Noshtopia

Food Gawking: Whole Foods Vegan Baked Goods

Overall, I've been absolutely loving my move to Phoenix from the Bay Area. However, there is one major thing I am missing most and that is a variety in choices of vegan baked goods, particularly the vegan baked goods at Whole Foods bakery. Vegan or not, these baked goods are just gooood.

My absolute favorite is the Banana Walnut muffin. Ah see, deelish!

My second favorite vegan muffin is the Zuchini Nut. Oooo, nice!

Then there are the vegan donuts. My fave are the cherry and the crumble.

And lastly check out these cookies. The best in my opinion is the vegan German chocolate, chocolate chip cookie. Um, heaven in a cookie!

Note: All pictures were taken with an iPhone 3GS

There is also vegan poundcake and various other cakes like German Chocolate. And lastly, I cannot forget the vegan cupcakes like this decadent chocolate cupcake. Oh yes, we are sugar overloading, but I cannot help myself.

It doesn't taste vee-gan

To me, what makes the Bay Area Whole Foods baked goods so awesome is that in most cases, you cannot tell when eating the goods that they are vegan. The baked goods are just good...period. I believe this is the key to vegan fods crossing over into mainstream popularity. The food just has to taste good first and be a wonderful experience in the mouth. Then you tell the eater after they've had some pleasurable bites, "...and by the way, it's vegan."

For example, I've bought the vegan banana walnut muffin for friends and family and didn't tell them it was vegan. I waited til they took some bites, and asked them what they thought. "Delicious" was a common answer. Then I'd tell them it was vegan, and you should see the reaction which was mostly, "Oh really, it doesn't taste vegan." Whatever "vegan" is supposed to taste like who knows. I'm guessing the assumption is grassy and bland.

It's cool to see the pleasant surprised look on people's faces.

While I'm visiting the Bay Area, I will continue to enjoy the vegan baked goods here. You can find me with a banana nut muffin in hand!

One Reason I Kept The Food Allergies On The Down Low

When I first found out I had food allergies to cow milk, chicken eggs and a slew of other things, I kept it a secret particularly to my parents, wonderful people who cook the most delicious Filipino dishes many of which contain eggs and dairy like Leche Flan, Babinka, and my mom's lumpia. She throws egg in there.

I kept my allergies a secret from my parents mainly because anything health related they take to heart immediately which means my mom will no longer make or let me eat all those foods she makes which can make me feel bloated, gassy, and sometimes welty afterwards.

Food and culture

But see, I don't care, and I didn't want my mom to start being food police. I suck it up because one, I don't get to eat my parent's cooking that often and two, these foods are a part of my culture, they are delicious and comforting, and I feel like giving up my Filipino foods would be like giving up a part of who I am.

I'd rather be puffy and gassy then start feeling like I have to give up parts of me even for my health's sake. That is until a doctor tells me I have to stop or I'll die, need major surgery or lifelong stays in the hospital.

I'm not saying my outlook is right or wrong. I'm not advocating that you defy your food allergies and doctors, and continue to eat those things that make you feel un-well. I'm just saying I get it, and saying that there is nothing weak or wrong with you if you're like me.

We're human and living in society where food like cow meat & milk based products, wheat, and corn are pervasive, and tied to foods that we all love to enjoy. Twice a month, I'll eat some ice cream or cheese like at the Cowgirl Creamery's Artisan Cheese Shop in the SF Ferry Building. (picture above) I do find that if I eat organic or raw cheeses, and in small doses, my physical reactions are minimal. 

Again, you should always follow what your doctors say, and if you break that, be aware there are consequences. But like I said, I do feel you. It's tough feeling like you are missing out.

I finally fess up

So, earlier this year, I told the folks about my food allergies. They were supportive and a little shocked because neither one of them have food allergies. Dad wondered where the allergies came from, and I have to say, I wonder the same thing all the time.

And like I predicted, mom started food policing, but it’s really not that bad. One of my rituals with Dad is to go to Costco, shop, and then get a slice of pizza in their cafe. We still do that because like I said, I’d rather have that time with my dad than sit there and eat nothing. Now, I just peel off the cheese.

Doesn't Milk Come From Cartoon Cows?

For some reason, my initial reaction to the pictures of real cows on these Whole Foods 365 brand milk cartons was "WTF." I'm kinda freaked out. I've never seen real cows on a milk container before.

Now, pictures of real cows on a milk carton should not be freaking out worthy so I had to contemplate why I had the reaction I did. I mean it's just a cow face. It's not like a picture of cow udder being milked. And, the cows look cute in a petting zoo kind of way. The marketing guru in me is coming out.

