Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead

Recently, I was flipping through Netflix looking for some good movies. In keeping with the constant vegan, food, health and life learning - I chose a few food related movies. My first choice while flipping through was Fast Food Nation. Well, if I wasn't off McDonald's already, I am now!! I can't even imagine how he bounced back from that!! Vegetables, fruits, grains and legumes I would imagine! But gross.

Next, I picked Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. I had stumbled across a blurb on it in some random website or another, so added it to my list. I thought it looked educational and inspirational.

A few nights later, when I got to choose the movie to be watched, I chose Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead, much to the unhappiness of my movie watching partner. However, by the end of it, we were both inspired. Just watching how Joe's life was transformed and how he inspired (and seems to keep inspiring) others to do the same thing was great! I was specifically moved by Phil. When Phil enters the movie he is so downtrodden and seemingly unhappy with himself. He is overweight, unhealthy and on a lot of medications. But by the end of the film, he seems to have changed his outlook on life and emerged back into his life.

So, I am going to do it for 8 days!! I can't do it longer because there is an event for which I need to be eating solid foods, so I need to stop in enough time allow my body to adjust. But, I am prepared, I borrowed a juicer from my like-minded co-worker, and if I can do it and like it I am going to purchase my own so I can keep doing this into the future. I think I have enough willpower to do it, although, it will be very difficult going into work each day with just my prepared juice. Food is a big vice for me, I love to eat, even when I am not hungry. So here goes nothing!!

I have chosen drinks from the Reboot Program, Joe's program for the first five days. I have swapped out the veggies I knew I would not like and wasn't willing to try in juice - ewww fennel - and have prepared a grocery list for five days. I will pick the juices I like the best and mix and match for the other days. Just to give a preview of what this grocery list for only five days will look like, here you go …

lemon - 5
lime - 5
blackberries - 3 cup
blue berries - 2 cups
cranberries - 3 cups
concord grapes - 12 cups
strawberries - 26
pineapple - 1/2
golden delicious - 8
green apple - 5
red apple - 5
asian pear - 4
comice pear - 3
kiwi - 4
oranges - 4
ruby red grapefruit - 2
spinach - 13 cups
cabbage - 1 cup
chard - 6 handfuls, 1.5 cups
kale - 22 leaves
purple cabbage - 2 wedges
bok choy - 1
cucumber - 6
celery - 23 stalks
beets - 11
carrots - 18
plum tomatoes - 8
jalapeno - 1
poblano pepper - 1
red bell pepper - 2
red radish - 12
red onion (small) - 1
ginger 2x2 - 9
cilantro - 4 cups
parsley - 6 cups
sweet potato - 1

The Blossoming Lotus

Well, we gave it our all and we managed to get to quite a few restaurants. I am sure that I put on more than a few pounds! It may be my imagination, but my clothes feel a bit tighter after this weekend!

Our last Portland Vegan Pick was The Blossoming Lotus. Beautiful space, beautiful food. We walked in as a group and were seated immediately at a high wooden table. The waitress was very friendly and brought over water right away. She was also extremely patient, as we took forever to even determine what we wanted to drink! But eventually we all picked our beers/ciders and the meal began.

I had a terrifically difficult time determining what I wanted to eat. There were just so many delicious choices. In the end I went with the Live Pesto and Portobello Pizza (starting photo). I am completely new to raw food, the only time I have actively tried it was the strawberry cheesecake pie earlier in the weekend, so I was interested in trying something savory and hardy. With my meal I got a salad, which came out first. It was mixed greens with some beat strands on top covered in a gingery/sweet dressing. It was quite delicious. The dressing made everything pop, but only slightly dressed the salad. The pizza was amazing. The spiced tomato and walnut crust did not get soggy beneath the pecan pesto and snapped as I cut into it. The raw roasted portobello mushrooms were extremely flavorful and must have been marinated in some amazing sauce for a long while prior to being placed on my pizza. The pizza was topped with a micro green that tasted a lot like arugula. I also chose the optional creamy cashew cheese sauce which was placed on the side, not on the pizza. It made for a nice occasional dipping sauce, although it was so good that it was most likely used more than just an occasional dip.

