Monday, August 23, 2010

homemade chick'n pot pies

Hey guys! I'm about to embark on a weeks trip to Salt Lake City and Vegas, so excited for all the wonderful food and upcoming posts! But for now, I leave you with this sought-after recipe for chick'n pot pies! These babies are enjoyable to make and very flavorful! Without further adieu, vegetarian chick'n pot pies for two!



You will need:

2 small pot pie pie tins
1 package veg chicken flavored gravy mix (we used a package from Henry's)
3 small potatoes
1 large carrot
1/4 cup corn
2 chick'n cutlets (we used Quorn)
2 1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 cup shortening (we used Crisco - All Vegetable)
1/2 cup soy milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees



(Pie Crust)

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients.



2. Cut in shortening, a fork works best.





3. Add soy milk.





4. Knead dough.



5. Roll dough into a ball.






(Pie Filling)

6. Cube chick'n and potatoes, slice carrots.



7. In a medium saucepan, bring vegetables to a boil.

8. In a small saucepan, bring gravy to a boil (see gravy instructions, as they may differ).




(Back to Pie Crust)

9. With a rolling pin (we used a cup!), roll out dough large enough to fit in base of pie tins.



10. Form the dough to fit the base and trim the excess dough.





11. Start with a little gravy in the bottom of the pies.



12. Add potatoes, carrots, corn and chicken.



13. Top with gravy.



14. Roll out remaining dough to fit the top of your pies. Once the dough is placed over the top, trim the excess dough and smooth the edges. Thumb the dough into the sides to seal pies. Either use thumbs to form dimples or use the fork method to seal pies.



15. Optional, use scraps of dough to make personalized pie toppers.





16. Be sure to poke a few holes in the top to allow ventilation.

17. Bake for 45-60 minutes.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

PB Bar and Grill

Pacific Beach Bar and Grill is a restaurant, a club, a pool hall and a bar, all rolled into one. They have indoor and outdoor patio seating, a large dance floor and two bars. PB B&G serves all sorts of food from burgers, to pizzas, to mexican, to sushi, to pasta and salads! This place really has everything, daily specials and happy hour every day of the week and only one block from the beach!

Daily specials:
-Lazy Sundays
-Taste of Asia Mondays
-Taco Tuesday
-All American Wednesday
-Taste of Italy Thursday
-Outrageous Friday Happy Hour
-Saturday's Special

I've had the pleasure of trying Taco Tuesdays (most tacos are $1.75, 16 different tacos to choose from) and All American Wednesdays ($5 pizzas, any and all toppings of your choice included).



Being the artichoke lover that I am, I had to try the Tree hugger (minus red onions, plus mushrooms and extra artichoke hearts) and Jon got the Rustic Pizza (plus olives). All American appetizers were also only $0.99 each, so we opted for a side of cajun fries. Two perfectly sized pizzas + two soda's + cajun fries for $13?! What a steal. We will definitely be back for more!


Tree hugger: artichoke hearts, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, green peppers (supposed to be red peppers)


Rustic Pizza: spinach, tomato, garlic, black olives, olive oil and mozzarella


Cajun fries


I ♥ Wednesdays!

Location: 860 Garnet Avenue San Diego, California 92109
Pacific Beach

Monday, August 16, 2010

Jean Philippe Patisserie

My mom had never been to the Bellagio Gardens, my favorite part of Las Vegas, so Saturday morning we ventured over. Naturally we were hungry and decided on breakfast at Jean Philippe Patisserie, just behind the gardens. Jean Philippe Patisserie is well known for their glass enclosed floor-to-ceiling chocolate fountain and I've always ogled over their fancy pastries, but never tried them. We decided to get crepes and a brioche for breakfast. Later that night, we even went back for gelato!


click to make bigger!


photo via finechinagirl


vegetarian Mediterranean crepe and dulce de leche brioche


my mama


vegetarian Mediterranean crepe and dulce de leche brioche



berry gelato and banana gelato

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Gigi's Cupcakes

Hello everyone, I just got home from Las Vegas and wanted to quickly share with you a cupcakery I visited while I was there. Gigi's has some deliciously scrumptious cupcakes, each one decorated entirely differently with a heap of frosting on top! Their menu has a picture, including the description of each one, as well as their daily menu that shows which cupcakes they have each day. The prices are $3.50 each, but I'd say they are worth it. Definitely something worth indulging once in a while.

