More traveling...

So now I'm in Vancouver, BC. I've been here previously to visit a friend (and to go to Vancouver, of course!). My friend still lives here but he's currently on a long-ass honeymoon, so no hang out with him. It's nice to have a free place to stay. Especially when, on the first day, your car gets towed out of a spot that we thought wasn't reserved and you have to pay $100 for towing, $13 for a taxi to get to the car lot, and then plus a $60 parking ticket from the ImPark people. Yeah. Awesome sauce. But Corinn's working on getting at least the parking ticket taken off...Hopefully that works.

Anyways, when I left you last post I was still in Seattle for a couple more days. I went to the Victrola Coffee shop on 15th for another French Toast donut and coffee. I also went to Sage (former Hillside Quickie II or something??), which was only a few blocks from where I was staying. I got it to go so I could eat it in our apartment/hotel with some Dr. Pepper. I ordered their version of the Philly, called the Fremont Philly. It's made with seitan, which is my favorite "meat" to use for a Philly (though the tempeh version at my former workplace, Paradox Cafe, was my kryptonite for awhile). The menu said it was going to be $10, but it ended up as $11. Taxes? But why an even $1? I don't know. I do know it was the most costly sandwich I've ever gotten. Anyways, it did come with a side of rice. Not plain rice, but I couldn't tell you what exactly it was. It was all right. The sandwich itself was hella messy to eat, very saucy and sadly, not a lot of seitan. (DC Vegetarian kicks it's ass in every department) Mostly bell peppers and onions. Yeah. I wouldn't get it again and it's not awesome enough for me to tell you to even try it once. I want to hope that all of the ingredients are organic, so at least that's why it's so costly.

The disappointing Fremont Philly

That reminds me, the bread was damn tasty. But onwards!

That evening we went stopped at Grim's, a Capital Hill bar nearby, for Happy Hour. We had drinks in cute little mason jars and I got the Cauliflower and Hummus Crostini (it might have been cauliflower hummus...), which during Happy Hour is only $4.75 (instead of $7.50 or something). It was a great price for the 5 large crostini's we got. I'm not the biggest cauliflower fan, but it went well with the hummus and pickled/carmelized(?) red onions and cute chives atop.

After that, we stopped at Bimbo's Taqueria, which isn't worth much mention, and we went on to Moe's, which is venue Nuemo's attached bar. We were going there to see Campfire OK play at Neumo's. If you haven't checked out Campfire OK, you should. The Oddfellows Cafe video is the best. Moe's played great hip hop, I really enjoyed it, Corinn...not so much...

Saturday morning, we went to Wayward Vegan Cafe for breakfast before driving north to Vancouver. Again, no pictures...I got 3 sides: tofu scram, grits, and garlic greens. The greens weren't cooked enough for my liking and by the time I got them, they were about room temperature. The tofu scram was almost inedible because the amount of turmeric on them, I barely touched them. The grits were good. Nothing crazy good about them, just grits with Earth Balance, a little faux cheddar, and some salt & pepper. Corinn got the Monte Cristo, a huge French Toast sandwich with fake ham and turkey and served with some jam. It also came with homefries. If Wayward does anything, it gives the largest portions I've seen. I just wish the food came out of the kitchen better. The French Toast wasn't cooked long enough, a little soggy. Too much faux meat. The latter wasn't a huge deal, but the sandwich just was lacking in general. We did leave full though.

I'll talk about Vancouver on the next post...

Nature's Path Ancient Grains Granola with Almonds

Nature's Path sent me their new Ancient Grains Granola, which was a collaboration with Kirkland Signature. I was confused about this, but what I've read around the Internets is that this was done so that the product would be more widely available and that Nature's Path was still independently owned, so whatever, good for them.

They sent me the Costco-sized box of the cereal (it was 2 separate bags in one large box) in the mail in a huge box that was supposed to look like an old suitcase/wooden box. I thought maybe there was a good reason for the huge size

My cute niecepup Tilda to show size comparison.

but no...

There were some papers on top of that blank space (recipes and info on the cereal), but really it was just a bunch of hay-type filler. I just thought it was a ginormous waste, it seemed like something that would've been the idea of a Kirkland rep. But it's their money, I suppose?

Anyways, on to the cereal...

