This is pretty funny.  You have to watch until almost the very end to get the soy milk reference…

Yesterday was the absolute best weather!  We couldn’t have planned it any better.  My friend, Ginger, and I took our girls to the pumpkin patch in Half Moon Bay.

Then we kept heading west to the beach, where we had a nice picnic and watched the surfers.

And on the way home, Emma and I stopped at one of the many produce stands along the highway and bought half a flat of strawberries, some organic blueberries, organic oranges, and 5 ears of corn for the bargain price of $10.50!  Driving home, my car said that it was 87 degrees outside.  That’s crazy for it almost being November!

I have a TON of food things to blog about, as well as a TON of photos taking up space on my camera.  The problem is that I’m so super duper lazy that I haven’t gotten around to any of it.  I hope to get to some of it tomorrow, so hang in there!  I didn’t want you all to think I’ve gone off on another vacation. 

Speaking of vacations, Norwegian Cruise Line sent me a rather lengthy post-cruise survey for them to get my thoughts on our recent cruise.  I absolutely took advantage of the opportunity to tell them how disappointed I was with the food and the lack of vegan items aboard.  I also said that a selection of organic fruits and vegetables would be great for those who prefer it.  I hope it makes a difference, but I can’t help but think that it probably won’t.  Most of the cruising population is just happy eating bacon and eggs for breakfast, hamburgers and hot dogs for lunch, and chicken or prime rib for dinner.  I guess I would be too, if I weren’t concerned about my health at all.

For those vegans and/or healthier eaters out there considering a cruise with NCL, I highly recommend taking some snacks and such with you.

That’s all.  No more laziness from me, I promise.  I’ll be back in action with some food tomorrow.

As you all know, I totally welcome any comments to anything I write here.  I’ve recently been getting spammed like crazy with comments that bear no relevance to anything that I write on my blog or even to a vegan diet.  I’m usually able to catch them before they actually get published on my site, but spammers are now trying to find ways around my filter.  Having said that, I had to change my settings so that the only people whose comments are immediately posted are those who already have an approved and published comment (i.e. are already trusted commenters).  First-time commenters now have to be approved by me before the comment gets published.  I don’t like to do it this way, but I have to for a little while until (hopefully) the spam dies down.  Just wanted to fill you all in on what’s happening in case you’re wondering why your comments aren’t being immediately posted.

Well, it’s almost here.  In just three short days, we’ll be sitting aboard the Norwegian Sun sipping champagne as we sail under the Golden Gate Bridge.  In store for us are stops in Mazatlan, Acapulco, Zihuatanejo/Ixtapa, Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas and LOTS AND LOTS of margaritas.  I hope some yummy vegan food is thrown in there somewhere too.  I’m packing a notebook to write down all of my meals so that I can fill you in when I get back.

In the meantime, I’ll leave you with this…

…my snacks for our voyage.  Matt thinks I’m insane for hauling this stuff along with me when cruises are typically food-fests, but I don’t want to eat a bunch of crap or stuff that I normally wouldn’t eat.  He’ll thank me the minute he gets hungry and wants one.

Adiós amigos!

Looks good, doesn’t it?!

And it was good, if you like gelatinous, rubbery, nutritional-yeast tasting goo.  I picked up The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook from the library and tried 2 cheese recipes from it.  Who sits around thinking “I’ll mix some cashews, nutritional yeast, agar flakes and spices together and make vegan meunster cheese”?  Crazy!  Yeah, this wasn’t good.  Everything about it was horrible- the texture, the taste, everything.  It was so bad that I didn’t even bother offering it to Emma.  Sick!

In addition to the meunster cheese, I made the recipe for Mozarella hoping that I could use it on pizza later in the week.  That one was made with oats, nutritional yeast, cornstarch and spices.  Really, who thinks this stuff up??!  That one didn’t even firm up and (yes, I tasted it) was equally repulsive.

In spite of these set backs, I am not throwing in the towel with this book.  There are a few cheesy sauce recipes that I’ll try out before decided whether or not I want to add this book to my home collection.

I found this article and thought it was pretty humorous.  While traveling, it can often be difficult to find healthy food in airports and such.  It can be even harder to find vegan food, as the traveler in the article points out.  The funniest part of the article was him trying to convince the security agent that his peanut butter wasn’t a security risk:

On a recent flight I brought a jar of vegan creamy peanut butter with me. The security agent insisted that my carry-on food product was a cream, and therefore a forbidden substance.

A rather strange discussion ensued in which I tried to explain that peanut butter was a solid with a “creamy” consistency. Creamy was, in this case, an adjective. And the peanut butter should not be thrown in the trash.

The agent looked at me as if I were as nutty as my peanut butter.

With our cruise fast approaching (only 2 weeks away!!!), I’ve been wondering myself if I will have problems finding vegan food.  While I have only been wondering, my very sweet and thoughtful omni-best-friend is so worried for me that she offered to contact the cruise line to find out if there will be vegan food on the boat.  What do vegans eat anyway?

