Reviews & Recipes (February 25th)

One of my resolutions this year was to cook more, specifically learn to cook vegan dishes. So I've been busy doing a lot of that lately. I also have some Lightlife products to review as well. So let's get started!

I started off by making the quiche that we had at the Lightlife event a few weeks ago, using the recipe they gave us at the event and Lightlife's Gimme Lean Sausage (which they sent me to try).

My mom and I followed the recipe exactly, but it came out a little too mushy and not solid enough, so we'll have to revise it next time. The sausage was really good however and gave the quiche a nice, flavorful taste.

The other Lightlife product I tried was their original Smart Ground crumbles (which they also sent, thanks Lightlife!).

I used this to make tacos...

In the past I had used the frozen crumbles that other brands make, but I thought this was a nice change. The Smart Ground seemed fresher than the frozen kind and tasted better. I just mixed it in with regular taco seasoning and I swear there was NO difference (this is the perfect product to "trick" your husband or boyfriend with! lol They'll never know it's not meat).

Peanut has some "product reviews" too! :) He apparently loves Newman's Own pineapple salsa! (Which is probably not good for cats, but as you can see, I let him have a taste!)

There are very few "people foods" that Peanut likes. But anything with spices or peaches he goes crazy for! Speaking of peaches, for old time sake, he still loves his Mott's peach medley apple sauce too!

(Note how I even let him eat things on my bed! I am a bad mother-- clearly. lol)

Now on to the recipes... I printed out some vegetarian recipes from EatingWell. And here's how they came out...

The first thing I tried was the Portobello "Philly Cheese Steak" Sandwich (you can see the recipe here).

This was really good and I can't wait to make it again! Although next time I won't be adding red pepper just because I'm not really a fan. And the recipe is vegan if you use vegetable broth or stock (which I did). I did use organic provolone cheese (just a bit) to melt on top like the recipe said though, but it's easy to omit if you want.

The next EatingWell recipe I tried was their Bean "Bolognese" (you can see the recipe here).

This recipe is also completely vegan if you don't put parmesan cheese on top (which I did, again an organic and rennet-less kind). This was SOOOO good. And this is an INCREDIBLY healthy dinner because you get your protein with the beans, not to mention all the veggies! Can't wait to make this one again too!

And the last recipe I tried is courtesy of Mama Pea, and that is her Italian Wedding Soup. I modified the version a bit like my fellow blogger, Gabriela did (and you can see her version here).

Basically the only difference was, Gabriela and I used Trader Joe's meatless meatballs (a favorite of mine!) instead of making our own like Mama Pea. This came out great, and I was really impressed! (The picture didn't come out that great though, but you can see how it looks and all the cooking instructions on their blogs.)

I have not given up dairy completely yet (as evidenced by the cheese I throw on top of things!) and I couldn't help but get a frozen yogurt on one of our few warmer days we had a week or two ago at Red Mango (I went to the one here in Astoria on Steinway St.).

I got my usual, a medium original with granola and strawberries.

All this food is finger lickin' good...

Or maybe Peanut just decided to clean himself instead!

If Peanut could talk he'd say, "Mom, stop embarrassing me!!!" So that's all for now!

Also, thank you for the birthday wishes on the last post! I appreciate them!

Veggie Tacos & More! May 21st

Well the good news is that I've discovered a way to make insanely good veggie tacos! And Katharina from Katharina's Food Adventures is coming to NY this week, so we'll finally get a chance to meet! :) The bad news is that I haven't heard a single thing from Blossom, after sending them a very detailed (and polite!) e-mail about how rudely I was treated at last Sunday's brunch (see the post below). And, it's been a rough week being that it's now been 2 whole years since I lost my cat, Cloudy to stomach cancer (he died May 19, 2008 at only 11 1/2 years old). I'll admit, since adopting Peanut last year, it has been easier. Not that you can ever "replace" your pet, but there is no sense in grieving forever and missing out on loving another animal the same way you did for the one you lost!

Speaking of Peanut, he "helped" me with my Red Mango frozen yogurt the other day. He loves to play with the round, plastic lid that they give you to cover it with!

Oh, and I get the medium original with granola & strawberries! :)

He actually picks it up in his mouth and carts it off! I have to watch him though because I don't want him cutting his mouth on the plastic! lol

Here are more eats from this week (in random order!):

Another terrific find was Amy's vegetable pot pie! I got the original, non-vegan version (it is vegetarian though, as are all of Amy's products).

