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By kilax, March 9, 2011 5:29 am

One of the things I love about living in the Chicago suburbs is the diversity of things to do, see, and EAT! If you’re open to new adventures, you’ll never get bored.

Okay, that is the good part.

Here is the annoying part. I live within close proximity to many different grocery stores – ALDI, Garden Fresh and Target (my favorites) as well as Dominick’s, Jewel (avoid if possible) – but sometimes cannot find the things I want to buy. So I have to ask my family to pick them up for me in Iowa.

In frickin’ Iowa!!!

HyVee is a grocery store chain in Iowa and other parts of the midwest, but not Chicagoland. They have a huge “health” selection with more vegan options than I have seen out here in Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s! What gives?! I thought we were supposed to be the progressive big city.

And funny thing, the product I often ask my mom to buy for me isn’t a vegan specialty. It’s Maple and Brown Sugar Malt-O-Meal – my go-to weekend breakfast treat.

We have Malt-O-Meal out here, but I never see that flavor! I found this ALDI imitation (Millville brand above) last weekend.

I made it Sunday morning with high expectations (still have to try the Chocolate).

Blech. It is NOT the same.

I just think it’s ridiculous that I have a plethora of grocery stores around me and cannot find some products. Seriously, we pick up items in Iowa, and sometimes even drive to Woodman’s in Kenosha, WI (which is actually closer to our house than Chicago).

And yes, we have tried talking to the grocers about carrying certain items. That never seems to work for us.

So… this kind of turned out to be a rant. Oops!

I will say, there are definitely many items I buy here that cannot be bought in Iowa. It just seems silly that I cannot find the simple things, like Maple and Brown Sugar Malt-O-Meal, here.

Are there any products you like but cannot buy near your home? What are they and how do you procure them?

We used to love the Nueva Cucina Mexican Rice Mix. When they stopped selling it at Target, we started buying it on Amazon! Since then, we have moved on to other rice mixes (and really, we need to make up our own). When I was at Whole Foods with Jen two weeks ago, I found the mix, but it was not the same. Good thing I only bought one box (when I brought it home, Steven asked why I didn’t buy more, ha ha).

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By kilax, March 8, 2011 11:07 am

As you may recall, our favorite food from our culinary trip to NYC was the bagels. Simple, awesome, bagels. I fear that Steven and I will be haunted by those bagels for life – how will we ever find any as awesome? We can’t rely on Gina and Steve to send them to us all the time (can we? CAN WE?!?!!??!).

Steven and I were discussing this dilemma and came to the conclusion that we have not tried many bagels in the Chicagoland area, especially from small bakeries. It’s time to get out there. It’s a tough challenge, but we’re up to it!

Let the bagel quest begin.

First stop? New York City Bagel Deli.

Funny thing – I walk by this place every morning I go in to the office, and never thought twice about it. I went in this morning and was honest about why I was there.

I told the cashier I just got back from NYC and wanted to see how their bagels compare. He told me (in a NYC accent?) that their store has the only “NYC” bagels in Chicago. I told him my NYC friends were skeptical, because NYC Bagel Deli doesn’t use NYC water to make the bagels*. He told me it’s expensive, but they import the water from Long Island. Ha ha ha.

So I bought three to try – poppy, sesame and cinnamon raisin – the same ones Gina and Steve sent us last week!

We actually still have a cinnamon raisin one at home to compare the one I bought today to! Just from the look and feel of these though, I don’t think there is going to be much to compare. They are smaller and firmer. We’ll see… the quest may have to continue…

Who makes your favorite bagels? Which place should we try next?

And please don’t say Dunkin’ Donuts. Yuck. I bought one of their bagels in December and it was so dry and hard I took one bite and threw it away. And I do not throw food away!

*Gina says the myth is that the NYC water is what makes the NYC bagels so good.

