Reasons to be Vegan

Hello hello,

I should be working on the mountain of essays I have due within the next week, BUT sometimes a blog idea comes to mind that you can just not ignore.

Tis the season of giving, receiving, having and sharing (Friends reference obviously).  What a better way to give to the earth, receive health benefits, have new lease on life, and share new delicious food with the ones you love than by becoming vegan?!

Still not convinced?  Alright, let me give you some other awesome vegan reasons.
(I won't even use animal cruelty as an example because everyone's heard all of that before)

1. For those of you who like numbers and statistics:
840 million people in the world do not have enough to eat
Hunger causes the death of more than 5 million children a year


A varied vegan diet requires around 1/3 the land needed for a "conventional Western diet"
Overgrazing is linked to 35% of soil degradation
Agricultural expansion accounts for over 60% of worldwide deforestation
Farm animals now outnumber humans more than 3 to 1
*all these facts were taken from The Vegan Society's website
** lots of other great facts on World Watch

2. For those of you who like pictures and graphs:

3. For those of you who think it would be too hard:
There are hundreds of companies making vegan substitutes, hundreds of blogs with free recipes, and no one said you had to change over night!
And here are some more pictures to help you out!

4. This is possibly the biggest reason of all:
Beyonce and Jay Z just started a 22 day vegan challenge!  If the king and queen of hip-hop can't convince you than I have no chance!

Well I hope all of you non-vegans out there take this list into account and consider a vegan life style.  Everything is "too hard" until we actually try it!

See you stateside in 10 days <3

Stocking Stuffers and Such

Hello lovies,

I hope Santa does not put me on the "naughty list" because the last post I wrote I promised to write another one that week and now it is over two weeks later.  Sorry Santa!
The end of the semester is basically academic slaughter time.  In Spain their fall semester does not end until mid/late January (I am not sure of the exact date).  However, I leave here in 12 days, which means I need to finish some assignments a whole month before my classmates.  It really is just the bee's knees squeezing two months of work into two weeks.

So let's see, since we last spoke I have:
1. had food poisoning
2. went to Ireland to visit my favorite red head Rita (her blog is really great)
3. "celebrated" Thanksgiving in class because we do not get off for American holidays here
4. did a headstand in yoga (with the assistance of my teacher)
5. went to a vegan cooking class here
6. visited Montserrat
7. took two exams worth 60+% of my final grades (one orally because my professor thought that would "be fun")

I've done some other things as well but I thought those were the most mentionable.
Currently I should be writing my paper for Urban Sociology but I wanted to give you all some vegan-friendly Christmas ideas that you can give to non-vegans too!

1. Heavenly Organics Products

 These little guys are hand and foot lotions that I bought at VegFest back in October.  They are solid lotions, which I had never seen before, but they actually work!  I keep the hand one in my bag for daily use and I really love these little suckers.  And they look like flowers, how freaking cute is that?!

2. Butter London Nail Polish
I have the gold sparkly variation and it lasts for so long!  All their products are vegan and come from vegan sources which means there was absolutely no animal testing done in the making of any of their products!  Hooray hooray!!!

3. Dark Chocolate
Who doesn't like chocolate?  Honestly it's probably like 0.000000001% of the world population, including animals.  Dark chocolate is SUPPOSED to be made without milk so make sure you read the labels first.  Of course any kind of chocolate that uses plant based milks are acceptable!

4. Naturally Made For You

I also got these at VegFest.  I constantly have issues with my feet, mostly pain related.  I had a podiatrist tell me that I had "oddly shaped feet."  My high arches put a lot of stress on my heels making long days on my feet extremely painful.  While that may be more than you needed to know, what you should know is that every time I use this wonderful duo my feet feel brand new.  If their other products are any bit as wonderful as these peppermint foot miracles I suggest you stock up. 
As a side note their website says they do not ship to the states but I am almost positive the representative I spoke to at VegFest said they would.

5. Lush Products
I love Lush because all their products are hand made, free of animal testing, and their ingredients are fair traded.  A few of their products are not vegan (some have milk and honey), but they will help you in the store find what you need.  They are always alarmingly friendly and helpful.  Everything I have ever bought from Lush has lasted a freakishly long time.

