Plantstrong in the Hawaiian Islands (Maui Edition)

Aloha!

Now seriously, how would a post be complete without the traditional Hawaiian greeting?! (and the beautiful view from our balcony)

Anyways....


After spending 4 days in Canada, I was beyond ready for warmer weather (I was expecting it to be in the 60's-70's in Whistler and it ended up being 10-15 degrees Fahrenheit cooler). In order for us to get to Hawaii, we had to fly to Los Angeles before departing for Maui. We were set to have a couple-hour layover in LA which fell during lunchtime. Unfortunately the dining choices we had were very limited. We could either eat at a Ruby's Diner or some deli. My family chose Ruby's and I chose the latter.

 

 

 

At this point in the trip, I was becoming tired of having salads as the main part of my meal for every meal minus breakfast. However, I wasn't in the mood for a sandwich and ran across a few "speciality" baked potatoes. They weren't plantstrong to begin with, but with some modification and subsidizing, my lunch was quite filling. I started with a fiesta chicken potato and took off the chicken, cheese, and sour cream, which left me with tomato, corn and broccoli. To add some bulk to my potato, I added some oil-free, dry roasted soybeans (p.s. I took the picture before I added them) and two side salads.

 

Once we landed in Maui, I snacked on an apple because I wasn't sure when our next meal would be (I don't like eating late at night for a couple reasons; one, I'm impatient like that and my slumber usually isn't great if I eat less than 2 hours before bed). It's a good thing I did because we ended up running into some trouble with our rental car. My father reserved a Ford Crown Victoria, thinking we'd be able to fit 12 suitcases in its "huge" trunk. We spent a good hour or so trying to squeeze everything in, but he eventually gave up and we got a mini van instead, which meant we had to wait even longer before going to our hotel almost over an hour away. By 8:00 or so, I was getting impatient about dinner so I ate a couple of the Shredded Wheat biscuits (the large ones) to hold me over until we could stop for food. Long story short, we didn't stop for dinner and those two biscuits were my dinner (at least I lost my appetite at that point).

 

Moving on....

 

We didn't do much on our first full day in Maui; in fact pretty much all we did was drive to Kapalua from Kaa'napali to eat lunch and drive around the area taking pictures (my parents' idea of fun). The restaurant we ate at was quite nice and had an.... interesting menu, to say the least. I settled on their Polynesian Salad (it had cabbage, sprouts, carrots, molokai sweet potatoes, edamame and edamame hummus). Incase you're wondering, Molokai sweet potatoes are just purple-fleshed potatoes that taste a bit milder than their orange cousin. They're super good, and if you ever run across them, you have to try them. Here's a picture of the salad (unfortunately the picture doesn't do the salad much justice):

 

 

 

 The next day we were a little more productive by going on a mini "warm-up" hike as well as one that was a bit more challenging (at least for my family; I could of kept going for hours!). Since I knew we would be out most of the day, I packed a can of Eden Organic Rice and Beans, a sandwich bag filled with baby carrots and a apple.

 

 

One of the spectacular views on our "big" hike

After our hikes and the road trip back to our resort, we headed off to Roy's for a belated birthday dinner (my dad was out of town on my actual birthday and wanted to make up for it by taking us to an upscale restaurant). As soon as we arrived at the restaurant, I scanned a menu to make sure I could find something to eat. I couldn't find anything (yes, even the salads were impossible to plantstrong-tize) and was afraid to tell my dad that I wouldn't be able to eat there, but after I informed a waitress that I was vegan, she gave me a vegetarian menu to look at. There were only 4 or 5 entrees to choose from and only one of them was most likely oil-free (sushi). However, I found a tofu dish which sounded appealing that I thought could be make plantstrong. I kindly asked our waiter if I could have the bok choy steamed instead of sauteed, but apparently didn't pick up on it when I saw my order. I didn't want to send it back because my parents don't get the whole 'no oil' thing, so I just dried off whatever oil I could (otherwise the dish was delish!). ((picutred below))

In order to keep this post from becoming too long, I'm just going to add the last picture I have of some of the meals I had in Maui:

 

 

This salad was the best hands-down that I had while on Maui at Honu Seafood and Pizza in Lahaina. It had an assortment of ingredients including kale, quinoa, tofu, green beans, tomato, cucumber, chickpeas, mushrooms, soybeans, pomergranate arils and a vegan coco peanut sauce (on the side). I know the combination of ingredients may sound odd, but believe me, this was not your average salad.

