Spring Cleaning: Part 2

Spring?  Fresh start, new season, brighter days, 65 degree weather?  Out with the old - in with the new?  All signs point to Spring!  (in California, anyway...)
Part 2?  Well, Part 1 happened in May 2010 when I had first chatted with my nutritionist and he suggested the Standard Process Purification Program.  Now, it's time for me to "clean house" for a squeaky clean 2011.  For the next 21 days, I will be eating much of what I already do (veggies, fruit, brown rice, and lentils), plus supplemental powders to add to my twice-a-day smoothies.

Food Journal:
-smoothie (strawberries, apple, carrot, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, spinach, flaxseed)
-(I grazed on this all afternoon) brown rice, sauteed cabbage, salad with guacamole & salsa, red lentil spinach soup
-same smoothie, leftover roasted veggies
-apple

Not cooking tonight?

When I go out to eat with friends, I have learned how to easily land at a restaurant with vegan options.  Go ethnic.  My safe bets are:
-Middle Eastern
-Asian
-Indian
-Mediterranean

Spicy veggies with brown rice at Bangkok Cuisine

Sweet and Sour Mango and "chicken" at Layang Layang Malaysian Restaurant

Bon appetit!

Gimme the green

Last Sunday I was reunited with an old pal : the Mountain View Farmers Market.  I bought mushrooms, an onion, cauliflower, broccoli, serrano peppers, and kale for $4.75.  Amazing.
During the week after a long work day, I decided that some simple roasted veggies were in order.  Plus, I had been inspired to make kale chips from a Google chef.  They're so easy to make!  It's just largely chopped pieces of kale, EVOO and salt.  Then, to give one of the batches a cheesy flavor, I sprinkled nutritional yeast on top.  Cooked at 400 for 20 minutes was too long.  Do it for much less.  (I still ate the crispy burnt pieces though!)  The veggies in the other cookie sheet are just EVOO, salt & pepper.  mmmm!  They've provided me 3 meals for under $5.  score!

The support continues!

Replica of Azeem's truffles,
since they disappeared quickly.

Not only do my friends and family tolerate my vegan lifestyle, they send me homemade vegan dark chocolate coconut truffles!  (Thanks Azeem!!)

Lunch at Wat Mongkolratanaram in Berkeley

They also make sure that the restaurants we go to have vegan options for me! (Thanks Cailin, Ryan, Steph, Angela & Melissa!)


Your encouragement is greatly appreciated, everyone!  Including my manager who bought me a vegan birthday cake from Whole Foods. (Thanks Keith & team!)

Oh, hey there!

Howdy! Remember me?  It's Laura!  
Did you think I had given up on veganism? on blogging?  nah, I just took a lil hiatus.  It's approaching my 1 year "veganversary" and time to reflect on my journey thus far.  (...and reviving this blog is one of my resolutions.)


With all this free time not blogging, I've been cooking!  and traveling.  Mostly to Wisconsin for the holidays where I had hungry and appreciative guinea pigs to sample my recipes.


Let's start with Thanksgiving.  Due to planning, testing, and perseverance, Shannon and I brought plenty of vegan options to the table:  Maple syrup-roasted brussel sprouts, mushroom gravy, mashed potatoes, steamed veggies, wild rice stuffing, cranberry/orange relish, and chocolate chip pumpkin bread pudding.

Testing Round One: roasted brussel sprouts, harvest-stuffed portobello mushrooms, and barley casserole.
Pumpkin bread pudding not pictured. Recipes.

My Thanksgiving plate. nom nom.

While home for Christmas, I loved every minute of my online recipe searching, grocery shopping, and meal preparations. Thanks to all my patient testers!

Cafe Manna in Brookfield. "Peace Bowl" and "Tu-no Melt" were flavorful and fantastic. Visit them!

Curried quinoa with cauliflower. Packed some heat. Recipe.

Whole wheat pizza with sauteed veggies and basil tomato sauce.
Rainbow Super Slaw that I ate nearly every day for 3 weeks. Huge crowd pleaser.  Recipe.

Sadly disappointing "jerk tempeh" on the right. No need to include recipe.
Sauteed mushrooms, tomatoes, and rice on left.

Dark chocolate covered pretzel nuggets with Christmas sprinkles!  Fairly low in calories too!

Sweet potato curry cauliflower soup. Couldn't get enough of this!  I made it extra spicy. Recipe.

Spicy hummus roll-ups for Christmas parties.  Thanks for your help making these, sister!
(wheat or sun-dried tomato or spinach tortillas, spicy hummus, avocado, zucchini, scallions, sprouts)

Take-out from Taste of India in Brookfield. Garlic naan, mushroom masala, and eggplant bhartha. Ask for it spicy!
Visit them!

This past year has been an incredible learning experience for me that has challenged most of my opinions on the food industry, nutrition, and wellness.  Although it can often be a struggle to be a vegan who hangs out solely with non-vegans, I have found this lifestyle very rewarding and don't plan on returning to my pre-vegan ways.  Yes, there is the occasional mishap where my tongue lands in some froyo or a coworker's birthday cupcake appears in my hand, but I stay the course - MOST OF THE TIME.  As I've mentioned numerous times before, progress is progress, and steps in the right direction are still feet taking action.  I've felt the support from family and friends and seen their eating habits turn greener. I LOVE IT!  Thanks, y'all!  I'm back!