Merry Christmas (Eve)!!!

Don't you guys think that Christmas Eve is even more fun than Christmas? I mean, Christmas Eve is filled with excitement and anticipation, but on Christmas, once the last present has been opened, it's basically all over. In light of all that anticipation, I made a whole bunch of cookies today. After all, what's Christmas without baking? All of my recipes came from Chocolate Covered Katie. Seriously, this girl is a wizard when it comes to vegan baking. I made her chocolate chip cookies, snickerdoodles, and chickpea(!) flour chocolate chip blondies. All were basically heaven-sent. Some will undoubtedly go to Santa this evening, who I'm sure will be thankful for some wholesome(ish) vegan treats after billions of egg and butter laden lard cakes. That and some Silk nog and he'll be a happy fellow. And don't forget the reindeer, who receive a big plate of carrots every year!

Blondies pre-mixing. The funky yellow stuff is my homemade chickpea flour.

Blondies post-mixing. The raw batter for these things is wicked! And egg free, so you can eat all you want.

Blondies getting ready for some oven action.

Finished blondies with a sprinkle of powdered sugar. Mmmm...these things are so gooey and good. There's not even any chickpea favor!

Nommy chocolate chippers. I was way too excited to take pics of the process.

Snickerdoodle dough! Too cute.

Finished snickerdoodles. These thing are like pillows of awesome, no joke.

And I leave you with my kitteh striking a terrifying (but adorable) pose. I don't think he realizes that he's not an old man. Anyway, happy holidays, guys! Hope it's awesome!

A Very Vegan Thanksgiving...

Hi guys! Guess what? I'm back on Blogger! We sorted out our problems and have decided to accept our differences and live in harmony. Besides, it's way better than Wordpress. :P Anyway, as it has taken me about a month to get my technical problems worked out, I bring you a very belated vegan Thanksgiving, soon to be followed by a very vegan Christmas (hopefully less belated). 

Here I am making some (veganized) 'stuffin' muffins,' the original creation of the culinary genius known as my mom. Basically, they are just stuffing in muffin pans, but don't muffin pans make everything more fun? The madre was very cool about using Earth Balance and veggie stock instead of butter and chicken stock and even reported that there was no real difference in flavor.

These are some super cute turkey place cards I made for our Thanksgiving table. The turkeys are happy because they aren't being eaten (well, by me at least!). Notice my vice, Coke Zero, chilling seductively in the background. I know aspartame kills, but I eat pretty darn well most of the time, and if I die of an aspartame overdose I'll die happy. So there, haters.

And now the moment you've all been waiting for: the Thanksgiving plate! Left to right (ish): roasted brussels sprouts, mashed rutabega with EB, stuffin' muffin, steamed corn with EB and ground pepper, homemade yeast roll, sweet potato casserole with Dandies, mashed taters with mushroom gravy, and cranberries chillin' in the middle. I know, you guys probably notice the lack of turkey substitute. To be honest, I'm pretty cool without it. I know a lot of people need something meaty to make it really feel like Thanksgiving, but the turkey's never really been the centerpiece of the meal for me. I'm weird, I know.

As for Xmas, I have put in the word to the big guy in red that I REALLY want a copy of the Happy Herbivore Cookbook and a gift card for Pangaea. We'll see if he comes through!! Happy holidays, guys. See you after Christmas.

A Much Needed Move

After much hemming and hawing with my frenemy Blogger,  I have decided to step on the WordPress bandwagon. It helps to, you know, be able to post pictures. But no, I'm not bitter. Not at all...>:C

Anyway, visit me at my new address:
www.vegannerdery.wordpress.com

PS: It is still under construction, but I promise it'll be looking pretty in no time :)

I'm Baaaack...well, sort of...

