Vegan MoFo: Philadelphia

The next leg of our journey took us to a cute, small town in Pennsylvania, amidst Amish country. We actually stayed with a blogging friend (from my family/homeschool blog) I'd never "met." It was a great experience, and I loved her as much as I knew I already did. I think I may have freaked her out after she came over here and read my vegan story. (She knew I was vegan but maybe didn't realize how deeply and for how long.)

She was incredibly gracious and accomodating. (And she's weird herself, anyway because she doesn't like vegetables or fruits so we're kind of even. Right, Annette? ;) ) She sent me a dozen emails beforehand, checking and rechecking ingredients, to make sure she fed us "correctly." We had oatmeal for breakfast, pb&j's and carrots and apples for lunch, and spaghetti with sauce and black beans + salad for supper. She did great! She had even made vegan fudge for us, using this recipe.

Onto Philadelphia...I love Philadelphia!

And I love it when I see signs like this one.

I saw the all-vegan Blackbird Pizzeria on Happy Cow but was bummed because it appeared to be closed during lunch. We just happened to wander upon it as we were looking for something else, and it was open. (From what I understand, it's now located in the spot Gianna's Grill was formerly located.) It has a bit of a "hole in the wall" type atmosphere (but seemingly clean). The employees were all very friendly and helpful.

They had several pizzas ready to order by the slice, or you can place a special order, as well. It was sooo exciting. Maybe this was only my second all-vegan pizza place (also Cruzers in L.A.) I've ever been to?


My oldest son immediately zoomed in on the potato pizza. It was so intriguing and delicious. I've never had anything like it. I really want to try this at home. We all loved it.

We also ordered pepperoni, cheese, and a vegetable type.

I'm probably not the best reviewer because I'm excited enough just to be eating at the place with "All Items are Vegan" written on the wall, that my taste buds may or may not be thinking clearly. I'm pretty certain this was a great place, though. (Ryan says yes, it was.) I can, of course, make a vegan pizza any ol' day, but I have never made a crust so fluffy and crispy at the same time. And I just walked up to a counter and ordered it, ate, and left my dirty dishes behind...I love vacation. Definitely 10 thumbs up from the whole family.

They have many other items on their menu: sandwiches, garlic bread, etc.

They also sell desserts. I knew just by looking at them, they had to be from Vegan Treats, and I was right. Leave it to my funny 10 year old to pick out the kooky pretzel brownie. We all kind of shared everything.


So...I so wanted to love all of these because I always drool over the Vegan Treats pics. They were fine, but I didn't moan, "These are sooo good," with a mouthful of food, like a might if they really blew me away. I think this is why I only thought they were fine: I prefer my desserts chilled. Especially if the frosting isn't overly sweet. I'm not a huge cake-at-room-temperature person. I know that when you chill chake, it can dry it out, which is why they don't do it. It just feels like these luscious looking frostings would taste better chilled. My favorite part of all of these was the brownie at the bottom of the pretzel concoction. It was good!


There were, however, 3 other little mouths that weren't as discriminating as mine. And that's all that really matters. I felt very happy for them since they only get desserts a few times a year at restaurants, during our trips and travels.

We walked around the area surrounding Blackbird in South Philly (fun area but maybe not so kid-friendly; we had to avert their eyes away from a few different stores). We also made it to see The Liberty Bell.

Just because our hotel was so close, and we knew the route, we decided we might as well go back to Blackbird. We thought it seemed necessary to order a Philly Cheesesteak sandwich while we were in town. However, they had just used their last two pieces of bread when we walked in. Therefore...we ordered pizza again. Apparently, we were subconsciously fine with that since we plowed through it with no problem.

Tomorrow night, I might insist on a raw dinner in NYC to balance things out a bit.

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I'm behind on blog reading and replying because it's harder to comment while on my phone. And I'm often needed in the car to open packages, locate missing Leapster cartridges & blankies, etc., and watch out for exits. I'll get caught up soon. I appreciate all of your trip well-wishes, and I enjoyed all of your Vegan Essential entry comments. (I will get your extra entries posted soon, as well.) Vegan MoFo has been fun, and I don't want to miss out on the "party" one bit.

Vegan MoFo: Road Trip Begins

How does the vegan and so forth family take a road trip?

We have to take plenty of car snacks. Not just because we can't buy them readily in gas stations, etc.; they're also important to have around to keep the kids happy and quiet.

My Mom actually put this huge snack bag together for us. She started out buying a "few" things, and she kept adding to it until the bag was stuffed full of vegan goodness. My Mom isn't a vegan by any means, but by nature, she doesn't like to see anybody go hungry. (She also bought us more than enough gloves and hats, etc. because just as much as she wouldn't want us to be hungry...she also doesn't want us to be cold.)

