The Big Birthday Celebration of 2014...

All my tasty Birthday Treats! 

It’s been a rather busy week for me, not only was my birthday Tuesday - the 1st - but American Independence Day was the 4th and even more exciting as a birthday surprise my mom and step-dad flew in from Vancouver to visit me! I had no idea they were coming, and apparently they’ve been planning the surprise with my husband for nearly a year now. We’ve had a lot of fun over the past week, and we’ve eaten a lot of food, but let me start with what we ate on my birthday.

Kale Bagels 

The Sunday before my bday I decided to make the Kale Bagels from Joni Marie Newman and Celine Steen’s book “Hearty Vegan Meals for Monster Appetites.” I’ve been wanting to make these bagels for a long, long time, but the idea of making home made bagels - specifically working with yeasted dough - always seemed so daunting, but suddenly I had a craving, and there’s no better time to jump out of your comfort zone then for a special occasion.

Turns out making bagels is a lot easier then it looks. Time consuming yes, because you need to wait for the dough to rise, but relatively simple. These bagels first call for you to prepare some kale. It’s easy enough to do, just massage some tahini, orange marmalade, and other spices into your greens and let them sit for thirty minutes. Then you make the bagel dough, add in the kale, and let ir rise. Once risen shape into bagels, boil in a mix of water and baking soda, and then you bake until they’re perfectly brown. The end result was well worth my time and trouble, in fact these are perhaps some of the best bagels I’ve ever had. We enjoyed a couple Sunday night for dinner with a mixture of Earth Balance, Nutritional Yeast and Garlic, then Monday we enjoyed them for lunch as a sandwich with sliced tomato, onion, arugula, and melted Daiya Provolone Cheese. Suffice to say they didn’t last long enough for me to enjoy on my actual birthday and so I made a different breakfast Tuesday morning instead.

Creole Steamed Sausages &
Bacon Onion Biscuits

Since I knew we’d be eating out a lot during the day I decided to go with something simple, but simple doesn’t mean boring! For a long while now I’ve been wanting to make Celine and Joni’s Bacon Onion Biscuits - also from Hearty Vegan Meals, - and so I decided my birthday was the perfect day to give them a try. They’re pretty quick, and easy to throw together, just your basic biscuit dough, with granulated onion thrown in and some home made vegan bacon bits. They’re baked in the oven then topped with vegan cheese. The recipe specifies mozzarella but I used Daiya Pepper Jack because that’s all I had. These were really good, and I served them with melted Earth Balance and a side of Creole Steamed Sausages from Bianca Phillip’s book “Cookin’ Crunk.” I love her creole sausages, especially for breakfast!

After our eats it was off to the city with my family to do the touristy thing. They wanted to go to Navy Pier and Millennium Park so we did that and then hit up Native Foods Cafe  for lunch when our bellies all began to rumble. Originally I was going to order a salad at Native since I’ve always wanted to try their salads and never do, but they had a few new sandwiches on the menu and so I caved and got the new BBQ Ancho Brisket Sandwich which was delicious! With it I got a side of sweet potato fries - of course - and then I ordered their Peanut Butter Parfait for dessert which is my favorite dessert of theirs and they don’t always have it so I decided to snap it up while I had the chance. My husband ordered their Twister Wrap which is a pretty basic wrap loaded with wholesome stuff and nothing too out of the ordinary. Very tasty. My mom and step-dad each got the Oklahoma Bacon Cheeseburger which is my favorite thing on the menu.

BBQ Ancho Brisket Sandwich with Sweet Potato Fries 

After we ate we walked around Michigan Avenue for a while then walked along the River until we got back to Navy Pier. By then it was evening and so we used the bathroom there to change into our more fancy attire and then we piled into the car and headed out for a nice dinner at Handlebar in Wicker Park.  I plan on writing a separate review post of Handlebar so stay tuned for that.

Peanut Butter Parfait 

Twister Wrap 

After dinner we headed home for cake. Each year since I’ve been vegan I’ve baked my own birthday cake. Everyone thinks this is strange but you can’t just go and buy a vegan birthday cake in Chicago, and my husband doesn’t bake, so as I always say “If I don’t do it, who will?” to be fair my husband offers to give it a try, but I’d rather do it myself and I don’t find it sad that I have to. I love baking! This year however when I was trying to decide what kind of cake to make I just couldn’t choose and so in the end I decided to make 4 birthday cakes, yes 4.

Grasshopper Cake 

The main even was the Grasshopper Cake from Hannah Kaminsky’s book “Vegan Desserts” this is basically a Chocolate Devils Food Cake with a Mint Icing. I’ve never had a Grasshopper Cake - or Pie - before but I’ve always found them intriguing and since the combination of chocolate and mint is one of my all-time favorites I decided that I needed this cake in my life. I’m really glad I made it, and can’t believe It took me so long to try this combination in cake form. The cake was super moist and even though the icing turned out to be more of a glaze then a traditional frosting the flavor was so subtle and mellow that everyone loved it - even mint chocolate haters.

The second cake I decided to make was the Birthday Pie from Hannah Kaminsky’s book “Easy as Vegan Pie” This is a classic vanilla birthday cake with sprinkles, and vegan buttercream baked into a pie crust. I chose to make this because vanilla sprinkle cake is one of my mom’s specialities, each year she made it for my brother and step-brother’s birthdays, and it always went over big. I haven’t had this kind of cake since before I was vegan and so I really felt a twinge of nostalgia for it. Plus, since I’ve always been a lover of pie, and pie crust is really the best part of any pie, the thought of having this classic cake in a pie shell really blew my mind. Lucky for me it blew my tastebuds away too, everyone loved this. I mean, how can you go wrong? Again the cake was super moist, and flavorful, and the pie crust was buttery and flakey. A perfect combination.

Birthday Cake Pie 

My third Cake was actually a pie, a Buckeye Pie actually, also from Kaminsky’s book “Easy as Vegan Pie” I chose this for the very simple fact that it looked delicious and chocolate peanut butter is a combo that I love just as much as chocolate and mint. This tasted just like a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, but better. It was super creamy, and super rich, so rich that you can only really have a small slice but man is it worth it! So decadent.

