Hanging Out In Oakland

I had a group therapy meeting in Oakland over weekend. We have not been to Oakland in awhile so we had to hit up a few of our favorite places and walk around as the sun set.

The group meeting I attended was across from a mortuary - I sat across the street and watched the parking lot for any signs of un-life floating around.

After grabbing chocolate and caffeine at Timeless we walked down to Issues and I found a copy of Beyond the Dark Veil and I almost hyperventilated in the small store. Watching online auctions sell the book for hundreds of dollars I was bummed that I never got the first print. I was not even sure if they would reprint it but here it is - I bought it!

Hanging out at the Colton mausoleum with one of the sphinx twins at Mountain View. The sun was setting as we made our way along the cemetery trails. We saw some deer and the twinkle lights go on as we left. It all felt very magical. 

We ended the night with vegan deep dish pizza from Zachary's and a stroll around the neighborhood looking at books and in shop windows.

Ace Hardware has a neat display going on. It is part mad scientist part vampire hunter. It had a very old time-y movie set feel.

Stuff I have Been Eating

Jenga garlic sticks via Plant Based Pizza in San Jose, CA. They were good - I liked the presentation best. It is really cool to have an all vegan pizza place. We had two pizzas and while they were okay we have high pizza standards and felt these were a step up from frozen.

More San Jose eats. Cauliflower wingz from Veggie Grill.  My first time here and sadly I am allergic to a lot of the food - even all of the salads due to my quinoa allergy. I ordered a sandwich as well but they never brought it out to me. The wingz were okay I think they need more sauce on the side. I really enjoyed the tea here and the fact they serve beer!

These Brownie Crisps from Trader Joe's are insane! Crunchy and tasty - like the crispy parts of brownies that people fight over. I bought a bag and had to go get two more in a week!

Pig-free pigs in a blanket, weenie roll ups or crescent dogs - whatever you call them. I added cheeze to mine. The sauce on top is a chipotle ranch sauce. Also plated is the roasted broccoli from Healthy Happy Vegan Kitchen and Annie's new vegan mac & cheeze. The Annie's mac & cheeze was disappointing. It had 0 flavor yet tasted rancid at the same time. No thanks! 

Vegan beans and weenies - yes more comfort food!I had left over tots and naan so I added that and a side salad to round out our dinner.

Loving Hut's Crispy Rolls - big fat panko coated egg roll perfection.

Getting Back Into The Swing Of Things

Many of you know how sick I was for the last few weeks. I had a really nasty flu bug in my system that wiped me out. Even past the contagious point I was still feeling weak and could not eat normally. Last Friday we started feeling better (yes boyfriend was sick to - he brought the bug home!) so we decided to head out to the East Bay to eat and enjoy fresh air.

We started it off right eating lunch at Flacos. I always go for the hurrache. Look at all the pretty radish slices!

Moon pie (gluten free to boot) via Timeless Coffee Roasters - since I have been sick coffee tastes bad to me, but I did order an almond milk latte to go with my treat.

I had to walk around the area and shop before leaving. I had to treat myself to some soy fro-yo via Tutti Frutti - refreshing and tasty with fresh berries!

All the sweet fuel pumped me up for cemetery exploring in Mountain View. I have been on a purple lipstick mood - this is Too Faced Melted Metal in Jelly - 100% vegan and cruelty free! The family in this section all had stones that were laying down. I am not sure why but they were all older.

Best part of the cemetery trip DEER!!!!! Look at this fawn! The baby was with the mama and we saw the dad down by the river. It was so awesome!

We ended the night at Zachery's. We got our usual - vegan deep dish with zucchini and jalapenos. It was so good. I kept thinking of pizza and wanting to eat it as soon as I got better.

 

So we never get sick again - never ever I have been blessing this house like crazy - and washing all the surfaces we touched!  

I hope everyone is doing well and remember wash your hands and stay away from germs. Being sick with the flu is no joke!

