New Veg Cookbooks!!

So... a very good friend of mine and I have had this running joke that she's going to just deliver me this gigantic box of goodies one day because she's been holding onto not only my Christmas present, but my birthday present as well. She's unfortunately never having the opportunity to actually give me said gifts. This is 100% my fault because during the winter months I become this secluded, unsocial hermit where I just lay around my house in squalor and hibernate all day but, I digress.



Well she finally found the golden, opportunistic moment to bequeath me with my much appreciated loot and WOW does the woman KNOW ME!!

Check this out- vegan/vegetarian cookbooks! The way to this gal's heart for sure.

Now, I am a major dunce at times and thought that the cookbook meant spirited by "Yay! Feisty Vegetarian!" but NO!

NO.... NO... NO...

It's spirited because every recipe has BOOZE IN IT!! BOOZE! I am so jazzed because I'm a firm believer that things are automatically made fancier simply by sploshing a bit of wine into it.

Upon realizing this, I immediately scoured the recipes looking for something that I had all the ingredients for and boom.

It was go time.

 I cannot tell you how many times I've been bummed about vegan/vegetarian cooking simply because it makes some of my beloved kitchen utensils obsolete. Like my gigantic Le Creuset stew pot. When will I utilize such a thing that clearly calls for large stew-making endeavors?  And what stew would I make that would take that long? Or what about braising? I know that there's tons of veggie recipes that call for that but guess what- I didn't have a cookbook to tell me how. 

Until now <3

So...Freaking...Good....

With a yummy side salad 

Happy B-day to me!

So last week was my birthday, I have finally hit that age where I'm no longer excited and spouting the number out like some willy nilly P.Y.T. That's alright though, with age comes wisdom and I'm happy to say I'm finally growing confident and comfortable with who I am as a person- and I dig it.

I celebrated my b-day by going home to visit the family and taking a long overdue trip to Columbus, OH.

Now, some of you are probably thinking that Ohio is just this vast land of cows, Amish people, and factories with NOTHING to do unless you enjoy cow tipping, porch sitting, and pie? (I don't even know what others think of Ohio, I'm sorry that was lame) But you are WRONG people! Dead wrong! Columbus is an amazing, trendy place to be- there's something for everybody. There are tons of fantastic restaurants, awesome shopping centers, college football, we have the arena district, German village, short north (artsy cultural area), a wide variety of club scenes, etc. And most importantly for me, there are plenty of vegetarian/vegan foodies who with them bring along their amazing foodie products into the stores.

They just re-opened the Whole Foods on Lane Ave. and wow is it big and awesome. I was rather indulgent while I was there and I got an entire pound of their vegan general tso's 'chicken', a whole grain baguette  truffle butter, a brick of Italian flavored tofu, 2 chunks of Kerrygold cheddar cheese, some vegan mozzarella teese, and a wedge of Daiya's new(er) chedder style cheese.....

Have you had this? It's awesome! I feel like a few years ago it wasn't even a thing to dare to dream of, a palatable cheese substitute. I eat this crap on everything! Crackers, fruit, sammies, whatever! Now it does say that it melts but... I prefer the shreds for melting purposes, this is great just cold. It's super, super potent in taste though so a little bit goes a long way- same with real cheddar cheese actually. 

After Whole Foods, we attempted to go to the Cabela's store that just opened up, but it was so utterly packed I couldn't handle it. Afterwards we went to dinner and then back to my brother and sister-in-law's to chill and have drinks.

I think it's safe to say that I have this all consuming addiction to cookbooks. I just have to look at them, read through them, and OWN them. It's a sick, sick obsession and I just can't stop. Luckily, my sister-in-law let me borrow one of her vegan cookbooks that she had, otherwise I would have bought it on Amazon by now. 

I let this cookbook fall open in my lap and I was immediately hooked. The recipes are so simple and incredibly cute. The author is a stay at home mom and it's clear that she really loves her kids. I think the book has such a good vibe, she's really devoted to only giving her little girls clean and healthy food, it's refreshing to see parents so interested in their kids nutrition and health. 

Also, there's a recipe in there for something called a crack wrap. Yup. I wanted to try it just because of the name alone. 

It's basically a tortilla smeared with hummus, sprinkled with vegan cheese, and melted into ooey gooey perfection. I can definitely see why she named it as such, it is addicting. Also only 6 WW points! Woo woo! Next time I eat it, I'll take a photo- I was just too dang excited to eat it the first time. Oops. 

Dinner tonight: Chana Masala, an oldie but a goodie in my meat-free recipe bank. 

I'm convinced that no Indian food really is that photogenic, it's just a saucy mess of awesome. Oh well, I apologize for that. 

If you would like to get your chana's on, here's the recipe.

I sub the lemon juice with a can of lite coconut milk to really give it that full, rich curry flavor I so desperately love. Oh, I also let the said coconut milk reduce for 10-15 minutes on high.