Buckeye Pie 

With Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream 

Lastly - because I love ice cream cake, and haven’t had one in a while - I decided to make the Mocha Mud Pie from Chloe Coscarelli’s book “Chloe’s Vegan Desserts.” this is a pretty basic pie, containing a chocolate cookie crumb crust, and a coffee ice cream filling. Since I didn’t want to buy vegan ice cream I decided to make my own which I poured into the pie crust. Then the pie is topped off with a simple chocolate sauce. Ice cream cake was always my favorite growing up, and since my birthday is in the summer I always had one on my birthday. Since going vegan of course this hasn’t been the case, in fact this is only my second time making an ice cream cake or pie. This was also really good, if you love coffee ice cream, and you love pie and frozen desserts then you really can’t go wrong!

Mocha Mud Pie 

In the end it turned out that four desserts was probably three too many. We were all totally stuffed especially since I made home-made vegan vanilla ice cream to go with them, and had vegan whip cream too. Still, I don’t regret making all the treats, it was a fun way to celebrate.

PS: I hope everyone had a lovely Canada Day!

Cookbook Review: The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau...

I thought it was time for another cook book review since the last one went over so well, and what better book to review then Colleen Patrick-Goudreau’s “The Vegan Table.” This is actually one of the very first vegan cookbooks I ever got my hands on. I found it in my local library months before I’d even gone Vegetarian. I was however already leaning in that direction - which is why I was in that particular section of the library in the first place. Now, it’s been so long that I can’t remember exactly what came first me listening to Colleen’s wonderful “Vegetarian Food for Thought” Podcast, or me picking up her cookbooks in the library, but somehow I feel like they happened simultaneously and independently of the other. I don’t think it dawned on me at first that the wonderful recipes I was making out of that book from the library were penned by the wonderfully inspiring voice I was listening to each afternoon via the internet. Eventually something clicked though, and I put two and two together. In fact it was Colleen’s Podcast that was the final push I needed to make the transition to veganism. I think I borrowed this book from the library half a dozen times that year before finally receiving my own copy of it as a Christmas gift.

Right away I fell in love with this book because Colleen makes veganism so easy and accessible. Her recipes use simple, whole food ingredients - nothing strange or out of the ordinary, she doesn’t even use seitan. Still she comprises a variety of dishes in this book for every meal of the day, and she includes a ton of wonderful information about food, cooking tips, food lore, and veganism. I also really love that she has a section on vegan celebrations and party planning. These things are all extremely helpful to the newbie vegan, but they can also be utilized by long-time vegans too. Most of the cooking methods are quick and simple to master, and many of the recipes can be made without oil, soy, gluten, sugar, or salt, and there are specific indicators letting you know that incase you have these kinds of dietary restrictions.

Even after four years of veganism I still get use out of this book, in fact it’s remained one of my ‘go-to’ cook books especially for when I’m cooking for a ‘mixed crowed.’ For me, these recipes feel tried and true, they’re practically ‘no fail’ or at least I’ve never failed making hem and they’ve always been winners among even the most ardent ‘carnivores’ that I know. For me as a newbie vegan this book was an indispensable resource, and I learned so much by reading and cooking through it. Colleen writes in an easy, down to earth style that makes you feel comfortable and confident. She inspires you, and gets you feeling excited about cooking. Her passion for veganism, for cooking, and for education are clear on every page of this book, and I love that atmosphere her personality lends to the pages.

Some people have criticized the book for it’s layout - which I fully admit is a bit strange, but once you get the hang of it, it really isn’t hard to find the recipes you want. Some people have also criticized Colleen’s use of white flour, sugar, and non-dairy butter - particularly in her baking recipes, and I guess it can’t be said often enough that veganism and health-food are not necessarily synonymous. That’s not to say that Colleen’s recipes are unhealthy, but her baking recipes are also not ‘health food’ they’re baked goods, and most people I know like a little sugar in their cake. The fact that her baked goods do use white flour, sugar, and non-dairy butter is what makes the recipes so accessible to newbie vegans. If she was using a ton of crazy ingredients her recipes wouldn’t have the same air of simplicity, and they would be more intimidating to the average newbie. One of the greatest things about Colleen’s recipes is her ability to provide you with veganized versions of the familiar and comforting foods that you grew up without compromising on flavor or taste, while still keeping it relatively simple.

Though I haven’t made as many recipes from this book as I would have liked the ones I have made have been delicious, here’s what I thought.

Pan-Fried Asparagus with Lime Juice - LOVED IT
Tofu Benedict - Loved it
Tempeh Bacon - Very good
Swiss Chard and Caramelized Onions - LOVED IT
Spring Vegetable Risotto - LOVED IT
Pad Thai - Very good
Tofu Scramble - Very good
Marvelous Mushroom Risotto - I thought this was okay, but then I'm not the biggest mushroom fan. My husband loved it though.
Polenta Hearts - Fantastic
Roasted Red Pepper Coulis - LOVED IT especially over the polenta hearts
Red Velvet Cake - Personally I'm not a fan of this kind of cake but my husband is. I made it for his graduation and he and all the omnivores loved it.
Better Then Tuna Salad - Pretty good
Herbed Scalloped Potatoes - Pretty good
Golden Corn Pancakes - Loved it!
Creamy Polenta with Mushrooms - LOVED IT
Apricot Whole Wheat Muffins - Pretty good
Magical Miso Soup with Shiitake Mushrooms - Pretty good but I prefer my own homemade miso
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Apples and Onions - LOVED IT this is a `go-to' holiday recipe for me now
Roasted Beets and Fennel Bulbs in Fennel Oil - I thought this was just okay, but then I'm not the biggest fan of fennel.
Pan-Grilled Portobello Mushrooms with herb infused marinade - loved it!
French Onion Pie - Didn't like it. However I did try this back when I just turned vegan, and didn’t particularly care for tofu. I wouldn’t be opposed to giving this recipe another whirl now that my tastes have changed.
Cauliflower with Spicy Vinaigrette - Loved it!
Masoor Dal - Pretty good
Fruit Sushi - LOVED IT
Frozen Mango Lassi - Loved it
Cuban Black Bean Soup - Loved it
Eggless Egg Salad - Loved it.
No Queso Quesadillas - LOVED IT
Muhammara - LOVED IT
Boston Baked Beans - Pretty good
Caramelized Tempeh Shawaramas - LOVED IT - my new favorite way to eat tempeh
Mushroom Pecan Burgers - LOVED IT
Tofu Spinach Lasagna - LOVED IT - a `go to' when cooking for Omni's
Traditional Vegetable Soup - Pretty good
Mashed Potatoes with Caramelized Onions - LOVED IT
Golden Mushroom Gravy - LOVED IT
Mushroom walnut Pate - LOVED IT
Tempeh and Eggplant Pot Pies - LOVED IT
Irish Soda Bread - LOVED IT
Gado Gado Vegetable Skewers - LOVED IT
Potato Salad in Radicchio Cups - LOVED IT
Tomato Basil and Arugula Bruschetta - LOVED IT
Basic Pizza Dough - LOVE It - this is my `go to' dough for pizza
Beet and Sweet Potato Pizza - Loved it
Pineapple Upside Down Cake - pretty good.

