Omg! I Met Joey McIntyre! And Ate a Hummus Pita!

Y'ALL. You're never going to believe what happened to me on Friday afternoon. I met freakin' Joey McIntyre from the New Kids on the Block!!!!!! He was in town for the NKOTB Mixtape Tour show that night, which — being the super-fan I am — I had tickets for! Hours before the show, he was just wandering around Crosstown Concourse, the mixed-use building where I work.

Long story short, a co-worker spotted him in the West Retail Corridor (where much of the building's retail is located). She came back to the office and exclaimed, "I think I just saw a New Kid!" And I was all, "NO WAY!" When she described him, I knew it was Joey, my third grade (or was it fourth or fifth grade??) crush! I had worn my New Kids shirt to work, and I crimped my hair (with my vintage 80s crimping iron) before work to make concert prep go faster. So I was fully prepared to face Joey. 

I ran downstairs, and quickly walked to where he'd been spotted. I saw a guy I thought was him sitting a table, writing letters on post-its that he was attaching to books I could tell he'd just purchased at Cheryl Pesce, a gift/jewelry shop at Concourse. But I was too nervous to say anything, so I walked right past him. Right to Cheryl Pesce, where I ran into owner Cheryl. I asked her if that was definitely Joey McIntyre who'd been shopping in her store. She was like "WAS IT???" And then she and I both ran over to where he was. Cheryl is much more up-front than me, so she said something. And it was confirmed — it was Joey! The story gets a little awkward after that (are celebrity spottings ever not not awkward???), but I ended up getting a picture with him. He was super-nice, and took my phone out of my hand to shoot the selfie. I'll never wash my phone again! HA!

Amazing, right? Baby Bianca would be SO IMPRESSED. After work, my friends Sheridan, Drew, and Misti met me at my house so we could grab dinner before the show.

See, I promise there's food in this post! We went to RP Tracks, home of the famous BBQ tofu nachos (which everyone else ordered). But I'd eaten them fairly recently and was looking for something a tad healthier. I opted for the Alpha Beta Pita (hold the feta) with chipotle hummus, cucumber, sprouts, black olives, and tomato, plus fries that I dipped into vegan ranch (they serve Imagine Vegan Cafe ranch at RP Tracks!).

After dinner, we headed to the show! WE WERE SO EXCITED!! The Mixtape Tour was headlined by the New Kids, but it also featured Debbie Gibson, Tiffany, Salt-n-Pepa, and Naughty By Nature. Best line-up ever.

The show was simply amazing. The New Kids — all in their late 40s and early 50s —still have the right stuff, y'all. They sang all the hits and some newer stuff that I knew all the words to (because, yes, I have their newset album). 

Debbie Gibson is still so hot!!! She and Joey sang a duet (Bradley Cooper/Lady Gaga style!) for Lost in Your Eyes. Wow.

Aside from the New Kids, Tiffany has always been my fave. She sang I Think We're Alone Now, and I almost cried.

Misti and I had seen Salt-n-Pepa a couple years ago at the I Love the 90s tour, and they were great then. And even better here.

Naughty By Nature was great too, but I somehow failed to take any pics of them (video, yes!). I was probably too busy singing along with "O.P.P."

Okay, I'll be back tomorrow with a more food-focused post, I swear. But I just had to share all this awesomeness with the internet.

Doughnuts! Fried Tofu! Burritos!

The cafe at Crosstown Arts, where I work in communications, isn't 100% vegan. They do serve a few dishes with eggs or cheese, but most everything is veganizable (and honestly, about 90% of the dishes are vegan anyway). A couple weeks ago, I saw the Spicy Fried Tofu was back on the TODAY menu (the daily specials), but it was served with a smoked gouda mac & cheese. So I asked if they could veganize the plate for me. I was served Spicy Fried Tofu with Marinara Pasta and Salad. PERFECT!

