Ain't Nothin' but a "Veggie Thing"...

If you're like me, you have your camera on you all the time. You never know what you're going to want to photograph! Imagine you are at an awesome vegan friendly restaurant. You order your meal and when it comes to your table you can't believe how wonderful it is. You snap a picture of it's gloriousness for your blog or to show your friends or maybe even post it on the PPK forums. Not only is it extremely tasty looking, but tastes as good as it looks. Wouldn't you like to inform other vegans about this wonderful dish? Well, I have found the way to make that happen. VEGGIE THING, powered by CitySearch.com, has given us a way to flaunt those wonderful vegalicious noms we've been finding while out and about.

Like I said... It's not always easy to find vegan food while dining out in Las Vegas, but this is my small part I am taking in order to help the ones on the search find good food here. No vegan should have to settle for just having a salad (that may be without dressing depending on what a restaurant serves!) when they can have a great meal!

If you are a traveling vegan, check out this website! If you're a vegan who eats out a lot, check out this website. If you ARE NOT a vegan and love vegetables, check out this website. It's for veggie lovers everywhere. The more people there are submitting from different areas of the country, the better chance we all have at finding amazing vegan eats everywhere.

VeggieThing.com

A few things I've eaten recently.

Ladies and Gents, I have an announcement! Las Vegas has a VEGAN DONUT SHOP!!! Of all the things to have a donut shop? I don't want to sound like a complainer but it just seems odd to me. However, I hadn't had a donut in YEARS, so I decided to give it a try. Magda came over and we headed to Ronald's Donuts. It's really cool. There are 3 rows of donuts in the case and the top 2 rows are 100% vegan. I played Eenie Meenie and picked a dozen because I have plenty of people to share with. I'm not going to lie, I ate like 4 of them.

Here we have homemade trail mix. I had a bunch of different bags of snacks in the cupboard so I tossed them together. Old fashion rolled oats, raisins, peanuts, shaved coconut, chopped pistachios (very small amount. I only see a piece of one in this picture) and ground flax seed. One day last week I ended up pouring some soy milk over it because I was out of cereal. Worked out very well.

Strawberry sorbet. It has been gettin much hotter out lately and I usually try to have as many cold, healthy treats as possible.

Another falafel trip. Paymon's is where it's at! Here we have the hummus:

The warm, fluffy, delicious pita bread that comes with it:

And, YES, another falafel. Yes it is an addiction. No, i will not give it up!

I had made a gigantic pot of red beans about a month ago and froze a good portion of it. i forgot it was in the freezer! So, since I have been a little on the broke side lately I pulled it out and defrosted it. 'll be able to have this for dinner for a few days. No complaints either because they are SO GOOD! It is always best to use dry beans and cook them yourself. They always come out better.

And because I am my mother's child... I sometimes add ketchup to my red beans. Sounds strange? Try it. She has done this for as long as I can remember.

A salad for lunch. From the bottom up: Shredded (longwise) zucchini, Super Firm tofu, Organic Flax Tempeh, sesame seeds. The dressing I used was a mixture of Rice Vinegar, Agave Nectar, salt and coriander.

Lunch at Himalayan Cuisine

Today was a good day. I got a group of girlfriends together and we all went for lunch. For those of you who know me, you know I have kind of a hard time finding places to eat in Las Vegas. I always found it to be very UN-VEGAN. For the most part I am correct. However, I have been able to find a few places lately. Of course none of them are near where I live... but oh well.

Today my good friends Joelle, Magdalena, Charlotte and Marie came with me to Himalayan Cuisine. Lunch was absolutely fantastic. I researched the place before going, of course and found that they have quite a bit of vegan options. I was the only vegan in our group, but Joelle is vegetarian and eats vegan a good portion of the time. All of us were completely in love with the food.

The food I ordered:

White Strawberry Iced Tea

Chana Masala (So AMAZING!)


Wonderful basmati rice.


Together... in harmony.


The Alu Kaoli Masala


Freshly made Naan. I don't think words can describe
how light and tasty this naan was. I was so hooked!


and finally... Kakro Salad (wasn't mine, but was vegan!)

