So from now until Christmas I’m going on a caffeine and alcohol detox.  I know it’s going to be a challenge with the days getting colder but instead of turning to a nice warm cup of coffee I’ll be turning to a nice decaf tea.  As for the alcohol not as big of a challenge but I’ll just have to wait to try Neil’s newest home brew until Christmas.

There’s nothing I love better in the morning than a nice cup of coffee  ( the darker the better! ).  With this hot summer though, hot coffee isn’t always going to hit the spot and that’s where iced coffee comes into play.  Having grown tired of over-spending on iced coffee that I could never guarantee wasn’t just yesterday’s leftovers thrown in the fridge or something entirely overcooked and done too strong, I needed to find out how to make a good cup of iced coffee on the cheap.  I had made cold pressed iced coffee before with a french press, but we are without a french press and that is an overnight/all day process as it is.  After reading some articles and blogs online, I stumbled across the Japanese method of brewing iced coffee.  This method was done in minutes, doesn’t require any fancy equipment and – most importantly – makes a delicious cup of iced coffee.  It’s been a go to of mine as of late and I decided to document the process one night while I was brewing my latest batch of home brewed beer.  Lindsay asked me to share with you, so here is the process in words and pictures.

How You Make It

1. If you have a grinder, grind your beans on the coarse setting.
2. Boil some water for the coffee
3. Weigh out your ice and place it in the glass container.
4. Measure the water.
5. Place the filter with the ground coffee on the top of the container.
6. Slowly pour the boiling water through the grinds in the container.
7. Make your favourite additions to the iced coffee and enjoy! (I love mine black)

When you are done you will have a great iced coffee with a delicious rich and smooth flavour.  Melting the ice with the coffee allows for the iced coffee to be cooled immediately and without weakening or diluting the brew.  Also, with the coffee being cooled immediately, it prevents the oxidization and loss of flavour that you would have if you allowed a normally brewed pot of coffee to chill over a couple of hours.  The coffee should keep a good flavour for a day or so after you brew it, if you decide to brew a bigger batch.

1. Five Bamboo Travel Skirt- Five Bamboo sent me a sample of their skirt for review and I have been wearing it all the time.  Unfortunately I have yet to get a picture of myself in it because well I am usually behind the camera, however this weekend we are traveling and it will be perfect for the trip. This skirt is ridiculously comfortable and so soft! I am in love with it.  I am so in love with how cute it looks on and how comfortable it is, especially right now in this crazy hot humid Vermont weather. Now I just have to find someone to get me their Rohre Dress for my birthday next month- any takers?

2. Fearless Matcha Green Trea & Peppermint Chocolate: A few weeks ago via a twitter conversation myself and another tweeter got to talking about green tea chocolate and I of course had to chim in that Fearless makes the best kind (I have ever had) and to top it all off it has peppermint in it too. Neil and I have been trying to savor this bar but like most chocolate it didn’t last long in our house.  Oh well! Luckily we have a few other flavors to try and they sell it at a number of different shops in Burlington now.

Ingredients: Organic Raw Cacao, Organic Rapadura, Organic Matcha Green Tea, Organic Peppermint

3. Running! I never thought that I would say this but I am loving it.  I actually have the urge to go on runs now and I look forward to my next run day. On top of that I am loving running in the morning- yes 6am runs are way better than my old 3pm runs.

4. The Japanese Iced Coffee Method.  We used to do cold brewing in our french press…untile we broke it.  Lately we have been trying this different method and it makes really wonderful coffee.

Source

5. My Man. Supportive. Wonderful. Helpful. Loving. and so much more xo. (I know you’re either awing or gaging right now but it’s true.)

oh and one thing I am hating- my sunburn that has blister. GROSS.
Disclaimer: Five Bamboo and Fearless Chocolate both provided me with a sample of their products to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway.

Miles Hiked: 9.2
Summits Reached: 1
Fire Tower Stairs Climbed: 20 ….okay 10 each
Moose Dropping Piles Seen: 500; okay probably less but they were everywhere but no moose to be seen
Coffees Drank: 3 (we split them)
Rounds of Cards Played: 5 and Neil won in the end (but only by a little)
Hours Spent Reading: 3 glorious hours
Minutes Spent Attempting to Do Yoga On A Slanted Rock: 5

Saturday morning Neil and I headed out to Eden’s Crossing at the Long Trail where we had ended our last long hike; you can read about it here. We signed in and started the 3 mile hike the summit of Belvidere Mountain.  This hike was a different one for us because I was carrying an additional 17 pounds on my back and Neil around 25 pounds on his back because this trip we were staying the night.  Unfortunately the night before it had rained so everything was wet and there were some real mucky spots.  We also hit an area that was all rocks so we put our game faces on and got up them anyway we could; sometimes that meant hands and knees.

