Keep Austin Weird

 

I had a fun weekend in Austin! My trips was WAY too short and quick, but I got to see some of my closest friends who I haven't seen in a year and a half and eat at some of my fave vegan places!!

First stop was Vegan Drinks at Counter Culture where Sue, the owner and my long-time friend, made a cheeze plate. My favorites were the fried goat cheeze and the blue cheeze (which was surprising because I never liked blue cheese when I wasn't vegan).

On the way to Vegan Drinks I spotted a baby pig running around someone's front yard. Only in Austin!! These two girls had a pet pig! It was awesome. 

The next day I started off with cupcakes from Sugar Mama's. Yes I ate cupcakes for breakfast. My recent Twitter friend, Kristen, bakes there and told me about the bakery, said they had 3 vegan flavors, so I had to try each one! I did share with my college friend I visited with and her adorable 3 year old daughter. 

My favorite was the Dreamsicle and Delilah's favorite was the Chocolate Mint. This photo is before we ate cupcakes and went into a sugar coma. I also got the cookie sandwich which has the most lovely raspberry filling, which I ate on my way back to Dallas. This week I'll be doing a sugar detox for sure!

For lunch I went to my favorite macrobiotic cafe, Casa de Luz, and had some wholesome clean food. So I guess lunch made up for the cupcake breakfast 😉

That evening I went to Beets Living Foods Cafe for the first time. Everything we got was delicious, the space was beautiful with cool lamps, well lit, comfortable and plentiful sitting, and a small retail section of raw goods. Their cheezecake was the fluffiest I had ever tasted. 

The Chalupas were especially good. Their "beans" and guacamole was some of the best I'd ever had. We had the Asian noodle salad, also great with kelp noodles and sea veggies sprinkled throughout and the ELTA (Eggplant bacon, Lettuce, Tomato, Avocado). I had never had seasoned dehydrated eggplant before and I wasn't sure I was going to like it, but it was phenomenal. Totally had the bacon flavor. 

The next morning before heading out of town I had to stop at the recently expanded Bouldin Creek Cafe. My jaw dropped when I walked into the new space. It was HUGE! I used to go to Bouldin everyday and sit at the bar, eating, working, and chatting with the regulars. The owner Leslie and I became friends over the years and would discuss ideas for food and should would let me sample whatever new things she was working on. I'm so proud of her and excited that more people can eat delicious vegetarian food. I got my usual El Tipico, tofu scramble with hash, corn tortillas, and salsa. 

Then I headed back home and met up with J. I decided I really needed a big salad after my weekend of glutony. So we went to Whole Foods to grab some ingredients. 

I usually don't eat gardein but I haven't had a "chicken" salad in SO long it sounded really good. I thought it might be nice to have some on the salad, which I had never tried before. It was delish! I piled the salad with cherry tomatoes, orange peppers, mushrooms, avocado, and organic greens. 

So today I really am going to start a detox. I've actually been eating really well, cooking almost all my meals fresh for dad and I, but I still feel like I'm discharging crap from the 2 months in Thailand. 

I forgot to mention that Dad did great while I was gone. I had prepped a bunch of food for him before I left town and checked on him frequently to make sure he was being good. I'm not sure if he exercised but at least he ate well 🙂

Hope you had a wonderful weekend!!