V is for Vincent

HAIL! It is finally feeling like home!

This morning was a sweet dose of 40* weather with a sprinkling of chocolate chip size hail coming down in globs. I knew today would be a good day.

Since it is a nice Eeyore-y day, thought it was time for some catching up. The other week was Valentines Day. A day that I have never been too impressed with, and considering that one of my most enjoyable ones was spent eating a box of Kashi cereal while watching The Lizzie McGuire movie, you can see how much I care. This v-day, though, was spent with the perfect meal, the perfect dessert, with the perfect company. (vomiting yet?)

The husband went to the shopping-mall-sized Whole Foods and selected every vegan delight in their pastry case. Of course, the first one I bit into I thought would be innocent enough, and it turned out to be Chilean Chocolate that sent my mouth a-blazin’.

blueberry struessel, strawberry, caramel pecan, and so much more!

Don't you just love the jewel tones?

For the main meal it was provided by Z Pizza, a local pizza chain that has several vegan options. We had the Berkley; marinara sauce, vegan cheese, veggie burger crumbles, zucchini, tomatoes, mushrooms, red onions, and bell peppers.


"A great place to take a vegan on a date"



To be in the loving spirit, we watched the original House on Haunted Hill with Vincent Price.

Nothing says “I love you” like the king of macabre entertainment.



we drove to the Ennis House after the movie was over, the house the movie exterior was filmed at



 

Vegan in Pasadena: Green Earth and KindKreme

For being called the land of “milk and honey”, the title might be a bit off for vegans. Really it is more like the land of “almond milk and agave nectar” that California should be called. Everyday it seems like there is a new vegetarian or vegan friendly store or restaurant that is popping it. I love it!


Recently I have been spending a lot of time in Pasadena, so I’ve been trying to find all of the little hot spots. For our first date night in the City of Roses, we walked up to Colorado and over to the Green Earth. This is an all vegan cuisine eatery. I was already giving the place five stars even before we got there solely because of the name. It reminded me of Good Earth, one of my favorite places to go when I was in high school.


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Chick'un Burger

 

spring rolls with seitan



Green Earth is a family owned restaurant that originated from their deep passion for vegetarian cooking, and trying to spread that vegan love.

Although the restaurants (there are multiple locations) are named Vegetarian Cuisine, all three Green Earth’s locations are 100% vegan. Their menu is quite eclectic, with items like the Gourmet Burrito with textured vegetable protein, brown rice, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, guacamole, and pico de gallo, the BBQ Tofu Burger: Tofu grilled with BBQ sauce, lettuce, onion, tomato, and pickle. Then there are dishes like Spicy Lemongrass Tofu: Tofu sautéed with spicy minced lemongrass. Their flavors are all over the place! Another bonus: they are trying to reduce their carbon footprint and even all of the take-out materials, from utensils to containers, are biodegradable and environmentally friendly. Big plus!

After warming up with some Orange Chickun and Chickun burger, we headed over to KindKreme. No, it’s not a low-fat sister store to Krispy Kremes, but an all vegan, all raw, vegan ice cream store. Oh I felt like a pug that was just given cake!

 

With the more expected flavors like Coconut, Vanilla, Chocolate, and some Salted Caramel Latte, to flavors a little more unique like the Orange Date Pomegranate, Carrot Coconut Ginger, and Ginger Basil. They even had BabyCakes Oatmeal Raisin Cookie! Cookies actually from BabyCakes LA! The price was a little bit of a punch in the gut, but the flavor just got better with every bite! Plus, the girl behind the counter was incredibly sweet and let us try pretty much every flavor!

Salted Caramel Latter and Vanilla Honey

Their delicious selection!