I heart Seattle!

Seattle is one of my favorite places in the US.

Not only do I have fabulous friends there, but the culture and lifestyle are right up my alley.  People are forward-thinking and compassionate.  There are recycling bins on every corner.  Plastic bags are banned in all stores.  The transit system is eco-friendly. I saw bus ads advocating for immigrant rights and Planned Parenthood services (which is a big contrast from here in NOLA, where all I see are ads for fast food and booze).  Same sex marriage is legal.  The vegetation is so green and lush, and I have never seen more brightly colored flowers on every lawn in every neighborhood.  And it really does not rain every day!  Here is proof.

And locally sourced, organic, vegan food is available EVERYWHERE.

I was in heaven.

After hugs from my friends outside baggage claim, our first stop was at Portage Bay for brunch.  I got a vegan Migas, which is one of my favorite breakfasts from my pre-vegan years.  This one subbed tofu for the eggs, and the added touch was a jackfruit "pulled pork" that was so good!

Just to be clear, I am not a fan, (at all!) of fake meats and meat substitutes.  However, jackfruit is a fruit native to Asia that has a similar texture to meat, but in a non-weird way.  You can find it in Asian markets, and you may find a post on here soon that illustrates my first experience with it, if I can get my hands on one :).  I have also had crab cakes made with jackfruit that were delicious.

The following day we went to Plum Bistro, which is an all-vegan restaurant in Capitol Hill.  We had a feast of raw kale salad, avocado roll, mac n' yease, tofu tacos, mushroom pasta, and margarita pizza.

For vegans and non-vegans alike, you have got to try this spot.  Just trust me.  GO.  And drink a local Fishtail beer while you are at it.

One more vegan meal I will share with you was at Boom Noodle.  I mean, who doesn't want to eat at a restaurant with Boom in its name?  I had a vegan ramen soup, which was not the best I have ever had but a little sriracha helped make it quite tasty.  It is just so easy to eat healthy food in Seattle, why can't other places follow suit???

If you have not visited Seattle, add it to your list and find your way there!

Animal Free 2013!

Happy New Year, everyone!  My BFF and I (yes, I'm saying BFF) made a pact to start the new year off right after we made one or two (or many) bad choices over the holidays.  While I remained mostly plant strong and healthy, I did stray a bit.  However, I am ready to be back on track and living plant strong.

We started the new year off by going to a Bikram yoga class at Yogani on New Year's Eve and a Kundalini yoga class at Yoga Village on New Year's Day.  I loved the Bikram class, it's my favorite (although this particular one was not hot enough...and I never thought I'd say that!).  The Kundalini?  Well, it was....interesting.  I enjoyed the peacefulness of it but I do not think the chanting is for me.  I did, however, really enjoy the gong meditation at the end.  If you haven't tried it, it's worth going at least once for the experience.  I set my intention at the beginning of the class not only for my practice but for the whole year.  I mentally set the stage for a healthy, positive year ahead!

Then we hit up the juice bar at Earth Origins Market.  It was refreshing and nutritious (carrot, kale, ginger, celery).  Admittedly, we weren't filled up by just the juice so we also got big salads for lunch.  This kickstarted our year off with a healthy bang...which we both needed!  And of course on new year's day I made vegan black eyed peas, cabbage, and cornbread (I cut down on the oil in this one, though!) and made three wishes/goals for the year.  I'm not going to tell you what they are now (what fun is that?), but as I accomplish them I'll let you know :).

Throughout that first week of 2013 I made the pumpkin stew for my family, had green smoothies every morning for breakfast (1/2 banana, lots of kale, silken tofu, almond milk, flax seed), and got in an Orange Theory workout and played tennis with my brother.  I must say, it was nice to enjoy the 70 degree weather in FL, especially when it was gloomy and cold in NOLA!

Anyway, fast forward to now and I'm back on the blog and wanting to share with you my first experience with making vegetable broth.  I have been freezing all of my vegetable scraps over the last month or so.  This includes celery, carrots, onions, green onions, kale stems, broccoli stems, garlic, jalapeno, cilantro, pumpkin insides, and probably plenty of other stuff.  So I threw it all in a big huge pot with a few bay leaves and fresh ground black pepper, brought it to a boil and then let it simmer for 1 1/2 hours.

