That Was Vegan?

WOW some of these shots are old (and not in a “haha these are from last year” sort of way, either)- I haven’t done one of these posts in forever. So here we go. 

Let’s start BIG with the Impossible Burger from Hopdoddy Burger Bar– And also can I say how happy I am to live in Denver with all of its vegan-friendly dining options? This burger was delicious, but you can’t ask me to compare it to the Beyond Burger. Well, you can ask, I just can’t answer. They’re both delicious and very authentic… but I’ve never tried both in quick succession to it’s difficult to compare, y’know?

Hopdoddy is a very cool spot right next to Union Station. They have a great bar and tons of beer choices. And they have sweet potato fries that we split- they were delicious too AND they had a spicy ketchup option that I appreciated.

Pretty much every one of these posts has a shot from Steve’s Snappin Dogs, and that’s because my pal Eric and I eat there at least once a month. Usually it’s just a boring old glamour shot of the food though, so this time I decided to spice things up a little bit with my crazy eyes. My Jumbo Veggie Dog has bright green sweet relish, red onions, mustard and ketchup. #IgnoreHisCheese

In other lunch adventures, my mom and I got together last month for a quick jaunt to Phonatic, where we started with the Tofu Spring Rolls: Tofu, Thai basil, noodles and some veggies, all with a tasty peanut dipping sauce. They’re pretty filling and I don’t usually get them, but we decided to be crazy and throw all caution to the wind. 

After that, I went with the Tofu Pho and mom tried the Tofu Noodle Bowl. As always, lots of delicious food and everyone left happy. Seriously, if you live in Denver you must try this place. 

This might be the best salad I’ve ever, ever eaten. Ever. It’s a kale + radicchio mix (from a bag) as the base, then I added dried cranberries, Nasoya teriyaki tofu, croutons, and poppy seed dressing. It was simple and easy and definitely not fancy, but oh boy was it delicious. Might have to pick up some supplies to make it again ASAP…

Breakfast tacos! My easy tofu scramble with peppers and onions, roasted potatoes and salsa, topped with Daiya cheddar and Tofutti sour cream:

And… NACHOS! I melted some Daiya cheddar with a little cashew milk for the sauce. I smashed up an avocado, diced a red onion, and mixed a can of chili beans with salsa. The sour cream was homemade and cashew based- very delicious! It’s from The Edgy Veg cookbook (which I still need to do a giveaway for, oops!) and was pretty easy to make. 

Okay so I know this next one looks like my Thanksgiving plate but actually this was a scrounge night! I had a Gardein roast in the freezer, and a can of cranberry sauce leftover from Thanksgiving still in my fridge. Potatoes in the pantry, corn in the freezer, and I pretty much always have baby carrots on hand for my hummus. I even had a container of Imagine vegan gravy in the pantry. What luck! 

I have a ton more to share but don’t want to bore you guys (too much). More coming soon! 

Are you guys familiar with Mad Greens? If you live in Colorado, Arizona, Utah or Texas you might be… or you should be! Mad Greens, whose tag line is Eat Better, is focused on bringing healthy, fast and fresh food to the mainstream. And they have tons of vegan options with their salads, wraps, soups, hummus, juices, and now grain bowls. You can skip right to their interactive allergen menu, choose “vegan” and click on Show Me What I Can Eat, and I promise it doesn’t get any easier than that. They list the veggies (duh), dressings and other toppings that are vegan-safe making it super simple to order. 

Because all of their dishes are put together fresh while you watch, you can also make changes to any menu item to make it vegan and to your taste. For example, I love the Pancho Villa (baby greens, warm quinoa, roasted corn, mad spice pumpkin seeds), but I always order it with tofu (instead of chicken) and with spicy sriracha almond vinaigrette (instead of the dairy-based dressing). See? Easy as salad pie. 

Sounds delicious, right? It is. But the thing is, I eat at Mad Greens way more often in the summer than I do in the winter because that’s when a crisp, cold salad sounds the best to me. I’m lucky to have one right near my office (at the Denver Art Museum), but on cold wintry days I’m far more likely to crave something warm and hearty and comforting. So imagine my delight when I received an email from them a few weeks back telling me about their new Grain Bowls and inviting me to try one! 