Neil getting his hike on

We finally made it to the summit of Belvidere Mountain and to the Fire Tower after about 3 hours of hiking up a challenging rock terrain.

Views From the Summit

The Fire Tower

After spending a little time at the summit relaxing without our packs on and refueling with some crackers and water we finally packed up and headed on our way.  We still had 3.2 miles to hike before we finally reached our destination.  Over the next 3.2 miles we encountered load after load of moose droppings, tons of slippery rocks, muddy sink holes and then thunder.  When we started out on our adventure we knew that a thunderstorm was as possibility but we figured we could make it to the cabin before it started.  Well the thunder started rolling in and so we started to book it ….not a good idea when you haven’t had lunch and probably needed more water.  I was feeling pretty nauseous by the end and it felt like it was taking forever to get there.  Finally we made it to the beaver pond which Neil had read was right near the camp and 10 minutes later we were there, our glorious accommodations for the night.

Our Cabin

We took our packs off and settled in and took of our wet shoes, socks and changed our clothes.

After we settled in and decided to make some Backpackers Pantry Pad Thai for lunch and to my surprise the peanut butter in the pad thai was Justin’s!

Pad Thai ....soup? (not photogenic)

We thought the pad thai had good flavor but could have used more time (our fault) “cooking” and less water so it wasn’t so much like a soup.

We also enjoyed a nice cup of coffee and relaxed outside looking out at our view.

View

Via!

The remainder of the night we spent doing yoga (well attempting to on rocks), reading, playing cards and just soaking up the sun.

For dinner we had the Backpackers Pantry Katmandu Curry.  It was actually really delicious! We both loved the flavor and the addition of the lentils.  We will be buying this one again.

After our coffee we made our way to Montpelier just in time to see Allie and Caitlin at the first start of the race.  While we waited for them to make the loop back to the finish we headed to our favorite Capitol City Farmers Market to pick up some veggies and our favorite bookstore Bear Pond Books.  Around 9:30 am we headed to the race finish line and watched as runners began to arrive and waited to cheer on Allie and Caitlin.

At the start of their run (girls in pink)

Around 43 minutes I turned to Neil and said they’ll be here in 10 minutes, that’s my guess.  Well guess what- I WAS RIGHT ON! Allie and Caitlin turned the corner at 52 minutes and some seconds and they leaped across the finish line at 53 minutes.  They were really amazing and I am so proud.

Check out the shirts the girls made for the race:

and the back of Allie’s:

After the race we headed to The Skinny Pancake for crepes and to catch up.  Neil and I both got the Vegan Monster with mushrooms and salsa and topped with our favorite hot sauce.

Following brunch we headed to the Hunger Mountain Co-op to take a look but we didn’t pick up much just a yummy chocolate bar and coconut rolled dates for the Hubz.  When we were leaving I decided to take a peak at the sign up sheet for my Sugar Blues workshop next week and guess what? It was FULL- even the wait list is full!!! Squeal! Eeek! OMG! The pressure is on!

When we finally made it back to Burlington the Hubz and I took a look at the clock and decided we better head to the gym before it closed.  Today we decided to get a 250 meter swim in as well as our run.  I haven’t been feeling great, a little congested, so todays workout wasn’t the best on top of the fact that my legs were killing me from yesterdays squats and lunges. After our run we stopped in at Healthy Living for a smoothie and coconut water as well as some organic strawberries and organic apples. The Hubz and I shared a banana-peanut butter-flax-coconut smoothie and it was delicious.

Now it’s time for dinner, The Voice, foam rolling and relaxing with a movie. What are you up to this weekend?

With my coffee I have been enjoying a big bowl of hot oatmeal with flax seeds, wild blueberries, cashew butter and Bee-Free Honee (giveaway coming later today so keep your eyes peeled.)  I have been loving this combination of creamy nutbutter, sweet fruit and a drizzle of honee.

Also wanted to share a tip I learned (by actually reading the label on the nut butter); when you have natural nut butters that require stirring- stir them up real well until it is all combined and then stick it in the fridge and it will come out looking so good (see below).  No longer will you have to spend hours stirring your nut butter before you can eat it and you won’t end up with an oily top and dry bottom.