Comments (44)

By kilax, February 22, 2011 11:00 am

Steven and I didn’t really approach our trip to New York City as a “sightseeing” trip. We had both already been there once (not together), and were really just going to see our friends, Gina and Steve! So instead of planning out things to do or see during our trip, we planned out things we wanted to eat. And actually, when I say “planned,” it makes it sound like we did a lot of work and research. In reality, we just came up with a wishlist of foods to try and Gina and Steve coordinated it all for us! On our list:

• NYC style pizza
• Babycakes vegan bakery
• Fries in a cup
• NYC style bagels
• Street cart falafel*
• Local restaurants

And as you’ll see below, a few things got added to list!

Friday

We had dinner at Mojave, a “Southwestern Mexican” restaurant really close to Gina and Steve’s home in Queens. I loved Gina and Steve’s neighborhood. They live on a quiet little street, but can walk a few blocks to a mainstreet area where there are shops and restaurants (and where they can get on the subway).

This is the only place I didn’t snap a picture of my actual food! I had awesome fajitas. I loved that the menu already had vegetarian and even vegan options called out! That is one thing I found about NYC – it was very easy to eat vegan while there.

And I should mention, it was in the high 50s/low 60s on Friday. Awesome!

Saturday

On Saturday, we drove in to Manhattan, which worked out perfectly, because it was really windy and a bit cold outside.

For lunch we went to the Peanut Butter & Co Sandwich Shop. It wasn’t on our list, but Gina mentioned it the day before and I wanted to check it out. It was our first experience (of many) of ordering and dining in a super tiny little shop, with lots of other people. A lot of the places we went to turned out to be this way – just little slivers of space with people packed in. I guess we hit up a lot of popular places!

The Peanut Butter & Co Sandwich Shop had a huge menu and we all ordered something different, as well as a sampler platter with all 8 kinds of their peanut butter! I got “The Elvis” – PB & bananas (but not grilled) and Steven got “The Club” – a double-decker sandwich which I included in the photo above.

After lunch we checked out Economy Candy, a huge candy store,

and Babycakes. Steven and I bought five things to try – a red velvet cupcake, a carrot cupcake, a cookie, a cookie sandwich and a doughnut. We didn’t dig in to our Babycakes sweets until we got back to Gina and Steve’s place after dinner Saturday night. We all thought that the sweets were really good, but too expensive. It was about $18 or so for the five things we bought! I know the ingredients are all natural, but wow. It was still a fun place to try though! And it’s always nice to walk in to a bakery and know that I choose anything from the menu.

For dinner, we ate at Buona Notte, a restaurant that Gina and Steve recommended, in Little Italy. Walking through Little Italy was fun. Nearly every Italian restaurant had someone outside luring people in to eat. Steve and I kind of ignored them, but Gina and Steven had some fun talking to them!

I ordered Penne all’ Arrabbiata – (whole wheat) penne sauteed with arugula and hot peppers in tomato suace. Nom nom nom. I ate it all!

Sunday

We started Sunday off with New York City style bagels from the Brookyln Bagel and Coffee Company near Gina and Steve’s home. Steven and I actually decided that the bagels were the best thing we tried throughout the entire trip. I can’t even begin to describe how delicious they were – just so chewy and dense and filling. Just what I like! Oh, and did I mention they were huge?

I thought it was fun to go in to a shop and see a zillion different kind of bagels spreads. I tried the tofu spread on my Everything bagel. Steven got a whole wheat bagel with butter and jelly.

After our bagels we took the subway in to Manhattan and hung out around Times Square,

then made our way to Famous Original Ray’s Pizza (811 Lexington Ave.), so Steven could have a slice! The criteria for the pizza was that it was huge and Steven had to fold it in his hand to eat it. Check, and check!

There are actually a ton of Ray’s pizza places in NYC. We’ve even seen a documentary on the Food Network about them. Of course, while in NYC, we couldn’t remember which one was the actual original.

After lunch, Steven, Steve and Gina split a Black & White cookie that Steven picked up at Zaro’s Bakery near Union Station. Another item that was not on our list, but luckily, we thought to pick one up since Steven loves them!

We went to the Guggenheim Museum (just to see the building, not the art) afterward, then strolled through Central Park. The weather turned out to be great – sunny and less windy than Saturday. I loved seeing all of the runners in Central Park! I will have to come back and run there someday… maybe I can get in to the 2012 NYC Marathon lottery! Ha.

