Vegan Mofo 2014 - Vegan Eats for Fueling Your Body

Linz and I are super pumped to be participating in Vegan Mofo once again! After last year's hummazing extravaganza of hummus, we've decided to blog a month of Vegan Eats for Fueling Your Body.

We bounced around ideas for themes for a little while, but came back to the fact that both of us are super focused on fitness right now, with my Insanity going strong and Linz training for a 10k on September 20. It also means a bit less hummus in the fridge and a little more variety, and that's really okay with me. (I think Corbin is the only one who is a bit upset as he LOVED being a hummus taste tester. Have no fear lovie! Delicious things are coming!)

We've broken down our theme into weeks, with this week's focus being breakfast. We've already blogged super tasty breakfast tacos and pumpkin cornbread waffles (in honour of #wafflewednesday) with more yumminess to come tomorrow and Friday. Week two will be lunches, week three will be dinners and the last week will be desserts and snacks. So much gluten free, vegan deliciousness!

It's also a great way to focus on my own eating and how I am truly fueling my body! I'm in 'Recovery Week' for Insanity and next week I start month 2. All the titles in month 2 involve the word 'MAX', so I'm a little scared. MoFo is also an amazing time to discover new blogs, awesome peeps and yummy recipes - which is all awesome!! I'm having fun using randomofo.com to browse through all sorts of different posts and following #veganmofo2014 on Twitter & Instagram. This all fits in nicely with my goals for September, which I posted to Instagram yesterday.



Vegan MoFo also gives Linz and I an 'excuse' to schedule cooking dates into our weeks, where we collaborate on yummy things. I'll be heading to her house after I finish this post so we can make a sweet fall-inspired breakfast for Friday's post and something tasty to kick off lunch week. Food + Friends = Fun

You can find all of our Vegan MoFo posts over on Lindsay's blog, The Kitchen Operas.

Do you participate in Vegan MoFo? Who are some of your favourite bloggers to follow during this yummy month?

Love List - August

The CNE has started in Toronto and the temperatures are getting chillier - where is August going?!? Does anyone else get those feelings that inspire you to buy new school supplies around this time of year (even if you're not going back to school?) Maybe I just love new pens and post-it notes a little too much. Other than school supplies (including a shiny new owl whiteboard) here are the things I'm loving right now:

Bloomer's
It's wonderful to see great people doing awesome things!! My friends Alex and Kelly have opened a storefront for Bloomer's bakery at Ossington and Bloor.

I've been a fan of Kelly's cookies for a long time, so it's very cool to now have a place to stop and enjoy them regularly. So far the menu consists of some amazing treats which are all vegan and some gluten free. The cafe has a great vibe and it's slowly becoming one of my favourite places to sit with a tea (& treat) and get work done. A full menu is soon to follow and I couldn't be more excited to have another stellar option for gluten free vegan food in the city. Try the zucchini chocolate chip muffin. TRUST ME.



Lovebot Kickstarter
Speaking of friends doing awesome things... Almost a year ago Corbin and I went on our Lovebot adventure which led to us going to Lovebot HQ and getting to spend more time with Matthew Del Degan, the creator of the Lovebot Invasion himself! The Lovebot team has an awesome Kickstarter happening right now for the DIY Lovebot toy. The campaign has just 11 days left to reach it's goal of $30k and was chosen as a Kickstarter staff pick. Donate and get yourself a sweet DIY Lovebot!



Getting mail that isn't a bill
I received a beautiful bracelet and sweet card in the mail last week and it made my day! I had been waiting on it for awhile (getting things from the US can be a nightmare sometimes) but there's something really charming about getting things in the mail from sweet friends in a world that relies on email and texting. I'm waiting on a sweet tank that I ordered, which will probably make it into September's love list. Stay tuned!



Recipe Testing
Lindsay and I are getting ready for another year of Vegan Mofo coming up in September after last year's hummazing extravaganza. This year we're focusing on 'Foods to Fuel Your Body' and we've got some yummy things planned! I love any excuse to try some new foods out and spend more time with one of my very favourite people. It's going to be delicious and I can't wait to see what so many other amazing bloggers will be doing for the annual Vegan Month of Food!

Five Things I've Learned About Hummus

1. Hummus has infinite possibilities
It's been just over two weeks and we've made ten different types of hümmi for Hummus Month. And we've still got a whole Pinterest board of hummus recipes and inspiration. (Hummus cupcakes? Sounds weird, but I'm so into it!) Hummus month is gonna go strong until the end of September and I'm stoked.

2. Other people really like hummus 
Linz and I have been bogged down in hummus, but we've happily shared with our esteemed group of taste testers. Our readers, commenters, Twitter followers and Facebook friends are also really into this hummus domination, which is super cool.

3. Have no fear, hummus is really easy to make

I too have fallen prey to buying hummus in the store with an excuse of "convenience" or lack of time. But really, basic hummus takes about five minutes to make. You could really just go throw some chickpeas, tahini, a couple cloves of garlic, lemon, salt and oil into a food processor, turn on some Robyn and have super delicious, easy peasy hummus in about 5 minutes. (The Robyn is so that you can have a mega fun dance party in your kitchen while your hummus essentially makes itself) In talking about this month of hümmi, I've been surprised by the number of people who ask "how do you make hummus?". It's the easiest. And you'll feel awesome and virtuous. Give it a go. 

4. Linz and I make great collaborators 
We're having far too much fun with hummus. We talk, text and tweet about it daily, and our weekly yoga/hummus dates are the best. We're really silly and giggle about the most ridiculous things, but I think our hümmi recipes are continuing to get better.

5. There is such a thing as too much hummus
Not gonna lie, I was really sick of hummus after week one. We had both made hummus during the week, then collaborated on more hummus on the weekend and sampled one another's. There was hummus everywhere and it was actually too much. And this coming from a gal who LOVES the stuff! This week was a lot better, with only choice hummus opportunities and eating. It also helps that the recipes we made over the weekend are divine!!

In honor of our hummus love, Linz and I are gonna talk about all things hummus at our #hummuschat this Thursday September 19 at 8pm EST! Some of our favourite people are going to be joining in for this chickpea celebration and we'd love for you to be there too. Follow us on the Twitter (@ashleydtl and @kitchenoperas) and check out the #hummuschat hashtag to join in the fun!

Vegan Mofo - Why Hummus?

It all started with a conversation about peeling chickpeas.

Linz and I were at brunch way back in March and started chatting about a blog post I had seen relating to peeling chickpeas prior to making hummus. We both agreed that it would be a fun way to spend an afternoon and that we would have to try it (this is how you know we're meant to be friends).

This led to more talks of hummus and our mutual love of hummus. As vegetarians, hummus is a pretty normal staple for both of us and something we both really adore. We suddenly found ourselves coming up with all sorts of ideas for delicious, creative and magical variations of hummus. We realized that:
a) chickpea sales were going to go up in our neighborhoods
b) we were gonna need more food processors
c) a month of hummus would be a perfect way to celebrate Vegan Mofo

So I guess the question really is, why NOT hummus?!

We couldn't determine any reasons why hummus was a bad idea, so Lindsay is going to be hosting our month of hummus over on her lovely blog in honor of Vegan Mofo. Expect all sorts of chickpeas, tips and tricks, stellar recipes, some extra special guests and all kinds of fun. Get ready, its going to be 'hummazing' with all the hümmi* that we're going dream up!

*we have decided that hümmi is the appropriate plural of hummus