Greek Pita w/ Vinaigrette Dressing

I needed to go to the Tamuning Post Office yesterday to pick up what I hoped were my new pairs of Badgley Mischka sandals.  Unfortunately, I was a little too excited to pick up my package and thought the Post Office would have been open at 11am.  Instead, they were still closed and I had to wait an agonizing hour before I could hold my lovely little babies.  My boyfriend and I decided to eat lunch some where close by while we waited for the Post Office to open.
We ended up eating at Nuts & Grains, which has a lay-out similar to Simply Food where its both a grocery store and restaurant.  It's located behind Oka Payless at OP Plaza in Tamuning.  I ordered their Greek Pita, which has lettuce, tomato, cucumber, yellow pepper, feta cheese and olives combined together in a whole wheat pita pocket.  It's also served with a side of vinaigrette dressing.  I thought this pita tasted pretty delicious since it had a generous serving of olives and feta cheese.  Even though I was drowning my pita with the dressing, nothing spilled since everything fit nicely in the pita pocket.  I'm so glad they gave me two pitas because one definitely wasn't enough.
    

Thanksgiving 2011 - Gobble it up!

This year, I decided to make a vegetarian/vegan Thanksgiving meal so my boyfriend and I can enjoy the gluttony that is Thanksgiving without having to stray from our vegetarian lifestyle.  I made vegan potato salad, vegetarian turk'y roast, and vegan bibingka (rice cake) for dessert.  It was the first time I made any of these dishes, so I was pretty happy when all of them turned out pretty good.
The potato salad was easy enough to prepare and make.  The night before Thanksgiving, I prepped the potatoes by peeling and cubing them and then placing them in a large bowl with cold water.  After that, I placed the bowl in the refrigerator and left it there overnight.  This removes the starchiness from the potatoes, which is a tip I learned from Alton Brown's show "Good Eats."  I love that show because Alton explains the how and why of cooking.  Definitely helpful for an amateur cook like me.  For the vegan mayonnaise called for in this recipe, I used Original Vegenaise, which is a really great substitute for real mayonnaise.  It has the same texture as the real thing, but it's non-dairy and cholesterol-free.  It also tastes like the real thing, so there's no love lost for mayonnaise.  My boyfriend and I liked the way the potato salad tasted since it was light enough on our stomachs, but my family wasn't too fond of it because they were used to my mom's way of making it, which is thick enough to serve as an actual meal.  It's tough competing with my mom's cooking.  

For the turkey, I went with Quorn's Turk'y Roast after reading reviews that said it's the best turkey substitute available.  I purchased this at Simply Food a couple of weeks ago when they had a 15% sale off all their groceries and frozen food items.  When you open it, you'll find that it's a small log that should be enough for 2-3 people.  The box has instructions on the side on how to prepare it and I just followed those instructions to the T.  I did have to make my own turkey dry rub which was easy enough to make.  I loved how it only needed to be in the oven for an hour!  I actually made this right before feasting time so that we could eat it when it was nice and hot.  I also added some veggies in there just so the turk'y roast wouldn't feel so lonely.  My boyfriend and I ate majority of the turk'y, but my family did try it as well and we all agreed it tasted like turkey.  It tasted so much like turkey I wished I had made some gravy just to give it more juiciness. 

The vegan bibingka was the real winner for the day.  I took the recipe from Filipino Cooking Abroad by Eleanor Laquian and Irene Sobrevinas.  It's actually my sister's ancient-looking cookbook, but she was nice enough to lend it to me.  The only things I had to substitute in the recipe were the grated cheese, butter, and eggs.  For the cheese and butter, I used Daiya Cheddar Style Shreds and Earth Balance Original Buttery Spread, which I've blogged about before here.  I went with Ener-G Egg Replacer (which I purchased at Simply Food as well) as my egg substitute.  It's made using potato and tapioca starch, and so easy to use because you just mix it with 2 tablespoons of hot water and viola, you made an egg!  It's only used for baking though, so don't use it to make scrambled eggs.       

