A Veggie Girl (and her cat!)

Blog on leave of absence... June 12th

2011-06-12T17:09:00.006-04:00

I just don't have the time or energy to blog anymore with everything I have going on. What used to be a fun thing for me has now just become one more "chore" to do! :( So I'm putting the blog on hold until I can devote more time to it again! I don't know for how long, but I do appreciate all the support and friends I've made along the way in the blogging community! I can't believe it's been OVER 2 years since I've started this blog (back on May 30th 2009!).

But, you can continue to follow my new career here, and I may decide to start the blog up again at a later date! And I again, thanks for all the support!!

May Recap! May 26th

2011-05-26T21:48:00.014-04:00

I've been so busy with my new real estate career, I haven't had time for much else. I do miss having the free time, but I am grateful to actually have a job now when so many people don't! Anyways, here's what's been going on outside of work!

I found a good asian restaurant near my job called Fusia Asian Cuisine (at 56th & Lexington). I've gone there 3 times already since starting my job 2 weeks ago! And here are my 3 lunches:

Miso soup and udon noodles with veggies and tofu (you get a choice of free miso soup or soda with their lunch special).

The next time I went in I didn't get a lunch special because I wanted to try their spring rolls and steamed mushroom dumplings!

They were quite good and I'll definitely be getting them again.

The third time I was in a rush and desperately need the caffeine, so I got a coke along with their fried rice with vegetables and I had them put tofu in it (rule of thumb for fellow veggies-- always get your protein in with your meals for energy!!).

This fried rice, while nowhere's near as healthy as my beloved Wild Ginger, was still REALLY good. Some of the best I've had (and at least they put a lot of veggies in it!).

Luckily the other day I was still able to squeeze in a lunch with Melissa at Sea Thai too! :)

I got the usual of course... spring rolls & broad rice noodles with tofu.

Then last weekend my mom and I went upstate with my uncle to visit my grandparents. I got to see my beloved Mae too. :)

My mom, grandma, and I got to go out to one of my favorite places Upstate called Fo'Castle Farm. They have both a really nice store and restaurant.

I got my usual lunch there... swiss cheese sandwich, chips, pickle, and pink lemonade.

I also got some of their chocolate chip cookies to go which were SPECTACULAR! Seriously some of the best cookies I've ever eaten (despite how plain they look!).

And in their store I got something for Peanut (I'm a typical guilty parent the second I leave him and have to bring him home something! lol).

Meet Rodney, a cute little hamster/gerbil toy! :)

And speaking of Peanut... he has been his usual adorable self!

I will try to update the blog when I can still... I've already tried a few more places by my job and by various leasing offices that I will be blogging about in the near future, so stay tuned!

Happy Mother's Day! May 8th

2011-05-08T16:50:00.007-04:00

I hope everyone is enjoying the day with their mom! But first in other news, I've passed both my real estate exams on the first try and will start working this week! :) So I'm going to be a lot busier now, but will try to squeeze in blogging when I can!

My mom and I went to brunch today, rather than dinner (which we normally do). We decided to go to Omonia Cafe, which I'd been to once before and liked. One of the reasons I like it is because it's such a good value! For $12.95 you get...

Choice of 2 beverages, one alcoholic and non-alcoholic (I got an apple juice and a screwdriver), entree of your choice (I got the strapatsada again)...

and an amazing dessert! This time I tried the "amygdalou" (which is an almond creme cake), while my mom got the strawberry shortcake (which I got last time).

Yesterday while running errands I stumbled upon the best pizza place yet in Astoria! It's called Dino's and it's at 30th & Broadway. Next time we'll definitely be ordering from them!

And of course, even though I'm not a "real" mother yet, I am a "kitty mother" lol, so this day DOES have some special meaning to me!

Peanut may look cute, but he can be a handful... like when he "blackmails" me. How, you ask? Let me explain...

I may have brought this up before, but sometimes when Peanut wants my attention and I'm busy doing something else, he'll deliberately "threaten" to bite my computer wires! He's actually done it before too and he knows it makes me really mad!

But generally he's a good boy. He's very quiet and most of the time he just goes about his business, like...

Playing on the back of the toilet seat (chasing his tail mostly)...

Playing in paper bags...

And of course, cat napping!

He can get grumpy if I disturb him! lol

But I did force him to take a "mommy and me" picture today! :)

Happy Mother's Day!

Time Flies... April 30th

2011-04-30T20:09:00.013-04:00

I can't believe it was two years ago yesterday that we got Peanut! And to refresh your memory, Peanut got his name because he was this small when we got him (and weighed less than a pound at nearly 7 weeks!):

But he's grown up to be a big boy!

(Getting a chin rub!)

I've been very busy lately with my real estate course, but I have gotten some good eats in...

The other day I went to one of the only good Thai restaurants in Astoria, called ThreeE on Broadway (b/w 34th & 35th st.). It really reminds me a lot of Spice, Sea Thai, etc. and I'm able to get really good pad see ew there (which is broad rice noodles with tofu in a black soy sauce-- one of my favorite dishes).

(It's on a leaf plate, so kind of hard to see.)

The only annoying thing is that nowhere in Astoria can I find really good lunch deals. For example, you can't get a free appetizer like spring rolls with your lunch. You'd think prices would be much better in Astoria, but not really!

But when I was in Manhattan the other day I stopped by my favorite authentic chinese restaurant, Suzie's (in the village).

Talk about a deal for a lunch special! You get all this food for around $7!!!

Vegetarian wonton soup.

Bean curd home style (which is basically tofu) with vegetable fried rice and veggie egg roll.

And today I went to a new brunch spot in Astoria with Melissa called Pomme Cafe (at 38th & Broadway) and we really enjoyed it.

They start you off with complementary croissants with nutella, yum!

And their pre-fixe brunch for $14 including choice of drinks... I got a mimosa and an apple cinnamon spice tea.

For my entree I got their omelette with gruyere cheese and zucchini (Melissa and I both got egg white omlettes), and this came with home fries and toast. It's funny, this is actually a picture of Melissa's dish because she got her omelette with goat cheese instead, and once I took a bite of hers I realized they had given us the wrong dishes, so we had to switch them! lol

Overall we really liked Pomme Cafe. It's a classy spot in Astoria and we'd go back again.

It looks like it's going to be a VERY busy May, so I won't get much time for blogging, but I'll try to when I can! Unfortunately I don't have this guy's schedule...

Happy Easter! April 24th

2011-04-24T20:52:00.007-04:00

Hope everyone had a good Easter! I just spent mine at home with mom and Peanut. Peanut was pretty tired this morning... I think he was up all night waiting for the Easter Bunny! ;)

Oh and he likes sleeping in his carrier. His carrier is like his own room! lol

Now on to the Easter eats!

My chocolate bunny (a baby/mini one).

Leftover pizza from last night... we ordered in from Astoria Pizza (and I think this is the best pizza place I've found since moving to Astoria... their delivery is good too!).

Deviled eggs (not all of them, but this is the lovely tray mom made).

For dinner we made a pasta with artichoke dish (you can see the recipe here).

And of course, cheesecake! (See my recipe here.)

Ok, just a brief update today. I'm working on finishing my real estate course and have the exams to pass in early May. But please comment and let me know how you guys have been doing!! :)

News & Life Changes... April 12th

2011-04-12T21:34:00.016-04:00

A LOT has been happening lately. For starters, I had to bring Peanut in for his yearly check-up early (he's not due until June but I brought him in late last week), because he got a stye under his eye that had to be looked at. You can see it slightly here:

Luckily Dr. Sane was able to give him an anti-biotic shot (because his stye got infected) that should get rid of it within a few weeks, instead of having to give him eye drops or worse still, having it surgically removed.

