Skybird | Juice Bar | review | East End Market |

Skybird at East End Market .... What a place! They have thought so much about their product, recipes , nutrucian , layout & interior . It's such a great place to stop by ! We all loved it on the last night of our holiday ! It was fabulous! 

I had beet & orange , As did Opeie , Seth made his own ( suprise suprise !!! The little juicing chef he is ) and Pauly had a green juice . 

They came in cool reusable glass jars which we brought back to England with us & we also bought one of their logo Skybird jars for $10 for me to take to work when I feel bleuuuuuugh to remind me of sunnier times , and how great that day was .

If you're in the local area - GO!!!!!!! It's the only juice bar we found & so relaxing ! 

Thanks Skybird ! 

East End Market - Orlando Florida Review | vegan bakery | juice bar & more

I haven't forgot to write a few more posts about our trip to Orlando - don't worry ! It's just that time of year and we've been also renovating our kitchen so that been taking away some of my free time ! That said , I present - East End Market , to you ! I didn't get too many photos sadly as it was really late by the time we'd finished up at Ethos , And arrived at the market , but it was so worth it . 

They have a collection of small independents that are in one co-op building which has raised veg beds outside and the most beautiful courtyard filled with rare looking exotic plants . 

From memory there was a vegan bakery, deli, cake shop , florist / plant shop, coffee shop , vintage furniture store , and then an amazing juice bar . 

It's so worth a visit if you're in the area ! It's really close to Ethos, Cafe- a great Vegan reaturant I've mentioned and written about before . Cafe 118•c - a raw vegan reaturant , which I'm told is a real experience to say the least! Rapsodic Bakery - A vegan bakery and there's also lots of other amazing shops in the area, including a Wholefoods Market . 

Ethos Part 2 - Orlando - Florida | Vegan |Allergy |Resturant | Review

I promised to share our Ethos pictures, so here they are! It was exceptional value too ! $32 for 4 meals & 4 drinks . 

I had the Hippie Wrap, Pauly had The All American Burger, Seth decided up on a children's Pizza Pie , and Opeie opted for a platter of his favourite things, although I can't remember the full name of the meal 

My 'Hippie Wrap' was stuffed with houmous, salad and sprouts. Opeie shared it with me as it was gluten and soy free . 

Pauly couldn't believe that what he was eating was vegan , he said it was just like having a real burger ! Seth loved his meal & stated that his meal was the best he'd had while away ! Opeie tucked into his meal like there was no tomorrow ! 

The food was cooked to precion, tasty, rich and delicious. Everyone dining had a great experience - thanks Ethos ! 

I'd definatly go back , 2,3,4 times next time I'm in Orlando. 

Ethos Vegan Resturant Review | Orlando | Winter Park | Child Friendly |

Hey guys! How've you been doing ? Are you all ready for the Christmas holidays ? I'm nowhere near ready, unless you count writing a baking ingredient shopping list counts?! 

I thought I'd share part of our Ethos experience with you ; 

As I mentioned we'd been really struggling to find somewhere to eat that was vegan friendly but also catered for Soy-free & gluten free for Opeie & I . Tricky ! Well at Ethos we found it . My friendly vegan Orlando based friends had been telling me to go, it is North of the area we were stayed, around 45 minutes away- in America that's not far though ! Where as in England 45 minutes is a distance , you'd pass through 3 or maybe 4 counties in that time. However the drive was cute, through 'real America ' as Pauly and I joked as everything in Orlando is so perfect - the drive was full of little wooden houses in pastel colours with rocking chairs on the porches- how I'd like to live when I'm older . 

Well , the food was completely perfect for us - they had a few soy & gluten free options, if you're just avoiding one of those they have a ton of options, combining the two was tricky though ! 

The staff were super helpful, Kim ( if i remember correctly ) the restaurant  manager was so upbeat and friendly ! We sat and chatted to her for around 20 minutes, as I had a ton of questions to ask her, I was asking her about Ethos and how it came about - she explained that the restaurant owner started a HotDog stand a few streets down that was vegan & it was so popular that it evolved into Ethos! They were the first all vegan restaurant in Orlando and it has the biggest following. 

It was a really lovely place , great value, great atmosphere and lovely location . 

I really wish I'd have been able to pop in a few more times . 

Ill write a separate blog post about the food when I'm able to get to my MacBook , I'm in the car road tripping to help a friend move house and its a long drive, so I felt I should pop in, say hi !!! And let you know if you're lucky enough to be going to Orlando , or in America , take a trip to Ethos , you won't be disappointed ! 

