This Weeks Grocery Cart

Vegan MoFo Days 10 & 11

This week like all the others has been crazy at work but I just keep telling myself next week is fall break. My goal is to take some time over the break to relax and do fun things but also spend some time catching up on my ever growing work and life to-do list.

Since I have not been doing any real cooking this week I thought I would make a post on what was in my grocery cart this past week at Whole Foods.

Produce:
bananas
spinach
kale
red chard
plums
grapefruit
oranges
gala apples
carrots
lemon
red bell peppers

Bulk:
oat bran
flaxseeds
medjool dates
raisins
dried banana chips

Pantry:
white grits
wheat bran
dried apricots
tomato sauce
diced tomatoes
tortillas
dried apricots
dark chocolate

Misc.
Vitamins
lotion
prepared scones

Gone So Soon-The Weekend that is

Vegan MoFo Day 8 & 9

I decided to combine Saturday and Sunday into one post. One good thing about this Vegan MoFo challenge (besides the tasty food) is that it is getting me to post regularly. I do not think I have posted this much in one month ever.

Anyway on to the weekend after leaving off with Friday night dinner at True Thai. By the time Friday night gets here I am pretty much only interested in watching TV and then going to bed rather early. Friday nights are also the time where I get the most sleep. Last week I slept til 11 am on Saturday and this week it was 10am.

The highlights of my weekend (besides the above mentioned sleeping in) were: talking with two of my friends and planning a future get together, going to Whole Foods, making a new hummus recipe (still trying to get the consistency just right), eating leftovers, walking in the park, going to Actors' Theatre last night to see The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and walking on Main Street downtown to and from the theatre. I was so happy that I enjoyed the play. Actors' have had some good ones lately including the last one I saw which was Sense and Sensibility.


I also found a pair of earrings at a local store for only $6.99 and then I had a 20% off coupon:



And here are some good eats from the weekend:

Hummus from The 30 day Vegan Challenge


Daiya "Cheese" quesidilla with Screamin' Mimi's local sweet hot salsa. This was so good. I was also impressed with the taste of Daiya. It melted like cheese but is dairy free.



Oatmeal (made with steel cut oats, wheat bran, oatbran, flax, dried raisins, dried apricots, and dried banana chips) topped with flaxseed almond butter and 1/2 of Whole Foods Vegan Scone


Steamed veggies with brown rice and tofu topped with sweet chili sauce and soy sauce



The most random meal ever: steamed red chard, roasted sweet potato, apple with almond butter and a medjool date. Medjool dates are so much better than just regular dates in my opinion.



And finally:

True Thai

Vegan MoFo Day 7
My parents took me out to eat tonight. Last Friday they tried a new (to them) Thai restaurant and thought I might want to go this week. It is a small place with only 8 tables but absolutely delicious and authentic.

Any guesses what I got?

My favorite Thai dish...Pineapple Coconut Curry with Tofu

If you are in the area I highly recommend this place.

True Thai
8125 Bardstown Road
Louisville, KY 40291

BBC

Vegan MoFo Day 6

Today I met two friends at the Bluegrass Brewing Company. I have tried their bottled beers before but have never been to the restaurant. It has been on my list for a while now and tonight was finally the night. I selected 2 appetizers for my meal which included the hummus plate (minus the feta cheese) and the vegan BBQ wings. Both were delicious, the wings especially because it was my first time eating seitan. I washed it all down with an Oktoberfest beer.

Today was all in all a great day. Before meeting my friends for dinner, I decided to take the night off from doing work and went to the mall to browse a few stores. I ended up being quite successful at finding things on sale. I got two pair of ballet flats, one brown and one black. Then at Ann Taylor Loft I got 2 sleeveless shirts, one dress, and 7 long sleeve shirts that I can wear to work or for fun.

I need to remember to take more "me days". I feel so much better and relaxed.

New Reading Material

Vegan MoFo Day 5

My newest veg cooking inspiration:

Lunch this Week

Vegan MoFo Day 4

Lately I have been making a dish on Sundays to have for lunch a majority of the days. Last week it was black bean and pumpkin enchiladas (I will be making these again...including the homemade sauce) and this week it was soup. I call it throw in a pot soup because that is exactly what I did.



