breakfast: shredded wheat with soymilk; toast with Earth Balance; coffee

lunch: leftover kale salad with kidney beans; peanut butter and jelly sandwich

dinner: pasta with pesto (garlic, olive oil, basil, toasted pine nuts, miso, nutritional yeast) and cherry tomatoes (tomatoes tossed in olive oil, salt, and pepper); leftover kale salad; whiskey on the rocks

Larry and Luna’s vanilla island coconut ice cream with chocolate chips

breakfast: shredded wheat with soymilk; coffee

lunch: more leftover black bean-basil-cloves rice sticks; french fries and ketchup from Wendy’s.  According to the Wendy’s nutrition page, the ingredients are:

French Fries: Potatoes, Vegetable Oil (contains one or more of the following: soy oil, canola oil, cottonseed oil, sunflower oil), Dextrose, Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate (to pro- tect natural color). Cooked in Soy, Corn, Cottonseed, & Hydrogenated Soy Oil. Cooked in the same oil as menu items that contain Wheat, Egg, Milk, and Fish (where available). Seasoned with Salt.

It doesn’t seem like they have any non-vegan ingredients, other than possibly being cooked in oil with meat.  This does not mean that I am in favor eating at Wendy’s in general, but in a moment of weakness when a co-worker asked if I wanted fries, I caved.

more Skittles

dinner: leftover spaghetti with tomato sauce, nutritional yeast, and fresh basil; toast with Earth Balance and nutritional yeast; whiskey on the rocks; kale salad with kidney beans and herbs (massaged raw kale, minced red onion onion, minced garlic, chopped fresh basil, and dill, all marinated in Bragg’s liquid aminos, olive oil, and nutritional yeast, with kidney beans

breakfast: shredded wheat with soymilk; coffee from Oren’s Daily Roast

lunch: leftover black bean-basil-cloves rice sticks

dinner: vegan soy cheese pizza and sauteed spinach from Pizza Plus; Stone smoked porter (vegan according to Barnivore); Lagunitas Hop Stoopid Ale (vegan according to Barnivore)

breakfast: chai tea with french vanilla soy creamer; an apple

samples at whole foods: a cracker with pesto; cracker with eggplant and tomato tapenade

lunch: toasted squash bread with hummus; squash soup with brown rice and black beans

snack: chocolate (halloween orange bite www.sjaaks.com)

dinner: moroccan spiced chickpea soup with couscous; roasted squash seeds; chocolate chips

Stacey, I am so proud that you have posted so diligently, despite being all alone in our dwindling blog! I wrote down all that I ate in Costa Rica (including my percent confidence that various gallo pinto dishes were vegan, based on my varying abilities and commitments to ask thoroughly in different cases). Some pictures (but not enough) will be included. I will try to catch up within a couple days.

breakfast: toasted everything bagel with plain Tofutti cream cheese, tomato, and red onion from A.R.E.A. Bagels; coffee from Oren’s Daily Roast

lunch from cafetasia to celebrate Carrie’s wedding: pad thai without egg (they said this time that it had no fish or oyster sauce whatsoever and is vegan, yet I don’t remember what they said last time… more research necessary to be confident) and with extra tofu; summer roll appetizer

Skittles (my first day back, and I have already returned to my stress-induced food of choice)

dinner: new variation on my rice sticks fascination: black bean-basil-cloves (click for the recipe). Red wine (may or may not be vegan).

entree

• 3 lb rice stick noodles
• 1/4 c dried shiitake mushrooms
• 1 T lemongrass (dried is okay)
• 1-2 bay leaves
• about 10 dried cloves
• black pepper
• 1-2 cups boiling water
• 1-3 T sesame oil (need to pin down the amount)
• hot chili oil (to taste, depending on how much spicy you want it; I used about 1:2 hot chili:sesame)
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can of black beans, rinsed
• 2-3 T vegetarian oyster sauce (tamari plus agave could work)
• 1 cup of corn (I just used frozen corn)
• 2 T black sesame seeds
• big handful of basil, washed and chopped
• 1 lime

Cook the rice sticks per directions (e.g., boil them in water with canola oil to prevent sticking, draining when done, about 10 minutes).

While waiting for the rice sticks, prepare a broth by combining the dried shiitakes, lemongrass, bay leaves, cloves, black pepper, and boiling water.  Stir a bit to help release the shiitake flavors.  Let this steep aside.

Also, while waiting for the rice sticks, saute the garlic and black beans in sesame+hot chili oil for a couple minutes on medium heat.

When the rice sticks are finished cooking, set aside the beans+garlic, and saute the rice sticks in the same oiled pan for a few minutes, raising heat to medium-high, stirring constantly.  (Separately sauteing the rice sticks and the garlic help each brown nicely.)  Once the rice sticks have browned a bit on all sides, add back the beans+garlic, adding more oil if necessary.  Let cook a couple more minutes, then add the vegetarian oyster sauce, corn, and black sesame seeds.  Cook for a few more minutes, until it all seems like it is getting rather dry.

