Pilgrimage for Pastries

You know you're vegan and in good company when driving an hour and a half to support a new vegan bakery on a rainy day sounds like a fine idea.

On Sunday, a couple vegan ladies and I made a pilgrimage to the new Babycakes NYC location in Downtown Disney. (In case you hadn't heard by now, this new Babycakes location pushed out McDonald's. While cupcakes and donuts aren't "health foods," it sure is nice to know that there are vegan AND gluten-free baked goods available in Downtown Disney.)

I wasn't sure what to expect since I just said "I'm in!" when someone said "carpool to Babycakes." On the drive over, I imagined a bustling cupcake cafe with cute tables and lots of pink, filled with smiling, laughing patrons with frosting smears on their noses.

Unfortunately, my vision was not quite the reality. This Babycakes location isn't actually a stand-alone store front, but more like a mini cupcake hub nestled in the corner of the same building as Fresh A-Peel and a chicken restaurant. It sounds like a weird spot for a vegan bakery, but it reaches more people, especially the general populous. Remember: a vegan diet is for every body!


There were two glass cases full of pretty little treats.




I know you want some close-ups.












Here's one of the employees, frosting the red velvet cupcakes.


And here are some other Babycakes employees, hard at work.


One of the employees, Emily, came out and chatted with us and offered us frosting shots.

Yes. Frosting shots.


It was delicious.




So what did I end up ordering for treats? I went with a red velvet cupcake and a crunch donut.

And let me say, it was worth the 90 minute drive.

My comrades' booties (why am I talking like a pirate now?):






Four other vegans joined us for the sweet festivities and we had a lovely time chatting and spiking our blood sugar. Working in reverse, we decided that lunch should come next. We went to Ethos Vegan Kitchen, just an hour before closing.

Since it was a Sunday, they only had a brunch menu available.

(Their menu looks pretty good, though, and I look forward to giving it a whirl sometime in the near future.)
I was going to get the tofu scramble, but when the cashier told me the breakfast burrito had tofu scramble AND home fries AND soy-sage, I figured that would be the better option. The breakfast burrito and the tofu scramble were the popular orders amongst our group.



Burritos are so unphotogenic.

Was the burrito good? Yeah, it was pretty good. Was it worth $8? No. Was it missing anything? Yes, VEGGIES. That's how I like my tofu scrambles, anyway. The burrito was a bit better than their scramble, though.


Ethos is a super-cute place, though. It's very cozy and actually kind of feels like an old tavern. Or maybe that was just because it was a rainy day... Nah, it's tavernous. And I like it. I also liked the cute felt art by the restrooms.




So, in short, I wasn't greatly impressed with Ethos' Sunday Brunch, but I have a feeling their regular menu could be better. There's only one way to find out, though. (You can't tell, but I winked after typing that sentence.)

And no matter what, if you find yourself in Orlando (or NYC or LA), go visit Babycakes! You won't believe it's vegan, gluten-free, soy-free, and sugar-free!

(Speaking of sweets, have you entered my Go Max Go candy bars giveaway yet? The winner will be randomly drawn on Thursday!)

So We Wheat Again

I had a few run ins with that bully, Wheat last week. I don't know if Wheat is more a bully or a sweet talker, but either way, Wheat is trouble!

I went to the Loving Hut in Tampa for the first time last week to listen to a presentation from Nick Cooney, the director of the Humane League. There also happened to be a very affordable buffet for the occasion, so I hopped in line. Unfortunately, most of the offerings were pasta-based. Ho hum.
At least there was soup, which was PERFECT because it was a cold night.

This soup had an interesting consistency. It was mostly creamy. It had coconut, rice, and tofu.
I went ahead and grabbed a little bit of everything, for the sake of reviewing. (The things I do for this blog, eh?)

