Are you completely confused by the title?
Let’s start from the beginning. Kyle and I celebrated us both having a free day off this week (we also kinda made it my faux birthday since Kyle will be in Vegas for the real deal).
I made vegan and GF pancakes for me (above), and grits with a fried egg on top for Kyle (below).
I added some of Follow Your Heart’s vegan sour cream to it at the end, which offers a tangy, creamy kick.
After breakfast (and coffee) I went for a run. Nothing major, just a quickie around the neighb.
For lunch we went to a local place called Greens Up! It is semi-new to Montana Ave. (actually it opened at almost the same time as we moved to Santa Monica).
It’s pretty much your average make-your-own-salad type of place (like chop’t in NYC). They have a few salad options on the menu, but Kyle and I both made our own.
His and hers.
Can you believe the size of them! I was in heaven.
My only complaint is the exorbitant price of the “specialty” ingredients, like tofu, avocado, and nuts. In other words, all the things I wanted. No matter. The staff was super friendly and answered all my questions about the various ingredients. Yes, the spinach and kale are organic. No, the peanuts aren’t salted.
My salad had spinach, kale, carrots, bell peppers, cucumber, baked tofu, and peanuts with the tropical ginger vinaigrette.
It was outstanding.
I still can’t get over the size of it!
Kyle’s salad had kale, romaine, grapes, peas, bell peppers, corn, avocado, and egg. At least his $2 charge for avocado meant he got a full avocado.
We were both mega satisfied. I brought my extras home.
After lunch we headed to the Grove for some shopping. I found gluten free sweet potato pasta at one of the stands in the Farmer’s Market. Honestly, I could have spent hours wandering all the different shops. Way back when I lived around just the corner from 3rd and Fairfax, so I am pretty familiar with the shops in the Grove, but it’s still a treat to roam. It reminds me of a more hole-in-the-wall version of the Reading Terminal Market in Philly.
I don’t have any photos though because my camera was locked in the car. Why?
Well, the reason we were really in that part of town was because we had tickets to be in the studio audience for Rove LA (hence the no camera, no cell phone policy).
Rove McManus is like Australia’s Chelsea Handler. Only he is now filming in LA. The show is new (we saw the taping of the 5th episode) and it’s shot at CBS studios by the Grove. We really lucked out because his guests for the evening were Steve Carell, Lake Bell, and Eva Longoria. They were hilarious! It was really freakin’ fun and I think Kyle and I will be shown on tv when it airs (on Monday). Sadly, it only airs in Australia, not the US (although maybe we can find it online?).
In any event, we were there from 5:30 pm until 8:30 pm…and when we left we made a bee line for food.
Still no camera, so I don’t have pics of the grub, but we went to Erewhon Natural Foods.
I was so freakin’ overwhelmed because they had SO MANY things I wanted to try!!! There were pre-packaged raw eats galore, vegan and gluten free items I’d never seen before, and a hot bar that could give Whole Foods a run for it’s money. My eyes were bigger than my stomach (obviously), so I had leftovers. Dear Erewhon, open more locations. Please?
Gyocha Spicy Tofu – yum! I was nervous it would be too spicy, but it was perfect. And it was pressed so long, it was packed with flavor, but not oily at all.
I also got two salads – kale ‘n corn and wakame seaweed. The kale one was only so-so. They shredded the kale it was practically pulverized – almost as if it was the pulp from juicing kale leaves. The seaweed salad was awesome though. B12 check!
When we got home I had some GF bread for dessert. This is the first time I’ve used the bread maker to make a gluten free loaf. It was different than the wheat ones I’ve made, both in inside texture and outside crust.
It was waaaay soft on the inside and very fluffy, almost like egg bread. I was worried when I saw the outside, so I’m glad it turned out. Kyle liked it too, but the combo of flours wasn’t exactly cheap. I have to figure out a good recipe that makes economical sense. I don’t like buying the GF loaves from the store because they are both dense like a brick and over priced. At least mine was tasty.
You guys jammed a lot into one day! Looks like a great one though – I can’t believe the size of that salad either!
That bread looks delicious!! I bought a breadmaker and like a week later started getting sick from bread so someday I will have to give the breadmaker a try. This gives me hope 🙂
That’s funny they tape in LA and only show it in Australia. I guess the entire media world really does revolve around Hollywood.
That bread sounds like it would make a fantastic GF bread pudding
oh my gosh i want that salad place NOW!!!
the bread looks great! I want to get a bread maker, not like I need one, but I’d like one 🙂 Glad to know GF bread turns out in it!
A friend and I were just talking yesterday about how ridiculous gluten-free bread is…both in size and WEIGHT! I swear, if you were ever to get mugged while leaving the grocery store, you could rest assured that if you chucked your GF loaf at them, it would at least result in temporary shock so that you could run away! 😉
So cool about the taping! You really DID luck out with his guest appearances.
And lastly (because obviously, I’m OCD and have to work my way back up to the top), your salads look flippin insane! It’s sooooo big! (TWSS) I checked out the menu…only to make myself more jealous that I don’t live in CA…they are a bit steep on the add in’s when it comes to proteins and such, but I guess they have to get you somewhere, right? How was the tropical ginger vinaigrette?
Yay for Rove! He’s hilarious – I’ll have to look out for you on the show! Yum, what a fun and delicious weekend 🙂
Ah, The Grove, Farmer’s Market and CBS Studios…fan of that location. =)
http://Rove.tv
thanks!!
the dressing was pretty light. not overpowering, but not too mild that it was completely MIA. just right.
gf loaves are ridic. so is the marathon commenting sesh you just had!!!
holllerr. ps i am brainstorming things for sat night (22nd). are you free? ill email you today.
yes! let me know if you see us in the audience!!
Oh my gosh that is freaking awesome!!! I have never sat in a studio audience before but it looks like so much fun! And you got to see awesome guests!!!
Those pancakes look really amazing!
From the name of that place I was sold…and then I saw your salads…I want to go there now!!
And that tofu looks really delicious too 🙂
You’ve seriously perked up my appetite with this post!
I went to the farmers market there on Saturday for the first time. I need to go back when I’m not in search of something specific so I can just meander. Plus, all the smells were wonderful. I wanted to eat everything!
YUM! That bread looks delicious. I’m GF, too. Have you tried Food For Life’s brown rice bread? It is my favorite. After being thrown into the toaster oven, it is super fluffy and soft on the inside but the crust remains crunchy. Best GF bread ever! It’s so great with a cup of hot tea; reminds me of eating a sweet bread at a coffee house.
What is the recipe for your bread? I’ve been meaning to try my own.
Those pancakes look amazing! I’ve been looking for a vegan, gluten free pancake recipe. Can I please have your recipe??
for quick ones i use bob’s red mill gf pancake mix following the instructions on the package with a flax or chia seed “egg” instead of a real one and almond milk. otherwise i will just use a combo of 25/75 brown rice flour/oat flour.
Thank you so much Elise! Can’t wait to try both of those options!
Pingback: Keeping cool