Cheers To New Beginnings!

Hi y'all!  I'm sorry I haven't been updating my posts but it's been a very eventful time for me.  I'm starting a position with a new organization and had to frantically train a new employee to take over old position before I left.  I have also been traveling to New York and Seattle so I haven't had a chance to update the blog but I promise to post my adventures soon! 

My first taste of the frozen hot chocolate from the original Serendipity located in Midtown East, New York.

Eggplant Parm Sammies

Hot sandwiches beat cold sandwiches any day.  I thought I would switch up Jase's lunch this week with eggplant parmesan sammies.  The filling was made the same way I baked my Eggplant Lasagna With Ricotta Cheese.  I just spooned out a slice or two of eggplant to fill a whole wheat pita.  Some spinach was added to the pita but you can add fresh basil leaves instead.  It's best if you can consume these yummy eggplant parm sammies hot out of the oven but you can always make them ahead of time and pop them in the microwave for 30 to 45 seconds to heat them up.

Chick'n Scallopini With Lemon Caper Sauce On Spaghetti Squash

It's been a busy busy busy past few weeks.  I've had back to back meetings and I am exhausted but yoga has helped roll out the kink in my back!  I enjoy cooking dinners for hubs each day I can but we've both been working so much that my time is limited.  Thank goodness for Gardein products.  They have made my life so much easier.  I prepared the Chick'n Scallopini as directed on the package and made an awesome lemon caper sauce to top over the spaghetti squash I cooked in the microwave in 10 minutes.  This dish was easy and fast!  I melted 2 tablespoons of Earth Balance Butter on a heated skillet, added 1 tablespoon of garlic, 2 tablespoons of capers, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, pinch of Himalayan salt, pinch of pepper, a teaspoon of agave syrup and some chopped scallions.  I stirred the mixture for about 2 minutes and poured over my chick'n scallopini and spaghetti squash. 

The First of Many Trips to Vinh Loi Tofu

hOLy  CaNnOLi!  No... I don't really type like this but this place knocked my socks off!  I had a few business meetings in the valley and since I was there, I asked Alyssa to meet me in Reseda to try Vinh Loi Tofu restaurant.  I have been wanting to try this place for months now and I am already marking my calendar for future trips.

As an appetizer, we ordered the fried lemongrass tofu.  So yummy!  It was super crisp on the outside and soft and moist in the middle.  Lightly salted and the hint of lemongrass flavor was not too overpowering.  They make their own tofu and soy milk so you can definitely taste the freshness opposed to store bought versions.

We also tried their vegan bun thit nuong.  Fresh vermicelli noodles, bean sprouts, seitan, tofu, pickled carrots, pickled radishes and mint leaves tossed in nuoc mam chay sauce.  Soooo good!

My fave out of all the dishes we ordered was their house special soup.  This noodle soup is similar to the teo chow noodle my mom makes.  The chewy rice noodles were cooked to perfection and the savory spicy broth is addicting!  I even ordered one to go for my hubby because I knew he would love it since it's a similar to the staple dish my mom makes but this one was vegan!  Absolutely delicious! 

Suffice to say, this is my favorite restaurant for Vietnamese cuisine! You have to try it!  I also bought a banh mi for my hubs but he never got a chance to taste it after he got home from work.  Oooops!  =) 

Happy V Day From The Boxers!

These are pics of us at the only decent Chinese restaurant in town.  As you can see, my husband is very proud of his beautiful nostrils.  We didn't dare ask the server to take a photo for us because he hung out at our table half the time we were dining.  Yup.  That's right.  The server walked over to our table with a big bucket of sugar packets and stood at our table replacing sugar packets for a while.  As we were seated and stuffing chow fun into our mouths, we were at eye level of crotch view.  I guess this only happens at a Chinese restaurant.  I didn't dare ask him to take a photo of us since he joined us at the table for most of the evening. 

I am having the best Valentine's day although I have been glued to my computer working most of the day.  The hubs took me to get my fix of chow fun which made me so stinking happy!  Plus they gave us some yummy dessert of coconut milk, tapioca and mung beans!

XOXO!  Hope you all are having a romantic day snuggling up with your loved ones.

Elephant Seals Part II

Here are some more photos of these beautiful creatures from our last trip on the San Simeon coast.  Happy viewing!

Trader Joe's Marinated Beet Salad

This past weekend was one of the most relaxing weekends I've had in a long time.  I listened to my body and didn't check my emails, practiced yoga for at least 30 minutes each day and slept in until noon.  My back is feeling much better but not completely healed.  I've noticed that yoga has helped relax my muscles tremendously and I will continue to also get therapeutic massages throughout the week.

