Vegan Party Pinwheels

To make these party pinwheels I used wheat tortillas, Tofurkey slices, Kite Hill jalapeno flavored vegan cheese spread, and green leaf lettuce. This was very good, but it needed something red in there, maybe pimientos or sun dried tomato spread.

365 Everyday Value Organic Vegan Lasagna

I tried 365 Everyday Value Organic Vegan Lasagna for the first time. Here's my thoughts on the product.

This product was very soupy. The noodles seemed very thick and chewy. This food was not visually attractive. Something about the cooking process must have gone wrong. The plastic wrapper was difficult to remove in one piece. Overall, this seemed like institutional food. The positive is that it really tasted pretty good. It's as good as any other cheap microwave dinner, but this one's organic and vegan. I would buy this again because of the taste and reasonable price.

Red Velvet Doughnut from Cashew Plant Based Vegan Cafe in Chattanooga TN

This is a sweet treat from Cashew Plant Based Vegan Cafe. It tasted just like Red Velvet cake except this was vegan and it had a hole in the middle. Very nice, but very sweet!

Click here for the Cashew Plant Based Vegan Cafe website

Mexicorn

Vegan Camp Snack, Cantaloupe and Wine

Home-made Vegan Southwestern Cornbread with Refried Beans and Enchilada Sauce

I made some home-made loaded Southwestern style cornbread and heated a can of refried beans (vegan, of course) to go with it. I topped it all with enchilada sauce and cilantro. The taste was excellent, and this had a variety of textures. This was better than restaurant food. I'm not a chef. I can't cook. But this was so good I wanted to grow an extra stomach! This was cheap and easy. And it's all vegan!

If you're interested in my loaded cornbread, I have the ingredients here, but you'll need to make up your own recipe:

non-GMO corn meal, water, all-purpose flour, salt, non-GMO corn starch, baking powder, olive oil, crushed black pepper, a generous amount of diced onions, diced orange bell pepper, diced jalapeno pepper, a small amount of Kickin Chicken Seasoning, a very small amount of sugar, a very small amount of vegan egg replacement

I loaded it up with peppers and onions. It had chunks in every bite. Also, I made it crispy by oiling the edges during the cooking process.

Couscous With Peas

I prepared some Near East couscous and sprinkled in some frozen peas as it cooked. This took about 10 minutes to make. It's a cheap and easy meal. And it tastes great!

Paw Paw

Today's snack is a paw paw. It's a green, smooth fruit about the size of an avocado. According to my research, paw paw fruits were popular with the Native American people in southeast North America. The inside is smooth and creamy, but it has large seeds that get in the way of eating it. The flavor and texture is soft like an over-ripe banana or mango. It's slightly oily with a sweet, pudding-like flavor. There's a hint of bitter that follows the sweetness. The taste is surprisingly pleasant, but just one will satisfy. The seeds are not edible, and this fruit is thought to be neurotoxic if eaten in larger amounts. These can be found at small farmers markets, at roadside stands, and growing wild on a tree. I have never seen them in any supermarket. This is another unusual organic, non-GMO, and raw vegan snack.

Garlic Flavored Sesame Sticks

These are good, but it only takes a handful to satisfy These are good on salads or part of a snack mix.

The Farm Oven Fried Tofu

I learned a recipe from The Farm in Summertown TN. They share this and other vegan recipes during their retreats. Just cut tofu into 3/8 inch slabs, dip each in soy sauce, then dip them in a blend of nutritional yeast, self-rising flour, and your favorite seasonings (I used paprika, black pepper, and a small amount of Weber Kick'n Chicken seasoning). Bake it at 350 degrees on an oiled or non-stick pan until crispy, then flip them and continue until crispy on both sides. I added sriracha sauce to mine. This is the best tofu I've made!

Home-made Miniature Vegan Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

I used a French Baguette and Daiya Cheddar slices to make miniature vegan grilled cheese sandwiches.

Home-made Vegan Pesto Lo Mein

I bought the ingredients to make a cheap pesto sauce thinking I still had some linguine. I was wrong. I had lo mein noodles. So here's my Pesto Lo Mein.

Making the pesto is very easy with a food processor. I couldn't afford pine nuts so I used sunflower seeds. Here's the ingredients I used: olive oil, a big handful of fresh basil, 2 garlic cloves, a handful of sunflower seeds, a good splash of lemon juice, salt, and crushed black pepper

Here's something to think about. This vegan pesto is also raw. Mix it with some zucchini noodles or add it to chopped cauliflower for a really flavorful raw vegan meal!

A Vegan Snack at the Publix Deli

The Publix Deli can make vegan sub sandwiches, but I chose to get a smaller snack instead. The unsalted Dirty chips are good. They don't even need salt. These make the salted ones taste too salty. These chips are extra crunchy! The Publix tea is good but a bit sweet. My favorite is the peach flavor.

