Tried a new Italian recipe tonight - Caponata. It was different but tasty. Not sure if the dish is actually an appetizer but we had it as a main for dinner tonight with delicious bakery bread. It has eggplant, which I really love, and it's season :) Many of the veggies used came from Lester's Farm, fresh veggies always make recipes taste even better :)

The dish seemed a bit strange with the first bite but it was still good. I think I would cut back on the vinegar just a little as I found it pretty strong. I would also use a little less celery as it's not a favorite veggie for me; perhaps use more eggplant and tomato :) The combination of eggplant, other veggies, capers, olives, toasted pine nuts, and basil all did work together. Hoping the leftovers will be just as good or better.
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Update Oct 2017: Made this dish again with a few tweaks and liked it even more. I left out the celery. Added extra eggplant and tomatoes. Sauteed the onions before adding to the casserole dish. Finally, I cut the vinegar back to 3 tbsp instead of 4. Much tastier for us this time around :)

Myself and Hubby celebrated 17 years together recently and we went out for dinner twice :) Woohoo! For people that love food and hate dishes (me), there is no better gift than eating great food at a great restaurant...or two :)

First, Hubby took me to Get Stuffed. There are a couple of dishes here that I dearly love but I guess I should be trying some other things on the menu. Eventually I will, I think :) I started with the Shrimp, and Hubby had the Calamari (done differently here, grilled, not battered & deep-fried). Mains were Stuffed Pork with Mashed Potato for myself; Hubby had Salmon with salsa and grilled veggies (sorry no pic of his, I was too busy eating). The pork and potatoes are fabulous and I can keep going back for just that. I have also had their cod dish in the past and that is delicious as well.
Actually tried a dessert tonight. I usually don't bother with too many desserts and it has been years since I've had a dessert here. I usually find I'm let down with desserts overall, never as good as I am expecting, but not this time. I ordered the Baked Smores and they were fantastic. I will be going back for these as well :)

Next, I took Hubby to EVOO for a 2nd celebratory dinner :) Not the same night of course, we may be nuts but not that nuts :) lol. This is one of Hubby's favorite places to eat in the city.

We didn't do any appetizers this time but I know their Calamari is excellent.
We both had pasta for mains, and it was two for one pasta night, so win win. Not planned well on my part hey? Hubby had the Mediterranean Vegetable Penne that he always gets but he substitutes Pomodoro sauce for the pesto. He also ordered a 2nd one to go for lunch the next day. Again, 2 for 1, so we had to (not really, but why not?). I tried both of their vegan pasta options along with gluten-free pasta. At the restaurant I had the Mushroom & Tomato Pappardelle (but Penne as that was the gluten-free choice). To eat for lunch the next day I ordered the vegan Penne. Both pastas were great but I liked the 2nd one best as it was a creamy sauce with olives, which I enjoy over tomato based sauces. Pastas also come with cheesy bread, mine came with gluten-free bread and cashew cheese :) Yummy.
​I also had a dessert, a vegan and gluten-free blueberry nocciolino (I think it was called). It was really good but sorry no pic, I'm sure I took one but it's not on my camera.

Pasta was excellent and portion sizes are very generous. 

I have been eating mostly vegan and gluten-free meals for the last 2 months. I started this way of eating wholly for health reasons; not ethical. I feel better in a couple of areas but a few health problems have stayed the same. I believe gluten (and perhaps wheat and/or grain) along with dairy have negative effects on my health therefore I will continue eliminating or limiting those as much as possible.

I have noticed that while trying to eat a vegan diet along with being gluten-free, I have started down a slippery slope.

My old diet mentality has started to creep back in; thinking of foods in terms of good and bad, or thinking there are foods I'm allowed or not allowed to eat. I have spent several months trying to get away from this way of thinking and the entire dieting mentality.

In addition I have slowly started eating more processed foods again which I am not happy about. Many more of my foods are coming in packages and are more convenience items. I barely ate bread at all the last few years since I suspect I have a gluten problem. The last couple of months I have been eating lots of gluten-free bagels and English muffins. I have been eating various meatless burgers, vegan cheese, vegan bacon, vegan mayo, etc. These foods have lots of ingredients and sometimes the ingredients are questionable.

I have recently started re-introducing some foods and don't think small amounts of meat are problematic for me. I would rather eat a little local chicken instead of a processed "fake chicken" product that has numerous ingredients and is overly processed. Again, I didn't start down this path for animal rights and ethics; I'm doing it for my health. Sorry if this may offend some. I would rather stick to real food items and limit as much of the overly processed and questionable ingredients as possible.

There will still likely be vegetarian and vegan meals included in my meal plans along with some meat dishes as well. I would rather stick to whole, real foods overall.

Had a really good vegetarian breakfast this morning; can't say vegan as the gluten-free english muffins contain egg and milk. Even had "bacon" I will now start calling facon :) on my hash-browns. Yummy!

I made a BLAT :) "Bacon", lettuce, avocado, & tomato :)

First time trying the vegan mayonnaise and the tempeh bacon. This turned out pretty damn good. I didn't like the vegan bacon as much on its own, the taste and texture was a little too odd for me, but on a sandwich it was fine. I have always said the reasons I'm not vegetarian (although playing with vegetarian and vegan eating lately) is bacon and chicken wings. This really helps with that bacon craving :) The vegenaise was great. I'm not a big mayo eater anyway but this was similar enough for my tastes. Hubby agreed about the mayo as well, although he wasn't as happy with the bacon :)