Sunday was a great day. 
Well, aside from finding out that my ‘vertically growing spinach’ had gone to seed and BOLTED! Nooooooo.
After reading up on it, I guess it is quite common. I had no idea this was a risk-factor for spinach! Gardening is a practice of trial and error I guess.
There was quality time with Mom…
The Huz.
Very successful oil-free baking…(coming soon!)
Crate & Barrel
Whole Foods Mississauga (opening in July)
Square One Mall.
[source]
Fresh Restaurant in Toronto
[source]
A belated birthday dinner courtesy of mom at my favourite vegan restaurant!
Middle Eastern Plate appetizer made up of golden falafel balls with a crunchy exterior and pillowy interior, hummus, tahini, toasted organic whole wheat pita, fresh herbs, and olives:
A DREAM to the taste buds!
I ordered the Flu Fighter juice made up of Celery, Kale, Carrot, Garlic, lemon, ginger, cayenne, and Echinacea. It’s served hot like tea and was perfect on this chilly and cloudy day! This is one of my all-time favourite juices at Fresh.
Hot lemon tea for mom and Eric had the Lucky Charm smoothie made up of raspberry, strawberry, blueberry, and mango.
Mom had the Mushroom Onion burger with sautéed mushrooms and onions, tomato, lettuce, sprouts, cheese, and vegan mayo, along with sweet potato fries.
Eric and I both ordered the Grilled Vegetable and Pesto wrap with grilled red pepper, zucchini & sweet potato with pesto, vegan mayo, tomato, lettuce, cucumber, red onion & sprouts along with fries:
Happy bellies ensued!
It wouldn’t be complete without a vegan cupcake and brownie…
This cupcake was a BASIL and cherry flavour! The basil was very pronounced in the frosting. It was strange and we weren’t sure if we liked it, but somehow it vanished from the plate! Funny how that works…
The flavour combo reminded me of something you’d see on Cupcake Wars!
I forgot to get a picture of the vegan walnut brownie (aka: we inhaled it).
Today is the last day of mom’s stay, so we’re off to make it a good one. See you soon with a yummy oil-free sweet bread recipe! Have a fantastic start to your week!
Looks like a wonderful day! I’ve never been to Fresh, but it’s on my list of places to try… Your mom’s meal is pretty much my dream dinner! I am on quite the sweet potato kick lately…
– Brittany
Oooooh BIG yummmm!! I have a feeling I know where we’re going in July! ;) Looks like an awesome trip, and I love your C&B table runners! I might have hit up Lululemon this weekend.. maybe. I thought of you while I was there and am totally bringing my new find over to your place! PS. Please re-create that vegan brownie and post the recipe. Even though I can’t see photos of it, I’m about 100% sure it’ll be good!
Aw I love that face you’re making in the first picture! So dramatically sad… And that black outfit is gorgeous!! Especially the shoes!!!
Everything in this post is drool-worthy, and I can’t believe you fit it all in one day.
Hope your mom has a safe trip :)
Those restaurant photos make me want to move there RIGHT AWAY! It’s hard to even find Vegetarian options in Pittsburgh, much less Vegan or GF! Can’t wait to see that oil free recipe!
Awh what a lovely day! I love how they’ve got the WFs sign up, before there’s even a door :p
Basil and cherry? That does sound interesting!
Aside from all awe-inspiring photos of food, I am dying to know if and when you are releasing a book?! I have been reading your blog for a bit over a year now and I don’t know if it is out of selective memory or not, but I can’t remember if you are writing a book?! Forgive me if I’m wrong, but your recipes are amazing! When ever I am procrastinating (which is basically every second of the day), I am flicking through your recipe archives, book marking something new to try. Each recipe I have ever tried from your blog has been amazing! Seriously, please get pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and write a recipe book, I will make all my friends buy it!
Aww thank you Tori! Im working on a cookbook proposal in 2011 :)
Have fun with your Mom!
Veggie/pesto wrap sounds amazing — it is definitely something you need to recreate!
