Why hello...hello...hello...

That's me saying hello and it echoing. Yep.

Dudes, I have been MIA. That's to say, I have been busay.
I did that to rhyme, obv.

So what's good? I'll tell you what's freaking good...feast your eyes on THIS!:

So there's this other part of Northeast Mpls that I've never even been to. Imagine that.

The Coffee Shop NE is damn cute and has a ton of vegan-friendly items to choose from, you just have to ask. I asked if any of their baked goods were vegan and lo' and beyond. BAM! Vegan cranberry pumpkin bread. It was delish-moist and perfect for dipping in my coffee. And you know how I loves dipping shit in my coffee.

Hey y'all: I just want to say: I love ya. You guys rule. I've been keeping it to monthly updates because of grad school and you all are still hanging in there. There are so many places I've been hankerin' to try lately too. Stay tuned. I got this shit on lockdown, pinky swear.

I'm outty!!

MN Vegan

Who likes tacos?! How about...rusty ones?

Oh man you guys. There's a new craze sweeping the nation (according to me) and this craze will make you go:

And then:

So check it out:

Those are the two vegetarian tacos sans cheese obv from Rusty Taco. The one on the left is full of chipotle black beany goodness along with toasted pumpkin seeds. The second one is filled with poblanos, shrooms and other veggies. I got both with free guac to substitute for the cheese stuff. These tacos were quality for only $5 or so. Baller. NE Mpls OR St Paul yo. Also baller.

FREAKING GET THERE! AND EAT TACOS! AND...BE HAPPY ABOUT IT!

MN Vegan

Holy freaking buffet Batman!

Bombay Palace in Fridley, MN has got your Indian-buffet-craving booty covered, like srsly. They have many different vegan items on the buffet and they are more than happy to tell you which ones are which.
Now, this is huge, because SNorine does not care for Indian cuisine regularly. But seriously guys, I don't even know what I ate, but it was phenomenal:

I think that's peneer, with a little dahl and some other lentil-y thing over rice. They have way more options than what this picture shows though, like vegan rice pudding and delish fried potato thingies and stuff like that. Badass.

Get thee there now! And stuff yourself. It's like $10 for the buffet and it is soooo worth it.

MN Vegan

Bubye? Nahhhh

Hey y'all. Just giving you fair warning that I may or may not disappear for a while due to grad school. Lame I know. I'll try to update you on eats for sure in the next couple of days, because lord knows I love stuffing things into my facehole.

<3

MN Vegan

WIENERS?!

In your mouth. Delicious ones.

Hopefully that got your attention...but if it didn't, feast your eyes on this shitty photo I took of The Wienery's black bean burger and some fries:

This place is baller. Where can you get vegan hot dogs, vegan hand-made black bean burgers and killer fries in one place? Well...this place. Derr. And for super freaking cheap too. The black bean burger is probably the spiciest black bean burger I've ever had the pleasure of tossing in my mouth. The fries are awesome as well-you order them by the potato. Mine was one potato's worth of fries. And they can top your vegan dog with lots of stuff. 

Get there and nosh til you puke. I almost did.

MN Vegan

Dear Pizza Luce, cut that out.

Stop it. Just stop it right now. Stop making unbeatable, affordable vegan eats for me to gobble when I'm drinking Strongbow. You guys are jerks.

Just kidding PL, you're awesome in my book. But srsly, you trying to take over the world or something?

Pizza Luce is a MUST if you are visiting the Twin Cities. There's several locations (including the new Richfield location). Pizza Luce is taking Minnesota by storm, and here's why:

This here was PL's spring special vegan dessert, meaning you can't get it anymore but hot damn people. It's a vegan pineapple cake with fresh berries and coconut cream on top. It was incredible. The pineapple cake was moist and when the berry sauce seeps in, each bite was like a fruity explosion in my mouth. And you know how I like mouth explosions. They're the best.

