tuesday, as my local Whole Foods has 10% off on Tuesdays on supplements and body care.


Here are some smoothie pics to get you started:
Inside the blender (without the Vega and water)


Post Blending

Banana Blueberry Pineapple Strawberry Smoothie (amounts are approximate)

1 frozen banana (broken into chunks, then frozen)
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1/4 cup frozen strawberries (a few)
1/2 cup frozen pineapple chunks
1 scoop Vega Natural Flavor
1-2 ice cubes (optional)
~ 1 cup water

Blend.

The Vega has a green tint to it, so sometimes smoothies will come out green despite the fact that you added no other green ingredients. Like this one:

Banana Pineapple Smoothie (amounts are approximate)

1.5 frozen banana chunks
2/3-1 cup frozen pineapple chunks
1 scoop Vega Natural Flavor
1-2 ice cubes (optional)
~ 1 cup water

Blend.

And finally, one of my favorites:

Banana Peanut Butter Smoothie (amounts are approximate)

1.5 frozen banana chunks
a handful of frozen blueberries
1-2 Tbsp peanut butter
1 scoop Vega Natural Flavor
1-2 ice cubes (optional)
~ 1 cup water

Blend.

** Don't bother with the other flavors if you are mixing into a smoothie. You don't need extra flavor and the flavors don't taste very good to me. I only like the Natural. And just ignore all instructions on the container and add one scoop to a smoothie for best results.

I am not getting paid anything by Vega. I just think it's a great product.