A very vegan CA Christmas vacation

When I arrived, my mom had made me a vegan meal: marinara over whole-wheat spaghetti with garlic bread. I washed it down with home brew brown ale that my dad made. It was a very simple meal but super fresh and delicious.

At Christmas, I had Tofurkey peppered slices with mashed potatoes, a baked yam, stuffing that my mom made special in the crock-pot and gravy. I had picked up Dandies vegan marshmallows from Wheatsville before I left. I was going to make candied yams, but I ran out of time and just tossed them on top of the baked yams. Later, I made hot cocoa and added the marshmallows; I ate the rest right out of the bag. For dessert, I had vegan cookies by Eat Pastry. My SIL found pre-made vegan cookie dough in a jar at the Laguna Hills Mother's and cooked a bunch for me. They were so soft and chewy. I thought they could be a little sweeter but I loved them. I will have to check our local Whole Foods to see if they have the other flavors.

The next day we went to The Stand in Laguna Beach. I met an old friend from high school there that I reconnected with through Facebook. Afterwards we went to Whole Foods because I read that they had Go Max Go candy bars. I tried all four since they are not available in Texas yet (I called the company in Oregon and they told me that they will soon be selling them at the Whole Foods in Austin). Jokerz is my favorite, it was similar to a Snickers although the nougat is more sugary and less whipped. I wanted to get more but this unemployed girl has to have some control. Later that day we went to Del Taco (we ate there the next night as well) and got one red burrito, one green burrito with no cheese and french fries.

The next day for lunch we went to a pure vegan restaurant, Native Foods. I should have tried something new but I got what I always get. I got the Chicken Run Ranch burger special with a choice of a free side (I opted for the french fries, of course). I was very well fed on this trip, if Austin wasn't such a vegan friendly city it would be hard to come back but I have a lot of choices here as well.