Vegan Fare

BREAKFAST: I've started my pumpkin addiction once again!  I was craving some oats this morning and had some leftover pumpkin from yesterdays shake so I combined them for some pumpkin' lovin' satisfaction.

Yerba Mate Green Tea + Trader Joe's Steel Cut Oatmeal + Canned Pumpkin + 1/2 tsp Pumpkin Pie spice + 1/4 tsp vanilla extract + Swirl of Sugar Free Maple Syrup

LUNCH: Had to do laundry so badly today!  The Laundromat is directly behind my house (it's so close I walk there).  A few months ago, a vegan restaurant The Loving Hut opened up in the same shopping center and I've been meaning to try it so I decided to kill two birds with one stone.  While my lights and darks were going through their much needed delousing, I popped over to The Hut to try their meatless, cheeseless fare. 

Jumbo “Chicken” Drumsticks

Made with King & Enoki mushrooms, tofu, soy

ham, w/chef’s special dipping sauce

These were really good however I was a bit disappointed that they were deep fried.  I should have expected it, but my naive mind was under the impression that they were baked.  I might inquire next time if it is possible to get them baked.  The sauce they came with (seen in the top left corner of the next pic) was a light broth.  I should have taken a picture of the inside as this was the most interesting part.  You could actually seen the mushrooms which was kind of cool. 

BBQ Noodle

Rice noodles, BBQ soy protein. Served w/ mints,

bean sprouts, cucumbers & peanuts (crispy roll optional)

My expectations for this dish were rather high then they should of been.  This was good but I really wanted something a bit more complicated and I shouldn't have expected this considering the fact that the description is pretty simple therefore should have know that the dish would be as well.  Pretty plain and filling from a whole bowl or rice noodles.  Don't get me wrong, I like rice noodles but I kind of wanted something more interesting.  The crispy rolls were obviously good, but again, I wish they were baked.  I really don't feel the necessity to fry food.  The BBQ sauce came on the side and I didn't really use that much.  In fact, I took the left over broth from the "chicken fingers" and poured it over this dish. 

So, while I wasn't thrilled with my dishes, I will definitely be returning considering the fact that it is RIGHT behind my house, but I will be sure to inquire about cooking methods before ordering again.

SHAKE:

I was hoping that this would be better then it was.  While it was good, it wasn't excellent.  I threw 1/2 Skinny Cow Mint Truffle Bar in with the usual and it was so-so. 

1/2 Skinny Cow Mint Truffle Bar + 1 cup Almond Breeze Unsweetened Almond Milk + 1/2 packet SPIRU-TEIN Cappuccino Flavor + 1 tsp. Hershey's Lite Chocolate Syrup




DINNER:
Was going to eat the same salad I did yesterday (Butternut squash and strawberries with mango dressing) because it was so amazing, but I was rushing around to get to work and I didn't have the time.  Instead, I grabbed one of the Gnu bars I bought the other day at Whole Foods and it was NASTY!  I don't like energy bars.  Cliff Bars gross me out.  I think they are grainy and I can think of a million of other places I'd rather get my calories. 

Lately, I've been expanding my horizons and I discovered there are some foods in bar form that I rather enjoy.  The Mojo Cliff Bars (with pretzels and nuts) are AMAZING!  I think I'm more drawn to the whole foods version of these bars rather then the ground-up, grainy versions. 

SNACK:

Midnight Sea's Gift Sweet Seaweed snack!  LOVE THESE!!!!!

GYM:
No work out today.  I HAD to get my laundry done and I figured I deserved a day off!