spud! grocery offer!!

Hiya guys! I'm departing from my usual food posts today to share a little information about an organic grocery delivery company that I have used for many years... spud!. Many of you living in the Vancouver area may already be familiar with spud!, since they started in Vancouver some years ago. I was surprised to learn, however, that they also service customers in Victoria, Calgary, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

SPUD is offering a promotion to my blog readers! Anyone that would like to start using SPUD delivery can sign up at www.spud.ca using the promotional info given here (at end of post) will receive $25 off over your first 4 deliveries! ($5 off the your first 3 deliveries, and $10 off your 4th)

I thought I'd share a few tidbits about spud! and why/when I shop with them, for those of you interested in grocery delivery - AND one that can be catered to the vegan diet!

First off, I'm not the type to order produce for delivery (at least, not normally). I'm a "hands-on" produce shopper, needing to see and feel my produce before buying, and selecting certain items that might be seasonal, on special, particularly fresh, etc. But, for many of you, when times are busy or you'd simply like the convenience of having fresh organic produce brought to your door, spud! can do it for you. Apart from having fresh, organic produce delivered to your door, the main reason I order with spud! is for some very specific vegan items that they offer. What is special about spud's online ordering is that they have catalogued their products according to dietary needs. So, for instance, when you click on their "Special Diets" icon, you can then link to a "Vegan" icon, and voila, all of their vegan products (except produce items) are listed out for you! I love the convenience of this feature. Sometimes, they have new or rotating product offering such as prepared meals, cookies, and dips/spreads, and so as a vegan shopper, I appreciate having any vegan options listed out in this manner.

When I order from spud! (once every 3-5 weeks normally), I stock up on some vegan products that I have come to love. What do I order? For those of you interested... some of my favorites are the whole-wheat pizza shells, the organic tamari roasted almonds (left), the homebake rye buns (pictured right - they are already baked, you simply reheat). I also often stock up on pantry staples like red lentils, quick oats, and non-aluminum baking powder (and spud's is my baking powder of choice).!

You can read more about spud! and their company story here. And, if you are interested in taking advantage of their sign-up offer (all locations mentioned are included, not just Vancouver), be sure to use the promo code CR5-9973, and mention my spud! customer code BURDRE to receive the $25 off over your first 4 deliveries.

(Bonus: I have arranged for any new customers referred from my blog (*you need to mention those codes) to have a chance to win a signed copy of eat, drink & be vegan!)

And, I haven't forgotten about the recipe vote. I will leave the voting 'open' for another few days, and let you know the results in an upcoming post!

Chocolate Thrill Ice Cream (& VOTE!)

Remember I mentioned I was tinkering with my own ice cream recipes? Well, this is one of them!

A coconut-based (soy-free) rich, Chocolate Thrill Ice Cream with the addition of chocolate sauce and cookie pieces (my favorite cookie choice so far is the Triple Chocolate Threat Coconut Macaroons). (Yes, I realize this photo is hardly magnificent... but, please understand that I snap off photos with a standard digital camera, and usually in between runs to school, preschool, activities, errands... I'm just doin' my best with what I've got as a SAH mom, folks!)

The ice cream maker I use is actually an attachment to my KitchenAid mixer. See, there's my mixer with the ice cream bowl attached! I love how convenient this is! Yes, that's a different color ice cream in the bowl... as I said, I'm tinkering with ice cream recipeS!

The consistency of the ice cream after churning is quite soft, much like a soft-serve texture. It's best to pop it in the freezer for a couple of hours to firm just slightly before serving. Best to... but not easy to! I had to keep sampling along the way. :)

This new ice cream is included in the recipe vote, so let's get this thing started! Here are your options...

1) Today's post - Chocolate Thrill Ice Cream

2) "Chocolate Dipped Strawberries" Pie

3) Sweet Potato Basil Quiche

4) Triple Chocolate Threat Coconut Macaroons

5) Sugar-Free Chocolate Cake with Sugar-Free Cashew Frosting

6) Lemony Luscious Almond Cake with Almond-Maple Sauce

7) No-Butter Cream Frosting

8) Whole-Grain Salba Pancakes

9) Chocolate Banana Pudding Cake

10) Dreena's Pecan Pie

11) Lemon-Caper Braised Tempeh

12) Fab Cakes with Smarter Tartar Sauce

13) Maple Sugar Snickerdoodles

14) Dreena's "Fit-tucine" Alfredo

15) "Vegveeta" Cheesy Dip

Ahhhh! We forgot about some of those, huh, like the "Fit-tucine" and the Snickerdoodles?? Well, now's your time to click through for the foodie memories, and then have your say! Which recipe will it be?

Cast your vote in a comment on this post (one entry per person, and anonymous comments are not accepted, sorry - must have a full name or Blogger profile, to be fair to everyone voting). I'll announce the results in an upcoming post. Ok, skedaddle to it!

"Vegveeta" Cheese Dip

This is a new cheesy dip recipe that our family is really enjoying. It's thick and cheesy-tasting, and is made without any soy products (for those with allergies).