 

 

I'm so sorry about this post being extremely long (mainly due to all the pictures. Hopefully Kauai's post will be shorter, but I'm not making any promises. I can't help that I have all these plant-strong food porn pictures lingering on my phone. ;)

 

-Michelle

 

Plantstrong in Whistler, British Columbia

As you all already know, the week leading up to my vacation was slightly hectic, as was the first day of my vacation. I woke up before 5am central time, left for the airport around 6 and departed for my first destination (Calgary) before 9. Arrived in Calgary around noon and had a short layover before flying to Vancouver. Once I landed in Vancouver, I had to collect my bags and get the rental car before driving 2 hours to Whistler.

I bet you're wondering "When and how the heck were you able to eat?" Well for one, I always plan ahead. No matter what. I knew my family wasn't going to stop somewhere at the airport to get anything to eat, and even if we did, I'd be in the process of gnawing my arm. I made oatmeal with fruit before we left, put it in a cup and ate in the car with a water bottle I filled with soymilk. Not knowing what my lunch situation would be, I packed Wasa flatbread crackers and a Dr.McDougall Right Foods Black Bean and Lime soup cup in my carry-on incase hunger struck mid-flight. Once we landed in Calgary, I sought out a veggie box to round out my lunch. Hunger struck again once we were in Vancouver and I snacked on an apple that I had packed (which surprisingly made it through customs).

Since we were supposed to arrive in Whistler close to 9pn, we decided to find a sit-down restaurant in between Vancouver and Whistler, and Howe Sound Brewery fit the bill perfectly. I stumbled across a house made veggie burger that just so happened to be vegan and ordered it alongside an entree-size salad as well as a small salad that came as a substitute for french fries. The burger was pretty good, but unfortunately I forgot to take a picture to post. I could have asked my dad for his phone (I wasn't allowed to use mine while out of the country) but as usual, I didn't think about it until after the burger was non-existent.

Pretty much the first thing my family did when we arrived in Whistler was visit the Iga Supermarket, which is the largest grocer in the area. Being a plantstrong foodie, I decided to scope the area of the store to see what goodies I could find. Nooch (nutritional yeast), countless varieties of non-dairy milks, an abundance of local produce.... you name it. I found a large container of BC blueberries for $3 and an even bigger container of BC raspberries for $4. I was in heaven.....

Anyways.....

Staying plantstrong in Whistler wasn't an issue (I didn't really expect it to be), but it wasn't a breeze, either. Not only did I have to find restaurants that I could eat at, I also had to be on the lookout for places that could accommodate to my stepmother who cannot have corn, soy or gluten (not a lovely combo of food sensitivities) and is extremely frugal, but I was up to the challenege.

Even though some of the meals I had weren't masterpieces, I never went hungry once while we were in British Columbia, but I had my fair share of salads and McDougall Right Foods Soup Cups. There were only 2 meals that I had that stuck out in my mind and I only was able to take a picture of one of them. (pictured below)

It might have been the dead of summer, but it didn't stop me from ordering what seemed to be a meal only suited for the chilly months. There was a little cafe/deli called Portobello's that was a short walk from our resort and their vegetarian chili (which happened to also be vegan) sounded much more appealing than veggies piled between two pieces of bread. To round out the meal, I had a mixed green salad and 2 black plums on the side.

I'll upload a post on the Maui and Kauai legs of the vacation soon, and I promise that those posts will be more... appealing (from a foodie standpoint with all the pictures and such). It really does suck being a blogger and not having access to a phone during an amazing vacation...

Thanks for reading! I promise I'm not this boring in real life. I just don't have the whole "blogging" thing down yet so I'm still a bit shy. Eventually this girl will break out of her shell. ;)

-Michelle

End of Summer League, Birthday and All-State Choir Camp!

To say that this past week was hectic (but amazing!) would be an understatement. For starters, the end of summer league swimming crept up on me sooner than I would have liked it to, but I have to admit that this season was the best by far; I beat my own PR in breaststroke and even went to all-stars for the first time in the event (technically I also went last year in breaststroke, but I was an alternate who didn't get to actually swim).

