What We Ate Wednesday: Picture-palooza

September 3rd, 2013 - filed under: The Food » Food Styles

Bliss

This is maybe one of the most picture-heavy posts on BA, ever, and editing the photos I was like “Really? This was all one day?” And it really was. It was a loooong day, and a spectacular day, and most importantly for our purposes – a delicious day!

It started like this:

Because obviously. This was a Thursday, and I have Waits Thursday mornings. I asked him what he wanted for breakfast and instead of the usual “chia!” or “o-pume” (that’s oatmeal), he said quite specifically – “bread with strawberry jam, please”. And so it was.

While he ate I prepped his lunch. Damian picks him up from school on Thursdays, so I was heading out of town. And that means lunch was a fridge dump.

Clockwise from top left: black refried beans leftovers, cheez-y pasta with peas leftovers, carrots and cucumbers, seaweed snacks, a sammie with coconut peanut butter & jelly, and a tin of peanuts + raisins.

I also fixed myself something to hold me over on the long drive to LA – a Shakeology shake!

Like I said, I *love* these shakes for super rushed mornings. I dropped the little bug off at school, said my goodbyes, and hit the road.

On the way down to LA I had a business call that was rather bittersweet (also, hands-free headset for the win!). It was a call with one of my Vegan Lifestyle Coaching clients, and it was our final session together. What I love most about my work as a coach, is getting to know and getting to help such awesome, impressive people. Sometimes I feel like they teach me as much as I teach them, and this woman in particular I found deeply inspiring.

So it was wonderful to talk with her, but sad to have to say goodbye after months of such great work. My coaching calls usually last for 30-45 minutes, but we ended up talking for almost an hour and a half! It was just such a pleasure, and certainly made the LA gridlock more bearable . . .

I got to my not-boyfriend’s house while he was out running errands, and immediately set about making us a kickass lunch. He’d said he was craving salad something fierce, and requested “one with ALL the vegetables”. So I’d cleaned out my crisper and we were set.

Good tunes on pandora, too.

The final result, two kitchen-sink salads with: spinach, cabbage, homegrown tomatoes, artichoke hearts, kalamata olives, Persian cucumbers, broccoli slaw, shredded carrots, and avocado, topped with smokey mustard maple tempeh. SO GOOD.

After lunch we lazed around a bit, did some errands, and then it was time to get all gussied up. Because that afternoon, we were attending a party! A product launch party, actually, for the new line of shredded cheese from Follow Your Heart (which used to have a grocery store and cafe in Santa barbara – I totally grew up going there, haha).

Oh LA, your traffic gives me the sadz.

It took us like, 2 hours to get there, which is CRAZY. But anyway, it was worth it! Such a fun party at the Follow Your Heart headquarters. There was mingling:

. . . and finger foods featuring the new cheese shreds . . .

not gluten-free

not gluten-free

gluten-free, yay!

. . . and a tour of the factory floor!

But mostly it was about the party. The whole thing was a kickoff of the Vegan Gourmet Shreds, but actually my favorite new(ish) product of the night was this stuff:

SERIOUSLY it tastes just like real bleu cheese, and that, my friends, is a flavor I haven’t tasted in over five years! The really-for-real stinky cheese flavor. I don’t know how they did it but they nailed it, and I feel like I could drink that stuff. Hey, I’ve got a lot of catching up to do!

The best part of the evening was, of course, the company – meeting new folks and reconnecting with old friends. There were lots of bloggers and vegan foodie-types, of course, and I was so thrilled to run into one of my very favorite cookbook queens, Joni Newman.

I love this lady and you should check out her incredibly prolific body of work!

We left the party a little before sundown, and stopped by Whole Foods on the way home to grab our very own bag of the new shreds. What?! They were good and we wanted dinner!

We were in the mood for Mexican (because always) and decided on a sort of layered enchilada pie type of thing, with a homemade mole enchilada sauce.

Prep.

Sauce.

Tater rounds, pre-baked with onions and spices.

Layers. It went like this: sauce, corn tortillas, black beans, fresh spinach, potatoes, tofu, sauce, cheese, olives, REPEAT.

Into the oven (covered) for just under an hour, and ohmigoodness that house smelled amazing!

Just out. Cooling.

We served it with salsa and guacamole, naturally. It was an epic success. We polished off an entire half of the pan, haha.

We stayed up late, like we do, and played cards, like we do, and talked and talked and talked and plotted to take over the world . . . like we do!