Peanut has been doing fine otherwise (as you can see with the way he's grinning while he sleeps!).

He was a very good boy at the vet and doesn't mind car trips at all, which is one of the reasons why we didn't change vets just because we moved. In fact, he slept like a baby most of the way back & forth! But as a little treat, I picked Peanut up a new toy at Petco today. :)

It's this cute little parrot with a feather tail and it makes a tweeting sound. He seems to be very fascinated by it.

Sunday I was meeting a fan of my blog who also lives in Astoria in Union Square. And out of nowhere, I met a fellow blogger who I've talked with but never met, who lives across the country! Jaclyn (Justjac) came up to me while I was waiting to meet my other friend, and we recognized one another right away! One thing that blogging has taught me is that it really is a small world! (And I felt like a celebrity being recognized like that! lol)

Anyways, while I was in Union Square running some errands, I stopped for brunch at the Blue Water Grill. Their restaurant is pricy, but they have good brunch deals. Here's what you get for free:

(Tasty bread and drink of your choice- I chose orange juice.)

For my entree I got an egg white omelette with veggies and home fries.

I had a meeting today (which I'll go into more in a minute), and afterwards I had lunch at Zen Palette (which was close by, off Park Ave).

I ordered wonton soup...

and their portobello mushroom burger with yam fries.

Both things lacked flavor and reminded me why I've always felt that Zen Palette does not come close to the caliber of other vegetarian/vegan restaurants in this city! I have to give them credit though, they were one of the first of their kind, but now so many places have really outdone them by leaps and bounds!

And today brings about some other news... I'm working on a major career change myself and have decided to go into real estate. This is mainly because it's one of the only real job opportunities that have come up for me. So over the next few weeks I'll be working on getting my real estate license. I had a meeting with the head of a real estate company today who offered to sponsor me. So that's where my focus is going to be indefinitely I guess! But I will try to blog when I can... Life is a funny thing, you never know where it will take you.

The Veg Food Festival that wasn't.... April 3rd

2011-04-03T18:06:00.013-04:00

Ok, so before I explain the title of this post, let me start out by apologizing for my absence (again). But I have a lot of catching up to do after this weekend!

So yesterday my friend Melissa and I tried out a new brunch spot in Astoria called Omonia Cafe. I had walked by this place the previous weekend and was intrigued when I saw their brunch menu. You get SO much for your money, which is always a bonus! So this weekend we checked it out and here's what I got (all for $12.95, their pre-fixe brunch rate):

Choice of beverage (I chose orange juice).

Choice of alcoholic beverage (I got a screwdriver which was very watered down, as was Melissa's mimosa).

Choice of entree (I got the "strapatsada" which is scrambled eggs with tomatoes, feta cheese, and oregano, served with pita bread).

(Melissa got this as well and we both thought it was delicious!)

And finally, choice of dessert (I got the strawberry shortcake, which was as good as it looks!).

So overall we really liked it and would definitely go back... their desserts alone are reason enough!

Now, on to today's fiasco... I have been looking forward to NYC's first ever Vegetarian Food Festival for weeks (as I blogged about last time) and had planned to meet up with some friends (and fellow bloggers) there. I was the first of my friends to arrive a little after 11:30 this morning, and I saw a line bigger than anything I had ever seen in my life! You can imagine my shock and horror when I realized that THIS was the line just to get in the food festival!!!!! (So much for our ecomony being on an up-swing! It reminded me of a great depression bread line, albeit slightly more cheery than that). No one could have EVER predicted this kind of turn-out for a vegetarian food festival, which is why admission was free and there were no tickets (note to whoever runs this event, MAKE PEOPLE BUY TICKETS NEXT YEAR!!!!!!!). I mean literally everyone and their brother was there, to the point where it looked like an American Idol audition or something!

So, I used some quick thinking and high-tailed it out of there down to Sacred Chow! I KNEW it would be empty, since every vegetarian in the city was standing outside the food festival, and I was SO RIGHT! Sacred Chow was literally EMPTY, which is unheard of on a Sunday. It was great because I had the restaurant all to myself, got my food right away, and it was nice and quiet! Luckily I was able to warn some of my friends away from the food festival (if they didn't want to stand on a 2 or 3 HOUR line and wait all day to eat!!).

So I got my usual tofu scramble....

And after all that aggravation, no plate of food ever looked so beautiful in my entire life! I left completely happy and satisfied, and the waitress thanked me profusely for coming! :)

Btw, I knew that Sacred Chow was going to be AT the food festival, which is one of the reasons I wanted to go, but luckily I still got their amazing food and I didn't have to stand in an enormous line for it either!

As for Peanut, here are some pictures from his day to day life in the new apartment... and as you can see, he's got it rough! lol

I really do look forward to hearing how the food festival WAS from any of the brave souls that stood on that horrendous line! So please come forward and let me know. Maybe they'll handle it better next year... one can only hope!

But, every cloud has a silver lining, right? And you know what, in retrospect that huge line makes me very happy. Why? Because that means there are a LOT more veggies out there like me than I even realized! And even if all those people weren't vegetarians, I'm certain that some of them are close to "converting" or are definitely open to the idea! And that is ALWAYS a good thing. :)

Brunch & other news... March 21st

2011-03-21T18:09:00.011-04:00

On Saturday, Melissa and I got together for brunch at Athen's Cafe here in Astoria. I had been eyeing that place ever since I found out they served nutella french toast! They have a pre-fixe brunch menu, which includes your choice of drink (I chose orange juice) along with coffee or tea (I got tea). And of course for my entree, I got the nutella french toast, which looked (and tasted) fabulous!

This was really good, but I couldn't even finish it all! Melissa liked her omelette as well. The only thing we didn't like was the service (or lack of it!). But I'd definitely go back again!

Sadly Astoria is really lacking in good asian and chinese food! So when I do make it into Manhattan, I make sure to stop by my old favorites...

Like Tue Thai in the village, where I got my spring rolls & pad see ew with tofu lunch special (they really make the best pad see ew, otherwise known as, broad rice noodles here).

And Suzie's, which is also in the village, where I get their bean curd homestyle lunch special (which comes with vegetarian egg roll and wonton soup).

Mom and I also tried another pasta recipe this past week which we both really liked... Fusilli with Artichoke Hearts and Parmesan Cream (you can see the recipe here at Delish.com).

This was excellent and really easy to make! I used all organic ingredients too (and my mom, which normally frowns upon organic stuff, claiming it's just over hyped, really loved the way this came out!).

And tonight for dinner I tried Gardein's seven grain crispy tenders, which I heard great things about, but was skeptical...

I am so mad at myself because I forgot to take a picture! Although this is truly a testament to how good they really are!! I absolutely could not believe it. They blow any other vegetarian chicken nuggets out of the water! I give these my highest review EVER!

In other news, Peanut has been has been up to the usual... ever since we moved here, he keeps a constant eye on things out all the windows (something he was not used to, because our old apartment didn't have nearly as many windows, and wasn't as high up as well!).

But of course, napping is still another one of his favorite activities...

Oh, and I'm looking forward to going to the NYC Vegetarian Food Festival! It'll be my first time going to one, and it's going to be on April 3rd this year. You can get more details here!

Happy 2nd Birthday Peanut!! March 13th

2011-03-13T15:05:00.012-04:00

I can't believe my baby turns 2 today! It seems like only yesterday he was this big:

And now he's this big:

Peanut's birthday present this year was a "big boy" scratching post!

(Note that we put his beanie baby, Pellet on top to "lure" him to it! lol)

However, Peanut seemed more fascinated by the huge box it came in!

But then he decided to test it out...

And like I do on every birthday (that you can see from last year here), here are Peanut's before & after shots... I call these his "sleeping beauty" shots!