I hope this list gave you some good Christmas ideas that are cruelty free!  I know this post seems a bit feminine because it focuses mostly on cosmetics but men need nice shaving cream and moisturizer too!

This semester has flown by, hopefully I finish strong!  I can't wait to get stateside so I can cook up a storm and then have interesting things to post for you guys.  Plus I will finally see my dogs, friends and hunky man candy (don't tell him I said that).

Lisbon Portugal

I SWEAR I have not given up my quest,
The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of busy-ness, and now I have 4 weeks abroad and tons of school work to do.  That being said, I solemnly swear I am up to vegan good (this was a Harry Potter play on words for those of you not in the know).
So since we last spoke I have been to Lisbon, Portugal (AMAZING but more on that later), then I had midterms, and then my dad and sister came to visit all in a span of less than two weeks.
On top of that I have been running around trying to see everything I have not yet and get all my shopping done.

Anywho, I thought I should use this post to talk about my time in Lisbon in case any of you plan on venturing out there.

First you should know that Lisbon is absolutely breathtaking and one of the friendliest and cleanest cities I have ever been to, which was amazing.  It is also very hilly and all the streets and sidewalks are cobble stone so do not try and be cute and explore in stilettos.  Even though I looked like a major dork my feet were so happy I packed my running sneakers.

I used the website Happy Cow to look up vegan restaurants in Lisbon but we never ended up going to any of them because they were all far away from wherever we were when we got hungry.  I had my friend Alex with me and neither of us felt like dishing out for a cab to go outside of the city for a meal, and then come back in when there are so many restaurants.

That being said, we did not have difficulty finding things to eat in the city.  One secret to European vegan success are kebob restaurants.  You order a pita felafel meal for around 5-7 euros with fries and a drink and you are sufficiently full until your next meal.  The amount of felafels I have eaten since coming to Europe is probably ten times the amount I have in my life before this trip, but I am not complaining; they are a cheap, delicious, and a somewhat healthy meal that keeps me alive.

So on our journey we had a lot of pasta, two restaurants with pasta meals and I made a giant pasta dish at our hostel that lasted us two meals each.  Then on our last night as we tried in vain to find a vegan restaurant I saw on the internet we stumbled upon this place.
Now this is not a vegan restaurant, but they allowed me to make adjustments to an item on the menu and thus I received a vegan meal.  While there are no pictures to prove it, Chapitô à Mesa's theme is circus so they have a really cool ambiance and a juggler walking around.  We sat in the outside part, which was a bit chilly, but it was under a mock circus tent!

I had already eaten half of it when I remembered to take a picture (whoops!).  But what I got was two giant pieces of toast with olive oil, avocado spread, cherry tomatoes, oregano, and a mixed salad.  The original menu option was with a Portuguese cheese instead of avocado but they let me do a switcheroo.  It was really good, and I plan on replicating this when I finally get back to my own kitchen.

One of my biggest struggles abroad is not being able to make the meals I want.  My host mom allows me to use her kitchen but she likes to watch me very closely which makes me uncomfortable.  And it is strange asking her to buy me things to make just for my self.  Host families for vegans are weird experiences but I am near the ending stretch.

I still have to do product reviews from VegFest UK so keep an eye out of that, good Christmas gift ideas!

Gopal: Vegan Oasis

Hello fellow veggie lovers!
I found an amazing vegan place in the Gothic area and felt I could not keep it secret any longer!  It is called Gopal and their patatas bravas will change your life.  I took 2 meat eaters there and they both have requested to go back because they loved the patatas bravas so much!  Obviously I went back with them (twice this week).  Not only is the food here amazing, the prices make you want to kiss the lady behind the counter.
So everyday they have new food, AND they make all their own veggie burgers.

THESE ARE ALL VEGGIE BURGERS!

Anywho, they also have fantastic desserts, I had the coconut and purple donuts before, both chocolate filled, both amazing.  I am partial to coconut though so I would recommend that for a first timer.

