Vegan in Disneyworld

When I recently went to Disneyworld, I took my sample packs of Barney Butters that I got at Natural Products Expo East, and bought some bananas to have for breakfast.  [I did have some granola as well]

Each day I tried a different Almond Butter.   [note: they also have an espresso and vanilla bean one which I gave to my mom since I'm not a fan of espresso & a honey and chia one that I also gave to her]

I really liked all of them! I  think my favorite was the Raw + Chia one. I liked the crunchyness of the chia seeds.  The Cocoa and Coconut one was such a nice flavor.

Update: I found 1 more at my house: crunchy.  It was so good!

However, I probably wouldn't buy them since they add sugar, oil and salt to them and I prefer to have just plain almond butter with nothing added, but these were definitely yummy tasting.

& now for everyone's question: "What did you eat at disneyworld?"

Day 1: We went to Epcot

 We had lunch at the Land.  There's a bunch of different quick service places there.  We went to the Asian one, where they had vegan Mongolian beef. I was pretty surprised to see this as as an option!

I was pleasantly surprised by how good and flavorful this was! Really enjoyed it, as did my friend. Of course, I wish they had brown rice but can't be too picky in Disneyworld.   They also had Enjoy Life cookies which I wasn't a fan of and gave my second cookie to my friend (who loved them).

Also in the food court I saw these:

 Unsweetened apple sauce! so cute.  I didn't have any.  They also had little bags of carrots, as well as grapes and apples too.

It turned out the International Food & Wine festival was also taking place, which I wasn't aware of prior to coming.  After some quick googling [free wifi throughout all of Disneyworld btw] I found out there was an all vegan stand!

. 

We were still full from lunch but we got a crab cake and cupcake to share.

THIS WAS SO GOOD!! I wish I was hungrier because I would have gotten 5 more. We did try to go back later on, but were too late.  I've never had a crab cake in my life, but my friend had and he said it takes just like a real crab cake.  I also loved whatever the sauce was. tarter?

I wasn't sure if I'd like this but it was pretty tasty! A bit too much frosting but it wasn't overly sweet. Nothing amazing either but was tasty.

For dinner we ate in Morocco at Tangine.

I got the vegetable platter minus olives (not a fan), and minus falafael because the woman working told me it's cooked with the chicken tenders. yeck.  She said I could have 2 extras of something else which I thought was really nice! I got extra hummus and extra couscous.  The couscous was my favorite, so flavorful!  Everything tasted good.

next day we went to Hollywood Studios [previously known as MGM which I still prefer calling it!]

We had lunch at Pizza Planet.  They offer vegan pizza with Follow Your Heart cheese, they told me it would take a bit longer, but I was fine with that and said they'd put some veggies on top.

probably one of the most unattractive pizzas! haha I also was expecting cooked vegetables, not raw.  It wasn't too flavorful but they did have packets of red pepper flakes and black pepper so that helped, but yeah was a bit bland, but I'm happy they offer it & it definitely wasn't terrible at all! Side salad of veggies with shreds of the cheese and they had italian dressing.

For dinner, we went to the Sci-Fi Diner, which was a really cool atmosphere!  The tables are cars and they show movies.  I wish there was a place like this is New York! It was really neat.

They offer vanilla or chocolate milkshakes.  They use tofutti.  I was *not* a fan.  Thought it tasted..not good, but my friend really liked his!  I guess we all have different taste buds :)

For my meal I had their veggie burger.  It was so dark inside so the photo didn't come out well.  It was pretty tasty and came with a side of sweet potato fries.

Next, (best) and last day. was Magic Kingdom!

I had really wanted to go to Liberty Square, because I heard they make a quinoa burger, but they were booked for the entire day! sheesh!  I had met up with some friends and they suggested we eat at Tortuga Tavern in Adventureland.  I got a burrito which comes with cilantro rice which has dairy in it,  I asked for regular white rice instead.  In my burrito, was just rice and beans..maybe there was lettuce but now I can't remember if it was in it already or if I got it from the toppings bar.  They have a toppings bar where they have various salsas to add.  They had also given me a cup of white rice on the side too(I didn't ask for it). My friend had also asked for white rice and they wouldn't give it to him.  When they gave me my rice, the woman working said they only give it to people with allergies.  (I didn't say I had an allergy, think I just said I don't eat dairy, but just an FYI for anyone who wants the plain white rice, just say you're allergic to cilantro or dairy from the regular rice)  I was actually surprised, but the burrito was pretty good! I liked it.

