We headed towards Adamant VT because the Hubz has had this odd obsession with it here are a few facts about this village (via wikipedia):

• There is no true boundary to define the village, and as such there is great debate as to what constitutes residence. This is, however, purely theoretical as there is no legal, governmental or commercial status associated with residence.
• The village was originally known as Sodom from its inception in the mid-1800s as a granite quarry-town until 1905 when residents petitioned the state legislature for a name change.
• The village center is the Adamant Co-op, a general store and post office located at the junction of Haggett, Quarry, Center and Sodom Pond Roads. Founded in 1935, it is the state’s oldest co-operative.

The thing that interested the Hubz so much was the co-operative so we took a drive through back roads to this small, very pretty village and visited the co-op. Adamant’s mascot is the black fly so it is fitting that there was a huge sculpture of a black fly outside of the co-op/general store/post office.

After our stop in Adamant we headed down a back road to ….well we had no idea where…but we finally met up with a main road and stopped in Morrisville where we enjoyed our picnic lunch.

For our picnic lunch we enjoyed falafel chips with hummus, orzo salad and raw kale salad.

Q: What is your favorite dish to bring on a picnic?

Now onto the giveaway: Earthlust sent me one of their stainless steel water bottles and guess what the sent me an extra one just for one of you lucky readers. EarthLust bottles are hand made from high quality #304 (18/8) food grade stainless steel, which is naturally safe unlined. They use non-toxic paints and BPA-free safe polypropylene #5 caps. I received one of the 13oz bottles and it is the perfect size to take every where with me.  I am thinking about investing in a 1L bottle for trips and such but the smaller bottle is great for everyday use.  I also love that they are unlined, unlike Sigg bottles which have a weird lining and make your water taste funny. Additionally, their bottles have some really great designs. So now it’s your chance to win this bottle (see below) isn’t it so cute?

How to Enter: Please leave individual comments for each entry. Entries will be accepted until April 17th at 8am.

1. Visit the Earthlust website and tell which bottle is your favorite. (Leave me a comment)
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One feature I love about this product is how I can say everything that is on the package and how Tandoor Chef uses all natural ingredients so you can eat yummy food with out the gross additives.

Here is our yummy breakfast

The ‘rents and G-Ma finally showed up and we headed out to Morse Farms to see some sugaring and taste their maple syrup.  Unfortunately they hadn’t really started cooking the syrup when we arrived so we took a few fun pictures and headed into the store to taste the various syrups.  Before we left we went back to the sugar house to see the sap boiling.

Neil and his ol'buddy

Me and my G-Ma - LOVE HER!

After visiting Morse Farms we decided to stop for some lunch at Julio’s Cantina in Montpelier for summer yummy eats.  I got the veggie tacos which were filled with grilled mushrooms, onions, peppers, zucchini and summer squash and hubby got the veggie burger with his favorite fiesta fries.  After lunch we headed to Plainfield to visit another sugar house- Braggs.  This is my favorite of the two because it is smaller and I love their sugaring house. Neil and I went to get our yearly maple steam facials (haha) – it smells crazy good in the sugaring house and the steam is fun to bask in.

the 'rents- aren't they so cute? You can see the steam from the boiling sap in the back

I love mustard and I picked up a jar of this yummy Mustard today at Braggs

Once we got home Neil and I headed out to AT&T to pick up a cover for my work iPhone (per request of my boss) and I got a really fun dark pink one.  Then I cam home and had a great elliptical sesh and then a short power yoga sesh from yogadownload.com.  I had worked up a mini appetite after my workout so Neil and I shared a Jazz Apple sprinkled with a little cinnamon.  I decided that this was a perfect opportunity to try out my Biokleen Produce Wash which is great not only for washing produce but for cleaning your cutting boards.  I will be hosting a giveaway for this product soon! I really loved it  and to my surprise did not leave any residue on the apple.

