Iowa - Part Two

Bright and early the next morning, after about 4 hours of sleep for each of us, we dragged our arses out of bed and got ready for a day of cramming in a few more sights before heading home.

Our first stop was the sculpture garden downtown. There was an intense storm earlier that morning (like, 3 or 4AM), and the sky was still cloudy and the temperatures were cool. This alone made it worth it to wake up so early.






This was my favorite sculpture. I liked that it was open for people to walk inside of it.




Salt n' Pepa shakers.



From here, we just roamed around Des Moines, which was very quiet. The Des Moines Public Library was closed, and the capitol building was closed to the public, but we could roam around the gardens outside. I don't have many pictures from that because it was so bright outside. Eventually, we ready for lunch, and we hit up another Thai restaurant. (The one restaurant that is marketed as having vegetarian, vegan, and raw options was closed the entire time we were in the area. This meant lots of Asian food instead!)

We went to King & I Thai & Sushi. We started with fried spring rolls.


I ordered the Rama Gardens, which is similar to Panang in that it involves peanut sauce. I loved the assortment of veggies in this dish, especially that oh-so-tender spinach.

Those veggies won me over and makes me say that this dish was better than the Panang at Thai Flavors. The only negative to this meal is that rice costs extra: $1.50 for jasmine white; $2.50 for basmati brown.


Still, those veggies... there was tofu, spinach, cabbage, string beans, baby corn, peppers? I can't even remember. It was all delicious, though.

After stuffing ourselves silly, we waddled back to the car and digested our way to Ames, about 40 minutes away. We went to Reiman Gardens on the Iowa State University campus. It was blazing hot by then, so we didn't make it through the entire garden area, but we did see three lovely things.

1. Butterfly House (watch where you step!)






2. The Conservatory, which displayed several bottle trees.








I really want to make a bottle tree now. Who wants to help me drink some wine?!





3. THE WORLD'S LARGEST CONCRETE GARDEN GNOME


Having had enough sun and sweat for the day, we left shortly after visiting the giant gnome. On the way home, we stopped to see a covered bridge in Madison County; one was enough for us. I was surprised at how much of a crowd it drew for a Sunday afternoon.



And that's our trip to Iowa in a blog-sized nutshell. It would have helped to have some local friends in the area to show us the good places we missed, but going completely off of the internet and one big brochure at the welcome center, I think we planned a decent 24-hour Iowa blitz.

Welcome to the Jungle/Iowa (Part One)

The Boyf, a friend, and I went on a mini road trip to Iowa this past weekend, just for fun. We decided to "see the sights" in Des Moines and jog up to Ames. Our 24 hours in Iowa was pretty fun, you know, for Iowa.

When we crossed the border, we stopped at a welcome center that sold lots of Amish goods. I found these unintentionally-vegan snacks, that were quite delicious:


After we made it to our crash site, dropped our bags, and quickly outlined a plan for our evening, we picked up dinner at Thai Flavors.


I ordered the Panang curry with tofu with "0" on the hot pepper scale.


Panang curry is my favorite. I'm a sucker for a good peanut sauce.

The only thing that could have made it better would have been more vegetables. This only came with bell peppers. Some broccoli would have been lovely.

Straight from dinner, we headed to Veteran's Auditorium for...

ROLLER DERBY!

This was the first time for all of us to attend a roller derby bout. Once it got started, it was quite fun! I wish I had the guts and toughness to be a roller derby girl. It looks like a terrific way to stay in shape and release stress. At halftime, we moved down to the "suicide seats," which is on the floor, just a couple of feet away from the track.



Mid-Iowa Rollergirls, ready for action.


All of my action-shots are blurry.


MIR WON! WOO HOO!

Another fun part of roller derby: the bad ass stage names.





After roller derby, we wandered around Des Moines, hoping to get a taste of their nightlife. We couldn't find much. Eventually, we found a karaoke lounge, and all was right in the world again. Billy Joe's had a PHENOMENAL song book, but because we arrived so late in the evening, we were at the bottom of a very long list to sing. Still, it was a good time, especially for people-watching.

HVT @ Home

Summertiiiiiime and the grillin's easy!

Summer is probably my favorite season. Spring is exciting because everything is new again, trees are budding, butterflies are frolicking, grass is green again. Autumn is depressing because everything is starting to die, but for a week or two (if you're lucky), the world is bright and crisp. Winter is hell on earth. But summer is the best because of tiger lilies, fireflies, and longer, sunnier days. Oh, and grilling!


Here are some fresh, colorful veggies, tossed with extra virgin olive oil and dried herbs.


slabs of tofu (similar preparations)


And here's where they go! (That's some flat bread warming on the top)


grilled tofu, up close & delicious

Because grilled veggies and tofu is one of my favorite summertime meals, I didn't remember until later to take a picture. Here are the leftovers!





