Farmwise Veggie Rings

Here's another plant-based winner. Farmwise Veggie Rings are vegan, gluten-free, non-GMO, and free of the top 8 allergens. But they taste great!

Check this out. These look just like the picture!

Vegan Style Broccoli "Cheese" Baked Potato

I made myself a vegan style broccoli and "cheese" baked potato. This was as awesome as it looks!

This was a simple and inexpensive meal. I bought fresh stalks of broccoli. A bag of potatoes, and some Daiya Cheddar Style Shreds. I baked a potato in aluminum foil, chopped and steamed the broccoli, and melted the "cheese" on top with the microwave oven.

Of all the foods on this blog, this is one of my favorite home-made foods. I've been wanting to share this one with you for a while.

Vegan Christmas Dinner 2019

I shared a vegan meal with family for Christmas Eve. This meal included Gardein Turk'y Cutlets with gravy, biscuits, steamed green beans, and Daiya Deluxe White Cheddar Style Cheezy Mac. This is a merry Christmas. I have leftovers!

A Vegan Lunch At Fern in Charlotte NC

Just south of Uptown Charlotte in the Dilworth neighborhood there's an awesome mostly-vegan cafe called Fern. It's at the corner of a small shopping village with limited parking. Fern is where I enjoyed the best cauliflower that has ever entered my mouth.

Check out this heavenly mound of plant material! This is the Buffalo Cauliflower.

Buffalo Cauliflower at Fern in Charlotte NC

This cauliflower was battered and fried like regular chicken wings and seasoned with a tangy Buffalo sauce. It was topped with dill dressing and diced celery and carrots.

Before eating the food shown here, I had almost no experience with Buffalo Cauliflower. I knew it was a thing with some people, but I had never tried it. During this visit to Fern, I wanted to try something new. And when I asked the server to name the most popular dishes on the menu, this was one she recommended.

Even with this being served in a small skillet, the serving size was large. I could have shared this with 1 or 2 other people. The flavor was out of this world good. This was comfort food for the soul. I had no idea cauliflower could be so good.

Another mouth watering menu item from Fern is the Herbed Potatoes This skillet full of bliss is priced at $6. The portion size will feed 2 or 3 people. Again. this was a perfect comfort food with an awesome flavor and presentation.

Herbed Potatoes at Fern in Charlotte NC

During this visit to Fern, the service was very friendly. The servers even seemed to enjoy their jobs and get along with each other like friends. I felt like a guest and not just another customer. The servers offer a large jug of cold fresh water, so refills are not a problem at all. I drink plenty during my meals, so this was great. The dining area is a light-filled room with rustic and modern accents. The environment was calm and peaceful at the time of my visit. The only thing that would be a downside to this visit is the parking. I had to drive around Dilworth 3 times waiting to get a spot. But it was worth the trouble.


Click here to see the Fern Website

Marie Callender's Blueberry Pie

Marie Callender's Blueberry Pie is a plant-based product that will satisfy anyone. This is a really good pie. The filling is smooth and sweet but not too sweet. The blueberries are whole, not mushed up. So it's like a real home-made pie. The crust is flaky but solid enough to hold itself together. This pie is made with real ingredients, and it's not that nasty stuff either. Many other pies contain lard, butter, milk, eggs, or even beef fat, but this one is safe for the plant-based community.

The instructions say to let this pie cool for 3 hours before serving. I believe I know why. If the pie is cut before it cools the filling will be very fluid. Once the pie is cool the filling becomes thicker. If you like warm pie, grab a spoon. If you like cool pie, there's no worries. Personally, I like pie any way it comes.

Lentil-Walnut Burger at Avo in Nashville TN

I finally found my way over to Avo in Nashville. I had the Lentil-Walnut Burger with Mac N Cheese and a pickle spear. Check out this beautiful plateful of plant material!

The Lentil-Walnut Burger is coconut muenster, lettuce, tomato, red onion, beet ketchup, chickpea mayo, sweet potato bun, and a lentil-walnut patty. This burger was amazing! This is one of the best plant-based burgers I've had. Perfect! The Mac N Cheese was good too, but the burger will be what brings me back.

