Woman in Real Life

This past weekend we went to see a play at the Shaw Festival in lovely Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. On our way back home I insisted we check out vegan restaurant Rise Above in St. Catharines. And I'm glad I did. The whole family enjoyed the food at this lovely little restaurant in the downtown core.

I was immediately drawn to the Chickpea Melt, a warm flour tortilla filled with creamy mashed chickpeas, Daiya vegan cheddar cheese, fresh romaine lettuce and chopped tomatoes. I would love to make this at home. The server told me the chef guards the recipes closely, but I suggested maybe they could do a cookbook one day (pretty please?). In the meantime, those in the Niagara area should head to Rise Above asap to try this delicious, filling and healthy wrap.



My son loved the Southern Seitan Burger, a cornmeal-crusted seitan patty on a housemade bun with buffalo sauce, romaine lettuce and creamy coleslaw.


They even have a kids' menu. My daughter sampled the Crispy Seitan Nuggets (back of the photo) with a side of potato wedges. She rarely finishes any meal so the rest of us also nibbled on these yummy nuggets. In the foreground you can see my husband's Crispy Seitan Wrap. He was quite impressed (and he's very picky about restaurants).

We also sampled a fudge brownie drizzled with chocolate sauce. Totally vegan and totally rich and delicious. We took home a peanut butter blondie (which I secretly ate all on my own) and some chocolate chip cookies and peanut butter cookies. Now I'm just sorry that my sister is moving out of St. Catharines. I would have gone back to Rise Above every time I visit her. But I'll find a way...


Moving onto my Tuesday eats. I was not in the mood for my usual smoothie, so I browsed the pages of Isa's Vegan Brunch: Homestyle Recipes Worth Waking Up For--From Asparagus Omelets to Pumpkin Pancakes. I decided to make Coffee Chip Muffins. While the recipe calls for instant coffee, I only had instant espresso (which I once bought for a cookie recipe). I'm not so good with much caffeine either so I only used 1/2 Tbsp of instant espresso. The muffins turned out very well, with a light, buttery feeling to them and a subtle hint of coffee flavour. I immediately put two on my plate - why grab one when I know I'll be back for more? And I threw some raspberries and strawberries on the side to seem all healthy-like.


For lunch, I boiled potato chunks and cauliflower and then topped them with vegan margarine, garlic powder, salt and pepper. On top of that I added canned chickpeas and a simple, hot cornstarch gravy. It made for a quick and tasty meal when we didn't seem to have a lot of options in the house.


I was out at a doctor's appointment in the late afternoon and when I got home my husband had whipped up this noodle stir-fry with broken up Gardein veggie burgers for dinner. (Oh, and I ate another muffin in the car coming back from the doctor's office.)

Then it was off to my son's soccer game. When I got home and got the kids settled I ate a peanut butter and jam sandwich and, yes, another muffin. Oh how I love muffins...

Are you a muffin fan? What kind?


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