Chi-Town Treats!

I just got back yesterday from Chicago, where I went this weekend for a good friend's bachelorette party!! It was lots of fun, of course, but it was also great because of all the awesome vegan food Chicago has!!!

First and foremost, I got to try Go Max Go! candy bars!!!! The Whole Foods downtown had all sorts of treats that I can't get back in Kansas City, so I stocked up. I tried all the varieties of candy bars, and I just can't decide which is my favorite! Pictured is the Buccaneer bar, which is the Three Musketeers alternative. So. freakin. good. I hadn't eaten a candy bar in soooooo long, so this was quite a treat!Also from the downtown Whole Foods: Jerk Tofu Wrap, made by Soul Vegetarian East, a local veg restaurant that makes some prepared foods for sale at WF. Yum!! I got to try Wildwood's Soyogurt, which was seriously awesome. My second favorite soygurt, only after Whole Soy and Co. This was suuuuper thick, too, which was very nice!Since I really love yogurt as snacks, I also tried the Ricera Rice Yogurt! I've never had rice-based yogurt before, so I had to branch out. It was pretty good! I am definitely more of a soygurt fan, but if you have a soy allergy, this would be a great alternative!

Now for some restaurant food!! I got to go to Karyn's Cooked for the first time ever!! Yay for me :) I am in love with this place! So much that I went there twice over the weekend! haha

Our appetizer: the Mixed Basket...a basket of fried mushrooms, fried BROCCOLI, and fried tofu. Served with Creamy Garlic Sauce and homemade BBQ Sauce for dipping. OMG fried fooooooood! A rare indulgence, sure, but it is just so tasty! Fried broccoli might be my new favorite food!Our entrees: I got the Grilled Steak Wrap....thinly-sliced seitan "steak," grilled onions and peppers, shredded lettuce, and chipotle sauce in a grilled whole wheat tortilla!! Like a Philly cheese steak on steroids. Vegan steroids. (huh?!) It came with Coleslaw--yum!--and Potato Wedges! With more BBQ Sauce! I was so full and happy!A couple of the girls I was with got the Jerk Tofu Wrap...jerk-spiced tofu, jerk sauce, creamy garlic sauce, and shredded lettuce in a spinach tortilla. Also with the slaw and wedges. This was seriously spicy and delicious!!Also ordered: the Taco Salad Bowl!! This salad is not kidding around, guys. It's a deep-fried taco shell bowl filled with lettuce, seitan taco meat, pico de gallo, guacamole, jalapenos, creamy garlic sauce, and chipotle sauce. Holy freakin cow. Just salty, spicy decadence. So good!

We split some desserts, of course! Banana Cake!! Moist as heck! With a carob drizzle.And Coconut Bread Pudding! Warm, gooey, rich, amazing! Another night, I got take-out from Karyn's--I just couldn't get enough!! This time I got the Green Enchiladas: corn tortillas stuffed with garlic mashed potatoes and topped with green tomatillo sauce and soy sour cream, with a side of spanish brown rice and refried black beans, with some tortilla chips. Mex-amazing!!One great thing about Chicago is that they have Trader Joe's stores!! We don't have them in Kansas City, so I loaded up on snacks and such. I wish I could go there every day with those prices!!

Vegan Brown Rice Marshmallow Treats!
Joe-Joe's!!!!!!

Chile Spiced Mango!!

And I just couldn't leave Chicago without going to Chicago Diner!! It's my favorite place ever!!

It was a rainy, snowy, cruddy weather night, so I got to go food and the girls and I all stayed in and watched New Moon. What a great night!!

I got the Radical Reuben with Sweet Potato Fries! This is the best sandwich ever made. Ever!

The reuben going....

Going....Gone.Room for dessert?? Heck yes!! Cookies and Cream Cake. For when you really want a food baby and sugar coma all at once. My favorite cake I've EVER eaten I think I can safely say! Thank you, Chicago Diner!!!

Man, I can't wait to get back to Chicago soon for some more great vegan food!!!!

Belated MoFos!!

