For part one of our trip March 2014 to Las Vegas - see here
To see the recap of our trip to Las Vegas June 2013 - see here

After we had Lakeside for dinner our first night, we had high expectations for the rest of the places we set out to try.

Wandering the streets and gambling a bit was a fun way to spend the day - and we actually did well this time money-wise! We're probably the cheapest gamblers you'll meet - I usually walk away when I lose $10...but this time we both were pretty lucky - and Jason did really great before I even got there! Must've been making up for previous trips... :)

All that wandering we stumbled upon an amazing vegan-friendly ice cream shop! This was called Ice Pan and was located upstairs in Harrah's.




Quite a cool concept - you choose what flavor you'd like your ice cream to be, choose your milk (of course, I chose soy), and choose your toppings. The employees were so fun and friendly and really knew what different vegan options I could do and made their own suggestions.


For dinner on our last night, we set out to Slice of Vegas Pizza located in Mandalay Bay.



Although who knows when we will be back to Vegas this time..we both had a blast and definitely preferred the 80 degree weather in March over the 112 in June!

So we went to Las Vegas back in June 2013 to celebrate my husband's 30th bday...we both had a fabulous time but left thinking we were glad to go, but would be okay if we never had the opportunity to go back since there are so many places we want to travel to! Don't get me wrong - Vegas is a fantastic city with plenty to do and see (and vegan friendly!), but I guess since we went when it was 112 degrees we mostly saw the inside of casinos since walking around would get quite exhausting in the heat.

Fast forward to last weekend - Jason had the opportunity to go to Vegas for a business conference - and I was more than excited to jump on board to accompany him mid-way through the week! He left on Sunday - I met him there Wednesday evening and we spent the rest of the week/weekend relaxing and enjoying the beautiful 85 degree Vegas..ahh much better!

It was really fun to be back so soon and feel familiar with the area and where we liked the previous time we had gone. We didn't feel like such newbies this time around!

Onto the food..since Vegas is SO vegan friendly, I was excited to try out some new places and revisit some of the places we went to during out first trip.

Steven Wynn - the owner of the Wynn and Encore and many other casinos in Vegas went vegan a few years ago and thus added a vegan menu to every restaurant in his hotels! Last time we tried Sinatra which was Italian based food and amazing, so this time we made a reservation for Lakeside (a seafood based restaurant) located in the Wynn casino.


Growing up I remember many a night eating creamy Campbell's New England clam chowder as a child. Although not the most gourmet meal, this meal reminds me of the comfort of home and I was excited to see it as a vegan option at Lakeside! However - due to my high dislike of mushrooms - I asked the server if it was too mushroomy for my taste - and he concluded that it was very mushroom-filled. I knew I would not feel the same comfort from the can that I remembered as a child, so unfortunately I did opt out of that. But for mushroom lovers - do try it! I've heard good things..

As Sinatra started with a bread basket and vegan butter, so did Lakeside. This is fabulous for vegans that usually feel left out of the typical bread & butter basket.

To start, we split the Truffle Arancini with roasted garlic aioli.


These were cute little balls of risotto goodness with a magical vegan garlic sauce. We definitely loved these! Great way to start the meal.

For my entree - I was back and forth between a few dishes - wanting a good mix of veggies with whatever protein. I ended up choosing the Walnut Crusted Gardein Chicken Breast (can they really call it this??) with red pepper coulis and balsamic sherry reduction - and ordered a side of their Grilled Green Asparagus to split with Jason - because I had a fear of not having enough vegetables (vegan problems...).



Somehow even their asparagus was out of this world amazing. No doubt about it - Wynn restaurants are 100% gourmet delicious Vegan food that both omnivores and vegans can enjoy in harmony. So zen..

And as much as Jason had to twist my arm to get dessert (I am a sweet tooth lady and never say no to vegan dessert...) we tried the vegan Carrot Cake option to end the meal with. It was a small piece that was perfect to split and end with - absolutely delicious!

                           



I have two other amazing "Las Vegan" reviews - but I shall save them for the next post to prevent it from being too filled up. But get excited for ice cream made in your face and vegan pizza! :)

For Valentine's day Jason & I stayed Saturday night in Philadelphia to have a close-by getaway.
The weather was not too cooperative, and it was freezing and snowing/raining during the day of walking around the city, but despite that we had a great time.

To keep out of the cold, we went to the Franklin Institute - which I had never been to before. It was really interesting and made me excited for potential future field trips when I become a teacher!

For dinner, we went to Farmicia. We had been there about a year or so ago while in the city for brunch - which did not disappoint! After reviewing their dinner menu online, I knew it was a great place to try for dinner as well.


 As you can see the bottom of the menu has the vegan friendly options. It was tough to pick between the choices, but since  I had already looked online earlier - I knew what I was most likely going to get.








FARMiCiA Restaurant
15 S 3rd Street
Philadelphia, PA

Catching up on posts I've been meaning to post is one from our trip to NYC in December. We went a few weeks before Christmas to enjoy the lights and atmosphere of the city during the holidays. Jason & I have been to NYC many times, and I've done numerous posts of all the fabulous places we've been. New York is really a special place for us and the first place we ever traveled together to! We have many favorites and spots that we usually flock to, however each time we go we still try to visit somewhere new.

