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Final Day In Philly

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My final day in Philly was delicious.  I was on my own while Adam took an 8 hour practical exam so I walked, ate, and read.  It was perfection.  I had to park the car in an all-day spot to save money but since I love to walk I was able to explore a large area on foot.

The Reading Terminal Market didn’t have as many vegan options as I’d hoped.  In fact, we learned on Sunday that the vegan cheese steak place was temporarily closed which was a good thing because it gave me a day to deal with my massive disappointment.  There were plenty of fun things to look at though.

Since I had trouble finding breakfast I went straight to dessert (and stayed there pretty much all day!).

Bubble tea for breakfast?  Why not.

This was a red mango tea with strawberry popping bubbles.  It was the best tea of the trip, popping boba is just so flipping good.

I spent some time at Au Bon Pain with the latest Kathy Reichs book and sipped a coffee with soy milk.

By the by, Reichs’ latest book was great.

Then froyo happened.

I have no regrets.  Vegan Challenge or not, Emily Wax does not walk past self-serve eggnog frozen yogurt.  I wanted to feel guilty, but this ended up being the best bowl I’ve ever had.  Eggnog yogurt and cream cheese yogurt (even better than the eggnog!!) topped with salty peanuts, shredded coconut, caramel, and butterscotch chips.

Ridiculous.  And now I have to spend the rest of my days searching for more cream cheese froyo.

The rest of lunch needed to be a little healthier – enter a green smoothie.  Almond milk, banana, kale, and cacao.

I did a “design your own elixir” and was very pleased with my combination.

We needed to get on the road quickly after Adam’s exam so we headed to Whole Foods again for dinner.

Bbq seitan, collard greens, curry “chicken” salad, sesame seaweed, garlic pasta, and wheat berry salad.

Plus a vegan cookies and cream cupcake was split for dessert.

We did 50/50 but I got 100% of the frosting and Adam got 100% of the cake.

I also grabbed a coco libre coconut water + chia raspberry lemonade for the car.

It was awesome.  I love chia drinks and this was the best I’ve ever had.

The rest of my car snacks (for the 8+ hour trip!) were decidedly less healthy.

I wasn’t even hungry by the end but I had to keep eating to stay awake and I woke up the next morning with a stomach ache.  No matter, nothing was going to take away from how wonderful our Philly visit was.

All in all, we had a fantastic trip!

Farmicia in Philadelphia

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Our trip has been fantabulous thus far!  We had a wonderful time catching up with family and then we got to do some Philadelphia exploring.  My favorite things to do in a city are walk-walk-walk, people-watch, and eat and that is what we spent yesterday doing.

We hung out with my in-laws until around noon and then headed into the city.  Sidenote – to family members who have traveled with me before, you would not believe how relaxed I’ve been about our itinerary; I’ve gotten much better at playing things by ear.

I ate an apple and an Air Head in the morning.

I was super carsick on the drive in, but managed to rally for our first stop – Whole Foods hot bar for lunch.

I so miss living in a city with a WF!  We each bought a few small things but overall managed to contain ourselves.  From the hot bar I got kale, spinach, and two varieties of vegan “chicken.”

Everything was delicious but my stomach was still feeling off so I only managed about half of my food.  The husband, on the other hand, got crab and artichoke rice and loaded baked potato soup and practically licked his plates clean!

We spent some time just walking around and have both decided we would love to live in Philly, it’s too bad it’s not on our list of possibilities for residency.

One neighborhood was covered in gorgeous mosaics.

<– can you spot Adam in the last picture??

Our next stop was Little Baby’s for ice cream.

We tasted the pizza flavor (not vegan) which was astonishingly realistic and I ended up going with a scoop of the vegan sweet potato with burnt marshmallow.

This was the best texture I’ve ever found in a vegan ice cream!  The flavor was a little too spot on though, I don’t really want to lick spoonfuls of sweet potato for dessert, so I passed the 2nd half to Adam.  He got the caramel cardamom (not vegan) and was in heaven.  If I ever get to go back (I hope so!) I’m getting the coffee toffee (with Blue Bottle coffee) and the vegan speculoos.

The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering around China Town.  We bought several fun things at markets.  And you know I got bubble tea.

Passion fruit black tea with boba.  I will most definitely be getting another today.