While contemplating my real-cow-picture reaction, I took this picture of other milk cartons. See, this is how I'm used to seeing cows on milk cartons: cute cartoon cows. Awww, so cuddly!...and not real looking.

I eat vegan dishes and drink rice, coconut, and nut milks because of a dairy & milk allergy not because of values around animals. I still enjoy a good hamburger and beef spaghetti sauce. I also wear leather shoes and jackets. Suddenly though, with these real cow pictures, I'm feeling my animal values being challenged. Is there a part of me that does have issue with the concept of drinking milk from a living animal?

Then it hits me. Ignorance is bliss. I don't really want to know where the milk comes from. I just want to pour milk out of a container and eat my cereal. Part of me doesn't want to see the realness. As well, if you see the realness then you have to really think about whether it bothers you or not. Again, I'm happy to just think about milk in my cream of wheat.

I'm now hit with some realization that there's a part of me, albeit naive and ridiculous in a Tooth Fairy way, that prefers to believe that milk comes from cute cartoon cows instead of real ones because it's comforting somehow and less harsh reality.

Having worked in marketing in my previous life, I also understand that my cartoon cow view is also not un-ordinary. Product packaging can be very much a roll of the dice because so much of it is based on human reaction and perception which is not always driven by reality nor logic.

Honestly, and not saying it's right or wrong, in a market research panel, I would be the participant whose feedback is, "On milk carton, nix the real cows. Prefers cute cartoon cows."

5 Reasons Breakfast Rocks Your Body

I know. You hear it everywhere.

• "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day."
• "Breakfast is for champions."
• "Don't skip breakfast."

But if you're like me, breakfast can be one of the most challenging meals of the day mainly because of things like you're not hungry yet, you're running late to work or school, or you just forget because your brain is already inundated with stuff you gotta do that day.

"Because you should" never works in motivating me to eat breakfast. However, specific benefits are motivating especially if the payoff is something that I really want, and I mean really want.

Here's 5 benefits to eating breakfast that I find influencing:

• I get to eat. I've turned my passion of eating into this blog. When I remember that I just enjoy the action of eating (in general), I suddenly want to nosh on something. Most mornings, I just don't feel like eating so it becomes way easy to skip breakfast. But when I think, "Oooo we get to eat." Oatmeal here I come...

• I no longer care about skinny foods. I care about power foods. Over time, the dieting or "get skinny" mentality starts to brainwash you into eating less and less which eventually means you start cutting out entire meals all together like ahem...breakfast. Eating quality foods packed with nutrients in the morning like fresh organic fruits and even fish (typical in Asian breakfasts) makes me feel strong. I'd rather feel strong and fueled up in the morning than empty and faint.

• Breakfast prevents me from overeating at lunch which I can easily do at the sandwich bar or salad buffet places like Fresh Choice. I typically eat a later lunch like after 1pm so if the last meal I had the previous day was at 8pm, then that's 17 hours between meals, so yeah, the body can get screaming like Little Shop of Horrors, "FEED ME Seymour!" Ravenous is not pretty which leads to...

• When you go too far long time-wise between meals, you start training your body to hoard calories and slow down your metabolism. And OMG, no one wants to slow down their metabolism or make it sluggish. Mostly, we try to find ways to speed up the metabolism or keep it active, and eating breakfast will help accomplish that result. 

When you don't eat for long periods of time, the body starts to think it's going into starvation mode so it will cling onto and hold onto every calorie and ounce of food (energy) it can get it's hands on affecting your metabolism by slowing it down to preserve energy. Our bodies are very smart that way, as the body is engineered to help us stay alive. Eating breakfast helps break up that long time between dinner the night before and lunch the next day which keeps your metabolism active.

• Breakfast is delicious and pleasurable when you eat good foods, and if I can get more pleasure in the day, I'm all over it! Which brings us back to benefit #1, I get to eat, and we <3 eating!

Now that breakfast sounds really good, here's some ideas (all links have pictures):

• Scrumptious cantaloupe with ginger snap granola and greek yogurt (use rice or coconut milk based yogurts for vegan breakfast)
• The picture at the top of the post is my typical simple oatmeal dish: Plain oatmeal with rice milk. Sweeten with agave and mix in walnuts and sliced bananas. Here's 4 other ways I eat oatmeal: Toasty Sweet Pumpkin, Crunchy Banana Walnut, Snickerlicious, and Papaya Pecan.
• Sweet Potato Hashbrowns with Turkey Bacon
• Scrambled egg whites with Mango Chicken Sausage (I buy these at Trader Joe's)
• For brunch with friends: Zesty Fruit Kabobs

What are some of your favorite breakfast foods?