Amy's Non-Dairy Vegetable Pot Pie

Oh, this is one of my favorite Amy's foods! The outer wheat crust is delicate and firm. Once broken, the creamy insides are revealed with chunks of carrots, peas, potatoes, and other goodies. This is an excellent product that everyone will enjoy. This is vegan and non-GMO. Vegans beware. Amy's makes other pot pies that contain milk. Look for the little V in the bottom left corner. Even better, just read the ingredients.

Click here to see the Amy's Kitchen website

Guinness

It wasn't before, but now it is. Guinness is vegan!

Beet Burger at Cashew Plant Based Vegan Cafe in Chattanooga TN

I made my way back to Cashew Plant Based Vegan Cafe in Chattanooga TN once again. I knew they recently expanded the dining room and remodeled. I wanted to see the new place and get a great meal. The following meal was not cheap. I paid a heavy price for this real food made with fresh, healthy ingredients. This was a special treat.

This time I tried the Beet Burger. It comes with chips, but there's no way I would ever go to Cashew Plant Based Vegan Cafe and not get some form of their out-of-this-world fantastic cashew cheese. So I added the queso for an additional charge.

This plateful of plant-based heaven arrived with the burger open-faced to honestly reveal all the delightful colors, textures, and shapes. I was entranced by its presence, not knowing if it would be as heavenly as I imagined. Once the top half was added to the bottom, this was a massive pile of plant material. The bun was slightly firm. The beet patty was crunchy and slightly chewy with a mild earthy flavor. The thick slices of tomato were amazingly fresh and juicy. The sprouts were crisp and delicate. The pickles were firm and tasty with a nice hint of vinegar. The light sauces tasted like a tangy ranch dressing. Every ingredient of this burger was equally flavorful and worked together like it was designed by an evil genius with a plan to take over the world with vegan food. This was insanely good.

That was just the burger review. I absolutely love that vegan queso with the chips. I already wrote a review on that. Look it up. I actually did lick that little bowl clean.

So, back to the expansion and remodel. They have the place looking great. The dining room is twice the size it was. The new furniture and paint gives the place a cleaner, more modern appearance. The place does get loud with music and people talking, and the sounds echo on the hard surfaces. The food is still amazing. Even the water is good. I'm so glad I returned to at Cashew Plant Based Vegan Cafe! This was a great lunch.

Click here for the Cashew Plant Based Vegan Cafe website

Black Beans and Quinoa

I drained a can of plain black beans and dumped the contents into a pot of plain quinoa. I added a few shakes of chili powder, adobo powder, and cumin. I mixed it together. Very cheap. Very simple. Very easy. 

Home-made Vegan Potato Soup

Here's an old favorite from my years in poverty. Poor people can eat delicious vegan food too. Check out my home-made potato soup! It's so good it will make you feel wealthy!

Ingredients: potatoes, water, onion, salt, pepper

This soup is so cheap it's almost free. It takes about half an hour to cook it, but letting it cook longer on low heat is worth the wait.

Watermelon

Another Visit to Blue Coast Burrito in Florence AL

I was in Florence AL and chose to make another stop for lunch at Blue Coast Burrito. I had a Veggie Burrito and made it a combo with chips, salsa, and a drink. This is a good plant-based meal!

Veggie Burrito Combo at Blue Coast Burrito in Florence AL

This time the restaurant was very crowded. Church had just let out and Blue Coast Burrito was filled with well-dressed, well-behaved groups of friendly people. I was able to confirm that the rice is vegan. I figured it was, but some places use butter. This was a great meal. The burrito was large and delicious, the salsa was excellent, and I received a generous amount of chips. The restaurant was clean and free of flies. Florence AL is a vegan desert, but this place is a small oasis with at least 3 vegan meal options. This was a good visit!

Click here to see the Blue Coast Burrito website

A Vegan Snack on the Silver Comet & Chief Ladiga Trail

I stopped at the Georgia-Alabama state line to enjoy this vegan snack. I had a huge bottle of alkaline water with Dang Sticky Rice Chips. This was a satisfying light snack. The Dang rice chips from my previous blog post were so good I wanted to try the coconut almond flavor. Very good, again! They're slightly sweet with a good crunch. I actually had two huge bottles of alkaline water. This was a very long ride in the summer heat. I needed all the water I could carry.

The Silver Comet & Chief Ladiga Trial is an old railroad bed that goes roughly from Atlanta GA to Anniston AL. Based on the segment I rode, I'll say it's an easy trail. The GA side (Silver Comet) is paved with brushed concrete, and the AL side (Chief Ladiga) is asphalt. Overall, the AL side is smoother. The slopes are so mild even the young and old could ride with ease. However this trail goes DEEP into the mountainous wilderness for dozens of miles at a time. Cell phone signals go out. There's no water fountains. Other riders disappear. The scenery goes from picturesque farm, swamp, stream, and mountain views to scary backwoods hillbilly/redneck slums with rebel flags and mean dogs, abandoned railroad warehouses, and dusty vagrants on bikes. The best part of the trail is coming into each small town just as the train did decades ago. Those towns really haven't changed much because they're historic districts. Each town seems to highlight the trail as a main attraction, and the trail is really well-maintained like a clean city park. The towns have small cafes and rest stops, but vegan food is nearly impossible out there.

