Alicia Silverstone's Blog, page 109

Recipe For Vegan Chocolate Fudge

Kind lifer Tony submitted this yum-looking recipe for vegan fudge. It looks easy and delicious! And dangerous!!!

 

Vegan Chocolate Fudge

Ingredients
6 tablespoons vegan margarine
3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup sifted cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup soy milk (or rice/almond)

Instructions

Lightly grease a 5x9-inch loaf pan using a little of the margarine (or an ultra-thin candy mold plastic tray best). Place the remaining margarine, sugar, cocoa, vanilla and soymilk in a heatproof mixing bowl or the upper part of a double boiler (We hold a small pot in a large pot of water). Place the bowl or boiler over simmering water and keep stirring until smooth.

Pour the mixture quickly into the prepared pan. Chill thoroughly and cut into squares. After pouring into tray, use spoon to scrape the pot for a delicious warm spoonful of unhardened fudge!!

Want another yummy treat? Get Chef Chloe’s recipe for naughty, flirty cookie dough truffles.


Photo source: Flickr.com / SweetonVeg

Put Some Spring in Your Kind Style!

 

The weather is starting to warm up, especially here in LA. If you’re looking for some fun new eco items to add to your wardrobe, your purse, or your beauty routine, check out this great stuff from my OpenSky Store in the slide show below.

GIVEAWAY:

Leave a comment below by April 2nd telling me which one is your favorite, and you could win the Lukka Tote, the Josia Naturals Hair Growth & Repair Serum, the Alicia Silverstone for Juice Beauty 3-piece set, and the Leah Wallet in green!

Extra points if you share it on Twitter, Facebook, and/or Pinterest (and leave a link in your comment so I can see that you did)!

• You must be a registered TheKindLife.com member to enter. Learn how to sign up by clicking here.
• This contest is open to residents of the USA only.
• Winners will ONLY be contacted via private message to their TheKindLife.com inbox and by the email they used to register for the site. If our team does not hear back within 24 hours, a new winner will be selected in your place.
• Limit one comment per entry. Multiple comment entries will not be considered.
• This giveaway ends at 11:59 p.m. PST on April 2,2013.

Crossroads: Tal Ronnen's Delicious New Restaurant

 

If you’re in Los Angeles looking for a great dinner, veg or otherwise, you must run to Tal Ronnen’s new restaurant Crossroads on Melrose and Sweetzer. I’ve already been twice since it opened March 14th and I can’t wait to go back.

^ This is my friend, Chip

 

You can check out Crossroad's full menu here.

 

Here are the dishes that I loved and recommend:

DRINK:

• Sunset & Vine: My friend and I tried four of their signature cocktails (all of them were so beautiful) and this one was my favorite. You can see a photo of it in Chip’s hand above. It was so interesting and delicious. I’d definitely order this again.

 

APPETIZERS:

• Artichoke Oysters: These are amazing. They’re not oysters at all, but little artichoke leaves with all this yummy stuff on top—crispy oyster mushroom, yellow tomato béarnaise and kelp caviar. Heavenly deliciousness.

• Lentil Flatbread with 3 Seasonal Spreads: These little flatbreads come with really nice sauces. Yum! I will order this again for sure. One of the sauces was leek pâté with smoked white bean hummus and tomato braised banana peppers. Really good!

• Tortelloni: These are seriously insane. Almond cheese, oven-dried tomatoes, spinach cream… YUM! 
• Papas Arrugadas: These little baby potatoes are really good. I want these next time again.

• “Crab” Cakes: These are made of palm hearts and have apples, beets, and horseradish cream. So nice!

SALADS:

• Red Grapefruit Salad: This was delicious and the presentation is super fancy. Really nice! I can’t wait to have it again.

• Kale Salad with Currants: also delicious and fancy. Really nice!

ENTREES:

• Pappardelle Bolognese: Really good!
• Caramelized Leek Puree, Crispy Root Vegetables & Frisée Flatbread Pizza: Sooo good! Can’t wait to get it again!

DESSERTS:

• Carrot Cake Ice Cream: Really good!
• Chocolate Bundt Cake: Really good.

Here’s a list of what I didn’t get a chance to try that I want to order next time:

• Cheese plate: Tal invented a new cheese and I can’t wait to taste it! They were sold out last time I went so I’ll get it next time…
• Their wine sounded really nice
• Red quinoa with pan-roasted fresh artichoke hearts and fava beans
• Cassoulet with lentils, wild mushrooms, grilled treviso, and buttered leeks

We sat in a nice, big booth, but the bar there is so pretty. Next time I might even go and sit at the bar because it has such a cool, swanky vibe. Everybody was so nice who worked there. Our waiters both times were so sweet and lovely.

Oh, and they’re going to open a breakfast situation soon… Tal let me taste the croissant and it was just like Paris… amazing!!! Basically, the best croissant you will ever have.

I can’t wait to go back!

