vegan

Ethiopian Date Night

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Is the day really almost over?? I feel like I was unable to complete everything I had set out to do today.  I guess sometimes life sends you in a different direction than planned! Although I didn’t finish the dishes and I didn’t get a few health coaching projects and blog projects done that I had planned to I did get to spend time with a girl friend, spend over an hour picking out new running shoes and then the Hubz and I had a spontaneous date night.

Today we spent over an hour at Fleet Feet being fitted for the perfect pair of shoes for my feet I finally found a pair!  If you have never been fitted for shoes I really recommend that you do because I have spent the last year running/being active in a pair of shoes I chose myself and although they were nice they were just a little off. Once we finished shoe shopping the Hubz and I decided to have a spontaneous date night and take advantage of our (free-win!) Jump On It for Duino Duende.  Jump On It is similar to Groupon and if you share the deal and three others also buy it based on your reference you get it for free! Great deal right? We thought so!

We started our night off with a cocktail; Manhattan for me and a Gin Martini for the Hubz.  For our meal we both got the Tuesday night special the Ethiopian plate, which comes in vegetarian, omni and vegan.  I honestly can’t tell you everything that was on my plate but it included a split pea wat, misir wat, spicy sauce, salad, beets, kale and another item that was tasty but we have no idea what it was.

Everything was really delicious and I can’t wait to head back again for a Tuesday night date and Ethiopian food!  Additionally because of our late (for us) dinner we also were able to enjoy the live music that starts at 7pm at Radio Bean (connected cafe).

After dinner we picked up some cereal and bananas for breakfast tomorrow morning and then stopped into the garden to water our plants.  Now it’s time to sit back, relax and then head to bed to read a good book.

What are you reading right now? I am on the last book of The Girl With… series and I am going to need new suggestions! Let me know what I should be reading.

Vermont Vegan: Vermont Pub & Brewery

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Vermont Pub & Brewery (VPB) is a popular spot among locals and guests to Burlington.  They have a variety of housemade brews and serve local wines.  As most people know it can be hard to find vegan options when dining out especially at a brew pub but VPB has exceed expectations with their list of vegan friendly items check it out:

 

 

 

 

 

Vermont Pub and Brewery Vegan Options

  • Soup, Salad & Chili:
    • Mesclun Salad
    • Spinach Salad
    • Caesar Salad – without cheese & with House Vinaigrette or Oil & Vinegar
  • Appetizers:
    • Spud Skins – plain
    • Salsa & Chips
  • On The Side:
    • Basket of Brewhouse Fries
    • Sweet Potato Fries
    • Beer-Battered Onion Rings
  • Hot Sandwiches:
    • Veggie Mushroom Philly – without cheese (with bread, not roll)
    • Portabella Mushroom – without cheese (with bread, no bun)
    • VPB Wrap – without cheese
    • Toasted BLT – Lettuce & Tomato (no bacon)
  • Brewery Sandwich Fare:
    • Vegetarian Rolli Polli – without cheese
  • Desserts:
    • Apple Crisp

So the next time you are in Burlington and want good food, local beer and a fun atmosphere I recommend you head to VPB!

You Had Me At Cornbread

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This past Saturday we finally made it to Angelica Kitchen, a restaurant that has been on my “To Try” list for years. We met up with my girlfriend Cate for lunch at noon which was perfect timing because the place filled up quickly and within 20 minutes there was a long waiting list. It took a while or us to make a decision as to what we wanted to get because there are so many really yummy sounding dishes on the menu.

To start the Hubz and I ordered the Angelica Cornbread, a wheat free cornbread that I have heard raving reviews about on a number of blogs. Now this is not your traditionally fluffy cornbread, it is dense and filled with whole grains. It is really delicious and worth the raving about. We also ordered a side of the miso tahini spread to go with it; it was good but the cornbread would have been fine on it’s own.