Those two items above are the summer specials! Pictured above the bahn mi is the vegan cobbler. It's super delicious. I'm not a big fan of cobbler in the summer-warm you know. But the raspberry sorbet was a nice touch. The vegan bahn mi is spicy! Just how I likes my women. Err...yeah. The mock duck is mock-ducky (it's an adjective, trust me) and coupled with the rinotta nut cheese, this shit's off the freaking hook!

GO GET SOME. NOW. PRETTY PLEASE.

MN Vegan

So much to be saaaaiiiiiddd...

AND SO LITTLE TIME. 

Just kidding. I gots time.

So I just got back from my family trip to Seattle and Portland, or rather, what I'd like to call "Dad Complaining Constantly Tour 2012". Yes, the DCCT was fucking fun as shit, but I have to keep you guys waiting on that one. It's going to be a fucking EPIC post. It'll blow your brains up.

So French Meadow Bakery has been stepping it up when it comes to vegan desserts. My family and I were FINALLY celebrating my admission to grad school and we went and got some treats. Have a gander:

Damn. I mean daaaayyyyummm.

Holy!

Crap!

From top to bottom: berry tart, turtle cake and carrot cake. All vegan, all awesome. The berry tart, honestly, I thought was going to disappoint me and I'd just end up eating all of the turtle cake. But nope-the crust was buttery and not too crispy, just how I likes it. The turtle cake is always amazing-rich dark chocolate cake with a gooey caramel-y sauce and nuts on top? Yes please. I'm always up for gooey nuts. And then there's the carrot cake, looking all fucking cute with that damn carrot. It was delicious, though I kind of expected the frosting to be more cream cheesy. It was still worth it though-very tasty.

They had many more options to choose from than this in their bakery case (and their vegan food menu is freaking stellar) so GET THERE NOW!!!

MN Vegan

Likey Greek food?

If you said yes, you might want to give Gardens of Salonica a try. I had an assortment of the vegan items that are conveniently labeled on the menu for you. I honestly couldn't tell you what I got, but everything that I did get was so fucking good, I'm just going to tell you to hustle your sweet ass over there and get that food in your mouth NOW.

Here's what a I had. They served it with some really delicious pita bread. 

Y'all should seriously consider eating here. It is most excellent. 

ALLONS-Y! 

That means "let's go" in French.  It also means I'm a badass.

MN Vegan

HOLY FUCKING SUSHI.

I have an undying love for sushi. It is the only thing I feel like I could eat 24/7, hungry or not. It is one of the only things I crave when I am PMSing, I fucking....love it. There are tons of options in the Twin Cities for kickass vegan sushi. Origami is only one of those restaurants. Their menu is not labeled but if you ask what is vegan on the menu, they will tell you. I got a cucumber roll, avocado roll and some inari, which is sweet stuff wrapped in a tofu skin. Holy hell was it good.

I'm not picky on my vegan sushi, but I was recommended this place by a friend who said that the way they wrap the sushi matters and I guess, the tighter the roll the better. I didn't really pay attention to that all that much, I just stuffed my face and smiled. Because sushi makes me smile. The place is super fancy and likely great for a date night. Y'all should go....NOW!!!!

Yes.

MN Vegan

Brasa makes my heart soooooaaaaarrr!!

Not literally. They have a handful of vegan apps that are fucking delicious. Seriously, they might be simple but they are fucking delish. Just ask for the vegetarian menu and it'll have the vegan stuff labeled on it. Here's what I got!:

On the left is the chips and guacamole. Their guac is right on par with Chipotle's in my opinion, if not better tasting. To the right of that are the fried yuca. I don't know what the crap a yuca is even but Brasa made me like it. Watch out for the dip though-it's not vegan but they can give you some dipping sauce that is. 

And to top it all off, (pictured the furthest from the front of the pic) fried plantains! Delicious. 

All of the dishes are extremely reasonably priced and they source as locally as possible. 

Kickass. GET THERE!!!

MN Vegan

New jawb.