Before: May 2009

After: March 2011

It really is amazing how fast they grow! It seems like only yesterday Peanut was the SMALLEST kitten on record for his age (or so said our vet!).

And Peanut already thanks you for the birthday wishes!

Cheesecake recipe & more! March 3rd

2011-03-03T20:09:00.019-05:00

Someone asked me a while back if I could post my mom's cheesecake recipe. So I decided to get my own healthier ingredients (like organic, etc.) and make it myself!

Here's the recipe:

2 8 oz. packages of cream cheese (I used Organic Valley's brand)

1/2 cup sugar (I used Whole Foods 365 brand of organic cane sugar)

1/2 teaspoon or so of pure vanilla extract

2 eggs (I used an organic, cage free brand of eggs from Whole Foods)

9 inch graham or vanilla crust (I used the Nilla wafer brand, not exactly healthy, but good)

Basically all you have to do is let the cream cheese sit in a bowl until it's room temperature, then mix in the sugar and vanilla extract and blend with a blender. Then add the 2 eggs and blend some more. Pour it in the pie crust and bake at 350 for 40 to 50 minutes. Cool, then refrigerate for 3 hours or more before serving.

Here's the finished product:

And for the berry topping, all you have to do is slice some strawberries and mix it together with a teaspoon or so of sugar and let set in the refrigerator for a bit.

My mom and I also made a great vegan asian inspired dinner the other night. It was featured in USA Weekend not long ago, and you can see the recipe here.

This veggie lo mein has a bunch of veggies (mushrooms, red pepper, onion, etc.) in it, along with extra firm tofu cubes and thin spaghetti in a lo mein sauce that you make. And just as a side note, but the rice vinegar and toasted sesame oil are a bit hard to find... try Whole Foods, I found them there.

One of my simplest recipes I actually found on MorningStar Farms site, that you can see here. It's their maple sausage breakfast sandwich, and I laughed when I saw it because it literally is the EASIEST RECIPE IN THE WORLD!

Just take a MorningStar Farms maple sausage pattie (they make different kinds, but their maple one adds a nice flavor) and put it on bread of some sort (they show a biscuit, but I get the mini bagels and they work perfectly). You can jazz this up with a little cheese (regular or vegan), but it really is good on it's own, and it's SO easy to throw together!

Even though I live all the way in Astoria now, over 7 miles away, I still can't help but visit my beloved Wild Ginger. I went there the other day and got the usual (and the best part is, one waiter there literally just brings out my food when I come in-- I don't even have to ORDER anymore!!! That's what I call service! ;).

In other news, for my birthday I got a purse that I'd been dying to get for a while now from this great vegan handbag designer named Susan Nichole.

I'm ordinarily not even a FAN of red (as purple and blue are my favorite colors), but there is something about the color "candy apple" that I really like. The bag looks more red in my picture, but you can see what it looks like better on their site here. (I broke down and got this because it was on sale for President's Day, and since the holiday happens to be on top of my birthday, it was meant to be! :).

Speaking of birthdays, I know someone who is heading into their terrible two's....

That's right, Peanut's 2nd birthday is on the 13th, so I'll be posting more then! :)

Reviews & Recipes (February 25th)

2011-02-25T13:44:00.022-05:00

One of my resolutions this year was to cook more, specifically learn to cook vegan dishes. So I've been busy doing a lot of that lately. I also have some Lightlife products to review as well. So let's get started!

I started off by making the quiche that we had at the Lightlife event a few weeks ago, using the recipe they gave us at the event and Lightlife's Gimme Lean Sausage (which they sent me to try).

My mom and I followed the recipe exactly, but it came out a little too mushy and not solid enough, so we'll have to revise it next time. The sausage was really good however and gave the quiche a nice, flavorful taste.

The other Lightlife product I tried was their original Smart Ground crumbles (which they also sent, thanks Lightlife!).

I used this to make tacos...

In the past I had used the frozen crumbles that other brands make, but I thought this was a nice change. The Smart Ground seemed fresher than the frozen kind and tasted better. I just mixed it in with regular taco seasoning and I swear there was NO difference (this is the perfect product to "trick" your husband or boyfriend with! lol They'll never know it's not meat).

Peanut has some "product reviews" too! :) He apparently loves Newman's Own pineapple salsa! (Which is probably not good for cats, but as you can see, I let him have a taste!)

There are very few "people foods" that Peanut likes. But anything with spices or peaches he goes crazy for! Speaking of peaches, for old time sake, he still loves his Mott's peach medley apple sauce too!

(Note how I even let him eat things on my bed! I am a bad mother-- clearly. lol)

Now on to the recipes... I printed out some vegetarian recipes from EatingWell. And here's how they came out...

The first thing I tried was the Portobello "Philly Cheese Steak" Sandwich (you can see the recipe here).

This was really good and I can't wait to make it again! Although next time I won't be adding red pepper just because I'm not really a fan. And the recipe is vegan if you use vegetable broth or stock (which I did). I did use organic provolone cheese (just a bit) to melt on top like the recipe said though, but it's easy to omit if you want.

The next EatingWell recipe I tried was their Bean "Bolognese" (you can see the recipe here).

This recipe is also completely vegan if you don't put parmesan cheese on top (which I did, again an organic and rennet-less kind). This was SOOOO good. And this is an INCREDIBLY healthy dinner because you get your protein with the beans, not to mention all the veggies! Can't wait to make this one again too!

And the last recipe I tried is courtesy of Mama Pea, and that is her Italian Wedding Soup. I modified the version a bit like my fellow blogger, Gabriela did (and you can see her version here).

Basically the only difference was, Gabriela and I used Trader Joe's meatless meatballs (a favorite of mine!) instead of making our own like Mama Pea. This came out great, and I was really impressed! (The picture didn't come out that great though, but you can see how it looks and all the cooking instructions on their blogs.)

I have not given up dairy completely yet (as evidenced by the cheese I throw on top of things!) and I couldn't help but get a frozen yogurt on one of our few warmer days we had a week or two ago at Red Mango (I went to the one here in Astoria on Steinway St.).

I got my usual, a medium original with granola and strawberries.

All this food is finger lickin' good...

Or maybe Peanut just decided to clean himself instead!

If Peanut could talk he'd say, "Mom, stop embarrassing me!!!" So that's all for now!

Also, thank you for the birthday wishes on the last post! I appreciate them!

My Birthday :) February 20th

2011-02-20T23:04:00.014-05:00

It's that time of year again... my birthday! I decided to have my birthday dinner at Blossom, and I invited fellow bloggers Melissa and Shannon. Peanut was a little upset he wasn't included! lol

Earlier today I went to the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle (where they filmed one of my favorite more recent movies, Enchanted!). I did some shopping at the gigantic Whole Foods there first and got a "peach perfection" smoothie at Jamba Juice.

Then I headed over to Blossom. It never ceases to amaze me how good their food is. If I only knew their secret, I'd be the happiest vegan on the planet! :)

Melissa and I shared our appetizers because we both wanted to try more than one!

I started off by getting their porcini flutes.

And Melissa got their ravioli with cashew cream.

I really liked both, and they tasted very similar (both were mushroom filled). Don't let the green (pesto) sauce on mine scare you, it is SO good! And normally I wouldn't touch something that looked so, uh... odd!

I also got a side of their mashed potatoes, which truly was their all-star dish. I have NEVER eaten better mashed potatoes than this! It was worth the extra $6!!!

For my main course I got their lasagna. It never ceases to amaze me how good this is. You really don't miss regular cheese at all!

(Melissa took the photos of the food because her camera's flash was working better than mine. So thanks Melissa!)

And here we are at dinner!

