Thai Cottage - Houston, TX

On a recent trip to Thai Cottage, I ordered the chili basil dish with fried tofu. When the plate arrived, I realized I had ordered this before. Whoops! Duplicate blog post, haha. We always split an order of crispy veggie rolls as an appetizer. 1.5 rolls per person, to be fair. ;)

Paulie's - Montrose, Houston, TX

Paulie's is a cute, little cafe serving pasta, desserts, and wine. The dude and I went there again recently because we wanted some comfort food, and pasta is the ultimate comfort food. I got the dish he ordered last time - lots and lots of veggies! They are so generous with the garlic, so be warned if you want to have a first date there. I asked about their bread's ingredients, but they weren't sure since they order it from a local bakery. They do top it with butter, but would use olive oil if asked.

Orange Tofu

I decided to jazz up my usual quick tofu stir-fry with an orange sauce. This recipe is pretty straight-forward, but I liked the hint of heat mixed in with the sweetness. I used onion and sweet peppers for the veggies, topped with sesame seed, and served over rice.

Potluck

Every 2nd Saturday potluck is so much fun. We were supposed to do breakfast foods last time to coincide with vegan waffle day, but only a few people stuck to the theme. I brought chocolate and vanilla mini donuts. Perfect for a crowd since they're bite-sized. I love finding excuses to use my mini donut pan.

MATCH VEGAN MEAT

I bought some Match vegan meat from Rabbit Food Grocery on my February trip to Austin. I couldn't decide what to do with it, since it was ground beef style. So many choices! I decided to make tacos for the Game of Thrones season finale. The dude came over for dinner. I made the not-refried beans in Appetite for Reduction, he made the cheesy sauce from The 30 Minute Vegan, and we assembled our own tacos with chopped cherry tomatoes, sauteed onion, sauteed bell pepper, avocado cubes, shredded lettuce, and sauteed shredded carrot. I would love to try other Match products. The ground "beef" was so meaty. Even the dude was a little weirded out looking at the texture as it cooked. We used A LOT of homemade taco seasoning because it's a little bland on its own.

Whole Foods Raw Nut Burger

Yes, a raw nut burger from Whole Foods! The Montrose store has great options. I also got a cinnamon raw cheesecake too. The dude lives closer to the Montrose store, so we go there sometimes to grab dinner. We were watching Orange is the New Black and vegging out a few weekends back, so WF is an easy place to grab take-out that we'll both like.

Aladdin's - Montrose, Houston, TX

I love Aladdin's, even ate there two days in a row recently. NOM NOM NOM. Falafel, roasted cauliflower, grilled veggies, hummus, fluffy bread. NOM NOM NOM.

Rocky Road Cookies

I made the rocky road cookies from Isa's Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar for the VSOP bake sale a few weekends ago. They almost sold out, only one or two cookies left at the end of the day. The bake sale helped VSOP raise nearly $400! Awesome! The photo is the cookie that broke in half, so I kept it and ate it. The white chocolate chips are the Oppenheimer brand.

Crave Cupcakes - Upper Kirby, Houston, TX

Red velvet vegan cupcake from Crave. NOM NOM NOM.

Luna Pizzeria - Upper Kirby, Houston, TX

A friend recently had a birthday gathering at Luna Pizzeria. I ordered a "make-your-own" pizza with marinara sauce, red bell peppers, mushrooms, spinach, and olives. No cheese, of course, to keep it vegan. It was only $8 for this personal sized pizza, but the dude found a paper clip in his leftover slice the next day! Eek.

Sushi King - Upper Kirby, Houston, TX

Um, how did I not know that Sushi King has LOTS of vegan sushi options? They have a vegetarian menu separate from their main menu, as well as a gluten-free menu. Kendra and I went there for dinner one day. It was her birthday, so we celebrated with lots of sushi. I can't wait to go back! I wanted to order one of everything! I ordered the agedashi tofu, seaweed salad, veggie roll, avocado roll, an individual mushroom roll, fried tofu skin stuffed with rice, and an Asian yam piece. NOM.

