FoMu

We arrived in Boston this afternoon for a weekend of exhibiting at the Boston Vegetarian Food Festival and as soon as we got off the plane, we were ready to eat. We headed to Allston, parked the car, and were walking into Peace o' Pie when we noticed FoMu, a non-dairy ice cream shop! We peeked at their menu in the front window and I was initially a little discouraged that their hard-packed ice cream was all coconut-based (I'm allergic). However, my partner was quick to point out that they had soy soft serve!

We went over to Peace o' Pie, had a salad and a calzone, and popped back into FoMu. This was apparently a popular routine, as we saw a number of other people starting with pizza and ending up with vegan ice cream. Love it!

All of the allergens at FoMu are really clearly labeled, so that makes ordering easy. The soy flavors of the day at FoMu were chocolate and peanut butter, so OF COURSE I got swirl. I topped mine off with crumbled chocolate cookie and it was DELICIOUS! My partner got some pistachio hard-packed on a cone which he also seemed to enjoy. Super highly recommended the next time you're in Allston, MA!

Viva Herbals

I really love Viva Herbals Pizzeria in New York City. When I stay in NY, I'm alway somewhere in the vicinity of it and they always have vegan slices affordably priced and ready to go! My favorite is the pictured slice covered in all things green. There is no tomato sauce on this slice, only a nut-free pesto. So green and delicious!

In addition to an awaiting plethora of vegan slices that they reheat in the oven for you before serving, there are also vegan garlic knots, soups, drinks, and a cooler full of sweets from Vegan Treats.

I will admit that many times in the past, I have been leaving dinner with friends and walking back to our hotel with my partner and we've stopped and picked up a slice from Viva Herbals to eat in the hotel room. It's kind of a tradition. When I was recently in NY, I wasn't eating quite that indulgently, but I did stop by and get this green slice and a kombucha for dinner one night.

At any rate, I really recommend Viva Herbals! Their ingredients are fresh-tasting and they have a variety of vegan pies ready to go. Since it's by the slice you can try a few different varieties if you're hungry (or dining with a friend).

The Herbivore Clothing Company

How do I love the Herbivore Clothing Company? Let me count the ways:

1. They make awesome, animal-loving designs.
2. They source high-quality, sweatshop free shirts to print on.
3. They carry other brands that are animal-friendly, high-quality, and sweatshop-free.
4. They have a really cute store in Portland.
5. I love wearing their stuff in the airport when I'm in transit because then lots and lots of people from all over see these messages.
6. I love love love that little piggie on my Bacon Had A Mom shirt. He so did.
7. They are generous and do awesome things to raise money for animal rights groups.
8. They are all around good dudes.

Herbivore had a break-in this week and are having a sale to help raise money to replace the glass in their front door, which was smashed. The code "brokenglass" at checkout will get you 10% off in their online store until tomorrow. I picked up a new laptop-sized purse because my current one has an actual hole worn through it (hoping it will become a Vegan Thing I Like) and would have gotten more if I had the cash!

Umpqua Oats

Being at the airport makes me SO hungry. I don't know why this is, but I think it's just that flying is less nauseating when you have had something to eat. So, I was really excited when I found these Umpqua Oats available for sale in a bookstore cafe at Midway Airport in Chicago. They are super simple, no sweetener, and delicious! The staff at the cafe added hot water and I added a cut up banana and this was a great travel meal. It also passed the "not stinky" test, which I think that ALL travel food should adhere to lest you gross out your fellow travelers with your food smells.

While I probably wouldn't buy these for home due to all of the excess packaging waste that creates, I would definitely buy them again while I was on the go. I believe I have seen them in other airports, as well, so keep your eyes peeled!

Columbia Gorge Bottled Juice

Oh heck yes. Columbia Gorge is FINALLY distributed in the Midwest and I can buy it at Whole Foods to my heart's content. Columbia Gorge makes delicious juices which are made from real juice and devoid of my all-time least favorite juice additive: "Natural" Flavors (because they consist of nothing necessarily actually natural or even defined as anything specific).

