V and I were looking for a place in Camarillo to grab a quick breakfast last weekend and came across Old New York Deli & Bakery Co. on Verdugo Way.

While the vast majority of the menu -- including bagel sandwiches, wraps, burgers, soups, pizzas and deli sandwiches -- are not vegan, almost all of their bagels are, so there are veg options available.

I had the Hummus Delight off the breakfast bagel sandwich menu, which came with thick slices of cucumber, sprouts, tomatoes, avocado and hummus. I opted for the garlic bagel, but -- after chatting with the staff -- it looks like almost any of their made-from-scratch bagels would have been a vegan option.

They also have a veggie wrap, a couple of salads and a vegetarian deli sandwich that look like options for vegans.

Plus, they have an organic espresso bar filled with 100% organic coffees and teas, as well as organic soy milk to whip up some vegan, organic coffee drinks.

Next time we stop by, I'm definitely going to try the organic Moroccon mint green tea - yum!

Old New York Deli and Bakery Co. has locations in Camarillo, Newberry Park and Mammoth Lakes. You can check out their menu on their website.

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V and I went to Long Beach to visit the Queen Mary this past weekend, and then headed to Hollywood to meet up with my best friend and his partner for dinner.

As the only vegan in the group, I kind of figured it would be a salad or veggie burger night for me, but my bff had my back and suggested we meet up at a diner - Fred 62 - in his 'hood that has some veg options on the menu.

I ordered the tofu chiliquile (shown above) off the breakfast menu, because there is nothing better than breakfast for dinner. While it actually wasn't very breakfasty, the pico de gallo was great and the dish was plenty filling.

The nice thing is that it wasn't the only veg option on the menu, so now I have one more spot in Hollywood where I know I can find something good to eat!

As we left the restaurant and headed back to the freeway, we passed a place called The Vegan Joint, so I think I'm going to drag my non-veg crew there next time we go down to visit!

The folks at Tone It Up™ contacted me a few months ago to see if I might want to try out one of their relatively new products, Perfect Fit. As a vegan who is always watching my weight and looking for organic, soy-free protein options, I jumped at the chance to try out this organic rice protein powder.

After I received five packets of the protein mix in the mail, my partner, V, spotted them on the kitchen counter and asked if she could take one to work with her. So I divided them up between us, and you are now getting the opinions of two reviewers instead of just one. Yay!

This is particularly cool for this Perfect Fit product review, because we are complete opposites when it comes to diet, activity and fitness level. V is a meat-eating Marine who works out twice a day and stays very active, since – well, she is a Marine and all. I’m a vegan who spends most of my day in front of a computer screen and gives V dirty looks when she suggests that we go hike up a hill or something. One thing we do have in common is watching our weight, since she has to stay within USMC weight standards, and I have always been a big girl with the metabolism of a hibernating bear.

Plus, she usually isn’t all that interested in trying out the raw, organic or vegan goodies that show up in our kitchen, so I was excited that she actually wanted to try something. Of course, she loves her protein shakes, so I probably should have known that these packets might disappear into her backpack if I hadn’t willingly given up a couple of them.

Okay, let’s start with a list of some of the stuff that makes Perfect Fit a little bit of raw, organic, vegan awesomeness:

Now, if that isn’t enough to have you heading online to get your hands on these vegan protein packs, we will get right down to what V and I thought of it after trying it a couple of different ways.

Let’s begin with the not-so-good start I had with my first trial, and then we will move on to the awesomeness.

I do a potassium-packed smoothie every day as part of my efforts to naturally manage that pesky neuro disorder I have mentioned before. So I thought I would just throw half a packet of Perfect Fit in the blender with my daily smoothie. Now, this protein powder is vanilla flavored, and on this particular day I also threw some blueberries in that blender. Not a great idea. But this is not the fault of the protein mix; I should have known that blueberries and vanilla in a smoothie do not necessarily complement each other well. It was drinkable, and it wasn’t all that bad, but blueberries were a bad idea – at least for my palate. I would like to add that I think this just goes for smoothies – I bet it is great in blueberry pancakes or muffins!

If I had just kept it to my usual potassium-rich ingredients (like bananas and strawberries) it would have been great. I did just that the next day, and I ended up with a creamy, dreamy, shake-like bit of goodness.

After that, I tried it with unflavored coconut milk and with unsweetened vanilla almond milk – both of these experiments were tasty successes. I highly recommend trying it like this after you pick some up.

It’s super simple; just throw this stuff in the blender:

1 ½  cups coconut or almond milk

½ to 1 Perfect Fit packet (I used ½ a packet)

½ cup ice (optional – do this is you want more of a shake consistency)

You can also get creative by adding a bit of raw cacao powder, cinnamon or nutmeg – yum!