This pot contained vegetable broth, drained chickpeas, lentils, dinosaur kale, savoy cabbage, peeled sweet potatoes, celery, carrots, onion and pepper.

New from Morel's

Vegan MoFo Day 3
Morel's Vegan Food Truck has a new offering for the Fall season: "Turkey" Apple Lentil Wraps. They are delicious! There is also supposed to be a "cheesesteak" sandwich/wrap out as well but I have yet to find it in stock. These have temporarily replaced the Buffalo Tempeh Wraps.



I got mine at Rainbow Blossom but they can also be found at Heine Brothers Coffee

Just Can't Get Enough

Vegan MoFo Day 2

I know I have raved about Shiraz's falafel wrap before. Despite stopping there once a week to get one, I still can't get enough. I stopped by Shiraz last night and ordered my usual made vegan and saved it to take for lunch today.




Two of my cousins were in from Georgia and another flew in from North Carolina and everyone got together for lunch. However instead of having fried fish I pulled out my falafel wrap and went to town. What really made me smile was everyone said mine looked the best :)

So like I have said before, if you are in the Louisville area make plans to stop at Shiraz and order the wrap (requesting it be made vegan means it comes with hummus instead of yogurt sauce).

Now I must do some work for tomorrow. Boo. Maybe if I get done though I can watch a movie or read a new book.

Vegan MoFo

October 1, 2011 marked the first day of Vegan MoFo 2011. This is an annual event in its fifth year that is a month long celebration of vegan food. Bloggers can sign up to be a part of it and then post regularly throughout the month about vegan food (you do not have to be vegan to participate).

So this year I have decided to participate. I have heard about it in the past but never tried it. Here is to an interesting month.

Rewind to yesterday:
Yesterday was quite frankly a perfect day according to my standards. Here is what was included:
I slept in til 11:00 (12 hours total, it was quite a busy week at work)
washed, waxed, and vacuumed my car (thanks for the help mom and dad)
went to Target to pick up necessities
went to a coffeehouse to do some work ( I have a new favorite)
then went to Whole Foods and Rainbow Blossom for grocery shopping and stocking up on goodies for the week.

I have also discovered my new favorite coffeeshop in Louisville. In the past I was a Starbucks fan but when I moved back to Louisville I became a Heine Brothers fan because it was local and I enjoyed the vibe (and beverages). Well one day my dad and I stopped in a place called Sunergos because we had a coupon for a 16 oz. bag of coffee. As soon as I walked in I new it was my new favorite. Besides the consistently great music selection, Sunergos has the best coffee beverages I have ever had. It has literally blown every latte, coffee, cafe au lait I have ever had a way. Plus, they do latte art. My soy latte had a flower shape on top. They also have a viewing area in the store where you can watch them roast their coffee.

Anyway, my day ended last night by having cake for dinner. Vegan cake that is from Sweet Surrender, which is a local dessert house on Frankfort Avenue. Again this is a new favorite place ( I plan on doing a post in the future of all my new favorite places). Lately, I have been stopping here every Friday night on my way home from work to pick up a piece of cake for the weekend.
This week's selection was entirely vegan and contained: chocolate cake, chocolate ganache and green tea icing.



So day 1 was a success. I discovered new favorite places and ate delicious cake. I also stocked up on vegan food for the week. Yesterday marked the first time I bought groceries at Whole Foods and when the cashier told me my total I said wow that is cheap. I did not realize how much of a difference there would be when I did not have organic yogurt, cheese, and meat in my cart.

Places to Try

I have not been spending very much time in the kitchen lately. Mainly because I have had professional development days for my job since Monday and they last just about all week. The sessions have been very informing and it has been great that they have all been with just fellow SLPs in the county.

As if it didn't before, it all seems so real now. Especially since I got to read/analyze 3 IEPs for kids that will be on my caseload!

Anyway, so instead of posting a recipe I decided to post two places to try if ever in the Louisville area.

The first is Cake Flour:



Cake Flour is also on Facebook. On their page they post their daily specials which always sound delicious. Pictured above is a cinnamon sugar roll, opera cake (with hazelnut buttercream), cinnamon roll, a quiche, and a savory scone.

