Tazo Vanilla Rooibos Tea

Ever wonder what to order at Starbucks when you don't want coffee? I don't drink coffee drinks, so my go-to drink of choice is a vanilla rooibos latte with soy. It's sweet (without added sweetener) and really soothing.

On a recent trip to Starbucks with my  mother-in-law, she noticed they sold the tea I love in a tin and bought me some. So now I can make my own, minus the foam.

What I Ate Wednesday

This is a particularly fun What I Ate Wednesday meets veganmama on the road :)

Breakfast started with the usual cereal with blueberries, but this time I mixed it up and cooked a big pot of Irish oatmeal. I forgot how much I love steel cut oats, slow cooked, with a dash of cinnamon and a splash of almond or soy milk.

Lunch was really fun.  I was in Cambridge for the morning so I treated myself to lunch at Veggie Galaxy on Massachusetts Avenue.  They serve all the usual diner fare, but vegan!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Shake!

Club sandwich: Grilled tempeh bacon, smoked tofu, balsamic roasted tomato, romaine and picked red onion!

Stick to your ribs kind of lunch, I won't lie.

Really cute inside, right?

Slaw on the side!

After such a big lunch dinner was very atypical...

When Pigs Fly Tuscan wheat bread topped with Barney almond butter and bananas. Hit the spot!

What the bulk? Oatmeal!

One of the first healthy eating blogs I started following was Kath Eats Real Food. 

Kathy writes a beautiful blog (not vegetarian, but very healthy and interesting) and makes oatmeal
look like a gourmet treat!

I mean, check out these yummy pictures:

I love the way she adds a scoop of nut butter to jazz up cereal. And the little black flecks are chia seeds, which I usually add to my cereal mix :)

Don't we all need a little PASSION in the afternoon?

Don't we all need passion?

No silly, not THAT kind!

I'm talking about Tazo passion tea!

On a recent trip to Target, I was excited to find this box of tea was on sale for $3.00. Not so shabby!

They make it really easy on you. First, you open this little bag and take out a pouch.

Drop the pouch in your two quart pitcher...

Fill it half way with boiling water and let it sit for five minutes...

Fill the rest of the way up with cold water and enjoy!

That's a lot of refreshment for $3.00.

Get your cabbage on!

Cabbage and beer. What could be better than that? I mean, cabbage is super good for you and super cheap. Beer is...well, it just tastes great. So lately I've been buying a head of cabbage and cooking it in a cast iron pan until it starts to cook.

And then I add a can of beer to give it flavor and some liquid to simmer by.

And sometimes, when I'm feeling crazy, I add about a tablespoon of super spicy mustard (any old mustard would do!) and stir until heated through.

Although this is delicious on its own, don't you think this would make a great topping to a veggie burger?

Enjoy!

Garden Grille and Wildflour Bakery, Pawtucket, RI

If you've been reading veganmama for a while you know I love, love, love the Garden Grille in Pawtucket, RI. It's one of the best vegetarian restaurants I've been to and is consistently great. And the fact that Wildflour, a vegan bakery, is two stores down is icing on the (vegan) cake!

Since I'm a creature of habit (Rip's Big Bowl every morning. Anyone?), I always start with the chipotle seitan with the wasabi mustard (which drives me crazy). The seitan tastes like deeply BBQ'd perfection.

I always find it really hard to choose an entree, since there are so many interesting choices, but this night I chose the Seared Sweet Potato.

Here it is. I realize it doesn't look very special, but the roasted cauliflower? Amazing.

These are the risotto cakes on a bed of greens that tasted super smokey :)

"Everything" tofu, which was based on the everything bagel. So good and had great texture, for real ;)

My daughter always goes for the nachos, which for me is just a delivery system for guacamole and peppers!

Happy semi-vegetarian kids!

Part of the appeal of the bakery Wildflour is the cute dog, Henry, who is often seen in front.

Love this new painting of him proudly hung in the cafe! Isn't the detail beautiful?

If you know me well, you know I'm not really a cake/pie/cupcake person, not when raw chocolate with maca is an option! I'm not really sure how they make this, but it's completely worth the $2.50 a piece. It's incredible. INCREDIBLE.

My daughter, on the other hand, went the route any little girl would go, the chocolate peanut butter cupcake. It's really pretty, isn't it? I can tell you, it's SUPER sweet, though. Too much for me.

So, the next time you're looking to go out for a meal, please give the Garden Grille a try!

What I Ate Wednesday

Hello beautiful people! Welcome back to "What I Ate Wednesday!" I hope you find these posts inspirational and fun. I love taking pictures of my meals for you and really appreciate the feedback.

Breakfast was the usual, Rip's Big Bowl topped with whatever fruit I'm crazing. This morning was banana. I couldn't get through my morning workout without it! Please remember to eat before the gym, it's your fuel!

Lunch was so good. Gardien "beefless tips," homemade hummus, carrots and homemade tabouli.

Snack was the usual, a spinach/frozen banana smoothie with almond milk.

And topped with mixed nuts and dried fruit!

Dinner, I won't lie, was thrown together at the last minute. That's what summer is all about, right?
Brown rice, black beans seasoned with cumin, sliced and stir fried zucchini, spinach, corn and mango salsa!

Dessert, although not pictured, was 2 chunks of dark chocolate dipped in almond butter = heaven!