Veggie Pride Parade

If you are between West Greenwich Village and Union Square Park today, try to catch the Veggie Pride Parade!

https://www.facebook.com/events/262998593863099/?ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming

Vegan Meetup @ Organic Grill!

Remember back in December I went to Organic Grill?  Well guess what, I was poking around on Meetup.com and the NYC Vegans group is getting together for a Vegan Dinner at The Organic Grill! The meetup is Wednesday, April 16, 2014 at 7:00 PM (That's a Wednesday night).

 The folks who have RSVPed yes to this event sound really welcoming, cool, diverse, and nice.  Maybe I'll see you there!

Back to the Start

I'm still alive!  I wasn't sure I would be at one point though, I was really sick (likely the flu, although I never tested positive for it).  Anyway, I was a hot hot mess, and I'm just now finally getting back to my full potential.  It's been hard with the cold, I think just being exposed to the elements really drains a lot of my energy.

So anyway, I just started another meditation course, so it means I'm back to the East Village once a week, which is chock full of great places for wannabegans to eat!

Last night was our first night of level 2 meditation class, and we went to the same place where we went on the first night of level 1 mediation class, ANGELIKA KITCHEN!  I have such affection for this place, because back when I was a wee young wannabegan (... let's just say over a DECADE AGO), I worked in the takeout/juice bar section of the restauruant (apologies to all the people that I messed up their orders).  I loved it though!  Actually, the reason why I applied for a job there was because I loved the food so much, but as a scrappy young thing I didn't have enough $$ to eat there as often as I wanted to.  When I worked there, I got a meal every shift!  I was SO HEALTHY and energetic and fit back then (partially due to youth), random people would comment that my skin looked amazing (true!) and overall I was probably the closest to ideal health I've ever been.

OK, enough reminiscing.  Last night was COLD, and I wanted nothing more to warm up with a hot meal!  To start off the meal, we ordered the CURRIED CASHEW SPREAD (all raw) and KOMBU VEGETABLE BOUILLON. I love that boulion - definitely warming. For entrees, my husband and I both ordered the DASHI AND NOODLES.  We almost never order the same thing because we like to sample as many things as possible from the menu then share, but we both wanted the exact same thing and it's so good, we did it even though it didn't make sense to. Also super warming, and we both love that dish so much!  We had finished our meal but we had a teeny bit of time to kill before our class started so we went ahead and also ordered my favorite, favorite tea which is nearly impossible to find in stores: MU 16 TEA!!  My husband has a sweet tooth so for a dessert we got a MAPLE TOFU WHIP, which is kind of like whipped cream or vanilla pudding, which Hubby loved.  I was pretty full, or else I would have gotten the Kanten Parfait, which is layered cookie bits, nut cream, and kind of a fruit pie filling.  For some reason I love the parfaits, and I generally love Angelika Kitchen, but I have to agree with my husband that their one weak spot is their cookies.  On their own, they just taste like what I imagine cookies taste like during war time or the great depression.  Mixed up in the parfait, they are great!

So anyway, it was another great meal at a place full of nostalgia for me.  I definitely recommend coming here if you want something hearty, warming, and comforting in the middle of winter.  (They also have juice and lighter fare, but we can talk about that once the trees have leaves on them again.) Also I love being able to order ANYTHING off the menu and not think about if it is vegan or not.

(Follow me on Foursquare if you want to know what and where I'm eating wannabegan!)

Today is World Spay Day!

Every
10 SECONDS

A CAT OR DOG IS

PUT DOWN IN

A U.S. SHELTER

What?!?? Every 10 seconds?  Too sad!  Have you ever been to an animal shelter? They make me sad because can't possibly take them ALL home with me!  This is the TWENTIETH anniversary of world spay day.  My little friend is spayed, and I'm so glad I did it.  Before I adopted her, they guy who had her made her pump out THREE litters of puppies, before the age of two and a half.  What kind of life is that?!  Anyway, she doesn't have to worry about getting knocked up anymore, because she is spayed!  Now she can just enjoy the rest of her life.

My parents' dog was adopted from a guy who didn't neuter the dog for a long time - and up until then a lot of other dogs would react really aggressively to him once they realized he wasn't neutered.  Once he got neutered, other dogs liked him better so from a behavioral standpoint alone, it was totally worth it.

More info about why all pets should be spayed or neutered here: http://www.humanesociety.org/news/magazines/2014/03-04/world-spay-day/infographic.html

Not Beef

This morning I had a slow morning and I had some tea, but really I wanted something savory and warming too. Soup is one of my favorite foods and I usually keep some bouillon or something in the fridge for when I want a hot cup of broth (is that weird?). I bought this on a whim a long time ago, so I expected a rock-hard cube of salt, but what came out instead was such a pleasant surprise!  

So I took one of the cubes and broke it into a few pieces before pouring boiled water over it (I used a pint glass with a thermal sleeve, so 16 oz) which I think is the recommended ratio. The cube dissolved surprisingly fast, and the the best part was ...(is this weird?) it created a thin oil layer on top of the broth, which I love!  It just makes they soup so much heartier, it feels like real soup not just salty brown water.  It tasted like Pho broth to me, with a rich and complex flavor (that could have just been the photo on the box suggesting the idea to my brain.)  I was thinking, this broth plus plain rice noodles, DINNER=DONE.  Seriously, the broth is so delicious it really doesn't need anything else. What if I had broth for breakfast every morning??  

Anyway, having my Not-Beef broth reminded me of this video about dairy cows and how happy they looked to be set free in a pasture.  Have a cup of Not-Beef instead of normal beef broth and imagine that you made this happen!

Now for this furry interlude

These videos totally make me wannabegan... (via dlisted.com)

http://dlisted.com/2014/02/18/hot-slut-of-the-day-226/


Also, I admire this woman so much: Alicia Williams, a client services receptionist at The Duluth Animal Hospital in Duluth, Georgia.  She has these two rescued pets:

http://dlisted.com/2014/02/17/hot-sluts-of-the-day-30/

That thing on the right is the cutest chicken I have EVER SEEN!  WAAAANT!

A New Smoothie, So Delish!

I haven't been drinking that morning smoothie lately (I ran out of hemp protein powder and still need to go grocery shopping) but I DID make another smoothie that was pretty great, it was even easier to make and delicious! I made it for a coworker too and he really liked it! It's just banana, spinach, and almond milk.

I didn't invent this smoothie though, I totally got the recipe from my friend's favorite yoga teacher, Tara Stiles.  She has a whole blog of stuff she eats (Tara Eats) and I'm pretty sure most of the stuff is vegan or at least... Wannabegan!  I'm hoping one day I'll actually make it to one of Tara's classes, if I do I'll write about it here!