A vegan on a hike

One of my hobbies is hiking and winter is one of my favorite times to do it too! Despite my recent complaining about the cold, there really is no better time to hike (in my humble opinion) than when the mercury drops.... the world is beautiful, the air is crisp and as you can see above, visibility is for miles!

In addition to what to wear, what gear to pack and making sure you don't forget your rain stuff, hikers need fuel, i.e. food. What should a vegan hiker pack? Typically I focus on hydration, quick energy, and some protein. Here is a list of what has worked well for me:

Water spiked with juice- This is my favorite way to stay hydrated, as well as keep my sugars up throughout a hike. I vary between a 25/75 mix up to a 50/50 mix for more strenuous hikes. My personal favorites are water with grape juice or water with cranberry. The little bit of flavor keeps me sipping and the tiny amount of sugar helps my energy levels.

PB&J on wheat- This is easy to eat, easy to pack and has both protein and sugars. A word of caution, in hot weather the natural peanut butters become unbearably runny. This is a better food for fall or winter.

Hummus with crackers/chips- Another good protein/ carb combo. I learned the hard way to pack the crackers or chips in a fairly sturdy container or they often end up crushed at the bottom of my backpack!

Pre-made veggie burger on wheat- Although I don't love pre-made food, this was an easy (and clean) item to eat while still wearing my gloves on a cold hike. It was cold though, which could be a turn off for some.

Dark Chocolate- I usually throw some in my pack "for emergencies".... but then I have a chocolate emergency near the end of every hike. Seriously though, it doesn't melt that easily and is high in sugar so in a real emergency it could be good to have. Plus who doesn't like a dark chocolate treat after several miles!

GORP or other trail mix- Although I am not a big trail mix person, these have served their purpose on various occasions and are easy to make or buy at store like trader Joe's.

LUNA bars/ LARA bars - Also good to carry in case of an emergency.

Baked tofu- This actually travelled well and was quite tasty. Just make sure to bake it FIRM or else it may crumble.

Fruits and Veggies- In general the more prep work I do the better luck I have with fruits and veggies. For example... Ever tried peeling an orange in 20 degree weather? With gloves? Chop up your fruits and veggies so you can just eat them out of hand. Carrot sticks have always worked, so have apples. Tomatoes seem to always get watery and squashed!

Coffee- The reason I was so smiley in the picture, is that I had just finished coffee out of my trusty Stanley thermos and in 24 degree weather it was steaming hot! Man was everyone else jealous! Get a good Thermos or food jar and you can take coffee, hot tea and hot chocolate to warm yourself up on cold hikes.

Warm soups/chilies- See my note above about a good food jar. You can get portable silverware to go with it at hiking & camping stores. My personal favorite is the bamboo flatware from to-go ware. Bamboo is a very sustainable resource and by buying bamboo you are avoiding the manufacture of more plastics.

A final note of food and waste in the woods. Many hikers are very environmentally conscious these days. It is possible to use lightweight reusable containers (I often take my bento boxes), cloth napkins and bamboo flatware without weighing down your pack. Also remember not to throw your food waste onto the ground. The rule is: If you hike in with it, hike out with it. This includes your banana peel!

For further explanation on why you shouldn't leave your food waste behind and other tips, check out these sites:

http://www.blueplanetgreenliving.com/2009/07/21/tips-for-eco-friendly-hiking-and-camping/

http://www.outdoorplaces.com/Features/Hiking/bear_country.htm

http://www.marthastewart.com/article/hiking-101-with-charlie

take me out to the ball game!

Last night my husband surprised me with baseball tickets. The Red Sox are in town and he is a HUGE fan. So we had great seats for a game that started at 7 PM. Here is a wierd thing about Baltimore Baseball: Normally you can wander down to the game and get in without any problem because people here do not support the Orioles.

When the Sox or those dreaded Yankees (sorry, I have to be loyal because my DH is loyal to the Red Sox) are in town, it can take forever to work through the stadium because their fans follow them here.

This meant we were supposed to have dinner at the game. This ought to be fun... a vegan eating ballpark food in Baltimore. I am a big believer in planning ahead and doing everything you can to take care of yourself, so I packed myself a quick baseball meal of Vegan Mabo Tofu, Brussels Sprouts, and Kabocha Squash. It was very quick and pretty tasty. The Mabo Tofu I made using this sauce mix which according to the packaging (and ingredient list) was totally vegan!



