5.19.2009

"going down to china town"

So Sunday after a great day of some R&R, Jordann and I thought we should have a dinner and games night. This dinner was great! We met up at J&B, and Cara and the J’s (Jordann and John) went to the store and cooked, whilst I went to get some delicious boxed Chardonnay at the soon-to-be-former strip. I was really in a stir-fry mood, so we went for it. It was all too delicious. The vegetables are of course loaded with vitamins, the garbanzo beans and corn add essential amino acids, and the broccoli also provides iron for a really filling and rounded meal. Stir fried veggies, white rice and spring rolls: scrumditilyumptious! The games were grand too - Jordann won spoons!




If two white girls can do it, so can you.

Here’s how:


Rice:
2 cups white long grain rice (or whatever rice you want)
2 cups water
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/8 tsp salt

Directions:
This is just the way we made our rice, and it came out slightly sticky which is perfect. You can also find a million recipes for rice online, or simply follow the directions on the package.

Combine rice, water, oil, and salt in a medium sized cooking pot
Bring to a boil
Cook on low heat for 25 – 30 minutes


Stir-fry Ingredients:
You can really add whatever vegetables you desire. These are just some of our favs.

Water chestnuts
Broccoli
Baby carrots
Corn
Peas
Cauliflower
Mushrooms
Garbanzo beans
Teriyaki sauce
Paprika
Ground red pepper
Curry powder
Onion powder
Garlic powder
½ c. Soy milk
4 ½ tbsp. cornstarch
Love!

Directions:
Put all of the vegetables in a wok with a few tablespoons of oil. Sautee the vegetables for a bit, and add the teriyaki and spices. For a thicker & creamier sauce, add the soy milk and cornstarch to the vegetables. When they are all cooked, top the rice with the vegetables and chow down!




In progress.

We also had these awesome vegan spring rolls from the freezer section of the grocery store. They were Chung’s frozen vegetable spring rolls (next time we'll make them from scratch, maybe.) and they did NOT disappoint!



Yes.

5.12.2009

Yay, Pumpkin Bread!

So, now that school is out of session (forever!) for us, we can do fun things like listen to music and bake pumpkin bread. As always, it turned out moist and delicious and so good. We got the recipe initially from Mary’s friend Erin, and were totally stunned in a good way that it is 100% animal free. It is really, really easy. I am also including my favorite recipe for pumpkin bread from scratch, as it is tantalizing to any and every taste bud.




Instant Pumpkin Bread

1 box spice cake mix (check the ingredient list, some brands have milk or egg.).
1 can pumpkin puree
2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees farenheight.
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.
Mix well.
Spoon into two 8 x 5 baking pans.
Bake for 35 – 45 minutes (test it with a knife, and if it comes out clean you’re good to go).
Hooray for pumpkin bread!




The Mother of all Pumpkin Bread, Everywhere

This is my absolutely favorite recipe for pumpkin bread, and it is an adaptation of a recipe found here. The instant version is really delicious, but this version is so moist and so tasty, and the flavors just pop all over your mouth. It is good for breakfast, or dessert, or whenever. I think I actually mixed up a batch one time around 3am during a ‘20s party at our house, and it was gone in 60 seconds like all those cars in that Nicolas Cage movie.

Ingredients


3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 cups packed dark brown sugar
2/3 cup white sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
2 cups pumpkin puree (about 1 can)
1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cups coconut milk

Directions


Preheat oven to 350 degrees farenheight
Mix flour, brown sugar, white sugar, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon in large bowl.
Add pumpkin, oil, and coconut milk to dry ingredients and mix until smooth.
Spoon the batter into two 8 x 4 baking pans.
Bake for 1 hr, 15 minutes (it’s done when a knife or toothpick comes out clean).
Yay!



cara loves vegan pumpkin bread, and it loves her too.

4.25.2009

Happy Birthday To You!

