Eating out... Part II - Banff

I know I said I would get back on track with meal planning last week, but this did not happen. Not even close!


I was working out in Banff for five days, so I was able to re-test the creativity of hotels in this area. Those that know me are fully aware of my issues eating in hotels. I find that even when I let them know ahead of time that I am vegan, there is little to no thought put into what is served. Most meals are just meals with the sauce and meat removed or my favourite, roasted vegetables on grains.


I actually love roasted vegetables, but eat it for eight meals in a row and then see if you still love it!


I was staying at the Banff Springs Hotel and I was pleasantly surprised in the restaurant. I let my server know I was vegan and they had a whole printed menu available called the Life Style Menu. There were only a few options I could eat, but I can't tell you how welcoming it felt to walk in and not have to modify the menu or explain what vegan is.


They had a raw dish that was vegan, two vegan ones and a couple others that could have sauces swapped to make vegan. I heard there was a vegan cake on the menu too, but sadly I did not get to sample it. I guess I will have to go back!


Another thing that was very cool about the hotel is that if you join the president's club, you can add dietary requests to your account. This way when you go to the hotel, they are already aware and hopefully will plan accordingly. I was able to have soy milk in my room and at the meeting a planned for no extra charge.


OK enough about the Springs. All in all, it was much better than previous trips to the mountains meal-wise.


I also went and ate at The Eddie Burger + Bar. They have a make your own burger menu and it includes a pretty tasty veggie burger. I made my burger southwest style with avocado, salsa, red onions, lettuce and tomato. The burger was one of the messiest meals I have had in a while, but it was good. I am not sure if that was a homemade paddy or not, but it looked like one and had potato in it, which I really liked.



Eddie Burger Bar - Photo Credit: Urban Spoon


Another night I went out to Chaya and got some tasty udon noodle and umeboshi rice balls. It was a long day and this honestly was serious comfort food. Carbs, salt, warm. Yum. This restaurant is really affordable and also had some decent veggie sushi choices. I did not get to try even though the avocado rolls looked amazing!


Photo Courtesy of Urban Spoon

I got a great comment on a previous blog about writing on grocery shopping. Thanks Laura! That is what is coming next and maybe a new recipe. I have not forgotten that I need to make some cookies!


I love to hear other suggestions for post, email or send me a comment with ideas.

A week of eating out

The past week has been a weird one for me. I have been especially lazy, without a camera and without a kitchen at work to bring in left overs. I used this as an excellent excuse to try to eat out all week. Finding places to eat seems like it would be tricky for a vegan in a city like Edmonton, but it is not as bad as you think! Some simple ground rules that I find make things a bit easier:

1. Stay away from the big franchises or any restaurant that has 'assembly artists' instead of cooks.
This maybe is a good rule for anyone looking to eat out. No offense to the lovers of places like Denny's and BPs etc, but the food is full of garbage, not fresh, and in the end, I just never feel satisfied.

2. When you feel stuck, go somewhere with an eastern menu
Sometimes, even when restaurants have vegan options, I find that they can be a bit limiting and I get stuck with salads and appetizers. Sometimes an easy way to avoid this is to eat east. Thai, Japanese, Indian, Vietnamese all tend to have more vegetarian options in my opinion.

3. Call first
If trying a restaurant, call ahead and ask. It seems easy enough, but I always forget to do this. It is really helpful to talk to someone at the restaurant ahead of time because you will get a clear picture of how veggie-friendly a place is. Even if they don't have much on the menu, if you ask and give a bit of notice, chefs will often make something for you.

4. review the menu
Another challenge I face is that people don't know what to make a vegan. Sometimes before I go to a restaurant, I go online and check out the menu. When I get there, I can ask if they can combine the veggie options to make something for me. I have used this tactic a couple times and while my non-vegan dining companions may think I'm the 'weird, picky orderer'. In the end, I get what I want and the kitchen learns something new for the next vegan that comes in.

5. Use your online resources
Lastly, if you are on message boards or the web, you'll find that there are lots of vegan sites that post about good restaurants. Try twitter, http://www.happycow.net/, http://www.urbanspoon.com/ or just google the city you live in and vegan. You will be surprised at what comes up. I personally love Happy cow, it is an amazing resource and when you find a good spot, add it on to the site. Fellow vegans will appreciate it.


Hopefully this will help make dining as a vegan a little easier. Some places in Edmonton I have been dining at this past week:

Mucho Burrito: A little Mexican fast food chain that I go to if I need a little junk food fix. They have a vegetarian burrito that is really good and if you say you are vegetarian, you get free guacamole! Not bad if you ask me :) Sometimes fast food is handy, and I find that the food is pretty good here and it is not nearly as unhealthy as a big thing of french fries!