I have yet to try the cakes or cinnamon buns so I cannot tell you about those, however I do know everything I have tried here has been fantastico!  They also sell vegan cheese and sausages and more here!  Really this place is the bee's knees of Spanish vegan food.
Finally, my meal.  For 7.25 euros you get a massive veggie burger, a huge plate of patatas bravas, and a choice of any of the drinks they have; this was what I got (mucha comida!)

I couldn't even finish it all!  This burger was about the size of my face.  As a side note, I hate pickles and didn't know they were on it because I didn't know "encurtidos" meant pickles.  Lesson learned, either ask what things are on the menu, or don't be a pompous idiot and read the English menu.

As a completely unrelated note, I am going to the capital city Lisbon in Portugal on Friday for the weekend! If you know any good vegan friendly places there please let me know!

Stumbling into a Street Fiesta!

So yesterday my friends and I were walking around exploring Barcelona when we stumbled upon this amazing street festival that was dedicated solely to food and drinks.  I found out after that it was the Mercat de Mercats event.  So at first it seemed like it was just all meat and cheese and I was going to be out of luck.  BUT, I have said it before and I will say it again, you need to just ask!
I saw an amazing pasta tent and asked if any of the dishes they had made were without meat or cheese and they gave me a huge plate of amazing pesto pasta.  And it was only 2 euros!  That is really cheap for that heaping pile of pasta!

A little bit oily because it was the bottom of the bowl

Then, you guys won't believe it but I actually got to have a chocolate filled pastry that was vegan!  I did not know this could happen outside of a specialty store.  I asked the man running the stall twice if there were eggs or dairy in them and he swore there was not (and accompanied that with a weird look; I highly doubt he gets these questions a lot).  Boy oh boy was that a delicious treat!  And it was 2.50 euros and I split it with my two friends because it was massive.  I mean seriously, look at the size of those things.

I had the dark chocolate filled one on the left.

 I also ended up buying a fresh mojito, which just completed my meal so well.  I had all this great food, with great friends, and a great view for under 6 euros.  Not a bad Saturday!

Food Reviews of VegFest

Hello all,
I told you I would do more than one post on VegFest UK so here is my review of some of the food items I took home with me.
First let's start with the energy drink I bought from the gals over at Teen Vgn.  They told me it was good and I needed a little pick me up before my Harry Potter Studio Tour.  They were 100% on this; not only was it light and tasty but it is also organic and vegan and full of ingredients I could pronounce!  That is a big win in my book.

Next I have the unbelievable, amazing, scrumptious, best chocolate bar I have EVER had in my entire life!  If I could live off these bars I totally would.  I got to try many of their flavors at VegFest and decided on the "mint hint" bar but seriously every single one was fantastic.  Conscious Chocolate is something you have to try at some point in your life.  Their chocolate is raw, vegan, and organic; where can you go wrong?! (If anyone wants to buy me some of their chocolate for my birthday next week, the 23rd, or Christmas that would be fabulous).

The next snack I bought were these Chimes ginger chews.  Now you should know I adore ginger flavored anything (for the most part).  So when I saw these I had to give it a try, and they did not disappoint.  However, to be honest there was nothing very different between these and other ginger chews I have had.  So just look at the ingredients and make sure you're not eating 50 shades of what is that?!

My final review for today are the inSpiral Kale chips I bought. I tried every flavor they had out, which made my decision on the bag I bought very difficult.  EVERY FLAVOR WAS AMAZING!  I decided on the Raw Baobab and Onion flavor which were so addicting.  Sadly that bag did not last very long because I devoured it all.  I would love some more (hint hint: birthday in one week), but do not have the funds to ship myself copious amounts of kale chips at the moment.  It is a very sad story.

The chips kind of look like what I imagine marijuana looks like.

That's all I have for today's food reviews.  Please remember to try new things, let me know what you like, and food is always a nice birthday gift!

VegFest AKA the Best Vegan Experience of Your Life

Hello all,
it is a miserable rainy day in Barcelona so I have been locked inside for most of the day.  However, this is good because I can finally write about the time of my life at VegFest UK!  Seriously, the food was enough to last me a life time.  I wish it was longer so I could of bought meals from all of the vendors, but that was impossible in two days.  So I am going to talk about VegFest in 2 blog posts just because there is a lot to share.  I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I did experiencing them!