Incase anyone is slightly confused on how the whole swim all-stars thing works, there are 2 meets you have to swim at and place high enough to move on to the all-star meet. I had preliminaries on Thursday, finals on Saturday and all-stars on Tuesday. I made it in every event I swam in prelims and made it in both of my team's relays and breaststroke in finals to advance to all-stars. (They take the top relay and the top 2 swimmers from each division in each individual event and I was an alternate in freestyle and the individual medley [Fly, Back, Breast, Free]). Unfortunately, I didn't place well at All-Stars (15th in breast with a total of 16 swimmers and 8th with a total of 8 relays in the medley and free relays) but that didn't matter to me (ok, maybe a little bit). I swam my best and because the majority of the girls I swam against are on their school's varsity swim team, I didn't beat myself up over it. (At the moment I only swim in the summer but I'll be starting high school swimming in the fall)

Me and my medals from Finals (ignore the messy hair... stupid humidity)

From Monday thru Thursday, I spent most of my day at a local All-State Choir Camp (with the exception of Tuesday since I had to leave early to make it to All-Stars). Basically during the camp, you get a crash course in the 8-10 pieces you'll have to sing in District, Region, Pre-Area and Area auditions for the All-State process. I have to say that this year's music is so beautiful, although some of the rhythms and the words were hard for me to catch onto. (I cannot sing in Czech or German to save me life...) Surprisingly, I was able to stay plantstrong at camp without packing my lunch everyday since I was afraid that all that would be available were burgers and grease-laden pizza, but thankfully there was a salad bar line that even had beans (This actually shocked me, don't know why though) and oil-free dressing options (soy sauce and red wine vinegar). Additionally, there was a seasonal fruit bar and grab and go fruits such as apples, bananas and oranges.

On Wednesday I turned 17 but I didn't do anything special to celebrate (unless you call singing all day, working out and eating a delicious vegan cookie from Vegeria "special"). [by the way, the cookie was DELICIOUS, but ridiculiously sweet. It might just be that I very seldomly eat sweets since fruit is sweet enough for me on its own]

(p.s. I actually bought the cookie back in June at Vegeria's booth at Vegfest Houston, but stuck it in the freezer when I got home. Also, I'm not 100% sure what kind of cookie it was, but it was some kind of chocolate chip hemp cookie made with garbanzo flour.)

Tomorrow marks the day where I leave for Vancouver, Whistler, Maui and Kauai for 2 and 1/2 weeks on vacation. I'm not sure if I'll be able to blog as I go (meaning that I might be blogging when I get back or at least blog about the Canada part of my trip while I'm in Hawaii). I've got a carry-on filled with plantstrong meals and snacks just incase my parents decide to be super cheap and eat fast food the majority of our trip. (pictured below)

Plantstrong weekend in the Alamo City: Part 2

I apologize about the delay in postings, but here's the second and final part of the post:

On Saturday morning, my aunt and I woke up bright and early to head into town for our 5K run/walk at 8am. I didn't want to have much a breakfast, but at the same time I didn't want to risk running on an empty stomach, so I grabbed a banana as we headed out the door. (The ultimate runner's fuel!)

I'm going to be flat-out honest: I'm not a runner whatsoever. I throw discus in track and field and swim competitively, but swimming endurance and running endurance are two seperate things. Yes, I had to run a 5K in 8th grade for a wellness class I was taking, but that was with over 9 weeks of training, but this time around I would be running another over 2 years later with zero training. Surprisingly, I only walked through the water break stops.

I clearly remember running the last 200 yards and seeing the time flashing before me. I told myself that I refused to finish in more than 30 minutes, so when I saw that the clock read 29:50 at the last 100 yards or less, I dashed down the hill past the finish and completed the race in 30 minutes flat. Speaking from a general standpoint, 30 minutes for a 5K isn't fast at all (roughly 10 min/mile) but keep in mind that I didn't train and I never run more than maybe a lap for warmups for track or less for swimming drylands. Even when I did train for 5K, it took me 33:30 to complete the race. PLANT STRONG,  FTW! :D (yes, that was totally necessary)

After we were done with our 5K, we drove to Twin Sisters Bakery to have a substansial breakfast. My aunt and I both went for the oatmeal; I ordered mine with apples and walnuts and my aunt had hers with raisins and walnuts. To wash it all down, I had a small glass of soymilk and plenty of ice-cold water.

The rest of our day consisted of lunch at Kona Grill (they even have a vegan menu now!) and shopping at the Shops at La Cantera well into the late afternoon. I ended up spending the majority of my spending money on some plantstrong "summer reading" books (Blissful Bites; Keep it Simple, Keep it Whole; The China Study; The Starch Solution and Neal Barnard's book for Reversing Diabetes [[which actually was my dad's father's day present but I ended up reading it before giving the book to him]]) and the remainder on some cute clothes from American Eagle and Forever 21. Once we returned home, we were more than ready for dinner and started to prepare  homemade veggie pizzas. (We used the whole wheat pizza dough recipe from happyherbivore.com) Additionally, I prepared a simple raw kale salad made with dinosaur kale, lemon juice, avocado and a bit of sea salt to go along with the pizza.

