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Jamba Juice – Apple ‘n Greens

24 May

The other morning I rushed out of the house only to figure out two things…
1. I did such a good job rushing, that I was actually 30 mins early. (I was on “late” shift!)
2. I was hungry, and hungry for a green smoothie!

Fortunately for me, I recently looked up the fruit & veggie smoothies that Jamba Juice now carries, and there is a Jamba Juice very conveniently located right on my way to work. As it turned out, they’re not all that busy at 7:30 AM. I mean, I’ve never stepped foot inside a JJ before, so I don’t know what their normal wait time is like, but there were just a couple of FAU student types getting their drinks when I came in. (FAU campus is directly across the street.)

I went with the Apple ‘n Greens, because it seemed to me the greenest of the three options. Ingredients: Apple-Strawberry Juice, Green Vegetable Juice (Carrots, Spinach, Bell Pepper, Kale, Spirulina, Lettuce), Peaches, Mangos, Bananas, Ice

It was kind of pricey for such a small cup’s worth, but it really hit the spot. And it wasn’t too sweet, as I’d imagined it would be. So I was thoroughly satisfied. I highly recommend trying one if you find yourself in need of a green smoothie and away from your supplies to get the job done.

They have two other flavors too, if you’re new to the idea of drinking fruits with vegetables…

Berry UpBEET™ Ingredients: Strawberries, Blueberries, Mixed Berry Juice, Red Vegetable Juice (Carrots, Beets, Broccoli, Spinach, Kale, Lettuce), Mangos, Ice

and the least threatening, with NO green at all…

Orange Carrot Karma Ingredients: Orange Juice, Carrot Juice, Mangos, Bananas, Ice

Crispers – Winter Haven, Fl

21 May

We spent the Mother’s Day weekend in Winter Haven this year, to see Thomas’ mom. Winter Haven is southern feeling town in between Orlando and Tampa, and now home to newest park in the area, LegoLand. It is also a town where you’re likely to find a lot of barbeque, and not a whole lot of people who even know what vegan means. Which is fine, unless you need to eat something.

Being that it was Mother’s Day, I had a couple of factors against me about getting a decent lunch. First, there was a good chance the ladies of honor were not going to pick a vegan friendly establishment, and I could get stuck eating french fries, so I needed a pre-lunch, lunch. Second, because of the holiday, the independently owned safe options were closed.

Our hunt for a chain restaurant that would work landed us at Crispers. They had some vegetarian dishes clearly marked, but I decided to Pick a Pair, and just veganize their Southwest Salad, as their menu “We can make practically any salad meat-free. Just Ask!” encouraged. I chose this one, so I could get some protein from the black beans.

Sidenote: Dear salad places/restaurants, if you’re going to make a vegetarian salad, could you include some protein please? We need it too. Chickpeas, black beans, white beans, lentils, quinoa, etc. would be most appreciated. Kale would be great too. Thanks very much.

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Southwest Salad -no chicken, no cheese, no tortilla strips, no ranch, & a cup of Vegetarian Vegetable that came served with saltines, also vegan.

I dressed my salad with some pepper and some lemon juice I squeezed from the lemons at the drink station! And we even got a free fountain drink with my check-in on Foursquare.

I actually ended up having plenty of lunch in the end. We ended up going to Chili’s, where I had a cup of black beans, and some awesome guacamole, along with some free chips & salsa from our check-in on Foursquare. So yah, sometimes you just have to get creative.

Wave 2700 – Boca Raton, Fl

17 Apr

So I’ve been on an Italian food kick recently, and I think it all started with this amazing gnocchi from Wave 2700. (I think about it all the time! :) ) We dined here one other time last year, and the food seems to be consistently excellent. A great place to go when you’re feeling a little fancy, or want to dine with omnis for a special occasion. And if you’re anything like us, you’ll appreciate the small selection of craft beers that they rotate. I’d also like to applaud that they now have vegan dessert options, and that the vegan menu has been given its own section in their regular menu instead of being relegated to the trifold on the table.

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Rolls, salad and dressing. All vegan. Yes!