Tonight we decided it was time to relax on the couch with a little bit of TLC’s Hoarding which my nice daddy recorded for us since we don’t have cable.  That show is crazy I couldn’t imagine living like that! We sipped on some new spring beer that I found at the Co-op Anchor Steam Brewing’s Bock Beer.  This beer was so tasty I think a new favorite.  We also decided to make dinner easy and had some more Tandoor Chef this time Pakora’s and Dal Rajastani.  They both were tasty however the pakoras were a bit dry for us.  Overall yummy though!

Question:  What did you do this weekened? Oh and what is your favorite cheater meal?

After work hubby and I decided to stop and get a beer to celebrate my successful first day of work.  Since it was dinner time we decided to go out (again) for dinner.  I don’t know what is up with us we never go out to eat this much, usually only once every 10 or so days but this week we have been bad about it- I blame the awkward days, poor planning and no real grocery shopping.  However this week will be filled with lots of home cooked meals as I went to the market yesterday and picked up lots of yummy produce.  Anyways we stopped at The Alchemist but it was packed and there was a 45 minute wait for a table so we left and walked next door to The Reservoir where we had some yummy beers, a huge plate of hummus, salad and grilled bread and a housemade tofu/bean burger YUM!

I was pretty tired out after my first day back in the working world so we spent the rest of the night home hanging out on the couch watching a little L&O.  Since we ate dinner so early we were hungry later on in the evening and decided to munch on some Veggie Medley Straws that I was sent to sample from The Mediterranean Snack Food Co. and they were super yummy! I also had another Inko’s White Tea this time Original.

Now I need to get myself in the kitchen and make breakfast and do some dishes before G-Ma and the ‘rents get here so we can go and see all the open sugar houses. Each year on this weekend the Vermont sugar houses are open for the public to come and visit and try their maple syrup and have sugar on snow with a pickle (to cut the sweetness) and a cider donut. It’s a been a tradition with my family to go and visit the sugar houses however since I haven’t been home for many Springs we haven’t all been out together. Neil and I went last year to the sugar house near our house but it was pouring and cold booo!

Last year wet and cold at Morse Farms

Hubby With his New Friend at Morse Farms 2009

Is there a family tradition that you do each Spring?

This week has been pretty crazy and we seem to have no food in the house so we have been bad and have been eating out a lot.  Last night we decided to go out for a celebration dinner (for my new job) at Positive Pi and both got huge salads for dinner. Neil’s salad was mixed greens with broccoli, tomatoes, walnuts, marinated tofu and red onions with a lemon tahini dressing.  I got the Mediterranean salad with no feta and added some marinated tofu to mine.  It came with lots of kalamata olives and pepperoncini with a lemon oregano dressing- SO GOOD!  I also got a glass of proseco – well actually a mini bottle of it which was so fun.

Neil's Giant Salad

My Giant Salad

Today I’ve been working on getting the bedroom picked up, doing laundry and cleaning out my closet.  I’m at the point where I have some spring/summer clothes that are in the “loose 5-10lbs and they’ll fit pile” so I have removed them all from my closet and boxed them up and will try them on again in 2 months or so – hopefully they will fit by then.  I have felt like there is a ton of clutter in my closet right now so I only want to have clothes that I will wear right now and  that fit in it.  I took out winter sweaters and pants, as well as  dresses that are too fancy for everyday wear and have boxed them up so when we move in June there will be less work.  I also removed all of the clothes that I’ve been holding on to for years and don’t wear anymore and will be bringing them to consignment and whatever they don’t take donate to Good Will. However now I am looking at a very empty closet which is depressing. I think I need to go shopping.  Okay enough rambling about my closet.

Good news on the giveaway front I am putting together a box of goodies for a big Spring giveaway.  I think I am going to call it the “Spring into Veganism Giveaway” and it will have lots of little treats.  So keep your eyes peeled for this giveaway!