The bibingka turned out really good and was a hit with the Filipino fam-bam.  In fact, my dad got into a semi-argument with me because he really thought I used real cheese and eggs.  I even showed him the Daiya cheese and Ener-G egg replacer packages, but he still wasn't convinced.  I took this as a compliment.
So Thanksgiving 2011 was a success.  After eating all that food, I surprisingly made my way to bed and proceeded to sleep the afternoon away.

Vegetarian-izing (or Vegan-izing) Filipino Food - Dish #1

When I was growing up, my mom was the one who cooked the food for our family.  On days when she wanted to make something quick and easy, she'd cook giniling (also known as picadillo) using ground beef, potatoes and green peas.  If there was any extra giniling left in the morning, she'd use it to make tortang carne (beef omelette) for breakfast.  This was one of my favorite breakfasts when I was little.
Flash forward to the present, and, as a vegetarian striving to reach vegan status, I wondered if I could re-create Filipino dishes so that they're vegetarian or vegan.  First thing I did was look for a Filipino cookbook, which my sister was happy to lend to me.  It's a super old book titled Filipino Cooking Abroad by Eleanor Laquian and Irene Sobrevinas.  I wasn't even born yet when this book was published! (FYI - It was published in 1977.) It's a wonderful read though because it has great sections on the history of Filipino food and descriptions of food based on region.
So the first Filipino dish I thought I could vegetarian-ize was tortang carne.  I used the tortang carne recipe from the cookbook and substituted the ground beef with Worthington Vegetarian Burger and the eggs using a vegan omelette recipe I found on FatFree Vegan Kitchen blog.  I could have easily made this dish vegan using vegan ground beef, but I wanted to try the Worthington product just to see how it will taste.  Simply Food has a whole section dedicated to Worthington products.

When it comes out of the can, I highly recommend breaking the beef down using a fork.  Once you do this, you'll notice it really looks like ground beef.  Although the can says I can just heat it and serve, I treated it as if it was uncooked ground beef and thus did not change anything in the original recipe.   

After I was done prepping the carne, I put it in the fridge to cool.  While it was cooling, I started working on the egg substitute for the dish.  The vegan omelette recipe called for tahini which I have only heard of in hummus recipes.  I've never actually used this ingredient before.  In fact, my boyfriend and I were at the spices section of Micronesia Mall Pay-Less for what seemed like an eternity looking for some McCormick spice labeled "tahini" because I thought it was some type of grounded spice.  Little did I know it was in the organic section and it's actually a kind of paste!  Every time I cook, I learn something new.  

I went with Joyva Sesame Tahini because it looked like it had a decent amount of tahini that would last me a long time. When you open it up, make sure to stir it well before using.  Making the vegan egg mixture was quite easy and by the time I was done, the giniling was already done cooling.  I poured the vegan egg mixture in with the giniling, stirred, turned on my stove, and started cooking.

  

I recommend making the torta the size of your spatula so that it's easier for you to flip when the bottom side is nice and brown.  Because the original recipe called for large sized tortas (I'm assuming they had big spatulas), I'm not sure how many servings my method makes.  I do know that you can always store the left over giniling-egg mixture in the fridge until you're ready to cook more tortas, which was is what I did.

When my family tried them, they thought it tasted pretty good.  In fact, my dad couldn't even believe I didn't use eggs as an ingredient.  I recommend eating tortang carne with a scoop of hot rice and a side of ketchup, just like how my momma taught me.         