Our friend Mary is 22. And so we made her a paper crown and had a little surprise party to celebrate her recent birthday. She was very surprised.



For her birthday dinner we made delicious pasta with a heavy duty, super tasty vegan pasta sauce. And of course you need a cake, and of course I want to have my cake and eat it too. Jackie + Casey found an amazing recipe for a simple vegan yellow cake. Vegan cakes sometimes have the tendency to be really dense and heavy and sweet in a weird way. This cake was actually relatively light with just the perfect amount of richness and subtle fruity sweetness. I had like four pieces, and I do not regret it. And of course, the recipes are easy, inexpensive, and not very time consuming. We are a lazy hungry bunch.

Happy Birthday Mary Pasta

I have made this pasta several times, because it tastes really great and is also filling. From start to finish it takes about 30 minutes to prepare. You can add any number of vegetables or seasonings into the mix to suit your tastes.



Ingredients


•16 oz pasta, any shape or size or color.
•16 oz broccoli, fresh or frozen
•16 oz (1 can) black olives
•½ sliced onion
•Mushrooms (as many or as a little as you want).
•1 box Fantastic Foods Nature’s Burger Mix (for meatballs! They taste so good and add a bit of protein an otherwise starchy meal. You can buy the mix at Market Street or Alternative Food Company on 27th + Boston for about $2 a box).
•1 cup vegetable oil
•Sauce. You can either buy a can of pre-made pasta sauce, or make your own from scratch. We used several cans of tomato sauce, 1 can of tomato paste, garlic, onion, parsley, basil, “italian seasoning,” salt, pepper, and a teeny bit of olive oil in this version.


Directions


PASTA

•Boil a large pot of water with 1 tsp vegetable oil and 1/8 tsp salt.
•Add pasta to boiling water and cook until soft (or until it sticks to your wall when you throw it!)

SAUCE

•Mix the Nature’s Burger stuff in a bowl with 1 ½ bowling water.
•Season to taste (optional). I like to add a little bit of salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder.
•Cover bowl and set to the side.
•Pour sauce in to a medium size pan on low heat.
•Slice olives, mushrooms, onions, and cooked broccoli.
•Add vegetables into sauce, and stir occasionally.
•In a large sautee pan, add ½ inch of vegetable oil on medium-high heat.
•Take the cooled Nature’s Burger mix and roll into 1 inch balls.
•Add the meatballs to the oil and sautee until they are firm and brown on the outside (about 5 minutes)
•Remove meatballs from pan and add to the sauce.
Voila! Vegan pasta and meatballs!

Happy Birthday Mary Cake
We initially got this recipe here, but we changed a few things (to work with what ingredients we already had and what flavors we liked) so here’s our version (it turned out so pretty!):



Ingredients


•2 cups all purpose flour
•2 tsp corn starch
•2½ tsp baking powder
•¾ cup vegan margarine or spread (earth balance vegan spread is around 2.50$ for a tub at market street and alternative food company. You can also use Blue Bonnet Light, which is technically vegan but does have hydrogenated oils and a lot of processed chemicals).
•1 cup of sugar
•¾ cup of mango puree
•1 ½ cup soy milk or any milk alternative
•¼ cup Marachino Cherrys
•¼ cup chopped walnuts
•frosting
•1 cup pineapple chunks (for topping)

Directions

•Preheat oven to 350°F.
•Sift flour, corn starch and baking powder and mix together.
•Blend margarine, sugar and mango puree together and add the dry mix in 2 parts.
•Pour in the soy milk and blend together thoroughly.
•Fold in the nuts and the marachino cherries. The mix should be quite thick.
•Grease two 8in cake pans and pour in the cake mixture.
•Bake for approx 30-40 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.
•Let cool completely before garnishing or it will ruin the cake.
•Add frosting, pineapples, and whatever else you want on top of your cake.