 

The basics: there were speakers, singers, comedians, work out gurus, awards, panels, cooking demonstrations, tons of samples, food, groups to join, products to buy, clothes, cookware, and the list goes on!  Clearly I was in vegan heaven.
Day one, I woke up in Spain at 4:30 am to catch my flight (3:30 am London time).  I got to my hotel a little before 11 in London, dropped off my luggage, and went straight to VegFest where the line was around the block for ages.  A little boy exclaimed "holy moley!" when he saw the line.  But when I got inside I got a free bottle of Zeo which was awesome.  I got to try all three flavors and really thought they were delicious.  You should consider buying a bottle if you see them around.
Next I had to get some grub because I was starving; but it was really hard to choose because everything looked so good!  So I decided on the Southern Fried Chicken sandwich from Vbites with vegan cheese, onions and ketchup, and I got an amazing cupcake but I sadly do not remember the vendor and they were only there on Saturday.

Sea salt caramel with a caramel center!

This sandwich was so good I honestly thought about getting it again on Sunday.

That night for dinner I went to the sushi truck that was parked inside, it looked so cool but the lines were always horrendous during the lunch period.  I got the sweet potato roll from them which was amazing! (The only type of sushi I have ever liked is sweet potato roll so I was ecstatic to see that on the menu).

 The only thing I didn't like was that the sushi was not cut but they had a lot going on in their little truck so I understand.  For dessert, which I had to take back to my hotel because I was too stuffed to eat it at VegFest, was a blueberry vanilla vegan cheese cake.  And it was to die for!  I wish I knew the bakers of that as well so I could have kissed them.  Sadly there were so many different bakeries there it was hard to tell who was who after a while.  There were over 180 stalls there so it was quite hectic.

 

 I also got to try a seed from the cacao plant, where chocolate comes from.  Let me tell you this is nothing like any chocolate I have ever experienced.  For one thing the white stuff on the outside is slimy and the bean is very bitter.  While it was not what I was expecting, it was really cool to say I've tried it because not many people in the world can say that!

For Sunday I had a felafel for lunch from a place I cannot remember the name and could not find their information on the catering list.  It was really good though, nice and warm.  Then I also had that massive chocolate cookie icing sandwich which actually took me all day to eat because it was so large and the icing was very sweet.  

And I did not get anything for dinner because I was so stuffed and had to go to my Harry Potter Studio Tour, which was actually the best thing ever.  However, I was kicking myself when I finally got back to my hotel that night, around 11 pm and had to be up at 6 for my flight, because I was hungry and did not have anything but the snacks I bought.

All in all VegFest UK was a success and an experience I will remember forever.  I really hope one day I can go back because it was that amazing!

Copy Cat Fudge

'Ello lovies,
I hope everything is good in your neck of the woods.  Unfortunately, staying with a host family that is expected to supply all my meals, I have not been able to whip up any of my own vegan concoctions.  And I do not really have that many new things to report because I am served pretty much minor variations of the same dishes every day: veggie burger, salad, rice and veggies with a tomato sauce, pasta and veggies with a tomato sauces, broccoli and cucumber soup.  All of which are served with tofu (I guess since I don't eat meat with every meal she thinks I need tofu with every meal).
Anyways, I did not post all my vegan creations before I left the USA because of how busy I was.  So today I have the AMAZING, raw,  chocolate, vegan fudge without any added sugar!  And I can honestly say it was one of the best desserts I've ever made and I love baking.  I made it four or five times before I left for Spain because everyone in my family wanted some.

