Homegrown Zukes & a Summery Dill Broom

Also over the weekend, I paid my parents a visit. They live out in Nowheresville with very limited options for food. I do not come from a vegan family, so this isn't too difficult for them. However, two years ago they started a vegetable garden, which I made me very excited. This has been a very rainy summer and some of the plants probably aren't going to make it (namely, eggplant), but check out their zucchini! I brought these two home with me.



(Also, check out my sun-kissed arm! Yeah!)

Then my mom and I picked up a few items from their itty bitty local grocery store (seriously, their "produce section" could ride shotgun in my little car) and I was amazed at what I found there:



Have you ever seen dill like this before?! Isn't it awesome?! My mom joked about hanging it in the house like those decorative scented brooms you see in the autumn time.

Feeling Blissed

Greetings and happy August! It's still summer, but I feel like we're being cheated with all of the fall clothing on sale and recipes for pumpkin pie circulating. Too soon!, I say. Too soon!

Of course, take one step outside and it won't feel like fall for one second. It is SWELTERING here in the ol' midwest. I can't complain too much, though; I'll take the heat and humidity over the ice and snow ANY DAY!

We braved the heat this past Saturday for Bliss Fest! Though this was the third annual BF, this was my first, and I was very excited.

I'm such a bad little blogger, though. I was so distracted with chatting with friends and familiar faces (and sweating) that I didn't take nearly as many pictures as a Good Little Blogger should. Still, I shall share with you what I have.



I caught the very end of this raw chocolate pudding demo. It's made with avocado, so it's extra creamy and wonderful. I know this is like Raw Food 101, but hey, good is good! (Especially when it involves chocolate.)


Steep raffle tickets! Not a whole lot of veg*n bikers present, evidently.


My friend Val was making smoothies at the Cafe Gratitude booth. They were also selling beautiful glass water bottles and "I love my life" shirts.

There were a few different booths for complimentary or low-cost massages. It was tempting, but I'd feel bad making someone run my sweaty self. I did have a spinal screening, though, which was eye-opening and worry-confirming. (Is that a word?) There were food demos, some speakers, and live music.


I devoured this veggie burrito by Bonheur (filling included summer squash, eggplant, and purple fingerling potatoes with cashew cheese - not sure about the spices or sauce, but by golly, it was good!)


...while this raw demo was taking place. I was more interested in the food being prepared than the "information" being provided by the man with the microphone.


My friend grabbed a sample. Isn't that lovely?


Kevin and Ann Marie Gianni of "The Renegade Health Show" were the headlining presenters. I had hoped to meet and chat with them, but their booth was pretty busy every time I made the rounds. I only got to hear a chunk of their presentation, but I really liked what I heard, especially in regard to helping and coaching others.


We scurried off to catch up with some friends, but I made sure to grab some cashew ice cream from the Fud booth on the way out. It felt so wonderful to eat something COLD! The raw caramel and chocolate sauce were a heavenly touch.


Ah, ice cold water. "Spin the globe then pack your bags." Oh, Caribou Coffee. If only it were that easy.

We closed out the evening with roller derby.



I found this Remax Man particularly funny.

It was a blissful Saturday!

This week should be pretty busy here on Hungry Vegan Traveler, so please stay tuned!

Food Forward!

"Food Forward goes beyond celebrity chefs, cooking competitions, and recipes to reveal the compelling stories and inspired solutions envisioned by food heroes across America who are striving to create a more just, sustainable and delicious alternative to what we eat and how we produce it."

This is the kind of TV I want to watch! (It's the kind we all NEED to watch.) I hope this show can get on the airways soon.

PS. I hate that youtube decided to show the grass-fed beef for the still shot of this clip. Veg*ns, don't let that deter you!

Home for Sloths

I've been thinking a lot about Costa Rica. It seems like a beautiful place to visit. Then I saw this video and it sealed the deal: I must go to Costa Rica, if for nothing else, to see the sloth orphans.

Meet the sloths from Amphibian Avenger on Vimeo.

HVT Flashback: Duluth, Duluth

My flashback continues with the second full day of our Memorial Day weekend last year in DULUTH. (Such a sexy name for a town, don't you think?)



Our first stop was going to be a rose garden, but even though it was the very end of May, none of the roses were in bloom or even budding yet. (The temperatures were quite cool up there.) We wandered around the park anyway.





Then we made the scenic drive to Gooseberry Falls.