After our stroll, Steven and Steve went to a cigar shop to smoke cigars, and Gina and I went to the mall on Columbus Circle. We thought we were making chili for dinner**, so we bought all of the ingredients at Whole Foods, went to Borders (where we saw Robin Williams) and then had tea at Argo Tea Cafe. Steven and Steve weren’t done with their cigars until close to 8:00. We got back to their place at 9:00 and decided it was too late to make chili, so we ordered local diner food, which was fun!

I got a stir fry type thing and Steven got the Mediterranean sandwich.

Monday

We made vegan pancakes for breakfast, then headed in to Manhattan for one of the last things on our wishlist – fries in a cup. Steven swears my sister had fries in a cup in NYC when she was there in August, and that is where he got the idea. My sister does not remember said fries, but luckily, Gina came up with something for us to try – Pommes Frites, a restaurant that only sells, you got it, fries in a cup (well, cone really, but let’s not get technical).

Originally, we planned on having our fries as an appetizer, but we all ordered one, with different sauces to try, and that ended up being lunch! It was a really fun experience. There are 26 different fry sauces to choose from, then you sit down (if you can find a seat) at these tables with holes in them, where you place your fries. Fun!

After lunch, we decided we wanted something sweet, and we stumbled across Viva Herbal Pizzeria (179 2nd Ave.) – a vegetarian and vegan pizza (and other items) shop! I had wished I wasn’t so full and could get a piece of pizza to try, but we just got a cookie and sort of cookie sandwich to share with Gina and Steve. I will have to check out that place more the next time I’m in NYC!

We all decided the vegan sweets from Viva Herbal were just as good as the ones at Babycakes – and a lot cheaper too!

We had to leave Manhattan after eating our sweets and head straight to the airport. Wah!

So, did this post make you hungry? Have you ever taken a “culinary” vacation like this? (Well, if I can call it “culinary.”)

This trip ended up being awesome. It felt low-key, even though we did a lot. We were never rushed or felt like we “had” to do something. We were kind of just going with the flow, having a great time chatting and telling jokes. Usually my vacations are not like that – they are usually “go go go!” but this was so nice. We stopped a lot, just to sit and chat, which I really enjoyed. I need to do that more often!

*We never got around to our falafel – we’ll have to save it for next time!
**Which literally fell through, we got home too late, and I dropped the bag and one of the glass jars inside broke (hence the “literally fell through”).

Comments (16)

By kilax, February 1, 2011 4:50 am

Did you guys know that Saturday was Vegan Pizza Day?

What, you didn’t?! You did not celebrate?! Shame on you!

Just kidding! I didn’t know it was going to be Vegan Pizza Day either. But by chance, I saw it on a blog on Saturday morning, and also by chance, my friend Jen was planning on coming over on Saturday to, yes, bake a pizza!

Jen is my friend that Erin and I ran the Rotary Santa Run (5K) with in December. Jen is completely hilarious, honest and a blast to be around. I wish she would start a blog so I could get a little more of her each day (or each time she posted). Come on Jen, do it, do it, do it!

Have you ever met someone and thought, “Wow, this person is awesome, they should start a blog?”

Hmm, it sounds weird when I ask like that, but maybe someone can relate? Maybe? Or should I ask, Have you ever met someone and not wanted to read their blog anymore? Ha. Tell me all the dirt.

Anyway, on to the pizza and baking. Jen was actually over to make some Cookie Dough Lara Sarahbars (Peas & Thank You) and Pumpkin Pie Brownie ‘Cupcakes’ (Oh She Glows) while Steven was going to make the pizza. Let me just say, I should have been wearing my “Nom Nom Nom” shirt. YUMMY!

Making the Sarahbars (balls, really). Many ball jokes were told.

And the Cupcakes…

And now for the pizza. Steven has been wanting to make a deep dish pizza for a long time, and he finally did. And whoa. It was a-m-a-z-i-n-g. Like a slice of savory heaven. Ha.

For the record, he made 1/3 vegan and 2/3 with cheese.

Have you ever had a baking/cooking day with a friend?