I have been quite the lazy blogger for the past two days! My apologies...after I got back from my long week in Chicago, I was too lazy to cook (and I had no food in my fridge!), I was tired, and I really just wanted to hang out with Steven. Needless to say, I was less than motivated to cook or blog! I am now refreshed and ready to cook, though, starting with last night!
Yesterday was not only Halloween and the last day of Vegan MoFo, it was also me and Steven's nine month anniversary! yay! So, I had to make a really delicious dinner for us, and I wanted it to be something he loved a lot...but not more than me :)
I went with Homemade Bratwursts, inspired by Julie Hasson's recipe for Spicy Italian Sausages, served with Bubbie's Raw Sauerkraut on top, along with Braised Cabbage and Local Apples, and Rosemary-Roasted Sweet Potatoes. This meal was perfect! Warm and satisfying...perfect for a long night of Halloween fun! And there's even orange in the sweet potatoes! So clever.When I was in Chicago, I picked up something locally-made to make for Steven and myself, because I think it's really important to try local items wherever you go to appreciate the culture and tastes of the places you are visiting. When I saw this Upton's Naturals Chorizo-Style Seitan at Whole Foods, I knew that this is the item I had to bring home with me!! It seemed like a lot of the veg-friendly restaurants there in Chi-town had something featuring Seitan Chorizo on their menus, so I wanted to try using this tasty ingredient at home as well!

I wanted to use the chorizo in a Mexican/South American-inspired dish, so I made this:
Seitan Chorizo with onions, garlic, jalapenos, red peppers, hominy, greens, and avocado over quinoa....with lots of citrus, cumin, chipotle, and cayenne, this was really flavorful, and was a great way to celebrate the chorizo! I haven't had hominy in a long time, and I had forgotten how much I love it! yum!!

This precious little skull is made of chocolate (obviously) and was another cool thing I bought in Chicago! This was made by the gourmet chocolatier Vosges, who is famous for creating innovative and wonderful chocolate concoctions. This particular Hot Chile Chocolate Skull, in celebration of The Day of the Dead/Halloween, was made of solid dark chocolate, ancho chiles, chipotle chiles, cinnamon, and black sea salt...this skull was so warm and spicy and sweet and flavorful! This is probably the only time I will rave so much about eating a body part (unless they make more body parts out of chocolate)!

On some side notes:
Happy end of Vegan MoFo...I'm already looking forward to next year!
Happy belated Halloween
Please do whatever you can to support/volunteer for/encourage Barack and Joe over these next three days! We are so close...don't give up now, people!!

Last Day In Chi-Town

Well I am finally home from Chicago! I will miss all of the great places to eat (and my family, of course), but I am glad to be home and back in real life! Today wasn't all that exciting for MoFo food...can't believe it's day 29!...but I did have some baked goods that were quick treats for traveling!
From Sweet Cakes Bakery, my mom and I got some scones for breakfast: Cherry Lemon Scone and Savory Mushroom Herb Scone. I think scones may be my favorite baked good at the moment...sweet or savory, I just love them so much!!

This mushroom-herb scone is one of the best scones I've ever had!! It was so flavorful and dense and it had a great texture! This is just screaming for Earth Balance! My mom went for the sweet scone: Cherry Lemon Scone. Dried cherries? Yes, please!! Also a fantastic scone, this was sweet but not too sweet, and the fruitiness was really lovely for a morning flavor! I think this scone was screaming for some Cherry or Blueberry Jam....aren't we all, though??

As a post-travel treat, I had a cupcake that I had brought with me from the Bleeding Heart Bakery: Almond Spice Cupcake with Brown Sugar Frosting and Cinnamon Apple Topping! This was so sweet and spice-y, and was perfect for a chilly autumn day. The cupcake itself was perfectly moist and amazing, but the addition of the awesome frosting and apple topping made it even better...like a caked version of a caramel apple! mmmmm! I wish I could eat treats from here every day!

And since I forgot to post this picture last night after dinner, here is a pic of some of the folks who met up at Chicago Diner for dinner...friendly Chicago vegans and some people traveling through town with the Vega company (the guy in the middle is Robert Cheeke of VeganBodyBuilding.com...check it out!) And people say we don't get enough protein! ha!

I am really excited because I was in Barack Obama's hometown for the past week, and now he is coming to my town tomorrow night! We will be going to see him speak in Columbia, MO tomorrow to support him and the campaign...you should support them by voting for them on November 4th! And volunteer if you can! kewl.