In short I would definitely recommend this book to just about anyone. It’s versatile enough for curious omnivores, newbie vegans, vegetarians and long-time vegans too. However if you’re looking for a vegan health book, or a No SOS book - salt, oil, sugar. - or a raw book, then this is not the right book for you, and you’d be better off finding a book that uses those words in it’s advertising.

This really is one of my favorite and most beloved cookbooks, so I hope that if you haven’t checked it out yet you feel inspired to do so now.

If you want to learn more about Colleen and the work that she does you can check out her Website, which is phenomenal by the way, and be sure to click on her Podcast!

Restaurant Review: Karyn's Cooked in Chicago...

Last Friday my husband and I had lunch at Karyn’s Cooked. We’ve been there several times before, but always for breakfast, and so I was excited to finally try some of their other dishes.  If you don’t know Karyn Calabrese she’s something of a vegan celebrity here in Chicago. She’s a mostly raw advocate for health and compassion. She runs an Inner Beauty/Holistic center, and has three restaurants, one all raw place called Karyn’s Raw, a high-end establisment where you can expect the finest in vegan dining called Karyn’s on Green, and then a down-home place serving up delicious vegan comfort food, called Karyn’s Cooked. She’s also written two books, and she can often be found speaking or demoing at the various vegan/vegetarian events around town. She’s amazing, and inspirational, and much loved by our little vegan community here in Chicagoland.

Needless to say my husband and I are always happy to dine in one of her restaurants, and we’ve always had a good experience both with the food and the staff. Out of all three places I would say that Cooked is where I feel the most comfortable, it’s a cozy, intimate space that’s very welcoming and warm. When you sit down, you feel like you’re at home, or just sitting in that old café you go to every afternoon at 4. It’s a very friendly place, with a great vibe, and great atmosphere.

Buffalo Wings

On this particular trip we decided to start with the Buffalo Wings - because, HELLO, Buffalo Wings! Who can pass that up? These were made out of a really chewy mix of seitan and tofu, I loved the texture but the taste - and the shape - reminded me more of a chicken nugget then a wing. They had a ‘baked’ kind of flavor, where as a lot of other buffalo wings I’ve had In the past - vegan of course - seem to come a bit more greasy. Still delicious though. They came with a trio of sauces, one ranch style sauce, one buffalo sauce, and one BBQ sauce. All of the sauces were great but I think they really tasted best when combined like Ranch and Buffalo together or Ranch and BBQ together - yum!

Thai Skewers 

Since we can never go anywhere and order only one appetizer we ordered the Thai Skewers. Now these can come slathered either in BBQ or Peanut sauce, but since my husband doesn’t particularly care for peanuts or peanut sauce we opted for BBQ. I’ll definitely try the Peanut next time! Anyway, these skewers were made of seitan and tofu and absolutely delicious, they were also huge! The BBQ Sauce was amazing! I’ve always been a great lover of ‘Que Sauce, and this one really hit the spot.

Ruben Sandwich 

For my main meal I’ll be honest, I really had a hard time choosing. It came down to the ribs, the taco salad or the Ruben Sandwich. In the end I nixed the ribs because we’d just eaten BBQ skewers, and I opted for the Ruben, ‘cause, well who doesn’t love a Ruben? Besides it came with potatoes and coleslaw and I’ve always been a sucker for some slaw. This particular slaw was alright, it was of the vinegar dressing variety vs the mayo kind which I prefer. The potatoes were fantastic, I really loved them - though I would have liked more then two! The Ruben was also very good, however I think The Chicago Diner has Karyn’s Beat concerning best Ruben. What I loved most about Karyn’s version though was the meat, it was really smoky, and flavorful, and could really have passed for real meat. Amazing. I also liked the sauce which wasn’t a typical ‘thousand island’ type sauce but a dill dressing.

Flautas 

My husband also had a hard time choosing a meal - too many delicious sounding options - but in the end he went with Flautas which is a mix of tofu and carrot stuffed inside a corn tortilla and then fried. It came with guac, pico, refried black beans, mixed greens and sour cream and a jalapeno cilantro sauce. He really loved this, and was kind enough to give me a bite. Very good!

Mac and Cheese 

We also ordered a side of mac and cheese to share, ‘cause, why not? When eating at a comfort food restaurant who can pass up the opportunity to try mac and cheese. This version of the classic dish was super creamy, perhaps more creamy then any other restaurant version I’ve had. However it was a bit mild in flavor for me, I prefer my mac to have that really tart, tangy cheese taste. My husband loved it though.

We also ordered dessert - but neglected to photograph it cause we took it to go. I got a slice of the coconut cream pie which was out of this world amazing, and my husband got a slice of the lemon meringue which was also very good. All in all it was another delicious afternoon!