Cocodi: Ah, my home away from home... I love this restaurant. I would go every day if I could. Things that I love at this restaurant: Fattoush, Spinach Fatayer, Hommus, Baba Ghanoush and grape vine leaf rolls. While most of the entrees are not vegan, I find that the appetizers are more than enough to keep me happy. Plus the staff is great and the shisha is always ready!

Bistro India: I tried this place for the first time recently. It is located in a cursed location (Many restaurants have tried, but rarely stay longer than a few months). The food was so good. I had a vegetable and cashew dish and a bunch of lentil cakes with sauces. So, so good. I fully recommend this place. The staff was nice and the place was very nice inside.

Doans: Ah, sweet and salty tofu vermicelli.. I love you. A great meal and very affordable. Sometimes the service is a bit slow, but I have never had a bad meal. A lot of the dishes here are non-vegan, so read the menu before trying.

Wok Box: Wok box has upgraded their menu and pretty much any of their dishes can be made with tofu instead of meat and that is nice. Last time I went, I had the jungle curry and it was really good! I love pineapple and I am trying to incorporate more spicy foods. This definitely had a kick, but was seriously good. They also have veggie samosas and spring rolls and other snack options.

Tokyo Express: OK, I know this is another fast food chain, but seriously, I was eating out all week this week! A girl's gotta budget :) Tokyo Express has also changed their menu recently and have a number of veggie options now. I love their sprout salad and yam rolls. They also have a veggie combo which is pretty good.

Cha Island Tea Co: This little shop was my office last week. Have to thank them again for letting spend way too many hours there! While they do not have a vegan sandwich yet (I will continue to bug them on this one), they are now doing a soup every Wednesday. I checked and all the soups are vegan! They also have almond milk available for your tea and have vegan snack bars like Lara.


Well, I am off to the grocery store now. A week of eating out has really made me miss cooking. If you have any good tips for eating out as a vegan, send me an email. I am always looking to try new places. I heard about an Ethiopian restaurant on Whyte ave that does a veggie buffet, I may have to loook into that one next time I eat out.

Night all!

What the hell do vegans eat?!

Well, I made this blog to document what I thought was going to be a brief experiment in not eating animal projects. One year ago, I did a 30 day vegan challenge after purchasing The Kind Diet and, well nearly 400 days later, I am still going strong.

I get a lot of questions about my choices and even more about how I stay healthy, what I eat.. and why I haven't lost weight. People are mystified about having a plant-based diet and I find it funny because I am mystified as to why people are mystified!

Most have my posts have been recipes that I have made and I am thinking now that I have been going a year strong, maybe it is time to share some vegan secrets to de-mystify the plant-based diet. Here are some answers to the common vegan questions:

1. Why?!?! Meat and Cheese is sooo good OK, I have many answers to this question. As I had mentioned, I started a plant-based diet as a challenge for me. I stuck with it simply because I felt better and I ate better. When I was not vegan, I found that a busy life was an easy excuse to live on pre-made foods, processed foods and restaurants. Even though I tried to eat healthy, It was just so easy to be lazy about it. Eating vegan I found was a bit limiting in the processed food area. Eating fresh food, it is not limiting at all, but I could just pick up a box of man n' cheese if I was tired. Being vegan really forced me to rethink about what I ate.
   
   There is also the cruelty-free aspect of being vegan. While I have to admit, it wasn't the main reason why I chose to change my diet, it certainly is a nice perk. I think that people are so far removed from the food we eat, it is too easy to not think about what we are supporting when we eat animals. I am not going to get too deep into this topic as I know it is a touchy subject.. Maybe another day :) I am just not sure if we are meant to be eating animals.. and I am even less sure that it is ok to put a living thing through so much pain for our satisfaction that can easily be met without it.
2. Where do you get protein from?I don't know how many times I get this question. I think pretty much every time some finds out that I don't eat meat. Please read closely... Meat and dairy ARE NOT the only sources of protein! Here are some samples of where I get protein: Soy milk, Tofu, beans, lentils, nuts, quinoa, whole grains, seeds, whole grain pasta, dark leafy greens (Spinach, Kale, Collards, Chard), peanut butter, tempeh, seitan, wheat gluten. That is just off the top of my head, so I am sure there are more that I eat. I am not sure who started this fear of not enough protein... (Dr. Atkins), but from what I have read, we are eating way too much now. To figure out how much protein you need, multiply you body weight (in pounds) by 0.4. (For example, a 130-pound person needs about 52 grams of protein per day). This is not difficult to get to, trust me. I found a good chart on plant-based proteins here if you want to check it out: http://www.compassionatecooks.com/word/protein.htm
3. I would love to try plant-based diet, but I couldn't give up Fill in the blank Well, maybe this is more of a statement, but it is one I get all the time. Like seriously, everyday. I guess I understand it. Before going vegan, I was a milk junkie. I drank at least eight litres a week. I also did not like soy milk. My favourite comfort food was cheese. The thought of giving these both up cold turkey seriously scared me to my inner core.
   
