“Gimme Some Salt” from the Clap Your Hands Say Yeah self titled album
BLT. VLT. VLA?
Last week I deviated from my usual sandwich at Cafe Hey and switched it up by trying the “VLT” – Vegan Bacon, Lettuce & Tomato. But since I still cringe like a kindergartener at the thought of consuming raw tomatoes, I subbed avocado.
It was amazing.
So amazing that I was determined to recreate this “VLA” at home.
And having just made a fresh loaf of bread, it was the most perfect of timing.
Who needs a panini press when you have a tea kettle full of water?
I can’t tell if I 100% loved the sandwich or if I 90% loved it and 10% loved the MacGyver feeling that accompanied creating a make shift tea kettle panini press. Either way, it was a gold star ‘recreation of a meal’ moment for this girl!
Awesomest, Make It A Word
Sunday was especially great, and I’m about to tell you why. As I was drifting off to sleep at an obscenely early hour on Saturday night, my friend Lindsey shot me a text asking what I was up to that evening. In order to offset the embarrassment of being fully bed clothed and under covers before 9 PM, I suggested we hit the beach on Sunday for a walk.
I had also suggested we try one of the raw restaurants in St. Pete for lunch, but I understood the lack of appeal to a starving non-veggie. When Lindsey mentioned that her boyfriend, Dave, wanted to try a Vietnamese sandwich shop, my day took a turn from good to better. He ordered the Vietnamese specialty, she ordered the grilled pork, and I ordered the tofoagie. They all came loaded with pickled carrots, diakon, cucumber, fresh jalapeno, and cilantro. We mounged the simple, but amazing, sandwiches to the tune of Dave’s yummy noises. We joked about ordering seconds. We didn’t.
Then Lindsey and I hit the beach.
This was the first (of many) deceased horseshoe crabs and HUGE mollusks we’d come across during our adventure. It was sad… But the artful sand humor that someone graciously left behind lightened the mood.
We had a, presumably Canadian, tourist take our picture. Notice the short sleeves and exposed ankles? Beach season is around the corner kids!
We parted ways and I met Jennie for free yoga in the park, she’s addicted too! After yoga, I headed to Cafe Hey, solo, for the best vegan dinner in town. I ordered the daily grain salad (quinoa with apples, spinach, walnuts, and pinto beans) and the soup of the day (catalina vegetable with tomatoes, chick peas, onions, and black olives).
My day started off good, quickly went to better, jumped to amazing, and skyrocketed to…? The awesome-est day ever. I’d like to propose that awesomest become a word. How does one do that?
Cheapest. Day. Ever.
Pictured above is one of the many highlights of my sunny Sunday – Cafe Hey’s quinoa salad. Amazing. As I read the daily specials I thought ‘this place will be key in my no-meat, no-dairy twenty eleven and it’s going to make me broke’. Not the case. The total was a mere $2.12.
The other highlights of my Sunday?
Breakfast was quite wonderful.
A sprouted grain english muffin with tofutti and jam washed down with a tall cup of green ginger tea. This would be breakfast daily if I didn’t fifteen minute fire drill out of my house every morning just to arrive at work approximately 5 to 10 minutes late every day. I thought about adding ‘no snooze button’ to my resolution list, but it just won’t happen.
And then the I, not so hesitantly, camera creeped around town.
It was solo exploration at its finest.
A little cookbook hunting for a recipe that justified a trip to the oceanic market, which just happened to be adjacent to Cafe Hey – well planned, right?
$10.02?! Cheapest. Day. Ever. Now off to FREE yoga in the park!