I agree…yum!
What a great day! Your mom is just beautiful – looks like y’all had a wonderful time together!
Aww, you and your mom are so beautiful! Love your wedges!
Sounds like so much fun, and I love the photos.
It’s great that the juice you had is served hot. I never would have thought of such a thing, but that sounds perfect on a cold day (well, except for my raw carrot allergy). :)
Enjoy the rest of your visit with your mom!
What an awesome day :) I can see why you love this restaurant. All the food looks amazing :)
Looks like a really a great day. Sorry to hear about the spinach. I’ve never heard of that either!
enjoy your day with your mom, angela!
WF mississauga?!! ack! wow! thanks for letting us know! square 1, fresh – – > you had a marvelous day (well, except for the spinach plants!)
Your photography skills are amazing! I love your post!
Thank you Claire :)
Looks like you had a great time. I would love to see your recreation of that cupcake…sounds very interesting:)
Looks like you guys are having a blast! A basil cupcake? I love it! Herbs in cupcake form is brilliant in general… I’m thinking rosemary lemon?!
Rosemary lemon is genius!!
You & your mom are both glowing… so beautiful! I’m totally jealous of the new Whole Foods, mine is tiny and needs improvement!!
My spinach did the same thing. Guess I didn’t pick it fast enough.
Your meals, smoothies and desserts look fabulous! Thanks for sharing.
Do you know if you are supposed to pick the leaves to prevent bolting?
Everything I’ve read says that heat makes it bolt, and we’ve had three weeks of high temperatures. I did pick some before it bolted, but cleaned out the rest last night. I had much better luck with chard and lettuce. Some people say spinach does better when planted in fall, so I might give it another shot.
Hi
My mom is my big gardening advisor, she said spinach you supposed to seed only in early spring or autumn not in later spring/early summer because it will bolt. So you have chance in autumn:-) for spinach again.
Thanks!
Picking the leaves does help, but the heat causes it to bolt. You can actually find slow-bolting varieties, but spinach is best in cool weather. I’d plant more seeds in August. Also, if you plant a few seeds a couple weeks apart, you can extend the “season” a bit. Good luck!
great thank you!
Um, wow…what a delicious weekend you had! That cupcake just made me weak in the knees…yum!
the lettuce i planted a couple summers ago (2?) grew really tall and bolted quickly because of all the rain we had that year. must be the same this year. the in between heat probably helps too!
sad.
hope other things do better
Ohh that cupcake looks wonderful!! :)
Seeing all those pictures made me happy. I can’t describe why, but they all just evoke a pleasantness ;)
Nom nom nom, I think I’ll be heading to Fresh for dinner tonight!
Boo urns about the spinach but it is super easy (and cheap) to grow from seeds if you want to plant more. I like to plant seeds every two weeks so that I have a continuous supply over the summer. Once a plant bolts and I’ve eaten all the leaves I yank it and plant more seeds in that spot.
I’ll have to pick up some seeds…tks!
what is it about calling your middle area your belly instead of your stomach that makes it so much cuter :)
Oh my goodness the falafel place looks delish! If I wasn’t in MA, I’d head over to that restaurant right now : [)
I’m so so happy to hear that you are working on a cookbook! Every one of your recipes that I have tried has been delicious, so I’m predicting a best seller : )
Good luck!
Thank you Grace :)
I can’t wait for that bread recipe, it looks delicious!
You ladies sure had a busy day yesterday! I bet you’re excited to get a Whole Foods close to your house. The closest one we have is Vancouver… and we’re in Airdrie (outside Calgary) haha… fail. Have a great last day with your Mom!
Maybe they will open one soon Calgary NEEDS a WF!
It looks liek you have had an amazing weekend. All of your food shots look delicious!
Yum! I love Fresh… Soy is currently off-limits for me now which is killing me because they use vanilla soy in their delicious cornbread, and I’ve heard that their burgers are fantastic! Hopefully I’ll be able to try one soon….
girrrrrrrl you said it – great weekend indeed, I wish I had that sun emoticon for my post :P
so sad about your spinach, I will now be watching mine like a HAWK!