We didn’t run up the Rocky stairs or go to the Edgar Allen Poe house, but we did manage to walk past the Liberty Bell on our way to dinner.

I like to take in the culinary sights.

Dinner was a meal I’ve waited one and a half years for…

Farmicia!  I’ve wanted to go back ever since my first trip to Philly.

I agonized over the drink menu (St. Germain? The drink with lavender essence? The drink with hibiscus essence?!) and ended up going with the Elation.

Prosecco with rose essence and fresh berries.  It was perfect.  Though I did steal the savory components from Adam’s martini.

Rosemary and olive oil bread.

Adam ate his pumpernickel with herbed butter and I was a little jealous.

For my entrée, I went with the same meal was I did on my first visit.  Why mess with what works?

Corn Risotto Croquettes ratatouille, sautéed spinach, basil-parsley salsa verde.

Yuuuuuuuuuum!  I had to close my eyes and swoon after several bites.  The veggies were just as good as I remembered and the croquettes were out of this world.  So serendipitous that the dish I loved the first time was vegan.  I decided over this meal that my favorite flavor is “butteriness.”  Not butter, because there was none used in these buttery croquettes, but butteriness.

Adam gave the meal a 9/10 and said it was the best food he’d had in quite a while.  I concur!

I ate strawberry lime mentos for dessert.

We didn’t see our hotel for the first time until almost 9pm, so we were glad that it worked out.  The room was fancy in a strange way, like the honeymoon suite at a pay by the hour motel.

But the bed was comfy and Adam got a good night’s sleep.

Today he is taking an 8 hour practical exam that you don’t become a doctor without passing.  I know he’ll do great, but lets still keep our fingers crossed.  I set myself up at a table in the Reading Terminal Market and plan on spending the day reading.  And eating!

What is the strangest flavor of ice cream you’ve ever eaten?  Pizza definitely tops my list!

Vegan Visit

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A road trip is not an easy time for a restricted diet, but with a combination of preparation and an understanding family I made it work.

I made sitting in the car for six hours work by dressing in comfy-cute clothing.

Plus my driving moccasins.

<– name that show!

Food from home was for breakfast.  A sandwich of tempeh, Smart Balance, and strawberry jam (a killer combination) on a Sandwich Thin.

A small apple.

A piece of leftover Halloween candy.

And a sugar-free Red Bull from a gas stop.

I have been seriously tired lately; I need to make sleep a priority next week or I should basically just buy stock in energy drinks.

For lunch I was jazzed to spot a Sheetz.

I had a medium soy milk latte with marshmallow syrup.

I’m doubtful that the syrup was actually vegan but I’m taking a loose approach to the challenge on this trip.  The coffee was delicious with tons of foamed milk and I was glad I got it, vegan or not.

Plus a veggie burrito.

This was not delicious.  I made myself eat half so I wouldn’t be too hungry for dinner but if there had been other options I probably would have tossed the whole thing.

For dinner we got Italian food with my in-laws.  P.S. We are staying with Adam’s sister and her husband and getting to spend time with my two nieces is making my ovaries hurt; they are so flipping cute!

A piece of bruschetta to start.

The waitress was very nice about bringing me new tomatoes when the first batch came out sprinkled with cheese.

And two slices of veggie pizza (sans cheese) for dinner.

Healthy, vegan, and tasty; I’ll take it.

And I Say Hey…

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…what’s going on?

Well, it’s official – I am a terrible blogger this semester.  I want to blame my hand (and that really has been the problem this week) but mostly it’s that school is freaking busy right now.  Busy, busy, busy, busy, busy <– if you don’t read that in the voice of the magician from “Frosty the Snowman” then you are a communist.  j/k

Things are going to get a little easier for the next two weeks though – I front-loaded my semester with assignments by signing up to go first for practically everything – and I hope to blog a bit more regularly.  I really do enjoy it!

So, what’s going on?

  • my hand doesn’t hurt as much but I’m still not allowed to work out until the stitches are out (next Thursday)
  • Adam has been leaving to go on interviews and I miss him like crazy
  • my final clinical rotation is our first time at a big hospital and the days have been looooong
  • we are going to Philly this weekend!  Like, now.  Adam has an exam to take so we’re going to spend some time with our in-laws and explore the city.
  • I am planning on blogging this weekend

The vegan challenge?  Still on, but there have been a few slips.  Like when Adam came home from DC with macaroons.