It was very crowded due to the holiday weekend.








kicking back in a quiet spot before we hike across the park to get a better view of Lake Superior

We had dinner at a place called Pizza Luce, which has locations in Minneapolis, too. They offer two different vegan cheeses: mozzarella and "rinotta." They were out of the mozz, so I had the rinotta, which was okay, but a gooey, stretchy mozz would have been better. The Duluth location was PACKED, which is a good sign of good food. I thought I had a picture from this place, but I can't find one now. Between Galactic Pizza and Luce, I would pick Galactic, but Luce is a great place (and if I remember correctly, the only place) to get some vegan pizza while you're in Duluth.

Our last meal in Minnesota was back in Minneapolis at a raw cafe named Ecopolitan. I love this place! It has such a homey, adorable atmosphere.



We started with drinks: The boyf ordered the Orange Julia (DELICIOUS) and I ordered a bell pepper tonic (Refreshing!).


I ordered the raw lasagna with a spinach-pineapple soup. Both were delicious and SO filling. I liked the soup slightly better.


The Boyf ordered the raw burritos.

I highly recommend Ecopolitan while you're in Minneapolis.

After lunch, we made the trek home. Minneapolis was a pleasant surprise of a city. I had no idea what to expect, but it's a very hip place. It's cyclist-, vegan-, and environmentally-friendly. There are beautiful parks and trails everywhere. The people were pretty friendly, too, though none of them had the typical Minnesota accents I was expecting, like the mom from "Bobby's World."

Recapping this trip has made me feel a little better, almost like I actually got out of the house. I think my cold is starting to let up. I haven't had a sore throat all day, which is progress, but my head is still stuffy and foggy. After spending all this time recapping this trip, maybe I'll move on to planning my next one...

HVT Flashback: Minneapolis

When I woke up in Des Moines this past Sunday, I had a sore throat and some stuffiness. I thought it was just because we slept in a 2 cat house, but the sore throat never went away. A day or two later, it morphed into a full-blown cold. I've been pretty miserable all week long. I'm not sure where or how I picked up this sickness, but it's partly my fault. See, when I'm really stressed out, I don't eat well. Stress + poor diet = shot immune system. That's what I get for not chilling the heck out.

I've been in a stuffy fog all week, wishing I felt well enough to go outside into the world and romp around. Being stuck in the house makes me think of trips I've been on, many of which I took before I created this blog. I was a hungry vegan traveler long before I started this blog, so let me backtrack a little for you and share some good eats and good sights in MINNEAPOLIS. We spent Memorial Day weekend of 2009 up there.


On the way up, we stopped at Fresh Cafe in West Des Moines for lunch. Above is the sweet potato spinach salad. It was too heavy on the rosemary for my taste, but still pretty good.



After we checked in at the hotel and dropped our belongings, we set out on foot for awhile to see the nearby sights. I fell in love with this fountain:

I think it would look lovely in my yard full of bottle trees, don't you?


We strolled through the sculpture garden.


Then wandered around downtown.



The next day we went to the science museum, which I'm pretty sure was more interesting for the Boyf than for me. I was more excited about finding the Peanuts sculptures, which are scattered around St. Paul.



We had a vague idea of the general vicinity of the sculptures, so it was really exciting to spot one. Many of them blended in so well!


Hunting down Peanuts statues worked up an appetite, and we ate lunch at Galactic Pizza. We started with the "cheesy garlic toast," made with Follow Your Heart mozzarella.


Then I ordered a vegan pizza with bell peppers, black olives, and mushrooms.

The coolest thing about Galactic Pizza (next to their vegan options, of course) is that their delivery people dress as superheroes: spandex and capes and all. I tried to get a picture of one as he was walking out the "Superheroes Only" door, but he was gone in a flash.

Full of pizza, we moved on to the Mall of America, which was, in a word, BORING. We just went to see the spectacle of the place, but it really wasn't anything special. They had multiples of most of the stores, many of which were shops you can find anywhere. The Lego Land area was the only slightly interesting section.


After our brief stop here, we moved on to visit Minnehaha Falls, which was unfortunately crowded due to the holiday weekend, but was still a nice park area.


We did some more driving and walking around the downtowny area. The weather was perfect.

Old Mill Ruins





We ate dinner at Namaste, a very vegan-friendly Indian place. It didn't taste like traditional Indian food, and while it wasn't the best Indian restaurant I've been to, it was certainly the cutest.



By the time we got our meals, it was dark outside (we ate on the patio). I wish I could remember what we ordered (I should have started this blog a long time ago!).

Here are some of the views from our hotel room:




And some friendly neighborhood newscasters!


Stay tuned for my flashback on Duluth!

toxmetics

1. We're all beautiful just the way we are. We don't need to cover up our wonderful selves with excessive amounts of questionable materials, especially right on our skin.

2. If you're going to use cosmetics, read the labels. Know what you're putting into and onto your body. "Toxic in, toxic out."