  

I Say "Nay" to Coconut Milk-Based Ice Cream

Living on Guam means you've come to expect hot and humid weather daily, but I think Sunday is the hottest day of the week.  It's normally so hot, I swear you can fry a vegan egg on the pavement.  Thus, this is the day my hunger for ice cream really spikes up.  I decided to stroll around Micronesia Mall Pay-Less Supermarket to find a vegan ice cream I haven't tried yet.
I wanted to try Purely Decadent's Coconut Milk-Based Cookie Dough ice cream because I wanted to see if lightening can strike twice in the same spot, since the first ice cream I tried from this brand tasted pretty delicious.  Unfortunately, it didn't happen.  Although the ice cream texture was more creamy with this particular flavor, I didn't like how you can really taste the coconut milk.  I guess I was expecting more of a mild vanilla flavor ice cream with the cookie dough and chocolate chips taking the spotlight, but it turned out the other way around with the coconut milk taking the wheel.  If you're fond of the taste of coconut milk, then this ice cream would be perfect for you.  In my case, let's just say I'm glad I have a boyfriend whose love for ice cream goes beyond normal levels and is willing to eat any type of ice cream.            
 

Vegan Orange Chicken

Two weeks ago, Simply Food had a one-day sale where all groceries and frozen items were 15% off.  Vegetarian Plus Vegan Orange Chicken is one of those items that caught my eye in their freezer section since it's vegan Chinese food and my boyfriend hasn't eaten Chinese food for a long time.  We decided to split it for dinner last week.
Cooking it was quite easy.  I defrosted it for 10 minutes and then  I cooked it using a wok (If I'm going to eat healthy Chinese food, the least I could do is use Chinese cooking methods.) and 2 teaspoons of olive oil on medium heat.  I followed the instructions to the T and so it was ready to eat in 6 minutes.  

The serving was OK for 2 people to share if the 2 of you had some snacks prior to dinner (this would be my boyfriend and I) or if both of you are on a diet.  However, for all other scenarios, splitting it would be a bad idea.  I like my food as saucy as possible, so I appreciated the "chicken" being completely covered in orange sauce.  What I didn't like was that the sauce had too much of an orange flavor.  I've eaten orange chicken at Chinese restaurants before, and they cooked it in a way so that you just tasted hints of orange zest.

The texture of the chicken was pretty amazing though.  When you cut through it, it looked as though you were tearing apart a real chicken piece.  It may seem a little chewy for others, but my boyfriend and I agreed it was pretty darn close to chicken.  I plan on purchasing more chicken-alternative products from Vegetarian Plus, but I don't think I'll be purchasing this particular dish again because of the overpowering orange flavor.

Nothing Wacky About This Cake

My co-worker passed along to me a recipe for a vegan chocolate cake with the oddest name: Wacky Cake.  After I made it though and tasted it, I really think it's wrongfully named because there's nothing wacky or odd about it.  When I pulled it out of the oven, it smelled so good I couldn't wait to try it.  I know I should have let the cake cooled longer, but my usual impatient self wanted a slice of it immediately, as you can probably tell from the picture above.  The cake was super moist and fluffy and my family enjoyed it immensely even though it had no frosting.

Another reason why I loved it was because it was so cheap and easy to make.  I didn't need to buy any special ingredients or break out my stand mixer at all.  I'll gladly make anything that doesn't require me to wash many dishes or run around the island looking for ingredients I'll probably be only using once.

The next time I make this, I'm going to add cherries or strawberries before putting it in the oven and half-way through the baking time.  I think it'll make the cake look so pretty and taste even better too.  Yummy!

Sneaking Dinner into the Movies

My boyfriend surprised me with tickets to an 8pm showing of Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1 and since we couldn't eat any of the food sold at the theatre, I decided to sneak in our dinner.  I thought it would be a great time to make burgers since they're easy to make and small enough to fit in my bag.  

I used Morning Star Farms Mushroom Lover's Burger as my burger patties, which are made with button and portabella mushrooms, onion, and red pepper.  They taste fantastic and apparently are so good it won a ChefsBest award.  Because they're already full of flavor, I decided to pair it with Daiya Mozzarella cheese instead of cheddar cheese.  I really like how the cheese melts easily and tastes just like mozzarella cheese.  So far, I've only tried two of Daiya's products, but both have won good reviews from me.  I think the burgers would have been even better with swiss cheese, but I can't seem to find a place on Guam that sells vegan swiss cheese.  I purchased both patties and cheese at Simply Food.    

