A Taste of Lebanon in Terre Haute, IN

Look at this plate of gorgeousness. Those aren't grape leaves from a can, either. All of it, homemade. Where can I find this grub? Not in my hometown of Bloomington. I mean, I'm sure I could, but it wouldn't be this righteous. No, I found this treasure at George's Cafe, in Terre Haute, IN by googling vegetarian restaurants. Nice find. And the prices are so reasonable. There's food for omnivores, but if you want the vegan stuff, just look at the Lebanese section of the menu. This here is George's Plate: grape leaves, hummus, and baba ganoujh. If you request it, he'll give you some chili sauce to throw in there to amp up the heat. Good Lord, I can't stop thinking about this place!

3 Sisters Cafe, Indianapolis, IN

 Why oh why do I have more shitty photos of BBQ sandwiches? Well, I'm a sucker for them.

This is no ordinary sammie, no. This is the BBQ grains sammich from 3 Sisters Cafe in Indianapolis. They were featured on a Food Network show with lots of meat. I was skeptical, until I saw the menu. I went there recently to have dinner with friends and found they had a huge selection of vegan delights. You can check out their menu right HERE. The chili reminded me of the Hormel stuff in a can, which grosses some people out, but is a huge source of comfort for me. My momma told me once I was made from Hormel chili because that's all she ate when she was pregnant with me.

My only criticism: no vegan desserts. I was so full from dinner, I didn't really care.

Happy Birthday to Me! Party at The Owlery

 I celebrated my 40th birthday at Bloomington's finest vegetarian restaurant--The Owlery. 9 of us sat around a table and noshed on our favorite eats and shared a monster chocolate birthday cake! Imagine going to a restaurant where the entire dessert case is loaded with only vegan delights. I thought I had died and gone to Chocolate Heaven.

I had the poutine.  What's that? It's a Canadian delight: gravy fries covered in cheese. At The Owlery, the default setting for most dishes are vegan, and if you want dairy cheese, you have to order it that way. Pretty cool, eh?

We also went on a mini-getaway to a cabin in the woods and I made some dishes from American Vegan Kitchen and Vegan Sandwiches Save the Day. I'll post on that later.

Post X-Mas Buzz

 Hope everyone had a great Tuesday. Nothing like an ol' Tuesday for opening gifts and hoggin' out on comfort food. Happens all the time.

I wish I could tell you I spent all my Christmases eating Chinese food and going to movies, but I didn't. I'm from an assimilated family and was raised with the holly jolly dysfunction of commercialism tied in with a splash of the baby Jeebus. So at our house, we celebrate both. To me, it's really all about the food!
I gotta talk about the chance I had to have some "me" time--went out for Indian food and tried Bhindi Masala for the first time. Woah, I never thought I could like curried okra, but I do!  My only regret is diving in before taking a picture of the uneaten meal. The local eatery Taste of India has plenty to eat if you're vegan. They label anything on their menu that's vegan with a big, fat "V" for vegan friendly. How cool is that?

And the holidays wouldn't be the holidays without something pumpkiny. I am a fan of these pumpkin cheesecake squares from Kittee's bake 'zine Papa Tofu-(I think it is out of print!)

Selfish plug: I removed captcha from my blog to encourage others to comment. I'm kinda sad that the only comments these days come from spammers. Ugh. So please, if you are a real person, leave me a real comment on any of my entries to cheer me up a little. 

Vegan MOFO Day #13: Shane Vs.The Hercules Dog

 "I should have taken one or two hot dogs to go."

 I can't help but wonder if Shane might have been able to save himself from his cray-cray episodes if he had spent less time pining over Lori and more time shoveling vegan hot dogs from Naughty Dog in Bloomington, IN into his piehole. NOTE: clicking to link will show non-vegan food porn. He had the Hercules Dog (shown below) which is a vegan hot dog with tomatoes, hummus, and Giardiniera relish--all on a toasted bun.

This was a glorious mishmash of salty and greasy, perfect for those days when you want to elevate your blood pressure and fat intake in one sitting. His mistake was exercising restraint by only having one, which surprised me. Why hold back? You can't just have one, you need to have a second one, or sometimes a third. That's where the **magic** happens. Doing so could have potentially changed the course of apocalypse time for Mr. Wacko.