*sigh* I love summer.

HVT: Product Review

I'm always learning about nutrition and healthy eating, especially when it comes to what works for me, personally. In the last year or so, I realized that I might have a wheat sensitivity. I started paying close attention to how wheat products would affect my body, and I noticed a lot of discomfort. I then started to cut back on wheat products, to the point where I seldom eat them. I now know that a couple of crackers won't hurt me, but a sandwich, bagel, or bowl of pasta will.

Since I don't like pasta and bread as much as I used to (I'm more of a rice person), the main food that I eat containing wheat would be baked goods of the dessert kind. Cookies and cake, specifically. Now, even Cookie Monster knows that these foods are a "sometimes food," but I have a sweet tooth that can sometimes only be tamed by a chocolate chip cookie or some decadent cake.

Imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon a new gluten-free line of baking mixes from Betty Crocker, reasonably priced, too! I snatched up the brownie mix (its ingredients appeared to be vegan) and was very excited to whip up a batch for a get together that weekend.

It's been awhile since I've used a conventional baking mix (for a couple of years now, I'd been baking things from scratch with standard wheat flour), and I totally forgot about the trickiness involved in veganizing mixes. The instructions called for softened butter and eggs, so I used softened Earth Balance and Ener-G Egg Replacer. Since these are pretty standard substitutions, I did not expect such an EPIC DISASTER. The instructions said to let it back for 20-ish minutes, "or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean." Well, the toothpick never came out clean. So I baked it a little longer. Still a soggy mess. So I baked it a little longer. Rinse. Repeat. It got to where the pan had been in the oven for an hour and was still brownie soup. FAIL.

Fast forward a week or two, cut to me perusing a Super Target and stumbling across the same gluten-free Betty Crocker line. I picked up the chocolate chip cookie mix, stared at it, debated in my mind over whether or not it was worth the $3 if this mix failed, too, then noticed Cherrybrook Kitchen mixes on the same shelf. Their mixes are free of all common allergens; they're gluten-free and vegan. The fact that the directions are vegan friendly (no substitutions needed) sold me, even if it cost $2.50 more than Betty Crocker's fail-mixes.



The preparations for this chocolate chip cookie mix was very simple. I had the batter whipped up in no time. I'm one of those people who MUST taste the batter before it goes in the oven (aren't we ALL "one of those people?") and this was HEAVEN. I briefly considered just putting the whole bowl of batter in the fridge and snacking on it from time to time (should I really be saying that in a public forum?), or maybe freezing chunks of it and making my own chocolate chip cookie dough ice "cream" (which was always my favorite flavor). But NO! Warm chewy cookies must happen! Into the oven they went, and before I knew it, they came out like this:



In a word: HEAVEN. Words cannot even begin to describe how AWESOME these cookies are. I can honestly say this, though: these are the best chocolate chip cookies I've ever eaten thus far in my life. They came out soft, chewy, and perfectly chocolatey.

I do not work for Cherrybrook Kitchen (but I wish I did!). In fact, I had never heard of them before last week. I am just SO IMPRESSED with these cookies that I HAD to share them with the world. Well, not the actual cookies (those are long gone!), but at least the knowledge that they are out there and worth pursuing.


Seriously, look at those adorable little cookies. How could you resist?!

Good Eats in KC

Here are some delicious pictures of delicious food from a delicious day in Kansas City!

It begins with lunch at Eden Alley, a vegetarian cafe on the Plaza with many vegan, gluten-free, and raw options. The group started with multi-grain and sourdough bread with vegan agave butter. I have to tread lightly with wheat products, so I just took a bite from one of my lunch companion's slice.



It's really all about the agave butter, anyway.

I ordered the "Steak and Potatoes," which included a marinated Portobello mushroom "steak," garlicky mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli, and a sweet-and-tangy tomato sauce.


One of my lunch companions ordered the Verde Cruz, perfect for all you avocado lovers.


The best of Eden Alley lies in their desserts. With 5-6 different cakes to choose from, including one raw torte, I split a slice of chocolate-coconut cake with one of my lunch companions.

Honestly, I felt the chocolate overpowered the coconut, and I do like coconut, but you just can't go wrong with chocolate, anyway.

The Verde Cruz diner decided to continue the avocado theme with a slice of lemon poppy cake with avocado glaze.


The picture does not do this cake justice, but know that it is exquisite! The bright, tangy lemon... the sweet avocado glaze... the slight crunch of the poppy seeds... and the level of moistness was heavenly. Just a perfect slice all around.

After strolling around the Plaza and checking out a wonderful improv show, we had worked up enough of an appetite to swing by Blue Koi Noodles & Dumplings.

One dining companion ordered the Fire Bird with tofu. I personally was not a fan of the sauce (something just tasted off about it), but he was very happy with it.