Before I head to the kitchen to make myself a bowl of oats I’ll leave you with a mini updated about our new furry companion; he is settling right in and seems to love being with us.  He has the funniest little squeak he makes and when he wants you to give him love and attention he hisses – strange right? He also has come to love to spend his nights sleeping with us.

New Moon Cafe

The menu at New Moon includes sandwiches, salads, breakfast items, soups, quiche and baked goods. I really love their roasted veggie paninis but lately my favorite has been the create your own salad. My favorite combination is greens, artichoke hearts, mushrooms, carrots, chickpeas, cucumber and lemon dressing. There are three sizes of salad; the small is massive and they don’t skimp on the artichokes which are my favorite.

Yummy Salad Beast

When it comes to beverages they have the best cold pressed iced coffee, wonderfully sweet and spicy chai lattes and their drip coffee is really delicious as well.

Delicious Coffee

My only complaint about New Moon is that it isn’t open on Saturdays.

Four TV Shows I Watch:

• The Real Housewives- yes all of them
• White Collar
• Criminal Minds
• Giada at Home

Four Things I’m Passionate About:

• Food/cooking/recipes
• Health and Wellness
• Being Active
• Blogging

Four Words/Phrases I Use Too Much:

• You have to take a picture first! (before my husband goes and eats samples I received or recipes I made)
• the Hubz
• Do you like coffee? (that’s how I ask the Hubz to make coffee)
• Eh?

Four Things I Learned In the Past:

• You have to love yourself for others to love you
• If you don’t something it do something about it.
• Change doesn’t happen over night.
• Surround yourself with people who support you.

Four Things I’m Looking Forward To:

• Getting my Kindle in the mail so that the Hubz and I can start our book club (yeah it’s just us).
• Going to PDX in August for my birthday and Vida Vegan Con
• Having a thriving health counseling business
• Going backpacking on the Long Trail with the Hubz the summer.

Four Things I Love About Winter:

• Blankets.
• Snowy Days.
• XC Skiing.
• Warm Coffee.

Four People I Want to Complete This Survey:

• Emily at Mindfully Emily
• Tanya at Cooking with T
• Megan at Vegan Whore
• Heather at That Feisty Vegan

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I love that the Hubz is a coffee drinker now and that we can make a french press of coffee for the two of us in the mornings and share it while waking up and getting ready for the day.  I however have been trying to be good and cut back on my coffee intake because it isn’t great to have too much of it but I have a cup or 2 a day and tons of water. My favorite Bodum french press (above) is in my OpenSky shop and is such a good deal too.

Oh and here is breakfast:

I finally have got myself back in the yoga groove again and am loving how the balance between my running and hiking and gentle yoga that helps to stretch my tight body.  I have recently received a new yoga mat from Aurorae and I am really starting to like it.  For me and I assume most people it takes a little time to get used to a new yoga mat and work it in but I am really starting to enjoy this one.  I also love that each of the Aurorae mats are a different color which are meant to define your inner self; mine is pink which is Hope.

The qualities that the Hope (pink mat) define are intuitive, faithful, visionary, power of positive thought, energetic & healing.  Additionally I really like that this mat is longer and thicker than some of my other mats which is great when I want a gentle practice or meditation.  Lastly one of the great features of this mat is the focal point icon at the end of the mat to help with concentration.  I find myself drawn to focusing there and it helps me balance and focus. Since I really like this mat I’ve decided to add it to my OpenSky shop hope you check it out!

Lastly don’t forget to let me know if you are interested in participating in the vegan care package swap.  At this point there is no commitment I am just trying to get a feel for how many people are interested.  You do not have to be vegan to participate in this swap however you do need to have a blog and unless paired with another non-vegan you will be expected to only include vegan items in your care package.  These items can be store bought or homemade and can be anything from food to clothes to gadgets or basically anything you like and want to share with someone else. If you are interested please go here and leave a comment letting me know.  Oh and you can be international so long as I have participants who want to ship internationally! In the next day or 2 I will be posting more information about what the swap entails and how to sign up.

Disclaimer: Aurorae provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose.  Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.

We used our GlassDharma Straws to sip them with

After our whirlwind day we finally sat down to a meal that was filled with delicious items from our CSA. In our CSA this week we received 2 lbs Red Beets; 2 lbs Onions; 1 Bunch Kale; 1 Bunch of Thyme; 1.5 lb Beefsteak or Heirloom Tomatoes; 1 Bag Spicy Brassica Mix; 6 ears of Sweet Corn; 1 Qt Frozen Winter Squash Puree. Last night I used half the kale to make baked kale chips, 2 corn on the cob for baked corn and 1 tomato for our pita pizzas.

