Category Archives: Thoughts & Sharing

Spread the Restaurant Review

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Whenever I travel for business, I try to go to a vegetarian restaurant every time. I like to find unique and local vegetarian cuisine. This time, I selected Spread in San Diego, California. I’ve categorized my feedback into chucks for you…

FOOD:
All their food is from local farmers markets and such, much of which is organic. love the concept and idea that everything is local/organic/etc. And I love that the menu changes with the seasons.  They had a reasonable selection of both vegetarian and vegan options. Continue reading →

Extraordinary Desserts Review

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Extraordinary Desserts

If you’ve never been to San Diego, California,  you need to plan a trip – stat. If for no other reason than to visit this darling dessert shop.  They have two locations in the San Diego area. I visited the one on 5th Street, right next to Balboa Park and right next to Nature-Express, a fascinating little vegetarian restaurant. (Unfortunately, I didn’t get to eat there since I had just come from another veg place across town. Had I known, I would have planned that one a little better).

Located in a cute cottage style house with both indoor and outdoor seating, this place is a little taste of heaven. I think I committed every single one of the 7 deadly sins just walking in and eating here!

Continue reading →

My review of Texas Roadhouse

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There’s a new Texas Roadhouse in a neighboring town and my husband (meat eater) really wanted to check it out. I normally don’t have a problem with steak houses in general since I am usually happy to have a baked potato and side salad and call it a night.  So, I went along with it.

Overall, the service was good, atmosphere fun and lively. But for a vegetarian? Not good. I just have to spread the news to all my vegetarian friends…

VEGETARIANS BEWARE!!! I was excited that they had a “country veg plate” (where you get a choice of 4 sides) that I was thinking would be perfect for me, the vegetarian. I assumed the green beans would probably be cooked in bacon, so I thought I’d ask just to make find out for sure what was vegetarian and what was not. So, I asked the waitress if any of the sides had meat products in them.

Thankfully, our waitress was very honest (not all would be so honest, I doubt). She informed me that almost all of their veggie dishes have meat products in them!!!

  • Mashed potatoes and seasoned rice are both cooked in chicken broth.
  • Baked sweet potatoes are rolled in bacon grease.
  • Baked white potatoes are rolled in bacon grease.
  • Green beans have bacon.
  • Baked beans have ham.

That leaves just the house salad, mixed vegetables and apple sauce as meat free options (I’m not sure about the steak fries – I didn’t ask).  Even the house salad has eggs and cheese on it (which you can request to leave off if you don’t eat those products) and the vegetables have butter (which you can request to leave off, also). There were no other options for vegetarians, except maybe mac and cheese on the kids’ menu, but who knows… That might have bacon or ham in it, too.

I was HIGHLY disappointed – especially since I was so starving.

(My) Kitchenaid Juicer

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Friends gave me about 15 lemons from their uncle’s tree.
I juiced them on a borrowed Kitchenaid Juicer attachment.
(Thanks, sis!)

In no time, I had 2 full cups of beautiful, fresh juice.
Which I promptly put in muffin tins to freeze.
(I don’t have cube trays)

I LOVE the attachment.
I might need to keep it for myself so I can have fresh citrus all the time.

Trader Joe’s Peach Mango Gel Cups

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I miss Jello… I don’t know what it is about the gelatin0-filled product, but I just miss having a little sweet gel snacks on occasion. Finding gelatin-free products has always been a challenge, but there are a few alternatives out there, but nothing that really “works”, if you know what I mean.

Until now! I just found my favorite Trader Joe’s is now selling Gel Cups made with carrageenan, a gelatinous algea extract. I picked up the Peach Mango flavor. They actually taste pretty good. They’re a bit puckery sweet, but they still make a pretty decent snack! I think they also have a Strawberry flavor. That’s next on my list. You should try it.

Onion Goggles

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I cry like a baby every time I start cutting onions. Some are more potent than others, but almost all of them make me cry to a certain degree. I’m lucky if I can roughly chop them much less ‘mince’ or do whatever else my recipes call for.

My sis and I discovered Onion Goggles when we were at a kitchen store the other day. For a whopping $20, we thought it was a bit outrageous just to prevent some tears while chopping. Especially when we had the idea that all you really need is some sort of sealing eyewear. Most likely you have something in your home already and don’t realize it.

Swim goggles!

