Vegan Sausages and Potatoes!

 

Looks like Field Roast sausages got a little makeover! I saw these at Winco and I approve! I think it looks very sleek and streamlined. Now if only they were gluten free!

About  month or so ago I signed up to volunteer at the polls on Tuesday, and the other day I had a training class. The class was near Winco so I ran in for a few things to tide me over until I go shopping. 

I went specifically for the Beyond sausage. I've been watching Sweet Simple Vegan and they made a Filipino dish that looked so simple but so delicious. It was just garlic fried rice with sausage, and I believe it's common to have that for breakfast..?? 

The frozen Potatoes O' Brien were super cheap and an impulse buy. I was hungry. I didn't notice until I got home that it has peppers in it. Duh, I've worked in enough diners I should have known. I am not a fan of cooked bell peppers at all, and I've learned I like frozen and then cooked bell peppers even less!

Not even an insane amount of ketchup could save these! The potatoes were okay, but there were so many peppers it was impossible to pick around. 

I had better success with these potatoes! Last night I made a one sheet meal with roasted potatoes and a Field Roast brat. Super easy and really delicious. The only thing that would have made this tastier is some Brussels sprouts and maybe a little sauerkraut!

What I Ate When I Didn't Feel so Great

 Sunday morning we woke up to snow here in SLC. It was also grey and gloomy and extremely cold. Sunday night it dropped down to under twenty degrees! It kind of sent me into an early battle with seasonal blues. I feel a huge sense of dread for winter this year. More so than other years. 2020 maybe?

I took a picture of everything I ate yesterday. It wasn't a great or exciting day of food, but it's pretty typical for colder days, or days when my mental health isn't the greatest. 

Dream Team

I really try to eat one Brazil nut a day for selenium. If you look under my hand you will notice Joan laying on the heater vent. She really stretches out. Wouldn't want to share the heat with any of us!

For breakfast I had a chickpea pancake and a butter lettuce salad. I've been really loving this spicy cashew butter dressing from Trader Joe's. For some reason when I'm feeling down having a salad for breakfast makes me feel better, like at least I'm taking care of myself or something. 

I almost drank my juice before getting a picture! Orange ginger and carrot, the usual!

Kombucha forever!

Afternoon snacking and lounging!

I made "The Stew" again for dinner, but with lentils instead of chickpeas. This was the perfect meal for how I was feeling. Soothing and comforting and warm. Delicious, I definitely see why this recipe is so popular. And the leftovers are even better!

A few squares to end the day on a sweet note

Vegan Foodz

 I've got some meals that didn't make the blog last week. Even though I'm in a bit of a rut, it's at least a tasty one!

I just finished my second box of these AHMAZING crackers! They're so, so good. They remind me of goldfish crackers, and for gluten free the texture isn't too bad.

I just picked up my second bag of these puffs. The poofy texture is my favorite, and they have a decent spice to them!

This was a miss. It's a vegan clam chowder with mushrooms as the clams. I've never had clam chowder, but I don't think chowders are my thing. This was just kind of gloopy and bland. The grilled cheese was good though, I used Violife mature cheddar. 

Sweet potato, lentil and tofu curry

 

Gochujang ramen with millet ramen noodles, rice cakes and tofu

Miso soup with gochujang, rice cakes, rice, bok choy and of course tofu

Breakfast of champs, salad with smoked tou and avocado, and roasted potatoes dipped in hummus and all over it sauce

I had a box of Annie's vegan, gluten free boxed mac and cheese in my pantry that I've been saving for a rainy day. That day was Saturday, after my Asian market trip. I needed something easy and soothing. I added a bit of smoked tofu for some extra protein. This hit the spot.

I really love this chocolate bar. If you have a Kroger/Fred Meyer/Smith's near you, check for this chocolate. It's got coconut milk in it, but it isn't quite as milky as milk chocolate, but it's milkier and creamier than dark chocolate. it's really nice!

Vegan Asian Market Haul and Snow in October!

 The good news is I made it to the Asian market, unfortunately it was a complete madhouse so I kind of got my basics and got out. At one point I almost abandoned my cart because my anxiety was so bad. 

I feel like I'm in another kitchen rut, kind of always buying and cooking the same things. Part of that is budgetary of course, but there's also a rut there. I was hoping to get some new to me greens. I always feel very intimidated by all of the greens I've never heard of there. Like how do you prepare it, what do they taste like? So, I was going to be brave and just pick one, but the produce section was BONKERS. Next time I'll plan better and go on a weekday. 