Also, while it has a cheesy flavor, it can be made without nutritional yeast (if you are a non-nooch type)... but, still has a pleasant mild cheesy taste. We eat it warm, with chips/breads/veggies to dip, and it offers terrific flexibility to adapt by adding extras like salsa for a nacho dip, or fresh herbs, olives, etc.

Hubby and I remember making a cheesy salsa dip with Velveeta during our university years, and this warm cheesy dip brings back memories of this dip. But, of course, without the cholesterol, saturated fat, and undesirable processed ingredients that make up Velveeta. Ugh, it's hard for me to believe we used to consume so much dairy in those days!

Anyhow, this "Vegveeta" Cheese Dip is one of the recipes I'll add to the vote... AND your recipe choices and voting opportunity will be in my very next post! Coming soon!

"Chocolate Dipped Strawberries" Pie

I made this pie for hubby for Valentine's Day (I know, I'm late getting to the photo)!

I wanted to make something rich and sublime, and centered on chocolate. The pint of fresh organic strawberries sitting in my fridge were also essential to any decadent creation I concocted. I didn't want to simmer, puree, or cook the strawberries in any fashion. Instead, I was inspired to tuck the fresh strawberries into a chocolate truffle cream pie...

so into the kitchen I went! After making this pie, I realized that a slice of pie was like eating chocolate dipped strawberries - but better, and with more chocolate! So, I honored it with the name of "Chocolate Dipped Strawberries" Pie! And, the pie turned out just as I had hoped - rich, chocolately, with bursts of fresh strawberries... entirely sublime.

This will be one of the new recipes you will have a chance to vote on - but I still have at least one more new recipe to showcase before I launch the vote... so stay with me!

Sweet Potato Basil Quiche

Well, folks, today it's actually something savory! Yes, it's true. I do eat real food! And, I am working on savory recipes... as much as I'd be happy to make sweets and baked goods most of the day.

This is Sweet Potato Basil Quiche. I use yellow-flesh sweet potatoes in the base, along with white beans or tofu (I'm testing both versions). Our family prefers the white bean version, even though its consistency tends to be softer and a little less set as a quiche. For cooking ease and speedy preparation (this is key with two kidlets!) I use Wholly Wholesome's whole-wheat pie crust (I'd love to try the spelt crusts, but I haven't seen them in our store yet... anyone try the spelt yet?). Since the filling requires sauteeing some veggies and then pureeing the entire mix in a food processor, the prepared crust truly helps with clean-up and overall preparation time.

As with many of my recent posts, yes, this is a new recipe. I fully realize that it's not much fun for you all to see my new recipe posts and not be able to make the dishes yourself, simply because my new cookbook is not near being released. So, I mentioned in the comments of a previous post that I will soon post a new recipe - AND, here's the best part - I'm going to let YOU all vote to choose the one to post! So, stay tuned for the choices soon!

Oh Happy Ice Cream Day (kind of...)

For months I've been waiting. Patiently waiting, but always peeking into the freezer section with high hopes to find this...

And the day finally came, about a week ago, when my eyes locked onto the Coconut Milk ice cream from Turtle Mountain. Many of you know this Purely Decadent brand of ice cream, for its soy-based non-dairy ice cream creations. I have long been a fan of Turtle Trails, as well as a few other Purely Decadent flavors. When I learned that a soy-free, coconut milk-based version of Purely Decadent was launched on the market, I was excited to say the least. (You all know I'm an ice cream junkie, right?)

I picked up a couple of pints and my happy day had indeed begun! My favorite flavor so far is the one pictured, Cookie Dough (also gluten-free). I enjoyed the texture of the ice cream, it has a lighter, more airy quality than their soy counterpart. The coconut flavor is subtle, though not entirely absent. I enjoyed the flavor and didn't mind any coconut undertones at all. And the bits of chocolate crackle and cookie dough made this flavor just about perfect for me. Yes, it was bliss. For a while, until I realized I had been oblivious to the price my hfs was charging for this pint of ice cream. One small container (500 ml) is $7.39! That's just wrong. wrong. wrong. wrong! I also noticed that they had increased their price of the other Purely Decadent flavors (soy-based) to over $6.00 ($6.49 I think). Holy frozen price-hike!

I'm doubting that this coconut ice cream is as expensive in the US or even other parts of Canada. Is it??!! Hopefully our hfs will feature some weekly or monthly ice cream specials, or I'll be making a lot of my own frozen desserts! Luckily, I do have a few ice cream recipes up my sleeve, and a couple of them are in fact coconut-milk based (as I was growing impatient waiting for the Turtle Mountain varieties to make their appearance in our store)... and I will show you one or two of these new recipes very soon.

Price issues aside, definitely give this flavor a try if you are a fellow vegan ice cream enthusiast. I'd also really like to try the Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl, but that one isn't available in our store. Also no signs yet of the Coconut Milk Yogurt and Coconut Milk Beverage by Turtle Mountain. I'll be keeping a lookout, you can be sure...

but I better start saving my pennies for a yogurt right now. :)