Caffeine Dreams Vegan Social: Part Deux

Last June Caffeine Dreams hosted an amazing Vegan social and, in addition to outstanding coffee and pastries (courtesy of La Charlotte), it gave us a chance to mingle. So it was pretty much a no-brainer to do it again! This year we had the added bonus of Culprit Bakery, who provides kolaches and soup for Caffeine Dreams.

Thank you to Caffeine Dreams, La Charlotte and Culprit Bakery for providing and excellent food and atmosphere for us to enjoy. It is so amazing to have such a vegan-friendly coffee shop right in our neighborhood. Can’t wait to do it again! Now let’s take a look at all the awesome offerings…

Culprit Bakery's new kolaches.

Peperonata Kolache, inside shot.

Carrot Cake and Chocolate Cupcakes from La Charlotte, in a glass prison.

Cherry Coffee Cake, in big fat slices!

Let's get a closer look at those cupcakes...

         
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Extreme Pizza Party

Extreme Pizza Omaha hosted the pizza party to end all pizza parties last week for Vegan Omaha. Besides offering at least 10 different pizzas for all of us, Extreme Pizza had tons of different salads, salad dressings, Vegan parm at every table and  last but not least, a yummy chocolaty dessert. As for the pizzas, they weren’t your run of the mill pies. There was lots of pesto, Thai inspired, BBQ, Mexican, a hummus pie and even more. If you weren’t at the meetup, make sure you stop by Extreme and ask them to make it Vegan!

Pizzas as far as the eye can see!

Delish!

Some pizza is gonna get ate!

Pizza Monster on the loose, beware.

I hope you saved room for dessert!

This is the Vegan Pizza Menu! Make sure you specify that you want the Vegan crust and Vegan cheese. Tons of topping to choose from.

Hats off to Lisa, Nick, Adam and everyone else at Extreme Pizza for making the pizza party so successful! And thank you to everyone who attended, I hope you visit Extreme Pizza again.

         
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Vegan Roadtrip: Lincoln!

Maggie's Vegetarian Cafe

Cool green walls at Maggie's Vegetarian Cafe

We’ve been trying to hit up all the great vegan eats in Lincoln but with our bad luck, every time we go everything seems to be closed. Boo hoo. So we meticulously planned and prepared and were able to visit three awesome eateries in one day, along with The Front Stoop zine shop and Open Harvest Co-op. We dragged along our friend Amy from Portland and even though she lives in vegan mecca, she was still impressed.

The Cure Soup

I'll take a bowl of Robert Smith, please

Our first stop was Grateful Bread. A fun little place with an impressive Mr. Potato Head collection and The Cure on their soup prices. There was a huge array of vegan soups to choose from. We each picked a different one: Split Pea, Moroccan Tomato and Tex-Mex Chili.

Tex-Mex Chili from Grateful Bread

Tex-Mex Chili from Grateful Bread

These were perfect soup specimens, excellently seasoned, filling and flavorful. The Moroccan Tomato had a surprising burst of peanut butter that warmed me right up. Our only complaint was that there was no…bread. With a name like that, we wish there was some sourdough up in it. No matter though, we happily crumbled saltines into our paper bowls and chowed down.

Our bellies full and happy, we walked around Haymarket District for a bit, visiting the cool shops and checking out the scenery. If you’re into 19th century warehouses, train tracks, coffee shops and antique stores, then this is the place for you. We found plenty of cool and affordable stuff at Burlington Antiques, even a few ceramic cats for Teal Cat Project. And we saw bonus cute kitty cat street art.

Black Cat

A kitty hits the streets

We weren’t quite hungry at this point, but we’d been dying to check out Maggie’s Vegetarian Cafe for so long and it was right there, so we had to sample a few yummies.

Baked Tofu Wrap

Baked Tofu Wrap from Maggies. Fresh & delish!

There were lots of choices, from tacos to soups to wraps. We decided on the Baked Tofu Wrap and Taco Salad, and sampled a few bites right on the street before wrapping them up to take home for a midnight snack. The wrap was smoky and mustardy, and the taco salad was spicy with seasoned walnut meat and a killer creamy avocado dressing. Mmm.

Taco Salad

Taco Salad from Maggie's, tacolicious!

Now we were in the mood to read! Off to The Front Porch zine shop.

Front Porch Zines

So many zines at Front Porch

The Front Porch is a cool little (really little!) zine shop with lots of zines (duh) and Tshirts and supercool owners Michael and Cindy who aren’t exactly doing it for the money (even though there’s millions to be made in zines.) We chatted with Michael for a bit and picked up lots of great reading material.

Next stop was Open Harvest Co-op. There is nothing better than overflowing bulk bins and a luscious produce aisle and Open Harvest does not disappoint. If this is what it’s like in January, we can’t wait to come back in the Spring!

Open Harvest Produce

Open Harvest's beautiful produce aisle

We picked up a bunch of greens and veggies and some free trade chocolate and coffee for good measure. There were a few vegan goods in the bakery but we’d love to see more. More vegan muffins. More more more! I didn’t want to leave, I could spend hours wandering up and down co-op aisles, but Pepe’s Veg-Mex Bistro was calling.

Open Harvest Bulk Bins

Bulk bins! Nothing gets us going like PLU numbers

And what a great end to our trip! Pepe’s was delicious as always and there was something extra special on the menu: Gooseberry Enchiladas!

Gooseberry Enchiladas

Pepe's now famous Gooseberry Enchiladas

Oh please Pepe open up a spot in Omaha so that we can visit every day. In any case, we’ll be back to Lincoln soon for more vegan fun. And don’t forget to check out all the new Lincoln entries in our Restaurant Guide!

         
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Crystal Jade Holiday Buffet

Last week, Vegan Omaha was treated to the 2nd annual Crystal Jade Vegan Holiday Buffet. A feast of epic proportions, if you weren’t there, here is what you missed!

I'll have everything!

Isa has her own noodle. Has it gone to her head?

Let's eat!

Gingerbread cupcakes by Isa!

Aunt Shirley, Isa, John and Uncle Steve.

We’d like to thank Crystal Jade for doing such an amazing job! If you’ve never been there, make it a point to try their huge Vegan menu.

         
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Casablanca Moroccan Cafe – The Meetup

Many tummies were filled Sunday night at the Casablanca Cafe Meetup. Lots of new members were there, along with the regulars. Chef Hamid made a feast fit for a king! Or around 30 kings as it were.

More hummus than you can shake a pita at

Happy meetuppers getting ready to dig in

Veggies with fragrant Moroccan spices with rice

Braised squash and root veggies over flavorful cous cous

Chef Hamid finished the meal off with smoothies!

If you didn’t make it to the Meetup, make sure you visit Casablanca and tell them you are Vegan. Chef Hamid is excited to feed you!

         
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