The grains involved are spelt, kamut, quinoa, amaranth and oats. The almonds are a tasty inclusion for those of without an allergy to them (like my poor sister). The flavor is good and I enjoyed it with soymilk or my yogurt. It was also nice not to have to deal with an annoying vanilla flavor. With 5 grams of protein and 9 grams of sugar per serving, it's a pretty healthy choice as far as granolas go and I would definitely eat it again.

Have y'all had it?

Nature's Path Gluten Free Cereals

Vanilla to the max!

I was given two samples of Nature's Path's new gluten free cereals. I have an on and off love affair with breakfast cereals. I'll eat it everyday for weeks and then I'll get sick of it and not eat it for at least a few weeks, if not months. I have been dabbling with eating less gluten and so this offer of free gluten free cereal excited me.

My first taste of both was a dry run, if you will. It was in my car when I picked up my salmonella-poisoned sister from Urgent Care and she thought she should eat something, so we opened them both up. Kim's opinion: Gross. My first, initial, opinion: Meh. But they grew on me! The Whole O's practically have no sweetness to them (actual nutrition facts: 4gm sugar per 2/3 cup...is that much?) and the taste is...off. But the more I ate them, the more I wanted to pop the little spheres in my piehole.

The Crunchy Vanilla Sunrise was a bit better initially. Again, it grew on me. I think I've mentioned before that I am suspicious of vanilla flavor in cereals. It usually comes off as too vanilla-y to me. I ate some of this with plain soymilk and thought it was good but that the vanilla flavor could be kicked down a notch...so I took the flavorless Whole O's and added them to the mix and it was good! It just evened out the vanillaness a bit. I've enjoyed bowls of the merry mix now, it makes a lovely snack or breakfast!

Thank you to Nature's Path for the free boxes of cereal! Thank you for making gluten free products for my celiac friends and for those trying to eat less of gluten!

More Waffles...and some sausage

This morning I was perplexed at what I would eat for breakfast. I was out of my English muffins that I normally eat, toasted with peanut butter and jelly. Then I remembered that I had bought these new waffles, Nature's Path's Flax Plus with Figs. I think they were on sale, I definitely bought them spur of the moment style. The inclusion of figs just sounded so delicious. 

I haven't been in much of a waffle mood so I had forgotten about them. So when I remembered them this morning, I decided to give them a go. I also had Gardenburger's faux sausage patties in the freezer. I had gotten them a long time ago and hadn't been mad impressed with the two I had eaten so I hadn't finished the box. I really miss Morningstar brand sausages. Those are the best faux sausages! Unfortunately, they have egg in them so I had to stop buying them. I think I heard they are working on making more of their products vegan, so I look forward to see if that is one of things they are changing. 

Anyways, I put two of the waffles in the toaster oven and then heated two of the sausage patties on the stove top. I topped the waffles with a little bit of maple syrup and had some ketchup and Chalula mixed up to dip the sausage in. I really liked the waffles! It was a lot like the other waffles I get from them, but with the addition of tasty fig bits. Frozen waffles are one of my main convenience foods. I do have a waffle maker but I used it only once, a couple weeks ago. My sister is the one that actually used it, I watched. It's a Hello Kitty one that I got from her a couple years ago (it was a presentfor her brother-in-law and he didn't want it, "too girly"). The waffles were tough to get out and....yeah, work....frozen waffles are cheap. Granted, they don't come in cute Hello Kitty shapes....

And the sausages. Well, they came out better than I remember! Not sure if I'll buy them again, but good to know they don't suck as much as I thought.

5 Favorite Breakfast Spots in Portland

Yup, another favorites...You like these, right? I thought so! 

1. Sweetpea Baking Co- Their doughnuts on Saturdays, danishes on Wednesdays, and Kettleman's bagels with their Tofutti schmears (Bacun Scallion! Chipotle! Veggie! Strawberry! Black Olive!)! It's not always the most nutritious breakfast, but you can't always be looking to eat healthy, right? If you happen to be looking for that though, there's soup! Homemade, yummy soup made by Jesse "I hate you (but not really)" Ives. If you happen to see him (he's the average-height boy with the bandanna on that stays in the middle of the kitchen the whole time), tell him you would love to see piroshkys or vegan ham and cheese sandwiches as options!