My mom got Birthday Surprise (white cake with fluffy buttercream frosting and colorful sprinkles) and I got Scarlett's Red Velevet (red velvet cake with a vanilla filling, topped with cream cheese frosting, a white chocolate heart and red sugar crystals). After scraping off about half the frosting on top, these cupcakes were delicious! I've never had filling inside of a red velvet cupcake, and that vanilla filling really put it over the top. Kudos!


click to make bigger!









Location: 1150 E Flamingo Rd. Las Vegas, Nevada 89119
as well as: AL, CO, GA, IN, KY, MS, TN and TX

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Veg-N-Out

Let me start off by saying, I cannot stress enough how important it is to support your local stores and restaurants. I will, any day, choose a locally owned and operated grocery store or restaurant over a corporation or chain.

With that said, Veg-N-Out is a great place to go if you want a wide variety of healthy food options, nestled in a cute and friendly neighborhood, serving everything vegetarian friendly! Finding all vegetarian/vegan restaurants is a glorious site to see while living in this carnivorous, factory farmed-dominated world.

A little over a year ago I tried Veg-N-Out for the first time, I ordered a Jumbo Veggie Dog with a few toppings for $8. I was disappointed that it was so bland and nothing more special than what I could buy at the store and make myself at half the price. Since then, I was always disinterested in ever returning. Until the other day, sitting around with no cravings for any particular food and something either Jon or I haven't already had. Veg-N-Out came to mind and it was down the street, so we ventured out for what was luckily a better second experience.

Mostly known for their burgers, sandwiches and salads, I went with the Little Italy Burger (homemade patty with sundried tomatoes, basil and garlic, topped with sauteed tomatoes and onions, fresh mozzarella and mayonnaise) and Jon got the Chili Cheese Burger (patty smothered with homemade chili, cheddar cheese, tomatoes, pickles, onions and mayonnaise), both served with hand-cut potato wedges. Definitely not as bland as the first experience I had here. The burgers were gigantic, stuffed with toppings and really worth the price this time (all entrees are about $8).


Little Italy Burger


Chili Cheese Burger





Location: 3442 30th St. San Diego, California 92104
between South Park and North Park

Friday, August 6, 2010

Mini's Cupcakes

Mini's is my favorite place to get my miniature fix! I love all things miniature and these little cupcakes are so fancy, and delicious to boot! You would think $2 per mini cupcake isn't bad, but I almost always leave with a dozen! What I realllllllllly want to share with you are their LUNCH BOXES.

When I worked a few blocks away, I would always go to Mini's for lunch and it was a perfect combination--1/2 sandwich, salad and a mini cupcake! Make sure to get "Leslie's Favorite"; fresh mozzarella cheese, roasted red peppers, field greens with a pesto and balsamic vinegar spread on a made-from-scratch oatmeal applesauce bread WITH an organic field green salad (including chevre cheese, cranberries, pecans and a berry vinaigrette) AND your choice mini cupcake.







Locations: Downtown and Sugarhouse -- Salt Lake City, Utah

Thursday, August 5, 2010

the dirty dozen

Here is a convenient, credit card sized, printable cheat sheet made by Heidi Kenney to carry alongside your grocery list for fruits and veggies! It divides the 27 common fruits and veggies that are low pesticide and those that aren't. Stay cost-effective and healthy by focusing on at least buying organic versions of the "dirty dozen."