Today I am meeting up with a friend from my old job for lunch at Kismet Kitchen, a great little spot that prides itself on using local, organic ingredients. I have been here a few times before and tend to always get the same thing. Today I am giving you a chance to decide which dish I should try today. So take a look below and let me know by 11:40am today what you think.
Yesterday morning my hubby and I got up relatively early and headed out to make our 3+ mile loop up through Hubbard Park prior to having breakfast challenge #3. It was freezing out yesterday morning especially after our warm spell so we bundled up and got on our way. We have been loving this loop because we start up this huge hill that basically goes straight up and then we walk the trails at the top of the hill through parts of Hubbard Park and then loop back down the otherside and sometimes add additional streets depending on how much time we have. I attempted to document our hike/walk (and by hike I mean it was tougher than a normal walk) however I am not sure that my pictures do it justice; Neil suggested that I get the video camera out and walk the loop with it and post a video.
View from Half Way to the Top
At the top of the hill we always share a coconut water and then make our way through the wooded paths at Hubbard Park and down the otherside. When we arrived home we were hungry and ready to make our Breakfast Challenge #3 which was oatmeal. Now as most of you know this is my go to food so I was really excited about it. In our oatmeal went:
Serves 2: 1 cup multigrain oatmeal, 1 cup unsweetened almond milk, 3/4 cup water, 1T flax meal, 1T chia seeds and on top of each: 1 packet of stevia, 1/2 sliced banana and 1/2T sunbutter
Oh! and a big dash of cinnamon while it is cooking!
We then headed out to spend the day with the ‘rents and G-Ma as well as have lunch. We headed out on a ride on the back roads of Vermont (a favorite past time of my parents) in hopes of having lunch at Bailey and Burke’s in East Burke. When we finally arrived to East Burke we came to find that restaurant was closed. Across the street was River Garden Cafe which according to the menu had a veggie burger and black bean chili so we decided since at this point it was almost 1pm we would try it out. To our disappointment the veggie burger was made in house and included eggs BOO! So hubby and I decided to go with the fruit cup to share and each ordered a bowl of the chili without the cheese and sour cream. The fruit cup was okay nothing special for $5. The chili came and I was so hungry I couldn’t wait to dive in but after a few bites I decided it was just not good enough to eat and hubby felt the same way. I’m not often one to just not eat what I ordered at a restaurant especially when I’m going to have to pay for it and in this case we both were really hungry but it was just awful. As my hubby would describe it “it taste like crushed tomatoes with 5 or 6 black beans” this “hearty” black bean chili was awful so we went without.
Being in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont it’s hard to find much in the way of vegan eats so we decided to hold off and we ended up stopping at the Buffalo Mountain Co-op in Hardwick and found some really interesting kombu and wakame seaweeds from Maine as well as a package of vegan teriyaki jerky that we snacked on. After returning to our car at 4:15pm we decided it was time to get on the road home and find something to eat. We had decided to stop into our old favorite The Bee’s Knees in Morrisville but when we arrived and took a look at their menu for the day we noticed that their prices had gone up- $13 for a veggie burger! We decided that it wasn’t worth spending that much so we headed on our way and decided to stop in Waterbury at Ocha the thai restaurant. Unfortunately I didn’t get any photos of our food as we basically inhaled it as it came out since all we had eaten since our oatmeal at 8:30am was a small fruit bowl and package of vegan jerky. However it was delicious we got fresh rolls, vegan pad kee mao and vegan tofu and broccoli with black pepper garlic sauce.
At least on our adventures through backwoods VT we got to stop into this ridiculously entertaining trading post which also serves as the:
JUST KIDDING!
Question: Have you ever not liked your meal so much that you just didn’t eat it while out at a restaurant? Did the restaurant still make you pay for it? That’s the one thing that bothered me – I know that we ordered it and you take the chance of not liking something but we had like 4-5 bites of our food and then told the waitress we didn’t like it and to take it away. She still had us pay for it and the only thing she said was “oh well I guess it’s not your cup of tea.”
Neil and I were woken up this morning by the howling of our cat outside our door (don’t worry she was fine she just wanted us to wake up and give her attention). We started off with some yummy tofu scramble (which I forgot to photograph) as part of my 7 day 6 day Breakfast Challenge for a warm up class for my Health Coach program. Each morning we will eat something different and evaluate how we felt immediately after eating it and two hours later. It is supposed to be 7 days but the first day was scrambled eggs so we skipped to the second day which was to our delight tofu scramble. If you want more info you can check out hubbys blog. After breakfast we decided to get out and take advantage of the beautiful day so we headed out to the playground because even big kids like to swing.