Everything came together beautifully and we each enjoyed our salad and pizza while we watched the San Antonio Spurs take on the Oklahoma City Thunder. (To be honest, I'm not a fan of basketball, whether it is college or professional, but felt it was necessary to support the "hometown" team) I also enjoyed a cup of Amande almond milk yogurt I had bought the night before at Whole Foods (picture was in the last post)

Sunday was slow-paced in comparison to the rest of the weekend, but I still enjoyed the quality time spent with my aunt. We woke up and went to a farmer's market down the street a little ways with her Australian Shepard, Chica and purchased more local/organic vegetables and fruits then we knew what to do with. Fortunately, we were able corporate most of the produce we had purchased into our dinner that evening, and whatever we were not able to use went home in my carry-on. (Fredericksburg peaches are HEAVEN ON EARTH. Forget Georgia peaches, Texas Hill Country is where it's at!)

Anyways....

To close off our weekend together, me and my aunt sat down and watched my Forks Over Knives DVD. I had seen the film at least 3 times already before sitting down and watching it with my aunt, but let's face it, it doesn't ever get old. By the time the movie had concluded, my aunt seemed convinced and had told me that she was interested in trying out a plantstrong diet. I was estatic that I had finally convinced someone in my family to eat more plants, since my parents have been quite hesistant.

It was great getting away from home to spend time with my aunt in the beautiful city of San Antonio. I can't wait to go back in the near future to continue our plant-strong adventures together! :)


Here's a picture of our plant-strong dinner creation (not all of my dinner is in the picture because I kept taking bites of a little bit of everything so we wouldnt' be late getting to the airport):

P.S. I promise I will do my best to post on a more regular basis (once a week or every 2 weeks at the minimum, if not more often) since I currently don't have to worry about completing SAT's for homework every week.

Plantstrong weekend in the Alamo City: Part 1

As a celebration to the conclusion of my sophomore year last week, I decided to pack up my bags and head off to San Antonio to visit my aunt before kicking off a summer filled with SAT classes, competitive swimming, choir camps and a trip to British Columbia and the Hawaiian Islands the following week. I had a morning flight, which meant that I still had to wake up on my school sleep schedule, but also that I would also get the most out of the day in San Antonio.


To kick off my arrival in the Alamo City, I learned to drive a stick-shift in a TINY Mazda sportscar. Being the daughter of a father who absolutely despies anything that carries a potential hazard with it, I wasn't sure what to expect at all, and quite frankly, I thought I was going to crash into someone or vice versa. I have a tendency to underestimate what I can actually accomplish, and within minutes, driving a stick seemed second-nature. However, I'm not planning on driving a manual on the freeway or any busy street for that matter. 


After my stick-shift lessons, we headed off to Green Restaurant (San Antonio's only 100% vegetarian restaurant) to enjoy lunch at my favorite veg spot in San Antonio with my cousin, Jordan, who was home from college for the weekend, his roomate, Trevor, and of course my aunt. I enjoyed their Raw Deal Wrap with a side of broccoli and fresh fruit (not pictured), while my aunt had their homemade veggie burger with a side of sweet potato fries.

After lunch, I headed back to my aunt's house with Jordan where we hung out with their dogs, Chica (a beautiful Austrailan Shepard) and Mason (a Goldendoodle puppy) until my aunt was finished up with work. This isn't the best picture of the two, but I couldn't resist taking a picture while they were messing around.

Later in the evening, my aunt and I headed to Whole Foods to do some shopping so we could make several different plant-strong muffin recipes and homemade whole-grain, lowfat veggie pizzas Saturday evening. I stumbled upon Amande, a non-dairy yogurt made from almond milk and sweetened only with fruit. I couldn't resist but pick up a couple of the different flavors to try over the weekend. (Pictured below is the blueberry flavor) ((As a side note, it was AMAZING, and even was nostalgic of  Blueberry Yoplait yogurt in a way.))

After our Whole Foods adventure, we met up with Jordan again to have a late-evening dinner at Tong's Thai where we each enjoyed the different sushi creations they had to offer at their sushi bar. I had a veggie roll, seaweed salad and a small bowl of miso soup, which was light, but quite satisfying.  My aunt and I didn't stay long since we needed to get back to house to be well-rested for our 5K run early the next morning, which I'll talk about in the next part of this blog post.

-Michelle :)