PS: In the past for breakfast we’ve had the Skillet Scramble, the Mediterranean Scramble, the Rainbow Mexicana, the Banana French Toast and the Vegan Sausage Patties. All of which were excellent! Brunch at Karyn’s is a must, at least once! Especially when there are so few vegan breakfast options in the city.


Karyn's Cooked
738 North Wells Street, Chicago
Phone - 312.587.1050
Hours -
Sunday-Monday 11:00 a.m.- 9:00 p.m.
(Sunday Brunch 11:00 a.m.- 3:00 p.m)
Tuesday-Saturday 11:00 a.m.- 10:00 p.m.
(Saturday Brunch 11:00 a.m.- 2:00 p.m.)

Restaurant Review: Healthy Sins Vegan Cafe in Lockport...

A few days after we broke our fast my husband and I decided a nice way to welcome ourselves back to the world of food would be to indulge in a little raw food. There are not a ton of Raw Vegan restaurants in Illinois, and since we’ve already been to several I wanted to try something new, explore new ground, go somewhere we hadn’t been before. I chose Healthy Sins Vegan Café, which is in Lockport, Il, kind of a hike from our place but I’d heard such good things about it that I thought the 40 minute drive would be worth it. Plus, we’d never been to Lockport, and since it was a lovely, sunny Saturday afternoon we could spend some time exploring. A win, win.

All the tables are shaped like leaves, isn't that cute?

We arrived, and parking was easy enough. The restaurant was not overly busy and so we had our choice of tables and were seated immediately. Right away I liked the cozy atmosphere of the café, it felt very warm, very welcoming, and very European. I personally am a big fan of the whole ‘take as long as you want’ mentality, vs the ‘eat and get out’ mode that most American restaurants seem to operate by.

Bagel Bites

So we asked for water, got some menus and began to peruse. I’ll admit, I had a really hard time deciding what to get because everything sounded fantastic, and since I’d just been fasting for 5 days and had only been eating very lightly since breaking said fast, I was overwhelmed at my choices.

Eventually we settled upon two appetizers. The Bagel Bites (bite sized bagel pieces topped with pesto, pumpkin seed cheese, taco meat, tuna salad, and egg salad) which just sounded way to cool to pass up, and The Nachos (Taco meat, guacamole, salsa and onions with nacho cheese and sour cream served with corn-flax tortilla chips) because how can you say no to a huge plate of nachos?

Nachos

Seriously, both of these appetizers were amazing. I loved how soft the bagel pieces were, and I loved the toppings though my favorite were the taco meat, nut cheese, and tuna salad. The Nacho’s were to die for, the tortilla chips were amazing, a bit of crunch, and they paired perfectly with the delicious taco meat, nacho cheese, and guacamole. I could have eaten like 4 orders of this!

For our main meal my husband got the Sloppy Joe’s which is a favorite of his. The opportunity to try it raw was too good to pass up. I took a few bites of this and it was very good indeed.

Sloppy Joe's 

For my main meal I agonized over whether or not I should get lasagna or the pizza. In the end I chose pizza because raw pizza? How cool is that? I think I chose right. The pizza crust was great, but the real winner was the delicious Italian Cashew Cheese, and the Marinara. I could have eaten the marinara with a spoon it was that amazing!

Pizza

Both Entree’s came with two side salads. One a mixed green salad with a spicy vinaigrette, the other a fruit salad with a sweet dressing. Both were great.

Of course we could not pass up the chance to try dessert. My husband went with the apple pie which tasted like a real baked apple pie! It was super tasty, and the perfect amount of spice. I went with the Almond Butter Pie which was really rich, and heavenly. I could have eaten an entire pie it was that good! Definitely one of my favorite restaurant desserts of all time.

Apple Pie 

I have to say, having been to several raw restaurants - with varying results - this is some of the hands-down best raw vegan food I’ve ever eaten anywhere. The only place that even comes close to comparing is In The Raw in Highland Park, but from what I understand they’ve closed now, and so Healthy Sins Vegan Café is the King - or Queen - of Raw. Trust me, even if this is a little out of the way for you, you’ll want to make the trip. The food is really that good, and the staff is super friendly, and very helpful. Great place, all around.

Almond Butter Pie 

After we finished eating we decided to explore Lockport, so we walked around for a few hours taking in the scenery. There was some kind of festival happening with live music and so we hung out by the canal and listened to a few tunes. Before we headed back home we decided to stop over at the Naked Sprout Organic Market which is right next to Healthy Sins. They’re a cute little store selling all kinds of raw, vegan, and gluten-free goods. They also have a juice and smoothie bar, in fact all the juices and smoothies served at Healthy Sins are made at The Naked Sprout, so we wanted to give some smoothies a whirl, you know, just a little something for the drive home.

I decided to go with the strawberry lemon cheesecake smoothie which was so good, and so creamy. It did indeed taste just like a cheesecake. My husband got the oatmeal raisin smoothie which he really liked although I thought it was a bit heavy on the nutmeg. Overall a very cool experience and very friendly staff. If you go to Lockport don’t forget to check out the Naked Sprout after your delicious meal at Healthy Sins!

Left: Oatmeal Raisin Smoothie
Right: Strawberry Lemon Cheesecake Smoothie 

Healthy Sins Vegan Cafe
928 S State Street
Lockport, IL
Phone:  815.838.4626
Hours: Monday—Thursday: 11-7
Friday & Satruday: 11-8
Sunday: Closed; available for Private Parties

Breaking The Fast...

Strawberries & Cherries
Man how I love Cherry Season!

Wow, I had no idea that I’ve been away for so long. I guess I’ve been busier then I thought, and when I haven’t been busy I’ve been really enjoying the freedom of being able to do whatever I want vs. writing essays, and studying. I forgot what free-time felt like.

I guess the truth is that you haven’t missed very much anyway. Since my Juice cleanse ended I haven’t been eating anything all that exciting. To break my fast I started off simple and small. Fruit and raw veggies, that was it. Then I moved onto more involved raw foods like big salads, raw hummus, raw pasta, raw sushi, that kind of thing. I did that for a couple of weeks and then I started introducing more and more cooked foods, lately we’ve been eating a lot of Italian theme food - a lot of pasta because it’s cheap and easy, and since we’re going on Holiday again in September cheap is good.

