Fridays with Friends: Eco-Vegan Gal Whitney Lauritsen
I love the connection that can be made between veganism and eco-conscious living. In fact, the way I see it, it’s hard to have one without the other. Whitney Lauritsen blogs about the many intersections of Eco-Vegan living on her blog Eco-Vegan Gal. I checked in with Whitney during these busy holidays for her views on holiday gift-giving and eco-vegan tips.
Allison’s Gourmet: What inspired you to adopt a vegan diet/lifestyle?
Whitney Lauritsen: I went vegetarian in 2003 because I was inspired by a friend, then tried veganism about 6 months later out of curiosity. Over the years I fell in love with the lifestyle due to how good I felt, emotionally, physically and spiritually. It’s fun discovering new ways to be eco-friendly, healthy and compassionate.
AG: What’s the biggest challenge in running your blog Eco-Vegan Gal?
WL: Finding time! It’s tough balancing my day jobs and personal life with the website, but I make it happen no matter what. When I do have time, creating content and managing the site is a no-brainer because it comes so naturally to me. I would never call my site work – it’s love.
AG: What do you love most about it?
WL: I love all the amazing people I meet online and at events. I learn so much from each individual, even those that come to me for advice teach me something through their questions. I feel connected to the whole world through Facebook, Twitter and YouTube – what a great way to learn about how different people live healthfully and sustainably!
AG: Are there any whole-food staple grocery items you can’t live without? (Favorite fruits, veggies, beans or grains?)
WL: Do kale chips count? 
If not, I’d have to say almonds, quinoa, kale, and broccoli. I love almonds as snacks, quinoa is my favorite “grain”, and kale and broccoli are such nutritious, tasty veggies. I’m really keen on Brussels sprouts – I could go on…
AG: Do you have a favorite seasonal meal idea or recipe you’d like to share?
WL: I’m really into butternut squash right now. I love roasting it, steaming it, stuffing it with other veggies and grains, or mixing it into things like quinoa or brown rice pasta. You really can’t go wrong with it! I love this recipe from The Blissful Chef: Lemon-Kissed Brussels and Butternut Squash.
AG: What’s your favorite eco-friendly tip for the holidays?
WL: Go minimal, buy second hand, and recycle. Choose presents that inspire recipients to eat healthier and live greener. Try not to go overboard just because it’s the holidays – you can be festive without buying a lot of things. One of my favorite eco tips is to rent a live Christmas tree, or buy a potted plant and decorate that instead. Think outside the box, it’s more fun that way! I’ve contributed to some gift guides, like this one from Vegan Cuts.
AG: Which Allison’s Gourmet goodie is your favorite or would you most like to try?
WL: Anything gluten-free and lower in sugar. I’m always looking for a good hot cocoa too, so your peppermint drinking chocolate looks pretty darn tasty!
Although many of our products are gluten-free, for low in sugar items I’d suggest our organic coffee and fair-trade tea selections. Happy Holidays, Whitney!
BREAKING NEWS: “VeganizeIt!” Wins 2011 Veggie Award!
Some very exciting news has just come our way from VegNews: Allison’s “VeganizeIt!” column has won the 2011 Veggie Award for Favorite Column! 
We’re so thrilled and excited. Allison sends a great big “thank you!” to all our fans who love her recipes and voted for her column.
If you haven’t yet experienced one of Allison’s super-delish vegan versions of traditional comfort foods, you’re in for a treat. We’re heading into winter, when most people tend to crave those rich, warming foods most, so this is the perfect time of year to try her classics 
like creamy vegan Mac ‘n’ Cheese and hearty Shepherd’s Pie.
It just so happens that two wonderful bloggers are in the process of cooking their way through the complete collection of “VeganizeIt!” recipes this month as part of Vegan MoFo. So, you don’t have to take our word for it. Check out Better with Veggies and Snarky Vegan for their spins on Allison’s recipes including time-saving tips and alternative substitutions.
If you make any of Allison’s savory recipes yourself, we’d love to see pictures and hear about your experience here or on Facebook or Twitter.