There are three to choose from, but the Buddha Bowl is already vegan right off the bat, and kind of a no brainer: 

It was actually two meals for me, and reheated for lunch the next day quite nicely. For a bowl that costs less than $10, getting two lunches out of it is a pretty sweet deal. Here’s a not-so-great iphone pic of it on the first day.

I also love their hummus, especially their Hummus Trio which is a scoop each of their sun-dried tomato hummus, spicy avocado hummus, and roasted garlic hummus, served with warm pita bread. I could make two meals out of that as well! 

Writing this post has really made me crave my favorite salad and grain bowl… luckily I was also gifted with a few BOGO coupons… so who wants to join me for lunch? 

*I was provided free product for review but the opinions are 100% mine!

My friend Sarah (a vegan coach and blogger here in Denver) is a brand ambassador for Kite Hill (lucky her, right!?), so when we met up with our doggers at the dog park a few weekends ago, she brought me a big ol’ bag of goodies. We’re talking cream cheese. Jalapeno cream cheese. Ricotta cheese. This amazing truffle, dill & chive soft fresh cheese that I’m absolutely going to turn into some kind of savory tartlette too. I’m also planning a pizza with the ricotta cheese… but for now we have this Vegan Jalapeno Cream Cheese Breakfast Burrito, stuffed with tofu scramble, peppers and onions, crispy potatoes, refried beans and love. 

Yes, love. I made these for my mom because she is literally the freaking best. She came over two weekends ago and helped me deep clean because apparently blind dogs leave a lot of adorable messy smudges on the walls and doors and cabinets and tables as they map their way around. Also there was an incident a few months ago where Teddy went counter surfing and knocked a can of his soft food onto the floor. This was messy enough on its own, but to make things worse, there was a spoon still in the can and it flung the soft food up and across the kitchen, leaving a lovely trail of stains across the ceiling. Also I’ve been dog sitting the last few weeks and let’s just say I haven’t kept up on the housework because I was too busy doing things like this:

Yeah, I dressed up the dogs. Well except for Teddy who declined to participate. I really wish I knew what he’s thinking as he’s standing there, looking at his buddies…

But back to my mom. She came, she cleaned, she conquered, and she left with a tummy full of Jalapeno Cream Cheese Burrito and another one for later. I also shared the rest of the cream cheese with her because she loved it so much. It was really good! Spicy, definitely. You can absolutely taste that jalapeno flavor, but it’s not overwhelming. I think it would be really good in my Best Mexican Layer Dip… 

Or in my Man (With A Conscience) Dip…

Or heck, even just on a toasted bagel. 

I don’t really have a recipe for you, this is more of an intuitive cooking situation, but let me sketch you some outlines:

• A batch of tofu scramble (I skipped the greens)
• Sliced bell pepper + sweet onion, plus yummy, yummy garlic, lightly sauted
• Crispy fried potatoes
• Kite Hill jalapeno cream cheese melted into the tofu scrambz (and also schmeared on the inside of the tortilla) but only if you’re eating immediately, otherwise that will = soggy mess
• Vegetarian refried beans
• Salsa
• 4 burrito-sized tortillas

Yeah. All of that, plus whatever else sounds good. Enjoy!

I’ve been cooking, just not much in the way of new recipe creation. Instead, I’ve been focusing more on preparing the recipes that have made me happiest over the years. Dishes I already know I love… and I think you will too, so I thought I’d share them with you.

Baked Mac n’ Cheese, the quintessential comfort food!

I made a double batch of these Buffalo Ranch Sweet Potato Tacos a few weeks ago, and ate them for lunch and dinner. And never got tired of them!

Then I went on a bit of a Mexican kick… It started with Vegan Taco Soup…

… before morphing into an entire Cheesy Layered Mexican Bake! 

But don’t judge me too harshly, most of it ended up in the freezer!

I know there’s been some sketchy stuff about kale in the news lately, but I’m still a fangirl- especially when it comes in the form of Orange-Vanilla Massaged Kale Salad. This salad is simplistic but oh-so-delicious!