If you split that recipe into 4 servings, it's 7 WW points incidentally. 

That's also lunch tomorrow- yay for not having to strain myself packing! 

Creeping Back to the Surface

I would seriously like a count on how many people (well, moreso women) update their blogs, no matter how outdated they might be, merely because they re-watched Julie and Julia.

I clearly, would be included in this bunch. I'm pathetic. I also have it on DVR so this is a frequent occurrence.

I just dig food and cooking for that matter. Not just merely to eat it, but because it's such a central item to human nature, it's a part of tradition, culture, identity, it nourishes body and soul, also it lends perspective, experience, and helps people to relate to one another. Why else would someone read another person's blog about food? They can relate to that person on some level.

I love writing about food and I don't think that will ever change, but I always give myself these challenges or stipulations for my blogs and they inevitably cause me to shoot myself in the foot. Healthifying Ina Garten recipes, vegan/vegetarian eating, organic holistic eating. What the heck am I doing? You know what really happens, I start that blog, I do it for a few weeks, and then I cheat. I cheat because I'm flaky and I have no follow through. Then, I don't blog, because I have this unnecessary guilt following my cheat fest and I'm too shame-faced to even blog about it, I'm a fake, a farce I tell you!

So I've decided, I'm just going to redo this as a catch all blog, write about whatever's on my mind and not give myself any restrictions. I'll just cook what I want, when I want, and talk about what I want- then I have no reason to be ashamed and hide from my own blog.

I mean, my husband is already aware that I obnoxiously do what I want, my blog might as well join the club too.

This was therapeutic, I'm glad we had this talk Mr. Blog.

The Tin Front Cafe

A week or two ago, one of my co-workers kindly gave me her about-to-expire Groupon to a vegetarian restaurant near me called The Tin Front Cafe.  She moved to another area of the city and the place wasn't quite so convenient for her anymore so, score for me! It's located in Homestead, PA which is just a hop and skip from my house, and I was super excited to find a veggie restaurant so close to us! 

When you first walk in, it's a cute, cozy looking little place with an outdoor patio in the back. They also have a full bar in the front of the restaurant if you just want to chill and have a beer (also they had a great variety of bottled beer available which was nice). My husband and I tried to sit outside at first but it was so, so, so cold we immediately moved back indoors. They had a DJ set up playing music, he was nice and grabbed our drink order quickly. I have to admit, the menu was impressive, I wanted to literately order everything I saw on the menu and had -the- hardest time settling on an order. We decided on the baked brie for an appetizer, I ordered the ratatouille over polenta with sauteed spinach and Mike ordered their seasonal risotto stuffed into a portobella mushroom that also came with sauteed spinach. Both meals came with a side salad to start.  I was really jazzed about the restaurant thinking I'd love to come back since it's so near our home and they have great vegetarian offerings. 

Unfortunately, I don't think there's any way my husband or I will be setting foot back in that place. 

We were having pleasant conversation at first, but as time went on, and on, we began to wonder where in the heck our appetizer was!! Checking the time, 25 minutes had passed since we had placed our order, and no one had checked on us. Our server/DJ man was literately 10 feet from us and was too involved in his music to even ask if we were doing okay. 

Looking around, we noticed a really, really bizarre pattern to how food came out. It would go table by table and they would literately get all of their food within a matter of 20 minutes, like they'd get their appetizer and then the salad would come before they were done with the appetizer, entree showing up right after that so their table was laden with food. Who's idiotic idea was that? It would literately go table by table in this progression. 

I was pretty famished at this point and progressively becoming cranky, so it was also really irritating to see food come up at the window to the kitchen, and watch the waitresses ignore the food, moving to pick up the dishes maybe 5-10 minutes later.  I was also unhappy to see that when a family of 6 came in around 20 minutes after us and also ordered the baked brie, yet they were served theirs immediately. 

So anyways, we got our appetizer 30 minutes later (after it had hung out in the window for 5-10 minutes). The waitress offered a "sorry about that" and went off to go hide somewhere. 

It was baked brie with a scoop of cooked apples on top. I think this dish had the potential to be delicious, but it was so cold the brie had re-hardened in the dish. 

About 2-3 minutes into our appetizer our salads showed up. Which, to be fair, were absolutely delicious. The salad mix was leafy green, fresh, and the vinaigrette was wonderful! I was pretty hungry so I accidentally housed that down before taking a picture- whoops! 

Around 5-10 minutes into our salad, our entrees came! (Someone really needs to learn how to rotate food prep for tables) 

Mike said his risotto was pretty good, I tasted it and it was pretty darn good though it was lukewarm which was disappointing. 

I have to say, my ratatouille was epic. It was so flavorful, the perfect balance of veggies and garlic over a generous portion of polenta. The sauteed garlic was super yummy too, it was sauteed with garlic and had a spritz of lemon juice I think. Mine was nice and hot and I gobbled it right up! I actually couldn't even finish the dish because the portions were so big! 