Avo is a modern, 100% plant-based restaurant located in a small complex that appears to be built from cargo containers. The interior is stylish. The prices are a bit high. The food is absolutely awesome! They make real food! You should go there now. Now!

Click here to see the Avo website

Mellow Mushroom Vegan Garlic Cheese Bread

Here's another plant-based option at Mellow Mushroom. Order the Garlic Cheese Bread with vegan cheese instead of the regular cheese and without butter. Ask for a side of red sauce without the cheese that's usually sprinkled on top.

I actually wanted the garlic as it would usually have, but for some reason they thought I wanted it without garlic. No problem. I asked for a side of minced garlic and it was great.

Click here to see the Mellow Mushroom website

 

Vegan Rob's Brussel Sprout Puffs

Another very good Vegan Rob's product!

Boca Burrito at Salsarita's Fresh Mexican Grill

Salsarita's has Boca! I ordered this Boca Burrito and made it a combo. Very good!

Boca Burrito Combo at Salsarita's Fresh Mexican Grill

Click here to see the Salsarita's Fresh Mexican Grill website

Quorn Fishless Sticks

This is one of the only products I've found by Quorn that is currently vegan. I hope to see more products like this. These Fishless Sticks tasted enough like the real thing that most people will like them, especially kids. I really like them. The fishiness isn't nearly as potent as the real thing. These are a milder version of real fish sticks. But they still had plenty of flavor. I enjoyed this product and will buy them again when I can.

Also, this product is completely free of all that nasty, sticky, silvery, veiny garbage that a dead fish has in it. This product is clean.

Home-made Vegan Sushi Bowl

After making vegan sushi rolls, I had leftover ingredients that I did not want to waste. I made a sushi bowl that consisted of sushi rice with vinegar, chopped avocado, the leftover scraps of my seaweed sheets, and couple packs of Taco Bell hot sauce. This was a good vegan poverty meal.

Another Vegan Pizza at Pieology

I've been pleased with my first few visits to Pieology. Here's another picture of my food. I chose the red sauce with light vegan cheese this time.

While eating at my table, I saw an advertisement for their vegan "meats". I'm so glad to see that they have those! I'll try one of those next time.

Click here to see the Pieology website

Follow Your Heart Cheddar Shreds

I finally got around to trying Follow Your Heart cheddar shreds. This tastes and feels like real cheese, almost.

This product seems to melt a higher temperature than real cheese. I microwaved this and watched for it to start melting. This will start bubbling up quickly once it melts, so it's best to keep a close eye on it. As you can see here, it really needed a few more seconds to get it all to melt completely.

I added sriracha sauce to make it spicy.

Nongshim Soon Veggie Noodle Soup

I found another good noodle soup. This is a generous portion of noodles in a cup. Just add water and microwave for a quick lunch. This has a nice ramen flavor. I'll be buying this again!

Vegan Thanksgiving 2019

This year I made vegan green bean casserole, vegan dressing, vegan mashed potatoes, and vegan pumpkin pie to share at a family gathering. Other vegan items were also available. I mainly ate what I brought. This year's meal, for me at least, was heavy on the carbohydrates. 

For desert my pumpkin pie was topped with So Delicious Coco Whip. This was some awesome home-made pie!  I'm not sharing the recipe. Sorry. Something this good needs to be a secret.

This is my first time trying the non-dairy Coco Whip. I had no idea it even existed until recently. It was a perfect addition to my amazingly delicious pumpkin pie. If you want to look for this whipped topping in stores, here's what the package looks like. This stuff is great!

Ener-G Stuffing Gluten-free Traditional Stuffing

I found this vegan stuffing in the discount section of the supermarket. It was worth much more than what I paid. This meal was really good!

I made it mostly as directed. I went heavy on the seasonings. This was so good I forgot it was gluten-free. Most gluten-free products have a weird texture. This was just like the home-made stuffing Granny makes for Thanksgiving. And yes, this is all there was for this meal. No turkey for vegans.

Another Veggie Delight at Subway

This time I wanted to do something completely different. So I asked for all the veggies. I don't usually get the peppers and cucumbers. I was feeling adventurous.

