NYC Instagram Weekend.

 

This was my past weekend in New York, as seen through Instagram (plus a few shots that didn't make it).

 Mr. Vedge's Restaurant Entrepreneurship class field trip (tours/Q&A/meals at Jean-Georges, Lavo, and Shake Shack) brought us to good 'ol NYC for a long weekend. Of course I went along.

I spent a lot of time on my own as I wasn't able to join the class, but we did sneak in a fun dinner with friends both old and new at Kajitsu (photo 1), house of vegan Shojin cuisine and had another dinner at Pure Food & Wine (Mint Sundae, check. Green Tea Tiramisu, we had to) and met up for drinks with friends after.

I checked in at Piperlime in Soho (photo 2), refreshed with mango chia water and a root veg/mushroom bowl at Hu Kitchen (3) and juice/smoothies at Treehaus Midtown (4) and Organic Avenue (6). I finally had a rainy day lunch at Cinnamon Snail (5) where I witnessed just how devoted their lunch fans are (they came, in droves, in wind and rain) and devoured a basil pesto tofu baguette that was worth getting soaked for. On another day, I had falafel at Taim (7) (which lived up to its fame) with a berry/basil smoothie after attempting to order something at newish the Butcher's Daughter (8), where I found out that they wouldn't serve food (dinner) until 6 and stopped making smoothies at 4. I hope they change this, I arrived confused and left disappointed. What a great weekend, otherwise!

Sprouted Granola Shake: Beauty Detox Foods Inspired.

Kimberly Snyder has taken over our kitchen. And I'm not complaining. Everything we've made from the Beauty Detox Foods Cookbook has been fairly delicious and as a nutrition geek, I've enjoyed learning about the "top beauty foods" and various healing properties of food.

There have been quite a few books in my life lately, but this one is getting a lot of attention. We've been leaning on this book for sustenance over the past week. Since many of my husband's final classes involve tasting alcohol or visiting restaurants, when he is home he pretty much loads up on greens and  more balanced, cleaner meals. Many of the ingredients and processes are reasonably simple, and a lot of the recipes share ingredients. It is approachable, and yet there are plenty of new recipes and techniques for those who already have the first book and want to take the next step.

So far, we've made the Asparagus & Veggie Tempeh Stirfry, Low Sugar Sprouted Buckwheat Granola, Spiced Quinoa, Sweet Potato Fries, and the Vegan Lasagna from the book. The highlight was of course the lasagna, which got us through a couple of meals and this comment - "Can we make this every week?" The lasagna calls for brown rice noodles and is loaded with tons of steamed spinach and broccoli, and we added the optional vegan cheese and it was perfect.

The sprouted granola was crunchy and nourishing as a breakfast served with bananas and almond butter, and I did notice how easily it digested/great I felt afterward. Today I tried a handful in my morning smoothie. Again inspired by Kimberly... At her smoothie shop Glow Bio in L.A., there are "Active Shakes" in vanilla or chocolate that are made with raw sprouted buckwheat.

The verdict? It's delectable and elevates your everyday protein shake. Here is my Kimberly-inspired recipe:

Sprouted Granola Shake

1.5 cup unsweetened almond milk

1 frozen banana

1/4 cup sprouted buckwheat (method/recipe in Beauty Detox Foods)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 date or couple drops of stevia to sweeten

1 scoop sprouted brown rice protein, optional

Blend on high. You may need to blend a bit longer than usual. 

Makes 1 pint glass

I added cacao powder to Josh's shake for the chocolate version of this smoothie, but I really loved the vanilla. The Vitamix will pulverize the buckwheat and make the shake nice and thick.

Vega One All-in-One Nutrition Bar.

This barfly recently received samples of the new Vega One Bar, which promises the nutrition of their popular Vega One shake in "bar" form. I was intrigued, although I consume more "shakes" and smoothies these days than actual nutrition bars. That's mostly because I have the time to prepare things and prefer to get my nutrition that way, but it's not always easy if you're a busy student or constantly traveling or stuck in meetings. So that habit of keeping a bar on hand, tucked away in my bag? I've never quite been able to shake it, and it has saved me from hungry situations/mood swings more times than I can count.

The Vega One Bar comes in 3 flavors: Double Chocolate, Chocolate Cherry, and Chocolate Almond. It is truly a traveler's best friend, a nutritional powerhouse, and sounds perfect on paper: 15 grams of protein, 6 grams of fiber, 1 serving of greens, probiotics, Omega-3s and covered in...Chocolate. I couldn't really ask for anything more in a bar. Here is the nutritional label for the Chocolate Cherry flavor.

So how does it perform flavor-wise? The most important part, always.

I was having a typical Kelly Phillips craving for dark chocolate in the afternoon and unwrapped one of these for a snack, ignoring the raw dark chocolate bar in the cupboard that I save for days like these. The Chocolate Cherry was very rich and indeed chocolatey, without tasting too "healthy" or chalky the way that other chocolate protein bars can taste. It was fruity and had a slight crisp taste to it from the rice crisps and white chia seeds. Chocolate coated and good for me? Win. I found it very satisfying and would gladly add one of these to my stash.

Does it pass the husband test? Josh tried the Double Chocolate yesterday and asked me his favorite question: How much is it? Which means that yes, he really liked the Vega One Bar, and to answer the question, the bars will sell for $3.99.