Chicago Marathon Val

Good morning! Can you believe it’s the last day in August?!?!? I know, I know, August ALWAYS seems to fly by but this year it seemed to go by faster than usual.

Yesterday I started my day with an iced coffee and a juice…How gorgeousis this!??!? I used swiss chard (which is both has very green leaves and very vibrant, purple stalks) which gave it this two-toned rainbowish look.Brunch was…… outstanding.  I’ve been on a “no recipe” kick for a long time, but I have quite a few amazing vegan cookbooks and I thought that it was time I put them to use!  I broke out this one and decided to make vegan pancakes and omelettes.Truth be told, I knew the pancakes would turn out great – I’ve made my own vegan pancakes many times before with success – but I was a tad skeptical about the omelettes.  Omelettes without eggs?!?!? That’s like a salad without veggies, right?

Actually….. I worried for nothing!! This is the first one which didn’t look as pretty as the ones to follow… but unfortunately the latter omelettes were pretty in the pan but I broke them upon serving them haha so no fancy plating pix today.I filled the omelettes with vegan “sausage”, spinach, and chopped tomatoes.  YUM!!!!! Mike was actually obsessed with these omelettes.  I was too, but to convert an omni like my husband, you know they must be good!!!I loved the pancakes too.  This breakfast was truly delicious, and I can’t wait to try more recipes from this cookbook in the future! I highly recommend it!

After watching Mike play in his men’s league baseball game during the afternoon (I ate THREE cookies in the car since we were starving after eating brunch so many hours earlier), we stopped by his parents’ house where i had a fig (just had one but I put another one next to it for display purposes)This cantaloupe, times 2Then we went to the pre-wedding party for Mike’s high school friend, Steve and his fiance, Nancy.  It was a beautiful party – practically as fancy as a wedding – and it came complete with family members acting as “cheerleader” (it was a football themed party) and their high school mascot made a visit!  Hey there, Tommy the Titan!Not only was it a lovely party but Steve’s mom, Carol, was the most accomodating host ever – she has two children who are vegans so she made sure that the three of us had plenty of food!! After my own mom, Mrs. Rudnik definitely takes the cake for World’s Most Accommodating Vegan Mom!

I had tons of guac and carrots which weas unpictured (the guac had pomegranate seeds it in, interestingly enough), fruit salad, pasta salad, and a few of these portobello sandwiches.They had 2 guys from Baskin Robbins set up a booth in the backyard!!! How cool is that?!?? And naturally I assumed I would be opting out… but they also had a tropical fruit sorbet that I enjoyed… AND the hot fudge and sprinkles were vegan.  Plus the cookie on the side which was vegan and gluten-free.  I was pretty full, but come on, how could I pass up a party that specifically provides vegan desserts?!?!

I left nice and stuffed and happy! 

And now it’s Monday and my next-to-last day of “vacation”… I plan to make the most of it by running last minute errands, cooking (naturally), and relaxing!  Have a wonderful MOnday!

This entry was posted on Monday, August 31st, 2009 at 9:27 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.