For new as far as museums go, we finally visited the Moma - museum of modern art. I've been wanting to visit this museum for years but the price just seemed too outrageous since there were so many other free museums to see in the city. However, Bank of America card holders are able to visit museums in many cities in the US for free the first weekend of each month - which included the MoMa when we were visiting! I was beyond excited. The art was fun to walk around and see and we spent a couple of hours wandering the many floors of the museum.

For dinner, we tried Johns on 12th. We had passed this restaurant during one of our previous trips and saw it was an Italian restaurant featuring an entire vegan menu. Jason loves Italian and I love vegan food, so we knew we had to try it!

The outside looks pretty small, as is the inside, and you definitely need a reservation - but it is all well worth it! Even with our reservation and arriving 15 minutes early, we were told to stand at the bar area until our table was ready. It was jam packed, which I took it as it must be good. We saw that Guy Fieri had visited and left his mark on the ceiling there as well. We were excited to finally be sat and look over the menu.

This was the vegan menu - so many options!

For an appetizer to share we chose the vegan Bruschetta - which was garlic-grilled bread with avocado, basil, and tomatoes. This was absolutely amazing - I'd go back just to eat this again. This can be super easy to recreate at home, which I have yet to do, but definitely see happening soon!

For my entrée - I chose the Seitan alla Rosa - with artichokes, fire-roasted peppers, in marsala wine mushroom sauce. I'm not a fan of mushrooms, at all, but I really wanted to try their seitan and the veggies that came with it sounded great. This dish did not disappoint - I loved everything even the sauce. However, I was so curious about the vegan alfredo sauce on the menu. I didn't want an entire meal of it - but wanted to give it a try. I asked our waiter if there was any way I could have a small side of it to add with my dish - and they did not disappoint!

I could have eaten this with a spoon. This was absolutely delicious, and way more than I expected! The wait staff at Johns were absolutely great and I loved our entire experience. We wanted to try their vegan cannnolis after - however we were both too full to have dessert. This will definitely be on our list to try next time!
Although we have many more places in NYC to try each time we visit, I know Johns of 12th Street will make it on our go-to list!

Johns of 12th Street
302 East 12th Street
NYC 10003

So I've neglected this blog too much, and I would like to start the new year off on the right foot by getting back in the swing of it. Not only do I love reading other blogs (I still read my faves everyday though don't post my own...) but I love having Vegan Gal as my home for everything I've done vegan and sometimes not vegan-related since way back when.

Although 2013 has been an amazing vegan-filled year, there is one trip that I have been wanting to post the most. Jason & I celebrated his 30th birthday in Las Vegas in June and we had a complete blast. Not only with all of the fun lights, atmosphere, and being cheap gamblers, but all of the fantastic vegan food!

We stayed at the Stratosphere - which was a bit far down the strip but had the best views! Here is a view from the top which we had access to since we were staying there:

We had no complaints at all about staying at the Stratosphere - we spent a couple days in the afternoon lounging around the pool, which wasn't too crazy-crowded. The rooms were comfortable, and they had a Starbucks and a Deal or no Deal game there! It was a good bit to walk to the other casinos, which we did sometimes when it wasn't too hot in the evenings (during the day it reached 112 degrees!) but the bus pass was super cheap and very easy to use!

We arrived in Vegas on Jason's birthday, and I made a reservation at the Wynn's Sinatra restaurant that evening. The owner of Wynne and Encore has vegan menus in all of his restaurants, so this made it super easy to find something delicious to eat.

The menu had many options to choose from..but I wanted to go with something that we didn't typically make at home.

I was excited that the waiter let us know the breads that were vegan and came with a separate vegan butter!
I started with a vegan caesar salad - I miss caesar salad a lot so this was a great treat.

For my entree I chose the Agnolotti - pretty much ravioli with an amazing pesto sauce.. so good! We were actually too full for dessert that night...but we made up for it the next morning :)

No trip to Las Vegas is complete without a stop at Ronald's Donuts. I had read reviews of this place online and knew that we had to make a stop. Boston Creme donuts were my absolute favorite prior to being vegan, and I remember eating them with my family from Dunkin Donuts when my grandparents would visit. Vegan Treats, about an hour away from us in PA has them, but that isn't always convenient so I was excited to make donuts a part of our trip!

We had to take a cab from our hotel to get there, since it is in the Vegas "Chinatown" but it was well worth the trek!


Donuts! It was tough to make a decision.. we both ended up with bostom crème donuts and split an apple fritter.


Just look at that crème!! I've been dreaming of going back for this :)
Another night we made a long walk to Bar + Bistro @ The Arts Factory (in a pretty sketchy area off the strip - I HIGHLY recommend not doing this and getting a cab instead..we didn't feel too safe). This place was vegan friendly and had a great relaxed atmosphere, as opposed to the restaurants on the strip.
The menu had many things to choose from, and we chose a few of the tapas to split so we could try a bunch!