For my main dish I decided to go with the special of the day which was tofu with a chickpea miso sauce, veggies, quinoa pilaf and an Asian guacamole. I thought that the dish was really good and I loved the Asian guacamole; then again I love anything with avocado. Although the dish was really tasty and made with high quality ingredients I have to say at $16 the dish was a little pricey for what I got but oh well it was still delicious and (almost) worth it.

The Hubz went with the Thai Me Up entree which is An All Raw Entree – delicate strands of daikon radish, butternut squash & carrot, on a bed of garlic-lemon marinated kale, dressed with Thai tahini sauce. This dish was absolutely incredible and I am so jealous that I didn’t get it. We both really loved the noodles and the sauce but the star was the garlic-lemon marinated kale; it was incredible. This is a dish that I would recommend you order whether as the entree or the smaller appetizer version.

Cate ordered the Warm Roasted Vegetable Salad A seasonal selection of roasted vegetables tossed with arugula
in a balsamic vinaigrette and garnished with garlic crostini spread with creamy hummus. I only tried a small bite of one of the veggies which was really tasty so I can’t really tell you overall how the dish was but lets just say there wasn’t anything left when Cate was done. Cate also got a soy chai tea which she raved about and went back for seconds.

Overall this has easily become one of my favorite restaurants in NYC; I think that the price can be a little high for everyday eating but it is a great spot to visit when you are in the city. I am ready to head back and try everything else on the menu.

Fiery Vegan Valentine Contest

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Fiery Vegan Valentine Cooking Contest!

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(Image Source)

Between now and Thursday February 10, 2011 post a recipe on your blog for a dish suitable for a romantic Valentine’s dinner. It should be vegan and and it should be fiery (yes take that anyway you’d like) and should include a photo.

There will be 3 categories (you can enter ONE recipe per catagory):
1. Appetizer
2. Entree
3. Desserts

Mention in your post that you are participating in “Fiery Vegan Valentine Contest” and link back to this post. Then, send me an email (lindsay at cookingforaveganlover dot com) with your name, the name of your blog, and the permalink and name of your recipe. (If you don’t have a blog, feel free to email me your recipe and photo and I will feature it on my blog.)

On Friday February 11, 2011 I will do a round-up of all the posts in each category and there will be a poll for readers to vote for their favorite Appetizer, Entree and Dessert.  Voting will be open until February 13, 2011 at 9pm EST.

The Prize:
1. There will be one winner from each category based on the votes by fellow readers; if there is a tie the Hubz will be brought in to decide the winner. The prize for each will be a surprise but I guarantee it will be good and feature a vegan item(s) from our NYC trip.
2. For the person who creates the most inventive fiery recipe overall will receive their own special surprise goodie box. This winner will be decided by me.

Note you do not need to be vegan to participate in this contest, however your recipe entry must be vegan.  Have fun and be creative!

Hints:
fiery |ˈfī(ə)rē|
adjective ( fierier , fieriest )

  • consisting of fire or burning strongly and brightly : the sun was a fiery ball low on the hills | [as submodifier ] figurative a fiery hot chili sauce.
  • having the bright color of fire : the car was painted a fiery red.
  • (of a person) having a passionate, quick-tempered nature : a fiery, imaginative Aries.
  • (of behavior or words) passionately angry and deeply felt : a fiery speech. hmmmm maybe a narrative of some sort?

On the 7th Day of ….

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We all know fruit leathers, most of us probably even like them.  They’re that dependable (and maybe predictable?) flattened fruit snack that’s great on the run.  Usually some sort of berry and apple combination. Matt’s Munchies Fruit Leathers takes the idea of fruit leather and puts a whole new spin on it.
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These certified organic fruit leathers come in all sorts of unconventional flavors from Chili Chocolate to Ginger Spice. And hey, they’re even good for you!  There’s no added preservatives, no added oils or salts, and the only flavors with any added sugar are the chocolate ones.  These are a great low calorie snack that will please your sweet tooth at the same time.  They all come in at 90 calories or less per 28 g’s of sugar (most at 70 cals and some as low as 50!).
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We received two mixed packs of the fruit leathers that contained the following flavors (starting from my favorites):
  • Choco-Nana
  • Chili Chocolate
  • Banana
  • Apple Pie
  • Ginger Spice
  • Mango
  • Apple-licious
  • Raspberry Delight
  • Island Mango
My favorites were the Choco-Nana, Chili Chocolate and Banana flavors.  The chocolate flavors were amazing and it was pretty hard to believe how low in calories they were.  The banana on it’s own was delicious as well. It had a great flavor to it, nice and sweet, but not too much.
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They don’t carry them in Vermont, but I can tell you, it would definitely be worth ordering these online!

