Zippin' around in my Zipcar

Have you heard of Zipcar? It's a pay by the hour car sharing service, and I'm kinda in love with it. I haven't had a car in years (I had a car for a year when I was 18), and while I can walk, bike, or take public transportation pretty much anywhere I need to go, there are some places I just don't make it out to. Like Bagby Hot Springs, one of my favorite places in the world. Or my friend's Asian grocery store in Hillsboro. Or New Seasons. I've been putting it off for a long time (I was worried it would cost too much), but I finally got around to getting a Zipcar membership last month! My plan is to only let myself use it twice a month, so it won't really affect my monthly budget, and so far I've used the pickup parked .19 miles from me to pick up a cat tree, and used the hybrid .17 miles from me to pick up Jesse from work and get some takeout way out on 82nd (more on that later). I rarely get to drive, so I always get a little excited when I get the chance. Driving the pickup wasn't too exciting other than being up high off the ground and having a sweet sound system, but driving the hybrid was AWESOME! It makes no noise when you start it, and everything lights up in this badass neon blue, and I just totally felt like I was driving a race car even though I wasn't speeding at all!

Yeah, I'm all that.

So, I saw a post on the PPK about the outer SE vegan Vietnamese restaurant Nhut Quang, and that the business had really slowed and they need some love from the Portland vegan community. It's located on 82nd (one of those far-away places I never make it out to), so I decided to get a Zipcar and go get some takeout. After driving around the block only one time, we found it! We were all excited until we noticed the closed sign in the window. It was 6:30 on Sunday, and they're supposed to be open until 8:00. Of course Jesse started laughing at my lack of planning skills (I did only look up hours on the internet and didn't call), until I told him to take the bus home if he was gonna be mean! haha Then I remembered that there's another veg Vietnamese place up 82nd and Division I've been wanting to try, so we headed over there. After driving around in circles for like 15 minutes and almost giving up, I finally spied it on 84th and Division. Woohoo!

Van Hahn is a tiny little restaurant operated by Buddhist nuns. As such, the service is slow (it took 10 minutes for someone to come out of the back and give us menus), but the food is cheap and tasty! We ordered steam buns, dumplings, spare ribs, yellow noodles with tofu, and the broccoli combo (comes with an assortment of fake meats). Honestly, we both agreed that next time we'll just order a ton of dumplings and steam buns because they were the tastiest by far! Everything else was good, just not great. Jesse really liked the fake beef, though.

the tasties before plates

close up of the entrees

In other news, there is now a Radical Cheerleaders for Animal Rights blog! We just started it so there isn't much there, but check it out and subscribe to it! We'll post events coming up, and photos of old events, and keep you in the loop on all things radical and AR in Ptown. Woot!

A very tasty Thanksgiving

So, I didn't end up making those cookies... I got lazy and roasted my veggies in the morning instead of the night before so the oven would be free for baking - but that was ok! I still had plenty to eat!

Field Roast, mashed taters and mushroom gravy, stuffing, roasted veggies, candied yams, dinneroll with jam, and there was pumpkin pie on the other plate :)

The next day I woke up bright and early for Fur Free Friday! It's a worldwide event, and the march here in Portland attracted around 200 people! We had a bloody fashion show, lots of Radical Cheerleading, a march route that stopped at places that sell fur as well as a few places that have stopped (!), cake at the end, and then a smaller group of us went to do a demo at Ungar Furs (the last exclusive fur store in Portland).

Some of the crowd

Radical Cheerleaders for AR (that's me on the left)

Two of the fur hags and me in the middle

Good job, Portland!

The unbelievable happened - I ate faux meat and liked it!

I was shopping for some fake meat for Jesse to try today when I noticed that the Tofurkey Beer Brats are a little different than most: they are made of organic tofu, vital wheat gluten, herbs, and spices. Not a bunch of weird ingredients, but two simple ones. I talked myself into making one for myself for dinner, instead of making something different like we sometimes do. I almost wimped out at the last minute ("it looks like meat! Ahhh!") but I was brave in the end! And guess what? It was totally good! I wish I would have made two for myself! I think all the condiments and especially the sauerkraut really helped. So if you're a faux-meat-aphobe like me, try these out! I was pleasantly surprised :)

Do grilled onions and sauerkraut make anything delicious?

P.S. I found a bunch of pics of us cheering at the march online and added 'em to my Sunday post :)

Dinner and a movie

So I've had this film, Whisper of the Heart, on my Blockbuster queue FOREVER, and it finally came! I love love love Hayao Miyazaki's films, and although he only wrote it and didn't direct, it had the classic Miyazaki trademarks of the young girl heroine who relies on her own intelligence and wit to save the day, the importance of nature, and the fantastical in the everyday. Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle are still my favorites, though. :)

For a quick dinner to go with my movie, I whipped up some whole wheat spaghetti, marinara and meatballs, and garlic bread. I got the meatballs on sale at Whole Foods, and though Jesse freakin' loved them, they were way too meaty for me! For the garlic bread, I just Earth Balance-d some baguette, sprinkled on some garlic, basil, thyme, and paprika, then popped 'em in the oven on 250 until the pasta was done. Yum!

Nom Nom Nom - Cookie liked it, too!
I didn't get a picture of that, but here's a recent one of her and Zoey:

She's getting so big! She still thinks she can fit in there with Zoey, though :)