Miso paste, potato flour crackers, enoki mushrooms, Shanghai bok choy, tofu, broken Jasmine rice,rice noodles, mandarins, crushed chili peppers, tamari, hoisin,soft tofu, tons of baked tofu,ssamjang sauce

Believe it or not, I've never cooked with bok choy, and I actually think I've only had it maybe once or twice in my whole life! So I guess I did get one kind of new to me green!

I'm most excited about this! I've been watching Cheap Lazy Vegan for years now, and she has this a lot. It's a Korean dipping sauce made with gochujang, sesame oil, etc. I always see her dip cucumbers, and also lettuce wraps in this sauce. I love sauces and dips, so I'm always happy to add another to my arsenal!

I know it's not a lot of snow, and I'm very grateful for that, but the fact that there's snow at all on Oct. 25 is a bit much for me. Hello seasonal blues!

Fall Blues and Small Trader Joe's Haul

 Fall has blown in to SLC like a sneaky beast this week. Up until now it's been in the seventies and even eighties some days! Temps have dropped significantly and I've heard mutterings of possible snow Sunday night!! I'm not even close to being ready. But it is 2020.

I braved the elements to go to Trader Joe's for a few things yesterday morning. I'm going to the Asian market today, so I went light. My Trader Joe's doesn't have a lot of the fun seasonal stuff I've seen on social media. Last year it looked like a pumpkin threw up pumpkin spice everything, this year they're keeping it more basic. 

Water kefir, fugi apples, peanut butter, tomato paste, onion, coconut milk, fruit jellies, sunflower butter cups, spicy crunchy poofs, celery, potatoes, green onion, butter lettuce, lemons, carrots, sweet potato

I have a hard time getting the camera to really capture Bubba's baby blues. This is the closest I've gotten so far. Isn't he so handsome?

As I was walking home from the bus feeling so blue and full of dread for the winter, I saw this really pretty rose bush. The roses are different colors. I've never seen a bush like that, only single colors. It kind of cheered me up a bit!

Yays and Nays!

 

You guys know I love Banza chickpea pasta. It's definitely the best of the bean pastas, and it's my favorite gluten free pasta. I noticed that Whole Foods has chickpea pasta for one dollar less than Banza, and since I treated myself to a few things I decided to save a buck and try their version. 

Just from the box I could tell that the pasta is thicker than Banza, which concerned me because texture is a big issue with gluten free anything in my opinion. But, I like to keep an open mind. 

Last night I made a quick potato cashew cheese sauce and added some shredded violife mature cheddar for some good old mac and cheese with BBQ tofu. If I were a meal planner I would have gotten kale or collards to have with this meal. But back to the pasta. It's much stodgier than Banza and it's just too much. I really don't care for it and wish I would have just sprung for Banza. I definitely do not recommend this!

I also tried the Whole Foods brand hummus which is also a decent price at $2.99. Red pepper and garlic were my choices so I chose red pepper. This is worth saving the buck on. Nice and creamy and definitely as good as other brands that are more expensive. 

I tried the Simple Mills cassava flour crackers awhile ago and LOVED them! They were really light and crispy especially for anything gluten free. I decided to try the sprouted seed version, and I gotta say not so good. They're really dense and not as cracker-y. Now I know to stick to the cassava flour! 

Roses are red, and pink and white too!

 

Vegan Whole Foods Haul

 I have a little Whole Foods haul. I went on Saturday morning, and it was the opposite of Trader Joe's. It seems at least here in SLC that most Whole Foods shoppers have their groceries delivered. I swear every time I go to Whole Foods it's just me and a bunch of Prime workers! No complaints here, it's so much calmer. It feels almost pre-covid, I can look at things and read labels. Although I guess if pre-covid times included masks, but you know what I mean!

Vegan cheddar crackers, peanuts, gold potatoes,vegan creamer, probiotic drink, mushrooms, vegan gummies, sweet potato puffs, cilantro, celery, green onion, leeks, avocado, carrot,chickpea pasta, coconut milk, GF crackers, oranges, lemon, onion, red pepper hummus

Russet potatoes, fizzy water, chili crunch oil, tofu, kombucha

These are the star of the haul. I saw Tabitha Brown eating these and she really, really loved them. They are pretty amazing I have to say. Like I ate the whole bag over the course of the weekend. Nice and onion-y, and the sour cream taste isn't fake.One hundred out of ten. The texture is great too, light and not dry or too dense. They have a vegan white cheddar and a vegan buffalo ranch which are on my must try list!

