Wanna see how my Maui meals have been going…well, I have about 4.7% of my eats captured on film, so I’ll let you be the judge of that. We eat at restaurants more often than not, so I am in serious need of a detox. Processed foods have been in abundance, despite my best attempts to minimize them. And even with mega planning ahead of time, vegan options tend to be poor at best. One of the things I realized here is how unavoidable processed foods is. Sad :(
Even with my organic-loving, health-conscious, family, I’m struggling to keep a same-ness in my diet. The hippie lifestyle is especially hard due to location alone…the fact that Maui is an island is a huge obstacle, and much of their food is shipped from the mainland, rather than made on the island. Hello carbon footprint! And hello processed goods!
We have been buying local veggies and fruit as much as possible, but there’s only so much you can do. Anyways, here are a few of my vacay nibbles.
Morning time eats:
Organic french roast coffee, light soy milk. Raisin Bran (x a LOT).
More RB cereal. Strawbz.
Organic wilderness retreat blend coffee. RB with EXTRA cranz thrown in.
Self explanatory. Delish.
Strawbz and apple slices. RB dust drowned in leche and micro-ed – it almost tasted like oats! Has anyone else ever tried this?
Sick of brekkie nom noms? Ok, here’s some mid-day grubbing, captured on film.
Freshly opened Sabra.
Going…
going…
gone!
I’m pretty sure I pounded that baby in 30 minutes flat. No surprise there.
This bag of dried mangos suffered a fate similar to the hummus. Shelf-life of dried fruit in the presence of yours truly is counted in seconds (rather than days). 16 oz? Puh-leez. Give me a challenge.
English muffin with hummus maximus, spinach, and apple slices. This was a tasty lil bugger. I think I repeated it a few more times…
At the pace I was going, a grocery trip was v. necessary to re-stock the essentials…
Hummus tubs (yes, plural), shroomies, carrots, and strawbz. Plus dried fruit, dates, and apples, oh my!
If you’ve never tried this Forty Spices flave, DO IT! It’s got a nice spicy kick to it, and there are little chunks, which I love in my hummus. I think it’s Tribe’s best kind of hummus (I’m actually not a fan of their classic), but this one was soopah good. As a result, I had far too many crackers and felt a bit like a$$ after…typical Elise behavior.
More vegg/apple/hummus action.
Apparently (to me), Family size = Elise size. I know I’m on vacation and all, but that’s no reason to re-invent completely abandon the way I normally eat. I’m not sure if Kyle even got within a few inches of the box, before I swatted his hand away. I was like Gollum guarding his precious ring! My precious.
FYI, the above pomegranate fizzy juice is crazy good. I had 3/4 of the bottle in a single sitting.
Can’t go wrong with something as simple as vegan Boca Burgers.
Lather on some hummus, throw in some spin, and BAM!
Whoops! How did that one sneak in there…
As for dinner, I can’t remember the names of all the restaurants we ate at, but we did sushi @ Sansei, sunset dining @ Longboards, happy hour grubbin @ Moose McGillicutty’s, and (the best of all) enjoyed some seriously gourmet bites at Merriman’s.
If you aren’t familiar with Peter Merriman’s food movement, get familiar! He’s on point with his ideas of how to showcase food…and he has been advocating eating home-grown products way before it was trendy.
‘Fresh’ and ‘local’ are the two words which guide every decision we make at Merriman’s." –Peter Merriman
I tasted every single veg on the menu 🙂
For the rest of the nights that we weren’t dining out, we BBQ-ed our din din. Here’s a sample of some goodies:
Steamed brocc slaw, spinach salad with diced tomato, black beans, and mega avocado.
From the grill, corn on the cob. If you want to know the PERFECT way to BBQ corn, the trick is to (1) pull back the husk, (2) de-silk it, (3) cover the corn back up with the husk and (4) submerge it in water for at least 30 minutes prior to grilling it. After those steps, you can’t go wrong.
Mmmm…I love perfectly grilled corn!
Freshly made salsa, two ways. Cilantro-free zone on the left, with chopped mango, avocado, red onion, and just a squeeze of lemon. It’s the perfect marinade for grilled fish, but I like it on any and every thing.