(Our nice waiter took the photo)

Afterwards we ran into Cocoa V (Blossom's vegan dessert place across the street). I further bankrupted myself by getting a cupcake (hey, it's my birthday, and what's another $3 after what we had already spent?!).

This was really good and it was a closer vegan dessert place than Babycakes. The cupcake is chocolate and the frosting is vanilla (and my favorite color too!).

Overall, I'm okay being another year older. I'm not that old anyway. And I feel like I keep learning and growing. I'm in a better place in my life, healthier, and you know what? It shows! :)

I'm going to be doing a post on product reviews and recipes next, so more soon!

My Valentine... February 14th

2011-02-14T13:10:00.017-05:00

has fishy breath
uses fresh step
has a chubby belly
loves kibble

Yup, you guessed it!

And he is so handsome too! :) So who is your valentine?

Last weekend I had a very "Valentine's Day" brunch...

I got french toast with their homemade strawberry sauce and cream at Brick Cafe here in Astoria (it came with a side of potatoes too). All for $7! Talk about a great deal! (One of the only great deals I could find too... most restaurants here in Astoria are as expensive as Manhattan, or worse!!)

And my first Lightlife review is actually a product they didn't send me, but rather one I bought with the free coupon they gave me at the event I went to. Because I liked their mini hamburgers so much at the event, I bought a package.

And I had one of their burgers with Alexia's sweet potato fries (the new kind with sea salt and pepper). All in all I like the texture of Lightlife's burger. It's very "meaty" and filling. They are not your typical frozen burger, and you can find them in the refrigerated section.

And I swear, dairy (at least in large quantities) isn't for me. Mom made her mushroom lasagna last weekend, which was good, but upset my stomach. :(

I also tried a thai place in the area called Yajai.

I got their pad see ew with tofu. It tasted almost exactly the same as it does at Spice or Sea Thai in Manhattan. Unfortunately though, they don't give you a free appetizer, just a free soda (who needs that?!). So I've yet to try their spring rolls.

And yesterday I got a mango smoothie at a great health food store on Steinway St. called Organics For All. (The picture isn't appetizing, but the quality of the smoothie was terrific!)

I am glad that my "valentine" is adjusting well to the new apartment. He loves to look out my window...

and roll around on the floor (notice that he practically "blends in" to the floor!!)...

but his favorite of course, is his "perch" in the living room with Pellet (who recently had a bath... I like to give him one every several months because Peanut gets him so dirty!).

Happy Valentine's Day!

Lightlife Event ~ February 9th

2011-02-09T13:32:00.015-05:00

I truly owe Lightlife a lot. Not only for the lovely event that Melissa and I attended last Wednesday (Feb. 2nd), but for all the free products they've sent us (which I will be reviewing over the course of the month)! Here are some of the professional photos from the event, taken by Diane Bondareff Photography...

Melissa and I...

A very staged pic (lol) of me getting food from one of the adorable male waiters!

And here are some of my favorite foods from the event (all are vegetarian, some are vegan):

Stuffed mushrooms

Quiche

Potstickers

Burgers

Lemon chicken with tasty brussel sprouts

Overall we had a really good time and for once I actually ENJOYED the food at one of these events! It's so hard for vegetarians (especially vegans!) to "fit in" and actually eat the food at most cocktail parties. But this was truly the exception (a good one), and I had fun!

To see more, please visit Melissa's blog (Missy Maintains). She took so many great pics that evening, including more of us and the food!

More to come with the Lightlife reviews too, so stay tuned! :)

Astoria Eats! February 4th

2011-02-04T13:22:00.014-05:00

I'll have much more to report on Wednesday's Lightlife event that Melissa and I attended, but that will be in another post. For now, I just wanted to post what eats I've been having around my new home here in Astoria!

After tying up loose ends at our old apartment in Manhattan on Monday, my mom and I were beat. So we ordered in chinese food for dinner from a chinese restaurant nearby called Happy Garden. It is similar to Suzie's in Manhattan, but not quite as good with not quite as many vegetarian options. But still, I was pretty satisfied!

I got their vegetarian egg roll (which was more like a spring roll) with steamed veggie dumplings...

and their bean curd country style dish, which is basically tofu and vegetables with rice in a brown sauce (I like the black bean sauce better that I got at Suzie's, but this was still good).

On Wednesday I headed into Manhattan pretty early, because I had some errands to run, plus a salon appointment before the event later. I took the subway into Soho, where I stopped in Cafe Duke (I used to go there all the time back when I went to the Makeup Designory in Soho).

I got a bottled water and these chocolate filled panda cookies that I love, but they are SO hard to find!

Then I stopped in Sea Thai for lunch before my hair appointment and got the usual!

At the Bumble & Bumble salon I got their "monster" cookie (which has peanut butter, chocolate chips, M&M's... basically a whole bunch of stuff in it!) to have as a snack for later.

Then later I had a bunch of goodies at the Lightlife event that Melissa will be blogging about soon! (She was the one taking pics of all the food. I was too busy eating it! lol)

Yesterday I stopped in Astoria Pizza for a slice and it was good!

And today I went to Bagelberry, which is a bagel/frozen yogurt place nearby. I made my usual bagel sandwich with swiss cheese & mustard, had some Wise ridgie chips, and a Dole fruit cup, with my mini bottle of water that Melissa and I got from our car service on the way home the other night! :)

(Note the paper plate-- no more dishwasher, means paper plates so I have less dishes to do!)

As for Peanut, he's been adjusting well. Here he is with Pellet on one of his many "perches!"

Ok, more to come soon on the Lightlife event!

The moving re-cap & more! January 30th

2011-01-30T18:34:00.018-05:00

This past week has been such a blur. Naturally on our moving day (Wednesday) was a blizzard, but somehow we forged ahead and got moved into our new apartment (which is truly a PALACE compared to where we were staying in Manhattan!). We're on the top floor now, which we deserve after having to listen to people stomp around above us for the past two years, living on the first floor! Peanut is still adjusting and doesn't really know what to make of it. But every day he's doing better and not hiding as much. And of course, I've been finding some eats here and there around Astoria! So let's get to it!!

The first night we were SO tired. We had all we could do to order pizza! Luckily there is a good pizza place near by called Salerno's that we ordered from. (The first place we tried, Rizzo's, was a disaster! The most horrible pizza we've ever seen! But hey, you live and learn!)

(Notice, no plates! Only paper towels that first night!)

I have found the BEST chocolate chip cookies EVER. They are HUGE and VEGAN too!!! I happened upon them at Sai Organics, a chain of health food stores here in Astoria (there's only two of them I believe, both on 30th Ave.). They make a lot of their own organic and vegan foods, so I'll be stopping by there often!!

Yesterday I met my friend Melissa for brunch at Grand Cafe. It was nice to see a familiar face, especially since I don't know a soul around here! lol

Their pre-fixe brunch was good (although they DID rip us off for getting egg whites!!). They started off by giving us some mini muffins...

Then we had a choice of drink and coffee or tea. I chose an orange juice and tea.

For my entree I had an egg white omelette with avocado and tomato with french fries (and it came with a side of whole wheat toast).

(These fries were SOOO good too-- they reminded me of McDonald's fries, which I haven't had in ages!!)

Melissa and I will be attending an event this Wednesday hosted by LightLife that we are really looking forward to, that I can't wait to blog about!! So stay tuned for that!!

On my way home from brunch I stopped in the other Sai Organics store (the one further from me) and saw that they had a new Luna Bar! Of course I had to get it!

I tried this today and it was okay. The chocolate chunk flavor could have been better if they added a layer of chocolate or icing of some sort at the bottom (like most Luna bars... my favorites being iced oatmeal raisin and the cookies & cream one).

And today I stopped in Mt Olympus Bagels to make my bagel sandwich that I like (with swiss cheese-- yes, I cannot sustain a vegan diet!!!).