There are nut butters, raisins, freeze-dried fruit crisps, boom CHOCO boom bars (This was the first time I'd had these; they're good! And there's a 75 cents on 2 coupon on the link.), Clif twists, other fruit leather, gogo Squeez applesauce, Snackimals, Tofurky Jerky, dried mango, Annie's bunny fruit snacks, and granola bars, etc. Thank you, Momma!

We also brought baby carrots, broccoli, carob chips, oranges, Brazil nuts, apples, trail mix, grapes, and sandwich fixings.

We stopped at The Wild Cow in Nashville for lunch (review forthcoming) and planned on eating our sandwich stuff that evening. I'm glad our GPS wasn't right! Even though I knew we were on a road at this point, it still kind of freaked me out a little bit.


We got a little bit off "schedule," (Ryan got off work late Fri. night and then our car started acting a little funny Saturday...took it to the auto shop in Nashville - long story short: we are now void of car air conditioning) and we weren't able to make it to any of the Virginia attractions we'd planned on visiting (so hopefully we will on the way back!). The kids needed to get out of the car somewhere so we pulled off around the Great Smoky Mountains and found a little place by Douglas Lake. They ran, threw rocks, etc., and...

we ate a "picnic," standing by the car: Tofurky deli slices on Men's Bread with mustard (purchased at a local gas station because we forgot to bring ours), rice cheese, and salad mix plus broccoli on the side.

A little shout out to my pink knife. I love it because it has the blade cover, so I can just throw it in the food bag. And it's pink!

Vegan MoFo: Vegan Essentials Giveaway!

The winner of my $40 CSN giveaway is...#7: Heather from Where's the Beach?. Congrats; hope you get something fun! If you didn't win, here's another chance for ya...

Don't you just love getting fun packages in the mail?

It's especially a good day when "vegan" or "veg" is written on the box.

Remember this picture I showed you yesterday?

It's a Vegan Danish Kringle by Lars Bakery. (Sorry, Andrea - WISH I had a recipe!) They come in cherry, raspberry, almond, apple, pecan, and apricot and sell for $6.95. We've ordered them a few times from Vegan Essentials - just on special occasions like for Christmas morning. I keep them in the freezer until we are ready to eat them. To help you understand how big these are, that's my largest dinner plate. I warmed it in the oven for a few minutes. But I might like it cold even better.

They are sooo delicious. I am very fond of them because they are different than anything else (vegan) I've ever had. (The ingredients aren't the healthiest; that's why we only eat them a few times a year.)

You have a chance to win a Kringle (or anything else that Vegan Essentials carries). They are a great, friendly 8-employee run business in Wisconsin. I always receive excellent customer service and speedy delivery. They are teaming up with me to offer you a $40 gift certificate.

I'm going to try one of these candy bars on my next order.

Candy bar ingredients: Organic and fair-trade dark chocolate (organic and fair trade chocolate, organic and fair trade vegan sugar, organic and fair trade cocoa butter, organic soy lecithin, organic natural vanilla), organic tapioca syrup, organic oats, organic almonds, organic Dutch cocoa powder, sea salt, organic almond extract

If sweets aren't your thing, there is so much variety. They sell Daiya, Teese...you name it.

There are 16 pages of gluten and wheat free products.

I've heard this is good.

Vegan Essentials also sells shoes, clothing, vitamins, supplements, books, cosmetics, candles, pet supplies, ETC...they offer "the largest selection of cruelty-free items in one location."

*Sidenote: You will have to pay for 2 day shipping and icepacks when you order cold items.

*Tip: Vegan Essentials offers monthly discounts for their email subscribers/customers.

soy wax candles

To enter this giveaway:

Mandatory entry: Tell me about something you've ordered from Vegan Essentials. Or tell me about something you'd like to try. (Stop by their website if you need some ideas!)

For an extra entry, become a google connect friend "follower" (over on the right side) or remind me that you already are.

Blog (or tweet or facebook) about this giveaway for 3 extra entries. You can just leave one comment (I know you're busy!); I'll fill in the other two entries for ya.

BTW: Vegan Essentials will ship almost anywhere in the world.

Contest ends a week from tonight!

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Headin' out on a little (well, big actually) road trip. Have a great weekend, everyone. I'm sure I'll be doing lots of MoFo reading in the car!

Vegan MoFo: the one where I got an award

I got an award! To accept this award, I need to list 7 strange or obscure facts about myself. I received this award from Michelle, who has a great list. She's indeed strange (in a good way!)...I mean, she has a duck...and a pig. And other things just running and flying around her house. And she wants to get a moped for her and her husband, with a sidecar for her duck. She is altogether endearing for more reasons than just her choice of pets.

So this is what she said about me: a vegan girl with a VEGAN husband!!! if not for anything else, go check out her husband...you won't be disappointed. i think she is raising her kids vegan also, so that's neat to read about. i enjoy her sense of humor. :)

She's totally after my husband. And then it suddenly dawned on me, as I was looking back through her blog...our husbands are very similar looking. We apparently must have the same taste. Which is funny because she and I aren't exactly opposite-looking either.

