We Fell in Love with the Place...

Our hotel room at the Jupiter. My mom thought the mural was a window. What a loon.

Our first night in Portland-We walked to Hungry Tiger Too and I ordered the corn dog basked while Andrew got the BLT (both vegan-a course) and then we shared. It was a satisfying meal after a day of waking up at 4am and then trains and planes and more trains. Tater tots are truly comfort food. This was the first time I had them in waaay to0 long.

We were so excited about Voo Doo Doughnuts. It was neat inside and there were people filming something there-a camera's dolly set up outside the place...anyway, the doughnuts! We had the girl pick a dozen for us-lots of vegan options they have. My fave was the one with the purple pixie stick like sugar on top, it was all grape-y and raised deliciousness. There was also a chick-o-stick topped doughnut and a voo doo doughnut a course-with cherry red filling and pretzel pins.

Stumptown coffee is truly perfect!!!!!! Wish we'd have brought some home with us...

At Rocco's Pizza they appeared to be only selling pizza by the slice. We were hesitant to order because we like to indulge ourselves on whole pies and didn't think one slice would be enough food after a day off walking around the city, riding the streetcars, and hours at Powell's. The vegan pizza is called The Compost Pile-which wasn't the most enticing name but this stuff was great-had just about every veggie on it and I was full about halfway into this.

We had been dreaming about this place for so long and finally we are here! A vegan strip mall, kids! Food Fight was just as awesome as I expected, this is Andrew outside of the grocery (he was chewing in most of the pics I took of him-a good thing!) We got some Dandies marshmallows (that were snacked on during our travels and later melted into amazing rice krispie treats). Sweetpea Bakery was our breakfast stop, got some Stumptown coffee a course and some muffins-we were most surprised by the nutritional yeast shaker at the cream counter-maybe that was what made us realize that we had to LIVE in Portland. We also went to Herbivore Clothing where Andrew picked up a hoodie and I got a T-shirt dress with an elephant on it that says "I'm Vegan and I Love You" across the chest. We didn't go to the tattoo parlor...maybe next time.


Our last full day in Portland was spent on our hotel-rented bicycles and I seriously rode to the end of my physical capacity (so many hills!) We were weak and sweaty as we hobbled our way up and down Alberta looking for an ATM machine...not in that bohemian neighborhood. We did eventually find a health food store that let us get cash back on our purchase so then we crawled over to The Homegrown Smoker BBQ, which was basically a big smoker in a corner lot with a couple of picnic tables. We shared this meal of Tempeh "ribs" and soy curls and coleslaw and macaroni and cornbread and went back for some barbequed beans. The picture does it no justice because I was playing with the functions on my camera when we took this...but mmmmmm.

So now we really want to live in Portland. Nice people, vegan food, mild winters, beautiful landscape, art and culture, perfect coffee, vintage shops on every block, serious farmer's markets...I'm going to cry.

Food to eat!

Didn't I mention this mac and whatever? (I say mac and cheese but I realize it's not cheese and words like chreese or cheeze are just silly.)

okra from this recipe:http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=8908.0 but I did not deep fry it- just a little saute action. The chickpeas were influenced by a chickpea salad that the Earthen Jar serves, it's just chickpeas and peas and onions and a little cumin and we have sooo much dill so I had to throw some of that in as well.

And more from Vegan Brunch! (what did we ever do without it?)

Andrew has been making these bagels regularly. We use them for Tofurkey sandwiches and as toasted buttery goodness in the morning. We eat the hell out of em.

Vegan omelet?????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just made these. Just. For the first time. I have a feeling that I'll be making them all the time. Really, really, really, really, really good.

Cough Cough

I have a nasty cold.

That means chili. Last night Andrew made some and I had like 3 bowls because it made my throat feel so good and it tasted great. I don't know how he did it but it was smoky and hot and beany.

On a rainy day there are biscuits and tea. Sweet Cornmeal Coconut Butter Biscuits and tea. Oh these were good. We ate them all within a day.

The recipe is from The Vegan Soul Kitchen which I bought recently along with Vegan Brunch. We love these books, the recipes look amazing and so far have been decadent.

And this morning for breakfast...Okay, our waffle iron gets a decent amount of use (usually making pumpkin waffles) but this morning Andrew made yeast waffles from Vegan Brunch. They were sweet and crispy and different but still good in that way that makes you feel a little bad about eating dessert for breakfast. But yum. And no, I didn't feel bad, I just made that up.

Lot's of cooking the past couple of days. For din-din, Andrew made beer battered tofu (Vegan Brunch) which was like eating in a bar-something we haven't done since pre-veg times. It was greasy goodness.

And the next day...

SOUP. Andrew made this, of course, as he's still been taking care of me while I'm feeling blah. It was made with kale from our abundant garden and leeks from the farmer's market...he made the croutons from his homemade bread. This soup seriously made me feel better. I'm getting used to relaxing.

eleveneleven

Foodwise, what's been going on? Andrew made pizza recently. I had my fam over for dinner. Cooked some Shepard's Pie (excellent recipe from the Chicago Diner cookbook) and some macaroni and cheesi, which was so good!!! gotta give it up for this recipe I found on vegweb.com: http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=8295.0 My 8 year old brother and 6 year old niece actually ate it! They didn't know that it wasn't real cheese! So good (and guilt free as no suffering went into it). I made strawberry shortcake for dessert and topped it with some coconut whipped topping and Trader Joe's vanilla ice cream. But none of that was photographed.