It was a nice quiet weekend with just hubby and I and I picked up some marinated beet salad from Trader Joes.  If anyone loves a good beet salad more than Dwight Schrute then it would definitely be me!  For dinner, hubs and I tossed in some miso sesame salad dressing, a few handfuls of kale, thinly sliced onions and some of the marinated beet we bought from Trader Joes and it was so yummy! The pickled jewels were seasoned to perfection and would be a tasty addition to any salads.

Friday Lunch Date at the Veggie Grill

I was so glad when the hubs decided that he wanted Veggie Grill for lunch instead of The Hummus Factory. I have never been a big fan of hummus. Odd right? I actually mentioned something I don't like.  I have never been to the Veggie Grill during lunch time but I never imagined that the line would be so long.  Jase almost wanted to leave to get Mexican food but I convinced him to stay.  Almost always, I will order the VG Cheeseburger El Dorado style but I wanted to try something different this time and I was disappointed with the flavors of my Sante Fe Crispy Chickin' Sandwich.

There wasn't much flavor in the chickin' sammie but it was a large portion and it definitely fills you up.  The sammie was pretty bland but the patty was crisp and thank goodness there was some guacamole to give it some flavor.  I probably won't ever order the chickin' sandwich again but I love love love their sweet potato fries and pomegranate green iced tea!

The hubs ordered my fave!  The El Dorado style VG Cheeseburger is packed with flavor.  The burger is topped with grilled onions and jalapenos.  He also ordered a side of steamin' kale and the ginger-miso dressing on the kale is to die for!  Yum!

Massage Therapists, Chiropractors and Accupuncturists... Oh My!

Last Tuesday, I stopped by my mother's home for a quick lunch and I told her how much I sympathize with her now since I've been having chronic back pain. Throughout the year, I've had a pinched nerve that chiropractors, masseuse and acupuncturists helped relieve but the pain keeps returning.

This week, I threw out my lower back and found that the pain was so unbearable that it was hard for me to just get in and out of my car. I spent most of the morning curled up on my couch because I was in so much pain. I think I'm going to listen to my body and take a break and reschedule my upcoming meetings.

I went to see a masseuse today and I'm still in pain. I'm going to see a chiropractor tomorrow and another masseuse with my hubby this weekend. I hope to be back to my good self by valentines day and promise to return to my yoga routine. I noticed I have been a little short with my hubs since this pain is putting me in the worse mood. I stopped practicing about two years ago and need start as a holistic repair to mend my body, mind and spirit.

I will let you all know how my treatments go but I have to go yell at my hubs for not putting the dishes away for now. Night!

Elephant Seals

I will be commuting throughout Southern California for business trips all week. Hopefully, I will get a chance to try a new vegan restaurant and update my posts. My business meetings started in Central California this past Saturday and my loving husband was my driver and made sure I traveled safely. In between meetings, he surprised me by taking me to San Simeon to watch thousands of elephant seals swim to shore to give birth and mate. It was a breath taking experience. Although it was a bit of a freak show, I thought it was romantic for my husband to surprise me with this experience since I love animals. These elephant seals are much like humans. They mate for a few minutes and then immediately take naps afterwards. I will post photos later on this week when I return from my meetings.

Avocado Shake - Vegan

When I was a kid, my mum used to work late evenings and my father never cooked much.  Some days he would give me the option of snacking on avocados or a trip to McD's.  And yes, I would sometimes oddly choose the avocados.  Dad would slice a cold avocado in half, remove the pit, sprinkle the halves with sugar, hand me a spoon and I would dig into this creamy treat.  It would be just enough to satiate my appetite for dinner.  When my father was in a mood to put a little effort into our dinners, he would make a creamy avocado milk shake with lots of sweetened condensed milk.  This evening, I decided to make a non-dairy version of this avocado shake and used silken tofu.  Jase said that he didn't even notice that there wasn't any dairy in the shake.  The avocado shake will be thick like pudding but Jase and I were able to sip it with a straw.  You can also add a half cup of crushed ice to the blender if you want it to be ice cold.

Avocado Shake - Vegan

Serves 1

Ingredients

• 1 avocado (refrigerated)
• 1/2 cup silken soft tofu (I use Mori-Nu)
• 1/4 coconut milk (you can use soy, hemp, almond or rice milk)
• 1 frozen banana
• 1 tablespoon agave syrup 

1. Add all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.  Serve with a straw and enjoy!

Baked Tofu and Bean Sprout Salad With Sesame Dressing

Last weekend, I went to Din Tai Fung with the girls and I ordered the usual appetizer of baked tofu and bean sprout salad.  It's my favorite dish at the restaurant even though they are known for their world famous dumplings.  Not one person I have introduced the baked tofu salad to has ever disliked it.  I was having another craving for it this evening so I decided to make some for dinner.  I tried my best not to finish the whole bowl and save some for hubby when he gets home, but it's game night with him and Jolly this evening.  I guess if I finish it, he'll never know it was missing. 

