Feelin' Spicy

 Pre-Vegan I rarely used spices. I was intimidated....REALLY intimidated. I was worried that too much would ruin the dish...or that the wrong one would would set the whole thing off. So, I just avoided them altogether.

Once vegan, I found that the key ingredients in almost all vegan dishes, were the spices. So, like any brave kid, I jumped in the deep end of the pool. I've had some mishaps along the way, but I'm a work in progress. Aren't we all?

Point being, with my new found use of spices I started amassing quite the collection. Then, living in San Diego where real estate square footage is at a premium...I was lacking cupboard space to contain them.

Thus, almost every cooking experiance went something like this:


1) Look for Coriander
2) Find cumin, cayenne, cinnamon, and anything but coriander
3) curse cupboard
4) finally spot coriander but in the process of reaching for it, cause an avalanche of spices out of the cupboard onto the floor...rolling under the stove and fridge.
5) Curse again and  REPEAT PROCESS

SO, in my effort to keep whatever sanity I have left, and to keep my cursing to a minimum (you're welcome, mom) I have invested in these uber cute containers I found at Cost Plus World Market

They were only $1.99 each and come in these cute colors. They are magnetic on the back so they stick to the fridge, yay!

I started with 6 and put my most used spices in them to start. 

AND, of course I had to bust out the awesome label maker I got on super sale at Staples and hadn't yet found a reason to use.

Confession:  I went on a label making frenzy after this.

Vegan Eating Out: my go-to meals

One of the common myths about being Vegan is that you have to cook every meal you eat. SO NOT TRUE. I thought this at first too, and killed myself trying to cook every meal just so I wouldn't go hungry. It was exhausting after a while...and made my new vegan lifestyle seem daunting. Don't get me wrong, I love cooking (my blog is my testament to that) however, after working a full day, going to the gym, and coming home to laundry, cleaning, etc.....sometimes it's nice to order take-out. :-) Can I get an AMEN?

There are two hard and fast rules about dining out vegan I like to stick to:
1) Do you research before you go. Scope out their on-line menu so you aren't standing there holding up the line...or making you other people at you table wait for you to read every item.
2) Don't be afraid to ask questions.With people having so many allergies and dietary restrictions now-a-days servers are used to getting questions ( I know this from years as a server) Plus, they can always ask the cooks and people in the back if they don't know.

So, I thought I would share some of my favorite go-to dining options.

WHOLE FOODS: 
You can never go wrong with the whole food salad/food bar. They are mostly nationwide and ALWAYS have vegan options and I love that they are clearly marked and have all of the ingrediegnts of their dishes listed.

I also love that most of their locations have seating so you get the full sit & eat experience. :-)

Below I got: Curry Tofu and Brown Rice & paired it with a salad with tons of veggies and pomegranate seeds!

PASTA: 
The great thing about pasta is that (1) almost every restaurant has a pasta dish and (2) most pasta is vegan. The pastas you want to stay away from are egg noodle pastas, when in doubt ask. Also, if they have rice noodles, you can do a gluten free vegan pasta. Also, sometimes a restaurant will have pasta, but it comes with meat or white sauce. So I'll just ask the server if they can make a veggie and tomato pasta for me instead...I've never been denied. I also ask them to make it without oil....to keep down on the fat content.

Below is pasta from my favorite work-lunch locale: Pastalini. It's like a subway for pasta and SO GOOD.

 

AN AMAZING SALAD:  

Who says you need meat, cheese, bacon, and creamy dressing to make a salad good? I got this salad the other day at a deli by my work: Mixed greens, sprouts, tomatoes, three bean mix (black, chickpea, kidney), avacado, cucumbers, onions, peppers. It was amazing. I paired it with some balsamic vinegar and it was SUPER delicious and filling. 

Confession time: they also had sweet potato fries so I ordered a side. They were sinfully delicious :-)

 

OTHER GO-TO MEALS: 

1) Quiznos or Subway's Veggie Sub

2) Pei Wei (or other healthy asian restaurant) brown rice and tofu entree (make sure you get a dish they don't use fish oil or chicken/beef stock in) 

3) Chipotle Veggie Burrito Bowl.