Change Now

                                    
I've got so many food pictures that I've taken over the last week, but in light of the murder of George Floyd, I just didn't really care to talk about food. I've tried day after day to put how I feel into words, and I just can't.
Please watch this video. Killer Mike is someone who is so eloquent and intelligent, I hope I get to vote for him someday.
I'm going to leave this video here. He says everything I would ever want to say.
This is not the world I want to live in. We need change and we need it immediately.
Black Lives Matter!!!

Gluten Free Bread Fail, Tacos plus Cats!!

Here is my first and possibly last attempt at gluten free bread! I noticed as it was baking, it smelled very strongly of cornbread, but the flour mix has no cornmeal. I also don't like cornbread, so that was troubling. I made two loaves instead of one, thinking it would be like my first attempt at banana bread, which I overfilled the pan. I should have overfilled the pan, because I have the teeny tiniest pieces of not very good bread.

It weirdly kind of tastes like cornbread, and it has that crumbly, almost cake like texture. Le sigh. The reason I say it might be my last attempt is because gluten free flour is freaking expensive. I think I just have to give up on gluten free foods, and just have naturally gluten free foods. Gluten free breads, pastas, tortillas, all of it is so extremely overpriced and is rarely good.
I bought a jar of vegan Bolognese sauce, and I still haven't had it because I dread the gluten free pasta.

It was kind if chilly yesterday, and I had to let the loaves rest and rise for an hour in a warm place. There were no warm places, so I set the loaves on my heating pad. Etta never misses a chance to force a cuddle, even with bread loaves!

I  made some tacos with this beefless ground from Trader Joe's. I think it doesn't get enough credit now with all the Impossibles and Beyonds.
It's $2.99 a container, definitely the best deal out there, and it tastes great!

Black bean and beefless beef tacos! I'm loving this Roja sauce I found awhile ago. It's smoky, and a little spicy but not too much.

Bubba likes to take over my yoga mat. I really just lay it down for him at this point.

And I spent an hour and thirty minutes watching a squirrels and birds video for cats! The other kitties will watch for a few minutes and get bored, but Joan and Roxy will watch an entire hour plus video and then look at me like "more?"

Trader Joe's Haul, plus Shoes!

Yesterday was grocery day, and I also needed a new pair of sandals, so I went to Target first. Target isn't my first choice for clothing, but choices are limited right now.

They had all sandals buy one get one, so I scored both pairs for seventeen dollars! Fake leather of course. Kiki approves!

I also saw these! I've seen the Nashville hot chick'n tenders on Instagram, but I've never seen them in person. And the gochujang wings were screaming my name!! Why does gardein have to be so gluten-y!!!!

I also spotted these, which luckily have no gluten! I couldn't decide which flavor, so I got both. These are three something a box, so cheaper than other ice cream style bars. I really enjoy Chloe's fruity bars, so I have high, high hopes, especially for the raspberry!

Sweet onion, apples, raw cashew pieces,watermelon facial mist,potatoes, tofu, celery, romaine hearts,butter lettuce,oranges,tiny avocados,black beans, red lentils,risoni,coconut milk, beefless ground,water kefir, watermelon, Jasmine rice, gluten free flour

I have to say that normally I avoid Trader Joe's on a Saturday, but now with the pandemic, they only allow a certain number of people in at once, so it wasn't that bad. I mean, getting groceries anywhere is a nightmare right now.
I picked up gluten free flour, because I'm going to attempt to make my opwn gluten free bread. I'm scared to try, but I also really hate and resent the cost of gluten free anything, especially because it's usually not that good. I don't have a bread maker, or a stand mixer so this could be a failure. A lot of gluten free baked goods also have a lot of weird ingredients as leavening agents, and I am not running around town trying to find Xanthan gum or anything like that. I've found a few recipes online that I think I can work with.
I miss sandwiches, and I miss having bread with soup. I don't really think my gluten free bread will be any better than store bought, but if it's just as bad at least it will be cheaper. The bag of gluten free flour was less money than a loaf so at least I will save money!

Spicy Vegan!

Winco is my go to store when I need a random ingredient. It's a little over a mile from my place, and so if I need a few things it's easy to walk to and from. I'm really into not taking the bus as much as I can. I needed baking soda and peanuts for the squirrels yesterday, so off I went.

I found this sriracha seasoning, and I had to get it!! I'm just imaging sriracha dusted potatoes, and all kinds of stuff!

Impulse buys! I've been wanting to try this salad kit for awhile, but it's always too spendy for not a lot of food. Winco had it priced a bit more reasonably, so I got it! And I'm a sucker for BBQ chips!!!

I tried the salad for a late breakfast with a perfect avocado. The salad is a mix of iceberg, green leaf and carrots, and it has a little pouch with black beans, red rice and edamame. The dressing is a sweet chili dressing, and let me tell you it is definitely sweet. The salad is okay, but you don't get a lot for the price so I doubt I would buy it again. I'm also not a huge fan of sweet dressings. I never like a fruity vinaigrette.

