The Rest of Our Euro Trip

I thought I would be writing a few more posts about the food during our Europe trip. We dined in quite a bit more after London, Amsterdam and Scandinavia to save money, and I ran out of steam a bit to take photos...or sometimes forgot to. I still can't believe all that travelling is over. I realized today that I have more places I want to visit than before we left. I wouldn't have imagined that I would be adding so many more places to the bucket list. I guess that's why I have always heard travelers talk about how addicting it can be. 

A very sad banana in Nîmes, France. My husband says "French bananas are so dramatic". 

We packed a small lunch and snacks and headed to the amazing Pont Du Gard in Nîmes. We jumped in the freezing cold water after walking around in the heat for an hour or so. It took my husband a long time to convince me to jump in, and rightfully so! I didn't expect the water to be so cold. Very refreshing...

We didn't get to see much of Nice, France since we came down with colds.We rested up and headed to Monaco for our last day, a 20 minute train ride from Nice. It was amazing to be in the richest country in the world and only spend €4 (on bread and the toilet). 

A quick stop in Geneva, the street and building art is beautiful! 

Ahh, my beloved Insalata Mista! I ordered this many times while we were in Italy. The tomatoes were of course amazing, and the salad was moderately filling thanks to the corn. This one we enjoyed at Napule é in Lake Como near the place we were staying. 

On a hike in the Cinque Terre, Italy we spotted tomatoes ready for the sun in someones back yard. I would have loved to taste these after they were done drying. I have had store bought sun-dried tomatoes, but I don't think that is quite the same. My mom used to make homemade canned pickles when I was a kid, so much better than any store bought jar. 

We had veggie pizza at Gusto Leo in Florence thanks to the recommendation by Vegan Backpacker. Apparently a lot of bread and pizza dough in the north of Italy contains strutto which is Italian for pig fat. So we had to do our research before hand and make sure to ask senza strutto (without pig fat). This pizza was delicious and we went back the next day to order take out. They made it in front of us in a massive stone oven and it bubbled away under the hot flames, still bubbling as they slid it in to it's take out box. That's fresh pizza! 

Some more sun-dried tomatoes, this time in a market in Venice. I am still not sure why I didn't buy any to snack on...

Our last city we visited was Vienna and we found two Vegan buffets. One was Yamm! (not pictured) and the other was Harvest The Vegetarian Bistrot. Harvest really stuck out in our minds, the food was fresh, flavorful, filling and the prices were very reasonable. 

The atmosphere was great and the servers were very informative and friendly. 

There were so many desserts to choose from. I went with a chocolate walnut cake, delicious. A great way to cap off our last day in Vienna. If you are ever visiting Vienna, we highly recommend Harvest The Vegetarian Bistrot.  

We flew home from London to Vancouver again with Virgin Atlantic Airlines and had the vegan meal for a second time. It consisted of salad, rice with mixed vegetables and a fruit cup. They also brought us two vegan snacks, one was a hot sandwich, the other was a cold sandwich. We were so impressed with the service and options with Virgin Atlantic and would definitely choose them for an international flight again. 

London, Amsterdam & Scandinavia

We started off our Euro trip with a short stay in England, staying with family in Stoke Poges near Heathrow Airport. Then we moved on to Amsterdam, Oslo, Stockholm, Gothenburg and Copenhagen. Since we visited so many places, I will break them up in to a few blog posts. 

We flew to London on Virgin Airlines, our first time ;) We were really impressed with the service, amenities and options for special diets. When booking the flight we were able to choose a Vegan meal. The main was a chickpea curry, it came with salad, a bread roll and fruit. They also brought us a vegan breakfast roll in the AM.  

Best cup of tea I have ever had, Earl Grey at Stokes Park in Stoke Poges. Our relatives took us for Cream Tea, it was such a beautiful setting and the weather was gorgeous. 

There is a golf course, exercise club, spa, gardens and a cemetery.  

We stumbled upon a restaurant called Le Pain Quotidien in Covent Garden in London. And we were blown away! The food was delicious and they labeled their Vegan options. My husband had an open faced bean, avocado and hummus sandwich. I had gazpacho and a big salad with lots of bread. The waiter was so kind and brought us more bread when we ran out. Definitely recommend! We didn't realize it was a chain until we got to Amsterdam. We would have gone again but we wanted to save some cash.. 

To spend on Sorbet! Above is raspberry and mango sorbet, enjoying it by a canal in Amsterdam. 

Another mango sorbet. Yum! 

We dined in a lot in Amsterdam to save money, plus there was also a great grocery store called Marqt with tons of options around the corner. It was by far the best grocery store we found in Europe. 

Oslo was probably the hardest place for us to find food and REALLY expensive! I bought a 6inch Veggie Patty sub and a water from Subway and it worked out to about $15 CDN, ouch. The grocery stores also didn't have much for our regular staples, we would have loved to find some canned beans to make sandwiches... So we got creative and used potatoes instead. 

