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?

MISC Photos from West Palm Beach

I have just a few photos left from our trip to West Palm Beach last month that I wanted to share with the exception of others I took during our visit to the NEW Garden of Life Offices...that I might post more of down the road.

This is my 2nd post of the day so be sure to keep scrolling and check it out!  I have so much to blog about and am way behind!  I have so much to share with you!  So many products I have been testing out and finding!  It's so much fun!

But FIRST...more Florida photos!  This first one is a little cove of shops we found in downtown West Palm Beach.  I love the color of the paint and the windows were beautifully decorated.  We went on a Sunday morning and many of them were closed for the day or not open yet.

This gorgeous kitty seemed to set up shop nearby, too!  There was a cafe or two surrounding the cove and they had outside seating for it with fountains, palm trees, and statues! 

I just LOVED this cat - so cute and friendly!  It was mostly white but had a little bit of light brown on it's tail and face and his eyes were BLUE! 

If you have been a regular to my blog over the past month you can tell I really enjoyed the trip we took!  I'm so grateful I was able to go!  I think I was just as excited about the wonderful weather as I was about everything else since we had such a 'trying' winter. 

Here's a photo of downtown West Palm Beach during the walk we took that morning.  It was the PERFECT weather!  Sunshine with a bit of breeze! 

I've often commented on how much I LOVE Palm Trees and you can see many of them here in this photo as well!

The streets were so clean, too!  Yet another thing I noticed!  They surely take pride in their communities and business districts unlike some other places I have been.

And finally - I just had to share this last photo with you.  It was the bicycle rental area at The Breakers.  We didn't rent bikes but I thought it made for a neat photo! 

Also note the brick walkways underneath the tires!  Those were everywhere and quite picture-esque! 

In front of the bikes, here, there are MORE palm trees, and a little wooded area to keep this section separate from the golf course.  In the wooded area there was a basketball court off the the left and resident tortoises off the side as well.  I could see one in the house but not the other one...it must have been hiding or sleeping!  There was also a Barber Shop off to the side, too!

Around The Grounds...

I still have a few more posts to blog about with more pictures to show off from our trip to West Palm Beach Florida last month and our stay at The Breakers!

Today I thought I would share with you some of the random photos I took from around the grounds of The Breakers.  I still have pics coming soon from our trip to the Garden of Life Headquarters as well as our downtown West Palm Beach Walk.

First up...I'm pretty sure that this is an old Fiat.  I could be wrong I couldn't get much closer to it that day but I thought it wasn't something we saw every day and thought I would take a pic of it.

In addition to all of the photos I've already posted having to do with the Organic Herb and Vegetable Gardens they have at The Breakers I thought I would post this, too!  It's a photo of a sign that I saw more than once on their grounds.

The Breakers utilizes reverse osmosis, an environmentally friendly alternative water source, to irrigate our golf course and landscaping.

I thought this was so cool!  The Breakers is a very old and historic place and even they are able to take steps to help the environment so why can't everyone else?  Every little bit or large step helps!

Here's a photograph of one of the ducks we saw on a walk one day.  It was on the one golf course.  He wasn't afraid of us in the slightest!

This duck is a Muscovy Duck.

He was pretty cool!

I wish I was able to see more wildlife while we were there - we did see more birds in the middle of flight - but we didn't see very many on the ground while we were there.

For those of you who are from or have visited Florida - what's your favorite bird of the region?

And finally - this is one of the many hallways in The Breakers.  I just LOVED all the lamps, tapestries, chandeliers, ceilings, rugs, comfy chairs - you name it!  They really have mixed past and present with the decor at just about every turn!

To the left of this hallway was one of the bars and restaurants called HMF. The name of the restaurant stood for Henry Morrison Flagler the owner of the original Breakers. Did you know that The Breakers Hotel Complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973? In 1973, the 105-acre listed area included 15 contributing buildings and one other contributing object.

I'm NOT a Girlie Girl...but...

I'm declaring today Selfie Day here at my blog...mostly because I am still trying to plug away at my vacation pictures and blogging about the trip we took to West Palm Beach and The Breakers! 

I'm NOT a Girlie-Girl...but...at The Breakers I would have been tremendously out of place if I didn't wear skirts and dresses. 

I did get a new wardrobe out of it so that was cool and now with my new position at work I just might get more use out of the clothes I bought for the trip!