So in a nutshell, the food was AWESOME! I was so pleased with the quality and quantity provided, but the service was absolutely atrocious. I'm in no way high maintenance but when I have to wait 30 minutes for food, I would like a server to at least come over and let me know the kitchen's behind and ask how I'm doing, not ignore me for half an hour. I would also like to not have to basically seek out the server to get my check, and again take it to the cash register and ask them to check me out so that I could get out of there in a decent amount of time. Oh and one more thing, when you have your restaurant patrons going to the DJ to ask them to turn their deafening music down, just ditch the DJ because it's ruining your ambiance. I would also like to point out that the DJ did not immediately comply and sat there giving the customer a ton of explanations over why the music was so loud!. 

I'm so disappointed because the food was truly amazing but there's no way I'm paying for such terrible service, it was, by a land slide, the worst restaurant experience I've ever had. I felt like I was on that show Kitchen Nightmares pre-Ramsay. 

Sorry for the let down review but I just want to forewarn others as to what to expect if they decide to go... 

Excuses, Excuses, Excuses

So... it was kindly brought to my attention by a dear (and encouraging) friend that I hadn't blogged in over a month!! Feeling sheepish, I posted a quick snippet of my review of October's Yumvelope, but that was weak in comparison to my typical posts. I.. am.. a slacker..

I do this, I do this and then I berate myself (clearly). I get in a good rhythm, do something diligently, then I take a break (such as vacation) and never get back on the wagon. I did it with flossing too! I flossed for like 6 months straight, went on vacation, and then forgot to start flossing again. Now now, I started back up so don't get all "ew" on me.. According to dentists, no one flosses anyways.

But, I digress, now back to the topic at hand. I'm back to wanting to blog again but I have some new things I need to add to my regime.

I recently saw some alarming pictures of myself on facebook and realized that I needed to drop some lbs post-haste before this got anymore out of control. So I joined (re-joined) my trusty weight loss plan- Weight Watchers!!

It is seriously the only commercial program I've found where people consistently and efficiently lost weight and I highly recommend it. They take the effort out of tracking your food intake and I have to admit- it's so fun adding the food and exercise to my list!*

One snafoo about this whole thing is, I swear that they penalize carbohydrate intake and reward lean proteins (ei. boneless skinless chicken breast). This makes for a tough, tough time for a vegan or vegetarian. Now some of you might think I'm crazy because the fruits and vegetables are free, but I swear that the nuts, beans, seeds etc. are higher points than their meat equivalents in protein (due to higher fat and carbohydrate I'm sure) so it's tricky meeting your protein needs.

So anyways, my point is, I'm going to valiantly search for WW friendly vegetarian/vegan products and also come up with some decent meals that don't blow your WW budget and are also vegan (or just about).

I'm sure some of you could argue that simply switching to a vegan diet helped you with weight loss instantly but, unfortunately for me, I'm a big snacker and I need to work on portion control- ergo, I use weight watchers.

Anyways.. wish me luck!

Yumvelope Review - September 2012

I have to say, there's nothing more exciting than getting stuff in the mail, and when it's food, I'm even happier... 

I love you Yumvelope, I'm here to stay.

Abuh?! Maple and Sea salt popcorn? How decadent!! 

Mike and I have a thing for gummy bears, and boy were we excited to realize one of the packets was sour, so basically like sour patch kids.  I have to say, the flavor in these surf sweets was way, way better than gummy bears or sour patch kids- it was berryful and delicious! Yummm... 

I didn't really dig the sweet potato leather thing but I liked the idea.. it was kind of bland though. The granola bar was really good though! I wish I had more of those! 

The whole food snack bar was meh.. I'm getting tired of all the cinnamon flavored stuff though- not that big of a fan! 

........This was epic. I want to buy this in bulk. I mixed the toasted coconut chips up with some steel cut oats and I was tap dancing all the rest of the day. A good breakfast will do that to a person, well at least this person. 

As with other chips, I had to share these with Mike but I didn't mind! They were decent, a whole grain tortilla chip. Nothing to write home to mom about. 

Yumvelope Review - August 2012

Awe crackers, this got lost in the shuffle of my unwritten posts list! Sorry Yumvelope, my darling, delicious, dependable Yumvelope.....

So in this bunch we had a yummy assortment, everything was a sweet, no salty unfortunately. 

I have to be quite frank and say that I wasn't in the mood for hot tea in August, so I put that in my cubbard for later.. and... I haven't used the baking mix or cashew butter yet.... 

Oh.. and I still have the biscotti... teehee

The fig bar tasted like a fig newton which was exciting though, and the bliss bar was surprisingly good even though it looked a bit weird.. 

I was just too busy in August to write a full review.. I'm a slacker.. but at least you can see what was included in the envelope eh?