For the bread and condiments, I used Oroweat Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns, Original Vegenaise, and kale instead of lettuce.  I was able to purchase both of these at Micronesia Mall Pay-Less, but I know Simply Food also sells Vegenaise.  Vegenaise is the vegan version of mayonnaise, and tastes no different from its unhealthy counterpart.  I've made sandwiches using this spread and no one notices anything different.  I am curious to know how it holds up when used in actual cooking.  I used kale instead of lettuce because it has so much more nutrients and provides a better crunch to the burger.  Click on the link to read about its great health benefits.

So how did the complete burger taste?  My boyfriend and I thought they tasted delicious!  I actually ate my burger on the way to the movies because I couldn't resist any longer.    

Soy Chorizo - Black Bean Tofu Bowl

Thanks to Pika's Cafe, I'll never again miss King's chorizo fried rice.  They've created this delicious dish by placing cooked soy chorizo, tofu, and black beans over a bed of hot rice and topping it all with a spicy puréed salsa.  They also serve it with a side of finadene, if you request it.  My ritual is to mix everything together and then commence to eating everything until there are no survivors.  This is actually one of my favorite vegetarian dishes available on Guam and I actually go to Pika's at least once a week to order it.  I would have taken more pictures of it, but honestly, I just couldn't deny my stomach any longer.

NOTE: I don't think Pika's Cafe has a website or Facebook page yet, so if you're wondering where they're located, they are at 881 North Marine Corps Drive Ste 114 in Tamuning.  The Guam-version directions are: They are located at the Star Building right across from St. John's School.

Vegan Fajitas

Before my attempt to be a vegan, I loved going to Margaritas and ordering the cheesiest appetizer and the cheesiest main course I could find.  Normally, there would be nothing left for a to-go box.  Now that I'm trying to cut dairy, I can still make my trips to Margaritas and still enjoy a really good meal thanks to the vegetarian and vegan items on their menu.

When I went there for lunch a couple of days ago, I wanted to try their vegan fajitas.  Instead of meat, you'll get sautéed  broccoli, red onions, and bell peppers with 4 freshly grilled flour tortillas.  The sautéed vegetables alone were so flavorful and thoroughly cooked.  I appreciated them cooking the red onions long enough to remove its raw taste.    

On top of the cooked vegetables, the dish comes with lettuce, guacamole, salsa, black olives, and jalapeños.  I also ordered a side of beans which I placed in my fajitas, along with everything else I mentioned here.  Needless to say, my fajitas were fat and stuffed, but they were so worth it.  I don't think it's necessary to order the side of beans in order for the dish to taste good, but I was hungrier than usual that day.  I'm definitely going to be ordering this dish again.    

Sometimes Missing the Turn is a Good Thing

While on the road at night, my boyfriend and I had agreed to eat dinner before heading to Kmart.  I, however, was craving a veggie pizza while my boyfriend was singing more to the tune of Subway.  Since I was more inclined to eat an affordable dinner, I agreed to go with his suggestion.  

We must have been having a very deep discussion (probably about food) while driving because he completely missed the turn to go to Subway.  I then suggested we go to Kmart and take our chances with Little Caesars because they might have veggie pizzas available.  Although he agreed, I think we were both thinking how unlikely that would be.  

So, imagine our surprise when we saw this delicious looking warm sub sandwich comprising of olives, bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, tomato sauce and (as if that wasn't already tasty enough) covered in cheese?  It was the perfect combination of our cravings!  I highly recommend ordering a side of tomato sauce to dip the sandwich in.  It just makes the sandwich even warmer and saucier.

Although this sandwich was vegetarian, I'm pretty sure it wasn't healthy because of all the cheese and bread.  I do think it's a great thing to eat if a junk-food-for-dinner craving hits and if it's eaten only once in a while.