In the first photo I'm on the Terrace of the Flagler Club Level at The Breakers in West Palm Beach.  When I first bought the dress I thought of it as one of those 70's Go-Go Dresses but it ended up being very comfy and I was pretty happy with the purchase.

In the 2nd photo you can see I was a little red from sun burn.  3 years ago I would NOT have worn a shirt without sleeves.  Since I lost the weight I feel a little bit better about it.  I was standing in front of this HUGE Aloe-like plant that was in the front and off to the side of The Breakers.  I probably still have a quazi-hippie thing going on here with this outfit but that is more what I am used to than fancy dresses.

This photo didn't turn out very good but at least you can see another one of the dresses I bought for the trip that I ended up really liking.  My hair in this photo, on the other hand, was pulled back because of all the wind that night.  This dress was a thicker material than the others but I ended up really liking it and I do love the shades of blue!

You will probably be seeing me wear those shoes, more, too!  I bought them on sale for like $6 or $7 dollar just before we left.  They are simple but still outside my comfort zone as far as shoes are concerned.  And YES...all of my shoes are NOT made of leather.

And here's the photo of me drinking FRESH coconut water straight from the coconut!  I know it sounds crazy but it was one of my many mini goals while we were there.

It was SO good!

This photo was taken at The Surf Break (Hut) near the pools - I have blogged about that area of The Breakers prior to this blog post.  Be sure to scroll down for more photos from the trip and from that specific area of The Breakers!

Funny fish face or kissy-face?  Either way...this is me being weird outside of The Breakers during one of the walks we took one morning. 

I believe this was one of the few times I wore capris pants with a dress shirt (blouse).  The  top was white - and I don't normally wear white - but it worked, I guess.  The shirt had some beads and sequence at the top around the neck. I was sitting in front of one of their many gardens.  Nearby was a cute little salamander but I wasn't able to get him the photo..sneaky devil!

And finally this last photo was of me in the last dress I bought before leaving.  I normally don't like big flower prints nor do I like the color pink...pair that with the simple fact it was a dress and it already had 3 strikes against me.  It wasn't bad, tho.  I did like it from the waist down more than the top but it worked for the trip. 

One dress I didn't post here that I REALLY liked was the black and red dress I got but I didn't get a good photo of me in it.  I told hubby that we would just have to start doing more things that warrant me wearing dresses! LOL

Organic Herb & Vegetable Garden at The Breakers

One of my FAVORITE parts of The Breakers was that they had an Organic Herb and Vegetable Garden on the grounds that they grew and maintained themselves.  They also used what they grew in their restaurants.

I had heard about their organic garden prior to our visit and I was super excited to check it out.

Dale and I took a stroll thru the gardens one morning and I took another walk thru them at least once.  I absolutely LOVED them. 

In this first photo you can see a huge cactus/aloe-type plant they potted.  It was mammothly large!  They had a lot of potted plants and numerous raised beds.

Here's a look at some of the raised beds.  We were free to walk in and take a look at any time, stop by touch/feel/smell the herbs - it was so neat!

They offered a weekly garden tour, too, but we weren't around while that was going on...I think we missed it by a day! 

Some of the chef's would come out in the mornings to pick what they wanted to use for the day!  Talk about 'from garden to plate', eh?

The decorative bricks that surrounded the raised beds were delightful, too!

But it wasn't just this area that featured what they grew...many of the fruits were along side the one golf course walkway!

But before I get to those photos I thought I would post another shot of the herb gardens.

I counted at least 5 different kinds of basil!  Now that is impressive!

There were a few other raised beds that they were prepping for the next item to plant/grow but almost everything was well into the growing stages!

Nearly everything was clearly marked, too!  Which was super helpful for someone like me who was interested in what they were growing!

I probably nerded-out a little bit but it was so fun!

Just past the herb section of their garden was a walkway that ran along side the one golf course.  Again you could see the decorative brick under  your feet and green at every glance!

I mentioned in an earlier post that the salamanders and lizards were NOT afraid of humans and popped out to surprise passer-byes often.

The same went for the local squirrels.  As you can see this one didn't take his eyes off of me as he was ready to climb this tree.

I wish I had been able to more of the local birds - we did see some in the sky - flying by - but not as many on land as I had hoped but then again we didn't got outside of The Breakers all that much in the few days we were there either.

