ThanksVegan 2012~ Belly Bliss

     Thankgiving has always been a family-oriented holiday and celebration for me, and for most people, it means "turkey-day." Even in my meat-mouthing days, I've always been all about the sides...gimme the brussel sprouts, squash, pearled onions, and apple cider and I'll be more stuffed than any 30 pound bird!
     Since I've been hitting the Seoul stone, my first year of Thanksgiving involved curry, 쌈장, and veggies and my second involved glorious gut-stretching glory. This year was my second ThanksVegan and Kia~ the kitchen Goddess made a spread that even now, after having to work extra hard at the gym, I'm still dreaming about.
      Around this season there's a good amount of Thanksgiving celebrations that a lot of restaurants prepare for and cater to, and vegan friendliness is down-right impossible. The smidgen of vegan possibility if ruined with the world's obsession with butter and dairy products...or bacon-far. Kia and Sean go well out of their way to bring a whole lot of "home" across the world. Last year threw me into a heavy hibernation....this year...ugh this year~ I'm just going to go into the images.

appetizer table of whole bread, olive tapanede, spinach artichoke dip, chai snickerdoodles, chocolate biscotti, and mashed potatoes literally chillen~ photo taken by VeganBeats

       Kia really is a master behind a stove, over, hanging over a mixing bowl....she is a chef I aspire to become...homebaking goddess is a title barely worthy of Kia defining.

sweet potato pumpkin gnocchi in a brown sugar and sage~ photo taken by VeganBeats

stuffed mushrooms~ photo taken by VeganBeats

       I kind of died over the stuffed mushrooms. I tie them to adult snacking food, little finger pickers swirly adults from the 70's snacked on. Posh, simple, complex, bundles of flavor...I could live on this....maybe whilst walking on a treadmill. hmmm

pine nut red quinoa salad~ photo taken by VeganBeats

     Kia also made a CRAZY delicious pizza torte, it was full of flavor and severely healthier than pizza (at least I think so!) 

pizza torte with cashew cheese~ photo taken by VeganBeats

      As if all of this deliciousness wasn't enough, desssssert~

carrot cake with lemon kissed-frosting~ (photo taken by VeganBeats)

pumpkin cheesecake~ photo taken by VeganBeats

chocolate hazelnut tart~ aigo photo taken by VeganBeats

dessert plate...nom nom nom~ photo taken by VeganBeats

     I may have stretched my belt a few sizes...but beyond worth it~~~

Lanterns for thoughts~

   Finally, after years of being in Korea and simply "thinking" about the Seoul Lantern Festival, I checked it out! I met up with some beautiful Seouls and we wandered around and checked out all these beautiful art sculptures that light up the Cheongggyecheon stream!

photo taken by VeganBeats~

photo taken by VeganBeats~

photo taken by VeganBeats~

photo taken by VeganBeats~

photo taken by VeganBeats~

     Admitted, this is a post using the festival to wander into other things that I am SO EXCITED about!! Next Saturday, I'm rolling stateside for a wedding, joining with friends, hugging family, snuggling Binger...
It can't come at a better time. My frustrations with Seoulside and in Korea has negatively influenced how I feel about myself, my current life position, and the energy that I bring with me. I am happy and thankful for and about so many things, but there's a definite trend of easily-triggered upset.
     I've been calling to the natural and chemical mood-lifters, asking my body to urge and motivate endorphin build-up. I've been active and engaging in physically pushing my body to feel that natural high, and while doing so, I do feel happier and my mind clearer. Art is becoming a growing trend and doing more things for myself, free of externally imposed guilt has allowed my parts to be more accepting of one another.
     I'm doing a little self-celebration right now~
     But I am also very aware that even though I'm feeling more positive now, there is more for me to explore and understand about myself and where I really must be.
     This past weekend, a friend expressed his observation of my energy, how he feels I am happier now more than ever. He then said that my sadness and general depression was annoying and a "pain in the ass." I appreciate his honesty, but this inspired a lot of concerns and questions...reflections in myself and those I do chose to surround myself with.
     A friend's state of being, in my idealistic world, is one to be accepted. Not criticized, there are always parts of you that find the parts in others to be distasteful or not enjoyable, I aim more towards accepting those parts and being patient in a way that~ my upset has nothing to do with them, it is my own parts reacting in that/this way.
     Returning, I then thought how unaware some people are. Claiming great observational skills and a keen eye for people's energy inspires me to laugh and snarkly deny those "statements." How unaware others seem to truly be and how well my parts work together to mask a lot of things that I churn in this bucket. I am now in a position where I recognize that in myself, even more so, I've been ignoring a lot of parts or just avoiding many of them.
     Regardless, next Saturday I will be back stateside and am confident some clarity will be found and I may start to feel a bit more ground.