Naturally, I loaded it on my (already over-flowing) ensalada, along with (the above pictured) wild rice because I like my food to kumbaya togethah.
I can’t even put into WORDS how juicy and delish this fresh fruit was. Desserts were pretty much the same each and every night because Hawaiian pineapple is impossible to top 🙂
Another night of grilling…
Zucchini, squash, and eggplant for moi. Meat for the boys. Fish for my momz.
Kyle’s practicing for his second career as a hand model…
Leftover veggies grilled to perfection, with (organic) chickpeas, avocado, tomato, and red bell pepps, on a bed of spinach & red leaf lechuga mixta (Spanish, French, Hawaiian, I’m all about the linguistic diversity).
Another day another dollar salad. Several Triscuits were harmed in the making of this salad. I have no moderation ability when it comes to crackers.
I have about 600 photos of dried fruit, dates, and strawberries, so just mentally copy the above picture times 10 and you probably have one day’s worth of my fruit intake.
Summer time and the livin’s easy…it’ll be very very 🙁 to leave Maui. One would think two weeks of hummus, dried fruit, and more hummus, and more dried fruit would get old – but clearly, they haven’t met the likes of me!
I remember when I went on a cruise a few months ago that I ended up eating bran for breakfast just about every day. Either that or peanut butter toast. Not too many options!
I’ve micro’ed grape nuts in milk, which is delicious. Especially topped with honey. The bran idea sounds good too though.
Everything looks so good! I am sorry the eats are getting a little old and about the processed foods…it IS sad how prevalent it is in our society. It is everywhere, and kind of scary. Sometimes I think I live in my own little organic vegan bubble, but then when I talk to my participants/clients about their diets–pop! That bubble is quickly gone when I realize how much processed food the average person eats, and how shocked they are at some of my suggestions 🙁
I have never tried hummus on apples before. I *love* apples and I am addicted to hummus–am I missing out here?! I just never thought to put them together…I tend to keep my sweet foods sweet and my salty/savory foods salty/savory. But now I am curious…
Ummm–16 oz of dried fruit?! I could down that in a nano-second! Glad to know I am not the only one 🙂 With all that fresh beautiful fruit around, though, it might be giving the dried fruit a run for its money…
Enjoy the rest of your trip!
Courtney
You are doing pretty good for there being not many clean food options! All that hummus, fruit, and cereal is makin me hungry! Glad you are havin a great time! Still jealous over here!
sorry Elise- am not seeing these ‘unclean’ foods you speak of! All looks great to me! Glad you are having fun (and that you have access to hummus and dried fruit!)
wow, so jealous! all looks so fresh and delish! enjoy the rest of your trip!
Hahaha, I love your random/scientifically calculated percentages!!
Everything looks and sounds fantasmic! Espesh the grilled veggies!
Be still my heart! There is SO MUCH hummus I almost died just reading this (while I’m eating hummus and shroomies of course).
You know what…I don’t think I’ve had Raisin Bran before (‘ello govnuh! Please tell me you know what I’m talking about or else just take a stamp that says FOOL to my forehead)! I also don’t think I’ve had grilled corn before but YUM!
I foresee Kyle being HUGE in the modeling world. Enjoy all of your time soaking up paradise!!
Oh and just an FYI – J&K = big D, RHNJ = Caroline cries in part II of the finale, NYC Prep = don’t waste your time! 😀
Lovely post as usual my dear! Love the hand modeling! NYC has been exactly the same since you left… rain, rain, and ummm.. more rain!
girl looks to me you are getting your daily Elise nutrients in!
The 40 Spices hummus is insanely delicious. Please please please bring home so fresh fruit from the island i’ll be your friend forever.
You even found a bag of Island Fruits! hot off the press girl!
Is the 4.7% an accurate scientific estimation!? 😉
Looks to me like you’re doing pretty well over there! Sooo jealous… enjoy some warmth and sunshine for me!! 🙂
<3 <3
Those are my IDEAL vacation eats. At least you have resources and you’re not stuck at the Hawaiian version of In-N-Out Burger or something 🙂
Grilled veggies and fruit sound amazing and I have to chime in on the cracker thing. I’m not a big Triscuit person, only because they taste too salty and I bloat up (I could try not eating a whole box or slathering them with hummus, but whatever.)