Another con to the offerings: too many mock meats! Mock meats weird me out a bit. I definitely did not like the meatballs, and the chicken-esque bits in that creamy pasta dish were a little too realistic (I haven't eaten meat since 1995, but those chunks almost gave me a disturbing flashback). That dish could have used more broccoli and other veggies, less weird stuff, though the sauce was awesome. (I'm not sure if this was supposed to be like alfredo sauce or not. I don't remember what alfredo tastes like!) The tofu was fine and the eggplant chunks were a bit undercooked. So really, the offerings were VERY hit or miss. This tapioca-based pudding was fun, though.

The creamy pasta with mushroom and broccoli was the best of the options.

This was my first time at the Loving Hut, and a friend of mine there said that the buffet offerings didn't quite reflect their regular menu. I'd be willing to give them another try some day.

Then the next day, a friend invited me out to pizza. Oy. Not the smartest of moves, but when a nice person invites you to get pizza, you go, am I right? We went to Mellow Mushroom. Unfortunately, their gluten-free crusts are not vegan, but their regular crust and sauce is. They now offer Daiya cheese, as well.
My friend ordered a small field salad, which I helped eat.


Hummus was also ordered (note the cucumber slices - that'd be my wheat-free dippers right there).


We ordered the pizza with the most veggies on it: the Mega Veggie sans cheese. Since it included crumbled tofu, we skipped the Daiya.

sun dried tomatoes, green peppers, spinach, mushrooms, olives, onions, broccoli, Roma tomato, and artichoke hearts. Whew! Mellow Mushroom should make the Mega Veggie available as a salad, as well.

So, between Loving Hut and Mellow Mushroom, I was quickly wheated out. I'm ashamed to admit this, but because of my schedule these days, I hadn't cooked at home in days. I'd just been eating salads, raw veggies with hummus, Larabars, and then eating on the go with friends. On Wednesday, I was happy to get back in the kitchen and whip up a couple dinners for myself: Wednesday night I roasted Brussels sprouts with bell peppers and ate it with quinoa and spinach. Thursday night I made a cozy little pot of red lentil stew, throwing in the leftover quinoa at the last minute. It all worked together nicely. Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of either of these, nor of the dinner and dessert I made with my friend, D: stuffed green bell peppers and a fruit crisp. I've been slacking, folks!

I won a coupon for a free Tofurky product during Vegan MoFo and finally used it a few days ago on their Hickory Smoked Tempeh Bacon. Before trying this product, I hadn't been able to find a way to truly enjoy tempeh.

Let me say, I LOVE THIS! Granted, there is SOME wheat in it, but it's soooo good. I didn't even heat it; I just tore the strips into pieces and added them to a salad, and it was heavenly.

I will certainly be purchasing this tempeh again.
And of course, everything is better with Annie's goddess dressing.

Speaking of goddess dressing, I have turned TWO people to the ways of the goddess: a fellow vegan, and an omnivore. Goddess is quite the siren of salad dressings.

Also, check out this CLUB of Annie's I picked up at the Greenwise Market a couple of weeks ago.

BAM! You could seriously club someone with this bottle.

And it was less than a dollar more than what the normal size would cost at any other grocery store.

Go Max Go Giveaway!

It seems like I've been on a Post-MoFo Hiatus lately. It was difficult to blog on the daily, especially in an organized fashion, after I moved. I've been super duper ultra-busy trying to get settled and put my life in order. That, plus the recent cold snap down here definitely put a freeze on my blogging efforts. I'm trying to get back on track now.

I could also say that my recent absence was in part due to a sugar coma I was in while sampling Go Max Go candy bars. (It's a tough job, but someone has to do it, and it may as well be me.) This giveaway was intended for the MoFo festivities, but you know, life happened and I moved and you know how it goes.

I may have mentioned a few times before, I was definitely a junk food vegetarian when I was growing up. In fact, the reason it took me two years to fully transition from vegetarian to vegan is because of two foods: ice cream and milk chocolate (but yet I drank soy milk - weird, I know). I had such an unhealthy relationship with Hershey's for many years. I count February 2004 as my vegan-versary because it was the first year I did NOT eat any Hershey's on Valentine's Day.

