Eat Like a Rabbit

Peacefood Cafe was recommended to us by Leigh at Marvelous Kiddo. She certainly has good taste! We loved our experience at the restaurant. It was amazing that there was always a line for a table during our entire lunch. Maybe that doesn't mean much in crowded New York City. Still, I've always maintained the belief that people being willing to wait for a table is a good thing. The staff was very friendly, and I think the serving time for our meals was acceptable.

The restaurant has a nice selection of fancy teas, etc., but we were there for the food. Of course, a pregnant woman is always there for the food! And even more of course, everything on the menu sounded amazing. It was very hard to come to a decision. I finally settled on a sandwich with lots of fresh vegetables--including my favorite, sprouts! It came with some marinated vegetable sticks on the side. That just might have actually been my most favorite part on the plate. I was pretty sure it was jicama, but the server said it was yuca. Shrug. It really doesn't matter. It was yummy just the same.

My unplanned last full week at work, a new Jimmy John's about a mile from one of our offices brought us free samples of their subs. Jennifer, our front desk queen, remembered that I was a vegetarian and selected a sample for me. When I was done with patients, I trekked on back to our kitchenette, and despite the depressing looks of the sandwich, pregnancy had me hungry enough to taste it anyway.

The sandwich was almost inedible--which I should have known based on the looks. I'm not a fan of slathered mayonnaise. And, the sandwich had a minimal amount of other ingredients of value (like veggies). I noticed that the small copy of the menu that came with the samples said there was another dip--avocado, I think? I don't remember as I threw the menu away and too much (unplanned, again) time has passed since I read it. Anyway, my thoughts are, if you are going to offer a sample, it should at least have the same ingredients involved as you claim the sandwich has on the menu. Seems to me that shows an automatic lack of attention to detail and little desire to make a good first impression.

Just to prove I'm not being overly picky, my EMT said his sandwich was edible. Then, he added "Sure, slices of ham and layers of mayo on white bread sounds good, but it's not a healthy meal you should want to eat.

Still catching up on posts from two months ago. Here's a picture of some divine looking juice at a grocery store in Chelsea Market in Manhattan, New York. We almost picked some up, but it wasn't pasteurized, and I was a bit nervous drinking it during pregnancy. It really did look tempting. I would invite someone to try it and tell us what they think. Just watch out for the expiration date. Look for the freshest dates. Watch because the juice expires quicker without pasteurization.

If you're in town on November 22 and are looking for people who feel as strongly about their vegan food as you do, take a look at this scheduled event for the day. It's called Thanksvegan, which is a clever name for a luncheon and games for the children focusing on being compassionate toward animals during a season that is often focused on gluttony and turkey or ham.

The following are some vegan or easy-to-make-vegan recipes that you might want to bring to share.

• Make Pesto without Parm to top the spaghetti squash.
• Especially if it's kinda warm, consider bringing a chilled drink like this fruit smoothie with spinach.
• Butternut squash risotto takes advantage of the in-season veggie.
• Remember, the last issue of Gourmet Magazine has some vegetarian/vegan recommendations for Thanksgiving dishes.

Back in the middle of August, I stopped off at Target to pick up a chocolate cheesecake for a going away party at the office. I figured I was the pregnant one and therefore they had to eat what the pregnant woman wanted. Luckily, everyone was pleased with my choice (or at least pretended to be.) As I was pulling out of the shopping center, I noticed a Jason's Deli and remembered I had a gift card in my "card wallet" for dining there. I decided I'd been eating out so much, which was not in our budget originally, I would use the card to get a free lunch. Luckily, my little wrap only cost about $6; so, I have leftovers on the card to be visiting again over the next couple months--taking advantage of the vegetarian soup selection and salad bar.

While out with my mom one Friday, we stopped at a bookstore and ran into our pastor's wife. She asked us if we wanted to join her for lunch and recommended a health-food store like Whole Foods called Chamberlin's. I'd never been there before, but I once heard a patient rave about their yogurt. I was excited to give it a shot, but was saddened to learn that they no longer offered frozen yogurt.

The salad bar looked really good, but some reason (possibly the price) deterred me, and I went for a sandwich. My mom ordered the vegan chicken pot pie, and we split the pie and the sandwich. I think we both preferred the sandwich over the pot pie.