 Naughty Dog also has a laundry list of other vegan toppings-(including chili!) that make eating a regular nitrate mystery meat dog unnecessary.

Dusting Off My Sticky Buns

 So, back when I last wrote, I talked about losing my appetite. Well, fell down hard. Bad enough where it seemed the whole world saw my pannies. I dusted off my buns, I got some help for the loss of appetite and much-much-more, and have been out of commission for the past week resting in a quiet place.  It's been rough, but I found bits of myself and my stomach again. We sent the kids to Columbus, OH to stay with relatives and picked them up yesterday.

So what does all that have to do with the price of tea in China? Well, Pattycake Bakery is just 3.5 miles from our relatives house, so we made a pit stop for some sticky buns before returning to Indiana.

And oh what sticky buns they are! Melt in your mouth deliciousness. The cure all for any drought of appetite. Just look at how deep that frosting goes! Straight to my soul, I tells you. Cinnamon and frosting fixes everything.

Taking the time to take care of myself has been a blessing. Being away made me miss my home cooking, which helped me get my desire to eat back from the basement. Hospitals really need to get on board with vegan eats. Then again, those kinds of places aren't exactly known for their gourmet cuisine.

Thanks to all of you readers for loving me during this rough patch. Your dedication means the world to me.

It's Been a Long Time, Been a Long time, Been a Long-Long...

Led Zeppelin plays in the radio in my head as I eat this sandwich from Roots on the Square, formerly known as Roots Vegetarian Restaurant. It's definitely been a while, probably a year since I've been there. When I'm there I usually get their panang curry because it really is the best in town. This day I opted for their breaded seitan tenderloin-(vegan take on a Hoosier classic!) and didn't regret it.

I haven't wanted to go there because they now carry local meat, which pisses me off. Prior to The Owlery, there was really one game in town to get exclusive vegetarian eats, and that was Roots. Then the Locavore movement had to waltz in and tout their excellent local beef and pork. Then it was all over. Boooo. What gives? I mean, good for you that you want to eat local meat, but it is still meat. I shouldn't be so bitchy, really. But I don't want to confuse anyone by saying that one is better than the other. To me, eating meat is eating meat. I'm grateful people want to elevate their consciousness and make a connection, but why not make the connection of not eating meat and trying this awesome fucking sandwich? This is probably one of those entries where you will read about these feelings, so enjoy the snarkism while it lasts. Otherwise, I'm a fairly peaceful and loving vegan.

But my co-worker treated me to lunch and I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. The sandwich is still really good. If you're in the area and have omnis to make  happy, bring them there. You can always have any one of their excellent vegetarian/vegan selections, and again--let me suggest the curry. Get it at about a 3.5 spice level. You won't regret it.

No move to MI, btw. Long story. Just stay tuned to some awesome eats and observations by the ever loving Pain in the Ass Vegan.

Lettuce Be Stuffed, and What is a Texas Tank, Anyway?

 It's getting hotter n' balls outside again. And I don't want to cook. This dish ain't the prize at the picnic, but lemme tell you it's easy to put together. Just take your favorite pesto recipe, bathe some of your favorite seitan in it, and stuff large lettuce leaves with the mixture and throw some sun dried tomatoes in there for good measure. I had none on hand so I used Ms. Dash, garlic, basil, and sun dried tomato blend.

 Yum!

I went to MI last week for not one, but two job interviews and had to stop by my new fave place with vegan options, Studio Grill. I had me the Vegan Texas Tank burger. What's that? It's something that requires at least 4 napkins and will make you a little musical if you know what I mean. It's a black bean burger topped with vegan chili and hummus on a grilled bun. Serve that with sweet potato fries and you are good to go. Seriously, the taste was awesome, but I propelled myself throughout the day with the gas. Don't forget the root beer!

BTW, I did end up getting a job back in MI. So over the next week, my posts will be a little more sporadic due to getting ready for a big move back to my homeland of Kalamazoo*.

*-yes, that town exists and it is also on its way to vegan awesomeness.

Tell 'Em What You Want, What You Really Really Want

One of my favorite local eateries is not a veggie/vegan spot at all. It's a diner called The Cozy Table, right off the highway at the 3rd St. exit. They serve comfort grub, with lots of meat, but that doesn't bother me no how.