As my diet changed and improved, my cravings for chocolate and ice cream died down considerably. This doesn't mean that I don't EVER crave chocolate (because I do), but it's not nearly as frequent nor severe as it was in my youth. (I find that I very rarely crave ice cream-type desserts, but when it strikes, I am a fan of Temptation soy ice cream and Purely Decadent's coconut milk line.)

Still, who doesn't love a good candy bar from time to time? (Maybe a ROBOT.)

While sampling Go Max Go's candy bars, I was slightly surprised at which one ended up being my favorite. Let's go through Exhibits A-D, shall we?

Up first, the Buccaneer bar (a nod to the Tampa Bay Bucs, by chance?)

Described as containing "chocolatey nougat" with a "rice-milk chocolatey coating," this was my least favorite of the bars. It's good, don't get me wrong, but it's a bit too plain for me. If you like no-frills, chewy chocolate, this is your bar. (And when I say chewy, I mean CHEWY! My jaw got quite a work out.)



Exhibit B: The Twilight Bar

"Caramel, chocolatey nougat, rice milk chocolatey coating"

Twilight is a step up from Buccaneer. That gooey layer of caramel adds more substance to the bar. It's also not quite as jaw-breakingly chewy as the Buccaneer. We're getting warmer.

Exhibit C: Jokerz bar

"caramel, peanuts, nougat, rice-milk chocolatey coating" - the vegan version of a Snickers bar. Call me crazy, but I was never a big fan of Snickers in my pre-vegan days. Still, I enjoyed this bar quite a bit because it had a variety of ingredients: crunchy peanuts, gooey caramel, fluffy nougat, and of course, chocolate.


Exhibit D: My favorite, Mahalo

This is the vegan version of an Almond Joy. I hated Almond Joys as a kid, which is why it's somewhat surprising to me that the Mahalo is my favorite of the 4 flavors. (It's not a huge surprise, though, as I've grown to love coconut over the last couple of years.) Whether you were a fan of Almond Joys or not, this is a delightful candy bar.

"coconut, almonds, rice-milk chocolatey coating"
The coconut is creamy, the rice-milk chocolate is perfect, but just like an Almond Joy, the Mahalo is stingy on the nuts. Seriously?! The nuts are the best part of ANY candy! Bring 'em on!

Still, despite its nut limitations, this is a fantastic candy bar!

These Go Max Go bars are not for the faint of heart. They are heavy duty candy bars. They all contain corn syrup, beet sugar, AND evaporated cane juice. I found that these bars can go a long way, though; these bars can easily provide 2-3 servings, they're so rich and sweet. If you have a slight sweet tooth, these bars will go far for you. If you have a massive sweet tooth, you'd probably knock out a bar in one sitting. Either way, everyone wins.

You have the opportunity to find out for yourself by entering to win one of EACH of these bars. That's right: 1 Buccaneer, 1 Twilight, 1 Jokerz, and 1 Mahalo could be yours!

To enter, comment on this entry with which Go Max Go bar sounds the best to you.

Extra entries
Leave a separate comment for each & any of the following that you do:
* Follow Hungry Vegan Traveler via Google Connect
* Like Hungry Vegan Traveler on Facebook
* Blog about this giveaway and comment with a link
* Add Hungry Vegan Traveler to your blog roll

(This giveaway is limited to participants in the USA.)

Get your comments in -- I'll randomly draw the winner on Thursday, December 16th!

Manatees Crossing

In the 10 years that I previously lived in Florida, I never spotted a manatee in the wild. Seems kind of strange, since I've always lived near the water, but yet it's true. Now that I'm back in Florida for Round Two, I made it one of my (many) goals to find them. Last weekend, I took a slight detour to the Manatee Viewing Center in the hopes of spotting a sea cow.


That sign pretty much shows you all that you can see of the manatees, and more than what I was able to capture with my simple point-and-shoot camera, as evidenced by the following pictures.
There should have been a flipper here.

And a snout here.

Probably another flipper here.

You get the idea.

Manatees don't leap and flip like dolphins, so the best view I could get of their whole selves was when they hovered very, very closely to the surface.

