Dates with Macadamia Nut Feta/ Mofo is coming up!

For quite some time, Daily Grub had been featuring dates stuffed with macadamia nut feta. I had been wanting to try them for quite some time but had always opted instead for the quesadilla or bahn mi. When I finally ordered them, I regretted the time I had lost not eating these little treasures. Sweeter than expected, these would make a perfect end to any meal.

On a side note, vegan mofo (or month of food) is coming up in November. The premise is that a blogger will post every day for a month, with a focus on food. To prepare for this, I am going to be hoarding food posts like a greedy squirrel until November 1st. Prepare yourself for mofo.

Ultimate Kitty Rescue Mission

Taken at night with no flash, sorry about the quality

This past weekend, this kitten was rescued out of a sewer in Omaha. I know this because I was one of the people there who helped make this happen. We were alerted to the kitten's presence by the saddest meows ever, and set about finding and helping the kitty.

Once we figured out that the kitty was in the sewer (we think it had been eating an old burrito and fell in), we decided to call fire and rescue. Why? Because we needed to pull the grate out of a storm drain. The city sent us a police car, who then called in the Humane Society. We tried to lure it out with chicken, but the kitty chose not to respond.

Eventually, we just pulled the grate out of the storm drain. Yes, with just sheer willpower. And four dudes. A member of our party jumped down into the storm drain, investigated with a flashlight and reported that the kitty was back by the manhole. Thankfully, the woman from the Humane Society busted out a crowbar and a pair of elbow length leather gloves. We were going to rescue this cat.
We pulled the manhole cover off and another member of our rescue party jumped down into the sewer. He directed the kitten towards the storm grate, where we were waiting with the leather gloves.

The kitty scampered towards the storm grate and was swooped up by the lovely Humane Society employee, who then placed the kitty in a carrier. Kitty was taken to a good home by the member of our party who actually got into the sewer. This is important because, as grateful as I am to the Humane Society for their help, they are a kill shelter and we wanted to do everything possible to make sure the kitty had a great life after being stuck in the sewer.

In summary, the lessons learned from this are:

1. Kitty rescue missions are deeply satisfying.
2. If you are going to be ripping city property out of the street at 2am, it's best to get the police involved. 
3. Have a game plan for who is going to take the kitty home once it is rescued. If someone else hadn't stepped in, I was going to take it home and take it to a no-kill shelter in the morning.

Seriously, if you ever have the chance to help out an animal, take it. It's incredibly fulfilling and you know you are impacting that animal's life in a positive way.

Daily Grub: Quesadilla

On my last visit to Daily Grub, my one goal was to get as much ancho cashew cream sauce into my mouth as possible. To achieve this goal, I ordered the quesadilla. When I got it, the first thing I noticed was that it was much larger than I expected, filling up my entire plate. Although I was hesitant about how to go about eating it at first (hands vs. fork), I eventually picked up my flatware and dug in.

It was magical. The inside was a creamy, savory combination of the ancho cashew cream sauce and black beans, with roasted vegetables peppered liberally throughout. It also came with a side of salsa, which kicked up the heat quite a bit and complemented the creamy inside perfectly. It was one of those meals where I really started to slow down while I ate in order to prolong the meal.

I am so proud to have such an amazing vegan restaurant in Omaha. Every item on the menu is superb and presented beautifully. Yay Daily Grub!

India Garden

This past Friday, I had a serious mulligatawny craving. To cure this craving, Alaina and I decided to try out India Garden, out on 125th and Center. Tucked away in the Westwood Plaza and out of view from the street, India Garden's exterior is surrounded by fountains and has a lovely interior. Our server was knowledgeable about what products did and did not contain animal products and I wound up with mulligatawny and aloo gobi.

The mulligatawny, while delicious, was a bit of a surprise. It had a definite potato flavor to it. I enjoyed, but it was not the soup I expected. I love potatoes though, so it wasn't a big deal and I ate all of it. Next time, I plan putting a big spoonful of their excellent rice in the soup.
The aloo gobi was also delicious and more than I could finish. It was spicy without being hot and wonderfully filling. The rice was exceptional. I rarely notice rice at any restaurant other than Chipotle (I love their cilantro-lime rice), so that says something. The aloo gobi also tasted fantastic as my breakfast the next day.
I would definitely go back to India Garden, especially since it's located right by the second run movie theater. If you find yourself craving Indian, and are out west, I recommend the neatly tucked away India Garden.

Pizza Luce Love

As I've mentioned before, pizza is one of my favorite foods. As such, Pizza Luce has a special place in my heart as one of my first non-Yia Yia's experiences with vegan pizza. Pizza Luce has several locations within the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area, which are open late. On my recent hot minute in Minneapolis, I wound up eating a delicious late night hotel meal of Pizza Luce's vegan magherita pizza and chocolate peanut butter bar. Pizza Luce is consistently delicious and offers two options for vegan cheese: soy and rinotta. They also offer pasta dishes and appetizers. Although I want to give Galaxy Pizza a try in the future, Pizza Luce is a must stop while I'm in the Minneapolis- Saint Paul area.

Dresser Makeover

There's one side of my room that is incredibly boring. Imagine a white dresser with white shelving on top of it, against a white wall. Terrible. Painting my dresser drawers was considered, but laminate specific paint requires seven days to cure and with two cats, the chances of that happening successfully are slim. Needing something that required zero drying time, I turned to contact paper. Armed with a roll of green self-adhesive contact paper, I applied some foliage to my dresser drawers. My new dresser, with some pictures ready to be added to the wall, my boring wall has become much more exciting. Click after the jump for a how-to.

Seward Cafe

In my childhood, a treasured breakfast was the sausage, egg and cheese sandwich. While this meal is easily veganized, I prefer to have it made for me to ensure that it feels like a true indulgence. My favorite version is the tofu mock muffin at Seward Cafe in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Seward Cafe is the perfect place to have a lazy brunch, especially if you can grab a spot on their lovely back patio. The birds back there are pretty bold though, so you might want to skip it if birds freak you out. The tofu mock muffin is a comforting combination of creamy soy cheeze, savory 'sausage' and filling tofu steaks. When ordered with the homemade hashbrowns, it's an incredibly tasty and satisfying breakfast.
On my last trip to Seward Cafe, I also treated myself to a dessert. I want to say this was called a Jupiter Bar, but I honestly have no idea. It was something space related. The important part was that it was delicious. The bottom part was akin to a peanut butter infused rice krispie bar, with sunflower seeds sprinkled throughout. The top was chocolate. Seriously good. I was way too full after eating both my breakfast and my dessert, but it was absolutely worth it.

Dining Companions

Seward Cafe is one of those places I always feel like I can come home to: easy-going and comfortable with fantastic food. Maybe someday I'll even order something other than my tofu mock muffin. But probably not.