Even if you aren't vegan, I highly recommend this place if you're ever in Chicago.
Big shock - we hit traffic everywhere we went! Some day we'll wisen up and take the train.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Chicago Diner
Stephanie and I recently went to Chicago for the wedding of our good friends Sara and Jack. Congratulations guys!! It was a great wedding for sure, but lately one of the highlights of my Chicago trips has been hitting up a little establishment called the Chicago Diner. Their motto is 'meat-free since '83', and the menu is almost entirely vegan. The great thing about this place is they have pretty traditional American -style diner food, but they've veganized it all without sacrificing any of the deliciousness. I may be vegan, but I still crave a nice meaty sandwich now and then, so this place always hits the spot. This time, I ordered the reuben with a side of mashed potatoes and gravy. Stephanie ordered the dagwood with some spicy corn chowder. Dang it was good. Oh, I almost forgot, for desert we shared a slice of chocolate "cheese" cake that was rich as can be and out of this world.
Even if you aren't vegan, I highly recommend this place if you're ever in Chicago.
Big shock - we hit traffic everywhere we went! Some day we'll wisen up and take the train.
Even if you aren't vegan, I highly recommend this place if you're ever in Chicago.
Big shock - we hit traffic everywhere we went! Some day we'll wisen up and take the train.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
surprise!
The doctors have discovered something growing inside my wife's belly. We are quite thrilled.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
vegan food reviews
Between working on the house non-stop and working at school, life has been pretty busy for us the past 6 weeks. The cooking in our kitchen has really dropped off, unfortunately. There have been a few good meals here and there, but there have also been quite a few packaged meals. While I usually share good foods I've cooked on the blog, this time I thought I'd share some of the store bought vegan fare we've been munching on.
Amy's Quarter Pound Veggie Burgers- These are amazing! They are our new favorite veggie burgers. They are not so full of veggies like a garden burger, yet they are not trying too hard to meat like a Boca burger. So I suppose they are the perfect balance in my view. I highly recommend them. At over 5 bucks for a 4 pack, we try to make these a rare treat in our kitchen.
Smart Dog - veggie protein links - These are a great substitute for a hot dog, and WAY healthier. Once you dress it up with some ketchup, mustard, and relish or onions, it's very hard to tell any difference between these and a hot dog. My only complaint is that the texture gets really weird (mostly the skin) if you cook it wrong. It's been hit or miss for me.
Hormel Veggie Chili (99% fat free) - I think these were about a dollar per can at Meijer so I got a few. I'm not a big fan of canned Chili, but these do fine for a quick meal or snack. They are just as good as any canned Chili as far as I'm concerned. Textured vegetable protein (TVP) gives them a meaty consistency. Can't say I'd recommend them to most people.
Almond Breeze Chocolate Drink - This is a pretty delicious tasting chocolate milk. I love it, and I don't really see why anyone would go back to the dairy stuff after trying this. Do yourself a favor and pick some up. Shake well!
So Delicious Frozen Desert - I've found that different flavors are either great or not so good, so I'll speak to the three flavors I've tried. Mint marble fudge gets a 'D'. Stay away from it if you know what's good for you. I'll give neopolitan a 'B+'. It was very good, but I've had better. Oddly enough my favorite flavor has been creamy vanilla. I'm giving it an 'A'. Definitely give it a shot.
And I almost forgot these --
Newman-O's -- like Oreo's except healthier (a little) and vegan.
Amy's Quarter Pound Veggie Burgers- These are amazing! They are our new favorite veggie burgers. They are not so full of veggies like a garden burger, yet they are not trying too hard to meat like a Boca burger. So I suppose they are the perfect balance in my view. I highly recommend them. At over 5 bucks for a 4 pack, we try to make these a rare treat in our kitchen.
Smart Dog - veggie protein links - These are a great substitute for a hot dog, and WAY healthier. Once you dress it up with some ketchup, mustard, and relish or onions, it's very hard to tell any difference between these and a hot dog. My only complaint is that the texture gets really weird (mostly the skin) if you cook it wrong. It's been hit or miss for me.
Hormel Veggie Chili (99% fat free) - I think these were about a dollar per can at Meijer so I got a few. I'm not a big fan of canned Chili, but these do fine for a quick meal or snack. They are just as good as any canned Chili as far as I'm concerned. Textured vegetable protein (TVP) gives them a meaty consistency. Can't say I'd recommend them to most people.