Zucchini Hummus Decorated with Salt Cured Olives 

I didn’t photograph everything I ate just after my fast ended but I did take a few photos. Mostly my breakfast was a bowl of Strawberries, blueberries or cherries - in fact this is till my go-to breakfast. Sometimes I would make a raw fruit smoothie using homemade raw almond milk, fresh or frozen fruit and dates. Lunch was usually raw hummus and raw vegetables - my favorite hummus was a delicious zucchini hummus but I also made a Macadamia nut hummus that was pretty good. Dinners were simple, a bowl of raw veggies over raw ‘rice’ such as in the ‘sushi bowl’ below, or I would make zucchini pasta and toss it in a delicious raw tomato or raw creamy pecan sauce. I didn't do dessert for the most part, although I did make the occasional fruit smoothie as a ‘dessert’ like snack.

I was feeling really good eating this way, now that I’ve been eating a ton of pasta, and less raw vegetables I really feel that weighed down sensation I was feeling before. I’m considering doing another short juice fast 3-4 days at the end of the month and then getting back to a mostly raw diet for a while, but we’ll see.

Raw Sushi Bowl
Cauliflower Rice, Mushrooms, Avocado, Onion, Carrot, Seaweed
Cucumber, Tamari, 

To make up for my prolonged absence and the shortness of this post I’ll post a restaurant review later this evening. It’s a place I tried recently and have been dying to tell you all about.

Juice Fast 2.0, Day 3 & 4...

Day 3 of my Juice fast was Tuesday, and it went off pretty smooth. I got home from work at around 8am, and was pretty hungry by then so I tucked into a large jar of the Sea Buckthorn Juice from “Superfood Juices” that I’d made the day before. This juice really was scrumptious, but then I’m of the opinion that you really can’t go wrong with Orange + Beet + Ginger. Know what I’m saying?

For Lunch I enjoyed the Grapefruit Mint Juice that I’d made the day before, and it was quite tasty. I love grapefruit juice anyway, and it worked pretty well with the mint, much to my surprise. I also enjoyed another Electrolyte Chia Lemonade.

In late afternoon I enjoyed a Kombucha, as well as another raw-probiotic drink called Kvass. Kvass was a bit hard to swallow, but maybe it’s because I got the ‘roots’ blend, which is beet, sarsparilla, ginger and some other stuff. It was a bit sour for my taste.

For Dinner I enjoyed a bottle of Carrot Goji juice which was a surprising blend. Throughout the day I drank water of course, and lots of it.

I woke up on Wednesday - Day 4 - feeling pretty darn good about the world and about myself. I was feeling so light, and so good. Almost from the start of Day 1 I’d begun to feel better. My skin itched less, and it looked more clear by day two. My stomach felt flat, not bloated, I had no gas, and even though I sweated profusely at work It didn’t have any odor other then the clean, musky scent of sweat. My insides felt clean, and I felt strong and invigorated. I began my day with a bottle of Carrot Dill Juice, followed by a bottle of Green Apple Kale Juice. I drank a lot of water and enjoyed a long walk. I made another batch of juice to last me for the next couple of days.

Lunch was a sampling of the following - Watermelon Goji Juice, Carrot Lucuma Juice, and Lemon Chard Juice. I was running low on produce - specifically greens - and so I had to rely on non-green juices for this batch. Still I was enjoying the excitement of experiencing new juice combinations. Unfortunately, and very suddenly out of the blue I began to feel a bit ill. I’m not sure why but around noon my stomach began to feel ‘funny’ I wasn’t nauseous, or bloated, I didn’t have to go to the bathroom but I felt some kind of gastronomical distress nonetheless, followed by a sudden sensation of light-headed-ness.

Even though I had a double helping of juice for breakfast I thought maybe this was due to not having enough to eat. So I downed a bottle of ginger kombucha - hoping the ginger and the probiotics would help settle my tummy. Which indeed it did, but it did not make me feel any less-light-headed.

As the day wore on I felt more and more light-headed, and then dizzy. My head felt like it was full of cotton balls and bees. Very fussy, very buzzy, very heavy. I felt weak. Everything seemed to take great effort. - Talking, walking, even breathing seemed laborious. I had not experienced these feelings to such an extreme on my previous juice fast and so I didn’t know what to make of them. I needed to take my dog for a walk, and so I went - for just a short 15 minute jaunt around the block and it was hard. My legs felt like lead, picking my feet up off the ground and moving my legs forward was a challenge. They felt so heavy, and yet at the same time I felt as though I had no legs at all, I couldn’t feel them properly, as though they’d fallen asleep. My motor skills were not good. I came home, I drank more water, I laid on the couch silently reading. I spent most of the afternoon on the livingroom couch. It was grey and overcast outside and suddenly I felt chilled to the bone. I was so cold, shivering even though I was dressed in a hoodie and was wrapped in a blanket. I cranked the heat and it did not relieve me. I moved from the couch to my bed and burred myself under masses of blankets. Finally I was warm, but so very tired and weak.

I stayed like that all day, and only got up for lunch which was a glass of the Fennel Mint Juice which I’ll be honest, I did not like. Fennel is a vegetable that’s hit or miss with me, but I wanted to try it anyway. For me it was too strong a taste in this juice. I followed it with some water, and some tea. Lots of hot tea to warm me up inside and out. Mostly peppermint tea, but also some herbal hibiscus tea.

Dinner was Apple Broccoli Ginger Juice which was much tastier then I was expecting. I enjoyed it, with water, but did not feel much better. I went to bed early. I woke up at Eleven, and did not feel much better, but I had to get ready for work. I took two steps towards my alarm clock to turn it off, and nearly passed out. I probably would have lost consciousness completely except when I dropped, I fell against my bookcase and I think it was that hard thwack that woke me out of it. For a few minutes I couldn’t see anything or say anything, my ears were buzzing. I sat silently until my eyes refocused and I could move again.

