a picture is worth a thousand words

Spaghetti, defrosted homemade marinara sauce and Trader Joe's Vegan Meatballs

Been super busy with work, feeding feral kitties and running. Toss in some traveling and that hasn't left much time for much cooking or blogging. Mostly, I've been defrosting my freezer stash and have been indulging in some of my favorite vegan Philly haunts. Here are a few shots so you can see what I've been doing and eating lately.

 The Ziggy Burger from HipCityVeg – a tasty veggie burger topped with special, slightly spicy creamy sauce and crispy tempeh. Perfect when you're too zapped to cook.

  Cupcakes, HipCityVeg

Violet and I supped last week at Rangoon. We shared many dishes including Fried Burmese Tofu with dipping sauce. It's tofu made from lentils – very delicate.

Coconut Tofu from Rangoon – so luscious.

A humble, improvised dinner I made one night with steamed veggies [edamame, carrots, onions and celery] and tossed with a spicy almond-butter based curry sauce, served over brown rice. I spend so much time writing down recipes; cooking without a notebook felt playful and fun.

Press Sample for Review

As a runner, I need extra protein but a lot of vegan protein powder tastes like wallpaper paste. The folks at TwinLabs gave me this Twinlab Clean Series Veggie Protein to sample, and I am happy to report that it's vanilla perfection: a creamy, filling treat after a long run. Here, I blended it into a smoothie with a banana, some berries, spinach and flax seeds.

 This brutally cold and snowy winter has been tough on Philly's strays and ferals. My friend Vanessa and I built two shelters for the kitties at Laurel Hill Mansion just before the deep freeze. What they lack in aesthetics, they make up for in warmth – two layers of insulation. We think the kitties have been snuggling up in them

 Here's one of the poor babies, just before coming over for some food.

Onto luckier kitties, both of whom were formal alley cats. Pablo and BossaNova in a rare moment snuggling.

BossaNova loves her new scratch post. Here, she prepares to make a speech.

Lastly, meet Lolita, my dentist's doggie. Lolita is a rescue and serves as junior receptionist. She's super calm and friendly. She let me hold her after my last cleaning. Here, she shows off her purple puppy-cure.