It couldn't have been any easier. Simply snip the sauce packet and put it in a pot with cubed pressed tofu. Simmer for a few minutes. I thought it was pretty good, but if I hadn't been in a bit of a hurry I would have tried to doctor the sauce a bit. It was pretty spicy but didn't have a depth of flavor that I usually like in Asian sauces. If I can find it again, I am definitely going to give it another try, this time with time to play with the seasonings.

The Brussels sprouts were great. I simply sauteed them with a little oil (very little) and lots of garlic and pepper. Then I finished them with a little low sodium soy sauce.

The Kabocha squash I quickly steamed in the microwave and ate with salt and pepper.

The game was great and I had plenty of good stuff to eat, since I brought it from home. At some point a drunk fan from behind shouted: Brussels Sprouts! At a ball game!! Really?!!

I only wish I had some left, so I could have offered him a few!

A vegan goes on a road trip....

Earlier this week, I found out that I was going to have to make an unplanned trip to Virginia to visit my folks. While it is always a pleasure to travel, travelling as a vegan comes with its own set of obstacles. For example, I don't believe Amtrak has any vegan offereings in their cafe car and I now know that the coffee shop in the Baltimore station doesn't offer soy milk.... regardless of the pleas of this vegan prior to her 6:10 AM departure... (why won't Dunkin Donuts get with it???)

Anyway, I shouldn't whine too much. I had planned ahead and packed my own food and a small mug of coffee. Its just that at 6- anything in the morning a person needs more than one mug! Luckily I arrived safely and without injuring myself or anyone else despite my coffee shortage.

Now...imagine my pleasure when I learned that my parents had scoped out a nearby vegan friendly restaraunt from the awesome website HappyCow.net!! Score! Are my folks the best or what? Plus the restaurant was totally awesome.






The restaurant Nawab (pronounced Nah-Vahb), was a delightful Indian restaurant with a vegetarian menu with clearly marked vegan items. When I indicated I was a vegan, the hostess/ server quickly pointed out that they could also veganize most of the vegetarian options as well and told me not to hesitate to ask. When I ordered she even reccomended a vegan bread option (the roti). Everything about this restaurant was accomodating and perfect. My mother (who doesn't really eat "ethnic" food) asked a million questions and each one was patiently answered. My father and brother both seemed to love their meals as well. I had the Vegetable Jhalfrazie and plain roti. The dishwas good and had tons of flavor. I am a real fanatic about rice and was especially pleased to have some delicious aged basmati with my dish. This may seem silly to write about rice but still after a long train ride... it was great to have something comforting and familiar like this. The other vegan possibilities included Chana Masala, a vegetable curry and Eggplant Bartha.


The restaurant itself was clean and subdued with tables that were well spaced out and comfortable. My mother especially like the lighting on the walls and the tiles. All in all it was a great meal and I suspect that my parents will actually continue to eat here without me.

That was the high point in the day, foodwise. Dinner was at a place called Szechuan Inn. If you are a Vegan or Vegetarian..

DO NOT EAT HERE!!!!

The trouble started when we walked in the door:

Me: I am a vegan, do you have any vegetarian food on your buffet?

Hostess: No, but you can order from the menu. We have a vegetarian section.

Me: I am a very strict vegetarian. Are there any chicken stocks or fish stocks in the sauces?

Hostess: (with a slightly odd look) No, but if you tell your server she can make sure everything is all vegetables.

So the "Vegetarian Section" turns out to be an 8 item section marked simply "vegetable". It includes Ma Poo Tau Fu which is "cooked with a small amount of fresh pork". Hmm... this should have been a clue. But I see they offer Buddha's Delight which has always been 1) vegetarian 2) a combination of tofu and vegetables

You know what they say about assumptions.....

My parents order the buffet and I order steamed vegetable dumplings and Buddha's Delight. The waitress seems very perturbed that I am not eating from the buffet, so I explain that I am a vegan and what that entails. She nods, confirms my order and leaves the table. After about 3 minutes she returns to inform me that all sauces are made with chicken stock. So now my order is changed to the dumplings, rice , steamed veggies and (I assume) tofu. She still seems quite annoyed but I am still unsure why. In an attempt to make the best of this, I mentally tell myself how HEALTHY this low-sodium, low-fat meal is going to be.

Ten additional minutes later she returns to tell me that although the vegetable dumplings are on the menu, they do not actually serve them. Now I am having rice, steamed veggies and (hopefully) some tofu. The server still seems annoyed. Well, I didn't really need the dumplings anyway so thats fine by me...

The food finally arrives. I am served... white rice and steamed veggies... no tofu. Ever hopeful, I ask for some Sriracha hot sauce and I am informed that there isn't any. Instead I am told they have hot oil. The still annoyed server brings me some other (very hot) hot sauce. It turns out that this hot sauce was the highlight of my dinner.

