heirloom dinner.

on thursday night, for the first time in what seems like ages, i met up with sarah and went out for dinner! yay!
we checked out heirloom, just off granville on west 12th, which had just opened up the week before. it's an all vegetarian restaurant with many labelled vegan and raw and gluten-free options! hurrah!
we got the popcorn ($3) to start which was awesome. although i normally eat my popcorn with coconut oil and nutritional yeast just as heirloom does, the added beet powder that the restaurant uses was perfection! best popcorn ever!
i got an algae lemonade to start ($5) that i definitely have to start doing at home - e3 live with lemon and maple syrup? yum!!! so refreshing and invigorating! i think it would do me well to sip on in the mornings at work, though, maybe more so in the warmer months!

we shared the avocado fries ($7? i can't remember) and the raw slaw ($6.50? i can't remember either. oops!). the avocado fries are deep fried in a chickpea batter and served with a homemade catsup which has a strange sweet taste, at least to me and sarah. i kept using it as a dip though because the fries are drying and in my opinion, really need the dip dimension. i think they would go better with a salsa. the slaw was pretty good. sarah mentioned the sesame taste being too much. the slaw was really carrot-y and light. i appreciated the basil garnish and would have enjoyed more basil. 

i would definitely go back to heirloom to try more food. so far, the highlights for me are the beautiful space, my friend vanessa serving (and creating her amazing holistic drinks!), the popcorn, and my company, sarah! 

i'm super excited that vancouver keeps opening up new and beautiful veggie-friendly restaurants!

iced mock mocha

i thawed out some e3live this morning but only had enough for a shot for paul. later, i wasn't in the mood for the taste so i thought i'd do something with raw chocolate! my result is something that reminds me of when i used to drink iced cappucinos at tim hortons (more than half my life ago, ok?) and the raw cacao is definitely giving me a coffee buzz! yay! i totally needed this jolt.

e3live "mocha" and a shot of e3live (with green grapes as a chaser!)

for my blended drink, i used:

*about 2 tablespoons raw cacao powder (i'm guessing! i'm pretty sure it was more than 1 tablespoon)

*1 "shot" of e3live (ie the amount i could pour off the unthawed stuff to fill a shot glass)

*1 tablespoon maple syrup 

*1/2 tablespoon lucuma powder

*1 cup unsweetened almond milk

*4-5 ice cubes (made with a stainless steel ice cube tray! the best! i love the old look and updated material! ie aluminum-free!)

it separated a little after i had it sitting out for a bit: dark green and brown swirls, not as appetizing. but stirred, it's a pretty normal looking chocolate colour! and the raw cacao is the perfect caffeine buzz for today and i can't taste the e3live! (does anyone else sometimes not like the taste of wheatgrass or e3live? today is one of those days...)

getting rid of your cold...

morning vitamin C smoothie: parsley (couldn't resist as its iron should be more easily absorbed with all of this vitamin C!) and filtered water, camu camu, freshly squeezed orange juice (eek! so amazing! from the juiciest sweetest oranges ever!), mango, papaya...

 and then frozen bananas and some frozen raspberries...

 and later we did several shots of what organic lives puts in their cold/flu shot: e3 live, celery, ginger and camu camu!

coughing and sneezing = gone!

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