During our visit to the Coit tower in San Francisco last year, we walked passed this unique, little, but cozy restaurant with a super long queue outside. Usually a scene only seen at popular restaurants in Asia, such a long waiting line at a U.S. restaurant was a rare sight, which got JieJie extremely excited and eager to give it a try! At that very moment, all of us felt as if we were back in Asia! It goes without saying that we were clearly intrigued by this restaurant named 'Mama'. So we vowed to join the party line outside this restaurant at some point in time.
This Mediterranean eatery is one of our all-time favorites. We often made the effort to visit this extremely humble “Drive-In” for some incredibly tasty falafel sandwiches located in San Jose (next to the Santana Row and Valley Fair shopping center). Today is no exception, as we drop by the eatery en route to Santana Row for some shopping =)
Tired of eating vegetables?? Well, let's 'play' some vegetables!
Like it or not, there is indeed a vegetable orchestra around for a while. Based in Vienna, Austria, The Vegetable Orchestra is known for its unique, wholesome and organic music. You can find diverse genres of music presented via both fresh and dried vegetables in the most curious ways!
This creative group comes up with awesome veggie musical instruments in the likes of pumpkin drum, celery guitar, pepper horn, carrot recorder & flute, eggplant clap, cucumberphone, leek violin...to name a few. Touring mainly in the Europe, the group has also released several albums. Their latter albums are the Onionoise and Remixed.
Previous albums include Gemise and Automate.
Their music remind us of the primitive rhythms & melodies back in the days - rich and soulful, at times squeaky!
Check them out! However, please remember to keep an open mind when listening in order to appreciate their ''vegetable style'' of music! =)
P.S. In case you are wondering, they are not vegetarian by the way... =P
We are already in the month of May, but the temperature at night can still be punishing. Wandering in the revamped downtown Sunnyvale on a chilly evening, we made up our mind to warm and spice up our stomachs & souls...
Having difficulty putting forward your first step in attempting vegetarian diets or lifestyle? Try becoming a weekday vegetarian first!
TED Talks: Why I'm a weekday vegetarian by Graham Hill
Graham Hill is the founder of TreeHugger.com, a leading media outlet dedicated to driving sustainability mainstream. A great resource website for green lovers to discover up to date news, products and ideas. Weekday Veg program is one of them!
At least for one of us, before turning into a 'full-time' vegetarian, Barney vividly remembered how he used to struggle giving up his carnivorous instinct despite fully aware of the many benefits that vegetarianism would offer him and the world. Barney would appear ready to try out vegetarian diet, but only to be found peppering his diet with various meat products here and there in his meals. The prospect of meatless diets that would deprive his taste buds actually intimidated him (no more tasty cheeseburgers, juicy steak, tender fried chicken, etc.).
Lack of determination and perseverance, primarily driven by the incomplete understanding of vegetarianism and the reluctance to forgo an already established, familiar diets, initially prevented Barney's from attempting a vegetarian lifestyle. At this early stage, he had the 'all or none' mindset of being a full vegetarian or not.
But the flexible Barney eventually found a way to gradually materialize his ideal in reality by carrying out a stepwise adoption of vegetarian diet plan. He would start with being vegetarian for 1 day per week, before stepping it up daily to be a weekly, monthly and finally a committed vegetarian! Just like Graham Hill in this TED talk video, Barney initially embraced the weekday vegetarian concept and succeeded in becoming a full vegetarian.
Anyway, the gist of this post is:
Some vegetarian diet is better than no vegetarian diet!
Hope this article would encourage you to make your first step towards a healthier lifestyle! =D
A deal on the Groupon sparked this outing to Song Ngu, a newly opened Vietnamese restaurant in Milpitas. Being a huge fan of Pho – the Vietnamese vermicelli soup, this obviously is an irresistible deal!
Becoming a vegetarian isn't as hard as you might want to believe. Start mellow with setting aside 1 vegetarian day per week and progressively increases to full vegetarian diet over a course of a month can be a great way to kick off the transformation!
You may wonder why the transformation? What benefits does turning into vegetarian offer?
Trust us, there are so many benefits that each of them can become your motivation to become one of us!!
