Wakey Wakey

Goodmorning all!!! Hope you all are enjoying beautiful weather today! The sun is definitely out here in Nashville along with some monstrous heat. Lately, I haven't really been the type of person who can wake up and eat a meal. So, this morning I had a cup of Gloria Jean's Hazlenut coffee, thanks to my Keurig...if you don't have one of these and you drink coffee on a daily basis I highly recommend it. I do, however, still have my old coffee pot which I bust out occasionally when I buy some local Bongo Java coffee. I typically drink my coffee black, unless I'm brewing up some Newman's Organic Extra Bold. In that case I usually add some Silk French Vanilla Soy Cremer. Alongside my coffee I had a homemade banana muffin (YUM!), which I will be posting about later today, and an orange.


Well, I'm off to do my rehab for the day and work my way back to training and bowling. 

Asparagus Overload

So, I usually don't eat a whole lot in the summer, especially when I'm not training. I find the heat seems to take my appetite away. However, today I did eat some pretty good food if I do say so myself. For lunch i made a chick'n caesar salad with some Morningstar Farms chick'n strips (my best friend and I have loved these since high school), a mixture of greens, and Organicville Caesar Dressing. I would usually make my own dressing, but everyone I've talked to said to try the dressing so I picked it up on my last trip to Whole Foods. I can definitely say it's pretty realistic...it doesn't have that fishy taste, which is a plus. I also had a side of Imagine tomato soup...it wasn't to bad, but it was a bit bland for my liking.

For dinner I cooked up a MASSIVE plate of steamed asparagus, which is one of my favorite foods.  On top of that I had some quinoa and Whole Foods organic frozen vegan Spinach Florentine ravioli...which, is pretty realistic of the very non-dairy ravioli. I would definitely pick it up for a quick dinner, I would buy it again for sure. I went ahead and topped it with some Trader Joe's pasta sauce.

I apologize for the terrible pictures...i took them with my iPhone, I can't seem to find my camera now that I've moved dorm rooms...hopefully it will turn up soon.

meaningfully,
-S

Finally Back

After an extremely long and stressful school semester I'm glad to say that I'm back to the blogosphere.  Although the semester was extremely stressful and full of many sleepless nights I had some of my greatest memories of my college career.  During April my bowling team made it to NCAA nationals and I'm proud to say that we ended our season with a 2nd place finish as well as getting to be on ESPN. I'm still pretty upset that we didn't win the whole damn thing, but after a long season of ups and downs we did amazing.  I was also able to finish our semester of VIVA with an amazing event, a food screening of the film Food Matters, i didn't care for the film a whole lot, but it was a great way to get our discussion panel started on some great topics. I had surgery this past Monday and will get to stay in Nashville to rehab, but I'm glad that I now have a kitchen and can finally post my food delishness. I have some great plans for myself this summer as well as work I am doing in the Nashville community.  I'm hoping by the middle of June I'll have a full-fledged website up and will get to gain some more followers. Well, I'm gonna take a nap after this long errand filled day but expect some great reviews and food posts in the near future.

Meaningfully yours,
-S 

Death On A Factory Farm

Factory Farming. I don't like it. Most of us vegans and vegetarians don't like it, and I'm sure a majority of meat eaters don't particularly care to watch the happenings that occur at these heinous places. At Vanderbilt I am a double major in Philosophy and Medicine, Health, and Society...so I thought it would be great to combine my love of philosophy with my love of animals and take our Animal Ethics course here at Vandy (taught by my favorite professor yet, Joan Forry).  On Monday we watched the film Death On a Factory Farm and for those of you who haven't heard of it or watched it check it out...it's pretty intense, but most of us have already seen some pretty graphic things.

Personally, I had a hard time watching some of it but what I really wanted to draw attention to was the fact that the people in these films truly had no remorse for their actions towards the pigs they were killing and beating. One of my biggest concerns with the meat industry is so many humans that work on these farms can be so terrible to other living beings and laugh while doing it. Yes, it makes me mad, but ultimately my strongest emotion I feel is sadness. It hurts my heart to know that there are people capable of injuring and mutilating non-human animals drastic ways, such as beating them with hammers and hanging them alive (these two are both depicted in the documentary).  It only makes me wonder what these types of people would do to other fellow humans and what they are simply capable in general. 

I may be the only person who feels so strongly against this, but I have a feeling I'm not....i'd love to know other opinions...

Just some food for thought. 

-S

Go Max Go

The wonderful Susan over at Go Max Go was kind enough to send me some of their products to review. So, without further ado let me introduce, Twilight, Mahalo, Jokerz, and Buccaneer.  

I wanted to make sure that I got this blog post up as soon as I got to school so I went ahead and tried every bar tonight.  I can definitely tell you that I'll be going to bed happy tonight.  These bars are AMAZING. I absolutely love the fact that they are made with a variety of ingredients...my absolute favorite ingredient being the rice-milk. The buccaneer bar reminded me of a milky-way and left a little taste of coffee in my mouth afterward (that may just be my own taste buds combined with my love of coffee talking).  The Jokerz bar...reminded me of a snickers bar except BETTER. Twilight...was oh so delicious and was pretty much a combination of a twix bar and a girl scout Samoa cookie without the cookie part. Last but not least is my absolute favorite....the MAHALO bar. Oh snap was this baby good...It's just like an almond joy except naturally sweet and the almonds actually tasted real.  