Oh heyyyy ya'll. Sorry about the lack of posting-life got hectic!

I suppose I should spill the beans. I now work for Donut Cooperative, which is pretty kickass. I'm a baker, so I'm making delicious vegan stuff for you to stuff your face with every day, which includes our delectable donuts.

Check the website here, yo! If you're in Minneapolis, this is a must-eat. Errr...yeah. Don't try to eat the place itself, just order a donut and eat it.
We have pretty kickass vegan cake donuts that'll make you want to scream with unbridled pleasure and stuff. Check it out yo! We're also on Facebook, so like us too if you so please.

And now, for the pictures. Hold onto your pants.

Did you just pee a little too? No? ...neither did I.

MN Vegan

Thought you all should know.

Bella's needy.

MN Vegan

Vegan Balls Party!

This totally happened. Me and my friends like to make fun of the male anatomy, simply put. We've had a Vegan Sausage Party so naturally, we had to honor the other half of the equation and makes foods shaped like balls. Here's what we made:

That there is an assortment of vegan cookie dough balls, vegan meatballs, sweet tater tots and sea salt and vinegar chickpeas. Holy hell. 

If any of you have a ball party, boob party or even a vag party (I don't know how you'd do that but people surprise me all the time), you should totally invite me. 

Yup.

MN Vegan

Fucking pro, son!

I made vegan veggie burgers the other day. *pops collar*

Check this action out!

God I'm so baller. So the basic proportions to vegan veggie burgers are as follows (aka they're super fucking easy to make):

-like one bread-slice's worth of bread crumbs

-2-3 handfuls prepared blacks beans or any prepared bean really

-couple of splashes of Braggs or soy sauce, whatever you got

-dashes of spices like cumin, chili powder, parsley, whatever floats your boat

Form that shit into patties and grill the crap out of them! And then eat them of course.

I was actually really happy to have come up with this recipe because I had an abundance of black beans all of a sudden. Wahoo! It's tasty stuff right here.

MN Vegan

Everest on Grand-guard your butthole srsly.

Everest on Grand has some crazy Napalese foods. And by crazy I mean SPICY AS SHIT. I almost burnt my fucking mouth off. If you're into that sort of spiciness, you should totally go but holy balls. Be careful.

I had the veggie dumplings. This place is pretty rad because they have vegan options labeled on the menu. Baller!

These were not that spicy, but the dish my mom had was. Be careful I says!

MN Vegan

Biscotti owns my ass.

Hard Times Cafe is the best. The most affordable, organic, delicious vegan-y...best. Check out that grammar, suckers! Pro.

I fucking love their biscottis. They are the best thing to stick in my decaf coffee and then in my mouth. One end of the biscotti is always dipped in delicious chocolate. Check this shit out:

Hot damn. Stick a fork in me.

I'm done!

MN Vegan

Donut Cooperative and Ginger Hop, you are godsends.

Why the fuck don't I live closer?! You mean I have to haul my ass by bike for 20 minutes to get your deliciousness? Well...ok.

Here's why I do just that:

That there is Donut Cooperative's vegan cinnamon roll and a vegan raised cinnamon sugar donut. Holy buckets ya'll. Both were heavenly. The donut has a great flavor and is fluffy and delicious. The cinnamon was pull-apart-able and cinnamon-y, glaze-y goodness. See what I did there?

Get there now, all you donut-craving Minnesotans (and non-Minnesotans!). C'est trés fantastique! Don't pretend you don't know what that means.

Also, I took the broder (rad-speak for brother) out for lunch at Ginger Hop in NE Minneapolis. There is a handful of vegan options and they are labeled on the menu! Yaay. I got the Asian Pear Salad with tofu and started the meal off with some spring rolls. Looky!

So good. The tofu was crispy and the dressing was sweet and delicious! The greens were obviously fresh, which I completely appreciate and the price was reasonable for such a nice restaurant (next time I will take a picture of the inside decor because you bet your sweet ass I'm going back).