3.08.2009

RRR

We are going green!
But what the hell does that mean?
And why should I care?
(A haiku 4 you by Jordann)

Living in an extremely wasteful, profit minded culture makes it difficult to live a simple lifestyle that isn’t devastating to the environment. Ultimately, corporations need to take responsibility for all of the waste, pollution, and crappy stuff they produce and try to sell to us. In the meantime, here are some simple ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle.

PLASTIC

Nearly every piece of plastic ever made is still in existence today. This is because plastic can take between 50 years (a cup) and a million years (a milk jug) to decompose. Although Americans generate about 10.5 million tons of plastic waste each year, they only recycle 1-2% of it. Of those millions of tons, about 150 thousand tons of plastic garbage end up in the ocean and are responsible for the death of about 1,000,000 million sea creatures each year. Plastic trash is synonymous with death, it seems. Importantly, recycling saves twice the energy than burning plastics in an incinerator, and it keeps the stuff out of our lovely landfills. So here are some ways to minimize the amount of plastic you are consuming, and hopefully whatever plastics you do use are at some point recycled or reused.

B.Y.O.B: Bring your own bag everywhere for everything. Keep some in your car or in your bike-basket for when you go to any store or restaurant. They don’t function as only grocery bags, but they can also actually hold whatever you purchase, anywhere. Imagine if everyone did this, there would be no more plastic bag industry (but a new canvas bag industry!), no more piles of plastic bags stuck behind your refrigerator, no more plastic bags blowing around getting stuck in trees, and no more plastic bags making their way to our planet’s oceans.

B.Y.O.C: Bring your own cup. You could buy yourself a lovely coffee mug or Nalgene and bring it to all those places you get drinks (your office, coffee shops, restaurants, the gas station, Burger King, whatever). I get discounts a lot of times for bringing my own cup, because I get charged only for a refill (bad a!). This is especially important because many to-go cups are made of Styrofoam, the most environmentally unfriendly product in the universe. It does not biodegrade and will sit in our landfills forever. Casey & I actually were too lazy to buy cups for a keg we had at a party, and used all of our own regular cups and told people to bring their own. Even though we had to wash some the next day, there was no trash anywhere! It was beautiful.

B.Y.O.T.: Bring your own Tupperware. Use it when you go out to eat for your leftovers, or when you are buying things in bulk or at a salad bar or deli or something. Then you can put it in your canvas bag next to your special cup that you brought with you. I have done this, and it may seem a little weird / tacky but really it’s not. And maybe your friends will think you are so brilliant and so thoughtful that they will all copy you (let’s hope). This saves plastic bags, Styrofoam boxes, and plastic containers all in one little gesture. Basically, the amount of garbage being handed to you by restaurants and stores is minimized very much.

Bulk up. I don’t have any more good acronyms. But buying things in bigger amounts minimizes the amount of plastic trash you are dumping. There are a thousand ways to minimize packaging, and here are a few for starters: buy one huge bag of chips instead of one huge plastic bag with 40 miniature bags of chips inside. Buy a 3-liter of soda instead of 12 20 oz bottles. Buy a nice razor instead of 500 crappy plastic ones in a plastic bag. Buy tampons without the plastic applicators (like o.b. brand). In general, go for things that aren’t packaged in plastic (glass bottles of salad dressing, etc.) or buy things made in recycled packaging.

Get rid of your baggage. If you are like me, you have 10,000 plastic bags in your house. Finally, many grocery stores now have a place to drop them off for recycling (say goodbye forever in a nice way). Here in Lubbock, all of the United Supermarkets do and so does Lowe’s (26th & Boston).

M.Y.O.S.: Make your own stuff. Most of the plastic in my house comes from shampoo bottles, cleaning products, and the like. You can actually make all of these products at home really easily for cheap, and store them in your own (not plastic!) containers. We are working on getting some of our own best household recipes up for your experimenting pleasure.