(I had another favorite, a Mott's peach medley apple sauce with it.)

As for Peanut, he hid (which is unlike him) for most of the first two days we were in the new apartment (as you can see!).

But he's coming out of hiding more and more, and is back to his usual tricks!

(He's licking my valentine ring pop!)

I am happy in our new place though. It is so quiet, and the view is gorgeous. It really reminds me of those roof top scenes in Mary Poppins!

Ok, well our "fun" doesn't end there. Tomorrow we have to go back to our old apartment in Manhattan and tie up some loose ends (like taking down our wall, going through the apartment inspection, etc.). So it's going to be yet another busy week ahead! And everyone please PRAY that we are spared another blizzard this week! All of us here in NY truly can't take much more!!!

We're on our way out... January 24th

2011-01-24T20:39:00.012-05:00

Well, the move is less than 2 days away now, and thank God the weather isn't supposed to be as bad as they initially thought for Wednesday! We've been extremely busy as you can imagine. The only person that has been enjoying themselves during this whole debacle has been Peanut! He feels like "king of the pride" on top of all these boxes (and reminds me of Simba a bit!).

On Thursday we had our lease signing in Queens, and then when we got back we had dinner at The Olive Garden.

I had breadsticks and minestrone soup...

and the very un-vegan five cheese(!) ziti al forno. (This is SO good though, I'm terrified to know what they put in it! lol)

I also got 3 of their mini (and I do mean mini, think bite sized!) desserts to go! They look prettier here (and you can get them individually or 3 of your choice):

I love the strawberry & white chocolate cream cake one! But the chocolate caramel one and tiramisu one were good too.

Last week I also stopped by my favorite, Wild Ginger... and I got the usual...

And today I stopped in one of my favorite asian eateries, Qi (and got my usual there too).

I've really been trying to fit in food whenever I can, not really paying much attention to what I ate (for example today I ended up eating chinese food twice!!). And it's going to be difficult for the next week or so. I look forward to canvasing Astoria for great eats though! ;)

Anyways, here is what Peanut has been up to the rest of the week!

Playing on my bed.

Hiding under the covers while my mom tries to make her bed.

And of course, LOTS of playtime on all the boxes! (He loves to sleep on the highest boxes, as you can see!)

Ok folks, the next time I post I'll be blogging from Astoria! See you then!

Making Headway... January 18th

2011-01-18T21:01:00.011-05:00

The move is well underway, although at only just over a week to go (the big day in next Wednesday, the 26th), we still have a LOT to do! Peanut has been extremely busy helping us though, as you can see:

I've been trying to eat when I can, although on top of all the stress with the move, I also managed to get some viral infection in my throat (which I went to the doctor for today). So my appetite has been off too. :(

However, this past weekend I went to Sacred Chow to get my favorite brunch, their tofu scramble.

And yesterday for lunch I stopped in Suzie's, a chinese restaurant in the village.

I got their lunch special which included wonton soup (I get the veggie kind)

and their bean curd homestyle dish which is tofu and vegetables, with some veggie fried rice and veggie egg roll as well. (All this food for under $10, not bad!!!)

And today after my doctor's appointment I got a yogurt parfait from the Pax on Park Ave. Granted, it's not vegan, but I need all the probiotics I can get now!

When I got home, Peanut was helping us pack some more... can you find him? lol

There he is!

Peanut is in 7th Heaven with all these boxes!! He thinks the whole thing is just one big game!

I'll be updating more when I can, although it's going to be a really busy week!!

Face Lift! January 12th

2011-01-12T22:25:00.010-05:00

Not me, of course, the blog! lol How do you like it? I was thinking about lightening it up for a while now. Anyways, this is about all I have time for these days. We started packing today and we're finalizing things with the apartment. We are moving to Astoria (in Queens, where I was born actually). They are still in the process of renovating the apartment... if I showed you the pictures now, you'd have a heart attack! lol But I was promised yesterday by the head contractor that it will be beautiful when it's finished (which will hopefully be in 10 days).

In the meantime though, Peanut has been enjoying having the boxes around! He likes to wedge himself in between the stack of them!

I'll be posting more pictures of him in the boxes soon though! He's having a blast!! Peanut is very much a paper puss! :) He loves paper bags, boxes, crumples, etc. We just have to pray that he doesn't chew the boxes to shreds before the move!

Hopefully I'll be posting some eats soon too. I have to admit though, I'm a vegan who cannot give up her cheese. It's rather sad, actually. But I haven't had much appetite lately with all the stress, so beggars can't be choosers! I must eat what I can, when I can. I did stop by Wild Ginger today since I was downtown for a doctor appointment anyway. That place always makes me realize how SUPERIOR vegan food is to all the rest! It's so good and good for you. I am truly spoiled here in NY with veggie restaurants! :)

A Busy Start to 2011... January 8th

2011-01-08T21:59:00.012-05:00

I've been extremely busy looking for places to live and starting the moving process, so my blog has had to go on the back burner, and will continue to do so for the remainder for the month. But, here's a quick update...

I have been getting my eats in here and there, most of which have been vegan! Including this new cinnamon roll from the vegan store, which was tasty.

Lots of Luna Bars and I tried the new chocolate chip cookie dough Lara Bar (which was good, but I have to be honest, I'm not crazy about raw food).

And I got my usual pad se ew dish at Tue Thai Food recently, and made it vegan by omitting the eggs (so basically it's noodles, tofu, greens, in a delicious soy sauce). Their spring rolls are vegan as well.

Peanut has been super busy with his hectic sleeping schedule...

Watching the snow...

And of course, lounging around doing nothing! :)

I'll be updating when I can! But I wanted to ask, what are some of your vegan meals?

So long 2010... December 31st

2010-12-31T20:26:00.011-05:00

I know a lot of you bloggers are doing re-cap posts of the year, but I won't be doing that. lol I just don't have the time or patience with all that's facing me in the next month (or year, for that matter!). So instead, I'll post some of my eats, starting with...

Zen Palate. Now Zen Palate and I have a love-hate relationship. I started going to the big one that used to be in Union Square (but closed) years ago (which was really good). Then when that closed, I tried the one in the theatre district a couple times, but didn't really like it at all. Now I just found out that they opened a new location in "union square" (and I put it in quotes because it's really not in union square, but rather on 18th st. off Park Ave.). They opened in August of this year, but I didn't hear about it or try it out until now! Oh well!

I got their portobello burger with yam fries. This was really good and I'd definitely get it again. I wanted to try their "banana bliss" dessert, which is their vegan version of banana cream pie, but I was too full, so next time! I definitely liked the food and atmosphere of this Zen better (although be warned, their food is hit or miss... there is better out there *cough, Wild Ginger* ;).

On Wednesday I met up with Melissa at our usual spot, Sea Thai.

I got my usual, spring rolls and broad rice noodles with tofu.

And I was really on an asian food kick this week, as I got a lunch special from Suzie's (a chinese restaurant in the village) too.

I get their bean curd homestyle lunch special (which is basically tofu with vegetables) and it comes with vegetarian wonton soup, mini egg roll, and fried rice.

(P.S. I don't know where Wild Ginger or Suzie's websites disappeared to! Both of their restaurants are still open and thriving, yet their sites have been down for ages-- strange!)

But back to the new year... I really am starting to feel old and understand now why people drink on new year's eve! It's amazing how fast a year goes by!

Peanut can't believe it either! lol

Anyways, Happy New Year and lets keep our fingers crossed for a great 2011!!!