Stage 1: Throw frozen veggie scraps in a pot with a lot of water.  Add 2 bay leaves and fresh ground black pepper.

Stage 2:  Bring to a boil, then turn down to simmer for 1-1 1/2 hours.

Stage 3:  Strain veggies through a sieve or colander.  I don't have a sieve and I didn't mind if my broth was cloudy so I just used a colander.  I ladled big spoonfuls of the veggies into the colander and squeezed out all the juicy yuminess inside, then poured the rest of the broth through the colander. These are all the veggies after (the volume was 3 times smaller than when they went in!)

Stage 4:  Finished broth.  Look how much it made!

Here's another picture so you can really see that deep brown orangish color. While I intended to make this broth then make a veggie soup with it for dinner, I ended up drinking two big mugfuls by itself because it was so good! The jalapeno gave it a slight kick and the depth of flavor was enhanced by the variety of vegetables and the pumpkin.  I really think any veggies could work, although other blogs have advised against things like cabbage, broccoli, etc.  So save those veggie scraps!!!

And I'll leave you on this note.  This is my salad for lunch tomorrow.  Yes, it really is that big!  That's a gallon sized Ziploc bag and it's filled with red leaf lettuce, green leaf lettuce, kale, spinach, cilantro, carrots, celery, red onion, flax seed, and fresh black pepper.  I'll top it with a dressing of vinegar, creole mustard, and a splash of olive oil right before eating and shake it up in a tupperware (I find it easier and less messy to shake in the container, but you could do it in the bag, too).  And voila!

Random shout out:  I went to Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge and ate at Jiko, an African restaurant.  If you ask your server, you will be delighted to know they have a whole separate vegetarian menu that was absolutely delicious!  I wish I could remember what it was called, but I got an awesome couscous with roasted veggies and a spiced sauce that was so good...all the meat eaters couldn't keep their forks out of my plate :)  And all of the appetizers and desserts were amazing, too!  Apps were vegan, desserts were not....oh well, it was the holidays and I'd say that meal was at least 90/10 anyway!

P.S. A traditional New Year's meal can, in fact, be made vegan!  Deliciously vegan and served to vegan-skeptics, I might add.  Vegan cornbread (modified from here, using much less oil), black eyed peas, and boiled cabbage and potatoes.  I'm set on my good luck for the year, how about you?

Veg Thanksgiving, Sedona 2012

I hope everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving full of family, friends, and love.  I was lucky enough to spend the week in beautiful Sedona, AZ with my family and friends (including some new friends we met along the way). Sedona is known for being a funky, spiritual place full of opportunities for meditation, healing, hiking, and fun.  We stayed in a dome house in a quiet part of town where we could hear the coyotes howling at night while sitting out on the deck drinking wine and star gazing.  We saw a few shooting stars, too!  They sky was so clear and I have never seen so many stars in the night sky.  It was totally worth bundling up in coats and blankets to brave the 30 degree weather at night to enjoy that experience.

Check out our house:  My Sedona Place

And what better way to spend our first full day in Arizona than by taking a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon?  Yep.  It was as amazing as it sounds :)

Thanks to Maverick Helicopters and our awesome pilot, Kenan, for a fabulous trip!

Back in Sedona, the next day we took a hike to see more beautiful scenery. The color of the blue sky against the red rock is just unreal.  These pictures do not do it justice.

So for Thanksgiving, we had the good fortune to share our meal and evening with some new friends.  Along with some of the more traditional foods, I served up a full vegan menu that everyone enjoyed.  Starting with my kale salad, of course.