I really liked this... it reminds me of the pot pies I used to eat as a kid, only this one comes with tofu instead of chicken or turkey (and it's a great way to eat your tofu... so good!).

A slice of Whole Food's strawberry shortcake... yum!

And Whole Food's vegan chocolate chip scone...

Re-heated pineapple fried rice from Wild Ginger (still just as good!).

On to the veggie tacos!! Ok, so I started off by getting Garden of Eatin's yellow corn taco kit. Then I got some of Boca's ground "meat" crumbles (these are unbelievably fantastic by the way!), and some Organic Valley mild shredded cheddar cheese! You just follow the preparation instructions on the taco kit as you would, but substitute the meat for a veggie substitute!

I haven't had tacos in years, mainly because I didn't think I could make a good vegetarian alternative... well think again! These tasted like the real thing and were totally meatless! :) And I split everything in half so I could get 2 dinners out of it... plus it makes wayyy too much for one person!

And for dessert tonight I had a Rice Dream vanilla mudpie!

I had never tried one of these, but it was really good... although nothing compares to Trader Joe's sublime ice cream sandwiches!

How about you guys... any new or interesting veggie finds?

Pizzas, Fro Yo, & a Lovely Blogger Dinner! May 3rd

I have some new (and a few old) eats to share, including a wonderful blogger dinner to rave about! So lets get to it!

Friday Mom and I did our weekly (or bi-weekly?) cleaning and ordered some pizza for dinner. We decided to order it from Rivoli's in the West Village. Ironically we had forgotten all about this place somehow, and we used to go to it all the time back when I came into the city for modeling jobs (before we even lived here!). I highly recommend them and their delivery is excellent!

Since it's been so miserably hot and humid here these past few days, I thought it would be a great time to try Red Mango's new fruit parfait! So yesterday I went to the Red Mango near me and got one.

Here's what it's supposed to look like:

Here's what it actually looked like (forgive the poor picture!):

I got mine without bananas (because I hate them, lol) and it was pretty good. HOWEVER, you really get very little yogurt in this... it was mainly just strawberries & blueberries! So as you can imagine, I was hungry shortly after I ate it. NOT a good value for the money. But a clever idea none the less!

I also tried one of Kashi's new pizzas for dinner one night this weekend...

I thought their margherita pizza was excellent! Even better than the mushroom one that I've tried before. I couldn't finish the whole pizza, but I ate a good portion. The crust is VERY thin, so it's not that filling.

Despite the hot weather, Peanut still wanted to cuddle in the laundry this weekend! lol

Cleaning himself...

For lunch today I went to the Spice in Union Square because I was craving my usual...

Spring rolls & broad rice noodles in soy sauce with tofu.

And for dinner tonight I had the pleasure of meeting up with Gabriela (from the Une Vie Saine blog). She is going home this week and won't be back until she returns to school here in the fall (or hopefully visits this summer?), so we decided to have dinner at Blossom before she left. While I've had many delicious brunches here, this was my first time trying their dinner menu and because I've heard such great things, I was excited! Luckily everything exceeded our expectations! :)

We decided to split an appetizer (being that they are SO pricy!). We got the porcini flutes, which were basically stuffed mushrooms in pastry. We both thought they were delicious! If only they had given us more though!!!

For my entree I got their lasagna. And as an Italian (or, half-Italian :), I've got to say I was SHOCKED how good this was. It truly fell under the "I can't believe it's vegan!" category. It was excellent!

For dessert I got their cheesecake, which was very good (although I still prefer the real thing more!).

Overall I was VERY impressed. I can totally see why Blossom is consistently rated the "best vegetarian restaurant" in the city! They definitely live up to their hype and Gabriela and I were astonished at how they managed to make the food taste NON vegan. :)

I also want to take a moment to say that I LOVE the feeling after I eat a vegan restaurant. Similar to my experiences at Wild Ginger, after my meal at Blossom I felt pleasantly full, but not stuffed, and I felt that everything we ate was top-of-the-line quality. If only I wish rich and could eat that way every night! Or perhaps I just need to marry a veggie chef?! lol

Tell me, what do you like about vegan or vegetarian restaurants/food?