Still on medium-high heat, add the broth, letting it sizzle and then stirring to incorporate.  Turn the heat to low and let simmer in the broth.  The beans should begin breaking down, a thicker sauce appearing.  Continue simmering until the noodles have soaked up flavor, adding water to maintain a thick sauce.

Add basil several minutes from the end, and lime at the very end of cooking.

breakfast: coffee with french vanilla soy creamer

lunch: curried squash soup with brown rice and black beans;  squash bread with hummus; larabar cashew cookie (not very good); taylors of harrogate organic peppermint infusion with french vanilla soy creamer

snack: more soup; apricots

dinner/drinks: spaghetti squash with pesto; roasted squash seeds; squash bread toasted with hummus; broccoli spears; chocolate chips; miller high life….can we say i ate WAY too much. i feel sick.

breakfast at Hostel Pangea: coffee, orange juice, watermelon, pineapple, and gallo pinto. This is the only place I did not at least ask if the gallo pinto was vegetarian, even though the waiter was talking to me in English. He seemed really pissed off about my complicated order. There was no way for him to put gallo pinto through without me ordering the “big breakfast” that included it, so my order was basically “eggs, bacon, toast, sour cream, and gallo pinto; hold the eggs, bacon, toast, and sour cream; maybe some of that can be replaced with fruit?), Anyway, I felt uncomfortable wasting more of his time so didn’t ask about any of the possible ways gallo pinto can not be vegan. Sure enough, most of the way through it, amidst the also-curious added peppers and vegetables, I noticed chunks of bacon. A very decidedly 0% vegan confidence rating.

at San Jose airport: free coffee sample; free chocolate-covered coffee beans and chocolate-covered orange peel samples (both vegan); Johnny Walker Red on ice sample; plantain chips; banana

SJO to IAH and IAH to EWR flights: Mr. and Mrs. T’s Bloody Mary Mix with lime (again, the ‘natural flavor’ listed in the ingredients could be not vegan); almonds; plantain chips; in-flight meal minus the chicken-or-ham sandwich, minus the slice of cake, and minus the creamy pasta salad, leaving… a tomato slice, salvaged from alongside Michael’s pasta dish. Why did they stop caring about dietary requests on Continental? I used to be listed as “Pure Vegetarian,” but for these flights, “No Preference” was the only option in the drop down.

dinner from Papasitos in Houston airport: burrito with pico de gallo, black beans, guacamole (they checked on sour cream or dairy in the guacamole and said it’s okay), salsa, and roasted vegetables

breakfast at Sol y Mar (Cahuita, Costa Rica): vegetarian gallo pinto (50% vegan confidence, didn’t ask about lard or butter) with hot sauce; banana shake made with water instead of milk; toast and jam (bread might not have been vegan, but I think it was the type they had at the store that was vegan); coffee

plantain chips and BBQ yucca chips on bus back to San Jose

free fruity drink at Hostel Pangea (seemed to be rum and orange juice with starfruit); my last can of Imperial

dinner at El Moro (San Jose, Costa Rica): appetizer plate with stuffed grape leaves (specify no yogurt), hummus, pita, lettuce, roasted eggplant+pepper+zucchini, and kalamata olives; bread (may not be vegan); couscous with roasted vegetable stew including chickpeas, almond slices, and raisins; red wine (may not be vegan)

couscous leftovers during brief awake spell in the middle of the night

breakfast: corn squares cereal with rice milk

lunch from whole foods prepared meal bar: garlicky kale salad; vegan beef with broccoli; orzo salad; quinoa with butternut squash and dried fruit; israeli couscous with butternut squash; corn cake; probably some other things i can’t remember; sample of an apple

snacks at amaris and heather’s house: apple slices with chunky peanut butter; strawberries; chips and carrots with hummus

dinner: roasted squash seeds; whole wheat spaghetti with leftover roasted tomato pasta sauce and melted daiya cheese; green gazpacho; corn checks

drink: miller high life

dinner 2: french fries; hummus with carrots, cumcber and celery; a larabar coconut  cream pie (Yummy! it tastes sort of like a macaroon)

drinks 2: sam adam’s boston lager (vegan according to barnivore.com)

breakfast at 100% Natural Coffee Shop in Cahuita, Costa Rica: coffee; fruit plate with pineapple, banana, watermelon, and red/orange fruit with avocado-like texture (?) that I dipped in hot sauce; gallo pinto and bread (this time, when asking if it was totally vegetarian and explaining that I don’t eat milk or eggs, the waiter said it was vegano, so I feel quite confident about it. I didn’t ask about honey in the bread, though. 95% confidence?)

