Dang… that really hit my SECRET SPOT!!!

November 18, 2009 · Filed under Breakfast, Guava Restaurant Reviews, Recipes, Uncategorized · Tagged , , , ,

Hehee… come on you don’t like my scandalous innuendo??? Not even a little bit??? Too bad… because out of all the obnoxious things I thought about calling this post.. that one was THE BEST!  Because… dun da da DUN…. this post is about the magic that is Huntington Beach’s SECRET SPOT!!!

Okay… in all seriousness though… this place was AMAZING! In fact I feel a little bad about all the raving I’ve been doing about vegan restaurants lately (in all my cooking laziness) because this, this my friends was different… the SECRET SPOT is pretty much my new measure for good in the world… it now goes (1) Secret Spot (2) Ghandi (3) So on and so forth.

So how did this magic come about you ask? Well, Mr. Guava in all our ridiculousness decided to pop down to Bodhi Tree for a mid-week treat… mind you Bodhi Tree is like a 40minute drive with traffic… BUT they were CLOSED! BOO!! Winter hours?! Damn beach town (that’s what happened with Stephanie’s in Ocean Beach too)… but we’re resourceful vegans! We whipped out our IPhones and surfed straight to Happy Cow to see what our non-Bodhi options were. As soon as we saw VEGAN BREAKFAST SERVED ALL DAY.. off to the Secret Spot we went expecting maybe a plain pancake and breakfast potatoes?? Instead we got…

Peach Lemonade! Which I thought was going to be lemonade… with syrup… this was literally lemons, peaches, and ice blended up all frothy and tart and deliciously natural!

To even out this healthy beverage we knew we had to try a breakfast burrito (we pretty much can’t resist ordering ANY breakfast burrito ) but get this is had SOYRIZO in it!

Check out the insides…

MAN… what a treat! This my friends, this is what a VEGAN Breakfast Burrito is supposed to be! YOWZA! But wait for it… this wasn’t even the BEST part… that’s right the Guava’s ate a breakfast burrito and it WASN’T the best part!!!

Check out these puppies…

What you see before you are BLUEBERRY CRISP PANCAKES!!! Blueberry Pancakes topped with oats cooked in syrup and fresh blueberries! And get this these weren’t even on the menu but as we were trying to decide which pancakes we wanted the AMAZING cashier/cook/deliverer of JOY was like, “I love to do pancakes… I can do all kinds of stuff…” and then when we decided to take him up on his offer of Blueberry Crisp asked us if we ate honey (since we ordered a vegan burrito)!!!

[Yes, it was awkward when I asked him to be my best friend and what time could he come over Saturday morning to make me breakfast in bed...]

These were the best pancakes I’ve EVER had… vegan or otherwise! Write this down guys… when Guava goes this is what I want served at my send-off… these may just be the solution to all my ranting and raving about misogyny and violence and the patriarchy… I just can’t imagine negative existing in the world if everyone just had some VEGAN BLUEBERRY CRISP PANCAKES!!

Mm.. okay have to stop… getting too emotional…

Licks syrup off fingers while establishing world peace…

Guava :)

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Weekend Whirlwind

November 17, 2009 · Filed under Guava Restaurant Reviews, Warm Fuzziness · Tagged , , ,

GOOD MORNING GUAVA LOVERS!

Mr. Guava thanks you all for the warm fuzzies!!! He was seriously tickled pink by all the Vegan Love! This weekend was a whirlwind! Celebrated on Friday… went to the new pub near our house… Haven Gastropub…

Pretty swanky… we could only eat the fries but they were delish… and due to no sustenance all we needed was a flight (only $8) and an extra beer a piece (Mr. Guava got one that came in a GOBLET… SWANKY!!!) to make the walk home to order pizza and stop by the corner store for some appropriately priced booze cheerfully tipsy!

Saturday morning we had a leisurely brunch at another community hotspot… the Filling Station…

Dinner Saturday night with the family… Dad whipped up some super yummy Vegan Japanese food for us! Tempura galore! Plus, Mom made her famous mac salad and saved us a portion to use our (family dreaded) veganaise in!