View from Half Way to the Top

At the top of the hill we always share a coconut water and then make our way through the wooded paths at Hubbard Park and down the otherside. When we arrived home we were hungry and ready to make our Breakfast Challenge #3 which was oatmeal. Now as most of you know this is my go to food so I was really excited about it. In our oatmeal went:

Serves 2: 1 cup multigrain oatmeal, 1 cup unsweetened almond milk, 3/4 cup water, 1T flax meal, 1T chia seeds and on top of each: 1 packet of stevia, 1/2 sliced banana and 1/2T sunbutter

Oh! and a big dash of cinnamon while it is cooking!

We then headed out to spend the day with the ‘rents and G-Ma as well as have lunch. We headed out on a ride on the back roads of Vermont (a favorite past time of my parents) in hopes of having lunch at Bailey and Burke’s in East Burke.  When we finally arrived to East Burke we came to find that restaurant was closed.  Across the street was River Garden Cafe which according to the menu had a veggie burger and black bean chili so we decided since at this point it was almost 1pm we would try it out.  To our disappointment the veggie burger was made in house and included eggs BOO! So hubby and I decided to go with the fruit cup to share and each ordered a bowl of the chili without the cheese and sour cream.  The fruit cup was okay nothing special for $5.  The chili came and I was so hungry I couldn’t wait to dive in but after a few bites I decided it was just not good enough to eat and hubby felt the same way.  I’m not often one to just not eat what I ordered at a restaurant especially when I’m going to have to pay for it and in this case we both were really hungry but it was just awful.  As my hubby would describe it “it taste like crushed tomatoes with 5 or 6 black beans”  this “hearty” black bean chili was awful so we went without.

Being in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont it’s hard to find much in the way of vegan eats so we decided to hold off and we ended up stopping at the Buffalo Mountain Co-op in Hardwick and found some really interesting kombu and wakame seaweeds from Maine as well as a package of vegan teriyaki jerky that we snacked on.  After returning to our car at 4:15pm we decided it was time to get on the road home and find something to eat.  We had decided to stop into our old favorite The Bee’s Knees in Morrisville but when we arrived and took a look at their menu for the day we noticed that their prices had gone up- $13 for a veggie burger! We decided that it wasn’t worth spending that much so we headed on our way and decided to stop in Waterbury at Ocha the thai restaurant.  Unfortunately I didn’t get any photos of our food as we basically inhaled it as it came out since all we had eaten since our oatmeal at 8:30am was a small fruit bowl and package of vegan jerky.  However it was delicious we got fresh rolls, vegan pad kee mao and vegan tofu and broccoli with black pepper garlic sauce.

At least on our adventures through backwoods VT we got to stop into this ridiculously entertaining trading post which also serves as the:

JUST KIDDING!

Question: Have you ever not liked your meal so much that you just didn’t eat it while out at a restaurant? Did the restaurant still make you pay for it? That’s the one thing that bothered me – I know that we ordered it and you take the chance of not liking something but we had like 4-5 bites of our food and then told the waitress we didn’t like it and to take it away.  She still had us pay for it and the only thing she said was “oh well I guess it’s not your cup of tea.”

After we goofed around on the swings we took a nice 2.35 mile walk around Montpelier and up to the Saturday Farmers Market. We have missed every other Saturday Farmers Market because it seems to only be on the Saturdays that we aren’t in town. I’ll be glad when it’s May and the market is every Saturday not every other. When we arrived we stopped at and tried the sugar on snow because well it’s getting to be sugaring time in Vermont!

Then we went inside to see what produce/items that we could pick up this week.  We found Jerusalem Artichokes and Sunflower Shoots.

Since we were feeling kind of hungry we decided to pick up a snack of Butterfly Bakery Raspberry Almond Cookies and a cup of Lavender Rose Kombucha.  This Kombucha was really tasty, some of the best I have ever had!

Now I’m off to shower, make some lunch and then I think it’s time to get back out in this glorious sun! I also need to figure out a recipe for these Jerusalem Artichokes. Do you have a favorite Jerusalem Artichoke recipe?

