#05 | the weekly recap
April 24-May 1, 2022.
Each week, I share some of the tasty meals I’ve been cooking/eating. This series combines cooking, life, and love into one delicious email. Enjoy this tasty mix of stories and recipes every week by signing up for my newsletter.
This week was full of good food and vibes—a quite productive yet slow week. I developed two NEW recipes and updated an oldie. David and I explored more of San Diego between the EarthFair and the San Diego book crawl; we explored neighborhoods we hadn’t ventured to.
My first published piece as a food writer went LIVE on Friday. This moment will go down as one of my proudest moments. I submitted this pitch on a whim, and I convinced myself that it would get rejected. When I received the acceptance email, I had to read it at least five times before it finally settled that I had an opportunity to share a story I love to tell and that SOMEONE was interested in hearing it and sharing it with thousands. This opened the door I shut a long time ago to be a food writer.
Something I’ll never forget was my love for stationery and books as a kid. You could not bring me into a store if it had some kind of stationery or reading material. Rite-Aid? Find me in the school supply section looking at the journals. Grocery store? I was in the magazine/book aisle. It all makes sense now. For so long, I told myself I was talentless. Cooking? That’s not talent. It’s a necessity. Reading? Yea, everyone HAS to read in their way. Writing? Well, yea, we write every day. But what I couldn’t see for myself was that cooking, reading, and writing came NATURALLY to me. I can sit down with a pen and paper for hours, writing non-stop about whatever comes to me, but the next person may freeze. Most of the people in my life do not cook. I am the cook in their life. David struggles to read a chapter of a book, while I can swallow a book in one sitting.
A part of growing and loving myself is recognizing I have talent and a voice. A voice that deserves to be heard. Talent that can make a difference if I apply myself. For far too long, I’ve been my own enemy holding myself back and telling myself I couldn’t accomplish these things because I didn’t have the talent, resources, or audience. It’s not true, and getting this piece published was the confirmation I needed. More on the mag below!
ICYMI
— a challenge I created for myself to get out of a cooking rut. I created ten dishes from around the world that are naturally vegan! (save the posts for your future travels)
this week’s obsessions:
📖 chickpea mag Issue 35: Everyday Vegan
chickpea mag is one of the first resources I discovered on my vegan journey. Their simple, minimalistic approach to veganism resonated with me. This issue happens to be extra special because I WROTE A PIECE FOR IT!!! Yes, this may be a self-promo, but chickpea mag is a fantastic magazine I recommend to everyone. They are an indie vegan no ads magazine. Just straight content! Cara, the powerhouse behind the magazine, does all the photography, lettering, recipe testing, etc. It’s a beautifully put-together magazine, and I am so proud to be a part of this issue.
I wouldn't call myself a gamer, but I do dabble. I got my first ever PS4 when I was 8? 10? And ever since then, I’ve had an array of consoles. Often they sit in their respective spot and collect dust 🤣. Yes, I was part of the Animal Crossing phase during the lockdown, where I did nothing but eat, breathe and play Animal Crossing. I tried picking it up recently and couldn’t get back into it. Someone from my “girl group” (as I call them) recommended Wytchwood. Wytchwood is a cozy indie game where you craft potions and spells. I like it because it keeps me entertained with new missions, but the constant crafting of the same spells and potions can make anyone bonkers. Overall, fun game!
I am obsessed with this genre. I discovered it on Spotify, and I feel I found gold. This music is reminiscent of Latin music I grew up listening to. My favorite is the songs in Spanglish; the artist sings in English and Spanish, love love love!
SUNDAY
Brunch: We went to the EarthFair in Balboa Park. I’ll be honest I was disappointed by their food options. As an EarthFair, you would think there would be many vegan/vegetarian options, but there weren’t. Our meal was crappy and expensive ($15) for a vegan hot dog 🌭 and a side of fries 🍟. We later got guava lemonade and Kula ice cream 🍨. David got chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, and I got unicorn poop (basically frosting as ice cream, it was uber sweet I couldn’t finish it)
Lunch: After having a very disappointing brunch at the EarthFair, we headed to Evolution Fast Food. A vegan drive-thru joint that serves well…vegan fast food. I got a BLTA 🥪 (tempeh bacon, lettuce, tomato, and avocado). David got the chick’n classic, and we shared an order of Evo fries.
