Ubon Thai Cuisine - Late Mother's Day Celebration

View from the patio seating at Ubon

Tuesday night my brother and I took my mother for dinner at Ubon Jeenwong's Thai Cuisine for a late Mother's Day dinner (both my mom and brother were working Mother's Day).  I really didn't know what to expect.  I hadn't heard much about Ubon.  We were just looking to try some place new.  Turns out Ubon was an excellent choice.  It's located right on the Wilmington Riverfront in the Shipyard Shops.  They have outdoor seating which looks right out onto the river.  We chose to sit outside and it was a great evening for it.  I let the waiter know about my allergies and that I was vegan right away.  He was really helpful.  In all honesty there really weren't too many options on the menu for me.  I could only have the curry options but they did offer 4 different kinds of curry so at least I had a few choices to work with.  I chose Kaeng Khiao Wan which is a green curry.  They have a heat scale of 1 to 5.  1 being mild and 5 using ghost peppers which from what I understand are insanely hot.  I went with a heat level of 3.  I also asked for extra vegetables since Tofu isn't an option for me.  My brother went with the curry dish, Massaman, which is a curry with peanuts and lemongrass at a heat level of 3.  My mom decided on a noodle dish, Kwitel Pad Khi Mao.  It served with wide rice noodles with basil, thai herbs and seasonings.  I thought this dish sounded delicious and would have been my first pick but it turns out that their base sauce contains soy.  My mom is a little bit of a lightweight when it comes to heat but still braved a level 2.  I can say that all of us enjoyed are meals.  The heat level was just right, the spices completed it well.  The portions were a good size.  I managed to eat most of my dish.  The server took the time to make sure we were all doing okay and when my mom informed him she was struggling a bit with the heat, he suggested some raspberry tea to help soothe the heat.  She took the offer and it really helped.  I have to say this is one the best experiences I've had since I've found out about my allergies and made the switch to being vegan.  They really tried to accommodate me as much as they could.  They even made sure to prepare my food on different surface then everyone else's meal so there was no cross-contamination.  I have never had any restaurant even offer to do this before.  So with that said, I will definitely be going back there for the excellent service and really tasty meal.

This is what a vegan with allergies eats at a Thai restaurant. Yummy!

Sunday Chili

It appears we have a Sunday ritual.  Every Sunday we make a large pot of chili.  I think we finally perfected it this weekend.  It had just the right amount of heat, was pretty thick and had a great flavor.  Chili is really easy to make since you can just throw all the ingredients into a slow cooker and leave it cooking for 4 to 6 hours, leaving us plenty of time to enjoy the day.  The part that takes the longest is chopping all the peppers but my boyfriend seems to enjoy that so I let him take care of that part.  The best part about making chili on Sunday is there is always leftovers for the week. 

Here's what we do:

Ingredients
1 lb 13 oz can Black Beans
1 lb 13 oz can Red Beans
13 oz can White Beans
2 cups soaked Lentils
(2) 6 oz cans tomato paste
1 lb 12 oz can diced tomato
1/4 cup sundried tomato chopped
2 cups vegetable broth
1/3 cup cooking red wine
1 orange pepper chopped
1 red pepper chopped
2 jalapeños chopped
1 serrano pepper chopped
2 long red chili peppers chopped
1 medium yellow onion chopped
1/2 cup chipotle in adobo sauce (chop peppers)
2 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp crushed red pepper
1 tbsp salt

Put all ingredients into slow cooker.  We generally taste it as we are cooking and adjust seasoning as we feel necessary.  Cook on low for 6 hours, stir occasionally.  Serve and enjoy!  It's as easy as that. 

Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge

Over the weekend my boyfriend and I went to Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge.  We spent about 4 hours hiking and driving through the refuge.  It was the perfect day for it.  75 degrees and sunny.  There were many different kinds of birds to be seen.  I'm not great at identifying them but we did see blue herons, egrets and red winged blackbirds. We saw a frog and 2 snakes.  I'm pretty sure the snake wasn't happy about our presence.  It was hissing and rattling its tail so we snapped a few pictures and got away from it.  I was hoping to see turtles or foxes but I guess we made too much noise and scared them off.  We came close to an encounter with a fox.  We heard it rustling around in the bushes and saw a flash of color and then nothing.  It realized there were people around and stopped moving or found a good hiding place.  Maybe next time I'll get to see them.

The frog we found along our path.

The snake that didn't want to play nice.