I just order the veggie skillet without eggs or cheese and ask for a side of salsa. And I always ask to be put in Paula's section, because she is a waitress dynamo. Look at that gorgeous pile of taters. Filling and satisfying. In fact, most family restaurants carry the same menu, so don't be afraid to custom order some of these for yourself. If the place doesn't carry the skillet, then just ask for a double order of hash browns or home fries and add every vegetable they have available in the kitchen. One time I went to Ft. Wayne to Sara's Family Restaurant and they even put squash in there--wOOt!

So there--being vegan while traveling is really no big deal. With everyone having food allergies and sensitivities these days, you might even be able to convince your favorite joint into carrying soy milk just for you. Places want new and returning customers, so tell 'em what you want!

Gimme Some Lovin'

Not to get off the topic of food, because I do have a point discussing my life homework in this post: I am taking a Death and Dying class at church and part of our homework is to take the day of the month we were born on, -(in my case it is the 13th) and do something we've never done before. Well, I travel to MI all the time to see relatives and friends and pass the Auburn Deussenberg Cord Car Museum right outside of Ft. Wayne, about an hour or south of the MI state line. I got my fill of classic cars--golly, they were beautiful. I also got my fill of the Loving Cafe in Ft. Wayne.

 The food selection was overwhelming. I went for the BBQ bun sandwich which was a very pork like seitan smothered in a rich BBQ sauce and topped with creamy cole slaw. I chose potato kale soup as my side.

I was licking sauce off my fingers the entire meal. That's how BBQ is supposed to be!

I also ate a nice breakfast at Sarah's Family Restaurant, right across the street from the Hilton Garden Inn on SR 24. I requested a double order of hash browns with all house veggies and dry toast. It was really really good! Sorry, no pic. The hash brown or home fries trick has never failed me. You simply go to any local restaurant and ask them to make up a plate of unique home fries for you while everyone else noshes on bacon and eggs. It's a great vegan on the road survival tip, and most places are happy to make it for you! I even had the waitress ask if it was okay to add squash and spinach to my hash browns. Hell yeah!

So I challenge you to find a museum or some sort of park in a podunk town near you and make a mini vacation of it. Take a tour, go to the local eateries, and enjoy yourself. I often forget all the little treasures outside of my own unique college town!

Might as Well Face It, I'm Addicted to Owls...

 I am an Owlery junkie. It's official. They've been re-opened at their new downtown location for slightly less than a month now and I've been there 3 times. This pic is from my recent unofficial Indiana Post Punk Kitchen meet-up. I'm going to use everyone's user names on the forum, so please don't think these people have really weird names. Featured above is Abstract Nonsense's brunch plate of scramble, hashbrowns, TVP sausage, toast, and some fresh pineapple. That was my first time meeting him and I think he's really neat, and oh-so-nerdy in such an adorable way.

 Here's my jaw breaker: farm bread housing tofu scramble, tofu bacon, tvp sausage, lettuce, daiya cheese, tomato, and veganaise. Yep, I ate the whole thing. THE WHOLE THING!

 Same thing, on a biscuit. Skinny Daisy likes biscuits.

 Quark is a biscuit and gravy gal. She said this was really good: biscuits, mushroom gravy, and TVP sausage with a side of home fries to the right.

 

Vegans are so SEXY! Left to right, Flounder, Sarahclaire, Skinny Daisy, me, and Abstract Nonsense

 

Now I have at least four or five new crushes. Quark is positively gorgeous!

You can find out more about The Owlery right hizzere.

Stu, Stu, Studio! Woah-Oh.

The Menu! Imagine my surprise seeing vegan pancakes on the menu. Next time, that Texas Tank will be mine.

 Here's the testimony from my visit to the Studio Grill in Kalamazoo. I was expecting to arrive to a place where I would once again order my custom hash browns-(home fries with veggies and a side of salsa) and some dry white toast. I do it all the time, but it does get boring. I was flabbergasted to see the words vegan pancakes. Who is Daphney and where can I get my mitts on that recipe? They tasted like snickerdoodles. Yum!

Next time I plan on wrapping my big ol' yapper around a Texas Tank. For those of you who can't read the menu because the photo is so shitty, here's what it is: a black bean burger, vegan chili, and hummus. Dude.

So whether you live in the Kalamazoo area or are just passin' through, I encourage you to stop by and give this place a try. Let 'em know how much you appreciate a breakfast joint offering vegan options. 

