breakfast: everything bagel; Oren’s coffee with soymilk

lunch from Mamoun’s: falafel sandwich (pita, falafel, tomato, lettuce, tahini)

Corona with lime; oven-roasted Tofurkey slices; espresso

dinner from Lin’s Garden: sauteed string beans, General Tso’s tofu with broccoli, white rice

snacks during The Room viewing: sweet potato chips, baby carrots, and pita chips with hummus, guacamole, and salsa; bbq popcorn with herbs; Magic Hat IPA (vegan according to Barnivore); Brooklyn lager (vegan according to Barnivore); one you-must-be-crazy-i-can’t-drink-that (whiskey mixed with vodka)

breakfast: Egyptian chamomile tea; coffee with soy milk; pineapple, watermelon, and a banana

lunch: leftover garden pan from the vegetable garden mixed with leftover roasted butternut squash and leftover baked mustard tofu

dinner: leftover broccoli, beet greens, green beans, and carrots stir-fried in the tofu marinade with potato spinach balls; stir fry with quinoa, sweet potatoes, collard greens, ginger, garlic, and coconut milk; an apple

breakfast: a banana

lunch: pasta with balsamic glazed baked tofu, broccoli, beet greens, green beans, and carrots stir-fried in the tofu marinade

snacks: leftover vegan ice cream cake; apple

dinner: avocado with nutritional yeast; stir fry with quinoa, sweet potatoes, collard greens, ginger, garlic, and coconut milk

lunch: leftover chili with sweet potato, chickpeas, black beans, celery, pinto beans, tomato, brown rice, and spinach

snack: apple

dinner: vegan potato and spinach balls;  balsamic glazed baked tofu; broccoli, beet greens, green beans, and carrots stir-fried in the tofu marinade; a few pieces of pasta

breakfast: organic peppermint tea; grapes

lunch: leftovers from the vegetable garden

snacks: cashews; cvs asian blend trail mix (rice crackers, wasabi peas, sesame sticks, peanuts, cashews, and almonds)

potluck at meredith’s: bolthouse farms vanilla chai tea; salad with fennel; beer bread with earth balance and hummus; mashed sweet potatoes; really delicious rolls with earth balance and hummus made by Meredith’s pastry chef friend; brussels sprouts; theo cherry & almond dark chocolate

breakfast: stash chai spice decaf tea and tazo chai tea with vanilla soy milk

lunch: leftover vegie kung pao shrimp (vegan shrimp, peanuts, celery, carrots, etc.) over steamed rice from good fortune chinese restaurant

snack: pumpkin seeds

dinner: baked tofu in a lemon mustard marinade; roasted broccoli with garlic cloves; roasted butternut squash; beer bread (one little bite); mickey’s; apple crisp

breakfast: tazo chai tea with soy milk

lunch: leftover vegie kung pao shrimp (vegan shrimp, peanuts, celery, carrots, etc.) over steamed rice from good fortune chinese restaurant; fortune cookie

snacks: haldiram’s samosa (spicy indian snack with green gram, cashew nuts & raisins); cashews; almonds; an apple; coffee

dinner: chili with chickpeas, kidney beans, black beans, sweet potato, celery, onions, garlic, sriracha, and daiya vegan cheese over brown rice; toasted pita (1/2 with hummus and 1/2 with peanut butter and blackberry jam); toasted squash seeds; apple crisp (thanks lori!)

breakfast: sweet dreams tea with soy milk; herb coated cashews; almonds

lunch: miso soup with Black Beans & Quinoa with Chipotle Raspberry Sauce with tofu

snack: haldiram’s samosa (spicy indian snack with green gram, cashew nuts & raisins)

dinner: pasta with tomato sauce and daiya cheese; pomegranate; oj

breakfast: soy latte

lunch: pasta with earth balance and nutritional yeast

mango popsicle

dinner: miso soup with Black Beans & Quinoa with Chipotle Raspberry Sauce with tofu; orange juice

chocolate chips; chocolate covered halva

since o’hare is my home airport and also the site of many, many layovers, i thought i’d take the opportunity tonight to investigate vegan options while waiting for a flight. stacey had told me previously that she found vegan food at o’hare, so i did a little research ahead of time. i went in knowing that somewhere there was a) food from soul veg, and b) a veggie dog.

while looking for the above, i came across a couple other options. at argo tea (terminal 2, concourse E), there were these bowls of grains and veggies and two of them were  marked vegan: a chickpea salad thing with veggies, and another thing i can’t remember. one that seemed vegan (brown rice with tomatoes and other veggies) seemed like it would be vegan but was not marked vegan. these options were listed, but at the time (5 pm, so things were a little picked over) they only had the rice/tomato one and two with meat.

i passed some airport standards: auntie anne’s which allegedly has vegan pretzels, jamba juice, smoothie king. i saw vosges chocolate bars in a couple different places (chicago brand, dark chocolate is vegan, but be careful not to get the dark chocolate bar that has BACON!). finally i found CIBO, which is a small grocery stand in between terminals 1 and 2. CIBO is the one that has prepackaged soul veg food! i was excited. however, the pickings were again slim–they listed 4 soul veg meals on the menu but only had a sad-looking taco salad–and they also don’t heat the food. eggplant parmesan was also on the list, but would you really want that cold?

