My blog is one year old!!!!

Alright so first things first, I've been incredibly lax and lazy with my posts lately.  No real excuse except life getting in the way.  I can't believe the serendipity that I decided to post today then when I checked it out realized that it's been exactly one year since I started this thing.  Once upon a time, I was really unsure whether I could remain mostly vegan but it turns out that wiping out fish and other bi-products really wasn't as hard as expected.  I feel better, I'm more in tune with my body, and recently started a mediation and yoga practice!  Exciting changes are afoot.  The more I learn about nutrition, food and healing, the more I love it.  I am currently looking for a new assistant position (fingers crossed on one job in particular) and I think that this will be my final year as an assistant.  I want to look forward.  If I am not promoted within a year, I believe it may be time to make some real lasting changes in my life, namely getting out of this rat race.  I still love film; I really do.  However, working in this industry can have a disastrous effect on your health.  The constant stress and resentments that build up are toxic to be in for too long and I'm going on my fifth year of it.  Now I know some people are thinking then why throw away all that time.  I don't see it as wasted time though. Without this business I would have never made many of my friends or met the love of my life.  But sometimes you realize that you don't need to identify yourself by your job and maybe that time is coming for me.  Anyhoo, enough of that!  Let's talk food.

So first things first, I tried the Greek Gyro Bowl at Native Foods. It is described as: Our thinly sliced Native Peppered Seitan sautéed with shallots on quinoa, steamed vegetables, and kale with lemon garlic sauce and hummus. Served with grilled flatbread.

Let me just say it was spectacular.  The flatbread was soft and pliable, perfect for scooping.  The hummus was a little more like dressing because it was liquidy.  Just really a perfect bowl.  I felt very energetic after eating and enjoyed that I had some yummy leftovers to boot!

Next, Becca and I got Bistro Boxes from Madeleine Bistro.  Basically you get several meals delivered to you on Monday afternoon that you can reheat and enjoy at home.  I am a HUGE fan of Madeleine's so Becca and I were very excited. It's now been a week and we've gone through nearly everything.  We got a bit lazy in our picture taking so we only have the Mac & Cheese Casserole with roasted veggies.

I will admit the mac & cheese wasn't as flavorful as I'd hoped it would be. Mostly it tasted like the bread crumbs on top, which I think were cornmeal since I had an allergic reaction later that night.  However, that's not to say we didn't enjoy eating it.  Out of our box, I think it's safe to say that the "Chickn" Pot Pie with Biscuits was our fave.  

Finally, Becca and I headed to Arizona for Memorial Day weekend with my parents.  I was a little worried about the lack of vegan options but managed to find True Food Kitchen.  They were FANTASTIC!!! We loved them so much we ate there twice.  Both my parents even enjoyed their meals and they can be finicky eaters. True Food has both omnivore and vegan meals.  They also have an array of gluten free and soy free foods as well.  I was really craving a tofu scramble so I got the Tofu Scramble Wrap (with a Prana which is the most delicious cocktail eva!) while Becca went with the Halibut sliders (not pictured for obvious reasons).  The following day we split a roasted veggie pizza with no cheese. Yum.  What's great about this restaurant is that the staff was very young and friendly.  It was obvious that one of our waiters wasn't entirely sure what vegan meant, just that they offered vegan food.  However, he was very quick to ask lots of questions, such as is it ok if there is some milk in the sauce (answer obvi no) and other things like that. He really believed that vegans could eat fish! So here are the pics:

Lazy lazy

Sorry for the delay in posts.  Becca and I had an amazing weekend complete with vegan Rubens. They were so amazing it hurt! I used the recipe from meettheshannons.net.  AMAZING!!!

We also attempted yet again to go to Madeleine Bistro but it was closed AGAIN!  So we headed a few miles north to Canoga Park to Follow Your Heart. This is a grocery store with a restaurant in the back. First, as an appetizer we ordered the Lorenzo's Tofu Eggwich with a side of fruit. I have no idea why they call this an appetizer. It is totally a meal. I would show a picture but Becca and I ate that thing in about 10 seconds flat. I have never tasted such a delicious "egg" sandwich. I bought the pastrami wheatmeat in the store but still need to figure out how exactly to emulate that egg.  Soooo good. For our entrees, Becca went with nachos, as she is usually want to do. Here is a girl that doesn't like her vegetables so I must force feed them to her in stirfry but is another story entirely.

I went with the Organic Tofu Fillet Sandwich. I have no experience with mock fish. However, this didn't really taste at all like a fish sandwich. Instead it was a huge slab of tofu lightly fried on the outside with onion, lettuce, and tartar sauce on it. I got it with a side of well baked fries. I gotta say I was a little disappointed by my entree, except the tartar sauce was so delicious I started dipping my fries into it. To be honest, I was pretty stuffed from the Eggwich so this might have tainted my Fillet Sandwich experience.

All in all, I look forward to going to Follow Your Heart again whenever I'm in the Valley and/or attempt to do Madeleine Bistro again and they are closed.