The Pancakes. Note I capitalized. They were that good.

A blurry photo:  The Adorable Chef/Owner Craig. He can cook for me anytime. I'll even pay real money.

Sorry, I've Been Abducted by Aliens

Here's a shot of the Magic Bar Cookie Pancakes from the long long ago!  NOTE: the Kroger Valu Brand Chocolate Chips are not vegan. Boooooo! They changed their formula a year or so ago and I'm pissed. Have no fear: Private Selection Organic Semi-Sweet Chips as well as 60% Cocoa Baking Chunks are vegan and have the obligatory blurb about being produced on shared equipment.

Dearest Readers,

Sorry it has been so long since I've posted. I've seemed to have a ton of things going on in the past year that has thrown a monkey wrench in doing what I love...blogging! Well, I say no more to being overworked. I'm back, that's that, and I'll be doing my thing more often. Where was I?

I'd rather not talk about it. To squelch any blogging rumors, I am still very much vegan. I have not had a fall from vegan grace. Human grace perhaps, but I've dusted my butt off and am moving on. I appreciate any fan letters and thoughts of encouragement during my difficult time. My life needs a magic cookie bar pancake right about now, but I need to watch my sugar intake. I've had some medical issues arise where I now take a medication that automatically raises my blood sugar, so I'm actually having to rethink how I eat. Yay?

Included with my real life difficulties are technical ones. I just returned from an awesome trip up north to my old stompin' grounds of Kalamazoo. Guess what? Vegan pancakes and burgers to be found at the Studio Grill. Took pics and everything. Met the chef and he is gnawdorable and oh-so-kind. The staff are amazingballs.  It is my luck that the damned photos will not load, so I'm working with tech support on the problem. Fun, right?

So I'll save the high holy praises for that place once I can post the pics. Just know that if you live in the Kzoo area or are from D-Twat and looking for a great day trip, get to The Studio Grill on W. Michigan (near the corner of Michigan and Church St. downtown) and get yo'self some of that pancakey goodness. They are life changers. They have plenty of soymilk on hand for your coffee.

Got it bad, so baaad, I'm hot for HuHot

This is actually a picture from my buddy Dan's yearly Mongolian BBQ party two years ago. I just wanted to make a plug for HuHot for all of you lazy vegans who don't like to cook and are scoping out new digs to dine.

So, I balked at this adventure for many reasons. There's the whole dress like Genghis thingy that I'm not so fond of, and there's plenty of animal meat. I'm not one of those vegans who is opposed to dining in an omnivorous establishment, I just doubted I'd find anything substantial. I was pretty hungry and it was Mr. J's birthday.

So I consulted the IU Veg web page and put my vegan superpowers to use. I told our server I was vegan and she promptly gave me a food allergy list so I knew what sauces I could use. Then she told me the grill guys would thoroughly clean off a spot on the grill, section it off from all the meat, fish, and cook my own individual stir fry. Pretty cool, huh?

First time up I had tofu, pineapple, broccoli, carrots, mushrooms, and wheat noodles. I chose ginger juice, garlic oil, and Kung Pao, Yow! sauce. So you don't have to go through a bunch of research, here are the vegan sauce options:

• Samurai Teriyaki
• Kung Pao, Yow!
• Not So Sweet n' Sour
• Feed The Hordes Hoisin

All sauces have allergen information on their respective placards on the bar, if you forget. I was really bummed that many of the sauces contain fish or mollusk stock--so even you vegetarians beware! That stir fry might not even be vegetarian! C'mon, Hu-Hot: how hard is it to make a VEGAN PEANUT sauce?

All in all, I would go again.

Restaurant Review: A Taste of India, Bloomington

For Valentine's Day, Mr. J. took me to A Taste of India to eat a taste bud tingling dinner. I haven't wanted to eat much Indian food since going vegan because of the cream or butter used in most of the dishes. I used the ultra handy VegIU guide and felt confident because they assured most veg dishes could be made vegan.

Guess what? I got better than that. There is a cute little V with a leaf by all dishes that are vegan. There were so many to choose from, but we settled on samosas, chili pakora, chana masala, and bombay aloo. Mr. J. ordered his potatoes hot--I'm a heat person and I found them to be almost too spicy!

