Florida Eats, Pickled Watermelon Rind, Travel Food, and Brothers
I'm back from Florida! I got to see my family, including my brother, who I hadn't seen since I moved in January. And we celebrated my grandpa's 70th birthday!
There actually are some other vegans in my family - my grandpa's girlfriend's daughter and her husband and son are all vegan, and my aunt is a vegetarian. So I wasn't all alone in finding meatless dishes and we actually had some pretty good food!
On day 1 we made homemade veggie burgers for lunch. Here's a picture of my plate with a homemade veggie burger, a couple chips covered in salsa, and a little homemade guac. The burgers were made out of chopped veggies, sunflower seeds, chickpea flour for thickening, and chickpeas, plus some other things. They were good!
For dinner one of the vegans made a veggie casserole, which was really an assortment of chopped veggies, covered in vegan broccoli soup and baked. It was good, and I wanted to take a picture but I couldn't find my phone.
My grandpa's birthday dinner was at a fancy restaurant (the Beachcomber in Clearwater, FL, if you're interested) with no vegan food on the menu. So we called ahead and asked if they could prepare us a veggie platter, and I was quite pleased with what they came up with!
That picture's what I ate from the appetizer relish tray -- apple butter, horseradish beets, and pickled watermelon rind. I was a little creeped out by the watermelon rind at first, because it sounds and looks very unappetizing, but it turned out to be very tasty. It tasted exactly like a sweet pickle, with a softer texture.
There's our steamed veggie plate. It was delicious, and so filling that I took home all this:
I ate it on the plane the next day. It was good cold, too.
My other food in the airport was a dry McDougall's minestrone soup. I had to pay 37 cents at the coffee shop for hot water, which I poured in the soup and then let it cook for as long as I could patiently wait. I forgot to take a picture, but it was a good travel option.
And here's a picture of my two brothers, just because it's cute.
Since this blog is also about happiness, I'll tell you what makes me happy -- brothers. I have the best brothers in the whole world. =)
There actually are some other vegans in my family - my grandpa's girlfriend's daughter and her husband and son are all vegan, and my aunt is a vegetarian. So I wasn't all alone in finding meatless dishes and we actually had some pretty good food!
On day 1 we made homemade veggie burgers for lunch. Here's a picture of my plate with a homemade veggie burger, a couple chips covered in salsa, and a little homemade guac. The burgers were made out of chopped veggies, sunflower seeds, chickpea flour for thickening, and chickpeas, plus some other things. They were good!
For dinner one of the vegans made a veggie casserole, which was really an assortment of chopped veggies, covered in vegan broccoli soup and baked. It was good, and I wanted to take a picture but I couldn't find my phone.
My grandpa's birthday dinner was at a fancy restaurant (the Beachcomber in Clearwater, FL, if you're interested) with no vegan food on the menu. So we called ahead and asked if they could prepare us a veggie platter, and I was quite pleased with what they came up with!
That picture's what I ate from the appetizer relish tray -- apple butter, horseradish beets, and pickled watermelon rind. I was a little creeped out by the watermelon rind at first, because it sounds and looks very unappetizing, but it turned out to be very tasty. It tasted exactly like a sweet pickle, with a softer texture.
There's our steamed veggie plate. It was delicious, and so filling that I took home all this:
I ate it on the plane the next day. It was good cold, too.
My other food in the airport was a dry McDougall's minestrone soup. I had to pay 37 cents at the coffee shop for hot water, which I poured in the soup and then let it cook for as long as I could patiently wait. I forgot to take a picture, but it was a good travel option.
And here's a picture of my two brothers, just because it's cute.
Since this blog is also about happiness, I'll tell you what makes me happy -- brothers. I have the best brothers in the whole world. =)