mmm...donut....Missy and her sweet love

2. Juniors- First off, let me just put this out here: I dislike their potatoes. Many of my friends, including the girl above with the glazed doughnut, thinks they're great. I don't. I can't really place my finger on what turns me off, but it's somethin'. So I end up asking for the Vegan Potatoes, sub tofu for potatoes. This gets me: scrambled tofu, mushrooms, zucchini, onions covered with spicy tofu sauce. Yum! I remember that Juniors was one of the first places I remember seeing "sub tofu for egg for free" on their menu. This made me a happy girl since all over town I was paying extra. Their eggs there are of the nice free range (and I think it's actually free range, none of that open the barn door for 5 minutes shit that farms can get away with) so I think the cost is more similar than, say, when you go to Holman's....The main reason I love Juniors is the interior. It's very cute! Google it for images if you don't believe me!

3. FlavourSpot- the home of the Dutch taco! aka a waffle sandwich. I have only tried one thing here and it's so good that I dare not try anything else. Another reason being I don't get out to either of the North Portland locations enough. It's usually months in between visits and I'm normally ready for some delectable maple sausage goodness in my piehole. (aka wafflehole) The food cart (one on N. Lombard and the other at Mississippi and Fremont) makes a fresh circular waffle, spreads some maple "butter" on it, puts two vegan sausage patties on it and folds it up in some foil and hands it your eagerly awaiting hands....mmm.....so warm, so tasty....

Me and my sweet love

4. Hungry Tiger Too- I really love this place. I've mentioned them before many times. The only problem I have with them is their prices are somewhat ridiculous. (Except on $1 vegan corn dog Wednesdays!!). The club sandwich, while being big, is around $10 and if you want tots instead of coleslaw, make that $12. Yeah, $2 extra for tots...$1 extra for french fries. If you share it with someone it doesn't sound as ridiculous. But of course I tend to compare prices with what I could be getting...like $5 at Los Gorditos will get me a huge delicious torta. But anyways, we're talking breakfast right now! They have humongous vegan fluffy pancakes for $3 a piece, large plate of biscuits (or you might end up with some of their thick toasted bread, which is good, but yeah, not a biscuit) and gravy for $4, scrambles for around $8 that comes with awesome hashbrowns (think: rectangularly shaped Waffle House hashbrowns...less greasy), and homemade tempeh bacon slabs for around $2. Yum! For reals...I think their gravy is my favorite in town. It's a little too herby for my tastes since I like a peppery sausagey white southern gravy, but there's sausage (I think the last time I got it there wasn't any) and mushrooms and it's good! Please note that they don't open til mid morning during the week. Also, their coffee sucks (and this comes from a girl who sugars and milks her coffee and wouldn't know good coffee if it hit her in the face.).

Katie and her ginormous pancake

Foreground: biscuits and gravy and tempeh bacon slabs

5. It's a tie for 5th! Jam and Tin Shed- I hear Jam's veg gravy is the best in town, but I wouldn't know since it's not vegan. Also, they don't have biscuits to put it on (?!), so I don't care. What I do love about Jam is their Blueberry Chai Pancakes. Chai spice-alicious! Like Hungry Tiger Too, they have delicious hashbrowns. They have a couple vegan scrambles but I'm not terribly crazy about either. This another restaurant where I mainly just love their ambiance with no real explanation. Tin Shed has vegan grits and Earth Balance available and their pesto is made vegan, all things which endears me to them. The grits, however, need salt and more EB because the taste is quite plain. They do have vegan cheese you can get on them but I normally pass since it doesn't really do anything flavorwise. My favorite thing to get here is the pesto tofu scramble (it has a name that I think has the word "goat" in it) with no cheese. 

How about you? Where's your favorite?

let me see that cinnamon roll!

yeah, a bad title...the tootsie roll song just got in my head....
so i was at New Seasons last night and i spied the new line of yogurts from So Delicious. I saw the Cinnamon Roll flavor and decided that, though it sounded kinda like a gross flavor for yogurt, i was going to give it a try anyways. At $1.09 this yogurt is kinda pricey, in my opinion. Last night after my dinner of refried black bean w/red jalepenos, better than sour cream and nooch with tortilla chip (fancy, right?) i decided to have the yogurt as dessert. It impressed me. I was not expecting it to taste so good, although i should've expected more since So Delicious ice creams are some of the best around. The yogurt didn't have that weird soy yogurt aftertaste. It was cinnamon-y goodness, creamy..... and tasty!
I look forward to trying their other flavors, i just hope they go on sale soon....