Which dish would you love to try?

Eggless Easter: Dip-Dyed Marshmallows

For those of you who grew up dip-dying eggs for Easter, I’ve created an eco-friendly vegan version. If your kids are used to dying eggs, this is a great alternative.

I wanted to use fruit juices instead of dye. You can use fruit juices to dye frosting and cakes, so I thought “why not marshmallows?” It turns out, that doesn’t quite work. The marshmallows will pick up the coloring from the juice if you leave it in there long enough, but they’ll also get really sticky and gooey. Not great. They’ll look like this:

 

Kinda pretty, but not what we’re going for.

So…I recommend just using plant-based food coloring and you don’t have to eat them if you don’t want to. I found a brand called India Tree at Whole Foods that is made from highly-concentrated vegetable colorants. They are fun and make a lovely decoration.

Marshmallows are full of sugar so if you haven’t introduced your kids to sugar yet, I’d say they should skip eating them altogether…I wouldn’t want Bear eating sugar and food dye until it’s completely unavoidable. I’m trying to keep that stuff out of his universe as long as possible. (We went to a party where there were cupcakes and he saw them, but I just diverted his attention to the strawberries and he was happy.) I know this won’t last forever, but I want him to be as healthy as possible for as long as possible so, for now, no sugar.

But, if you’re a flirt and would normally be digging into a package of peeps, these are a healthier alternative!

Materials:

• A spoon
• About one cup of water
• Vegan marshmallows. I used Dandies (found at Whole Foods), but Sweet & Sara make some too.
• Food coloring – make sure it’s vegan. India Tree makes vegetable-based food coloring and they sell it at some Whole Foods.
• A muffin tin to dip the marshmallows. You can also use small bowls or prep bowls…whatever you have on hand!
• A paper grocery bag, cut one side off. You can also use parchment paper, which might be a little easier because of its non-stick surface, but it’s also not as eco. You can find FSC-certified unbleached chlorine-free parchment paper from If You Care.
• OPTIONAL: A basket with some paper “grass.” I saved one that I received as a gift last year so I just used that. If you don’t already have a basket, you can probably find one at a thrift store and use strips of newspaper for the “grass.”

Instructions:

1. Add about 6 drops of food coloring per two tablespoons of water into a cup of your muffin tin and stir. You want the liquid to be about ½-inch deep so that you can set the marshmallow on the bottom of the cup if you want and it won’t be fully submerged. Lay out your piece of paper bag next to the muffin tin so that you won’t drip.

2. Put a marshmallow on a spoon and submerge it into the cup. You can submerge it completely or halfway to get a two-tone effect. If you’re not afraid of getting messy, you can also just use your hands to dunk.

3. Once you’ve dipped one side, set the marshmallow on the paper bag and let it dry for about 5 minutes. Then dye the other side (or don’t… your choice!).

4. Let the marshmallows dry for about an hour on the paper, flipping halfway through. Careful: if you let it dry too long, it will be hard to get off of the paper.

5. Once the marshmallows are dry (and no longer sticky) pile them into the basket. Or decorate with them however you’d like!

Note: You probably don’t want to go hiding these around your yard because they will still be slightly sticky and will just get covered with dirt. This is really just for the fun of making them, eating some if you’re a Peeps fan, and to use for decoration.

Do you think you’ll dip-dye some marshmallows?

What groovy alternatives do you have for these traditional holiday activities?

Are these traditions important to you?

If you have any other favorite spring crafts, share them in the comments below! 

Animal Tales: Behind the Scenes at Farm Sanctuary

Farm Sanctuary has a video series on their website and on Youtube, detailing stories of the animals they’ve rescued. It’s a heartwarming series…you will like it. The videos are short and sweet… check out this one narrated by actress Allison Janney:

Here’s “The Doctor” narrated by actor John Corbett:

And “The Sonny Side of Life” narrated by actress Téa Leoni:

Find more videos on farmsancturary.org.

Take a look at the videos, and tell me what you think in the comments below!

New Recipe Features!

 

 

Hey Kind Lifers!

Today we're happy to introduce some fun new features in the recipe gallery. If you frequent the Kind Life recipes, you'll notice things look a bit different. Here are the updates:

 You can now rate the recipes! You can give any recipe in the gallery between 1 and 5 stars.

When you add your own recipe to the recipe gallery, you can now choose between Flirt, Vegan, Superhero, or Raw. Plus you can select ingredient restrictions like gluten free, sugar free, soy free, and more! (If you've already submitted recipes, you can edit your own recipes to add these new tags.)

It's now easier to share the recipes on your social networks with a share bar on the side.

It's now easier to search for recipes by ingredient or recipe type in the large search bar on top.

As before, you can filter recipes by dish type and cuisine type, but now there's the option to sort by highest rated.

Go check out the recipe gallery and browse around.

Make sure to give a rating to any recipes that you've tried before!