We also got the famous Dole Whip, that I've heard so much about.  They offer pineapple, orange and vanilla.  The vanilla isn't vegan, but the other two are.  I got a twist of pineapple and orange and liked it. Very sweet but tasty. My friends told me to just get pineapple on its own since it's classic.  Was going to go back to do that, but never made it back there. Next time!

For dinner we went here:

The people working were so helpful.  [note: ALL locations in Disneyworld have books with all the ingredients.  Some of the workers are nicer than others when you ask to look at it]  The woman working told me I could either get the vegetable burger, but the bun wasn't vegan, but said I could get the gluten free bun that was vegan or a vegetable wrap but the dressing wasn't vegan so it'd just be the wrap with veggies.  I went with the vegetable burger on the gluten free bun.  They also said they'd cook it separately but that it'd take a bit longer, again, I didn't mind.  The vegetable burger comes with just the burger and the bun but they also have a toppings bar.  At the toppings bars they had regular onions, caramelized onions, lettuce, pickles, tomatoes.. I added a bunch of lettuce and both types of onions.   I must say...wow!  I couldn't believe how amazing this burger was.  One of the best, if not the best, veggie burger I've had.  It was SO tasty.  You could see some corn and red pepper in the burger.  I really couldn't believe how good it was.  My non vegan friend also got the vegetable burger and also agreed about how good it was. 

& that's my recap of vegan food at Disneyland. 'til next time!

Protings

On my second day of walking around Natural Products East, I passed a potato chip table.  I figured in my mind that it was just another potato chip and wasn't too interested, so I kept walking, until one of the guys behind the table yelled "vegan in the big apple! come on over here! We're from New York!" & so I did.

Protings are a vegan, gluten free and GMO-free potato chip, that you guessed it (or were you even guessing?) has protein in it! They make their chips from pea protein.  This is definitely something I have never seen before! I was quite interested when the 2 guys behind the table,  Krik and Ryan, told me about their product. They have 3 flavors: Sea Salt, Chilli Lime and BBQ.  I tried the lime and really liked it!  I was pretty full, so they gave me some samples to take home.  They were both so nice and were so excited about me writing about them. [sorry for the delay!]

On my way home to New York, I was getting really hungry.  I remembered I had some bags of Protings in my bag and decided to eat the chilli lime, well with 15g of protein in 1 bag, it kept me full for the remainder of the bus ride and for a while after!

My friend and I eating Protings on the train.

I think I prefer the chilli lime, though they're spicy, or some of them were spicy, the whole bag wasn't, only some of them were spicy. hmm.  These chips aren't greasy or oily which is nice!

     Nutritional Info! Barely any sugar! 

You can see where they sell Protings near you by plugging in your zip code, here

These guys were so nice and I love the idea of a protein filled potato chip, and dare I even call them a healthy potato chip? Who would have thought there'd be such a thing? go try them out!

Natural Products Expo East Part 1

 

I attended Natural Products Expo East in Baltimore a couple of weeks ago. It was my first time going and I had a great time! I am pretty overwhelmed. I got A LOT of samples and I'm going to try to review as much as possible. Currently everything is in a full suitcase, full bag and some in my fridge. I decided that first I'm going to post photos of the items I got to try at the expo, but that I wasn't able to take home, as well as some samples I didn't get to try, but ones I am looking forward to coming out!

First up:

 

Oh so good! Actually, all their products were really tasty! Here's another:

 really good! I also tried a black bean strudel, which was also yummy. Sadly for me and other East Coasters, they're products are currently only on the west coast. Please bring them here!!

Next we have:

 

Sloppy joe in a taco..I also tried the artichoke one, and they were both AMAZING. so tasty. I could have stood there and had sample after sample. The artichoke burger is made from artichokes, cashews and brown rice. The sloppy joe is made from seitan and the griller burger which I didn't try, is also made from seitan. They are Ohio based and also, sadly not here yet. Please come to the East Coast!!!

