Last night I broke our “no eating out” for the rest of the month rule and convinced the Hubz that we needed a night out on the town. He agreed that we have been cooped up in our apartment for the past week only leaving for work and groceries. It was time for a date night out. We started our date night at Drink in hopes that the special drink of the day would be something we wanted but it end up being raspberry vanilla infused vodka, um gross. So instead we decided to go with martinis, olives for me and a twist for him. We decided that we would take our time and draw the night out as long as possible so we sipped our martinis and played a round of scrabble. We had fun and let a few not so “legal” words pass. Once our glasses were empty and our game complete we headed just a few doors down to one of our favorite restaurants Pacific Rim. The first thing we saw though was a sad sign saying that they would not be renewing their lease and therefore would be closing at the end of the month. So with that being said we went in and made sure to order our favorite dish one last time. Unfortunately this is when the photos get a little less than clear, I realized after I had already left home that I had forgotten my camera on the counter, FAIL.
I decided that I would stick with another martini with dinner but unfortunately this one just wasn’t as good and the olives were teeny tiny; I really hate when you don’t get good olives in a martini.
After ordering our drinks we started with the vegetable dumplings which weren’t really that good, they were greasy and had little flavor. I was hungry though so I topped them with sriracha and dipped them in soy sauce.
For our entrees the Hubz and I both got our favorite dish the Grilled Spicy Tofu which is marinated tofu that is grilled and then topped with a spicy red sauce and served with brown rice, steamed veggies and kimchi. It was just as good as I remembered it and I ate the whole thing. I am sad to say this will probably be the last time I ever eat it….hmmm maybe I will try to recreate it.
I know these photos are awful! The Hubz said “those don’t even look like food”
This weekend was freezing in Vermont so the Hubz and I spent more of our weekend inside working on a number of projects. I am happy to say that I was able to organize the closets in our bedroom and purge a number of items that we had been holding on to for too long. I also attempted to work on organizing our office but I think I just made a bigger mess. We are in need of some major organizational materials and have visions of how we want things to look but until we head south and by south I mean to NYC and Connecticut where there is better shopping (Ikea and Target) we will just have to make do. Who knew we were such pack rats?
As for food this weekend I spent a lot of time working on recipes from Veganomicon for the Vegan Cookbook Club. On Friday night I made Sauteed Seitan with Mushrooms and Spinach; I was lazy and decided to just purchase pre-made seitan to save me time. Overall I thought the dish was really good but I’m not going to giveaway all my thoughts here you’ll just have to wait for my full review of Veganomicon. For the remainder of the night the Hubz and I just relaxed enjoyed an Ottercreek Black IPA and attempted to watch Dinner for Schmucks but we just couldn’t get into it; it really just wasn’t as funny as I hopped it was going to be.
Saturday was spent making a mess of the office while drinking coffee and watching The Real Housewives of Atlanta. Unfortunately for the Hubz my way of organizing is to make a huge mess and then clean it up so the state of our office is in disarray right now- however the closet in there is amazingly organized so WIN! We are heading to NYC and CT in a few weeks and will be hitting up Ikea and Target for some items to help in our organizational project but I should probably make one last effort to at least get that room orderly. The second half of Saturday was spent getting lattes, groceries and gas- exciting I know. I didn’t photograph dinner and I can’t remember what we had so it must not have been that exciting. I did make the Lower Fat Banana Bread (muffins) from Veganomicon though and they were tasty. I added chopped up dates to them and they were so good.
Sunday I was up early and ready to tackle the closets in our bedroom but first a mini french press of coffee and a two banana bread muffins. Then I was on to organize and purge items in our closets, as well as take over the walk-in closet which the Hubz ended up with some how when we moved in. I never realized how much I could get a workout just from cleaning and organizing our bedroom; by lunch I was sweaty (TMI) and had worked up an appetite. Lunch was a pasta dish per the Hubz request and included chickpeas and spinach in a creamy garlic sauce. I tried out my sample of Jovial Brown Rice Pasta, it was pretty good for gluten free pasta, but I prefer the Jovial Whole Wheat Penne.
After spending most of the weekend doing our own thing or sitting behind our computer screens the Hubz and I decided we needed a date night. Instead of spending money to go out we decided to stay in and enjoy a bottle of wine and a home cooked meal; we even showered and got dressed (I’d been in yoga pants all weekend). For dinner I made the Chickpea Cutlets with Mustard Sauce from Veganomicon with roasted butternut squash and cornbread stuffing on the side. I thought both the cutlets and the sauce were really tasty however I have a few criticisms regarding the wording of the recipes and the fact that in the directions for the sauce it left out a step that included major ingredients; again you’ll here more about this in my final review of Veganomicon.
Now it’s Monday morning and I am sitting back enjoying a mug of coffee and blogging. I started out my morning with a bowl of creamy oats with a spoonful of pumpkin butter and a little cranberry cinnamon granola on top for crunch. I picked up this Sticky Fingers Bakeries pumpkin butter from Marshall’s on sale and it is really amazingly good on oatmeal. Alright that is my weekend wrap up now it’s time to get ready for my work week. Enjoy your day!