BJ's Vegan Friendly Pizza & Drinks

In town my vegan dining out options are limited. Sure I have plenty of options  to choose from at grocery stores to cook my own meals but sometimes you just want to go out, sit down and not worry about cooking timers and clean up. 

Recently Matt and I have been going to BJ's for pizza and drinks. If you order the deep dish vegetarian pizza minus cheese you have a tasty vegan option. Make it clear you want them to make your pizza separate so no cross contamination will happen.  Ask for extra sauce on the pizza & the side - it makes things tasty and if you like heat go for added jalapenos like we did this time around! The crust is really tasty: light and 'buttery' perfect thick crust consistency. It has to be one of my fave pizza crusts! It is the type of crust you can eat on it's own with sauce on the side - childhood memories of toast and marinara sauce come to mind.

If you do go for a drink Matt likes the Oasis beer and I go for a Skinnyrita with agave and fresh squeezed citrus. Barnivore says all draft beers are vegan - just stay away from the cask aged offered at certain locations.

So next time you are in a town with little in the way of vegan dining out options see if a BJ's in nearby. Have a pizza and a drink and be happy you can save that granola bar in your bag for another emergency situation.

How I Celebrated Turning 35 & Vegan Pizza Day

On Saturday June 28th I turned 35! We headed over to the bay area for fun and food. I had all my plans made and due to traffic, bad timing, a bad Uber ride my plans turned into something else but all is good, I still had good food and celebrated right! 

 

I treated myself to a birthday tattoo! A super cute bottle of Sriracha by Sarah at Royalty Tattoo Collective  in Burlingame, CA. The BART ride out there from Berkeley was long but it was worth it for this super cute tattoo!

Speaking of cute I got to celebrate my birthday on Vegan Pizza Day! Matt got me a cute Hello Kitty pizza plush! One is never too old for Hello Kitty!

Our original plans of eating pizza at a different location fell through as well as other plans. However I had a coupon kicking around for Pizza Moda  and we like the atmosphere and the food is good so we headed there. We got the Smiling Cow + Calabrian chilies, a vegan Caesar salad (I am sad not to see the kale one on the menu now!) and a piece of the vegan fudge-y chocolate cake to split. We were stuffed and our bellies were happy!

Recent Foods Eats - Kitchen & East Bay

I bought The Oh She Glows cookbook right away. Since I am a fan of the blog and the recipes I know the book would make me happy and our bellies happy. I have tried a few recipes and our fave is the balsamic tempeh. It smells so good in the oven and once out of oven, the flavors are simple but magical.

I tossed the tempeh on a salad with roasted chickpeas, hummus, dressing and greens. A slice off leftover bread toasted rounded out the meal. I am making the tempeh again tonight, another salad combo but with a few twists, like a different dressing. I used to buy dressing all the time - now I have my mini mason jars and love combining oils, vinegars and spices to create my own.

We spent last weekend in San Francisco and Berkeley. I bought some kitchen and lunch essentials at Republic of V.  The chips are tasty, light cheeze flavor, not super oily like other chips and have a strong crunch factor without cutting into one's gums.

We ate at Flaco's twice over the weekend. Both times I got the huarache plate with black beans! The extra thick corn tortillia is so good! The huarache is my go to as well as stealing bites off Matt's taquito plate.

Speaking of picking off Matt's plate...He ordered the savory brunch on Sunday at Timeless. I have a headache and lack of sleep had the genius idea to have more caffiene and a bear claw...I picked off his plate of french toast delight....Then ordered myself more sugar and coffee to go!

On Monday to keep it simple and clean up all the fried food and caffeine in my system it was gluten free pizza night and a simple salad tossed with red wine vinaigrette and topped with hummus.

Recent Eats - Tofu Pizza, Greek-ish Salad & GF Ice Cream Sundae

Pizza night last week: garlic pizza dough from Trader Joe's (soooo good) topped with pizza sauce, Daiya, savory baked tofu and balsamic vinegar. To go with it a nice side salad!

