Bianca Phillips's Blog, page 150

Paul's 36th Birthday!

My partner Paul turns 36 on Tuesday, but since he has to work on his real birthday, we had a little celebration this past Sunday on his day off. We started the morning with some not-so-celebratory yardwork. I HATE yardwork, but Paul enjoys it a little, mostly because he grows his own hot pepper plants. We mulched and planted some new habaneros, banana peppers, tabascos, and jalapenos. And I also planted a few perennial flowers because I like things that come back every year. That means less work next year.


After gardening, we got cleaned up and had birthday cupcakes! I grabbed a couple of Triple Chocolate Cupcakes from Pink Diva Cupcakery for us. I knew we'd be dining with friends later in the night, and I couldn't afford to buy two dozen cakes from Cassi (but I wanted to be supportive and buy something!). So I just grabbed two full-size cupcakes for us and baked some mini cupcakes to share at dinner later.


After cake time, we headed to Crazy Noodle — Paul's favorite restaurant — for dinner with about 14 of our friends (Shay had to cut out before we took the group pic!). 

I got the Mandu Guk, vegan-style with veggie broth and no egg. This is one of my favorite soups at Crazy Noodle, but the past two times I've tried to order it, it didn't work out. Last time, they accidentally brought me the wrong soup, but it was still vegan, so I ate that instead. And the time before, they were out of mandu (the veggie dumplings). I was soooooo happy to finally have this soup again! This is made with veggie broth, veggie dumplings, and flat Korean rice cake noodles.

We had some mini Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. I was out of pastry bags, so I used a baggy with a hole cut in the corner to pipe on my frosting. They looked like little poop-cakes! But I can assure you, they were delicious. That recipe always comes out so moist and perfect! Also, I was out of birthday sprinkles, so I used Halloween ones instead, and I brought half the cakes in a heart-shaped Valentine's cake box (the rest were in a casserole dish with a lid). All the holidays at once!

After dinner, a few friends who could stay out later on Sunday night joined us for bowling! We met up at Billy Hardwick's All-Star Lanes in East Memphis. 

Our friend Emily had a selfie stick in her purse, so we figured why not?

Happy birthday Paul!!

Stuff I Ate

I haven't been eating out as much lately, mostly as a way to make up for that week a couple weeks ago when I literally dined out every day. Nothing against eating out, but when you have a house full of groceries, which I always do, sometimes you need to just focus on what you already have. But I did eat dinner at Midtown Crossing Grill one day last week when my street held its bi-monthly neighborhood watch meeting. I got my usual — the Bianca Banh Mi (yes, it's named after me!). It's a tofu banh mi with red bean hummus, pickled veggies, cucumbers, and jalapenos. So good!


I was invited to a vegan wine and cheese gathering last week, and since I knew the event was coming up way ahead of time, I was able to make homemade rejuvelac and then age some cashew cheese using a recipe from Miyoko's Artisan Vegan Cheese cookbook. I went with the creamy Sundried Tomato & Basil Cashew Cheese. It made a ton, and it was completely devoured by the end of the night! Miyoko's cheeses are just the best!

Here's a pretty bowl of olives from that same party.

And, perhaps, most importantly, Stephanie brought an AMAZING Vegan Cherry Cheesecake to the party. Because what better dessert to bring to a vegan cheese party, right? This was even more gorgeous after she removed the springform mold, but by then, I was too busy stuffing my face with cheesecake.

Speaking of Miyoko cheese, I picked up a couple boxes of Miyoko's Creamery cheeses on my visit to Little Rock last weekend. Our Memphis Whole Foods takes FOREVER to start carrying new vegan products, but Little Rock's store gets things more quickly. So I always stock up on stuff we can't get at home when I go there to visit Sheridan. I enjoyed the Aged English Smoked Farmhouse all week with homemade fig jam (from my Granny) and crackers.