These were the Grilled Vegan Tacos. The sauces and condiments that came with them were great and all tasted wonderful together!

These are the Vegan Tempura Alcachofa - which was artichoke hearts fried tempura style with a sweet chili sauce. I have a hit or miss relationship with artichokes and their hearts..but this was a hit! I really enjoyed these and the crispy-ness was perfect. :)

Although we have an awesome vegan cheese pizza place near us in PA, The crispy crust and gooey vegan cheese pizza was just calling my name here! This is the Vegan Margherita pizza - which had tomato, vegan mozzarella (I think it was Daiya) and Thai basil. So delish!
I would absolutely go back to Bar + Bistro for some vegan small plates- they had so many more options I would love to try! Definitely make the trek out there, but take a cab if you're not near Fremont street! :)
For our last dinner in Vegas, we found another restaurant off the strip (but took a cab this time!) - Komol, which is a vegetarian Thai restaurant.


We started with the Fresh Spring Rolls with Soy Chicken & Vegetables - these were very light and fresh! We really enjoyed the sauce that came with them as well.

For my entrée - I had the Sweet and Sour Tofu Chinese Style - which had fried tofu with sweet and sour sauce, onion, bell pepper, and pineapple! Jason went for the curry menu and ordered Vegetarian Panang. Both of our entrees were great and we'd definitely go back again when in Vegas!

I liked all of the vegan friendly articles and posters around the restaurant as well!
We had a blast going from casino to casino and taking in all of the views and different areas. My favorite may have been the Cosmopolitan - just for the name and the beauty of the décor! Here is a photo of me in front of the awesome chandelier bar! On our final day, we had a 2:30PM flight - so I made a reservation at another Wynne restaurant for brunch at 11:30 before we made our way to the airport- Tableau.


The menu looked great - we started with some mimosas while looking over the menu. Eggs benedict was something I've never actually tried - so I was excited to try a vegan version!

These were amazing! English muffins topped with vegan sausage and tofu scramble with a vegan benedict sauce. I want to recreate this at home - so good!!
We both had an amazing few days in Vegas - and luckily we may be going back due to a work trip Jason has in March...I have my fingers crossed!!

For Jason & I's 1st anniversary trip, we went to San diego, California. I had never been to California before so I was quite excited! We stayed right on the bay at the Marriot, which was such a beautiful hotel. We had a bay view room with a balcony and the view was simply breathtaking.

The entire trip was wonderful, and included a lot of great vegan friendly establishments!
My favorite was probably Rancho's We went there for brunch our first morning there. We had our ford mustang convertible and drove on over for some food before heading up the coast.
It may have been my favorite mostly because it was only 9 am and it was acceptable to eat chips and salsa.




They had a ton of vegan options as well as meat-eater options so it was a great pick for the both of us.
I ended up choosing the vegan chorizo scrambled tofu plate.

The outdoor seating was super cute as well. We really enjoyed our stay at this restaurant!

After leaving Rancho's, we had plans to drive up the coast and cruise on over to LA. We changed our plans and ended up in Disneyland in Anaheim instead! We had been to disney world twice together, so it was fun to see the differences that disneyland had compared to disney world in orlando. My only dissapointment - the castle was WAY smaller..ahh well. still a great park though!
We tried to get easy/quick breakfasts the other days since we had a lot of plans and things to do during the day. One of my favorites, which I noticed was popular at a lot of coffee shops was the "Acai Bowl". I had one from Lion's coffee one morning.


It was absolutely delicious and was a great way to wake up! Their coffee was delicious, offered soy milk for me, and the acai bowl was delicious. It was basically a frozen/sorbet version of blended acai berries, topped with bananas, strawberries, and vegan granola. Many other coffee shops around San Diego offered a similar bowl as well. I haven't seen these around Philadelphia/suburbs so it was nice to see it so popular!
One of our favorite meals while in San Diego was an ethiopian dinner. We have only had ethiopian once before in washington DC, so we were excited to try it out on our trip to california!
There were a few options, but we decided upon Muzita Bistro

They had a very cute cozy atmosphere and a bunch of vegetarian/vegan options!

Our plate..love injera! Ethiopian food is such a unique cuisine that we both really enjoy!
After dinner that night, it was still pretty early (even for us!) and we stopped by The Yard House for a drink to end our evening. Not only did they have a TON of beers on draft (Jason was excited) but they had a whole menu section of Gardein options! (my excitement..wish we weren't so full so we could have tried it!)

So cool! Next time we visit, definitely have to go there for dinner. it's been so exciting seing Gardein popping up all over the place. the other day in the grocery store I saw that Lean Cuisine is offering Vegetarian frozen meals using gardein. what a great way to get vegan "meat" in the hands of people that probably would not try it otherwise!
Regardless, we had a wonderful time in San diego and I truly cannot wait to visit again. We went to the San Diego Zoo, Cornada and went to open houses!, Seaport Village, and enjoyed our time walking around downtown. We both can't believe it's already been a year since the best day of our lives, but here is to many more years!