Tasty Meals and Some Whole Foods Treats

 Hey everyone! I hope that you are all doing well. I'm thinking that I may try to stick to posting once a week. It feels manageable and I definitely think I'll have some better content after the craziness of the holidays passes. I had taken off this past Friday and tomorrow (Monday) to give myself a little break and a long weekend to set me up to some short weeks and long weekends to close out the year. This year has been very stressful, I've taken minimal time off (two days the entire year I've been working there so far) and the new year is the busiest time of year for me. It has been really nice to have some time to breathe before it gets really busy. 

On Friday I decided to head over to That Pizza Place in Levittown, NY to grab some vegan pizza slices. I have been there a few times since the plague started and would typically get there at night when options were limited. This time I got there for lunch and had lots of options to choose from! Above you'll see a fresh tomato and garlic slice and a broccoli rabe and sausage (!!!) slice. OMG they were both DELICIOUS. I was so stuffed after I ate them I couldn't eat for the rest of the day but it was so worth it. I also got a mac n cheese slice and a grandma slice tucked away in the freezer for a lazy night when I need a quick meal. In the few instances I have ordered food I always do takeout, always change packaging from the original and always reheat. I know that places are being careful but it gives me some peace of mind.

This is just some random sushi I had at some point last week. The rolls were super fresh and delicious. 

Today I decided to have a treat yo self moment on my self care weekend and headed over to Whole Foods. I decided not to photograph my whole haul but wanted to share some of the more exciting stuff that you haven't seen a million times on this blog. I did get some veggies for stir fry, some Just Egg (on sale for $3.99 so I decided it's finally time to try it!) and some Chao slices and Violife Mozzarella shreds.

OMG you guys. I have not had a chocolate chip muffin in YEARS and I loved chocolate chip muffins in my pre-vegan days. Obviously I had to try these when I saw them. Clearly I couldn't wait and ate one before I remembered I wanted to take a photo 😂 They are DELICIOUS. They are not super sweet but they are very yummy and were definitely worth every penny.

YOU. GUYS. This right here is the biggest win of my shopping trip. Inari rolls are my favorite sushi ever and for whatever reason I can not find them anywhere! I have looked at every sushi menu in my area and they just aren't offered. The one place I found there I ordered it and I got one piece and it was literally a tablespoon of rice in a tofu skin for $3. It was so disappointing. As you can see these are properly stuffed Inari rolls and I can't wait to eat them!

I haven't had vegan chick'n nuggets in a little while and decided to try the 365 brand since it is less expensive than the Gardein ones. Hopefully they are good! I will definitely let you know.

You guys. Ice cream! I LOVE mochi and I have not really found vegan mochi outside of Trader Joe's (and I haven't been to TJ's since the plague started because it's just too crowded and I'm not waiting 2 hours to get in). I had tried these mochi the last time I went to WFs and loved them. The chocolate flavor is delicious and the mochi texture is so nice. I highly recommend them. They are very pricey but for a treat they are worth it. I also found these vegan cookie ice cream sandwiches! I definitely had to try one too. I'll let you know how that is as well!

I love popcorn and this looked so good on the shelf. It is just popcorn, some oil, salt and nooch if I remember correctly. I'm sure it'll be delicious for a snack!

Finally, some chocolate! This was on sale 2/$5 so I grabbed 2. I love dark chocolate with espresso beans and I thought the crispy rice bar would  be nostalgic and fun to try. Definitely looking forward to these as well.

All in all, this was definitely a splurge and will be a rare treat. It's nice to treat yourself to some fun stuff and try new things sometimes though. 

I hope that you are all well! I can't believe Christmas is this week again. I hope that you are all staying warm and safe. We had our first snow storm and I'm already over it, ha! What are some fun new things you've tried lately?

Champs Diner in Brooklyn, NY

Hey guys! Hope you are all well, safe and healthy. Today's post is definitely something special because I had wanted to try this restaurant for a long time. Anyone that has been to this region will know that diners are a big deal. We LOVE diners and they are EVERYWHERE. Since going vegan it has been difficult to indulge in diner fare but we are lucky enough to be able to do so thanks to Champs Diner in Brooklyn. In December I went to visit Doug's grave with two of my friends and we decided that the best way to honor him after would be to enjoy a meal for him. Doug was a foodie so he definitely would have approved of the plan so we decided to head over to Champs Diner after we spent some time with him.