A scoop of Purely Decadent Coconut Cookie Dough, smothered in chocolate sauce ontop of Lucy's brownies makes this one tasty vegan & gluten free sundae!

Summer calls for salad! This was on last night dinner plate: organic baby greens and a large organic tomato dressed in lemon juice, olive oil and herbs. Topped off with marinated balsamic tofu and zucchini slices and pine nuts. I used The Vegan Foodie's balsamic glaze recipe but adjusting a few things. It was so good. I had extra marinade so In tossed in a sliced zucchini and baked it for 15 minutes...I served the salad with some cheezey garlic bread and I can't wait to have it again!

Birthday Celebration Food, Friends & Fun

I turned 34 last Friday! Yay right! Matt spoiled me, Mar feels better (we are still trying to balance his numbers) and we got to spend time on Saturday in the lovely East Bay.

First up we shared some taquitos at Flacos, I ordered a side salad, Matt had the refried beans. I love the taste of the fried corn shell the best. I am always the fool forgetting how hot the hot sauce really is...


I stopped by Lush in Emeryville - spent way to much money. Looked around some other stores and stocked up on nonperishable items at Whole Foods in Oakland. Then off to Berkeley to enjoy friends, pizza and cake!

Saturday was International Vegan Pizza day so to celebrate that and my birthday you know pizza was on the menu! Gigi and Larry invited us over for Zachary's deep dish pizza but when we got there Gigi announced she was making a pesto pizza while we waited for Zachary's to be finished. Larry busted out a salad and we munched away.  Pictured above is a slice of Zachary's and Larry's yummy salad! Perfect combo!

So if the good could not get any better Gigi busted out a sugar free - vegan - peanut butter - chocolate cake that was to die for! Served with some Rice Dream it was super heavenly! Gigi has mad baking skills - check out her Etsy shop Veganville for some classic treats with a twist!

Thank you Gigi and Larry for making me feel special! You really made my day! Thank you to Matthew my wonderful boyfriend who took me up to the East Bay and did not even flinch when he looked at the $14 bottle of vegan sauce I wanted - paid with a smile.

We will be back in a few weeks lovely East Bay to celebrate some movie night fun staring Matt's work....Oh and Lush - try not to drain my wallet this time around! :)

American FlatBread Vegan Harvest Pizza

When you are under the weather, nothing sounds good yet you are hungry, you do not use a microwave and want something fast - what do you do? Well, I found American FlatBread had a vegan option (Vegan Harvest) last night at the store, picked it up and brought it home. I am not a fan of frozen pizza, the price for a vegan frozen pizza makes me gag just as much as the taste! I should note the pizza was on sale for $5.99 - cheap for vegan frozen pizza!
So once home, I preheated my oven, tossed in the pizza and waited for 8 minutes, took it out and took a bite. I have to say it is a pretty good pizza. Matt even stated he thought it was good. I really like the crusts texture, it reminds me of naan bread, I am not even a thin crust person! It is a small pizza, I do not know how it is labeled family size, it is more like a personal sized pizza. Maybe I am just really hungry? Whatever the case may be I will pick this up again!

Friday Is Now Known As Vegan Pizza Day!

The last few Friday nights have been vegan pizza and beer night. As you can tell I like a thick bubbly crust, my tips to get your crust like this is to use your hands - do not roll it out. I also coat my finger tips with olive oil to work the dough. After getting the ball into a circle shape I put it on my pan and push the dough from the middle out to create a thicker outside rim. It is all pretty simple!

Friday Night Easy

Dough from Greens Market, pizza sauce from Trader Joe's, Daiya cheeze, Tofurky Italian sausage = one good pizza!


Eat Pastry cookie dough cookies - peanut butter chocolate chip flavor!


Perfect food without a lot of fuss on a Friday night with icky cold wet weather!

Turning 31!

I turned 31 on June 28th. I had a amazing 3 day birthday that involved coffee-walnut cupcakes and friends, San Francisco fun and good eats , a concert in Sacramento a more awesome food.