A Snack at Gadsden Variety and Cafe in Gadsden AL

Gadsden Variety is an antique mall and cafe in historic downtown. The store is loaded with interesting things from the past mixed with crafts and furniture. They have a cafe inside and plenty of snacks at the front desk. Herbivores can eat the popcorn, but almost everything else there is for omnivores. If I remember correctly, this popcorn was less than a dollar.

Bagel & Lox From Hippea Camper In Huntsville AL

The Bagel & Lox at Hippea Camper is a bagel with vegan cream cheese, carrots, and capers. The carrots have an unexpected slightly sweet smokey flavor. All the textures and flavors melt together in the mouth. This is earthy, smokey, creamy, and slightly messy. Hippea Camper has seemingly created a simple food product that is a representation of the camping experience with vegans. Very good!

Bagel & Lox from Hippea Camper in Huntsville AL

Click here to see the Hippea Camper website

Kombucha Flight at Rosetta's Kitchen in Asheville NC

At Rosetta's Kitchen, the grumpy couple at the table beside me were uncool, impatient, and rude. They complained out loud for a few minutes, then got up and left before their flight of draught Buchi kombucha was ready. That's fine. Rosetta's Kitchen is not for uptight people like them. When the kind server came to the empty table, my travel companion and I offered to buy it. We later noticed there was no charge for it.

Every one of these were excellent with very noticeable individual differences. Kombucha isn't for everyone, but I like it. If you've never tried it, you should. But be prepared. It can be intense.

It pays to be kind and patient with each other. Don't be like those grumpy people. If you're in a bad mood, don't spread it around. We are all one big family. Just be nice to people. Fake a smile until it's real. Have a kombucha and chill out a while.

Click here to see the Rosetta's Kitchen website

Tacos At Rosetta's Kitchen In Asheville NC

The tacos at Rosetta's Kitchen are made with a vegan chorizo. This is a simple plate of food, but don't let it fool you. That veggie chorizo is really good. It doesn't taste like meat, but this is so good it could make carnivores forget who they are. The size of this plate was good because it goes well with a side item, appetizer, or dessert.

Click here to see the Rosetta's Kitchen website

Vegan Rob's Cheddar Puffs

These are good. Try some.

Bean Taco Minus Cheese At Taco Bell

This is a "hard shell taco with beans instead of meat and no cheese". That means the taco is a shell with beans and lettuce inside. New vegans, don't bother ordering it fresco style unless you're prepared to pick cheese out of the pico de gallo. It's in there almost every time. Trust me. Keep it as simple as possible at Taco Bell. If you try to make it fancy, you'll end up with all kinds of unwanted garbage in the food. This very simple taco was very good!

Taco Bell does have several options for vegans, and we really do appreciate their efforts to offer us something we can eat. The food tastes pretty good, even without meat and cheese. Try the Bean Taco minus cheese, Bean Burrito minus cheese, the Spicy Tostada minus chipotle sauce and cheese, a side of Black Beans or Refried Beans, Chips and Pico De Gallo, and Cinnamon Twists. You can try to order a custom nacho plate, but that's really pushing it. At some point, changing the order that much is not even worth the effort or the price. Keep it simple at Taco Bell. They don't have time for your complicated order.

The main thing to remember is that the employees must throw this food together as quickly as possible, so the kitchen could be a mess with little bits of cheese or meat scattered across everything. You will often find cheese melted into the beans, meat stuck to the bottom of your Tostada shell or on the burrito tortilla, cheese mixed into the lettuce and pico de gallo, or worse, chunks of meat in the beans. I'm not picking on Taco Bell. All fast food is like this. But I still go to Taco Bell. I've been a regular customer for decades, and I've seen it all. I'm just giving you the truth. Vegans can enjoy food at Taco Bell, but we need to keep it very simple and inspect the food before eating.

Click here to see the Taco Bell website

Home-made Vegan Taco Casserole

Another vegan in my family made this taco casserole. It included canned black beans, Gardein Beefless Ground, Daiya vegan "cheese", cheap tortilla chips from the dollar store, fresh zucchini and onion, and spices. This was pretty good.