The kale was tossed with 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil, 1/2 tablespoon nutritional yeast, salt, pepper and a dash of cayenne and baked at 425F for about 7 minutes; just until it began to crisp up.  The corn was removed from it’s husk and rubbed down with a little Earth Balance and then sprinkled with nutritional yeast, salt, and pepper and rolled up in aluminum foil and baked at 425F for 15minutes.  The little pita pizzas had a slice of vegan cheese of half of a pita with a leftover bean&rice burger, tomato and quarter of an avocado.

After dinner I caught up with my BFF for awhile over skype since we hadn’t talked via phone/skype in over a month and then I decided that it would be a great time to try out the Ravi Wine Chiller.  I learned something new last night that red wine is often served too warm! I was unsure about the Ravi Wine Chiller at first thinking that maybe it would make my red wine too cold but it was perfect! It has a great little valve on the side that the more your thumb is over it the slower the wine pours out and the colder it gets; so for red wine you just let it run through the chiller and it brings it to a proper temperature without making it cold.

Q: What is your favorite type of wine to drink? or do you enjoy wine?

P.S. From now until August 16th you can save 25% of your total purchase when you use coupon code EXCITE25; this a one time use only so make sure to check out other items on my OpenSky shop as well as others shops before checking out!

Disclaimer: Ravi provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose.  Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.

Aren’t all of these desserts beautiful? I wish that they had been vegan but at least they were nice to look at.  Among the beautiful desserts and other savory dishes we found one we could eat, a mushroom bruschetta- it was amazing!

After the reception it was time to get ready for the tasting which you could view live on UStream. We sipped some water and waited around at the nicely decorated tasting tables.

Wasn’t Hubz looking pretty sharp in his new(ish) shirt?

Hubby and I both really enjoyed this coffee and the Hubz isn’t event a coffee drinker! Here is the UStream Video and you can hear my muffled comments which were kindly repeated by our hosts.

We were sent home with a few goodie bags that included a sample of the Spring Revival Coffee to try at home.  I also received one bag that had K-Cups for the office.  Inside the bags there was this awesome fair trade coffee sticker as well as information about the coffee and World Fair Trade Day (May 8, 2010).

Also included were step by step cards on how to do your own tasting at home as well as information on everyday brewing.

Since Green Mountain Coffee was kind enough to send me home with an extra bag of goodies I thought who better than to give it to but one of my readers? So if you would like a chance to win a Green Mountain Coffee bag of goodies which includes a bag of ground Limited Edition Spring Revival, a fair trade coffee sticker, coffee tasting cards and a few informational pieces keep on reading to see how you can enter.

To enter: (Please enter by noon onMay 8th, 2010 – World Fair Trade Day)- GIVEAWAY CLOSED! – THE WINNER IS ENTRY #11: ANGIE BISHOP

There are a number of ways to enter however for each to qualify you MUST leave a SEPARATE comment for each individual entry.

1. Visit the Green Mountain Coffee Site and let me know of something new you learned or a coffee that interest you.

2. Follow Green Mountain Coffee on twitter

3. Become a fan of Green Mountain Coffee on Facebook

4. Follow me on Twitter.

5. Become a fan of Cook.Vegan.Lover. on Facebook.

6. Tweet about this giveaway “I want to win Fair Trade Ltd. Ed. Spring Revival @GreenMntCoffee on @cookveganlover  http://wp.me/pFVWo-J0″

7. Blog about this giveaway.

Everything at ‘SNice is vegetarian and all vegan options are marked accordingly. The menu is mostly that of salads and sandwiches with bagels and breakfast sandwiches in the morning.  The place was pretty quiet for the sit in crowd until around 11am however there was always a line at the counter for take out bagels and coffee. I really would like to return during lunch ours to try one of their yummy salads or sandwiches.  There is also a location in Brooklyn which I understand has a similar menu. 

Delicious Soy Latte

Tofu Scramble Wrap

Click to View SoyGo Website

I bring these on trips with me so that I can add a little creamer to my (usually) horrible cup of hotel coffee.  I also love that it gives coffee a nice sweet flavor and isn’t as heavy as liquid soy creamer.  I am not a huge creamer fan usually but I love this when I am craving something sweet.