A random lighthouse we passed on our scenic drive home.

After we left the park we were pretty hungry so we went home and made lunch.  We didn't have many supplies around so I did my best with what we had and actually came up with a pretty good recipe.  I made pasta with a cheesy garlic sauce.  Below is the recipe. 

Pasta and Broccoli with Cheesy Garlic Sauce

Ingredients:
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp Nutritional Yeast (Nooch)
1 tsp Crushed Red Pepper
2 tsp Salt
16 oz Bag of Frozen Broccoli
1/2 Bag Brown Rice Fusilli

Start by boiling water for the pasta, once the water is boiling throw in pasta.  Bring water to a boil again and then turn down the heat to a low setting.  Simmer until the pasta is tender.  While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a large pan.  Once oil is warm, toss in garlic on a low heat and let garlic cook for about 2 minutes. Next add the nutritional yeast, crushed red pepper, salt and broccoli to the pan.  Cook for about 5 minutes stirring occasionally.  When the broccoli is tender and the pasta is ready toss it all together, mix and serve.

This is a super easy, quick meal that takes very few ingredients.  All the items are things I keep stocked in my pantry daily. 

Avengers Assemble!

I don't think I've mentioned this yet but I read comic books.  Mainly DC titles but I've always loved all the Marvel characters as well.  So whenever a new movie comes out featuring these characters I get a little excited.  Actually giddy is probably a more accurate word for it.  Needless to say when I saw the trailer for the Avengers I was ready to run to the theater that day.  Last night I got to see it after listening to a weeks worth of hype from everyone else.  All the reviews were so positive I've was slightly nervous I'd be let down.  I can tell you this movie does not disappoint.  Joss Whedon did such a fabulous job bringing all the characters together.  The interaction between the Avengers is hilarious. The one thing I was worried about was the choice not to bring back Edward Norton as the Hulk. It turns out I had nothing to be worried about.  Mark Ruffalo actually felt more like Bruce Banner/Hulk than any other actor in recent years.  He made Banner look uncomfortable and awkward in his own skin which is how I would imagine him.  Hulk also has some of the most memorable lines in the movie.  I highly recommend checking this movie out if you are into comics or action movies.  You will not be disappointed.  I'm ready to see it again!

RIP MCA

Well, now after I post how excited I am about this summer, I hear some very sad news.  MCA from the Beastie Boys passed today.  I grew up listening to them.  I would listen to Paul's Boutique on repeat.  I remember being around 15 years old and driving around with my boyfriend at the time.  He had this station wagon that he had filled with woofers, amps and speakers and whatever else boys load their cars with to make them shake the ground, rattle their cars and set off other car alarms.  We used to drive around bumping Licensed To Ill and specifically Brass Monkey.  Brass Monkey could shake the world like no other song could in that car.  It was such a bass heavy song.  The song would just reverberate through you.  It was very cool thing to actually feel the song and not just hear it.  To this day I can't listen to that song without thinking of that car.  And now I'm going to be slightly sad when I hear to know that there won't be anything new from him to blow my mind.  RIP MCA.  You will be missed.

Summer Festival Season Begins

Tomorrow is the start of the summer festival season for me and my friends.  We will be going to Ram Jam which is a day long music festival ending with a bonfire and camping.  It's all musicians from the Wilmington area.  I'm really looking forward to it.  It will be my first time camping since last summer.  I missed sleeping in the fresh air and waking to the sounds of the creatures around.  I'm also going to make a bunch of vegan treats to take with us and share with our crew.  Maybe I can convert someone. Wishful thinking, I know, but I can't help myself. 

Let's see, what other fun things do I have planned for the summer?  Quite a few Phish shows, All-Good, Veg-Fest, Bellefonte Arts Festival, Shady Grove Music Festival, hopefully some beach trips, camping and hiking, a possible DSO and Keller Williams show.  My plan is to write about most of these events (as long as I make it to them), my experiences at them, getting to them, finding food, and any challenges I run into.  Needless to say I have a pretty full summer to be followed with entering into the Health Coach Training Program at Institute for Integrative Nutrition.  I will be enrolling in the program in September.  I am extremely excited about this but slightly scared to be starting something new.  Mostly I'm just looking forward to learning how to care for myself better and maybe passing that information on to you.  Hopefully you'll stick around for the summer and read about my travels.  I'll try to give some pointers about to prepare food for traveling, find food at festivals and on the road and how to care for your body while still having a good time.