Finally I dig in. The food is plentiful. Thanks to my lack of sauces it is healthy. Oddly it is tofu free.... Remember my thing about rice? Well I guess I am spoiled because in most Chinese restaurants I am served jasmine sticky rice, brown rice or some other high quality rice. This appeared to be Uncle Bens. Now if you are not a rice person, this wouldn't matter but.... for me it was just one more thing.

The final blow though was that as we were leaving I see a huge industrial size bottle of Sriracha hot sauce sitting on the bar!

We've returned!!!

We made it! Everything we own is wet and my husband says he is never, ever camping again..... but he survived and I had a blast. We camped on the island of Chincoteague, Virginia and while there I learned a few things about mosquitoes.
1) They can grow to be the size of small house flies
2) they can be black and white striped
3) Apparently they think vegans are the gourmet versions of humans


For every one bite the omni's got, I received between 7-10 bites. My husband says I look like I am recovering from "the pox".

From the food end, the potato salad and slaw were very well received. There were also alot of farm stands selling sweet corn, watermelon and peaches. I also got to make my vegan version of buckwheat pancakes from the hillbilly housewife blog. They are such a time saver and the recipe was simple to veganize. Overall, cooking at the campsite was a breeze.

What was a very pleasant surprise were the vegan offerings at a few local restaurants! Most of the restaurants on the island were of two varieties: fish-houses (my husband was told by several that the only vegan thing they could offer me was the "house salad") and ice cream parlors. So it was with great joy that we discovered:

Sea Star Cafe- The sign out front says "gourmet carryout". However, after seeing the big pink arrow underneath that said "vegetarian food" and the outdoor tables I nearly dragged my husband down the block and across the gravel parking lot. This restaurant had a substantial vegetarian section with all of the vegan choices clearly marked. They also had vegan desserts and unsweetened iced tea. How could we NOT have lunch here?

Now... I have eaten at many restaurants where the others at the table sit looking at my sad wilted veggies and say with sympathy "I could never be a vegan". This is not that kind of place! My husband had some sort of chicken sandwich and chip combo. I had a pile of fresh chopped raw veggies (not just lettuce!!!), hummus, tabbouleh and whole wheat pita, a glass of UNSWEETENED iced tea and a vegan chocolate-espresso cupcake for dessert. I only mention my husband's dinner to illustrate my point. After about five bites, he said to me, can I try some hummus? Seconds later when I slipped him a few pieces of red bell pepper and snap peas, he got up, threw his lunch away and helped me finish mine (well except for my cupcake.... I kind of have a thing about sweets!) The food is that good.

Saigon Village- This Vietnamese restaurant is one of the first ones you will see when you get on the island. Do not pass it by. There are many vegetarian/vegan options on the menu. (I would suggest asking for advice from your server so that you can be sure to pick something without fish sauce. ) The day I went, a nice young woman sat with me and completely marked up a menu for me, so that I would be certain of what was vegan. I was stunned by all of the choices. They serve a great deal of tofu dishes that were already vegan and were willing to leave the eggs etc... out of anything upon request. The food was really tasty and flavorful too! Way better than a "house salad". (not that I have any problems with salads mind you...)



Mainstreet Shop and Coffeehouse- Finally
if you are a coffee-nut like we are, it is always great to find a coffee shop that not only has soy milk, but also has excellent coffee. The coffee and espresso was so good that we went here six times in three days!






Oh and on a different note, on the way home we stopped at an Amish farmer's market. It was too hot for produce (no AC in the car....) but I was able to get some pumpkin butter, blackstrap molasses and blueberry preserves. I just spent the last twenty minutes flipping through cookbooks trying to decide if I wanted to make cornbread, muffins, biscuits or scones to use as a vehicle for my Amish goodness.

Vegan camping here we come....

In preparation for our upcoming camping trip, I spent the day preparing two good outdoor foods: Cole slaw and potato salad. Both of these are recipes that I tend to pull out when I have a lot of skeptical non-vegans to feed. They hardly even know these are vegan until they see me eating them. The potato salad, is somewhat traditional while the slaw is Asian inspired.

(In looking over my last few posts, I seem to be eating an abundance of siracha, curries, peanuts, sesame and ginger!!! I will endeavor to post a wider variety of recipes when I get back.)