Get to both now if you're in the Twin Cities! NOW I SAYS.

MN Vegan

Ecopolitan AKA I just shat myself.

Just kidding about the title, kind of. I shit myself when I think of how tasty Ecopolitan food is, not when (or after) I eat it.

But anyways, so my boyfrenn came with because he expressed wanting to check this place out. Ha. Hahaha. I laughed. But he was serious.

If you're not up to snuff on Ecopolitan, it is Minneapolis' only completely vegan restaurant, AND it happens to also be completely raw. Meaning uncooked food, room-temperature water, the whole shebang.

He ordered the pesto pasta, which is made with zucchini noodles. Here he is. And ladies, please. I know the man's sexy. No need to leave like a million comments about it.

He actually enjoyed it a lot. I had the taco pizza, which was made with lentil taco meat and a bunch of other really fucking tasty shit. The "sour cream" was divine and the pizza was perfectly seasoned.

We finished off the entire meal with this delicious parfait. I love the crust. It's made with coconut, dates and nuts. Fucking stellar.

Oh god it's so good. I dream about that stuff and my next rendezvous with its tastiness.

If you're in Minneapolis, GET THERE. So fucking good.

MN Vegan

ALERT ALERT ALERT

ATTENTION ALL READERS. THIS IS OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE. LAST NIGHT I CONSUMED THIS:

And today, S Norine no feel good. Hey MN, what up with all the nice weather/wind/general merriment? If this is a cruel joke, I don't gets it.

Oh by the way, you can get that huge flaming punch bowl for about $20 at Psycho Suzie's in NE Minneapolis. And it's not meant (quite obv) for one person, but several. So yeah. I shared with my broder, do not worry. And P.S.

IT IS DELICIOUS.

Go gets it now!

MN Vegan

LOOKY WHAT I DID!

So I work for a cooperative called Lakewinds Natural Foods and I'm a baker there. If you didn't already know that, now you do.

Hokay. So I've been trying to think of ways to be more challenged with my job and my boss gave me the opportunity to test a vegan cinnamon roll recipe. Ah yes.

So I did! And thar she blows:

They were really well-received and I think I'd enjoy making up some more recipes like this-vegan pastry dough recipes. Like turn-overs, maybe a pecan roll in there-all vegan! Nice right? I'm looking into the idea and my boss seems receptive so we'll see how it goes, right? Right.

I'm outty!

MN Vegan

On-the-Go Meals!

AKA meals you can get in pretty common places, nuke the crap out of and then eat. Or just eat from the box. Nice.

Here's what I've consumed in the last couple of weeks:

This first one was at Starbucks. I know I know, Starbucks sucks, but it was pretty damn tasty. This is their Asian Sesame Noodle Bento Box. I'm fairly certain that all Starbucks carry these, so if you're ever in a bind for what to eat somewhere in the USA, you'll probably be able to find this sucker and nosh your brains out. It's pretty delish (the tofu surprised me-very tasty!) and yes, kind of expensive, but a girl's got to fucking eat. Damn right.

I've always wanted to try this one and then I finally did! Amy's Brown Rice Bowl. Or, I think that's the name of it anyhoo. It was good, but needed some soy sauce. It's a good meal when you're in a bind and is available at even commercial grocery stores. You heat it and then eat it. That rhymed. This one was also less expensive than the one I got at Starbucks, about $5. Yep.

Stay tuned! I want to try more of the Amy's products in the future and my work carries a buttload of them, so I'll definitely be trying more.

Guuuhhhh yummy...

MN Vegan

Healthy eatin's.

I know you're probably all like "pssssh whatevsies, Norine. You eat sweets all the fucking time you freaking liar". Oh no no. Oh no no no...let me tell you.

When I crave healthy, delicious food, I'm only looking to go to one of two places. That made no sense.