I recently tried the “Hint of Salt” low-sodium Triscuits and let’s just say, I am in love. They still taste salty, but are actually extremely low in sodium. Happy Abby.
I want your fruit. Send some this-a-way.
Elise,
You are hilarious. I love how your posts are written exactly how you probably talk. Oh, how I would love to meet you in person and drink lots of coffee in the morning and then eat tubs of hummus and big salads together. Someday, ok?
Everything, especially those strawberries and grilled zucchini squash strips look delicious! So glad you are enjoying your time in Hawaii with the fam!
Raisin bran microwaved…never tried it, but I bet it’s delicious!
Shiii, I know I’ma sound like a dude or sunthin’, but I love a real appetite. I always like to throw serving sizes out tha damn window, and I cannot get over my love of how you do tha damn thang too! Although for me, it’s cereal, not hummus. Oh, box says 11 servings? No,no. More like three.
GAH! Stop it with that pineapple. It’s my fave and I’m pleased to see you’re livin’ it up. Um, love the booze pic.
Continue having the most beautiful, hummusy time evah!
Heck yes for hummus lovin’! I would eat it 24/7 if I could. I actually just got two new tubs this afternoon…they won’t last long. Is Sabra your fave brand?
OKAY, I HAVE MISSED YOU. CAPS were necessary. I am loving all this hummus action all ova dis post. Cynthia got me more sabra today. I kissed her on the cheek before RIPPING it open and killing it all. I felt like you. And was so happy and felt a stronger bond between us! Even though you didn’t know..but now you do!
Raisin bran was my cereal of choice at boarding school. Captain Crunch..no thanks. Give me da fiber b!tch!
Thank god you tossed in that Stella picture. Or else I would have been worried. My friend once told me she wanted to name her first daughter “Stella Artois” because it “sounded foreign”. I told her it sounded like a baby alcoholic.
Kyle needs to meet Tyra. He would win that Covergirl photoshoot for sure.
LOVES YOU
Wow! All of your vacation eats look wonderful, Elise!! I am especially enjoying the sights of those grilled veggies, and the giant avo, of course 😉
Hello! Just found your blog. I am actually going to Maui in October and have been super nervous about what I am going to eat! I am a semi vegan and I am going with meat eaters! At least they have hummus there and decent grocery store finds!
I’m super impressed with how well you ate over vacation! I know it’s not your typical fare, but most everything looks super healthy and yummy to me!
Eliseeee!!!! I’ve missed you my (hungry, hungry) hippie!
It sounds like you’re having a fab time with the fam and livin’/eatin’ like a queen-as you should!
I used to be such a RB girl…..allll through jr. high and high school it was definitely in the cereal rotation! And yes! I have microed cereal w/ soy milk and it’s divineeee and perfect in the winter time….ESPECIALLY pb puffins microed!
The vegan burger, plethoraaa of hummus & fruit, and breakfast shots are lookin’ glorious….i’m going to come visit you in Maui just for the food (jk, just for you!!!!!)……:)
thx Val! but, before you start your idol worship, you should know, i’ve nearly depleted the island of it’s choc covered macadamia nuts supply. sooo, yeah, there’s also that…and the peanut butter filled dates that somehow never got photographed…
Oh, You’re my new favorite blogger fyi
I am once again hungry!
woohoo! meet me at the pool (i’ll be the one with the fat-a$$ cooler filled with goodies)…heaven forbid i have to actually MOVE to get my next spoonful of hummus lovin 😉
hey jennifer! so glad you found me 🙂 maui does have lots to offer for semi-vegans…but it tends to get repetative 🙁 my advice would be to do your research, once you know where you are going and look up menus of places, so if your meat eatin friends wanna grab a meal on the go, youll be ready with vegan friendly options. otherwise, im pretty sure ive proved man CAN live off hummus and dried fruit alone 😉
hope you have a blast on vacay and continue to read!