Hello vegan nerds! In case you haven't noticed, I've been gone kind of a long time. Well, actually, that's a lie. I've been gone a really long time. No worries, though, I've just been super busy with being cast in three plays at once, juggling AP classwork, tutoring elementary schoolers, and other assorted activities that take up lots o' time. Chicago was wonderful (three months ago) but I'm back...with a temporary but notable exception. As I'm sure you can see, my computer has decided to fail me and disallow me from posting any photos. Therefore, I can't show you * teaser teaser * my brilliant meals at several Chicago veganeries. Reviews with photos will come in time. Lack of pretty pictures is a pain, but I hope to have this fixed in time for...
MOFO! That's right, this year I'll be participating, so get ready for vegan mayhem come October!


*:_*~   .* :    :*-_*-:     .    ~*_:*
         -       *-*          *-*  -                      <In the mean time, enjoy this pretty font art to make up for lack of actual   photography! :D

Headed to Chi-Town...

...not to be confused with the equally wonderful Chai Town.
Anyway, I'll be in Chicago next week and therefore will not be posting, but once I get back prepare for some boss restaurant reviews (Chicago Diner here I come!) Love you guys! See you in a week!

Dinner for the Fam, v2.0

Om nom nom! This dinner was even better than the last. Because it seemed to go so well last time, I went with a down-home southern type of theme again that Bianca Crunk would be proud of. This time it was vegan mac n' cheeze, yummy garlic kale, and curried acorn squash (okay, so that one's not so southern, but I'm a yankee. I don't know better.)
The 'rents loved it! Here are the omni-pleasing recipes:

Super Simple Vegan Mac

Ingredients:
1 box cooked whole wheat elbow macaroni
1/4 cup almond milk (unsweetened)
1/3 cup veggie broth
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
2 tbsp whole wheat flour

What to do:
Combine your liquid ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Add in the flour and nutritional yeast and whisk until homogeneous. Add to a skillet and warm your mixture over medium heat. When your 'cheese' sauce is warm, add in your noodles. And voila! Enjoy!

Garlicky Kale


Ingredients:
1 large head of curly kale
1/4 cup veggie broth
3 cloves of garlic
Parma, for sprinkling on top

What to do:
Sautee garlic in veggie broth on medium heat until garlic is fragrant. Add in the kale and cover the pot, allowing kale to steam for about 5 minutes. Serve with Parma sprinkled on top.

Curried Acorn Squash


Ingredients:
1 bag of frozen acorn squash puree (Cascadian Farm makes one)
2 tsp curry powder
2 tbsp Earth Balance

What to do:
Steam frozen acorn squash until heated through. Add in curry powder and Earth Balance. That's it! You're done!

In Which I Make Dinner for my Family

You heard right. The other night, I offered to prepare a vegan dinner for my decidedly un-vegan family. Despite the fact that my family is about as southern as a polar bear, I decided to prepare a traditional(ish) down home dinner of barbecue seitan and broccoli from the PPK, corn muffins, and my own 'recipe' for mashed sweet taters, which was just local yams mixed with maple syrup and cinnamon. This would also be delish in a casserole with Sweet and Sara marshmallows mixed in, just sayin'. 

The Verdict: The parental units approved! They asked me to make them dinner again! *fist pump*

Mmmm...Pancakes

Hey all! I'm getting back in the blogging groove, and to celebrate I made some pancakes to share with you guys! These puppies are whole wheat banana pancakes. I kinda made up the recipe as I went along, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that they were hella good, especially with some pure maple syrup on top. Sticky deliciousness!

I obviously couldn't wait to eat before taking a picture, as is evidenced by the big chunk cut out of the pancake on the left!

Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes:

Makes 8 small-ish pancakes

What you'll need:

2 cups of whole wheat flour

1 big, ripe 'naner

1 cup of non-dairy milk

2 tsp of sugar

1 tsp baking powder

What to do:

Mix the flour, the sugar, and the baking powder together. Meanwhile, mash your banana up. If you like it chunky, just use a potato masher, but if you want it to be more of a puree, chuck it in the food processor quickly. Mix the banana with the milk, an add that mixture to the flour mixture. Stir it all up till it gets to be batter-like in consistency. If it has trouble getting to that point, don't be scared to add a little extra milk. When you're done mixing, lightly oil a griddle or big pan and pour your batter in, making your pancakes as big or as small as you want.