The spicy fried tofu used to be a fixture on the ALWAYS menu (the stuff they have every day), but it was rotated off since that menu changes by the season. I was so sad to see it go, but I'm thrilled that it comes back sometimes as a special. Chef Raymond is a master at fried tofu.

The cafe serves fresh-baked vegan pastries daily, and it's always a surprise what they'll have. Yesterday, I passed by the counter and saw these Strawberry Basil Danishes with cashew cream cheese. I had to get one! I split this with a co-worker so bonus points for me for sharing.

One day last week, I walked by the cafe and saw FREAKING Cinnamon Sugar Doughnuts. Holy hell. Y'all know how I feel about doughnuts, and this one was just perfect.

Speaking of doughnuts, I grabbed a couple of Cinnamon Glazed Doughnuts at Five Daughters Bakery in Nashville when I was there for the marathon a few weekends back. No trip to Nashville is complete without a stop by Five Daughters for vegan doughnuts.

Five Daughters is located next door to Graze, my favorite vegan brunch spot in Nashville. On this visit, I got the Roasted Root Veggie Burrito with roasted sweet and white potatoes, carrots, and (maybe parsnip????), plus cashew cheese and quinoa. Guac salad on the side.

And finally, here's a treat from Lulu's Baked last weekend — Asparagus Cashew Cheddar Tart. So excited to eat it that I forgot to take a pic until after I'd bitten into it.

Beltane Frittata, Stuffed Zucchini, & More!

Gosh y'all. I haven't posted a random "stuff I ate" post since before my Florida trip in mid-April! So I have a lot of pics to share, but I'll break them into multiple posts because ain't nobody got time for that.

Here's an Asparagus Tofu Frittata I made for Beltane (May 1). It's a traditional spring festival, and asparagus is in-season so this seemed like the perfect meal. I used the swiss chard frittata recipe in Vegan Brunch but subbed asparagus. Easy peasy.

On the side, I made a spring-y salad with green peas, edamame, sunflower seeds, mixed baby greens, bell pepper, and tahini dressing. Served with green olive-kalamata bread from the Sprouts bakery.

And leftover frittata for breakfast! With toasted whole wheat pita and hummus, plus a bowl of fresh strawberries and mango.

You can't tell, but this is a veggie burger in a pita. I had some No Meat Athlete lentil-walnut burgers leftover after my marathon meal plan, so I froze them for quick weeknight meals like this. Served with roasted potatoes made in the air fryer. Curry ketchup on the side.

A quick week day breakfast of Tofu Scramble & Vegemite Toast. I had some frozen tofu that I scrambled with turmeric and soy sauce, served atop sprouted grain toast spread with Vegemite (it's better than Marmite! I said it, and I meant it!).

And finally, here's a meal from the cafe at Crosstown Arts that I ate forever ago! Maybe I've even shared it in a past "stuff I ate" post, but I can't remember. So here it is! Stuffed Zucchini with Braised Cabbage, Sizzled Kale, and Vegan Ranch. This was the daily vegetable plate that day, and damn, it was great. The sizzled kale is basically deep-fried kale, which is seriously the best way to eat it.

CBD Living Loose Leaf Teas!

I've been slow to get on the CBD bandwagon, mostly because I didn't know how it could help me. I'd heard that it works wonders for anxiety, but I don't deal with much anxiety (stress sometimes, sure, but it's more situational and tends to go away quickly). I did try a CBD tincture after I fractured my foot last year because I'd read that it helps with bone growth. But the tincture was cost-prohibitive, and I didn't really know if it was helping or not.

But then I heard about CBD helping to improve sleep quality. And that's an area where I could use some real help! I used to be such a deep, hard sleeper, but the older I get, the harder it is for me to stay asleep. And now that I sleep with a Fitbit, I can see from my sleep data that I'm spending very little time in deep sleep (an average of 30 minutes in a night of 6.5 hours of sleep). CBD Living offered to send me their vegan teas to review, and I jumped at the chance. I wanted to see if it really boosted my deep sleep.

