Portland: Part Deux

CH and I recently got back from Portland, OR (it was our second trip there in less than a year!), and I'm pretty sure that Portlanders are doing just about everything right. They have good food, delicious coffee, nice weather, beautiful scenery, laid-back attitudes...

I could go on and on.

However, since my love affair with Portland isn't likely to end anytime soon, I suppose the least I can do is try to share it with all of you!

Spicy Potato Tacos

If these delectable tacos look vaguely familiar, they should. They're modeled after the famously fantastic Crunchy Blue Corn Chickpea Tacos (aside from a few obvious changes).

Since I'm in love with everything potato-related, I figured there was no harm in marrying a few red spuds with some taco seasoning and a shell or two. Turns out, I was right - these tacos are simple, satisfying, and oh-so-scrumptious.

Oscar (or Any!) Night Pretzels

Like many of you, CH and I spent Oscar night basking in the warm glow of the TV and consuming tons of delicious food. And, since we had seen (and loved!) most of the nominated films, we decided to celebrate our excitement regarding the ceremony by preparing one of our favorite snacks: home-made soft pretzels.

Two hours before the show started, we set all of the necessary supplies/ingredients out and got to work.

Cold Sesame Noodles

Ah yes, Cold Sesame Noodles. One of those simple, yet hard-to-perfect dishes...

I tried cold sesame noodles for the first time while visiting NYC as a Senior in high school. I was there for a Drama Club trip - the trip was packed with plays, musicals, and tons of sight-seeing - but I fell in love with the food. And, of course, the city.

Happy Obama Day!

This is what Barack and I ate for breakfast this morning. (He stopped by for a small pep talk regarding that under-the-radar speech he gave today.)

It was no biggie - I typically "pal around" with awesome dudes.

This one just happens to be our President.

And I just happen to have a renewed sense of faith in our country today!

A Box o' Cookies for Your Troubles

Oops - I almost forgot to announce the winner of the box of Trader Joe's Candy Cane Joe-Joe's!

The winner is:

(drum roll, please....)

Tory, aka Herbivore, from the very cool blog, Herbivious.

Congrats, Herbivore! Make sure to contact me at veggieterrain [at] gmail [dot] com with your info, and I'll send those cookies out to you asap!

They say it's your birthday...

...and it is!

Today is my birthday, and it's the second one I've celebrated since starting this blog!

However, instead of making cookies, cake, or b-day tartlets, I've decided to do something a little bit different.

As I inch even closer to the ripe old age of 30 (yikes!), I thought it might be useful to share a few of the things that I've been doing to stay healthy with each passing year.

First: I try to eat breakfast every day (although it's a constant battle). I used to be really good about grabbing a cup of tea, some fruit, and a granola bar whenever I was headed out in the morning, but now that I'm job hunting, it's a little more difficult. Since I often get completely engrossed in whatever I'm doing, I easily lose track of time (and my hunger), and forget about breakfast altogether. Thus, I've been making it a priority to eat within the first hour of waking up.

whole-wheat toast with peanut butter, sliced bananas, and agave nectar

Product Reviews: Candy Cane Joe-Joe's

Candy Cane Joe-Joe's:
They'll make you say,
"Oh...
Ohhhh!"

Yep, these are quite possibly the most addictive cookies to ever come out of a box (or an oven, for that matter).

They're similar to an Oreo cookie, but have tiny bits of seductive candy cane mixed into their delicious vanilla (vegan!) cream middles. I like to eat them as-is, but CH prefers the old "twist, separate, and devour the middle-part first" method. Either way, you're looking at heaven. (See: exhibit "A" - the ethereal glow around the Joe-Joe's box, below.)

Before I go any further, I want to be clear about something: I don't even like candy canes, and I'm not a huge fan of cookies either - so these have to be pretty darn good to earn a positive review from me. (Don't get me wrong - I can fully appreciate a fantastic cookie, but I'm not the type of person who fantasizes about them all day...)

A Sneak Peek...

I've been thinking about reviewing food/products on this blog for a while now.

However, "a while" has finally turned into months and months, which means that it's now or never...

As a result, I hope to begin rolling out a semi-regular (how's that for noncommittal?) review column over the next several days. I intend to focus on vegan products and eco-friendly items that are useful in the kitchen.

To that end, here's a little collage of some of the products I'm planning to review:


That ought'a wet your whistle.

Or at least motivate me to get to work...

Right?

SO me & so NOT me!

This is a really cool "meme" that I stole from Katy over at Legally Vegan. Although I'm generally not one to complete these kinds of things, Katy's intriguing post convinced me to jump on the bandwagon...

I've also tagged 5 other bloggers to complete this, but don't worry - it's self-explanatory, and bizarrely fun! Read on to see if you've been tagged...

This is SO me:
This is so NOT me:

image from news.bbc.co.uk