Chef Robert’s will be giving away a sample pack of Matt’s Munchies and a 15% discount for web orders that are over $25 for the winner.

TO ENTER: This giveaway is open until December 8th at 6pm. This giveaway is open to U.S.  Residents-except Hawaii and Alaska.

The Winner is:

1. Visit the Chef Robert’s site and tell me which of Matt’s Munchie’s you would most like to try. (required)

Additional Chances to win (PLEASE LEAVE A SEPARATE COMMENT FOR EACH ENTRY; also if you already do any of these ie. follow me on twitter/facebook, ect it counts so leave a comment).

  1. Like Matt’s Munchies on Facebook
  2. Follow Matt’s Munchies on Twitter.
  3. Follow me on Twitter.
  4. Tweet about this giveaway “I want to win @cookveganlover @MattsMunchies Giveaway http://wp.me/pFVWo-1i1”
  5. Like Cook.Vegan.Lover. on Facebook.

On the 1st Day of…

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Welcome to the start of 12 Days of Giveaways! I hope you are as excited as I am about this years special event.  There will be at least one giveaways each day so keep your eyes peeled for multiple giveaways in a day.  Today is the beginning and to get us started will be a giveaway from Amy’s Kitchen.

Amy’s Kitchen provided me with the following goodies to review for this giveaway:

One of the great things about Amy’s products is that they are great when you are in a pinch and need to have food for entertaining.  I ended up bringing both the pizza and the chocolate cake with us to my Grandma’s when we celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving.  The pizza was one of the personal sized ones and we baked it, cut it up and served it as an appetizer.  It was a great hit! The flavor was wonderful.

We enjoyed the cake for dessert; we sprinkled the top with a little powdered sugar and served.  I really loved it and wish we had thought to serve it was raspberries or strawberries because the combination of the fudgey cake and sweet-tart fruit would have been so delicious.

My cake fell apart a bit oops!

Amy's personal sized pizza's are also great for a light lunch or dinner. The Hubz and I split the second pizza for lunch one day with a simple salad.

For the giveaway the winner will be provided with  how three Free Product Coupons — good for any Amy’s item, including all frozen items (retail value = $30), plus a nice Amy’s canvas shopping tote.

The Winner is Natalie – A Hint Of Cinnamon


TO ENTER: This giveaway is open until December 2nd at 6am. This giveaway is open to U.S.  Residents.

1. Visit the Amy’s site and tell me your favorite product. (required)

Additional Chances to win (PLEASE LEAVE A SEPARATE COMMENT FOR EACH ENTRY; also if you already do any of these ie. follow me on twitter/facebook, ect it counts so leave a comment).

  1. Like Amy’s on Facebook
  2. Tweet about this giveaway “I want to win @cookveganlover #amyskitchen Giveaway http://wp.me/pFVWo-1ii“
  3. Like Cook.Vegan.Lover. on Facebook.

Making Take-Out In

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The husband and I love Asian food- Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese, Burmese, Japanese-you get the point; so for dinner I like to play around with Asian flavors to make yummy dishes.  We love to go out for Asian food but we try not to get it out too much because of portion control, high calorie sauces and budget. Making your own “take-in” helps to reduce over eating and allows you to create healthier versions of your favorite dishes; here are three of my favorite “take-in” dishes for two.

Lemongrass Tempeh

with MungBean Sprouts

Basil Fried Rice

Garlic Broccoli

Don’t forget to enter the  Wasa Giveaway HERE!