Take a Hike Scone

The Vegan Thing I Like today is, I think, kind of unexpected. Bleeding Heart Bakery (multiple locations in the Chicagoland area) is known for their super sweet baked goods (some of which are vegan). Their cupcake icing is so sweet that they have a warning at the counter not to order it if you don't expect an explosion of sugar in your mouth. So, what's perhaps unexpected is that the item I like most of Bleeding Heart is one of their less sweet offerings - the perfectly amazing and delicious Take A Hike Scone.

This scone is darn near perfection. It's just sweet enough and loaded with seeds and dried fruits (no nuts or coconut, both of which I am allergic to - rejoice!). The inside is a bit cakey and crumbly while the outside is just a little bit crunchy. I seriously love this thing. Ever since the new, huge location opened up nearby work, I have to resist the urge to eat these more often. Fortunately, the price keeps me under control (it's worth it, but not always in my budget). Even though it seems weird, next time you're near the Bleeding Heart Bakery, I suggest that you pass by the cakeballs, cupcakes, and even the vegan donuts and go right for this baby! You will not be disappointed!

The Spiral Diner and Bakery

"The Mitch" Tofu Club with Potato Salad.

One of my favorite things about going to visit my mom in Dallas, TX is that I know we're going to go eat at the Spiral Diner (they also have a location in Fort Worth)! I love this place. The food is delicious, the atmosphere is comfortable, the staff is welcoming... what more could you want!? The food is satisfying, filling diner-style food without being heavy or overwhelming. They have a list on the wall of which ingredients are currently organic and a great list inside the menu of what "tempeh," "seitan" and other potentially mysterious ingredients are actually made of for the veggie diner first-timer. Each location has a great self-serve drink station with natural sodas on tap. In addition to being a great diner, they are also a bakery and always have a good selection of tempting vegan treats on hand so that you can end your meal with a cookie topped with a scoop of house-made ice cream anytime you like! The Spiral Diner also has a small "grocery" section at the front of each location with a few vegan staples, candies, books, tshirts, and more. Dallas is fortunate to have a place like this and I am fortunate to have another reason to visit Dallas more often!

The World's Largest Dog Collectables Museum

On our most recent trip to Texas, we drove from Dallas to Austin to spend a day there hanging out with our friends and visiting some new customers. We even hired a really great new Austin demo rep. On our way driving back to Dallas, we happened by a roadside attraction that we could NOT pass up: The World's Largest Dog Collectables Museum in Waco, Texas! The museum itself is situated in the corner of a large antique mall. Nothing in the museum is for sale, but many of the surrounding antique booths have great dog-related collectables. We could have easily spent hours here and not seen half of the thousands and thousands of items in the museum, but we saw what we could. We also looked high and low for a vintage pit bull figurine, but came up empty handed. When we left, since we hadn't bought anything, I tried to leave a donation for the dog museum, but the ladies at the checkout wouldn't hear of it. The dog museum is clearly a labor of love and I can't recommend it enough if you're passing by to budget the extra time to stop and take a good look around!

(Some more pictures of the museum can be found on this site!)

Oregano Oil

Well whew! Sorry about the recent lack of posts. Apparently, I decided to take a break coming off of VeganMoFo! At any rate, I'm back and I still like vegan things. Today's vegan thing is my ultimate winter (and all-season) don't-get-sick product: Oregano Oil. It is truly amazing. I always take this stuff during times of year when I'm more prone to sickness, and especially while traveling alongside so many people's germs, and it always does me right. I'm not generally a big advocate of supplements, etc for daily living, but this is one item that's worth the cost! It can be a little pricey, but for me the results are well worth it. I take about 5 drops a day during normal times and maybe 5 2x/day when I feel like I'm fighting off sickness. The oil itself burns, so I always put a little water in my mouth before dropping it in (you can also go a classier route and put your water and oil in a glass and drinking it). My boyfriend is more hardcore and puts the drops right under his tongue. I've also been told that you can get oregano oil capsules, but I can't vouch for their vegan-ness. At any rate, Oregano Oil is where it's at for avoiding sickness!

(The oil pictured here is Oreganol brand, which I love, but I've tried other brands as well with the same great results!)

A Blog Award!

In an effort not to be a jerk and despite the fact that Vegan MoFo is over, I have to thank Alexis over at Vegan Miss for passing along this kind award - The Liebster Award. It is much appreciated!

The award however comes with RULES! ;)


“Liebster” is German and means ‘dearest’ or ‘beloved’ but it can also mean ‘favorite’. The idea behind this award is to bring attention to bloggers who have less than 200 followers and show your support during Vegan Mofo!

The rules of winning this award are as follows:
1. Show your thanks to those who gave you the award by linking back to them.
2. Reveal 5 of your top picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
3. Post the award on your blog.
4. Enjoy the love and support of some wonderful people on the www!

And so, I would like to take this opportunity to highlight the following awesome blogs, not all of which are vegan-focused (and one of which I think has slightly too many followers), but all of which are awesome:

1. Southern Yogini

2. The Radiant Life

3. jesse.anne.o

4. For the Pit Bulls

5. Fifty

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!