And, finally, I’ve made lots and lots and LOTS of my Chick’n Style Seitan! It’s good in so many different dishes. Tacos, fajitas, soups, stews, even just as its own little entree!

What have you been eating lately? 

This furry little lovemuffin is Elmer, the newest member of my pack! He also answers to Elmie, Tickles, and WhoWantsATreat! I adopted him from the Denver Dumb Friends League last month, and he is so perfect! He’s blind (completely- his eyes have been removed), and only has 7 teeth but he’s only 6 years old and is so sweet and smart and snuggly. 

Pretty much every picture I have is of him on my lap. Total lap dog, which I love. 

He also likes to nap perched high up on the couches, like a cat. Sometimes that’s okay…

And sometimes he has a little trouble….

I can’t stop watching that video! It’s too funny. I’ll never stop laughing.

And in case you’re wondering, Teddy and Elmer were fast friends. Ted gets a little annoyed when blind Elmie bumbles into him while he’s napping, but that’s okay. Ted is very patient 🙂

I shared a little bit with you guys about Piante Pizzaria in my Vegan Weekend in Breckenridge post, but they definitely deserve an MHVE post of their very own. BECAUSE THEY’RE AWESOME! They’re a 100% plant-based, high-end pizza shop located on Main St. in Breck, and I can’t recommend them enough. From the decor to the service, they’re just wonderful. 

I’ve been there twice now, both times with my mom. Long story short, during our first drive up there my car seemed to be having some transmission issues, so I had it serviced when I got back. And obviously the only way to make sure the service worked was to recreate the driving conditions and eat more vegan pizza, right? Right. Bonus points because we didn’t have issues this time, so I think the car is all set. But anyway…. Pizza!

This time we chose the Buffalo Solder: EVOO brushed crust. Garlic, buffalo sauce, and organic cashew mozzarella. Red onion. Fire-roasted buffalo cauliflower. House-made vegan ranch. Green onion. 

First, I love the crust here. It’s light, crisp, and flavorful. And the cashew cheese? It’s so rich and delicious. I noticed more with this pizza how truly rich it was, I think because it was so nicely contrasted by the spicy buffalo sauce. 

Last time we were there, we had the Lasagna Pizza: House-made San Marzano tomato red sauce. Organic cashew mozzarella. House-made organic cashew ricotta. Meat crumble. Basil. 

So far, I’d say the Lasagna is my favorite pizza, but the buffalo was a very close second. And there are so many more I want to try! The BBQ Pizza with smoked organic cashew mozzarella sounds particularly intriguing. My mom jokingly (?) suggested I order another entire pizza to take home, but I didn’t. Poor choice on my part.

On this second trip, we started the meal with a Kale Caesar Salad to share. Kale, shaved parmesan cheese, House-made garlic-infused EVOO Italian seasoned croutons. House-made caesar dressing. 

It’s so much fun to be able to order anything off the entire menu, and especially to be able to enjoy a Caesar salad in a restaurant again!. It was always my favorite salad to order in my pregan days, and I’ve missed it. I find it to be one of those things that just isn’t the same at home. But I digress. The croutons were big and crunchy and you could tell they were fresh. They were also very liberal with the parmesan (as you can see from the pic), which I appreciated. 

 On the first trip, we started with the Roasted Jalapeno Poppers: served with organic cashew mozzarella, red onion, and plant-based Italian sausage. Just spicy and enough, and not too filling (because we had to save room for pizza). I did think it odd though, that there were only 5 halves. It bothered me all night. Where did the other half of that last jalapeno go??

I’ve only tried one dessert (I’m more a fan of savory than sweet, tbh). It was the first time we were there, and we went with the Tiramisu which came with a candle because it was my birthday.

Okay, so that’s the food, and it’s phenomenal. But I also love the atmosphere they’ve created there. The servers and chefs are all so friendly and welcoming. The kitchen is open you can see them bustling in there, chopping and dicing and sliding your pizza in the stone oven. Also? If you’re cold? They’ll give you a beautiful quilt to put over your lap:

How sweet and precious is that? It’s very Colorado! I also love that they have the shaker jars of vegan parm on all the tables, just like in every other pizza joint. Except better, because it’s vegan.