PAPER
Paper accounts for 25% of whatever is in landfills. Half of the world’s forests have already been cleared or burned, and the paper industry accounts for about 45% of harvested wood. Everybody knows that paper is made from trees. Trees are vital to our atmosphere, as they absorb carbon (the leading culprit of greenhouse emissions that causes global warming) and release oxygen (so that we can breathe easy), and vital to the ecosystems of which they are a part, as they provide food, shade, and cover for millions of animals all over the world. Still, reducing paper waste is one of the hardest areas for me because I am in school and I also make lists incessantly for everything (like these here). But here are some things even I can handle.

Recycle, always and forever. Don’t ever throw away paper. Take it to the recycling bin, seriously. Or use it for a fire, keeping it out of our landfills.

Buy recycled products. Paper made with 100% recycled content uses 44% less energy, produces 38% less greenhouse gas emissions, 41% less particulate emissions, 50% less wastewater, 49% less solid waste and 100% less wood. Generally, recycled products (such as computer paper, toilet paper, tissues, tampons, etc.) are not more expensive than regular products. So do it to it. Treecycle has just about every office and household product made from completely recycled products for cheap.

Make the most of your paper
: If you are taking notes for a class or meeting, use the whole paper. Don’t make bullet lists in the middle of the page with your huge handwriting. If you are printing, print double-sided and use the smallest margins possible.
Cloth: Yes, the fabric of our lives. It is not only for wearing! Cloth napkins reduce so much paper trash, and they are reusable so you don’t have to go buy more all the time. This will encourage you to be a more elegant eater as well! Cloth towels are wonderful as well. Cut your old towels up into rags and use them for when you are cleaning. I know sometimes you don’t want to get your towels dirty by using them to dry up spilled wine or cat pee or whatever. So here is the compromise: because you are using so many less paper towels, you can afford to buy one or two rolls of recycled paper towels, and use those when whatever you need to clean up is too nasty to use a rag or towel. You are going to have to do laundry, period.

Cleaning, Old School: Use a mop or a rag instead of a Swiffer or a Clorox wipe. Mops and brooms and rags actually do work, and they are reusable so you don’t have to spent 20$ on new cleaning products every couple of weeks.
Paperless: if you can, switch to paperless billing and things like that. I get all my bank statements and bills online, and this means not only am I not receiving as much junk mail, but I also don’t have as much paper waste.

ELECTRICITY
About half of the electricity in the U.S. is generated by coal burning power plants. They emit thousands of pounds of greenhouse gases like carbon and nitrogen, as well as releasing toxins like mercury into the air. Many of the gases fall back down, contaminating our water systems and food supply. Not only are these emissions devastating for animals, they are also very dangerous for people. And so minimizing the amount of electricity you use will not only save you money, but will contribute to a better, safer, cleaner atmosphere.

Unplug: you use energy when things are plugged in even if they are turned off. If there are appliances that you rarely use (in our case, our toaster and coffee machine), leave them unplugged and only plug them in when you need them. For everything else, the easiest way to work this is to have a power strip that you unplug whenever you’re leaving a room (and not going back in for a while). And always turn things off when they are not being used.

Cleaning, Old School (Part 2): Hang your clothes to dry on a rack or outside (it is getting nicer out every day! Yay spring!). Washers & Dryers are two of the biggest electricity consumers in American households, and you can really cut into your electric bill by doing this. If you must, throw your clothes in the dryer for a few minutes after they’ve nearly dried hanging up to “fluff” them or whatever.

Lights: Use a low-watt bulb, as you have a 100w bulb with a huge lampshade over it because it is too bright. Even better, use an energy efficient bulb as they really do last a million times longer than regular bulbs and they’ll reduce your electric bill. And in the daytime, open your windows, you’re your doors, open your blinds, and soak up the sunshine.

Hot/Cold: I grew up in a house built in 1924 with no central heating or cooling system. In the summer, we opened our windows and turned on the fans. In the winter, we wore sweaters and used blankets. If after all this you are still dying of discomfort, adjust your thermometer slightly, and always turn your cooling/heating off when you leave the house. Also, a space heater works great for people like me who get freezing cold really easily. It uses a lot less electricity and keeps you hella warm.


