Weak Brunch & Costumes for the Weekend List

Happy November 1st, the Christmas season has officially started! Sorry, couldn’t resist. Oh, and it’s World Vegan Day, happy that too! I’m thrilled to have an extra long quiet Sunday morning with fall back, but not so much about changing clocks around the house. And does anyone want Halloween candy? I overestimated how much we’d need for a Saturday night Halloween this year.

Anyway, last Sunday we headed to the Rio City Cafe in Old Sacramento to celebrate my mom’s birthday with a waterfront brunch.

Where the brunch menu was a disappointment for vegans or anyone looking to eat healthy, they seemed to rely on the view and bacon fat to draw in customers.

Come on guys, you could at least offer oatmeal, Asian congee, or something without animal! Especially in light of last week’s news, get with the times. Even the black beans in the tostada bowl had bacon fat, so I couldn’t order a vegan version of that. The best they could do for a vegan option was a seriously watered down, small salad.

And no, it was not satisfying and I’m not in a hurry to go back.

To make up for lacking lunch, I made a huge rice, lentil, and sweet potato stew for dinner that was much better.

Miko agreed, he was happy to share sweet potato chunks with me.

Other eats included this simple oil free tempeh bok choy stir fry after a busy work and gym day.

Kale salad with hummus dressing and baked butternut squash.

Another simple oil free stir fry with lots of veggies.

Hearty breakfast smoothies with raw beet, frozen banana, protein powder, kale, carrots, and pumpkin pie seasoning.

Heh, and more kale salad with steamed spaghetti squash.

Friday night we headed to a vegan costume party at Garden to Grill where it was our first costume party together. I went with a generic and cheap women’s “Ninja Dragon” costume from the Spirit Halloween store when the “Adult” Lisa Simpson costume I ordered from Amazon was apparently not actually meant for adults. Can you guess what character hubby is?

He was thrilled that some people at the party knew his character since it’s from a slightly obscure show. I love the eclectic decor on the patio.

Fun decorations for the party.

And great vegan menu including the Kombucha Kocktails which were awesome.

We shared a huge plate of vegan nachos.

And spent a few hours hanging out with new vegans and friends. We didn’t stay out too late since it was a long work day before the party, but it was fun and maybe I’ll participate in another costume party next year and have more time to plan a costume!

Onto the list! I will skip last weeks huge story since I’m sure you’ve been flooded with it already. By Monday evening I was tired of seeing it on Facebook, major news feeds, local TV news, and NPR. But it was a busy week last week, so this list will be shorter.

Use miso to create amazing, vegan risotto.

Here are decadent vegan breakfast recipes for a good vegan brunch!

Cool, a vegan soccer team!

Celebrate World Vegan Day with the 21-day vegan kickoff.

Mmmm, pulled BBQ jackfruit.

We get more vegan roast options for the holidays.

Vegan zucchini oat muffins.

Simple mini raw vegan walnut brownies, yes!

And raw vegan cashew cheddar.

It’s cool and overcast outside – perfect running weather calls me!