I divided mine into separate glasses to be able to try it with each of these additions, and I loved them all.

I also highly recommend mixing it with coconut water, which was delicious and is more nutritious than using water.

Once I get my hands on some more packets, I’m also going to try making a smoothie with vanilla-flavored So Delicious coconut milk yogurt. I have a sneaking suspicion that it will be quite divine. We ran out before I could try it in any baked goods, so I will also have to report back on how that goes once I order some more and get back to the lab/kitchen.

Oh – I almost forgot to mention…I’m in the process of trying to switch from coffee to maca root powder. I’m thinking that a maca-Perfect Fit shake will be a nice afternoon treat that will hit the spot on these hot days we have around here. I will report back on this one as well.

Okay, now that we know the not-so-active vegan (me) thinks Perfect Fit is an awesome between-meal, protein-packed snack, let’s move on to V’s review.

In short: She loves it.

Aside from the fact that she is fit, very active and not vegan, there is one more thing you should know about V that is relevant to this product review: She has a sweet tooth.

This is important to note because she usually finds vanilla-flavored protein powders a bit boring and bland. And – believe me – this girl who always has her shaker bottle close at hand has tried quite a few protein shakes.

Since she is on the go and generally does not have a blender handy throughout the day, she drank her Perfect Fit packets mixed with 12 ounces of water shaken in a regular water bottle. She reported back that she found this rice protein powder to be a satisfying treat that “tasted like a milkshake.” She also noted that the single-serve packets were super handy to keep on hand, which makes sense, since she can just toss one in her pack or tuck one in the cargo pocket on her cammies.

So, there you have it: We dig Perfect Fit rice protein powder!

All right, this Perfect Fit product review is getting awfully long, so let me just throw in some additional information that might be of interest to you, and then I will let you rest your eyes after all this reading.

Where to Buy Perfect Fit

You can buy single-serving packets or a 50-serving bag (the cheaper option) at PerfectFitProtein.com, or you can get the single-serving packets at Amazon.

You can also find some yummy recipes on the Tone It Up™ recipe page.

If you are interested in getting fit, I also recommend signing up for the Tone It Up™ email newsletter. By doing so, you will receive a welcome pack with a full-body toning routine and recipes, as well as weekly printable workouts, workout tips and other health-promoting goodness.


For our friends at the FTC – I received five packets of this product so that I could try it out and write this review. I did not receive further compensation from Tone It Up™ for this post.  

Corona, California isn't exactly a mecca of vegan restaurant options, but like most cities in Southern California, you can pretty much always find a decent meal with just a bit of Googling. The options for veg food in this particular city seemed to mostly include Indian, Asian and Mediterranean eateries, which is pretty common when searching for healthier food on road trips. Since only one of us is veg, we opted for a Lebanese restaurant that offered both vegetarian and non-veg options.

That is how we ended up at True Mediterranean Kitchen in Corona. While the menu has lots of meat-based dishes, there were plenty of veg options from which to choose -- like hummus, falafel pita wraps, sweet potato fries and a veggie plate.

My goal was to fill up really well, since we were on our way to visit family and were pretty sure dinner would consist of grilled steaks and other non-veg dishes, so I went for the veggie burger and fries, which was one of the specials that day.

The veggie burger was basically a falafel patty served up with chopped onion, tomato, lettuce and a super-tasty sauce that made this one of the best veggie burgers I have ever had.

I also ordered some veggie kebbe to go (pictured below) so that I would have something to eat when we all sat down at the dinner table later. I'd never had kebbe, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was really good. In fact, V's uncle (an omnivore) even tried it, and came back for a second and third bite!

The very nice Chef Laila, who completed her culinary education in Lebanon, is the owner and executive chef at True Mediterranean Kitchen. Focusing on serving up fine Mediterranean dishes, she and her staff make everything from scratch, and it shows!

V loved her non-veg meal, and I seriously wanted to scarf down another one of those awesome veggie burgers on the spot! The next time we are in the area, we will definitely be going back.

If you find yourself in the Corona area, True Mediterranean Kitchen is located at 469 Magnolia Avenue, Suite 105. For more information on the restaurant or their catering services, you can also check out their website at www.TrueMediterraneanKitchen.com.

V and I went on a little road trip this last weekend to visit some family. We go on lots of these short road trips and are always seeing big trucks with advertisements for meat or junk food, so I got pretty excited when I saw this O.N.E. coconut water truck heading down the highway!

It was just nice to see a healthy advert for once -- so I had to share it with y'all!

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