Red Mango

My friend Kendra and I try to get together once a week. She said she recently noticed that Red Mango has vegan options. Hooray! The Sorbettos are dairy-free, but I didn't ask about their cultures. (Whoops.) I got the chocolate flavor. It tasted like Hershey's syrup.

Truly Free Bakery - Baton Rouge, LA

Another road trip stop at Truly Free Bakery in Baton Rouge. They have vegan baked goods, but the paleo ones have honey. The special was vegan nachos with a queso made from Daiya melted down. I ordered tofu for my protein option. The nachos were a nice lunch and I got some donuts to go. These were filling, but didn't make me sleepy. On my way back to Houston, I got breakfast tacos!

Sweet Pea Cafe - Tallahassee, FL

Like I said, I was recently home. I always stop at Sweet Pea Cafe in Tallahassee for lunch on the road trip home. On the way home, I got the Thai-ght Budget sandwich. The dude can't eat PB, so I only eat it when I won't see him that day. Of course, I ate a bunch of PB while I was home. This sandwich uses PB and veggies, I never would have thought to make a sandwich like this. On the way back, I got the falafel wrap. I've ordered it before, but didn't realize that until the food was delivered. So, whoops, you get this photo twice on the blog. I always get poutine as the side dish. Nom nom nom. They had a giant cookie available for dessert - perfect!

Mellow Mushroom

Whenever I am home, I go to Mellow Mushroom. The Houston location is 45 minutes away from my house, but the Brandon location is only 20 minutes from my mom's house. Of course I ordered the veganized Thai Dye pizza (no butter or Parmesan on the crust, curry tofu instead of chicken, Daiya vegan cheese instead of cow cheese). I also saw on the menu that the gluten-free crust is now also vegan, so that's great news for folks who want/need that! In the two weeks I was home, we went to Mellow twice. #addicted

Quick Chili Dogs

I was home on bereavement and I really wanted to make something fun while my friend visited my house. We always laugh and goof off, which was something I really needed at the time. I thought chili dogs would knock her socks off. I made a quick chili using canned beans, canned tomatoes, and some basic spices (chili powder, cumin, garlic powder). I let that simmer on the stovetop while the grilled warmed up. We threw the jumbo veggie dogs on the grill and a few vegan burgers for good measure. We assembled our lunch and sprinkled on Daiya cheese. I cut up some fresh watermelon too! My friend was content with the vegan food! She eats a lot of meat, but said she's been eating less as her sister cooks smaller portions. Small victory, right?

Zoe's Kitchen - Houston, TX

The dude goes out for lunch on Saturdays and he recently discovered Zoe's Kitchen. After a particularly difficult week at work for both of us, we ended up going here to grab a bite. I'd never been there before, but he had told me several times how much he likes their braised white beans. We ordered the exact same dish - veggie kabobs with the white beans on the side. This was quite good, but I think we were supposed to get bread with it.

Girls' Night at Green

A friend is moving to Seattle, so a few of us girls got together for dinner at Green Vegetarian. We split an order of vegan nachos and a basket of fries. I ordered the popcorn tofu bowl for my entree and had a hostess-style cupcake for dessert. I'll miss my friend, but I know she'll be much happier in her new city.

Ruggles Green - Upper Kirby, Houston, TX

After taking a friend to Costco, he bought us dinner at Ruggles Green to repay me for covering part of his bill at the store. I really wanted the veggie burger, but he recommended the local vegan plate (quinoa, grilled veggies, mushrooms, balsamic reduction, fried kale). Since it was super late and he owed me a decent amount of money, he said I could order both. SO I DID. The local vegan plate is pretty incredible, but the burger really hit the spot after a looong day at work.