Next up, Highland Morning:



The above is actually pictures of leftovers because the portions were so generous. My mom and I went here for breakfast on a Monday and it was packed.

I got the wake me up omelet with grits.

Baking Weekend

About 2 weeks ago I went to Lexington to spend time with friends. Of course I brought baked goods because I love to cook for others and it gave me an excuse to use my new mixer a bunch of times.

Treats included:

Coconut Cupcakes



Cake-like Sugar Cookies



And Chocolate Peanut Butter Blondies



Capping off the weekend was a trip to Magee's for chocolate croissants and a trip to the Lexington Farmer's Market at Cheapside.

Twice Baked Potatoes with Pancetta and Irish Cheddar

This recipe came about when I was walking the aisles at Whole Foods. I passed the cheese section and picked up some Dubliner Cheddar. Then I saw some pancetta nearby and put that in my cart. Determined to come up with a dinner idea using these two ingredients I decided on twice baked potatoes. For this dinner though I was just going to come up with my own instead of finding an official recipe.

Twice Baked Potatoes with Pancetta and Irish Cheddar
Serves 3-6

Ingredients:

3 russet potatoes, washed and dried
3.5 oz Irish Cheddar cheese, freshly grated
6 slices pancetta, cooked (I fried up mine on the stove)
3T heavy cream
2 T. unsalted butter, + a smidgen more
salt and pepper to taste

1). Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place potatoes in oven and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, pierce potatoes and return to oven. Bake until tender

2). When cool enough to handle (or you could use a towel) cut the potatoes in half and scoop out the inside. Be sure to leave a rim so the potato skins don't tear.

3). Mash potato filling with a fork. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add butter and combine. Add heavy cream and combine. Add pancetta and cheese. Stir entire mixture so that the pancetta and cheese are equally distributed.

4). Return filling to potato skins. Top each potato half with a smidge more butter.

5). Place potato halves on a cooking sheet lined with aluminum foil and a thin layer of olive oil. Return to oven until warmed through.







Delicious!

First Time

First time using the KitchenAid:



The recipe is here

And now mascarpone cheese is my new favorite thing.

My New Favorite Thing

I am in Love

Nam Nam Cafe

Since moving back to Louisville I have been making a list of new restaurants I want to try and ones that have been open for a while that I never got around to trying. Last Thursday I decided to try and new place that I read about in a local magazine, Nam Nam Cafe.

It is located in Saint Matthews and is in a rather small building. When I got there it was still relatively early (5:45pm) and not crowded. I took advantage of the carry-out option and my food was ready in about 5 minutes.

I got the Vermicelli Bowl (Bun Thit Nuong) with Lemongrass tofu. They also offer chicken, pork, beef and shrimp. In addition to this I got a side of Imperial Roll as well.



The sauce it came with was Nuoc Mam (fish sauce) which was delicious. The food was delicious and with very generous portions.

Another thing I liked was that Nam Nam uses local products when they are available.

Nam Nam Cafe
318 Wallace Avenue
Louisville, KY 40207

Best Laid Plans

This past weekend my dad and I had great plans. On Friday we were going to go on a 12 mile kayaking trip. We were all ready to go but come Friday morning there were thunderstorms both in Louisville and are intended destination. Although the weather was a bummer it worked out for the best because my cold that had been lingering on for over a week was the worst on that day. So instead of spending time outdoors, I spent a majority of the day on the couch, watching an NCIS marathon, and having the Kleenex and cough drops close by.

One good thing though is I did not lose my appetite. While my parents were out they thoughtful brought me back one of my favorites:



Shiraz is a local restaurant but with multiple locations in Louisville. It is delicious and very reasonable as well. Although I have been there probably 7 or so times I always get the same thing...the falafel wrap made vegan. This basically means that instead of yogurt sauce they add hummus. Let me also tell you that they do not skimp on the falafels which is important in my opinion.

Shiraz Mediterranean Grill
2011 Frankfort Avenue
2210 Holiday Manor Suite # 1
205 N. Hurstbourne Parkway
3501 Poplar Level Road

Another fun food find of the weekend was complements of Morels Food Truck. It was their new tofu musubi. I tried to figure out what exactly musubi meant, how to prepare it etc and found out (via google searches) that apparently it is also common for people to make spam musubi (yuck!). This tofu version was however delicious. I can't quite describe it except to say it reminded me of a tofu sushi roll.