I've seen this in whole foods, but had never tried it prior. They had little cups with one or two of each fry and I loved them all. (broccoli, chickpea, and carrot)

 

Wildwood (don't think I've ever bought their tofu, is it any good?) made some Chocolate Mousse, so creamy and yummy

I would have posted a photo of the actual burger but they were giving out samples with their burger on non vegan dressing and so they just gave me the burger with no dressing & it didn't look pretty, however both the nut burgers and nut balls tasted really good. Made from cashews, brown rice, sunflower seeds and spices, they were very tasty.  However, they too, are based in CA and not available here yet :( sensing a pattern...

 

Coming soon! Sambazon acai bowls! While, I make my own acai bowls, this is a great alternative if you're on the go!

 

 

I chatted with owner, Dionne, for quite some time and she was so sweet! She told me the idea for the tea pops came from her sons.  One son, doesn't eat sugar and likes tea and the other son suggested making tea popsicles.  How cute! I tried both the coconut and the mango and loved both, especially the coconut.  They are low in sugar and tasty! She told me she has gotten them into over 100 stores in a year. Sadly, I checked and they are not yet in stores in New York, but they are sold in Wegmens on the East Coast, so hopefully they will make it to NYC soon! 

New product alert! Cookie Dough by Hampton Creek who brought us Just Mayo.  It was yummy and they had cookies as you can see, which they told me they used their cookie dough to make them, and they were all so soft and perfect. or at least the 2 I tried were :)

Another new product alert! I usually buy my quinoa and quinoa pasta from Ancient Harvest & while I didn't get a chance to sample these (they weren't sampling them the times I passed by), I am super excited for these to hit the shelves so I can try them!

 

From Berlin! I tried 2 of them..the mint and I'm not sure which other..but they were both really good! Sadly, not available in the US yet, but he did tell me you can order from their website

 Another new pasta! Didn't get to try this, but they told me it's sold at Eataly! So I'll have to pick it up one day to try

That's all for now, but I will try to write some reviews for actual products I got to take home, as well as tried there very soon! Stay tuned!

Favorite places in Berlin

Berlin is one of the most vegan friendly cities in the world.  According to Happy Cow, there are about 30 all vegan restaurants in Berlin.  There are more vegetarian ones & countless are veg friendly[if not, almost all]. Almost everywhere has vegan options clearly marked[I even noticed in some supermarkets things in the bakery, as well as on the shelf, were clearly marked with the word "vegan"]  Even most ice cream shops offer several soy flavors.  There's also the popular vegan grocery store Veganz, which has 2 locations in Berlin & I visited them several times.(as well as the location in Hamburg)

Now, on to the actual restaurants & food! Here are my top places, in no particular order:

Let it Be, as the sign says is an all vegan creperie, selling both sweet and savory crepes.

This is only part of the menu. They also have both a German & an English menu. As you can see, the names of the items are vegan celebrities, the whole menu is designed this way.

 

this cute guy was behind us! 

Shortly after ordering, they gave us free mini muffins! They were corn muffins, my friend thought they were dry, but I thought they were tasty! I was a fan! & how nice of them to give them to us!

It was hard to decide what to get! So many things sounded really good! & I kept trying to decided if I wanted savory or sweet.  I kept going back and forth, but since I rarely get the sweet option these days when I eat, I figured, I'm on vacation! So Why not?  & so, I went with the Alicia Silverstone : Chocolate Cream & Banana.  It was delicious! & not too sweet!

how cute are those plastic hearts to hold the bread together! (I'm sure there's an actual name for this..but can't think of it haha)

This was the dish I was trying to decide between, the Johnny Marr: caramalized tofu, apples, walnuts, greens and chutney.  I tried a piece and really liked it! I was thinking of getting it to go but after the meal I was so full, I couldn't think about food. [I do regret this, as it was really good and would have loved to have a whole sandwich of it)

Close up!

My other friend got the Mike Tyson burger, which I remember it being BBQ Chicken & not sure what else was in it, but he was a fan!

Then! I couldn't believe it! They brought over this:

 

More free food! I'm not exactly sure why they gave it to us..said something about having extra? not sure..After my sweet crepe, I couldn't eat too much of this! but of course, I did have a few bites. It was tasty but I was sweetened out!

Anyways, I highly recommend this place. We all liked it & I'd definitely go back.

Next up!