I was thrilled, however, with my order: tofu with black bean sauce.


For starters, you just can't go wrong with fried tofu. Crispy outside + soft inside = heaven. Secondly, those sweet bell peppers were a perfect complement to the savory black bean sauce. Juicy shitake mushrooms round out the dish. Blue Koi DEFINITELY has the best black bean tofu I've eaten thus far.

Our little group stuffed ourselves silly to the point where we couldn't even order bubble tea. (Gasp!) We had no choice but to waddle down to a karaoke bar and sing our meal off. (It helped!)

Surrounded by Meat

Is anyone else annoyed with the overabundance of pro-meat commercials on the air today? Let's start with the Hillshire Farms "Go Meat!" ads.



The slogan should be "Go Over-Processed Mechanically Separated Meat-like Substances!" And where the heck are the "Go Vegetables!" or "Go Fruits!" or "Go Whole Grains!" ads? We need to level the playing field here.



(It also makes me sad that the quirky girl from Garfunkel and Oates is in a "Go Meat!" ad.)

This next ad is particularly infuriating on multiple levels. Here we see what could be an adorable school play about VEGETABLES (finally!), but then a crazed carnivore schoolgirl shows up, dressed as a damn MANWICH, and ruins what could have been a very positive message about vegetables and supporting local farms.



And their slogan is, "Meat Your Vegetables." Why should we? Vegetables are just fine and dandy on their own. There is absolutely NO REASON to "meat" our vegetables. By "meating" our vegetables, we're canceling out all of the goodness of the vegetables.



Let's look at that "full serving of vegetables in every Manwich," shall we? Here are the ingredients for Manwich sauce, before adding ground beef:
Tomato Puree (Water, Tomato Paste), High Fructose Corn Syrup, Distilled Vinegar, Corn Syrup, Less than 2% of: Salt, Sugar, Dehydrated Onions, Dehydrated Red and Green Bell Peppers, Chile Pepper, Tomato Fiber, Spices, Guar Gum, Xanthan Gum, Dehydrated Garlic, Carob Bean Gum, Natural Flavors.

Things to note:
1. The "tomato puree" is mostly water.
2. Is it a shock that HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP makes an appearance? This is followed by two MORE sweeteners: corn syrup and sugar. Bring on the diabetes!
3. The "vegetables" are less than 2% of the ingredients.
4. The sauce has 16% of the Recommended Daily Allowance of sodium.
5. There is only 1 gram of dietary fiber, which comes from the "tomato fiber" seen in the ingredient list above.

And finally, as if meat upstaging vegetables was bad enough, we turn to Chef Boyardee, who makes vegetables a bad word.



Why are children so afraid of vegetables? Is it part of their upbringing? Is it because vegetables are missing from the standard American diet that when a vegetable DOES make an appearance on a child's plate, they FREAK OUT because it doesn't taste like chocolate, cheddar cheese, or Dorito's? In the last couple of years, there has been a WAVE of incognito vegetables. Instead of introducing our children to a variety of foods, INCLUDING VEGETABLES, suddenly it has become commonplace to sneak them in, usually in with heavily processed foods, such as Chef Boyardee ravioli. A quick glance at the nutritional facts for this product shows that a 1 cup serving offers 45% of the RDA of sodium. And this is being peddled as a healthy choice for children?!

It is so important for consumers to look beyond the advertisements on TV and radio, in print ads, and floating around the internet. There are very few processed food items on the market that are "good" for anyone, and this also includes some items that are labeled as vegan. It's just always a better idea to find the time to prepare meals at home, using fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains. It's good to know where our foods come from, and it's good to share this with our children. Getting children involved in the kitchen also yields amazing results.

Glace Artisan Ice Cream

Glace Artisan Ice Cream in Kansas City was featured in Ink magazine, and their unique flavor offerings really peaked my interest, especially after hearing that all of their sorbets are vegan.

The trendiness of this place was almost off-putting. It felt like a hipster club, where only the most fashionable, upscale scenesters could enter. Looking around, I felt better after seeing many people in swimsuits and coverups and jeans. Relieved that there wasn't a dress code, I waited in the long, chatty line, eager to view the frozen sweet offerings.

It was so hard to choose which flavor. Luckily, they offer samples, and you can also mix-and-match flavors in one cup. What to choose, what to choose... blood orange; mango-passion fruit; lemon blueberry; peach prosecco... After a couple of samples, the choice(s) were easy: pineapple-cilantro and lemon-basil.




To call these sorbets refreshing is an understatement. The fresh herbs exploded in my mouth. The world around me was muted. Suddenly I was transported to a happier time and place. I started to drift away, but remembered that sorbet melts pretty quickly, so I had to act fast. There was no way I could let this cup of cold, happy dreams melt away from my mouth.