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So much deliciousness. This sauce is bursting with fresh basil, tomato, and garlic.

Wave 2700 is inconspicuously located right next to the lobby of the  Best Western hotel at 2700 N. Federal Hwy,  Boca Raton, Fl. 561-361-2700. Reservations accepted.

The Whole Enchilada – Fort Lauderdale, Fl

15 Apr

As you can probably tell, I haven’t been doing a whole lot of cooking since we moved to Fort Lauderdale. Fortunately for us, there are quite a lot of restaurants to choose from in our area, and while most of them aren’t expressly vegetarian, I’ve been able to feed myself just fine from the selections offered. We’ve been hitting up many of the mexican restaurants, and were meaning to try The Whole Enchilada again. We had been here one time last year, on an off day, when the staff was really overwhelmed. Today the service was friendly & quick and the food was good & plentiful. They have seared tofu as a protein option, which I really appreciate for variety’s sake, and both their black beans & pinto beans are vegetarian.

For $7.69 I got a massive Tostada complete with lettuce, rice, black beans, guac, seared tofu, and lots of toppings I picked up at the salsa bar. I ordered this without sour cream (and I said no cheese, but I’m not sure that it came with it?). It also came with a side of chips. So much food that I had to ask for a lid to take it home. Pretty awesome.

Also check out the Tree Hugger without the cheese for a vegan burrito! (I had this last time.)

The Whole Enchilada is located at 4115 N. Federal Hwy, Fort Lauderdale, Fl 33308. 954-561-4040.

Tequila Sunrise – Fort Lauderdale, Fl

1 Apr

Surprisingly enough, with all of the restaurants that there are in Fort Lauderdale, there really aren’t many vegan options here. Sure there’s Sublime, the well known, all vegan, over priced, bland and uninspired restaurant, but I hate giving them my money, even if the profits do go to animals. That being said, let me tell you about a mexican place that’s really close to our new place, and at least has a little vegan section on their menu.

This review is actually long overdue. We dined at Tequila Sunrise last year when we got one of those groupon/living social vouchers. Back then they had the menu that’s currently up on their website. I ordered the vegan black bean tostadas, which I thought were great.

On this visit, the vegetarian/vegan menu was just a section of the regular menu, and a lot more limited. I was happy though, because they still had vegan enchiladas listed, even if the tostadas weren’t.

I specified that I didn’t want mushrooms at least 3 times. Mostly because it seemed like our waitress wasn’t paying attention. She let me know I could sub vegetables instead of white rice, so I said sure.

When my plate came and I spotted a mushroom in the vegetables, I remembered that I had not asked an additional time for no mushrooms, so I was still hopeful, but upon peering into my enchiladas I realized they were all over. A second waitress came out and said that there was no way to make the dish without mushrooms, because the veggies were already mixed. Then she came back and said they could do it with just onions & peppers inside. So I just ordered two tacos a la carte. Both the black beans and the refried beans are vegetarian, so I ordered one of each.

They came in very thick, delicious hot shells, and the black beans were really tasty. These were $3.50 each.

Impression:

We eat mexican food A LOT. Half the time it’s from Taco Bell. (fresco bean burritos or the occassional 7-layer, no cheese, no sour cream!) And I admit, I don’t ever ask if the beans are vegetarian when I’m at a restaurant. So it’s nice to know that they are here. If you aren’t allergic and/or grossed out by mushrooms (like I am!), they have a good amount of well thought out vegan options for you. I mean, that enchilada dish really did look delicious. I was pretty disappointed that I had to give it back! So if you’re so inclined, it’s worth checking out.

Tequila Sunrise is located at 4711 c N Dixie Hwy Oakland Park, FL 33334. (954) 938-4473. Open Mon-Wed 11:30am – 10pm, Thurs – Sat 11:30 am – 11pm, and Sunday 12pm – 10pm.

