Chow Vegan

The winner of The Get Healthy, Go Vegan Cookbook is number 26.

Congratulations IslandChica! Please email me with your mailing address and I’ll send out the cookbook to you.

Thanks everyone for playing! More fun stuff coming up soon.

For awhile now, I’ve been hearing about Ike’s Place this and Ike’s Place that. Basically, how wonderful it is, from the delicious sandwiches to the super nice employees. I’ve always wanted to eat there but never seem to find the time to make it into San Francisco. Little did I know there was an Ike’s location right around the corner from me.

It’s literally located in a business park office building in Redwood Shores. If you drove by, you would never know such culinary delights existed within. There’s no sign on the outside, just a plain, ordinary office placard outside the hallway door.

But step inside and you’re greeted with a menu divided by meat, vegetarian and vegan. That’s a whole section devoted to just vegan sandwiches!

(At this location, they now only take phone orders, no more walk-ins due to fire and safety codes. That’s actually better, no more waiting around in the hallway.)

After much study, I went with the Meatless Mike – vegan meatballs, marinara, and soy mozzarella on freshly baked sourdough bread (pictured at the top). It’s served hot and with dirty sauce – Ike’s own garlic aioli sauce with herbs and spices that’s baked right into the bread.

It’s so incredibly good. And so flavorful, everything blends together so well. The bread is deliciously crisp without ripping apart the roof of my mouth. They actually finish baking the bread when you order the sandwich.

I’ve also tried the Vegan Backstabber – vegan turkey, marinated artichoke hearts, garlic and herb sauce and soy cheese. Also very good but I liked the meatball sandwich better.

Normally I’m not a big sandwich eater but I could go for an Ike’s sandwich anytime. With such an extensive and creative menu, I could eat a different one every day for three weeks and still not eat the same sandwich twice.

The Get Healthy, Go Vegan Cookbook Giveaway
Don’t forget tomorrow is the last day to enter the giveaway.

After pigging out on donuts, I’m getting back on track with The Get Healthy, Go Vegan Cookbook by Dr. Neal Barnard and Robyn Webb. It’s the latest cookbook I’ve received for review from the publisher.

The first part of the book covers how a plant-based diet can improve your health and the science behind it. There’s also a section of inspiring stories of people reaping the many benefits of a vegan diet including weight loss, reversing diabetes and lowering cholesterol and high blood pressure.

The second part is a collection of simple, low-fat recipes and menu ideas using easy to find ingredients at the local run-of-the-mill supermarket.

I really like breakfast potatoes. So imagine my delight to see a recipe for Sweet Potato Hash with Peppers. But since I have a deep aversion to bell peppers, I replaced them with fresh shiitake mushrooms.

I also threw in fresh chopped parsley at the last minute. Quite tasty and so colorful, it’s a nice change from regular white potatoes (nutritional information is also provided with all of the recipes).

To get you started on healthier eating or back on track, whatever the case may be, I’m giving away a copy of The Get Healthy, Go Vegan Cookbook.

To enter, complete the following:

1. Subscribe to chowvegan.com via RSS reader or email.

2. Leave a comment in this post with your favorite breakfast food. It doesn’t have to be something healthy. Comment must be made by midnight PST on Tuesday, July 27th; one entry per person. Giveaway is open to US mailing addresses only.

One winner will be randomly selected from the comments received and announced on Wednesday, July 28th.

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon links, I get a few coins tossed my way if you click on any of the links and make a purchase of anything.

The cookbook I’m giving away is the copy I received from the publisher. I did not get any food on it.

I never knew Whole Foods had vegan donuts. I spotted them the other day in the display case over at the baked goods section. I haven’t had a donut in years.

I debated whether or not I should get one. I went to the gym earlier in the morning, so I could have one. Or two. Right?

Posh Bakery supplies the donuts to Whole Foods in the Bay Area. All-natural, they’re the cake kind with icing on top. There’s quite a few flavors to select from, I went nostalgic and got the Maple and Chocolate ones.

They’re actually pretty good, taste is just like a regular donut, slightly greasy and all. They seem fresh and they’re the right size, about three inches in diameter. Not too big and not too small.

Seeing as I won’t be making my own anything soon, it’s a totally affordable treat at .99 each.

I got rid of a few pounds of fat, easily and painlessly, and without breaking a sweat. It didn’t even cost me a dime. I just searched the kitchen cupboards for any unwanted fat and traded it in for less fatty foods.

Last month, Galaxy Granola kicked off their first ever Fat Swap at the Palo Alto Whole Foods. “Fruit not fat” is their motto and they’re aiming to lose 10,000 pounds of fat in 90 days.

While there, I also tried a sample of the Galaxy Granola, it’s baked with fruit instead of oil. It’s good and has less fat than other granolas, but only the Not Sweet Vanilla is vegan. All their other flavors have honey in them.

The next fat swap is this Saturday, July 10th at the Cupertino Whole Foods. But you don’t live in the Bay Area?

You can still participate, just pack up your fatty food and mail in the box. They’ll send you back an equal weight of healthy alternatives, ie, send in a bottle of oil and get apple sauce back to use in baking.

Seems like a great deal to me if you got any high fat food lying around. For some reason, I didn’t have that much (probably because I ate it already). Check out their website for the all details, rules and deadline.