Category Archives: Weekends

Hello September!

Posted by ljb in Andy, Weekends and tagged with , , ,

Wow. Where did August go? Am I the only one would suddenly feels like I should get out my sweaters and boots even though it is still in the 80s? I sure hope not…

As mentioned in my last post, I went back to the heartland to visit friends and family last week! I can’t tell you how much fun it was to see everyone considering I hadn’t been home since Christmas! We had a crazy weekend which included driving 15 hours, attending two weddings, meeting my brother’s girlfriend for the first time and a joint-family cookout. All these things were a blast and mentally, I needed it. Physically, it took a toll on me.

I didn’t weigh in last week because I was traveling and I like to keep things consistant on my own scale. I stepped on this morning preparing myself for the worst. Result? It wasn’t the worst, but I maintained. Considering how much I ate while traveling, I am going to take it (not like I have much choice anyway). I could have done a lot worse, that is for sure. Today starts a new week and while I am traveling for work today and tomorrow, I owe it to myself to do better.

While I could go on and on about how much fun my trip home was, I decided to let you enjoy this photo essay. Take one look at the pics and you can easily see why going home is such a treat!

Kerbers on a couch

Kerbers on a couch. And we are still missing a few!

Mr and Mrs

Grant and Michelle finally got hitched!

Andy and Lauren

Weddings, weddings and more weddings!

Table 7

Table 7

Sisterly Bonding

A little sisterly bonding time (plus Emily, minus Heather)

Kaitlyn Jenae

Lil Miss Kaitlyn eyeing the pool

Uncle Andy

Andy multitasking between being an uncle and a brother-in-law

I wish I would have taken more pictures, but I guess I was so wrapped up in the moments that I completely forgot! I did take a lot of mental photos though.

Until next time!

Vegans and Cookouts: Why Can’t We Be Friends?

Posted by ljb in Vegan, Weekends and tagged with , , , , , , ,

Well, cookout season has officially begun! Being one who thoroughly enjoys a good barbecue, as I started to eat more of a vegan I began to wonder how one would enjoy this American past time while still sticking to their plant-based diet. Last night, a couple of my girl friends came over and it was actually a quick topic of conversation since we just had a barbecue this past weekend for Memorial Day. Luckily, there was something for everyone there. Seriously. Just look:

Yum right? Yes, you do see a kale salad, which was amazing by the way. A vegetarian can go nuts on that table. A vegan can eat almost everything as well. We weren’t lacking in veg items from the grill either.

What do we have here? Portabella burgers to die for and veggie kabobs – oh my. You wouldn’t believe how quickly the portabella burgers went, especially by the “meat-eaters.”

So I guess what I am trying to say is: if you are vegan and are invited to a cookout, this is your opportunity to show people that you CAN go to events and EAT and have FUN. There are so many great items you can offer to bring that will be a hit for everyone there!

Here are a few ideas:

That is just the tip of the iceberg. The internet is chalked full of amazing BBQ dishes. Thing is, most people won’t even know it is purposely a vegan dish. They will eat it, enjoy it and continue to give you a hard time about eating vegan. Just smile. If you are lucky like me, you have awesome friends and neighbors who are also vegan or are open to cooking vegan! Those are true friends. Keep them close.

Enjoy your Wednesday,

Choosing Vegan: Archie Moore’s

Posted by ljb in Out and About, Vegan, Vegan Options at Restaurants, Weekends and tagged with , , , , , ,

Archie Moore’s is straight up delish. Well, it was when I ate meat anyway. Chicken wings to die for and I wasn’t even a huge wing person to being with. Last night was our first night back there since I went to more of a plant-based diet.

I thought: “what does one eat when trying to avoid consuming animal products?” Lucky for me, there were a few options. They had a “Vegetarian” section on the menu which consisted of:

  • Grilled Vegetable Focaccia Stack
  • Garden Burger
  • Garden Burger Vegetable Club
  • California Grilled Cheese Sandwich
All of these are an obviously good choice for vegetarians, but probably only an ok choice for vegans if you order it sans cheese (no California Grilled Cheese for you) and pending the garden burger was vegan. It might actually be worth asking next time I am there, but I am going to guess it isn’t. They also had a pretty good salad section:
  • Fresh Garden Salad
  • Chef Salad
  • Spinach Salad
  • Caesar Salad
  • Trail Mix Salad
  • Grilled Vegetable Salad
Most of these salads came with cheese and a few had meat in them. So when ordered without those ingredients, they would be a safe choice. However, if you opted to get a dressing other than the kind listed with the salad which, for the most part, consisted of either gorgonzola vinaigrette or a creamy dressing, your choices were limited. Their choice of dressing included: vinaigrette, bleu cheese, creamy bacon, thousand island and ranch. Mostly fine for vegetarians, but kind of a disaster for vegans (besides the vinaigrette).

I choose the Grilled Veggie Salad with Pesto Vinaigrette dressing and a side of sweet potato fries (not the healthiest choice, but they are my vice).

My thoughts: Can I get two? I was very impressed with this salad overall. The pesto dressing and grilled veggies made me forget I was just eating a salad. The dressing was delish and I couldn’t even finish it, although I am sure the sweet potato fries had something to do with it.

You might be thinking: “Lauren, you went to a restaurant that is famous for wings. Did you honestly think you would find an extensive list of vegan options?” And I say to you: “Duh, of course not.” My “Choosing Vegan” posts aren’t about slapping restaurants on the wrist if they don’t cater to my diet. It is about helping to find what sort of options or combinations of options a plant-based dieter can have at their favorite establishments.