This cranberry sauce is by far the best I have ever had.  Period.  Do yourself a favor and make it.  It is so easy and so worth it.  (Recipe here: Cranberry-Pecan Sauce)

What You Need:

• 1/2 cup pecan halves
• 1/2 cup Madeira
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 cups cranberries, fresh or frozen
• pinch of salt

What You Do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread the pecans on a baking sheet and toast for 8 to 10 minutes, or until fragrant. Remove, let cool for a few minutes, and roughly chop by hand.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine the madeira, maple syrup, cinnamon, cranberries, and salt. Cover and bring to a boil, watching carefully to make sure it does not boil over. Uncover and cook at a rapid simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring every so often, until the cranberries have burst and the liquid has reduced enough to become saucy.
3. Stir in the pecans and pour into a bowl. Refrigerate until cool. Serve cold or at room temperature.

Boiling cranberries in the maple syrup and wine 

Once sauce thickens, mix in the pecans and chill.

Pour that sauce liberally over these delectable stuffed acorn squash and you have yourself a plant-strong Thanksgiving main course that will be the envy of the turkey eaters (our turkey eaters lusted after these!  We were nice and shared them with everyone :))

Recipe here:  Stuffed Acorn Squash

What You Need:

• 3 acorn squashes, cut in half and seeded
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 2 medium yellow onions, diced
• 3 stalks celery, diced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried sage (I used fresh)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups Lundberg Wild Rice Blend (or homemade mix of whole grain rice varieties)
• 3 cups vegetable stock
• 3/4 cup pecans, toasted and roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup scallion greens, thinly sliced on a bias
• Salt and pepper, to taste

What You Do:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Brush acorn squash halves with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and place cut-side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet and set aside.
3. In a medium saucepan, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the onions, celery, sage, and salt and cook over medium-high heat for several minutes, stirring frequently, until onions are translucent. Add the rice and toast for a few minutes. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Cover and place saucepan in the oven.  (I just cooked it on the stove)
4. Put the sheet of squash halves in the oven as well.
5. Bake rice for 45-50 minutes, until moisture is absorbed. Roast acorn squash halves for 45 minutes, until squash flesh is soft and surface is browned.  (My squash cooked in 30 minutes, so I suggest checking them early on to make sure they do not overcook)
6. Remove both rice and squash halves from oven. Let rice sit, covered, for 10 minutes. Uncover and toss rice with pecans, dried cranberries, and scallion greens. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
7. Added step:  scoop out a few spoonfuls of the squash from each half, and mix in with the rice mixture.  It will make it creamier and will hold it all together.
8. Stuff each squash half with a 1/2 to 3/4 cup of rice mixture and serve with a liberal amount of Cranberry-Pecan Sauce.

We also made a vegan stuffing (admittedly it was out of a package but hey, everything else on the table was made from scratch so I do not feel bad about that!) and a vegan mushroom gravy.  I'm not sharing the gravy recipe here because it did not turn out very well.  I ate it and my cousin liked it, but it is not worth making again.

Here is my plate before I devoured it.  I could only eat half of the half of the squash because it was so filling!  Lucky for my brother, who got to eat the rest.

All in all, it was a fabulous vacation with a fabulous meal.  Here are a few more tidbits from the trip:

A handmade garlic plate, gift from my mom.  You rub a clove of garlic over the ridges to make a paste, then pour olive oil, balsamic vinegar, herbs, salt, and pepper, etc. over it then dip crusty bread in it for a delicious appetizer.   

Some healing crystals I picked up at a local shop.  The two bags are vortex charged crystals I got for some friends, and then clockwise from the top: green calcite (mental healer, abundance, communication, transitions & letting go, fertility), goldstone (master healer, protection, calming, stabilizes emotions, energy generator), red tiger's eye (grounding, vitality, Kundalini, protection, integrity), Apache tear obsidian (grounding, protection, forgiveness, comforts grief & sorrow, emotional cleansing), and peacock ore, aka bornite (joyfulness, shielding, confidence, stress relief, aligns all Chakras)

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!  If you have any of your own Thanksgiving recipes, memories, or ideas to share, please post here!  