They sent me Mango Herbal Tea, Passion Green Tea, and Berry Black Tea. I've been drinking the green and black teas, interchangeably most mornings, and the herbal tea in the evenings before bed. And no lie, on the days when I've had CBD tea, my deep sleep quality is far improved. For example, last night, I slept my usual 6.5 hours, but I got a whopping 1 hour and 42 minutes of deep sleep, 1 hour and 25 minutes of REM sleep, and the rest is light sleep or awake time.

The last day I didn't have CBD tea (which was Sunday, because I forgot), I got only 31 minutes of deep sleep in the same amount of time spent asleep. Crazy huh? I've been experimenting with the CBD tea for over a month with stunning results on the days I remember to drink it. Even if I just have one cup in the morning, it still seems to help me get better deep sleep that night.

It does not, however, seem to help with staying asleep. I still wake up to pee a couple times a night, and I've not found anything that can help with that. But my bladder is probably more to blame.

As for the flavors, they're awesome. The Mango Herbal is probably my fave. I'm not typically a big herbal tea drinker because most herbal tea seems light on flavor to me. But not this one. It contains honeybush, calendula petal, dried peach, and mango extract, plus 150 mg of CBD. I think the strong flavor of mango extract makes all the difference.

Berry Black is really great too! It's a strong black tea with a berry flavor that's naturally sweet and not too tangy. I find many berry teas can be overwhelming tangy. Its assam black tea with dried black currants and blueberry extract. Again, it's that extract that makes the difference.

Passion Green is some of the best loose-leaf green tea I've had! It's a sencha green with marigold petals and passion fruit extract, so it's not your average green tea. It's the perfect gentle start to my morning. I like to have a little green tea first and then I have coffee later in the morning.

CBD Living also has chai turmeric tea, coconut herbal tea, and instant matcha, all containing 150 mg of CBD (which comes out to 7.5 mg per 1.5 teaspoon serving). You can find all of their teas here, and then check out their website for more products. Unfortunately, their chocolates and gummies are not vegan. But they do have CBD water, syrups, and even bath bombs!

Cinco de Mayo Fun!

Ah, Cinco de Mayo! It's one of my favorite holidays for three reasons: 1) tacos, 2) burritos, and 3) margaritas. It also happens to fall the day after my mom's birthday (she's a "May the 4th Be With You" baby). She always requests Mexican food for her birthday, so Cinco de Mayo becomes a two-day celebration in our family. Good thing the Phillips' really, really love Mexican food.

My Cinco celebration started very early on Saturday, May 4 with the Cinco de Moe's 5K, hosted by Moe's Southwest Grill (the burrito chain). It was a fundraiser for the YMCA, and my friend Melissa (a fitness instructor/sociology professor) was leading the race warm-up. We did the warm-up workout and then we were off! There were tacos every mile, but those weren't vegan. I did indulge in the margarita-flavored sports drink during the race. And we were promised vegan burritos at the end, so that was enough for me!

Check out those cool finishers' medals! Most 5Ks don't have medals, but this one did. I love race bling. After the run, we had free beer and burritos. They had all kinds of burritos but of course we got the black bean & rice burritos, plus free chips and salsa. This was 9 am, mind you! Nothing beats a beer and burrito breakfast.

Here's Megan and I chowing down. We earned those burritos!

After the race (and a shower), I headed to Jonesboro, Arkansas to meet up with my parents for my mom's birthday dinner. She wanted to go to Kandela Grill, which was fine by me because they have the best Vegetable Fajitas in Jonesboro. The fajita mix has cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, bell pepper, mushrooms, squash, and onion, and it's served with the softest hand-made tortillas. Not pictured: all the chips and salsa I ate and the margarita to wash it down.

Can you believe this woman just turned 65?! I really hope I have her genes!!