 But I cannot tell a lie, I used the recipe from Oh She Glows, I did not invent this. 
The walnuts are really key in this fudge.  If you have a nut allergy I would try adding something crunchy you can eat.  What are those things in Crunch bars?  Are they nut-less?  That would probably be good.  Maybe you could try Rice Crispies?  I don't know any good nut substitutes but I do know you need to try this fudge.
It looks like there is salt on it but it is actually the ice crystals reflecting the camera flash.
That is one thing about this fudge that was not really mentioned on the Oh She Glows post; it needs to be kept cold or it will melt and make a mess.
Although now that I think about it, this would be a really good vegan ice cream topping if you did not freeze it.
My mouth is watering at the possibilities.
I really wanted to try it with some caramel and sea salt but never got the chance to experiment that far because I had to leave for vegan-fudge-less Spain :(

On a happier note, I am going to VegFest London this weekend!!! I really wanted to go and no one in my program was interested.  But then I thought, what is the best way to make new vegan friends?  Go to a huge vegan event!  So, with the assistance of my father, I booked my flight and hotel and then I won free tickets to the event from TeenVgn!  This was the icing on what is sure to be an amazing vegan cake.
They also sent me these cute news letters they made.  I strongly encourage everyone to check out their site (teen or not) because they have a really cool thing going on there!
If anyone else is going to VegFest London let me know so we can meet up!
Love ya!

Spanish Lifestyle

Hello vegans, animal/earth lovers, do gooders, just people in general,
I hope your weekend was lovely.  I spent the majority of Saturday on the beach in Barcelona which was lovely except for the throngs of people climbing all over each other.  I am convinced I was a mermaid in a past life and thus feel a very strong connection to the sea; one of the many reasons I wanted to go to Barcelona.  Sadly, classes are getting in my way of decent beach time.  I guess that is the struggle of being a privileged American who gets to study abroad for a semester; poor me.
So, I decided to use this post to talk about the lifestyle of the Spaniards, or what I've seen so far.  One thing I saw that I loved, at first, was that on the streets there are so many trashcans and most are labeled with what they are for; plastic bottles, compost-able, paper, etc.  When I first saw that I thought it was so ingenious, line them all next to each other so people put things in the correct bins and save the earth!  However, more often that not, I've seen people just shove things in the first can they see, not the appropriate one.  THIS DRIVES ME INSANE!  Why would you put a plastic bottle in the paper bin when 3 feet to your left is the plastic container?!  It is so frustrating because there are all these great ways around to save the planet from liter and yet is normal to throw trash in the street.
As a self-proclaimed woman trying to save the world, I just want to run up to these people and make them dig their trash out and put it in the right bins.

 

 One thing I really love though is the extensive measures taken to save electricity.  In many public restrooms the lights are on timers, so either you flick it on when you're in there or it goes on by a sensor.  Although more often than not it goes out while you are still in the restroom, it is better to have to put it back on than wasting electricity.  And my host mom is really into turning lights off when not in use; and the internet.  (Which is actually frustrating sometimes because she turns off the wifi at night but then I cannot communicate with anyone from home.)  But saving the earth is more important than sending ugly face snap chats with my sister (even though we would argue to our dad that the snap chats are more important than paying attention to the road when he needs help finding signs).  Sometimes being the only male in the house can be really hard on my dad, he's always over-ruled.

My final Spanish lifestyle comment is on the topic of beverages.  The water here is safe to drink, it has been proven multiple times, and yet almost everyone just buys water bottles repeatedly instead of filling up bottles at water fountains.  It is considered strange to drink tap water, and it is not even available at restaurants.  This just creates more waste so I really do not understand the thought process.  One thing I do like though is that restaurants recycle all glass bottles for reuse (you can see them put the empty ones back into the crates they came in).

Maybe I am just experiencing culture shock, but there are so many good ways to conserve here that are not being implemented to their full potential.  This must be how the Spanish feel about Americans leaving their lights on when no one is home.

I saw this on the internet and just thought it was funny!