   I get it, from the outside, it seems impossible to give up something that we are addicted to. When I first went vegan, I specifically avoided food that I would normally want cheese in... this definitely helped get over the first two weeks. I don't recall having any real withdrawal, but it was easy to be tempted by a cheese platter or a good restaurant menu. I quickly learned the secret to giving up something that cause severe cravings: Look for the root cause of the craving... I read somewhere that people tend to crave very basic elements - salty, sweet, creamy, fatty. For example, if I am really craving cheese, I eat something that is salty and a bit fatty. The craving magically goes away without me even touching cheese. Does that make sense? Hopefully. I didn't believe it until I tried it, but it really does work. Maybe the next time you are craving something like fried chicken, try making a salty, crunchy non-meat alternative.
   
   Oh and, you really do forget what things taste like after a while.
4. Taking out meat and dairy is too limiting, how do you make sure you are getting enough nutrients (Especially iron and calcium)First of all, being vegan is not limiting. In fact I think it is the opposite. Being vegan has opened my world to thousands of foods I doubt I ever would have tried if still eating meats. I am not completely sure why this is, but I think a big part of it is that people in this country tend to base meals around meat. Doing this already is limiting you as there are not really that many meats out there that we eat every day. Another big limiter is that we are slaves to marketing. As a vegan, I can't eat a lot of what gets marketed to me. Instead, I have had to look at other cultures for inspiration. Indian, Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Mexican, south American, Italian, Lebanese, north African... the number of cultures out there that don't base diets on processed foods and meat is amazing. Because of this, I have really broadened my horizons in the world of foods.
   
   Some of the foods I eat now, that i had never thought of before going vegan include: Kale, Collard greens, Chard, Dandelion greens, chilies, yuca, beets, lentils, split peas, couscous, quinoa, Kamut, millet, polenta, seitan, tempeh, nutritional yest flakes, coconut ice cream, agave, brown rice syrup, adzuki beans, lima beans, turnips... ok maybe some of these you have tried, but really just eating outside your norm culture can really open your mind to new experiences.
   
   And my last one for now...
5. If you are vegan why haven't you lost weight (AKA Are you just vegan to lose weight)
   Kind of seems like an inappropriate questions.. but people ask it in one way or another all the time. First of all, I did not go vegan to lose weight. I actually refuse to weigh myself, so I can't even say if I have really lost anything or not. I would say if I have, it is minimal. Many people who go vegan do end up losing weight. Sometimes because they are not eating enough, sometimes because they were eating very poorly before they changed their diet.
   
   I have made little to no effort to lose weight since going vegan. Maybe I should and maybe I will, but that hasn't really been my number one concern. I am trying to be a bit healthier.. laying of the junk, exercising more etc. maybe dieting will come along with that.
   
   Being vegan is not a weight loss plan, it is a way of life. To lose weight you need to take in less calories than you burn. Simple.. well.. on paper anyways. You can do this vegan or not. I did hope to eat more healthy after going vegan and I believe that I have done that. Before, I ate a lot of junk, a lot of pasta and cheese and very little vegetables. I still struggle with vegetables, but I think being vegan has made it so, so much easier to get a balanced diet.

OK, well... I think that is more than enough for one Sunday night. I hope to add on to this as these are not the only questions.. maybe even do something more detailed and researched, but hey it's a start right?

And for all the animal eaters out there... I don't think most vegans mind these questions, I know I don't.. Just be respectful about it. I did not stop eating animals to threaten your way of life. I did it for me. Instead of making assumptions, maybe give it a try. Make a vegan meal.. I bet if you think about it you already do...

Anyways, got a question... Bring it on! Ask me and I promise I will come up with an answer to post :)

Creamy Coconut Carrot Soup

OK, so this post is... two weeks late? I don't know why it is difficult to stay on an easy blogging schedule. I haven't been cooking much this past week so I guess I figured I could take some time off from he blog too. Shame, shame :)

So, here we are in the dead of winter and I was really wanting a rich, warm soup. I didn't want to go to the grocery store (It was -20 C out!!). I went through my fridge and thought I could maybe come up with a carrot soup recipe.

