Blissful Journey Outing ~ Trader Joe's, Barnes & Noble, and Eats ~ In Buffalo

This past weekend we drove over to the Buffalo area and went to a few places.  Our main focus was their new Trader Joe's.  Eventho it's still almost 2 hours for us to get there - it's closer for us compared to the one in Pittsburgh by at least a half hour.  I was pretty pleased with the experience.  We got there around 9-ish and beat the rush for the most part.  I only spent about $75 or so and $7+ of it was a stylish new Freezer Bag - reusable - of course and another $7 was Pine Nuts. So for around $60 I got the rest...including but not limited to...

* Fire Roasted Tomato/Corn Salsa

* Light Coconut Milk

* Chickpeas (2)

* Lg Jar of Marinara Sauce

* Vegan Enchilada Sauce

* Sriracha Sauce

* Coconut Chips

* At least 4 different frozen Indian Dishes (more on that down the road)

* Falafel

* Tomatoes

* Roasted Veggie Pizza (no cheese)

* Frozen Kale

* Frozen Brussell Sprouts

* Whole Grain Dinner Rolls

* British "English" Muffins

* Corn Chips (2-pounds)

* Tofu 2-pack

* Frozen Carrots

* 2 different kinds of Veggie Burgers that I haven't tried before

* Tempeh

* A couple of "quick" vegan meals to have on hand and to use/eat sparringly

I MAY have missed a few things in there but that gives you a good idea of what I got!

I then went over to Barnes & Noble but didn't buy anything.  I was just REALLY excited they had not only a vegetarian cookbook section but ALSO a Vegan Cookbook Section!  There were a LOT of books missing that I was curious about but VERY thankful that they were there and clearly marked regardless!  My husband wants me to buy them via iTunes so I can have them on my iPad and iPhone so I MIGHT start trying to do that, I suppose :)

In our travels I went to a Pet Supply store to get Riley a Slow-Feeder for his dinner bowl - I'm sure I will blog about that in the future, too!  DH wanted to go to a tool place and found some 'good deals'.  We went to lunch at a burger place - and they did have vegetarian options - but I had to tweak it a bit because the veggie burgers had cheese mixed IN them.  I opted for a sandwich like conversion that included Avocado, Lettuce, Tomato, Onion, Hummus, on a specialty roll.  The highlight, tho, was this Salad.  With your meal you get a trip to their salad bar and it was a pretty good salad bar.  They made their own dressings and I chose the Lemon Herb.  On my salad I loaded up on various lettuces, dried cranberries, carrots, chickpeas, sunflower seeds, mushrooms, and roasted red peppers.  It was GOOD.  Overall it was OK but not great and hubby didn't like his 'meat eaters version' so I doubt we will ever go back since there are so many other options up that way.  The salad WAS the highlight for me and you can pretty mush get that anywhere, ya know!?

 

We pre-ordered some food to take home from another restaurant that has been a favorite of mine called Pizza Plant.  They serve much more than just Pizza, however.  They have Vegetarian, Vegan, and Gluten-Free options.  I decided to get one of their Pizza Pods but veganize it.  The one I had was stuffed with Spinach, Artichokes, Onion, and Sauce with Garlic "Crust".  It was YUMMY!  I REALLY wanted to get their signature Vegan Cheesecake but they were all out of it...BUMMER!

 

I have several other things to post about but will stop there or this post may be another MILE LONG!  Until tomorrow!