Infusion Tea – Orlando, Fl (Vegetarian)

18 Mar

Hey all! I’ve been MIA all week because we’re MOVING TO FORT LAUDERDALE tomorrow, and we only had a week to pack! We didn’t think that we were moving until next month, so it’s been a little frantic, but fun, and we’re really excited for the change of scenery. We’re still trying to relocate to Seattle this year or next, and we’ll be able to transfer our lease to Seattle from this place if and when we do find work there. In the meantime, we think we’re really going to enjoy our new place. We’re downsizing from a 2/2 to a 1/1 to save a tiny bit of $ and get used to a smaller space. So my kitchen will be downsizing too, but nothing will ever be as small as that Brooklyn kitchen that I started this blog in, so I’m not worried at all!

Here’s the last review from our trip to Orlando that I didn’t get to put up. I apologize for the brevity. Hopefully I’ll be cooking & blogging again next week when we’re all settled!

: )

This was the last place we ate on our recent trip to Orlando. We can’t wait to get back, because there were so many other places that we could have tried, but the combination of being a tea house and serving a good variety of vegan options sold me, and I’m very glad about that!

Infusion Tea has a nice big space with lots of seating, and they even do special function parties here. (bridal & baby showers, rehearsal dinners, etc.)

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Their impressive collections of teas are served with a special tea timer so you know when it’s ready!

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I ordered the tempeh tacos:

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and Thomas ordered the burrito done vegan:

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Impression:

We split our dishes, and I have to say, while the burrito was good,  the tempeh tacos were GREAT! They even have an all vegan chocolateir located in the shop with it’s own refrigerated case. We had a really nice lunch, and there were many vegan offerings. This is definitely a good place to eat, drink tea and hang out.

Infusion Tea is located in College Park at 1600 Edgewater Dr, Orlando, FL 32804. 407 999-5255 Open Mon-Sat 9a-9p, Sun 12p-6p.

Black Bean Deli – Orlando, Fl

15 Mar

Monday’s happycow.net research turned up a cuban place with vegan empanadas. WHAT?!?!? Yes. This is pretty much when I first started to seriously think we could start looking for employment in Orlando. I’m not kidding!

Black Bean Deli‘s been around for a long time, and has even been voted Orlando’s best cuban restaurant. Though it’s not so much of a restaurant as a food counter, with just 5 or 6 stools for seating. Further research determined that they even have an empanada food truck that travels around the winter park area. WHAT?!?!?!! Yes. And it sounds like some of those amazing empanadas could possibly be vegan by their descriptions. (If so, start packing!)

So we paid them a little visit…

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This was my dinner that I was only able to eat half of… a container of black bean soup (no rice, per my white rice hating preference), maduros (fried ripe plantains), and 2 vegan empanadas.

I was in absolute heaven. I even traded a couple maduros for a couple of Jeremy’s tostones (fried green plaintains) that were made to be dipped in my black bean soup. SO GOOD. The black bean soup, while being a little salty, was really good, and the platanos were cooked perfectly. The maduros have the right degree of burned cripy edges, and the tostones having the correct crisp outsides and tender middles.

The empanadas were a little different than what I’m used to, and certainly different than mine, filled with meat analogue and carrots and potatoes. This gave it a very cuban comfort food taste (like potaje). These were very good. But of course, pretty much anything in deep fried dough is going to be good. ; )

Come see why they’ve won best cuban, best latin, and best take-out in Orlando. Black Bean Deli is located at 325 S Orlando Ave (in Winter Park), Orlando Florida 32789. 407-628-0294. Open Monday through Friday 11-8, and Saturdays 11-5. Closed Sundays.

Brunch @ Ethos Vegan Kitchen- Orlando, Fl

13 Mar

We met up with Jeremy Sunday morning at Ethos for brunch. I’ve dined at Ethos before with mixed reviews, but if there’s one thing they do extremely well, it’s brunch! Seriously, I don’t think there’s a bad thing on their brunch menu, and you could tell I wasn’t the only one who thought that because it was absolutely slammed when we got there. The line to the register was wrapped around and lengthy, but it went quick.

The weather had dropped 20 degrees over night, so we opted to sit in the less crowded patio to enjoy the brisk weather. They had a DJ out there playing some chill records.

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Jeremy’s breakfast burrito came smothered in gravy and stuffed with tofu scramble and other goodies.

