Well living near New York City there are thousands of ethnicities and many options for food.  Even more exotic options.

For all of the foodies out there can you list your most exotic dish or food resource?

….or tolerate.

So I know that you have some things that you hate. And these are the foods you will NEVER like. For me it is mushrooms.

No. Never. I won’t even post a gross picture of them here.

Peas

(give peas a chance)

Spinach

(recommended by Popeye)

Cabbage

(to help you..go..you know)

Tomatoes

(thinly sliced on a sandwich only)

Now you have to admit it is kinda funny that all of these are vegetables and I am now vegetarian. I guess being a vegetarian has warmed me up to them.

I experimented with them, and prepared them in ways that I like. So, I guess by letting me do my own thing, I’ve grown to like them.

I am cool with a nice spinach salad. Or peas in a cup of rice. Maybe throw some cabbage and egg noodles together for a quick easy dinner.

Have any ideas?

I read some interesting information yesterday about how switching to a vegetarian diet could benefit a person with diabetes.

I was skeptical, until I looked at the facts! Check it out yourself: Vegetarian diet helps diabetes.

Now it won’t cure it, let’s get that straight, but it can help!

“…such as helping to better control your weight, reducing your risk of some diabetes-associated complications

and possibly even making your body more responsive to insulin.”

-

It also improves blood sugar control and insulin response. Eating vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes and nuts

— features of a vegetarian diet — can improve blood sugar control and make your body more responsive to insulin.

This may mean taking less medication and lowering your risk of diabetes-related complications.

-

Is it safe for someone with diabetes to follow a vegetarian diet?

Yes! A vegetarian diet is a healthy option, even if you have diabetes. Research supports that following this type of diet can help prevent and manage diabetes.

In fact, research on vegan diets has found that carb and calorie restrictions were not necessary and still promoted weight loss and lowered participants’ A1C.

Vegetarian diets are naturally higher in fiber, much lower in saturated fat, and cholesterol-free when compared to a traditional American diet.

he high fiber in this diet may help you feel full for a longer time after eating and may help you eat less over all.

When fiber intake is greater than 50 grams per day on a vegan diet, it may help lower blood glucose levels.

So when planning meals for vegetarians and diabetics, keep many things in mind!

For desserts: don’t use jello, it’s not vegetarian, even if it’s sugar free. You won’t please everyone.

Trying to make delicious sugar free dessert for diabetics can be easy, check out some recipes here: Diabetics Healthy Solutions

My grandmother is diabetic, and she needs to watch both her salt and sugar. She sticks to eating lean fish, lots of natural veggies and sodium free products.

Many of these recipes incorporate those types of products!

I thought I would do a spotlight on this wonderful place. In New Brunswick, NJ a quick drive from my house, is the :

George St. Co-op.

“The George Street Co-op is a non-profit natural foods store owned and run by its members.  We sell vegetarian foods with the greatest nutritional value possible, and only minimal processing or additives.  Everyone is welcome to shop at the Co-op and choose from our excellent selection of fresh organic produce, bulk foods, vitamins & herbs, body care and earth-friendly products, gifts, and more.”

When I first became a vegetarian, I really relied on this place for all of my veggie replacement needs. They supply vitamins, goods and even fresh produce. My favorite is the fresh supply of homemade vegetarian sandwiches, wraps and salads. So delicious! Not only do they offer delicious foods, but they also offer free advice on new vegetarians making a lifestyle change. Wonderful people, wonderful place. Check out their Facebook for more info about what they do.

If you’re in area, I really recommend giving this place a visit

Spring is upon us! It’s time for BBQs and parties outside. I hope you have your grill fired up, it’s time for veggie shish ka bobs, veggie dogs and veggie burgers.

Aside from goofing off with my cousins and making dough of the playing kind, I haven’t been experimenting at all with new recipes.

A new season calls for some new ideas! But that aside, lets think about things we know and are good at!

Summer BBQs are great and can definitely be vegetarian friendly. There are plenty of meatless options! And do not forget about the cous cous and potato salad!

Some of my favorite summertime foods and products are:

Yves Veggie Dogs

Trader Joes Masala Burger

Gardein Beefless Tips

Morningstar Asian Veggie Patties

1. Yves Veggie Hot Dogs

• Chili hot dogs with Boca Ground Beef Crumbles or Morningstar Farms Crumbles
• Italian Hot dogs: Stir fry with peppers and onions. Put it on a hoagie roll!

2. Trader Joes Masala Veggie Burger

• Put it on a toasted onion roll with sauteed onions, lettuce, tomatoes, spinach, and a slice of cucumber.
• Mess around with the condiments with this one, make it what you like.

3. Gardein Beefless Tips

• Shish-ka-bobs! Let these defrost a bit, then put them on a stick with veggies on the grill
• Use a mixture of teriyaki* and soy sauce to marinade while on the grill!

4. Morningstar Farms Asian Veggie Patties

• Grill it up, add a slice of mozzarella and provolone cheese
• Lettuce, tomato, onion, and a dollop of wasabi mayo

These are just a few of my recommendations for a delicious summertime meal!

