Tag: vegetarian

My Weekend | Geocaching + The Texas State Fair

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This weekend, I went to a geocaching event and the Texas State Fair (for the first time)!

I first went geocaching a couple of months ago when I was assigned a story about it for The Shorthorn.

This little cache was hidden in a park on the edge of campus.
This cache was in a sneaky hiding spot near a bus stop.
This was near one of the caches of a multicache that included finding a clue in a graveyard near campus.
This cache was found on campus near the bridge across Mitchell Street.

Geocaching is a global activity that can take place anywhere at any time. Participants of this outdoor hobby follow GPS coordinates to find destinations that hold geocaches, also known as caches, which are found all over the world.

Geocaching is a unique adventure because it often directs the searcher to places they would not have known about otherwise. Students who want to know the campus better can go on a geocache hunt to find out what they could be missing.

Originally published on The Shorthorn, UT Arlington’s student news website, on October 16, 2013. 

This Saturday, I had the chance to go geocaching again, while helping the environment. A few Environmental Society members and I volunteered with the Southwest Arlington Geocachers group at their “Cache In, Trash Out” event. Participants of event cleaned up litter along two miles of Cooper street, with geocaching as a bonus activity.

My friends and I did some geocaching, while being attacked by giant mosquitoes, but we were more focused on picking up trash. After the event, my friend Jenny and I went thrifting and relaxed with lunch at Loving Hut. They brought back the nachos from their old menu! I’m so excited. They’re actually bringing back a lot of old menu items lately.

The Environmental Society!
I was fascinated by the form of this flowering plant.
Being silly with Jenny.

The Cache In, Trash Out event was productive, and The Environmental Society is definitely considering volunteering more at these kinds of activities in the future. Join their Facebook to stay updated!

VEGAN STATE FAIR FOOD (6)On Sunday, I went to the Texas State Fair with my friend Camille and her dad. Normally I wouldn’t go to the State Fair, but we wanted to check out the vegan options–we were pleasantly surprised, to say the least. I tried a corn dog and a burger, among other things. I’m working on a more detailed blog post about that, so come back on Tuesday to read more about it!

What did you do this weekend? Vegans, would you go to the State Fair if you knew there were good quality vegan options?

This week is going to be busy for me, with work, projects and a midterm. I hope it all
goes by quickly so we can get to the weekend–I’m particularly excited about going to the Veggie State Fair! The Vegan Club is carpooling to the event, so if any UTA students are interested in joining us, please contact us on Facebook.

Hope everyone has a great week!

My Weekend | Ecofest + Loving Hut + Studying

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Portulaca Oleracea

I’m trying to learn the Latin names of plants for my plant identification class–a confusing and difficult process, to say the least. Pictured above is portulaca oleracea, an edible succulent commonly known as Purslane, found at Potager Cafe after my adventures at Ecofest this weekend. Continue reading →

Vegans Digg In

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IMG_0305I think I can say with confidence that I frequent Digg’s Tacos more than any other place in College Park. The place offers several vegan options, but I always end up ordering my favorite: a veggie burrito bowl with no cheese. I don’t think I could ever get tired of it, and I personally think it is a better value than Chipotle or Freebird’s.  Continue reading →

Vegan Lunar New Year Traditions

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lucky fruit platterYesterday marked the beginning of the Lunar New Year, the year of the snake. This holiday is celebrated by the Aulacese (Vietnamese), Korean and Chinese.

My family celebrated with essential dishes such as longevity noodles  and a lucky fruit platter.

Our fruit platter had dried coconut pieces, papaya, and mangoes. All that was missing was custard apples (mãng cầu). In Aulacese, the names of these fruits create a pun, “Cầu Dừa Đủ Xoài (Cầu Vừa Đủ Xài).” This phrase means “[Let’s] pray for just enough [resources/money/food, etc.] to use”–a wise wish for the new year. Continue reading →

Vegan options at PhoXpress are available and expanding

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6/10/13: Dear readers, the vegan options at PhoXpress are somewhat limited now, as of late Spring 2013–please scroll all the way down for the detailed update!

I must say that I am extremely picky about my phở, and most Vietnamese dishes in general. I blame the fact that I grew up in a Aulacese (Vietnamese) household full of food enthusiasts. 

I have heard horror stories about vegan phở at non-vegan establishments. The worst case scenarios recounted to me often resembled the following description, more or less: a bowl of rice noodles in salty broth, laden with MSG and some lettuce. To call that sad scene “phở” is a culinary crime and an insult to the taste-buds. I can’t even process the lack of effort–a complex, aromatic broth is the key to any phở, vegan or not.

PhoXpress set up

Phở condiments!

Based on such descriptions alone, let alone my Viet foodie background, I decided long ago that I would avoid eating phở outside my own home altogether. However, in the past month, I have tiptoed, quite warily, might I add, into giving a couple of places a chance.

Continue reading →

Pie Five Pizza Crust Controversy Resolved!