General Tso's tofu

Another variation on my usual tofu stir-fry... I tend to stick to simple meals during the week, especially when work gets really busy. I keep tofu, rice, broccoli, and Asian condiments in stock at my house ALL THE TIME. It's so important to have healthy options easily available, otherwise I'll end up eating Chipotle or pizza every night. I made the General Tso's recipe from Olives for Dinner. The photography on that blog is great.

Hugo's - Houston, TX

I went to a networking brunch at Hugo's recently. They already have a vegetarian menu with a few things marked as vegan. Since it was a set menu, I told the host I wanted to order the vegan chile rellenos. I didn't know I was going to get a vegan appetizer and dessert as well! The appetizer was a grilled veggie quesadilla without cheese. The red salsa was good for dipping. The dessert was a medley of fruit sorbets. I was pleasantly surprised! I would like to try some of the other veg brunch items in the future.

Radical Eats - Montrose, Houston, TX

Radical Eats recently got their liquor license! After a weird week at work, I asked the dude if we could go to dinner here so I could order a cocktail. Live dangerously! ;) I ordered the jalapeno margarita and he ordered a raspberry ale. For the appetizer, we split the cauliflower buffalo wings. These were pretty tasty! I ordered the sweet potato gnocchi with sage butter sauce (all vegan) and he ordered the same burger he had last time. The gnocchi was good. I've never had gnocchi before, but I wouldn't mind learning to make it after trying it. For dessert, we split a piece of tres leche cake topped with strawberries. It was a lovely date night, since it wasn't too busy. We went at 8 or 8:30, which is later than we usually have dinner.

BBQ Soy Curls & Chipotle Mac

I have some soy curls lurking in the pantry, so I decided to make BBQ sandwiches. Instead of making a homemade BBQ sauce, I bought Stubb's brand at the Kroger store. The Stubb's brand was the only one I could find that listed molasses as the sweetener and not high fructose corn syrup. I whipped up a big pot of Isa's chipotle mac to go with the sandwiches and microwaved some frozen broccoli (pantry staple!). This meal did not take much time to prepare, but it was oh so filling!

Thai Cottage - Houston, TX

I loooove Thai Cottage. The dude and I go there on dates pretty frequently. I recently ordered the green curry with peas, bamboo shoots, zucchini, and fried tofu. Nom.

Potluck

Every 2nd Saturday of the month, VSOP hosts a potluck. The theme in May was comfort foods, so there were many pasta selections. This plate isn't photogenic, but I wanted to share since it was on my phone. :)

Vegan Cheez-its

The new snack on the block is a vegan version of Cheez-its by Earth Balance. These are not as salty as I remember Cheez-its being, but they were fun to share at potluck. I probably would not buy these again, since they're a little pricey and not quite as salty as I would want.

Fadi's - Houston, TX

It is no secret that I love falafel. The dude and I went to Fadi's one night. It's on the list of Dude Approved Restaurants. He doesn't want to eat at places that are not busy, because he has seen one too many episodes of Kitchen Nightmares and other such shows. He has compiled a list of vegan-friendly and busy places where we can both enjoy our meals. I ordered muhammara (walnut and red pepper dip), a chickpea salad with pomegranate sauce, roasted potatoes, and falafel (cooked when ordered).

Hilary's Burgers

I recently found some Hilary's Eat Well veggie burgers at Fiesta. I had them for lunch one day on a wheat bun with pickles and ketchup. I really liked the breading on the outside of the patty. I think the wrapper said you can cook these in the toaster - how cool! I would buy these again to have for a quick lunch.

Mystery Pita Sandwich...

For the life of me, I cannot remember where I had this pita sandwich with hummus, mushrooms, and lettuce. At first glance, I thought maybe it was from Field of Greens, but they don't have picnic tables there. I'm usually really great at remembering the restaurant name when I see the photo in my phone, but this one has me stumped. I'm thinking this was a modified menu item, but that still doesn't solve the riddle of where I bought this. In 600+ posts, I don't think I've forgotten a restaurant name or recipe source!