I'm really happy for my husband when he gets female attention. I think he's a babe, and it's good for people to receive positive feedback, ya know? He doesn't think he's a babe...especially since the declination of his hair. (Bless his heart...that "bless your heart" was especially for you, Michelle.)

So I hearby dedicate this award to my herbivore husband. Ryan.

And his hair.

God rest its soul.

Did you come by my blog to read about food today? I apologize for the shift in conversation. Here are a couple of food pictures to tide you over.

Here is the salad I had for supper one night this week: greens, chickpeas, zucchini, quinoa, carrot strips, celery strips, grated beets, and pumpkin seeds. For the dressing, I used a mixture of vegan caesar (light on this) and salsa.

And "What little piece of vegan heaven is that?" you might be asking...you'll have to come back tomorrow to find out.

Onto my list (maybe not all strange but hopefully a little bit interesting):

1. The coolest places I've ever visited are the Egyptian pyramids and the biblical holy land spots in Jerusalem.

2. I've actually peed on the Sinai desert. I couldn't hold it any longer, and...we were in the desert. I had to pee so bad I was actually crying. I ran off the bus to the desert, and a group of girls followed me because I think they had to pee (urinate? which is better to say?), too, or just wanted to protect me out in the wild or something. I was so annoyed that they came with me because I like to have a little privacy. So I got stage fright and couldn't go; it just wouldn't come out. I got back on the bus, nearly panicked at this point, wondering if I could die from holding it in that long. Fortunately, the bus made another stop after awhile, at a check-point or something, and I immediately darted back off for a sec on my own.

3. I left my friends (including my date) at a Nelson concert in highschool to sneak through the crowd toward the stage. I touched one of their hands.

Here's a picture of them, in case any of you young ones don't know who I'm talking about. I'm sure they were much cooler, you know - dressed much cooler, posing much cooler - the night I saw them...or else I couldn't possibly have been screaming as loud or as long as I was...right?

4. I stuck a raisin up my nose when I was really young, and my mom had to take me to the doctor to get it removed. I still remember the shine of the light in my eyes and the doctor looking down over me.

5. I don't like the taste of alcohol. At all. I've never had more than a few sips at a time. I can't really understand how so many people enjoy it. I sometimes think everyone must be pretending to like it because of peer pressure. :) Don't even get me started about coffee; blech. I occasionally do wish I enjoyed these liquids; I feel like I'm missing out on this big party going on.

6. I sometimes believe (Okay, I don't really believe this; my behavior just seems to indicate that I believe this.) that inanimate objects have feelings. I often turn a stuffed animal upside down because I think it can't breathe. Or if I choose the second jar of pasta sauce in the store, I'm afraid I hurt the first jar's feelings. Please don't stop reading my blog.

7. I went to the same high school as Don Johnson. Not at the same time, of course. But he's related to practically all of my friends in some way and comes back regularly to visit. Maybe more impressive than that: Brad Pitt grew up in our nearby town, the "bigger" town in our area, where we hung out. And I think...deep down, I know we could have been friends had we met. I think we would have connected. I just KNOW it. I can feel it.

I was going to pass this award on to blogs I've newly discovered through Vegan MoFo...but it was really too hard to narrow it down. And I wouldn't want to leave anyone out and hurt anyone's feelings...I mean, did you read the part where I can't even hurt inanimate objects' feelings? If you are reading this right now, that means you're one of my favorite bloggers (of course) so consider yourself awarded. I would love for you to post 7 obscure facts about yourself.

gratuitous vegan husband parting shot

Vegan MoFo: Chickpea "Chik'n" Salad

This wasn't what I had planned on blogging about tonight, but I just realized November 10 is almost over. I better act quick before I ruin my goal of posting every weekday this month.

My sister Cary is the one who got me started on this Chickpea "Chik'n" Salad. This is the aftermath of the chickpea mashing. It's good to leave some of the chickpeas whole.

What I used:

3 cups of boiled chickpeas, mashed with a fork

1/2 of a carrot, grated

1/2 of an apple chopped

2 large celery stalks, chopped

3 tbs. walnuts, chopped

1/4 cup Vegenaise

2 tsp. dill

salt to taste

I would have used celery seed if I had any. You could also make this much more "decadent" with additional Vegenaise, but since there are 9 grams of fat per tablespoon...I stuck with 1/4 cup...I could have probably used even less, and it still would have been yummy.

For lunch today, I ate some Chickpea Salad on a bed of greens.

Soo good. So, so good.

(This recipe amount was enough for my lunch and supper with plenty of leftovers for kids' lunches tomorrow.) Next, I want to try it out using one of Vegan Epicurean's homemade "mayonnaise" recipes like this oil-free one.