Please follow me...says the sad puppy :(

That's right. This little puppy beseeches you to follow me. You see, he is very sad that I only have one follower, and he desperately wants to know if people actually read this blog. Whaddya say, readers? Make this little guy happy?

Product Review: Coco

Oh my gosh, have you guys tried these things? They're like my new favorite food in the world. Every morning for the past two weeks I've had two of these with peanut butter. Basically, they're like giant Pop Chips. Think popped pita bread, if that's possible.

I saw them at Whole Foods one day and I was really curious, so I bought some. I really don't know what I planned to do if they sucked, but that didn't happen, so it's cool. Anyway, from what I can gather they're made fresh daily at WF in what looks like some kind of giant popcorn popper. So cute, right? They're 100% whole grain (wootz), but the only downside is that they only have 16 calories a pop (punny me...). Now for some of you who are on diets or what have you, that's awesome. But as a teeny tiny person who needs to gain weight so I get on the growth charts, it's kind of a downer. This doesn't discourage me, though. I just eat about 1000 a day and smear them with PB. I'd say it's a win-win. :) 

I'm Back, and I come bearing a Green Smoothie!

Hey, guys! I know, you're all judging me because I've been away for over a month, and that makes me a bad kid, right? Well, we all make mistakes. But I hope I can make that better with a green smoothie that is THE BOMB DOT COM! I woke up super sick this morning, which is actually why I have time to write this post. Anyway, I wanted something substantial but I didn't really feel like solid food. And thus began the adventure of my first green smoothie. I didn't follow a recipe; I just kind of made it up as I went along. I ended up adding almond milk, frozen mangoes, a Good Belly probiotic shot, and several leaves of romaine lettuce all together, and then I pureed them in my blender. It was so yummy and refreshing. Being sick, I didn't take a photo, but instead opted to steal one of the internets. But I promise, it looked just like this!

Review Time: Le Pain Quotidien

Aw, it's time for my last New York restaurant review. Sad times. But I promise, I'll get back to posting about recipes soon. I have several all made and photographed just begging to be posted.
The last place we visited before taking our leave of the city was Le Pain Quotidien, a surprisingly vegan friendly worldwide chain of little French bistros. You would never guess that it was a chain, though, because the cafes are so intimate and cozy. You sit at a big communal table and enjoy yummy French comfort food. Heavenly, right? I decided to order a vegan quiche (!) for brunch. I had to ask the waiter to make sure it was in fact vegan, and he assured me that there were no animal products involved, so I gave it a go.

Oh my gosh, so good! My quiche came with a little side mesclun salad with balsamic vinegar and olive oil, which complimented it well. I was surprised that there were no egg substitutes involved, just pure veggie goodness. The buckwheat crust was also really good and shockingly flaky. How do you make buckwheat flaky? I'll have to figure this one out.  

After my main course, I decided to finish my trip to New York with a vegan pastry. I was intrigued by the vegan pastry, which was kind of like an apple muffin only made with puff pastry. I can't remember the fancy french name of it for the life of me, but all I can remember is that it was one of the best things that ever touched my lips. Even my non-vegan travel companions concurred. 

Oh, Le Pain! Please, come to my town! I need you!

Bubble Tea is Ridiculously Awesome

Guess what I discovered while I was in New York? BUBBLE TEA. I could live off of this stuff. The place where I got it (it was in Chinatown, but I can't remember the name...) has a coconut milk option for vegans. How cool is that? Anyway, for those of you who don't know, bubble tea is like a fruit smoothie (I assume it contains tea, but I couldn't really taste it) with these little gummy balls at the bottom. At first I was a little dubious, thinking that they might contain gelatin, but they're just little tapioca balls. I understand, bubble tea sounds weird, but it's not. It is pure awesome.