There were 4 of us in total (my friend's son came as well) and I got most of what we ordered except for one of my friend's entrees and my friend's son's entrée. I'll share the photos that I did get though.

We all really wanted to try the biscuits and gravy and OMG are we glad we did. We all LOVED it!! Biscuits are one of my favorite things and their sausage gravy was absolutely delicious. We didn't really eat the hash browns because we all had some sort of potato with our meals but omg those biscuits were amazing!

This was by far my favorite part of the meal. I had been craving a Caesar salad for months at that point so we ordered a chick'n Caesar salad to share. It was absolutely delicious and exactly what I had been wanting. Everyone else enjoyed it as well.

This was my meal. Breakfast was always my favorite at the diner so I ended up getting a breakfast plate. It looks delicious but was sadly only ok to me. I wasn't really impressed by the tofu scramble (I ate maybe half of it) and I decided to get all sausage because I have always hated bacon. I ate one of those and was kind of over it. The star of the plate was the French toast which was so surprising to me! I normally don't eat sweet breakfasts in the form of French toast or waffles or pancakes (I like them but I just don't really eat them), but this French toast was seriously delicious! It kind of made me wonder why I don't eat it more often but it's probably for the best that I don't, ha! It was definitely the star of the plate though.

One of my friends got the same thing as me but she got hers the way it comes on the menu which is with both bacon and sausage. 

I didn't get a photo of my other friend's meal (she has a really amazing looking burger) but I did get a photo of her dessert!

She ordered the birthday cake sundae and holy shit you guys, how amazing does that look! I was so full I couldn't fit another bite in my facehole but it just looks incredible. It had ice cream, whipped cream, funfetti cake bites, sprinkles and a cherry. It may have had syrup but I don't remember. It looked amazing and I really wish I had space for a bite but I just couldn't do it.

I have been back one more time since this outing and decided to go for the chicken Caesar salad for my meal and it was just as delicious. We also tried the nachos and holy fuck were they good!

Bottom line is that Champs Diner in Brooklyn is seriously amazing and I can't wait to get back there after this damn pandemic. Everything on the menu looks and sounds incredible and there are so many more items to try. I'm glad that I was able to go with my friends and share a meal in Doug's honor. It was really a bittersweet day but I'm so grateful for the amazing people that I met through him.

So that's all for today. Stay well and stay safe my friends 💚

Catching Up

Hey everyone. I hope that you are all doing ok. I can assure you that it was not my intention to take a break. The reality is that things have not been great here and blogging was just the last thing on my mind. I have a lot going on and I just didn't have it in me to keep up with this right now. Things keep piling up and I am just incredibly depressed right now. The odd thing is that I've been keeping up with my social obligations that I've made. I'm trying to get out and not withdraw. It's difficult because all I want to do is be home in my bed but I go out. It's nice to spend time with friends but I just feel empty inside right now. Long story short, I'm struggling.

During my hiatus I've taken some photos of some meals that I've enjoyed with friends and a random Whole Foods haul. I figured I'd pop in and update you on where I've been and share the pics.

A few weeks ago a group of us went to Golden Star in Medford, NY. They have an extensive vegan menu and I started with an unpictured wonton soup (omg so good) and this is the vegan pork with broccoli. This is not something I would normally get but for whatever reason I went for it. It looked so realistic it was kind of crazy but it was actually really good and I'm glad I went outside of what I would normally get and tried something new.

This beauty has been a staple meal for me. It is a Greek style salad with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, Violife Feta and stuffed grape leaves. I dressed it with some red wine vinegar and pepper and it was delicious. I eat this quite a bit.

This is part one of my Whole Foods haul. I got some Earth Balance Cheddar Squares, Skinny Pop everything bagel mini popcorn cakes, key lime larabars (my fav flavor and so hard to find), a vegan chocolate chip scone and some bagels.

I went to Whole Foods because their Violife cheese was on sale big time. I got the feta and cheddar slices for $3.99 each and decided to try the WFs brand shredded mozzarella. I got two mango kombuchas and hummus as well. I tried to show some restraint and I think I did ok.

Up next was another meal at Little Fu's. My friend and I decided to grab a late lunch (which turned into dinner - we were there for like 3 hours 😳😬) and got a few dishes to share. We got the vegan pepper steak (I just had the onions and "steak"), chick'n with broccoli and veggie lo mein.