📸 Dinner: I’m very late to the cheesy ramen trend. David wanted ramen 🍜, but I didn’t want to make plain ol’ ramen (broth made from the packets + noodles). I found TheVietVegan’s cheesy ramen recipe, and I loosely followed it. Cheese + ramen?? I…speechless… this flavor combination is OUT OF THIS WORLD. We kept our bowls very plain and basic just in case we didn’t like them, but we LOVED IT. I want to make it again.
MONDAY
📸 Brunch: Spam kimchi fried rice 🍚. Yes, VEGAN spam! I won’t get into it in this newsletter (keep an eye out for Wednesday’s newsletter), but this meal rocked my world.
📸 Dinner: I don’t know what got into me, but I was determined to rewrite my mac n cheese recipe. And so I did. There was a reason why these ingredients popped into my head and gave me the urge to rewrite the recipe; it was immaculate. I can’t wait to share my recipe with you all soon.
Dessert: Van Leeuwen oat milk chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream 🍨
TUESDAY
Breakfast: Whole Food’s vegan croissant 🥐. Yes, Whole Foods has vegan croissants! Find them ready to eat in the bakery section, OR you can find frozen croissants ready to BAKE in the frozen aisles.
Lunch: Leftover mac n cheese
Snack: I tested a banana chocolate muffin recipe, which was very successful (recipe coming soon!) I snacked on these until dinner time…which wasn’t really dinner.
Dinner: Bag of Spudsy sweet potato ranch fries and Hu pizza crackers
WEDNESDAY
📸 Breakfast: Vegan croissant from Whole Foods and chia pudding with blueberries 🫐 and pineapple 🍍
Lunch: Pan con tomate
Dinner: More leftover mac n cheese
Dessert: Dr. Bronner’s coconut praline chocolate 🍫
THURSDAY
Breakfast: Sweet plantain fritters. Recipe is coming soon!
Dinner: Blaze Pizza’s vegan cheesy bread. Blaze Pizza is similar to Dominos or Papa John's, BUT they have vegan options. I am not sure what cheese they use, but the taste is distinguishable and definitely vegan cheese. Their cheesy bread is the perfect comfort food.
Dessert: Insomnia Cookies have vegan cookies 🍪! The Insomnia Cookies in NYC are smaller than the ones in San Diego. The cookies here are the proper size and delicious. There are three vegan flavors: Chocolate Chunk, Birthday Cake, and Double Chocolate Chunk.
FRIDAY
Lunch: Sad excuse of a grilled cheese with Follow Your Heart provolone.
Snack: Insomnia Cookies.
Dinner: Pizza bagels 🍕. One thing I will admit I love and miss about NYC is the food. San Diego lacks in most departments. Even the store-bought bagels are weird here. We had some funky bagels we got a while ago; I decided to make pizza bagels. They were so freaking good. It took me right back to being a kid and scarfing down bagel bites on the weekends watching cartoons. Preheat your oven to 500F. Layer tomato sauce and choice of mozz (I used Miyokos Liquid Mozzarella). Bake for 10-15 minutes.
SATURDAY
📸 Breakfast: French toast 🍞– I follow Just Egg’s recipe. I omit the added sugar here because I don’t think it needs it, but follow the recipe if you like a sweeter french toast.
Lunch: Loving Hut. It’s been a minute since we went out to eat and dined. David and I usually get take out and come back to our place, but we were book crawlin! April 30 is Independent Bookstore Day, and San Diego holds a book crawl every year highlighting all the indie bookstores in the city. I had so much fun, but a seated and relaxed meal was needed. The food was incredible, and they served so much that we had leftovers for the following day. We ordered spring rolls for apps. We each got our entree— garlic butter fried rice and an impossible beef noodle bowl. For drinks, Thai teas.
Snacks: Doritos. We were still stuffed from lunch; we just wanted something to snack on to end the day. If you didn’t know, the spicy-sweet chili Doritos are vegan!
*yes, everything is vegan. My daily intake varies depending on my mood and what I’m craving. I eat whatever I want when I want. This weekly food journal is for inspiration and entertainment purposes, not as a guide on what/how much to eat. Everyone’s needs are different :)
“Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don’t see any.”
— Orson Scott
Peace,
Bri
Big congrats on the piece!! I’m gonna go check it out 😍