Showing posts with label Movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Movies. Show all posts

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Vegan MoFo ~ Gambit (& Strong Hearts Cafe)

Sometimes blog posts just write themselves, don't they?  Well, yesterday I was lucky enough to visit a place that has been on my bucket list for YEARS.  That place was Strong Hearts Cafe in Syracuse, NY.  It's a 100% Vegan Restaurant.  And YES my sister and I drove almost 4 hours just to have lunch.  Okay - Okay...maybe we did a few other things to but Strong Hearts was the main reason for this trip!  I'm so blessed that I have a sister who would go with me on this journey.  As I have said before she's not vegan or vegetarian just a really wonderful sister!  So get ready because not only will this be a LONG post but I will incorporate both a review of my experiences at Strong Hearts Cafe AS WELL AS tie it into today's Vegan MoFo prompt which is "What [insert well known person] would eat if they were vegan."


Here's how I'm taking this Vegan MoFo prompt challenge...

Here's what Gambit would eat if he was vegan.  First I will start of by explaining who Gambit is.  For those of you who don't know he's an X-Men Character.

Gambit is also known as The Ragin' Cajun at times.  His powers are: Kinetic energy control and manipulation, Static generation, and he's a Skilled card-thrower.  Being a skilled Card Thrower I had to point out one of the nice touches while visiting Strong Hearts Cafe.  Once you order they hand you a card as seen above to determine your order and table for delivering your food.  (Keep reading to see how I connected the dots with the Ragin' Cajun reference, too!)

Taylor Kitsch has played Gambit in a few movies already and when I read THIS ARTICLE I knew I had to include him in this post.  If you don't know Taylor Kitsch he's also starred in the movie John Carter AND Friday Night Lights!  I also have to confess that X-Men is my favorite "Superhero" and/or "Comic Book" series that has been made into movies!  I LOVE the characters and make it a point to watch the movies when a new one comes out!  So for today's Vegan MoFo Challenge I would say Gambit and/or Taylor Kitsch would be my choice to blog about.  I think if he were a vegan he would like what I had for my MASSIVE meal while visiting Strong Hearts Cafe which was a Caramel Cookie Dough Milkshake, Cajun Seitan Sandwich, and Pumpkin Spice Walnut Cheesecake!


First up...the sandwich!  Take a look at this bad boy!  Cajun Seitan Sandwich!  I was lucky enough to meet one of the owners/founders of Strong Hearts Cafe JOEL.  He was super nice and I chatted with him a bit as well as one of the other employees.  Both were great!  I knew I wanted to try one of their Seitan sandwiches because I don't really eat a lot of Seitan.  When I asked both Joel and the other girl working which of their Seitan Sandwiches they thought I should get they both quickly said CAJUN.  That settled it for me!  Cajun it was!  
I'm so glad they suggested it - the sandwich was AMAZING!  It had just the right amount of heat to it!  And they certainly do NOT skimp on ingredients!  Their sandwiches were jam-packed with healthy contents!  I mean LOOK at these photos!  YUM!  The Cajun Seitan Sandwich had Cucumbers, Lettuce, Tomato, Cajun Seitan, Cheddar Cheese (I think they use Daiya), and I believe it was on a rye panini type bread!  Because this was a fantastic Cajun flavor I think the Ragin' Cajun himself would appreciate this vegan sandwich!

Next up...is this wonderful Milkshake!  It seemed like Strong Hearts Cafe had about a billion different flavors of vegan milkshakes - okay - that might be an exaggeration - but - they did have A LOT!  It made it difficult to decide but I did it!  I went with the one call Farm Sanctuary which is of course named after the farmed animal sanctuary in Watkins Glen, NY.  It was Caramel Cookie Dough flavor.  And is was out-of-this-world!  My sister had a Peanut Butter/Chocolate flavor and I had a sip of that, too, and it was amazing!  My sister LOVED her milkshake AND sandwich.  She opted for the Roasted Vegetable Hummus Sandwich.

As you can see we both chose the "greens" as our side but you could choose 'chips' if you wanted to as an alternative.  My sister said that the hummus they used for her sandwich was a Cilantro flavored and she thought it was terrific!  The greens had a light Italian Dressing flare to it, too!  I wanted to make sure that I pointed out the MASSIVE size of these sandwiches.  Now...I didn't take a tape measure to them but they were comparable to the size of an iPad.  And not the newer, smaller iPads...the earlier version that were larger.  Just to give you a visual!  But that's NOT ALL...we still haven't talked about the impressive cheesecake...don't worry...I will...keep scrolling!