Sweets on a Sunday Afternoon

I spent my Sunday afternoon the same way most Filipinos were: by watching the boxing fight between Juan Manuel Marquez and Manny Pacquiao.  I knew that the fight was going to be the last one shown, and so I spent my time waiting by eating some gelato.
This time, I chose Organic Nectars Cashewtopia Gelato, which I bought at Simply Food, and decided to try it because its packaging was plainer than the first vegan ice cream I tried.  I feel it's only fair to try foods that aren't in pretty packages because it just might be holding the best tasting food.  You'll never know unless you try.
In this particular case, I did discover one of the best vanilla gelatos I've ever tasted.  I can't believe it was that good!  It even has the same creamy texture as non-vegan ice cream, so I think this one beats the first vegan ice cream I tried.This gelato is organic, vegan, low-glycemic, and non dairy kosher.  I love how it meets eating restrictions from around the world.

To wash the ice cream down, I drank a juice that's literally called Green Juice by Reboot Your Life.  It was refreshing and tasted great thanks to the pairing of apples and ginger for sweetness.  With this particular juice, I used collard greens for the first time and learned that it didn't degrade the flavor of the juice at all.  I plan on rotating it with kale and swiss chard whenever I can.    

Veggie Mini Burgers

Every time I go Ruby Tuesday, I always order their veggie mini burgers, minus the butter on the bread and the barbecue sauce.  I have to admit, the burgers are mighty cute-looking, and who can pass up such a deal when you learn it also comes with the salad bar?  I used to order this with a side of fries, but since I gave up fried foods back in October, I requested to have a side of steamed broccoli.  There were no regrets.
The mini burger's patty is a mixture of rice, black beans, and vegetables and is placed on top of swiss cheese, crunchy lettuce, and a fat slice of pickle and tomato.  This burger is pretty juicy thanks to the tomatoes and eating can get quite messy since the patty can fall apart.  Personally, I categorize messy burgers under the "Delicious" category, so I always enjoy these veggie burgers with a side of extra napkins.

Little Cakes for a Big Birthday

For my boyfriend's birthday, I decided to surprise him with orange chocolate vegan cupcakes, which I found the recipe for on Vegetarian Times website.  I've made many cupcakes before, but this was the first time I was going to make a vegan version.  I was pretty surprised to see that avocado was the replacement for eggs and butter was a no-show in the recipe.  What really made me decide to try this recipe was that the glaze was made using soft tofu, which I would have never figured out by myself.     

Having the ability to grow your own tropical fruits is one of the best things about living on Guam.  Unfortunately, my family's avocado trees were bare and so I had to buy avocados at Micronesia Mall Pay-Less Supermarket.  If I had my way, I would have just plucked an avocado from our tree since they taste exceptionally better and are much larger than what's available at the grocery store.
The part that somewhat stumped me in the recipe was the instruction to purée the avocados in a blender until smooth.  For a small-time cook like me, I needed to know "How smooth was smooth?"  I just took a guess at it and luckily, the cupcakes turned out great.
The glaze frosting actually turned out better than I expected.  In fact, I think it's the best frosting I ever made in my short frosting making history.  It stayed on the cupcake like it's supposed to and tasted fantastic.  When I was shopping for the glaze ingredients, I couldn't find any vegan chocolate chips.  Instead, the best thing I could find was Dagoba Organic Chocolate Dark Chocolate Chocodrops, which I found at Simply Food.  By definition, dark chocolate has less milk than regular milk chocolate, and this one had a 73% cacao content.  Dagoba is also known as a certified Fair Trade chocolate company, so you can rest assure the chocolate wasn't made using slave labor.  

When I finished baking the cupcakes and dipping its tops in the glaze, I couldn't resist trying them and ended up eating 2 cupcakes.  Thank goodness I baked 24!  When I finally surprised my boyfriend with the cupcakes and told him what the ingredients were, he said he couldn't imagine those were ingredients because the cupcakes still tasted and looked like sweet non-vegan cupcakes.  I took this as an extremely positive review and will be looking for ways to make other types of cupcakes.  I picture red velvet vegan cupcakes in the near future...  