A week~
   

Scotty Soul's Surprise

     October has been more than busy, stressful, emotional, and brilliant. It started off with the death of a brilliant man, upsetting family realizations, emotional roller-coasting, a draining wallet, and rounded off with birthday celebrations, party preperations, smiles, laughter, growth, an anniversary, new family members, Halloween jams, and November began with a SURPRISE!
     This is a silly side-note and apologies to my girl, but Hamlet and I celebrated two years together on October 26th! She has brought so much joy and love into my life! The nights I've ended snuggling up to her are immeasurabley blissful!

baby~ photo taken by VeganBeats~

     Anyways, Scotty Soul had his birthday on October 29th and since Halloween is on the 31st, it's been a bit neglected. For his actual birthday I made him a super veggie friendly but NOT vegan birthday dinner paired with a massive yummy salad~

up close, and not that pretty~ photo taken by VeganBeats

     When I was a little thrasher, my nanna used to make baked macaroni and my entire family and I would literally melt in it's scent. She would make a creamy roux, rich buttery smells and whole wheat flower, with soft cheeses, and baked with a crunchy ritz cracker and butter topping. Not healthy, but very comforting, and delicious. Scotty Soul isn't vegan, and I wanted to make something homey, comforting, and special...

     The non-vegan dish was a baked three cheese macaroni. The cheeses were feta, extra sharp cheddar (VT!), and pepper jack. The veggies I threw in were broccoli, spinach, kale, caramelized onions and bell peppers, and the topping was blended tortilla chips (less salt overall chyea)~ 

Scotty Soul's plate~ photo taken by VeganBeats

     The salad I made was chalk full of greens and all sorts of textured roughage. Iceburg lettuce, romaine, green and red leaf lettuce, spinach, kale, onions, broccoli chunks, celery, cucumber, and bamboo shoots! The dressing I made was my "friends with salad" dressing.
      One of the gifts I made for him was a custom deck~ Got a board, sanded it down (thanks to my neighborhood grocer for finding sandpaper for me~) and spent all night painting finishing touches while ruining four cakes...ugh

his deck~ photo taken by VeganBeats~

again~ photo taken by VeganBeats~

     But...BUT this past weekend a community that has nothing but love for Scotty Soul joined up at Braii Republic for a Surprise party! I still managed to ruin a couple cakes but eventually made two that I aimed to make! The first one was Jake the Dog from Adventure time WATCH THIS SHOW!!!

Jake the cake~ photo taken by VeganBeats~

     ...and the second was one of his childhood "dream" cakes!~ (Thanks to the goddess and stunning Carrie for helping me out =^ㅊ^=)..

dream pool cake~ photo taken by VeganBeats

     The Jake cake was a dark chocolate cake with white chocolate and cranberries with a coconut butter cream frosting with cocoa essence. The dream cake (the swimming pool cake) was a dark chocolate, cranberry, white chocolate, and peanut butter swirl cake with a dark chocolate and coconut butter cream frosting with raspberry and strawberry essence. The "pool" part was organic strawberry jam.
     The cakes themselves were vegan but the frostings weren't due to actual butter used (baked birthday dinner leftover ingredients) and the peppero sticks~
   