If you run into any issues or have any suggestions as to how we can make the recipe gallery (or the site) better, please leave a comment below!

 

Love,
The Kind Life Web Team

Searching for a Kind Easter and Passover

Last year I got thinking about the similarities between the Passover and Easter traditions. Jewish people search their homes for leaven before Passover starts to get it out of the house (since chametz or “leavening” isn’t allowed in the house during Passover). Christians celebrate Easter by searching for eggs (the egg is seen as a sign of renewed life or resurrected life by breaking out of it, relating to Jesus’ resurrection on Easter Sunday). So both holidays have this tradition of searching…

I thought, why not celebrate the new season, the holidays, and the outdoors with a scavenger hunt? Create a series of clues that lead the kids around your yard or park to a final “prize” that could be physical like a yummy treat or a little gift, or intangible, like the chance to pick a fun outing for the family. You can tailor the clues to your kids and family and make it fun! The clues could be about the garden like asking them to find different plants. My favorite-smelling flower is jasmine (which is in bloom right now and smells so yummy!) so I might write a clue like, “Find your next clue at mama’s favorite smelling flower.” Bear is too young for a scavenger hunt, but I thought this was a nice, festive idea to share.

Here are some more ways to celebrate a Kind Easter and Passover season:

• Rescue an animal in need
• Visit an animal sanctuary
• Go for a hike where spring blossoms are blooming. Find out what great trails are near you here.
• Give out vegan treats or cook a delicious vegan feast. If you’re having brunch with your family, I recommend the Traditional English Breakfast (p. 198) or Mochi Waffles drizzled with Lemon-Walnut-Rice Syrup (p. 286) from The Kind Diet. Yum!
• Plant flowers or vegetables to harvest later in the year. Find out what to plant in spring here.
• Take some time to meditate or think about spiritual renewal.

If you’re curious where more of the Easter traditions come from, I talked about it in my previous Easter Blog. I also wrote about Passover here.

I’m going to be sharing a little kid-friendly craft for creating a fun eggless Easter basket so check back for that soon!

In our little family, we will probably just enjoy the outdoors and love each other up like we always do. We aren’t planning anything for Easter or Passover, but I wanted to come up with ideas for those of you who do celebrate the holidays so you can have a kinder one. Because buying eggs and dying them? That ain’t kind! Let’s give traditions a makeover—kind style!

Will you try my scavenger hunt idea?

What ideas do you have for a kind Passover or Easter?

Is it important to you to celebrate these holidays?

Photo source: flickr.com / Alex E. Proimos

Let's Celebrate Spring

Today marks the start of spring. Traditional rites and festivals of spring revolved around its importance in growing food. Plants start to grow and animals come out of hibernation and begin reproducing. People come out of hibernation too!

Here are some ways to celebrate:

• Clean: Now is a great time to do some cleaning and donating. Go through your closets and drawers and get rid of anything that you don’t need and give it to an organization or someone who will get more use out of it. It feels great to have less STUFF cluttering your space! It’s good for the mind and soul.

• Celebrate Food: Like in the traditional spring festivals, you can celebrate the start of the agricultural season by taking more trips to the farmer’s market to enjoy the delicious spring foods. Some exciting foods coming into season are artichokes, asparagus, and strawberries. To see what’s in season in your area, put in your zip code at eatwellguide.org.

• Plant: You can also celebrate by starting your own garden (or reviving last year’s garden). This When To Plant app tells you the best planting times based on your zip code. You can also find that information on TheVegetableGarden.info.

• Reflect: Lastly, any change of seasons is a great reminder to refocus our goals and reflect on what we really need so we can be more attune with ourselves. Here are a few questions to reflect on as you celebrate the new season:

What do I need? Sleep? Rest, love, friends?

What is my heart craving?

What are my goals in the different areas of my life: relationships, family, career, health, money, home, community, activism, etc.?

What are the baby steps I can start to take to get me there?

Make it a point to schedule your life to only include the things that you need the most so there’s no room for anything else but the life you want. If you need a little help getting focused, I recommend this book Organizing from the Inside Out by Julie Morgenstern. I talk more about the book here.

How will you celebrate Spring?

Photo source: D Sharon Pruitt

Cooking An All-Italian Cornucopia

When I was in New York, I took a cooking class at the Natural Gourmet Institute. They do serve meat and dairy in some classes, but most of their classes are vegan. I took an all-Italian cornucopia class. Here are the pictures of some of the dishes we made (in the slideshow below).

I got to cook with four other people for 4 hours... and I had a lot of fun! Anywho, if you live in New York, check out the Natural Gourmet Institute.

And check out the photos from the other class I took here.

Have you taken any great cooking classes recently?

Share recommendations in the comments below.

15 Touching Animal Photos

Which photo is your favorite?

Tell me in the comments below, and share links to any funny, beautiful, or sweet animal photos you love.

(Via BuzzFeed, Cute Overload and Farm Sanctuary)