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!

Golden Krust at Newark Airport

My first trip to Newark Airport a few months ago was pretty miserable. We had just finished a week-and-a-half trip and were eager to get home. We get to the airport, return our rental, take the train with the too-tiny-to-navigate pods that people can't get their luggage out of quickly, get to our terminal, go through the security line, and discover that there is pretty much NO real food in the gate area (which is also really sequestered - this airport has a strange design). So, my partner goes back out of security and finds Golden Krust, a "Caribbean Bakery & Grill" located in the outer ring of the airport. They have fresh juice, but of course you can't bring juice through security (it being a liquid and all), so I go out and meet him, enjoy our juice, and we return back to our gate in plenty of time to leave.

On my most recent trip to Newark Airport, I was slightly wiser from my past experience. I stopped by Golden Krust before hitting up the (LONG) security line and picked up something security-line-friendly, a delicious fruit salad! Seriously, in terms of most airport food, and especially most airport fruit, this thing was like the Holy Grail. Super fresh, delicious, and not just a pile of dry melon with a few grapes (or a waxy apple, or two bananas shrink-wrapped against a foam tray). I mean, look at it!! Mango! Berries! Delicious! I ate half at the gate and half again a few hours later on the plane. Extra points for this being non-stinky plane food (it should be a crime to allow people to bring McDonald's on the plane).

I have not yet tried anything else available at Golden Krust. It is, as the name implies, all Caribbean food, which I am not much familiar with and I'm pretty sure would be decidedly un-vegan, but the fact that they are making fresh fruit and juices available to travelers still makes them a thing that I definitely like. Also, check out this Jamaican "Peanut Punch" that I found there (didn't try it, though). "Ingredients: Water, Peanut Paste, Soy Protein, Sugar, Flavouring." Interesting! Probably not something I would buy, but maybe you will??

2011 - A Travel Recap

I've wanted to compile this list for a while and here it is! A list of everywhere (outside of the Chicago metro area) that we (Dan and I) visited (and ate) in 2011! Most of these were for seitan-related work, but a few also included yoga-teaching work.

January
Minneapolis/St Paul (driving from Chicago, so we stopped at a number of co-ops along the way there and back including a stop in Madison, WI)

February
Peoria, IL

March
Tokyo
Detroit, MI (Veg MI Fest)

April
Los Angeles, CA
San Francisco, CA (drove up from LA... amazing!)

May
Oregon, IL (Yoga and Vegan Cooking Retreat)

June
Portland, OR
Madison, WI (Mad City Veg Fest)

July
Madison, WI (Willy Street Co-op Member Party)
Lake Geneva, WI (Yoga Journal Conference to practice with my teacher, Dharma)
Portland, OR (Vegan Iron Chef)

August
Portland, OR (Vida Vegan Con)
Seattle, WA

September
Portland, OR (VegFest)

October
Dallas, TX (TX State Veggie Fair)
Austin, TX

2012 is already promising to be equally exciting. In the first 6 months we are slated to visit Los Angeles, India, Dallas, Detroit, New Orleans, and Portland! I hope to find many more Vegan Things I Like on these upcoming adventures!

Miso

Just like my previous post about pineapples, I am also no expert on miso's various types and forms, but I do know that it is a Thing I Like. The only other thing I know is that it is sitting in a plastic package in my fridge in a goo-form and that it is delicious. Oh, also, if you add too much of it to food, it becomes inedible. I am not a very adventurous cook and am pretty much seasoning-knowledge deficient, so miso is a pretty good thing to have around. You can add it to water and make a broth that is tasty and only required one simple step. On Monday, I put some miso in water, heated it up, added some dehydrated tofu and seaweed (both purchased at the Mitsua Market in Arlington Heights), with fresh bok choy, broccoli, and sprouts and voila! Chunky miso-flavored soup for dinner!

In March when we visited Japan, my partner geniusly crafted a noodley miso soup with ingredients from a local convenience store right in our hotel room rice cooker. Seriously, brilliant! All 24-hour stores should carry miso, rice noodles, and tofu!

Ginger Candy

Ginger candy is another one of my must-have travel items. If you find yourself getting queasy on a plane, then a ginger chew will fix you right up! They also help keep all of those buggies that your fellow travelers bring with them from settling into your system so that you stay healthy on your trip. During takeoffs and landings, you can almost always find me with a ginger chew in my mouth. Much better than gross gum or sugary candies, too!

I picked up this box of Gin-Gins (made by the Ginger People) on clearance at Food Fight several trips ago and it has served me well. The final Gins were consumed on the most-recent flight and I will have to restock before next month's trip for certain!