 

Sweets In A Cup: Mint Chip Ice Cream With Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Doesn't that just look dee-lish-ious! What you probably would never have guessed is that the Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies are vegan made by Fabe's All Natural Bakery brand, and the Mint Chip ice cream is the Tempt brand made from hemp milk by Living Harvest.

Yes, that's right hemp milk.

I thought ick too but just wait

Now before some of you click away and go ewww like I almost did when I first heard of hemp milk ice cream, listen for a second because it really is inviting, and I'll tell you why. The taste buds don't lie, at least mine don't, and frankly they are ruler of my eating universe. I'm not going to let a dairy & egg allergy stop me from enjoying food. We just get creative and more open minded.

Now, my first thought of this hemp milk ice cream was, "Is this going to taste like chocolate chips and mint mixed in some grassy tasting frozen ice." Yes, kinda judgmental and more so because most hemp milks I have tried in the past have a grassy taste and visions of dancing hippies pop into my head. I'm not saying it's right, I'm just saying that's some imagery that I associate with hemp. I doubt I'm not alone.

Anything with cookies & chocolate is worth a gander

Pal @jenmyronuk swears that the hemp milk Mint Chip ice cream is awesome so I am open minded. We were in search of dessert after our fabulous salmon and chicken dinner at My Florist Cafe. Initially, we ventured over to Whole Foods on Mayo Blvd because I told her that they could make lattes with rice, hemp, almond or coconut milk. I can't tell you how excited I was of this milk discovery because usually the only milk choices you get in a cafe is what percentage of fat you want in a cow milk or soy.

As we walk past the bakery in Whole Foods, we see stacks of various Fabe's vegan cookies, and light bulb goes off. How about crumbling some cookies in the ice cream. The ice cream is in a plastic cup because we decided to stay at Whole Foods and eat our dessert there along with our coconut milk lattes.

Three things I liked about the Mint Chip hemp milk ice cream:

• No grassy taste at all - very crucial.
• Very nice refreshing after taste from the mint. Regardless if it's cow milk or whatever milk, you want a nice subtle minty aftertaste with Mint Chip ice cream, and this Tempt haz it.
• Delicious. Again, no matter what something is made of, if it tastes good and has good texture, then I'm a happy camper.

Texture wise, to me, I would compare this hemp milk ice cream to an ice cream made with a non-fat to 1% cow milk, so it's on the lighter side.

Would I get this Tempt Mint Chip hemp milk ice cream again? Most definitely! And now, I want to try the other flavors. Have you tried any of the other Tempt ice cream flavors, and what did you think?

Steph's Labor Day 09 Food Feast

In my mind, 3-day weekends are pretty much food free days where you can eat whatever you want guilt free. Pal @jenmyronuk flew in on Sunday to come visit me and some other girl friends here in Phoenix, and zOMG! did we eat well. And yes, of course, in beautiful pictures, I shall share some of those eats with ya'll.

On Sunday for early, early dinner, like 5pm Senior citizen time kinda dinner, we ate at My Florist Cafe & Bar. Now Jen has the same cow milk and chicken egg allergy that I have so it's perfect when we eat out together. Even though the cow milk is off limits, goat milk is okay.

For appetizer, we started out with the Bruschetta which comes in 4 different toppings on top of a cheese. You can order different kinds of cheeses, but we just got goat cheese on all the bread. What was nice was that they spread a light coat of goat cheese on so the cheese didn't overpower the Bruschetta. The toppings we got were smoked salmon with capers, figs & pistachios, red peppers & artichoke, and prosciutto with figs. Fabulous!

For main course, I got the Salmon Salad on top of mixed greens and arugula with tomatoes, red onions, capers, and a lemon thyme dressing. The Wild Atlantic Salmon was tender and juicy. The salad came with a feta cheese, but instead of feta I asked for caramelized onions because I love them onions.

BTW, I took these pictures on my new 3GS iPhone, and with some Photoshop wizardry, voila! It's not Nikon fancy quality but again, I'm pretty impressed. I'm learning the key to good iPhone pictures is lighting. It's best to take pics in nice natural sun light.

Jen got the Baja Salad with chicken, roasted red peppers, caramelized onions, roma tomato with balsamic vinaigrette.