Review Time: Organic Grill

The Organic Grill is an adorable little sandwich shop in the East Village that serves (almost) 100% vegan and vegetarian fare. We stopped in for a late lunch one day, and the waitress was super nice and attentive. The restaurant itself is ittybittytiny, but it's okay because it adds to the kitchen-ish ambiance. I ordered the grilled seitan panini, which came with a side of home fries and cole slaw.

Now, let me tell you, I am an eater. I am a small person with a deceptively large appetite. But this was, even for me, a whole lot of food. I had to take some of the seitan of of the sandwich so it would fit in my mouth, but after that it was all good. Damn, it was good. The seitan was almost like meat loaf in flavor and consistency, and it was complimented well by grilled peppers and onions as well as the yummy red pepper aioli spread on the bread. The bread was, in a word, phenomenal. It was truly the star of the sandwich; chewy, just a little bit of sweetness. Mmmm...The home fries, which I only had room for about half of, were also really good, and I finished off the yummy cole slaw. You can also see mi madre's lentil burger in the picture, which was the daily special. It looked really good, but I didn't get a chance to try it. If you're ever in the East Village in need of food, stop by Organic Grill. It will not disappoint. 

Happy me at Organic Grill

Review Time: Yonah Schimmel Knishery

A fact about this vegan nerd: potatoes make me happy. I doesn't matter if they're sweet, mashed, baked, fried, whatever. There's just something oh so comforting about the pure carboliciousness of a good root veggie. So naturally, Yonah Schimmel Knishery on the Lower East Side is the perfect place for me.

As you can see, Yonah's facade is quite uninspiring. That is, unless you take into consideration that this place has been open in the very same location since 1910. I'd say it's actually worn quite well. And I forgot to mention the best part: all of the knishes, unless otherwise specified, contain no eggs, dairy, or animal products! So I could have a knish without cruelty. 

Ok, you caught me. That is indeed a stock photo of a Yonah Schimmel knish. But you will hopefully understand that once I smelled the potato-y goodness of the knish on the plate in front of me, I simply couldn't hold my hunger back for long enough to take a picture. That and I forgot my camera at the hotel. :) Anyway, Yonah's was a hit. The knishes were awesome and the homemade mustard (which is a big part of the knish experience) was to die for. It was also great for my parents because it was vegan food without being vegan food, if that makes sense. Anyway, I was thoroughly thrilled with this distinctly New York experience and will certainly be returning the next time I am struck by the urge for a potato pastry.

Review Time: Candle 79=Meaning of Life

Oh, Candle 79. The mecca of veganism. It is almost as if a a vegan hasn't truly lived until she makes a pilgrimage to this glorious locale that lies on the Upper East Side of the big apple. This is why I, the usually non-pushy nerd that I am, positively forced my parents to take me here as soon as I learned that we would be traveling to New York. And goodness gracious, Candle 79, you did not disappoint!
If you go to Candle 79 (which you must do), make reservations unless you dig the idea of a two hour wait. It gets majorly crowded, but lucky for us, our early reservation scored us a prime table on the second floor of the restaurant with a beautiful view out of a giant window overlooking the city. I started of with a Crazy Carrot juice, mostly because I thought the name was adorbs but also because, being an abnormal teenager, I love love love fruit/veggie juices. I think it was carrot, apple, agave and ginger, but I could be wrong. It was delicious, but you could definitely taste the ginger. For me this was awesome, since I'm the kind of person who orders and extra plate of ginger just to eat raw when I go to a sushi restaurant, but it might have been a tad strong for some people.

The next thing our waiter brought out was a little plate of avocado roll-ups, compliments of the chef. Doesn't that sound fancy? Compliments of the chef. Anyway, this caused me a problem, because I think I may be the only vegan on the planet who hates avocado. I think it's a textural thing. So I didn't take a picture of the roll-ups, because I thought I would hate them. That is, until I put one in my mouth. I think Candle 79 must have some kind of special vegan magic, because those little avocado rolls were hella good. I was so sad that there was only one for each of us! 

