Monday, May 24, 2010

guess whos back? back again..

It's been a LONG 4 1/2 months..but I'm back, and I really really REALLY want to get back to posting regularly and checking up on everyone else's a-mazing blogs! :)

So what have I done since January?
Well, to add to the "food obsessed blogging cliche'"...i ended up going in-treatment for an eating disorder at the beginning of April. Yeah, not my proudest or most glorious moment, but I did it and I'm out and yeah.
I did learn a lot being there, and I hope it carries with me..
One thing that sure doesn't fly at an eating disorder treatment place is being vegan..vegetarian was allowed though which helped a bit..
And yes, for the first time in 2 years I ate eggs (well..egg beaters) and dairy. Did I die? Did I get sick from the lack of it in my diet? No..
I ate it, and carried on.
But since I've been out, I, of course, went back to an all vegan diet and will continue to do so for the rest of my life :) :)

Since I've been out I still go to an outpatient place 3 evenings a week, so no worries, I'm still receiving some sort of care for it.

I don't usually get that personal on my blog..mostly just keep it to the food stuff, but I feel as though it's an important thing to address. Especially since SOO many blogs out there, vegan or not, are from people who are either struggling with an eating disorder or are recovered and showing inspiration for others. So I know I can relate to a lot of readers and other bloggers and not feel too off.

But hold on..that's not allll I've been dealing with since January..
Even though I had to go away in April, I still was able to finish all my tests and papers for my LAST semester of college...thus being able to walk and graduate last weekend!!



^My brother, me and my sis outside of my graduation! :)

After the graduation ceremony, we had a get together with my family and my roommate's family at our favorite Mexican place, Adobe Cafe. They catered the food, and Vegan Treats was the dessert!



The peanut butter bomb cupcakes..definitely a fave :)

My graduation was exciting and I'm SOO glad to be done with college..at least this part of it anyway. I know grad school will be in the somewhat soon future, but for now, I'm just going to enjoy living, the summer, and trying to be care free.

This past weekend I got to try a newww vegan place in Philly that I've been wanting to go to for a while!
I've been to Govinda's before, the sandwich shop with the amazing vegan cheesesteaks and tuna wraps, but I've never eaten at the fine dining part of it.



We made a reservation there, just in case, but when we got there and for the majority of our meal, we were the only people eating there. However, they have many tables downstairs, and even more upstairs! You'd think they'd be busier..

Despite it being pretty empty, the food was definitely worth it :) Plus, they're BYOB, so bring a bottle of wine and it's even more enjoyable ;)



We started off with the black bean and roasted red pepper dip to share. It came with spinach chips as well to dip in it, and had melted vegan cheese throughout it. Definitely would get this again, the seasoning on the beans were soo good and I was glad they were whole and not pureed. The roasted red peppers were my favorite part though :)



For my meal, I got the vegan chicken caesar salad. Caesar salad used to be one of my favorites before going vegan ( i was unaware that the dressing had anchovies in it until my freshman year of college..thanks emily! haha) so I was really excited to try Govinda's vegan version. At first, I couldn't tell the difference between if I was eating a crouton or a piece of "chicken"...but I was able to differentiate between the two after having pieces of both haha. It was good though, the dressing was an orange-ish color though, as opposed to the traditional creamy looking caesar dressing, but it was really good anyway.



Jason got the Grilled Pepper Steak...which was pieces of seitan and grilled vegetables with an a-mazing sauce and then a bunch of rice in the middle haha :)
It was really good though, and the seitan was cooked perfectly. His meals are usually the better of the two haha ;)



Dessert was awesome, of course. From Vegan Treats, was the peanut butter bomb cake! Anything with their peanut butter bombs on top is a favorite :)

For brunch the next day, we went to Honey's Sit 'n Eat on north 4th street. I've heard about this place before for brunch and that they had a few vegan options..



However, as far as brunch went, the only option was really the tofu scramble, which was okay because I really wanted it anyway. They also had veggie sausage, which Jason got with his non-vegan brunch, but he said was pretty good. The tofu was good, but most scrambles usually taste the same..can't really mess them up!
I'm not sure if I'd go back here for brunch again, as I would have to get the same thing.. Mi-Lah definitely has a great vegan brunch though on the weekends, with TONS of options! :)

Hopefully I'll be posting again soon and keep up with this again,I've really missed it!
<3

11 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

WELCOME BACK!! :)

FoodFitnessFreshair said...

I absolutely love GoVinda's!! Congrats on graduating.

Taylor said...

Glad you're doing well. Interesting to see your recap of Govindas, because I've only ever eaten at their sandwich shop, and, for some reason, always thought the formal dining half was Indian food. Not sure why I thought that.

Jenn Shagrin said...

Welcome back!

You are so right...things get crazy in my life incredibly fast. And I promise that even if you're not a fan of mushrooms, you could enjoy it eating around them :)

Glad to hear you're well!

Claudia said...

So glad to see you back, I'm a long time lurker on your blog ;-)

Those cupcakes look absolutely amazing! And I wish you all the best on your way to recovery.

Anonymous said...

Hi!

Thanks for the comment, haha. You're right, I guess I could have act a little bit like a grown-up :p

And I knew right away that the PB bomb cupcake would be nice, just look at it, oh man!! :p

xoxo

Eric said...

I really wish Honey's had a few more vegan options, espcially since we live so close, its byo, and theres tables outside. But Govindas Gourmet is delish!

Anonymous said...

i love you lauren and im so happy you're able to celebrate your graduation and just have fun(: iv actually been doing better than i was at first- and i really hope you are too! those vegan eats look AMAZING and i hope you are able to
ENJOY as many of them as your little heart desires<3 iv gone like 100% vegan again- proudd? haa only thing i had to drop was the oikos... but oh well screw yogurt messes us vegans can make zen soy pudding messes right?! keep gaining health sweetie<3 i totally just creaped on your facebook photos and you look sooo happy and so healthyy(dont you dare take that as a bad thing!) text mee whenever you feel too- im always here<3

Theresa said...

Welcome back! And congratulations on graduating, and on trying to get healthy. It's a big step to admit you needed help at all, let alone announcing it on your blog. I hope you continue to heal!

Trinity said...

I'm enjoying your blog.... I'm going to start one myself to share my vegan adventures.... You mentioned (2) places that I love... "Govinda's" and "Mi Lah's"... I'm just finished eating a pan seared zuccini and seitan burger w/ sweet potato fries from Mi Lah's... Thanks for sharing... And FYI, if you haven't visited yet, there a great restaurant called "The Nile" in the Germantown section of the city (near Germantown Avenue & High Sts.) and up the street from there is an tasty raw food restaurant called "All The Way Live" located at 6108 Germantown Avenue... Positive Energy Coming your way... Trinity

kate said...

I love this post. Not only am I a big fan of Govindas and Honeys, I am a big fan of eating disorder recovery. So proud of you for reaching out to your readers. Love you.