I don’t think it’s necessary to go to such great lengths.  Every restaurant I’ve ever been to, even the most meat-centered, has made a vegan/vegetarian dish when I have requested it and not seen one on the menu.  Most menus are customizable.  In fact, to a certain extent, I think the traveler in this article isn’t as resourceful as a vegan needs to be in a non-vegan society.  For example, I can think of LOTS of things that can be made vegan with a little creativity:

1. Burritos.  Most airports have burrito joints.  Order a basic burrito– beans, rice, veggies (if available), lettuce and such.  Add some guac, but ask for no cheese and no sour cream.  If the beans are refried, confirm that they are vegetarian; likewise with the rice as it has the potential to have been made with animal stock.  Even items from places as gross as Taco Bell can be made vegan.  Bean burrito, no cheese.  Tostada, no cheese. Etc.  Etc.
2. Burgers.  Burgers are abundant as a quick and cheap meal.  Order a burger, sans patty and mayo.  Add extra veggies, if possible.  Order a side of fries and pile the fries inside the bun in place of a patty.  This would do in a pinch, but you do run the risk of the bun being not vegan-friendly.  Bread can be tricky.Now, I know if I don’t address it, people are going to suggest “what about the BK Veggie offered by Burger King?”  Yes, many places are not offering veggie patties which they will use on a burger in place of the battered dairy cow flesh.  I would only order this as a last resort and would specifically request that it be microwaved instead of grilled to avoid being contaminated with said battered dairy cow flesh on the grill.  I would also order is sans bun and mayo.  Keep in mind that the BK Veggie is offered as a “meat free” burger, not as one that is veg*n friendly.
3. Sandwiches.  Chain sandwich shops like Subway are usually present in the airport.From Subway’s website:The menu items that do not contain any animal-derived ingredients are the Veggie Delite® on Italian bread and the Veggie Delite® salad. Also these individual items do not contain animal-derived ingredients: all vegetables, oil, vinegar, mustard, sweet onion sauce and Fruizle. The wheat bread and deli roll contain honey but no other animal-derived ingredients.

   (Note: the Italian Bread at Subway is the only vegan bread.  The others contain honey and/or cheese.)

   If there isn’t a Subway around, any kind of sandwich loaded with veggies, without mayo is probably a safe option.  If you’re unsure about the bread, ask, or go for a salad.

4. Salad.  While some may not consider this the most filling of meal options, I can’t think of anything easier.  There would likely not be any customization necessary, just be sure to order it with a vinaigrette.

5. Pizza.  I’ve been to many an airport with a Pizza Hut and isn’t this list from their website handy?  Order a veggie pizza, no cheese, with Thin ‘N Crispy dough.  The benefit of a custom order is that you’ll be assured of having a freshly baked pizza and not one that has been sitting under a heat lamp.
   
6. McDonald’s.  Doesn’t get much grosser than this, but desperate times call for desperate measures.  Even Mickey D’s, the most vegan unfriendly of fast food establishments, can do if you find yourself without any other alternatives.  I haven’t been here in years and don’t even know what they serve anymore, but thanks to their very high tech website, I was able to download a menu and ingredients list.  Everything on the list has weird ingredients in it– like corn syrup as the first ingredient followed by high fructose corn syrup as the second ingredient.  One may argue that McDonald’s does, in fact, NOT serve food, since food is meant to nourish the body.   I would agree.  Eat here at your own risk.  The only reason I’m listing it here is because they are everywhere.If you were in a position and had to resort to McDonald’s, your options would be pretty limited, but at least you wouldn’t starve.  Options: Any salad minus chicken and cheese.  Be sure the dressing is a vinaigrette of some sort.  I would stay away from the Caesar Salad, only because Caesar dressing typically contains anchovies and cheese.  Be forewarned that the croutons have whey in them.

   Another option may be one of the wrap sandwiches, minus the chicken of course.  The ingredients list for the tortilla it gets wrapped up in is hard to read (lots of weird sounding things) and I’m not sure that it is vegan.  If you order this, add any veggie that you can to it (tomato, pickle, etc.) and maybe just use the lettuce as the wrap instead of the tortilla.  If you truly were desperate enough to eat at McDonald’s, the vegan police won’t hunt you down for eating a possibly non-vegan tortilla.

7. Starbucks.  Again, another chain that is everywhere.  Some are even offering hot sandwiches and snack packs to go.  All of them have little packs of nuts for sale and sometimes dried fruit.  I guess some stores are now offering oatmeal, which appears to be vegan.My biggest gripe with Starbucks is that they charge you 40 cents extra to have your drink made with soy milk.  I mean, is there really that much difference between the cost of cow’s milk and soy milk?  No.  The cost of a Starbucks drink should be all inclusive– tea/espresso, syrup, milk.  I’m sending them a letter.  Alright, I just sent them an email requesting that they start offering more vegan snacks and stop charging an extra 40 cents for soy milk.  If you agree with my gripe, send them an email too.