I also went back to That Pizza Place with my friends and brought some slices home to keep in the freezer. Here we have a broccoli mac n cheese slice, eggplant parm slice and 2 plain slices.

This is the only slice I've had so far but omg isn't it a beauty? This goes against everything I believe in, ha. I don't typically eat pasta and I really don't like pasta on my pizza but it looked so good I had to try it and OMG is it good. I make an exception for this. They added tons of garlic which was delicious and they make a cashew based cheese sauce which is delicious. It's so so good.

 

This was an Asian Chopped salad that I topped with a chick'n patty from Aldi's. Super delicious and a very quick, easy meal.

A friend of mine was helping out with a fundraiser for rescue pups and I offered to donate a piece of art for the raffle. I made this piece and I'm so thrilled with how it came out. I decided to customize it and add special details to make it more appropriate for the event and it turned out perfectly.

So that is the update I have for you right now. I am sorry I haven't been keeping up with your blogs but I will catch up soon. I'm not sure when my next post will be but hopefully it will be sooner rather than later. I hope that you are all doing ok .💚

More Food and More Art

Hey everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend. Mine was pretty good. The event was on Saturday and it was a really nice day! The weather was beautiful, it was a really nice size so there was a crowd but it wasn't super overwhelming, I had friends there and it was just a great, supportive atmosphere. I got some great feedback and made a few sales so I'm really happy. A really nice surprise was that one of the vegan vendors, a vegan baking company, named a cookie after Doug. He had tried it last year and loved it so much they wanted to honor him by naming it after him. It was a bit emotional but such a beautiful gesture. Of course I had to get one and I'll share it when I try it. I wasn't going to eat it but a friend pointed out that Doug would hate that cookie going uneaten which is a fair point.

First up I have some food to share with you.

Up first is this amazing soup I made to bring to work for lunch the week before last actually. It was SO DELICIOUS. I used the Better than Bouillon No Chicken Base (this stuff is seriously the best) to make my broth and added onions, carrots, potato, zucchini, cauliflower, white beans and spinach with garlic and pepper. It was so delicious, this will definitely be a winter staple!!

I love making chicken parm and chicken parm sandwiches with my Aldi chick'n patties and this meal was super yummy with some seasoned fries.

I went back to That Pizza Place on one of my days off to get some stuff for the freezer. I grabbed a few plain slices and an eggplant roll. This place is seriously amazing!

I went to Little Fu's with a friend for lunch on one of my days off and got the veggie chick'n with mixed veggies and it was DELICIOUS.

I know it seems like I ate like trash the entire time but I promise I wasn't! These were just the most fun meals and I wanted to share them with you.

In addition to the yummy eats I have some more of the pieces that I made to share with you.

Susan requested to see the mermaid bookmark with shimmery bubbles so the only way to do it justice was to boomerang it! The whole thing has a blue tone to it so sorry about that but I think you'll get the point!

So that's what I have for you today! I hope you all have a great week and I'll see you back here on Friday 💚

That Pizza Place(!!) And Some Art

Hey you guys! I hope that you are all doing well. I am super excited to share today's post because I went back to That Pizza Place in Levittown, NY. As you know from my MoFo post about my first trip to TPP, they have amazing food there. I met up with a friend there for dinner last weekend and was excited to share my meal with you. It may seem boring but OMG it was so good. I love that I can go to a pizza place and that they have vegan options of legit NY style pizza ready to go. It is a big deal when you grew up on NY style pizza and it has been one of the things I've missed most as a vegan.

I don't know about you guys but I freaking love garlic knots. As you know, I love all things bread so these make me very happy. I actually ended up bringing almost all of these home which I can assure you was not a problem at all 😉

They had vegan greek salad on the menu and I had to get it. They use Violife Feta (as far as I can tell) and it was really delicious. I'm glad I decided to get this! I didn't think I'd get a salad but my friend inspired me and I'm glad that I got one too.

I went with a plain old margarita slice and it was so good you guys. Like I've mentioned, I like the plain jane kind of slices. I was hoping they would have their white pizza but they didn't. This was an excellent choice and was a perfect way to round out the meal.

That Pizza Place does have a pretty expansive vegan menu but I'm mostly interested in the pizza. As you know, I'm not much of a pasta person and I've never been into heros. I'm a happy camper with my classic pizza. But if you are into other pizza place fare you will certainly be happy with their menu! I'm really glad that I got to go back and I had such a nice time catching up with my friend. I was going to get some slices to go but we stayed until closing and what they had left looked a little past their prime so I decided to hold off.