Wholefoods Market Orlando | Self Service Options | Vegan | Take Out | Cafe | Phillip's Crossing

Well... as you might know by now, I LOVE Wholefoods- I adore it! Not so much in the UK, although i like it alot but it doesn't have the same magnet powder that the WFM does in Orlando, and stores within other areas of the USA in general.

We stopped by a few times during our time in Orlando... ok, pretty much everyday... because I found it so hard to eat out in the parks and restaurants ( more on that soon ) as I knew I could get a good vegan self service meal that could be modified to gluten & soy free for Opeie and I.

Since I've had so many allergies hit me like a bus (fast) in the last 3 years one might think it's annoying or obsessive to only ever talk about food on a blog, but when all you can eat are plant based things/ingredient/foods/snacks/meals it does become a passion to seek out the things you CAN eat.

My trainer Gareth always saying I'm focusing on what you CAN eat, rather than what you can't, so let's forget about dairy, eggs, soy and gluten, and focus on veggies.... I do this too most of the time, but then there are times where I just wish I could eat soy or gluten as there's so many foods I LOVE that aren't easy to find replicas of that are free from everything I can't eat.

Well, at Wholefoods, they cater for everyone. Seth ( my eldest son age 7 ) adores Wholefoods like me! He's not Vegan, but he makes his own choices and does enjoy alot of the vegan food Opeie and I eat. ( Opeie is vegan through his own choice, he doesn't really like anything non-vegan too much, I believe in letting your children decide for themselves - there's a great clip of a little boy doing just that here ) Pauly is definitely NOT vegan, although after a recent trip to Ethos, he declared in the car on the way home, IF he could get those burgers in the UK , he would switch to vegan-ism as he literally couldn't tell the difference between them and meat meat.

So, back to Wholefoods. They cater for everyone ( unlike the WFM in the UK which I find extremely difficult to eat at since everything is soya, non vegan or gluten based, they're not flexible on their options and they seem to only be able to offer a jacket potato and beans everytime I go since everything is covered in dairy butter, including all the vegetables! Annoying.

There are around 20 main meal options within the self service that are vegan friendly, a huge salad bar which contains fruit also. I found that were around 15 gluten free options, 8 soy free options and around  5 soy free AND gluten free options, which was good concidering that most places can't offer you anything at all.

Also :There were

4 types of rice
3 Cous cous' - sadly 2 were covered in (delicious looking ) feta - one of my prevegan fave cheeses.
Quinoa
3 types of fried tofu & veggies mixed together
2 Types of seitan
2 types of vegan pastas
3 vegan curries containing soy but no wheat / gluten
Stuffed vine leaves
Mashed butternut squash with Aubergine & Peppers
Roasted squashes and aubergine
12 types of salads / fruits
3 types of noodles
Nuts & dried fruits
Loads of sauces & herbs & dry inactive yeast sprinkle

( There's lots more, but I can't remember!!!)

It can be pricey depending on what you have, it's weighed ( I wish it was per container, as I'd pile it high, but sadly not) It was $7.99 per lb, and for the 4 of us, including pizza to take home it came to around $40 - which was including pieces of fruit, a punnet of strawberries and a bunch of bananas.

If you fancy pizza, the pizza chef's can whip up vegan pizza in around 8-12 minutes as they have Daiya and other vegan cheeses at the counter, Seth fell in love with Daiya while he was away, as he is a huge cheese lover like me!

and.... the best part, you can take the self service food home for breakfast!

Vegan In Orlando : Downtown Disney | Rainforest Cafe | Vegan options

Well, as I mentioned in a previous post, being vegan avoiding Soy and Gluten in Orlando is tough!

I did extensive research before we went via a few vegan food blogs, but obviously I couldn't see if any of the meals/ snacks were excluded from gluten & soy. Well, I can tell you now! We found 2 places that we were able to eat at in ALL the parks. Everything had soy in it, followed closely by gluten. Most places were unable to even do pasta gluten free.... you'd think a huge place would have ample vegan / food allergy options.


I had to share this with you though:  The one place we did find that Opeie & I could eat at trouble free was Rainforest Cafe at Downtown Disney, they had a whole lot of options! They were able to produce an allergy menu, which had alot of vegan options, but sadly they all contained soy or gluten apart from the "Vegetable Pasta" dish.

For such a simple dish, the meal was amazingly flavoured, creamy and everything I could have wanted and more. It was also HUGE! I wish I'd have asked which brand of pasta it was because I'd have loved to have brought some home.

Opeie and Seth also had the same, but they had alittle bit of tomato basil sauce on theirs, and they both loved it so much they asked for doggie bags to take the rest of theirs home, since the children's portions were also huge! My meal was $16.95 which is alot for a bowl of pasta - even if it was huge! That said, I would definitely go back and have it, it was delicious and my mouth is watering just looking at it.