First, I was just going to find a recipe and do things the easy way, but nothing that I could find felt right. In the end, I made my own recipe and it was amazing! I based it off of a Carrot Ginger soup from the Everything Vegan Cookbook, but I changed so much, you'd barely know that I used it as a guide.

Here it is:

Creamy Coconut Carrot Soup 

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp olive Oil
• 4 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 Sweet Potato, peeled and chopped
• 1 inch piece of ginger, minced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 red lentils
• 1 small green apple, peeled and chopped
• 4-5 cups of vegetable broth (Four for a thick soup, five if you like it a bit thinner)
• 1 can of coconut milk
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 3/4 tsp Cinnamon
• 1 tsp salt

 

 

First step is to prep all the ingredients. Get everything peels and chopped and ready to go in the pot. Heat a large soup pot over medium heat and add the olive oil. Next add the onion, garlic and ginger and heat until the onions become soft and translucent. 

 

Next add in the carrots,potato and apple and stir and heat for another minute or so. Add in the Cinnamon, Thyme and bay leaf then the lentils and broth.

 

Bring the soup to a boil and then lower to the heat and let the soup simmer for about 15 - 20 minutes, until the lentils are cooked and the vegetables are soft.

 

 

 Once cooked either transfer the soup in batches to a blend, or use an immersion blender (that's what I used) to combine all the vegetables. Once smooth stir in the coconut milk and salt. Put the soup back on the stove and heat through.

 



Although my finished pic is not great, I swear this soup is amazing. It is best served hot, but I also tried it cold and it was pretty good that way too. I think you could even add a bit more carrot and a bit less sweet potato (the one I had was really big) if you want a super carrot-y taste. However, I think the ingredients really complimented each other well.

If you want to find something that will warm up a sub zero day, give this one a try.

I am now searching and trying to figure out what I should make next... Cookies, maybe? If anyone is reading, please send me some suggestions!

Winter Blues - Salty Snacks to the Rescue!

Well is has certainly been a busy past few weeks. Christmas is sneaking up on us all again; I can't believe there is less than two weeks to go! This year, I decided to do as much as my shopping as possible online. Maybe I was taking the lazy way out this time, but I saw it more as efficient shopping with a glass of wine in hand. Can't get much better than that!

My sister now knows about my blog so I can't divulge any secrets just yet. I have to say though, I think she had the better idea of shopping local. I am guessing she found much funkier gifts. Ah well, on the right side, I will be the recipient of one of them! Woo hoo!

So this year is the first time doing the holidays while eating a vegan diet. I made it through BBQ season and have just one Christmas party to attend. Man, what am I going to do! I don't think the non-vegans of the world realize how much time you can spend trying to figure out how to get through holiday season with good food and without bothering anyone. It's madness! 

I think I will have a similar plan of attack as I did for BBQ season. Vegan emergency pack! Basically I pack a cooler (a small one, like the ones that can hold 12 beers). Inside the cooler I pack something sweet and something salty, vegan condiments etc etc. During BBQ season I packed it with home made black bean burgers, toppings, salad and.or vegan salad dressing, and ice cream.

Now for Christmas... I will have to think about this, but I am thinking I will need an appetizer, something to substitute the turkey, a dessert or at least coconut ice cream, and.. soy nog... Man do I have my work cut out for me!

I shall do my best to have a full reporting of the Christmas festivities including what the hell I am going to pack with me. To be continued!

Alright.. On to the good stuff.. lately I have had a major case of the winter blues. It's cold out and all I want to do is sit at home and eat junk. So rather going out and buying junk food, I did with what I had at home.. and it was a million times better than potato chips and candy!

Roasted Lotus Root, Leeks and Sweet Potato

•  Lotus root, about 4" peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 sweet potato, peeled (or not) and thinly sliced
• 1 leek, thinly sliced (White part only)
• 1-2 tbsp of olive oil
• Pinch of Salt
• 1 tbsp of maple syrup

This recipe is adapted from Alicia Silverstone's cookbook, The Kind Diet a fabulous book with lots of tasty recipes.

I modified the recipe a bit as I did not have all the veggies listed in the books. I did, however, happen to have lotus root on hand from a shopping trip to T&T. Every time I go there, I wonder why I bother with shopping at Safeway. Everything is cheaper, fresh and they have lots of ingredients that aren't easily found in western grocery stores.

Now, back to the recipe.. Pre-heat the oven to 375 F and get a baking sheet out. I did not grease the sheet and things stuck a bit. Maybe use some cooking spray. Peel and slice all the veggies and put them in a bowl. pour the olive oil on top and mix it up with your hands so everything is covered. Sprinkle the salt and pop it in the oven for 12 - 15 minutes. Take them out and stir then drizzle the maple syrup over top and put them back in the oven for 10 minutes.

