New menu items at Veggie Grill!

Me and Den went to Veggie Grille in El Segundo for my birthday and was pleasantly surprised by some of their new menu items. The first new menu item we tried was the cauli-mashed potatoes; although I liked them just fine, Den wasn't a fan and said they tasted too much like cauliflower and not enough like potatoes.

Den decided to try the new buffalo bomber sandwich which consisted of  a crispy chickin' breast tossed in buffalo sauce, tomato, red onion, lettuce, ranch dressing and after talking to a Veggie Grill employee, he decided to add avocado to his bomber. He said the said was pretty good but not nearly as good as his favorite sandwich, the Santa Fe Crispy Chickin'.

For my new menu item choice, I picked the urban plate which contained a blackened tempeh-carmelized onion-portobello mushroom stack, steamin' kale, a sliced tomato salad and chipotle ranch. I liked that it was gluten free so my sister in law could eat it if she wanted to and I was also really impressed by the way the food was presented on the plate. It looked upscale and tasted good as well.

We love veggie grill and you can best believe that we'll be back to try some more of their new menu items soon.

Second half marathon done!

I completed my second half marathon on the day before my 33rd birthday. It was the Hollywood Half Marathon and I was happy that I finished and I did so in 3:18 which was slightly faster than my finish time for the Tinkerbell Half Marathon that I did in January.
The day before the race, me and Dennis went to the Health & Fitness Expo at the Hilton in Universal Studios. Here's a picture of me and Marilyn Monroe and me posing with my racing bib.

The next morning I was nervous and excited about running this race. How would I do? Would I finish it in a decent time? Could I manage to complete the race without falling? Here's a photo of me at the starting line for the Hollywood Half Marathon.

I was super stoked to meet one of my favorite podcasters, Wendy from the Yell at Your Fat podcast as well as a member from the Black Girls Run L.A. Chapter. Of course I had to take photos:-)

The rest of the race was pretty uneventful although there was a point where my left foot was hurting so badly I had to stop my running/walking plan at mile 8 but even with that happening, I was still able to finish under 3 and a half hours so yay me! Here's photos of the medal and me wearing the Hollywood Half Marathon shirt.

 
 

I plan to run a couple of more half marathons before the end of the year and the next one will by the Wine and Dine at Disney World in Florida followed by one in October and a Holiday Half in December. Wish me luck!

Cheezy Pizza Review 2

Recently Den and I went to our favorite local pizza place Cheezy's Pizza in Colton, California.The food was so super tasty,  I just had to share photos of their yummy vegan chicken alfredo pizza and their ginormous vegan calzone.

Vegan Chicken Alfredo Pizza

The vegan chicken alfredo pizza was topped with soy chicken, spinach, mushrooms, alfredo sauce and daiya cheese.

Vegan Calzone

Inside the vegan calzone

The ridiculously large vegan calzone was filled with onions, olives, artichoke hearts, and soy sausage. Both items were very good and I can't wait to go back to Cheezy's to try something else new.

Oasis Vegetarian Cafe' Restaurant Review

It's hard to find a good vegan breakfast if you live in Southern California but you live past Los Angeles; thankfully Oasis Vegetarian Cafe' in Riverside, California does an awesome job of providing tasty and healthy food at reasonable prices. Me and Den go to Oasis at least a couple of times a month and we're always surprised each time we try something new there. I like that the menu is diverse, the staff is friendly and you can either eat inside at the La Sierra Market or outside in an area in from of Oasis. 

The restaurant staff makes its own veggie steak using gluten which they add to their menu items;you can also buy the veggie steak by the pound and create your own meals at home if you want to. 

Vegan breakfast burrito with vegan steak 

 The breakfast burrito was made with scrambled tofu,onions, tomato, and veggie steak all wrapped in a warm flour tortilla.

Vegan club sandwich

 The vegan club sandwich was piled high with veggie chicken and veggie ham, lettuce, tomato, onion and their homemade tofu mayo on three slices of bread. I thought I wasn't going to be able to finish this but I took my time and enjoyed every bite.