Thanks again for making “VeganizeIt!” your Favorite VegNews Column. We all love Allison’s sweets, but she also has a savory side and one of her great joys is getting to share her love of vegan comfort food with the VegNews audience. Yippee!
Vegan MoFos Meet Vegan Monsters!
October is Vegan MoFo month and already just a week in our incredibly talented guest vegan chefs have recreated several of Allison’s “Veganize It!” recipes in mouth-watering detail. 
Congrats to Heather Blackmon and Julia Moran Martz (aka Snarky Vegan) for their commitment to make at least 20 vegan meals this month! We’ll keep you updated on Twitter and Facebook as they submit new recipes and we’ll feature their faves here on the blog too.
This week Allison also announced a very special limited edition Halloween candy: Hard Caramels. They come in four ghoulishly good flavors for your little vegan monsters: Vanilla, Chocolate, Mocha and Butterscotch Pecan, and make the perfect Halloween treat for tricksters of any age. The all organic ingredients are a much healthier choice than the corn syrup laden junk sure to be the
predominant option as door bells are rung across the country by costumed kids this year.
We announced this week that we’ll be officially moving from our Facebook friend page to our Facebook fan page. Many of you already “like” us there, and we hope many more of you will join us! The shift happens officially on November 1 and will allow us to better manage our time and interactions with you in one Facebook home. We look forward to seeing you there and on Twitter! Until next time….
4 Reasons This Week Made Us Extra Proud to Be Vegan
If you haven’t noticed, we’ve been asking some questions over on Facebook and Twitter. Thanks to all who answer—it’s so great to 
get to know you better! And the verdicts are in—you all definitely love pancakes and French toast pretty much evenly across the board as long as they’re vegan. The same goes for chai and hot chocolate, too. Good choices indeed!
Thanks for the nice shout out from Shae Thompson on Facebook who enjoyed our fudge. Feedback keeps us pressing on to bring you the best products and service!
We were moved to tears by the story that broke last week about the chimps at Chimpanzee Sanctuary NorthWest in Cle Elum, WA, who had spent their entire lives in laboratories and finally got to experience some increased freedom. It’s a reminder of why we do what we do and that there’s no reason to ever give up hope that all animals will someday enjoy happy endings like this one.
Public voting ends today for our first-ever Tee and Tote Design Contest! Thanks to all the contestants and voters! Next phase is the ten designs that received the most votes go to our incredible panel of judges who will select the 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize winners, which we’ll announce next week! Good luck to all the contestants and thanks to everyone for supporting us.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Tee and Tote Design Contest Public Voting Starts Today!
Congratulations to all of you who submitted your designs to Allison’s first-ever Tee and Tote Design Contest! It has been an exciting process for us here to watch the sweet creativity flow in over the last six weeks!
Now the time has come for Phase One of the voting process. Beginning today, you can vote for your favorite designs once every 24 hours until September 30th. Your votes are so important! They will help us narrow down the entries to the top ten designs that will then be voted on by Allison and our dream team panel of judges to determine the winners.
The Grand Prize winner receives $500 cash and a 3-month membership of Allison’s Gourmet goodies; the Second Prize winner will receive a 6-month membership of Allison’s Gourmet treats, 6 containers of So Delicious Dairy Free Ice Cream and an autographed copy of Kathy Freston’s book, Veganist; and the 3rd Prize winner will receive a 3-month membership of Allison’s Gourmet goodies plus a 1-year subscription to VegNews Magazine!
Good luck to our entrants and a BIG thanks to our panel of judges: Gene Baur from Farm Sanctuary, Nathan Runkle from Mercy for Animals, Colleen Holland from VegNews, Leanne Mai-ly Hilgart from Vaute Couture, Troy Farmer and Katie Frichtel from Raven + Crow Studio and Chloé Jo Davis from GirlieGirl Army.
So whether you submitted a design or just have a great eye for aesthetics, we hope you’ll get clicking, spread the word on Facebook and Twitter, and help us determine this contest’s winners!
