Pasta in Fresh Basil Green Sauce

Avocado "cream" sauce is not a new concept to vegan cuisine. I bet somewhere hidden in a deep cave waiting out the millenniums are paintings of vegan stick men eating avocado cream sauce. I've seen Green Sauce used to substitute Alfredo sauce or in potato salad but I kinda like to think of Green Sauce as being it's own thing. It's an cruelty-free living institution... at least in my mind. Sharing this recipe with you all is kinda a big deal for me to be honest. It would be like The Colonel (or whatever robot they have at YUM! brands now) posting the secret list of 11 herbs and spices they have squirreled away in Louisville. But yesterday I had a friend tell me he's been vegan for 20 years because of my help and if sharing these things helps people go or stay vegan - I can do that. I love animals.

I can't remember the first time I had what I call Green Sauce but I do remember in like the 90s* having it at a restaurant once where it was called 'Faux Moray 'and thinking "Green Sauce is freaking amazing stuff. What can't Green Sauce do?" I mean in a world where everything just seems to be harder than it should be, here is this totally vegan sauce that is super easy to make and is so delicious it'll make you do this when you eat it.



This video was such a hit at Ol' Fort Shannon. We make this noise sometimes while we eat and then giggle like kids. Kittens are cute.

We tossed some Torfurky Italian sausage in the oil to give it a bit more flavor and because it's delicious.

These are the Mini Chocolate-Covered Coconut Doughnuts you're looking for.

We roasted our coconut but I think they would be just as good with raw coconut.

Please forgive me boring you with my 'I survived the NYC Earthquake of 2011' story, but I think that I might have learned something about myself that day. And don't worry, this isn't a story about surviving a traumatic event as much as a story that gives me a chance to laugh at myself.

There I was, typing away on the sofa. Our beloved Agatha was under the sofa, amateur kitten spelunking. Never heard of it? Oh, that's where your little buddy crawls around upside down on the lining of sofa - tearing it to shreds and growling at dust bunnies. It looks fun. Never tried it myself. Then I started to feel like there were 30 cats under the sofa. The screen on my laptop seemed to be swaying. My mind tried to figure out why I felt seasick, and then it hit me. I hadn't eaten breakfast or lunch... hadn't even finished my coffee that day. So like a good New Yorker, I began neurotically googling symptoms for low blood sugar, because I had this tiny fear I was going to pass out. I mean, what would happen if I passed out? Would the cats sit on me to keep me warm like they do when I'm sick... or take this opportunity to go after the catnip stash? Then I spotted a tweet about an Earthquake near DC. Yay! We're saved! Back to work!

Now the moral of this little tale is this, my friends - eat breakfast*! We just got a new mini doughnut pan and we've already started to tackle the doughnut section of our cookbook. Everyone should get one of these mini pans. They're like adorable little doll house donut pans. These doughnuts are faster to make than you think. With a little planning, you might be able to make these before work one day.

Now remember, these are mini cake doughnuts so they're heavier than raised doughnuts - if you want something like that, we have a Vegan Beignets recipe that makes me swoon. But let's not get off-topic. These are the doughnuts you were looking for.

The Betty Crocker Project : The Impossibly Easy Vegan Macaroni & Cheese Pie

*Read the comment section for updates concerning this recipe*

Not that long ago there was this flood of Mac & Cheese recipes that hit the internet. There was impressive pizzas, ambitious deep fried nuggety things and I seem to remember one that was on a stick. I'm willing to admit that last one might have been a dream I had once. It was marvelous because it seemed like around the world there were all these amateur food scientists working away in kitchen laboratories with boiling posts of pasta and vats of faux cheese*. All striving to recreate the ultimate American classic. Muahahahaa.