Check out all of the amazing vegan bloggers taking part in Vegan MoFo. 2 more days for my $40 CSN giveaway. I'm excited I have another $40 giveaway starting in 2 days, as well(for Vegan Essentials! woohoo!) so check back then.

Vegan MoFo: Coconut Water Sorbet

Here's a quick review of So Delicious Coconut Water Sorbet:

We have recently tried it a few times, and we like it. It's a fun change to coconut milk ice cream that we usually get. (And we don't get any of it regularly - only for a special treat or if it's on sale.) I'm actually not a big ice cream/sorbet eater myself; I like an occasional cone with chocolate, but that's it. It's Ryan and the kids who wish it could be in our freezer at any given moment.

I had really wanted to like coconut water. So many people have raved about it. I have tried it a couple of times, but I didn't care for it. I like it in the sorbet, though. The lemon flavor was very, very tart/sour, though; I don't think I could eat a lot of that one straight up.

Coconut Water Sorbet banana split, perhaps? I bought a pint each of lemon, raspberry, and mango flavors and made these for the kids.

Our only complaint about this product is the melting speed. You have to eat it a little quicker than other "ice-cream."

I made these little dishes for the kids while we were studying China because I think (right?) mango is popular in Asia. I added real frozen pieces of mango (Frozen mango is one of the kids' - and Ryan's - favorite snacks.).

The mango sorbet taste reminds me of the Schwan's orange push-ups we got when we (my siblings and I) were little. (Did you have a Schwan's man and get so excited when you'd see the truck pull into your driveway? We'd be yelling, "Schwan's man's here!" Isn't that quite a concept when you think about it? I don't think we ever knew when he was going to come. But then he'd come, and we always ordered something. I'm thinking now about how fascinating - and dangerous - it would be to have a vegan Schwan's man visit my house...)

Here are the ingredients to the mango version, if you are curious:

Organic Coconut Water, Mango Puree, Organic Pear Juice from concentrate, Organic Apple Juice from concentrate, Organic tapioca syrup, chicory root extract, natural flavors, carob bean gum, guar gum, ascorbic acid, and annatto.

Vegan MoFo: Thanksgiving Comes Early

Since we are going to be in NYC for Thanksgiving, last night we had a little Thanksgiving-at-home meal with my Dad and sister Tracy. (My Mom was busy, selling houses.)

I have no idea what was going on with the Tofurky! Have you ever bought and prepared a Tofurky Roast? I have - at least 6 or 7 times, and it always turned out the same - as a whole, round roast. As soon as I slit the package, the dough came oozing out. I decided to put it in its own casserole dish, rather than in the vegetables, because I'd never seen it do that before. I guess I picked a good dish; it just filled that baby out. (The spices are what emerged from the marinade, which includes such ingredients as orange juice, organic Tamari, olive oil, and maple syrup - loosely based on the recipe that's on the Tofurky box.) After my initial shock and concern about my Tofurky issues, all was well because the taste was not affected.

Butternut Squash with Millet Stuffing

I mixed the millet with chopped apples, blueberries, walnuts, cinnamon, and a little orange juice/maple syrup dressing.

Cauliflower and Mushroom Pot Pie with Black Olive (Kalamata) Crust

Tracy made this dish from Veganomicon. I've said this before: I love that she always picks the recipes I wouldn't necessarily consider myself. I always lean toward the lasagnas, enchiladas, salads, etc., and everything she makes is hearty, flavorful, delicious. This was a really unique dish; I thought it turned out great.

Green Beans with Shiitake Mushrooms and Slivered Almonds

I cooked a bag of frozen haricots verts in a skillet with a tablespoon of sesame oil, 2 tablespoons of organic Tamari, and minced garlic to taste. I also added chopped shiitakes and slivered almonds.

Cranberry Beans

If you've never made cranberry beans, this is what they look like dry - so pretty!

Roasted Vegetables (potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, turnips)

I used the same marinade I used for the Tofurky: o.j., maple syrup, organic Tamari, a tiny bit of olive oil, and spices.

The 3rd and 4th pumpkin pies I've made in the span of 8 days - the current addiction of the vegan and so forth family. This piece is a little squished. I didn't have any more Rice Whip from Vegan Essentials, so we used what Whole Foods had - the boxed Soyatoo that you whip yourself. I always find it amazing to watch it take form.

So...I was pretty disappointed that the Tofurky box no longer contains the potato*apple*cranberry dumplings that were always sooo good. In its place was an Amy's mini-chocolate cake. (I added the frosting myself.) Although it doesn't seem exactly Thanksgiving-ish, we do enjoy Amy's cakes. They're perfect for any last-minute, celebratory situations.

a little cuddle time with Aunt Tracy before bed

I'd like to have this shirt.