I also want to thank all of you for visiting my blog all year! I really do love reading your comments and appreciate the feedback! :)

Christmas re-cap & more! December 26th

2010-12-26T14:33:00.022-05:00

I was up at my grandparent's house for Christmas eve & Christmas day. We were going to leave this morning, but ended up leaving late last night instead because of the blizzard heading for NY! We may get up to 2 feet of snow here. I'm praying it won't be that bad, but it's going to be a rough next couple of days, that's for sure! Anyways, my Christmas re-cap has no food in it, but instead, cute animals! :) Here are some pics I took from my grandparent's house, starting with me and the tree:

Now, on to the puppies! :)

My grandparent's dog, Mae, who you can see more of here. (She's my favorite dog in the universe! :)

And my aunt's dog, Chiclet, who visited us on Christmas Eve. (What's really cute is that Mae and Chiclet are friends and Mae actually greets Chiclet at the door when she comes over! lol)

Now I know what you're thinking, what about Peanut?!?!

Don't worry, he got his Christmas presents before we left!

One of his gifts was a mint scented toy that you can see him with here:

And I also got Peanut his very own mini box of Q-tips! lol I decorated it for him too!

(Also, please note that Peanut is MONITORED when I give him a Q-tip to play with! NEVER let a cat play with a Q-tip or any other small object unsupervised because they could choke!!)

When I got home today, despite the blizzard, I went out to the Chelsea Whole Foods to pick up a few things. First I stopped for brunch at Blossom.

(The view outside Blossom's window earlier today... they were decorated nicely for the holidays.)

I got my usual, their tofu scramble. I swear, after eating pretty much nothing but junk food the past two days, it felt SO good to eat something healthy (and delicious!). Which brings me to my next announcement...

I'm really going to be making an effort to eat vegan as much as possible for the new year! I've been a vegetarian for years anyway, so it's not that big of a jump. I'm not going to become obsessive with it (and I'm still going to eat the NYC pizza that I love!), but I do want to clean up my diet some, and the less animal products I eat, the better!

I'll probably be updating one last time before 2011, and posting more food then! But first, how was everyone's holidays so far?

My Favorite Things... December 18th

2010-12-18T20:02:00.011-05:00

So I'm going to be definitely moving next month... Probably to Queens, although we're still not sure. But in the meantime, I am visiting my favorite Manhattan establishments...

Wild Ginger with my usual favorites (spring rolls, shumai, and pineapple fried rice):

Mozzarella sticks and a "high c" smoothie at Good Stuff Diner:

And my favorite, banana bread french toast at Sacred Chow:

And incase you're wondering, that's blueberry sauce on it-- incredibly delicious!

We also got some holiday treats (from Figi's) too!

Red velvet petit fours and it came with a sample of free fudge (which surprisingly wasn't very good!).

Here are some recent pics of Peanut that I wanted to share too... starting with bath tub play! lol

On my bed...

And these adorable close-ups!

What are some of your favorite things (for the holidays or anytime of year)?

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas! I'll be Upstate visiting relatives, but I'll update when I get back!

Holiday Party ~ December 8th

2010-12-08T20:55:00.008-05:00

I rarely (if ever) do this, but they say when someone else has already done it best... My friend Shannon and I attended a fabulous holiday party Monday night, at celebrity party planner, Bronson van Wyck's residence (other food bloggers were there as well). I was going to do a whole write up on it, but Shannon beat me to it! lol She did such a lovely summary of the party, that I'd really rather send you all over to HER blog! You can check it out here!

So sorry if I'm taking the easy way out... but I learned it from this guy! ;)

It's that time of year again... December 3rd

2010-12-03T20:05:00.012-05:00

Hard to believe the holidays are already upon us... Hanukkah is already underway and Christmas is coming... Yesterday I went up to Rockefeller Center to see the tree!

(It looks better at night when you can see all the lights!)

But not before stopping to see the tree they put up in my building's lobby!

Earlier this week I had lunch with Melissa at our usual spot, Sea Thai.

I got the spring rolls and broad rice noodle with tofu.

After lunch I stopped in the Chelsea Market and picked up some rainbow cookies at a bakery there. (I had been craving these for a while!!)

Wednesday morning I stopped in Elephant and Castle for breakfast... It was SO rainy out, but they decorated the restaurant nice for the holidays!

I got their "California" breakfast... which included eggs, french toast, hash browns, tea (or coffee), orange juice, and I substituted the bacon for fruit.

This is truly the BEST breakfast in Manhattan... you get all this for only $10 and their food is really good too!!!

When I was uptown visiting the tree, I stopped in Saks because I had a gift card to use there. Remarkably I didn't buy anything (everything was SO overpriced!!!). But I did stop in SnAKS (their cafe) for lunch.

I got their grilled cheese with potato strings. Despite the small portion, this was filling.

And finally, Peanut has been cuddling up on the blankets in this cold weather!!

In his usual position that we call "the duddy," where he "duddies" his arms about up over his head! lol

Thanksgiving Day Wrap-up & Peanuts! Nov. 26th

2010-11-26T18:40:00.014-05:00

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving! I'll get to my Thanksgiving eats in a moment (and they are minimal, at best!), but first, some of my eats from earlier in the week....

Last weekend I had brunch at Village Natural. I hadn't been since last year, when I had a disappointing lunch there. Luckily, their brunch was better!

I got their french toast, which came with fruit (blueberry sauce!) and soy sausage patties.

I was in Tribeca earlier this week doing some last minute grocery shopping at the enormous Tribeca Whole Foods (which is AMAZING-- it could be a tourist attraction!), and I stopped for lunch in Ivy's Bistro (on the corner of North Moore & Greenwich St.).

I got their veggie burger with fries. This was pretty good, although not fantastic.

For Thanksgiving I had some of my favorites...

Clif's Iced Gingerbread bar (a seasonal favorite!).

Mom's stuffed mushrooms... they are FANTASTIC. Between yesterday and today, I've eaten a ton of these!

And of course, mom made her signature cheesecake (OMG is this good!). This is the number one reason I'm not a vegan!!! Nothing comes CLOSE to real cheesecake.

As for the "turkey"....

And if you think that's cute, you'd better brace yourselves now!! lol

Peanut was all riled up over one of his favorite things... Q-Tips!

(Notice the Q-Tip in the lower right hand corner of the pic!)

I am so very thankful for this fluffy bundle of joy! :) Hope everyone had a good holiday!

New & Tasty Eats! November 17th

2010-11-17T21:29:00.013-05:00

I want to start off with my review of the other MorningStar Farms entree (you can see the review of my first one here). Now I am usually a HUGE fan of MorningStar Farms, but their entrees have been disappointing. :(

I normally like pretty much any vegetarian lasagna, but this one had an awful taste and texture. It just didn't taste much like lasagna. So it's only 270 calories. I'd rather they put another 100 calories in it and have it be edible! The ONLY thing I liked in it were the "sausage" crumbles. And that's because I really love their veggie sausage (as you can see here). Unfortunately though, there was hardly ANY sausage in it! Not good.

Luckily I had a great meal at Tue Thai Food. I have gotten food delivered from them, but never visited their restaurant in the village (on Greenwich Ave. & 8th st.).

Look at this amazing lunch! And for just under $10 too! I got their pad se ew with tofu for my entree, and the lunch special comes with an appetizer of your choice (I chose spring rolls, of course!), a side salad and beverage of your choice (I got a coke, which you can just make out in the picture in that cute little jar).

For breakfast this past weekend I made Trader Joe's BIG cinnamon buns.

Mom and I enjoyed these. There is little that Trader Joe's makes that I DON'T like. lol

This week I had a great lunch delivered from Suzie's, one of my favorite chinese restaurants.

I got a vegetarian egg roll and their sizzling tofu in black bean sauce (this is an exclusive dish of their's and is really tasty).

And yesterday I went to the doctor's downtown... long story, but my doctor is downtown in Chinatown because it's one of the only places that accepts my health insurance! lol She's great though, so I don't mind going.