To be honest, I was a bit nervous about doing all of the kitchen stuff – because I do not know what I am doing. But we all had a blast. Yay!

Oh, and Data had a blast too. He really liked Jen’s bag and the grass she brought him. Thanks Jen!

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By kilax, January 19, 2011 1:15 pm

I’ve been trying to get in to the habit of having a cup of tea in the afternoon at work, rather than mindlessly snacking (which is what I used to do). Even though I add some soy milk and a bit of sugar, I think drinking tea is better than eating junk food. And tea makes me feel full and warms me up.

However, I have only found two kinds I like – ALDI brand Winter Spice and Stash Chai.

I’ve tried apple cinnamon and green tea (both without milk) and just didn’t take to them. The apple cinnamon had a weird bitter taste that gave me a headache, and the green tea was too “plant-y.”* I think maybe I only like the Chai and Winter Spice because I always add milk and sugar, and it doesn’t taste too much like tea?

Do you drink tea? Do you have any flavored teas to recommend to me?

I am happy sticking with these two, I just wonder if anyone has suggestions for something else I might like.

*Oh, the irony.

Comments (22)

By kilax, January 4, 2011 5:30 pm

For avocados…

My mom really likes avocados. And they are sometimes inexpensive where I live. So whenever I see them at a good price, I snap a picture with my phone and send it to her to tease her (so nice, I know).

I like avocados too – in the form of guacamole.

I sent this picture to my mom with the title “98¢ Guacamole” (after buying two of the 49¢ avocados). Such a brat.

We* came up with a pretty good guac recipe. It goes something like: scoop out and smash two avocados, mix in 1/2 tsp. lemon juice, 3/4 tsp. garlic power, 1/2 tsp. onion powder, 3/8 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. oregano… chill (if you want). Nom away.

Anyway, now that I have seen how low avocado prices go, I don’t really buy them when they are over $1 each (and it’s not like I buy them every shopping trip, anyway). I am an avocado bargain shopper.

There are a few other things I only buy when the price is right too – like pineapple (not in a can, the actual funky looking fruit) and pears. And apples. And toilet paper.**

Are you a bargain shopper? Do you pay attention to the price when you shop for groceries?

I used to not pay attention very closely, but I sure do now!

*Steven
**Just kidding

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By kilax, December 14, 2010 6:13 am

Steven is such a sweetie. I kind of last minute hinted that it would be nice to give my five teammates one loaf each of homemade bread for the holidays… and Steven fit it in to his busy schedule!

Such a nice wrapping job I did (one loaf is not pictured, we started slicing it up to eat).

He made four yesterday, and has four more to make.

4+4=5? Ha ha.* I will give five away, and we will eat one… and maybe freeze the other two!

Do you like receiving baked goods as gifts for the holidays? Do you like gifting baked goods?

Last year my coworker made me vegan gingersnaps and they were scrumdiddlyumptious! And I like to give baked goods, especially if I know it’s someone’s favorite treat!

*Just teasing. I think it’s easier to make an even number of loaves, based on the recipe.

In other news, we finally cooked some of our sweet potatoes from the garden and… they taste like just like sweet potatoes** (according to Steven). SUCCESS!!!

We just steamed them in water with some margarine on top.

I am still not that gung ho about sweet potatoes (hence the cooking of white potatoes too). I think I need to try them with baked beans – everyone says that is fabulous!

**I was the one worried about how they would taste, not Steven.

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By kilax, November 11, 2010 8:39 am

As I mentioned in my last “Garden Project” post, we kept track of the cost of the garden, so we could add it all up when we were done, compare it to what we got out of the garden (and our time there) and see if it was all worth it. Here it is:

The total cost of the project was $150.45. We will receive $10 of that back (our garden deposit) and interestingly, about $71.85 of it was in investment supplies.

It’s hard to guesstimate how much time we spent at the garden. I blogged about it nearly every time we went there, so I am going to guess that total, between the two of us, we spent between 50-60 hours at the garden (that does count some times when there were two people there at once).