Side view: the tofu was in the middle, surrounded by rice, wrapped in seaweed



Morel's Food Truck
502-276-6115
On their website they have a truck tracker as well.

Despite being under the weather it was a great food weekend!

Local

I am trying to shop at more local stores, restaurants etc. and succeeded today!

I had my first orientation session today in the neighboring county where I will be working. Since I had a little bit of a drive and was not exactly sure where the building was located I left early. Once I was able to find the building and realized I still had time to kill I decided finding a lunch spot would be the next priority.

Enter the Red Pepper Deli

I got the valley veg wrap with hummus, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, olives, and banana peppers. It was delicious, filling, and powered me through 3 hours of talk on insurance, benefits, and the like.

Once done I hit up the gym and then stopped at Rainbow Blossom for a few things:



Most of the stuff is for tomorrow's adventure: Morels Buffalo Tempeh Wrap, gummie bears, organic blueberries, organic cherries, lemon iced tea, and a "mac the chip" cookie

Tomorrow should be fun: it involves an early wake-up call, a little bit of a drive, a packed lunch, and being outdoors. Any guesses?

Impromptu Speedy Road Trip

I have my first day of orientation on Thursday (my job "officially" does not start until August) and found out that I needed another copy of my transcript. So this meant that I made a quick trip to Lexington today. I accomplished quite a bit in 5 hours.

After going to the post office and getting gas in Louisville I was on my way. I have been driving the Louisville-Lexington route so many times over the last 6 years that it always seems that I get there quickly. Two major benefits about getting transcripts during the summer: 1) I was able to pick it up immediately instead of waiting 2 business days, and 2) I was able to park right outside the building...that is unheard of at UK's campus.

I then did a little shopping while I was there and ended up getting a summery dress and a pair of jeans.

Finally, I made a trip to one of my favorite places in Lexington, the Good Foods Co-op. Lunch was from the salad bar. The co-op has so many options to choose from and everything is clearly marked for those with food allergies. I also picked up some of my favorites to enjoy in the coming days:


Vegan peanut butter oatmeal bar. It also has chocolate chips in it.

Plus a blueberry muffin and pumpkin muffin:



Dinner was the essence of summer: chickpea barley salad and corn on the cob.



Dessert:

Chickpea Barley Salad

This is my new favorite summer "salad". I came up with this recipe because I had quite a bit of fresh parsley to use up.

Ingredients:

1 cup dried barley, cooked to package specifications
1 cup loosely packed fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 cup diced red onion
1 cucumber, deseeded and peeled
2 medium tomatoes, chopped and deseeded
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 T. balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook barley
2. Prepare all vegetables
3. Put fresh parsley, red onion, cucumber, tomatoes, chickpeas, and barley in a bowl
4. Mix extra virgin olive oil and vinegar in a small bowl. Add salt and pepper
5. Combine veggies and dressing. Sprinkle with more salt and pepper if needed.

Ingredients in the bowl:



The end product:

Morels Food Truck

In the Louisville area there has been an increased interest and appearance in food trucks lately. In fact, there was an event a while back called Food Truckus Ruckus where area food trucks gathered together and people could get a glimpse of and taste their food. One participant at the event was Morels which is an entirely vegan food truck. Although I was unable to attend the event I have read about Morels and have visited their website. All of which sparked my interest and lead to my desire to taste the delicious food so many were talking about.

Fast forward to this past Saturday:

When I was at a local natural foods store, Rainbow Blossom, I saw that they had some Morels food there...the Buffalo Tempeh Wrap (some Heine Brothers Coffee also carries these wraps) so I immediately put it in my cart to have for lunch.



Up close



This was SO delicious and exceeded my expectations. I am already looking forward to having it again.

And for a random picture:



This was a bug that hung out on our garage all day this past week. I named him Edgar :)

Happy 4th!

Celebrating the fourth was pretty laid back at my house. I did make a festive dessert found here for my uncle's annual 4th of July gathering.



