We absolutely had a lovely visit to Boulder, CO after a very long driving trip. The farmer’s market was fabulous. I was so thrilled that the people behind the food stands actually GREW the produce. What a concept, right? They could tell us what type of food they had, which was amazing to me. The last time we went to a grocery to ask for sweet dumpling squash, the nice person putting out the produce had no idea what kind of winter squash she was putting out. She had to go get a sheet. Our daughter, who is a photographer in the making, had a blast taking pictures of items on her level. Some were actually better than the ones her parents took. We drove up to Estes Park, which was this neat little town in a valley (canyon) at the entrance to the Rocky Mountain National Forest. It was very quaint without being too touristy. Still, a little too far away from civilization for me. I will mention here that when we stopped for a well needed potty break at the visitor’s center, I checked the menus. Every single one of them had a vegetarian option. Even the ones that served elk! Cross contaminated I am sure, but at least they had an option. All in all, we had a great trip. I cannot wait until we can get there again, maybe next time for good.
Pumpkin Spice Latte
October 29th, 2009 by NashVeggie No comments »This time of year every coffee place has their version of a Pumpkin Spice Latte. Starbucks always starts serving theirs early October and Panera has come into the mix this year with their own. Most independent coffee shops I have visited lately have one as well. Some of these are vegan when ordered with soy milk (Panera’s is) and some are not (Starbucks). I have always been partial to making coffee at home. I always know I’ll be served a drinkable cup and it always costs less. I do occasionally enjoy a cup of froo-froo coffee though I typically make a simple syrup with vanilla to falvor my coffee when I want. I did, however, find a more seasonal approach to a fancy coffee at home. I picked up a (few) bottles of Williams Sonoma’s Pumpkin Spice Latte Syrup and have found it to give a perfect flavor, not overpowering and not too sweet like some of the commercial coffee shop’s versions. It is vegan and doesn’t contain any unpronounceable ingredients.
In another month, maybe Williams Sonoma will have a peppermint version.
UPDATE: If you’re up for making your own Pumpkin Spice Latte Syrup give this recipe I created a try.
Another Colorado Trip
October 21st, 2009 by NashVeggie No comments »We’re back from our latest excursion west. It’s always good to get away. It’s always better to get away to a place that has vegan offerings. On this trip to Denver and Boulder we visited some places we’ve been to before and found some new ones.
Most of our days were spent walking the streets of Boulder. A trip to the Boulder Farmers Market was made and I found what a Farmers Market should be. I have been to markets in other cities but Boulder does it right. All local, no vendors selling the same stuff that’s in the grocery store from a factory farm in another state. I bought some beautiful purple peppers that will be used in quesadillias and multiple squashes that my wife plans to use somehow in something tasty. There were many tables of apples so a big bag of these tiny Honeycrisp that tasted like candy had to be gotten. One vendor had nothing but mushrooms, every fungus you could desire. A bag of assorted fungus was procured. There were vendors selling baked goods, soups, breads and most of them were vegan. Asking if something was vegan was never met with a stupid look, only a smile and a yes. I’m always on the lookout for coffee and I found a few local roasters selling their beans. I picked up a pound of espresso roast from Silver Canyon Roasters and I write this with a cup in hand.
While in Boulder we found a little coffee shop on Pearl Street and decided to give it a try. The Laughing Goat served a good cup of coffee and it wasn’t overpriced as most are. I did notice they kept their beans in a freezer which I have always thought to be a no-no. Maybe someone can tell me otherwise. As I had already picked up the beans from the farmers market I didn’t try these but the cup of coffee I had was very good. The girl working the register did give us a chuckle as someone came in and asked for a Venti. She pointed to their menu and said “These are the sizes we have.” Silly Starbucks sheep.
Also in Boulder is Savory Spice Shop. We visited on their grand opening last year and found many spices that are unavailable in stores in Nashville. The owner was very nice and helpful and gave me some pointers for chili peppers. This time we got a few things needed for some dishes we’ve been wanting to cook. I also got some bhot jolokia chilis. They hold the Guinness Record for the world’s hottest pepper. The Scoville ratings for these peppers are over 1,000,000 and by comparison Tabasco Sauce has a Scoville rating of 2,500. They should be a great addition to my chili!
We visited restaurants we’ve been to before and not all worked out as expected. A visit to Watercourse Foods had been planned for weeks in advance and it was one of the first places we went for lunch. I ordered the Buffalo Tofu sandwich with onion rings and sweet potatoes and wifey had the the Grinder with onion rings and broccoli. The kid munched on their Banana Bread French Toast which she gets each time and doesn’t leave a bite to be shared. Honestly, our going to Watercourse Foods had a lot to do with us wanting to just drink Oogave which they serve on tap, free refills. Our previous trips to Watercourse have been great but after only eating half of our meals we felt like boxing the rest to go, something I never do. About 15 minutes after we left both of us were doubled over in pain. I won’t go into details but we had planned on multiple visits to Watercourse Foods on this trip and after this one we were afraid to return. The kid felt fine and the only thing our meals shared in common were the onion rings so that’s where we placed the blame. Next trip we’ll try again but I couldn’t risk getting sick a second time on this trip.
