My Favorite Vegan Treats!

Travis and I have been vegan for about 8 months now, and we're still loving it! We mostly eat "whole foods", you know, veggies and fruit and grains and stuff made from scratch. But there are some processed treats I really love. I thought it would be fun to do a little post about it! All of this stuff can be found at Whole Foods (and a lot of it at conventional stores) but most is of it is also available at Vegan Essentials.

So Delicous Coconut Milk Cultured Yogurt // I bought a package of this to make this bundt cake and boy am I glad I did! It tastes like delicious vanilla pudding! It is probably the best yogurt I've ever had. It is great in a smoothie, or you can make a fruit parfait. I don't buy it often because I know I would eat it non stop!
Vita Coco Coconut Water with Pineapple // It took me a long time to get on the coconut water train. Travis always drank the plain one, and it wasn't sweet enough for my sweet tea lovin' palette. But I can't get enough of the pine apple variety! I always get Travis to buy me one to sneak into the movies!
Ciao Bella Sorbet // I got a pint of the coconut variety once at Target because it was the only non dairy ice cream I could find. It is my favorite now though! It is creamy and amazing. The coconut is my favorite, but the other flavors are good too.
Go Raw Chocolate Super Cookies // These little things are addictive to me. And Travis doesn't like them, which is great because that means they last me a long time! They make a few varieties, but I always get the chocolate ones because they are so good.
Justin's Organic Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups// Another every once in a while treat. The peanut butter in the middle is really salty and goes perfectly with the dark chocolate! They are expensive though (a buck a cup) so I just get them occasionally when I need a treat. Justin's almond butter is my favorite too! They make little packets of nut butters which are great to throw in your back for a filling snack.
Earth Balance Vegan Popcorn // I'm not big on chips, but I LOVE popcorn. The Earth Balance bags are so delicious! There is a butter flavor too.

Barleans Omega Swirl // We sell this at my job, and I am so good at getting mom's to buy it for their kids! That omega swirl tastes SO GOOD! It is like candy! And the great thing about it is the emulsification process they use to give it the creamy smoothie texture makes it even easier for your body to process! Mmm, I could drink this stuff right out of the bottle (and sometimes I do!) but it's good in a smoothie too.
Rapunzel Vegan Vegetable Bouillon // I felt like a big dummy when I realized how cheap bouillon is compared to buying the pre-made veggie broth! Duhhh. We use this Rapunzel at least a few times a week because I make a lot of soup. I like that it doesn't have a ton of salt but adds great flavor.
Hemp Hearts // Another delicious source of omega 3s! Hemp hearts taste really good, kind of like a peanut. If they were bigger and easier to handle I would eat them as a snack all the time. I usually put them in my oatmeal in the morning. Yum.
Amazing Grass Green Super Food Chocolate Chip Coconut Bar // I go through cycles with different bars and this Amazing Grass one is my favorite right now.
Gardein BBQ Pulled Shreds // These BBQ shreds are SO DELICIOUS and all the places near me that carried then have stopped! It bums me out so much! I always loved BBQ sandwiches when we ate meat and this Gardein version is a great alternative!
Beyond Meat Chicken Free Strips // We don't eat many meat alternatives, but this new kind by Beyond Meat is really great! It is made with mainly soy protein, pea protein, and amaranth. They have three flavors but I like the lightly seasoned the best.

So there you have it! Do you have any vegan treats you really love that we need to try?

Eating Out Vegetarian: Woodlands

woodlands is a vegetarian indian restaurant in nashville. we've been talking about going forever, but we always seem to think of it when they are closed (they close between lunch and dinner). then i went for a dinner training for my job and now i am hooked!! it feels like a novelty to go to a restaurant and not have to search the menu for things i CAN eat, but actually be able to read the whole menu and pick whatever i want! even though so far i always get the same thing because i love it so much.



the cheese masala dosa. dosa's are their specialty. they are a rice and lentil crepe. and there are HUGE! look at that thing! the one i get is filled with spiced potatoes. and they are crispy and amazing. especially dipped in the green coconut sauce (i forget what it is called)



travis got the woodland's special dosa. something about onions and potatoes and peas. we also get gulab jamun, which are little deep fried balls of dough. mmm they are good.
they have a buffet at lunch, which we are going to try and go to next week. then maybe i'll find something that will tempt me away from the masala dosa.
so go check out woodlands if you are in town! it was voted something like "best vegetarian restaurant to trick your meat eating friends" because the food is SO GOOD you don't even think about the lack of meat. and their chai tea is amazing! and the naan! i could go on forever. if only it wasn't so dark inside so i could get descent pictures.

Eating Out Vegetarian: The Dog of Nashville

Did you know that October is National Vegetarian Month? I didn't know until a few days ago. Since I am vegetarian, I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorite places to eat out in Nashville! I love going out to eat and sometimes it can be hard to find a place with vegetarian options that I actually love, not just, i'll settle for a grilled cheese. So....here is the first!


 the Dog of Nashville The Dog is located in Hillsboro Village, on 21st Avenue. We got there pretty often because it is right down the street from The Belcourtour favorite local theater! The Dog has a great veggie dog.  travis likes to get his with coleslaw on top. it is called a slaw dog. their fries are AMAZING. hand cut and crispy and just awesome.  AND your dog can come with you if you sit on the porch. which for me is a huge bonus!  i always get mine with just ketchup and mustard. im boring. maybe i'll get beans on it next time.    it drives me a little crazy that this place used to be located literally a block from my house. but maybe that is a good thing because if i could walk there, my wallet would be in trouble.