Vegan Mini Mall in Portland, Oregon

While in Portland, Ben and I knew we needed to stop by the one and only vegan mini mall. The vegan mini mall is a strip mall with four vegan stores: Herbivore Clothing Company, Food Fight Grocery, Scapegoat Tattoo, and Sweet Pea Baking Company.

Ben and I both felt really gross after walking around for so long in the rain without the right clothes and we didn't even go into the tattoo shop (though I dream of getting a tattoo there!). So our first stop was Food Fight Grocery. We thought there were going to be all kinds of things that we couldn't get in Utah, so I was fully prepared to drop a wad of cash. But, as we started walking around, we realized that almost everything there we could get back home in Utah! We we so happy to know we weren't missing out on awesome vegan foods. There were of course some locally made things we can't get, but for the most part we were surprised by how much stuff we have up here. The few things we don't have, we bought:

Nacho mom's vegan queso

New flavors of primal vegan jerky strips

Sjaak's chocolate bars

Sjaak's chocolates

After Food Fight, we went into Herbivore. Though I already buy stuff from them online, it was cool to see stuff in the store. This was my first visit to an all-vegan clothing store! So fun :) I bought their koala Herbivore Portland shire (below).

After Herbivore, we headed into Sweet Pea. We were kind of on our way to dinner, so we didn't get much. We just wanted to try what they had. So, Ben got a coffee and we ordered a coffee cake to share. I was definitely impressed. Ben and I tried making coffee cake once and it failed miserably--so this perfectly sweet, crumbly-topped lovely was amazing. Ben liked the coffee too :)

Coffee cake

Inside the shop

In the end, I still wish we had a vegan mini mall in Utah. Though 90% of the things we got there we can get at home, it is just awesome to know that everyone within a block is either vegan or vegan-friendly.

Tao of Tea in Portland, Oregon

Man, it has been over a week since Ben and I got back from our spring vacation and I STILL haven't written all of the posts about the lovely food we ate! I don't think I have even written half of them! So, today I am going to try and bust a few out during my lunch break. Eating be damned! I need to blog!

So, after we went to the Homegrown Smoker for lunch, Ben and I went to the Lan Su Chinese Gardens (which were AMAZING! see more pictures in this post). Inside the gardens, there is a two level tea house. And inside the tea house is the Tao of Tea . The Tao of Tea is a tea house dedicated to sharing a love of tea and the philosophy of tea. There are a few different locations across Oregon, one of which is Oregon's first tea house!

So after walking around the Chinese gardens for a few hours (in the pouring rain, again) we decided to warm up in the tea house. We each ordered a Gaiwan of organic white earl grey tea. Earl grey is one of my favorite types of tea, so I thought a white earl grey sounded fascinating! and I wasn't let down. It is hard to explain a white earl grey tea if you have never had black earl grey tea...but it had all the earl grey part, and none of the black tea part. You know what I'm saying?

I was also in love with how fresh the tea leaves looked. Once they were in the water they just puffed right up and looked as if they had just been plucked from a plant (see below)! I wish Ben and I could have tried every kind of tea they have. Overall, I would give it a big 5/5. Their tea selection is unbeatable and the service was great. I loved the atmosphere and, of course, the tea!

Tea leaves

Table decoration

Teaware selection

Teas in big containers

Exercise Goals: Week 13

Week 13. That is a long time since the beginning of the year, since Ben and I made our fitness goals. Aaaaand nothing has happened, which is pretty discouraging. But honestly, I think there is nothing to be done. When you are as dedicated to school as Ben and I are and have as many extra-curricular activities as we do, it is expected that we do not have time for ourselves.

But, somehow, I made it out to exercise twice this week. Once Molly and I went on a jog outside and once I made to the actual gym. THE GYM! It felt so awesome. I did the sprints that my old personal trainer gave me and man, I was sweating. It was great.

Ben had a cold last week, so he only made it to the gym once. But he was sweating too and spent over an hour on the stationary bike. Fun!