Last night I made some peanut butter bars. They aren't what I expected but they're not bad at all. Chewy like rice krispie treats and very rich.





Recipe also from vegweb, modified very slightly:

1 cup brown rice syrup

1 cup sugar

3 1/2 cups oatmeal

1 1/2 cups natural peanut butter

1 bag vegan chocolate chips

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix peanut butter and oatmeal in medium bowl with hands. Boil rice syrup & sugar in a medium saucepan and then pour over oatmeal mixture. Stir quickly to combine. Press into greased 13x9 inch pan. Pour chocolate chips on top. Bake for 1 minute. Cool. Cut into bars, obviously.

Today began our 3 day weekend and what did we do? We drove a couple of hours to IKEA!

Bought a couple of these chairs...

And a shelving unit that we're going to squeeze betweet the stove and coffee cart and fill with our cookbooks, which will free up some much needed space in our book case (speaking of books, I'm reading So Big by Edna Ferber right now. It's amazing, I can't pull myself away. It won the pulitzer in 1924. Not that that means anything these days but I guess they knew their stuff back then. It's a very good book so far.)

We also got these lovely pillow...

and some other cool stuff.

We were in Canton, Mi and we couldn't be so close to Ann Arbor and not go to the Earthen Jar...so with our bellies roaring we drove another 15 miles. Oh, it's the best. I got vegan lasagna and spicy okra and squashy curry and black eyed peas with indian goodness about them. Drool.

Long day. Good day.

And I recieved my Lush order today so maybe I'll go take a bath in Vanilla Fountain.

Michigan Maple Walnut Cookies!

I tweaked this, made it a bit healthier and veganized it from an omni recipe, it turned out fantastic, these were buttery and maple is my favorite flavor in the world...oh god, the frosting... Andrew said this was one of the best things I've ever made.
Cookies:
1/2 cup earth balance
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup quick oats
1/2 cup coursly chopped walnuts

Frosting:
3 Tbsp vegan cream cheese
2 Tbsp earth balance, softened
2 Tbsp maple syrup
1 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar
1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts, toasted, to sprinkle on top

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees beat earth balance and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer until creamy. Beat in maple syrup. In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking soda, and salt; gradually beat into sugar mixture. On low speed, beat in oats. Stir in walnuts.

2. Drop dough by rounded Tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart. Bake 12 minutes or until cookies are a soft golden brown. Let stand on cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Cool completely.

3. For frosting, beat cream cheese and earth balance in small bowl with electric mixer at medium speed until smooth. Beat in maple syrup. Gradually beat in powdered sugar until smooth. Spread frosting on cooled cookies; top with toasted walnuts.

SO GOOD.

Moonshadow

Been busy. And working so much that I feel like I'm going to have a mental collapse. Too many idiots in this town. Retail crushes your soul.

So...there was one weekend where we went to Chicago. Did lots of fun stuff. As you can see. One of the best things was touring Graceland cemetary though. Way cool. Oh, and we went to The Chicago Diner and I tried the biscuits and gravy and the tempeh hash (which Andrew later replicated-his was even better) and pancakes. I eat too many pancakes.

And then there was the weekend at the water park resort thingie in Ohio...kinda crazy. Spent about 10 hours driving. Ate cereal all weekend. Complained about the gazillions of children at the place. Had a decent time.

And other things that have happened lately:

CAT FOSTERING!

CUPCAKES!
YOGA! RICKY GERVAIS! SMOOTHIES! SHOPPING! PLANTING VEGGIES! AMAZING WEATHER! WALKING DOWNTOWN AT MIDNIGHT TO SEE THE RESULTS OF THE SIDEWALK CHALK FLOOD! ASPARAGUS! SLEEPING! THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL!

everything's gonna be alright, baby

The kitty doesn't live here anymore...we miss her lots.
Someone came to pick her up two days ago. Her name was Melissa and she already had a cat and she has two children so that's good, little kitty will get the attention that she requires. She said they live on 2 acres of land and the kitty will be able to go outside when she wants to which is good because I think she was getting cabin fever. She was going to go to the pet store and buy cat toys and a pink collar. She was so excited to come see the cat that she took the day off of work and came like, first thing in the morning. I think that the kitty's new home is a good one.

Skyler cam over and spent Friday night with us, we went to Andrew's dad's and watched Pinnochio-I fell asleep at the whale part. Then last night we watched Over the Hedge which is a really sweet movie-great for animal lovers, and Ben Folds does the soundtrack, I highly recommend it.

Also-I finally bought Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World and made the S'mores cupcakes! so fun and so delish!

Speaking of cupcakes, Andrew and I are going to do some yoga together. Oh, did I tell you that he made a table? He made our kitchen table! It's beautiful! And sturdy!