cascadas farallas, costa rica, day 1 (dinner only)

so i've recently come back from a 10 day trip to costa rica... to baru, near dominical, on the pacific rainforesty side of costa rica. i LOVED where we stayed (cascadas farallas) as i ate amazing raw meals there, had yoga every morning (except sunday) and we were right at waterfalls and in the middle of the rainforest and then just 5 minutes drive from the most amazing beach... amazing because it was pretty empty (rainy season! YES!), the people were totally laid back (ie foreigner? who cares?), raw coconut water right from the coconut for $1 and well, it was just the best.

we arrived later afternoon on tuesday the 17th after a flight from houston, texas where i grabbed a double wheatgrass shot at the jamba juice in the george bush airport....















the food on the plane (continental) was sucky but at least there were salads and the flight attendant gave me two. so i ate 2 containers of iceberg lettuce (gah, korea camp flashback!) with the hot sauce. woo.














but after landing in san jose and driving for over 3 hours to our blissful retreat in the rainforest (stopping along the way to see alligators and views of course), we had a couple hours to chill until our first dinner. we came to really get excited for dinner as, with any meal, we didn't know what we were going to have but also, there would always be a starter, entree and dessert. 3 surprises in one meal! yes! my friend was eating vegan and i was always raw (though lunches and desserts are raw regardless).

so our first night's dinner started with "saffron augo lemono"...



it was a cold creme soup with a hint of lemon and meatball type things that to me, had a strange filtered water taste to them somehow. i finished my friend's for her.

then, my main course (and one of my most favourite dishes from our stay): raw pasta primavera...



i loved the creamy sauce and that the noodles weren't just zucchini like i'm used to but carrots and something else! the crackers were a soft and buttery smooth compliment. it was total comfort food.


and then dessert was crepes! cacao with coconut ice cream... HEAVEN.








one of my top 3 favourite desserts from the trip.



and that started off my food/beach vacation of absolute bliss...

food planning in korea last day, day 23

this probably will be my last post until i get back from costa rica. as when i get home from korea, i will be packing to move (though eating lots of gorilla food and organic lives in vancouver to make up for lost time!) and then i'm gone for 10 days... woo!
but here is my last korean cafeteria meal this morning... i had way more chia cereal left than i expected (and i was just remarking how the package says to serve 2 tablespoons for a meal and i don't know, i guess i'm used to more in my bowl so i eat at least double that. anyways...) and the salad was extra nice (orange peppers and other greens! excitement!) and apples! quite nice, indeed.













i saved some snacks for the airport and 10 hour plane ride (including a package of sprouted teriyaki almonds, a kaia spiced apple fruit leather and a lydia's organics raspberry bar). i ended up going to smoothie king, though, for some extras. the passion fruit smoothie can't be all that full of goodness but it's vegan and vaguely represents something fruity. there were packages there of nuts and fruits so i picked up some macadamia nuts and dates (wow, do i miss medjools). i love the packaging as it says NO artificial preservatives/NO artificial flavors/NO artificial colors/NO artificial cents. cents? scents? love it. anyways, they did the job. i can expect my vegan meals on the plane to have a side salad and fruit salad so i won't be too thrown by the cooked entree. so excited to get on the plane. flying makes me feel like it's vacation.

korean middle school cafeteria day 19

breakfast... the plums were especially good...













lunch... hooray for bananas! and my green smoothie crackers. YAY!!!













and dinner... the last crumbs of my crackers....













and then these cukes were brought out. i'm sure there are non-raw things like corn syrup or sugar (i can feel it now - i have a sugar headache, i'm sure of it!) and a vinegar but! garlic and cucumbers were excitement and i even had to sneak some back to my room ^_^

korean middle school cafeteria day 18

today was a great day for fruit! started off with some grapes with my chia cereal and salad...













and then my chef friend brought out pineapple! hurrah! ah, one thing i want to note about the grapes - in korea, everyone seems to squish the inside into their mouths and crunch the seeds and leave the skins. i got used to this last summer when i was here and now i enjoy it! but it's interesting that some rumour the grape skin is the most nutritious and then others, the seed! so there you have it folks. just eat what you like.













lunch... just some salad. since today was my last day with fridge access, i am saving my crackers for tomorrow (my last full day here) and thought i should work on finishing up my hemp hearts. so here they are with olive oil and nutritional yeast, dulse and sundried toms. i was SOOOO HUNGRY after less than 4 hours and thankfully i had one snack bar left (a glorious go raw spirulina energy bar) so i made it until dinner time.













and dinner was a 'special buffet' but it really didn't end up much different for me except i got red, yellow, and green peppers in my salad and different lettuce! and some lychee. which i haven't been liking. at loving hut on saturday, i actually spit it out and tonight i wasn't too keen either. is it possible lychee are bitter? i just don't understand. there's only a hint of the sweetness (that i used to think was too much?). i thought when you went off sugar, sweet things became sweeter, not more bitter. or is it just the lychee? i have a theory it's because they were frozen. who knows.

korean middle school cafeteria day 17

breakfast = chia cereal, salad with hemp hearts, olive oil and nutritional yeast...













later my chef friend brought me some vitamin drinks and pear juice. i gave away everything but the orange. delicious and sugar free!