They also have outdoor seating that faces Main Street and the slopes, although we haven’t sat out there. If you find yourself in Breck (or anywhere in Summit County, really), I insist you pop into Piante for a vegan pie. 

 

Want more Denver-area restaurant reviews? Check out my Mile High Vegan Eats page!

My mom (who is just awesome in general) came up with the fabulous idea to have a girl’s weekend for just the two of us Breckenridge to take in the autumn colors and celebrate my upcoming birthday, so we headed up there the weekend before last! 

We left Denver mid-afternoon on that Friday and arrived in Breck just as it was starting to spit snow. We stayed at The Lodge at Breckenridge which, although a little ways outside of town, we pretty great. It’s perched on the edge of a mountain and has incredible views. Plus their recent renovation achieved a nice balance of luxury and rustic (luxic? rustury?) so we were very comfortable there. 

As soon as we had checked in, we ubered into town. We were ready for a drink and some shopping! We grabbed a beer at Ollie’s Pub while watching the snow fall, and it was just lovely. Then we ventured out for some fresh air and checked out a handful of small shops, then ducked into The Blue Stag Saloon for one last drink before dinner. That place was really cute and homey and “mountainy”. Loved it! But we only stayed for one drink because we were heading off to Piante Pizzeria for dinner and were So. Excited. 

Piante is an all vegan pizzeria located on Breck’s Main Street and it was adorable. Too cold to sit outside (it was still snowing and quite windy) but we did get a window seat facing the the slopes. 

We started with the Roasted Jalapeno Poppers, served with organic cashew mozzarella, red onion, and plant-based Italian sausage:

We scarfed them down pretty fast, with a glass of wine. In fact, here’s a shot I took to show how they offer patrons quilts if you’re cold (seriously!) that also features the empty platter:

They also have some delicious sounding salads but honestly, we were all about the pizza. Mama chose the Lasagna Pizza, which featured house-made San Marzano tomato red sauce, organic cashew mozzarella, house-made organic cashew ricotta, meat crumble, and basil. 

Honestly, I think this was the best pizza I’ve ever had. Vegan or pre-vegan, I don’t remember anything comparing to this pizza. In fact, I burst into my own personal pizza-based rendition of Nothing Compares 2 U, right there in the restaurant. Okay, not really, but still. Amazing pizza. Here’s an up-close shot to show how gooey and melty and oily the cheese was. SO REALISTIC AND DELICIOUS!

I also loved that they have vegan parm at each table: 

It’s that attention to detail (along with the delicious food) that makes Piante so great. Also, our server was so sweet and gave us a free dessert because it was my birthday 🙂 We chose the Tiramasu: 

We called it an early(ish) night and headed back to the lodge after dinner. We had free drink coupons to use in the bar, then it was off to bed. 

Saturday we got up early for breakfast at the lodge, which was included with our room. They actually had quite a few vegan options, including soy milk which you don’t always see, so that was nice. Also? Please don’t judge my weird breakfasts.

I started off with a piece of toast topped with peanut butter and sliced strawberries, and roasted potatoes swimming in maple syrup. 

That was followed up with a bowl of fresh fruit (strawberries, watermelon, honey dew and cantaloupe) topped with their house-made granola which was really tasty!

After breakfast it was time for a hike! We chose McCullough’s Gulch because it was rated fairly easy, and because it was close. We had an afternoon of shopping and eating planned, so we didn’t want to get sucked into a lengthy hike. Plus the reviews were great. It’s on the backside of Quandry Peak, and local 14er. 

It was really cold up there (we started off quite high) and very windy. Here’s us at the trailhead, all bundled up!

The views were beautiful…

… but unfortunately we had to turn around pretty quickly into the hike, as the trail was a basically a sheet of ice. I made mama pose for a picture first tho-

After a quick drive back to the lodge and freshening up, we hit Main Street. The sun was shining, it was in the high 50’s… basically it was the quintessential autumn day! Before we arrived we thought we might have missed the best of the leaves, but nope. They were still there!