Like I said in my last post, I've been working a lot on getting my art together to sell at a fundraiser. I've been working really hard on it and wanted to share some of it with you! This is just a sampling of one kind of art that I've been working on. It is the aesthetic that I've been gravitating toward lately and the one that I think best represents me and what I like.

These are some of the 2.5x3.5 inch cards I made. I have a lot more but these are just a sampling of them.

These are some of the 5x7 sized pieces that I've made. I really love this quote, I'm obsessed with the moth and you can't tell in the pictures but the lightbulbs have a hint of shimmer that I really enjoy.

These are some more of the larger sized pieces that I made. I love these butterfly stamps.

I made a ton of bookmarks too! Again, these are just some of the first ones that I made but there are a ton of different colors and styles. There may also be a mermaid one with shimmery bubbles 😉

So that's what I have for you today. Having these few days off have really helped me and I'm glad I was able to prepare for this event over the week. I don't have as much done as I would like but it's ok. I'm just proud of what I've accomplished and I'm excited to share it with people.

I hope you've all had a great week and that you enjoy your weekend! 💚

Vegan MoFo 2019: Vegan MoFo Wrap Up

Hi my friends! I hope that you are all doing well! I can't believe I made it through Vegan MoFo without missing a single intended post. And honestly, I'm really proud of the posts I did put out there. I did my best to remain creative and keep the content as fresh as possible. My biggest goals were to use this month to revitalize my blog, gain new inspiration and more creativity in the kitchen and to keep up with the schedule. I feel like I've achieved all of these goals and I couldn't be more thrilled. I'm exhausted but really proud of what I accomplished. I just want to thank all of you that stuck with me for the entire month and I truly hope that you enjoyed the content I put out and that you were inspired as well 💚

I figured I would go with the prompt from the MoFo site and just do a general conclusion/wrap up post. I thought it would be fun to share some of the things that I enjoyed most from my MoFo journey. 

First and foremost, I LOVED following all of your amazing blogs!! I loved following Susan's super creative ABC theme, Julie's "Elementary, My Dear Vegan" theme, Food For Dissertating's AMAZING vegan Bento ideas, Jennifer's CSA adventures and all of the other amazing, creative vegans out there! I have gotten so many amazing ideas from them and I can't wait to start trying them out in my own kitchen so thanks for the inspiration everyone!!

As for highlights from my own blog (is that obnoxious? Probably but oh well?) I would have to say that sharing some of the amazing vegan options Long Island has to offer has been really fun for me! I've only barely scratched the surface but it has been great getting out and exploring some of the places that I've been wanting to try!

The sesame chick'n has definitely been a highlight for me and I'm glad I got to share Little Fu's with you!

Finally getting to That Pizza Place was definitely a highlight! I'm so glad I went and tried all of this amazing food and that I was able to share the glory of garlic knot crust with you! 😂

The most special post to me was where I talked about Zen Garden, the amazing restaurant where I shared a meal with Doug before he tragically passed. This restaurant is not only DELICIOUS but it holds a very special place in my heart and being able to share my experience there with you was truly THE highlight for me. I'm glad I was able to introduce you to Doug a little more through that post because he was truly a special person.

Of course the Rocky Road bar from Sweet to Lick was another amazing highlight!

In addition to trying these amazing restaurants (which I will absolutely continue in the future) I also finally tapped into my Pinterest pins and tried out a few of the recipes.

The Ambitious Kitchen's chickpea blondies and this incredible sundae were definitely a must try from me! So so delicious with less guilt for the actual blondie (I mean there is ice cream sooooooo yeah).

FINALLY trying the Viet Vegan's Tteokbokki recipe was another highlight. I have made it again and will continue to enjoy it because it's freaking awesome! Another recipe I would highly recommend trying!

Finally, I really enjoyed taste testing lots of fun products that have been new to me. 

The "thin mint" type of cookie from Aldi was a really great treat! I love thin mints and wouldn't mind having a package of these in the freezer at all times 😂

The Mahalo bar was SO AMAZING! It was also a nice gesture from a new friend that I shared the amazing concert experience with in the beginning of August. I've had a lot of really beautiful moments with new friends this month and it is another reason why this has all been so special.

