Lunch on the go!

*I edited this post! If you saw the original post, I apologize, honey had no business being on here!

One of the best things about going to college in Portland is the array of options a student has for lunch. I attend Portland State and have food carts within blocks in 3 directions, Higher Taste burritos in the cafeteria, Sweet Lemon vegan wraps in the student store and a cafe that sells super cheap, super delicious vegan food and baked goods.

While I absolutely love all these options and partake on them occasionally, I am a poor college student! I can't afford to eat out for lunch every day, so I've become the queen of leftovers. My husband doesn't do leftovers - he is terrified of getting sick from food (stemming from a coma incident, he can be OCD about it) so I usually end up with way more than we need. I definitely recommend getting a small thermos - it keeps your food hot (or cold!) and the smaller ones are perfect for portion control, which I suck at. Option 1: the freezer.


I end up throwing so much stuff in the freezer, and I never seem to label it! But let's see if I can decipher what these are...

Obviously, gnocchi from Vegan with a Vengeance. Boil for a couple minutes and voila! Gourmet pasta.

The top is a minestrone type soup, the middle is chili and I believe the bottom bag contains an African peanut type stew. To defrost, I hold the bags under hot running water until the contents start to thaw and then heat it all up on the stove top. Our microwave sucks.

I actually had time to make today's lunch.

Hummus pasta with some giant broccoli spears! The hummus + pasta is a favorite combo, and tends to keep me full longer. And broccoli, obviously, for greens.

A cute lunchbox totally makes all the difference.

MoFo all up in here.

Welcome to Day 1 of Vegan MoFo!


 Today's post will be short and sweet. I wanted to welcome you to my little world. I will do my best to make your mouth water and force you to buy tickets to Portland.

Two things I will be discussing this week:

 Lunches for the vegan student

 

A giant head of purple broccoli 

Are you excited yet?

Mofo Starts Monday!

This Monday marks the 4th Vegan Month of Food! I plan beating my amazing record of 28 posts last October.

Some ideas I have floating around:

Try new recipes from Fat Free Vegan (the woman can't do any wrong)
Try new recipes out of Viva Vegan - I need to cook it out of it more!
Veganize some old family recipes - delicious cookies and cakes.
Review food carts - new and old. All delicious.
Attempt some raw foods - I actually tried this awhile ago and I wasn't into it, but after eating all the cookies and cakes I might need some straight veggies in my system.

If there's anything you'd like to see me do, let me know!

THAT kind of week.

I'm coming up on midterms and have been more socially active than I have in a long while, so this past week my kitchen has been ignored.

I rarely ever buy processed food anymore. I usually find that a) it's too expensive and/or b) it just doesn't taste good. But then Fred Meyer had to go and have an anniversary sale and put Amy's Kitchen frozen stuffs on sale for 40% off. Including the brand new vegan mac & cheese. For $2.87 a box, you could have this:

This is so new, the website says "Coming Soon!" I probably freaked some lady out in the natural section when I gasped and ran towards the freezer.

Now, this stuff tastes a little like heaven, but is not good for you. It's gluten free, which is awesome and uses Daiya, which can be also awesome depending on your preference. I love the stuff. But one serving is 520 calories, which makes this a treat for me!

Hot Melty Action

My other amazing processed dinner contained We Can't Say it's Cheese vegan cheddar spread. I was wandering around Lamb's Thriftway before I had to pick up my CSA share and found it on super sale.

 

Normally $3 and some change!

Pregan, I used to love a bowl that Laughing Planet carries - the Spanky Bowl. Mashed potatoes, broccoli, corn and cheddar cheese in one amazing dish. WCSIC subbed in for the count.

 Delicious.

My pants are getting tighter.

Once upon a 5k...

So I'm running a 5k with a friend on Sunday. The Run Like Hell event.

It will be my second 5k, but the first one doesn't count since I walked most of it.

I plan on finishing this baby. I am nervous as all get out.

I will also be dressed as the talking tiger lily from Alice in Wonderland.

Wish me luck!

Fakin' Fest, Take 2

Last weekend I attended Portland's second annual Fakin' Fest, a really fun potluck that did double duty as a fundraiser for Out to Pasture Sanctuary. For the first time (it seems) this summer, the sun came out and we were able to spread blankets on grass without getting muddy.

I contributed a kabocha squash and tempeh bacon risotto, adapted from this recipe. The tempeh bacon flavor mellowed out after I mixed it in with the risotto, but the flavors really worked well together. Kabocha squash was a last minute substitution as my normally reliable Fred Meyer didn't have butternut squash and it was a fantastic choice. Every last bit was consumed, which is awesome since I doubled the recipe and had a million more servings at home.

Some of the other tasty dishes:

 These cute little toasts won best dish!

 Quesadillas in the back, smoky tofu cubes in the front.

This strawberry cupcake won best presentation, obviously.

Jess' assortment of carrot, coconut and eggplant bacon.

The festival also featured a haiku contest. Feeling bold, I wrote one at the last minute and read it out loud to the crowd. It wasn't a winner, but hey, I got up! In front of people! And talked!

Fakin is for us

Lots of veg food and friends who

share my salty tastes.

My Last Day in Paradise

Our final day in Maui was unscheduled and full of lazy. We swam in the ocean, lounged outside and ate lots of yummy food. At first, I lounged in the shade. My skin is very fair and I have too many questionable freckles from sunburns past. And I burn really, really easy.

However, I decided to slather on a ton of extra sunscreen and sat out on the beach with Sarah and read for hours.

South Shore Tiki Lounge has a small vegan/vegetarian menu - this is a housemade veggie burger and really tasty fries. And pickles.

 A total Myspace photo -  but proof that the pale can sit in the sun and not spontaneously combust.

 $4 margarita. We returned to the Tiki Lounge for dinner.

Sure is pretty to look at.

The plane trip home was, at first, panic inducing. I may not have alluded to this before, but I am deathly afraid of flying. I take a xanax before each and every flight and it helps to settle my nerves, but I still get really nervous when the pilot mentions turbulence. Lucky, the turbulence was very light and I was comped two free beers - one on a beverage ticket my friend had and the other because I sat next to the most evil, screaming child known to man. I felt so sorry for that kid's parents. They did their best to keep the kid occupied, but I know that I feel the same way about being stuck in a metal tube for 5 hours and would probably cry and scream too if I wasn't drugged up.

School has finally started for me and it looks as if I'll be crazy busy for the rest of my life. I will do my best to write more on here - I really do like to post, but I feel my life is so utterly boring that nobody wants to read about it! Vegan Mofo is coming up in November, so I will be attempting to complete the challenge of posting every day. But we'll see.