I love Columbia Gorge's "real" juice flavors like the pictured Carrot Beet Celery which they present as-is without the need for adding something severely sweet. The Meyer Ginger Lemonade with Cayenne is super awesome for fighting a sore throat and is just the right balance of spicy and sweet. I also like the (un-pictured) Vita Sea mix with contains fruit puree and sea veggies. I have yet to try a flavor from Columbia Gorge that I don't like.

At any rate, I really recommend this stuff and you should definitely choose it if you see it in the store. AND if you start to get that scratchy "getting sick" feeling in your throat, stop and pick up at Meyer Ginger Lemonade immediately!

Blackbird Pizzeria

Okay, so I have to really really apologize that the only photos that I have from Blackbird Pizzeria are of half-eaten food, but holy cow, this place is good. Back in June, we were traveling the East Coast for work and my birthday coincided with our visit to Philadelphia. I also lived in Philadelphia years ago and still have some friends out there, so I decided to have a birthday party! At Blackbird! With pizza and delicious cake!

Since we are friends with Mark, Blackbird's owner and chef extraordinaire, he kindly welcomed us with open arms. Our little party had a few pizzas (the Yukon with salty, thin-sliced potato is pictured along with what I believe is a custom pizza), sandwiches (they make a great Seitan Cheesesteak!), some experimental "wings" (also pictured), and an amazing "Oreo" (they were 365 brand) cake that Mark made just for the occasion! Seriously, how lucky am I??

A few of my friends who came out were not vegan, but had no complaints nor any idea that vegan food could be so tasty, so Blackbird was a big hit with everyone. Blackbird is located in the former Gianna's location off South Street and is doing vegan food way better (and for real this time)! If you are in Philadelphia, you MUST go! Also, I've gotta recommend going with a group so that you can try a little bit of everything. You will not be disappointed.

Rice Dream Mint Cookie Pies

Today's Thing I Like are Rice Dream Mint Cookie Pies! Oh man, I have been eating these things for probably nearly a decade and they are still a great go-to sweet snack. They are always something bought and eaten on the spot, never something that I buy and take home for later. In fact, back in the olden days when I lived further from a Whole Foods than was convenient, I would do my shopping there once a month and eat one of these babies in the car on the way home. These come in other flavors, but the mint is the clear winner. Paired with the two oatmeal cookies and all covered in chocolate, you can't go wrong. I only eat a couple of these a year, but foods like this are so much better in moderation!

Garden-Fresh Tomatoes

Okay, so today's Vegan Thing I Like is not a product or a restaurant or a person or a location, but it is something that I Like a lot: Tomatoes fresh from my own garden!

Generally speaking, my method of gardening is the following: Put stuff in the ground, water it, and hope for the best! This year, I planted everything into the garden straight from seeds actually kind of late in the season, but woah! The tomatoes really took off this year into giant bushes. (I also had cucumbers in abundance and even a few ears of corn.)

Honestly, one of my favorite indulgences these days is to stand in the garden eating delicious cherry tomatoes right off the plant. Of course, never far away is my sweet Maizy (you can see her lurking photo) who probably likes garden tomatoes even more than I do! I will definitely miss this when the winter hits!

Tutti Frutti Soy Frozen Yogurt

I recently found myself in Baltimore for Natural Products Expo East with some of the crew from work, as we were there exhibiting. One night after the convention was over, we decided to treat ourselves to Tutti Frutti, a vegan frozen yogurt store! Tutti Frutti has a few different vegan (soy) frozen yogurt flavors to choose from and TONS of toppings. The people working were also really nice in looking up the ingredients to things like their chocolate sauce and chocolate chips (mostly high fructose corn syrup on that first one, so you're technically in the clear, but I don't recommend laying it on too thick!). They do have a wide variety of toppings including fruit, candies, cookies (Oreos were an option), nuts, and sauces. I tried to lean towards the fruit side with my sundae. You pay by the pound, which is something I'd never experienced with a dessert food, everyone got to make their own personalized concoction (you can even swirl flavors of yogurt), and you even get to pick from multiple spoon colors. I wouldn't say that the yogurt itself was mind-blowing in any way, though it was good, but the experience of going to a place like this is something that is not often available for vegans, so I thought it was definitely worth a visit!