I decided to make two different cupcakes for my birthday. The one that had the most positive response was the coffee-walnut cupcakes with coffee butter cream frosting. This cupcake is super dense and rich and has loads of coffee flavor. The recipe is something I came up with after veganizing and reconstructing a few recipes. If you do not like StarBucks feel free to use a different brand of instant strong coffee.


Super Walnut Coffee Cupcakes + Coffee Butter Cream Frosting
[makes 12 standard sized cupcakes]

3/4 cup Earth Balance (room temp)
3/4 sugar
3 tbsp. of Egg Replacer with 9 generous tbsp water - mixed
1 1/4 cups ap flour
½ tsp. baking powder
½ cup walnut pieces
1 packet* of Via Instant coffee -Italian Roast- dissolved in 1 tbsp. of hot water

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with liners.

Beat the Earth Balance and sugar together until creamy and then slowly add the Egg Replacer mixture. Sift in the flour and baking powder and then mix in. Fold in the walnuts (checking for big chunks, discard those). Divide the mixture between the cupcake liners evenly. Bake for 20-22 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

[Coffee Butter Cream Frosting]
2 tbsp. of plain soy milk
1* packet of Via Instant coffee -Italian Roast-
6 tbsp. of Earth Balance
1 1/4 cups of sifted powdered sugar
large walnut halves to decorate

Warm the soy milk in a pan (do not boil) add coffee and stir until dissolved. Let cool in a medium sized bowl till warm - not hot. Beat in the Earth Balance and frosting till creamy. Frost each cupcake and decorate with a walnut half.

*About 2 teaspoons



For my birthday we usually take a mini day trip, this year I really wanted to go to Japan Town in San Francisco with a few stops. We got off BART and went over to Westfield Mall to have lunch at Loving Hut. We both ordered combo plates. The food was good, I even got a mock beef dish and it was not to ‘beefy’ which is sometimes the case when using mock meats.




Once in Japan Town I went crazy with all of the cute toys in the mall. We had a blast taking photos and decorating them at Pika Pika. I walked out with lots of super cute stationery from Kinokuniya. I could spend all day and all my money in this mini mall. We went across the street to the New People store/mall and I fell in love with some of the goth lolita stuff on the upper level. I really liked Black Peace Now’s stuff!



We headed down Filmore and had soy yogurt at Fraiche Yogurt with lil pillows of mochi settled on the side. Then we walked down hill (later up hill - my poor feet!) To eat vegan Chicago deep dish pizza with loads of Dayia at Patxis Chicago Pizza. I was never a huge fan of ‘commercial’ pizza since I grew up with hand made pizza from a Sicilian grandma, then vegan options are usually not tasty. Patxis just rocked the taste buds that night and we were both amazed at how good it was.





The next day in Sacramento we started off eating at the all you can eat vegan buffet at Queen Sheba . I always load up on enjeera and lentils!


I just really wanted to try Sugar Plum Vegan after seeing they opened a store front. I had tried a gluten free - vegan brownie at a craft show one year and it was yummy. The owner was super nice and we both got our order fast. I got the midtown club and my boyfriend got the tempeh reuben panini - they were both damn tasty and we are not even sandwich people. We stocked up on sweets for after the concert (we saw Dum Dum Girls perform at Blue Lamp - good show, clean venue!), the owner even through in a large cowboy cookie! The best thing we had (on our way home!) Was the peanut butter creme filled giant cookie - tasty!
Can I just applaud Sugar Plum Vegan for a bit...Living in the valley we don’t have vegan food on every corner. People from bigger cities thinks that we are often lame and write shit about us. Sugar Plum Vegan gives me hope, they are offering monthly workshops and kick ass food without the attitude. I look up to Sugar Plum Vegan - they started off how I am starting off with my own vegan bakery and it gives me lots of hope.



Yay smaller town vegans and having a awesome bday!