My dinner with Will Travel For Vegan Food at Shojin

Okay, I have to admit that its been a while since I've been to the best sushi spot in Los Angeles...don't pretend you don't know I'm talking about Shojin. :-) Last Sunday, I was fortunate enough to munch on some Shojin cuisine with Kristin, and chat about her travels. For those that don't know, Kristin, from  Will Travel For Vegan Food has been driving cross country, making pit stops at every vegan food place in sight. I first heard about Kristin's journey last year when I saw her kick starter campaign promoting her trip and I've been following her travels ever since. With her pimped out Chevy van, named Gerty, Kristin has been sharing on her blog, the most incredible vegan eats from New York to Los Angeles...and a few surprise stops in Hawaii, Canada, and Europe. It was such a pleasure getting to meet her and share such a yummy dinner. I must admit I was a little intimidated to eat with someone who's had just about every vegan dish out there. I felt like I was eating with a very fancy vegan food critic. But, Kristin was a very nice and down to earth cool chick, who just so happens to travel and eat tons of vegan food for a living. It was nice to share in a little bit of a happy food dance when we were served our delicious Shojin rolls, because let's face it, it's no fun dancing alone. ;-) Check out Kristin's website for all the cool spots she's been to and check out the pics below to see the always delicious Shojin grub we ate. I have found a new favorite roll there that I can't stop thinking about! Must return soon. :-)

Spicy Shiso tempura

Seitan strips

Dynamite roll. My fave!

Purple Treasure roll. 

Pirates of the Crunchy roll. My new fave! 

I ordered the Spicy Miso Ramen for my entree. Also my fave!

Kristin ordered the Seitan Steak with garlic herb butter, brown rice, and veggies. 

Me with Kristin. I was sporting my Vegan, What? shirt if you can't tell. :-) 

Thanksgiving 2012

Since the Thanksgiving Holiday is officially over, I guess I can post the lovely meal I got to enjoy. All the yummy food you see was prepared by my mom, except for the squash and the gardein roast. 

Roasted Butternut squash with earth balance and cinnamon.

My first time trying Gardein Roast.

On this plate I have some roasted squash, asparagus, mushroom stuffing with veggie gravy, collard greens, and potato salad.

This gardein roast was pretty yummy. 

Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake.

Salad Fuel!

Lunch: Mixed greens, herbs, spinach, kale, avocado, tomatoes, red onions, a little quinoa, garbanzo beans, hemp seeds, chia seeds, nutritional yeast, and apple cider vinegar. Love fueling my body on workout days with a big salad. :-) 

VeganMoFo Day 27! Burgers & Sauteed Asparagus!

Sad to say, but this is the last day for VeganMoFo (Vegan Month of Food). Despite missing a few days due to sickness, I think I had a pretty good run. :-) And, what better way to go out than with veggie burgers!!! I love Dr. Praeger's California Veggie Burgers. It almost feels like you can taste the veggies inside. I layered this bad boy with lettuce, tomatoes, red onion, avocado, and daiya vegan cheese. I paired it with sauteed asparagus, mushrooms, and shallots. Yum!

VeganMoFo Day 26! Kale Chips!

I love this kale chip recipe because it's as close to the Alive and Radiant kale chips brand that I can get to without breaking the bank. Kale chips are such an amazing snack and are so much healthier for you than regular chips. 

Recipe:
1 1/2 cup of soaked cashews
1/4 red bell pepper
1 whole lemon squeezed
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
3-4 tbs of water
Pepper
Salt


Blend until creamy and then pour over you rinsed and cut up pieces of kale. Dehydrate for about 10-14 hours (depending on your dehydrator)

Here's the video: 



For the batch below I cut the recipe in half, because I didn't have as much kale as I usually do.

VeganMoFo Day 25! Beyond Meat with Brown Rice & Beans!

Today is Day 1 of getting back on track with my fitness routine. I'm so glad to be done with that stupid cold that held me back for that week and a half and threw my whole workout schedule off. There's nothing worse than having to start all over again when you just started an intense program. Trust me, I went through this when I was in the midst of the wildly popular Insanity program. But, I know I can do this so I'm pressing forward and giving Jamie Eason's LiveFit Trainer program, my full effort. Here's what I ate today to keep my body fueled:

Tofu scramble & Coffee for breakfast.

Perfect Fit Protein & Chocolate Zico post workout.

Soaked almonds, strawberries, and bananas with peanut butter  for snack.

Yay! So happy I snatched this up! It's a big bag of Beyond Meat. The Whole Foods close to my church sold this to me, which was great because the last Whole Foods I went to would only sell it to me through their marinated Beyond Meat salad. 

Beyond Meat Chick'n Salad with mixed greens, kale, spinach, carrots, tomatoes, red onions, avocado, raw zucchini, chia seeds, hemp seeds and topped with squeezed lemon, apple cider vinegar, and a little maple syrup. 

Raw bites for afternoon snack. 

Dinner was layered with brown rice, beyond meat, red beans, avocado,  and salsa with a side of steamed broccoli. 

VeganMoFo Day 24! Z-Pizza & Some Good Wine!

Tonight we had some good wine from BevMo and a yummy pizza and salad from Z Pizza. We ordered the Berkeley Vegan Pizza, which is the only vegan pizza they have, but it's quite good so I don't complain. I love a salad with avocado so I was more than happy to gobble it up. I also added some kale to mine and scooped off the olives and placed them on my husband's pizza slices, since I can stand olives and he seems to love them. I grabbed a bottle of Riesling from BevMo and couldn't bother to wait for it to chill so I just dropped in some ice cubes and had some with dinner. Stuffed and ready for bed! :-)