Lou Malnati's Chicago-style Pizza

So, I live in Chicago. I'm not from Chicago originally, but now that I'm here, there's this whole "Chicago-style Deep Dish" thing and, don't you know it, there's currently no restaurant that I know of in the city making a vegan Chicago-style deep dish with a cheese alternative. Well, don't worry about that! You can get deep dish that is completely amazing without the cheese and Lou Malnati's will make it for you. We recently had out of town guests visiting (from Portland!) and knew that they had to try this local cuisine. There are a few things to look out for when ordering from Lou's, like that their usual pizza spinach is soaked in butter, but they also have a fresh version for the salads that they can substitute. You have to be pretty clear, but their dough is vegan and this pizza is worth the effort. We had ours with spinach, olives, and hot giardinera (another Chicago food that I had never eaten before moving here), all topped with tomatoes (Chicago-style). This baby is loaded, oily enough that I couldn't dream of missing the cheese, and supported by a perfectly crunchy crust. I've seen attempts made at eating this by hand, but these are fork slices, for sure. Next time you're in Chicago, this is a food that I recommend not missing out on.

My New Sigg Bottle

Today's Vegan Thing I Like is my new Sigg bottle!! This is actually the second Sigg bottle I've owned, but earlier this year I left a Vega Shake in my former Sigg and then it rolled under the car seat and let's just say I haven't fully finished cleaning it out yet.

At any rate, I was in Central New York earlier this year and I had to visit Wegmans. While I was there, I figured I might as well get myself a new water bottle for travel. I hesitate to admit that it probably took me between 10-15 minutes of looking through all of the design options on the Sigg shelves at Wegmans before I could choose this winner, but I did. Flowers? Technical designs? Doodles? Ultimately, this werewolf won out because it is pretty awesome. I like these bottles because they are the perfect size and don't have a "sport" top which I find pretty useless with a bottle that you can't squeeze and also hard to clean (see above for a hint at my issues with cleaning). There are a lot of debates over which kinds of reusable bottles are the healthiest to drink from, but I feel pretty good about the Sigg and I like that they must be invested in supporting design by offering a huge variety of styles to choose from. So, Sigg gets my vote.

It's MoFo Time!

It's October and that means Vegan MoFo time! Last year, I had a theme, but this year I'm going to use MoFo as an inspiration to TRY REALLY HARD to post once a day. I don't have any posts pre-written as of yet, so this may be a challenge, but I'm eager to share all of the many Vegan Things I've liked this past year, but haven't yet had the opportunity to post about! So, here's to a great October! Happy Blogging to all of the other MoFo participants!

That's a Wrap!

Yeah! We've reached the end of Vegan MoFo and I could not be more grateful to the 31 amazingly awesome people who contributed to make this month of Vegan People I Like possible! It was such an awesome, informative experience and I really enjoyed compiling everyone's entries and having the opportunity to write about so many people who I REALLY LIKE. You are all the best. In the future, I hope to continue to occasionally feature other Vegan People. It's a really nice way to learn about new vegan products and also to hear about the inspiring work that is being done by so many. You all ROCK SO MUCH. Also, hello and thanks to all of the new blog subscribers who joined on as a result of this blog's participation in Vegan MoFo! It's so nice to have you here! I hope you'll join in the conversation about the Vegan Things You Like and that this blog will potentially introduce you to some great new Vegan Things!