My first two hours of work were hard, I felt bad, not as bad as I had in the afternoon but still not so great. Light-headed, weak, my body felt heavy. At 2am I took a break and enjoyed some water and a bottle of Lemon Chard Juice. It was very green, but somehow tasty anyway. After that I gradually began to feel better. My next 6 hours of work went pretty smooth. I didn’t feel as weak or as dizzy, I thought I was getting better.

My shift ended at 8am, and maybe 10 minutes before I punched out for the day I began to feel strange again. My husband had slept in, and so I had to wait for him at work, I hung around and talked with a couple of the guys I’ve made friends with. As we talked I felt worse and worse, dizzy, light-headed and everything felt heavy and numb again. I had to sit down. My husband finally arrived to collect me and we went to buy groceries. I couldn’t quite manage this simple task, and so I sat down in the café and waited for him to finish up.

As far as hunger goes, I was not hungry at all. The juice kept my hunger pains at bay, and kept my needs in that regard completely satisfied. Nothing I did however seemed to make me feel any less dizzy or any less weak. I didn’t want to quit the juice fast, I was enjoying the experience up until day 4, but since my job is a very physical one I realized that it did not make sense to continue on like this, feeling so ill. Not only did it not make sense but it was potentially dangerous, I could hurt myself, or do irreversible damage. My husband insisted that I break the fast and eat. At first I was very reluctant to do this, but he insisted, he said “At least eat some fruit, something, anything.” the more he talked the more I saw reason. So Mid-morning on Day 5 I broke the fast. I was sad to do so, but by afternoon I was feeling much, much better. I’ll talk about my breaking of the fast tomorrow.

Before I go however I just wanted to say that I don’t want my experience on day 4 to dissuade you or scare you away from fasting. I’m not scared at all, in fact I plan to do another short 3 day fast at the end of the month since I didn’t make the full 6 days I’d initially planned on. Everyone’s body, needs and experiences are different, and I never felt this way on my first juice fast. I think this time around it maybe had something to do with low blood pressure, my blood pressure is quite low to begin with and it might have dropped much too low due to fasting. It might be better for me in the future to do shorter more frequent fasts vs longer infrequent ones. You have to find what works for you, and I still maintain that under normal circumstances fasting is a transcendent experience.

You can Read about Day's 1 and 2 Here

Juice Fast 2.0, Day 1 & 2...

After giving it a bit of thought I’ve decided once again to embark on a Juice Fast. If you remember I did one in January of 2013, and blogged all about it Here, Here, Here, Here, Here, Here, and Here  Overall I enjoyed the experience, but for some reason once it was over the things the thoughts that lingered with me the most were the negative thoughts. The hard moments, the cranky moments, the things I didn’t like, and I wasn’t interested in doing another juice fast anytime soon.

Well, it seemed like this year had one hell of a beginning for me. The decadent party food never seemed to stop, I’d get on a health kick that would last a few days or a week and then something would come up. Some reason for decadence and I’d fall right off that wagon all over again. Then we went on vacation, but it wasn’t the same as when we went to Montreal. The vegan restaurant were few and far between. We lived mostly on rice and beans and fruit which is what I enjoy, but then we came back and it was a tidal wave of decadence. Then I had some personal stuff going on - some hectic job related stuff, and the pressure of finishing my school project and I’ll be honest my eating became irregular and chaotic at best. I went from extremes of not eating anything at all, to eating everything! Up and down up and down, and add on top of it that I’ve been testing tons of recipes for 3 vegan cook books - well, I was just never able to get a handle on my eating long enough to get myself back on track.

It occurred to me in the middle of last week that this crazy cycle needed to end, and it needed to end now. I’ve been feeling ‘gross’ off and on for a while now. I’ve been feeling bloated, and gassy, and my stomach has been in all kinds of distress. These are not great feelings, and I haven’t felt very good about myself because of all of this. A juice fast seemed the most logical place to start, and so without spending too much time agonizing over the decision I jumped right into it.

I started Sunday, and I’ll be going for Six Days. Meaning I’ll officially be able to eat solid food again Saturday.

I was anticipating a lot of discomfort, a lot of crankiness, a lot of hunger and so far that hasn’t been the case for me. In fact, I’ve found this juice fast to be going very smoothly, and it seems much easier then the one I did last year. I’ve hardly felt hungry at all, except for when it comes time to my needing a juice, and yesterday it seemed ad though I didn’t even need that much. I haven’t so far experienced any negative effects. I was really tired yesterday, but I don’t know if that had anything to do with juicing or if it’s just because I’m still getting used to this new schedule. Or maybe it was because of the physical activity I engaged in yesterday. Who knows.

The weird thing, is that even though I’m not particularly hungry I keep thinking about the foods I want to eat. It’s strange not eating, and when you’re not eating it’s amazing how aware you are of the fact that you’re not eating. It’s amazing how many food related thoughts we have in a day. Interestingly enough right now the things I’m craving most are just raw vegetables, salads, raw cauliflower, carrots, olives, kale salad, almond butter. Nothing crazy, nothing decadent, I think this is a good sign, a sign that I’m getting on track already. I plan to follow my 6 day juice fast with a 5 day raw food cleanse, and hopefully that’ll set everything right again. But now you probably want to know about the juice right?

Well Sunday started off with a 20oz glass of water. Followed by a 8oz glass of Citrus Apple Juice from Julie Morris’s book “Superfood Juices.” this juice contains apples, oranges, and sea buckthorn juice. This was super delicious and a great way to start the day.

Mid morning I followed that with a 20oz glass of water and then an 8oz glass of Green Apple Kale Juice from the same book. This juice contains apples, kale, cucumber, celery and spirulina. Also quite tasty - though a bit ‘green’ for me, I added a couple of drops of liquid stevia.

In Mid afternoon I enjoyed 8oz of Carrot Dill Juice - from the same book - which consisted of carrots, dill, cucumber, celery, Swiss Chard, and hemp seeds. It’s not a pretty juice but it’s actually very tasty. I thought the dill would be too much, but this juice has a sweetness from the carrots, and a creaminess from the hemp seeds that can’t be matched.

