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! :)

Summer? verano? Shia Tien?

I love fall and all things harvest-y, but once in a while, some things show up around my kitchen (pineapple!!!) that remind me of great meals eaten in the summer.


What do all of these things have in common?

They make a great marinade for tofu steaks! and cubes! and anything else you like! Yes, friends, this is my omni-converting grilled Pineapple Teriyaki Tofu. YUM!

I've gotten several comments concerning recipes, so here is my proposition: I post all recipes after MoFo so that I can have enough time to properly perfect everything to my liking. Does that sound good to everyone? Is it fair?

Happy Vegetarian Day!

Nothing much to post about today.
Just wanted to say Happy Vegetarian Day!
Today I packed hummus; drool as you may!

Haha, enough with the rhyming. Today's lunch was uber delicious and inspired by an omni-friend!!! It all started in geometry class when we randomly were having a discussion on good potluck foods (we had a party for getting all A's on our tests). At the mention of "hummus," a loud groan and a "YUCK!" immediately ensued. (This was also the same omni friend who curiously and dubiously tried my pineapple teriyaki tofu, much to my [and later, her] delight).

Determined to change her mind, I set about making hummus for the first time. Version 1.0 was a sun-dried tomato basil hummus. Yummus! She really took to that one, though I thought that Trader Joe's version of that flavor was better. (This was on Tuesday)

Surprise of surprises! She knew about nat'l vegetarian day (!) and even asked me to bring her more hummus for lunch! So last night I set about making version 2.0 : Chipotle Roasted Red Pepper Hummus (also Trader-Joe inspired). This one, I am proud to say, turned out exactly like the one at Trader Joe's!!!

Not Pictured (regretfully): Mint Chocolate Whoopie Pies, Cherry Chocolate Whoopie Pies, Vanilla Whoopies, and Double Chocolate Whoopie Pies.

Spread the [VEG] love!

Edit: I will be MoFo-ing this year, but will most likely post every other day at most.

My Vegan Lunch Box: Stephanie's Sweet and Savory Sandwiches!

In light of the new vegan lunch box book coming out, I decided to make a special lunch post! Here is my lunch box:

Heart shaped PB&J!! It doesn't get any simpler or better than this! Ezekiel bread, peanut butter, and homemade blueberry cinnamon agave preserves!

Star sandwich!! Brown rice "buns" with a filling of chinese vegetarian protein otherwise known in Chinese as "su song (with a long o)" and vegenaise wrapped in the sesame soy wrapper.

Mexi-rolls! Whole wheat tortilla encasing roasted butternut squash, avocado, roasted red peppers, homemade cashew chipotle cheddar cheese, and pureed black beans.

Sushi! This was a brown rice, tempura tempeh, roasted butternut squash, and avocado wrapped in nori type of maki. yummy :)

What's a meal without dessert? This is an American take on Dorayaki which is sort of like whoopie pies. Here I have whole wheat chocolate chip cakes with raspberry coconut creme. yummy!

Here's everybody all together!

Can you say YUM!?!