GASOLINE AND OTHER FUMES
Do you want to die, really? The average vehicle produces about 400 grams of toxic emissions per mile. And there are over 2,000,000 cars on the road in the U.S. alone. And so that is a lot of toxins. Aside from buying an electric or hybrid car, there are other ways to minimize how much gasoline you are burning through each and every day of your driving life.


Get out of your car and:
Get onto public transportation if it is available. It is not scary, I promise. It is actually fun and relaxing, because you don’t have to think about driving or traffic or any of those things. Here in Lubbock we have citibus, and it can pretty much take you anywhere you want to go in town.

Get onto your bike. Riding bikes is really fun. And you burn 300 – 1000 calories per hour that you ride, depending on how intense you are.

Get onto your feet. Walk! I love walking. If you are going a short distance, hit the streets. And sometimes it seems like it might be impossible to walk somewhere, but it isn’t. I’ve walked all over this town and it’s really honestly not bad.

Get into your friend’s car. If you and 10 of your friends are going to the same restaurant, same concert, same house, drive together and chip in for gas. I see so many huge trucks SUV’s with one little tiny person in them. This is silly.

And when you and your ten friends are all in a car together, roll your windows down instead of using the a/c, and this will improve gas mileage.

3.04.2009

Eat Out!

We of course love and advocate cooking at home and using fresh ingredients to come up with new and healthy dishes. But it is also nice to know that there are a lot of places to eat out in Lubbock with great vegan and vegetarian options. So here are some of our favorites (support your local economy!):


Stein's Coffee & Sandwiches

1406 Avenue Q
Lubbock, Texas 79401
806.744.8413
Monday - Saturday 10am - 3 pm

Stein’s is a very cool local place. It is super relaxed, and there’s lots of neat artwork on the walls and newspapers and books lying around to read. It is maintained by a small very cute staff, and most of their ingredients are fresh and organic. They are also very supportive of the art community here in Lubbock, and continue to host First Friday Art Trail exhibits several times a year. And they have some of the best tasting food ever. The Amazon cherry smoothie, Acai granola bowl, and (vegan!) sorbets are all the bomb. You can also create your own masterpiece sandwich. They have a choice of several hearty breads (or wraps), and a number of killer ingredients, including a couple different types of veggie patties, hummus spread, and a ton of vegetables. You can also get the best peanut butter and jelly you have ever had in your life.

$10 a meal. But it is so tasty.

It's Greek To Me

7006 University Ave
Lubbock, TX 79413
(806) 748-6993
Monday – Saturday 11am-9pm
Closed daily for lunch 2pm - 5pm

I started going to this place when it was in the South Plains Mall (it has since moved) and I have never stopped loving it. This place is amazing. They serve Greek and American food, and have a pretty good salad and ice cream bar. The best vegan/vegetarian option is the falafel sandwich. It is fried (in vegetable oil) falafel with tomatoes, lettuce, and tahini wrapped in a hot pita. So good. They also have some yummy appetizers, like the hummus and pita, baba ghanoosh, and lentil soup. The French fries are also off the chain. The restaurant is run by a local Greek family, and they are so friendly. You can order for pick up or eat in (it is BYOB).

$8 a meal.

P.S.: There is also belly dancing every other Friday, and a really huge mural of the Greek seascape.


India Palace
3021 34th St
Lubbock, TX 79410
(806) 799-6772
Open Daily 11:30am-10pm
Lunch Buffet: Monday – Friday 11:30 am – 2:30 pm.