While walking by several different varieties of fruit plants, trees, etc...we saw these CUTE pineapples! 

They also had an Avocado tree that was doing well and a Lychee that already had a permanent sign...among others!

There was one tree on the opposite golf course that I was unfamiliar with and am still wondering what it was.  I'm tempted to call The Breakers and ask them.  I don't think it was a Sugar Apple but then again I haven't seen a Sugar Apple up close and personal before.  I will try and post it here down the road in case anyone has any ideas on what it COULD be.  I was so excited I was able to see The Breakers Organic Gardens while we were there!

Raw Eats, Organic Fresh Pressed Juices, Salads, and More from West Palm Beach

Yes...I'm still trying to catch up with vacation pics!  Today I will have a photo heavy post about the food I enjoyed!  For the most part I enjoyed a lot of raw food...pretty impressive for being on vacation, eh!?

First off we have some organic fresh pressed juices!  This red one is called ZEN.  It had Red Beet, Red Apple, Fresh Ginger, and Lemon.  It was great!  It was part of my lunch that day along side a salad.  I had a LOT of salads and they were all great!  I also got a bunch of ideas for salad dressings, too!

For this GREEN Juice...it's called Garden Tea and it was made up of Parsley, Mint, Kale, and Pineapple.  It was WONDERFUL!!! 

I really enjoyed both juices!  There were about 3 or 4 other choices, too, but they were REALLY expensive.  They averaged between 13 and 15 dollars each.  I opted for those rather than the 'adult beverage' options. 

The colors of the juices were AMAZING!  And they were oh-so-tasty!

Here's one of my many salads.  It was one of the restaurants at The Breakers CHOP Salads. 

The dressing was a citrus balsamic...yummy, yummy, yummy!

As you can see it has greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc.  ALL of the lettuces were so crispy and fresh.  I am pretty sure that all of the tomatoes they used in all of the restaurants there were heirlooms, too!

Don't you just LOVE hierlooms?

Each morning I started my day with various fruit and fruit juices.  In this case I had strawberries, pineapple, watermelon, honeydew, and cantaloupe.

The juice you see in this photo is fresh squeezed grapefruit juice!  It was terrific!  I need more grapefruit juice in my life...I have missed it a lot!

Other mornings I have various berries, melons, some pears, lots of citrus, etc.

Around mid to late afternoon I had a lot of veggies and some fruit too.  Here is a plate from one of those mini meals.  I had corn chips with a really great salsa, some guacamole, plus some raw squash, cucumbers, celery, and jicama.  I must have eaten my weight in jicama!!!  I think I had a slew of it each day!  YUM!

Other days I had various sweet peppers, carrots, zukes, beans, tomatoes, grapes, etc...

YUM!

And speaking of YUM...Mango Gazpacho!  Most of these photos are tidbits from our offerings at the Flagler Club Level.  The one girl specifically knew that I was vegan and I think she put in a good word for me so she pointed out this cold soup and I adored it!  I want to try and makes some VERY SOON so I will be sure to share those attempts with you! 

And I just LOVED these little shot glasses they put them in, too! 

This Mango Soup had, of course Mango, citrus, red pepper flakes, and some herbs!

Here's another salad I had and was great, too!  LARGE heirloom tomatoes, walnuts, pears, onions, cranberries, leafy greens, all with another citrus balsamic dressing but it was different from the one I mentioned above.  I think it had some kind of wild flower in it, too, the dressing not the actual salad...it was very unique!  I had another salad that was similar but it had marinated hearts of palm and pink beets!  I need more salads like this in my life, too!  VERY SOON I will be continuing on with some of these things!  I really enjoyed HIGH RAW during vacation and now that spring is here and the farmers markets are opening close to me again I hope to get back to it SOON!

One of my many mini goals during this vacation to The Breakers in West Palm Beach was to have coconut water straight from the coconut and you know what?  I did it!  Here is a pic of the one I got!  It was AWESOME!  And I pulled some of the coconut off and gnawed on it a bit, too!  SO GOOD!

Yeah...so...the coconut water IN the coconut was still $12!  Oye!

But it's not like I get REAL coconuts and fresh coconut water here in the snow belt so I was stoked to get it when I could!