Like I said – loooong day, spectacular day, delicious day.

♥ ♥ ♥

Kylie – FotV

I was so sad I wasn’t feeling well and couldn’t attend the Follow Your Heart party :( Sounds lovely and that dinner looks AH-MAZING!
leinana

Your enchilada pie looks great, but OMG vegan bleu cheese dressing!!! My vegan prayers have been answered. I’m having some crazy pregnancy cravings for salads with bleu cheese… I must find this stuff stat!
Blake Martin

I often joke that I’m a bad vegan because I’m not crazy about salads. But I’m learning what I really mean is that I don’t like boring, iceberg lettuce based salads. I want dark, hearty greens with ALL THE VEGETABLES! Seriously, that salad looks fantastic.
Meg M

So, I dreamed about you last night, Sayward! And not just one dream, but many! Some were even dreams within dreams! One was about you going through a particularly rough break-up with a very mean, abusive and jealous man. Another was about us playing a game that involved story-telling with a friend of yours as well as a friend of mine. (We each wrote down one sentence about a story of our own and then mixed them up and had to draw one of those stories from a bowl. Then we had to tell the story we drew through the other person’s voice. I drew one about Waits that you had put in the hat. It was about how he thought your purse was his, and he wouldn’t let you have it back. You were upset, but you loved him so much you had decided to just buy another purse and all the contents in order to let him keep it.) Another dream was about us taking Waits swimming. Another was about you telling me to touch the flush handle on the toilet more gently and with cleaner hands (ha!). There were also more I don’t remember well enough to say anything about.
But after all that I had a distinct feeling when I woke up that you and not-boyfriend were engaged. So of course I came to your site as soon as I could to see if, in fact, you had made any big announcements. Lol. I guess I was wrong this time. I had to check though, because earlier this week I dreamed my cousin had gone into labor (3 weeks early) and when I woke up she actually had gone into labor!
Anyhow, it was nice spending a night in dreamland with you!
Chrissy

Hi Sayward! I’ve been a silent follower of yours for months, and I figured it was time for me to say hi! I also wanted to pick your brain a bit… I’m having a very close friend over for dinner and wine, and I totally have no idea what to make that would pair up with red wine! Usually white works better but we’ve been craving red “something fierce.” What would you reccommend?
http://www.carrieonvegan.com/ Carrie @ Carrieonvegan

Love all the pictures and you might just have the sweetest armchair I’ve ever seen. And, I should have known, you not-boyfriend doesn’t live in SB. Darn! We need more good vegan men in our neck of the woods; I’m gonna hang onto mine for the time being. :)
http://www.ladiesholiday.com/ Ladies Holiday

That enchilada pie has my tummy rumbling! Delicious post :)
http://veganchai.wordpress.com/ veganchai

sUper impressed with you rocking that shake in a glass while you drive–you are a brave woman! also, that tiny taco? squee, so frickin’ cute!
http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

We were sad to miss you! But reeeeeally looking forward to next weekend! =D
http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

You’ve gotta get it! It really is amazing and REALLY tastes like bleu cheese. You’ll love it!
http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

Ugh yes, boring salads are the worst. But a big hearty satisfying salad with lots of veggies, a good source of healthy fat, and a good dose of protein? That is absolute HEAVEN!
http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

Haha, oh my goodness NO, no engagement for me . . . ever again. Don’t get me wrong, he is fantastic and we are happily moving in a steadily-more-awesomer direction, but . . . I just don’t think I’m made for marriage really. Not that kind of girl.

Anyway! I’ve totally had dreams about bloggers before so I feel ya. Glad we got to hang out in dreamland! =D
http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

Oh man, it totally depends on what you’re making! What will the main dish be? If you tell me exactly what you’ll be serving, and what price range you’re looking for, I can totally help you choose a great pairing. =)
http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

Aw yes, you got a good one Carrie, hang onto him! Mine is good too (and a bit of a May-December as well!) and yes, he doesn’t live in SB . . . yet!

That arm chair was a thrift store score when I first moved into my little cottage and I LOVE it, thanks for noticing. ♥
http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

Thanks!
http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

That tiny taco was almost too cute to eat . . . almost! =D
Shannon C

I’m so going to be keeping my eye out for that blue cheese dressing! I love Follow your Heart products…they always taste so close to the real thing. We actually just got their fiesta cheese shreds awhile ago, nice surprise at the market and so delicious!

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