Next thing we ordered were the dumplings. We got one order of fried and one order of steamed since we couldn't decide between the two. They were amazing. They had a ginger sauce (what else?) with ground seitan serving as the filling and black sesame seeds sprinkled on top.  

Fried dumplings; I didn't get a pic of the steamed

I was having trouble deciding between the herb baked tofu and the spring vegetable risotto, so I asked our waiter for help deciding. Our waiter was absolutely fantabulous! He helped me decide on the risotto. My mom went with the mushroom ravioli and my dad went with Candle's house specialty, the seitan piccata. 

Veggie Risotto

Seitan Piccata 

Mushroom Ravioli

Oh. My. God. My risotto was literally like heaven on a fork. I savored each bite as if it were my last meal. I now know pure bliss. It was also so nice to be at a restaurant where I could sample everybody's food! The ravioli was good, but my dad's piccata was amazing. I can definitely see why it's the house specialty. And how beautiful is the presentation of all the dishes?

Last but not least, I positively had to get myself a vegan cannoli. In my pregan days, cannoli was my very favorite dessert, and I was super psyched that I would get to have it again. It came with a scoop of oh-so-good coconut-based ice cream. There was honestly no distinguishable flavor difference between a Candle 79 cannoli and its non vegan counterpart. So good. 

I can truly and honestly say that my Candle 79 meal was the best one I've ever had. Any vegan who visits New York absolutely must pay a visit. 

Review Time: Lunella Ristorante/Ferrara Dessert Cafe

I'll say it: Italian food makes my life. There is nothing more comforting than a bowl of pasta and a nice slice of Italian crusty bread. Ahhh, I'm practically drooling just thinking about it! I'm fairly sure that my mother, who is not Italian herself but was practically raised by Italian people, imparted this taste for carb-laden deliciousness into me. So when we were in New York, my mom and I had to make sure we went to Little Italy, the only place in the US to get REAL Italian food. It's a fact. Anyway, we have a favorite place that we always go whenever we're in the city. It's a cheerfully campy little place by the name of Lunella Ristorante. Now, this was my first time visiting Lunella as a vegan, so I was really worried that my favorites would now be off limits. But alas, I was safe. My old favorite, Pasta alla Pomodoro e Basilico (AKA spaghetti with marinara...I'm a lady of great class and distinction), was accidentally vegan. I quizzed the poor sweet waiters in the restaurant about the ingredients, and they were more than accommodating, assuring me that no eggs, dairy or butter went into the pasta or the sauce. I also ordered grilled portabellas and pasta e fagioli for appetizers.

The first thing to come out (that I stupidly forgot to take a picture of) was amazing, fluffy, warm italian bread. It made my heart sing! I doused it liberally in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Next came my grilled portabellas, which were positively amazing! I even shared some with my parents. I can honestly say that there was something almost meaty about them, but not in a weird, unpleasant way.
My pasta e fagioli soup (which I stupidly and possibly offensively pronounced pasta-ee-fag-ee-olee when ordering) was also deelish. It was so creamy from the pureed cannelini beans that I had to double-check to make sure it was vegan!!!

Of course, my entree was its usual amazing self. Homemade pasta, fresh, olive-oily tomato sauce--what more could you ask for?

After dinner, we headed up the street to Ferrara Dessert Cafe, which is something of a Little Italy institution for its amazing gelati, sorbetti and baked goods. I ended up getting mango sorbetto, which was sweet but not syrupy like a lot of sorbetti. You could tell it was the real deal. 