I want to give this challenge my best but there was no way I was going to turn down a sweet gift of my favorite treat just because of the challenge.  So I ate them.

And by “I ate them” I mean right then.  At midnight.  And got back into bed without rebrushing my teeth.  And all was right with the world.

Is there anything absolutely amazing that Adam and I should do in Philly this weekend?

Feeling Blue

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My pain pills (which I think I don’t need any more, yay!) have made my appetite all sorts of wonky these past two days.  And some life stuff has made me super cranky.  I hate feeling like I have to post when I’m in a bad mood, but so many of the things I ate (of the very many things I ate!) have been winners that I want the post for my own memory.  This will be detail-light though.

Honeycrisp.

Rockstar Juiced.

Winter outfit.

My downgraded hand bandage.

Organic Rice Divine Mud Pie Ice Cream (1 cup).  This stuff was ah-mazing.  The texture was reminiscent of Italian Ice and peanut butter-chocolate is always a winning combo.  I especially liked the cookie pieces.

A healthy lunch.

Roasted green beans dipped in ketchup,

and Cilantro Lime Bean Burgers with Citrus Guacamole.

An entire bag of bbq Popchips for dinner.

Melted peanut butter with powdered sugar and good cocoa.  This snack is ridiculous good but also just ridiculous.  I need to quit cold turkey.

Chocolate dipped coconut Luna Bar.

Happy Tot Blueberry, Apple, and Purple Carrot squeeze pouch (FNCE sample).

Vegan almond joy.

Supplement sampling at clinic.  Not vegan but also not optional.

Veggie sub – lettuce, tomato, red pepper, jalopeño, banana pepper, pickles, and yellow mustard – from the hospital cafeteria.

Amy’s vegan mac and cheese.

Honey roasted peanuts.  By the by, honey is still on the table, so to speak, this Vegan Month.

Tempeh Brown Rice Casserole.

P.S. I am so flipping nervous about what election results we are going to wake up to tomorrow.  Anyone else?

I’m Typing With One Hand…

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…so I’ll keep this short.  Speaking of keeping things, Adam will have to keep me, my surgery went off without a hitch!

It wasn’t a big deal – I just had a benign keratosis removed from the back of my hand – but they sure were dramatic about it.

I had to wear a gown, and get wheeled into the OR.  And look at my giant bandage –

they called it a “sympathy cast!”  I’ll have my stitches in for ten days and then I’ll be right as rain.  But unfortunatly they told me that I’m not allowed to work out while my stitches are in.  I know I haven’t been working out anyway but I really was excited to start again!  Ten days…

They told me to take it easy after surgery but I actually had to head over to a friend’s house to work on a group project.  At least I got some Moe’s out of the deal.

I got a naked burrito (aka a less expensive rice bowl) with black beans, lettuce, green pepper, onion, mushroom, corn salsa, and guacamole.

Delicious.  Moe’s is a great option for Vegan Month.

Resting up didn’t happen the rest of the weekend either, I worked both Saturday and Sunday.  Saturday morning was rough (on top of everything else we started an hour earlier than usual), but at least my shirt matched my bandage!

I ate an apple on the walk to work.

And a drank a Rockstar to help keep myself awake in spite of my pain medication.

My medication makes me feel pretty funny – nauseous and tired and all sorts of loopy – so I never ended up getting lunch at work.

Dinner was a buffalo seitan wrap from the co-op.

Plus a roasted potato.

Those fries are cut so nicely because the husband did it for me.  He’s been so nice helping me while I fumble around!

I did manage to catch up on some sleep this morning.  Thank goodness for Daylight Savings.  Even with the extra hour, all I managed to accomplish today was a shift at work and switching out my summer and winter wardrobe.

Breakfast was an amazing bowl of cereal.  Blackberries with cinnamon sugar, 1 serving each All Bran Bran Buds and Cascadian Farm Dark Chocolate Almond Granola, and Blue Diamond Unsweetened Vanilla Almond/Coconut Milk.

I had the granola from the HLS and have wanted more ever since!

A very late lunch was purchased at the co-op after work.  Broccoli salad and vegan mac and cheese with veggies.

The mac was so tasty that I almost made Adam walk back and get me more!