Also don’t forget to enter to win the Namaste Foods giveaway! They are generously giving away a bag full of gluten free goodies.

After spending awhile looking over the menu hubz and I finally decided on what we would order. I ordered the Sproutada:

Sproutada: toasted corn tortilla with brown rice, black turtle beans, chili sauce, soy mozzarella, topped with tahini dressed greens, snowpea sprouts, shredded carrots, fresh avocado and homemade salsa

and the Hubz ordered the Flavors of Mint Special:

Flavors of Mint Daily Special: roasted tempeh and asparagus over citrus braised greens and a peanut dipping sauce (their description was a little better but I forget what is actually said)

The food was delicious! Although the prices were slightly high you are paying for what you get which is not only delicious organic & local whole foods but a great experience. I also must say that although the plates looked small the food was filling and we left satisfied with our meal. We can’t wait to go back!

Also don’t forget to enter the Bodum French Press giveaway that ends March 5, 2010 at 8am.

A great alternative to mashed potatoes is mashed white beans they are creamy and delicious and you can put your own spin on them.  Last night I had leftover Tofutti so I added it to my recipe.

• 2 cans Cannelini beans, drained and rinsed
• 8-10 oil packed sundried tomatoes, chopped small
• 5 scallions, chopped small 
• 3T vegan cream cheese 
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1t garlic powder

Add all ingredients to a pan over medium heat and mash with a potato masher.  Mix everything together and then heat until warmed. Enjoy!

If you want to check out  our yummy dining at A Single Pebble and Coffee Corner as well as what else we ate the past few days visit Eat. Live. Be Healthy. 

Don’t forget you have until 1/31/10 at 8am to enter to win Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil.

Last night my husband, Neil, decided he would take us out for a date night at The Alchemist Pub and Brewery in Waterbury Vermont- “The Alchemist is a 7 barrel brew pub specializing in hand-crafted beer and casual pub fare. All of our ales flow directly from our basement brewery, which was designed and installed by our brewer and co-proprietor John Kimmich.  We use only the finest imported malts and domestic hops available to bring you the tastiest and finest selection of beers in Vermont!” (from their website).

We settled on getting the oatmeal stout and the red….however we were brought a porter and a harvest.  They quickly apologized about that mistake and gave us our correct beers on the house.

For dinner I ordered the Marinated Tempeh Sandwich without the walnut pesto and subsituted the maple balsamic dressing.  Neil ordered the Blackened Tofu Burrito without the cheese and sour cream.  We also ordered a side of fries with their house made mustard and ketchup.

Although our meals were really good we didn’t make it through the first bite of the burrito because they had forgotten to not put the cheese on.  So we sent it back and it was quickly replaced with the correct vegan version.  The tempeh sandwich was so good and the fries were amazing- nice and crispy fresh cut. The burrito was good we really liked the blackened tofu but it was missing something in it, maybe the salsa would have been better in than on the side.

Overall we just fell in love with the places great atmosphere, food and beer.  We extremely impressed with the service as well and appreciated the 2 free beers and the free burrito (they covered that as well since they had made the mistake- we really didn’t expect that but it was a great treat).

What I love about this share is 1. it is vegan!, our share last year was a vegetarian localvore share and so we split it with an omni couple who took all the dairy and eggs, 2. not all the produce is coming from one distributer, 3. it’s cheaper than last year and still gives us the ability to pick up other items and stay on budget. My husband and I are both so excited to see what we will get- it’s like a new challenge each week to use all of our produce in new and interesting ways. Below is an example of what we can be expecting (does not show last week of share):

Winter Vegetable $395 (which breaks down to an average of $24.50 a week)

This share showcases the abundant Vermont winter vegetable harvest. You will recieve a variety of vegetables, ranging from fresh salad greens, mushrooms and potatoes to winter squash, carrots and onions. This share will also include apples and cider.