Blog changes and such

Howdy friends! As I'm sure you've noticed (if you possess any powers of observation whatsoever) that my blog title/url has changed! It was only fitting, since my old blog title (Vegetarian Lunch Madness) really has nothing to do with what my blog has evolved to become. My blog has grown beyond lunches, so I truly felt a new title was in order. So, I present to you...VEGAN NERDERY! Being a vegan who is a nerd, I thought this title fit me quite well. And just for grins and giggles...it's a picture of me!

Aren't you jealous? Not only because of my ravishing good looks, but because that is in fact me at Harry Potter: The Exhibition in New York City. Anyone who knows me knows that Harry Potter is my life. Big nerd confession: I write fanfic. Harry/Hermione all the way, suckas! I don't care if it's not cannon; in my mind, it's what happened and don't anyone tell me different!

Review Time: Global Kitchen

On the third day of our trip, we decided to make a trip to MoMA. You guys, if you haven't been there, you have been missing out on something truly awesome. Given, I am a complete contemporary art nerd (what don't I nerd out about?), but the opportunity to see real live Dalis and Van Goghs should be amazing to anyone. That said, my parents and I weren't really to concerned about lunch that day. We just kind of wanted to get something into our mouths so that we could get back to art-viewing fun. Lucky for us, we found Global Kitchen, a cafeteria-esque place that was literally a few doors down from the museum entrance. It was set up in stations, so there was a salad station, a sammich station, a sushi station, etc. I went for the sandwich station since there was a wrap on the menu that was accidentally vegan! I think it was called the NYU wrap, but I could be wrong...

It was good, don't get me wrong, but...it was a wrap. And that's it. It had some hummus and some veg...but I could have made it at home. My favorite part was actually the Pop Chips I had on the side. I do love Pop Chips, though. Anyway, it satiated my hunger, which was what I needed. So, in conclusion, if you're at MoMA (which you should be!) Global Kitchen is a perfectly OK place to get a perfectly OK vegan wrap. 

Review Time: Kate's Joint

Here I go with NYC Restaurant Review #2--Kate' Joint!

Oh, Kate's, how I love thee. I'd been hearing about Kate's on the internets for a super long time, so I thought I better check it out while I was in NY to see what all the fuss was about. And now I know. Sadly, we were there on a Sunday at lunchtime, so only brunch was being served, meaning that he menu was really limited. Usually, Kate's has an epic menu reminiscent of your average New York diner, but on the day we visited there  were only about ten options. However, I was super happy with what I picked. I ended up going with the VEGAN apple-walnut pancakes, although I waffled (slight pun intended) between those and he vegan eggs Benedict for a while. The 'rents decided to go with the non-vegan bennies(with eggs instead of tofu), so I went with the pancakes. And man, am I glad I did. Those little buggers were crazy amounts of awesome! There were three cakes on my plate all about the size of my head. No joke. The pancakes themselves weren't too sweet, but they were light and fluffy. They also had little walnut bites hidden up in there which made them all the more delicious and decadent. The sweetness came from the nom-worthy carmelized apples hanging out on top of the pancakes. Oh. My. God. Go to Kate's. Right now. And GET SOME FRIGGIN' APPLE WALNUT PANCAKES!

I'm Alive! I promise!!! (and an NYC restaurant review)

Oh my gosh, guys, it's literally been months. Life has been kerr-azy for me, so I had to take a prolonged break from my beloved blog. But I have emerged from my not-so-brief hiatus! I got the opportunity to visit NYC over spring break, which was hella fun! I visited some awesome vegan and nonvegan restaurants (you gotta keep the omnis happy) that I'm uber excited to review. I don't wanna overload you guys with veggie restaurant goodness, so I'll take it day by day, restaurant by restaurant for you. Sound good? It sure does to me!
First restaurant is...drumroll please...Mint NYC!

Mint is a super-cool, super-trendy midtown Indian restaurant with a deelish vegetarian menu that the staff is more than happy to veganize. We started out with some funky little rolled poppadoms that came with two dipping sauces, one that was some kind of mint puree, true to the restaurant's name. It was phenomenal. The other one was some kind of plum chutney, but I detest the combo of sweet and savory, so I stayed away from that one. 

