Healthy Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Sweet Treat & Tacos.

I was dying for a sweet treat but I've been so bad lately with all the refined sugar and white flour desserts I've been making. I wanted to try something healthier and I've been inspired by the Happy Pear boys on youtube. They've been making great desserts made out of whole foods. This was my attempt at a dark chocolate peanut butter cake thingy. I was thinking along the lines of a peanut butter cup. It has ground almonds and cashews, natural chunky peanut butter (no sugar added), pureed dates and maple syrup sandwiched between dark chocolate. My filling was a little too wet but I didn't mind after all. I froze the dish for a few hours and it was perfectly sweet and decadent. And it did taste like peanut butter cup!

Went out to get veggie tacos at Baja Fresh tonight. Order the veggie tacos baja style with no cheese!

A Pizza and More salads.

This is a delicious pizza from BOSSA NOVA in West LA. It's a thin crust with homemade tomato sauce, roasted garlic, sun dried tomatoes and fresh arugula. I always get this when I go there.

Another salad I made with baby kale and mixed greens, maple orange tempeh and coconut bacon (from Salad Samurai) and other stuff.

A salad I made yesterday for lunch. Mixed power greens (baby kale, spinach, tatsoi etc.) with carrots, sauteed tofu, french fried onions, coconut bacon, cucumbers and "Back at the Ranch" salad dressing from Terry Romero's book, Salad Samurai.

4th of July weekend food.

A big giant burger with a vegan Boca patty, grilled veg and Chao Cheese!
I wasn't too fussy this holiday. Wanted to keep it simple.

Grilled veg, the usual.

Delicious beet and apple salad, a Happy Pear recipe (without the spinach and toasted nuts).

A very colorful coleslaw with a KFC style dressing (vegenaise, soymilk, lemon juice, vinegar, sugar).

Yesterday I made another BKT salad, this time with mixed greens which included baby kale, spinach, tatsoi etc. and I used coconut bacon instead of tempeh bacon. Still delicious!

Blueberry BISQUICK cake. I followed the old vintage recipe for "velvet crumb cake" but instead of the egg, I used half a banana, soymilk for the milk and instead of broiling a sugar/crumb mixture on top, I sprinkled a bit of brown sugar before baking. Oh and I added blueberries! This tasted exactly like blueberry muffin. I should have baked them in muffin tins.

The Salads In My Life.

I am really loving Terry Hope Romero's book, Salad Samurai! I've been on a BIG SALAD kick because of it. Here are a couple salads I made this weekend. I scored at the 99 cents store when I picked up organic baby kale, organic romaine and organic spring mix. They were the perfect base for the following luscious salads.

This is a BKLT salad (Bacon, Kale, Lettuce, Tomato). I love the maple dijon dressing from her recipe. I added vegan sausage, grape tomatoes, red peppers, red onion, french fried onions, vegan parmesan (sesame seed, nutritional yeast based) and Terry's coconut bacon! The coconut bacon bits are a perfect combination of salty, smoky and sweet.

This is another salad with the above mixed greens, steamed broccoli, Field Roast vegan sausage, Chao vegan cheese, french fried onions and topped with Terry's "Back at the Ranch" salad dressing which is cashew based. So good! Get this book now!

Salad Samurai: BLT salad

I just picked up Salad Samurai the cookbook and I can't wait to try all the recipes. There was one called BKT which is Bacon, Kale, Tomato salad that looked so good but I didn't have kale so I used romaine and baby lettuces instead. Turned out perfect. The dressing is a beautiful dijon/maple concoction that tastes wonderful. My tempeh bacon came out dark because I accidentally used gravy browning instead of liquid smoke! I eventually found the liquid smoke in the back of my cupboard and shook some into the tempeh marinade. Oops! The browning didn't alter the flavor in any way, it just made the tempeh a very dark brown.

I can eat this everyday it's so good.

Cake time: Victoria Sponge!

I was trying to hold out on making cake since I got back from England but I CAN'T HELP MYSELF! I was trying to stay away from sweets and be healthy but I broke down tonight and made one of my fave cakes: victoria sponge. I used kittee's vanilla cake recipe and used Bonne Maman Four Fruits jam and a classic vegan buttercream. Heaven. I didn't sweeten my cup of tea when I had my first slice because it is plenty sweet.

Eating vegan in England (London, Bath and Liverpool).

Hey all! Just got back from a mad 1 week trip to England. I was super busy running around seeing the sights that food was really the last thing on my mind! Weird! I'm usually eating all the time. Didn't have any issues finding vegan grub. Here's a quick run down of what I ate.

Pizza Express on Charlotte St. in Fitzrovia, London. They have a great pizza called Pianta pizza that has: Spinach, chestnut mushroom, pine kernels and artichoke on a spicy Arrabbiata base finished with rocket and extra virgin olive oil. No cheese. I asked them to make it "Romana" style which is a thinner crust. It was perfect.

The Coach and Horses on Greek Street in Soho, London. A vegetarian/vegan pub!

Tofu fish n chips!

This was my mom's burger. It's normally vegan but she got it with cheese.


A REALLY GOOD falafel wrap from Falafel Time at Camden Lock Market.


Crazy delicious passion fruit cheeze cake at Inspiral Cafe on Camden High St.


Melissa's patisserie had wonderful vegan pretzels. I tried the cinnamon pretzel and it was heaven in my mouth!

A couple of grocery runs when we didn't have time or energy to eat out. Some vegan items from Planet Organic on Torrington in Bloomsbury and the Sainsbury's Local at Euston. (The non-vegan items were for mom.)

Delicious thai food at Salathai in Bath. I asked them to make the red curry vegan by omitting fish sauce.



Delicious vegan carrot cake from Guildhall Markets in Bath.


Yummy samosa and potato dosa at the food stalls at Borough Market in Southwark.

What a treat! Kanom krok (thai coconut pancakes) at the "Kanom Krok" stall at Borough Market.

Went up north to Liverpool and had breakfast at Brasco Lounge at Pier Head. Vegan breakfast was just right.


Nando's at Queen's Square is known for chicken but they have several vegan options. I love the people in Liverpool. The owner/manager was super nice and chatted with us several times when we dined there. The guy at the register who was helping me out went out of his way to make sure what I ordered would be vegan. So nice!

This is their soya tomato burger. Ask for it with HOT sauce and no mayo. It's really good!
Here's an article about vegan options at Nando's: http://metro.co.uk/2016/03/24/yep-vegans-can-eat-at-nandos-heres-what-to-order-5773006/


Got a ready made hummus and roasted veg sandwich from a little bakery/cafe on Thurloe St. in South Kensington.

This was yummy!

Last night in London we ate at Chinatown at Canton Restaurant. Fried aubergine in garlic sauce and fried chinese broccoli. Asked for them without oyster sauce. My mom had chicken. I was glad that they could make my dishes vegan. They were very tasty.