Me stuffing my happy little face at the 2012 Vegan Wing Bowl. I didn’t place, but I sure as hell didn’t come in last! I ate 8 oz (a half pound) of wings in 2 minutes. Plus, I got to keep that sweet apron. It was a lot of fun and I hope to do it again next year!

My Grandmom and I made #vegan peanut butter cups (Taken with instagram)

A lot of people are very confused or grossed out when I mention some of the ingredients I use in recipes. Here are 4 common proteins you find in vegan cooking!

The picture is not the most appetizing, but those are the unprepared ingredients! You wouldn’t eat raw meat or a raw egg… you gotta prepare it, just like you need to prepare tofu, seitan, TVP, or my favourite, tempeh.

I like to cut tempeh into little pieces, cook it in some oil and/or Smart Balance, then squeeze some lemon juice on it.

1. Finish journalism paper & references
2. Shower
3. Make a delicious breakfast
4. Celebrate never having to use APA format ever again by…
5. Studying for spanish final that I’m probably going to fail
6. Decide studying while laying outside will help boost morale
7. Remind self that studying is still worth it, even if I have to repeat the class
8. Turn in journalism paper
9. Pack up apartment; happily remind myself I never have to live in West Chester again
10. Go home. Continue studying spanish.
11. Make more To Do lists on Tumblr to distract myself from actual work 
12. Giggle at the guy who got tazed at the Phillies game last night 

this is me “reviewing” food again. And no, I don’t have a camera.

Memphis Taproom, “Port Fishington” (aka Port Richmond meets Fishtown meets Kensington…) in Philly- went Friday night. I got the old bay jackfruit cakes as an appetizer and they were REALLY RIDICULOUSLY GOOD. My only complaint is that I couldn’t order a bucket of them for the road. Actually, I didn’t even ask if that was possible. I should have.

Deep Fried Kosher Dills. Jesus Christmas. Get those, too. If you don’t get the buttermilk dip for the side, it’s totes vegan.

And then for my entree I got the smoked coconut club. It was amazing. The smoked coconut is strips of coconut and it’s seasons and smoked to taste like BACON. Coconut is one of my favourite things EVER and the stuff you can do with it continues to amaze and delight me. So go eat this. Also it came with a ton of fries.

Joseph got steak. He said it was kinda salty. But on the vegan end of it things were rad.

We split chocolate cake for dessert. It was really dense. Not the best, but nice to be able to finish your epic vegan meal with some vegan dessert to boot.

I hope to go back here soon.

Desi Village, Cedar Park/University City, Philly- Madeline and I had been to this little Indian BYOB before and loved it. This time, not so much. The menu didn’t specify that the entree I ordered had heavy cream in it, and when I brought this up to the waiter, he was just like, “Well… it’s already made..” and didn’t offer to have another made. And then at the end of the meal when we hadn’t touched it, he asked why we didn’t try. We told him AGAIN that we can’t eat dairy, and all of a sudden he changed his attitude. “Oh! You should have told me! I would have made another!” Ok. Sure. Yep.

My samosas were pretty good.

Gojjo Bar & Restaurant Cedar Park/University City, Philly- Madeline and I went here around 1 am for a drink, as it was one of the only bars in the area still open (seriously, Dock Street closes at 1 am?!). It’s an Ethiopian restaurant with a bar. We stood at the bar, $20 in hand, and neither of the 2 bartenders even looked at us. Everyone in the bar had a drink except for us. So after 20 minutes of getting NO SERVICE OR ACKNOWLEDGEMENT WHATSOEVER, we left. So I can’t comment on the drinks at all, because the shitty service didn’t allow it. Disappointing. Madeline and I have been on an Ethiopian food kick, but sadly we won’t be going here to try their food.

So then, desperate for one freaking beer, we headed to Abby’s Desert Lounge. It was sort of awkward, only because we were 2 of like, 4 customers. Sort of a neighbourhood, hole in the wall. But the bar tender was really nice to us. They don’t allow smoking in the bar, so that’s good.

