A VeganMoFo Kitchen Sink-Style Entry

I'm still sick, so today's entry is going to be as jumbled as my thoughts and movements this week.

Have you tried these Tempt frozen dessert bars? I've only had the coffee flavor, but it's good! They're SUPER creamy, which I love.

I don't like coffee as a drink, but I make exceptions for certain coffee flavored foods from time to time.

I wish I had some of these right now. This cold has me craving cold, sweet foods. (With my last cold, all I wanted was hummus. HUMMUS ON EVERYTHING!)

When I spotted these dark chocolate peanut butter cups at Laguardia airport earlier this month, I did not hesitate to snatch them up. Chocolate + peanut butter = crazy delicious

I don't feel the need to really describe these, as they are pretty much perfect.

I don't buy into the whole "SOY IS EVIL" argument. I love tofu and many other soy products. However, I'm not married to soy, and I'm always eager to try new things, such as this almond-based yogurt.

I admit, I was also drawn to this product because it kind of sounds like my name. And also because of this...

:)

Let me forewarn you that this food requires a LOT of stirring.

Keeeeeeeeeeep stirring...

There you go!

It looks chunky, but it's actually little almond bits and raspberry chunks. Good stuff!

Well, folks -- this is the best I can do. I promise, more interesting entries are on the way, as I am on the mend. Big stuff is still ahead for this month, so please stay tuned.

Simon Says, Eat Fudge

Just a few weeks before my best friend's baby was born, I met up with her and her husband in Sarasota (about an hour-ish south of Tampa) for dinner. We started out at Bangkok for some delicious Thai food. I ordered the tofu in brown garlic sauce.

(I was the only vegan at the table, so no other meals were photographed.)

After awhile at Bangkok, we migrated our chit-chat session to Simon's Coffee House. I had heard that this place was vegan-friendly (and even offered raw options), but I never made it over there to check it out in person. We got there just an hour before closing. I ordered the iced matcha green tea

and the amazing, chocolaty and so-very-decadent vegan fudge.

I especially loved this with little nibbles of fresh orange and mint.

Along the left-hand side of their website, you'll see their different menus, which includes a vegan/vegetarian and a raw section. I look forward to returning to Simon's to check out their other vegan options.

Late Night Taco Bus Stop

Earlier this year, I blogged about my visit to Taco Bus, a well-known and much-loved taco establishment in the Tampa Bay area. (Click that link for pictures and my story of barely crossing the language barrier.) This past July, I was helping a friend/former co-worker clean and pack up for her big move out West. At 4am, tired and hot and sweaty, we found ourselves hungry as well. 4am is a wonderful time for a ride to the Taco Bus!

The first time I ate at Taco Bus, I had my hands full with a giant, filling tofu burrito. I hadn’t been to Taco Bus for several months at this point, so I was pleasantly surprised to find a big sign on the bus, declaring that they now offered tempeh. I had to try something tempeh-esque, so I went with a tempeh tostada and their butternut squash tostada.

The tempeh was crumbled, where I was expecting strips (much like tempeh bacon or something similar). I was hoping it would be saucier, but this was still a fun option. The butternut squash tostada was a beautiful specimen. Look at the colors! It tasted colorful, too – nice and light and flavorful. It was like a taste of autumn in the summertime.

Taco Bus will be at the 2nd Annual Tampa Bay Veg Fest, THIS SATURDAY!

A Vegan MoFo Miracle!

Just yesterday, I broke the sad news to you that my beloved Kaleisia Tea Lounge added chicken to their previously all-veg menu. Some friends and I had expressed our disappointment on their Facebook page, and Kaleisia had reassured us that they would keep the chicken stuff away from the veg stuff. Then this morning, I received texts from both Lisa AND Amber that Kaleisia had taken the chicken off their menu! Kaleisia posted this on Facebook:

Thank you for voicing your concerns. We greatly value our community's input and have removed the grilled chicken sandwich. Our menu will continue from now on as 100% vegan/vegetarian.

HOW AWESOME IS THAT?? Kaleisia has totally earned their cool points back. Kaleisia is such a fun, unique, welcoming place that stands apart from any other tea or coffee place in Tampa. I love their atmosphere, I love the events they host (they're behind the recently-formed Tampa Free Skool), and of course, I love their veg*n menu. I was so disappointed when I heard they added meat to their menu because it felt like they were kind of selling out, when all along, they stood above the rest in their awesomeness.

So THANK YOU, Kaleisia, for continuing to be veg-friendly, for truly listening to your customers, and for continuing to stand apart from the mainstream. It is truly appreciated.

Happy Birthday to Me!

It's my birthday today! This means I am not promising a very substantial MoFo post. Not only am I sick AND working today, but it's raining like crazy outside. I actually don't mind the rain, though. When I was growing up in Connecticut, most of my birthdays were rainy. The only thing missing are the autumn leaves, but I'm quite fond of palm trees, too.

On Friday I cashed in my free birthday meal at Moe's Southwest Grill. I got the usual: the tofu rice bowl. Not the prettiest dish you've ever seen, I'm sure, but free food is automatically beautiful, amirite?