A close up



They turned out so well and I always think making bite sized desserts increase the likelihood that people will have dessert due to the convenience factor of grab and go.

And here is a confession: I am not a big fan of fireworks. While I like pretty colors I can't help but think fireworks are 1) a waste of money, 2) too loud (and I greatly doubt people wear any hearing protection when lighting them...noise induced hearing loss anyone?, 3) the amount of pollution to the environment.

Another thing I do to celebrate Independence Day is to read this every year.

Also, as I have a brother-in-law who has served in the military, thank you to all our service men and women who sacrifice so much each day.

Blogging will become more regular...promise.

Father's Day

Sunday was a lovely day. I had a late breakfast with my mom, dad, aunt and uncle that live down the street. They brought doughnuts and I had muffins from Whole Foods. After a lovely visit I made dad a late lunch/early dinner consisting of one of his favorites...baked spaghetti served with some merlot. For dessert we had these, also from Whole Foods:



I got dad a bocce ball set which I am looking forward to playing this summer!

The Food of Fairbanks

I haven't been back from Alaska for a week yet and besides missing my sister I am also missing the wonderful food (especially are bi-weekly sushi dates). Anyways I thought I give a sampling of some of the delicious food I enjoyed over multiple occasions at some restaurants:

The Cookie Jar: cinnamon roll french toast, veggie skillets, and a black bean burger served with guacamole (why have I not thought of that before)

Silver Gulch: Midori margaritas with a sugared rim, pub pommes (mashed potatoes with cheese and bacon, then fried), buffalo bleu cheese burger, and a drunken pork sandwich

Wolf Run Dessert House: Peanut butter pie

Tokoyo Express: where I had (among others) one of my favorite sushi rolls to date...the Spanish roll

Ajimi Sushi: another place we went to 4 or 5 times and with sushi rolls just as delicious

Bobby's: the best Greek food I have ever had, the satziki was out of this world

Pita Place: a small locally own food stand, Best. Falafels. Ever

Lavelle's: very good food including delicious tropical drinks like a rum runner and mango breeze

Restaurant at Mt. McKinley Chalets: fried calamari, Alaskan Halibut, and the best carrot cake along with white wine.

So obviously I ate really good for a month and got to enjoy my sister's cooking as well (she is a fabulous cook). I am already looking forward to returning to Alaska at some point.

Baked Parmesan Spaghetti

After graduation on Sunday I came back to my parent's house to take care of a few things on Monday before my mom and I head back to Lexington to finish packing up my apartment. Being at my parent's house and having a functional kitchen meant I could COOK. Man it had been so long. I was in such a good mood last night after eating and having 2 glasses of really good wine-Sonoma Cutrer 2006.



I found the recipe on a blog called How Sweet It Is (my new obsession for recipe searching).

Graduation Day

Graduation:

It finally came. Since high school I have wanted to be a speech-language pathologist and on Sunday I officially earned my master’s degree.

I must admit my emotions are kind of all over the place. I am kind of sad. Sad because college life as I know it is over and the girls I have spent the last 3-4 years with will all be going separate ways (lets stay in touch CD ladies). Scared. Scared because a new chapter of my life is beginning-my life in the real word. For the last 20+ years I have been a student and now I will be the professional. Uncertain. Uncertain because there are still so many decisions to be made and details to contemplate as I consider job offers. However, despite all these other emotions happiness is the overwhelming winner. Happiness because school has allowed be to meet wonderful people. Happiness- because I have completed a program that will allow me to be in a profession I love. Happiness- because I will be done with the stress, nerves, and lack of sleep that accompany a challenging academic program. Happiness- because as they say the best is yet to come.

Even though graduation is typically about the graduate there are many people in my life who helped make this day possible and contributed to my success.

To my parents for providing me a strong foundation and your constant physical, emotional and financial support

To my sister who has always been there despite being miles away. Thank you for answering my panicked phone calls, giving advice, calming me down, and making me laugh.

To my friends, family, and classmates for your constant support

To my professors and supervisors for increasing my skills as a clinician and allowing me to grow as a professional

Finally, to the clients I have had the pleasure of working with. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your lives and witness such personal life occurrences

So here is to the future. My wings have been built and now it is time to fly.