I was really impressed by the freshness of the tomatoes and cucumbers off of the salad bar that went into my sandwich. I also thought the way they sliced the top off of the pita bread was interesting. It was the first hummus I had had since being pregnant, and it was very good. The tabouleh seemed a bit strange because I had never seen a recipe with bell peppers in it. I don't think it was bad at all. In fact, with the veggies and hummus it was very good. I just didn't expect it.

Miami is a tough place to survive in. You have to pay (often a lot) for parking. And generally in one way or another, you have to pay to use a restroom. Such situations put a pregnant woman in a predicament. For the latter reason, when we came across Portofino Gelato with a sign on the door that facilities were for patrons only, I wasn't sorry that Paul was happy to have a snack of gelato. I took snacked, too, but only after I used the facilities.

The girl at the counter was most unhelpful. Paul asked about the peanut butter gelato--was cream- or water-based. She said "It's peanut butter." There was a light blue gellato called "Sky Cream." I asked her what it was. She said "It's vanilla." I said "It's vanilla with blue food dye?" Nod. OK, then, next option, please. Paul settled on the banana that was exceptionally good and chocolate. In an effort to be different, I chose the peanut butter to go with my chocolate. Generally, two flavors of gelato are delicious, but putting two delicious flavors together makes the experience almost magical. Sadly, mixing the chocolate and the peanut butter just made the peanut butter edible. Serves me right for just making a selection to get out of there instead of trying it first. Moreover, serves me right for thinking Paul and I had to be different.

While walking down Las Olas Blvd. in Ft. Lauderdale looking for a reasonable place to partake of lunch, we happened on a flag outside a chocolate shop advertising Gelato. We walked in and reviewed the case of about 20 flavors. The proprietor had an accent and an inviting smile. He was helping someone else when we entered, which gave me time to take a look at the chocolate selection. Even on sale, they were out of my price range, but the packaging was well done and the flavors sounded yummy.

We were offered a taste of gelato, and we decided rather quickly. I had the chocolate raspberry truffle, which was a great dark chocolate with just a hint of the fruit more in the aftertaste, and a quality vanilla to balance out the richness. Paul had chocolate and stracciatella (chocolate chip). The only disappointment was that it was the middle of a hot summer day and since there were no places to sit in air conditioning, we continued our walk outside, which made our gelato melt faster than we have been taught to enjoy it. Truthfully, we thought the store made a mistake in that we were served spoons to eat with instead of the little colorful shovels we normally see internationally, but due to the heat, the larger spoon was more helpful.

We've only ever eaten at an In-N-Out Burgers twice on our visits to California. In fact, many years ago I spent a summer in southern California and never laid eyes on an In-N-Out. So, I'm not exactly sure in what regions they are located, but it's a chain with branches even in Arizona. The restaurant offered a map for people traveling by car this summer to locate restaurants along the way. It would have been fun to get one, but I am learning to be more concerned about the environment and not so wasteful. Since I didn't expect to be near one again for a long time, I chose to leave the maps alone.

We went to Big Louie's Pizzeria on recommendation and were happy for the edible meal because the beach had made us hungry. We had passed up a number of restaurants with tempting menus on Las Olas Blvd.--including one or two that were Zagat rated. However, they did seem rather expensive. Too late, we learned that most restaurants had the same range of prices. Perhaps we would have reconsidered Noodles or Mancini's had we known. But, that's life.

Big Louie's has a good reputation and seemed rather busy. They offer gluten-free and whole wheat alternatives for additional cost. The salad was superb. The vegetables were clearly fresh, and I especially loved the creamy Italian dressing. I would go back again just for the salad. That being said, I would also opt for tasting the pasta, which did look yummy at other tables, instead of ordering another pizza. Paul had the basic margherita. He really enjoyed it because the sauce was divine. I just didn't like how greasy it was. His pizza also had a thicker crust that made the meal much better.

