Biscuits and Gravy across America!

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Soy Nog!

Tis the season for seasonally themed soy drinks, my two favourites being Silk's Nog and Pumpkin Spice.  Right now I'm cozying up with a mug of hot chicory faux-coffee with stevia and a generous amount of Pumpkin Spice soy milk, incredibly delicious!  It's doing a pretty good job of keeping my mind off the fact that I burned the end of my finger pretty good while making a test batch of my Dad's family recipe for candied potatoes in anticipation of a big potluck Thanksgiving feast this week.  Unfortunately, typing this blog is giving that burned finger a good reminder to be more careful on the next batch, ouch!
As the sole vegan at the upcoming potluck, I'm feeling the usual pressure to impress, lest people get the idea that vegan food is boring, so I'm pulling out all the stops.  I picked up a Tofurky, which I look forward to every year, and I made cranberry sauce from scratch.  For dessert I think I'll make an apple pie, since I'm no good at making vegan pumpkin pie, I'll leave that to the professionals.  And of course, there will be the candied potatoes and gravy.  I'd love to hear what fellow vegans are making for their Thanksgiving!
I've had a busy few months getting settled into life in Brooklyn.  I love my new neighbourhood in Bed Stuy, with it's beautiful old architecture and surprisingly easy to find vegan options, particularly compared to my old hood in Bushwick.  I walked around and took some pictures this week of some of my favourite buildings.

While I'm excited for winter and the chance to wear all my fabulous faux fur creations, I'm also looking forward to warmer weather so I can bike around and explore Brooklyn more.
Anyone reading this from Bed Stuy, and know of any good vegan or secretly vegan spots I should check out?  So far I've only been to Bushbaby, which was amazing!  I had their vegan tuna wrap one day, and LOVED it, and then had their vegan grits and faux chicken for breakfast another time, and though I wished I'd shared it with a friend because it was way more than my little tummy could hold, I'll definitely get it again.  It trumped my first experience eating grits for sure.

Brooklyn Comfort Food, Columbian style.

One thing that puts off a lot of people from switching to a vegetarian or vegan diet is not being able to eat all their favourite comfort foods.  Thankfully, there are a few restaurants stepping up to fill this void.  Brooklyn in particular, is a hotbed of delicious vegan goodies, each filling their own niche.  I recently met up with a friend at Park Slope's V Spot, a Columbian-inspired vegan eatery, with so many delicious options, and vegan pancake brunch too!  This time around I had breaded cutlets, which are crispy soy cutlets slathered in mushroom gravy, with sides of sauteed spinach and mashed potatoes.  It reminded me of one of my favourite dishes at another vegan comfort food haven, Real Food Daily, a must-visit next time you're in LA!
If you have a small appetite like me, make sure to either split an entree with a friend, or save half for later, because you are definitely going to want to have one (or more) of their amazing desserts!  I know I really should have taken a pic of the cake I got, but it went into my mouth so quickly, there was no time or thought to photography, and I think that is a more glowing recommendation than a pretty picture, am I right?
If nothing else, love this place for its sense of humour, something often said to be lacking in us vegans.  The sign on the front door says "Sorry carnivores, we're OPEN".  Genius.

Yeast on Toast? YES PLEASE!

While life on the road can be excellent, there is something to be said for one of the finer pleasures of an at-home breakfast: toast.  You would not believe how much you miss toast until you live in an RV and can only have dry toast occasionally at truck stop diners (though I have been known to pack my own Earth Balance margarine and occasionally Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter into Waffle house at 2 am). 
Yesterday I scraped some pennies together to treat myself to 4.4 ounces of heaven on toast, Marmite.
To the uninitiated, Marmite is a yeast-based spread, very dark brown in colour, and has a sharp, tangy flavour.  It's vegan, naturally, and very high in a veg*n's most sought after vitamin, B12!  Since it has such a strong flavour, it's definitely an acquired taste, which you either love or hate.  I happen to love it, especially on hot toast with some earth balance melted in, and if I'm really flush I'll melt some Daiya vegan cheese on top of the thin layer of Marmite.  Today I put it on a thin slice of healthy German bread, making myself feel quite cosmopolitan. 
Expect to see more posts of being vegan on a budget over the next few months while I'm living in Brooklyn, scraping together enough cash to pay my monstrous legal fees to get my green card so I can stay in America.  Feel free to help feed my love of food, literally, by going to Bettina.ca to donate or buy some of my merch. 
What is your favourite breakfast food?