…then… SUNDAY… “SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY!!!” (to be read in Monster Truck Announcer voice) I went to San Diego and had a magical morning with a wonderful old friend!! We had a belated birthday brunch at People’s Organic Food Coop in Ocean Beach…

Remember how I thought I’d never eat biscuits and gravy again these were, “GLORIOUS!!” (To be read in Will Ferrell’s Old School voice talking about Blue) Mmm… and then even though I tried to be all conservative with my portions refraining from the breakfast sandwiches… I pilfered some of this off neighboring plates…

The rest of the food was okay but the market itself was lovely! We didn’t go shopping but it totally reminded me of Down to Earth on Oahu. And there was the most ridiculously cute doggy out front… covered in dreadlocks couldn’t tell what was the front of him or the back… or if he was just a random fur coat lying on the ground…

After breakfast we had a soul soothing walk down Ocean Beach and then got midday snacks at Stephanie’s Bakery (which we meant to have breakfast at but they were closed! Still worth the wait)…

This is a pumpkin cream cheese (vegan) strudel and a savory spinach strudel (vegan)… so amazing! And they have this coffee called a .. Guava Java Latte… or something like that…. it’s a Soy Latte sweetened with Guava Extract… MAGICAL!

We stopped in to see some family and then after a short nearly disastrous tire debacle headed home… we were wiped but it was off to our friend’s going away party!! We cooked together and I wish I had taken a picture of all the delicious vegan food! We’ll miss her lots but it was a wonderful send-off!

Whew… was that really just two days??

Feeling Exhausted but BLESSED,

Guava

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Woot Woot!

November 13, 2009 · Filed under Warm Fuzziness · Tagged

Mr. Guava passed his Board Exams!

So, now we can do more of this…photoOkay… this is from our hike of death (which we won’t be doing any more of … at least on purpose)… but we will get to spend more non-library enclosed time together!!! WOOT WOOT!

SQUEEEE… OFF to CELEBRATE… in 8 hours…

Happy Friday,

The Guavas

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Date Night w/the Natives…

November 12, 2009 · Filed under Guava Restaurant Reviews, Warm Fuzziness · Tagged , , , , , ,

Haha… now how many of you are expecting something vaguely offensive?? Nay… nay… we shall keep this post on the up and up… and I shall chortle to myself about that title and the vague offenses that it reminds me of… well Mr. Guava’s probably chortling too but he never comments… but I digress….

nativefoodsA little wrap-up from Mr. Guava’s and my swanky little date night at Native Foods, Costa Mesa! Born out of laziness on a Friday night and refusal to drive all the way out to our usual Bodhi Tree Special we decided that, as good vegans, we would sacrifice slaving away in the kitchen to support vegan business! Ahh… it’s true what they say… we’re practically martyrs…

Please enjoy…

juiceFirst, off lavendar lemondade topped with watermelon juice and a couple of mint leaves!!! Mm…. now I have to admit that I still haven’t expunged the all evil soda out of my diet yet but this… man.. this makes me wonder why I’d ever drink anything else! SO GOOD!

quesadillaTo wash down my Wavendarade (Get it? Watermelon, Lavendar, Lemonade? **Guava slaps knee and continues annoying chortling…**) I got Poncho’s Quesavilla! A Vegan Veggie Cheezy Quesadilla! NomNOMNOM! Served with heaps of vegan sour cream, guac, and pico de gallo! Seriously, I don’t think I’ve had a quesadilla in at least a year!

chicken burgerMr. Guava had the Chicken Run Ranch Burger which looked delicious but you know how I am about large hunks of mock meat… I did nip a corner of the breading… and Mr. Guava reported that it was extremely good and actually freakishly chicken-like… Poor Mr. Guava he was pretty much the last person on the planet anyone would ever think would go vegan and you should have seen his face when he made this announcement!  Seriously, it was like a dark cloud settled over his digestive track and I actually thought he was going to lose it for a second. Conversation immediately stopped; verdict Chicken Run Ranch Burger Good; PERIOD. (hehee… I have pretty much the cutest damn vegan hubby EVER!)

friesAnd we just couldn’t help but sharing a plate of Native Food’s Chili Cheese Fries even though this was more food than anyone should eat. We decided we’ll share the Quesavilla and Fries next time when we’re not feeling so oinkerish!

Yup, that’s a date night w/ the GUAVAS.. and actually a pretty fancy one at that.  What can we say? We’re just not Steak & Lobster people… (a) Because we’re vegan and (b) because dinners you can eat in a sweatshirt and jeans usually beat out heels and a dress… usually… still as luck would have it sometimes even we engage in the occasional public obnoxiously romantic snugglefest but can you blame us?? Check out the outdoor table we scored!

cupcakeYup! What started with laziness ended with a pretty amazing outdoor date night in front of a personal fire pit… and really what can go bad when date night ends with that much frosting? Hehee… well… actually… I have to admit the cupcake was a little dry but the frosting?? Totally worth it!

Thanks for putting up with my blogging PDA… eww…. eww… I know I know… BUT I have a good reason!  Mr. Guava’s taking his board exams today!!! So I need you all to send him massive amounts of Vegan Love! He’s going to do amazing anyway but good vibes never hurt!