The last full day we were there we decided to go to their Italian Restaurant and when I made the reservations they asked us if we had any special requests and I said 'Well, I'm looking for vegan options' and when we showed up our super nice waitress was WONDERFUL and said 'I know you are vegan let me tell you what we can do for you' and suggested the roasted brussels sprouts (with a bit of onion) in oil and they were done to perfection!

I also had a salad similar to the one with the pears and leafy greens above.  There was also a bruschetta, too!  YUMMO!

And FINALLY the last food photo I wanted to post was this dish!  It was listed on the menu as Vegan Porridge but I would just call it Vegan Lentil Chili.  It was excellent!  They topped it off with root veggies and a single apple crisp!

I could have eaten this dish every day I was there but the salads, fruits, and juices were DELISH, too! 

So...what do you think of some of the foods I consumed on vacation?  I think I did really good!  I certainly behaved myself and kept things interesting!

Missing The Breakers

Yup!  I'm already missing The Breakers!  I'm missing the Florida weather.  Just when I thought spring was here we had 2 days of snow in the PA/NY state line area last week!

To warm up I thought I would post more photos from our trip earlier this month.

This first photo is one that I took the day we went to the beach.  You can see their private beach area with some of the chairs and umbrellas and the lovely clouds and ocean!  From where I was taking this picture was from the pool area.  They had 9 different pool areas there.

Here's a photo I took at The Surf Break.  The Surf Break was a little spot near the pools, cabanas, and beach where you could get small meals, finger foods, and drinks. 

One of my mini goals while I was there was to get a coconut with the coconut water in it.  I was able to do that the 2nd to the last day we were there inside The Surf Break but I will share that photo with you at another time.  Yes...there were surf boards on the ceiling of this hut and it was so fun.  The breeze was nice, too!

While we were at The Surf Break there were two young ladies there bar-tending.  They were very nice and sure worked their butts off!

This photo was taken outside the front entrance of The Breakers!  Each day it was fun to take a walk out front and see what kind of exotic and fantasy cars were there. 

It's not unusual for The Breakers to hold various car shows, too!  The weekend we were there they didn't have a car show but I have seen a lot of pics from past ones and they are pretty awesome!

This was also where a lot of the limo's came to pick up and drop off people, too!  We were fortunate enough to take a limo to our tour of the new offices of Garden of Life.  More on that in the near future.

This wasn't a photo of our limo but of one of the many others we saw in and out of The Breakers.

The Breakers was incredibly clean all day and night but one morning I was out and about earlier than most people were and I noticed several golf carts around the grounds cleaning up debris from the night before.  And when I say debris - it was NOT garbage - but downed palm tree limbs - for example that came down naturally from the winds the night before.

They really do a great job working at all hours to keep this place looking amazing!  And each and every person there greeted us and was extremely helpful and nice.  I can't say enough about their terrific staff at The Breakers!

This was one of the many photos I took from the Terrace which was part of the Flagler Club.  The Flagler Club was the 6th and 7th level of The Breakers.  We were lucky enough to stay on the 6th floor and absolutely LOVED every minute of it.  I blogged more about this on both this blog and My Travel Blog so be sure to check those posts out!

I loved the blue and green colors on the terrace...the umbrellas were HUGE...the seats were comfy, the stone and marble beautiful, and everywhere you looked there were plants!  I should have counted how many plants were JUST on the terrace but I didn't.  I wouldn't be surprised if there upward of 100 plants in that area alone!

I've already shown a lot of the photos I have taken of the Palm Trees at The Breakers and I wanted to let you know I did a whole post of the Fountain at The Breakers and that is located over at my Travel Blog...check it out...HERE is the direct post on the Fountains.  Outside in the enclosed area past the lobby you will see an area with water, a fountain or two, and statues like the one you see here.

There was marble, stone, fountains, plants, palms, and other bits of eye-candy EVERYWHERE.  There was something to look at - at every turn and it was breath-taking!

In the near future I will share some of the foods and beverages I enjoyed while there.  I was just thankful for all of the fresh fruit and salads and organic fresh pressed juices, too!  So stay tuned for that!

My LOVE Of Palm Trees!

Once again I am WAY behind on blogging!  But I thought I would jump right in with some posts and try and schedule some as well so you might be seeing a lot more from me over the next few days and weeks!  Many of these posts will be about our trip now that we are back I'm already missing Florida. 