Obviously, this isn’t a place where a group of vegans would congregate for a great veg meal. But if you are meeting up with friends here for happy hour, just know you do have options! And when planning ahead, you can have a decent plant-based meal while enjoying the company of others.

Enjoy your beautiful Sunday,

What’s Up Jasmine?

Posted by ljb in Organic, Out and About, Recipes, Vegan-Friendly Restaurants, Weekends and tagged with , , , , , , ,

Holy Vegan Cannelloni! My mind was just blown.

I walked down to green well Organic Tea & Coffee (if you haven’t figured it out yet, I am obsessed with this place), and decided to grab a tea before working the front desk at the yoga studio. I opted for the Iced Jasmine Tea and added just a tad of agave to it. I literally walked out of the cafe, took a sip and it was almost like a cartoon where the sun started shining, birds started chirping and music was playing so I felt the need to dance. I didn’t, because New Haven just isn’t ready for that yet.

I know this picture isn’t much to look at, but I had to give you some sort of visual so you could understand the magnitude of my love for this drink. Now, most of you don’t live in CT which makes it difficult to swing by green well, so I am pretty sure you could easily make this at home. Go grab some organic herbal jasmine tea, make it as directed, add ice and give it a teaspoon or two of agave. Presto! Your new “go to” drink. You’re welcome.

A Nice Little Weekend For This Lady

Posted by ljb in Around the House, Juicing, Organic, Out and About, Vegan-Friendly Restaurants, Weekends and tagged with , , ,

What? It’s Monday already, huh? Well shoot. Here goes another week….

But, before I plunge into whatever great things might be ahead, let’s chat about the weekend. It was a gorgeous one here in Southern CT. Friday, I had a hot date consisting of Whole Foods and grocery shopping. Side note: a big thanks to John for sending my husband home early and telling him a few times to “go spend time with your wife”. You are the best! Anyway, Mr. B had never been to Whole Foods (gasp) so I told him that he was allowed to sit and eat while I gathered up the groceries. He was like a kid in a candy store. Did he want pizza? How about a sandwich? He could get both. And they have beer! Heaven. He opted for pizza, by the way. I left him mid-bite to go off on my grocery shopping adventure.

I have lots of great recipes coming up this week that I am super pumped to tell you about!

Saturday was “the best, day, evvvvv, eerrr” (that was me singing). I got up bright and early, made my greenish smoothie that I posted about and headed off to yoga. This time, I decided to try slow flow, a practice I had never done before. It was such a different experience from Vinyasa yoga, which is quicker and a little more intense I thought. Some of you may be reading this and thinking “I didn’t understand that last sentence.” Fear not! I have a post in the queue to tell you all about yoga and my experiences with it since I am fairly new to the practice. So look forward to that soon. (Hurray!)

Back to my story, so after an awesome yoga session at Fresh Yoga, I headed off down the street to my new favorite little coffee and tea shop in the area, green well Organic Tea and Coffee. A recent addition to the area, it is so close to my yoga studio that it was fate. Amazing teas, great juices and awesome owners who I found out were not only from the Chicago area, but actually lived in the same town and fairly close to me! What are the odds? Fate right? Duh. Oh, and one of the owners had a Cubs hat on. How could I pass up a “Go Cubbies”!? I plan on doing a dedicated post on green well just so I can fully explain how much I am in love with this place. Anyway, I grabbed an apple, ginger and rhubarb juice. Having never experienced rhubarb in juice form, I was a little anxious to be honest. But as assumed, I fell in love.

I was still in the mood to enjoy the day so I walked down to the Wooster Square Farmers’ Market which is part of CitySeed. CitySeed is an organization whose mission is “to engage the community in growing an equitable, local food system that promotes economic development, community development and sustainable agriculture.” Rock on. Being a farmer’s daughter in all sense of the word (or words I guess?), I fully support farmers’ markets and always love to try to buy local. I have a passion and large respect for those that work the land to feed us. And, I love my dad so I am doing my part in supporting his occupation even though I am 900 miles away from the home land.

The cool thing about CitySeed, besides running markets all over the area, is that they are nice to those of us who rarely carry cash. So, I never have cash on me. It worries my husband sometimes. But if I have it, I spend it. I don’t know what it is. I walked down to the market unexpectedly so I didn’t even think about having some readily available. Luckily for me, they have “coins” you can purchase with a credit card. Since most, if not all, vendors at this market don’t accept credit cards, these coins acted as my cash, that the vendors then turn in to CitySeed for their share of sales. Pretty neat idea if you ask me.

I came home with delish whole wheat sourdough bread, rhubard (because I love it now), some homemade pasta sauces and some little vegan baked goods. Successful trip yeah? Um, yes.

Saturday night we spent at the casino with some amazing friends. We lost a total of $16. All my fault. Don’t gamble, Lauren. Just don’t.

Sunday was an amazing day consisting of a morning yoga class, church, outdoor conversations on our neighbors new patio and some yard work. It also involved an amazing grilled “cheese” sandwich made from the fresh sourdough bread I picked up at the market. It. Was. To. Die. For. I had been craving a grilled cheese of sorts for weeks now and I finally got my fix. Hallelujah. And to top it all off, my friend J convinced me to do some mini-hiking up East Rock, right by my house. Now, I use the term “mini” very loosely, because when you haven’t hiked for over a year, mini-hikes seem like climbing Mt. Everest. But it was accomplished and was followed by a nice downhill walk and some great conversation. Good for the soul, I tell ya.

I live for weekends like these. Weeks filled with love and just being content. No big plans, but lots of simple, little ones that together make up a life worth living.

Enjoy your amazing week!