We showered and got dressed up (it’s pretty nice and a bit pricey) and headed on our way.  We were sat at a nice table for two and had great service and great wine and beer.  Our meals came and everything was delicious! The meals came (we got one of each to share) and they were great.  The Eggplant Bucatini was very good however the shining plate was the Cumin Spiced Tofu which was just amazing- my husband said it was one of the best meals he’s had in a long time, even better than anything I’d made! (I had to agree). 

Our only issue with our meal is that they were particularly small and we were very hungry after having had a small lunch and working out we were ready for something filling.  We came to the conclusion that this was the type of place you do appetizer, entrée and dessert- not just an entrée as we had done (oh well it was our first time).  Just when we thought we’d have to go home and have a snack our waitress comes back to let us know that there is one vegan dessert tonight, our ears perked up, it was apple cinnamon sorbet.  We ordered a bowl to share and let me tell you this was one of the best vegan desserts I’ve had.  It was like apple pie in sorbet form without the crust.  Overall our dining experience was great- great food, good service, great atmosphere.  We’d definitely go back and the best part is they have a seasonal menu so we will hopefully get to experience a new and amazing meal once again.

The Skinny Pancake  located in Burlington VT and Montpelier VT is one of my new favourite places to dine.  The fact that you can go there and get vegan crepes with local fresh ingredients, local beverages (wine, beer and non-alcoholic; the root beer on tap is local and delicious) makes this one of my husband and I’s go to places.  (It helps the Montpelier location is only a few minutes walk from our place).

I have been here oh at least 3 times in the last few weeks and each time have tried something new.  The first try was the Vegan Monster House-made seitan, baby spinach, VT Wild Mushrooms, caramelized onions, and roasted red peppers served in a vegan crepe shell. VT Soy company tofu also available…$8.50.- This crepe was pretty good; I didn’t love it but I would try it again; when we tried this one the Montpelier location hadn’t been open only a few days.

Next I tried the 

Thai Noodle Crêpe

Julianned parsnips, carrots, celeriac, red peppers and onions tossed in a Thai Peanut Sauce served with Sesame Seed crêpe “noodles”…$8.50 With Vermont Soy Tofu.

This was to die for- just like peanut noodles but better!

On our last trip my husband got the Coconut Curried Potatoes
Caribbean-style curried sweet and Russet potatoes, resting on a bed of white rice and wrapped in a savory crêpe…$7.00- this was delicious the curry was amazing and over all a great choice.

And I got the The Crêpadilla
Skinny salsa avocados, and Cabot cheddar cheese, served in a folded scallion crêpe…$7.00 without the cheese obviously.  I know what you might be thinking so avocado and salsa? it was amazing! They make their own salsa which was delicious and the crepe was crispy so good.

Unfortunatly I think I left my camera battery charger in Toronto so we have been sans digital camera for months now (I’ve been hopping I might find it sitting around haha) but I think we are caving to either get a new one or a new charger so hopefully we will be back in the photo swing as soon as possible!

Lately Neil and I have been so busy and out of town so needless to say little cooking has been going on. Last night we made grilled veggie wraps with hummus and this morning I made Vegan Crunk’s Peacan Waffles for her cookbook tester but when I went to take a photo of it my camera’s battery was dead.

Any ways here are some restaurant reviews from my Hubby wanted me post on here:
(transfered from old blog)
Since moving to Vermont from Fredericton, NB, Canada, I must say that I feel rather spoiled by the great options for veg*n dining throughout Vermont. In Fredericton, there were very few options available to vegans (for the most part french fries/salad and the occasional boca type veggie burger) and what was available was often bland and uninspiring. I’m not a food critic, so I won’t go into too many details, but here’s a quick run down of some of the Vermont restaurants that my my partner, Lindsay, and I enjoy eating at as vegans are:

Stone Soup
College St
Burlington, Vermont
This vegan friendly counter service restaurant has a great, always fresh salad bar, a number of veg*n friendly hot and cold sandwiches and fresh vegan baked goods! I love the vegan macaroons and the Vegan club sandwich!

