Thanh Restaurant - Irvine, CA : Bun (Dry Vermicelli Noodle)

Usually before we try a place out, we go to Yelp and check out what people think about it. For this place, we just saw it across the parking lot from the Armstrong Garden Center and just decided to walk in. They said they can substitute items with tofu when making their dishes so that it can be vegetarian. Cool!

Dry Vermicelli Noodle (Bun) w/Tofu

The waitress suggested this dish was good for vegetarians. I think it's just Bun on the menu and then add tofu as your choice. This dish has vermicelli noodles, lettuce, cucumbers, crushed peanuts, onions, carrots, bean sprouts, and tofu with a side of soy sauce instead of fish sauce.

After you mix everything together, you get what is pictured above. So I have never had this before but it was really good. Because it's not stir-fried, it's not too oily and greasy. (I think the tofu is fried tofu.) It tasted light and seems like a good dish for the summertime since everything is cool. The veggies looked and tasted fresh. Glad we came in here...what a nice surprise. They do have another location (original one) in Westminster.

Thanh Restaurant
http://www.thanhrestaurant.com/
Location this was consumed:
15315 Culver Drive, Suite 140
Irvine, CA 92604
(949) 559-7788

Lollicup Boba Milk Tea

Sometimes I get a hankering for some boba milk tea. There are several to choose from down here in Orange County, but I usually like Lollicup because it's pretty consistent and there are several locations throughout Southern California.

Lollicup Large Boba Milk Tea

If you are a tea person then it's pretty hard to taste it in these drinks...but I like Lollicup because the flavor isn't bad and the boba is pretty chewy. Some might say it's a little milky or creamier than there is tea flavor...I think it all depends on your preferences. Lollicup is pretty dependable in its flavor not varying too much in each store. You can also ask for more/less ice or more/less sugar I believe. I've only done less/no ice, not less sugar. Apparently if you're new to boba, you have to be careful when drinking as you can suck up and swallow some of those big chewy balls. Hopefully you don't choke on it. After some time though you will get used to it and be drinking and chewing like a pro.

Lollicup
http://www.lollicup.com/

Gardening Woes

Something's been eating my organic leafy veggies. I couldn't see what it was at first but eventually found this little wormy thing eating my basil buds. Can you see it? It's on the stem and is what looks like a green worm.

As a new gardener this is my first time encountering these. I looked online and there are basically these moths that lay larvae on your soil and then these little critters come out to eat your greens.

 

Generally they're called cabbage worms, (I think these are cabbage loopers) but they don't just eat your cabbage and broccoli. No...they eat all your leafy greens and basil too! The above picture are my mesclun lettuce. The tiny holes in the leaves are the job of small cabbage worms. They're hard to find when they're that small. Apparently they consume your leaves in a voracious manner because in a few days, I pretty much had no whole leaves to eat...and found some pretty fat worms. Dangnamit!

Now these big suckers eat pretty much the whole leaf and are easy to find! Look how skinny that leaf the worm is attached to is compared to the other leaves. I pulled that leaf right out and tossed it in the bushes away from the home (while wearing gloves of course). There are also some black dots along the leaf...yeah that's the worm's poop. The bigger the poop, the bigger the worm. It's like one day you look outside and there's tons of big black dots in your leaves (not pictured). At first I thought it was some kind tiny egg...but nope...it's just poop.

So that's my problem so far...that and lack of sun which I can't help due to the location for now.

Mitsuwa Marketplace - Costa Mesa, CA - Sky Express

It seems to defeat the purpose to go to Mitsuwa...known for Japanese items and food...and have Chinese food. But as a vegetarian...there really are no good options at the food court. You can go into the market and buy their prepackaged sushi (there are some vegetarian ones)....or you can go to Sky Express and have some Soy Sauce Noodles.

Soy Sauce Noodles from Sky Express in Mitsuwa

It's a very simple dish containing mostly thin egg noodles, bean sprouts, carrots, green onions, onions, and some cabbage.  While it's okay to eat once in a while...it's food court Chinese food so...not the best...but not the worst. Just as you'd expect for food court food.

Sky Express Soy Sauce Noodles, Egg Drop Soup, and Boba Milk Tea

It also comes with soup (egg drop) and I also got a boba milk tea. I'm not too sure what the broth is in the soup, but it didn't taste "meaty" so I drank it. Usually if there's a strong scent I do not drink it...but egg drop soup is usually "scentless" to me. Yes sometimes it is difficult to find food and you just go with your nose and tastes. I usually just ask if there's any meat in it. If they say no then I try it and when I can taste something funny, I spit it out. If I find out later that I ate something with meat juice in it, then I just won't get it again...but it's not like I intended to eat the contaminated food, so why worry so much? Simple as that. Now if someone (say a friend) intentionally lied to you to get you to eat something with meat in it...well they wouldn't be very good friends now would they? ;-)

Mitsuwa Marketplace
http://www.mitsuwa.com/tenant/eindex.html
Costa Mesa Store
665 Paularino Ave.
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
714-557-6699
Food places open daily from 11AM - 7:30PM

Loving Hut - Orange, CA : Pho

As a vegetarian I have never tried pho because its broth is meat based. So for the first time at Loving Hut, I was able to try pho. There are a chain of these vegan restaurants across the US and each location's menu is different. There's a combination of Asian and American items on the menu so there's plenty of choices for everyone.