Here is a list of top 10 reasons to become a vegetarian (adapted from Vegetarian Times). Munch on...
1. Stay healthy
Ward off cardiovascular diseases and reduce the risk of cancer. A low-fat vegetarian diet is the single most effective way to stop the progression of coronary artery disease or prevent it entirely.
Vegetarian diet is inherently healthy because vegetarians consume no animal fat and less cholesterol, and instead consume more fiber and more antioxidant-rich produce
Reduce likelihood of contracting food-borne diseases. According to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), foods rich in protein such as meat, poultry, fish and seafood are frequently involved in food-borne illness outbreaks
2. Keep your weight down or optimal
Stop the standard American diet that is high in saturated fats and calories. Replace with the healthier plant-based foods and complex carbohydrates that would also prevent obesity.
Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, California, found that overweight people who followed a low-fat, vegetarian diet lost an average of 24 lbs in the first year and kept off that weight 5 years later
3. Obtain better "regularity" (umm, we mean your bowel movement =D )
Meat contains no fiber, while vegetables contain more fibers that help push the waste out of the body.
People eating lower on the food chain (vegetarians) tend to have fewer instances of constipation, hemorrhoids and diverticulitis.
4. Promote longevity
Japanese residents living in Okinawa, Japan, have the longest life expectancy of any Japanese and likely the longest life expectancy in the world. Their secret: a low-calorie diet of unrefined complex carbohydrates, fiber-rich fruits and vegetables, and soy.
Lunchtime quickly rolled around while we were studying in a cafe of the River Mark plaza on Saturday. Looking for a quick fix before resuming our studies, we made our way across the street to try out Yan Can Cook restaurant.
It actually wasn't that long ago when Martin Yan was a much celebrated chef, with his own cooking show that was being broadcast around the world. If you are clueless about who he is, you probably have heard the catchy slogan of "If Yan can cook, so can you!", which is Yan's most famous phrase.
Ever stuck by how to express yourselves that you are vegetarian in foreign languages or while traveling outside of English speaking countries?
Such scenario actually happened to us in the recent past. While traveling in Japan for vacation, we were stumped by the fact that we could not express our dietary preferences to the waitress, which ended up in a rather awkward but funny conversational exchange!!
But worry no more! Introducing the "IVU Veggie Phrases" app for the iPhone or Android-based phones!
Developed by vegetarian Ashley Burton based on the International Vegetarian Union's compilation of vegetarian phrases in world languages, this app is curiously fun & practical!
It was a perfect day for a nice cup of tea and brunch. Enjoying the breeze in our hair and basking in the sun we drove down to our local semi-high end plaza and decided to get our food at The Prolific Oven.
The Prolific Oven is a local breakfast restaurant famous for its sandwiches and panini, hence the 'Oven' in its name. Desiring something light, yet packed with enough energy to get us going, we ordered a meal high in protein and carbs while still having an abundance of vegetables.
Didi ordered Veggie Scramble with a sliced sourdough bread. Being an egg addict, if didi is allowed to, he will have eggs in every meal he eats. So its a natural choice for him to choose something like scrambled eggs for breakfast.
Hailing from the city of Arlington, Virginia, Five Guys has consistently received rave reviews for its burgers and fries. For some reason, maybe because we are located on the west coast, the arrival of this relatively young burger chain almost feel like the twin-version of the extremely successful In-n-out burger chain.
With recent expansion of its operation to the west coast, we decided to give it a try!
First came into view was the big standard red fonts...very inspiring...haha
There was already a huge crowd inside the restaurant. We ordered Veggie sandwich and Cheese veggie sandwich. At that point, there was a major difference comparing to other burger store – which is you get to pick your toppings! “ALL THE WAY” means getting all the toppings in black, and you can add even more toppings such as relish, jalapeno, A-1 sauce, BBQ sauce, etc. all for free.
In addition, we also got the Cajun style fries to go with our burgers. The Cajun fries are topped with special spices to enhance the flavor (rather than standard french fries).
While waiting for our orders, we noticed an interesting feature of the store, that Five Guys offers complimentary roasted peanuts! It almost feels like getting free side dishes to our entree.