The Little Rock Whole Foods also carries a variety of prepared vegan mock chicken salads in their deli case. Our Whole Foods only has the regular mock chicken salad, but the Little Rock store has a vegan sonoma salad and a vegan buffalo chicken salad. I grabbed a tub of the Vegan Sonoma Salad (soy nuggets, grapes, vegan mayo, celery, and walnuts) to eat with pita chips. Also pictured here is some Treeline Herb-Garlic Cheese that I picked up in Jonesboro (because Memphis doesn't carry that either - our Whole Foods is pretty lacking in vegan specialty items compared with stores in the surrounding region). 

So yeah, I've been eating a TON of fancy vegan cheese lately! But I've also been going old school with the nooch. Last week, I had non-running day breakfasts of Toast with Miyoko's Creamery Cultured VeganButter and Nooch, coconut yogurt, vegan sausage, and fruit. Btw, that Miyoko butter is INSANE! I could seriously just eat it by itself. That was also procured in Little Rock.

Finally, I just have to share my Saturday night dinner this week because it was epic. Remember those breakfast tacos I shared last week? Well, I ran out of tortillas, but I had leftovers of the other ingredients, so I cooked some brown rice, sauteed some Swiss chard (from the farmer's market), and used the remaining soy chorizo, hash browns, scrambled Vegan Egg, and Daiya cheddar to make these Breakfast Burrito Bowls!

I accidentally made this bowl gigantic. But I ran 7.3 miles on Saturday morning, and by the time dinner rolled around, I was starving. So I consumed the whole bowl and didn't even feel overly stuffed. I love how running allows me to eat so much more food!

FitQuick Protein Waffles!

I recently discovered the Rise & Resist podcast. It's a show about veganism, feminism, body image, and fitness hosted by rad vegans/fitness coaches Lacy Davis and Holly Works. And I'm kind of obsessed. The show has been running for more than a year, so after listening to a couple new episodes and deciding that I loved it, I'm now going back and starting from the beginning. I've literally listened to an episode almost every day for two weeks (and more than one episode on a couple days where I had road trips).

I actually saw Lacy speak on a Vegan Fitness panel at Vida Vegan Con in Austin last year, but somehow, I didn't realize she had a podcast until I read about it in the new Driftwood Magazine (issue #2 is out now!). Lacy overcame an eating disorder in her 20s, and now she's a CrossFit champ and Olympic lifter. Holly power lifts, owns a plant-based gym in Oakland, and runs her own protein waffle company called FitQuick. 

When I first heard a mention of FitQuick Protein Waffles on the podcast, I googled, found them for sale on Vegan Proteins, and immediately dropped way more money than I probably could afford to on two bags of FitQuick Protein Pancake + Waffle Mix! They arrived in a box with a little picture of me lifting weight! Yay! Vegan Proteins is such a cool company.


I'm not a lifter (yet!), but I'd like to get into that someday. I am a runner though, and for years, I've been enjoying protein-packed smoothies (usually made with Vega One, Plant Fusion, or Manitoba Harvest protein powders) after my runs. And I'll probably never really tire of smoothies (or smoothie bowls!), but since I run four days a week, I've thought that it would be nice to mix things up. I could probably make my own protein waffles using the powders in my pantry, but I doubt they'd be as good as the FitQuick mix because Holly is a waffle pro (and former chef).

Each serving of FitQuick has 22 grams of protein, and they're soy-free, gluten-free, and vegan (duh). There are all sorts of amazing flavors on offer, but for starters, I picked Birthday Cake and Pizza! Seriously, PIZZA WAFFLES, y'all. I love a good savory breakfast, so these are a nice change. In one of the older podcasts I listened to, Lacy suggests stuffing your pizza waffle by pouring a little batter in the wafflemaker, adding pizza toppings, and topping with more batter.


So that's what I did! My Pizza Waffle is stuffed with Daiya mozzarella, chopped spinach, and chopped kalamata olives. And I topped it with pizza sauce. THIS WAFFLE WAS THE BEST THING EVER. Seriously.

I just had to order the Birthday Cake Waffle mix because the package has a unicorn. And everything is better with unicorns. The mix is loaded with rainbow sprinkles, and it actually tastes like birthday cake! I had one this morning, and I topped it with Miyoko's Creamery Cultured VeganButter, maple-agave pancake syrup, CocoWhip, and more sprinkles.