8. Breakfast.  Finding a satisfying breakfast while on the go can be challenging.  Again, a bit of customization is necessary in order to get something that will fill you up.  Stay away from pancakes, waffles and the like since these items are typically made with both dairy and egg products.  Instead, opt for a vegetarian omelet without the eggs.  If they have tofu in the kitchen (which would be a small miracle), ask that they make it with that instead.  Ask how they cook the omelets and request that yours be cooked with a little bit of oil instead of butter, if necessary.  Have some toast on the side, dry unless margarine is an option.  Top it with some fruit preserves.Oatmeal is also a great option.  It’s filling and healthy.  Order it without milk.  Ask for soy milk, if they have it, or some apple juice.  Apple juice on oatmeal is actually quite good.  Add a little cinnamon and you instantly have apple-cinnamon oatmeal!

I hope this dispells the myth that vegans have a hard time finding something to eat while traveling (or even eating out).  Yes, it may be difficult to find food of the caliber that you are accustomed to, but you’ll need to relax your palate a bit if you don’t want to starve to death.

I found the camera.  If it had been a snake…  Without further ado, here is our chaos-free freezer.

The fantastic part is that most of the stuff in here is destined for my parents house.  Everything stacked in the back right is Emma’s food– pancakes, pizzas, etc. for her to eat while we are on vacation.  The left side is random bags of nuts and frozen vegetables.  Of course, Matt’s lime popsicles are right out front.  And the big container in the middle is full of cookies (also destined for my parents house).

The door:  some frozen bananas, nuts, sesame seeds, some mystery tomato product, bay leaves, ground flax seeds, baking powder, ginger, and ice packs.

It’s amazing to be able to locate things without having to tear the entire freezer apart.

Well, the Great Purge is behind us and my freezer is back to normal.  No more chaos.  I’ll be posting photos of our new and improved freezer as soon as I figure out what the heck I did with my camera.  Anyway, I managed to use up lots of our frozen fruits, veggies, random stuff.  It was great.  Some things ended up being tossed (like some spinach & ricotta raviolis that was dated sometime in 2007 and that we don’t eat anymore).  Aside from little things like that, I’m pretty proud that not much else went to waste.

Toward the end of the purge, we were at a bare minimum of food.  We had a pretty well stocked pantry, but the fridge and freezer were both pretty bare.  So, here ya go… our last meal of freezer food:

The last of some coleslaw that I made on Saturday morning, a golden beet drizzled wih a strawberry balsamic vinaigrette, some french fries, 2 spring rolls and some vegan meatballs.  It was good, but nothing very figure friendly or super nutritious.  All the food groups were represented and, like I said before, I have been lazy/busy lately and not really in the mood for cooking.

Breakfast was nothing special and I didn’t even bother taking any photos of it.  Emma had a banana mini-muffin that I made yesterday, some strawberry banana coconut yogurt and some fruit.  She ate it all, except for the yogurt which she only ate a few bites of.

Lunch was a bit more exciting, but not much.

Mac & Chreese; white beans; edamame

Emma’s favorite food lately has been edamame.  She likes squeezing out the beans (I pop them open slightly to make it easier).  Today, we tried something that I’ve had in my pantry forever, but have never made: Road’s End Organics Mac & Chreese.  The nicest thing that I can say about this product is that it tastes better than it smells, which is like concentrated nutritional yeast.  I really don’t care for nutritional yeast, but Emma didn’t seem to mind.  She ate two helpings, even after eating all of her beans.  Yep, she has to be hitting a growth spurt.

While on the topic of nutritional yeast, I nearly missed out on this super great snack because I was scared to try it.  I picked it up, read the ingredients, saw that it had nutritional yeast in it, put it in my cart, had second thoughts, took it back out, had third thoughts, then put it back in.  I’m glad I forced myself to buy these because they are awesome:

These taste eerily similar to Cheetos, but don’t coat your fingers in toxic-colored orange goo.  Oh yeah, and these are vegan!  I highly recommend.

And lastly, let’s move on to the topic of my freezer.  Jennifer has inspired me to do a freezer cleanse before buying more groceries.  Now, I did go to the store today to pick up some juice, snacky things and a few fresh veggies, but the main component of our meals this week will be from my freezer.  I’m embarrassed to share these photos with you, but extra motivation will really help keep me on track, so here goes.

The Door: flax seeds, bananas, more bananas, strawberries, spinach & ricotta ravioli's, some tomato product of some sort, bay leaves, ground flax seeds, nuts, ice packs

My Freezer: ice tray, popsicles galore, waffles, beans, edamame, cashews, and who-knows-what-else shoved in the back

Really, can anything else fit in there?  Probably not without falling out.  A lot of this stuff is destined for my parents house when Matt and I go on vacation, but all of the stuff shoved in the back could be used up and/or properly organized.  Whatta mess!

I can’t promise that any dazzling dishes will come from this, but we have to do it.  I’ll take photos at the end of the week when (hopefully) this mess is gone.  I’ll also keep a list of what I find when I excavate and how I used it.

P.S. My fridge isn’t much better.  Yes, I have the pack rat gene.