I spent last July and this past January living/working on Maui. We stayed in Kihei but did work up near Makawao. If you get the chance check out Paia there are some awesome restaurants and I had some of the best burritos there (can’t remember the name) and Anthony’s coffee is good as well for sandwiches.
There is a great grocery/health food store in Kahului called Down to Earth. They have an awesome baked good section…must try the menehune bar (I dream about it!!) and there is another one (can’t remember the name) but is to die for (coconut is involved!!).
Hope you are having fun!!
wow, thanks for all the recs!! i know exactly which store you are referring to, and begged my parents to stop so we could go in…sadly, that was not on the hippie fam agenda. its on the way to the airport though, so perhaps i can beg them to let me stock up on plane treats there…fingers crossed.
have you ever been to merriman’s? that was the best dining experience ive had here.
mwahaha, that, my dear, is strategic photography. trust me, there are no choc covered macadamia nuts left on the island. and dont even get me started on the PB filled dates…i swore i took pics, but i cant figure out where they went?! also, youll notice the only food i really take pics of is that which i eat in the room (hence the 4.7%)
yes! some day…
my momz is so sick of my abbrevs, bc i do talk exactly how i write.
awwww shiii. you better believe it. this island doesnt have enough hummus for this hippie…good thing im leaving in a couple days, otherwise theyd be left high and dry.
stellaaaaaaa!! hahaha, maybe ill name my first born estrella damn (too many good times in espana?!)…or sabra. thats always an option. kyle may get sick of vetoing such ridic suggestions after a while and cave in a moment of weakness, and voila, thatll be the story of our little baby carob…
haha. mama cynth is a good woman for keeping the vitals in stock.
sabra is DEF my fave! i love it so so much. lately, back in nyc, ive been making my own (for $$ reasons) and there are other flavors of other brands that are good too…but i will always come back to sabra love 🙂 how about you? fave brand? home made?
k…i hate to say it, but i am completely stumped! wtf is with the top o the mornin refrerence? regardless of the meaning, i will now ALWAYS think of that once i pour myself a heaping bowl of fiber goodness. 🙂
we need to get our hummus on togethah.
yes, its a *very* carefully calculated percentage…haha so glad you appreciated the extra work i put into this blog 😉
mmm, i remember hot grape nuts. those are sooo good! thanks for the reminder 🙂
ah courtney, my dried fruit poundin’ partner in crime….haha. if only the rest of the country knew what they were missing! sadly, we seitan lovers remain in the minority…i wish i could expand my bubble….maybe one day…
tear 🙁 hopefully ill bring back some sunshine and dry weather with me…
julie, you were in my dream last night!! hahaha, i swear im not a creep, i wish just trying to smuggle you back some fruit! the border control peeps said no bueno 🙁
I can’t reply to your response but just so you (and your reader’s) don’t think I’ve lost my mind:
Maybe they only show the annoying commercials in MI 😉
Nope, didn’t make it to Merriman’s! Unfortunately, we aren’t go back for work so now I will have to do it on my own dollar.
We did alot of grilling when we were there….fresh fish and lots and lots of pineapple. Definitely hit the Down to Earth store before you get on the plane. I spotted it too when we leaving the airport and it called to me (of course no one wanted to go with me either so I had to hit it while fellow co-workers were pumping gas and getting starbucks across the street)!!!
I took baked good from there on the plane and saved me on that long plane ride and the awful way too salty plane food. The prices of food there are insane too…I almost passed out on the cereal isle of Safeway…$7 for bran!
Hope you make it to the crater for hiking. It was like being on the moon….or so I imagine!!;-)
Ok, I never thought of putting hummus with apples, but that sandwich looks delicious.
BTW – went to Costco last night, and bought something you would love! A set of 12 individual snack packs of Sabra. Seriously. The first thing I thought of when I saw them was “Elise would love these!”
OMG! I must get to Costco now!! Hummus and apples are great together, but then, I don’t know if there’s anything I don’t like with hummus…
Gosh, I am ADDICTED to your blog! I must have read 20 posts today!
you have the best email address ever!
Aww thank you!