Anyway, my goal this week is to get to the gym once. It's going to be tough because I am leaving for New York for NCUR on Wednesday (at 4:30 in the morning!) and will be there through Sunday, so we will see if I make it to the gym more than once (or even once). There is a gym on campus where we will be staying, but I have no idea what my schedule is going to be like.

Ben and My Journey:
Weeks 10, 11, and 12
Week 9
Week 8
Week 7
Week 6
Week 5
Week 4
Week 3
Week 2
Week 1

Wedding Updates

Ok, wedding updates! (Yes, we are still planning a wedding.)

Ben's shoes:

Another picture of the cabin, this time in the summer (beautiful, isn't it?!):

Ezekiel 4:9 Cereal - My New Favorite Breakfast

Oh man! Can I rave enough about Ezekiel 4:9 cereal? It is so awesome. 100% whole grains, and not only that! Flourless! That means WHOLE grains. Not just whole wheat. Also, 8 grams of protein per 1/2 cup. AMAZING. No added sweeteners...and so, so tasty. Buy this, seriously. They have four different flavors: almond, golden flax, cinnamon raisin, and original.

Ingredients (almond flavor): Organic Sprouted Whole Wheat, Organic Malted Barley, Organic Sprouted Whole Millet, Organic Sprouted Whole Barley, Organic Almonds, Organic Sprouted Whole Lentils, Organic Sprouted Whole Soybeans, Organic Sprouted Whole Spelt, Filtered Water, Sea Salt.

Homegrown Smoker in Portland, Oregon

For lunch in Portland, Ben and I decided to drop by the Homegrown Smoker food cart. After walking all morning in a downpour, I was a little bummed not to be going to a warm and cozy restaurant. But as soon as we got there we got chatting with the guy in the cart and he told us about a place nearby we could go and sit down inside and be warm. Cool! So we ordered our food and has a nice, warm lunch outside of the rain.

I ordered the lovely plate pictured above, called the The SloSmoMoFo with a side of Totally Baked Beans. Basically it was a 'Carolina style' sandwich (not sure what that means) with smoked soy curls, slaw, and maple bourbon BBQ sauce on a white bun. The beans were your basic sweet baked beans. Ben ordered a Homegrown Smoker combo which included 2 proteins and two 2 sides served with molasses corn bread (see below). For his proteins he chose soy curls and meatloaf, and for his sides chipotle slaw and macnocheese.

All of it was amazing, but I had a few favorites. #1 favorite - Macnocheese. AMAZING. #2 favorite - meatloaf. AWESOME. I also learned soy curls aren't my favorite thing in the world. Not that I don't like them, but they are just kind of strange to me. Overall, I would say 4/5.

Food cart walk

Ben ordering

Yum!

Spring Break Road Trip

Finally I get to post about our trip! As soon as we got home we both got thrown back into the craziness of every day life, so it has taken a bit for me to get this post up. I have already posted a few of the restaurant reviews that I need to post from the trip, but I literally have nine more reviews to write :p

Anyway, just in case you didn't read my first post about the trip, Ben and I took a five-day (which turned into a six-day) road trip along the west coast last week. We ate in a ton of vegan restaurants and did very vegan-y things the whole time, and we loved every minute of it.

Below (and above) are some photos of Portland's Japanese Gardens. They were so beautiful. I can't even describe how amazing and peaceful they were. Though it was pouring rain, Ben and I walked around them for a good four hours soaking up their beauty. The 5.5 acre Japanese 'Garden' is actually five different garden styles: the Flat Garden, Strolling Pond Garden, Tea Garden, Natural Garden, and Sand and Stone Garden. Ben and my favorite was the Natural Garden, followed by the Stone Garden.