My only sad moment was when all the meals started to come out. The Portobello & Vegetable Fajitas were sizzling, spicy and in large quantities. The Four Cheese Lasagna was a large layered piece of goodness. The day's special Live Pasta Primavera with Zucchini and Squash in a tomato sauce (I think) was heaping. And then came out mine, two small pieces of pizza pie. It looked puny next to everyone else's servings. As I typically enjoy eating in larger quantities than that, I was a bit disappointed. Don't get me wrong, the pizza was amazing, but small, even if the salad that came out first had been brought out with it!! I felt a bit stingy as I gave out small bite sized pieces for others to try as they gave me much larger tastes. I rationalized in my head that they understood that I had such a small meal and had to do so or not be able to eat any of it myself!!

The other plates were delicious as well. The Portobello & Vegetable Fajitas was the standout cooked meal (mine the standout raw meal). Each vegetable and grain that was used was flavorful and the whole meal had a bit of a spicy kick to it. There were so many vegetables that the filled corn tortillas quickly disappeared leaving many more vegetables to be eaten with a fork. The sauce that was used was so good that the greens used decoratively under the vegetables were amazing!! I luckily got to get my fork and knife into that bunch of greens, gobbling them all up but savoring them as they went down. The Live Pasta Primavera also carried the same mushrooms as my pizza, so good!! And the Four Cheese Lasagna was the perfect comfort food.

There seemed to be more talking than eating going on at our table in this very laid back, yet classy establishment, but we all managed to finish out plates!! The food and drink were wonderful, as was my company. I'd go back to Blossoming Lotus in a second!
(sorry for the blurry/bad pictures)

Papa G's Organic Deli

There were just so many vegan restaurants that we had trouble getting to them all!! We actually failed extremely heavily at getting to them all, but, that's ok I guess. We gave it our best!! Just more for next time!!

We did get to Papa G's Organic Deli tho, but just briefly. We stopped in the afternoon on the way back across the city to the hotel before we went to the last vegan eatery of the long weekend (Blossoming Lotus). We split an organic Reuben sandwich and a lemon/lime agave drink. Refreshing and energy packed! Just what we needed for the trek across town!

The lemon/lime agave drink was by far my favorite. It was just such a great flavor. It was a different kind of sweet with the agave than is generally found with sugar. It was a softer sweet, less striking. I wonder if I could duplicate this at home?!

Vita Cafe

We had made dinner plans with non-vegan/vegetarian friends and we weren't sure where to go, so while at Sweetpea Baking Company we asked for some suggestions. For this particular couple and child we thought that having some more mainstream dinner choices would be best. The baker suggested Vita Cafe. I don't know how the non-vegan options tasted, but the vegan options tasted great!!

Vita Cafe's food options are heavily vegan, most things seem to be vegan or easily made vegan. We chose the Vegan Nachos as our appetizers. They were a good choice, but didn't match up to the nachos at The Pulse Cafe in Boston. Those nachos, are. so. yummy.

However, the Vegan Reuben Sandwich was great!! I was extremely happy with my choice. I have never been a fan of reubens, but I have heard so much in other blogs about vegan reubens that I just had to try one. Good idea. I was glad I did. I chose the tempeh option, with sauerkraut, Daiya, vegan 1000 island and vegan rye bread. Mmmmm. It was not my last reuben of the weekend, that was for sure. I also got a taste of the Oven Roasted Vegetable Lasagna, that was mighty tasty as well.

The only drawback to this restaurant was the heat. It was a horribly hot few days in Portland and the restaurant did NOT have any air conditioning. So, all those people, the kitchen heat and the outside heat did not make for a wholly pleasant dining experience. The group of us were sweating a little too much.

From dining at Vita Cafe I have learned that I need to keep more tempeh in the fridge and need to purchase some vegan 1000 island and sauerkraut. Certainly, there is always more than enough Daiya in the house!

Sweetpea Baking Co.

The place I was most excited to go to Sweetpea Baking Company. The thought of just walking in in the morning to get a bagel with vegan cream cheese and not even having to think about it was extremely enticing. And that was totally our plan … until we got there and they had a delicious looking all you can eat buffet. Plans changed quickly thereafter.

There was scrambled tofu, kale, homefries (baked to perfection), biscuits, gravy, seitan and a berry topping. It was amazing. I ate a plate and then went back for a few more homefries and to try some of the berry topping. My only regret was the way I arranged my plate. I should have put the gravy on the seitan and the berry topping on the biscuit (instead of gravy on biscuit, which was also delicious) in order to get the full effect. Then I would have been able to get everything with a great matching pair. If only life had these sorts of disappointments all the time!

Sooooooooooooo, we didn't get our bagels that morning. But don't you worry, true to their sign, we were back the next morning.