Between six and seven-thirty for dinner I had 24oz of Cooling Kale Juice - from the same book - it contained honeydew, cucumber, kale, apple, mint and lemon and was so good! I really loved this one, not overly green, and very refreshing. I followed this up with a 16oz bottle of unflavored kombucha and that was that. At other points throughout the day I drank water, and it went really well. I felt great all day, and almost immediately I felt less bloated, and less gassy. Amazing how that works, in fact it might be a good idea to just do a 1 day juice fast each month.

As for today - Monday - I started the day the same way with 20oz glass of water. Then followed it with 12oz of citrus apple juice, and a 12oz glass of Celery Greens which is from the same book. This juice contains celery, romaine lettuce, kale, parsley, and lemon. I thought it was going to be really bitter but it was actually quite good.

Then I knocked back some more water and went downstairs to make another batch of juice for the coming days. Since I made Six bottles of juice, and each batch of juice made a little extra that didn't fit in each bottle, all that extra ended up being my lunch. So I had some Maca Yam juice, Some Fennel Mint Juice, Some Grapefruit Mint Juice, some Apple Broccoli Ginger Juice, some Ginger Greens Juice, and some Sea Bucthorne Beet Juice. - All from "Superfood Juices" and I'll discuss each in more detail on Day 3-4.

Even after sampling all those tasty juices I was still a bit hungry and so I made the Chia Lemonade also from "Superfood Juices" This is a mixture of 1 cup coconut water, 1 cup water, fresh squeezed lemon juice and Chia Seeds. Now I know Chia seeds are not juice, and probably don't belong on a typical juice fast, however I decided a small amount of fiber would be okay this time around, because i think the zero-fiber juice fast I did last year was part of why I found it so uncomfortable. When you drink only juice there comes a point where there's nothing left - or not much left - in your insides to get pushed out anymore, know what i'm saying? and that's a strange feeling, and can be somewhat uncomfortable. I like the addition of this small amount of fiber to keep things regular.

Anyway, that Lemonade kept me pretty full until dinner time, and at dinner I drank the Maca Yam Juice which was good, but a little starchy for my tastes. I actually juiced some carrots with the yam as well, since i didn't have 2lb of yams but only 1 1/2lb. Still you could really taste the starch - more as an aftertaste. However the maca, cinnamon and coconut really made it taste like a holiday drink. Like eggnog, or chai or something delicious like that. I also drank a quarter bottle of the Sea Bucthorne Beet Juice which I added a smidge of ginger too and it was delicious.

I'd say that day 2 went by pretty smooth, as smooth as day 1, and far smoother then expected.

I’ll keep you updated all week on my progress so stay tuned!

The 30 Day Vegan Challenge Fundraiser Campaign...

I just wanted to take a moment to share with you a fundraising campaign that’s currently going on. Colleen Patrick-Goudreau - AKA - the patron saint of Veganism - has launched a campaign to bring back an updated and revised version of her inspirational book “The 30 Day Vegan Challenge” If you don’t know about The 30 Day Vegan Challenge you should! It’s a wonderful book, full of practical information about veganism, menu plans, recipes, tips for making the transition, guidance and you name it, it’s here. The original book sold 20,000 copies before it went out of print and was a major inspiration to so, so many people. If you ever listen to Colleen’s wonderful Vegetarian Food for Thought podcast then you’ve probably heard her read countless letters from fans, and listeners who attribute their making the shift to veganism directly to her, and this particular book. It really is wonderful, and when it came out it was one of the first vegan books of it’s kind. - Now vegan guides are popping up all the time, but Colleen’s is one of the few that I come back to again and again. Of course I was already vegan when I purchased the original book, I didn’t buy it to challenge myself to go vegan, I bought it to support Colleen’s work, as well as to have a comprehensive resource to share with friends and family whenever I got asked the inevitable ‘ insert common question about veganism here - questions. I bought it so I could fact check things on a moments notice, and so that I always had it handy, and because I find her words to be such an inspiration, such a breath of fresh air, and I love her kindness, compassion, and easy style.

So when I heart that The 30 Day Vegan Challenge was out of print I was sad that new people wouldn’t be able to experience this gem for themselves. Then I heard she was updating it, and trying to bring it back into print - to stay this time - and I got super excited. In fact, this is actually one of the books I’ve been testing recipes for, and trust me the recipes I’ve tried thus far are out of this world, and certainly worth the cost of the book. (Just a disclaimer here I’m not getting paid to test the recipes, it’s totally volunteer, I’m also not getting paid to promote the book, I do so because I believe in it.)

I do not have many heroes, and there are not many people in this world that I look up to, but Colleen is a constant source of inspiration for me. Her podcast was one of the driving forces in my shift from omnivore to vegetarian and finally to vegan. I could not have done it without her constant support, or without her recipes, and this book is like every podcast episode rolled up into one convenient, and tidy parcel. It would have been a nice thing to have when I initially went vegan, and so it deserves to be brought back for all those not yet transitioned or as Colleen would say for all those not yet ‘awake.’

So if you’re interested in making a donation you can visit her campaign page Here. You can donate any amount you want from as little as $1 - believe me even that makes a difference - to as much as $10,000. Each donation comes with a gift, from a exclusive recipe, to a copy of the book, to an e-book, to a private party with Colleen, and more. You can also read more about the book, the campaign and Colleen Here, as well as watch videos, and listen to her amazing podcast. Currently she’s only $3000 short of her goal, so at this point every dollar truly counts!

Do it for yourselves, for the ‘not-yet-vegans’ and for the animals!

Restaurant Review: Loving Heart in Chicago...

Yesterday my husband and I went to a ‘newish’ vegan restaurant in the city, to celebrate my graduation from school. Yes, did you catch that? After the years of hard and grueling work, the tests, the papers, the projects I’m done!  I just found out a few days ago that I received an -A on my final project, and I’ll officially have my degree in six weeks time. Once I have that, I need to get certified by the state and then I’ll officially be a Holistic Health Practitioner, how exciting! And definitely worth celebrating if you ask me.