Chicago Trip: Day 5

Today was my last whole day here in Chicago...what a way to spend Day 28 of Vegan MoFo! I have to admit that I am getting a little homesick, especially for Steven...sappy, I know. :)
Since I had my conference again today, we had to make it another "fast food" lunch at Whole Foods (which has saved me as far as lunch goes!!):
I had some samplings from the salad bar: Sesame Tofu Sticks, Barley and Tomato Salad, Garlic Green Beans, and Sesame Cabbage Crunch Slaw...all very tasty and fresh!
For my mom, it was also a salad bar day: Sesame Tofu Sticks (these were seriously delish), Tabbouleh, and Autumn Couscous Salad...she was pleased!After some sight-seeing, we worked up an appetite for treats, so we headed to Sweet Cakes, located in the Ukrainian district here in Chicago. I had heard a lot about this bakery, so I was determined to go there sometime during my visit!! I was excited to learn that the baker there was vegan, and she ran the shop with her father...isn't that precious?! I thought it was pretty adorable...as was the homey-retro decor of the cute bakery.
My mom, who apparently loves Halloween-themed things, got the Frosted Sugar Cookie, which was decorated to look like a bat! I guess this is still considered vegan :)I had the Pumpkin Empanada! I had never had a vegan empanada before, and this set the bar really high! It was so flaky and autumn-y, and really good! It went very well with a hot cup of chai tea!!Here is the beautiful and tasty pumpkin filling...this gives some pies a run for their money!

Dinner was, yet again, at Chicago Diner, where I met up with some local Chicago vegans, as well as some people from the Vega company who were in town for the Dietetics trade show...they were all very nice! I probably could have guessed that!
I am so in love with Chicago Diner, I cannot even tell you how much I could eat there all the time! Tonight, my mom went for the Dagwood Sandwich: seitan roast "beef," seitan bacon strips, melted cheeze, tomatoes, hot peppers, lettuce, onion, and creole mustard on baguette, all with a side of Sweet Potato Fries....this was an amazing sandwich! Especially for spicy lovers like us!
Because of the frigid weather, I opted for something warm and comforting: the Vegan Meatloaf with Mashed Potatoes and Sage Gravy and Roasted Vegetables. This hit the spot!! Definitely the best faux meatloaf I've ever had, and the gravy was sooooo good!! mmmmm.....

We had dessert back at the house, where we had leftover treats from the Handlebar: Fried Apple Pies! These smelled and tasted like funnel cakes, with an apple pie filling, and they were so delicious! I warmed them up in the oven, which crisped up the crust and melted the powdered sugar glaze a bit, so they were perfect! Very carnival food meets fall comfort food... And I will leave you with this bit of Halloween/pre-election fun:

My uncle (with whom we are staying) is an artist/art teacher, so he is really creative and talented...which apparently translated into his Halloween decorating! He carved really cool pumpkin designs, which he printed off the web, including Mario characters and the wonderful Barack Obama! Remember this beautiful, glowing face when you are voting on election day, November 4th! yeah!

This post is dedicated to my BB! goodnighty:)

Chicago Trip: Day 4

Vegan MoFo Day 27 was my second-to-last day here in Chicago...lucky me! I am still at my ADA conference, and it was a really interesting day: I went to a seminar on sustainable food systems, fair trade foods, and a meeting of the vegetarian dietitians' group, so I learned a lot! I also ate good stuff!

For lunch, we made another quick trip to Whole Foods...I love that I can choose from a lot of different things there for a fast meal, and it is so well labeled that I have little "is this vegan??" worry! I hate to say this about such a big corporation, but thanks to Whole Foods!
I had a Jerk Tofu Wrap that a Chicago veg restaurant, Soul Vegetarian, pre-makes and sells at Whole Foods. They also make a bunch of other items to sell there, but this looked really yummy! It had Jerk tofu, grilled onions and peppers, tomatoes, and greens in a spinach tortilla....it was really good, especially for something pre-made! I got a side of Rosemary-Roasted Sweet Potatoes off the hot bar for a side. Yum! My mom went for the hot bar again, where she got their spicy Tofu Creole and Vegetable Paella...she seemed to really like them both, even though the tofu was pretty spicy-hot.

