Eating in Asheville


My Rendition of Laughing Seed Cafe

My Rendition of Laughing Seed Cafe

We love the flavor of Asheville, North Carolina, – mostly their mountains, shops and vegetarian/vegan restaurants.  It was our anniversary destination and on route to seeing our family, mainly our grandson.

Upon arriving in Asheville, one of the first things we did after settling into our hotel was to go to Laughing Seed Cafe.  It was a late anniversary lunch before our challenge walk to Grove Park Inn from downtown.  We would need all the fuel we could get for what turned out to be a 8.22 mile walk in rain.

We ate at Laughing Seed twice before departing Asheville.  It was the first thing and the last thing we did.

 

Chilled Apple Carrot Soup

Chilled Apple Carrot Soup

Indian Pakoras

Indian Pakoras

Havana Cuban

Havana Cuban

Omega Hempnut Burger

Omega Hempnut Burger

Hodgepodge


An Impressionistic Take on Our Overgrown Lawn

An Impressionistic Take on Our Overgrown Lawn

Today it must be yard work.  I woke up feeling yard work calling….exterior decorating.  While in meditation this morning the term interior decorating came to mind.

The yard had become a jungle while we were gone.  So, the first task was to mow, after a day of rest from the trip.  I so love spending time with my grandson, but a toddler can be exhausting.  And, I was totally exhausted.  I guess it was also all the walking and hiking too.  My daughter and I walked together the morning we left.  It was all I could do to keep up with her.

Yesterday I discovered the special effects that you can create on Iphoto.  Yes, after all this time I figured out a few things on the computer.

 

A Picture Taken a Few Summers Ago

A Picture Taken a Few Summers Ago

This picture reminds me of an Edward Hopper painting.

This picture reminds me of an Edward Hopper painting.

 

We have a day outing.  We take Wynn to the Remedy Diner.  He loves the fake crab, avocados and fries from my plate.  It’s all vegan.securedownload

Chris has the unreal hot dogs.securedownload-1From there we go to Pullen Park.
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 He rides the train.20130523-091934.jpg

Before coming home it’s Starbucks where it’s time for a clothes change as well as fraps.  Wynn had orange juice, even though we texted a picture to his mom with Chris’s drink in front of him.  She freaked, exclaiming you are not giving him coffee!  No, we were just kidding.20130523-092049.jpg

After wanting to stay in bed for most of the day on Sunday I am revived to go see the new Star Trek movie.  Ok, clean off the porch is also on the agenda for the yard work.  The dogs had kicked a flower pot over while we were away.20130523-091953.jpg

The Challenge


photoMost people say I have a competitive nature. It’s not necessarily competing against other people, because in that category I really don’t stand a chance.  It’s more like competing with myself.  It’s about doing something when people say I can’t do something.

We had limited time in Asheville.  Upon arrival we enjoyed this great early dinner at Laughing Seed.  It is a vegetarian restaurant almost across from our hotel.  It is one of our favorite places to eat.  We also love the hotel we stayed at, The Haywood Park Hotel.  It is located in the heart of downtown Asheville and has some significant history.  It was Asheville’s first department store in the 1930′s, and still carries much of that flavor.  In 1985 it was converted to a hotel with only 33 rooms – large rooms.  I love large rooms because I always take my yoga mat.  At least 3 people could have done yoga easily in that room, and we got the smallest room.  We had stayed there a year ago, and had a great room with a great view.  Coincidentally, we were given the same room, without requesting it.  We were on second floor – men’s ware.  The voice in the elevator still says that.  We took some great pictures both years, so I will compile and post more about the hotel later.

We had contemplated The Grove Park Inn, but it would require some driving into and out of town, plus the fact it was much more expensive, and the room would have been much smaller.  Still yet we wanted the Grove Park Inn experience, at least a little part of it.  So, my idea was to walk from town, supposedly a 5 mile trek round trip, mostly steep uphill getting there.  We asked the waitress at Laughing Seed about walking it.  She strongly recommended driving.  Basically she said you can’t walk it.  I asked if there were sidewalks the whole way, to which she said yes, but still don’t attempt walking it.  We went back to the hotel and asked at the desk.  We got the same advice.  We left for Grove Park Inn, my husband following my determined lead.  We are notorious for getting lost.  I asked someone not too far into the trek if we were headed in the right direction.  This was a young guy who hiked.  Maybe it was our age.  He said, that way, but you can’t walk it.  At this point it was really a challenge.  Not too far out of town it began raining.  No umbrella.  It was a light rain, and we were supposedly closer to the hotel at this point than to town, and I wasn’t about to turn back.  But, we took a wrong turn, going through a long tunnel.  So, we had to back track.  The total trip instead of being a little over 5 miles registered  8.22 miles on my phone GPS.

Grove Park Inn Waterfall View

Grove Park Inn Waterfall View

A Blurry Us at Grove Park Inn
A Blurry Us at Grove Park Inn

 

Back to Blogging


20130521-092836.jpgIt’s kind of hard now to make myself even open the computer.  We’ve been away for over a week.  I took my computer, but not once on the trip did I open it.  I basically just used my phone for information and directions, and to count miles walked.