I caught a snout!

What's up with the brown squiggles across the water?, you ask. They're reflections of these unhealthy-looking things.

After just a few more attempts of trying to capture some manatee action with my camera, I gave up and just hung over the railing of the walkway, waiting for more snouts and flippers to pop out of the water. It was a nice, sunny day, and it was a time and a place where it just didn't matter whether or not I got any decent pictures. It just mattered that I was there, in the sun, on the water, watching manatees bob and float and peek out of the water. I was content (almost as content as a manatee).


Now to find some wild dolphins...

Choose Your Own (Cutting Board) Adventure

When I moved from Missouri to Florida, I only took what would fit in my little 2-door car. If that sounds like a lot of room, maybe it is for you. For me, it was pretty cozy.


When it came time to pack up, I couldn't believe how much STUFF I had. It was actually kind of disgusting. I have a personal mission to not let so many THINGS crowd up my life any more. Aside from the necessities, if I'm not going to wear it or eat it, I'm not buying it!

Now when I say "necessities," I include kitchen ware. I love cooking, therefore certain kitchen accessories are actually necessities for me. Once I get my life in order, I look forward to having my own well-stocked, totally vegan kitchen. Nice knives, a good blender, sophisticated glasses, all of my grains and beans and such in attractive glass containers, a big glass pitcher (I have a thing for glass, if you couldn't tell), a dishwasher (all of my Future Kitchen Dreams have one), and wooden cutting boards.

In addition to glass, I have a thing for wood, too.

A wooden cutting board is something I've been missing a lot lately. The kitchen that I share with three fabulous people only has one little plastic board, which I end up using at least once a day, and it's just not as great as good ol' fashioned wood. With this dream in mind, I started to look around the CSN Stores sites for ideas/visions. (You may recall I've hosted a couple of CSN giveaways in the past, but for you new folks, CSN hosts many different sites where you can find anything from office supplies, TV tables, rugs, luggage, jewelry, and my favorite, cookware.) I found some pretty sassy cutting boards there.
A circular cutting board seems impractical in a sense, but they're quite attractive none the less.


This prep board is also pretty.


This one is probably the most practical of the ones I like...


while this one is probably the better deal (2 for 1!).


Life is full of hard decisions, eh? Well, once I figure out what wooden cutting board route to take, you can expect a review. (But the sooner I decide, the better, so feedback is welcome!)

What are YOUR kitchen necessities?

Moving on, I apologize for the lack of content lately. It felt really weird to not be blogging on the daily, as I did for Vegan MoFo, but then it became quite cold down here in Florida (yes, it gets cold down here, too!), and I just can't fully function when it's this cold. I'm hoping for a bit of a heatwave, then once my creativity thaws out, I'll have lots to share with you.

Return of the Guac*

* Not to be confused with "Return of the Mack." (I warned you: I don't mess around with my '80s and '90s music.)

A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about the Large Florida Avocado that a friend and I tried to take down. Well, round two happened yesterday! This time I turned to two of my roomies for guacamole-eating assistance. They happily accepted the challenge.

I buy these avocados not-quite-rock hard and let them ripen on the counter. It's too risky to buy soft avocados at the store. (I learned this after purchasing many a ripe avocado, only to open them and find bruised, less tasty avocado innards.)


More than a handful!


Did I mention that these avocados are also called "slimcados?" According to their sticker, they have 30% less fat than regular avocados. I can't tell a difference in taste. If anything, these giant 'cados just might be creamier.

Here's a bowlful of chunks from one large Florida avocado.


I've always made guacamole with just a fork, but this time, a potato masher made things quicker and easier (though I still had avocado mush rising up over the sides of the bowl).


Unfortunately, there was no lemon juice to be found in the communal fridge, and I didn't purchase any fresh cilantro, but I still made a decent bowl of guac with cracked black pepper, garlic, and a little bit of cumin and coriander.


This made for many servings. It took 24 hours for all of the guacamole to be finished. My roomies did a commendable job.

How do you season your guac?