I’ve been having so much ‘blog-worthy’ food & fun lately, that I’m having a hard time keeping the blog up-to-date! I promise to post about the Cambodia portion of our trip very soon, but first I wanted to do a quickie blog post of some recent good times.
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Blogger Meetup
While I had just seen Alexandria a few days earlier, it was hard to believe I hadn’t seen Marisa and Cate since the Fall – we were long overdue for a meet up! The three of us, along with Katie of Peace, Love, & Oats, got together last weekend for a Yoga & Dinner outing.
We met at Moksha Yoga in Wrigleyville last Saturday for their Free Community Yoga class, taught by a rotating cast of Student-Teachers. I’ve been attending this class once or twice a month since last winter and I love that nearly every time I go, there is a different instructor with a different teaching style – I never get bored!
After Yoga, we walked just a couple blocks over to the Lakeview location of Native Foods Cafe, the perfect place for good conversation and a casual meal of vegan comfort food.
From Left to Right: Me, Katie, Cate, Marisa, Alexandria
I ordered the Gyros Bowl of thinly sliced Seitan with hummus, lemon, and kale over quinoa, and a Side Salad. The Gyros Bowl was very good, but the Sesame Kale Macro Bowl still reigns as my favorite dish there.
It was a fun evening, and we’re all hoping to get together again very soon!
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Brunchin’ in the City
As I’ve never really been one who enjoys night-life, Mike and I most often see our friends over Brunch. However, lately I’ve been feeling a little bit burnt out on Brunch. All the best places have crazy long waits, and all the most delicious sounding things on the menu sound like they’d put me in a food coma for the rest of the weekend.
As a remedy, I suggested that instead of going out for brunch, we have some friends come over to our place instead. We enjoyed it so much, I can’t wait to host again!
Our Menu:
- Mimosa’s - A must! (vegan)
- Vietnamese Coffee – We brought some back with us from our trip and served it Vietnamese style – highly concentrated, with ice and sweetened-condensed milk.
- Durian Cakes - These were also from our trip, and while they were a quality product, I thought they were TERRIBLE. One of the most popular fruits in Southeast Asia, it’s known for being unpopular with tourists. We’ve heard it’s flavor described as a cross between “custard, garlic, and vomit”, and I’d have to agree! Still, it was a fun experience to try these with our friends and see who could actually stomach these.
Blueberry Breakfast Cake from Everyday Happy Herbivore (vegan)- the most popular recipe of the brunch. I already posted a picture & link to the recipe here.- Fresh Cantaloupe (vegan)
- Bell Pepper & Feta Scrambled Eggs (with 2 whites for every yolk)
- Banana Rabanada (Brazilian French Toast) from Vegan Brunch (vegan)- My personal favorite recipe of the meal. This vegan French Toast was made by soaking French Bread in a puree of Bananas & Almond Milk. Maple Syrup, Cocoa, Cinnamon, Strawberries, and Bananas on top made it especially decadent.
I’d love to hear from you!
What Foodie-Fun have you had recently?
That French toast recipe looks delicious! I saw Durians when I went to Singapore but I was too scared to try them. Your description is spot on based on what they smelled like:)
The French Toast is soooo good! The funny thing about Durians is that I was starting to get used to the smell, but the taste was shockingly bad. Aside from Durian, I can't remember the last time I ate anything so gross that I had to spit it out!
lots of fun blogger meetups!!! yay
So you know you'll get a very warm blogger-welcome if you make it to Chicago one of these days
Yummy French Toast looks good. No new Foodie-Funs expect and experiment with see if I am wheat sensitive so far no wheat products and feeling so much better.
I'm glad to hear your food experiment is helping you to feel better, and I bet that's got you trying lots of interesting new foods & products!
Hosting brunch sounds like so much fun! I've hosted many dinners before but hosting a brunch is nice too!
So fun that you girls stay connected in the city and have blogger meet ups every so often! I wish I lived closer to the city!
I think brunch is actually easier than hosting dinner, and it would be such an awesome way to showcase all of your fabulous baked goods!
I wish you lived closer too – and I'm also up for heading out of the city for a meetup anytime!
Native Foods is definitely very tasty & fun. It reminds me of a Vegan TGI Fridays
After trying Durian cakes and cookies and hating them, I don't think I'll ever try the actual fruit. Be sure to have a 'chaser' handy when you try it!