Festive Finds & Favorite Foods ~ November 1st

I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween! I stayed in and watched some of my favorite Halloween movies... the Greenwich Village parade was too much for me (even though it went right by my building! lol). Since it's that festive time of year, with Halloween yesterday, and Thanksgiving and Christmas on the way, I decided to share some of my favorite festive eats, along with some of my favorite foods (both old & new)! Here's what I had today so far...

Breakfast:

For breakfast I had my favorite Clif bar, which is one of their seasonal flavors... Iced Gingerbread! Yum! (I was thrilled to see that these were back in Whole Foods! :)

Lunch:

Since I was going by it around lunch time, I decided to stop in my new favorite restaurant, Qi Asian Eatery. I got the same things as last time...

Their delicious mushroom spring rolls...

and their AMAZING pineapple fried rice!!!

Snack:

I stopped in Red Mango to try their new pumpkin spice frozen yogurt with free graham cracker topping! I thought this was pretty good, although I still prefer the original better. I thought the color was too orange (almost artificial) compared to what I saw in the ads, and a small with free topping still cost me $4.30 (which is not exactly a bargain!). Still, it's a cute idea!

Dinner:

I finally tried Boca's vegetarian chik'n nuggets, and I am SO glad I did! These were really tasty! In fact, they taste a lot like regular chicken nuggets, which makes me a little leery, but I did check the ingredients and it seems all good... I made my usual Annie's mac & cheese and peas with it (which is ALWAYS a favorite of mine!).

Dessert:

I had my new favorite Vitalicious product... their double chocolate dreams Vitatop! I've been meaning to do an extensive review of the Vita products for some time now, especially after the wonderful Katie (from the Vitalicious company) sent me a HUGE box of goodies (see here)! But this particular flavor is my new favorite, along with my old favorite, the Vita deep & velvety chocolate brownies, which I truly cannot recommend highly enough! (I have featured these many times in my "daily eats," so do a search if you want to see more!)

And for a last blast of Halloween, here is what I had for breakfast yesterday morning...

This is from a terrific company called "Fat Witch Bakery." They make lots of delicious brownies, and they actually make a breakfast brownie, with oatmeal and coffee in it! And yes, it is amazing! I figured there was no more appropriate day to have it than Halloween! :)

And finally, here's the Peanut Pumpkin lit up last night. Spooky, isn't it? lol

I decided to do just a food post today... hope you enjoyed it! If you enjoy some of these foods as well, I'd love to hear about it! xo

Daily Eats ~ August 4th

It's supposed to get really hot here today. :( I'm going to try to run some errands anyway, because at least it's not supposed to be raining for a change! lol Just for something different, I want to show you a dress I got yesterday...

It's from Alloy. My favorite color is purple and the bohemian look is "in" right now apparently. I already have a great plum Hayden-Harnett bag that goes perfectly with this too!

Breakfast:

I had 2 Van's Belgian Waffles topped with maple syrup, berries, and dollops of whipped cream. I had an Apple & Eve organic apple juice box alongside.

Lunch:

I just had an Annie's single serve mac & cheese with a packet of Birds Eye Steamfresh single serve peas mixed in. (I'm out of veggie dogs unfortunately!)

I had a Trader Joe's 100 calorie milk chocolate bar after lunch too. Granted, this was not the healthiest lunch, but it was what I felt like having today.

Snack:

I got a Red Mango frozen yogurt this afternoon... I get the medium original with strawberries & granola. (Note Peanut in the background... he likes Red Mango yogurt too! He's always so happy when I bring one home. ;)

Dinner:

I had an Amy's Bistro Burger on a Rudi's Organic whole wheat bun, with 2 slices of cheese and ketchup alongside. I also made a Birds Eye Steamfresh veggie medley to have with it.

Peanut eyeing my dinner...

Dessert:

I had a Clif Chocolate Almond Fudge Bar topped with Nutella, and a few strawberries alongside.

I have some news about Peanut's "sister." Now I put "sister" in quotes, because it turns out that his "sister" is a boy afterall! The woman that I got Peanut from contacted me today, and she is still looking for a home for Peanut's BROTHER, because she can't keep him (she already has Peanut's mother and grandmother). She told me that she's realized that the kitten is a boy, now that he's more *ahem* "developed." She's going to have to bring his brother to an animal shelter, unless anyone in the NY area is looking to adopt Peanut's adorable little brother! You can obviously see what he looks like by Peanut's pictures (except his brother is solid orange and doesn't have the white on him). So again, if anyone is interested, please contact me ASAP!