While In Portland, Ben and I also visited the Lan Su Chinese Gardens. These were also beautiful, but I think we both like the natural feel of the Japanese Gardens better. Below are some pictures of the Chinese Gardens. While in the Chinese Gardens we went into the tea house. The company inside the tea house is the Tao of Tea, which has a few other locations. A review of this is to come, but it was awesome!

I know I look pregnant in this picture. I was so cold and rainy I borrowed Ben's coat and it was massive on me.

And, of course, since it was a road trip we did LOTS of driving. Below are some pictures of our adventures along the coast.

A very tired Ben

The many conditions of our drive

So after a long, relaxing, eventful trip we started our drive home early Sunday morning. The entire drive Ben had heard a sort of grinding in his front wheel well but we called our mechanic back home and they said it was probably fine and just to get it checked out when we got back. However, only thirty minutes into our drive home the car began to shake and pull really hard to the left so Ben could hardly steer straight. We knew something was really wrong, so we turned around and went back to Becky and Shane's (Ben's sister and her husband's) house where we had been staying. I will save you a description of our long, stressful day and just say that we found out it was the CV joint, we found a CV joint at a local auto store (mind you this was a Sunday!), convinced a friend with a garage shop to install it, and thus fixed the car. Above you can see the huge rip in our CV joint that was causing all the trouble! BUT! This wasn't the end. By the time we had all of this worked out it was 8 pm and I had to be at work at 8 am the next morning. Ben and I decided we were going to drive through the night to get there on time. So we packed up and then decided to check the weather--only to find that I-80 through the pass before Reno was closed due to weather. SO we gave up. We left the next morning and got home safely after a grueling fourteen hour drive through snow, rain, and wind.

Exercise Goals: Weeks 10, 11, and 12

Wow, I didn't realize it had been THREE weeks since my last exercise goals post. Life is just...crazy right now and I didn't realize how much time could pass without working out :/ Anyway, enough of that. Ben and I have committed to working out 3 times a week starting this week and going until the last day of the semester to prepare us for the summer. Aaaand we are going to need it because the day after the semester ends (even before finals week!) we have both committed to working out every day for AT LEAST two hours a day. We both want our #1 focus to be our bodies this summer (that and planning our wedding). We are setting up our schedules so that we won't have any excuses, so that it really can be our #1 focus. We are both so excited for this summer and to have the time to cook food for ourselves (we love cooking!) and to go to the gym (we love the gym!). We are already having so much fun planning our workouts and other activities to keep ourselves fit, we just can't wait.

Ben and My Journey:
Week 9
Week 8
Week 7
Week 6
Week 5
Week 4
Week 3
Week 2
Week 1

Back to Eden Bakery in Portland, Oregon

The second bakery we went to for breakfast in Portland was the Back to Eden Bakery. Since I had already gotten a chocolate bun at the Dovetail Bakery, we only got one treat at the Back to Eden Bakery. Unfortunatley the majority of their goods were more dessert-like than breakfast-like. I wish we could have gone for dessert to get a better taste of their food.

At the cashier's suggestion, we got a fruit (blackberry I think?) turnover. Ben also got a small piece of peanut butter fudge. The turnover was too greasy and left oil on the plate :p Though it the filling was good and the dough was cooked well, it was WAY too oily. The oil overpowered all of the other flavors, even the sprinkle of sugar on top. The fudge was really good. Peanut buttery enough and not too sugary. Just right!

I really hate to rate Back to Eden Bakery since we only got to try two things from them, but from what we had I would give it a 3/5. They had a good amount of stuff on their drink menu that I would have liked to try, and they had a good amount of desserts, but the turnover was just not impressive. I worry that the rest of the treats would be over-oiled like the turnover or maybe over-sugared.

Picture of the inside I stole from their website

Storefront

Dovetail Bakery in Portland, Oregon

For breakfast in Portland we stopped by two bakeries. The first was Dovetail Bakery, and it was by far my favorite of the two. I REALLY wish we could have gone to the bakery again and tried out all of their treats because they looked amazing.