    

Linguine Alfredo Using Tofu

I had some left over soft tofu in my refrigerator and was stumped on what dishes I could make with it that weren't soups or desserts.  A visit to Google and several clicks later, I discovered lots of main course recipes that called for soft tofu.  I settled on linguine alfredo because the recipe was easy to follow and I was curious to know how this dish would taste.  I thought, as I take baby steps towards veganism, I would have to say goodbye to white sauce pastas since they contain dairy.  I hope this recipe proves me wrong.  

I've never tried whole wheat pasta before and chose Jovial Foods Einkorn pasta because it had the most vitamins and minerals than the other options available at Micronesia Mall Pay-Less Supermarket.  (Plus, saying "Einkorn" out loud sounded really cool.)  It tasted great, but one con about it is that it dries up and hardens after 4-5 hours.  I recommend using only what you plan on consuming immediately.        

I think the dish turned out good but needed a little bit more saltiness.  I plan on adding some soy bacon in this dish the next time I make it.  Other than that, I'm pretty satisfied with this recipe and am glad to know that I don't have to quit white sauce just because I'm trying to be vegan.

How I satisfied my fried rice craving

Fried rice is really a wonderful dish but is definitely a no-no in my health book.  I realized there must be some way to satisfy my craving without compromising my new lifestyle.  I brainstormed a bit and hoped couscous would do the trick.  

I love couscous.  It's so versatile, very easy to make, and a box can last me a couple of dishes.  With this dish, I decided to cook couscous with carrots, mushrooms, and beans.  I normally buy Near East couscous, but replaced it this time with Fantastic World Foods Organic Whole Wheat Couscous, which I found at Micronesia Mall Pay-Less Supermarket.  I'm happy to report it tastes the same as the Near East version.    

I took this opportunity to also try Quorn's Naked Chick'n Cutlet and fry it for a little bit using Pam cooking spray.

It turned out a little dry, but I'm guessing it's due to the frying.  Next time, I'm going to grill it or microwave it (both acceptable cooking methods) and see if it makes it juicier.  The texture was awesome though.  Cutting through it was like cutting through a real chicken breast.  In fact, my boyfriend couldn't believe it wasn't made using real chicken.

As I hoped, chick'n and couscous with carrots, mushrooms, and beans successfully quelled my fried rice craving.  If my taste buds decide to picket together and demand fried rice again, I'll be repeating this dish but with a different mix of vegetables.  You know, just to keep things interesting.  

Santa Fe Salad & Baked Sweet Potato

You'll be surprised to find out that one of my favorite salads is served at a steakhouse.  Lonestar Steakhouse to be exact.  It sounds strange at first, but their Santa Fe salad earns a spot on my salad list because it has three of my favorite salad components: corn, avocado, and romaine lettuce.  It also has black beans, Monterey Jack cheese, and corn tortilla chips, but I normally exclude the chips.  Everything is tossed with Santa Fe dressing, but you can change the dressing to your preference.  Even when I can't finish my entire plate, I make sure I eat all the corn and avocado.

On this particular day at Lonestar, I was craving carbs and decided to indulge myself with a baked sweet potato.  I requested them to put the butter on the side, which I ended up giving to my coworker.  I sweetened the potato by sprinkling it with a packet of Splenda.  Who said desserts can't come in tuber form?                 

The Power of Juicing

I received fantastic news today.  My friend and her partner have been juicing fruits and vegetables for a couple weeks now and at a recent doctor's visit, her partner's doctor had to do a double-take at her results because he was amazed at how great her blood work was!  Prior to juicing, she did not have good health statistics but I'm ecstatic to hear they're improving.  Their daily juicing regiment consists of drinking juice just once a day and look at the results!  Stories like these inspire me to continue leading a juicing lifestyle.

