Places to Check Out: Vasquez Rocks and Agua Dulce

I had a great time hiking, climbing, caving, and exploring in the Vasquez Rocks today. 

The Vasquez Rocks are part of a wilderness park a bit north of Los Angeles. Many movies and TV shows have been filmed there for decades. 

The park includes hiking trails, wonderful rock formations, caves, rock climbing opportunities, old house/town ruins, Native American pictographs, and a visitor's center.

You better believe I got all up in dem caves. I love the outdoors. I love hiking, caving, and rock climbing... this was definitely a great place to go.

In the above picture you can see some of the Tataviam Native American pictographs located on site. On the far right is some kind of bird, and on the far left- a snake.

 

 

  I was so mesmerized by all of these pictographs. I love anything relating to or concerning history and culture. Let me tell you, this place was FULL of all that and more. I am seriously so happy with the time I had today.

 

I took the above two pictures to try and show you what the landscape looks like up close. I took these from the top of some of the rock formations. Of course, it is much more breath-taking in person.

I am hoping I can do a photoshoot in this area soon. Everything about it inspired me artistically and revived me culturally. 

BKL 

Places to Check Out: VeggieGrill

I finally got a chance to check out VeggieGrill! 

I was running some errands in Hollywood earlier today and I thought it was the perfect opportunity to try VeggieGrill, especially since there was one close by and I've always wanted to try it. 

VeggieGrill is a 100% vegan restaurant. 

They are actually a chain of restaurants. There are quite a few in the Los Angeles area, which makes sense to me because there is such a high volume of vegetarians and vegans living here.

So, here is my experience:

The style of the restaurant is very similar to the layout of a Chipotle. The three main differences being that VeggieGrill is fully vegan, they don't assemble the food in front of you like Chipotle does, and VeggieGrill has a wider variety of foods. They have some Mexican food...as well as American, Italian, rustic dishes etc. 

I looked at the menu while I waited in line. After taking quite a while to choose what I wanted to eat, I decided upon the "Crispy Chickin Plate". It goes without saying that the "chickin" was not really chicken. The entree was supposed to be the vegan version of a country plate of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, and greens.

The fried chicken is replaced with vegan chicken, the mashed potatoes are a healthy combination of potato and cauliflower, the gravy is a mushroom gravy, and the greens are kale!

All in all I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved my meal. My only complaint would probably have to be that it was just a little bland. It was also a TON of food! I didn't finish it and took the rest home to eat later.

Have you guys tried any vegan/vegetarian restaurants? Let me know if you try VeggieGrill and what you thought!

BKL

 

Vegan Recipe: Creamy Basil Sauce

 

This is a lovely little recipe that I pulled out of my ass.

 

It's completely vegan and very healthy.

 

Creamy Basil Sauce:

 

1 organic avocado

5-10 fresh organic basil leaves

garlic salt

1/2 cup hemp milk

2 tbsp olive oil

pepper

blender/magic bullet/blendy thingy

 

I love this recipe because it is so incredibly easy to make! Start by cutting the avocado in half and scooping out the insides into the blender. (discarding the seed of course) Add the fresh basil, olive oil, and hemp milk. Blend until smooth. Add pepper and garlic salt to taste. I prefer a lot of garlicy goodness in mine.

 

This sauce makes a great pasta topper. I didn't bother warming my sauce before putting it on the pasta because the pasta warmed it for me, but of course you could heat your sauce in a pan over the stove top.

 

Recipe Substitutions:

 

.I used pasta made completely from whole wheat with no other added ingredients, but any vegan pasta would go great with this sauce! Quinoa pasta adds extra protein.

 

.Instead of using garlic salt, try sauteing fresh minced garlic with chopped onions in little bit of olive oil. Once golden brown, add to blender to be blended in with the rest of the ingredients. This is a healthier alternative to using garlic salt.

 

.Instead of hemp milk, any non dairy milk can be substituted. I used hemp milk because it's what I had on hand. Unsweetened soy, almond, rice milk etc would do just fine.

 

Hiking Above The City of Angels

This new transition to living in Los Angeles has given me a second chance for everything: a fresh start if you will. Among starting a new job, starting a new school... (which neither will happen for a few months anyway) I also have other goals that I want to accomplish now that I'm living here. 

I want to get into shape. Now, by "in shape" I don't mean buff and muscley. I just want a healthier lifestyle. I want to eat well and exercise often.

Today marks the beginning of my journey into a healthier lifestyle. This past year I've been way too focused on my career/school to focus on my health. I'm going to make more time for myself.

This morning I did a simple and very short hike up a mountain behind the city of Burbank in Wildwood Canyon Park. You could see all of Los Angeles from the top of the mountain. It was truly beautiful! It took only an hour to do the hike and due to the elevation gain I was huffing and puffing like crazy.

I'm hoping I can do things like this every morning right when I wake up. If not a hike, anything physical like: yoga, walking, gym etc.

Even when I have a job and I have to be at the salon at 8 every morning, I can wake up early enough to get a workout in and then get ready for work.

Much love,

BKL