tao organics

you may recall the company tao organics when they were working inside buddha-full making the burgers and kale chips and selling their products in karmavore as well.
recently (in the last few weeks!), they have opened their OWN cafe and it is actually quite close to buddha-full which means it is quite close to the sea bus and lonsdale quay in north van. yay!
me and emilee went on monday after work and it was glorious! i wish i had taken pictures inside the shop. it's tucked away in a courtyard and has windows on the multi-layered ceiling (think lovely natural light) when you first enter. there is bright blue seating outside as well as several tables inside beside the open kitchen and a couple coolers and shelves of take-home goodies.
me and em shared each a parvati roll (collard wrap with sweet raisin chutney - i used to buy the chutney at karmavore ^_^). super delicious! em mentioned she enjoyed the moist, vibrant flavour.
we both ordered lemon macaroons and ate them before (and after!) our meals after finding out that they didn't actually have cashews in them like the menu (that was getting redesigned as we ate!) said! we loved the big chunks of dried coconut flakes!

photo: avocadowalnutlovely on instagram

photo: avocadowalnutlovely on instagram

 emilee had the sushi for dinner and i had the gaia burger (which i had before at buddha-full. so delicious!)

it was awesome to get to eat at yet another raw, organic-friendly place in greater vancouver! YAY! and we were super impressed with the prices. my burger was $6.50 i think and i took home a big bag of kale chips for paul for the same price. our macaroons were $1 each! and i love that there are cashew-free options and agathe does not use green peppers at all (hurrah!) and i don't think she uses peanuts or gluten. i'm still hesitant about tamari and such, even when it is wheat-free... why doesn't it claim to be gluten-free? i'm still pretty new at all of this allergen stuff. it's easier to avoid things when you don't have to be militant. curious if after my next liver cleanse i will have even less allergies!

day 2 of 30 green smoothie days in a row

so today i did a pear/frozen banana/collard greens/romaine lettuce/dandelion greens for paul to have when he got up and blended the rest with cilantro for me. YUM! (and he loved his too! these green drinks are good!!!)

i don't know if it's just my enthusiasm but i feel brighter and that my eyes are seeing better already. (that's a benefit of body-accessible greens, right?)

i was working on a set all day, armed only with fruit and water, and thankfully i was pretty close to buddha-full which i haven't been to in WAY TOO LONG. it's such a lovely place! i picked up some organic lives lemon macaroons (in mysterious + new boxed packaging - looks nice but why is a box necessary?) and sesame gaufrettes. i also got a "be green" (kale, lettuce, apple juice, lemon and banana) smoothie. YAY!

i felt a bit like an alien when i returned to work with my "seaweed bark" (er, raw gaufrette) and "that looks healthy!" green drink.

the highlight of today was when i ended up finishing reading "green for life". i was bursting with so much excitement over it and was going on about it to anyone looking somewhat willing to listen. the 2nd AD got super into the green smoothie concept as well. i'm sure she is starting tomorrow! we are both so excited to see what happens at the end of 30 days. i already know i'm going to continue this ^_^

catching up...

i've been terrible at updating lately but of course still taking photos of foods i think are fun.
one night in the last few weeks (gah!), i made some sort of ice cream. i'm guessing it was a chocolate mint type thing. but maybe it was just mint leaves on the side of something with cacao nibs. i'm guessing frozen bananas were involved, a splash of almond milk (which i FINALLY started making my own of! hurrah for vitamix!) and who knows. was that it? was there some lucuma maybe? why is it so white? oh man, i'm thinking now that this might just be some of that coconut milk ice cream which is not raw in the least. it might be the chocolate chip mint one and i added nibs to it to make it more legit. ha. the martini glasses help too, right?

ok so ANYWAYS, feb. 13th me and paul hosted some friends for raw dinner. YAY!!! first up (after a veggie juice!) was the caeasar salad i believe i've posted before. i like to practice first so it's not so nervewracking having people over. though i love doing a recipe/idea for the first time for potlucks. maybe it's because there are other dishes/people involved so it's not all relying on me!

then... the raw lasagna! YAH! that day i was like CRAP i don't have anything white or cheese like for a ricotta type layer!!! so i went to gorilla food for some of their alfredo sauce to put as a layer along with marinated mushroom, pine nut pesto, sundried tomato sauce with slices of roma and then ani phyo's marinara sauce for top and bottom layers!

i LOVE all the layers! i felt i put a bit too much thyme (time? ha, not really) into the marinara sauce but at least it wasn't bland?

 for dessert... the brazil nut/almond 'shortbread' from organic lives. these are soooo awesome. i have been begging for them to keep this cookie going. i think hearts are TOTALLY relevant past valentines' day but i don't care the shape of them! if that's why they're done, they should just make 'em in another shape! i just want them again! they are the best! i don't know how you would pick a baked sugar cookie when you could have these!!!

 ooh and then another day recently, i finally made use of the burgers (from nature provides) i bought at karmavore. warmed em up in the dehydrator and packed some romaine leaves (the bun!) with beets and peppers and onions. hurrah! i went to buddha-full the other day and noticed their amazing kale chips are from nature provides. i didn't previously make the connection that the fabulous pizza (i had bought the crust from karmavore also) and raw burger was nature provides also! and so then i'm told that they are building a spot for nature provides in the restaurant to make everything there in house! eek! i love buddha-full. they are going to start having theme nights, i think the last friday of the months so there is a raw meal of a certain style of food like italian or what not. organic lives did an indian one in january which i sadly missed. they debuted a raw samosa which will hopefully be appearing on the menu any day now. i think they are doing a mexican night next! anyways... excited to see what will be served up in buddha-full in the coming months!

 and then there is rooted cafe in eternal abundance on the drive. i was there on friday for dinner and started with the raw chocolate heart! YES! not too sweet... just right!

 and gah, the raw kale caeasar... i could eat a million of these forever. i can't imagine getting sick of this!

 raw tomato red pepper soup with flax cracker. excellent! and inspiring me to get on trying the soups in the vitamix again...

 and well, i had to have a second dessert! after dinner! hehe. the cheesecake! YES!!!

i want to get out to the drive more often. i love what the rooted cafe is doing!!! the food and the people there are so amazing!!!

buddha-full! raw vegan delights on the north shore! YAY!

a fresh juices and smoothie bar opened up just west of lonsdale in north vancouver in september... it is called buddha-full and i'm quite excited about it! the first time i went, i was thinking there were some raw things to eat but they "just" (who am i to say "just" - this is so exciting regardless!) had vegan baked goods and awesome drinks... i had the vibrance-C (ginger, mango, orange juice, pineapple, banana) smoothie...

 the next time i went, i got the ultimate feel-good smoothie (i swear, maca and cacao can do me no wrong - they fix me right up!!!) - the tall totem. i somehow forgot to take a photo of it. but then i took a raw cheesecake with raspberry coulis to go with me on the seabus. wow, does something like this make the cattle crossing (er, seabus journey) so decadent!

and now finally, today i got to go again! i had a ganesha's greens (with E3 live boost) juice and the raw veggie burger. it was so hard not gulping this down in quick bites. so delicious! so many flavours and textures!

 and well, it was hard thinking of when i would get to go again to try the raw pizza so i ordered it as well! hehe. a slightly chewy cracker of a crust with a yummy tomato sauce and cauliflower, kale, mushrooms, red pepper and cheeze.

this place has lots going on... i know there is a knitting club tuesday nights and they are having a halloween party. they host potlucks and art and music and massage and nutrition advice... i hope this place continues to grow!
<3