How easy is that! Salty, sweet and yummy. I served mine with some left over lentil loaf and sauteed spinach

  

Vegan Onion Rings

A couple days after this tasty treat, I was again feeling the craving for something salty. I had not been grocery shopping in some time, so my kitchen was not exactly well stocked. After some searching on the internet, I found a recipe for vegan onion rings!

The recipe is available at http://www.theppk.com/2010/10/omg-oven-baked-onion-rings/

I did not change much as this was a first time making something like this. I did change the seasonings and added some paprika and Chile powder. I have to say that this recipe is easy to do and pretty good. It was not as good as the deep fried version, but pretty close and probably a lot lower in fat, so I will definitely make these again before I go find the fast food alternative. Here are some snap shots of my attempt:

Found all the ingredients. I actually made half of the recipe on the PPK because I only had a little bread crumbs left.

After taking this pic, I realized that this was not the right order! Onion, wet, dry, pan! :)

 Ready for the oven... and now the final results!

trust me, make these! They are salty and sweet and fab!

Happy Birthday to me!

Well, my birthday has come and gone. I was glad that in the end I went and partied. I wasn't planning on it, but was convinced by my friend. I got my hair done, bought new clothes (Which did not fit. Serves me right for being in such a rush).

This year, I decided to give myself a birthday present with a trip. Everyone put names of places in a hat and I ended up drawing Rio de Janeiro!! I am so excited. A little scared too. It sounds like Rio may not be the safest place in the world.

Now I am just deciding on when to go and whether I want to risk it and do it on my own, or go with a tour group. Honestly I know I will get to see more if I go on a group tour, but it is so much more expensive!

I found two promising tours. The first is a 15 day volunteering trip. It sounds amazing, but does not seem to have a lot of relaxing time. Essentially you work everyday with the exception of a couple of trips on the weekends. I can't go to Rio and not have a beach day! That honestly worries me.

There is also Carnival. So expensive, but man what an experience!

Will need to figure out the expenses and the timing and go from there I guess.

Vegan Challenge - Week 1

So I have made it through a full week of vegan eating. While the start up costs hurt my budget (By hurt, I mean doubled my grocery bill!!) I have to say it did not take long to get me on board with this diet. I am way less tired all the time, I rarely feel hungry, it takes less food to make me feel full, I am drinking more water than ever, and best of all I have not craved meat or dairy once. Well, that may not be completely true, on day two I was drooling over every steak house that I passed. Even as a meat eater I didn't crave things like steak.. How weird is that!?

I am completely surprised that I have not wanted milk or cheese once since starting. Before, both were a part of almost every meal. I was completely hooked. I have no idea why I don't crave either now.. I really don't want to know, I am just glad I don't have to feel the pains of detox.

It has been a learning curve for me. I thought I started off so well; I went to Asian markets for most of my food and then got the few last things at Planet Organic. I made a food plan for the week and tried to reuse ingredients to waste less. I tried have balanced meals and treats and snacks so I wouldn't feel deprived.

Things that I have learned:
1. Beans - who knew how much work goes into these things? And who knew that they pretty much are involved in every meal I eat now... You have to soak them and cook them for hours.. and you can't even leave them to cook, because the water might boil out and need replenishing. I have not quite gotten the hang of the bean situation yet, but I have vowed to try at least eight different bean dishes this month. I have already had two and two more on the menu this week. i wish someone could tell me the easy way to deal with these things.. They confuse me.

2. Tempeh is gross - Ok well that might be exaggerating a bit, but I made a slow cooker meal with tempeh and it was not good. The tempeh had the consistency of spam and the taste of rubber. I don't know if I will try it again... we'll see.

3. Tofu prep - I learned a great trick to prepare tofu. When you buy it, freeze it right away, then let it sit and thaw on the counter. If you do this you can wring the tofu out like a sponge. So much easier than weight down tofu with paper towel and plates etc.

4. Vegan Jello - my dessert this week was Vegan jello. Jello is my favorite thing in the world.. so good light and a million flavours. So I got the recipe for fruit juice, berries and agar agar with ginger juice... I didn't try it until today in fear from my life (something about gelatinous sea vegetables that freak me out) well... verdict - it was really good! not really jello.. but it jiggles and tasted great. Success!

5. Quinoa - Weird super grain.. looks like couscous, cooks like rice.. tastes pretty good, but wouldn't eat it on its own.

Well on to week two - bean dishes, black eyed peas and vegan peanut butter rice crispy treats... I think its going to be a good one.