The Elusive Green Vegetables

One thing I have learned in Spain is that green vegetables are hard to come by; unless you get a salad and usually the only green on that is iceberg lettuce, not very beneficial for your health.
There is a LOT of potatoes here, especially if you're vegan.  Sometimes the only tapas you can get is patas bravas which are "spicy" potatoes that have mayo dumped on if you don't think to ask for it on the side first.  (I put spicy in quotes because the only person I know that would find that spicy is my dog Mojo who steals food and then spits it out, drool covered, because he never likes it unless its bread).  Seriously, spicy is non-existent in Spain which pains me.  If you read any of my previous posts you would know how much I love roasted red pepper flakes and garlic.
Anywho, last night I was pleasantly surprised when my host mom gave me soup for dinner made from zucchini, and broccoli I believe.  I've found that I seriously need to work on my food vocabulary because I do not know the name of many foods which makes it even harder for me to communicate my dietary needs.

It was really good, especially with the croutons (I'm a sucker for carbs).

Then today, I went back to my favorite little vegan shop Santoni.  The owners now recognize me I've been so many times already.  They are such sweet people and very patient with my broken Spanish.  I was so happy today when I went because the place was absolutely packed!  Now not everything there is vegan but it was nice seeing so many people willing to try new things in meat driven Barcelona.

 

I got a bocadillo, which means sandwich, with vegan chorizo and avocado on really good multi-grain bread.  However, I shoved that in as fast as it would go because I was rushing to a class that ended up being cancelled.  Alas, no picture of that.  But I did photograph the side of pasta I got that had a pesto with tofu on it which was utterly delicious!  Even the fork they gave me is made from bamboo and is thus bio degradable.  How awesome is this place?!

And this last photo is from a few days ago that I wanted to blog but did not have a computer.  There is an self-serve frozen yogurt place across the street from the historical campus of my university.  I was told by other students of my program that Tutti Frutti is an American company, but I could care less because they have a frozen soy-yogurt that I got and piled with kiwis, strawberries, and dark chocolate shavings.  It was absolutely delicious and not expensive at all which makes me even happier!

As a completely unrelated note, I plan on going to the beach tomorrow and possibly the majority of the weekend.  I have to say one of my favorite parts of Barcelona is the weather.  This is the stuff dreams are made of; unless you're a polar bear than it might suck.  If I make it to the zoo, and they have a polar bear, I'll make sure to ask him/her.

Why Pasta Is a Savior

Buenas tardes todos (good afternoon all)!
See, I told you I would blog more now that I have access to my computer.
So, as I mentioned before my mom was here visiting in Spain, and it was so much fun I wish she could visit every week.
While it seems weird to have your family visit your first full week of being abroad, it worked out really well for a few reasons.
1. I have a horrible sense of direction and get lost A LOT, especially somewhere new.  With my mom and her BFF Marlyn (my second mom) here they helped me get around and I got a better feel of the city.
2. There are so many cool things I wanted to do, but wanted to do it with people I would cherish the memories with: so who better than my birth mom and second mom?  We did as much of Barcelona  as you could fit into 6 days.  My feet are still recuperating from all the walking.  We saw Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, the beach, the Picasso Museum, and so much more.
3. I got to see Madrid with them for the first weekend, and I don't know if I would have gone by myself.
4. I got a lot of great meals on the expense of my moms instead of out of my own pocket haha! (This is a joke, while it was nice to have fancy meals their company was much more appreciated).

My mother, Marlyn, and me at Park Guell

So while they were here they rented an apartment in Barri Gotic (the Gothic quarter) which was great because they got to cook for me too! Well, technically I believe they got the apartment to cook for themselves but I got to enjoy it as well.  So in this picture Marlyn had made delicious haricot verts, (which is really just French for thin string beans), pasta with tomatoes, olive oil, tons of herbs, and we had a salad not pictured.  We also had bread with olive oil and this Ibizan sea salt they bought with dried flowers in it (I have to get some of this for my cooking back state side).  While there is cheese in this picture, and in the ravioli I assure you I did not eat any of it; although it was very tempting.

Sadly on Friday I had to leave for the academic trip and they finished their time in Barcelona.  While I was gone I found that in smaller Spanish cities being vegan is non-existent.  So I tried to stick to either the vegetable platters (which are really expensive), or pasta with olive oil if possible.  When in doubt, I've found that going to an Italian restaurant in Spain can save your vegan soul.

This was 10 euros!