Almond Breeze Chocolate Drink - This is a pretty delicious tasting chocolate milk. I love it, and I don't really see why anyone would go back to the dairy stuff after trying this. Do yourself a favor and pick some up. Shake well!
So Delicious Frozen Desert - I've found that different flavors are either great or not so good, so I'll speak to the three flavors I've tried. Mint marble fudge gets a 'D'. Stay away from it if you know what's good for you. I'll give neopolitan a 'B+'. It was very good, but I've had better. Oddly enough my favorite flavor has been creamy vanilla. I'm giving it an 'A'. Definitely give it a shot.
And I almost forgot these --
Newman-O's -- like Oreo's except healthier (a little) and vegan.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Home Improvement project number one!
We've been in our new house now for about three weeks, and we are still living out of the downstairs. Picture enough furniture and boxes for a good size house crammed into a one bedroom apartment and that pretty much sums it up. Let's just say we are going nuts and ready to get these floors done with! Here's a little photo journal of the project as we near the finish
line.
You may remember we started with carpet, ripped it up the day before move in, and found painted floors. There were 2-3 coats of paint, and some varnish to deal with so we could get down to the wood.
Steph's brother and I got a drum sander and started the job of removing the paint. Then Steph and I went crazy on it for a good 12 hour day the following week.
Between this last picture and the one that follows I couldn't find my camera, but basically I put in about 60 hours last week (and others chipped in here and there) to sand with three different types of sanders trying to get up all the gunk. After the sanding was done I flipped out for a few hours realizing there was still quite a bit of paint in hundreds of cracks and crevices. I was going to have to pick away at it with various sharp objects, and some chemical "green" stripper. I spent a couple days on that before I gave up and realized I could put up with the imperfections and messy "rustic" look.
This weekend I finally began to stain the floor. We like the dark wood look, so this was something we knew we had to do. A couple good friends recommended trying to do some touch up on paint spots after the stain was applied. They also warned me that I'd need a pre-stain wood conditioner and I'm so glad they did. Soft woods like this can turn out pretty crappy if you try to stain them w/o that. After the stain, I spent 3 or 4 hours with various wood fillers and wood pencil-crayon-thingies to touch up some of the most obvious spots, and I think it really helped.
Monday night I finally started laying down polyurethane. We did an oil based stain and a water-based polyurethane, and I think it worked well. Today I buffed and finished the third coat, and now we just wait. It can take about 72 hours before the floors can handle furniture.
Overall this project has been a major headache, but I'd do it again. The wife and I are far from perfectionists, and didn't want to fork over a few thousand for a professional job. There's still quite a bit of paint in the cracks and dents, there are some parts were you can see marks from the sander, and there are little bits of grit and dust in certain parts of the finish. Still, we're pleased with the results and happy we got rid of the carpet. In a couple days here we'll really be able to move in; and it's about dang time.
line.
You may remember we started with carpet, ripped it up the day before move in, and found painted floors. There were 2-3 coats of paint, and some varnish to deal with so we could get down to the wood.
Steph's brother and I got a drum sander and started the job of removing the paint. Then Steph and I went crazy on it for a good 12 hour day the following week.
Between this last picture and the one that follows I couldn't find my camera, but basically I put in about 60 hours last week (and others chipped in here and there) to sand with three different types of sanders trying to get up all the gunk. After the sanding was done I flipped out for a few hours realizing there was still quite a bit of paint in hundreds of cracks and crevices. I was going to have to pick away at it with various sharp objects, and some chemical "green" stripper. I spent a couple days on that before I gave up and realized I could put up with the imperfections and messy "rustic" look.
This weekend I finally began to stain the floor. We like the dark wood look, so this was something we knew we had to do. A couple good friends recommended trying to do some touch up on paint spots after the stain was applied. They also warned me that I'd need a pre-stain wood conditioner and I'm so glad they did. Soft woods like this can turn out pretty crappy if you try to stain them w/o that. After the stain, I spent 3 or 4 hours with various wood fillers and wood pencil-crayon-thingies to touch up some of the most obvious spots, and I think it really helped.
