Can you have a lovely vegan experience on a Royal Caribbean cruise? Absolutely! We've done it several times. 2. Sign up for a specific dining time and stick to it. Things will go more smoothly if you sit at the same table with the same servers every evening. They will know what to do and you will save lots of time explaining things to multiple servers. 3. Tell your head waiter when you show up for dinner the first night. They will communicate to your server as necessary. 4. Be patient. Servers have to travel farther and stand in line for your special food, so enjoy the time with your companions. We bring small toys or art supplies to keep our kids busy. 5. Expect to preorder your food for the next evening. This makes life easier for the chefs. We were given a paper menu and were asked to circle our choices. Sometimes we got a surprise anyway, but generally they were very flexible. One time we wrote, "Tofu?" and it appeared the next night. 6. Ask kindly for what you'd like, such as for margarine and soy milk (they have it). Once the assistant server figures out what you prefer, it will magically appear every night thereafter. 7. Ask for dessert. They will rock it! 8. The Starbucks has soy milk for lattes. We get the nonalcoholic drink package and enjoy good coffee all week long! 9. If you don't know, ask a chef. I eyed the baked beans at breakfast in the Windjammer for days before I asked. Yep, vegan! 10. Tip well for good service. I don't just mean the required tips at the end of the cruise. Hand them some extra cash for their excellent work. Also, mention it in your survey after the trip. This helps them advance within the company. 11. If you're worried about it, bring your own snacks. But really, we only used these for excursions once or twice. We like to grab an extra box of dry cereal at breakfast to throw in a backpack for later. So we generally eat at the Windjammer buffet for breakfast and lunch. There is always salad at lunch, and oftentimes a spicy curry with rice, fresh vegetables, and always fruit. FYI, the pasta has eggs in it, so save that for a dinner request if you crave it. They will make you vegan pasta then, but it's a lot to ask at the buffet. Some items on the dinner menu were so good that we were questioning their vegan-ness! They had excellent soy meatballs and soy sweet and sour chicken. And these things were straight off the menu. Meatless meals are really getting more available! Check out this slideshow for a look at what we ate. If you have any questions or comments, just let us know! Bon voyage!
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First of all, a fond farewell to our beloved Banter Bistro. With a heavy sigh, we think about all of the vegan Frito pies we will not get to enjoy now that they have closed. The possible silver lining is this: 940's is set to open this summer. Check out the story here. Fingers crossed for some new vegan fare! In other news, Freebirds World Burrito is now offering tempeh. You read that right, tempeh! They mix it with squash and peppers and call it Calabacitas. And it's good. Check it out next time you're tired of tofu. For you ice cream lovers out there, check out the two new flavors at the bowllery. We tried them both and honestly can't be expected to pick a favorite. They're both divine!
Happy eating, Denton Vegans! On Valentine's Day, we attended the OUTReach Denton fundraiser at Banter. We had a great time eating awesome food and chatting with friends. But let me tell you, we had no idea what kind of treat we were going to get when dessert came. Look at this cake! It's a chocolate layer cake with a raspberry filling. And it tasted even better than it looked. So we had to know who made this! My husband went to ask while the kids and I tried to be polite and not lick our plates.