After we goofed around on the swings we took a nice 2.35 mile walk around Montpelier and up to the Saturday Farmers Market. We have missed every other Saturday Farmers Market because it seems to only be on the Saturdays that we aren’t in town. I’ll be glad when it’s May and the market is every Saturday not every other. When we arrived we stopped at and tried the sugar on snow because well it’s getting to be sugaring time in Vermont!
Then we went inside to see what produce/items that we could pick up this week. We found Jerusalem Artichokes and Sunflower Shoots.
Since we were feeling kind of hungry we decided to pick up a snack of Butterfly Bakery Raspberry Almond Cookies and a cup of Lavender Rose Kombucha. This Kombucha was really tasty, some of the best I have ever had!
Now I’m off to shower, make some lunch and then I think it’s time to get back out in this glorious sun! I also need to figure out a recipe for these Jerusalem Artichokes. Do you have a favorite Jerusalem Artichoke recipe?
Also don’t forget to enter to win the Namaste Foods giveaway! They are generously giving away a bag full of gluten free goodies.
The hubz took me out for a spontaneous date night to the new vegetarian restaurant and tea lounge Mint in Waitsfield, VT. The small restaurant is all vegetarian and focus primarily on natural, organic whole foods and ingredients. They try to source all of their ingredients locally when possible and are 95% organic. The restaurant is quaint and has a really relaxing atmosphere. The food menu is small but has a number of really tasty sounding dishes. Although their food menu is small their tea list is extensive and is even broken down into types of teas such as dessert and evening teas. We opted for a glass of organic wine instead of tea but I’d like to try one of their teas on our next visit.
After spending awhile looking over the menu hubz and I finally decided on what we would order. I ordered the Sproutada:
Sproutada: toasted corn tortilla with brown rice, black turtle beans, chili sauce, soy mozzarella, topped with tahini dressed greens, snowpea sprouts, shredded carrots, fresh avocado and homemade salsa
and the Hubz ordered the Flavors of Mint Special:
Flavors of Mint Daily Special: roasted tempeh and asparagus over citrus braised greens and a peanut dipping sauce (their description was a little better but I forget what is actually said)
The food was delicious! Although the prices were slightly high you are paying for what you get which is not only delicious organic & local whole foods but a great experience. I also must say that although the plates looked small the food was filling and we left satisfied with our meal. We can’t wait to go back!
Also don’t forget to enter the Bodum French Press giveaway that ends March 5, 2010 at 8am.
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.
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.
My new cup from Disney World that hubby bought
the best french toast ever that was cooked up by Neil
Delicious Homemade Pad See Ew
Chickpea and Root Veggie Tagine
Tofu Teriyaki in Lake Placid
Best part of the weekend- Meeting up with Derek and Emma in Lake Placid (most unflattering picture of me)
Brunch at Chair 6 in Lake Placid
Dinner of Steamed Greens & Mushrooms and Homestyle Tofu at Asian Bistro in Williston VT
Last night my husband, Neil, decided he would take us out for a date night at The Alchemist Pub and Brewery in Waterbury Vermont- “The Alchemist is a 7 barrel brew pub specializing in hand-crafted beer and casual pub fare. All of our ales flow directly from our basement brewery, which was designed and installed by our brewer and co-proprietor John Kimmich. We use only the finest imported malts and domestic hops available to bring you the tastiest and finest selection of beers in Vermont!” (from their website).
We settled on getting the oatmeal stout and the red….however we were brought a porter and a harvest. They quickly apologized about that mistake and gave us our correct beers on the house. 
For dinner I ordered the Marinated Tempeh Sandwich without the walnut pesto and subsituted the maple balsamic dressing. Neil ordered the Blackened Tofu Burrito without the cheese and sour cream. We also ordered a side of fries with their house made mustard and ketchup.
Although our meals were really good we didn’t make it through the first bite of the burrito because they had forgotten to not put the cheese on. So we sent it back and it was quickly replaced with the correct vegan version. The tempeh sandwich was so good and the fries were amazing- nice and crispy fresh cut. The burrito was good we really liked the blackened tofu but it was missing something in it, maybe the salsa would have been better in than on the side.
Overall we just fell in love with the places great atmosphere, food and beer. We extremely impressed with the service as well and appreciated the 2 free beers and the free burrito (they covered that as well since they had made the mistake- we really didn’t expect that but it was a great treat).