Delish! This is definitely the best Indian food in Lubbock. It is all owned and operated by one gracious sweet Indian man. Lunch buffet is $5.99 for all you can eat, and it’s great. For vegans, there is an amazing garbanzo bean curry, eggplant curry, and potato and pea curry. The vegetable samosas are also yummy in my tummy! For vegetarians, there is also a variety of cheesy vegetable curries. The naan may have milk in it, so ask to find out.
$7 – 9 a place (comes with rice)

Well Body Natural Foods

3708 34th St
Lubbock, TX 79410
(806) 793-1015
Monday-Friday 8am-8pm
Saturday 8am-6pm
Sunday 8am-5pm
Café closed 30 minutes prior to the store closing, and at 2 on Sundays.

This place is really neat. It is definitely one of the best sources for organic produce, bulk granolas, grains, nuts, legumes, and spices. They also have a substantial collection of organic skin and body care stuffs, as well as a bunch of general organic groceries and cooking/baking supplies. They also have a lot of vegan substitutes that are sometimes hard to find in Lubbock (like vegan ice cream, cheese, veggie burgers, etc.).

The Café is also particularly wonderful. In addition to a salad and pasta bar, they are serve a ton of freshly made sandwiches, soups, wraps, and specialty salads. Some of my favorites are the hummus sandwich, garden burger sandwich (with hummus, can’t get enough!), the rice and beans place, and the avocado veggie sandwich.

$5 – 10 a meal.

Alternative Food Co.
2611 Boston Ave
Lubbock, TX 79410
(806) 747-8740
Monday-Saturday 8am-6pm
Café 10am-2pm for hot entrees (soups, sandwiches, and smoothies all day).

The Alternative Food Co. is a small and cute locally owned store and café. They have a massive selection of herbs, supplements, and vitamins with lots of pamphlets and info. on healthy living and stuff. The grocery store is small but pretty awesome: they have a lot of good breads, grains, cereals, pastas, soups, snacks (e.g. cookies + trail mix), and some good chili and veggie patty mix. Another really neat thing is that you can order almost anything (food product, health supplement) through them and pick it up at the store.



Market Street United

3405 50th St
Lubbock, TX 79413
(806) 791-1904
6am – 12 am (store)

Market Street is definitely corporate. At the same time, they have some of the cheapest vegan groceries. They have an awesome bulk grain and granola section, a make your own natural peanut butter machine, soy milks, ice creams, and cheeses, and a lot of special diet (lactose free, gluten free) boxed groceries. The Deli also has some good vegan / vegetarian options, including pre-made seasoned potatoes and other vegetables, brown rice, macaroni and cheese, etc. In the Pizzeria, they also have a delicious Create Your Own Pasta Bar ($7). The marinara and olive oil sauce are both vegan, and you can choose from a number of different pastas and vegetables and they cook it all right there (ask for no cheese, or they will sprinkle it on top!). The Salad Bar is also one of my favorites, because they have some of the BEST hummus and tabouli freshly made all the time.


Thai Pepper

3702 20th St # A
Lubbock, TX 79410
(806) 795-7444
Monday-Saturday 11am-9pm
Closed daily for lunch 3-5pm

The best Thai food in Lubbock, and also the best Thai food I have ever had in my life. Most of the curry and noodle dishes can be ordered vegetarian (ask for vegetables instead of meats). For vegans, the vegetable pad thai with tofu (no shrimp, no egg) is healthy and so amazing. The fried tofu appetizer is also very good (even our omnivore friends dig it). They also have some very delicious black and green hot teas.

$6 -8 a plate.

Taco Bell


Okay. So, sometimes you are a vegan and you are starving to death but you don’t have very much time or money to eat. In terms of fast food, Taco Bell is one of the best. Of all the Mexican-style restaurants in Lubbock, Taco Bell is one of the few that does not use animal lard or flavoring in their beans or rice. I usually order the 7-layer burrito (beans, rice, lettuce, tomato, and guacamole) without the cheese and sour cream. Plus their fire sauce is just super.

$1.50 a burrito.