Pasta with olive oil, garlic, and oregano for 8 euros

So for those of you planning on traveling to Castilla y León, Burgos, or Sargossa, be ready to eat really expensive salads or Italian food.  Subsequently I've also found gyro places to be great for vegetarians but my food was covered in tzatziki sauce.  Sometimes being vegan is just not going to happen, but you need to learn to roll with the dairy punches and hope for a more humane meal next time.
Hasta luego, I need to get back to practicing Spanish.

Veggie Garden

Mis amigos, I swear I have not forgotten you or my quest.  Believe it or not today is actually the first day since coming to Spain that I have been able to use my laptop!
First, I was living out of a hotel, and then I moved in with my host mom (who is super sweet and trying very hard to understand what vegans eat).  The converter I have only works for 2 pronged appliances and my computer plug is 3 pronged.  So, I had to wait for my mom to come to Spain (more on that later) to give me a 3 to 2 prong converter so I could plug that into my European plug converter!  See, it is very complicated.  Then, I stayed with my mom while she was here, and my program had an academic trip from Friday morning till this Tuesday evening.  Consequently, I have a lot of catching up to do of blog posts that I've wanted to write.
This post will be about a diamond in the rough of meat and cheese filled restaurants.  I found, through the amazingly useful tool Google, a restaurant in Barcelona called Veggie Garden and I was determined to try it out.  While I may have gotten a wee bit lost getting there, and very lost getting back, it was totally worth it.  Not only is the place so cool to look at, murals all over the walls and ceiling, but the food is tasty, healthy, and cheap(y).

A little peak inside with all the murals

I got the "menu" which is basically the daily special.  I got to choose an appetizer, main course, dessert, a drink (water or wine) and it came with bread.  And the best part of all of this was that it was for 8.25 euros, or about $11.  This is very reasonable considering the quantity and quality of food you get.


So first up was my appetizer of marinated vegetables with a pesto sauce on top!  While I really enjoyed it, I thought there was a bit too much eggplant.  But otherwise it was quite delicious, and a nice cool start to my meal on a hot day. 

 Next was my main course.  I do not remember what it was called because I pointed at someone else's table and said "yo quiero" which literally translates to "I want."  (As a side note I've found I need a lot of practice thinking on my feet in Spanish).  So while I do not know the name of the dish I can tell you more or less what it was, and how much I loved every bite.  Obviously the bottom left is rice, next to that are two large pieces of very thin bread.  It seemed like the naan version of tortilla chips.  Then some breaded veggies, in a tempura style with pickled onion and a nice curry sauce that was cold.  On the top, from left to right, there was my basket of bread (I did not eat much of it because it really did not go with my meal), then two hot curry dishes with veggies and lentils!  Those two were my favorite parts of the meal.  The green on the right was a hot spinach and seitán dish which I was not so much a fan of because I was hoping it would be something like paneer saag.

 Finally I had a choice of dessert, and i chose the chocolate mouse.  This did not have the consistency of mouse, more like a thin pudding.  And it was clearly made with some kind of grape juice.  So while it was not what I was expecting, it was very delicious and a great sweet treat to end my meal.

Being vegan in Barcelona is much harder than in Washington D.C. by far, but places like this make it worth the struggle.

Hola from Barcelona!

Mi amigo, ¿está bien?

I arrived in Barcelona just on Monday. So far it is great and everyone on my trip is very nice, there are only 10 of us but we are getting to know each other well. I meet my host mom tomorrow, which I am nervous and excited about. I was still a vegetarian when I filled out my housing form, and trying to explain that I am now vegan is not going to be fun. Hopefully she understands, and doesn't try to sneak cheese in my food like my tricky boyfriend did last week (I made the lentil tacos again, seriously one of my favorite vegan dishes). 

Anywho, while my flight was better than I was expecting (I absolutely hate flying and get very nervous) there was no vegan option for food. So I had to eat a cheesy pasta meal. Then when I got to Spain the lunch we were served was ham on bread and cheese on bread. I was starting to worry that being vegan was not going to happen in Spain. For dinner I had a salad and French fries (the meat eaters also got a sausage). We suspect they think this is what Americans eat and that's why we are getting these strange, not at all Spanish, meals. Then breakfast today we had a croissant, a roll, and toast with butter and jam. I skipped the butter but was really hoping for something with less starch. Then lunch was the same thing only with salami this time. I was beginning to panic, had all my work at becoming vegan gone to waste? Not to mention the combination of jet lag and newly added dairy made me feel really out of it and groggy. 

