Breakfast at A Delicious Vegan Cafe

On Thursday I took Sarah to pick up some paperwork from an elementary school where she has to complete an observation.  The trade off was her taking me to breakfast!  We went to A Delicious Vegan Cafe (3827 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago, IL 60613). Although this spot is right in my neighborhood, this was my first experience there...

This was my Soy Pumpkin Spice Latte.  It was the best Soy Latte I have ever had!  Starbucks will get way less of my money now that I have discovered this!  They brew Intelligentsia coffee which is a locally roasted coffee, and is the best of the best in coffee.  Besides the delicious espresso, they also had real pumpkin in the latte!  It was unreal....

Sarah and I both ordered the Breakfast Sandwich (tofu fried egg, uptons "sausage", cashew "cheese"(both the sausage and cheese are locally made), on an english muffin).  Sarah added avocado to hers and I had mine plain.  It was very tasty.  My favorite part was the cashew "cheese".  I love vegan products that are not filled with soy.  It was also just nice to eat breakfast and drink a latte with one of my favorite ladies in complete vegan comfort! 

A Delicious Vegan Cafe will definitely get my business again! They use local products, are completely vegan and have rice milk, almond milk and agave (as a sweetener) for your coffee.  Delicious and I are a fantastic match!

A Lunch Date at Blind Faith Cafe

On Wednesday, I met my friend Amy in Evanston for lunch at Blind Faith Cafe (525 Dempster St, Evanston, IL 60201).  It is a vegetarian restaurant but they also have vegan options...

I'm not sure if it actually was, but it sure felt like the coldest day of the year on Wednesday, so all I wanted to eat, was soup.  I ordered Dumplings in Ginger Shiitake Broth (Vegetable dumplings filled with tofu, and fresh ginger in a shiitake broth, garnished with green onions and sprouts).  It was a light soup, but incredibly delicious...

Amy got two different things but shared her chili with me and it was pretty tasty.  It had brown rice, beans tomatoes and a nice fennel seed flavor.

She also ordered the Santa Fe Salad (mixed greens, jack cheese, barbecue seitan, corn, peas, onion, tomato and a house vinaigrette).  I didn't try this since it had cheese in it, but it looked yummy and was HUGE!

We think that they probably thought I was a food critic (since I was taking pictures of the food) because at the end of our meal they brought us a complimentary Vegan Cappuccino Brownie that was to die for!  I had a great time at Blind Faith Cafe, good food and wonderful conversation with one of my favorite ladies.

"Friends"giving

I could not have had more fun with this newly invented holiday!  When I first decided to call it "Friends"giving I was only thinking about a Thanksgiving meal shared with friends, but the more I talked about it I realized that any vegan thanksgiving meal should be called "Friends"giving because it's friendly... No one gets harmed on "Friends"giving because ALL the food is cruelty free!

The event began with Tempeh Sausage Pastry Puffs (Vegan Brunch).  I made them in a different shape than the recipe called for and was very happy with the way they looked and held together.  I would say that they were delicious, but I never even got the chance to try one.  They were gone before I knew it!

My roommates Chris and Alexis made a fresh salad.  It was very yummy and the salad dressing came in a spray bottle!  How fun is that?

I made Caramelized Onion Butternut Roast with Chestnuts (Veganomicon) for the third time this holiday season and I have to say that the third time was a charm!  It was perfect!

Sarah made these amazing green beans.  They had almonds and sauteed onions and were so good I could eat them all day!

For the main course I made Pumpkin Seed-Crusted Tofu and Baked Pumpkin and Cranberry Relish (Vegan With A Vengeance).  It turned out well although it had a rough start.  The tofu I defrosted and stuck back in my fridge refroze because my fridge sucks, so Sarah and I had to run out at the last minute to get more.  I was still cooking when everyone arrived... Leia helped with the tofu and the pumpkin and Sarah and Nick helped with the cranberry relish.  It is always so nice to have help in the kitchen, thanks everyone!

These are mine and Sarah's plates.  I didn't get a picture of the Sweet Potatoes that Alicia made, but you can see them featured on both our plates.  They were made "Mexican" style and were quite possibly the best sweet potatoes I've ever eaten!

This is everyone that came and ate with us minus Kipp who was taking the picture.....  The second picture we took for my Mom.  She LOVES to have group pictures of everyone posing as Dr. Evil.  This one is for you MOM!

For dessert I made Gingerbread Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting (Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World) and Leia made a Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake with a Cranberry topping.  Leia and Tony worked very hard on the topping and I think it was well worth it!  Great job guys!

 Dessert was awesome, but the best part was everyone chipped in and cleaned up!  I didn't need to wash a single dish!  Love you guys!  "Friends"giving could not have been more perfect!

A Trip to Karyn's Cooked

Tonight I got to hang with two of my favorite ladies, Liz and Danni.  Danni's family is in town and all of them happen to be vegetarians so, we decided to go to Karyn's Cooked (738 N. Wells St.) my favorite vegan restaurant in Chicago!

The menu is magical to me!  It is so rare to go to a restaurant and have choices. 

We ordered SO much food it was ridiculous!    We started with Buffalo Wings, Peanut and Barbecue Thai Skewers, and Jerry's Pizza...

The appetizers were delicious! I'm not usually a huge fan of seitan, but they did it right at Karen's...
Everyone got something different for a main course, and all of us were equally pleased!

I ordered The Flautas. They were filled with a mixture of tofu and carrot and were covered in vegan sour cream and came with homemade Pico De Gallo, Guacamole, and Refried Black Beans.  It was an excellent choice!  Delicious!

Liz ordered The Stuffed Eggplant without bread.  She is a South Beach  eater, so this was here real only option that fit with her diet...  She let me try some and it was very yummy!

I believe that this was a jerk tofu wrap, but I could be wrong.  It looked tasty though!

Danni's sister got the Lasagna.  She raved about it so I'm sure it was good!

Danni got the Taco Salad Bowl. It was HUGE!

Danni's bro got the Steak Sandwich.  It looked incredible!  I am definitely getting this on my next visit!

As you can see I ate almost everything on my plate!

 After all the food and drinks we were too stuffed to eat dessert, but also could not pass up the opportunity for gourmet vegan dessert! So we ordered it to go.

After I digested most of my food I dug into my dessert...  Coconut Cake. Yum!  I loved my trip to Karyn's Cooked!  Thanks Liz and Danni!!!!!