Last night I made this delicious red curry cauliflower and red lentil soup. Look at how smooth and creamy it is! I made some tofu croutons seasoned with the sriracha seasoning!! Yesterday was day five million and one of grey skies and rain, so soup really hit the spot! It's raining again today so I can't wait to have the leftovers for breakfast!

Tofu and Banana Bread!

This was one of my splurges last week when I got groceries. I love it so much, it's my favorite tofu ever! If I could afford to, I would always have several boxes in my fridge! I really don't know what wizardry they use to get the texture. It's firm, but not too firm, and chewy but in a good way. This is definitely the tofu for people who hate the texture of tofu!

The other night I made a Thai green curry with red lentils and the curry nuggets. Divine! The hodo soy tofu is just so satisfying!

I picked this up the last time I was at the Asian market. Even though the bottle says it's for ribs, I figured it would be even better with tofu!
So far I've used it two ways, one as a marinade for some baked tofu I used in a tofu veggie bowl, and two as a stir fry sauce for tofu and mushrooms. Both were great!

I made more quarantine banana bread! I want to thank Klara for the baking tips! I made two smaller loaves, and baked them with foil and with a water bath. So much better! I had less oats than I thought, so I used oat flour and some coconut flour. The coconut flour made it kind of crumbly, but I'm getting there!

Not so Good Potstickers

Every time I go to Sprouts, I look at these, seriously tempted. A few times I've put them in my basket, then put them back. As you can see, the box is pretty small and they are pretty expensive. Over seven dollars!! There are nine potstickers, so that's almost a dollar per.
I saw them on sale at Natural Grocers, still pricey but I just wanted to try them so bad! I haven't had a dumpling since going gluten free, so two or three years now! It kills me when I'm at the Asian market, looking at all the vegan dumplings that I can't have!
I decided to make these last night. I followed the cooking directions exactly, and well, lets just say they didn't turn out nice and crispy like on the box.

They look rather anemic huh! I even cooked them a bit longer hoping they would get some color, or do something! The filling tastes amazing, it's they typical cabbage, carrot, mushroom, etc. The dumpling itself was on the heavier side as all gluten free things are. Normally I would at least give them a six out of ten because the filling does taste nice, but I'm going to say four out of ten because of the price. Definitely not worth it, and if you have a family you'd have to buy several boxes of these. I don't know why I fall for gluten free things, they're almost always a let down. I could have saved that money, or treated myself to anything else. Oh well, at least now I won't always wonder.

Kiki is on the hunt for a fly that somehow got in. I keep trying to get it outside, but it doesn't understand that Kiki is a dedicated huntress!

What I Ate to Recover from What I Ate!

Saturday night after getting groceries, I definitely didn't feel like cooking. I decided to heat up the daiya pizza I found on sale.
First time having this flavor, really tasty, maybe my favorite yet!

Sunday morning when I woke up, my stomach didn't feel the greatest. I've noticed that if I eat a lot of oil based cheese my stomach kind of rebels. The frozen pizza definitely has more cheese on it than if I had made my own. It was still worth it!
Sunday I kind of took it easy with food in the morning. I didn't really want anything solid for awhile.

I started the day with some celery, ginger and apple juice. The ginger definitely helped settle my stomach.

Later I had some strawberries and made some carrot, orange and strawberry juice. The strawberries I got are only so so. For every one juicy sweet berry, there are like five very tart berries.

I've had these in my tea cupboard for forever! Every now and again I remember to take a couple!

I had a few crackers and cheese for a little pre dinner snack. I got the Treeline aged cheese on clearance at Natural Grocers for like three bucks! It's the aged cheese, so it's like a hard cheddar or something fancy like that. Nut based cheeses don't bother me thank gourd!!!

I love water kefir! Even though I make my own kombucha, if I see water kefir I treat myself!

This dish is the star of my day! Sticky, spicy tofu with brown rice and a salad with shitake vinaigrette. Here is the recipe for the tofu. You guys, I can't say enough about this tofu! It's sticky, spicy and sweet, everything he promises! I didn't deep fry my tofu because I don't deep fry, so I just baked it until crispy, then followed the rest of the steps. I already want to make this again, it will definitely be on regular rotation. This is one of my favorite YouTube channels too. He makes really delicious food with easy to find ingredients, and isn't super obsessed with superfoods, oil free, or expensive ingredients. Ten out of ten recommend this tofu!!!

I finished out the day with a raspberry Jolly Llama sorbet pop. Etta is happily making pink biscuits in the background!!

A Less Boring Vegan Haul!

Yesterday was grocery day, and I decided to switch it up and go to a different Smith's than I normally go to. I guess that's the excitement for now! It's in a rather trendy neighborhood/area called Sugar House. Sugar House kind of reminds me of certain areas in Seattle, so I always feel warm and fuzzy when I go there. I found a few sales, but no tofu, so I went across the street to Natural grocers, no tofu! So, I also went to the Asian market and yes, tofu! I bought a few treats and splurges, so my haul is a little more exciting than normal!
First we have the Smith's haul!