:) GOOD LUCK MR. GUAVA! :)

“Seeing the nausea on your face whilst describing a mock meat sandwich filling reminded me how lucky I am and how good we’ve got it!“

For the love of Chickens… and Mr. Guava,

The Guavster

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Vegan Versus Wild… or Death of the Weekend Warriors…

November 10, 2009 · Filed under Uncategorized

You know those people…

…the people that hurt themselves because they do little more than get up from the couch to re-fill the chip bowl during the Sunday football game as their regular form of physical activity… then proceed to tear, pull, or otherwise break something because they get a whim to go a out and, “shoot some hoops,” but end up getting involved in a 2-day round robin pick-up tournament that has them hitting the asphalt for 2 stints of 5 hours straight…

..yeah…

Upon, our last hiking adventure Mr. Guava & I sheepishly realized.. err… “That’s US!” Somehow, we always end up doing this… seriously, we’ve been barricaded inside our house/coffeeshop/library with flus, and work, and studying, for the last couple months and then decided that’s it… we’re making time to get out for some physical activity!!! Something easy and relaxing…

spiderwebOoh and ahh… at the wonders of nature [see pretty spiderweb above for visual]… maybe a little something to get the heart rate pumping… something that will stretch Dublin’s legs a little…

mountain dogA couple little brooks to cross couldn’t hurt [see Mountain Dog picture for visual.. imagine Guava shouting triumphantly, "Mountain DOG!!!" everytime there's water to cross...]

Okay, in our defense we picked an easy little 3 mile hike… we figured we’d go do the hike then grab some breakfast and hit the books… high off adrenaline instead of caffeine…

the long road homeUnfortunately, there was this where do park?  Where does the trail start? Will the Kia make it over this gravel? The trail can’t be too much further from here? Issue… that ended with us doing like an 8-9 mile hike (we lost track as we began to get dizzy and weak)… which ended with this long walk down a dirt road in the sun (now midday) with Scooter having to ride in our camel pack and us not sure if we were going have to send up some flairs for help…

Needless to say we were pretty much recovering the rest of the weekend… still an adventure… and much needed physical activity… although probably much safer in smaller doses…and much more fun if Bear Grylls was narrating for us in that ruggedly sexy British accent… except of course without all the scary not very vegan animal eating…

bear gryllsSeriously… if your name’s not Bear why even walk out your front door?

Happy Surviving,

Guava & Bear

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Vegan MoFo Day #Crash & Burn…

November 5, 2009 · Filed under Guava Pets, Guava Randomness, Vegan MoFo '09, Warm Fuzziness · Tagged , ,

Heheee… so clearly Vegan MoFo was an EPIC FAIL for me this year… gah…. barely got halfway!!!!  That cold seriously knocked me out on my little Vegan butt and between starting a new job and thinking I could continue to work nearly full time with a side of graduate school… well.. you can see how falling off the metaphorical blogging wagon happened.

Anyways, just poop… I mean popping in (haha… “pooped out” freudian slip!)… to say I’m still ALIVE!! Woot Woot!  And have just been spending what precious time I have with this guy…

photoYes… this was taken in a trashed un-made bed post a midday nap… oh Scoot… look at that morning hair!

I will be blogging occasionally (hopefully Tu/Th) but I figure if I don’t commit I won’t have to apologize and a little post here and there will be a happy surprise!  Heehee… on the upside… while tired… I think I am finally getting a hold of my schedule and the Guava Kitchen has been filled with more and more homemade goodness each week!  Lots of canned and frozen veggies but still… better than the constant takeout… also look forward to a few more restaurant finds and dadadadun… a VEGAN COWORKER!!! Unfortunately, said Vegan Co-Worker is leaving at the end of the month BUT there will be farewell VEGAN CUPCAKES!!!

Missed you ALL!!! Still, catching up on all your Vegan MoFo Goodness!

Love,

Guava

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Vegan MoFo Day#11: Spicy Bean Soup

October 16, 2009 · Filed under Recipes, Soup, Vegan MoFo '09 · Tagged , , ,

MoFoBannerI’m officially sick.  Hopefully not with Swine Flu.  Attempting to burn the cold out with this…

soupExtremely spicy soup with jalapenos from the garden and lots of beanie protein blended together because chewing too zealously seems like way too much energy at this point.

Mm… the heat gives me like a 15 minute window of productivity… will get my paper off!