It’s a little bit easier to keep track of the produce we got, because I took pictures (it would have been easier to keep track of it as I was going along though – note for future):

July 11 – 2 cucumbers, green beans, 2 zucchini, onions and lettuce

July 16 – more cucumbers

July 24 – 1o cucumbers, 1 LARGE zucchini, a few green beans

July 29 – a zillion more cucumbers

August 13 – 4 zillion cucumbers, 1 zucchini, a bunch of onions, and our first TOMATOES!

August 22– MORE TOMATOES!, cucumbers, a few green beans,  1 zucchini, and some onions

September 13 – our ONLY pepper, cucumber, lots of tomatoes!

November 6 – a bunch of sweet potatoes

Wow. Looking at all of the pictures, I feel that the money, time and effort we put in was well worth it. And of course, you can’t even calculate the worth of the quality time I got to spend with Steven (barf).

Comparing the cost versus the produce we picked – do you think the Garden Project was worth it?

I think we could have picked a lot more if we hadn’t been gone so much in August and September.

Comments (28)

By kilax, November 10, 2010 5:05 am

Despite the fact that I sometimes post pictures of the food we make at home, like Vegan Chicken Alfredo Pizza:

(Vegan Alfredo sauce, spinach, potato, onion, tomato and boca chicken topped with spices)

Acorn Squash fries (so so good):

and Kim’s (girl evolving) Meatless Meatballs:

I am not a foodie.

It’s hard to find a good description of a foodie online – I think because it means different things to different people. But this description gets kind of close:

a person having an enthusiastic interest in the preparation and consumption of good food

And that is NOT me.

I like to eat. I look forward to meals. I get excited about certain ones. But I do NOT enjoy cooking. I don’t find it relaxing. I find it stressful – I don’t know what I am doing. I look at recipes and feel overwhelmed. So, all of the food above? Made by Steven, except for the acorn squash fries – I could at least handle those.

Do you consider yourself to be a foodie?

Not related, but I had to post this funny picture of Data!

I love it when cats have their tongue stuck out – too cute!

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By kilax, November 6, 2010 2:56 pm

It’s been awhile since I blogged about the Garden Project. What happened? Well, as I mentioned in my last post about the garden, we were getting pretty busy and not making time for it. Then, the end of August and most of September were pretty awful for us. Steven wasn’t even here most of September. I visited the garden once in September, and today was the first time we have gone back since then. It was time to clean it up and dig up the sweet potatoes!

So, here is what the garden looked like when we got there:

Yeah, I know it looks bad, but not as bad as the gardens around ours:

I am not sure if those people ever used their garden at all!

We picked as many weeds as we could felt like and hauled them to the designated weed area:

All done!

Yeah. I am kind of doubting we will get our $10 deposit back.

Enough about the stupid weeds. The fun part was the first thing we did when we got to the garden – dig up the sweet potatoes!

Remember that we started them from slips in our home? We started growing them indoors on May 8th and planted them on June 22nd.

I hope we did not dig them up too late (they only survive one frost, I think)! They look good!

I was squinting because the sun was so bright!

It was fun digging around in the dirt looking for them – like finding treasure!

And we dug up a lot of them!

I hope they taste okay. I’m not that familiar with sweet potatoes, so I am not sure what they should taste like. I’ll let you know if they turn out any good!

If we still live in the same area next year, we will probably grow a garden again, but be smarter about it. We’ll start crops earlier in our house, and only plant the things we really liked from this year – cucumbers, tomatoes, green beans, peppers (if they’ll grow) and maybe sweet potatoes. We’ll probably use some sort of fertilizer and put something down (newspaper, etc.) to keep the weeds from growing.

If you could have one type of produce fresh all year round, what would you choose?

I think it would have to be green beans. I am still disappointed we didn’t yield a very big crop!

Would you be interested in seeing a break-down of the cost of the garden?

We saved all of our receipts to keep track of the cost, but I haven’t compiled it yet. I can if you guys are interested!

For fun, here are links to all of the other Garden Project posts:

Getting Started
It’s Alive (I think)
I’ll do that tomorrow
We never have to weed again, right?
It’s Edible!
Can we grow anything other than cucumber and zucchini (and sometimes green beans)?
We have tomatoes!
We specialize in miniature food!