For those of you who still have yet to try a Go Max Go product you need to...NOW.  For vegans and those who are lactose intolerant they are God's gift to us. :] One thing that I really love about the Go Max Go company is the fact that their products have no trans fat, no cholesterol, nothing artificial, and no hydrogenated oils....I do my best to stay away from these as much as possible as I think everyone should.  When shopping for any candy bar Go Max Go is the way to go...not only are they healthier for you but they taste so natural. I love the fact that I can taste every ingredient and the candy bars don't leave a waxy feeling in my mouth after I eat them.  No matter if you just love chocolate or your a vegan I highly recommend picking some of these babies up for your dorm room (I know we all get those chocolate cravings from time to time). In Nashville I know you can buy them at Whole Foods, and for those of you followers from the beautiful Chicago you can pick them up at Whole Foods and Fruitful Yield...but I know for sure I've probably left of dozens of other places so visit their website and go to the "Where To Buy" tab to get a complete list of everywhere you can buy them!! Hope you all are enjoying the spring weather were starting to get and for those of you who haven't had a chance to have some yet....it's coming soon!! 

-S

The Chicago Diner

So, it’s been quite awhile since I’ve been able to be present in the vegan blogosophere….I have found that being a student-athlete, president of a club, double major at a top twenty university tends to suck all of my free time while I’m at school.  Besides that I’ve had quite a bit of personal stuff I’ve been (attempting) to sort out….So, I have quite a few reviews and just some miscellaneous rants to take care of while I’m home for spring break.

There is only one word I can think of to describe The Chicago Diner: marvelous.  The Chicago Diner is a vegan's heaven, and rightfully so.  My birthday was last Tuesday (March 1^st) and in order to celebrate with my family they planned a day of gluttony downtown Chicago at the best vegan restaurant in town.  For those who have never heard of The Chicago Diner you need to check it out and for those of you who live in or near Chicago you MUST go.  Lastly, for those of you traveling to any place in Northern Illinois…make the trek….it’s SO worth it. 

I didn’t get to many pictures of the food in as our camera died but I definitely have a list of all of the foods that I tried.  But, as a side note it’s important to know that my whole family that attended are all meat and potato loving people so this experience for them was very new. 

As soon as we sat down I ordered a few cinnamon rolls, the mozzarella sticks, and a chocolate chip cookie dough shake. . . all of which were AMAZING.  The mozzarella sticks were the highly sought after version made by Teese and let me tell ya; nobody lies when they say these are heaven.  After we all scarfed down those some of my family members went ahead and ordered the seitan buffalo wings, the potato skinz, the chips and guacamole, and some more miscellaneous flavored shakes.  Everyone loved the appetizers and I was so thankful they all weren’t grossed out by the solely veg food…it was great to see a family of people who never really eats outside their comfort zone support me and eat like me for a day, well meal. 

Back to the food….so, personally, I have missed biscuits and gravy SO much.  I never used to eat it with the sausage so it was always sausage-less but I still have yet to find a recipe for gravy that comes close. To fix this sadly missing aspect of my life I ordered a side of their biscuits and gravy…..BEST THING ON THE MENU. The sausage was to die for and the gravy was so close to the gravy my mom used to make for me….the biscuits were herbed and they were the perfect combination of crunchiness and softness. 

By the time we ordered our appetizers I was extremely full, but I ordered something anyways so I could take it home.  Almost everyone seemed to ordered the famous Reuben sandwich, I ordered the seitan gyro, there were some typical breakfast foods ordered (since it was brunch time), and my mom ordered the country fried steak and mashed potatoes—which I finished up for her at dinner.  I didn’t get to try the Reuben because they all put dairy cheese on it…but my gyro was to die for as well as my mom’s country fried steak.  For desert we had the chocolate mousse cake which was very good, but hard to eat after being so full so it currently is sitting in our refrigerator waiting to be eaten.  My parents even bought me a Chicago Diner tee-shirt which I will be wearing in the near future (as soon as I can find a cute red tank top to wear with my leggings).

Needless to say my time at The Chicago Diner was AMAZING…I celebrated my birthday with close friends and family, enjoyed GREAT food, and even got to do a little shopping in my favorite city of all time…I can’t wait for grad school I hope I’ll be relocating to the windy city. 

Oh yes, I almost forgot, if you have so intelligently now chosen to go to The Chicago Diner after reading this make sure you ask for Miles to be your waiter he was SOOOOOOOO nice and very cute :] 

Hopefully I will have some pictures later on this week as soon as my mom uploads them to her computer.

Good to be back my fellow veg-friends…I have missed you all immensely.

< 3 S 

Coconut Bliss 1

Where is there to start...I had the pleasure of receiving three coupons for some Luna and Larry’s Coconut Bliss ice cream last week.  I decided to try the Mint Galactica version first.  AND boy, it was AMAZING.  I finished this ice cream in three separate sittings.  It even tasted better than regular mint ice cream.  I loved the taste of real mint and the addition of dark chocolate in the mix.  Another great aspect of their products is the fact that the ingredients are all organic.  I’ve had a hard time with finding ice cream replacements that I actually enjoy, and Coconut Bliss is so far my absolute favorite.  I plan on picking up another flavor next week so I’ll definitely be reviewing that in the near future.  For those of you who haven’t tried it….go pick some up at Whole Foods….NOW….and don’t even wait to get home to try it.  In fact, open it in the store and start eating it while you check out.  Not only is it vegan, but it is also gluten free, soy free and low glycemic.  There are a total of ten flavors of ice cream: naked almond fudge, pineapple coconut, chocolate peanut butter, naked coconut, dark chocolate, vanilla island, mint galactica, cappuccino, cherry amaretto, and chocolate hazelnut fudge.  They also carry two ice cream bar flavors: naked coconut bars and dark chocolate bars...which i've also heard are AMAZING. I plan on picking up the cappuccino flavor next, since i LOVE ice cream.