The green tomatilla salsa is the BEST. Chock full o' cilantro-y goodness.

Yesterday, Lisa and I met up for tea at Kaleisia. We split a carafe of their PHENOMENAL iced soy pumpkin chai latte. You can taste and feel and SEE the pumpkin in it!

I have some sad news about my beloved tea lounge, though. What I always loved about Kaleisia is that they're super veg-friendly. Their small food menu was all vegan, and they offered cow's milk (as well as soy) for their drinks and the majority of their baked goods had dairy and eggs, but they were always a meat-free cafe. Until recently. Now, all of a sudden, they're serving FRIED CHICKEN. I was so disappointed when I read this on their Facebook page, and I'm still disappointed. They lost a billion cool points with that decision. I realize that they are still veg-friendly, but now they're not as friendly.

Moving on.

Next was the monthly vegan buffet at Trang Viet Cuisine. I totally forgot to take pictures, but the offerings were pretty much the usual. For me, the soup and rolls are the best. My dinner at Trang was also free, as they do complimentary meals for your birthday, and they're closed today. Score! My buddy Amber (who blogs at Zombie Cats Eating Plants) and I share a birthday, so we both scored free birthday meals last night.

From there, a group of us went to the Improv theater in Ybor City, as a friend had free tickets. Little-known stand-up comics can be a little iffy -- they're often a bit too sexist or prejudice for me to find funny, but other than a couple offensive (to me) jokes, the opener and headliner were pretty funny. There were a few moments when I could barely breathe because I was laughing so hard, so that's always a good sign. Plus, the headliner - Godfrey - has been on 30 Rock, so this brings me a little closer to Tina Fey.

After the show and parting ways with the group, I dashed over to the Orpheum and was able to catch the last half of the Mates of State show, which was lovely and made me feel warm and fuzzy, which was nice after scurrying through the rain.

I'm so glad I didn't miss this song, as it holds a special place in my heart.


And then this morning, I woke up barely breathing, this time from congestion, so I just laid in bed for awhile, listening to the rain. I pushed myself out of bed and made a birthday cake for myself because I'm pretty sure it's bad luck to NOT have cake on your birthday. I used this basic Gluten Free Pantry brand of cake mix that I had on hand and added chocolate chips.

Batter up!

While it cooled, I whipped up just enough peanut butter frosting: peanut butter, melted Earth Balance, trickle of vanilla extract, and some confectioner's sugar. I didn't use any precise measurements; I just added until the consistency was right.

And here's my quick and easy birthday cake / breakfast!

And since it's my birthday, I'm going to shamelessly plug my blog's Facebook page. Go ahead and give it a like! It's another way to stay up to date on my blog posts (another option is following with Google Connect), plus I share other fun links, videos, pictures, and other goodies from time to time over there.

What did you do over the weekend? Who else has a birthday during Vegan MoFo?

Petra-fied Vegans!

The same day Lisa and I checked out the vegan offerings at Mojo, we also stopped by Petra, a Middle Eastern restaurant and grocery on Busch Boulevard. I'm telling you, distributing VegFest fliers really works up an appetite! (Or maybe that's a cover up -- I just really love food.)

Lisa and I split the vegetarian platter (which happens to be all vegan).

Falafel, dolmades, cucumber-tomato salad, hummus, and babaganoush. While the textures of both the hummus and babaganoush were delightfully creamy and smooth, they were lacking in flavor. The cucumber salad added a nice, cool crispness to the platter, but the stars of the show were definitely the dolmades (stuffed grape leaves) and falafel.

We already decided that next time one of us will order the dolmades platter and the other will get the falafel.

Middle Eastern restaurants are super veg-friendly! What is your favorite Middle Eastern dish?

Psst... Tonight (October 8th) is the Monthly Vegan Buffet at Trang Viet Cuisine. The buffet offerings are usually hit or miss, but it's always fun to gather with a bunch of local vegans and veg-food lovers. I highly recommend the soups and rolls, though.

Vegan Mojo at Mojo Books & Music

Those of you who have been reading this ol' blog for awhile may recall the vegan bake sale I participated in back in April. It was held at Mojo Books & Music in Tampa near USF, inside their not-yet-fully-opened new location. Our bake sale was a huge success and we had a wonderful turn-out and response from the public.

Mojo has been in their new store location for a few months now, and they have a coffee bar now. My pal, Lisa and I were distributing VegFest flyers one afternoon and we made a point to swing by Mojo.

We were happy to find a couple of vegan treats in their baked goods case! The barista told me they were made by Loving Hut.

Decisions, decisions... We decided to split a brownie, and then I practically squealed when I spotted this little sign.

I'm a sucker for sweet, fruity teas. We each ordered one of these.

This was definitely sweet, but not as limey or fruity as I had hoped. We made a lot of pea (flower) jokes, though.

The brownie was pretty good. It was your average brownie. It could've used some nuts or peanut butter or something. (I'm always encouraging the union of chocolate and nuts, though.) Call me bias, but I think we sold better brownies at our bake sale. ;)

Is there a Loving Hut in your city? How do you like it?

Did you participate in this year's World Wide Vegan Bake Sale?