Restaurants

Dinner Was A Deal, But What An Expensive Nap

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Yesterday afternoon the Hubz declared that last night would be date night, and who am I to pass up on date night.  We decided to do dinner and a movie since we have been talking about going to the movies for weeks now and there was finally something that we both wanted to see.

How could I pass up a date with this hunk?

Since we are trying to be more frugal with our dining out we decided to use one of our Living Social deals to Asiana Noodle Shop, a favorite spot of ours where I usually get a giant bowl of noodle and vegetable soup that I could fit my whole head in.  Last night neither of us were in the mood for noodles so we flipped to the back of their extensive menu and decided to both get sushi.

Neil got the

Vegan Chirashi  
Shitake Mushroom, Sweet potato, Seaweed, Oshinko, Kampyo, Tofu, Yamagobo, Asparagus ,Wakame, Spinach, Avocado, Cucumber and Tofu skin

It was so delicious and came with a bowl of miso soup that he kindly shared with me.

I ordered the Union Maki which was so delicious and MASSIVE but don’t worry I had no trouble eating the whole thing, I even ate the salad on the side.  I was hoping that Asiana had a description of the roll on their online menu but they don’t seem to but basically it was filled with asparagus, fried tofu, cucumber and sesame peanut sauce rolled and topped with tofu skin and avocado- DELICIOUS!

After dinner we walked around, popped in Stone Soup for a vegan macaroon and then we were off to the movies to see Margin Call.


So this is when I proceeded to have the most expensive nap of my life.  The movie cost $9.25 (remember the good ol’days when movies were like $5?) well I made it about half way through and I just couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer. The movie wasn’t bad or boring so much as just really slow and not that exciting.  I decided it just wasn’t a theater movie for me.  I would have done so much better watching it at home while multitasking.  The Hubz on the other hand really enjoyed the movie, he agreed that at times it was really slow moving but he really enjoyed all the character development.

Have you ever fallen asleep at the movies? 

A Single Pebble

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I hope that everyone racing this weekend has a wonderful time and good luck! I’m not racing this weekend but I did get a nice run in yesterday afternoon and I have a 5-Miler on the schedule for tomorrow.  I also finally got myself back to the yoga studio yesterday for a wonderful 60 minute community class.  I am loving the 30 Days of Yoga and have been finding it so relaxing and calming.  I might just have to do 60 days (we’ll see).

After my run and yoga class Neil and I decided to take ourselves out for a dinner at one of our favorite restaurants A Single Pebble.  Honestly some of the best Chinese food that I’ve ever had and always great service.  Last night I started with a seltzer, decided I needed to hydrate after all of my activities.

For dinner we had the scallion pancakes, general chou’s mock chicken (requested vegan), dry fried green beans (requested vegan) and double garlic broccoli.

Everything was delicious and we had tons of leftovers, which we ate for breakfast, whoops!

Now we’re off to the farmers market and to run a few errands.  Enjoy your Saturday!

How Easy Was That?

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Good Morning! Neil and I had a crazy busy afternoon yesterday running errands and then spending a little quality time together over a drink and dinner. Remember our elliptical? Well about 6 months ago it stopped working. KAPUT! Just like that. After having it for just over a year, the display decided to just stop working.  Well, we finally got around to contacting Costco about what they suggest we should do and they told us to return it. We were shocked at first, could it really be that easy? Just take it apart, drive it over and we’ll give you your money back?  We asked my dad to help us move it in his truck and we returned it last night and received cash back for our faulty elliptical.  I am very impressed with Costco’s return policy and their service.  How easy was that? 

We ended up picking up a few goodies on our way out including this giant 4lb bag of organic quinoa (swoon).

Following our Costco trip we took my dad out for a “thank you beer” and then we both headed on our way. Since it was getting late and Neil and I hadn’t spent much time together over the past few days we decided to have a spontaneous date night at El Gato Cantina where we dined on delicious Mexican food and I caught Neil up on Gossip Girl.

A few weeks ago I e-mailed El Gato Cantina to inquire about vegan options and this was the response from their chef:

“So, for our vegan options, we have the vegan taco(sheffield seitan marinated in a sweet and spicy ancho chilie sauce), veggie tamales (the veggies in the tamales changes due to seasonality, as of right now they are sweet corn, pablano peppers and tomato), guacamole and chips, all 4 of our salsas, black beans, all of our meat dishes can be subbed out for seitan, and we have two veggie tacos that can easily be made vegan sans the cheese.”

Just FYI the rice is not vegan but they will happily double up your order of black beans which are amazing.  The staff is also very knowledgeable about which options are vegan. Last night I had my heart set on the seitan tacos but just before we ordered, our waiter informed us that they were all out of the seitan. WAH! Well I decided to try the black bean tostada with no cheese and extra beans and it was amazing.  Neil also ordered the tostada and added a veggie tamale which was so good.

After a busy afternoon and a late night (for us) we headed home to do our yoga session for 30 Days of Yoga.  Probably wasn’t the greatest idea, since I was filled to the brim with Mexican food,  but a girl’s got to do what a girl’s got to do.

I am now off to get ready to conquer the day which will involve work, organizing my elliptical free office, running and yoga.

What’s on your agenda? 