As for the Vegan Cheesecake I KNEW I had to have at least one piece!  After all I LOVED cheesecake before dropping dairy and it seemed the one place I knew of in the region (Pizza Plant in Buffalo) never seemed to have it available the few times I have dropped by!  Anyhow...check OUT this large slab of Vegan Cheesecake GOODNESS from Strong Hearts Cafe!  When I order a slice I thought it was just going to be regular cheesecake but vegan but BOY was I wrong!  Apparently depending on the time of year they may do different types of cheesecake.  This one was a Pumpkin Spice topped with a few large Walnuts!  WOWZA!  And YUMMO!
So YES my sister and I had a wonderful time at Strong Hearts and everything was AMAZING.  I was going to try and grab some stuff to go but after we were done eating I was so stuffed I couldn't even think about eating anything else so instead I bought one of their t-shirts!  Everything was affordable.  Everyone was so nice.  This place is a Utopia of sorts and I would urge everyone to go if they can!  Gambit/Taylor Kitsch if you are out there - GO - GO to Strong Hearts Cafe!  You'll thank me later!

Monday, September 7, 2015

Vegan MoFo ~ Vegan Foods Inspired By 3 Films

The Vegan MoFo Prompt for today was to make or eat something inspired by a book or film.  I went back thru some of my faves and decided to do a collaboration!

First up...remember Gopher's Succotash from Winnie The Pooh?  I vaguely remember it since it's been so long since I have seen that movie but I do like Vegan Succotash so why not?  Here's a photo of one of the Vegan Succotash dishes I have done in the past.  I think my secret ingredient is a splash of Balsamic it seems to make everything better!




Next up is the Porridge mentioned in Beauty & The Beast.  I always 'assumed' that Porridge was like Oatmeal.  Well, when I traveled to The Breakers in West Palm Beach, Florida, earlier this year they featured this Vegan Porridge on one of their menus and it was one of the most memorial meals I've ever had while traveling!

The Porridge was made up of lentils and spices.

What you see on top is a single apple crisp with a dab of salsa.  I really must make some of this very soon.  Of course it will be my own version but something is better than nothing, right!?



And FINALLY...I chose the movie...Home Alone.

Remember when he gets the Little Nero's Cheese Pizza?

Well, here are a few vegan cheese pizzas I have enjoyed over the last few years!

First up...is the vegan pizza from Pizza Plant in Williamsville, NY.  YUMMO!  I love The Pizza Plant because of all of the veggie options they offer.

I also love their PODS and their Vegan Nachos!

I think I will have visit there again, soon!




Last year around this time hubby and I traveled to Tennessee and one of the places we went to eat was Mellow Mushroom.  It was my first time ever being to a Mellow Mushroom and I was completely stoked they had vegan options including this pizza!  They didn't skimp on the veggies either!

Comparing the two I think I liked the Pizza Plant Pizza better than Mellow Mushrooms but I do like them both and was so appreciative that both places had options!

And speaking of Vegan Pizza options...

I couldn't pass up another chance to plug The WNY VegFest!

This photo is a picture of the Vegan Taco Pizza that I had last year while visiting WNY's first annual VegFest in Buffalo!  We had so much fun that my sister and I went back this year.  If all goes well we are thinking about making it an annual tradition!

AND...a heads up...2016 I just might be going to TWO VegFests! I heard from organizers in Erie, PA, that they will start holding VegFest in the upcoming year!  YAY!

Since this Taco Pizza shown here was more 'fake meat' than cheese and veggies I have to say I like the other two options better but again am pleased they offered this at VegFest, too!


And, FINALLY...a Vegan Pizza that I have made all by myself!

If you have visited my blog before this might look familiar from a few months back.

It's the Vegan Mac & Cheese Pizza I tried making.

Sure...it needed a little work on the dough but I am always up front about my LACK of baking skills...this INCLUDES dough!    But they flavor was wonderful and I felt like I accomplished something because I did do it by myself!

So what do you think about my food?  And the films?

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Reflecting on Last Week and Recipe Posts

This past week I was trying to focus on my Lymphatic System and I think I did a pretty good job with it.  I was able to try almost everything on my list from last week.  However...I didn't get around to the Plantains, Echinacea, and didn't do as much Yoga as I had hoped.  I made it about 90% or more with RAW FOODS last week, too! 

 It's been extremely cold over the past week - or month for that matter!  We've been seeing temperature anywhere between -18 and -29 and YES that is BELOW ZERO!  Brrr!