This is also a stand out! I think I prefer maple over pumpkin spice any day! This is nice and thick and has a great maple flavor!

Cookie Crumbles!

 A few weeks ago I went seven days with no sugar and had carbs only in the morning, protein and low carb veggies only for dinner. Unfortunately I didn't notice any spectacular changes. 

During those seven days I craved chocolate really badly, so I found some vegan chocolate chips sweetened with Stevia. Needless to say they didn't help!

Since they were expensive, and I know I'll never be desperate enough to eat them plain, I decided to hide them in cookies!

Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies! The chips are bearable in cookies which is great news! I used this recipe if anyone's interested. I subbed peanut butter for the oil, and they are still nice!

I was at Winco the other day, and they had Morningstar products on sale for $2.98, and a lot of the bags had a dollar off coupon! I used to love the beefless crumbles, and for under two dollars, yes please!If only their stuff weren't so gluten-y I would have tried some of their newer vegan offerings! If you live near a Winco, stock up!

I have only made tacos with the beefless crumbles. My go to for years! So, yesterday I decided to switch things up, and I made vegan Thai basil beef and rice!

I've never had this dish vegan or not, so I have no idea how it holds up, but for my tastes and needs it was delicious! Gingery and a little spicy, perfect! I used this recipe which I highly recommend!

Yesterday the sun was shining on the edge of my bed, but Kiki was guarding that spot, so Bubba laid with his little feetsies getting some sun. Something is better than nothing!

What I Ate With a Little This and That!

 I've been trying to make sure I have at least one salad a day. Some days it's easier than others, but overall I'm doing pretty well. I don't love a lot of vegetables, so instead of forcing myself to eat what I don't love, why not just make sure I'm eating enough of the veggies I do love. 

Now that it's getting cooler, I like to have salads for breakfast, because for dinner I usually want nice warm foods.

Yesterday I had this beauty. Romaine, red onion, avocado, falafel, and spicy cashew butter dressing. This really hit the spot!

I'm still having celery juice three or four days a week. I still have to add apple to mine, people that drink it straight are tough!

I finally found this! This is the cheese I want to when I make to tomato cheese rice dish I love so much! I tasted a piece when I got home, and although it's been a million years, it does have that sharp cheddar taste I remember!

Speaking of recipes I love, this is Alison Roman's internet famous chickpea stew. If you Google the stew, this will be the first result! Here is the recipe, I highly, highly recommend! I've made it so many times I pretty much have it memorized! I halve the recipe, and yesterday I used green lentils and potatoes in place of the chickpeas. I think I prefer lentils to be honest!

I love when the leaves are green and yellow. Especially when the sun hits the yellow leaves and they look so glittering and gold. 

He decided to leave his perch as soon as I tried taking his picture. Cats! I love seeing him do simple cat things, staring out the window at squirrels, finding a ray of sun and lounging, and my favorite, tossing around a toy and playing soccer! He's really adjusted to lazy indoor life and I love it!

But Protein

 

My big problem with smoothies is that they don't keep me full for very long. If I have a smoothie, I think of it more as a snack than a meal. I sometimes buy the individul packs of vegan protein powder at Sprouts, and while I don't love the protein-y and stevia flavor, I do like that it keeps me full for quite some time. 

I found this protein powder on sale at Smith's, and when I did the math it comes out much cheaper than buying the individual packs. If you can believe it, I was more tempted by the lack of stevia than the sale price! This uses monk fruit sweetener. I'm no protein powder expert, but of the few I've tried this is the best by far! It has a really nice vanilla flavor, and the monk fruit sweetener is less offensive to my taste buds. Ten out of ten, highly recommend!

Speaking of protein-y things, I've had this edamame pasta in my cupboard for awhile, and last night I finally decided to use it.

I made some spicy peanut noodles with carrot, garlic, scallion and baked tofu. The pasta is okay. The edamame flavor is really strong, and I didn't love the texture. The noodles are also much shorter than regular Fettuccine so it wasn't quite the same experience. Honestly, if these noodles were on a huge sale I would buy again, but for now I'll just stick to Banza chickpea pasta.

I think Joan can give Tyra Banks a run for her money when it comes to the smize, don't you?