Back from LA!

I'm back from LA, so it's time to start blogging for MoFo! I have a ton of photos from the trip, so I can't wait to share them. I just don't have the energy today to upload, crop, and resize them so they're ready for posting. I had problems getting internet while I was out of town, hence the lack of posting. The rules of MoFo state that there must be 20 posts during the month, which is still do-able!





We landed in LA on Saturday and went to the tourist-y Hollywood Blvd during the day. We went to Manhattan Beach for dinner that night.




On Sunday, we had lunch in Santa Monica and headed up to Lake Arrowhead.




I gave my talk on Tuesday, then we returned to LA. Whereas everyone else flew out on Wednesday, I stayed Tuesday night through this morning with my friend Eric. He just took a job at a start-up company in LA, so I got to see his lab in an incubator building at UCLA. I loved the brick buildings at UCLA, so I am definitely considering applying there. Northern California was my first choice, so I could attend Berkeley for my postdoc, but I really liked LA (surprisingly!). Plus, Eric and our other friend live only 20 mins apart; so if I moved to LA, I would be close to people I already know AND it would be closer to my BFF Heather, who lives in Oceanside. However things end up, I'll be applying at a variety of places in California. My main objective is to be in Cali. :) This photo was taken at O'Hara's (the bar formerly known as Maloney's), solely to make our other friend Ryan jealous that he wasn't in Cali with us.

Simplicity

I am very unimpressed with the leftovers from last night. I will never make that spinach/potato dish again. Just meh.

However, my lunch this afternoon was pretty tasty. I made whole wheat pasta with sauteed garlic, shallots, sun-dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, Kalamata olives, broccoli, and chickpeas. Simple, but tasty. I needed to use up some of the last ingredients in my fridge before my trip.

Indian Inspired

On my first night of vacation, I made the potato-spinach curry from Appetite for Reduction. I paired the curry with the baked masala tofu to make a complete meal. Very tasty. The tofu was so flavorful, whereas I think the curry needs a little more spice.





Cleaning house and packing tonight/tomorrow. I am so excited about this trip! I just found out my friend's house is really close to one of the vegan restaurants I want to try in LA, so I'll be going there for lunch while he's at work. That will allow us to try other places for dinner. :)

Extra Sloppy Joes

I saw this lentil sloppy joes recipe recently and knew it was a simple weeknight meal. I served it with mixed veggies and mashed potatoes yesterday the last two days, but today I finished it off with sweet potato fries and peas. Simple, but healthy and tasty.





I'm so excited for Vegan MoFo and my upcoming trip to LA! I emailed my friend a list of places to go out to eat in LA, so we'll see if he agrees to any of them. We might also do a night of cooking with some of our other friends, which would be great because I have yet to meet our friend's new wife!

Girls' Night Out!

Last night, I went out with my friend Sarah and her friends, who wanted to join their friends at J Alexander's for dinner. Surprisingly, they had an incredible veggie burger! They were willing to serve it on whole grain toast and without the cheese and mayo so it would be vegan. I didn't want fries for the side, so I requested broccoli instead. I didn't get a food photo because I didn't know most of the people at the table, but let me say it was tasty even though it looked plain!





Today, my mom came to visit me. We went to Yard House for lunch and Kilwin's for sorbetto. I stopped by Whole Foods too, so I could get vegan protein powder packets for my upcoming trip to California. I'm thankful that my mom came to pick up the cats to care for them while I'm away, but I'm going to miss them so much this week while I'm still in Jupiter.

TVP Tacos

I selected one of the simpler meals on my menu plan for last night. I was just feeling sleepy after work, so I wanted something I could throw together as quickly as possibly. I made tacos! The tacos contain TVP seasoned with a homemade mix, the cheesy sauce from 30 Minute Vegan, salsa, and lettuce. I served these with a salad containing carrots, sun-dried tomatoes, and pickled jalapenos. This was pretty tasty and I was able to get dinner on the table in less than 30 minutes. :)

Lettuce Wraps & Unfried Rice

Based on my friend's rave review a long time ago, I finally made the hoisin-mustard tofu lettuce wraps in Appetite for Reduction. I bought the hoisin sauce and sesame oil recently at the Asian market. I served this with unfried rice. I made the rice yesterday because cold rice is supposed to improve the texture of the fried rice. I took the cookbook's suggestion and bulked up the rice with lots of veggies, including broccoli, peas, carrots, and zucchini. I topped the rice with sriracha for a little oomph. Yum!