i continued to terminal 1, then to concourse C, which is where you go through the tunnel of rainbow lights and soothing music. at concourse C i finally found exactly what i wanted: america’s dog. it’s a local hotdog chain with “city dogs” based on hot dogs in different american cities, and you can get any of them with a veggie dog instead of meat (some are chili dogs and i didn’t ask if the chili is veg or not). i got a chicago-style veggie dog and, expecting a smart dog, was pleasantly surprised to find the veggie dog was jumbo-sized and had a much better color AND texture than a smart dog. i didn’t ask if it was vegan, but a couple of vegan blogs had mentioned it, so i figured it was, but i recommend confirming.

i look forward to my next wait at o’hare!

breakfast: peppermint tea with soy milk; banana; grapes

lunch: eggplant parma; vegetable medley (peas, carrots, corn, and lima beans)

snacks: liz lovely gluten free german chocolate cake; almonds and cashews; apple

dinner: Black Beans & Quinoa with Chipotle Raspberry Sauce with tofu; leftover vegan ice cream cake; becks dark lager (vegan according to barnivore)

breakfast: sweet dreams tea with soy milk; banana

lunch: leftover pineapple yellow curry with vegan mock duck; royal tofu (peas, carrots, tofu, mushrooms, ground mock duck) over white rice from siam terrace

snacks: sweet dreams tea with soy milk; liz lovely gluten free german chocolate cake; apple; cashews and almonds

dinner: zucchini “pasta” with fresh tomato sauce (see recipe archive) and vegan cheese; carrot sticks;

snacks while watching the shining at nate and shelley’s: red and green peppers; shelley’s homemade watermelon beer; red wine (i can’t remember the type, but i looked it up on barnivore before drinking it and it’s vegan)

breakfast: sweet dreams tea with soy milk

lunch: eggplant eggplant parmesan; last of the vegan macaroni and cheese; vegetable medley (peas, carrots, corn, and lima beans)

snacks: more sweet dreams tea with soy milk; grapes; banana

dinner: cheerios with rice milk; tomato, chickpea and black bean soup

brunch: toasted everything bagel with tofu cream cheese, tomato, and red onion; iced Gorilla coffee

caffeinated cocktail; sip of whiskey

dinner at Kajitsu: Matsutake Special with Sake pairing

1) Terrine of Autumn Vegetables; sake: Azumaichi (Junmai Ginjo)
2) Clear Soup with Matsutake Mushroom and Tofu
3) House-made Udon with Goma-dare and Matsutake Tempura; sake: Born (Junmai Dai Ginjo)
4) Slow Simmered Vegetables (Satoimo, Carrot, Mizuna, Fried Tofu, Kabocha, Gobo); sake: Sasaichi (Junmai)
5) Assortment of Grilled Vegetables with Smoked Soy Sauce; Matsutake Mushroom Croquet; Grilled Awa-Fu with Sweet Soy Sauce (Buckwheat Seeds, Wasabi); sake: Kokuryu (Ginjo)
6) Clay Pot Steamed Rice with Matsutake Mushroom; Red Miso Soup; House-made Pickles; sake: Suehiro (Junmai Yamahai)
7) Sweet Potato Kinton with Coconut Tofu Cream (Walnuts, Macadamia nuts)
8) Matcha with Candies by Kyoto Kagizen-Yoshifusa

breakfast: coffee with soy milk; banana

lunch: leftover mac daddy and orange ginger red lentils; leftover chickpeas and squash

snack: liz lovely gluten free german chocolate cake

dinner on the plane to urbana, il: trail mix (almonds, raisins, roaasted squash seeds); rice with soy sauce; a few bites of vegan eggplant parmesan sold by Cibo express at the o’hare international airport and made by soul vegetarian east; rice and soy sauce

beer: sam adams coastal wheat

breakfast: grapes; sweet dreams tea with soy milk

lunch: leftover mac daddy and orange ginger red lentils; leftover chickpeas and squash

snack: raw vegan coconut macaroon from wildflour (it’s amazing and a few weeks old!); 2 bananas

dinner: leftover potato garlic soup with olive pecan bread; blue corn chips with guacamole

breakfast: banana; sweet dreams tea with soy milk

lunch: leftover mac daddy and orange ginger red lentils

snack: the entire bag of cvs asian blend trail mix

dinner: chickpeas and squash with nutritional yeast; mickey’s malt liquor

breakfast: grapes; sweet dreams tea with soy milk

lunch: leftover pumpkin curry over wild rice; leftover vegie shrim with vegetables from good fortune chinese restaurant

snacks: almonds; Ines Rosales cinnamon torta; more grapes; banana

dinner: mac daddy (macaroni and “cheese”) from veganomicon; orange ginger red lentils

breakfast: salty oatmeal; almonds; coffee with vanilla soy milk

lunch: pizza strip form calvitto’s (thanks mom and lisa!); Ines Rosales orange torta (thanks honey!); more coffee with vanilla soy milk

snacks: corn nuts; 1 grape; pretzels; leftover ice cream cake; cvs asian blend trail mix (rice crackers, wasabi peas, sesame sticks, peanuts, cashews and almonds)

dinner at shelley’s: sushi with tempeh, avocado, asparagus, butternut squash; miso soup; eva’s cabbage salad with spicy sesame oil; great lakes eliot ness (vegan according to barnivore)