lunch = coconut curry crackers and salad with hemp hearts and sun-dried toms... first time trying these crackers and i will get them again! (if i can find them or order them online somewheres)

















dinner = salad with crumbled coconut curry cracker, hemp hearts, nutritional yeast, dulse and sun-dried toms. glorious!

korean middle school cafeteria day 16

i started off the day with organic wheat grass powder mixed into water in my travel mug. i have been missing the taste (and smell!!!) of wheatgrass and thought this may help. not really. but i feel it did give me a boost to get through the morning. it didn't taste anything like wheatgrass but how can you have that amazing fresh taste if it's not fresh? and often i felt like i was drinking dirt grits as it didn't totally mix but i just kept adding water and it was just like a cold tea.













breakfast's excitement was the oranges. hurrah!













for lunch, i finished up my raw nori sheets, rolling up the salad with some tamari and pumpkin seeds.













but i ended up cutting them for easier eating. it was a nice lunch!













for dinner, i finished up my sundried tomato pesto on top of the salad with nutritional yeast. quite nice as well!

korean middle school cafeteria day 15

breakfast... i especially enjoyed the cherry tomatoes this morning. what is going on? i used to gag eating any tomato on its own! though i suppose smaller sizes make it easier. anyways... the usual chia cereal and then some veg crackers (with coconut oil) on the side...












lunch! yay raw veggies! and watermelon! and sprouted almond croutons! (which i had to snack on later! love them!)














dinner? not so exciting. but it's okay. it was enough.

saturday gots seoul! part 2!

cranberry ginger chia cereal... pineapple on the side...














and then oranges! hurrah!!!













mate with lemon organic tea (7000 won! and that's after i spent 6000 won on another watermelon juice from mmmg in the morning! gah!) from take out drawing (at ARKO) cafe. spirulina bar from LA.













organic pear juice (5500 won) at aA design museum cafe... i swear it was sweet tea. hmm....














and old faithful, loving hut buffet achasan. hurrah! i really feel awful in my stomach after cooked food now but it was special. and it was delicious. and most importantly, and undoubtedly, it was vegan.

korean middle school cafeteria day 14

i felt obligated to take roasted seaweed at breakfast as NO teachers came down and the head chef said he brought them out as per request of my nutritionist friend who used to work at the school. gah. the grapes were an amazing reason to be there though.













then i got an orange! YAY! and a mango drink for my roommate ^_^













for lunch, i used the last of my sprouted pumpkin seeds (salt&vinegar) and sunflower seeds and added sundried toms.













dinner was the same minus the pumpkin seeds and sundried toms and dulse instead. i had to dip into my emergency snack stash after this.

korean middle school cafeteria day 13

hmm is this any surprise? salad and a chia cereal concoction! almost done the chocolate one now... i love that i brought the coconut now that i have a place for it. it will especially help the plain cereal i have coming up...













i have always had to hide tomatoes with other food to be able to eat them raw without gagging. i feel i have crossed some threshold. i can now eat a cherry tomato without disguise and without immediate veg chaser. hurrah! i think? added dulse and hemp hearts to dress up this salad.













i was super hungry for dinner so i added the last of my sesame gaufrettes and some hemp hearts, tamari and sundried tomatoes with nutritional yeast of course. i only eat this much nut yeast in korea! i wonder if that means something. oh and today i upped my e3 AFA supplement dose to 2. and i feel it made a difference. i feel way better than yesterday. totally needed the boost. but maybe it was the kids i teach. i love my class!

korean middle school cafeteria day 12

apples at breakfast... it's a good thing...













and the very last of my kelp noodles! i had them marinating in apple cider vinegar and some tamari i think, last night... oh yah, and wrapped in raw nori! the little bit of extra time is totally worth the perfect bites!













and nori again... but this time with salad and hemp hearts to be rolled up in it... next time i may try the remainder of my pesto in some... ooh and hurrah for plums!

korean middle school cafeteria day 11

wow! so it was my first morning not making it to the cafeteria! i had chia cereal in the container leftover from vegan treats for my students! hurrah for good skype conversations that make it hard to part...














and today was an exciting day as i had prepared my kelp noodles with sundried tomato pesto last night. i added a bit of olive oil to be a bit more liquidy and it helped soften the noodles a bit. i'm trying to think of a vegetable crunch feeling that is similar to unmarinated kelp noodles... nothing is coming to mind yet! but there is something comparable, i swear!














and hooray for dinner too! it worked out great as tonight everyone gets pizza but i feel okay as i had amazing meals today ^_^

korean middle school cafeteria day 10

i added goji berries to my cereal this morning. excitement! ah, and a lot of coconut apparently.













my sesame gaufrettes from back home got all soft in the package :( so i couldn't do sandwiches like i was hoping. but it was nice to have a different taste in my mouth. onions!













i added everything i could think of to try make the salad more interesting for dinner. it helped. dulse, sun-dried toms, sunflower seeds, hemp hearts, olive oil and apple cider vinegar and nutritional yeast!

korean middle school cafeteria day 9

breakfast... usual...













lunch... the last of my flax crackers :( sadness!













dinner... in effort to make things more interesting, i finally brought out my raw nori sheets.














it was really hard to make anything resembling sushi with what i had but i did my best. and then it was so glorious, i wanted to make more! but then the cafeteria was out of salad???? so sad! i think i'm going to try some with kelp noodles next!