But alas! My vegan prayers were answered. At one of the metro stops for the Universitat de Barcelona there is a restaurant proudly displaying a sign "we <3 vegans"! I was ecstatic. On the way home I stopped in and used my broken Spanish to order a vegan "white sausage" bocadillo( sandwich) with avocado on a multigrain small baguette.   While waiting on my bocadillo the owner was showing me all the vegan options on the menu and there were so many I couldn't believe my eyes. And it was especially confusing because none of them said if they were vegan or not; so the chorizo was but the brown sausage was not. But who cares because now I know I'm not the only vegan in Barcelona!

I hope it will be easy for my host mom to understand because my Spanish has a log way to go before I'm truly conversational. 

I think I can post more regularly now that I am not running around trying to do a million things at once. After DC I was home for a few days, NYC for my visa, Ocean City NJ for a family vacation, Saratoga NY on a different family vacation, Virginia to see my friends and boyfriend, back to NYC for a night on the town for my other friend's birthday, a going away dinner on Saturday, then Long Island to see family before I left for Spain Sunday night. WHEW! It seems crazy even just to type it all. 

Anyway here are some things I've seen so far, adios until next time!

The king stays here when he comes to Barcelona. 

Me and a dragon gate made by Gaudi!

And a billboard I thought was cute. 

Road Trip to Saratoga

Cheerio,
This weekend I took a trip to Saratoga with my father, sister, and two of her friends.  While we were traveling I realized how hard it is being vegan on the road/ somewhere new.  Unless you spend a good 30 minutes on the internet every day trying to find restaurants, it is very hard to find vegan options on the go.  So here are my vegan road trip tips (try saying that 3 times fast):

1. Stop at health food stores if possible.  They often have some sort of deli/cooked foods section with plenty of options to choose from.  If not, there are loads of things you can get that could work to fulfill your hunger.  Somewhere in northern NJ we stopped because my sister and her friends wanted Panera, which happened to be in a shopping center with a health food store.  So I got sesame kale salad, sweet and sour tofu, and a Hail Merry tart for dessert.  Not only was this lunch delicious, but it was healthy (even the tart)!  We did not buy other food while I was there but I would recommend buying snacks and things to eat in case later on you run into a non-vegan-friendly zone.  This is something I wished I did for our breakfast Saturday because I ended up with a side of hash browns and a less than fresh fruit cup.

2. Don't be afraid to ask for alterations to the menu.  The first night we went out to dinner and there was nothing but a vegan salad on the menu.  Now I can appreciate salads, but I am a lover of hot meals.  So I saw pasta with tomato sauce on the kids menu and asked them to make an adult-sized portion.  I did not realize how much food that would be (I barely ate half of it before I had to throw the napkin in).  But this is a good example of how to get something vegan friendly in a new place, do not be afraid to ask for a decent meal.  Yes being vegan is your choice, but really so is meat.  You have just as much right to a good meal as a meat eater, and don't you forget that!

3.  Read signs around town.  This might sound obvious, but you would be surprised how easy it is to over look the "dairy-free" signs.  We saw a gelato shop in town and I noticed a small "dairy-free options" sign in the corner of the window, so we went in.  HALF of their flavors were vegan friendly, and you would not know without asking because none of them were labeled as such.  I got lemon-basil with strawberry on top, and it was the perfect dessert for a hot afternoon.

 

 4. My final tip, ask the locals. After our disappointing breakfast Saturday, we went back into town and asked locals where would be a good breakfast restaurant with vegan options.  We were pointed to the Country Cafe and they had, right on the first page of the menu, "vegan option."  It was a tofu has with a choice of two vegetables ( I picked broccoli and avocado), polenta hash, and a grilled grapefruit half (which I really did not like).  This meal was probably my favorite of the trip.