Sfizy Veg is an all vegan pizza place! Since we do have some vegan pizza options in NYC, I didn't feel the need to run to it, and wound up going here on my last night.  Well, had I gone earlier in my trip,  I would have definitely come back. The menu is huge! probably 20 pages! All in German, but luckily, since I was with Germans, they helped me out.  They had a page for salads, several pages for pizza pies, one page for slices, one for calzones, there were pastas & more.

Unfortunately, it was dark & so my photos of the food didn't come out well :( so I will just tell you about them (I know, not as exciting as photos!)  I went for the pie with cheese & spinach and broccoli & it was amazing.  In Germany, there's a ton of vegan cheeses, & I have no idea which one they used, but it was delicious & the style was like old school pizza. So good.  My friend got the..well I'm not sure what it was called, but it was a mix of Mexican Food & Italian Food..I remember there was marinara sauce, but there was also guacamole, there was cheese, maybe beans.  When she told me she ordered that, I was a bit scared that it was going to be awful, but, surprisingly, it was AMAZING and I would definitely order it.

Here's some photos of the inside

 

How cute!

 Oh & a heads up, it's cash only.

Next we have

  This place was SO cute! Look at all the pink!

& before I go on, I must show the beautiful dessert case

 Oh La La specializes in French desserts, but they also have food.  On the weekend, they have an ALL YOU CAN EAT VEGAN BRUNCH! (turns out several restaurants in Berlin offer this, but sadly I didn't make it to them :(  [Kopps, Mia Matto, Cafe Morgenrot, Viasko..& there are probably other places I'm not aware of]

Oh La La's all you can eat brunch, I believe was 12 euros, that is considered on the pricier side of things, though it didn't seem like a lot to me!  There was a mix of both sweet & savory:

I want those bowls! So pretty.

Pineapple Coconut Smoothie! So delicious

                                       these were yummy, filled with different beans and corn

I took more photos but they didn't come out too clearly unfortunately and my regular camera battery had died.  Other things that they had were the most amazing strawberry mousse crumble, I went back to get it several times & it was the first thing they ran out, the other most amazing thing was this vanilla cream dish with almonds , I'm not even sure what it was, but it was heavenly.  Other items were various salads, one that I enjoyed had tempeh in it, there was a gazpacho soup, a risotto, some tofu dishes.  Definitely lots to choose from.

After I finished eating & chatting with the people at my table, it was time to figure out what to have for dessert. I was so full, so I had to take it to go.  It was very hard to decide but the woman working helped me telling me what their specialties are and what you can and can't find elsewhere.

I went with:

 Indiana - Peanut Butter

Igloo's- Chocolate with coconut cream

I had both several hours later while at the park & they were both delicious. I think I liked the peanut butter one more but loved both! &surprisingly they were both not overly sweet!

This seems to be their image, if it was on a shirt I would have probably bought it.

The last two places that I'm going to mention are actually in Hamburg. I went there for the day.

My first stop there was Eisbande, which I actually found out about randomly on Instagram!

   [Eis is Ice Cream]

This place was super cute & the woman working was very helpful, and translated things for me, as everything was written in German. I sampled several flavors, but in the end went with Vanilla & Snickers!

I love how this looks! You can't go wrong with a heart wafer! There's also strawberry sauce and those little bits are hazelnuts. SO delicious! I wish i had more time to come by for more later in the day.

For lunch I went to HappenPappen. I randomly picked this place from the list of vegan places on HappyCow and I'm glad I did, because not only was the food probably my favorite from my trip so far (went there on maybe my 4th day) but the people working there were so nice.

Red lentil balls with sweet potato mash. This also came with a side salad which had THE most amazing dressing, which the woman told me they make in house, it was a mix of mango and passion fruit if I'm remembering correctly [note to self: take notes next time! I'm not sure why I thought I'd remember everything!].

The red lentil balls were so tasty, really loved it.  For dessert I had the blueberry pie. I know it may look a little odd, but I can assure you, it was delicious!

I would definitely recommend this place. Yummy food, super nice staff & they have vegan books for sale too.

Before I go though, here's a photo of some of the things I bought at Veganz, as well as some from the local supermarket. Favorites were the Vego, Dame Blanche, Shortcake cookie, Nougat bar, Amore Milo wafer, the Twibio, and the Teegeback cookies...why did I bother saying favorites? all of it was pretty amazing!!! & I still have a fridge filled with some of these! Trying to make them last!