I have been blogging sporadically since 2006 and consistently over the last 15 months. Blogging has become a huge passion of mine. I love the community that has embraced me and allows me to learn from them every day. That said, I want to ensure that my contributions to the community are of the highest value. To help me improve my blog, I’ve reached out to you, my readers, for your feedback with my C.V.L. survey. I received a great response and was pleased to find out what you like and dislike about the blog. I received both positive feedback and constructive criticism and hope to grow my blog and myself from all of your input.
A total of 117 people filled out the C.V.L. survey, which included demographic based questions and request for input as to your favorite features and topics are and what you’d like to see more of. Below, you will find a breakdown of the demographics of C.V.L. readers and selected feedback with my responses. Enjoy!
Cook. Vegan. Lover. Demographics
Gender
Female: 91%
Male: 9%
Your Feedback
Favorite Blog Post Topics (those who filled out the survey could choose any that applied):
Recipes 94%
Healthy Living/Self Care 65%
Daily Eats 57%
Product Reviews 57%
Restaurants/Local Dining 50%
Giveaways 45%
Travel 44%
Guest Posts 23%
Topics that you would like to see introduced to the blog or would like to see more of:
Daily Eats
Institute for Integrative Nutrition/More information on health counseling and IIN
C.V.L. Response: I must say, I was quite surprised by the number of people who wanted to see my daily eats featured more often. While I can’t say that what I have to eat is always very interesting, I will do my best to accommodate that request for sure! I will also make more of an effort to keep you apprised of the goings on in my life with more photo posts and personal posts as well. I am flattered that you all have taken such an interest in me!
For those of you who’d like to see me tackle recreating the recipes of your favorite restaurants, I’m always up for a challenge! I will often go through the menus of some of my favorite restaurants (as well as interesting restaurants I’ve never been to!) and take inspiration from them and do my best to create my own version. If you have any specific restaurants or recipes you’d like to see me attempt, please e-mail me at lindsay@cookingforaveganlover.com with your suggestions!
Personalized Comments by You:
“I would love to see you improve your writing to make the blog more professional. You have wonderful things to show and say, but sometimes run-on sentences, etc. make it more difficult to read.”
I love to see this sort of comment. It is a very helpful and useful critique. I can be guilty of rushing through my posts at times and I am making a concentrated effort lately to work on improving my posts through more careful reviewing and editing before pressing publish.
“I would love to see more commentary along with your recipes.”
This is a comment that I get frequently and I agree that it would be really enhance my recipe posts if I added a bit of commentary to them.
“[Improve] photography clarity.”
This is one part of the blog that I realized needed to be worked on. I had the Hubz build me a makeshift light box from an old box, a white shower curtain and some scrapbook paper. I feel that this has helped my food photography a lot and hope that you all feel the same way. As they say, a picture’s worth a thousand words!
“I really like your blog as it speaks to a set of values I really relate to. I have just begun the IIN program and have your site to thank for initially pointing out the program in the first place. It is exactly what I have been looking for. I love your recipes, they are easy and yummy”
It makes me really excited to hear that others have become interested in IIN via my blog. It is a really great program and per readers request I will be posting more about the program and my experience with it.
“I think you’re doing awesome, and I love your blog! But, maybe you could do an inspirational story every now and then- those are well loved and popular.”
I would be honored to share parts of my life that may help me to inspire others, if there are any particular stories you’d like to see, please get in touch at lindsay@cookingforaveganlover.com
This survey has been a great learning experience for me and I only hope to continue to learn more from this great community that I truly consider to be my friends.
Regina (aka mtbVegan) has blogged so much about her testing experience that I had to split it into two post. Check out what else she has said about the new recipes for my up coming e-book.
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!
Regina (aka mtbVegan) has been on a testing spree and blogging about her experience. Check out what she has said about the new recipes for my up coming e-book.
Lisa of Vegan Culinary Crusade has also been taking part in testing a number of recipes for the upcoming e-book. Check out what she thinks and her beautiful photos sure are something to talk about!
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Completely off the topic of the e-book; the Hubz and I will be in NYC for the day on February 12th and would like to plan a blogger/tweep meet-up we were thinking for happy hour (location TBD) come enjoy a beverage and appetizers-interested? email me! lindsay@cookingforaveganlover.com
We decided that we would take our time and draw the night out as long as possible so we sipped our martinis and played a round of scrabble. We had fun and let a few not so “legal” words pass. 
Once our glasses were empty and our game complete we headed just a few doors down to one of our favorite restaurants Pacific Rim. The first thing we saw though was a sad sign saying that they would not be renewing their lease and therefore would be closing at the end of the month. So with that being said we went in and made sure to order our favorite dish one last time. Unfortunately this is when the photos get a little less than clear, I realized after I had already left home that I had forgotten my camera on the counter, FAIL. 