THIS time we got our bagels. Mine was an everything bagel with veggie cream cheese (or "schmere" I think they called it). Does't it look amazing? It tasted amazing. And, because I was just visiting Portland with the vegan baked goodies in full supply, I felt as though a chocolate scone was well worth it too. We need a vegan bakery in Boston and then I wont have to stock up when I am elsewhere! Haha. Again, such tortures!!

Loving Hut Portland

The first vegan restaurant choice in Portland was Loving Hut. I have heard a lot about this restaurant chain and actually had reservations to the one in NYC a few months ago, before their water main broke and we had to find another restaurant.

The Loving Hut Vegan Concept was created by Supreme Master Ching Hai. She is the founder and teacher of Quan Yin Method and has many followers all over the world. She grew up in Vietnam and her following is the biggest in China. She now has over 200 restaurants worldwide all of which are vegetarian or vegan. The Loving Hut in Portland run by an independent family.

The Portland restaurant truly lived up to its name, a loving hut. It was a small-ish restaurant and we were warmly welcomed in immediately by a very nice gentleman who ended up being our server as well. I'd even imagine that he was the owner, but that I am not sure of. He sat us in a prime window seat and immediately asked us if anyone in our party had allergies, no. Then he asked whether we had dined there before, since we had not, he provided a full breakdown of the menu. He discussed each kind of meal, how spicy it was, tailoring his talk to our spicy or spiceless enjoyment. We asked him for his favorites and he quickly provided a number of delicious looking lunch ideas (although, they all looked great.)

In the end, we chose according to our servers suggestions. After we ordered he brought by the soup of the day, a tofu vegetable soup. Simple, but tasty. Our appetizer was the Golden Yum Melt, which is a tofu cream melt with vegan shredded crab meat, our servers suggestion as the best appetizer. It was delicious. It tasted just like a crab rangoon! I would have never known the difference. Since that was a favorite of mine in the past, it was great!!

We also ended up picking two of the servers favorites for our meal, the Mongolian Wonder (which was my choice) and the Spicy Cha Cha. The Mongolian Wonder was beefy pieces of soy protein, green onions, yellow onions sauteed with a homemade sauce. This mixture was placed on a bed of crispy noodles. The Spicy Cha Cha was a yam-based protein in the shape of a shrimp that was fried and placed on green and red bell peppers, onions and celery on top of shredded lettuce. The spicy sauce, which was pretty spicy, was poured on top. When you broke open the fried "shrimp" they actually looked like shrimp, white with some red. I don't necessarily want something that looks like an animal product, but as long as it tastes good and isn't an animal, I am fine with it!

Saturday Morning Farmers Market Breakfast

For breakfast this past Saturday we decided to go to the Portland Farmers Market. It was a huge display! There were fruits and vegetables from all over Oregon. There were also many vendors offering up all sorts of other goods. We ended up getting an apple, pear, some cherry tomatoes and a pretzel stick for breakfast! It was great! Just being able to walk around such a big market with so many vendors makes me want to scout out all the vendors back in Boston!! Although, I don't think we have anything with such a critical mass.

There were also a few vegan vendors (in addition to the many many many veggie/fruit stands). Petunia's Pie's and Pasties looked amazing, they were selling sweets - pie, cupcakes and the like - we passed on because it was too early to eat a cupcake. But look at those cupcakes, they actually have sparkles on them!!

We did, however, get a raw vegan strawberry cheesecake pie from Divine Pie to eat after lunch. It was delicious!! My first raw pie (that I am aware of) and I would get it again in a SECOND! We ate it in the International Rose Test Garden surrounded by beautiful smelling roses. Perfect!

Vegan Mecca

This week I am traveling to one of the "vegan promised lands" aka Oregon. I have been told how incredibly vegan friendly the state is and am extremely excited. I recall from a previous trip to Oregon in my not-so-vegan life, how pizza places had this "strange" vegan Daiya cheese alternative, and how most menus in every kind of restaurant had whole vegetarian and vegan sections. Some even had everything all mixed into this non-segregated life!! Thinking of my, then, sole vegetarian friend, I remember musing that this would be the perfect restaurant in Boston to go to when all the girls get together. It wasn't just that sole restaurant, I thought this over and over and over again at every restaurant.

Now, I get to be the thought from my "old" life. This week is vacation and it will be full of vegan beer and vegan food. We plan to sightsee in Portland and also see some other areas of this great state. I intend to enjoy all of these culinary delights and craft beers as I plan on doing a juice fast when I get back (more on that later).