Monday night I finally started laying down polyurethane. We did an oil based stain and a water-based polyurethane, and I think it worked well. Today I buffed and finished the third coat, and now we just wait. It can take about 72 hours before the floors can handle furniture.Overall this project has been a major headache, but I'd do it again. The wife and I are far from perfectionists, and didn't want to fork over a few thousand for a professional job. There's still quite a bit of paint in the cracks and dents, there are some parts were you can see marks from the sander, and there are little bits of grit and dust in certain parts of the finish. Still, we're pleased with the results and happy we got rid of the carpet. In a couple days here we'll really be able to move in; and it's about dang time.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
A whole lot happening!
The past couple weeks have been crazy (mostly the past week I suppose). A couple weeks ago I took advantage of a 50 dollar price drop and sprung for the Xbox 360 I've been drooling over for a year. I briefly considered the PS3 after the release of Metal Gear Solid 4, but in the end I think I made the best choice. Yes, I realize the picture of me with my new baby is frightening, and yes - I am topless. It was over 85 degrees and humid, gimme a break!
Unfortunately I haven't had much time to play with my new toy because last week Friday we closed on our house! We're finally all moved in and now it's a huge mess. We haven't moved anything into the upstairs yet, and won't until I (with some help from Steph and her brother) refinish the floors upstairs. We ripped up carpet and the wood up there is painted, so it might take a week or so to get all that done. I'm excited to post more about the history of the house, the neighborhood, and all of our home improvements; but for now you should check out this little blurb on our new neighborhood - Eastown!
Unfortunately I haven't had much time to play with my new toy because last week Friday we closed on our house! We're finally all moved in and now it's a huge mess. We haven't moved anything into the upstairs yet, and won't until I (with some help from Steph and her brother) refinish the floors upstairs. We ripped up carpet and the wood up there is painted, so it might take a week or so to get all that done. I'm excited to post more about the history of the house, the neighborhood, and all of our home improvements; but for now you should check out this little blurb on our new neighborhood - Eastown!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
house pictures
We've got a tentative closing time of this Friday at 2 pm. We're thrilled, of course. Here are some pictures of the vacant house. The owner left us some nice surprises- A t.v. in the kitchen (which Steph hates), mounted kitchen radio w/ cd, some area rugs, porch chairs, a few tools, work bench, and a bunch of other stuff. Not bad. Here are some pictures!
For those of you reading this on Facebook, you might have to click on "view original post" above to see the pictures. That'll send you straight to the real blog.
For those of you reading this on Facebook, you might have to click on "view original post" above to see the pictures. That'll send you straight to the real blog.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
The latest from our vegan kitchen
We got the Real Food Daily cookbook a few weeks ago and now we finally own more than one vegan cookbook. Dozens of vegan meals and goodies continue to flow from the Vanderzee kitchen. The following are a few I happened to have the camera around for.
This was a delicious tempeh meat loaf (that crumbled apart completely) with mashed potatoes and the best gravy I've EVER had (golden gravy from RFD).
Potato and kale enchiladas from Veganomicon with black beans -- don't worry it's Tofutti sour cream :)
Steph made a Falafel sandwich for lunch one day and said this tzatziki sauce was to die for. I had some leftovers later and agreed.
My own creation - mix a reuben sandwich with a smart dog and you get a reuben dog. Canned sauerkraut, and fresh rye bread from the Wealthy Street Bakery. Not bad. We also made the tempeh reubens from RFD a few days later and they were amazing. They were topped off with the homemade tofu ricotta and homemade thousand island dressing. Sadly, we didn't get pictures of those.
One of the only vegan feasts we've cooked for Steph's parents. These seitan enchiladas, black beans, and Spanish rice all got the meat-loving in-law seal of approval.
This was a delicious tempeh meat loaf (that crumbled apart completely) with mashed potatoes and the best gravy I've EVER had (golden gravy from RFD).
Potato and kale enchiladas from Veganomicon with black beans -- don't worry it's Tofutti sour cream :)
Steph made a Falafel sandwich for lunch one day and said this tzatziki sauce was to die for. I had some leftovers later and agreed.
My own creation - mix a reuben sandwich with a smart dog and you get a reuben dog. Canned sauerkraut, and fresh rye bread from the Wealthy Street Bakery. Not bad. We also made the tempeh reubens from RFD a few days later and they were amazing. They were topped off with the homemade tofu ricotta and homemade thousand island dressing. Sadly, we didn't get pictures of those.
One of the only vegan feasts we've cooked for Steph's parents. These seitan enchiladas, black beans, and Spanish rice all got the meat-loving in-law seal of approval.
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