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When Pie Five Pizza opened at College Park last semester, all the crust varieties were vegan–meaning vegan students (and lactose-intolerant students) could order the specialty Treehugger pie, or any custom veggie pizza sans cheese. However, this semester, there has been some discussion that the company has changed their crust recipes to include dairy.

Saddened by the sudden cutoff from my only source of vegan pizza on campus, I immediately contacted the company in hopes of hearing otherwise. They were quite helpful in their response and I was reassured to learn that vegan students can still go to Pie Five for all their pizza needs on campus. Continue reading →

The Hacienda’s new vegan menu features sopapillas and more

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I recently sampled the new vegan menu at The Hacienda on Henderson and I would like to report that the sopapillas changed my life. Typically served with honey, sopapillas are fried pastries topped with cinnamon and sugar. Naturally, the vegan version is served with agave nectar instead.

I am quite tempted to dedicate this post solely to the glory of those heavenly pastries. However, I will try my best to contain myself and at least briefly describe the other dishes I tried at the menu’s launch party this past weekend.

Continue reading →

UT Arlington’s Connection Cafe makes strides with vegan line

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The Connection Cafe at UT Arlington now has a 100% vegan line that serves lunch and dinner.

Before the new vegan line came into effect, I never gave the Connection Cafe a second glance. From my lackluster experience at my freshman orientation, I knew the options would be too limited to be worth my time or money. Luckily, things have changed immensely since I first came to UT Arlington. Continue reading →

Don’t miss these Vegan Club Events at UT Arlington

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What are you up to this week?

Halloween is tomorrow and World Vegan Day is coming up, so naturally there are several Vegan Club events happening at UT Arlington this week. Check them out below and mark your calendars!

Chocolate-covered wands! Here’s the recipe!

Bake Sale | October 31st
11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Central Library Mall
RSVP here

Halloween calls for tasty treats! Vegan Club is hosting a bake sale to raise funds for our upcoming Food Not Bombs speaker event.

Treats will include chocolate-covered wands (attention, Harry Potter fans!), pumpkin cupcakes, peanut butter cookies and more! All goodies are homemade with love by our members and of course, everything is totally vegan.

Ask a Vegan | November 1st
10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Central Library Mall
RSVP here

November 1st is World Vegan Day (and November is World Vegan Month)! Once again, Vegan Club is teaming up with Animal Rights and Rescue of North TX (ARRNT) and Mercy for Animals to do some interactive vegan outreach at UTA! We have hosted several successful “Ask a Vegan” events before–they usually feature free vegan food samples (including my mini cupcakes) and Q&A.

This year’s Ask a Vegan will also include a Pay Per View, in which participants are offered a dollar to watch a 4 minute video about factory farming. I will provide comforting hugs upon request. Additionally, we’ll be handing out local vegan business cards and free vegan starter kits, featuring tons of recipes and useful information.

This pumpkin spice cake was from last year’s Thanksgiving potluck! The recipe can be found here. I plan on making it again, this time with better pictures!

Potluck Celebration | November 2nd
5:00 p.m. to whenever at Upper UC–San Jacinto/Neches 
RSVP here

We’re having a belated potluck to celebrate World Vegan Day! We decided to host this on Friday instead because more people can make it that way. Our potlucks are the best, and we will be sharing recipes!

I’m particularly excited about this event because we’ll get a chance to catch up with Vegan Club members we usually don’t get to see, since everyone is so busy.

Please write what you are bringing on the event wall. If you have trouble deciding what to bring, just comment below and I will try to help you think of something!

Please bring some canned veggies to the Central Library or the UC Starbuck’s!

FNB Food Drive | Through November 15th
Bulletin boards at the UC and the Central Library
RSVP here

We’re collecting cans for Food Not Bombs, a wonderful activist organization that makes vegan food for the homeless and anyone who needs it. We have invited the founder, Keith McHenry to come speak at UT Arlington in November, so keep your eyes open for that.

Check out the local Food Not Bombs group, and please bring some canned veggies for the cause! We have set up stations at the bulletin boards near the Starbuck’s in the UC and the Central Library (check near the elevators). We’ve been working on getting a station set up near Einstein Bagels in the Fine Arts Building–I will let you know when that goes through.

What events sound interesting to you? Please let me know in the comments below!
There are a couple of other great events I will be attending this week–please check out my events page for more details.

Tasty Highlights of the Texas Veggie Fair 2012

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The line for the vegan corn dogs was the longest food line.

I have never had a funnel cake in my life. On Sunday afternoon, I was lucky enough to spend a couple of hours with some friends at the third annual Texas Veggie State Fair. I was determined to find a vendor with vegan funnel cakes so I could sample some (they ran out quickly last year).

I ran into my friend Camille Suttles, an entertainment reporter from The Shorthorn, and together we sampled some (alas, not all) of the delicious vegan fare. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any funnel cakes, but we found plenty of other things to try. Continue reading →