For the two of us the meal was less than $30 without a tip: that was for two appetizers, two entrees, and no dessert--which was fine because we were stuffed. The service was amazing, and the atmosphere was very romantic. There's a small section to sit on the floor if you so desire, and they have a flat screen television above the bar area that has Bollywood movies playing. I don't know what we were watching, but there was a parade of fabulous dancing led by a guy with a magnificent mullet. My only regret is not having my camera. Shame on me. So you'll have to deal with the picture of a batch of seitan tikka masala I made a couple of years ago. I really need to make that again. That was foodgasm inducing.

OYMST Day #31: WHEW! In Conclusion

In the past 48 hours I have had not one, but TWO or THREE opportunities to have a vegan dessert when I was not expecting it and have turned it down. Really? Like really! Today I considered making cookies, but decided to have apple slices and some pumpkin dip instead. Why did this miracle happen?

Operation Yank My Sweet Tooth. Has it in fact been yanked? Not really, but I have experienced a change that has altered my relationship with eating sweets. Prior to this experiment, I had been making a return to mindless eating, something that is not really good for me. I also have a family history of the diabeetus and I need to be careful. I really didn't think I'd be able to make it.

Then I decided to blog about it and reach out for support. I treasure dessert for what it really is: a beautiful end to a nice meal with friends, family, self, and as a special treat. Not something that I scarf before my 4 year old son sees me and asks if he can also have cookies for breakfast. You can only bullshit a kid for so long until he smells the turd of deceit. What kind of lesson would I be teaching him then?

I've reignited a love for fruit, something I can share with my kids since they adore fruit too. I've found that and some hot tea really does the trick. I feel better. It isn't so hard to get up in the morning. I can concentrate better at work, and I think people have noticed. I've discovered that there are different ways to have sweet treats without feeling deprived. Day 10 was really hard, but after day 15 or 16 it just didn't seem like such a big deal.

What will happen to me when I have dessert tomorrow? I have no idea. I'll keep the size small and will be eating with a bunch of people so I don't eat an entire Smolve pie by myself. I've always enjoyed cooking for people, but now I really treasure eating a meal with the people I cook for. Today I took my daughter out for Thai food at Bloomington's best ethnic restaurant: Siam House. This is a must if you are visiting our little city for whatever reason. The cozy lil' gem is located on 4th and Dunn St. During warm weather you can enjoy your meal outside. They have one of the best lunch buffets, $9. Get this: no fish in the vegetarian dishes. In fact, there are big labels on the dishes that say VEGAN. No guesswork-- I counted 5 things on the buffet! I had red curry w/tofu, soup, spring rolls w/ peanut sauce, a delicious savory salad, and fresh cool melon. I thanked the wait staff for taking the time to label everything. I got a container to go for my spouse and the waiter insisted on holding my daughter so I could tend to that task without any distraction. Is that service or what? You'd really be a fool to not hold her. She's super cute.

I haven't seen my tally for this month, but I'm pretty sure that I was able to raise $15 for the food bank on my hits alone--that's 105# of food! Thank you so much, beautiful readers. Stay tuned for fun stuff next month. I'll be cooking the $#!T out of 500 Vegan Recipes and The Complete Guide to Vegan Substitutions. You'd think I was married to Celine or Joni, but I'm not. I'm just really believe these books don't get enough cred.

I Just Couldn't Do It!

As much as I thought I could, I just couldn't blog about cookies for 20 consecutive days. I'm just too busy eating other things. Like seitan reubens from The Owlery. They make their french fries from real live potatoes.
Mr. J. digs the tofu chicken fingers. They are dee-lish, although the name sounds funny. Chickens don't have fingers made of tofu! And I've never seen a block of tofu with fingers, let alone fingers shaped like chickens. Tee-hee.
Look at that one, sliding off the plate and into your mouth!

For those of you who haven't heard me sing high praises for this place, The Owlery is an amazing vegetarian restaurant where all dishes are vegan by default, and if you want something with dairy you have to request it. If you're a gluten free gobbler, they can accommodate you. My favorite sandwich is the BALT (Bacon Avocado Lettuce and Tomato). They double fry the tofu making it the best vegan bacon I've ever had in my life.

They've been doing such awesome business they are relocating downtown! So if you're in town during the holidays wanting to nosh on a Philly Cheeseseitan, you'll have to wait until 2012. It's so worth it!