Anyways, after my appointment I stopped in an adorable bakery in Soho. I must have been by this place before, but it looked new to me! It's called Little Cupcake Bakeshop and it's on Prince St. It's funny, I had really been craving a cupcake too!

I got their golden vanilla one, which had chocolate buttercream frosting. I am not kidding when I say this was AMAZING. I seriously don't know what they even put in it to taste so good, and truthfully, I don't care!!

As for my Peanuts, he was having quite a time when I got a package that had some of those white foam packing bits.

And he spent some time watching the figure skating with me this past weekend.

Ok, that's all until Thanksgiving! Enjoy this fall weather while it lasts!!

Cold Days & Tofu Brunches (November 8th)

2010-11-08T17:43:00.009-05:00

It feels like we've bypassed fall and we're already into winter! Wtf happened?! :( In any case, I've been trying to eat well to ward off any colds, etc. But I am a HUGE vitamin fan, so that helps. (For reference I love the brand Rainbow Light and take quite a few of their supplements.)

The last two brunches I had out were at two of my favorite vegan restaurants, and BOY do they both know how to make a tofu scramble!

The first was at Blossom a few weeks ago...

And the second was at Sacred Chow just this past weekend... and it was so crowded I actually had to wait for a table! This place has really caught on... the "secret" is out and people are flocking to it now! Back when I started going in 2007, I was the only person in the place!

Sacred Chow's wasn't quite as good because they put too much pepper on the home fries. However, that's just nit-picking! lol

My mom and I had a nice dinner Friday night at the Olive Garden. We hadn't been in a long time and I got to try some new stuff on their menu...

Starting with the old favorites... breadsticks & salad (I always munch on the breadsticks, mom on the salad).

I got a venetian sunset drink (mom got a strawberry martini which was literally the size of a swimming pool-- in fact, you can see it in the background!).

One of my favorites, minestrone soup (which they claim-- and I hope-- is vegetarian!).

Their new lasagna rollata al forno (which was tasty, although I think I still prefer the ziti al forno).

And I was FAR too stuffed for dessert, but I got one of their new mini "dolcini" desserts to go. You can choose 3 for a set price, or pay for them individually. I just got one, the strawberry & white chocolate cream cake. I PRAY they make a large size of this. It was amazing!

And lastly, colder weather means cuddling. And Peanut takes full advantage of the situation whenever there is something warm to lay on!

Splaying out on the sheets...

And nestling in warm laundry. :)

And on a side note, I met this nice family at Sacred Chow who was asking me about vegetarian restaurants. They told me how they found out about that restaurant through Happy Cow (which is a great resource for vegetarians btw!). It's funny that they picked me to talk to, as I pretty much am the authority on vegetarian restaurants in this city! lol Of course I told them about Wild Ginger too... I swear, Wild Ginger should pay me a salary!

Ok, that's all for now!

Happy Halloween! October 31st

2010-10-31T20:08:00.005-04:00

Again, I'm sorry for my absence. Things have not been going well lately and I haven't been in the mood for blogging! But, today is my favorite holiday, and I'm indulging as we speak with a king size Kit Kat bar! :) However, instead of posting my eats, I'm going to be just focusing on Peanut tonight and celebrating his 2nd Halloween!

I went to the Farmer's Market in Union Square yesterday to pick out my pumpkin, along with some amazing apple cinnamon doughnuts! Then when I got home, I got to work in making the 2010 Peanut Pumpkin! (You can see the 2009 Peanut Pumpkin here.)

Notice Peanut's curiosity! lol

And the finished product....

Peanut looks so cute next to his pumpkin!

Not amused and tired of me shoving the pumpkin in his face! lol

The pumpkin all lit up at night.

Happy Halloween!

New Eats! October 14th

2010-10-14T22:28:00.009-04:00

I know I keep apologizing for my absence, but a lot has happened over the past few weeks... I am back together with my boyfriend and have been spending a lot of time catching up. :P Plus, I'm still looking for an actual job, as the magazine I was working for pays nothing. :( So it really is endless.... Anyways, I did have time to try a few new "eats" though. Here is my report:

MorningStar Farms makes new frozen entrees. I tried their new sweet & sour chik'n one (I have a lasagna one to try too that I will be "reporting" on later).

While this tasted pretty good, it was the portion size that shocked me. It was just absolutely TINY!!!! My jaw dropped when I actually got it out onto a plate. I did like the bits of chik'n though. MorningStar Farms really does have the most convincing "meats!" Still, I would not be buying this one again.

However, the real love of my life is this:

Trader Joe's meatless meatballs!! They are AMAZING and I've been finding every excuse to eat them! lol

First, traditional spaghetti and meatballs (or in my case, wagon wheels and "meatballs").

Then, a "meatball" hero! And this was FANTASTIC with a little parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.

And here are some new shots of Peanut, doing what he does best-- being cute!

Here's a picture I took of Peanut and I (sorry the lighting isn't good, but it was last minute when I actually got him in my lap!).

Thanks for your continued patience as I keep taking big breaks from blogging. But I do still enjoy it and hope to have some posts for Halloween (my favorite holiday) coming up!

Gloomy Days & Good Eats ~ September 30th

2010-09-30T13:13:00.012-04:00

Sorry I'm just updating again-- I wanted to post more this month, but things kept coming up! This past week (especially today!) has been the rainiest, gloomiest weather... it's downright depressing! I can't wait for the good fall weather that is coming soon! It is truly the best season in NYC! :)

On Tuesday I had a blogger meet-up with my friend, Melissa. We went to our usual spot in the Meatpacking District, Sea Thai Bistro.

I got my usual, the spring rolls & broad rice noodles with tofu.

We had a good time as always, and I'm sure we'll be back soon!

I've been under my usual stress and this weather doesn't help matters... it seems to trigger migraines in me, and the past few days have not been pretty. The other night I went to bed early and when I woke up I was starving, so I sat down to a proper breakfast at Friend of a Farmer.

I got their special, which includes scrambled eggs, home fries, french toast, and I opted for fruit instead of bacon, sausage, etc. I also treated myself to an amazing glass of fresh squeezed orange juice.

For lunch today I ordered in from Suzie's, a chinese restaurant in the village.

I got their bean curd homestyle (tofu) lunch special, which came with vegetarian wonton soup, rice, and a vegetarian egg roll.

And here are some photos of Peanut that I took...

In a new box, which he loves to lounge in!

Sneaking up on me in my room!

That cute little white mug of his always gets him out of trouble! lol

Anyways, here's hoping for a great fall! :)

Birthday Week! September 18th

2010-09-18T21:24:00.014-04:00

Nearly everyone I know was born this past week in September, including my "ex" (now sort of "on again") boyfriend, and my mom. But first, I have a week's worth of food to post, so let's get started!

Last Saturday I had a really early meeting downtown for my job. So I stopped in a Dunkin' Donuts on Varick St. and got my favorite kind, a chocolate covered one with sprinkles!

When I finally got out of my meeting, I had a proper breakfast since by that time, it was already brunch/lunch. I got the french toast combo with scrambled eggs and soy sausage at Quantum Leap.

Some other eats this week include...

Pizza at Ray's... I went for dinner here last Sunday when a pipe broke in our kitchen and we had a leak-- obviously making it very hard to cook!

A quick lunch at Good Stuff Diner... my favorite combo: mozzarella sticks (which are truly the BEST mozzarella sticks I've ever had!) and a tropical health smoothie. :)

For a quick boost, one day I stopped in the Jamba Juice in Union Square and got their bright eyed and blueberry smoothie! Sadly though, this has really gone downhill... not nearly as good as it used to be! :(

Today was my mom's birthday... I ran some errands this morning and stopped in Rivioli Pizzeria in the West Village for lunch.