I would definitely recommend this place. My mother is visiting soon, I will have to set aside a day for us to have dinner here.

Himalayan Cuisine
730 E. Flamingo Rd.
Las Vegas, NV
Himalayan Cuisine Website

Tomato/Basil Tofu. Amazing snack.

1/2 block tofu
2-3 nicely sized, fresh basil leaves
1/2 - 1 full Roma tomato (depends on how much tomato you want.)
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp sea salt

Crumble the tofu, then chop up your fresh basil. Add the rest to the bowl and let mixture sit in the fridge for about 20 minutes so the flavors blend. Serve on whatever you like!

Finally tried out a new restaurant.

New to me at least. I had heard about this place from a few vegan/vegetarian people that I have come across here in Vegas. Long Life Vegetarian is the name. Joelle and I went there for lunch today. We didn't realize it until we got there but it is a mostly vegetarian Chinese restaurant with a lot of vegan options. I was so excited. They aren't technically a fully vegetarian restaurant though because they do serve fish. That was a bummer, but they had plenty of options for us.

My order: Mango Tofu

Crispy fried tofu smothered in a tangy but sweet mango sauce served with a side of white rice. This was good. And they give you a pretty good sized plate! Half of it went home with me. I thought the taste was awesome. But then I tried...

Joelle's Order: Tofu and Eggplant in a garlic sauce

I nearly lost my shiznit when I tasted this one. It was absolutely incredible. I would love to have this one the next time we go. I will definitely go back here.

Smoothie?! Shake?! Confused!! More Pizza Too?!?!

"Smoothies are generally made of fruit or vegetables; shakes are usually made of ice cream."

This is just one of the answers that I've gotten trying to find the difference between the 2. It is also the one that was straight to the point without babbling on and on. HOWEVER... What do you call soy ice cream + fruit + soymilk? It is ice cream based so it's a shake, right? BUT WAIT! It contains mostly berries! So, it's a smoothie, right? A smake? A shoothie? Yea... I could go around and around. All I know is, Landry likes to make them and I like to eat them. Like I said, he WILL be making these all summer. First up:

Soy ice cream, strawberries, soymilk and Strawberry Milkshake Oreos. I'm pretty sure this one counts as a shake. So, shake it is!

It was tasty. Can't have too many of these though. I'd like to get rid of a few more lbs before summer and these are not the way to achieve that! However, they are very tasty.

Next up:

Apple, blueberry, strawberry, soy ice cream and soymilk. This one tasted more fruity, so I say smoothie.

What can I say? Even he can't get enough of his own creations. Haha, he's even got a little on his shirt!

Now, on to my pizza. And YES, I know that I have been posting it a lot lately but darnit, I like it. This time I didn't make it. I found somewhere to make a vegan pizza for me! I went to hole Foods with Joelle and they have a pizzeria right inside. I asked them what their sauce and dough contained and it was all vegan. They also pulled a pack of Follow Your Heart Vegan Mozzarella of the shelf for it.

Mushroomhalves, spinach, thick sliced tomatoes, roasted garlic and vegan mozzarella... It was very tasty.

Up close and personal: (shook a little extra seasoning on it.)

Seeing as I will not be using my oven or stovetop this summer, I will probably pick up a pizza once a month so I can treat myself.

Never have a plain Boca Burger without dressing it up!

Plain? I don't like that word.

My roommate is making a change to eat less meaty and dairy filled foods. During a trip to Costco he decided on a VERY LARGE box of Boca Burgers. Boca is completely fine, good for protein and easy to prepare. BUT... I don't dare eat a plain Boca without making it 100% Nom-a-licious.

SO! For lunch the other day I decided to have a Boca:

I pan cooked my Boca. I also added 2 slices of seasoned Tempeh that was pan fried in a little olive oil and salt. And yes, I shook a little Athen's seasoning on. It just felt necessary. I assembled it up nice on a potato bun w/ Vegenaise, sliced tomato and romaine lettuce.

By adding more to your burger, you increase your nutritional intake and it also helps hold you over longer. I wasn't hungry for a good while after having this. Plus, tempeh is one of the most amazing foods. If you haven't introduced yourself to it, it is time that you do.