Oh shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!
The mac-n-‘cheese’ leftovers were TEN TIMES better than in the restaurant! Why is this? I have never experienced such huge improvements on a leftover. I was hoarding my bowl and it really pained me to share a bite with Seth but I figured he should experience this. Topped with Siracha, breadcrumbs mixed in and heated. Snap. It’s all I can think about. This restaurant is officially going into regular rotation. This vegan crap keeps getting easier and easier.
Big, big, discovery for Yours Poo-ly today. I finally ventured into the Hungry Tiger Too to experience their vegan menu right alongside the regular menu.
Eureka! It was 40cent wing night! You can get torture wings OR tofu ‘wings.’ Now, if you put spicy buffalo sauce on tofu sticks, I will order it no matter where I’m at. If that’s on a menu, I’m getting it. Though a lot of time it’s between 5 and 7 bucks for not that many. Not on Wing Night at Hungry Tiger Too! I had 2 giant tofu buffalo wing for 80 dang cents and they were MINDBLOWING.
I woulda got more but I just had to order the vegan mac-n-cheese as well. I ordered the large portion for 10bucks (planning on leftovers) which came with a side salad with awesome vegan ranch. The mac-n-cheese slowly grew on me. I think it woulda been better had the breadcrumbs been baked in as opposed to just sprinkled on top at the end (at least I think that’s what happened). But like I said, each bite got better and better, esp. with a little Siracha sauce. It was hard to only eat half, but I really wanted it for lunch he next day so I did good. Little did I know I was about to experience the best leftovers of…my…life!!!!
Seth was inspired by Genie’s tofu breakfast scramble so he made me one! How sweet! After serving me mine he added some eggs to the skillet for his.
Scramble: Tofu AND Soyrizo, pinto beans, onions, fake rice cheese, Tapatio sauce, scallions, jalapeno from the garden (the first one!), and tortilla chips (Juanita’s!).
This kept me full for most of the day.
Today was the BEST STIR-FRY!
Used my mom’s old recipe for Moo Goo Gai Pan that I’ve always just left the chicken out for in my vegetarian days BUTT NOW>>>>
We got some seitan “stir-fry chicken” at Whole Foods! It is SCARY how much like chicken this stuff is, only, of course, without the scary chewy veins. It was so good. I stir-fried zucchini, beans and scallions in peanut oil then set aside. Then I stir-fried the fake chicken and added a powdery mix of corn starch, ginger powder, salt and pepper. Couple Tbsp of Tamari. Then add veggies back in and mix. Serve over rice.
BUMMER! We go to Sweet Pea Bakery for the all-you-can-eat Sunday vegan brunch and there is such a swarm of skinny vegans in the place that they’ve run out of food and are ending brunch early. Noooooooo! It looked soooooooo gooooooood. CREPES! Asparagus! Whipped cream! Chocolate sauce! Potatoes! KALE!
So we go to Genie’s on Division, which I have never tried before. Not much catering to vegans on the menu (leave this and that out to make it vegan) but the server is very helpful and suggests the Southwest Scramble with Tofu instead of Eggs. PERFECT suggestion, buddy! It was awesome! This is my first time having tofu in a scramble like this and I will continue to do this forever. They were light and fluffy. Genie’s coffee was great, too.
Dinner: Corn on the cob with Earth Balance. Meatless Meatballs.
Breakfast: Toasted Powerseed with Earth Balance and iced soy latte. I’m in a rush to get out the door…
Lunch: Visiting BF’s family an hour away. Luckily I packed myself an almond butter and jam sandwich because I was NOT informed we’d be eating lunch at the fam’s house. I thought we’d be going to restaurant. Oops. So amidst the platter of meaty lasagna and mac and cheese and buttery garlic bread, I had my little sandwich. Ugh. I woulda packed a more thorough spread for myself if I had known. Oh well. It all works out in the end because….
BLACKBERRY PICKING ABOUNDS! Gonna be eating these all week.
And we pick tons of apples for baking.
AND in my rooting around in the woods I discover the world’s tastiest plum on this hidden plum tree. I will remember this plum for the rest of my life. You had to be there…
Dinner: Back in PDX and time to hit up Late Night Happy Hour at Nostrana for pizza marinara and Campari and soda. The guy that served us is the greatest server in town. We’ve had him before and sometimes I get a little distracted by how masterful his serving is – the second your water runs out he’s filling it, the second the plates are cleared he’s wiping off the table crumbs. And it’s not in an annoying way either – it’s very stealth. Thanks, guy!
The Dave’s Killer Bread: POWERSEED was on sale so I decided to power up with a grilled (fake) cheese sandwich. I burned it on accident so that was a f!@#$%^ bust.
Later I had some Trader Joe’s Meatless Meatballs with homemade spicy tomato sauce Seth made. Wish I had a fake mozzarella cheese to melt on these but just eating them plain is a good, easy snack. And the homemade sauce is good enough to eat as soup, but I held myself back.
Dinner: Garden chard and zucchini saute. Not my best work. It needed more oomph.
Today’s lunch was my first venture into store-bought vegan pizza. It was on sale at Whole Foods for 6 bucks which is still high for frozen pizza, but I had to try it. And it’s usually 10 bucks! Tofurkey brand and it had lots of veggies and sausage. If I were permanently going vegan I might get it again for a quick and lazy fix, but I wasn’t blown away. The Daiya cheese really did melt well and the consistency of everything was fine, but it kinda just tasted like a cheap frozen pizza, kinda Red Baron-y.
Dinner: Woohoo! My boyfriend got a teaching job today! After 5 years of substitute teaching! We celebrate at Than Thao on Hawthorne and order our very favorite: Vegetarian Than Thao Delight. Tons of veggies and tofu in a spicy red curry sauce. TT is cool because it’s got Vietnamese chefs cooking Thai food so it’s this neat hybrid. Our Delight dish is not like a traditional Thai red curry (which I also love), it’s a little less creamy and has this smoky, almost Hawaiian touch.
I have no recollection what I ate on this day. More of the same, I’m sure. BUTT I did venture down to Sweet Pea Bakery on SE Stark. It’s all vegan and I had a really hard time deciding what to order since everything looked tasty. Well, I ordered wrong.
I got this peanut butter chocolate bar with an oatmeal crusty bottom. It was so heavy on peanut butter that it was all I could taste. It was sickenly rich. I ate one or two bites a day for the next 5 days cuz I didn’t want to waste food but I will not be ordering that again.
On the bright side, my sis ordered the salad of the day and an iced latte with Stumptown espresso. Sometimes I like Stumptown coffee while other times it’s too smoky or roasty or whatever for me, but I have never had a Stumptown espresso drink that wasn’t to die for.
And this salad was a masterpiece. Luckily she shared a bunch with me since it was addictively delicious. Mixed greens, garbanzos, some sort of pickled/marinated onion/other veggie, finely chopped dill pickles (awesome touch), a creamy lemony dressing and the crown jewel: tempeh bacon (I think). BY far the tastiest bacon I’ve had yet. Hands down. I can’t wait to return.
My Vegan Month 