A couple weeks ago, the office ordered lunch for us courtesy of a patient because our nurse practitioner, Shani, is moving away. That's a story in and of itself cause we've bonded so much, and I'll miss her terribly. Anyway, not realizing feta is considered a "soft" cheese and is off my diet, the girls were quite proud that they had ordered this delicious looking Pacific Veggie pizza for myself and Shani (who is a pescatarian). Also, not realizing that the pizza had feta on it, I dove in because it looked so fabulous. It was only after I had a slice that I found an advertisement attached to the top of a box with the ingredient list. I was so disappointed because I was really surprised how yummy it tasted. I'm a girl rather stuck on making pizza at home, but have found lately in my pregnant-always-sick-cooking-makes-me. . .you know. . .state, I've been eating out more and experiencing even pizza from outside of my kitchen. This is one of those pizzas I would love to eat again after the baby or even sooner if they'll hold the feta cheese, which would be sad because it was crunchy and had a nice little bite to it. I'm also not sure that the provolone used vegetarian enzymes as my research says provolone is one of the cheeses that uses calf rennet most often.

After my first ultrasound, we headed over to Park Ave. in Winter Park for a lunch. I knew immediately I wanted Powerhouse Cafe. On a hot midday in the scorching Orlando summer, I wanted the coolness of a cold sandwich and a smoothie. Not to mention, frozen fruit in general makes me very happy right now.

Ironically, just today I was talking to a coworker who was meeting her husband for lunch in Winter Park about the cafe and told her about the specials (but forgot to tell her about the coupons) and how the sandwich and smoothie cost me under $10 and she said that that was a good deal because a burger and fries at any other restaurant on Park Ave. can cost $17. I haven't talked to her to see if she took my advice.

I believe I have made it clear that with summer in full swing and my eating habits far from their best, I'm really enjoying cold and fruit. Preferably mixed. So, yesterday when it was near a snack time and we were still at the RDV getting a little bit of workout (not much more cause it was a "sick day"), we stopped at the Nature's Table Cafe upstairs to pick up a fruit smoothie. There are a number of dairy-free drinks that are nothing but frozen fruit and a mixture of 10 fruit juices. I chose number 8, something about berries (naturally) and really enjoyed it. Although it didn't have the strong raspberry flavor as the Berry Blast Bloom from Powerhouse Cafe, Winter Park that I love so much, it still hit the spot. And right now, that factor is more important than the thought of the $5 price tag. Although, I won't seek out a snack from Nature's Table, I will remember that this chain with a branch also in our local mall has what it takes if I'm needing something icy in my stomach.

I believe I have already mentioned the fact that no matter what creative items I have packed for my lunch to brown-bag-it for work, I can't seem to bring myself to eat it when I actually get to work. Talk about lack of self-discipline! I hope this isn't a permanent change that comes with pregnancy! I'd been craving a pretty loaded baked potato. So, on Thursday, I left the office in between patients to drive the block to Wendy's to pick up a baked potato at the drive-thru and return back for the afternoon load. Shows you how long it's been since I've eaten fast food, I remembered a chive baked potato costing $0.99. The price tag for the potato and the even more necessary at this point, ice water, ran $3.58. Yikes! Again, there goes our food budget.

On Wednesday night, we had a few minutes to waste between our Trader Joe's shopping trip and Jeremy's music class. Leann suggested we stop and get a smoothie at Jamba Juice. We were all for it as Orlando just doesn't have anything quite like it. Jamba Juice wisely offers a nice menu selection ranging from no sugar to sugar in the form of chocolate. Paul and Leann had a naturally sweet mango smoothie. I had a pineapple strawberry and frozen yogurt smoothie.

We didn't eat out in Spokane, but we did take advantage of a fabulous sweet-shop, which made the kids exceptionally happy at the end of our walking tour around town. You could call us care-free cause we were eating dessert before lunch. The ice cream shop did have an organic lunchroom attached, but I didn't pay too much attention to vegetarian items.

Paul explored the town and cathedral in Bayeaux with his parents, and I got lost on my own and finally ran into my own parents. This was very odd since I had seen no one else that I knew on my treck around the town. So, Paul and 'em ate a bouquet of mozzarella and tomato sandwich on a baguette (pictured above) on-the-go, which was very good. He saved me a bite for when we met up on the bus.

There are times when it is appropriate to cut corners when eating. We felt Mont Saint-Michel was one of those opportunities. A real tourist trap, even small packages of cookies with the island printed on the packaging ran over 7 euros in gift shops.

We ate at the High Noon Cafe on a Friday and intentionally went out of our way to try the vegetarian crab cakes cutely named "Seaside Cakes" made from tofu and what I thought might be se

Continue Reading