On Monday, Labor Day, we met Jen's friends Becky and Margaret and her son for brunch at the Breakfast Club in Scottsdale. I got the Turkey Club on 9 grain bread which had turkey breast, bacon, avocado, and spicy mustard.

The Club normally comes with pepper jack cheese and a chipotle mayo but I ixnayed those two things because of the dairy and eggs. The mustard was great on its own. And oh yeah, on the side there is sweet potato fries. Heavenly! I only ate half the sandwich, and got the other half to go.

I was craving Salmon & Lox but decided I craved bacon and turkey more. Jen however got the bagel delight. Instead of cream cheese, that's goat cheese, and ya know, it's just as tasty. Margaret got the Cinnamon Challah French Toast that comes with candied nuts, seasonal berries, and Vermont maple syrup. Sorry, I didn't get a snapshot of her dish or Becky's who got an egg & potato dishie.

After brunch, we walked around the Scottsdale Fashion Mall next door for a few hours. Then came time for Happy Hour at The Yard House for half priced appetizers and cocktails. Margaret took off, but then friend Dawn joined us for eats & drinks. I was craving a Cosmo so indulged in a couple. What the heck, it's kinda like vacation when visitors when come to town.

We kinda loaded up on appetizers thinking they would be small, but uh no, the portions were fairly large. Here's two of the appetizers we got. First is one of my favorite overall appetizers, chicken lettuce wraps.

Becky ordered this Spicy Tuna Roll which looked more like a pie than a roll packed with seared Ahi, avocado, edamame, cucumber, and wasabi soy sauce. Next time I go to the Yard House, I'm definitely getting this Spicy Tuna Roll because it was a fabulous light healthy Asian dish that doesn't make you feel heavy.

The other appetizers we got included, Beef sliders, buffalo wings, and a cheeseless Hawaiian pizza. And yeah, even between four hungry ladies, that was quite the feast, but it was dee-lish!

Of course, the weekend would not be complete without desserts, and in the next post, I'll share with you the vegan cookies, ice cream, and oh-my-frickin-goodness Sprinkles cupcakes which are so not vegan but ahem sometimes you just gotta indulge.

Relishing One Thousand Beans on Pita

Yesterday, at a brown bag event at Gangplank about social media and non-profits, I made a new friend @halfacat aka Roger who took me to this really cool place in Chandler for lunch called Pita Jungle. I met Roger via @KammieK all thanks to Twitter.

Wednesday marked my first full week as a Phoenix resident, and I'm telling you thanks to Twitter I'm able to meet people and make friends. When it comes to making a move to a new state, Twitter has proven to be a lifesaver.

Pitas are plentiful

We started out with a hummus appetizer, and for main course Roger had the Gyro and I had the One Thousand Beans which is a hot open pita topped with brown rice, mixed beans, tomatoes and onions. You can check out their pita menu. The food was faboosh!

btw, I took the pita beans picture with my new iPhone and it's pretty good. It's not my Nikon D50 quality, but for a camera phone I'm pretty happy. Admittedly, I did some tweaking in Photoshop, but still, you need to start out with a good quality picture to work with.

Diet changes can improve your health

Turns out Roger and I have lots in common particularly when it comes to views on food and health. He was a vegetarian and then 8 months ago went vegan in an effort to lower his cholesterol. I told him how I've experimented with all kinds of eating like raw, macrobiotic, vegan, vegetarian, Zone, etc. You name it I've tried it.

Roger's doc wanted to put him on the cholesterol lowering pills but Roger opted to try a nutritional change in diet first, and it worked. He got his cholesterol levels down significantly. No pills involved.

The change in diet is something I would have totally done too as I'm anti-pill especially when it comes to things that can be tied to what you eat on a daily basis. To me, it's worth trying the diet change first and see what happens.

If the diet changes don't work, okay then, do the pills. But still, I believe cleaning up your food, and finding something that nutritionally works for your body is still a better long term solution versus taking pills.

Roger also bakes and I told him how I've been missing my vegan banana nut muffins from Whole Foods in California. He's up for the challenge of baking me some muffins and gluten-free if I'd like. Yes please!

Plane Snacks: 25 Ideas For Healthier Noshing In The Air

When I travel on an airplane, I always bring snacks with me to ensure that I still eat healthy along the journey. It gets really tempting to eat those junk foods on the plane when you start feeling starved or simply bored.

A little planning on the food front is worth feeling great when you land at your destination.