Ironically Betty has a bunch of recipes from circa 1970 that did that in a remarkable way. I mean of course she did. What doesn't that lady do? Now you might remember like a year and some change ago we took a stab** at  veganizing Betty's Cheeseburger Pie. It was one of the very first recipes where we really closed our eyes and just fell into Betty's arms like some fraking co-workers on a team building retreat. This recipe is a take on that little gem that is actually pretty amazing. I'm pretty sure that for some of you loyal lurkers, public followers and vegan Betty-heads, this was the kind of recipe you were looking forward to when we decided to take on the challenge of veganizing Betty's Big Red. So I hope you guys give this a recipe a chance. I think next time we make this I might add some Bac-os*** and broccoli florets because this recipe is really good but I think with a little extra is could be super awesomepants. I'm not sure if awesomepants are better than awesomesauce. Sometimes I just type things and make myself laugh.

Are you ready to be awesomepants? (ones you can dance in and make romance in - again sometimes I just type)

The Anti-Kobayashi Maru Contest

No not this Maru... Silly.

So the other night I was tweeting with John McDevitt from The Laziest Vegans in the World & Vegan Omaha about Star Trek... and it got me thinking about the Star Trek reboot and how James T. Kirk found a way to beat the infamous Kobayashi Maru.

Now if you're cool enough to not know what that is... it's a test given at Starfleet Academy to all potential captains. It's the basic 'No Win Situation'* featuring Klingons, their Neutral Zone and a doomed civilian vessel. Nobody likes a no-win situation--so it got me thinking about how to create a Everybody Wins Contest!

It also seems like a great time to do it because we have to celebrate our Facebook page hitting 7,000 followers (GASP) and our new Meet The Shannons T-shirts! It's like Blogger Law. So we're putting together a gift pack that will include 1 Meet The Shannon T-Shirt of your choice, 1 Free Method Product (yes the cruelty-free & environmentally-friendly cleaning supplies) and a bunch of other cool stuff. Now if you're wondering if our gift packs are awesome... check out this blog post by The Radioactive Vegan one of our past winners**.

Also check out the beautiful Bianca Phillips (YES from Vegan Crunk) with her winnings from our VegNews contest!

And the lovely Italia Millan, an activist all-star from Detroit, in her winnings from our Herbivore Clothing Company Contest!

So yeah, this mystery prize pack is going to be worth winning especially when you hear how easy it is to win. All you have to do is post a link to an adorable cat or kitten video in the comment section below and NEXT Wednesday Aug. 24th at 9pm EST Dan and I will randomly choose ONE winner and ONE runner-up to win a special 2nd place prize! YES! 2 Winners!

I like to think that we're all going to be winners though, because after this over there will be a list here of some pretty cute internets here that we all can enjoy. It's actually kinda ridiculous how excited I am for this.

Remember in order to win - you have to be a follower of Meet The Shannons - So we have your contact info. To become a follower - Just click on the "Follow" box in the right hand column. So start your search engines and let's get all crazy cute!

* Now if you're a half-full type, you might actually think of this as being the ultimate 'thinking outside the box' situation.

** This prize won't be exactly the same as that one... but it hopefully will be equally awesome if not better!

The Betty Crocker Project : Diablo Beef-less Lentil Chili Mac

Every food blogger has been there. You make this kick ass casserole-ish dish, a dish that you have a responsibility to share with the world and it's pretty much as photogenic as the monster in Cloverfield. It can be hard to see in photos what makes this casseroley dish special and different than all the other casseroley dishes in the universe of the casseroles and casserole wanna-bes. See if you're the kind of eater that loved our 3 Alarm Vegan Bacon Cheeseburger then you will love this casserole. It's all "beefy" and "cheesy" while sparing those poor cows. It also has that "smokey" and "salty" bacon flavor that makes hipsters and the hipsteresque crave it like Gollum and that evil ring without harming any little piggies. And then on top of all that - it's also spicy. The Chipotle peppers make a nice, deep, rich, smokey, warm spicy that will make you glad you made some Limeade to go with it. You remembered the Limeade right?

 OK - Devil Casseroley Dish, prepare to be made and not in a Goodfellas way...