I partied like it was my birthday at breakfast this morning. For real. It's really hard to believe this is health food! I mean, I added vegan butter and syrup, but they were the kind with the highest quality ingredients.

FitQuick Waffles are pretty much my new favorite thing, and eventually, I want to try all the flavors! They also come in Dark Chocolate Raspberry, Lemon Poppyseed, Java Chip, Double Chocolate Brownie, and Vanilla.

Semi-Homemade Vegan Breakfast Tacos!

Some days, you're just lazy. No matter how much you love to cook, you'd rather open a box and a bag and call it dinner. Last night was one of those nights. I made breakfast tacos using processed vegan plant meats and convenience products, and they were kind of the best thing ever.


Here's what I put in my tacos —Hungry Jack Diner Style Hashbrowns, Follow Your Heart Vegan Egg, Drew's Mild Thick 'n' Chunky Salsa, Parmela Creamery Nacho Nutcheese, Mi Rancho Ancient Grain Tortillas, avocado, and Trader Joe's Soy Chorizo. Hey, at least the avocado is a whole food!


I picked up the soy chorizo at TJ's in Nashville a few weeks ago because, every time I'm in the store, I think about buying it and never do. I had no idea at the time what I'd do with it, but it became the basis for these tacos. I fried that up, scrambled some vegan egg, and fried the hash browns. If you've never had these Hungry Jack Diner Style Hashbrowns, you're missing out. They're dehydrated potatoes in a box that you rehydrate and then fry on the stovetop. Unlike homemade hashbrowns, these are already squeezed free of starch, so they have a texture similar to the hashbrowns at the Waffle House. I fried these in non-stick cooking spray though, so they were actually really low-fat!
After the first night of tacos, I realized the avocado and the vegan cheese were a little redundant since avocado is nature's cheese. So I made these again today for lunch and left out the vegan cheese. Still delicious and a little less fatty.

Amazing! I love to eat whole, nutritious plant foods most of the time, but little splurges like this make life worth living.

Kuali Amaranth Snack Bars

I eat bars just about every day — usually as pre-run snacks in the early morning. I wake up to run most days around 5 a.m., and I'm the kind of person who wakes up hangry. But I don't want too much on my stomach before a run. Ideal running fuel contains a good amount of carbs and simple sugars, so most bars, whether they're raw fruit & nut bars or agave-sweetened granola bars, are just right.

Kuali sent me some samples of their amaranth superfood snack bars to try, so I've been consuming these before runs for the past week. These are made with amaranth, a gluten-free super-seed that has iron, magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium. It's also one of the rare pseudo-grains that contains Vitamin C.


The amaranth in these bars is popped, which gives them a really cool texture and almost popcorn-like flavor. I've tried popping amaranth at home before, and it's no easy feat. I typically burn the seeds before they pop. But I love that Kuali bars have done the hard work for you.
The ingredient list is simple, and it fits all my criteria for a good running fuel bar. The first ingredient listed is agave syrup, which is a great simple sugar for quick energy. And the popped amaranth works to keep me full for a 30 to 50 minute run. 
I tried the Amaranth Snack Bars with Cranberries first. These were flecked with dried cranberries. At first, I thought the bar tasted a little dry. But mid-way through, I grew to actually enjoy the chewy, dryness of the bar. And by the end, I wanted more. They have a way of growing on you. I could have used a few more cranberries though.

Next, I sampled the Amaranth Snack Bars with Chia and Quinoa. The texture was very similar but slightly less dry. Although I spotted some quinoa in these, I couldn't find a chia seed (maybe they're blended into a gel before they're added?). Despite that though, this ended up being my favorite flavor. 

The Amaranth Snack Bars with Cocoa were really yummy too. The cocoa flavor is mild, but it's there. And it's a nice complement to the popcorn flavor of the amaranth.

Kuali bars are unlike any bars I've had before, and I like that! Sometimes, I get stuck in a rut of eating the same Larabars over and over and over. But these were very different. I'd buy them again!