Majans Bhuja Snacks, Original Mix

Wow! These have serious flavor! This bag of oddly shaped snacks has a really nice snack mix flavor with a slight Indian spice. The noodles, peas, and flat pieces are crunchy, and there's little chewy pieces of fruit mixed throughout. I like these. This is gluten-free, and the texture gives it away. This does feel a bit powdery after chewing, and the crunch isn't a hard crunch, but that's fine. I still really like this product. This was my first time buying Majans Bhuja Snacks, but I'll try to buy them again for hiking, biking adventures, and camping. This is a great vegan, non-GMO, gluten -free snack.

A Vegan Meal at Mater's Pizza & Pasta Emporium in Gadsden, AL

I went to Gadsden AL for the First Friday street festival. Afterwards, I met with family at Mater's Pizza & Pasta Emporium. As an herbivore, I wasn't expecting much from this place. People in Gadsden don't even know what the V word means.  So, here's how it went.

The service was friendly, but I had weird questions like "are the noodles made fresh or are they dry" [fresh noodles always contain eggs] and "is the pizza sauce just a tomato-based sauce or is it seasoned with meat" [some small town places have a "marinara sauce" with meatballs already in it but serve just the sauce without meatballs if ordered without meatballs] and the lady who took our order was acting impatient with such questions during what is probably their busiest hours of the month. I totally understand. So I tried to keep it very friendly and simple. The male server who came by later was a bit friendlier, but the service was slow and disorganized. It's First Friday. I totally understand. No problem. The restaurant was grimy and looked like it needed a deep cleaning. This is in a building that's over 100 years old, like most of downtown Gadsden, so I expected that and ordered with that in mind.

This is what I came up with based on the information the lady was willing to give me. I ordered the Spaghetti Marinara with no cheese. It came with a tossed salad. I ordered a side of oil and vinegar instead of dressing

Tossed Salad

Tossed Salad at Mater's Pizza in Gadsden AL

This was a generic salad blend with cherry tomatoes and cucumber. They gave me more oil and vinegar than I would ever need. Those came in take-out cups, so I took some home for later. This salad was actually very good. It was all pretty fresh. Nothing special, but very good. Better than I expected.

Spaghetti Marinara Without Cheese

Spaghetti Marinara without cheese at Mater's Pizza in Gadsden AL

This was also pretty good. The sauce tasted fresh with ripe tomatoes and light spices. It was chunky and slightly sweet. I didn't taste any meat flavoring. I didn't find meat in it. I'm sure this would have been excellent with the cheese. Mater's Pizza is generous with the cheese. I didn't know but it came with a garlic butter hoagie bun. I couldn't eat that because it was probably real butter, and the bread looked like it was made with eggs.. I gave it away.

Overall, this was good food. I do believe it was overpriced for what I got, but that's because I ordered it with no cheese. I do prefer cleaner establishments, but the grime didn't surprise me because it's Gadsden, and most of Gadsden is a bit rough. Mater's is really made for omnivores, and I believe omnivores will enjoy this place very much. It's not great for a plant-eater, but I would return if invited to join others for a meal. It's good that they do have something a vegan can eat. And what I had was  pretty good.

Treeline Treenut Vegan Cheese, Scallion Flavor

This is vegan cheese I found on sale at Kroger. This is a soft French style cashew cheese. I've never had this one before. Is it good? Let me tell you!

The original price was over $7, but you can see I got it for a good discount at $3.69. Woohoo! This is actually worth the original price! This has a tangy funk like real cheese but with a lighter, healthier mouthfeel. It's very creamy and smooth. This is an excellent choice for crackers or toasted bread. I haven't decided if it's my new favorite vegan cheese, but it is currently in my top three for sure. You need to try this! It's vegan, non-GMO, probiotic, gluten-free, and soy-free. I wish they paid me to say this stuff, but they don't. There's another discounted one on the shelf at Kroger. I'm thinking about getting it before someone else does.

UPDATE: I went to Kroger to get the other one. It was gone. I bought the Herb Garlic flavor at regular price.

Gardein Chick'n Sliders

One of my favorite light meals is the Gardein Chick'n Sliders. I usually put a tiny amount of sriracha sauce or ketchup on mine. Excellent!

You may know I'm not a big fan of meat replacements. But I don't think of this product as a replacement since I've been a vegan since 2009 and have absolutely no desire to eat animals. This is just another plant food for me. This makes a great transitioning food for those who are struggling to stay on a plant-based diet. I'm not sure if these really taste like dead chicken muscles, but I will say these tiny sandwiches are delicious! And they're vegan!

Click here to see the Gardein website