Mer is offering a awesome vegan thanksgiving feast this year, but the deadline for pre-orders is coming up quick! Order by Sunday Nov 20!

Zizi’s NOW TAKING PRE-PAID ORDERS FOR HOLIDAY DINNER
***DEADLINE SUNDAY NOV. 20, 2011***

MENU
*Sliced Soy Turkey
*Garlic Mashed Potatoes
*Mushroom Gravy
*Vegetable herb stuffing
*Green Beans

Choice of Dessert
Carrot Cake, Chocolate Cake
Pumpkin Cheesecake, Butternut Pie,
or Walnut Fudge Brownie
all for $14.99
 Available for pick up after 2pm. Wednesday 11/23/2011
Sold refrigerated for Thursday, just heat and serve!

*Not for use with Living Social/GroupOn

Visit Zizi’s at awesomevegan2go.com

the fine folks over at the new Fern restaurant in Plaza Midwood just announced a Vegan Beer Dinner on December 5! From their Facebook page:
“got plans mon, dec 5? join us for our first ever VEGAN BEER DINNER with Mother Earth Brewing Company. Alyssa has created an amazing five-course menu – pairing each course with some of our favorite Mother Earth brews. $45 per person – make your rez today!!”

Visit Fern on Facebook here.

Make your reservations now!

Check out this awesome Thanksgiving feast offered up from the gals over at Eco-licious in Plaza Midwood !

So theres a new veggie restaurant in Plaza Midwood that has been getting rave reviews from the local foodies and press. It’s located right on Central Ave near the tracks, and you’ll see the nice custom green FERN awning in front. The address is 1323 Central Ave. The menu has been described as “mexi-indian” with comforting items like squash-blossom hush puppies with vegan mozzarella inside, a handmade vegan veggie burger called the ‘om’ burger made with white beans and hemp seads, deep fried, and topped with homemade smoked tomato chow-chow and jalapeño vegan aioli
, and home cooked crispy root veggie chips.

Check out the Fern Menu Here

Visit Fern online here.
Visit Fern on Facebook

Read sweettaters blog post about Fern here.

Read the yelp reviews here.

I was browsing the internet and found this incredible recipe from Whole Foods Market for a quinoa meatloaf that is vegan, low fat and gluten free.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing
8 ounces button mushrooms, sliced
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
1 (15-ounce) can no-salt-added garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
3/4 cup rolled oats
2 cups cooked quinoa
1 cup frozen green peas
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley and/or 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
10 sundried tomatoes packed in oil, drained and chopped
1 cup (about 1 onion) chopped red onion

Method:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8-inch loaf pan with oil; set aside. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, put beans, oats and 1/2 cup water into a food processor and pulse until almost smooth. In a large bowl, combine mushrooms, bean mixture, quinoa, peas, parsley, tomatoes, onion, salt and pepper. Transfer mixture to prepared loaf pan, gently pressing down and mounding it in the middle. Bake until firm and golden brown, 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Set aside to let rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Each 6 oz serving contains 4g of fat and 8g of protein.

Personally, i would douse my meatloaf in a curried ketchup while it’s baking in the oven, but that’s just me.

It’s hot outside!

What better way to cool off than with an extremely easy-to-make raw vegan ice cream!

This is better than any “real” ice cream out there. All you need is a blender or food processor, some frozen, ripened bananas (I find this works the best with roughly quarter inch slices) and coconut milk (you can use any milk alternative, I use coconut for the flavor).

Just throw your ingredients (roughly 3:1 ratio bananas to milk) into the blender and blend until smooth. Don’t be afraid to experiment with flavors, I like to add raw cacao powder and a little cashew butter to the mixture.

Pour the ice cream into your favorite bowl and enjoy!

New Daiya Pepperjack vegan cheese available at Healthy Home Market and Earth Fare locations. Very excited! I have heard nothing but great things about this flavor. Probably going to assemble a huge quesadilla with spinach, salsa, avocado, mushrooms, and red onion, then let the cheesy goodness overflow! Don’t forget to wash it down with your favorite brand of coconut water! Got any ideas?

Every now and then, I get a severe craving for Nutella. Unfortunately, Nutella contains skimmed milk as well partially hydrogenated palm oil.

No worries!

Justin’s Nut Butter carries a line of delicious Chocolate Hazelnut Butter. It’s like Nutella, but you can actually taste the individual ingredients and has a substantially less amount of sugar. You can find it at Fresh Market, Earth Fare, or any Healthy Home Market location.

Go ahead and just eat it from a spoon!

Of course it’s that horrible time of year again when Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Baily Circus brings their animal cruelty show into Charlotte. PETA traveled to Charlotte today to help spread the word to children and parents at First Ward Elementary about Ringling’s abuse of Elephants, Lions, Tigers, Monkey’s, Dogs, Horses, and many other animals. Thank you PETA for helping Charlotte’s animal lovers who detest Ringling and want EVERYONE to know of their abuses.

If you need proof, go to http://www.ringlingabusesanimals.com . Tell your friends and family who might be thinking about taking their children to the circus NOT TO SUPPORT ANY CIRCUS.

There are VEGAN CUPCAKES AT BOTH COMMON MARKETS IN CHARLOTTE!

Sweet Jeebers they are YUMMY too! We aren’t sure who made them, but they are on point PERFECT! Available for a limited time at BOTH Common Market locations:
2007 Commonwealth Avenue in Plaza Midwood, and 1515 South Tryon Street in Southend.

See the Common Market Website at http://www.commonmarketisgood.com