Three Fold Noodle & Dumpling Co.

Yesterday, I posted about the epic vegan brunch at The Root Cafe that Sheridan and I had when I visited her in Little Rock, Arkansas this past weekend. That brunch happened on Sunday morning, but I spent the night in LR on Saturday so I could watch Sheridan's musical at the school where she teaches drama. I arrived in Little Rock around 4 p.m. on Saturday, about three hours before the show (and just in time for dinner).

So before I headed to the show, I stopped in at the vegan-friendly Three Fold Noodle & Dumpling Co. in downtown Little Rock. This place has been open for awhile, but somehow I've never made it there. But I'd heard Sher rave about it and read about it on Dana's Vanishing Veggie blog, so I was dying to try it!


The menu is really small, but everything looks amazing. They have steamed dumplings, steamed bun sandwiches, and noodle bowls, and there's a vegan option for each. Plus, there are a few sides (taro chips, sesame balls, and dairy-free bubble tea!).
I opted for the Dumpling Bowl with the tofu, shiitake, & seasonal veggie dumplings and medium-spiced chili sauce.

These were outrageous. Soft, warm, savory, and loaded with mushroom filling. The chili oil was only slightly spicy, and the green onions added just the right amount of flavor. I really waffled between getting the steamed bun or the dumplings, but I think I made the right choice for my first visit. I will definitely be back to try the bun later in the year.
For dessert, I had to choose between bubble tea or sesame balls. I LOVE bubble tea, but I can get dairy-free boba drinks in Memphis (even though I don't order them often enough). So I went with the Sesame Balls. These are deep-fried mochi balls stuffed with red bean paste. 

Mochi is pretty much my favorite, and then when you add deep-fried to the mix, well, that's a recipe for success. These were only lightly sweet and not too greasy. Plus, they were served warm. An order came with five. I bought a bag of them to go as I was walking out the door, so I had two in my car right away and saved the rest for later.

I can't wait to come back to Little Rock so I can try more food from Three Fold!
Three Fold is located at 215 Center Street in downtown Little Rock. Here's the website.

Epic Vegan Brunch at Little Rock's The Root Cafe!

This past weekend, my best friend Sheridan had her school drama teacher directorial debut in Little Rock. This is her first semester teaching drama at a private school there, and they put on Seussical the Musical. She (and all of her students) have been working hard for months to put the show together, so I just had to drive down there on Saturday to watch the closing night show. It was awesome! So proud. Here's Sheridan and I!


Little Rock is about 2 1/2 hours away from Memphis, so I spend the night when I go down to visit. And we typically always wake up early on Sunday and brunch at The Root Cafe. I've written about this kitschy little shop before, but we had such an epic brunch this morning that I just have to share. The cafe isn't totally vegan, but they always have tofu scramble on the menu, and they usually offer some vegan specials.

Well, this morning, there was a line out the door to order food, so I grabbed a table on the patio and trusted Sheridan to pick out some delicious food for us. When she returned from ordering, she said, "I just ordered everything vegan on the menu." And a few minutes later, a server delivered plate after plate after plate. She ordered so much food!

For starters, Sheridan got us each our own plate of Tofu Scramble and Salad. The scramble is made with grilled peppers and onions, and it has hints of chili powder and turmeric. The salad dressing, a creamy (and vegan!) vinaigrette, is so wonderful, and they use local produce in salad and scramble. You can also order the scramble banh mi-style, which is how we usually get it. So we mixed things up today with the regular scram.


They had Vegan Pancakes on special, so Sheridan got an order of those for us to split. You get three in an order, and they're served with Earth Balance and maple syrup. Look how fluffy these pancakes are!!! These are seriously the best vegan pancakes I've ever had. 

The Root Cafe makes their own Vegan Sausage using some sort of legumes (lentils maybe?) and grains. It's really yummy, and of course, Sher got a patty for us to split.