One night we were looking for a quick snack and after passing on all of the usual quick haunts we typically visit we reluctantly agreed on VG Burgers which, I felt, failed miserably on our last visit. Since we only wanted a basket of chili-cheese fries we thought they could fit the bill. We both shared a basket of chili-cheese fries and the kid had a basket of just fries. The fries were tasty this time but it just seems their portions are small for the price. It was pointed out to me by my wife that it is organic so what looked to be two potatoes worth of fries may well merit $2.99. Leave it to her to play the devil’s advocate. VG Burgers previously had Oogave with free refills but the refills had been nixed so $1.79 for a small drink didn’t work out. To their credit, they played Michael Franti the entire time we were there. I’m not totally giving VG Burgers a thumbs down on this visit but I just think it’s a bit pricey for what they serve.
We located some new places and one of those was Sweet Action Ice Cream. Although not completely vegan they do have offerings that the animal-free crowd would enjoy. This is one of those ice cream places that makes it all on-site, my favorite kind. The day we went the vegan flavors were pumpkin and coffee, which I could only guess were meant to be paired into a pumpkin latte cone or cup with a scoop of each. The pumpkin tasted too much like frozen pumpkin puree so I passed. Coffee ice cream was never my favorite but this one didn’t have a strong coffee flavor so I got a scoop along with a scoop of lemon raspberry sorbet. It doesn’t sound good together but it worked out nicely. They also serve vegan ice cream sandwiches. Peanut butter cookie with vanilla ice cream and oatmeal raisin cookie with peach ice cream were the two choices they had. My wife walked around and looked through a window at their prep area and discovered a list of their vegan flavors which they rotate out. It looked like we picked the wrong day to have ice cream. Vegan flavors like Five Spice, Mothership Wit, Coconut Lemongrass, Coffee Yeti Stout, Garam Masala and Apple Spice were listed along with about twenty others. Unfortunately, a second visit to taste these creations didn’t fit in our schedule.
On our way out of town we met Stephen, the owner of Oogave at their office to pick up plenty to keep us fixed until we return. A case of Estebans’ Cola, Esteban’s Root Beer and a case of random flavors was loaded into the car. Oogave’s cola is the best cola, hands-down, that you will ever find. Agave sweetened and all-natural, it doesn’t get much better! Seriously, this is some good stuff!
We discovered many of new things on our trip but one thing we discovered was something we may have already knew. We belong in Boulder. There’s just too much for us and the feel of the town is a fit.
More pictures can be found on Flickr.
Soy – A 30 Day Experiment – Week 4
September 30th, 2009 by NashVeggie 4 comments »My month-long soy free journey is nearly at an end. As I have stated in past posts, I have felt no change, in energy or weight loss, during this time. So many pieces of research I have read before and during this trial has stated that there is a direct link with soy and the thyroid and a significant decrease in soy intake will result in heightened energy levels and potential weight loss. I have read studies indicating consumption of soy in relation to memory loss and concentration issues. All of those have not proven themselves during this test and so, from my standpoint, are bunk. During this time not only have I given up the more wholesome soy in its unrefined form but I took out of my diet the processed soy you find in just about every snack food.
I have had visitors to the blog since I started this project who are vegan and allergic to soy. To me that’s willpower. Being allergic and unable to consume soy but then taking it one step further and deciding to be vegan for whatever reason, that takes willpower!
Eating out was limited for the past month. Most items contain some soy additive and sometimes, even with known vegan stuff, you just don’t know if it has soy or not so it was better to abstain. I did some deep checking into some places and found an item here or there. One thing I managed to find out was soy free was the sweet & sour at Pei Wei. I had assumed eating anything Asian would be out during this time and considered myself lucky on this one. Sweet & Sour vegetables with rice fit nicely and I managed to get a plate piled with fresh veggies and a tasty sauce that hit the spot. A trip to Atlanta left out most of our favorite eateries except for Eats. You can’t find soy in the pesto or a big veggie plate and you can’t go wrong at Eats!
After this is over I’ll be going back to soy. Of all the things I missed I think the soy milk in my coffee would be the first to come to mind. As I said before I didn’t notice any changes during this time. Maybe after the upcoming holidays I’ll do this again and have some bloodwork done before and after just to benefit those in doubt. I’ve made it through one month, I can do it again. Willpower!
One more day left!
Soy – A 30 Day Experiment – Week 3
September 24th, 2009 by NashVeggie 1 comment »My third week of being soy-free has ended and I can nearly say that if I should be able to notice any changes related to the issues with consuming soy then those issues are myths. I have no increase in energy and no change in weight. I have noticed not one single change. I have one more week to go and without noticing any changes I will be going back to my soy-eating ways. I may cut down on the processed soy only for the desire to cut down on it.
The past week has been quite uneventful unless you consider the usual trip to the grocery store and looking at labels more intently than a cat looking at a bird. I did pull off a Thai Green Curry dish that was easily soy-free but little else was out of the ordinary. My garden is still overflowing with okra so I’ll be frying that up soon.
I’m still looking for that soy-free soy sauce replacement. Any ideas?