Loving Hut Vegan Pho

This soup noodle consists of rice noodles, soy ham, mushrooms, onions, scallions and wood ear (and if there's anything else in the soup I don't remember) with a side of bean sprouts and basil. To be honest, the aroma from the soup was something I hadn't smelled before and it was different for me. But after a few bites, it seems like my taste buds adjusted and everything was gelling together. Since I've never had any other version I don't know if this is "supposed" to be what it tastes like...but for me it was pretty good. No strong flavors...everything blended nicely. There was so much noodles though...I couldn't finish it all. Note to self: the rice noodles start dissolving in the soup after a while and it becomes cloudier later on...so eat ASAP.

Loving Hut Orange
http://lovinghut.us/orange/
237 S. Tustin Street
Orange, CA 92866
(714)464-0544
Mon-Thurs 11AM - 3PM, 5PM - 8:30PM (Closed from 3PM - 5PM)
Fri - Sat 11AM - 8:30PM
Closed Sundays

Cream Pan - Tustin, CA : Pastries

This is my new indulgence. Everything I've tried so far is good. In and effort to eat healthier I've minimized my white flour consumption to pizza, sourdough bread....the occasional eating out when there's no whole wheat/non-white option such as baked goods (I usually try to make a whole wheat version at home instead). But this place has me coming back for more...I can't help myself!!! They have breads, cookies, and all sorts of baked goodies. They also make good sandwiches too...but I've only got a few sweets in this post. I haven't tried their cookies either...but I did get their whole wheat bread and it is light and fluffy and delicious. It does make me wonder if it's part whole wheat and part bread flour...but they labeled it as whole wheat....so I don't know...but it sure tastes good. That's what I used to make the french toast.

Strawberry Banana Croissant

First thing I tried was the Strawberry Banana Croissant. I like it's long shape because there is a flaky crispy edge in every bite...unless you take really small bites. There is a thin layer of chocolate below the bananas though...so for those that don't like chocolate...be forewarned. It's strawberries on top of bananas on top of their cream (excellent) over a thin layer of chocolate on their flaky crispy croissant bread. You can see the flaky layers really well in this picture. So so good!

Blueberry Danish

I only had a bite of this, but it was also delicious. I think their cream really does make all their dishes so yummy. Hence the name Cream Pan huh? The cream is not overly sweet, overly creamy....they got it just right. You can see the flaky layers in this picture too.

Strawberry Croissant

One of their signature dishes is their Strawberry Croissant. They have the mini ones and regular sized ones. I'm liking the mini ones because there are more crispy edges in proportion to the amount of bites you have to take to eat it...or so it seems. This one is obviously very yummy too! We just grab a box of these now whenever we stop by. =)

Cream Pan
602 El Camino Real
Tustin, CA 92780
(714) 665-8239
Closed on Mondays
Tues - Sun 7AM - 4PM

Homemade French Toast

Got some whole wheat bread that I thought would turn out good as french toast...so I gave it a try. We like Alton Brown's French Toast Recipe. It may have some additional steps such as heating it in the oven after you cook it...but it cooks all the way through and is not soggy or dough-y this way. Way better than some restaurant french toast we've had...because we don't like soggy or dough-y. The Meat-eater likes this breakfast!

French Toast with MorningStar Farms Veggie Sausage Patties

I didn't have any half and half so I used what we had (soy milk) instead. The taste was still pretty good...maybe not as custard-like as if using half and half. Also the recipe calls for 1/2 inch thick bread...and these were 1 inch thick...so the bread to custard ratio was smaller...therefore tasting less custard-y. I ate mine without powdered sugar...but you can top it however you like. The Meat-eater also likes the MorningStar Farms Veggie Sausage Patties. I had another meat-eater friend say they liked these too. So maybe this can be a breakfast the vegetarian and meat-eater can eat together. =)

Green New American Vegetarian - Tempe, AZ : Tsoynami

It is getting warm here so I thought I'd post something that looks cooling. Ice-cream! This yummy dessert is from Green in Tempe, Arizona.

Tsoynami

This is a vegetarian restaurant with plenty of mock meat dishes, but something that is very tasty is their Tsoynami. It's soy milk ice-cream mixed with a flavor of your choice. The one pictures above is flavored like a Butterfinger, but they don't use actual Butterfingers...it's a substitute so that it's vegan. I don't know how they do it but the crunch is just like a Butterfinger. It's quite good! Kind of like a Dairy Queen Blizzard or Sonic Blast...but healthier. It's not as heavy as milk ice-cream...and it tastes sooo goood! There are many flavors to choose from. Highly recommended if you want a lighter alternative to regular ice-cream!!

Green New American Vegetarian
http://www.greenvegetarian.com/
2240 N. Scottsdale Road #8
Tempe, AZ 85281
(480) 941-9003