Then later on for dinner we went to an amazing new restaurant called Sagaponack Restaurant (named after Sagaponack in the Hamptons), at 22nd st. off 5th Ave. And this restaurant really did have a very "hamptons" feel. It was beautiful!

For starters I had their pesto fries... these were INCREDIBLE! I couldn't finish them all of course, because the portion was huge!

For my entree I got the portobello mushroom tower with lots of veggies and quinoa. This was amazing as well!

Mom and I got our desserts "to go" because we were so full! I got the banana cream pie, and the funny thing is, I don't even like bananas (as in, I don't ever eat the fruit by itself), but this is the one banana themed food I like!

As for Peanut, I recently got him a new toy at Petco. Glow in the dark balls to keep him occupied at night!

So Happy Birthday to Mom and everyone else this week!

Finally Feels Like Fall! September 9th

2010-09-09T15:00:00.016-04:00

I don't know about you, but I am SO glad that this horrible hot weather has come to an end. I walked down into Soho today and it was so beautiful out! I happened to see Heidi Klum's mother too, pushing Heidi's new baby girl, Lou in a stroller. lol I almost ALWAYS see famous people in Soho. But the amazing thing about NYC is that everyone just blends in!

I was picking up some birthday presents today at my favorite store in the city, Pearl River Mart. This is a HUGE, beautiful store, with great prices and nearly everything is hand made! There is no other store I can think of like it. Nearly everyone I know is born in September, including my mother, so it's definitely a busy month for me!

I always have to stop in Famous Ben's pizzeria every time I'm downtown. :)

But lately I've been eating asian food 24/7! Here is the proof:

Lunch at Spice (last weekend I went to the one in Union Square).

Spring rolls & broad rice noodle with tofu.

An oldie, but a goodie... my favorites from Wild Ginger...

Take-out from a new thai restaurant called Tue Thai Food (on Greenwich Ave. by 6th Ave. & West 8th St.).

I got their $9 lunch special, which is a great bargain and includes choice of appetizer, entree, and drink!

I tried their spring rolls, pad se ew (which is basically the same dish as the one I got at Spice, above), and a coke. I really like this place, and I read such bad things about their delivery, and I don't know if it's because I live pretty close by or not, but they were lightning fast!!!

The one thing I'll miss about summer is of course, frozen yogurt. On the last hot day we had I made a short trip over to Pinkberry.

I got a medium original with strawberries, cookies & cream, and brownie chunks! :)

Here are a few recent pics of Peanut... the first ones are of him monkeying around in my room (his favorite activity!).

And sleeping with Pellet (his beanie baby).

Tonight for dinner I actually cooked with tofu (the packaged kind that you have to drain yourself) for the first time in my life, and Peanut went nuts! For some reason he loves tofu (and the seasoning from Fantastic Foods Tofu Scrambler), and he was rolling around by my plate (as you can see)! lol

(Oh and those are Morningstar Farms soy sausages btw!)

I'll probably be updating more soon with all the birthday dinners, etc. So stay tuned!

Peanuts & other tasty eats! August 31st

2010-08-31T20:57:00.010-04:00

I've been snapping photos of Peanut over the last few weeks... you know, one of the joys of watching your cat grow from the time he's a tiny kitten, is getting to bond with him and watch their personality develop. And Peanut has SUCH a personality!!

Sitting pretty on my vanity stool. :)

Sleepytime...

Sitting pretty.

Messing around in Mom's drawer.

Peanut LOVES coupons or any crumpled paper really... he has his eye on the coupons in these photos.

And here are some of my eats over the past week...

A proper dinner for a change... Boca chik'n nuggets, Alexia oven fries with sea salt, and a Birds Eyes mini ear of corn.

I had a meeting downtown last week which ran late, and by the time I got out I was starving so I headed to Peep for a late lunch. I got the usual...

Spring rolls...

and their saffron fried rice with tofu.

Pizza from Rivoli's in the West Village (there are two apparently... one is on 7th Ave. & 11th St. and the other is on Hudson St... we order from the one closer to us now on 7th... both are amazing though!).

And while it's not health food by any means, I've been crazy about these lately!

Nestle drumsticks... so good! :)

I got a job working for a NYC magazine, but we aren't paid a salary... we only make money on sales commissions, so that's eating up a lot of my time now. I will try to update when I can!

Brunches & Lunches! August 21st

2010-08-21T14:11:00.015-04:00

Just a quick update today with some delicious brunch and lunch dishes that I've had recently...

Last weekend I went to brunch at the Blue Water Grill... I don't think I've been there since last August (see here)! Wow, a year goes by quickly!

I started off with their amazing bread... they always have great breads at brunch. I had two slices of their cinnamon raisin bread (at least that's what I think it was!).

Then I had their grilled asparagus and wild mushroom omelette, but I opted for cheddar cheese instead of goat cheese (which I hate!). Their omelettes always come with tasty potatoes too (plus, a free beverage-- I always get their fresh squeezed orange juice!).

One day this week I ordered lunch in from Suzie's. I got their lunch special which is a great deal. I got the bean curd homestyle, which is basically tofu and vegetables. And it comes with vegetarian wonton soup, a vegetarian egg roll, and vegetable fried rice.

Another great lunch I had was at Sacred Chow. I had been there for brunch many, many times, but never for lunch. I have always heard good things about their soy meatball hero, so that's what I ordered!

It was really good and tasted very authentic (Italian). It was very filling too, I couldn't finish it all!

And for brunch today I went to a little place in the village (but really popular brunch spot), Elephant & Castle (on Greenwich Ave. & West 11th St.).

I ordered the eggs n' apples benedict on french toast with maple syrup. How amazing does that sound?! And it was! They are famous for this dish and I can see why. It was like a spiced up version of eggs and toast.

And when I got home, I forced Peanut into another picture with me! lol

Here's a better shot of him though, up-close. He really is such a beauty!

A long over-due update! August 12th

2010-08-12T21:50:00.010-04:00

Sorry it's been so long guys! I've been busy focusing on other things... mainly, like getting a good paying, steady job... which hasn't happened quite yet, but I'm working on it! Here are just a few of my eats over the past couple weeks (when I actually remember to take pictures!):

A couple weekends ago I tried the breakfast sandwich at Sacred Chow...

I actually prefer their tofu scramble more, but it was good none the less! The tempeh bacon was just ok, but still, you aren't going to get a better vegan meal anywhere in the city than this place (believe me, I've tried them ALL!).

I've been frequenting Good Stuff Diner a lot... it's my new favorite place!

And my mozzarella sticks/smoothie combo really goes together well! This is not "diner" food, but actually great quality... and I care far more about quality of food than anything else!

My usual favorite meal at Qi...

Spring rolls...

and pineapple fried rice.

Finally, the other day I tried a new vegan restaurant called Gobo (on 8th St. & 6th Ave.). They are another pan-asian veggie restaurant.

I wanted to try a few different things there, but their restaurant menu is SO much more expensive than the take-out menu I had seen online, that I only got the pineapple fried rice-- which was really good, but $14?! Insane!

And here is what Peanut has been up to...

Relaxing on the piano.

Peeking at me.

In the laundry (again).

Lounging in his favorite box.

Chasing/nibbling his tail! :)

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer while it lasts! I'll be updating when I can.

My Guest Post! July 30th

2010-07-30T10:13:00.003-04:00

Hey everybody! Go over to my friend, Maggie's blog to see my guest post on vegan/vegetarian weddings! I worked hard on it and even e-mailed Maggie late last night when I saw that Chelsea Clinton was having a vegan wedding too! What can I say? A blogger's work is never done! lol

Hope you guys enjoy it! :)