Because I am having some discomfort in certain areas of my body (and I am chalking it up to what time of month it is) I will be trying to focus on these things this week.  Most of the suggestions I have found online I already do with my diet.  So I think I will be upping my herbs and essential oils - as well as my green juices and smoothies.  I think I would be more excited about juicing again if I had a different juicer.  I'm still tossing the idea around of getting a new one.  Right now I am HOT on both a Breville and an Omega NC900.

In other news - I have been concentrating on Recipes over at The Raw Food World News Site and I will continue to but I will now be contributing articles again.  More on that down the road.

As for the recipes - I will include some quick links and sort descriptions throughout this week!  First up...Raw Tomato Garlic Herb Bread that I made in my dehydrator a while back...it strayed from the version just a little bit that I posted previously on my blog.  Brazil Nut Pesto was another recipe that was featured this past month.  You know I LOVE my Pesto's!  And the last preview for today is the Ginger Wasabi Noodle Bowl.  I did this a while back using a Wildtree Product but have since made it from scratch and enjoy it just as much!

Work has been going real well.  Incase I didn't mention it before I've been switched over to sales and I have already met my goals for the first two months of this year and I am really happy about it.  I'm still keeping a few of my responsibilities from before, too, so I won't solely be doing sales eventho that is my main priority from now on.

Furkids Update: Riley has been showing his age a bit and I think he is either getting random muscle pains or spasms or arthritis.  Paco has another appointment today for his ITP and they will be doing another full blood work up to check his levels.  We have been going about every other month since his levels have been coming back better the last few times, however, I have been getting meds for him every month.  Charlie seems to be doing as well as he has been since his tail amputation...so that is good!

Hubby has been on and switching meds for his Crohns and doing fairly well with it, however, our insurance changed over the last few months and things are NOT working to our benefit with the changes and his prescriptions.

As far as my love of Pop Culture as of late...I was able to watch the 40th SNL Anniversary Special and LOVED it!  We are back into The Walking Dead and will watch Sunday's Episode tonight.  Nothing, really, in the way of movies, lately, and my ears have been enjoying a split of Reggae and New Wave, it seems.

What about you!?  Do tell!

Monday, December 15, 2014

Music & Movie Monday

Many of you know that music is a huge part of my life and that I LOVE many different types of music.  Lately - I have been listening to more funk than usual.  And that was even before I watched Get On Up - the movie based on James Brown and his life and career.  We watched Get On Up last week and I thought it was wonderful.  The acting cast was amazing!  My husband continued to point out that there was lip-syncing going on some of the time but other than that it was a great flick.  Mick Jagger was one of the producers and there was a short bit of the movie about the encounter between James Brown and The Rolling Stones.  We watched the 'extras' and those were just as interesting as the movie.  Especially the relationship Dan Aykroyd had with James Brown - and I thought it was neat that he was in the movie -  you may remember that James Brown was in the Blues Brothers movie that Dan starred in years ago, too!

Just for kicks I thought I would list some of the latest tunes I have posted to my Soundtracking App:
Funkadelic - One Nation Under a Groove
Donell Jones - U Know What's Up
311 Love Song
Keith Sweat - Freak With Me
Bootsy Collins - Bootzilla
Oingo Boingo - Weird Science
Herbie Hancock - Chameleon
Terence Trent D'Arby - Wishing Well
Brian McKnight - Anytime
Kanye West & Jamie Foxx - Gold Digger
112 - Cupid 
Lindsey Buckingham - Go Insane
Adam Ant - Strip
Erasure - Chains of Love
Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories - Snow Day
Talk Talk - It's My Life
Papa Roach - Last Resort
Crazy Town - Butterfly
Next - Wifey
Stereo MC's - Connected 
Erykah Badu - Certainly
Salt N Pepa - Expression
Joan Jett - Love Hurts
No Doubt - Bathwater
Newcleus - Jam On It
World Party - All The Young Dudes
Supergrass - Alright
James Brown - Get On Up
The Cranberries - Zombie
They Might Be Giants - Istanbul
Roxette - Listen To Your Heart
Bob Marley & The Wailers - Rat Race
Ace of Base - Young And Proud

I could go on and on but that will give you a little hint at my diverse music hopping lately!  I have to add that I am not really a fan of Kanye but I like that song because of Jaime Foxx, mostly.  I like the beat and Ray Charles back-up sound that Jaime provided.  I seem to be going back to college days on many of them and I'll always LOVE the 80s, too!