For a main course, I ordered the Channa Masala, minus ghee. For those of you who don't know, Channa Masala is like Chicken Tikka Masala but with chickpeas in place of chicken. I also got an order of roti, which is like a whole wheat naan. It was vegan by default according to our waiter, which was a pleasant surprise, since most Indian breads come slathered in clarified butter. 

That's my Channa atop long grain basmati rice. You can see a little bit of my roti squeezing its way into the picture, too. 

Ohemjeezy, this dinner was to die! The Channa Masala had just the right amount of spice and the roti was soft and chewy I thought about going for a mango lassi for dessert, but after about four plates of curry, my tummy couldn't take it. I guess I'll just have to return to Mint another time!

Where am I? And what's the date?

Oh my goodness, friends. Snow days have got me dreadfully messed up. I've taken several very lovely pictures of my lunches, but alas, I have no idea when, because it's been days since I've been in school. I'll get back to the blogosphere in no time, but you guys will have to give me a couple of days to catch up on life. Bye for now!

January 14, 2011

Yummy! Today I got to bring my General Tso's to school, as well as the amazing spinach hummus mentioned here that I finally decided to go crazy and splurge on. Trust me, it's worth it!

Clockwise, from left: Baby carrots, organic Fuji apple, General Tso's vegan chicken, spinach hummus, 100% whole wheat pretzels.

January 13, 2011

You guys will never believe the crazy snow days we had all last week! We only went for two days, thus explaining my shortage of lunches. My mom and I met some friends at Whole Foods cafe the other day for a quick bite to eat, and stumbled upon two amazing mock-meat delicacies. We tried both the General Tso's Vegan Chicken and Barbecue Chickun. Oh my God, you wouldn't believe how incredibly amazing and suspiciously meaty they both were. We simply had to bring some of each home, and obviously it had to come with me in my lunch.

Clockwise, from left: Barbecue Chickun from Whole Foods, Kashi cereal, organic cauliflower, an organic carrot (I ran out of baby carrots), an organic Fuji apple, and vegan praline pecans.

January 6, 2010

Quesadilla with FYH vegan cheese--super yum! I also found these Guiltless Gourmet Spicy Black Bean tortilla chips, which are amazing and shockingly protein-packed!

Clockwise, from left: Trader Joe's Salsa, Guiltless Gourmet Tortilla Chips, organic Fuji apple, baby carrots, soynuts, green bell pepper, quesadilla with FYH vegan cheese on a whole wheat tortilla. 

January 5, 2010

Healthy, healthy. My friends always jokingly laugh at my healthy lunches, but oh well. They make me feel good!

Clockwise, from left: Sesame dressing, vegan butternut squash soup, salad with organic romaine, red bell peppas and soynuts, unsweetened applesauce, cocoa roast almonds, hummus for my crackers, and Wasa 110% whole grain crackers.  

And finally, some obscene cuteness provided by my furry brother Hefner. My baby is super photogenic. Oooh and awww. He doesn't mind. 

January 4, 2010

I was keepin' it old school with this lunch. Good old PB&J, applesauce and carrots. Does it get better? Sad story, though. I forgot my lunch at home this morning. I had terrible images of eating a bag of Sun Chips and an apple for lunch (I kid you not, our cafeteria does not have a single solitary veggie on its menu). Luckily, my heroic mom delivered it to me during drama. What would I do without that lady?

Clockwise, from left: Vegan butternut squash soup (sorry it's a little shadowy), PB&J on whole wheat, unsweetened applesauce, Crispy Wheats, organic baby carrots.

A Shopping List of Sorts...

So you're reating this gorgeomous blog, and you think to yourself...jeez, I wanna eat like this girl. Kudos to you! You have great taste (haha). But where to start? Here, I've provided a list of my personal staples that I always have on hand that make me epically happy and I have a hunch will make you feel the same way. Any recommendations?