I ordered an earl grey tea and a chocolate hazelnut bun. The tea was loose leaf and tasty and the bun was awesome. It was kind of like a cinnamon roll but the dough was chocolate-y and it was covered with a chocolate hazelnut sauce. The bun was a dark, rich chocolate and perfect for breakfast because it wasn't too sugary. In between the folds of the roll there were even chopped hazelnuts.

Definitely a 5/5!

Portobello Vegan Trattoria in Portland, Oregon

Mushroom Agnolotti

Our second stop was at Portobello Vegan Trattoria in Portland after a long day of driving. Though we were both worn out from our long day of driving, we were able to put our worries aside over a fantastic dinner. Immediately we were both impressed by the nice decor and atmosphere. The menu looked awesome and we were excited to have the first high quality food of our adventure.

I ordered a butternut squash ravioli originally, but it turned out that they only had half an order of the squash ravioli so offered me two half orders of anything for the price of the full order of the butternut squash. BUT this worked out really well because we got to try two different raviolis! For my other half I ordered the mushroom agnolotti. Both of the raviolis were to die for. The mushroom agnolotti was filled with finely minced mushrooms and fines herbs. It was topped with cashew cream, sliced mushrooms, and fresh parsley. They were lovely and so flavorful. The cashew cream was amazing and complimented the mushrooms perfectly. YUM.

Minced mushroom filling

The squash raviolis were just as good. The filling was less flavorful, but the topping made up for it. The nuts were roasted perfectly and, again, the cashew cream was perfect with the filling of the raviolis.

Squash Ravioli

Ben ordered an arrabiata pizza with Daiya cheese. It came with Italian sausage (tasted like Tofurky), sliced green and red peppers, spicy marinara, and fresh basil. The pizza was good and I loved how spicy it was. I felt like the raviolis were much more impressive. The pizza was, well, a pizza.

For dessert Ben and I shared a vanilla crème brûlée. Neither of us have ever had a crème brûlée before so we decided to try it out. It came with a little cookie, fresh mint, and cacao nibs. The crème brûlée itself was very creamy and vanilla-y. It was soy free, so I have to assume it was made from coconut since it solidified like either that or tofu. I am now a crème brûlée fanatic, and Ben has decided that he is not a fan.

Overall, I would give Portobello a 5/5. The service was awesome and the food was great. I wish we had one near us so we could go all the time!

A very tired Ben

Interior image I stole off of their website

Shangri-La Tea and Vegetarian Cafe in Boise, Idaho

The first stop on our spring break road trip was at Shangri-La Tea, Vegetarian Cafe, and Herbal Remedies in Boise, Idaho. We stopped for lunch on our long drive to Portland and spent a few hours just chilling and drinking tea before getting back on the road. The atmosphere of the cafe was relaxing and perfect for a relaxing lunch. The front of the cafe was a small shop with tintures, loose leaf teas, herbal medicines, prayer flags, tea sets, etc. I loved all of the art on the walls too :) The menu was all vegetarian with many vegan and some raw options.

Ben ordered a mango bubble tea and a curry wrap, which was yummy. The tortillas was warm and the yellow potato tofu curry was perfectly flavored.

I ordered palace pu-erh tea and a mock toona sandwich served with a tabbouleh side salad. The sandwich was on toasted sesame seed encrusted bread and had avocados, sprouts, tomatoes, and spinach along with the 'toona.' The tabbouleh was very fresh and light. It had fresh parsely, chives, scallions, tomatoes, and chickpeas.

We also got cheesy zesty kale chips as an appetizer. They were fabulous! We loved the cheesy taste and they had the perfect amount of heat.

Overall, all of the food was very fresh and well seasoned. on the down side, the service was very slow and it took FOREVER to get our food. There were also no vegan desserts on the menu, which was disappointing. I would give it a 3/5.

Ben's drink

My tea

Kale chips

Ben's curry wrap

A cool wood statue outside of the cafe

The outside of the cafe