28-day Challenge: Day 26

Hi strangers.  Sorry for the delay in posting--I was in Minneapolis for work all week and did not have the chance to sit down and write.  Even if I had, I was not cooking up gourmet plant-strong meals in my hotel room so I would not have had anything too interesting to say, anyway! :)

Some of you may be wondering how well I stuck to the diet while traveling.  Traveling is usually the biggest barrier to healthy eating, at least in my experience.  When I am in a new place and I do not have the option to cook for myself, there really is not any other choice than to eat out for almost every meal.  And often the options are limited to what you can easily access around the hotel, which is certainly no guarantee for healthy choices, let alone plant-strong menu items!

So, this time I planned ahead.  I stocked up on portable healthy foods which could get me through four breakfasts, four lunches, and some snacks in between.  Check it out:

 I have satsumas, apples, almond butter, raw almonds, medjool dates, Rip's Big Bowl, Lara Bars, and homemade oil-free oatmeal dark chocolate chip cookies (from the E2 book, made with applesauce.  Thanks, Stacey!!).  This was plenty to get me through and I brought the leftovers home.  Thankfully, this helped me avoid eating fast food during our lunch break at the conference.

Now, I will not pretend that everything I ate while away was completely healthy, but I did stick to the plant-strong diet as best as I could.  On Tuesday night I went with a friend to a friend's potluck bonfire where we ate chickpea salad, veggies and hummus, tofu and veggie spring rolls, and chips and salsa, plus a few beers.  Check these out!  These are not from Minnesota, (I'm sure you can guess where they are from when you see the photo) but I got such a kick out of the labels that I just have to share:

 Polygamy Porter and Provo Girl Pilsner!  Ha!

Anyway....so Wednesday we ate out at a Thai restaurant for dinner where we chowed down on coconut red curry with veggies and tofu, pad thai (I ate around the egg....best I could do), and stir fried spinach and tofu with black bean sauce.  It was pretty good, but they did not have brown rice.  Who doesn't serve brown rice these days?!  Even Thai restaurants in NOLA have that option...harumph.

Thursday night we went to a Mexican restaurant and I had chips and guacamole.  I just can't say no to tortilla chips, so do not judge me.  It's my one vice!  My entree was a watermelon, cucumber, heirloom tomato, and arugula salad which was delicious.  I am lucky it was so good, because it was apparently the only thing on the menu that could be modified to be vegan....

Then on Friday I gave in to temptation and skipped my pre-planned lunch and went out to a Middle Eastern restaurant for hummus, baba ganouj, falafel, Lebanese salad, and veggie curry.  Ok, so this clearly was not oil/fat-free, but relatively healthy and delicious all the same!

I must say, while I was not looking forward to spending a week in Minneapolis, I was pleasantly surprised.  It was a very clean and green city.  There are recycle bins on every corner, some even with an "organic waste" bin for composting, rent-a-bike stations everywhere, and free hybrid/clean air buses that run through downtown.  The weather was in the 50s on the first day then dropped to the 30s for the last part of the trip...it even snowed on Thursday!  I cannot believe I am saying this in public but....I enjoyed the cold.  Yes, there, I said it!  This girl from the South still has a soft spot for the colder weather.  I miss the seasons, the changing of the leaves, and the cute cold-weather outfits.  There are just only so many outfits I can put together with shorts and tank tops down here.  But with sweaters and layers, the possibilities are endless!  Ha.  Anyway, those feelings were fleeting once I fast forwarded my memory to what it is like January through April.  AKA=miserable.  So yeah, it was nice to visit but I'll take the warmth of the South any day.

28-day Challenge: Day 8

Hello, strangers.  I took a brief hiatus while on a trip to Denver, but I'm here to brag about my success...and yeah, ok, confess a cheat or two.  So here goes.

Day 4 was threatening to be a challenge because I was crazy busy at work trying to wrap things up before a long weekend (read: no time for lunch), and then I had an evening flight (read: no time for an actual dinner).  I ended up eating a tangerine and some nut mix from a stand at the airport.  Terrible, I know, but it was at least a raw nut and dried fruit mix from a "natural" stand, not the pre-packaged crap that costs $10.  Yes, I'm trying to justify it.