Exciting New Improvements
Every spring I get this mental image of summer in my mind: the long, lazy days, swimming and tanning and backyard barbecues… Truth be told, I haven’t had one of those stereotypical summers since junior high, ah nostalgia. But, here at Allison’s, I’ve been enjoying my busier-than-planned summer none the less. The deadline for submissions to our Tee and Tote Design Contest is drawing near and it’s fascinating to watch all the wonderful designs rolling in! Meanwhile, in the kitchen, we’ve acquired some new equipment, we’re testing some new recipes, and, believe it or not, we’re already gearing up for the holidays!
In case you’re wondering where most of our vegan chocolates have disappeared to this summer, we took a break from some of our chocolate production (while it’s really too hot to ship chocolate gifts safely anyway) and we’ve been using the time to test a few new chocolate recipes. We recently acquired a new tempering machine for our chocolate production that has helped to stoke Allison’s creative fire. Last week we even did a test of something very special, which isn’t quite right yet so I can’t say much, but was pretty exhilarating anyway.
Our vegan fudge has been the “hot” seller for the last couple of weeks, especially in the form of Fudge of the Month Clubs. Our clubs keep your sweets pantry stocked, make gift-giving easy, plus they have the added bonus of giving you a discount on everything you order as long as your membership is active. With amazing flavors like Apple Pie and Peppermint Velvet, what’s not to love?
While doing some “summer cleaning” we also discovered that we had a backlog of your love letters that we’re finally getting around to publishing in the form of product reviews on our website. Have you tried our goodies recently? You, too, could be among our famous fans. Tell us what you think below, or on our Contact Us, Facebook or Twitter pages. We’d love to hear from you (and if you include a picture of yourself, we’ll be especially grateful)!
Gardening with Kids
It’s finally gardening time! Woohoo! My man and I spent a great portion of the last few weeks putting in our garden. We worked hard, first putting up a fence, then digging beds and adding soil, then finally planting and watering daily. 
We’ve been sore, exhausted and sunburned most days, but gardening is such a deeply rewarding experience that we love every minute of it. Working outside, planting baby veggies and watching them grow, develops in each of us a strong connection to the land on which we live. Then having the plants give back to us ten-fold the energy we put in is one of the most fulfilling and exciting parts of summer.
While planting squash on Saturday I was struck by how lucky we are to have the time, space and resources to develop such an intimate relationship with our food. 
I realize that, for many people, gardening on a large scale is out of the question. How blessed we are, then, to be able to plant enough this year that we probably will not need to buy produce all summer long! But gardening can be rewarding on any scale and I want to encourage everyone to grow at least one thing this summer, just for the pleasure of it.
I am often saddened by articles I read on how children (and adults, too) are becoming more and more disconnected from our food. The connection between a plant in a garden and that green thing on our plates is becoming less and less obvious the more we depend on giant agri-business and less on local food options. I feel very lucky to have grown up in a rural area where farm-to-table eating is fairly common and almost everyone has some kind of summer garden, even if it’s just a few tomato plants. 
This summer, I’d like to encourage parents everywhere to reverse the blind-eating trend by getting their kids involved in the family food system. Whether it’s growing a large garden or a single veggie plant in your windowsill or even visiting a local farmer’s market or volunteering at the farm that supplies your CSA, gardening can be a great family summertime activity. Helping your children discover the magic of turning dirt and sunlight into delicious fruits and veggies will open them up to a whole new world. And, as an added perk, your kids might just discover that they like veggies once they’ve tried garden-fresh instead of store-bought.
What are your favorite veggies to grow? What do you make with the overabundance of certain veggies like tomatoes and zucchini at the height of summer? Share your summer gardening stories and tips here or on our Facebook and Twitter pages!
Weekly Wrap Up: Earth Balance & Pre-Lunch Desserts
This is an exciting post for me as it’s my first here at Allison’s Gourmet. I’m a big fan and have followed Allison’s recipes in VegNews for some time, so you can imagine how thrilled I was when she asked me to join the Sweet Talk blog team. 
I’ve been a vegan since I was a teenager and love watching the vegan diet become more popular, thanks to efforts by folks like Allison. So here I am, aptly submitting my very first post on some of the great buzz going on around the internet about Allison’s Gourmet!