The children's meals were $5.95, as I said the portions were massive. Opeie and Seth could have split one easily and still have had some left over. Seth said it was delicious and asked if we could visit again, and Opeie said it was 'Yummy' which is lovely to hear since the little man seems to struggle so much when we eat out as he's always stuck with gluten free pasta, and I think he gets bored of it. Later on he asked for the doggie bag left overs for dinner, which I heated for him, and served with fresh veggie fingers, fruit, hummus and nuts.

About the rainforest cafe.

It's set inside a HUGE Volcano, filled with rainforest animals, vines and leaves all over the ceiling, and crazy attention to detail all over the restaurant including a beautiful waterfall.

Every 20-30 minutes, for around 90 seconds , a huge thunderstorm which is beautiful hits the tropical volcano. It's an unusual that they've set a rainforest inside a volcano, but it works! It's so much fun and the boys loved it! I'd definitely recommend it.

Vegan / allergy food at Orlando Disney Parks & Universal Studios. Can you take food into the parks if you have an allergy or Vegan ?

One thing we've REALLY struggled with out here in Orlando is food at the parks. It's awful. I'm not being negitive for the sake of it, but other than Babycakes NYC not many places cater for Vegans, especially vegans who have an allergy to Soya or gluten.

Most places cook everything in soy oil, which seems mad to me since surely they are cutting those with soy allergies like us off from having a meal, which means less money for them!? Hard Rock Cafe at Universal, is trialling a new menu, and instead of Canola oil, they're now using soy oil?! Seems crazy to me. So 3 of the places we've tried to eat at, Hard Rock, Planet Hollywood and Season's at Epcot have basically said they have nothing than plain dry salad ( no dressings- nothing) or green beans and poatao wedges for a meal. CRAZY?! It makes me mad they simply can't do a plain bowl of pasta, with veggies, or even carry a bag of vegan cheese to do jacket potaoes? But that would be too obvious right, they cook everything in dairy or soy. Depressing.

So, I've had to get wise.

I've started packing food for us. Oxo's baby travel plates, bowls, and cutlery make life so much easier as there is nothing worse than trying to feed a baby who's motor skills are still growing from a wobbly plate or worse out of a plastic sandwich bag.... so I've been taking the plate, bowl and cutlery with us, which has been a massive help. I've been packing Potato wedges, pizza, houmous sandwiches, salads, carrot sticks, fruit salads and lots of other things for the boys to snack on.

Two of my go-to foods in England came in so useful.... Nakd bars and Nakd Raisins to tide the boys over until we could get healthy meals, or well... just ANY meals that Opeie and I aren't allergic to. We've also been packing plenty of Ella's Kitchen smoothie pouches since they're nutritious and they contain plenty of fruit which is great since it's water based and it's been super hot here lately! 

In regards to the park, you can take food / drink items in, as long as they're not in a hard plastic 80's style cooler box. We took ours in a plastic freezer style bag I picked up at Wholefoods and put ziplock bag that I filled with ice cubes- to keep it cold.


What would you eat at Disney ?

Road Side Adventures & Coconut Oil Roasted Veg

So, things in Orlando have been an adventure to say the least. We've been so busy I actually fell asleep writing this post yesterday as I was exhausted from all the fun. But since I'm awake with the boys at 6am US time, I thought I'd share with you what I've been doing.....

We went on a roadtrip to another part of Orlando a couple of days ago, on the way out I spotted this awesome road-side farm, selling all their produce (super cheap) and super fresh. On the way home we called in, and boy I'm so glad I did. We have nothing like this in the UK so it was really interesting to see! They had so many amazing fruits, veggies - most of them I'd never heard of before which was interesting!

A few of the things I bought to have for dinner! It was really inexpensive too. I also bought a ton of stuff which I cut up and had for dinner which was mostly random squashes, tomatoes, eggplant/ aubergine, and some broccoli. The whole lot came to $19, around £11 which is excellent value since a watermelon alone in the UK that size ( if you can find them ) is around £6.

One of my favourite meals is coconut oil roasted "Pan fried Veg" - it's something we make alot at home, but we normally add other things to it, which I don't have here, but it was still delicious!

It's also really simple to make- just throw everything apart from the tomatoes into a pan of hot coconut oil, leave to roast for 20 minutes, stirring everything around.... add the tomatoes last right before it's cooked as these burn quickly....

Plate up, sprinkle with vegan cheese, I used Daiya since I'm in the U.S , dollop hummus on the side, add a few slices of lime onto the side of your plate, and your ready to go!

Super simple, yet one of my faves! Try it!