Vegan food isn't as scary as I thought

Over the weekend, my boyfriend suggested we have dinner at Loving Hut. It's a local restaurant I've been wanting to try. I've been a little hesitant AND excited only because it's vegan food. Not that there's anything wrong with that. From what Hollywood and movies have described as vegan, I was expecting a menu full of raw vegetables and foods I'd normally gawk at. But I was pleasantly surprised. The menu was more focused on Asian cuisine. There were a lot of noodle, vegetable, soup and brown rice dishes. They even had a couple sushi rolls! And I love sushi.

My first thought upon seeing vegan sushi on a menu:
How good is a sushi roll without fish?
Actually tasty. And I'd definitely get it again.

So what did I get for a main dish?
It was called Grilled Sensation; a grilled soy veggie fillet with brown rice and side salad. My thoughts: delicious.

There are a few other dishes on their menu that I'd love to try. One being the ginger tofu plate. I love ginger and I've taken a new liking to tofu. Arnon eats tofu a lot and so I'm learning to cook with it and like it. Favorite part - the tofu takes on the flavor of whatever seasonings you add to your dish, and it just adds some extra protein to your meal.

I know that I couldn't be a vegan, mainly because I love fish, chicken, and the occasional burger, but I definitely am willing to eat vegan food. It's not as scary as I thought it'd be. I'm a picky vegetable eater, so this was a nice surprise.

You know what else was a surprise?! Vegan strawberry cheesecake! I love cheesecake, and so I took the chance to try a version of my favorite dessert. It's not as creamy, but the consistency and flavor of it was similar. I probably couldn't give up "real" cheesecake, but I am willing to eat this if I ever find myself at an event or dinner party with vegan desserts.

I think at dinner, eating healthy like that, really got me thinking about my "get back into shape" journey I've been on the past couple months. I need to start incorporating more veggies or salad into my meals. At least vegetables I'll eat. I'm not a big salad eater, nor am I a lover of the "healthy" salad dressings. In the past I've always been one to reach for the ranch dressing. I need something with flavor. I found a dressing I'll actually use, a raspberry vinaigrette. It's tasty and adds that extra something to the ever bland salad.

Yesterday, our grocery shopping trip to Sprouts was fun and exciting. We filled the cart with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. I'm really going to push myself to do this. It's easy to say "I'll eat a salad every day" but it's another to actually do it. Now, I'm not committing to consuming a salad EVERY day, but I will commit to munching on fresh fruits and vegetables regularly. I can't let the fresh food we buy end up in the trash, and it happens frequently. We have a tendency to over-buy vegetables and never get around to eating them, which really is both a waste of food and money.

So here begins phase 2 of a "new" me.

I found my favorite PB at Sprouts, which I thought I could only get when I was in NY. Needless to say, I was super excited when I came across the Peanut Butter & Co. brand.

And so today, I made a snack of some fresh celery and PB.

My fav PB and fresh veggies

 What are some of your favorite healthy snacks? I'm always looking for new ideas and recipes.