lunch at Veronica’s Place in Puerto Viejo (taking the bus there solely to go to this all-vegetarian restaurant, where everything short of breakfast eggs can be made vegan. Definitely the only place with soy cheese, soy milk, and soy meats I saw on this trip): beet, carrot, string bean, and apple juice; starfruit and ginger juice; patacones (crispy-fried plantains) served with black beans, cabbage salad, and vegan soy meat in coconut sauce; Mamma’s mashed potatoes, also served with black beans, cabbage salad, and coconut sauce, and with the protein option “carrot tart”, which was one of the best meat substitutes I’ve ever had (she makes it out of carrots and oats).

dessert, still at Veronica’s Place: coconut cake/cookie; yummy banana ice cream with crushed cacao (the server said he helped pick the bananas at either their farm or a farm of a friend, I couldn’t quite follow. Nice to eat bananas that weren’t from one of the ubiquitous Chiquita farms, where they use so many pesticides they keep the bananas in plastic blue bags while they’re still on the trees)

dinner: 1st failed attempt at making my own coconut sauce, buying an overly-sweetened can of “coconut cream”: chickpeas with garlic, onion, hot pepper, crema de coconut, cayenne, black pepper, curry powder mix, garam masala, and fresh lime, served on corn tortillas with Lizano salsa and lime

Imperial cervesa 40s (!) with lime

breakfast: kava stress relief tea with french vanilla soy creamer; apple from the farmers market; seven spices chai tea with french vanilla soy creamer;

lunch: leftover peanut pasta; couscous with walnuts topped with a squash medley (butternut squash, spaghetti squash, zucchini, chickpeas); vegan tuna salad; vegan peanut butter halloween bite (www.sjaaks.com)

snack: soy latte

dinner/drink/snacks while watching the west wing: popcorn with bragg liquid aminos and nutritional yeast; whole wheat spaghetti with leftover roasted tomato pasta sauce and melted daiya cheese; busch beer

breakfast: more store-bought “toast” (large crouton) with ridiculously sweet guava jelly

more cookies, lime plantain chips, and almonds throughout day

coffee and banana colada (ordered without the evaporated milk, which is in many piña colada and similar drink recipes) at Cafe Parquecito in Cahuita, Costa Rica

dinner at El Palenque Luisa: rice/beans (like gallo pinto) and vegetables (mushroom, cucumber, carrot, potato, etc.) with Caribe tomato sauce; pasta with coconut sauce and vegetables; caipirinhas

I specified “totally vegetarian” and “without milk” again in my horrible Spanish, but again didn’t ask about butter, and the coconut sauce tasted a bit too creamy, but it could have just been really creamy coconut milk. 60% vegan probability? Either way, coconut sauce over pasta is amazing and I am going to try to make it soon.

breakfast: cookies and coffee

lunch at Miss Miriam’s (Tortuguero, Costa Rica): Gallo pinto; coconut rice; salad with cabbage, cucumber, tomato, and vinegar; fried plantains; homemade hot sauce. Shy of the vegetarian place we later visit, my highest confidence of a vegan gallo pinto (90%). I specified all kinds of dairy (thankfully someone was there who knew the Spanish word for margarine and butter, which I had forgotten) plus all kinds of meat including meat fat, and she seemed to understand completely. Plus, this was my first gallo pinto with coconut milk (a twist on the Caribbean coast), which made it especially tasty.

more cookies (throughout day)

papaya daiquiri with rum and lime at Buddha Bar (Tortuguero)

dinner on porch: avocado half with Lizano salsa; store-bought toast (interesting… like large vegan croutons) with canned refried black beans, avocado, fresh lime, and salsa; spiced plantain chips; Imperial cervesa with lime

sadly, tonight’s late night cockroach adventures were not vegan. After an extended chase that resulted in me carrying one outside atop a 6-foot-long board (part of the bed), a hotel employee who the stunt came in to help, and his solution involved taking off his flip-flop and killing one.

breakfast: banana; Nature Valley peanut butter granola bar; piece of bread

the rest of the coconut roll

lunch while waiting for next leg of travel, by boat: bread with more canned jalapeño refried black beans; cherry tomato; almonds

plantain chips with lime and Imperial cervesa on beach in Tortuguero

espresso from Buddha Bar (Tortuguero, Costa Rica)

more Imperial beer

dinner at Miss Junie’s (Tortuguero): very pink gazpacho; half of two veggie entrees without the cheese (the two were identical except for the beans), including: avocado, heart of palm, steamed veggies including carrot and perhaps broccoli stem (this could have had butter; I again made the mistake of just using the word for milk instead of trying to specify all dairy); garlicky mushrooms (also could have butter); chickpeas; fresh salad; gallo pinto; baked beans (both bean dishes also could have had butter, but because of how I asked I don’t think they had milk, meat, or lard. I’ll put this gallo pinto at 70% confidence)

cheap store-bought vanilla cookies

late night cockroach adventures: vegan (shuttling two outside, leaving two behind the sink)

late night sea-turtle-viewing tour: felt disappointingly disruptive; while no animal products were ingested, it didn’t feel very vegan :(