TAO NATURAL FOODS! I took my best manfriend. He's awesome and got the veggie burger (bottom). I got the avocado rice plate (top).

Ok. Now I'm going to be brutally honest here, mostly because I need to be but mostly mostly because I love this place and I think other people will too. The avocado rice plate is something I typically add a little seasoning to because it doesn't have much salt. There! I said it.

But in all honesty, this place has DELICIOUS food. My manfriend loved the veggie burger. Totally healthy. Totally awesome. Totally vegan. Totally...

GO NOW! DO IT!

MN Vegan

I'm getting good at this shit!

I'm so impressed with myself.

I'm going to just take moment to bask in my awesomeness...aand done.

I've been updating weekly like a fucking pro! Are you guys happy? Because I sure as fuck am.

Ok.

Today, I haz a recipe. Yep. Made up off of the top of the dome piece by my own self. God, I'm amazing.

Here I am modeling the deliciousness of this dessert...I made it for my aunt's superbowl party and it was a hit, as usual. I only make the best shit around, people. I thought you knew...

Okey dokey.

Vegan Chocolate Cream Pie by SNorine (moi)

12 oz melted vegan chocolate chips (I personally LOVE dark chocolate chips)

1 Tbsp agave nectar

12 oz (or 1 tetrapack) silken tofu

1 pre-made vegan pie crust

Process the first 3 ingredients until smooth like pudding. Pour into pie crust and refrigerate for at least an hour. Simple right? That's just how I do.

Also! My good friend and co-host of Midwest Vegan Radio, a kickass, FREE vegan podcast on iTunes, turned another year older! Happy birthday Ryan! My friend, Melissa and Chelsea (who was just on the last episode of the radio show btdubs), made vegan "unicorn shit" cookies and vegan whoopie pies for the Moksha Yoga party Ryan threw for everyone. Both were amazingly delish.

To celebrate Ryan's birthday, a hoard of vegan (and non-vegans) enjoyed a delicious meal at Urban Eatery in Minneapolis. Here's what I had!:

That is the roasted veggie sammy with a side of sweet potato fries. This place is really nice because although the vegan options are not labeled, they are completely open to making sure every part of your meal is vegan down to the very last morsel. Kickass! And of course the sammy was delectable. Psh. Like I'd eat anything that wasn't.

Happy birthday Ryan-I love you!

MN Vegan

Here's a new one for ya!

Mmmm Birchwood Cafe...so delish!

Birchwood is a nice little cafe nestled in the Seward area of Minneapolis. I have truthfully always enjoyed going here, though the prices can be a bit steep. I think that maybe that's uuuuuhhhh because it's ALL LOCAL AND ORGANIC. Yap. So, in my book, that's code for "totally justified".

Here's what I had!:

That there is the vegan parsnip sammy with blue corn chips and some really fucking spicy salsa. The sandwich was really tasty for me not caring for parsnips much. It had a very flavorful sweet mayo-type spread on it that contrasted the herby, crunchy part of the sammy. Very tasty.

I also got dessert, because I ain't no fool. That there's the vegan coconut tapioca pudding and a cup of their joe. It was delectable! The coffee had slightly sweet notes and the pudding was thick and rich.

I would definitely come back again to see what Birchwood offers in the future...it seems the menu may be everchanging, much to my delight!

BAAAAAAH GOOOO!!

MN Vegan

Mayday Cafe covers my ass.

You know, food-wise.

When it comes to a good cuppa joe and vegan pastries, Mayday Cafe's got this shit on lockdown.

Check it out:

That's a vegan maple sconey right there. It was perfect-not too sweet, crumbly and perfect for dipping in my cup of light roast. Their coffee is excellent-lots of flavor and bite. Man, I love me some good black coffee.

Get there! I like Mayday a lot for its seating layout-it makes you have to get close to and even possibly have a conversation with someone else sitting near you. You know, forcing people to get out of their comfort zone and stuff like that.

GO NOW! BAH!

MN Vegan

The Donut Cooperative owns ALL.

