Eat Dance Live

What's better than a spontaneous dinner date before a night out to the theatre? An amazing spontaneous dinner date that fulfills a craving that you've had for months, and that's discounted through Groupon, that's what! There's been a new Lebanese restaurant in the neighbourhood that I've been wanting to try since it moved in months ago and today was the day. Naji's  is a wonderful little place right by Bank Street and Second Avenue that has just brought a whole new world of flavour to the Glebe. Apparently, I have to come to terms with the reality that there is a compartment in my stomach dedicated purely to digesting falafels, and since it's been about a month since I had any, it was time to replenish its stock. Conveniently, right in time for out date night, I found a Groupon for Naji's and I was sold. Though I didn't get any good pictures of the inside of the place, it was really nice; warm colours, really simple but classy decor, and i...

With it being paper/marking/crunch time this year for anyone in academia, this is probably the most interesting thing I've done with food this week... though it made me really happy. I give you: Fun ways to eat your hummus. The Hummus Octopus (or a Decapod, technically) The Leftover Hummus Hermit Crab Hehe... have a good week!

So, remember back in November when I got so obsessed with the deliciousness of collard wraps that I ate them for a month straight? Yep, well, I've found my March food obsession: massaged kale salad with kelp noodles. OMG. Aside from the fact that I'm now eating kale salads for dinner about 4 times a week, the addition of the kelp noodles just sent me over the moon. This dish pretty much has every nutrient under the sun. Kelp noodles are high in all sorts of minerals, while kale is one of the healthiest of the cruciferous greens. Including all the fixings, I can't think of anything it doesn't have! Of course, I don't have a full recipe for this, but just a mix of the things I always make it with. Here's to experimentation and kitchen intuition: Kelp Noodle Kale Salad Yield: 1 serving 1/2 to 3/4 head of kale 1/2 bag of kelp noodles 1/2 avocado 1/2 to 1 lemon salt and black pepper, to taste nutritional yeast onion powder tahini honey...

Already my last post on my culinary tour of Disney World, and the end of my perfect sister-bonding vacation... Five full days and two short half days in Disney World (counting the marathon) was really the perfect amount of time for us to be there. I think we could potentially have used another day to finish up some of the things we didn't get to do (mostly Tomorrowland in the Magic Kingdom, and a couple places in Epcot and the Animal Kingdom), but we definitely got to check all our favourites and more. I can't stress enough how amazing it was to go on this trip with my sister. It was our first vacation as "adults" together, so for anyone with really close friends/siblings/etc, I highly recommend you take a vacation together now. Haha, I just realized that our first "adult" trip was to Disney World... yep, that's just who we are! It seems silly to say, but it made me happy in a way I actually hadn't been in a really, really long time. Running a...

For Part I of my culinary adventures in Disney World, you can go here . Otherwise, let me take you through days 3 and 4 of my trip, which were probably by far the most copious! I think they have some kind of policy that no vegan will ever go hungry in their realm or something because, man, did they try to stuff me! Day 3: Boma at the Animal Kingdom Lodge While we had made a couple dinner reservations before we got to Disney World for places we had heard were particularly popular, my sister and I had initially left Day 3 open for whatever food might catch our eye. After the number of raving reviews she and I saw for Boma , the Animal Kingdom Lodge's buffet-style restaurant, we knew we had to try it. (Have to say again, my sister is such a trooper for accommodating to my eating habits!)  After a full day of Animal Kingdom amazingness (the Tree of Life is magical... seriously), we were ravenous and took the shuttle to Boma a taste of Disney-fied African Flavours. Right...

I've always been a big pre-planner (though hopefully not to the point of obsessiveness). One of the big things I've found about going vegan is that it takes pre-planning to a whole different level. Whenever you go on a trip, most people can just think "so, what do I pack?" but one of the big questions in a vegan's mind, especially an organic-eating processed-food-avoiding vegan, always ends up being "so, will I actually be able to eat  anything ?" Enter Disney World. Now, as much as Disney World elicits princesses, and magic, and dreams coming true in my mind, vegan-friendly is definitely not something that jumps to mind when I hear those two words. Ever since I planned this trip with my sister, my food-loving self started scouring the internet for vegan-friendly resources about Disney World (see below for details). At my public library, I also found the very nifty book called " Vegetarian Walt Disney World and Greater Orlando " that wa...

I can't believe all the magic was already a whole five days ago. I flew back into Ottawa on Monday night, and it's been hard to get back to a place where a) you have to wear a coat; b) not everyone cheerily smiles at you and/or calls you Princess anymore; c) buildings are no longer colourful idealized cute versions of what they should be, but instead are sad and grey! This was probably hands down one of the funnest trips ever. My sister is one the awesomest people EVER. After deciding to run this marathon with my sister last spring, we had to go big or go home. The end result was 6 days in Disney World, complete with on-site hotel (the Port Orleans Riverside Resort, which I highly recommend) and park-hopper passes. I'll go through vegan options in Disney World over the course of next week (there were tons!), but for now, let me cut to the chase: I did it! Waking up at 3:30am in the morning was so worth it... ... for me to dress in a Snow White costume, tutu...