We window shopped and real shopped. We taste-tested whiskey and even popped into The Crown, a bookstore/wine bar/coffee shop that specializes in boozy coffee drinks. I had the Hot Apple Pie which was apple cider, fireball whiskey and vanilla vodka (omg! yum!) and mom had an Irish Coffee. Ain’t she adorable all bundled up??

It was a super cute little shop, I definitely recommend it if you’re in Breck and need a coffee, with or without the booze!

More shopping and a quick stop into the Barney Ford House Museum, which was really interesting. Ford was an escaped slave who moved his family to Breckenridge in the late 1880’s. The museum is located in their fully restored home. Then.. more drinks! I had to share this one, because it’s so fancy and because the menu description was so funny:

The Ten Mile High Club: This blend of Montanya Oro rum, Breck bourbon, cognac, orange juice & grenadine lets you join the club without entering the lavatory. 

Eventually it was time for dinner. I chose Bangkok Happy Bowl because they have tons of vegan options, including a whole section of their menu (although there are other vegan options not in that section- just ask your server!). Appetizers were BOGO when we arrived so we started with the Edamame and Curry Puffs, which were stuffed with curry powder, potatoes, onions, carrots and corn, served with a delicious and light cucumber sauce.

The edamame was fine (as edamame generally is) but the puffs were extra delicious! Very flavorful, but the curry wasn’t over powering. I could’ve eaten a second order all by myself. We also split a bowl of the Tom Kha Tofu soup, tangy coconut milk with lemongrass, galengal, and mushroom with a dash of chili oil. Not all Tom Kha soups are vegan, but this one was! You can see how thick and full of tofu and veggies it was- and you can even see a lot of the seasonings. I haven’t had Tom Kha in ages, and omg I’ve missed it. I need to make my own at home. 

For some reason I stopped taking pictures after the soup, but there was also some vegan sushi, I believe it was a tempura sweet potato roll. 

And that’s pretty much it! We headed back to the lodge where we enjoyed one more glass of wine, this time in the outdoor hot tub gazing up at the night sky. Love, love, love being in the hot water with the freezing cold air around us. So relaxing… and the wine didn’t hurt either 😉 

It was a really great weekend away! We got to catch up and talk about upcoming plans and reminisce about Sally and just relax. Thanks mom!!

My doggers are one of the best parts of my life. They’re my family members, friends, support systems, and cuddle machines, all built into one. They’re all special and they’re all unique, and Sally was no exception. I shared her story before, but the TL;DR version is this: She spent her first three years as a breeding dog in a puppy mill, living in a cage with no love or care. She was a mess when she came to us, and it took a long time and a lot of work to help her feel good, to feel like a dog, and to realize she was part of the family.

She worked so hard to overcome her past and to get over her fears. One of her nicknames was always Super Strong Sally because of that. She was so smart too! She knew so many phrases and would always respond immediately. I still laugh when I remember saying “Sally go outside!” and she would stop whatever she was doing and run as fast as she could towards that doggy door, careening around corners like she was on ice, her little tail wagging the whole time. It made her happy to be able to do what we wanted, to make us happy. 

And oh man, was that little girl good at making me happy! She was always so sweet and snuggly and perfect!

Back in July she started having accidents in the house. It took a few weeks to diagnose, but we realized she had kidney disease. Then, during a routine ultrasound we discovered her little body was also full of tumors. It had progressed too far and wasn’t treatable. She hated her KD food and was miserable going to the vet, so I made the decision to stop treating the kidney disease and just let her enjoy whatever time she had left. Looking back, I feel really good about that. It was the right choice to make for her. I focused on spoiling and loving her. This was us last Sunday, a rainy day spent on the couch with snacks and Netflix.

Then, on Friday morning I realized she wasn’t eating or drinking anymore, and I knew I had one last difficult decision to make.  We had a mobile vet come to the house on Saturday morning so Sally wouldn’t be scared. Her daddy came and held her, and her grandma was there too. As one last treat, I shared a glass of wine with her. She was always trying to steal drinks from my wine glasses, and of course I wouldn’t let her because it’s not good for dogs… but it didn’t matter anymore. She she finally got that glass of wine. She loved it! 

