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?

All the Hauls

Hey everyone! I hope you are all doing well and continuing to remain safe and healthy. Things continue to be crazy here but I'm managing the best that I can. This week was a big haul week. I really needed to get back to the store to get some fresh food and I wanted to plan another order from Sweet To Lick to get some vegan specialty items that are more difficult to find. Finally, I placed my first order from Nuts.com to get some random snacks and other items.

I was really missing my Korean rice cakes and Udon noodles and I have been wanting some tofu as well so I decided to go to H-Mart for this trip. I didn't get a ton of stuff because I still have pantry items so I just got some fresh food and the specialty items that I was looking for.

For my fresh items I got some spring mix salad, seasoned seaweed (not fresh but it's in this pic for whatever reason), avocados, green onion, grape tomatoes and some sweet potatoes. I have been craving sweet potato fries so much!

I also got every type of tofu possible 😂 I have recipes for all of them, ha! I also got my favorite frozen udon noodles and the sliced rice cakes (they didn't have the tubes).

Up next is my Sweet To Lick haul. As you know from my last haul, they've created a stress free shopping experience. I called in my order that she packed up as I placed it. I ran over and grabbed my bag off of a shelf and headed back to my car. I am happy to be able to support an amazing local vegan business while also stocking up on some specialty items. I doubled up on most things to make it last a few weeks.

I got two each of the Earth Balance Puffs, EB Cheddar Squares and 2fer bars.

I also got two Violife cheese slices, Beyond Breakfast Sausage, Field Roast Breakfast Sausage and Violife Mozzarella Shreds.

Finally, this is my first haul from Nuts.com! I've heard great things from them and I really wanted to get stuff to snack on while I work because I tend to eat breakfast later (usually around 10-11) and I start work at 1. I figure these snacks will help me get through to dinner and will be easy to eat while I work.

I know it's hard to see what is in the bags. Basically, the bottom left blue bag is vegan mini chocolate chips (they were a good price for a huge bag and always good to have on hand), above it in the green bag is some puffed quinoa which I thought would be delicious in some homemade chocolates or even to try as a cereal of sorts. The yellow bag is dried diced apples, the blue bag next to it is peanut chews because chocolate and why not. Under that is dried peaches which is my all time favorite dried fruit. They are so delicious and I don't typically find them in stores (although I guess I usually don't think to look) and then the last bag is lightly salted cashews. 

I was really happy with my Nuts.com order. Sure things can be a little pricey but most nuts and dried fruit is. The bags are quite large and they will last me a while. I placed my order on Thursday, it shipped Friday and was on my doorstep Saturday morning. They have tons of stuff beyond nuts and dried fruit. They have grains, beans, legumes, superfood stuff; snacks; candy, energy bites, etc. I am not affiliated with Nuts.com at all but I do think it is a great option to stock up your pantry if you don't feel like braving the world just now.

So that's what I have in my fridge, freezer and cupboards right now. How have you all been holding up?

One of my favorite local vegan eateries re-opened and I was happy to be able to support them during this stressful time. I'm looking forward to sharing that with you in my next post. For now, stay safe and healthy my friends 💚

Sweet To Lick Haul

Hey friends 💚I hope that you are all doing well and staying healthy. I've discussed Sweet To Lick here many times (click the tag for my other posts!). It is an amazing local business that I've enjoyed supporting since they've opened. They opened as a bakery location then opened a market two doors down. They decided to combine the two and moved the market items over to a section of the bakery. In these weird times they've stayed open but have turned into a pick up only spot. What they do is post pictures of what they have in the market as well as menus for the bakery items, you call in your order and pay over the phone. They pack up your order and you pop over and pick it up. It's a really efficient and safe way to do some shopping right now. As I've mentioned, I'm terrified to go to the grocery store so this was a really great way to supplement my stash for a while. This stuff is mostly specialty stuff that I wouldn't typically find in my grocery store so it worked out well.

It has been a shitty ass week so chocolate was definitely on the list. I grabbed chocolate chunks for baking, some caramel eggs, a Vego bar (!!!!!) and a 2fer bar which is like a big vegan twix bar. I've only cracked into the 2Fer bar so far and it's really delicious. I've had Vego bars before and they are AMAZING. So rich and creamy. A little goes a long way and this bar is huge so it will last a while. I also grabbed a box of the Earth Balance cheddar squares.