And that was my epic weekend.

This is my attempt at reviewing a hotel/resort/casino/thing for vegan purposes. You can see I got bored of this right after talking about the pool. Enjoy.

So Joseph played poker a few times at Harrah’s, and I don’t know how much money he lost, but he keeps getting comped room. Which I am totally cool with because he takes me to Harrah’s Atlantic City with him and I get to lay by the pool.

I really like the pool at Harrah’s (even though it does have one major flaw (it is located in New Jersey- sorry Jerz! Love yas!) because it is always warm and there is a big dome above my little head so the sunlight comes in and I can get sunlight. Sweet, sweet sunlight, lovely happy rays that keep me from wanting to THROW MYSELF IN FRONT OF A BUS BETWEEN NOVEMBER AND APRIL.

So yeah, we went to Harrah’s in November, but it was only one night. It was also my first time ever in the lovely AC, but one night is hardly enough to gamble all your money away, and drink myself into oblivion in a pool. Plus, you can only use the comped rooms Sundays-Thursdays.

He recently got comped TWOOOO nights (woo!) so we were all “yo let’s do this before Christmas! Right after Terrible Toal’s finals!” And I was so excited about the pool and pretending to be in a sunny place. AND THEN IT SNOWED AND WE HAD TO RESCHEDULE. WHAT. THE. MO.

We happened to reschedule when the pool was CLOSED FOR MAINTENANCE and apparently the bagel place was ALSO closed for maintenance so NO POOL AND NO BAGELS FOR TOAL. Actually, there was another pool upstairs in the family fun center but… ok NOT the same. Whatev. I read my trashy tabloids and I’m ok with it.

For Joseph’s birthday dinner we took ye olde creepy shuttle bus from Harrah’s to Caesar’s. We ate at THE CONTINENTAL! They have 2 in Philly, one with swingy chairs. This one in Caesar’s did not have swingy chairs, but it was fun nonetheless. I had a martini that had Nerds candy at the bottom. It was glorious. I also got the hummus, which had a spice on the top that reminded the birthday boy of Taco Bell, but I swear it was good. Smokey.

Aaaand theeeen I got the vegetarian dumplings. They were ok. A little on the greasy side. A lot on the greasy side really.

Joseph got the cheesesteak egg rolls. They looked good. He said they were good. Good!

While we could take the shuttle to Caesar’s, Showboat, and Bally’s (free for all Total Rewards Members- just sign up for the card and marvel at the coupons you can’t use), Harrah’s itself is SERIOUSLY lacking in vegan (and even vegetarian) options. Plus, I don’t want to drive to other casinos/restaurants because it costs money to park your car fifty different times.

I know AC is kind of a surf and turf kind of city, but the casinos are trying to appeal to a younger, hipper crowd and we all know that the COOLEST HIP KIDS are the ones that eat vegan. I KNOW RIGHT!

If you know any vegans heading to AC, tell them of these places:

• PF Chang’s at The Tropicana
• The Continental at Caesar’s
• Ben & Jerry’s at Harrah’s (they have dairy free sorbet)
• Taste of the Shore Food Court at Harrah’s (they have some hot vegetable sandwiches)

That’s all I really know of on the casino front.

Oh. And I got the Preston and Steve internship. WORD!!

I typically like to keep good recipes a secret. But this one is too good.

2 pkgs. frozen broccoli, cooked + strained
2/3 cup veganaise
1 cup daiya cheddar
1/4 cup onions
1 cup mushroom soup (or just put soymilk + sauteed mushrooms in the food processor)
1/2 cup silken firm tofu, mooshed up

Put it all in a bowl! Stir it all together! Put it in a casserole dish! Top it with some vegan buttered bread crumbs! Bake it at 350degrees for about 40 minutes or until it isn’t wobbly!!!

Let it cool slightly then EAT IT BEFORE EVERYONE ELSE DOES!!