WHITE CHEDDAR POPCORN IS BACK IN MY LIFE! I was so excited to learn that this was vegan and even more excited when I tried it and it was delicious! Now I just need to get all of the bags the next time I see them 😂

So there you have it, some of the highlights of MoFo for me. If I had to put it into a nutshell, I'd say the thing I enjoyed most about my own journey has been getting out and experiencing more of the vegan scene around me. This blog has been called Long Island Vegan for a long time but I haven't really been showing you what Long Island has to offer. Until now. I'm really excited to spend more of my time on this blog sharing all of the amazing things Long Island and the surrounding areas have to offer. I am also excited to tackle my Pinterest list and share everything with you. And you know I'll continue sharing my meals and hauls with you. It feels so good to be re-invigorated.

So, for now, I will be taking the weekend off and then going back to my twice per week schedule as I adjust to my new job, new schedule and new routine. Once I have it all well managed I will probably try to add on at least one more post per week. I will definitely let you know when the time comes 😃 What have been some of your MoFo highlights? What did you see here that you'd love to see more of in the future? Is there anything you'd like to see less of or not at all. Let me know, I am so curious to know what you think and what you are enjoying!

I hope you all have an amazing weekend and I'll be back here next week 💚 Thank you all so much for taking the time out to come here and read my ramblings. It truly means so much to me!

Vegan MoFo 2019: That Pizza Place in Levittown, NY

Hey friends! Today we have another post where I share another amazing location on Long Island that has AMAZING vegan options. This time it is That Pizza Place located in Levittown, NY. I have been wanting to get there for a really long time. It's not that far from me but it's far enough that I hadn't gotten there yet. That all changed when I was in the area for something else and decided to stop in and grab a bunch of stuff to bring home and try through the week. 

This is the front of the shop and it's so cute. There is a mural on the side of the building (thankfully, that is how I found it and didn't miss the parking lot 😂) but I forgot to take a picture of it.

I went inside and it was empty so I guess that it must have been early (although I got there at about 12:30 on a Sunday). I asked about their vegan options and was shocked and thrilled that SO MANY of their ready made options were vegan! They also had a full vegan menu to order from!

This entire first section was vegan and I believe the furthest pizza was a "grandma" style pizza, the thing of beauty in the middle was a rigatoni a la vodka slice with A GARLIC KNOT CRUST(!!), a chick'n or eggplant parmesan slice (I think they said chick'n) and a plain slice.

The top two shelves in the middle section were vegan as well. There were rice balls, mac n cheese balls, chick'n roll, eggplant roll, mac n cheese pizza, chick'n bacon ranch pizza and Jack Daniels chick'n pizza.

How the hell do you choose?! I decided to get the stuff that was already ready because I was doing takeout. I figured I'd go back with friends and get some stuff off of the menu.

I got one of the whatever (😂) parmesan slices, plain (I always just ate plain cheese pizza in my pre vegan days), the garlic knot crust because duh and a rice ball.

For dinner that night I had to go with this beauty. It was SO GOOD. And that is coming from someone that is not a big pasta fan. To be honest, I'd be happier if this didn't have the pasta on it (pasta, garlic knots and crust is a lot) but it had great flavor. My favorite part was the garlic knots because just give me a ball of dough and I'm a happy lady!

A few days later I tried the chick'n parmesan pizza with a piece of the rice ball. I have never really been big into rice balls so I'm not sure why I got it over the mac n cheese balls but I felt like I made a weird decision under pressure 😂 Anyway, it was pretty good but just not something that I'm obsessed with or would get again. The pizza was delicious though. The chick'n was made from seitan which was pretty good but it just feels so good to be able to enjoy a proper NY style slice of pizza. Very delicious and filling meal but I would definitely try the mac n cheese bites over the rice ball next time.

Finally, the following Friday, I tried the simplest slice but also the one that I was looking forward to most. As I mentioned previously, my inner basic bitch shines through in my pizza preferences. I will always go for a plain cheese slice. It is my favorite. So this was the true test. And you guys… it was SO DAMN GOOD. It was my favorite slice, as expected. A plain cheese slice with a garlic knot crust would be my ideal pizza. I feel like that is a challenge I need to take myself up on, ha!

So there is my review of what I've tried so far from That Pizza Place in Levittown, NY! I definitely recommend it, they have delicious pizza and a ton of options. They can be a bit pricey but not too bad considering. I've heard from fellow Long Island Vegans that they have an AMAZING white slice which I definitely want to try too. 💚