Instead I was basically stoned on pain meds all evening and was a total weirdo.  Dinner just didn’t happen, though I did eat multiple desserts.

A bowl of melted peanut butter with powdered sugar and cocoa powder.

A Cara Cara Orange.

And a few pieces of primrose oil old fashioned candies.

It’s been a weird day.

Hello, Hello, Goodbye, Goodbye

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Hello, reader.  I was AWOL yesterday because I had the beginnings of a migraine and put myself to bed at 4 in the afternoon!  Not fun.

Also, Hello to Vegan Month!  I desperately needed to go to store, so yesterday I had to make do with the vegan things around the house.  And of course I was insanely hungry all afternoon.  <– bad timing

Breakfast was a super tasty pumpkin smoothie.

1 cup Blue Diamond Unsweetened Vanilla Almond/Coconut Milk Blend, ~1 cup canned pumpkin, 1 frozen banana, 2 Tbsp maple syrup, and a big shake of pumpkin pie spice.

I did lots of snacking when I got home from clinic.  2 oz of roasted pumpkin seeds,

a giant Honeycrisp with tons of melted Biscoff,

a (FNCE sample) bag of Food Should Taste Good Olive Chips,

and a big bowl of cereal.

Then I put myself to bed with a migraine.  I had a paper due this morning so unfortunately Adam had to wake me up at 10pm so I could write it.

I ate a veggie sub from Subway – lettuce, tomato, green pepper, cucumber, pickles, red onion, and bbq sauce – while I worked.

Breakfast was the last of the pumpkin seeds,

and a green pear.

I got lunch at Wegman’s during my massive shopping trip.

Veggie goyza,

and inari.

I ate half of both then brought the rest home to Adam.  We both loved the inari!

And I ate this candy bar – like a vegan Snickers – while I blogged.

Goodbye to my belly button ring.

I’ve had it in since I was 15 (12 years!!!!!!!!!) and am so sad that it is gone now.  But I’m having a minor surgery this afternoon and they told me I had to take it out.

Also, Goodbye to you guys for a bit.  The minor surgery is on my hand and I sure I will not be up for typing this evening.  I’ll “see” you later this weekend.  Wish me luck!

Webster’s First Halloween

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You can tell that this post was a terrible decision since it’s 2 o’clock in the morning.  I’ll try to keep it quick.

You can tell that tomorrow is the first day of Vegan Month because I managed to eat two yogurts, buffalo chicken pizza, cheesecake, and a milkshake.

You can tell that it’s Halloween since I pulled out all of the stops some of the stops.

Black and orange outside clothing.

Black and orange inside clothing.

And earrings that look like candy corn.

Plus, my exam this morning was positively spooky!  😦

Before the exam, I got up and had breakfast.  A big bowl of Liberte Coconut Yogurt plus 1% large curd cottage cheese.

Plus coffee with skim milk.

When I got home – my exam went ok, my quiz went not ok, our lab activity took forever – I had more yogurt.  Apple Cinnamon 0% Chobani with honey roasted peanuts and a drizzle of honey.

I ran a few errands the afternoon.  The most exciting was the orthodontist appointment; not only am I cleared for 12 more weeks of nights only, but I won a contest!

$30 to Best Buy.  I was so excited, I never win anything!

Lunch was pizza.

I tried to really think about the foods that were going to tempt me during November. A buffalo chicken slice from Zetti’s,

with baby carrots and blue cheese for dipping.

Halloween candies for dessert.

Then it was time to dress my favorite dog up in his first costume.  We went meta this year…

A hot dog in a hot dog costume!

Webster was flipping adorable – several cars honked and gave us thumbs up! – but it was cold and wet and he was so mad at me by the time we got home!

Thankfully Adam’s arrival (he was away on an interview the past two days) cheered us both up.  He came bearing cheesecake!

That was literally the best slice of cheesecake I’ve ever tasted but I already had my sights set on something else so I took a few bites and left the rest for the husband.

My plan for dessert?  Pumpkin Coffee Caramel Chocolate Milkshakes!

Ben and Jerry’s Caramel Coffee Buzz blended with skim milk and pureed pumpkin (with chocolate syrup on the glass).  It was delicious and just what I needed to power through the last two hours of working on a final project.  The perfect way to end my dairy consumption for the month.

Happy Halloween!!