It was a cloudless and warm night for our latest foodie outing, not the typical weather where one would venture into a hotpot restaurant, but we did anyway... Well, because the Little Sheep Mongolian Hotpot is in town and we have been dying to try it out for a while! Finally we got the chance to check it out on a warm early summer night! Does it remind you of enjoying a tub of ice cream in a chilly night? That's the spirit!
Anyway, Little Sheep Mongolian Hotpot is a well-known chain hotpot restaurant hailing from China with international presence in multiple countries. We used to have to commute some 20 miles to get to the nearest branch in Union City, but now we no longer have to do so! As you can see, the interior of the store is pleasantly designed with a fusion of both western and oriental elements with lukewarm lighting. All seats are cushioned with hotpot boiling away on electronic stove in each cove.
In spite of the warm weather, there was already a crowd gathering in the front lobby waiting to be seated. We waited for about 30 minutes before being called on to be seated...pretty good business huh?!
One of the concerns for many guys when they are switching to vegetarian diet is the myth that the diet lacks sources of protein used to built up muscle.
During one of our recent potluck gatherings, a friend asked us about daily sources of protein for vegetarians. We rarely think about boosting specific type of nutrient sources, so out of curiosity, we did a little investigation and decided to share it with the Bees.
Here are some few things that our research suggest eating along with some of our personal comments:
Whole Grains
Examples: Barley, buckwheat, corn (eg. whole cornmeal and popcorn), millet, Oats (eg. oatmeal), Quinoa, rice (eg brown rice and colored rice), rye, wheat, and wild rice.
WasaBees' Comments:We eat ALOT of grains in our house. Our consumption on grain variety is so high that we don't really even know what half the grains we eat are called in English. However out of the spectrum of our culture, our staple grain is Quinoa. Quinoa is the best "grain" for protein. This is mainly because they contain all 9 essential amino acid in the right proportions, which is uncommon in non-animal products.
Beans, Lentil and Peas
(or Legumes if you want to be technical) Examples: Black bean, chickpeas, chili bean, coco bean, green beans, green and yellow peas, kidney beans, lima bean, mung bean, pinto bean, red bean, white bean, and soy. WasaBees' Comments: We love eating beans! However using the bean as a good source of protein is questionable. Most beans that we eat in our diet are very starchy, hence they contain quite a bit of carbohydrates. Also compare to alot of other foods that provide proteins, beans by itself just simply doesn't stand up. For example, from the USDA Nutrient database, 100 grams of kidney bean provides 24 grams of protein, however it also provides 60 grams of carbohydrates. It is doing WAY MORE HARM than good!
Soy Products & Mock Meats
Examples:Tofu (including mock meats), tempeh, and soymilk (including dairy substitues). WasaBees' Comments: Soy is a great source of protein! It is probably the only plant that can be almost on par with Quinoa. Though soy is not considered as complete protein, due to their proportion of each amino acids. However, they do provide a all 9 essential amino acids in great amounts. Note that many soy products, including mock meats are heavily processed.
In the WasaBee family, we have a rule of thumb where we eat such products sparingly. The reason for this is because these overly processed products tend to contain preservatives. For soy products we go for tofu, but not just any tofu. The tofu have to have one or all of the following 3 qualities:
Organic -Soy beans are one of the 4 major plants that had been commonly genetically modified. Not completely trusting genetics engineering technology, we insist on trying organic.
Traditionally made -This ensures none or very minimal preservatives added.
Firm consistency - This is due to the protein content. The softer the tofu, the lower soy concentration, resulting less protein content.
According to the Lance Armstrong Foundation, silken soft tofu contains around 1 gram of protein per ounce, in comparison to 5 gram per ounce for cooked tempeh.
Nuts and Seeds
Examples:Chestnut, hazelnut, cashew, pistachio, peanut, pine nut, macadamia, pecan, sunflower, flaxseed, pumpkin seed, sesame seeds, and poppy seed. WasaBees' Comments: Nuts and seeds are great! We often complain we don't eat enough of them! They are rich in protein as well as many other minerals. However there are things to consider when consuming and purchasing nuts. Nuts are high in various oils and fats, some are good and some are bad. When Jie Jie buy nuts, she almost never buy anything with peanuts in it. The main reason is because, in our culture they are considered to be very fatty and high in calories, and can make people grow acne easily. However another reason to consume less peanuts is because they are a common allergen.