Savory Vegan potato salad
(This is inspired by potato salad made by Mr. Williams, a co-worker of mine. I could never hope to recreate his version which is so good that in his words "it will make you slap someone")

Ingredients

5 lbs Russet potatoes (red potatoes work as well)
1/3 block tofu
2 stalks celery
1 small Vidalia onion
3 scallions, greens only
1 sweet red bell pepper
3/4 cup frozen petite peas, defrosted on counter
1 large carrot
1/4 cup parsley
1/2-1 jalapeno pepper (optional-to taste)

the following to taste:

whole grain mustard
vegan mayonnaise
sweet relish
rice wine vinegar
salt and pepper



Method

- Wash potatoes and boil with their skin on until tender then remove from hot water.

- While potatoes are boiling: wash and chop celery, onion, scallions, red pepper, carrot, parsley and jalapeno (if using). Place in a large bowl.

-Prepare tofu by pressing the water out and cutting into 1/8 inch cubes. Set aside.

-When potatoes are done,rinse with cold water. Peel and chop them before adding to the other vegetables.

-Using your taste buds as a guide mix vegetables with mustard, mayonnaise, relish and vinegar. Everyone is different but we prefer a ratio of 2:1 for the mustard to mayo, about 4 tablespoons of relish and around 1/4 cup of vinegar. When it is the way you like it, gently stir in the tofu and peas.

-Chill for at least 1 hour before serving.

Asian Style Spicy Slaw

Ingredients

Salad ingredients:
4 1/2 cups shredded green cabbage
3 scallions
2 medium carrots, shredded
1 sweet red bell pepper, minced
1/8 cup sesame seeds (optional)

For the dressing:
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup Lo-Sodium Soy sauce
2 TBS dark sesame oil
1/2 Siracha hot sauce (more if you like...)
2-3 TBS natural peanut butter

Method:

-Mix the vegetables and sesame seeds in a large bowl.
-Place all dressing ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid. Shake or stir until well mixed.
-Pour dressing over salad and stir to combine.
-Refrigerate for at least one hour prior to serving.



Hopefully everything will go smoothly on this camping trip... my husband is not a camper and my parents tell me it has been raining for days. At least I am bringing good food!

Lunch in New London

One of the hardest things about visiting this part of Connecticut is finding restaurants to eat in that are vegan friendly, close to my in laws and still serve food that everyone will eat. Today I found a wonderful cafe in New London, CT called Mangetout Organic Cafe . Although it is not 100% veggie, this is the most vegan-friendly restaurant I have found near their house. Sadly by the time I found it I had already eaten lunch, but we still had room for coffee and cake!



The menu changes daily but if today's menu was any indication they regularly have 2-3 vegan choices.

Today's Menu:

Lunch Items
(11:00am to 4:00 pm)
Soup
($6.25)
(to go prices: bowl: $7.00; cup:$3.50)
Roasted Vegetable Soup (vegan, gluten free)

Entrees
($7.25)
Buffalo Chicken Quesadilla
New York Goodwich (vegan)
Quinoa & Mango Salad Wrap (vegan)

Desserts
($4.50 per serving)
Vanilla Bean-Coconut Cupcake with Vanilla-Bean Coconut Buttercream
Hummingbird Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ginger Shortcakes with Strawberry-Rhubarb Sauce & Sweet Greek Yogurt
Italian Ricotta Cake with Raspberry Sauce
Rhubarb Pie
Red Plum Tarte Tatin
Monkey Love Chocolate Tofu Pudding (vegan; gluten free)
Chocolate Cupcake with Peppermint Frosting (vegan)



Cookies
($2.00 each)
Alpha-Omega Oatmeal (wheat free) ; Chocolate Caramel Chews;
Chocolate Peanut Butter Crisp Bars (gluten-free, vegan); Kudos

My husband had one of the regular non-vegan cookies and loved it. I had the Vegan Choc Peanut Butter Crisp Bar and it was everything that is good and perfect. It was sweet, gooey, creamy and rich with little crunchy bits of goodness worked in between. I nearly fell over in pure chocolate induced ecstasy. The coffee was equally excellent and the server even made a new pot just for us. It was all I could do to keep from buying one of the Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes with peppermint frosting on the spot! Since we were only having desserts, I can only tell you that the other food around me looked incredibly delicious as well.

The atmosphere was bright and sunny. The menu was written on chalk boards hanging around the restaurant. Each table had a white cloth and and there was brightly colored mismatched napkins on each table. I really look forward to eating here again soon.





After lunch we stopped by a small health food co-op called Fiddleheads. This growing co-op had a wide range of foods, including tons of organic veggies, dry goods and soy products. I even found vegan fluff!!