SUBWAY Sandwiches
1109 University Ave
Lubbock, TX 79401
(806) 744-1535
11am-Midnight

This is especially convenient for getting a meal between classes at Tech (it is right across the street from campus). The honey oat, wheat, and Italian breads are all vegan. The veggie delight (you can choose from a number of vegetables, including tomatoes, banana peppers, olives, carrots, pickles, lettuce, peppers, and onions) is good but I would definitely recommended trying the Veggie Patty (Veggie Max sandwich). It is vegan, and is a really tasty low-fat source of protein.


Freebirds World Burrito

1201 University Ave
Open Daily 11am - 10pm
(806) 741-0900

Freebirds is definitely one of my guilty pleasures. It just tastes so good! All the tortillas are vegan except for wheat (I don’t get it). They also do not use lard in their beans, and everything is vegan except the cheese and the meat. You can get a fat vegan burrito here and totally satisfy all of your senses.

$5 a burrito.

Little Panda
1221 University Ave
Lubbock, TX 79401
(806) 762-6548
11am-10pm

This is a cute little local Chinese food restaurant. Like Thai Pepper, most of the dishes can be ordered vegetarian (with vegetables instead of meat). If you are down, the vegetable eggrolls are very tasty. For vegans, my favorite is the Mixed Vegetable with Steamed Rice (a #30 I think) and the vegetable spring rolls. *

*The difference between egg rolls and spring rolls is in the wrapper. Egg rolls are made with a noodle (wonton) wrapped and sealed with egg (not vegan), while spring rolls are made with a thin, crispy flour wrapped (yes vegan).

$7 a meal, 4.75 for lunch special.

Which Wich
1021 University Ave
Lubbock, TX 79401
(806) 472-9424
Monday-Friday 10am-10pm
Saturday 11am-11pm
Sunday 11am-10pm

This is a create your own sandwich place (which wich will you order??!). They have several vegan/vegetarian options, like the black bean patty, hummus spread, tons of vegetables, and a peanut butter banana sandwich. It is fast and cheap and good.
$5 a meal.

Lite Bite Mediterranean Café
3624 50th Street
Lubbock, Tx 79415
(806) 788-0215
11am-8pm

A great little local Mediterranean style restaurant, with a cool little store in the back with cooking and household products. They have delicious hummus, tabouli, and falafel (it is made in a different style than our other fav., It’s Greek To Me).

$5 a meal.

XOXOXOX.

2.16.2009

YO!

Hiya. Casey here. Welcome to our new blog! Jordann had talked to me about how she wanted to start a vegan/vegetarian blog where we could post recipes, green tips, and the like, so here it is. We want to be able to share our favorite veg/vegan dishes, give easy tips to help people follow the three Rs, and give links to pages that are in support of our ideals of trying to better the planet.

That all being said, I must be honest. I'm not a vegetarian. I do eat meat sometimes, but in living with Jordann and our vegetarian roommate, Jackie, as well as having many veg friends, I lead a nearly vegan lifestyle. On top of that I completely support the betterment of earth and all that inhabit it.

I hope you enjoy what we have to offer.

And with that, we start blogging!

Hi. I'm Jordann. I have been vegan (among other things) for several years. And I eat a lot. And there is something so beautiful about our planet and the way it functions. So I wanted a place to keep (and share) our recipes and other stuff.

I'm a broke ass poor college student in West Texas (cattle + oil country). But still there are lots of ways (we are just experimenting & discovering) to minimize our "carbon footprint" (and how disruptive we are to existing ecosystems), efficiently use our resources (because they are hella small!) and eat and drink stuff that is good and gives our body what it needs.

I love you!

“We stand now where two roads diverge. But unlike the roads in Robert Frost's familiar poem, they are not equally fair. The road we have long been traveling is deceptively easy, a smooth superhighway on which we progress with great speed, but at its end lies disaster. The other fork of the road, the one less traveled by, offers our last, our only chance to reach a destination that assures the preservation of the earth.”

-Rachel Carson