Happy Halloween!~

Hope everyone everywhere has had or is having a Wonderful Halloween!

photo taken by VeganBeats~

     Do you know who I am?

photo taken by My Seoul Photography and Writing 

If you do not....please watch this...

photo taken by VeganBeats~

The Forest Spirit gives life and takes life away. Life and death are his alone

You should just watch all of Hayao Miyazaki's stuff...brilliance~

Introducing Gamja and Mandu~

     On the 19th I kicked it into 26 with loads of fun sticks, clever licks, and jams nothing short of esoteric~ I'm now in the upper 20's and entering the 26-50% mark of the "ideal" 100-year life! My birthday was full of lightness right from the start! It began brilliantly, and came to a close with an embraced and loving ease~
    I'll write more about it's overwhelmingly positive experience soon, I just wanted to introduce to all of you, and the internet world~ the VeganBeats family has gotten two more!

     I introduce Gamja (Korean for potato)and Mandu (Korean dumpling!)~

Gamja on the left and Mandu on the right~ photo taken by VeganBeats

     They're still teeny little pups and starting to grow a bit more adjusted to their new home...holy hell are they beautiful little pups~

morning snuggling, Gamja int he back and Mandu up in your face! photo taken by VeganBeats

     Hamlet is having a hard time adjusting to the new girls, she's already quite defensive and aggravated that she is having to share time and seems a bit more needy~ There were chatterings and a bit of fighting...they'll grow on her...sometime~

The VeganBeats' ladies, Mandu, Hamlet, and Gamja~ photo taken by VeganBeats

VeganMofo "itches"

     Catching up on some stuff I've missed throwing on this page of mine~
These are some "itch'n'the'kitchs" from the beginning of October~

SUPER protein packed stir fry, SUPER Protein, Fabulous fiber, Delectable~ photo taken by VeganBeats

the breakfast I'm excited to eat, apples, cinnamon, walnuts, pecans, dried cranberries and cherries All downed with a GIANT coffee~ photo taken by VeganBeats

Super green wrap, kale/broccoli/zucchini/gosari cutlets (gluten free), avocado spiced spread, dijion mustard, cucumbers...nom nom nom~ photo taken by VeganBeats

Vegan "tuna" sando (inspired by AliensDayOut)~ photo taken by VeganBeats

a messy open-faced sando on whole wheat baguette. Slivered zucchini, garlic green hummus, dijon mustard, thick tomato garlic onion sauce chalk full of kale, cabbage, tofu, nutritional yeast, and spinach...Oh and there's a tofu cashew nut basil cheese...sando preggo~ photo taken by VeganBeats

Yikes~ O_o#

Happy VeganMofo kids~

Birthday post is coming because VeganBeats its sprinting into the upper 20's now (aigo!) And I'm sprinting with smiles~

Cheesy Coconut Zuke Noods with Kale love

      A hard night of drinking usually leads to unhealthy cravings, in Korea, people go for ddeokboki, twegeum (various battered and fried foods), or ramyeon. Being a super extra picky vegan, I steer clear of Asia's crucial staples-rice and noodles. But a while back I was craving the texture and slurpiness of noodles and ramyeon, so I made a super dressed up and healthy version~ free of noodles! A gluten-free 100% vegan ramyeon! While making it, I figured why not go for the gold and make it stupid rich and "cheezy."
     For the "noodles" I spiraled a bunch of zucchini, the only way to eat a spaghetti is if it's zuke~ For the sauce/soup, I made an extra garlicky, noochy, and cayenne spiced mix. I used coconut milk and added spinach, seaweed, and kale...along with a generous fist-full of nooch and black pepper and cayenne.
     It was packed with flavor and was almost guilt-free, if it hadn't been for the fact that coconut milk is rich! I also tend to tie any cheese flavoring with pure fat...happy belly, guilty mind...but still sinfully delicious~
     Why didn't I try this out years ago?

slobber~ photo taken by VeganBeats