When trying to decide where to eat dinner, we went for our old, reliable favorite: Chicago Diner!!!!! I think it is safe to say that this is my absolute favorite restaurant in the world....at least from what I have tried so far!
I ordered the Radical Reuben: seitan corned "beef," onions, peppers, sauerkraut, vegan cheese, thousand island dressing on marble rye. Sweet jeeebus this was the best sammich ever!! I could have eaten, like three of these. My side was the vegan mac'n'cheeze, which was perfectly noochy and creamy and delicious!

My mom got their special sandwich of the day, the Chick'n Club Panini: thinly-sliced seitan chik-n, seitan bacun, melted vegan cheeze, and avocado on grilled sourdough bread...this was also really good! She was convinced that it was real chicken because it tasted so realistically like it...but the good folks at Chicago Diner are supremely trustworthy :) She had a side of their Homestyle Potatoes, which are perfectly spiced and fabulous.

We were pretty full after those big sandwiches, so we just split a dessert: Vegan Carrot Cake with Walnuts and Cream Cheeze Frosting. This was nicely spiced with cinnamon and such, which made it a perfect fall treat! Yum.

I am getting so spoiled with all this great food, I am never going to want to go home!! I guess I will have to, though, so I can VOTE next Tuesday, November 4th!! Just like you all should do!

Chicago Trip: Day 3

Yet another delicious day was spent in beautiful Chicago, while I am here attending the American Dietetics Association annual conference! Day 26 of Vegan MoFo was filled with awesome food and people...I am so lucky!
Lunch was another quick one at Whole Foods during my break from the conference...I had a sampling of Vegan Curried "Chicken" Salad, Apple-Almond Quinoa, and Shiitake Sauteed Kale, all from the cold deli case. So yummy!!My mom went for the hot food bar, where she got the Dragon Tofu and Vegetable Paella. Very comforting and warm for sure!Dinner was absolutely incredible...one of the best meals I have had in a long time, for sure!!! My mom, my friends Fatima and Sarah, and I all went to eat at The Handlebar! It is an awesome, vegan-friendly, and bike-themed restaurant on North Avenue...I loved it!!!
I had the Buffalo "Chicken" Wrap: A tortilla stuffed with buffalo seitan, lettuce, onion, tomato, and vegan ranch dressing (!), served with Fried Plantains!!! I can't even tell you how good this was! I must admit, all the fried-ness did not agree with my tummy as much as it did with my mouth! My mom had the Seitan-Stuffed Tortellini with Sauteed Spinach and Toasted Hazelnuts in a Rich Cream Sauce. Really rich and creamy, totally comfort vegan food! I mean there were hazelnuts on the tortellini for crying out loud! yum! Oh, and the pasta was locally-made. This place is so cool.

Fatima had the Ground Nut Stew, which was loaded with sweet potatoes, veggies, peanut sauce, and brown rice...the flavors were amazing! I think it is pretty difficult to go wrong when peanuts are involved!!(side note: Sarah had the fish tacos, since this was a pescitarian restaurant, so I couldn't show them...but I must admit they looked good, and she said they were tasty...in case you have any non-veg friends who want to go there.)

This afternoon, my mom and I hit up Bleeding Heart Bakery for a little snackie poo. I had heard so much about this place, especially from Bake and Destroy and The Urban Housewife, most recently...I was so excited to see so many good vegan treats!!

First of all, you know it's gotta be a good place, cuz they had all sorts of Obama signs there...and cupcake-shaped tables! yeah!

They even had OBAMA CUPCAKES! Come on!

For my treat, I had their Hit The Trail Scone...filled with pumpkin seeds, flaxseeds, raisins, dates, and a bunch of other yummy trail mixy stuff! This was perfectly-spiced and moist and dense, like scone must be! Perfect with a big mug of black coffee :)

My mom had the Vanilla Cupcake with Vanilla Frosting...and it was Halloween-themed! That is not an edible broom, btdubs. bummer.

The girl working there was really nice and helpful, and when she found out I was vegan, she gave me a sample of their vegan Strawberry Cheesecake Bars....amazingly tasty and good! Really rich and creamy, with the perfect amount of sweetness and strawberryness. mmmmm

I am looking forward to tomorrow for more yums!

And listen to your friendly vegan bakery: remember Obama on Novemeber 4th for real! Make Obama cupcakes or cakes or cookies...just show some love :)