Bee’s Knees
Morrisville, Vermont

http://www.thebeesknees-vt.com/

The Bee’s Knees is a small, locally run cafe in Morrisville, Vermont with a really welcoming, community oriented feel to it. They often have many different veg*n dishes including great salads and sandwiches. My favourites are the mock pulled pork (mushrooms and eggplant i believe) and the tofu breakfast sandwiches (I love being able to get vegan breakfast that consists of more than just homefries). The menu indicates which options are vegan friendly and which can be made vegan friendly on request. They have local music acts playing there fairly regularly as well.

A Single Pebble

http://www.asinglepebble.com/intro.htm

Classical Chinese cuisine in downtown Burlington. Offers many traditional Chinese dishes including many veg*n options including my favourites mock eel (made from mushrooms) and the Buddha’s Beef (made from seitan).

Pho Dang Vietnamese Cafe
Winooski, Vt

http://www.7nvt.com/7n/listing.htm?establishment_id=793

This Vietnamese cafe makes up for what it’s lacking in atmosphere by it’s great, fresh food. It has a very lunch room sort of feel to it but that really doesn’t matter once you taste their great tofu dishes (veggie pho isn’t vegan). The portions are huge and the prices are cheap.

Ocha/Royal Orchid
Waterbury/Montpelier, Vermont
These two Thai restaurants are owned by the same family. Both restaurants seem to have very similar menus with slight variations between the two. They have many veg*n dishes and are willing to make changes to other dishes to accommodate veg*n customers as well. The menu is split into curries, noodle dishes, rice dishes and vegetable/stir fry dishes with your choice of tofu or meat. We usually start off our meal with the fresh rolls which is a soft rice paper roll with tofu, rice noodles and just a taste of mint with a nice light sweet and sour sauce for dipping. It’s a nice light and fresh start to the meal. The entrees we have had are the pad ki mao (my personal favourite, a wide rice noodle dish with thai basil and chilli), brocolli and tofu in a nice creamy peanut sauce, penang and massuman curries (personal favourites at home when my parnter cooks them and both very well done by the restaurants) and the pad thai (with no fish sauce or eggs). The pad thai is closer to a traditional pad thai than what people in New Brunswick knew as pad thai (spicy peanut sauce with rice noodles). While the Waterbury location seems to be a bit pricier, it also has a nicer atmosphere than the Montpelier location and I typically find the food to be a little better. Entrees are typically in the $10 range while the appetizers are in the $3 to $5 range.

Pacific Rim
Burlington, Vt
Pacific Rim is one of my favourite spots to eat when we’re in Burlington. It is a mainly Korean Asian restaurant in downtown Burlington. There is a good selection of salads/appetizers and main courses that are veg*n friendly. The food is fresh, flavourful and very affordable. They also have a good drink menu with asian takes on popular drinks and lots of ginger! It’s a very informal seat yourself sort of atmosphere with fairly decent service considering how busy things can get there.
(*note Pacific Rim’s menu has changed since this review was created and the last time two times we have dined here the food has been dissapointing and not up to the same standards they once were)

Magnolia Bistro
Burlington, Vermont
Hidden away in downtown Burlington is Vermont’s only truly green restaurant, Magnolia Bistro. Magnolia focuses on eco-friendly, fair trade, local and organic foods and offers a twist on regular breakfast and lunch fare. They have many veg*n friendly options and the menu indicates what is vegan or can be adapted to be vegan. Some of the veg*n options you can order vegan french toast, substitute eggs for tofu in breakfast dishes or if you’re not in a breakfast mood go for a garbanzo burger. The food is fresh tasting, well seasoned and fairly affordable considering the quality of ingredients used.
(*note this review from fellow VT Vegan http://howtofeedavegan.blogspot.com/2009/01/recommendation-withdrawn.html)
Neil