Hydrating with…

coconut waterMixed with Club Soda and Squirt of Lime… no window of productivity with this but sort of a sustaining of flow…

Stay Healthy,

Guava

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Vegan MoFo Day#10: Blargh…

October 15, 2009 · Filed under Breakfast, Cookbooks, Recipes, Vegan MoFo '09 · Tagged , , , ,

My throat hurts…

Has anyone had the Vegan Brunch Scrambled Tortillas yet?

scrambled tortillasThey’re amazing… especially served with slices of avocado and doused in hot sauce… but see above for why there’s no pretty picture of them in the book…

Someone make me Scramble Tortillas with a side of Vitamin C!!!

Blargh,

Guava

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Vegan MoFo Day#9: Manicelloni

October 14, 2009 · Filed under Dinner, Noodles, Recipes, Vegan MoFo '09 · Tagged , , , ,

MoFoBannerSo I know ya’ll were really excited about the fore mentioned “Instant Noodle” Post… and don’t you worry… it’s a-coming… but as Mr. Guava and I had a date night last night (cooking included) I decided to break the monotony of mediocrity that has unfortunately become standard fare here at For the Love of Guava for some delicious homemade, real time, goodness…

Nut Cheeze Manicelloni

manicelloniMmm.. Manicelloni eh?  Yeah, well, (a) it seems that making up names is sort of my theme for Vegan MoFo 3 and (b) Manicelloni makes me giggle because it sounds like some sort of man parts and (c) I didn’t really know the difference between manicotti and cannelloni until just this second.

Oh Wikipedia… you really are the Wise Sage of our day.

Anyhow, this dish was inspired by La Dolce Vegan’s Portabello Cannelloni… but we couldn’t find Cannelloni (or know the difference)… so we bought manicotti… and that was the last time I actually looked at the recipe… and tadaa… MANICELLONI!!!

Yes, I admit it we did have some of this while cooking but I think it had to have worn off by now…

moselAnyhow we stuffed our Manicotti with sauteed onions, garlic, mushrooms, and potatoes (which I nuked in the micro… classy!).

For the Sauce:

**Before I started the sauce I threw a handle of chopped mushrooms, gooseberry tomatoes from our garden and most of a can of Artichoke Hearts into the oven with garlic salt, pepper and olive oil to roast at 45oF.**

I used maybe 3/4 cup of soaked sunflower seeds & 3/4 cup of soaked cashews

1 loose cup of basil leaves

3 Cloves of Garlic

Squirt of Dijon

Liberal Dash of Soy Sauce

Liberal Drizzle of Olive Oil

Liquid from 1 can of Artichoke Hearts plus a 1/4 Cup more of water from the can

4-5 Artichoke Hearts

Salt, Pepper, & Nooch to taste

Blended this up and put it on the stove to heat.  Once it was on the stove I added maybe 1/2-3/4 cup of plain soymilk and a sprinkle of cornstarch to thicken it up.  Throw in the roasted veggies and heat through adding milk, cornstarch, or olive oil as needed.

MMM… my picture really doesn’t do it justice… pasta stuffed with potatoes and covered in a creamy nut pesto?!  AMAZING!!!  Gah… why am I going to school when I could be a housewife and be cooking/eating like this every night????

Oh right… because I have to feed this guy…

scootersweaterThis is Scooter in his Fall Sweater…

And 30 seconds later as he starts to fall asleep standing up from the warmth…

scootersleeping

For the Love of Manicelloni,

Guava

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Vegan MoFo Day#8: Vegan Sushi Bar

October 13, 2009 · Filed under Dinner, Vegan MoFo '09 · Tagged , ,

MoFoBanner

Man… getting chilly around these parts… I’m in that place where I’m ready for the Fall weather and the Fall food but am still sort of disoriented when I go outside at 6pm and it’s dark… ready to forego the heat for my favorite winter coats and scarves but not quite ready to stop eating outside…

So as a goodbye to Summer, and before I give you my mind blowing post on instant noodles, one last picnic…

The Roll Your Own Vegan Sushi Bar

SushiSpreadJust the usual… Avocado & Cucumber Rolls with Spicy Sriracha Mayo…

Some detail pics…

fillingplateWe didn’t put the tomatoes in our sushi but ate them on the side dipped in Srirach Mayo and Soy Sauce (Odd Family Disclosure: My mom used to use Soy Sauce and Mayo in lieu of salad dressing… it’s pretty good…), but aren’t they pretty??? Heirlooms from our garden!

And just in case you missed it in the general spread picture…

and of course to remind you how classy we are…

we washed it all down with a couple of these bad boys…

the drinksSo Long Summer!  I will miss the Picnics and the Fuzzy Navels!

So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen Adieu,

Guava

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