brunch: everything bagel with scallion tofu cream cheese, tomato, and onion from A.R.E.A. Bagels; coffee

coffee and vegan chocolate cupcake with Halloween sprinkles from think coffee

dinner: fried wild rice (sauteed red onion+garlic+polano pepper+red bell pepper in Earth Balance plus sesame oil; then added already-cooked wild rice; added black pepper, tamari, and sea salt), served with avocado to mash in as a replacement to egg; tempeh and green bean stir fry (with sesame oil, hot chili oil, vegetarian oyster sauce, tamari, Bragg’s liquid aminos, black pepper, sea salt, black sesame seeds); Tröegs Dead Reckoning porter (vegan according to Barnivore)

breakfast: hazelnut tea with french vanilla soy creamer

lunch: leftover quinoa and asparagus; kava stress relief tea with french vanilla soy creamer

snacks: peanuts; equal exchange dark chocolate; cashews (i need to stop eating so many snacks!)

dinner: chocolate chip banana bread; chili topped with cilantro and corn chips (thanks shelley!);  pumpkin bunt cake (i think this was my first bunt cake)

breakfast: shredded wheat with soymilk; coffee

lunch: leftover pasta with olive oil, salt, pepper, tomato sauce, and nutritional yeast; peanut toffee buzz Clif bar

vegan chocolate cookies and dark-chocolate-covered almonds with sea salt from Trader Joe’s

soy cappuccino from think coffee

dinner: falafel sandwich and stuffed grape leaves from Mamoun’s; whiskey on the rocks

breakfast: shredded wheat with soymilk; coffee

lunch: triple-decker peanut butter and jelly sandwich

at Pan-NYU worm meeting: Trader Joe’s flaxseed veggie chips with hummus and salsa; grapes; vegan chocolate cookies; Blue Moon; Anchor Steam Ale

dinner: pasta with leftover tomato sauce from fondue, nutritional yeast, olive oil, salt, and pepper; sauteed baby bella mushrooms

ice cream sandwich with Back To Nature vanilla cookies with Luna and Larry’s vanilla coconut ice cream; Stone Old Guardian beer

breakfast: shredded wheat with soymilk; coffee

lunch: peanut butter and jelly sandwich; banana from Jessica

dinner from Atlas Cafe: vegan Moroccan burger; vegan Halloween brownie with yogurt pretzel and chocolate whipped cream

pasta with vegetables, bread, and original-flavored JOOSE

PBR at Upright Citizens’ Brigade

late-night snacks: whiskey, Spicy Sweet Chili Doritos, chocolate Mi-del cookies with leftover vegan butterscotch sauce

Today was a pretty ridiculous eating day.

brunch: leftover BBQ tempeh, potatoes, tomato fondue sauce; rest of the coconut cream pie slice; coffee; strawberries

chocolate Mi-del Snaps and Back To Nature vanilla cookies, dipped in leftover butterscotch sauce

Spicy Sweet Chili Doritos

free peach Italian ice (last day of the season at Uncle Louie G)

dinner: Carr’s water crackers with Aged Cashew & Brazil Nuts Tree Nut Cheese by Dr-Cow, Hickory-Smoked Cheddar “We Can’t Say It’s Cheese” spread by WayFare, basil leaves, and button mushroom slices; raw kale salad (kale plus Bragg’s, olive oil, nutritional yeast, and garlic); home-brewed lambic beer

brunch: leftovers from tonic; the lats of the spiced moroccan chickpea soup; corn bread

snacks: roasted squash seeds; more corn bread; an apple; cauliflower; tortilla chips baked with sauce and melted daiya cheese; budweiser (vegan- see company responses about vegan products)

dinner: pasta with tomato sauce and melted daiya cheese; raisin pecan bread with almond butter; an apple slice with almond butter

breakfast: pancakes with maple syrup (followed my fluffy beer pancakes recipe with all soymilk instead of beer)

lunch, purchased at Lifethyme Natural Market: Sunneen Health Foods Kisses Knishes tofu spinach knish; Lifethyme’s organic vegan coconut cream pie [Ingredients: filling: org. silken tofu, tofutti cream cheese, florida crystals, coconut extract, vanilla extract, arrowroot powder, org. coconut milk, shredded coconut. crust: org. white spelt flour, baking powder, sea salt, safflower oil, filtered water.]

dinner: spicy tomato fondue. The sauce is a light and spicy tomato puree (the recipe came with the fondue pot). Items to dip: steamed mushrooms, steamed broccoli, boiled red potatoes, bread, Tofurkey sausage, and BBQ tempeh (from this recipe)

red wine (may or may not be vegan)

dessert: butterscotch fondue. Recipe also included with the fondue pot, substituting Earth Balance (in place of butter) and evaporated soymilk reconstituted at twice the concentration (in place of condensed milk). Items to dip: chocolate Mi-del Snaps, strawberries, red plum

breakfast: corn checks with rice milk

drinks/snack at phil and michael’s art show: heineken (vegan according to barnivore); carrots; cucumber; (maybe a grape)

snack: roasted squash seeds

drinks/food at my housewarming: sam adams boston lager (vegan according to barnivore); budweiser (vegan- see company responses about vegan products), corn bread; brownies; apple crisp; tortilla chips with guacamole and salsa; veggies with hummus; kale salad with avocado based on this recipe from by any greens necessary

breakfast: shredded wheat with soymilk; coffee

lunch: leftover pasta with tomato sauce; leftover kale salad

dinner: roasted eggplant and sweet potato; acorn squash with maple syrup; brown rice

breakfast: an apple from the farmers market; raisins; coffee with french vanilla soy creamer

lunch: leftover daal

snack: stacy’s pita chips with hummus

snacks at puppet underground: vegan homemade cookies; hot spiced cider

dinner at tonic: RRP Salad Burger (veggie burger, roasted red pepper hummus, greens and oven roasted tomatoes- very good) with tater tots; beet and brussel sprout salad (salt roasted beets, roasted brussel sprouts, poached shallots with galic herb oil & balsamic reduction (not very good)

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