*Teriyaki Sauce Recipe

2/3 cup mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine)
1 cup soy sauce
4 1/2 teaspoons rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/3 cup white sugar
7 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 dash red pepper flakes
black pepper to taste

Today is my 24th Birthday! Yippie!

It’s hard to believe that its almost April! Where did the time go, and more importantly, where did winter go? The colder months always seemed to go by slower for me, but not this year. But hey, you don’t see me complaining. Now that it is the end of March, it’s time to start thinking about Easter! Easter was always a fun holiday for me and my family. We usually all gathered at my Aunts house for dinner and the traditional egg hunt. But now that we are all grown up, it’s obviously we are much too old for that. I think the youngest one in our extended family is turning 18 this year! Like I said, time flies!

My favorite thing as a child was going into the dining room on Easter morning to find my easter basket. The “easter bunny” always did a great job with choosing the best goodies to put inside of it. My favorites like Reeses and a white chocolate bunny were always included. And who could forget the peeps?! No easter basket is complete without some peeps.

Anyway, getting ahead of myself.

Here’s to hoping this year will be better than the last!

Got to work this morning, and while I was waiting for some pages to load…I decided to..stumble upon something.

So I clicked the StumbleUpon tab (used when I have a free second at work; breaks/lunch) and I found Drinkify.

At the moment I was listening to Geographer, and this is what it gave me:

“The Geographer”

• 4 oz. Gin
• 4 oz. Coconut milk
• 6 oz. Sour mix

Combine in highball glass and serve.

Mighty interesting.

Put in your favorite band and it will give you a drink that goes along with it

I could have fun for hours, just putting in random bands.

I have some  family members living in the UK right now, believe it or not, it’s news to me too. They gave us a ring this weekend and asked us to come visit. The reason being one of our family members passing away last week. The funeral and wake would be here in NJ, but they could not make it. Feeling helpless, they asked us to give our condolences, but not just that, they asked us to come see them across the pond! I thought it was a great idea, because I have never been to the UK before and it also serves as a mini vacation of some sort. After squealing at the prospect of going  to England, I started scheming and planning.

We worked out a great plan for the week that we would go visit. A few nights we would eat out, and the others we would cook. Since we are unfamiliar to the area, Josie (my great aunt, step aunt I believe) suggested we take a look at some of the best restaurants in Cleveland and read their reviews. I told them I have a picky pallet, being a vegetarian, but they assured me that Cleveland has plenty of places to offer any type of eater. Using this guide, I found an actual SECTION for vegetarian restaurants. Hello?! Thank you very much! And in case I have a craving for Thai, there are a myriad of places we could try out. After looking through the site, and reading Yelp! reviews, I settled on The Waiting Room. After reading their menu and drooling everywhere, I declared it as my pick of the restaurant I wanted. Because after seeing this on the menu:

Cauliflower Cheese Stromboli! £12.75
Ingrid Bergman, Ingrid Bergman you’re so pirdy * It’s a savoury roly poly! – a layered filling with mostly cauliflower cheese rolled in a pizza dough
Served with roast tomato sauce and apple and walnut, rocket salad

I nearly died. So excuse me as I do a happy dance and start packing for my trip…I leave in June!

Vegetarian Thai curry!

Massaman Curry

Not too spicy though.

I made my own this week and sort of improvised the recipe!

1 tbs of yellow curry powder
1 can coconut milk
1 medium onion, sliced
2 potatoes, cut into big sized pieces
1 small block of tofu, cut into chunks
1 tbsp cashews (or roasted peanuts)
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup water
1 cube of vegetable base
1/2 tsp tamarind paste
1 tsp of masala powder

It came out great, and I will definitely be experimenting more with Thai/curries!

Coffee is great in pair with anything.

Pasta + coffee = win

Bagel + coffee = win

Anything + coffee = you got it! I don’t think I can start my day without a pipping hot cup <3 I’ve been able to experiment with my favorite flavors, tastes and brands. And I have to say the best is the darker kinds, and ones with coconut/nutty hints. Om nom. It’s funny because I used to hate the taste of coffee, when I was younger of course. But now, I love the taste and I prefer the darker, bold flavors over anything!

When I started working in an office, I had to get used to working in the office environment. That meant sharing a “fridge” and kitchen space. At the time, we had no mini fridge or Keurig machine. It wasn’t until a year has passed at my job, that we got those appliances. We knew Keurigs had a great reputation, but we weren’t sure which one would be the best for us. I took to the internet to look for some coffee machine reviews that would help us get the perfect machine for us. We took into consideration the number of people in our office, and how often, or how many cups we would drink each day. In the end, we opted with the regular machine because it all made sense in the end. We would only need it Monday-Friday, and there would be 5-7 people at most using it everyday.

Every month or so, we get coffee k-cup deliveries to our office. Delivering fresh and exciting new kinds of coffee for us to try. The most exciting part of all of this is that my brother bought a Keurig machine for our house back in September. So now I never have to live without a fresh brewed cup of coffee!

So here is a great recipe that would fit perfectly with a nice cup of java!

Mad props to The Pioneer Woman for this delicious recipe!

The Best Coffee Cake Ever!

Here are all of your ingredients!

Follow the simple recipe over on her page.

It came out so good!

Another great pairing with coffee is an italian cream cake! Give that sucker a try