Allison’s tasty and healthy Grilled Tempeh Rueben Sandwiches were featured on Earth Balance’s Made Just Right website. We are huge fans of Earth Balance and we’re honored that they chose to feature Allison’s recipe. We’re also super excited about their brand new and oh-so-yummy Coconut Spread. You’ve got to check it out!
In the Twittersphere, we love this Tweet from jchenwriter:
“Love it! Best recipe ever! @craft publishes @VegNews Mac ‘n’ Cheese. Recipe by @AllisonsGourmet, photo by @bittersweet_ http://t.co/D6KcHCE.“
Our friends at Raven + Crow Studio — “a ‘lil Brooklyn-based graphic design studio that specializes in not being jerks” — tweeted that they were,
“Enjoying a pre-lunch dessert of Double Chocolate Chunk cookies from @AllisonsGourmet.”
We love that, and you’ll love them. We can’t take all the credit, but surely vegan cookies have something to do with their coolness.
And big Congrats to Carrie, the winner of our Dad of the Day Giveaway! She has won a $30 gift certificate to give to a special Dad of her choice. Although her answer was chosen randomly, we really liked what she had to say:
“My father is no longer with us, so on Father’s Day I like to celebrate all the other awesome Dads in my life! My husband will surely get spoiled with breakfast in bed, lunch, dinner and dessert! He also gets to choose whatever activity we will do as a family for that day!”
We’re cooking up some fun surprises for you this summer, so stay tuned for more information on that very soon. Have you seen any Allison’s Gourmet products mentioned on a blog or website? Send us the link and we’ll include it in our weekly round up—and if you Tweet @AllisonsGourmet, we might include that too, especially if you’ve got your own reviews and photos to share. Please upload to our Facebook or Twitter pages and spread the love!
Warm Weather Treats
I had a sweet treat revelation a few days ago when Allison handed me a frozen Mint Chocolate Chip Cookie to try. Oh my gawd! 
It had been out of the freezer for maybe five or ten minutes, so it was still hard, but not rock solid, and it was absolute cookie perfection. Cold, crunchy and minty, this is the ideal way to enjoy a cookie on a hot day. And, it’s also a perfect way to turn our normally chewy cookies into crunchy ones for those crunchy cookie people out there. I think I’m going to start freezing our other cookie flavors and maybe Peppermint Creme Patties too!
Since it’s hot out and I’m on the topic of summer treats already, here are few more recipe ideas for you to try:
Chocolate Milkshakes using your favorite non-dairy milk and/or ice cream, our classic or peppermint drinking chocolate, and optional frozen fruit combined to taste and blended completely smooth.
Iced organic coffee with non-dairy creamer (we like So Delicious Coconut Milk Creamer) and sugar (or stevia) to taste.
Your favorite fair-trade tea brewed strong, iced and sweetened with stevia. (Add stevia one drop at a time to avoid over-sweetening.)
If you make any of these recipes we’d love to see photos and get your comments either here or on our Facebook or Twitter pages. Come back next week for my Mango Ceylon Thai Iced Tea recipe inspired by a recent jaunt to our favorite Thai restaurant.
Veganize It: Thanksgiving!
Looking for interesting and delicious vegan Thanksgiving options? Tired of your usual holiday fare? Try one of Allison’s “Veganize It!” comfort food recipes like Meatloaf Remixed, or Vegetable Pot Pie. One of these magnificent entrées with a side of mashed potatoes and vegan gravy, plus greens, dinner rolls and cranberry sauce, and you’ve got yourself a decadent, delectable and compassionate holiday meal.
For those with loved one too far away to join your festivities, send them a delicious and decadent holiday gift online. One of Allison’s amazing holiday desserts like Butterscotch Pecan or Chocolate Orange vegan fudge or a tray of ultra-decadent (Wheat-Free) Double Chocolate Brownies will deliver holiday cheer right to their doorstep!
Whatever your holiday meal plans, we’d love to see photos and/or recipes of your favorite vegan Thanksgiving dishes. Post them to our Facebook or Twitter pages.
