I'm back!

Actually I've been back, but I've been really lazy about blogging recently-- oops. haha. While in TX, we visited Dallas, Austin and San Antonio. (Sorry that we weren't in Houston, Stacey! Thanks for wanting to give suggestions :D) While in TX, my diet consisted a lot of toasted bagels and chips and pico de gallo (haha). BUT! I was able to go to a few veg establishments!! Hooray!! Here we go--

Spiral Diner! (Dallas)

My dish: neatball sub! I loved the texture of the neatballs!!!! The sauce was a bit on the sour side, but other than that, it was really good! On the side is potato salad. It tasted strongly of dill which is a good thing because I love dill! :)

My mom's dish: Spring Roll? Wrap? I don't remember, but it was super good! This was my first time having seitan at a veg restaurant and it was unbelievably good. oh dear.

My dad's dish: Tofu Mitch Club. This was good beyond words!!! ohhh. My mouth waters at the thought :)

Here are my omniparents with their veg food! :)

We shared :)

After that, I was super full, but I wanted to get something for the road ( I mean, how often can I get fresh baked vegan cookies[that i haven't made]?). So cookies it was!

Chocolate Chip Cookie(!): ZOMG. I loved the chewiness factor! Totally yummy for my tummy! The amount of chocolate chips was perfect too. Hooray!! I was really sad when this ended :(

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie: yum.Yum.YUM. That pretty much sums it up :) It was less chewy than the chocolate chip one. I really enjoyed this cookie.

If I could have eaten at Spiral every day of vacation, it wouldnt have been enough. :)

Next up: Mother's Cafe (Austin)

My dish: Chili melt with the veg cheeze sub. Layered tortillas, brown rice, black beans, and nutty chipotle sauce. It was pretty good, though the cheeze got to me in the end *shudder* =/

My dad's dish: barbecue tofu, black eyed peas, and mashed potatoes. The barbecue sauce was a bit peculiar. They use peanut butter, so it tasted sort of off (to me at least). The mashed potatoes had an interesting flavor and texture. I can't really describe it, but it wasn't that great.

My mom's dish: artichoke enchiladas(veg cheeze sub), brown rice and black beans. It was alright, but I don't think I like enchiladas in general-- too mush-ish.

For dessert, we ordered the Peanut Butter Chocolate Tofu Pie to share. It was alright-- a little too (dare I say it?!?!) tofu-ey.

Overall, Mother's was pretty meh for me. Not great; not bad. Just meh.

We spent New Year's Eve in a hotel room which, very conveniently, had a kitchenette. We put it to good use by using the stove to heat up some Thai noodles. This was from some random Thai place in Austin. (Rice noodles, tofu, and mushrooms in a sweet/sourish lemongrass broth) Yum!

My last veg restaurant was New Start Veggie Garden in Dallas. It's an all vegan korean buffet.

My plate consisted of broccoli (good. not great), sweet and sour chik'n(pretty good), a pumpkin-rice noodle dumpling(YUM), brown rice nori maki(pretty good), a potato croquette(good but on the bland side), miso soup(standard), Mapo tofu(bland), and brown rice with some veggie meat dish that I don't really remember(it was good though!)

Nachos: They had these all individually 'built' at the buffet. These were comprised of veggie beef, salsa, tomatoes and a tofu "cheez" that was pretty good, albeit lacking in salt.

Pumpkin Tofu Cheesecake: This was pretty odd. To begin with, the piece was about a 3/4" square. It was also really dry and sort of bland. The pumpkin overwhelmed it and made it pasty. BLECH. Not recommended.

Citron(I think) Tofu Cheesecake: Once again, these pieces were roughly 3/4" squares. Haha. This kind tasted better than the pumpkin one. It was sweeter and more creamy.

I liked this place, and so did my parents (they enjoyed the asian food after having meals and meals of Mex and Tex Mex haha)

On a non-food related note, check out this super cute squirrel that we saw in San Antonio!

Have a great day! :)

And the theme of this year's Christmas treats is......

...Chocolate and Cherries? I suppose so, considering the fact that I made 3 chocolate cherry cakes!

The first one consisted of two of the cakes as it was two tiers. This was for my friend to take to his family Christmas celebration. :)

Tada! In case you can't tell, I love taking side shots of my cakes :D

Cake #3! This one was a bit less grandiose-- but still quite delicious! teeheehee.

Moving past chocolate and cherries (on second thought, keep the chocolate!), here we have chocolate swirled cheezecakes! woohoo. I love the little chocolate cages!

And last but not least, the annual rugelach! This year's flavor is blackberry cinnamon pecan. Hooray!

I know this isn't food, but I had to post pics of these anyway because HELLO I got Christmas flowers!!!! From the same friend that now has the cake =)

I is a happy child :)

** I promise I'll get around to posting recipes for everything that you guys comment on, like the crackers from Thanksgiving (EEEOOPS.) yeah. Thanks to all my faithful friends who still visit! I'm sorry that I've taken such a long hiatus! I'm sorry to say that I'll be taking another hiatus for a little while because I'M GOING TO TEXAS!!!! woohoooo!!! :D so see you guys in a bit!**

I am thankful for...........

...so many things that it's crazy. I will typically limit my posts to food, but I felt like I wanted to make a short, condensed list of some of the things that I am grateful for. So without further ado; the list:

I am thankful for....

...my Savior. I know it's a controversial topic, but it's part of who I am, so I won't be apologizing. Because of my relationship with Him, my life is completely whole and improved. I couldn't begin to tell you how wonderful a life with Christ is. :)

I am thankful for....

.... the Christmas season! I love everything Christmas-y, from the music to decorations to food to family gatherings to snow to Christmas break to everything in between. ^_^

I am thankful for....

.....mis perros. Tengo dos chihuahuas! Okay, my non-Spanish speaking amigos, these are my two longhaired chihuahuas! They are from the same litter; in fact they were the only two born in to their parents :)The one on the left is a girl and the one on the right is a boy. Carmel's the girl and Cookie's the boy ^_^

I am thankful for....

....my friends :) We talk about pretty much everything together. Life has dealt each of us some pretty hard blows, but through them all, we have grown stronger.

I am thankful for....

....my family! I love my Dad, my Mom, and (as you all know very well ;] ) my brother. They are my support pillar. My dad is great at cooking, my mom is great at being my friend, and my brother is someone who I can talk to pretty much any time.


I am thankful for....

And last but not least, I am thankful for all of you, blog friends!!!! I love reading each and every one of your comments. Receiving blog awards and being tagged is so much fun :D It encourages me a great deal and excites me also! So thanks to you all!

If you read my blog or have just randomly stopped by, could you leave me a comment? I'd love to visit all of your guys' blogs and add y'all to my blogroll! Thanks a bunch!!