All of that would have been plenty of food for us both, but there was another vegan special that Sheridan just couldn't pass up — Vegan Shiitake on a Shingle! Sheridan LOVES gravy more than anyone ever. And my love for gravy runs pretty deep too. I'm so glad she ordered this because it was our favorite dish of the meal. Shiitake mushroom gravy over toast! We split this too, and I'm so glad we did.

Each of us consumed an order of scramble, a salad, one and a half fluffy pancakes, half a sausage patty, and a slice of toast covered in gravy. Needless to say, we were STUFFED. But we cleaned our plates!

My First Aquafaba Adventure!

If you're new to veganism or just veg-curious, you might be wondering what that weird A-word word in the headline is. Aquafaba is the latest amazing advancement in the world of vegan food science. Somehow, in late 2014, someone discovered that whipped chickpea brine makes a good egg substitute for baking and makes a mean frothy meringue. They called it "aquafaba" 'cause that's Latin for bean water.

Yep, bean water "eggs." That's the new thing. And while it sounds plum crazy, it's actually delicious. And I'd go so far as to call this discovery a vegan miracle. I'm a member of the Vegan Meringue Hits & Misses group on Facebook, and every day, people post wondrous pictures of all their aquafaba hits (meringue pies, pizza crusts, cookies, even French-style macarons) and misses (hey, it happens). Even though I've been following the board for awhile, I kept putting off trying aquafaba (from here on out, I'll just refer to it as AF) for myself until I found just the right recipe.

And then one day, a few weeks back, someone on the board mentioned AF marshmallow cream in the comments section. WHAT?! I used to love fluffernutter sandwiches, and I haven't seen vegan Ricemellow Creme for sale anywhere in years (do they still make that stuff?). So I googled and came across Fettle Vegan's Fluffernutter Sandwich recipe. I drained a can of chickpeas, added sugar, cream of tartar, and xantham gum, according to the recipe's instructions. And look what happened!


That's from 1/2 cup of chickpea brine! It made about four cups of the creamiest, dreamiest, fluffiest marshmallow cream!

I slapped it on a sandwich and let my childhood fluffernutter memories wash over me. Not only did this look like marshmallow cream, it also tasted like it!


Now that I've broken my AF seal, it's on! I can't wait to experiment with all kinds of recipes!

New So Delicious Cashewmilk Ice Cream Flavors!

When So Delicious introduced their line of cashewmilk ice creams (or non-dairy frozen desserts, as they call them) last year, the vegan world exploded with joy! Finally, a creamy, rich, thick ice cream that's soy-free and gluten-free. Nothing against soy or gluten, but you know, some folks have allergies so it's cool when a product is super-inclusive.

Plus, the creamy factor with these ice creams was off the charts. They introduced four flavors last year, and they were flying off the shelves. So much so that one flavor — the Salted Caramel Cluster — mysteriously disappeared in a lot of places when So Delicious couldn't keep up with demand. And that was my favorite flavor. Well, guess what? Salted Caramel Cluster is back! And it's joining three brand-new flavors — Creamy Chocolate, Chocolate Cookies 'n' Cream, and Very Vanilla.


So Delicious sent me all four flavors to review, so I've done the tough work of tasting them all. And I'm here to tell you these flavors are just as amazing as the round introduced last year. Maybe even better! 
My fave of the bunch was Chocolate Cookies 'n' Cream, because I'm a sucker for ice cream with chunks. And who doesn't love chocolate sandwich cookies? The chocolate ice cream base is rich and creamy with a milk chocolate flavor. It's absolutely loaded with cookie bits!

The Creamy Chocolate seems like it has the exact same base as the cookies 'n' cream, but it's just solid chocolate throughout. And it really has that classic chocolate ice cream flavor. When So Delicious first introduced the cashewmilk ice creams last year, they brought out a Dark Chocolate Truffle flavor that was probably my least fave of the bunch. Good but a little too bitter dark for me, and it wasn't as creamy as the others. But this new chocolate is more my speed. It's sweeter and creamier and more like the chocolate ice cream of my childhood, whereas the dark chocolate ice cream is probably meant for a more sophisticated palette than mine.