Amanda Riester likes The Chicago Diner

Amanda Riester is a super inspiring lady and one of the newest members of the Upton's family, as she's recently started working with us to do in-store demos! Who isn't going to want to stop and chat up this lady when they see her sampling seitan in their local store!? She's a competitive body builder, recently winning first place in the ABA Natural North America 2011 and a former Golden Gloves boxer. So yeah, she's pretty awesome. In addition to that badassery, she's also a pit bull mom (me too!) and pet-loss grief counselor. She's the total package of kindness, compassion, knowledge, experience, and good lookin' to boot. What's not to like?! Amanda rocks!

The Vegan Thing Amanda Likes is the Chicago Diner (YUM!)!

What vegan thing do I like? Where do I even begin? I love so much! I suppose other then seitan, which I eat 4 times a day, my favorite vegan thing is The Chicago Diner. It is by far my favorite restaurant! Other then being on my couch cuddled up with my hubby and dogs while watching reruns of The Golden Girls, there is no place in the world I would rather be! I absolutely LOVE it there!

Photo of the Diner's Soul Bowl (obviously)
taken from VeggieDiner.com!

My favorite meal goes like this:
An appetizer buffalo wings with ranch. My main course is a gyro with sweet potato fries and for dessert the chocolate cheesecake with extra whipped cream followed by a cup of their delicious coffee with soy! Sometimes on Sundays, my mom and I drive all the way out there from Schaumburg just for a cinnamon roll and coffee.


When I was training for my last competition, my diet was so strict I had limited food options, but their soul bowl was the perfect meal for me! Yumm!

Emelda Kavanaugh-Ortiz likes Broad Shoulders Animal Rescue

The Vegan Person I Like today is Emelda Kavanaugh-Ortiz! Emelda is a dedicated friend to the animals and the Founder and Board President of Broad Shoulders Animal Rescue. If you're friends with Emelda on Facebook, sometimes you'll get lucky enough to get an updated on the small army of foster animals at her home, including teeny tiny kittens (I hear you bloggers are big cat people, so look, there's a picture of a cat right there! Pandering!). Emelda is a full-time proponent of social justice who also works with the Chicago Abortion Fund and has worked with Food Not Bombs, Animal Defense League, and others. She is a wonderful person to get connected with and, if you're looking for a new cat to move into your house and feature in your blog, she's got you covered!!

The Vegan Thing Emelda Likes is her rescue, Broad Shoulders Animal Rescue!

(Oh my gosh, THAT FACE!!!)

If I can bang my own drum, my favorite vegan thing is the rescue I’m a part of, Broad Shoulders Animal Rescue. As a rescue, we are 100% foster-home based and are all volunteer. We promote animal adoption, Trap-Neuter-Return of feral cats and other animals (the only scientifically proven and humane method for dealing with alley cats), the No-Kill Movement (a fight to stop shelters from killing the animals in their care) & veganism.

We are the only active rescue I know of that focuses on cats and dogs (and small animals occasionally!) that promotes veganism. “Go vegan” is on our business cards, veganism is discussed in our literature and at our orientations, we promote vegan websites/business/etc. on our social media sites and website, and all adopters get vegan information in their adoption packets. Our board is 100% vegan run, all of the events we organize are vegan, and we promote plant-based diets for any animal that can be healthy on such a diet.

We’re celebrating our 3rd year this November with an all-you can eat vegan waffle brunch!

As an attendee in previous years, I can confidently say that the Vegan Waffle Brunch hosted by Broad Shoulders is super delicious, fun, and for a great cause! I highly recommend that you carve out some time to attend this year! You can connect with Broad Shoulders on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

Andrea Govender likes Justin's Peanut Butter Cups

Today's Vegan Person I Like is my old friend, Andrea Govender! I have known Andrea since sometime in the 90's when we spent years navigating hardcore shows and a seemingly vegan-unfriendly suburban Detroit together. Andrea still lives in Detroit, in a big, beautiful, old home that she is restoring with her husband, Curtis. I love her dedication to and passion for a city that so many have left behind (guilty as charged!). Andrea is a jack of all trades working as a nanny and a rock-climbing instructor in addition to being a student and a mom! So yeah, she's a total badass.

