cyclist

Miss Rachel’s Pantry

For as far as I can remember, in my vegan life, I have always wanted to try Miss Rachel’s Pantry. I had attended the Be Well Philly Boot Camp in 2013 and sat in on a cooking demo with Rachel. I became thrilled that there were vegan chefs of her “vegan cutie” caliber, in Philadelphia, catering and holding weekly dinner parties. I wanted in. Busy life took over and conflicting schedules got in the way, but finally the stars aligned and I met my Miss Rachel’s Pantry fate…

One day, last month, I received a message from Kiera Smalls of City Fit Girls asking to attend her dinner party… at… Miss Rachel’s Pantry! I jumped at the invite. The dinner would consist of 10 like-minded, vegan, health and fitness conscious, awesome, passionate girls from Philadelphia and its surrounding area. The night was perfect but I am sure everyone is more interested in the menu and food for the night.

Mini Biscuits – homemade margarine, berries, walnuts

BBQ Tempeh-Walnut Slider Trio, caramelized onions, celery slaw, mezza arugula

Savory Tofu Scramble Enchilada, bean puree, cilantro chimichurri, chipotle cream

Salt-Roasted Golden Beetroot Salad, indigo rose and other exciting heirloom tomatoes, cashew cheese, basil vinaigrette

Chill Cucumber Bisque, crushed pistachios, grilled jalapeno, avocado, coconut bacon

Creamy Elbow Mac, Smoked Seitan Roast, caramelized kale

Seared Maitakes, whipped coconut milk and horseradish butterball potatoes, garbanzo shoots, truffle jus

Key Lime Pie, whipped cream, candied lime, graham crust

Flourless Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

In conclusion, I highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend planning a you next dinner party at Miss Rachel’s Pantry, or considering having an event catered. The deliciousness of the food cannot be put into words. All that can be said is all 10 girls with full bellies and extremely happy mouths on Saturday.

End note: It was very lovely meeting all the girls at the dinner party! Everyone should go check out these fierce vegan woman on their social media platforms. They are all inspiring!

(Left to Right)

Bottom:

Meagan, pastry chef at the awesome Vegan Commissary, City Fit Girls ambassador and cross fit super women. Me :), office worker by day, vegan food finder and consumer by night. LJ, vegan Twitter Queen. Kiera, half of the City Fit Girls empire and boot camp babe! Joy, New Jersey loving vegan runner.

Top:

I AM TERRIBLE WITH REMEMBERING NAME (SORRY:( ), Rachel’s sous chef and creator of our sweet desserts! Lia, cyclist, runner, and iron women for the animals. Rachel, kickass Philadelphia director of the Humane League! Pam, webivore LARGELY responsible for that lovely Philly Veg Dining Guide oh and light bulb behind our dinner. Melissa, awesome holistic health counselor and donkey mom! Alli, vegan Philadelphia implant and super smart engineer chick! Takia, second half of the City Fit Girls empire and farmers market enthusiast! Rachel, thee Rachel of Miss Rachel’s Pantry and ultimate vegan cutie.

Vegan Protein Smoothie

Whether it is running, cycling, swimming, hiking, long walks or some mix of all or some of them.. Vinny and I keep active. Fueling and replenishing our bodies after a long bike ride or run means consuming a bit more protein. We have tried Vega and Raw Protein but our favorite protein powder is by MCT Lean. The taste is on point. We use it in shakes and smoothies as well as baked good (stay tuned for protein packed recipes). A little extra protein does the body good! The possibilities are endless with this powder. Below is our favorite smoothie recipe featuring MCT Lean Vanilla Vegan Protein Blend. The kale, ginger and banana make this protein smoothie delicious and with 27 grams of protein, filling!

Green Protein Smoothie
Serves 1

2 Scoops MCT Lean Vegan Protein Blend Vanilla
½ tablespoon MCT Oil
1 tablespoon Ground Flaxseed
1 tablespoon Raw Shelled Hemp Seeds
1 ½ cup Unsweetened Almond Milk
1 medium Banana (frozen bananas work well and make the smoothie cold)
1 cup Raw Kale
1 teaspoon Ginger
½ tablespoon Chia Seeds

Directions

Add almond milk to blender. I prefer the Nutribullet. Adding the almond milk first prevents the dry ingredients from sticking to the sides of the blender.
Add all other ingredients.
Blend till smooth.
Enjoy!

What Came First: the Soybean or the Tofu?

Welcome.. to Philly Vegans! A blog dedicated to delicious vegan food that even your carnivore friends love.
Before all the stomach grumbling posts begin, a quick introduction is necessary.

I’m Erin, an on, off, on, off again, on for life vegan girl living in the Northern Libertyish area of Philadelphia with my boyfriend and co-contributor to Philly Vegans, Vinny and my dog child french bulldog, Oliver. Before my vegan lifestyle began, I was a pescatarian for 5 years. I indulged in tons of cheese, little fishy friends and eggs galore. In this state, I was confident that I was living in a dietarily healthy way, then a mandatory yearly physical was instated by my employer and my healthy lifestyle bubble was burst. I, Erin Jaskiewicz, the self proclaimed healthy pescatarian, had a cholesterol of over 220 (anything over 200 is a red flag). Long story short, I went vegan, lowered my cholesterol numbers, then had a few months of, “I can just be vegetarian, handle my cholesterol, and feel great.” NO, did not happen. Push came to shove and now, viola, me and my dedicated cyclist boyfriend took the plunge into a fully vegan life, for life.

Me, Oliver & Vinny

So enough about us, lets talk blog. All the future vegan food blog fun will take place mainly in Philadelphia with the occasional excursion to international and domestic locals (and even some from New Jersey). Posts will include lovely (and sadly unlovely) restaurant endeavors, tasty recipes and some occasional vegan fitness talk, along with much more fun vegan related stuff! So now, with a mention in my favorite blog Be Well Philly ‘s 10 Best Fitness Instagrammers You Should Be Following and some motivation from my friend Stephen at Pyknic, here it is… The Philly Vegan blog…