Click to Visit Caffe Ibis Website

Caffe Ibis, located in Logan Utah, was great and sent me four samples of their organic coffees. The four coffees I tried were:
1. Organic Mayan Sunrise Blend- I really loved this coffee it was a great morning coffee that is a blend of dark and light roasts.
2. Organic Aztec Blend- what I loved about this coffee was that it is smooth, sweet and spicy.
3. Organic French Roast Blend- this coffee is rich caramelly, and smooth.
4. Organic Highland Sumatra Dark- This is my absolute favorite of the 4- it is a light french roast that is full bodied and has light acidity.

I drink a lot of coffee and I loved these coffees. The other thing that influences my coffee purchases are the companies ethical practices. Caffee Ibis has great ethical practices that are both socially and environmentally responsible:

Caffe Ibis Mission

“Our mission for thirty years has been to be “unbeatable for quality and freshness, while supporting social and environmental responsibility.” Caffe Ibis endeavors to:

1. Provide customers with mountain grown and mountain roasted specialty arabica coffee with unbeatable quality and freshness.
2. Provide due respect and fair compensation for the people whose labor brings us our exceptional organic coffees.
3. Respect and safeguard the environment that provides the extraordinary growing conditions true specialty organic coffee requires
4. Utilize buying practices that support shade grown and organic coffee, a sustainable coffee future, and social and environmental responsibility.
5. Honor and respect our partners in this endeavor, and the employees and customers of Caffe Ibis Coffee.

We believe that by adhering to the above principles that we will show returns that justify the costs incurred in presenting our goods and services along with the additional costs of future growth.” Source

To find out where you can get yourself Caffe Ibis Coffee you can visit their website or you can order direct from their website. 

Disclaimer: Caffe Ibis provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose.  Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review in return for the free product.

Result:2- The Winner is Sarah from See Sarah Eat

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Barrington Coffee Roasting Company sent me some great samples of their coffee.    One of the things that I love about this company comes from their mission statement:

We applaud the individuals that grow our coffees by paying dearly for the fruits of their labor and singing their praises on our website. We believe that directly supporting quality driven producers is the ideal manner in which to promote sound, responsible growing practices, economic sustainability, and ultimately the best quality coffee.

Not only does the Barrington Coffee Roasting Company have great ethical practices but it has great coffee.  If you would like your chance to try their Berkshire Blend leave me a comment by December 9,2009 at 8pm. Sorry this giveaway is only open to US residence.

Blogger Disclosure: Cooking For a Vegan Lover received this product free from Barrington Coffee Roasters

Min: Max:

Result: 11 – The winner is Meagan!

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Green Mountain Coffee Roasters recently sent me a sampler pack of their Fairtrade Organic coffees.  Maybe it’s because I’m from Vermont but I love GMCR and have a few cups a day a week at work (my favorite is the Chocolate Raspberry Truffle).   The new (to me) flavors I was able to try were:

• Fair Trade Organic Ethiopian Yirgacheffe: Prized by connoisseurs for its delicate fragrance of orange blossoms, with an elegantly sweet and clean finish 
• Fair Trade Organic French Roast: Dark and complex. Roasted and blended for bold but sweet intensity. 
• Fair Trade Organic Sumatran Reserve: Offers lush, ripe fruit notes and syrupy richness. 

My favorite of these three is the Sumatran Reserve it has great flavor and is just delicious.  I am giving you the chance to try this wonderful Fair Trade Organic Sumatran Reserve- please leave a comment by 8am on December 8, 2009 if you would like to win.

Blogger Disclosure: Cooking For a Vegan Lover received this product free from Green Mountain Coffee Roasters

Also check out my recipe  for Pulled ‘Shroom Sandwich featured on this Meatless Monday here.

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“Doi Chaang Coffee produced by the hillside Akha tribe of Northern Thailand in Doi Chaang is Certified Organic, high altitude and shade grown, hand picked, fresh-water washed, sun dried and in all aspects cultivated with the sustainable farming practices of the 900 family co-operative that owns the coffee growing and processing operations. It is we believe, the only coffee (from anywhere) that from grower to seller is the same entity.”

This coffee has received great reviews and on the 100-point review (much like those in the wine and beer industry) conducted by Kenneth Davids it received 90 points on the Medium roast and 93 points on the Peaberry roast. 

I received the Single-Origin Signature and the Single-Origin Peaberry roasts.  I have at this time only tried the Peaberry roast and I found that it was amazing.  I was really impressed with the earthy flavor.  I am looking forward to sampling the Signature roast as well. 

Currently the best way to get your hands on this great coffee is to purchase directly through the Doi Chaang website.  However you can find it in select shops in LA & Ojai CA, as well as in various provinces in Canada.  Where to Buy & Online Shop