Congratulations to UK CSD Class of 2011. We did it!

The Mousetrap

I had a huge desire for pimento cheese today. It had been too long. My first thought was to make my own. However considering all my kitchen stuff is packed in boxes (with the exception of the most essential item..the coffee pot) that was quickly vetoed. I then remembered how good the pimento cheese is at The Mousetrap. This is not your grocery store generic pimento cheese (gross). I would go out on a limb and say it is the best I have eaten from a restaurant.

I used the "I'm moving and have no food" excuse to visit this favorite of mine one last time before I move. I also got the orange glazed carrots alongside it.



And a pretty close up:




The Mousetrap offers seating for dining in and also the option of carryout. Additionally, they sell many gourmet food items as well including pasta, olive oils, and imported cheeses.

Magee's Bakery

Magee's Bakery is one of my favorite places to go in Lexington. About 2 years ago a friend introduced me to this place and with one bite became a big hit. I also love the atmosphere. It is a family owned business (since the 50s I think) and the inside has a big painted mural and there are also pieces of stained glass. Also, you can smell the butter, sugar and pastry scent from the parking lot. Anyplace that has a full crowd sitting inside at tables and also a line of 10 orders in front of you is a sure sign it is a winner.
Magee's serves pastries, breakfast sandwiches, quiche, and lunch sandwiches. Here are my favorite things I have gotten there:

1) The Chocolate Filled Crossiant
2) Cheese Danish
3) Pumpkin Muffin
4) Blueberry Scone.

On Sunday I got the danish because at 10am they were already sold out of the chocolate crossiant. It is just that good. It actually worked out though because I got to try something new.

Ramsey's

Last night I went with friends to Ramsey's for dinner. It worked out perfectly because it was close by and a restaurant I always had wanted to try. Ramsey's is a popular choice in Lexington and the menu screams southern cooking. Once seated I looked at the menu and within roughly 60 seconds knew what I wanted...the fried Buffalo Fried Chicken Sandwich. Buffalo chicken is one of my favorite things especially when it is served with bleu cheese dressing. (As an aside I am not a fan of when restaurants serve it with ranch dressing, yuck). This sandwich did not disappoint. It was thick, had a good amount of spice and being fried was the cherry on top. Apparently fried food was the theme of the night since I got fried okra as my side.

Long Time, No Blog

Man it has been a long time since I have posted. Unfortunately I do not have any delicious recipes to share but I do have an update on what I have been doing the last 6 or so months.

I finished my rotation at UK Outpatient Clinic/UK Hospital. It was a great experience and I got to work with so many wonderful supervisors and fellow graduate clinicians. I also said good-bye to a client I had worked with for 6 months at that site which was much harder than I thought it would be.

I celebrated Christmas break by studying for the SLP Praxis and took that January 15.

In January I began my new clinical rotation at Scott County Schools. After dealing with snow days early on, I have been at both an elementary and middle school on a regular basis. I must say I love the middle school population which was a surprise to me. Even after accounting for immaturity, hormones, and sometimes just general jerkiness/disrespect, 6-8 graders are a fun bunch.

In February I booked my plane ticket to visit my sister in Fairbanks, Alaska! I leave 4 days after my May graduation and will be staying there for 36 days. This has been my light at the end of the graduate school tunnel. I have not seen my sister since she and my brother-in-law moved there in July 2010. To say I am excited is an understatement. It will be a full month of just girls nights.

In March 2011 I took the Educational Praxis and passed my oral comprehensive exam. I presented a case study to a panel of my professors on a client I worked with who had severe ataxic dysarthria and lingering cognitive deficits.

In April 2011 I finished my TEP portfolio which represented my last project for grad school I will ever turn in.

Currently, I am finishing up my rotation at Scott County Schools which concludes my last semester of graduate school. Now, I am considering my job options and packing up my apartment.

While cooking may be limited (since I only have 1.5 weeks in my apartment and boxes are overtaking every room in the place) I promise to have some delicious food from some of the places I have frequented the most while living in Lexington.

Hopefully, this crazy stormy Kentucky weather ends soon and we can start enjoying spring.