Date Night

My boyfriend and I had a plan to go see a play tonight but had to postpone til next week so we grabbed dinner at the Westfield mall food court. I know. Doesn't sound very appetizing but we have a decent food court at the Westfield Mall. Not a Chick-fil-a in site. He got Pasta Bolanaise(sp?) from a pasta place and I got a Vegan Tofu Burrito from Andale.

It was nice to have so many options for both of us. We finished off our meal with vegan cheesecake from The Loving Hut and he liked it!

Then before we walked home we watched a light show on the top level.

Not a bad evening.

Last day

in Oakland. I have to leave my little entourage of animals and head back to the city. Hopefully it will be a lot sunnier. At least it is not the rainy season.

At least there was some sunshine in my breakfast.

No coffee. I'll be sure to make some once I get to work this morning.

Something Fantastic

So being vegan has had its downs and ups. It gets hard when you feel like you have a very limited variety of food available to you. Sometimes you're just hungry and stressed and miss just being able to run across the street and grab a slice of pizza and the instant gratification that is connected to it. I am an emotional eater. I love food and how it makes me feel. But I also love myself and I know that I have not been as healthy as I should be. I have read in a lot of different places the importance of plants in a healthy diet. So part of the ups in this experience is taking the time to really evaluate what I eat and how it makes me feel. 

The first week I was totally on board and super psyched. I had a ton of energy and didn't feel deprived at all. The second week I started to have some sugar cravings (after all, I stopped eating the cupcakes that I am surrounded by and talk about all day long.) and I cheated a little and took a little bite of frosting here and there. This last week (the week I went to Oakland to watch my friend's dog) was hard because I'm not at my house with my food so I brought some staples with me but didn't have the comfort of my own kitchen. I was also a bit more tired because I'm still commuting to the city for work and I haven't been able to exercise since I've been here. I'm in my last week of doing the Engine 2 Challenge but not in the last week of incorporating what I have learned and will hopefully keep learning. 

I am happy that I have forced myself to cook more and to experiment with food more. I would have never experimented with seaweed, chia seeds, and cabbage if I didn't do this. I had gotten very lazy with cooking and was relying on other sources like pizza places. I love cooking too so I'm glad we've reconnected. I'm also happy that I have discovered a whole new world of seeds, grains, veggies and fruits. It wasn't that I had tons of choices before and now I don't. I just need to look in a different direction to see the world of possibilities. I'm also getting more comfortable with eating like this and don't have as much trouble "whipping something up." 

Finally, the cherry on top of it all-- I bought a new pair of jeans today and they were 2 sizes smaller than the last pair I bought. I can't give this up. I mean, I bought jeans.

Chia! Not just a plant.

I'm really digging these Chia Seeds in my breakfast. Chia Seeds are kindof like Flax Seeds. 

They have a ton of fiber (twice as much as flax), and a lot of protein. Two things I value in my diet. Plus, you don't have to grind them up like flax seeds and you can use them to make a simple gel pudding or as an egg replacement. I can't wait to try that. It's only 1 tbsp Chia Seeds and 3 tbsp water and you can use that instead of one egg. 

I like them in my cereal because they form a slight gel around their shell when they are wet and fill me up more. It doesn't change the texture or taste of my cereal. People also like to drink them in lemonade. Final word about Chia Seeds. They've been known to help your complexion. Here's to hoping.

Biking and Cabbage

Today I decided to be a little adventurous. Had my super awesome breakfast and then decided I must go to Ikea. I didn't really have a lot I wanted to buy from Ikea but I love going there and wandering around. I also decided I should try biking there. I've ridden a bike before but not as my get from Point A to Point B transportation. I've also never ridden in the street before. I hate to say it but I think the last time I rode a bike outside was when I lived in Houston and it was legal to ride on sidewalks. I was extremely cautious about this whole experience. I wore a helmet the entire time and did a quick test run around the neighborhood. I also didn't make any left turns. Next thing I knew I had my backpack on and I was off. It wasn't bad. I was either on back streets in neighborhoods or in a well marked bicycle lane. When I did get over to Ikea the last little stretch was a hill next to a freeway. I decided I walk that. I wouldn't want my legs to give out on me on my way up.

It doesn't look that steep in the picture but it was enough to make me nervous. So I walked over the hill and explored Ikea and the mall on the other side.

 I even found a cute little bakery but alas, no vegan baked goods. Don't worry. I'm making these soon. I've found some great stuff on the internet I want to experiment with.


After I got home I was starving so I whipped up what I like to call the Everything but the Kitchen Sink Stir-Fry. It consisted of some carrots, some broccoli stalks, cabbage, cucumbers, tofu, kelp noodles, seaweed, pickled ginger, soy sauce, rice vinegar and sesame oil. I don't really have a recipe. I just took everything I had leftover in the fridge and used it.

The tofu takes a bit of time for preparation. I had bought the tofu yesterday and so I took it out of the container and the water and then set it on a plate. I found another moderately heavy plate and put that on top. That helps to drain the water out. After dinner I dumped off the water and cut the tofu into strips and on very low heat I browned the strips in a non-stick pan. Don't use any oil because the tofu will absorb that. I kept turning them a lot so they wouldn't stick or nudging them around the pan.

 I heated up some sesame oil in a pan, sauteed the cabbage, carrots, broccoli, and cucumbers. Next I added the seaweed, kelp noodles, soy sauce, pickled ginger, rice vinegar and tofu.

The pickled ginger totally made it for me. It is not a pretty dish but it was tasty and hit the spot.

 Next I want to start experimenting with Ethiopian food.

Street Art

While it has been nice to spend some time in the suburbs of Oakland and enjoy luxuries like Target and Ikea, I am definitely ready to get back to my tiny apartment above the Smoke Shop in the Upper Haight. One of the things that I really love about San Francisco is the sense of community, creation and the art work that is everywhere.

This is just a little bit of the street art I get to see every single day.

Favorite Meal of the Day

BREAKFAST!!!!! Greatest meal of the day and the most important. I've always been a big breakfast person, even before trying to be a vegan. I love pancakes, french toast, bacon, eggs, breakfast sandwiches, eggs benedict, crepes etc. I love brunching with friends outside in the sunshine with a crisp bellini. Just try to stop me. So since I decided to go vegan I knew I had to find a way to start my day off right. It's nothing fancy, doesn't take a lot of time to prepare but it fills me up and keeps me going.

It's just Grape-nuts mixed with Granola, then I add fruit on top(I usually do a peach and some strawberries). Lastly I finish it off by pouring some soy milk or coconut milk or whatever milk I'm drinking that week over it. Recently I decided to make my cereal even better by adding a spoonful of Sunflower Seed Butter and a tablespoon of Chia Seeds. I'll get a picture of that soon. I really like Chia Seeds because they form a gel around the shell when wet and act like tapioca. I personally prefer the taste of Sunflower Seed Butter over Peanut Butter though I don't know much yet about the different health benefits of both.

I also heat up in a pot on the stove a combination of 3 parts Coconut Milk and 1 part Almond milk and add it to espresso for a vegan latte. And since the Coconut Milk and Almond Milk are already sweet, I don't need to add sugar. Some people do all Almond Milk or Soy Milk. Soy Milk keeps burning the bottom of my pan so I stopped using that. You can also microwave it. Needless to say I have a decadent coffee drink in the morning. I can't help it. I need coffee in the morning and I didn't want to give it up and this is a really tasty alternative.