Mighty O Donuts!

It's no secret that I have a major sweet tooth, especially for baked goods, so it should come as no surprise that my mouth drools for the organic vegan goodness of Seattle's Mighty O Donuts! Every time I make my way through the Pacific Northwest I make a point of visiting their cute little bakery and filling my donut hole. This time through I stayed for quite a spell, meaning multiple stops here, yum!

I've never tried a flavor I didn't enjoy, but my old favorite, Lemon Poppy Seed has been trumped by their fritters, my favourite being the apple fritter, though their locally-sourced organic blueberry (pictured) runs a close second. I'm missing their new peach fritters by a week now that I'm back in Brooklyn, so I need my Seattle peeps to give me a full, bite-by-delicious-bite run-down. My other new favorite offering is their Raised Glazed (I think I got the name right, I'm always in a food coma when I leave the store so my memory is not great). These heavenly morsels are reminiscent of the soft and squishy, thickly glazed donuts I remember getting on Hot Dog Day in elementary school, only now I can order as MANY as I want. Being a grownup rules. My tastebuds miss you already, Mighty O!

Boulder Colorado Power Bowls

Sometimes on the road I happen upon the most delicious food totally by accident, without even trying! When I was in Boulder, Colorado at a photoshoot, I discovered a great organic smoothie spot right next to the photographer's studio, called Rush, where they happened to make my favourite snack, power bowls! For the uninitiated, these are bowls with a super thick and yummy smoothie on the bottom - my favourite flavour being something with açai berries - and then granola and fresh fruit on top. I was first introduced to them when I was on tour in Hawaii a few years ago, and fell in love with them! They are popping up on menus across the west coast lately, but I don't see them inland like this generally, so I was amazed! Impressed by the eco-friendly nature of the shop, I ran out to the RV to grab my ceramic bowl so they wouldn't have to use a paper bowl, and ate my delicious Beach Bowl (make sure to ask for it without honey if you aren't Bee-gan like me!). My tourmates Bonnie Voyage and Lil' Miss Firefly were so intrigued that they ran in to get their own flavours, and while sitting and eating the super nice owner came over and asked us how we liked the food, and then went in and brought out a few of their really yummy travel packs for us to sample later on the road! What an absolute doll! There is no better way to woo traveling performers than through our stomachs. I saved mine for a few days later, but when I finally tried the vegan Yoga Bowl, I was impressed! No blender needed, just thaw and eat! Luckily for those not in Boulder they sell them at Whole Foods in other Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Kansas cities so check them out!

Des Moines Salad Bar

So this is more about funny things I don't eat than what I do, I just had to take a picture of the awesome 'salad bar' in the otherwise super vegan-friendly Hy-Vee I shopped at in Des Moines, IA. To be fair they had other actual vegetable options in the slightly longer salad bar, but the showpiece was really the foursome of oreo cookie pureé, strawberry fluff, green jelly ambrosia and chocolate mouse that were the centre of the salad bar. Totally awesome, and made me laugh out loud, which to be honest, I really needed that day since I had just had a sad goodbye at the local airport. Being able to stock up on vegan yogurt and various other rarities in the midwest cheered me considerably as well. I actually really love a good ambrosia salad, and think I should try to make some when I get back to Brooklyn with delightfully vegan Sweet and Sara mini-marshmallows!