After dinner, we went back to my parents' house, where we had birthday cookies! My mom requested cookies instead of cupcakes, so I grabbed some Chocolate Chunk, Molasses Rye, and Snickerdoodle Cookies from Lulu's Baked at the Cooper-Young Farmer's Market.

Yesterday, for actual Cinco de Mayo, I made BBQ Tofu Tacos with Cumin-Affirmation Rice and Quick Frijoles Charros. The beans and rice recipes were from The Taco Cleanse. The rice was white with toasted cumin seed, onion, and veggie broth. The beans were pinto (from a can) with tomato and onion. Quick and easy!

Here's a taco close-up! My dad has a smoker, so he always smokes tofu for me when I'm coming home to visit. He sent me home with quite a bit, so I'll be eating this all week. He used a BBQ sauce and dry rub on this batch, and it's so flavorful! Perfect stuffed into hatch chile corn tortillas with homemade cashew cream (just raw cashews blended with ACV & pink salt), avocado, salsa (also homemade by my dad!), red cabbage, chive, and tomato. 

Later that night, I had a low-cal margarita (made with stevia-sweetened margarita mix!) while soaking in the bathtub. Because that is the life, y'all. Hope your May 5th (and May 4th) were just as delicious as mine.

Bubbie's Vegan Mochi Ice Cream!

A couple months ago, I was contacted by the nice folks at Bubbie's Homemade Ice Cream & Desserts — makers of mochi ice cream — about reviewing their new vegan mochi bites. I will ALWAYS say yes to ice cream! So I did, and they quickly placed a package (on dry ice) in the mail. But then it got lost somewhere in my giant office building. The tracking showed it was delivered, but no one from my office had seen it. I emailed a few other offices in the building, but my ice cream was just missing.

Sigh ... Thankfully, when I told the Bubbie's people that my package was lost, they tried again! And this time, my Vegan Chocolate Mochi Bites arrived safely! A co-worker intercepted the package and stashed them in the freezer for me until I got to work. Yay!!

I have long had a love for mochi. If you've never had this sweetened rice flour dough, you're in for a real treat. It has a texture that's both soft and chewy at the same time. I LOVE IT! And mochi is even better when you stuff it with ice cream.

The Bubbie's bites are filled with creamy chocolate ice cream made with coconut base. Eating one is like having an explosion of goodness in your mouth — creamy, chewy, soft, cold, coconutty, and chocolatey. Does it get any better than that?

The Bubbie's dairy-free bites are supposed to hit stores this summer! They're be available in green tea, chocolate, mango, vanilla, cherry and mint, and all of the dairy-free bites are kosher, gluten-free, and non-GMO. Check out their website for location info. I know I'll be keeping my freezer stocked with these little guys all year round.

Vegan Hot Wings at Slider Inn

Slider Inn — a Memphis mini burger joint with a giant patio — just got EVEN MORE vegan-friendly! They've long served homemade vegan burger sliders and falafel sliders (which are vegan if you order without the yogurt sauce). But they're now serving Vegan Hot Wings!!

They're not on the menu yet, so if you stop by and don't see them in print, don't fret. Memphis vegans (and veg-curious folks) have been ordering them like hot cakes since they announced the new off-menu item on social media a few weeks ago. Slider secretly served these long before the social announcement, but now it's official. We had our Memphis Vegan Drinks meet-up there last night, and I finally got a chance to order some myself!

The wings are made with both cauliflower and tofu, so an order of 6 pieces ($4.99) will include 3 cauliflower and 3 tofu. You can also order a 12-piece if you're really hungry (or sharing with a friend). They're served with house-made vegan ranch. Add fries for $2! Slider has some amazing fries. Just note that the fries are always served with ketchup and mayo for dipping, but the mayo isn't vegan.

Slider is also home to the Memphis-famous Jameson Slushie! It's exactly what it sounds like, a slushie made with Jameson Irish Whiskey.

I'm not usually into super-sweet cocktails, but you can taste the alcohol in this one so it's not sickeningly sweet. Tastes like patio weather!