Fiesta  Bowl

The Fiesta Bowl was also really good and contains rice, black beans, pico de gallo, homemade vegan creme and topped with the homemade veggie steak.


If you ever find yourself in Southern California and are desperately looking for some vegan food, look for Oasis Vegetarian Cafe';your stomach will thank you for it. 

Vegan Creme Eggs = yum

As a kid, I used to love Easter for two reasons: first I was guaranteed to get a new Easter dress and shoes and second, I would get a bag filled with tons of Easter candy. Although I loved the jelly beans and other candies, my favorite East treat was the Cadbury Creme Egg which definitely became a no go after I became vegan. Imagine my surprise when I was just goofing around online and saw that I could get a vegan creme egg (similar to Cadbury) from various places online-I definitely had to try one of these out. I got in touch with Queenbalch who makes Vegan Creme Eggs in Oregon and two weeks later, the vegan creme eggs were mine. I really enjoyed them;they were just like I remember the Cadbury ones tasting and I can't wait to order some more in the future. Below are some pics of what they looked like.

Vegan Creme Egg from Queenbalch

Wrapped vegan creme egg

Admiring the flower design 

Love at first bite

Halfway there

The last tasy bite

Happy early Easter!

I met the Happy Herbivore!

I was really excited when I read online that the author of the Happy Herbivore cookbooks, Lindsay Nixon, was coming to San Diego to speak at the Great American Meat Out Celebration being held at Evolution Fast Foods!We've been to Evolution before but it was great going back again for this event and to meet Lindsay. Lindsay was really friendly, funny and down to earth during her presentation.Me and Den went and had an awesome time meeting her, getting some burgers and vegan chicken tenders and getting her to autograph her cookbooks for me.

Author Lindsay Nixon speaking at Evolution Fast Foods-San Diego, CA

Den taking a photo of Lindsay Nixon

Lindsay signing copies of her cookbooks

Me, Lindsay and her two cookbooks, The Happy Herbivore Cookbook and Everyday Happy Herbivore

Completing my first half marathon

I completed my first half marathon (Tinkerbell Half Marathon) on Sunday! Although my finishing time was 3:19 (with a time limit of 3:50), I'm proud of myself for completing a exercise goal I set for myself. I woke up at 3:00 am Sunday morning got dressed and then went online for a minute to calm my nerves about the race. Around 3:30 am, I woke Den up so he could dressed and we could walk down to the hotel and catch the shuttle to Disneyland. Disneyland is a magical place during the day but early in the morning with no one there, its kind of surreal. Once we got there, it was amazing to see so many people there dressed as Tinkerbell, Peter Pan and other Disney characters as well as people dressed like regular people going out for a run. I took the opportunity to take a photo next to the mile 4 marker since we still had time before the race began. 

 Soon we arrived at the entrance and I took a photo with some pirates before heading to the main event stage and then carroll D where I'd be starting the race from. 

 I run the race using a combination of running for 4 minutes then walking for 1 minute.....in the beginning. Eventually, I began to walk more and run less because my foot started to hurt. Around mile 8, I fell while stepping up on a curb and scratched up my right elbow and knee. After some nice fellow runners helped me up, I brushed myself off and kept on going until the end. While a little part of me felt I should get my injuries checked out at the medical tent area, I decided I'd worry about that at the finish line. 

I know my form wasn't pretty and I didn't look like a runner but darn it I was going to get my Tinkerbell medal! After the race, I was so happy it was over and was super stoked to get my medal and finally wear my reward for completing the race-a "I completed the Tinkerbell Half Marathon" shirt. Although the race was hard and trying at times, I enjoyed the camaraderie I felt with the other runners and I loved the sense of pride I felt by having earned a medal rather than just being given something for participating. 

I am planning to resume my half marathon training schedule once I'm healed up since I signed up for the Hollywood Half Marathon in April. I'm also really considering doing another Disney run in October (Wine & Dine 1/2 Marathon) so I could get two medals;a medal for the Wine and Dine and a medal for running a Disney race on the East and West Coast.