I grabbed both the Beyond breakfast Sausage and the Field Roast breakfast sausage. I wanted a breakfast sandwich and breakfast sausage is really hard to get your hands on right now so I grabbed one of each to taste test and so I had a proper stash. I also got some Violife Mozzarella shreds, Violife Mature Cheddar slices, the Kite Hill Spinach Ravioli (you know I'm not a pasta girl but omg this stuff is GOOD) and the Field Roast Mini corn dogs. I totally forgot that I got those until I saw this picture 😂

And this is the reason for the order 😂 I have been wanting a breakfast sandwich for weeks (most days I eat oatmeal with banana, raisins and almonds for breakfast) so I decided now was the time, ha! I made one of the Field Roast Breakfast Sausages and toasted a bagel with one of the Violife Cheddar slices. This was SO FUCKING GOOD and the perfect Sunday brunch meal. I really enjoyed the Field Roast breakfast sausage as well. It is a big patty so you only need one and it has great flavor. I would definitely purchase it again. 

I'm really glad that Sweet To Lick has stayed open and changed to pick up only because I felt comfortable going and I have some fun specialty items rounding out my pantry and freezer items. 

So there you have it! My next post will be really a recap of a restaurant that I went to with friends back in December that I had been wanting to try for such a long time. I hope that you are all doing well and staying safe and healthy 💚

I'm Back? Maybe? Kind Of?

Whoa. It's been a long time. Like a really long time. I'm sorry about that. I know it kind of sucks that I disappeared without saying a word. It was never my intention to do that. I fully intended on posting and coming back. Then the holiday season popped up and it sucked. Then January rolled around and it felt like it took forever. I started a new job that I originally hated. I also was just going out and living my life and being in the moment. It's been a weird, amazing and painful few months and I think I just needed some time off to process everything. I'm happy to say that while things suck right now (I'll get into that in a second) I'm doing ok and I've been missing you guys a lot and felt like it was time to come back. I'm sorry that I have not been keeping up with your blogs. That sucks and I'm really sorry. I am looking forward to catching up though. I also just want to say thank you to everyone that has reached out to me during this hiatus to check in. I really appreciate it and it means a lot that you care enough to take the time to do that. Thank you 💚

So here is a bit of an update on life. As I mentioned above, I started a new job at the end of December. I am doing insurance verification for a Physical Therapy office. I really hated it at first. I felt very stupid because it was just so confusing and so much to learn. Now that I've settled into it I feel better about it and a lot more confident. Of course now that the shit has hit the fan and we are in a global pandemic things have changed a bit. I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to work from home starting two weeks ago. Unfortunately like many other businesses they've had to make a lot of cuts and while I'm one of few to still be lucky enough to have my job, I've been cut to part time for now. It's definitely a financial hit but nowhere near as bad as it could be so I'm counting my blessings that I still have a job and a paycheck and that I get to work from home. I work out of my brother's basement where he has an office set up and it's been working out well. Otherwise, as instructed, I "stay the fuck home."

The pandemic has been an emotional nightmare. As someone that struggles with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder it is my everyday existence magnified by about a million. Add into the fact that I basically live in one of the hardest hit places in the country, the idea of leaving my house, touching anything, eating any food, etc. is absolutely horrifying. I'm living out of the pantry. The only thing I've done is place an order for pick up at the vegan market/bakery because I know they are being careful and they aren't letting people in. It's been a nightmare. As of writing this post there are 13,356 confirmed cases in my COUNTY. It's seriously awful and it feels like the apocalypse. How are you all coping with this? I hope that you are all safe and feeling ok.

As I mentioned, I haven't take a whole lot of pictures during this hiatus. I have a few I'll share a few random ones below and in my next post I'll share some pictures from an amazing meal that I had at a restaurant that I had been wanting to try for so long. I will also do a post with some art that I've created over the past few months as well.

These first two pictures are from an afternoon out with my friends before the pandemic. I want to say it was in January. We went to a restaurant that wasn't super vegan friendly but they had this amazing dish on the menu! I think I just had to leave off some cheese and then I had this really fresh, amazing meal. There was farro under all of the goodies and on top there was black beans, chickpeas, tomato, corn and avocado. 

After we went for brunch we went and painted pottery and had such a great time! We went back 3 weeks later to pick up what we had painted and I'm so thrilled with how mine came out. They even had it displayed in the window!

As I mentioned I've been working out of my brother's basement. My colleague here has not been pulling his weight. I've been thinking about reporting him to HR 😂

I mean seriously!

As I mentioned I'll be doing a post with some art that I've created over the past few months but I wanted to share two pieces today. They are both birthday gifts that I have made over the past month and I'm thrilled with how they came out. I tried to make them really personal and both recipients really loved them.

They are totally different vibes and I really love them both. 

Finally, here are two photos of me from the past few months.

Just so you know I'm truly ok 💚

I've really missed you all and I'm glad to be back. To explain the title of this post, the maybe kind of is really because I'm not comfortable committing to a specific number of posts per week or any specific days I'll be posting. I don't want to put pressure on myself and lets be honest, things are just weird in the world right now. But I'm here and I'm excited to start sharing with you again.

Please let me know how you have all been!

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! 💚