You can usually pick up a really cheap pair somewhere like target or a multi-pack at Costco. I tried it a week ago with the goggles I had stashed with all my other swim stuff. Works like a charm!  I now have those goggles stashed with my kitchen tools.

Tagged

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I was tagged by Paper Envy, so I’ll play along… :)

The rules:

  1. Link to the person that tagged you
  2. Post the rules on your blog
  3. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself
  4. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs
  5. Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.
  6. Let your tagger know when your entry is up.

6 things about myself:

  1. I wish I loved tofu more than I do. It has to be made “just right” for me to truly enjoy and like it.
  2. Aside for my picky-ness with tofu, there aren’t many foods I don’t like (with the exception of meat, of course). But one of them is rice. Pretty bad for someone married to a Filipino!
  3. My husband is not vegetarian and doesn’t like veggies, which makes for interesting meals around our house! I do all my food experiments on my sister.
  4. I think my sister is a better cake/cookie/cupcake decorator than me.
  5. I secretly wish I was a gourmet vegetarian cook and baker who had her own shop. Maybe some day…

I’m not going to tag anyone, but if you want to play along, jump on in!

Fall recipes I want to try

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Carrot Persimmon Cupcakes

These are from the brand new blog I Dream of Dessert by the same author as the recently closed blog “Cupcake Blog”. I’m glad they opened a new blog since making the decision to stop blogging at the cupcake blog spot. The recipes are unique and the photos are beautiful. I can’t wait to see what new creations they come up with next.

Seitan Roulade with Chestnut Stuffing

From the VeganYumYum blog, I wish I was a guest at their house this Thanksgiving! This recipe makes the perfect turkey alternative. It looks amazing. If I had more time this Thanksgiving, I would have definitely tried it. Maybe next year!

Nikki’s Sweet Potatoes

I’m 95% sure I’m going to make these from 101 Cookbooks for our Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. They look amazing. I can imagine the coconut milk, macadamias and ginger are the perfect compliment to the sweet potatoes.

Pumpkin Twinkies with Meyer Lemon Filling

I have a soft spot for the Hostess Twinkie. I’m not entirely sure why, considering the thing is nearly indestructible and the worst thing in the world for one to consume considering all the horrible ingredients. But that aside, the concept of a cake filled with some yummy cream is defintely something up my alley. I think of it as a rectangular filled cupcake with no frosting. These pumpkin twinkies sound great and filled with a zing of meyer lemon cream filling… Yum.

Vegetable Lasagna with Goat Cheese

I love goat cheese. I’ve found it compliments a great number of dishes from sweet to savory and this lasagna with all kinds of vegetables and goat cheese would make a great cold night, hearty meal.

Vegetarian Fish Sauce

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Fish sauce is a key ingredient in almost all Thai recipes and many southeastern Asian recipes. Fish sauce is used as seasoning not unlike salt and pepper are used in American dishes. Without this key ingredient, often the dishes lack authentic fullness of flavor. Of course, this causes a problem for the vegetarians.

There is a vegetarian alternative. When bought, it’s usually made with soy beans,salt, sugar, water, chili and citric acid. You can find bottles of it in Asian markets – especially Vietnamese markets. I’ve heard if the store doesn’t carry it, often the owners can order it for you, so go ahead and ask if you don’t see it. (Don’t you love how they spelled “Vegetarien”?)

If you’re feeling more crafty, you can make your own at home.

Vegetarian Fish Sauce Recipe

  • 1 1/2 cup shredded dried seaweed
  • 4 cups water
  • 3 very large cloves garlic, crushed but not peeled.
  • 1 1/2 tbsp. black peppercorns
  • 1/2 cup dark Chinese soy sauce
  • Extra boiling water as needed
  1. Place the seaweed in a pot and add 4 cups of water.
  2. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to keep it bubbling along.
  3. Cook for 20 minutes.
  4. Add the rest of the ingredients and enough water to make about 6 cups total in the pot.
  5. Bring back to a boil, then boil fairly high for at least 1/2 hour.
  6. At that point, begin to taste (just a little, though–it’s strong).
  7. When the stock is reduced by about half, it will be almost too salty to eat, and that means it is ready.
  8. Strain through fine mesh or a coffee filter and allow to cool.

Now, you can enjoy authentic tasting dishes at home – stir fries, soups, pad thai – that stuff is so good!