Our first stop was Asheville, North Carolina.  We love that town.  We were celebrating our eleventh anniversary. There is lots of hiking, and walking in general.  There are lots of good vegan and vegetarian eating places.

There are great shops.  And, there is lots of chocolate.  We particularly enjoy French Broad Chocolates.  That was basically our dinner every night, after having a great breakfast and lunch and lots of hiking and walking.

Above, is my rendition of the tea and creme brulee I was enjoying.  I usually don’t eat eggs, but sometimes I make an exception.

 

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The First Bite is the Hardest


At 9:30 AM this morning I came off my juice fast which was 3 days.  You could say four days if raw food can be included since I had a salad and a banana the first day.  I went through lots of detox symptoms.  I waited until later in the morning to eat because I just wasn’t hungry.  I made orange juice in the juicer this morning.  Then when I ate I had toast with coconut oil and green tea.  To satiate my desire for food, I found an outlet in cooking for my husband.  I even made him homemade ice cream, not even a lick for myself.

One of the dishes I made my husband.

One of the dishes I made my husband.

The above dish is oven baked french fries, topped with cheese, tomatoes, and green onions.

Sadly, I don’t own my weight.  I step on the scales in the morning, and my husband looks and records it inside an envelope.  He said I lost 5.1 pounds over all.  My husband can eat and eat and eat and not gain a pound, that is as long as he works a lot outside, which he is always doing.  In fact he stepped on the scales to find he had lost ten plus pounds.  There is almost never leftovers in our house.

Herbal Tea

Herbal Tea

We even went to Starbucks.  While my husband had his frap, I had herbal tea.  I think that is allowed on a juice fast.  Also, wouldn’t you know that they would be having the half price fraps now.  I hope to take advantage of that one in four days, when I come off my dairy fast.  I’m just not into soy drinks.

I’m really kind of sick of green juices at the moment.  This was the juice I sipped on yesterday throughout the day.  It had a variety of things, but mostly spinach.

Green Juice

Green Juice

 

3 Day Juice Fast


My daughter and I began a three day juice fast today.  I kind of started yesterday, but added salad and a banana into the mix.  It’s hard to pass up the sprouts I made.

The beginnings of my juice this morning.

The beginnings of my juice this morning.

Finished product - my husband's breakfast in the background

Finished product – my husband’s breakfast in the background

My daughter's morning juice

My daughter’s morning juice

Salad with sprouts

Salad with sprouts

 

This and That


20130502-135931.jpgIt’s May and time for another resolution.  In March it was about yoga.  In April it was about walking.  Thus far I’m on track with both of those resolutions, and there were a few times I really had to make myself keep them up.  So, what for May.  I have a seriously bad dairy habit.  I over indulge with the chai lattes.  So, I’m doing my best to give up dairy for the next ten days.  I’ve managed almost two days now.  So, technically, I’ve been vegan for these two days.

I’ve been away from blogging for a few days.  It’s just too nice outside.  I’ve started to walk the trails again and mow the lawn, etc.  My husband is really more of the gardener than I am.  I love flowers but we have a real problem with our dogs trampling over them and making 20130502-182751.jpgthem into a bed.  We’ve tried a few things, mostly fishing line, which really didn’t work.  During meditation an idea popped into my head about how to solve the problem.  We laid out fencing over the flowered areas just high enough that it would create a problem for them to run through it.  It would be uncomfortable for them to lie in.  The flowers could grow through it and fairly soon into the growing season wouldn’t even be visible, or at least too visible.

 

With the nicer weather we don’t miss an opportunity to eat out on the deck.  Tonight’s dinner was salad (romaine, cabbage, artichokes, sprouts, olives, tempeh, sunflower seeds, walnut oil, pepper and sea salt) and sweet potato fries. I’m especially proud of the sprouts that I’ve been making.  They’ve been going on as many dishes as it seems appropriate.  We have sweet potato plants ready to go into the ground.  We finally got the green house covered in plastic.  Eventually, we want it to be glass.

 

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Yeah! It’s Friday


 

20130426-085707.jpgToday an old memory hit me. I used to clean the house on Friday. It was date night, when Chris drove the 2 1/2 hour drive to see me. Our eleventh wedding anniversary is coming up. He just made reservations for Asheville, NC. We love Asheville. There is history, nice shops, great vegetarian restaurants, and most importantly lots of good hiking. So, back to the memory, a wild thought occurred that I might clean the house today.

This is yesterday’s entree.  I had it for lunch.  Chris had it for dinner, and there was enough left over for his lunch and possibly mine today.  But if I get inspired and am not too tired from cleaning I may make something else.  Basil and tomatoes are calling out to me today.

The ingredients are extra firm tofu, safflower oil, vegetable broth, cabbage, peanut sauce, grated ginger, broccoli, rice noodles, and cashews.  I love my wok which I’ve had for over thirty years.

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It started out like this.  I cubed the tofu and stir-fried in just a dab of oil and peanut sauce.  I emptied the remainder of two jars, one from Whole Foods, their brand, and another which is actually a peanut dressing from Trader Joe’s.  I would go with the latter.  It adds more zest.  I grated a bit of ginger over that and added the rest of the ingredients.

 

For the final touch I served over Annie Chun’s Rice Noodles which takes about 3 minutes to make.

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