HOLY FUCKING CRAP. MINNEAPOLIS HAS VEGAN DONUTS. AND THEY ARE SENSATIONAL.

We've actually had them for a while, but this is some serious shit right here. Like, monumental. Like, I don't even have to go to Portland this year if I don't want to, because The Donut Cooperative has my vegan-donut-craving-ass covered. Sweeeeeet.

Check out what I had there:

That right there is coffee (looking extra huge by the way), a vegan chocolate chocolate cake donut and a delicious vegan muffaletta-type sammy with vegan rinotta cheese. Fucking stellar. I left feeling like a blimp, but it was so worth it. Get here, people. You will not be sorry.

FUCKING GO NOW!

MN Vegan

Ha! Update!

Soooooo last night I went to see The Lion King at the Orpheum. It was, even though I was not high or drunk, trippy as shit. That is all I will say. You will have to see it for yourself if you'd like to experience what it's like to not be on drugs and still face the mind-blowing aftermath. Yep.

Well anyways, as you know my mother is a health vegan, which is cool. We eat all of the same things now so we had to find a place near the Orpheum (read: smack-dab downtown) that served vegan food. So that's why we chose CRAVE. When I called them, the nice woman on the phone said they had an impressive vegetarian sushi menu and that they'd be willing to make any dish on the menu vegan upon request.

COOL.

First off, let me say that this place is FANCY. Yep. Expect to pay out the butt, but the service and food is awesome.

So we started with dranks, of course. This here's is an agave margarita. Sorry for the bad picture-dim lighting, you know.

If you are a tequila fan (as I am), you will also think this drink is phenomenal. I like perfect balance of lime-y and spicy tequila-y and this had both. Perfect way to start out the meal. I probably would have been tanked if I had another one.

Next! We had some apps. We got the edamame and the mediterranean plate, pictured below for your viewing pleasure.

The hummus was fucking stellar. Absolutely delicious. The edamame was glazed in a sweet tamari sauce and made your fingers dirty when you ate them BUT! The nice waitress totally gave us some moist towelettes to wipe our hands onto. Nice.

Then! My vegan sushi!

This here's the "veggie platter" or something like that. It comes with cucumber, avocado, carrots and bunch of other veggies stuffed in there. It was absolutely divine. And since that word is way cheesy, I will break it down for you:

I've never met a vegan sushi roll I didn't like.

So! There ya have it. CRAVE in downtown Minneapolis will cater to vegans. That's pretty kickass.

MN Vegan

Bella.

Just thought you all should know this. It's pretty important:

Bella!

That is all.

MN Vegan

Getting back into the swing of things.

I have been slacking.

Like majorly slacking.

Like, there's no way you'd probably accept an apology. You're all fed up with me not posting, and quite fucking frankly, I am too.

So here we go.

I have made it one of my new years resolutions to pick up where I left off when it comes to many parts of my life (music, blogging, etc etc.)

I feel like things are finally going in the direction I want-I'm almost done applying for grad school, I am going to be playing some music with some kickass people, I'm applying for different jobs in the cities and I'm lighting a fire under my vegan ass to finally post about some delicious things I've been eating.

So here goes. An ode to HARD TIMES CAFE, my love.

Oh Hard Times, must thou be so delcious I can barely speak? Everything you make is done with such tastiness. The pinch of badass apathy you add into it only makes me want to come back for more. Why do you torture me so with your vegan biscuits and gravy, sexy hippies working the counter and coffee brewed to perfection, just for me? I love thee Hard Times. I love thee. Literally, your food makes me want to:

Cough. Moving on.

Anyways! Here's what I had a Hard Times this morning:

Vegan mushroom barley soup! I don't know how they make it so fucking creamy, but it was. It was, with a little bit of nootch and hot sauce, one of the best things I've tasted in a while. Delish!

Get down there. Like I keep telling you guys-it's good fucking food over here.

MN Vegan