Very Vanilla was a much-needed flavor. The original line-up of cashewmilk ice creams included a Creamy Cashew flavor that was close to vanilla, but it had more of a cashew flavor. That was (and remains) a fantastic flavor, but I think So Delicious needed a classic vanilla, too. I enjoyed a scoop of this with a slice of vegan lemon pound cake (baked by my co-worker Susan). I warmed the cake up in the microwave a bit, so the ice cream would get all melty.

Finally, I was sooooo excited to get my hands on Salted Caramel Cluster again! It might just be my batch, but it did seem slightly different than what I remember. The creamy vanilla base was the same, and there's still a generous ribbon of caramel. But I remember the cashews being chocolate-covered. Now, there are chocolate chunks and salted cashews (not chocolate covered) peppered throughout. Either way, it tastes the same, whether or not the chocolate is coating the cashews or just mixed into the ice cream. In fact, I think there may be more chocolate and cashews in this new incarnation. It's definitely still my fave of all the cashewmilk ice creams!

Stuff I Ate

I don't what's gotten into me, but I've been eating out A LOT lately. I think I ate dined out every night last week, and I've barely cooked anything at all. So lots of random meals to share tonight. I'll start with the amazing Chubby Vegetarian Mushroom Debris (a mushroom po'boy named after my friend/co-worker Justin's blog, the Chubby Vegetarian) at Second Line.


The Second Line is a casual Creole-inspired cafe with a meat-heavy menu, but they have this one sandwich that's vegan as long as you ask them to leave off the mayo. It has boozy mushrooms, and the soft bread is all soaked in gravy. Delicious. (Btw, I can't say for sure if the bread is vegan, but I assume it is. I have a general rule about not asking too many questions about bread. I'd rather just not know).
I went to Second Line at lunch and got the half-sandwich/fries combo. They have some fantastic fries. I ate all of these. And all of my sandwich.

I know I say a lot of things are my favorite thing, but I swear I mean it this time. Last week, I had THE BEST meal I've ever had in a Memphis restaurant. Seriously. I was working out east, so I was close to Cosmic Coconut — a vegan juice/smoothie shop with a small lunch menu — at lunch time. I popped in to grab a bite, and they were offering a Buffalo Cauliflower & Tempeh Wrap with Cashew Ranch on special. OMG. So good! So, so, so very good. The kale really took this grilled wrap to the next level, and that ranch — I could have drunk a gallon of that.

We had our monthly Vegan Drinks meet-up at Robata Ramen & Yakitori Bar last Tuesday. I had the Rice Noodle Ramen with Yasai Broth, Tofu, & Corn. Pretty solid, although the broth wasn't as flavorful as it has been on past visits.

I always order the Garlic Yakitori at Robata because it's awesome. Grilled garlic on a stick. 

I went to Pink Diva Cupcakery for lunch today and got the BBQ Tofu with Vegan Mac & Cheese and Avocado-Kale Salad. You get to pick two sides with the BBQ Tofu entree, and I always get these two. It's such a perfect combo and so colorful. 

Last Sunday at brunch at Imagine Vegan Cafe, I went with an old stand-by — the Reuben Sandwich with Garlic Kale. Seitan pastrami, kraut, housemade Thousand Island, and housemade white cheeze sauce.

Finally made it to the new Midtown Casablanca location last week. Casablanca is a locally owned chain of Middle Eastern eateries, and my area of town just got one. I went light with a Mezze Platter — falafel, baba ganoush, and hummus served with warm pita. Casablanca is famous for having the best baba ganoush in town.

Last Friday night, I had the best time dining with my new friends Jennifer and Simon. We went to Blue Nile Ethiopian Kitchen and got a family-style Vegetarian Platter and dug in. Nothing beats eating delicious food scooped up with soft and spongey injera bread.

I did eat at home one night last week! I made a salad with chopped Boca chick'n, lots of veggies, and Drew's Roasted Red Pepper Dressing. Carrot "tuna" salad (made from carrot juice pulp) on the side.

And this morning, I had some Avocado Toast with nooch, hemp seeds, and Yellowbird Sauce!