Stuff I Ate (and Stuff I Did)

So September 1st begins Vegan Mofo!! For those who don't know, "Vegan Mofo" stands for "Vegan Month of Food," and for the whole month, vegan bloggers, Instagrammers, tweeters, Facebookers, and users of whatever other social media is out there will be blowing up the internet with pictures of delicious vegan food.

It's been going on for years, and I've participated every year (I think). But I'll be honest — I've never been all that excited about Mofo, at least not for my own blogging. I love reading everyone else's posts, especially my blogger friends who don't blog as often the rest of the year. But for me, since I already blog five days a week, it's always been kind of the same thing I always do. And some bloggers choose a theme, but I could never commit to one for a whole month. But this year, I'm going ALL THE WAY. And I'm very excited. I'll be following the official Mofo daily prompts, which are new this year. But more on that tomorrow! Tonight is a pre-Mofo photo dump.

But before we get to the stuff I ate, I wanted to share with y'all what I've been doing for the past couple weekends. Memphis held its first-ever Ren Faire — the Mid-South Renaissance Faire — at Shelby Farms Park, and I went both weekends. The first weekend, I went with a traditional dress and long wig. And it was SO HOT and SO HUMID! My wig hair was all sticking to me. But I looked pretty cool.

Here I am with my friend Pam and her kid Lily. 

The Ren Faire had a Fairy Grove, so that first weekend, as I was sweating my ass off, I decided that the following weekend (which was this past weekend), I would go for a much more minimal look as a faery! It was still very hot, but I was much more comfortable.

But you're here for the food, not my nerdiness! I've been eating lots of good stuff, as usual. I've been doing a ton of eating out, so I haven't had much in the way of leftovers for lunches since I've not cooked much. And that means lunches of Amy's soups and frozen burritos. One day last week, I had this Amy's Vegetable Barley Soup with Hummus Toast.

Speaking of eating out, I'm making it a point to visit Cassi's new place, Pink Diva Cupcakery, once a week for lunch. She was doing themed daily menu specials, but now she's got a small menu so people can choose. Last Wednesday, my co-workers and I stopped in for big ole plates of BBQ Tofu Nachos!! So good!!

My friends and I have been brunching almost every Sunday at Imagine Vegan Cafe for years (since they relaunched brunch a year ago and during the original brunch run several years ago). We brunch so much that I've started ordering off the regular, non-brunch menu to mix it up. Yesterday, I got the Southern Staple — brown rice, black beans, collard greens, garlic sauce and cornbread on the side. Love all that garlic sauce! Plus, I added sriracha, like I do.

The Sunday before last, I went with a more traditional brunch of Vegan Sausage & Cheese Quiche with Salad and a side of Mac & Cheese. Stephanie makes the quiche, and it's to die for. Our friend Pam orders it EVERY SINGLE WEEK.

Last Tuesday was Vegan Drinks night! And we met at Memphis' newest Ethiopian joint, The Blue Nile. Mmmm ... injera bread. I ordered the Vegetarian Platter and a Lagunitas IPA, and I'm proud to report that I cleaned my plate. No leftovers here. 

Y'all remember that vegan pizza special I mentioned last week? My neighborhood pizza joint, Midtown Crossing Grill, was offering a vegan cheese pizza called The Goodman as a test item last week. Of course, I had to stop in and get one! This has two kinds of vegan cheese — mozzarella and cream cheese — and potatoes, spinach, and mushrooms. Ridiculously good!

That's it! See y'all tomorrow for Mofo!