She's pictured here with her son, Arlo, and the other Vegan Thing She Likes, Justin's Peanut Butter Cups.

I love many things that are vegan, but when I tried to think of something to write this post on nothing seemed exciting enough. I eat a pretty boring diet, lots of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, etc. very delicious but not amazing. So last week while grocery shopping I kept an eye out for something new and delicious to try, I found it with Justin’s Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups. I prefer homemade ones, but if I make a batch I’ll eat too many so these are good in a pinch to satisfy my yearning for the chocolate peanut butter combo. I’m also excited about these peanut butter cups because it’s amazing to find something like this at the store! Being vegan has become much easier over the past fifteen years and I’m thrilled to find things like this commercially available. I had the little boy I babysit for, who is not vegan, try them and even he liked them. The picture shows me holding a new vegan thing I like, the peanut butter cups, and my son wearing his favorite vegan thing a “Bacon had a Mom” t-shirt from Herbivore clothing. Thanks Nicole for allowing me the opportunity to share a vegan thing I like!

Chris Zibutis likes Vega Sport

The Vegan Person I Like today is huge nerd (and, yes, my friend), Chris Zibutis. I mentioned Chris in yesterday's post about his wife, Monica, with whom he lives (duh) and works as a wedding photographer. In addition to photographing weddings, Chris also does other projects including a lot of artist and live music photography, which you can admire on his blog! He's even photographed me and my dogs and made us look good! Chris also makes some downright decent homemade seitan (no sponges!) AND made homemade vegan candy corns at Halloween last year! This is a man with talent!

Photo from shop.sequelnaturals.com

The Vegan Thing Chris Likes is Vega Sport Performance Protein.

After trying many many different vegan proteins and different supplements I have come to the conclusion that Vega Sport Perfomance Protein is hands down the best.

Unlike most Vegan proteins that focus on just one kind of protein or soy protein isolate, Vega makes their own blend of Yellow Pea, Brown Rice, Alfalfa, Hemp and Saviseed (sacha inchi) proteins. It also contains 5,500mg of BCAAs and 5,000mg of glutamine per serving. So you don't have to worry about finding additional vegan supplements.
And most importantly it tastes awesome!

Monica Zibutis Likes Ras Dashen

Today's Vegan Person I Like is Monica Zibutis! She is a stellar wedding photographer and all around super great lady! She works weddings as a team with her husband, Chris, pictured at left. Seriously, if you are getting married anywhere in the world, hire Monica. In fact, even if you're not planning on getting married, you might want to consider it just to get your photos taken by these two. They regularly travel the country (and further!) to shoot beautiful pictures of beautiful people in beautiful locations. You can visit Monica's website here and her blog here. As you can maybe guess from her photo, Monica is getting ready to save us all by populating the world with a new generation of awesome vegans. I can't wait to meet her little human baby (which flavor she's having remains to be seen), but it would be great if s/he waited to join us until after the legendary Zibutis Thanksvegan celebration so that we can all still attend and chow down. See you in December, Zibaby!

The Vegan Thing Monica Likes is Ras Dashen Ethiopian restaurant in Chicago!

I like Ethiopian food, specifically from Ras Dashen in Chicago. I haven't had many pregnancy cravings but that is one thing I just cant get enough of! I liked it before too but lately we have eaten there every time possible that we have been in Chicago. the foods are so simple and delicious and while we usually feel very full afterwards, we never feel awful or greasy like we do after some meals out. 

In addition to attesting that Monica is awesome, I can also attest to the awesomeness of Ras Dashen where we just recently went out to eat WITH Monica and Chris! Monica even brings home extra injera bread to snack on for the next few days after a visit. She is committed.

