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 💚

Birthday Dinner at Little Fu's in Hewlett, NY

Hey everyone! I hope that you are all doing well. Thank you all so much for your sweet and supportive comments on my last post. My family member is home and doing ok. It was pretty serious and she is still recovering but she should be ok. It was a very stressful time but things are finally getting back to normal. Sunday was actually my birthday as well and I had such a great weekend with friends and family. I went to visit Doug's grave on Sunday because he had specifically said to me that he was looking forward to celebrating my birthday with me so I made sure to include him in my plans and honor that for him. It was incredibly emotional but I'm really glad that I did it.

On Saturday night I met up with some of my friends for an epic birthday dinner at Little Fu's in Hewlett, NY. It has quickly become one of my favorite restaurants and I was really excited to go back and try more dishes. My friends that I went with are all vegan and were up for ordering a bunch of stuff and sharing so that is what we did! I got to try tons of dishes and they were all so damn good. I took pictures of everything to share with you.

Up first we had some steamed veggie dumplings. The order comes with 8 but we had each taken one before I remembered to take a picture, ha. These were really good but they were typical dumplings.

We decided to get one chick'n dish, one "beef" dish, one tofu dish and some noodles.

This is the chick'n with cashews. It came with some delicious veggies and cashews and it was so so good. Definitely a great dish and something I would order again.

The "beef" dish we ordered was the Pepper Steak which came with green bell peppers and onion. As you know, I'm not a fan of bell peppers but I did try the "beef" and the onion and it was excellent. I wouldn't order this again just because a lot of it would go to waste since I don't eat peppers but it was definitely delicious. 

The tofu with mixed veggies was DELICIOUS. It didn't sound particularly exciting because you can get tofu with veggies at most places but this was so good! The veggies and tofu were perfectly cooked and it had a really great combination of veggies. I really enjoyed it and it is definitely something I would order again.

I know it sounds weird but even though I don't really eat a lot of pasta (think Italian food) I do LOVE noodles. When we decided on lo mein I was super excited because lo mein has always been a favorite of mine and this did not disappoint. It was delicious and also something I would order again!

This is my plate piled with tons of deliciousness. I was stuffed but it was amazing and I enjoyed every bite of it. Even better than the delicious food was the amazing company. I feel so blessed to have made so many wonderful friends through Doug but this group of ladies and I have a special bond and I really love how close we've grown. They made me feel really special for my birthday and I was so happy to be able to celebrate with them and I look forward to more fun times with them!

So that was my birthday dinner with friends Saturday night. I'll be back on Friday to share what I ate when I went out with my family on Sunday, my actual birthday, along with some stuff I've eaten throughout the week. I also have some more art to share with you so I'll make sure to share that on Friday as well.

I hope you all have a good week and I'll be back at some point this week to check in on your posts as well. I'm sorry I haven't been able to keep up but life has been crazy. Anyway, have a great week and I'll see you here on Friday 💚

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: Little Fu's in Hewlett, NY

When I first planned out my themes for Vegan MoFo, I never expected the Long Island Vegan Restaurant (and restaurants with lots of vegan options) theme to get so many posts. As you know I'm not typically a social person but ever since I met Doug and ever since he passed I've been so much more social and enjoying the people in my life as much as I can. I also made it a goal to try all of the places that I've wanted to try for so long and I'm really glad that I have. 

The first place I tried after he passed is a place called Little Fu's and it is located in Hewlett, NY. It is a Chinese Restaurant with a whole section of Vegetarian/Vegan options on their menu, including lots of mock meat options. I knew as soon as I saw the menu I would go there and I would keep going there so I could try all of the amazing looking vegan versions of dishes I used to eat.

The first time I went was with one of my closest friends. We have been friends for 20 years and I love her and I'm so grateful that she is in my life. After Doug passed she happened to be in town and made sure to see me. We went to Little Fu's in his honor and we dined on delicious food and talked about him and I was able to "introduce" him to her in the only way I can now. The meal I chose to try that night was the Sesame Chick'n and OMG you guys. It was freaking delicious. The plate even looks awesome. The portion was huge, the price was decent and it was a very delicious plate of food. I was definitely looking forward to going back!

The next time I went I was with a new friend of mine that I met because of a common love of true crime podcasts and veg food (she is vegetarian). Little Fu's happens to be one of her family's favorite restaurants so we knew we had to go there. I decided to try the Inari roll to start because they are my FAVORITE and I seriously can't find them anywhere. The last time I had them was probably 10 years ago or something ridiculous like that. Anyway, the one piece was $3.00 which was kind of expensive, considering it was a pretty sad Inari roll. The tofu skin had nice flavor but it barely had any rice in it. I used to pay maybe $6.00 to get at least 4 pieces that would be stuffed with fresh, delicious sticky rice. This had minimal rice that wasn't the yummy sticky sushi rice I'm used to. It wasn't bad but it definitely wasn't worth the $3.00. I am glad that I tried it though because it satisfied my curiosity and my craving.

For my entree I went with the Chick'n with Broccoli and it was delicious! It was way more savory than the Sesame Chick'n and a little bit on the salty side but it was great. I love the texture of their mock chicken and the broccoli was cooked really nicely. I love broccoli from Chinese restaurants, it's always cooked perfectly and tastes even better with whatever delicious sauce it is drenched in.

This has nothing to do with Little Fu's but the night I went the second time was so beautiful. There was nice breeze and it was just a lovely evening with a great new friend. When I got home and looked up I saw this view of the moon through the clouds and trees and thought it was beautiful so I wanted to share it with you.

So for Little Fu's I give it two enthusiastic thumbs up (reference anyone?). If you are looking for yummy Chinese food done the vegan way I highly recommend trying it. I will absolutely go back and I'm looking forward to sharing all of the delicious dishes I try with you. I am definitely someone who sticks to a dish when I find something I love (Sesame Chick'n I'm looking at you) but I definitely know that I will be trying as many dishes as I can from this restaurant. If you are on Long Island let me know if you've tried Little Fu's and what your favorite dishes are there! 💚