Day 15 – I’m at the halfway mark!!
Today I’m celebrating a mini-milestone. I’m halfway through my 30-day vegan challenge and can honestly say, I am proud. Thank you friends for all the support! Who knows this could become semi-permanent. OK, onto the good stuff…
I want to share a couple experiences so far in LA. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m obsessed with the Kale Coconut Smoothie at Naturewell (see my 1/10 post here). So it was the first stop on my hit list. I’ve already been there twice in two days and it’s just as good as I remembered. My husband who is not a huge green smoothie fan, even loves it. A guy who works there previously recommended the Orange, Ginger, Carrot juice (which isn’t on the menu). It’s fab and when I make it at home I find I don’t need a coffee because the ginger really wakes me up.
The menu below shows their unique assortment of both juices and smoothies. These don’t come cheap… we are pigs and supersize our smoothies so they’re a whopping $7 a pop but sooooo worth it.
And here she is… introducing the lovely, bright green, sweet and fresh, Kale Coconut smoothie I’ve been bragging about. Blog readers, meet Kale Coconut. Kale Coconut, meet blog readers.
It actually is sweet and you get more coconut/banana flavor than anything else, but the kale adds an herby/woodsiness that makes it taste so refreshing. Even if you think you’ll hate it, I’d encourage you to try it, you’d be surprised how delicious it is. You can definitely make this at home with kale, coconut water, young coconut meat, cinnamon, banana and agave nectar. I haven’t gone to the trouble of digging out young coconut meat from the shell yet, but I may have to because I can’t wait until my next LA trip to have this smoothie again.
We also took Simon (our pup) on a two-hour hike up Griffith. I always feel healthier in LA. Fresh air and sunshine makes Chelsea a happy girl.
Simon was exhausted post-hike and napped all afternoon.
Next up…dinner.
I had a sad revelation this weekend. I can add sushi to the “things I miss list”. We usually hit Matsuhisa every trip to LA but to spend that kind of money on veggie rolls seemed like a waste. Besides, I dream about their baked crab hand roll and I couldn’t torture myself by going and not getting it. The W Hotel concierge recommended Bar Hayama. They have a huge outdoor fire pit and tons of outdoor heating lamps (not that it’s really necessary when it’s 60 degrees out, wussies).
The food was fine, nothing outstanding, but it satisfied my sushi craving. We worked up quite an appetite from the hike. I had sake, edamame, vegetable dumplings (server confirmed they were vegan), cucumber roll, vegetable roll, and natto hand cut roll. This was my first dinner out in LA so it was a nice way to slowly dip the toes into dining out as a vegan.
I would have more pics but I was starvin-marvin and didn’t realize I hadn’t taken any until it was too late (sorry). This was the only pic I managed… the veggie roll and cucumber roll. Clearly, I need to upgrade to the iPhone 4 with a flash.
The server at Bar Hayama was very sweet and didn’t roll her eyes or snarf when I told her I was vegan which I really appreciated. That’s it for now, more LA updates to follow!
Naturewell 3824 W Sunset BlvdLos Angeles, CA 90026
Neighborhood: Silver Lake
(323) 664-5894
Bar Hayama 1803 Sawtelle Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90025
Neighborhood: West Los Angeles
(310) 235-2000
Matsuhisa 129 N La Cienega BlvdBeverly Hills, CA 90211
Neighborhood: Beverly Hills
(310) 659-9639
Food Buff 