Day 5 started with a huge homemade brunch, which included homemade whole grain and flax seed waffles courtesy of my lovely hostess friend.  HOWEVER--they did contain eggs.  Womp womp.  I made the decision to eat them (hold the butter and whipped cream; extra fruit!) and promised no more cheating for the rest of the day.  We then went on a long hike up a mountain by Boulder, which was amazing!  Here's the view from the Royal Arches:

Then we went into Boulder and ate at an amazing local organic restaurant, Salt.  It was so tasty and vegan friendly!  I got the seasonal vegetable tasting, which included a kale and butternut squash salad, apple and beet salad, roasted cauliflower with mint, roasted potatoes, black quinoa salad, and panzanella (tomato and crouton mix).  Pardon the dark pictures....I'm stuck in 1995 with a blackberry.

By the way, I hate beets.  Absolutely positively without a doubt hate beets.  I have tried more times than I can count to eat them.  Roasted, raw, juiced, boiled, pickled.  You name it, I hate it.  I am distressed about it because I know how healthy they are for you!  But I look like a 5-year old, plugging my nose just to get them down.  Bleh.

Oh, and we also got the most amazing roasted brussels sprouts (sans parmiggiano).  We ordered some as a snack at the bar, then I ordered another round at the table.  They were that.good.  I ate them before I could snap a photo.  So here's just another one of my luscious vegetable sampler.

Day 6 started with brunch at Steuben's.  Amazing!  They make their own veggie burger, so it was not a dry, chewy piece of cardboard which is what is most often associated with the sandwich.  Confession time #2:  I ate some cheese fries.  Don't judge me! You would have eaten them, too. :)  Anyway, Steuben's was super fun and the mimosas hit the spot.  They also serve Moscow Mules in their proper copper mugs and have the Fortune Teller Miracle Fish as kids' toys!  (Please tell me you remember these.)  It kept curling up, telling us all we are in love and passionate.  Hmmm....

Dinner that night was at City O' City, which is a totally vegetarian restaurant.  Best food of the trip, right here.  Healthy, full of flavor, and not skimping on the portions, let me tell you.  We had some vegan mac n' cheese with broccoli to start, and a side order of bbq tofu.  Delish.  For dinner I had an udon noodle bowl (sub tofu for egg) which was so good I wanted to just pick up the bowl and slurp the broth.  I almost did.  The server was so sweet and hooked us up with three vegan desserts, too:  coconut cream tart, a spot-on version of a Samoa cookie, and pumpkin cake with cream cheese icing.  I'm set on sweet treats for the month!

Day 7 began with, yes, you guessed it.  Brunch.  Homemade brunch #2 of 2 included open-faced bagel sandwiches with oil-free tofu scramble (tofu, onions, red bell pepper, garlic, turmeric, black pepper), fresh tomatoes, sliced avocado, and sriracha for funsies.  I also made a big fruit salad with fresh pineapple, strawberries, raspberries, and bananas.  I'm pretty sure I could eat fruit for the rest of my life and be happy.  Please ignore the scrambled eggs, cheese-topped bagels, and the cinnamon rolls in the picture--not my contribution.  I won't lie, though.  I did eat some of that cinnamon roll....

Refreshing fruit salad:

Not the prettiest assembled plate, but quite possibly the tastiest!

And finally, to Day 8, today.  I am back home in New Orleans and I woke up to a bare fridge so I had few options for planning ahead for today's meals.  Breakfast was simply a California Lavash wrap with peanut butter.  Lunch was out with co-workers at Lebanon's Cafe:  hummus and pita, salad with lemon juice dressing (no feta!  if you know me, that is borderline unbelievable), and vegan musaki soup.  The second meeting of our Engine 2 28-day challenge group met this evening and I am now more inspired to cook this week.  What shall I make?  Lentil soup, tempeh sloppy joes, veggie lasagna?  Something more exciting than the Rip's Big Bowl and half a mango that I had tonight when I got home after the group meeting....!

Big props to my co-blogger friend (she'll be posting, I promise).  She made it through the whole first week with no cheating!  Rockstar!

(I promise my posts won't normally be so long.  If you are actually reading this and you made it this far--thanks!)