And reused the expensive subway wrapper ;) 

After a long day exploring Oslo, including Vigeland Park, the Ski museum and the Opera House, we decided to treat ourselves to a vegetarian buffet. I was so glad we found Vega Food Fair so we didn't have to cook. There were a few vegan desserts. I got a slice of chocolate cake - wicked good! And then I took a  slice of carrot cake to go, also good...but the chocolate cake won by far. 

In Stockholm we went to another vegetarian buffet called Hermitage. The food was so fresh and comforting on a dreary day. 

Everything on the menu was vegan except for the lasagna. The mixed vegetables were my favorite, the spices were perfect. Highly recommend if you are in Stockholm! 

There weren't many options for lunch and dinner in Gothenburg, but the grocery store was well equipped. We decided to make pasta and went with this one because of the name. You don't have to be mature to make pasta :) 

I didn't take any food photos in Copenhagen since we ate pretty plain. But I'd rather pack a lunch and be able to enjoy a view like this one. 

June and July Highlights

 I haven't been keeping up with blogging for the last while. The reason is very exciting though. My husband and I went to Europe this summer! I didn't realize how much planning is involved and I only did half of it, phew. A food related and exciting part (for me) of the planning was how we were going to manage eating plant strong while travelling. Luckily, there are many others that have shared this information. I was looking for tips on eating vegan, plant based, healthy and budget friendly. After a lot of research and bookmarking a few restaurants via Happy Cow, our main staples ended up being: oatmeal, bread, fresh local fruit and veg, more bread, hummus, canned beans, pasta, quick brown rice and rye crackers. A few websites that gave me these tips are: Vegan Backpacker, Healthy Vegan Recipes and Happy Herbivore.

In retrospect, it was much easier to stay vegan than (whole foods) plant based since we visited so many cities and had a lot of travel days. I ended up eating more processed foods than I had planned and found it a little difficult to avoid added oils. That said, this trip is probably the only one of its kind we'll do. We were gone over 6 weeks and visited almost 20 cities! As incredible as it was, I do miss my whole foods plant strong lifestyle and am excited to get back at it.

Here are a few food highlights from June and July before we left for our trip. 

Potato chickpea curry. I used the base of Fat Free Vegan Kitchen's Cauliflower Curry Soup and replaced the cauliflower and sweet potato with Yukon Gold potatoes. I do this with recipes when I don't feel like making a special shopping trip for the specific ingredients. This especially works with soups, use a base you like and see if the ingredients make a good fit. Sometimes, you can create something that's even better than what you started with! Or sometimes you end up with a bust, but that is how you find out what doesn't work, which is equally as important in my opinion.

Donut Peach from Kin's Farm Market on top of spinach. 

Kale from my parent's garden. I didn't realize that fresh really is better, until I tasted it ;) 

When my parent's were away in June I pulled out my mom's Chipster and made some sweet potato chips. 

And they turned out pretty good! A little uneven in some spots, but tasty. I microwaved them a little longer than the instructions for regular potatoes adding 30 secs at a time until there were no soft spots left. They were crispy, sweet and oil free! 

I went to a race by myself, it was my first time going alone and I'm glad I pushed myself to go. It was the Canada Day Rock in White Rock. A very hot day, so I'm glad we had an early start. 

I ate the other half before the photo - so hungry! 

Since the post race snacks were pancakes, brownies and birthday cake...I decided to look for an option that would keep me feeling good. There was a small restaurant across from the start/finish line called Karmel cafe. I ordered a vegetable wrap with no sauce and was happy to see some extra veg on the side. Great snack after running on a hot summer day. 

Now that we are back, I plan to write a little about our travels including packing, food and restaurants. 

Sunday Running Happened So Fast

I rarely cook onions as I like them caramelized and they don't go with lazy cooking. But I found a way around this! I roast root vegetables all the time, so why can't I roast onions? So while my potatoes were roasting on the top rack I put the chopped onions on the bottom rack. I chopped two medium onions, added 1/3 cup water (for steaming and so the onions won't stick), a tsp of brown sugar, 4-5 drops of liquid smoke and a dash of Mr. Dash seasoning (tee hee). Baked covered at 375° for 50 minutes and I had delicious caramelized onions. 

Caramelized onions on top of roasted potatoes with a green bean and baby carrot medley. 

I made Happy Herbivore's blueberry muffins last week and they shrunk! Just kidding...they are mini muffins. They are so cute! 

This is a dish I have been getting at Langley Vietnamese Restaurant. I have to order off menu, which I do often. I ask for plain vermicelli noodles, topped with salad and steamed vegetables. It is filling, fresh and inexpensive. 