In case you are just tuning in...I won a trip to West Palm Beach Florida at the end of last year and we were supposed to go in March and we had a family and work emergency and we were so lucky that they worked with us to reschedule our trip!  I will NEVER forget that!  The folks at Garden of Life are truly amazing!

Went we went to West Palm Beach we stayed at The Breakers.  I have never stayed at a 5 star hotel so this was a completely amazing experience but with the winter we had here up north - I was so excited just to BE in the middle of 85+ degree temperatures, too!

The theme to this post will be PALM TREES.  There are few things I LOVE more than water falls and palm trees when it comes to landscape and/or nature...there certainly were palm trees at ever glance down there!  There were also a lot of salamanders and lizards, too!

It only rained for a few hours the one evening while we were sleeping. 

In the first photo you will see the historic brick and entrance to The Breakers with the amazing gardens and golf courses surrounding it.  In the next photo another angle from the beautiful grounds.

We stayed on the 6th floor of The Breakers which was part of the Flagler Club.  It was like staying inside of an INN within the hotel.  We had incredible breakfast, snacks, beverages, and other consumables throughout the day and evening as a part of our Flagler Club stay.  More on that in future posts, tho.

One of my favorite parts of the Flagler Club Level was the outdoor terrace - again I will be blogging about that more in the near future.

Today - in this post - it's all about the Palm Trees!  YAY!

This palm is located in the back of the hotel near the beach.  You can see that they had coconuts still in the tree.  They used the coconuts in their own drinks.  One of my many personal goals was to have raw coconut water straight from the coconut which I was finally able to do the 2nd to the last day we were there.  It was fabulous!

I loved the walk way where I was standing taking this photo.  In the evenings it got breezy but the breeze was terrific.  Most days and nights I wore dresses.  I'm not a girlie-girl but I kind of liked it and the dresses I found to wear while we were there.  I will share some of those pics at some point, too!

This next photo was taken on the one side lawn.  EVERY WHERE you looked at The Breakers there was something you could look at, appreciate, and enjoy!  This area had a delightful lawn with gardens and fountain.  Behind where I'm standing taking the picture were pillars and over hangs with comfy chairs, tables, and places to meet and greet and soak up the sun it a casual setting.  If you were to walk thru the court area there was another fountain as well as stores/shops and paths to get to other places in and around the hotel.  Surrounding the hotel were two golf course - on either side - and behind the hotel was the ocean!  They had their own private beach and within the resort they had 9 separate pool areas.

This last photo is off to the side of the hotel behind where I am standing there are other lawn areas, the walkway off to the side facing the ocean, the pool areas off to the other side, and gardens everywhere.  Looking forward is one of the many entrances.  Off to the left there is a hidden playground for the kids, an activities area, the Italian Restaurant, and a Barber Shop...among other things.  Off to the right are shops, the main hotel and lobby, and other historical treasures of The Breakers.

I'm so very grateful I was able to experience this trip.  It was wonderful to get away for a while.  More on this trip over at the TRAVEL BLOG we have set up, too!

The Breakers - Front & Back

Over the next several posts I will be sharing with you the trip we took to West Palm Beach, Florida, thanks to Garden of Life.  We stayed at The Breakers and it was overly amazing!  I was able to blog my way to The Breakers last year and I was finally able to go!  After the horrible winter we had we were overly excited to see sunnier skies that is for sure!

This first photo is a shot taken from the 6th Floor on the Terrace of the Flagler Club Level.  This is the entrance of the resort.  You can see the beautiful fountain and front garden greeting you as you arrive!

This was the view looking out of our window.  It was listed as Partial Ocean View but I would say this is a head-on Ocean View!

Sure - it was 'out of this world' to walk among the wealthy - but - it's the little things that I truly loved the most like the palm trees!  The sunshine!  Seeing birds I don't usually see at home and being surprised by small lizards and salamanders!

And coming across a single red vibrant mini flower in the middle of nowhere during a mid morning walk.  I carried it around with me for a few hours and even brought it back to the room, too!

Stay tuned for more blog posts and photos from Florida in the coming weeks!  It will probably take me that long to catch up and post all of the eye-candy we came across while there!  You can also see more photos on my Instagram and our Travel Blog.