It turns out that local musician Bonnie Norris is the talent who created this magical cake. I contacted her to find out more about the vegan treats she offers. She kindly sent me this lovely flyer. So give her a call or an email sometime when you need some vegan baked goods in your life. Thanks, Bonnie! This is my dear friend, Christina. She has been such a trooper with the whole vegan lifestyle thing. You see, we weren't anywhere close to eating vegan when she and I met about ten years ago. The transition has been bumpy at times, but lucky for me she is willing to navigate this journey with us and support our choices. Her family isn't vegan, but they are definitely mindful about including lots of vegetarian and vegan meals in their daily lives. You don't have to be vegan to enjoy vegan foods, after all. So recently Christina was looking for a cooking class to broaden her menu options, but the one she saw didn't work with her schedule. We decided to cook a meal together, doubling the amounts, and I would show her some of my favorite recipes. Here's what we ended up with after about an hour and a half: black bean burgers, roasted cauliflower, and mac and cheese. (Seriously, click those recipe links. They are keepers!) We started after lunch and had dinner ready to reheat. This was a good thing, since we both had hectic evenings waiting for us. As you can see, I rounded out the meal with canned green beans. In exchange, Christina brought us an amazing white bean, veg sausage, and kale stew with homemade bread and a blueberry apple crisp for dessert a couple of days later. It was so lovely just heating up that meal. Whether you exchange food or cook it together, this is a great way to build community and share recipes with friends. I can't recommend it enough! Are you looking for something special to do this Valentine's Day in Denton? Look no further! Join us at the annual fundraiser for OUTreach Denton, an organization that supports the local LGBTQ community. We have a great time every year, and enjoy knowing that we are also helping a great group of people! Couples of all kinds are welcome! Vegan options! Just buy your tickets online and send an email with your specific food requests. See you there! ❤️ Purchase your tickets and get more details here: http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/1559739/3e13d5eba8/545847303/d0ea14badd/ My husband and I almost did a happy dance today at Rasoi. Look! Now we can use nice plates instead of styrofoam! Also new, you serve yourself buffet-style. This makes us so glad to be able to eat there in a more environmentally conscious way. Hooray! On our way to a Sundown Collaborative Theatre show, we stopped by to try the new and very chic West Oak Coffee Bar. Yes, they have nondairy espresso drinks that are very good. That was our reason for going. But imagine my surprise to see that they also had a vegan bean soup available that evening! With sweet potato chips!
This soup had a great flavor and just the right amount of spice. We were also informed that they had a vegan chia pudding, but we were too full to try it. Also available was a sweet little PB&J for the kids. Or for me, because I could eat one of those daily. The fast service and kind staff were greatly appreciated. Stop in sometime and give them a try! I'm a huge fan of the spicy sweet combination in this dish! First, start the rice in the rice cooker. For three cups of rice, mix: 1 can coconut milk 3 cups (provided with the rice cooker) dry long grain white rice Enough water to fill to the appropriate line and set to cook. For the Curried Cauliflower: Warm 1 T peanut oil in a large sautée pan over medium heat. Cook 1/2 cup diced onion and 2 cloves minced garlic until softened. Add 1/2 diced bell pepper, 2 roughly chopped tomatoes, and 1 head roughly chopped cauliflower. Add the spices: 1 T curry powder, 1 t. cinnamon, 1/4 t. cayenne (or more for added heat). Flip gently with a spatula until softened for a few minutes. As it cooks down, add 2/3 cup water, 1/4 cup raisins and 1 can of drained and rinsed garbanzo beans. Reduce heat to low and cook until warmed through. Serve over rice. Serves 4 and takes about 30 minutes. Enjoy! Hi, friends! It seems to me like it's time to add a new category to the blog: Lifestyle. Being vegan isn't just about amazing food - it's also about the way we live. So, it's high time you meet my beautiful friend and stylist, Barbara, who happens to be vegan. Barbara and I met a few years back and she's been creating amazing hair for me ever since. She is such a trooper when I throw hair curve balls at her (not literally, thank goodness!) and ask her to try something new with my look. While she's down with bold color, she can also do cuts for my husband and boys without batting an eye. It's not just about the talent, either. Barbara uses products that are not tested on animals and knows which are vegan. It makes sense that when given the choice, we support each other in this community. If you're looking for a stylist who shares your ethics, go see her at Hairwaves at Banging Hair Studio. View her work on Instagram @thebarbarashopdenton. And check out all of the fanciness she's done with my hair: Say, did you know that the Seven Mile Cafe in Highland Village has more menu options and longer hours? They serve dinner on Fridays and Saturdays.
Here's and example of a great vegan meal that is only offered at that location. This is the chipotle tofu bowl that comes with rice, black beans, seasoned tofu, avocado, poco de gallo (which I asked them to hold), and their chipotle sauce. Then, you can add up to three more items from the list. I added kale, tomatoes, and mushrooms. Look at this deliciousness! So next time you're just south of Denton give them a try. ** UPDATE ** I'm told by someone in the know that these bowls have been replaced by pizza. Have you tried the vegan pizza there? If so, let us know what you think! |
Author: tesaartist-vegan-family woman Archives
January 2023
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