Before I try or buy anything, I always like to ask my friends if they've tried it too and what their opinions were of it.  I normally read online reviews as well, but I become more convinced to say pass or OK on something if  my friends or family provide me their input.  I hope by sharing my experiences and results, juicing becomes more real and more doable to you.

Once I started juicing, I noticed that my energy levels sky-rocketed and no longer needed caffeine to get me through the day.  In fact, I gave up coffee and tea and donated my Infusion stamp card to my friend.  When I come home from work, I have enough energy to work out, tidy up my place, and do other things I normally won't do unless I take a power nap.  Waking up in the morning no longer involves the "10 more minutes please" conversation I have with my alarm.

My friends have commented on the improvement of my skin.  When I broke out before, I used to blame stress as the source of my blemishes.  Although pimples can be attributed to many factors, I now realize that not getting a daily serving of fruits and vegetables was one of the reasons I was breaking out.  In a more alarming situation, the movie Fat Sick and Nearly Dead follows a man who had a rare skin disorder that made his skin react at the slightest touch as if a thousand mosquitoes attacked him.  After incorporating juices into his diet, he no longer has to take medications for this disease.

Lastly, juicing has made me lose weight.  To be quite honest, I was not looking into losing any more weight than I already have, but it's a known result of juicing.  Even though I replaced my breakfast and most dinners with juices, my body does not feel malnourished or lacking.  I become hungry every 3-4 hours which I feel are the normal hunger cycles a body should experience.  And yes, I do eat snacks as long as they are not fried and contain no meat.  

Drinking juices from fruits and vegetables does not have to be an episode of Fear Factor. (In fact, I always see Fear Factor contestants being forced to eat animal parts and not plant parts.)  Juices can taste pretty good if you find the right balance of fruits and vegetables.  Here are two very easy and very tasty juice recipes from Reboot Your Life I like to follow:

Carrot Apple Ginger Juice (picture shown above)

Serves 2 (each serving is 16 oz)

6 carrots

4 apples

2" ginger

Apple Honeydew Kale Swiss Chard

Serves 2 (each serving is 16 oz)

4 apples

1 honeydew

1 bunch swiss chard

1 bunch kale     

Life is like an ice cream. Enjoy it before it melts.

The other night, I was making my usual round at Micronesia Mall Pay-Less looking for veggies and fruits when I decided it was time to look for ice cream.  Pay-Less has multiple choices available, but I decided to go with Purely Decadent Mocha Almond Fudge because the phrase "purely decadent" caught my taste buds' attention.
One spoonful in my mouth later, I had to give myself a pat on the back for choosing this dessert.  It had a great coffee flavor with tasty swirls of fudge and almonds for some crunch.  Its texture reminded me of popsicles which didn't bother me at all but may bother those that are looking for the creamy texture that ice cream is known for.  It was so good I was ready to ditch the original plan of sharing it with my boyfriend.  However, love does conquer all, including the stinginess I was feeling, and he received his share of the treat.  

Mango Kerabu Salad & Sayur Lodeh

Last night, I attended a dinner at Singapura to celebrate my friend's birthday.  Although I was feeling congested throughout the night, I'm glad I went since I was able to catch up with everyone and meet my friend's little bundle of joy.  The icing on the cake was the chance to try out Singapura's vegetarian menu.

I started my meal with the Mango Kerabu salad, which has sliced mango, cucumbers, red onion, and a mix of green and red chillies.  I was happy to see that the dressing was clear-based since it allowed the salad to really show off its colorfulness.  I would recommend this dish to anyone looking for a salad that's light on calories, tart and tangy with a hint of spiciness, and easy on the eyes.
I poked around the Internet looking for more information on kerabu, and it looks as though there are many different types of this vegetable mix, similar to how there's so many different types of curry.  Most sites I did visit recommend using it as a topping (minus the lettuce) over rice, so I plan on trying this out in the future.