Dining Out: A Single Pebble

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Whenever fellow vegans are visiting Vermont I always suggest my favorite vegan friendly restaurant-A Single Pebble. The Hubz and I went for a Saturday lunch a few weeks ago and it was just as good as I remember (it’s been a few months since we last went). The other thing I love is that at lunch everything is less expensive but you still get a ton of food- we ended up taking half of ours home with us.

Our favorite dishes: Vegan Buddha’s Beef (request vegan), Mock Eel, Double Garlic Broccoli, Vegan Dry Fried Green Beans (request vegan) and Vegan Dan Dan Noodles (request vegan).

Chrysanthemum Tea

Vegetable Potstickers

Vegan Chow Fun Noodles

Mushrooms with Sesame Sauce

Double Garlic Broccoli

Run, Coach, Rewind

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Today has been a busy day between blogging and freelance work this morning and then I headed my day job where I started my day with a mug of this delicious tea.

Shortly after getting to work I was ready for a snack so I broke out my homemade trail mix. In the mix there is raw cashews, almonds, pistachios, tamari-wasasbi almonds, fruit sweetened cranberries, raw pumpkin seeds and mulberries- such a good combination.

Lunch was leftovers from dinner chickpea chili in a wrap, a quick and easy way to transition dinner to an easy lunch. I love wrapping leftovers in a tortilla.

My work day ended and I head straight to the gym to get out 2.5 Miles for Ashley right on track for my half marathon training plan. After my run I stretched and foam rolled, holy hell I haven’t foam rolled in awhile and the foam roller was having a love-hate relationship with my IT band. Reminder to self: FOAM ROLL MORE!

Following my gym sesh I had a health coaching sesh which went really well. I have great clients and I love working with them.

Now it’s time to relax a.k.a. work on the couch for a bit while I ice my knees and enjoy a glass of vino.

REWIND

Anniversary Dinner:
Tuesday was Neil and I’s 5 Anniversary since we got together. We have been married for 3 years and we don’t usually celebrate our dating anniversary but since it was 5 years it was a big deal and the Hubz decided to surprise me with dinner at a new restaurant, The Bobcat Cafe.

Neil called, checked on vegan options and made a reservation (big deal he never does this) and I swooned. Then we enjoyed an amazing dinner:

Started the Night with a Beer- Bobcat Cafe is also a brewery!

Then we started with the Black Bean Gazpacho and...

a Green Salad with an amazing Roasted Corn and Basil Dressing

The star of the show was the 5-Spiced Tofu A-M-A-Z-I-N-G


Overall Bobcat Cafe was amazing. The food was incredible, the service was great and the beer was good. The atmosphere was a mixture of classy restaurant and a pub- which made for a wonderful place to eat.

Q. If you’re married to you celebrate your dating anniversary?

The Calm Before The Storm

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Our Philadelphia trip was canceled due to the hurricane so the Hubz and I decided to take a mini day trip that turned into an overnight trip to Manchester VT and Northampton MA. We started our trip with a little outlet shopping in Manchester and lunch at The Spiral Press Cafe. Lunch was good but the wrap really needed a vinaigrette or simply a little salt and pepper.

Iced Coffee and Avocado Hummus Wrap

After lunch we decided to extended our adventure and head a few more hours south to Northampton MA. Northampton is one of my favorite spots to wonder, shop and enjoy a beer.

After wondering around Northampton we stopped into Target to pick up bathing suites (i.e. gym clothes we can wear into the pool) and then checked into the hotel. We decided to get in a quick pool workout since we didn’t pack running clothes for our spontaneous trip. After a hard pool workout we got dressed and headed out to dinner at Fresh Side in Amherst.

After a beautiful weekend that took us through Vermont, New York, Massachusetts and New Hampshire we are experiencing extreme devastation thanks to Irene.

Beautiful Weather Friday and Saturday

I’ve spent my birthday inside flipping between episodes of Gilmore Girls and the news while following saddening tweets about the destruction throughout Vermont:




I hope that everyone affected by the hurricane/tropical storm are staying safe.

Eating Vegan in Philly: Vegetarian/Vegan Restaurants

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Our trip cancelled due to Irene but here is my post as scheduled:

This is a continuation of my first Vegan Philly post- this post features exclusively vegetarian and vegan restaurant. You can read my Philly vegan friendly omni restaurant post here.

 Rating system: 

  • 1 –> 3 or less vegan options
  • 2 –> 4-5 vegan options (at least one entree)
  • 3 –> 6-7 vegan options (at least one entree)
  • 4 –> 8-9 vegan options (at least two entrees)
  • 5 –> 10+ vegan options (at least two entrees)

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Blackbird Pizzeria: 507 s 6th st, Philadelphia, PA, 19147 | contact@blackbirdpizzeria.com | 215.625.6660
Rating: 5 (all vegan) Check out the menu here

Mi Lah: 218 South 16th Street, Philadelphia

Rating: 5 (all vegan) Check out the menu here.

Mamas Vegetarian: 18 South 20th St, Philadelphia, PA
Rating: 5 Check out menu here

Basic 4 Vegetarian Cafe: Reading Terminal Market, 12th & Arch, Philadelphia 

Rating: 5 (veg and vegan options) Check out the menu here.

Sweet Freedom Bakery:1424 South Street (between Broad and 15th), Philadelphia, PA 19146 

Rating: 5 (vegan) Check out options here.

I am sure I have left some off this list so feel free to let me know your favorites.