Some of the snacks are better when kept cold. What I'll do for the real long flights is bring a sandwich size ziplock bag and put my cold snacks in a quart size ziplock. I ask the flight attendant for a glass of ice and put the ice in the sandwich ziplock and then put that bag of ice on top of my food item in the quart ziplock to keep it cool. Getting creative with ziplocks :)

Here's a list of some yummy snacks I have brought on an airplane with me:

• Hummus in a tube
• Mina Pitas stuffed with chicken, turkey, ham, cheese, tofu
• Avocado or cucumber maki rolls
• Snack size packaged cheese: String, Mini Babybel, Colby Jack, Cheddar
• Red or green grapes
• Plantain chips
• Green chile pistachios
• Dried Turkish Apricots
• Dried pineapple and walnuts (Reminds me of pineapple upside down cake)
• Baked Brown Rice Snaps
• Spelt pretzels

more.....

Baked Macaroni with Turkey Sauce and Rice Cheddar Cheese

I've always wanted to try Galaxy Foods Cheddar Rice Shreds more because I'm curious how this "cheese" melts. So, for the experiment, I made baked macaroni with turkey sauce and the cheddar shreds.

This recipe is really easy because I just use store bought stuff. Feel free to replace the brands I use with ones you like.

Ingredients (for 4 people):

• 1 jar of Whole Foods 365 brand organic pasta sauce
• 1 can of Muir Glen fire roasted diced tomatoes with medium green chilies (I like a little kick in my sauce and these tomatoes from Muir Glen are awesome.)
• 3/4lb ground turkey
• 1 cup dry macaroni pasta
• 1 bag Galaxy Foods Cheddar Rice Shreds
• Diced red onions
• Crushed garlic
• Salt, pepper, and Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute
• Worcestershire sauce
• Organic ketchup
• evoo

Let's get cooking:

• Heat the oven to 350 degrees

• Start to boil water in a pot to cook the macaroni

• In a pan, saute the diced red onions and garlic in evoo til soft.

• Add in the ground turkey and season with salt, pepper, Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute, and worcestershire sauce (I use about 4-5 dashes). Brown the meat.

• While the turkey is browning. Boil the macaroni pasta until it's al dente, that way the pasta can cook more when it's baking. Check your macaroni box for cooking times.

• When the turkey is all brown add in the jar of pasta sauce and the can of fire roasted diced tomatoes. Because I like pasta sauce with a little sweet zesty kick, I add some organic ketchup. Simmer and stir the tomato sauce with meat for about 5 minutes. 

• Drain the macaroni when it's done. In a glass dish mix the macaroni, meat sauce and cheddar rice shreds all together. Save some of the cheddar shreds for later as a cheesey topping. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 25 minutes.

• After 25 minutes, remove the aluminum foil and top the dish with more cheddar rice shreds. 

• Put the oven on broil until the cheese melts. You'll have to watch your oven because broiling can vary on the oven. Broiling is the best way to make this cheese melt so it gives the appearance of like how regular cow milk cheese melts.

So the Galaxy Foods Cheddar Rice Shreds doesn't really melt like cow milk cheddar but it's a nice try. The rice shreds are tasty, but again it's not exactly like the cow milk cheddar. You can taste a difference because there is less flavor.

Still, I would use the rice shreds again. Perhaps in the next dish we can try a Mac & Rice Cheese.

Sweet Potato Hashbrowns with Turkey Bacon

A couple weeks ago, I went to brunch with pal Diane, and the breakfast special at Hobee's was this sweet potato hashbrowns with turkey bacon and surprise ingredient maple syrup. Oh this dish was so tasty, and it looked so simple to make.

The ingredients are simple:

• Sweet potatoes
• Turkey bacon
• Onions
• Mushrooms
• Maple syrup
• Salt & pepper

I'm not sure how Hobee's made this dish, but this is what I would do:

• Cube 1-2 sweet potatoes and slightly boil them to soften them up but not too much because mushy sweet potatoes would not be good.
• Cut the turkey bacon in chunks and cook in a pan til slightly crispy.
• Take the turkey bacon out, and saute the onions and sweet potatoes in the bacon oil til the taters look a little crispy on the outside.
• Add in the mushrooms to the saute, and cook until the mushrooms and onions are soft. Season with some salt & pepper. You won't need much seasoning because the turkey bacon oil will be salty.
• Throw the bacon back in the pan with the onions, mushrooms, and sweet potatoes. Drizzle about 1 tablespoon of maple syrup on top of the potato mixture and mix.

Serve and enjoy!