It’s never easy saying goodbye to our furriest family members, but I do feel that I made the right decision, the one that was best for her. Which is all that matters. I don’t think she ever suffered, and I know she was comfortable and happy at the very end. My heart hurts, and will for a long, long time. I know I’ll always miss her, but more importantly I’m grateful for the time I had with her. 

Sally, Poodlebutt, Puddles, Miss Honeybee… you were an amazing friend to me, and I’m so happy we found each other. I’ll always love you and never, every forget you. 

Some of these are kind of old… but still make for delicious eye candy! 

I had dinner last month with my Grandma Josie at Lowdown Brewery (which I luurve). We each started with a beer- I had the Patio Pounding Pilz because it’s my fave:

And I followed that up with a really delicious wrap called The Incredible Edible Eggplant Sammy with thick-sliced eggplant, Baba Ganoush, pickled carrot, red onion, roasted red pepper, toasted pumpkin seeds, and mixed greens wrapped in pita bread. It’s automatically vegan, ordered directly off the menu (Lowdown does an exceptional job with labeling!). It was huge and I chose their thick cut, super salty fries as my side. There were DEFINITELY leftovers!

The next weekend my bestie bestie from LA Randy was in town. We started the night at Upstairs Circus, a spot in LoDo where you drink booze and do crafts (very fun!), followed by dinner at Freshcraft. I had wonderfully greasy fries and another wrap- only I don’t remember what it was and it’s not on their menu anymore! Looks like spinach and artichoke hearts and maybe sundried tomatoes? But still- I highly recommend them. Lots of great vegan options! 

My mom is uber trendy and lives just on the edge of Baker and SoBo, and so is in walking distance of all the coolest (vegan) spots like Nooch Vegan Market, True Love Vegan Shoes, Sweet Action Ice Cream (that always has vegan flavors available), just to name a few. One recent hot Sunday afternoon we strolled down Broadway to Historians Ale House which has the coolest rooftop bar. They also have a fantastic drink menu and a really yummy Hummus Plate:

I like that it comes with a variety of (healthy) veggies and (naughty) corn chips, so you can choose how virtuous you feel as you eat 😉

Okay, okay, I know you feel like you see this picture in EVERY ‘what I eat’ round up, and you’re sort of correct. It’s never the same picture, but it’s the same dish from Steve’s Snappin’ Dogs. My pal Eric and I eat there on the regular and I pretty much always get the Veggie Chicago Dog and Sweet Tots… and I always steal a few of his fries, just to be safe. 

I almost always bring leftovers for lunch but decided to treat myself one day last week to a Build Your Own Bowl from Tokyo Joe’s, which is a chain. What you see here is brown rice, sweet potato, broccoli, water chestnuts, sweet onions, edamame and a sweet teriyaki sauce. I don’t eat there often because I work in Denver’s Cap Hill neighborhood so there are like millions of lunch options, but I’m always pretty happy with their food. 

My fam and I try to do Sunday Family Dinners when we can, and I hosted a couple weeks ago. I made Stuffed Shells (using my awesome ricotta recipe) topped with Daiya cheese and fresh sweet basil, my Orange Vanilla Massaged Kale Salad, and a side of peppers and onions cooked with Field Roast spicy mexican sausage. Oh, and some homemade garlic bread too! Here’s a shot of my plate:

This was dinner the other night: Oven fries with a homemade ‘honey’ mustard sauce, and a sandwich of Tofurky slices, FYH provolone cheese, and spicy mustard along with some baby spinach and tomato.

Last but definitely not least, my most favoritest salad ever. It started with a bagged kale and brussels mix that included a small portion of pumpkin seeds and dried, sweetened cranberries. I grabbed it on sale at Safeway last weekend to make my life a little easier. I mixed that with some baby spinach, half a chopped red bell pepper, some homemade croutons, diced Nasoya pre-baked teriyaki tofu, and (not pictured) FYH vegan ranch dressing. Best. Work. Lunch. Ever. 

Okay my friends… that’s what I’ve been eating. Do you have anything good to share?