Baked Tofu and Bean Sprout Salad with Sesame Dressing

Serves 4 as entrees or 8 appetizers

Ingredients

• 10 ounces baked tofu (thin julienned slices)
• 2 handfuls of steamed bean sprouts (you can microwave for two minutes or boil them in water for one minute)
• 4 stalks of julienned two inch slices of green onions/scallions
• 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar
• 3 tablespoons shoyu
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon chili paste (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon vegetable bouillon powder or chickn' bouillon powder
• 1 teaspoon of grated ginger or 1/4 teaspoon of ginger powder
• 1 teaspoon of toasted sesame seeds

1. In a small bowl, add turbinado sugar, shoyu, vinegar, sesame oil, chili paste, vegetable bouillon powder and ginger.  Heat the sesame dressing in the microwave for 30 seconds to melt the turbinado sugar, stir ingredients and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, add baked tofu, bean sprouts, green onion, sesame dressing and toss. 
3. Sprinkle sesame seed.  Serve immediately but for best results, let the baked tofu marinate in the fridge for about one hour to serving. 

My Lemons!

My darling Aunt June has a lemon tree in her front yard and gave me about 10 pounds of it.  There are so uses for these lemons.  The only environment friendly household cleaning products I use are baking soda and lemons.  I haven't had a chance to give my stove and oven a good scrub as I am waiting for my finger to heal.  Now I'm starting to think that I should have gotten stitches because I'm going into day three and it's still bleeding.  It doesn't look infected so I'll hold out for a few more days.

I didn't want all of these lemons to go to waste so I looked up several recipes for lemon bars and lemon bread. Out of the many lemon bar recipes I researched, I chose the recipe listed on The Savvy Vegetarian's website.  The Savvy Vegetarian recommended a recipe from The Joy of Baking by Colleen Goudrault.  Did it pass the hubby test?  Yes!  We didn't get a chance to wait for the bars to set thoroughly because hubs just got back from his basketball game and he was hungry.  The bars are not overly sweet, it has just the right amount of tartness, no bitter taste from the lemon zest and the shortbread crust was plain but paired well with the lemon custard.  The recipe lists that we should bake the custard in the oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees but I think mine was a little overcooked.  If I were to bake these lemon bars again, I would cut the time down to maybe 20 to 25 minutes instead.  I guess it depends on the type of oven you have too.  Nonetheless, we enjoyed the chewiness of the lemon custard.  It was a nice change from our recent chocolate desserts.  I also made some lemon chia bread but I haven't quite perfected the recipe.

I will post the recipe if I ever get back around to it since I'm not quite the baker.  Savory dishes are more of my thing.  My mum makes the best baos and I am craving for some.  Maybe I'll make a vegan version of it soon.  Stay tuned.

Lush - Big Shampoo

Last weekend, I went to Old Town Pasadena with Kim and Sherri just to make a stop at LUSH!

I absolutely love all of their products.  What's even better is that they have a line of vegan products!  Yup!  I bought a few vegan beauty products and will be writing my reviews on each product as I try them. 

Talk about employee recognition!  Lush applies a sticker with a cartoon picture and name of the employee who hand makes that particular product. They even list the date the product was made and the expiry date.

Their employees are incredibly friendly.  Maybe too friendly?  So friendly that I walked out of the store going over the budget I originally had in mind, but I was happy with my purchases!  Why?  Because Lush is an ethically responsible company who are against animal testing and utilize biodegradable or recycled packaging.

Big Shampoo was the first product I tried before I almost severed off the tip of my fingers.  The sales associate recommended for me to use Big Shampoo since the roots of my hair tends to get greasy if I don't wash it within 24 hours.  Yes... I am one of the unfortunate ones that can't do without washing my hair for a couple of days.  The shampoo comes in a small tub and you have to scoop out about a tablespoon of the mixture and lather it in your palms before applying it on your hair.  There are large grainy pieces of sea salt in the mixture that helps exfoliate my scalp.  I stayed an extra five minutes in the shower just to massage the scalp of my head.  The scent of the shampoo is amazing.  If I were able to stick my nose and sniff the clouds, I would imagine that this is how it smells.  Well... my ideal world would always have rainbows and unicorns but you catch my drift. 

 

I didn't see a drastic difference with the volume in my hair but it did keep my roots from being greasy 24 hours after use and my hair still smelled like fresh clouds the day after.  :)