Restaurants

Stogo- NYC Gourmet Vegan Ice Cream

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This past weekend when my hubby and I were in NYC we decided that even though it was freezing out we just had to stop in to Stogo to try gourmet vegan ice cream.  After tasting a few different flavors we settled on Salted Caramel Pecan and Peanut Butter Fudge both of which were delicious.  The ice cream here is so good and unlike some other vegan ice creams it isn’t icy and if you didn’t know it was vegan you’d think it wasn’t.  It’s a little pricey, $4.50ish for a small, but it is well worth the treat. 

Salted Caramel Pecan

 

Peanut Butter Fudge

'SNice- Vegan Breakfast in NYC

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This past weekend while we were visiting the Big Apple my hubby and I met up with some of my girlfriends for breakfast at ‘SNice in Chelsea. To our disappointment we were unable to get sandwiches (which all sounded amazing) until 11am and we were too hungry to wait an hour so we decided to start with some lattes.  After sipping on our lattes for a while hubz and I decided to split the tofu scramble wrap which was not bad and pretty filling.  The GF’s went with a bagel with cream cheese and the other granola with fruit, yogurt and honey.  

Everything at ‘SNice is vegetarian and all vegan options are marked accordingly. The menu is mostly that of salads and sandwiches with bagels and breakfast sandwiches in the morning.  The place was pretty quiet for the sit in crowd until around 11am however there was always a line at the counter for take out bagels and coffee. I really would like to return during lunch ours to try one of their yummy salads or sandwiches.  There is also a location in Brooklyn which I understand has a similar menu. 

Delicious Soy Latte

 

Tofu Scramble Wrap

Miya's Sushi- New Haven, CT

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Friday night my husband and I had one of the most amazing meals of our lives. It was one of those meals that not only had amazing food but was topped off with the best service and experience at a restaurant that we have ever had.  Prior to our trip away I had contacted Bun the owner of Miya’s Sushi about the vegan options as well as what was included in a vegan platter.  He quickly responded back to me to give him to tell him how much we would like to spend and that he would put together a great vegan spread for us.  Before we left he followed up on our reservation and told me to just let one of the guys know when we got there that we had a special vegan meal waiting for us.  Much to our delight we were seated, ordered our drinks and then the food just started to come out.  It was the best feeling to just sit down and not have to worry about what we were going to order and it was an exciting adventure to see what dish would be coming out next. Below are photos with descriptions of all of our dishes we had (we had 8 samples of vegan sushi rolls and I can’t remember what they all were):

sweet mother’s milk: a whole steamed artichoke served with our sauce made from spicy homemade middle eastern pureed jalapeno makdoos.

 

A vegan version of: tokyo fro- hip hop is the most popular music of japanese youth & has made the afro tokyo's most popular hairstyle; to have japanese hair processed into an afro costs over a thousand dollars at a trendy hair stylist. this recipe was inspired by the afro; it looks & tastes exactly like a japanese processed fro, drizzled with a delicious chef secret sauce.

Vegan version of Tokyo Fro: hip hop is the most popular music of japanese youth & has made the afro tokyo's most popular hairstyle; to have japanese hair processed into an afro costs over a thousand dollars at a trendy hair stylist. this recipe was inspired by the afro; it looks & tastes exactly like a japanese processed fro, drizzled with a delicious chef secret sauce.

 

 

 

Deep Fried Spinach

 

An assortment of amazing veggie sushi rolls - I think there were 8

A tasting of 8 vegan sushi rolls

 

Overall the food was amazing, the atmosphere was fun and the staff were great.  Although Bun was not he created a magical experience for the two of us and I can’t wait to return for some more sushi. 

One Lucky Duck at Chelsea Market

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We had originally intended on having dinner at Pure Food and Wine for our Valentine’s Day dinner but after some time to think it over we decided that it’s a little too pricey for our budget right now.  We were however on a mission to make our way to One Lucky Duck at the Chelsea Market . When I saw the Mallomar waiting in the cooler I made a bee-line to it. My husband also picked up one of their Valentine Truffles for me, it was good but not really worth the $3 for the tiny treat.  However the $6 Mallomar was amazing and wish we had both got our own because it was that good.

The most delicious thing during our whole day in NYC the One Lucky Ducky Mallomar!

 

Hubby bought me a Valentine Truffle

Mashed White Beans

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Mashed White Beans

A great alternative to mashed potatoes is mashed white beans they are creamy and delicious and you can put your own spin on them.  Last night I had leftover Tofutti so I added it to my recipe.

  • 2 cans Cannelini beans, drained and rinsed
  • 8-10 oil packed sundried tomatoes, chopped small
  • 5 scallions, chopped small 
  • 3T vegan cream cheese 
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1t garlic powder

Add all ingredients to a pan over medium heat and mash with a potato masher.  Mix everything together and then heat until warmed. Enjoy!

If you want to check out  our yummy dining at A Single Pebble and Coffee Corner as well as what else we ate the past few days visit Eat. Live. Be Healthy. 

Don’t forget you have until 1/31/10 at 8am to enter to win Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil.

Pantry Challenge Update

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So I have been working on this pantry challenge and have come to realize it’s a fail.  I evaluated the contents of my cupboards and well I basically have tomatoes, tomato sauce, pasta and grains…no beans, no other fun pantry items.  My freezer is pretty sparse as well – only gin, bananas, edamame and sweet peas.  I think that this pantry challenge was a great idea but is just not going to work for me this month since I am lacking in staples. However I am considering coming back to this when i have a more well stocked pantry. 

I have to say though I have created some great meals this week.  My husband commented on the fact that they were fun and different than we usually have and actually have tasted great. I’ll leave you with some of the items I made this week:

Southwest Grits - Makes 2 servings

 

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup 5 minute grits
  • 2 cups water
  • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
  • 1/2 t each of  garlic powder, onion powder, salt, black pepper, and paprika
  • 1 t cumin
  • 1/4 t chipotle chili powder
  • 1/4 cup frozen corn
  • 3 green onions thinly sliced

 

Directions:

  • In a bowl mix together grits, nutritional yeast and spices.
  • Bring water to a boil, while stirring slowly stream in the grits mixture.  
  • Turn the heat down to low and let cook this should take about 5-7 minutes, make sure to stir frequently.
  • Once the grits are almost done add in the corn and green onions.
  • To serve place grits in a bowl and garnish with green onion, corn and your favorite hot sauce.

 

Creamy Butternut Squash Penne - Serves 1

For dinner last night I took the bus into Burlington to meet my hubby after work for a date night.  We went to American Flatbread which is delicious.  I love their menu because it is simple – all they have are 10 signature flatbreads, create your own flatbread and a salad; however their beer menu is extensive – I’d say close to 100 different varieties as well as house made ones. 

Hubby had the Wolaver's Coffee Porter and I had Unibroue's La Fin Du Monde

We shared 2 small flatbreads- This one is Revolution Flatbread- housemade tomato sauce, caramelized onions, mushrooms and herbs

 

Our 2nd flatbread was the Roasted Tomato Salsa- house made salsa (wood fired tomatoes, garlic, jalapenos, cilantro), corn and black beans