Some people have allergic reactions to them because peanuts naturally emits a poison. Even if you are not allergic to peanuts, the fact that it secretes poison probably is a sign for us not to eat them. A seed that we do endorse eating though is flaxseed. Not only are they rich in protein, but also flaxseed is one of the very few non-animal product out there that is rich in Omega 3 Fatty Acids.
Protein Suppliments Examples: Too many to list WasaBees' Comments: Protein suppliments are similar to vitamins that comes in the form of powder, drinks, or snack bars. They are designed so that they are able to provide the highest amount of protein possible and still have the product be easily absorbed into the body. These are highly processed products so we don't really encourage taking them on a normal bases unless you are an athelete or is interested in intense body building. The most organic and natural out of these supplements is probably Whey powder.
Happy Birthday Will! Wish you healthy and accident free for the rest of the year!
Today Wasabees celebrated our good buddy's 27th birthday! Wanting to reflect our sweet and spicy friendship with Will, we decided to eat at a Thai restaurant. It is not easy to find a good Thai restaurant with nice ambiance in San Jose area. As a result, we had to put some extra effort on Yelp this morning to find a suitable restaurant for the birthday dinner. With a 4-star rating on Yelp and some nice pictures taken by other yelpers, "ThaiBodi" was the winner for the day.
By it's name, "ThaiBodi" is a Thai-Cambodian fusion restaurant located on El Camino Real near San Thomas Express way. When we first arrived, we were somewhat taken back by the cheap looking plaza and the restaurant building. To our surprise, the interior design of the restaurant immediately changed our first impression by 180 degrees.
Look what I found from Mitsuwa Japanese market today! Golden fertile eggs from cage free vegetarian hens.
We normally buy "cage free" eggs, but was never aware of "vegetarian" hens. The color of the egg shell is dark brown and the size is fairly larger than the organic eggs you buy from farmer's markets.
Here is an interesting description shown on the back of the carton.
"GOLDEN EAGLE SERVICE
You have just chosen nature's best food. GOLDEN FERTILE EGGS are from hens living in open houses, laying their eggs in nests. They have freedom to scratch, fly, and run with their mates. They are provided a nutritious vegetarian diet that is unsurpassed. The eggs are hand gathered daily, washed, and packaged under a strict quality control program. YOU WILL OVE THE FLAVOR AND THE COOR OR OUR GOLDEN DARK YOLK EGGS, WHERE THE NUTRITIONAL BENEFITS ARE PASSED ON TO OUR CUSTOMERS. Golden Eagle Service thanks you for purchasing our eggs."
hmm... It does make us feel even better for purchasing such eggs. Can't wait to try them out soon! What do you think? :)
While browsing through youtube, DiDi came across a series of videos made by animal planet back in 2008. These videos made a series named "The Animals save the Planet". There are 11 videos in total, each video talks about different wats to help the planet. Here are a view of my favorite ones:
**Help save the planet. Eat a healthy balanced diet.**
This video talks about the large amount of methane that cow emits. Even though in the video they portray the cow's methane emission through flatulence, but in reality most of the methane emission comes from the cow's blech as well as their excrements. However never the less, this is a very cute video that encourages people to cut down on meat consumption. Go Veggie!
Nothing is more delicious than a homemade meal. Thanks to our good friends, Johnny and Brian, for inviting us over to their vegetarian cooking night. We made fettucini with creamy mushroom and bean sauce. We also had "Brian"-ized garlic bread, and Johnny's special guacamole dip on the side.
Accidentally found this lovely site when I was searching for ideas online for the dinner gathering this Friday.
This is a site that collects links and photos of beautiful foods from around the web. If you search for "vegetarian", you will find hundreds of magnificent photos/recipes including the ones above. They look super delicious don't they?
We were driving around in the Cupertino area today. Realizing that our fridge is starting to run low on food, we decided to stop by a nearby Japanese supermarket, Marukai. While shopping we came across a cute pink little box that caught our attention.
and 
.
A deal on the Groupon sparked this outing to 
, and poppy seed.
