Monday Night Date Night

Monday night isn't the ideal day of the week for a date but last Monday, the 13th, M and I had a perfect date.

We started our evening around 5 pm at Acadia Cafe on the west bank of Minneapolis.  We ordered appetizers and M had a beer he wanted to try for beer week around the Twin Cities.  We had never been there before but after seeing multiple vegan and vegetarian options, I'll make my way back for sure.   It's a perfect little corner bar. 

After Acadia, we headed over to Town Hall Brewery for another beer and more appetizers.  Town Hall was another place with a beer release this day called Russian Roulette.  Pretty much everyone who was in there had one and it was delicious.  

It was about 6:30 pm before we headed about a mile west to the Guthrie Theater.  Our big date event of the night would be the unveiling of the new Vikings stadium.   

The Vikings called M in the beginning of May and asked if he would like to participate in the debut of the new stadium presentation.  Once we were there, we were among politicians, business people, media, coaches, athletes and Vikings fans.The stadium design unveiling presentation took about an hour and a half and featured guests like Governor Dayton, RT Rybak, Mark and Zygi Wolf, Bud Grant, Leslie Frazier, Rick Spielman, Phil Loadholt and John Sullivan while Paul Allen was the host. 

The big talk was whether or not there would be a retractable roof.  There won't be.  It will be a see-through roof.  As they sold it, they said "Clear is the new retractable."  I'm fine with that.  The design of the stadium was gorgeous and futuristic.  It's weird to think of that building as part of the downtown Minneapolis cityscape but it's exciting for it to be finally happening.  I just wish me turning 40 years old wouldn't be around the corner at the start of the 2016 season when it's expected to be ready. 

After the presentation, they had photos and models of the city set up with refreshments.

We walked "across" the Endless Bridge, the cantilever bridge and enjoyed beautiful scenery.  It was a perfect night to be out there and M and I even had time alone out there will no one else.  It was romantic. 

The Endless Bridge

View from inside Guthrie

Gold Medal Park

Yes, that is the moon in the upper left corner

Not a great pic for either of us but it was the best one we took

What a perfect night for a couple of Vikings fans!

At the end of the night, M had to get gas and I told him it was $4.29 a gallon and he said he didn't want to get it in the morning.  Good thing he didn't since it went up to $4.39 from 10 pm to 7 am.  It's now "back down" to $4.29.  Puke.

Yummo!

I met my friend Justin for dinner at French Meadow, Wednesday, May 8th.  I only have a couple of friends that enjoy eating healthier and that join me for vegan food.  This was my fourth time there but I usually get the same thing.  This time, we both decided to split two items so we could try both.  Justin ordered the veggie burger and I ordered the grilled tempeh reuben.  Both came with a salad and both were great.  Justin ordered some type of vegan cake and it looks so appealing when it came out, I had to eat a few bites as well.  I am looking forward to going here again.

The garage in the alley behind the restaurant as our backdrop

A Change in Plans

Wednesday, April 24th was the night I was supposed to have dinner with Tanya.  That still happened but just not at the place we decided to go.

I had a conversation with one of my coworker's that afternoon asking him if he had ever had Ethiopian food. He hadn't and when I told him where we were going that evening, he gave me a look.  He used to work for the city of Minneapolis in zoning/ordinance and that restaurant struck a chord with him and what was reported at that restaurant.  We'll leave it at that but we decided not to go there.  We already had our reservations about going there in the first place so this new nugget of info made the decision easy.

We ended up at our good 'ol reliable, Ecopolitan, a vegan, raw, gluten-free and organic restaurant.  I started out with a smoothie, Tanya had a juice and we had zucchini hummus and flax crackers for an appetizer.  She ordered a salad and I was feeling daring and ordered the "Surprise Me" option on the menu.  It was a dill "fettuccine alfredo" using zucchinis as noodles and cashews for the cream sauce with flax crackers on the side. It was pretty good but a little too onion-y for me.  I'm not a fan of raw onions.

We already have our plan for our next outing in May and while it's ethnic, it's not Ethiopian.

Apple Pie Smoothie and Beet Juice

Our appetizer

Tanya's salad

My fettuccine alfredo

Creepy, beautiful tree

Dana Crocker

St. Paddy's Day weekend was spent making food.  On Saturday the 16th, I really wanted to make raw hemp seed bars with cacao drizzle but I needed almond butter, which I didn't have so I decided to make almond butter first.  Has anyone ever made almond butter?  This was my second time and it's so frustrating to make.  If you don't have patience, don't even try.  It took 30+ minutes to get it to the correct consistency and I know I'll make it again but this time I'm going to make a big enough batch to make it worth it.  It took longer for me because I used raw almonds (roasted goes faster) and added no oil so it takes quite a bit of time to leech the oil out of the almonds to make it creamy. The final product was delicious though!

My only ingredients:  raw almonds and 1/4 tsp pink Himalayan salt

All that work so I could use half of it to go into the hemp seed bars.  This recipe was much easier and a lot faster.  

I know a lot of these ingredients may not be available in your kitchen.  Being my diet is mostly plant-based (vegan), items like hemp seeds and almonds are very common in my diet.  Also, this recipe ends up being very expensive to make.  After I added up all the ingredients, I think it was around $18-19!!!  The hemp seeds equaled an entire bag, which is usually around $10 and almonds aren't cheap either.  I do have to say these were so delicious and I still have some left.  They are a great way to get some energy as they are probably higher calorie but they also have a great amount of protein as well.  They truly taste like a dessert.

On Sunday the 17th, I made vegan pancakes.  I figured I might as well make them green too.  I was so proud that M ate them as well.  Being that we are on completely different ends of the food spectrum, it always makes me happy when we can eat something healthy together.  I would share the recipe but I can't remember where I found it so pictures will have to do.

Four-leaf clover

Finally on Sunday evening, I made the most delicious teriyaki sauce.  I didn't have any fresh veggies in the house so I settled with a frozen package and steamed the veggies.  I used fresh rice noodles and roasted some cashews in the oven to add a little protein.  My final result was really delicious and I ate it for the next couple of meals.  The sauce was extremely easy to make and I feel good when I can make something that isn't full of chemicals and preservatives.  This sauce only lasts about 1 week or so in the fridge and it yielded over 16 oz.  

• 1.5 cups cold water
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup soy sauce (I used Tamari, which is gluten free soy sauce. Try and find a brand that is organic or non-GMO as soy is one of the most genetically modified crops in the US)
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 3 tablespoons corn starch (again, try and use organic or non-GMO.  Corn is the other big crop that is mostly GMO)
• 1 tsp sesame oil (I didn't have sesame oil so I used peanut oil)

Put all together in a pan and whisk over medium heat until thick and color is dark. I put it what I wasn't going to use in a mason jar and let it cool for a long time before putting it in the fridge.  Enjoy!