Sweet onion, lemons, strawberries, daiya pizza, cuties,carrots, spring mix, bananas,avocado,apples,brown rice,peanut butter, vegan Bolognese sauce, gluten free spaghetti

Close up of the Bolognese sauce. This is definitely new to me. Smith's/Kroger/Fred Meyer simple truth line has been really stepping up the vegan products!
Next is my Natural grocers haul. They had quite a few sales so I got some goodies!

Yerba Mate, Hodo Soy curry tofu nuggets, sporttea,raspberry sorbet pops, silk creamer, water kefir,green tea,daiya mac and cheese, gluten free vegan potstickers(!!!!), celery clearance treeline aged cheese, chocolate bars (from Smiths)

The daiya mac and cheese was on sale for under two dollars a box!!! Although it's definitely not my favorite, I've never tried the white cheddar with veggies so I decided to risk it!
The gluten free pot stickers were the real splurge. I've looked at them so many times at Sprouts, but they are freaking expensive! They were on sale for under six dollars, which is still a lot but I was feeling crazy! I hope they're good!

I also got this to try. I've read that it gives you energy while being caffeine free. My energy has been low, sleeping has been spotty so I've been relying on coffee a bit more than I'd like. I'm okay with having a cup every once in awhile, but lately I've been having one or two cups a day. Has anyone tried this?

Potato flour crackers, tofu, Emerald tofu, Korean BBQ marinade, chin-su sauce, sambal oelek,rice vinegar

 So, that's my haul. I was flustered having to go to several stores, and wearing a mask makes me feel very claustrophobic so I definitely bought more treats than usual, but hey, at least I found tofu!!

Quarantine Food and Stuff

Some of my boring, go to meals. Tofu and red lentil curry and a tofu veggie bowl with spicy peanut sauce. I love these meals because they're easy to make, delicious and healthy. And curry leftovers are the best!

I've also been having tofu miso soup for breakfast. I add some red lentils for extra protein and fiber. I love to add hoisin to my miso soup. It adds such a nice extra flavor.

I finally switched it up a bit the other night. Buffalo tofu with salad and crinkle fries. Daiya ranch for dipping. This really hit the spot!

Last night I made a burrito bowl with yellow rice, black beans, lettuce, guacamole, green salsa and of course some chips for dipping!

It's been grey and dreary all week, and it's been getting to me. All this week I've had to really force myself to take my daily walks. As it gets nicer, more people are out jogging, taking walks, walking the dog, whatever. It makes daily walks less fun. The other day I realized I was spending more time crossing the street to avoid people than actually just enjoying my walk. I'm having a hard time adjusting to this "new normal."

Bubba is getting bolder! He saw the pink sweater was free and he claimed it! Kiki was very perturbed by this. He knows what a valuable piece of real estate the sweater is, so he napped happily for quite some time!

Sweet Things

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this creamer before, but it deserves another mention! I love Trader Joe's coconut and soy creamers. They're both great quality, and under two dollars which I always appreciate. This is just as good as the other two, with the added bonus of a nice vanilla flavor! This is also under two dollars which makes it a definite ten out of ten for me!

I made banana bread! I know it's been a quarantine trend, and I realized I've never even made banana bread, and I haven't even eaten banana bread in at least a million years. I used oat flour as the base, and used applesauce instead of oil. It tastes amazing, but the middle is definitely softer than I want it to be. But the top was getting pretty done, and I didn't want it to burn. Maybe next time I'll put foil over the top? Any suggestions would help, baking is definitely not my comfort zone.

These are pretty dang tasty! The outer shell is super dark and angry as Susan would say, but the inside of the truffle is like whipped chocolate gold! I feel fancy having a truffle after dinner!

The Gang!

If you look closely, all six kitties are close enough to be in the picture! I'm pretty sure this was a first! It's a quarantine miracle!!!

Dill Pickle Hummus and Impossible Tacos!

I tried the new dill pickle hummus from Trader Joe's yesterday. I was afraid it would either taste too pickle-y, or not pickle-y enough. Well, I don't know how they did it, but the pickle to hummus ratio is perfect! You definitely get that dill pickle tang, but it doesn't assault your senses.
It tastes great with pretzels, but I think it would be an amazing spread on a sandwich. I've even seen people use hummus in place of mayo in potato salads, and this would be a great hummus to use for that.

I made some Impossible tacos last night! The first thing I noticed as I was cooking the Impossible ground is that it didn't have the overwhelming meaty smell that Beyond has. That is a definite win! It also crumbled as it cooked down a lot easier. I find that the Beyond kind of likes to stay in that brick, and I really have to work to get it to crumble for tacos. But as soon as the Impossible started cooking, it was very easy to stir it into crumbles. I should have tasted a bite plain, before I added the taco seasoning and black beans, but I was kind of turned off by how real it looked.
I only used half the package, so I'll make a burger sometime and see how that tastes. It's pretty amazing, and really shows how far vegan food has come just in the last few years really!