We participated in the Run For Water race on Sunday in Abbostford. It rained fairly hard at times and we were soaked, but it was worth it. We both enjoyed the extra oxygen in the air, the atmosphere and the volunteers cheering everyone on. My favorite sign a young volunteer was holding said "Rain is temporary, internet results are forever!" Gave me a chuckle and encouragement as I kept on. As mentioned before, my plant strong diet has really fueled the extra energy I have for activities such as this. I was able to shave 2 1/2 minutes off my previous race time and placed first in my age group with a time of 25:03! 

After the race, we were super hungry and cold. We pulled in to a shopping center off the Mt. Lehman exit, almost deciding on Wendy's across the street (for their baked potatoes). But there was a Vietnamese Restaurant straight ahead! Even tho we had it the another night, we wanted to try it in a new location. I am so glad we did! It was so delicious, the vegetables were so fresh and cooked perfectly. They also had vegetarian/vegan options and we didn't have to order off menu :) Above, we shared an order of the vegetable salad rolls which included fresh mint, mmm. 

Vermicelli with steamed vegetables (I asked for steamed instead of fried). The vegetable mixture had onions, broccoli, carrots, and baby corn. The dish was topped off with a pickled carrot. So good, probably one of my favorite meals out to date! 

Back in The Kitchen

Now that work isn't so busy I have been able to put a little more effort in to the creativity of my meals. I love throwing together rolled oats, apple sauce, almond milk, triple berry mix and cinnamon. I bake it in my toaster oven till bubbly and slightly brown. I like it better than a crisp since the fruit is still in tact and there is no added sugar.  

I played around with a roasted tomato hummus on the weekend. It was quite good but I want to experiment with it again before I post a recipe. Surprisingly it had the most flavor when paired with a snap pea. 

Spring rolls from Happy Herbivore Abroad with a few adjustments. I didn't want a heavy sauce so squeezed a bit of lime juice in between bites. Refreshing dinner on a hot day. 

Sometimes you can create something so tasty out of left overs. My parents had lentils and peas in their fridge, so I reheated them, placed them on a bed of spinach, crumbled a few Guiltless Gourmet Chips, and drizzled on some left over pasta sauce. After the photo I tossed on nutritional yeast which took it to another level. 

Since my mom wasn't around for Mothers Day...I decided to celebrate without her anyway, with waffles! I used PC Blue Menu Whole Wheat Pancake Mix. Since the recipe calls for eggs, milk and oil, three things this girl don't eat, I substituted soaked chia seeds, almond milk and apple sauce. They turned out great! 

Chips, Pizza and Sorbet

Busy busy at work last week, luckily we had beautiful fruit plates to keep us going. I admired my co-workers display. 

"What u doing? Taking a bad photo?" 

 I have been wanting to try other kinds of whole grain rice besides Basmati and found California Brown Rice at our local Superstore. This short grain cooked up less starchy compared to a long grain and was a bit chewy. Nice for a change. My husband said it reminds him of rice you would get in a restaurant, ha. 

Baby romaine greens, left over iceberg head lettuce, black beans, cherry tomatoes, nutritional yeast and a squeeze of lemon juice. Quick and refreshing salad.  

I have been looking for these chips ALL OVER! I gave up a while back after searching many stores only to find they have discontinued carrying them. You'll never guess where I accidentally found them. Winners, yes, WINNERS. LOL I bought four bags in my excitement. I may go back for more, but I don't like to have too much processed food in the house at once. 

That is why I only bought one box of these. I like the name because that is exactly what they are, rolls of crunchy rice. A little expensive, around $4 a box, but a fun low fat vegan treat.  

I had the baked (not fried!) Guiltless Gourmet chips with cherry tomatoes dusted with nutritional yeast. Be sure to check the ingredients if you are vegan or dairy intolerant as the spicy black bean flavor has cheese. 

Very excited to find out there was a Vegan Pizza House only a half hour drive from us AND right by the beach! 

We ordered half Garden without Daiya Cheese for me and Greek for him. It looked so pretty I couldn't wait to dig in. Unfortunately we are quite picky regarding pizza crust and found it a bit greasy and soggy. Sometimes there is something to be said for making a chain restaurant work for you or making pizza at home. 

It was such a beautiful night we walked almost the entire strip and down the pier. 

And look what I found on the way! Cheeky me, I have been here before and couldn't wait to spot it during our walk. I snapped a photo so quickly, not wanting to seem like a creeper, so there is some glare in the Raspberry Gelato. Among the gelatos are dairy free sorbets. There was green apple, lime, mango, and strawberry. My husband mentioned there was pineapple, I think I will need to go back again to confirm. 

I was a little hungry since I didn't each much of our pizza, so I got two scoops of sorbet. Last time I tried the green apple and lime, this time I opted for mango and strawberry. It was perfect on a hot sunny night.