Originally I wanted to go somewhere fancy, somewhere that you can dress up, somewhere that has little plates of food and a variety of cocktails. Somewhere like Kayrn’s on Green, but my husband has already expressed a desire to take me there on my birthday and so I thought I’d best pick somewhere else. As it happens I was a bit tired yesterday from work, and so a relaxed and casual atmosphere suited my mood quite well.

I stumbled upon Loving Heart - not to be confused with Loving Hut - while I was scrolling through Happy Cow. I’d never heard of it before, - they’ve only been open since November of 2013 - but the description sounded fantastic. I immediately went to their website and fell in love! Anyone who knows me - or my husband for that matter - knows that we absolutely adore Asian food, and Asian fusion - it’s one of our all time favorites and there are literally days where I can not get enough rice noodles!  It’s very hard for us to pass up a good Asian inspired meal and so looking through the menu I knew - just knew - that this would be the place for us, and my husband completely agreed.

We arrived at about 5pm for an early dinner - we’d been starving ourselves all day so we could literally eat a ton of food! - and found easy street parking right out front. Though if you go to Loving Heart you really need to keep your eyes open. The restaurant is small, and could easily be missed - we drove right by it on the first go-round. Inside the atmosphere is casual, relaxed and friendly. The staff is super nice, and helpful, very eager to please, the whole place exudes love. I’m serious, walking into Loving Heart is like walking into a big hug, or maybe a fluffy cloud. You feel at home, you feel welcome, and what more can you ask for in a restaurant? The space is medium, with quite a few tables, they also have a whole section of leaflets, books, and other resource materials to help the veg-curious transition which is really cool. The service is mostly self-service. You grab a to-go menu, pick out what you want, order at the counter and then sit down and wait. They call your name, you go pick it up and bring it back to your table. Most of the materials used from the forks to the containers to the paper sheaths the forks come in are biodegradable or made from recycled materials which is so, so cool! I mean, what’s not to love about that?

But now you want to know about the food right? Well, like I said we were hungry, and so we ordered a feast!

First we got drinks. I ordered the hot Cinnamon and Ginger Tea Latte which was excellent. Great flavor, subtlety sweet, and not overpowering. Perfect for a slightly chilly Chicago evening.

Hot Cinnamon Ginger Tea Latte

My husband ordered the banana, mango smoothie which was banana, mango, organic soymilk, ans stevia. I took a couple of sips off of this and it was really tasty. He loved it! - Sorry, no photo.

For food we started with the pot stickers which were full of steamed cabbage, carrot, tofu, sweet potato noodles, onion and mushrooms. It came with a soy dipping sauce and they were excellent!

Pot Stickers on the left, Rice Roll on the right

Of course one appetizer wasn’t good enough for us and so we also ordered the Rice Roll which was stuffed with cilantro, red bell pepper, avocado, spinach, house special soy beef slices - non-gmo - onion, roasted peanuts, seaweed and came with the house special green ginger pesto - almond butter, agave, dates, garlic, ginger, parsley, and cilantro) Everything about these was phenomenal, seriously! The beef slices were incredible, maybe even some of the best vegan beef I’ve ever eaten! And I loved the pesto, so much flavor!

Close up of the Rice Roll 

For my main meal I ordered the Ever Young Noodle which basically contained everything that was in the Rice Roll, plus wheat noodles - though there is a gluten-free option too. Of course this was fantastic, I literally couldn’t get enough of it. I liked the combination of textures. The soft noodles with the beef slices, and the raw veggies plus raw sauce. I loved how most of the food at this restaurant was raw, with only light accents of cooked food, and those beef slices! Seriously, they tasted like what I remember beef jerky tasting like, that sweet, salty, savory taste. Amazing!

Ever Young Noodles 

For his meal my husband got the BiBim Noodles which included avocado, carrot, zucchini, lettuce, wheat noodles, beef slices, and house special BiBim Sauce which was a sweet, tangy, spicy red sauce.  My husband was kind enough to give me a bit of his dish and I’m telling you, this was off the hook guys! I don’t know if I liked it better then my own dish but it was easily as good. So much flavor and great texture!

BiBim Noodles 

Because two appetizers and two main dishes just weren’t enough for our hungry bellies we also ordered a Heaven Wrap to split. Man oh man was this good. It was raw red pepper hummus, red bell pepper, beef slices, spinach, tomato, onion, cilantro and parsley all rolled up in an organic tortilla. Again this wrap had so much flavor and was so delicious!

Heaven Wrap 

As you can see most of what we ordered contained the house special beef slices, but have no fear, if you are indeed soy-free there are options here for you that don’t include a soy meat. Some dishes are just veggies, and some use nuts or beans or lentils as their protein. Most dishes can also be made gluten-free upon request, and some can be nut-free as well. Though the menu is relatively small, there is a little something here for everyone I think, and you really can’t beat the prices. Nothing on the menu costs more then $7.85, and most of the sandwiches and salads are under $7. For everything we got our bill was only $40, which is super reasonable not only for a vegan restaurant but also for one that includes a lot of raw food.

Inside the Heaven Wrap 

They also have dessert, and I was really looking forward to trying either the raw strawberry cake or the raw orange cake but both were sold out! They had some chocolate desserts as well, but I was all chocolated out, so hopefully next time I’ll score me a raw strawberry cake. Most of their desserts by the way - as well as their smoothies and drinks - are sugar-free, which is awesome. This food is simply good, healthy food that you can feel good about eating.

So please do yourself a favor, if you find yourself in the area drop by Loving Heart for a bite. You won’t be disappointed! The food’s amazing, the people are great, you’ll love it! You can even do take-away if you want.

Loving Heart
838 W. Montrose Ave. Chicago, IL
Phone # 773.561.5399
Mon-Fri : 11 am - 2 pm & 4 pm - 9pm

Sat : 11 am - 9 pm.
Closed Sunday