Jess Sconé likes Food for Lovers Vegan Queso

She may be presenting a pie, but Jess is really thinking about queso.
Image credit: Lucas DeShazer

Jess Scone is the adorable, smiling face behind the blog Get Sconed! (@getsconed on Twitter) where she is dedicating her Vegan MoFo month to animals writing (sometimes - or you know, always - via the help of a human typist) about their favorite vegan foods, pastimes, etc and included my sweet Maizy. Super cute! Jess is also one of the organizers for both Vida Vegan Con and Portland's Vegan Iron Chef. She's also the coolest. I totally love her unwavering devotion to her projects (seriously, the attention to detail that the Vida Vegan Con ladies exhibited and in that pantry selection at Vegan Iron Chef... holy smokes!) and how friendly and laid back she is. She laughs really easily (and a lot) which makes you feel nothing but comfortable around her. Jess rules!

Zelda contemplates her own spicy treat.

The Vegan Thing Jess Likes is Food for Lovers Queso!

This vegan queso is unbelievable and shows just how far the understanding of nutritional yeast has come. It's wonderfully creamy with a nice amount of heat and I'm so attached to the cute little jars that I keep my favorite hair clips in a cleaned one in the bathroom. With each bite, I wonder, why doesn't every single vegan-friendly taqueria serve this yet?! Hint hint, Los Gorditos! True story: I came home after the non-stop weekend that was Vida Vegan Con (where I met said lovely queso purveyors!), barely had the energy to open the fridge, let alone grab take out, but I was so damn hungry! A nuked jar of queso + the end of a bag of chips saved my life. Thank you, Food for Lovers! You really make me consider a party with a nacho pump.

Marla Rose likes Iced Tea

Marla Rose is another Chicago vegan and one of the main organizers for Chicago VeganMania along with her husband, John. She's also the lady dressed like a cupcake on the website (and at the event)! She writes the awesome blog, Vegan Feminist Agitator in addition to being the Chicago Vegan Restaurant Examiner. She is a super upbeat and nice lady, unless you write something ignorant on the internet and then she will eloquently rip you to shreds. Yep, Marla is pretty darn cool.


The Vegan Thing She Likes is Iced Tea!

Maybe I’m weird that with all the great vegan stuff out there, I choose iced tea. As long as it’s not caffeinated, it’s fresh and there is plenty of ice, I am usually pretty content. (Oh, except for the ultra-fruity teas that taste very artificial or the ones that are supposed to mimic coffee or the ones that are just too wispy and unassertive. Okay, I am a pain.) As someone who almost literally bounces off walls after consuming anything with even the notion of caffeine in it, I am grateful for tall glasses of this stuff. It tastes the very best when my husband pours it for me: he balances the ice somehow like a staircase, the tea is just perfectly refreshing. Or maybe I’m just lazy and I want him to bring me tea. It’s my little secret.

I just happen to have the Trader Joe’s brand Organic Spiced Rooibos Ruby Red Chai here as I am on this particular kick - I am a serial monogamist with the iced tea that strikes my fancy until I move on to another and eventually wander back to teas I have left in the dust (they always forgive me) – and it is a good one. I like rooibos in general because it reminds me of a milder, smoother black tea and this one, flavored with cloves, cardamom, nutmeg and other aromatic spices, is great on its own, with an orange slice or lemon slice or even, if you’re feeling in the mood for a little decadence, dressed up with a glug of maple syrup and a few splashes of coconut milk creamer for a homemade iced tea latte. Mmm…

I spend most of my day writing and a glass of iced tea is my perfect companion. Occasionally the ice shifts and there’s a little clink as everything moves around but other than that, the iced tea is a perfectly silent, supportive companion. It makes me feel a little taken care of whether I’m in the throes of writer’s block or in the midst of a creative flow and is just another example of a lovely thing that happens to be vegan by nature.