My main course of the night was Sayur Lodeh, which is Singapura's vegetarian take on Malay-style coconut curry.  The vegetables in this dish were cabbage, eggplant, potatoes, and carrots.  Its taste really differentiates itself from Thai and Indian curries I tasted in the past, but I can't quite put my finger on what's the x flavor factor.  However, don't think this is a mild tasting stew.  It lives up to its curry family name and is full of flavor thanks to tumeric and other spices.
There are other items on Singapura's vegetarian menu, but unfortunately, I don't have the stomach size to try them all in one night which is a perfectly legitimate reason to go back there in the near future.  
             
   

Soup on a Rainy Day

I'm one of those people who always prefer sunny or windy days over rainy ones.  However, yesterday was an exception because earlier in the week, I had decided to make roasted tomato soup paired with grilled cheese sandwiches for the weekend and soup is always great to eat on a rainy day.  My juice was a Blueberry Kiwi juice which was a pretty refreshing way to finish off my meal.   

I took the recipe for the tomato soup from Smitten Kitchen, but added extra tomatoes and garlic.  I found all the ingredients at the Micronesia Mall Pay-less Supermarket, but I'm sure you can get the ingredients at other grocery stores.  It was my first time making tomato soup and I was happy to discover it was really easy to make.  I also love how it's vegan.  

I tried to make the grilled cheese sandwiches vegan, but I cannot find vegan wheat bread on Guam.  If I do, I will definitely post it.  I did what I could with the sandwiches though and used vegan butter and cheese.  I have extremely high expectations for vegan cheese, and am very pleased with Daiya cheddar style shreds.  It met both my texture and taste standards.  I also tried, for the first time, Earth Balance Original Buttery Spread and it sure fooled the dairy lover in me.  I am so excited to bake using this butter!  I found both at the Micronesia Mall Pay-less Supermarket.         

This was the second time I made the Blueberry Kiwi juice, which is a spin-off of the Blackberry Kiwi juice found on the Reboot Your Life website.  This is one of those rare juices that just has fruits in it, and I savor every drop.  If pretty in pink pineapples existed, it would taste just like this juice.  

Who is the Little Vegetarian?

To keep it simple like a Twitter post, I'm a 5' vegetarian living on the small Pacific island of Guam.  To be more precise, I'm a "seasoned" vegetarian, "rookie" juicer, and "total amateur" vegan.  I've started this blog since living on Guam as a vegetarian comes with its own set of obstacles and rewards.
I've always been a curious person by nature and am very fond of hearing why people do the things they do.  (I hope you are as well.)  A couple of years ago, I made the decision to be a vegetarian to help me improve my tennis game.  It definitely did make me feel lighter on the court, but it also made me feel physically and mentally better overall.  I don't play tennis any more, but I've happily decided to continue being a vegetarian.
In contrast, I've only been a juicer since Oct 11 of this year.  What this means is I make juices from recipes consisting of only fruits and vegetables.  These delicious and 100% healthy drinks have replaced my breakfast and majority of my dinners.  If I decide to eat dinner, I still drink a full 16 ounces of juice.  It may sound radical at first, but I do it to make sure my body gets its intended serving of fruits and vegetables.  Two films have inspired me to make this lifestyle change: Forks Over Knives and Fat Sick and Nearly Dead.  They were so inspiring that even my boyfriend, whose favorite food list included pork chops and fried chicken, decided to incorporate the same juicing lifestyle and boycott chicken, beef, and pork.
I'm in no way making an understatement when I say I'm a total amateur vegan.  It honestly makes me sad knowing that dairy products aren't good for me because I love them so much.  I'm still in the process of splitting up with cheese.  Thankfully, there are dairy-free alternatives available and I plan on trying them all.  Hopefully, I can break up with dairy for good.
So this blog is about all of the above.  I want to post recipes, restaurant reviews, and food product reviews.  I think this entry answered the question "Who is the Little Vegetarian?" and to end it, here's a photo of myself.  I feel its only appropriate I share a picture taken in my car since I'm starting a blog journey.