I love your shoes!!!!!! I have been looking for wedges that i like and i haven’t found any the i like (or that are cheap enough lol)
And the same thing happened to one of my basil plants literally overnight:(:(:( at least i have a bunch more!
ANd i love love love Mediterranean food! if i could move to Greece, i’d leave in a second!
That Middle Eastern plate looks soooo good! :)
And you look fantastic!
My aunt has an allotment which I help her out with sometimes, and every year there’s something or other that doesn’t do quite as well as the rest. It’s a lot of trial and error, as well, but very fun and rewarding IMO. I it’s amazing watching plants grow and feeling kind of proud of them when they do well – a bit like children that you can eat : P
hehe agree!
The headshot of your mom is gorgeous!!!! You all look so happy. I know the feeling…love having mom around!! :) The food is out of control. That falafel looks insane and everything else sounds 100% spectacular. So glad you had such a nice day + weekend!!! You look HOT in that black outfit! ;)
hehe thanks Ash!
That food looks delicious!
Sounds like you had a great weekend with your mom!
That Med plate looks amazing!!!!!!!! That is my perfect meal on a plate pretty much!!
The Vegan backpacker just wrote about a bunch of other Vegan places in TO, they all sounded pretty amazing too!
Have fun today with your Mom!!!
I hope you have a great last day with your mom, enjoy every bit of it! It seems like you girls had a wonderfull time:)
But, on the other hand, with that load of good food, it better would be!
I cannot wait for that Whole Foods to open! Mainly because it will be closer for me to go to than the Oakville one! It’s funny that you went to Fresh, because I just tried it for the first time when I was down in Toronto a few weekends ago for a friends birthday. I got a green one and it was so good – especially after a night of celebrating ;) I never looked at their food menu, and now I need to go back!!
The mississauga location will be closer for me too! Cant wait :) I wonder when the grand opening is?
fresh looks to die for!!! everything looks amazing! was your mom able to finish that whole burger? it looked like a ton of food!! yummy food!
I helped her with the burger….haha :)
mmmm… the flu fighter is my favourite at fresh! just started following oh she glows – love, love, love so far!
Thanks Jess!
I was also at Fresh this weekend!! Now I’m wishing I had got the falafels, those look so flavourful and delicious. Interesting cupcake combination too! I had the Watermelon Omega Boost smoothie that made me so hyper (thanks to the Guarana!).
ohhh I was thinking about that smoothie…sounded amazing! I was so cold yesterday though!
Aw…what a great day! I love Crate & Barrel. We don’t have one here though (sad face)
I am super excited for the new Whole Foods in Mississauga. Lets grab lunch sometime once it opens. Would love to chat health, baking and fitness!
I will have a great start to my week, thanks to these amazing meal photos. What a great day. Good for you!
Have a lovely Monday! :)
Wow, so much deliciousness going on here! Yay for all the new goodies in town!
It’s a genius trick on the restaurant’s part – making a strange food that makes you keep wanting to try another bite to decide if you like it or not! haha, looks like a fantastic weekend, happy monday :-)
haha yes it is!
Aw, what a great day :D I’m curious about that bread too, it looks so good!
Sounds like an amazing time so far with your mom ~ enjoy the last day of your visit!
I’m not a big fan when savory and sweet are combined. Dessert still has a way of always getting finished though! :)
I tried Rawlicious based on your experience, had their pad thai and it was OMG amazing! So good, I went back last night and got dinner to go for my bus ride home. I don’t live in Toronto (sadly) but Rawlicious is very close to my office in Yorkville and it could become problematic.
mmmm love rawlicious! Glad you enjoyed it!
Ahhh Whole Foods is opening in Mississauga?! This is wonderful news!
.. Maybe not so wonderful for my wallet..
Where in Mississauga? And how was I unaware of this?
And I really have to get myself to Fresh. It always looks so good in pictures!
Right beside square one next to C& B