DAIRY (OR NOT):
Almond milk (unsweetened vanilla)
Soy cheddar cheese
Soy yogurt

GRAINS: (my favorite)
100% whole wheat bread (or sprouted grain)
Boil in Bag brown rice (am I lazy or what?)
100% whole wheat pretzels
Yummy cereal (ie vegan Lucky Charms...)
100% whole wheat bagels
100% whole wheat burger buns
Whole wheat pasta
Instant oatmeal
Whole wheat flour

VEG:
Baby carrots
Celery
Broccoli/cauliflower
Snap peas
Lettuce
Shredded cabbage mix
Bell peppers
'Maters
Garlic

FRUITS:
Apples
Grapes
Melon
(A lot of people would say bananas, but they are a bit gross, in my humble opinion.)
Dried fruit of some description

PROTEIN:
Extra firm tofu
Cocoa dusted almonds (the only kind of nuts I enjoy)
Peanut butter
Almond butter

FATS:
Earth Balance butter substitute
Canola oil
Olive oil
Sesame oil

CONDIMENTS:
Ketchup
Mustard
Vegenaise
BBQ sauce
Good salad dressing
Turbinado sugar
Stevia
Marinara sauce
Hummus

THE SNACKY STUFF:
Nature's Own granola bars
Luna Bars
Clif Bars
Individual soy milks (great for on the go)

EVIL PREPARED FOODS:
Amy's Non-Dairy Mac and Cheeze
Organic vegetable soup of some description
Gardein 7-Grain Tenders
LingLing veggie spring rolls
Meatless meatballs (I adore Nate's)
Rising Moon Organics vegan ravioli
Amy's Non-Dairy Pot Pie
Black Bean Gardenburgers
Boca crumbles

Melt Eclectic Deli

While also in Cincy, we paid a visit to the 1/2 veg, 1/2 meat Melt Eclectic Deli. Almost everything veg can be easily veganized with their house-made vegan cheese and tofu or seitan. This was clearly the perfect place for my family, since we all have different dietary preferences.

Upon walking into Melt, we knew we had made the right choice. Fun interior, quirky neighborhood, and  foremost awesome smell wafting from the kitchen. I ordered the custom burger, which had beef-inspired seitan, vegan cheese, lettuce, pickles, and mustard on a whole wheat bun. My mom went with the ratatouille melt with provolone, which also sounded tres bon (if it were vegan)! The wait was a little long for a deli, but well worth it. It is safe to say that this is by far the best vegan food I have had in a long time. My mom's sandwich sounded awesome too, so I may have to try that some time with vegan cheese. The seitan was perfect, as was the vegan cheese. If it were a blind taste test, I probably would have freaked out, thinking it was real meat and dairy cheese. Yum! Five stars for Melt!!!

LOVING HUT!

I have been dying forever to go to a Loving Hut. I've heard all about them from friends who live in real cities, and since becoming vegetarian it has been my ambition to find one. So one day, my mom and I were on our way to Trader Joe's and took a different route than usual, and THERE IT WAS. Loving Hut! I forced my mom to eat there with me. We weren't disappointed.

The restaurant itself was sort of odd. Complete silence and pictures of famous vegetarians all over the walls. The TVs were all set to "Supreme Master TV," which I assume is linked to Supreme Master Ching Hai, who started Loving Hut. My mom commented that it was slightly like brainwashing.Oh well. We were undeterred. We stepped up to the counter. We both decided to order veggie sloppy Joes, served with corn chips and cole slaw. The girl behind the counter was incredibly sweet and gave us each two free spring rolls, which were phenomenal. 

Our food was magnificent. I was too hungry to take pictures, but take my word for it, the sandwich looked, smelled, and even tasted exactly like a real sloppy Joe. Even my hardcore omni mom concurred. The cole slaw was also phenomenal. I would certainly return to the Hut in a heartbeat, odd environment and all.