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I ordered vegan pancakes with agave syrup (maple available too!), some grits and a fruit cup. This made me very, very happy. The grits were even better with some of my extra agave. Mmmmm!

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Thomas got the tofu scramble, which I’d had before and knew was good, and some grits too. The scramble and potatoes were exactly the right texture and perfectly seasoned, and he thought the grits were especially good too. Win!

Impression:

If it’s Sunday, and you’re in Orlando, there is absolutely no reason why you should not get your butt over here right now! :)

Ethos Vegan Kitchen is located near the antiques district at 1235 N Orange Ave Ste 101 (at Virginia Ave), Orlando, Fl 32804. 407-228-3898. Open  Mon-Sat 11am-10pm, Sun 10am-3pm.

Cafe 118 – Winter Park, Fl

12 Mar

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Next on the list of our surprisingly fabulous long weekend of vegan eats in Orlando is our dinner at Cafe 118. Once I found out that this restaurant was started up by Matthew Kenney (of Pure Food & Wine in NYC, and author several raw books) I was beyond excited. It’s located in the picturesque downtown Winter Park area right along with all the other fine dining.

We drove past a Shipyard Brew Pub on the way here, so knowing we were going to be doing some serious beer tasting after this, we kept our meals fairly light. Thomas is pretty sure he’s allergic to cashews now too, so the waitress was great about going over the menu with him.

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I ordered the Mexican Chopped Salad, that came with sweet corn, avocado, chili chips, and “queso blanco” which was absolutely fantastic. A little on the small side for a meal, but listed under salads with the smaller price tag of $13.

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Thomas had the entrée Taco Salad, only without the cashew based sour cream. This was outstanding, and was even better than my salad. The portion size here was also much better at $17. Although some of the ingredients were similar to mine, it had more veggies, raw “refried beans” and a couple of sauces drizzled over it, including a delicious mole sauce.

Impression:

This place is fantastic! Most raw organic places tend to be slow and pricey, but their service was comparatively fast, about that of a regular restaurant. For the quality of the food and location, I thought the price point was pretty fair, though clearly not in my budget for an all the time eatery. Regardless, if they weren’t closed on Sunday, I would have made it a point to come back and try more. I will definitely be back.

Cafe 118 is located at 153 E Morse Blvd, Winter Park, Fl 32789. 407-389-2233. Open Mon 11.30am-5pm (no dinner), Tue-Thur 11.30am-9pm, Fri & Sat 11.30am-10pm, closed Sun.

Babycakes Downtown Disney – Lake Buena Vista, Fl

11 Mar

On our way over to Orlando from Winter Haven, I decided making a pit stop at Downtown Disney would be a good idea, so we could check out Babycakes, and Thomas agreed, since he wanted to check out the Disney stores for Star Wars and Nightmare before Christmas merch. ; )

Since our phones had not yet recovered from their battery death, I brought the ipad in with us, so I wouldn’t have to give you another picture-less post. (Points to Thomas for that one!)

As a new vegan, I had eaten some cupcakes and pumpkin bread at the New York location which I really enjoyed, but today I was on a mission for vegan doughnuts. Under the doughnuts, however, was a whole batch of cornbread, and we’re both really big suckers for cornbread, so I picked up 2 slices of that as well as a cinnamon sugar doughnut and a vanilla cookie crunch doughnut.

Impression:

The doughnuts were both good, with the cookie crunch one being my favorite of the two. They had seams as if they had been baked in a pan, but I’m not sure of their method.  The cornbread was a bit of a let down, cakey and a little bit too crumbly. It was also way too salty, so I would say skip it. If you’re already in the area, and looking for a vegan doughnut, definitely go check them out, but if you’re in Orlando, I don’t think it’s worth the drive simply to come here, but that’s just me.

Heads up! Babycakes is located inside of the Pollo Campero (chicken place) pavillion, tucked away in the corner, but as long as you know that, it will be easy to find. There’s a little kiosk to the left that sells juice, coffee & tea that you can buy to accompany your baked goods.

(And yes, that kid totally opened up the umbrella.)

And here is Thomas gleefully showing you how it looks from outside. :)

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