She said this dish is good for beginner vegans to take to vegan potlucks because it's so cheap and easy to make. Everyone loves casseroles!

Veggie Wrap at Osa's Garden in Florence AL

I discovered Osa's Garden recently. They offer a vegan Veggie Wrap. It comes with romaine, tomato, cucumber, broccoli, olives, avocado, and a choice of tortilla. The price was $7.99, and it came with apple cider potato chips. This wrap was huge!

Veggie Wrap at Osa's Garden in Florence AL

This monster-sized wrap was perfect in every way. It was so big I had to take half with me. The ingredients were fresh and chunky. This was made with real food from the earth. Vegans don't have many choices in Florence AL, but this is an excellent one. The price almost scared me away, but this gave me 2 satisfying meals. I enjoyed every bite.

Osa's Garden is on the north side of Highway 72, just east of Florence. It's easy to miss, but it's worth finding.

A Vegan Breakfast at Honest Coffee Roasters in Huntsville AL

Honest Coffee Roasters has a few items on the menu that are clearly marked vegan. I ordered the Daybreak Bagel with black coffee at the Huntsville AL location. Look at this beautiful vegan breakfast!

Daybreak Bagel at Honest Coffee Roasters in Huntsville AL

This was excellent! Everything about this breakfast was perfect. The Daybreak Bagel is a blueberry bagel topped with almond butter, strawberries, bananas, blueberries, and chia seeds. I will definitely be back for more of this!

Click here to see the Honest Coffee Roasters website

A Vegan Lunch at BurgerFi in Montgomery AL

This is my first visit to BurgerFi. The restaurant was clean and modern. I went early to ask questions and avoid possible cross-contamination.

According to the website, the Vegan Beyond Burger and fries are the only vegan items on the menu. That is what I ordered.

The Vegan Beyond Burger came with lettuce, tomato, mustard, and ketchup. The manager said the burger is cooked separately from the meats. The burger looked and felt just like a beef burger. The taste was very mild, and it didn't really taste like beef. But that's good for me. Vegan food that tastes too much like real meat scares me. This was a pretty good plant-based burger.

The fries were nice and crisp on the outside. The serving size was larger than I expected. I was told the fries have their own frying oil, which is peanut oil.

I was pleased with my vegan meal at BurgerFi, however this meal was quite expensive. It was about $20 with a drink. While it was all very good, my opinion is that it was a bit overpriced. I would like to return, but the price will scare me away on most days. I'll reserve this for special craving days.

At BurgerFi, lacto-ovo vegetarians have the option to order the regular Beyond Burger (it comes with mayonnaise and a white bun), the VegiFi Burger (a veggie patty made with eggs and milk and served with mayonnaise), and onion rings (made with milk).

Click here to see the BurgerFi website

Fresh Gourmet Crispy Jalapenos

Fresh Gourmet Crispy Jalapenos make a good vegan snack and taste good on salads. And they're non-GMO!

Vegan Halloween Candy: Chick-O-Stick

Happy Halloween, everyone! It's time for some candy! Vegans usually can't eat candy because of the milk, eggs, and gelatin found in so many candy products. But here's a classic candy that we can eat (as long as we don't mind the possibility of eating sugar that has been processed using a non-vegan method). Here's a rare treat. Chick-O-Stick!

Boca Original Chick'n Veggie Patties

I used a Boca Chick'n patty with Dave's Killer Bread, Vegenaise, and cherry tomatoes from the garden to make this sandwich. This Boca product is really good.

Dark Chocolate Peanut Clusters

Vegans can have chocolate too! Sometimes. I found these in the bulk goods section of Sprouts Farmers Market.

These are really good. It's been so long since I've had chocolate and peanuts. Most chocolate contains milk. This product is all plant-based.

When shopping for vegan chocolate you'll need to assume almost all chocolate has milk in it, because that's a fact. Look for 100% cocoa and dark chocolate. But even those are frequently made with milk. Always read carefully.

Vegan Lunch From Steak-Out In Huntsville AL

Steak-Out is a local delivery and take-out restaurant in Huntsville AL. Steak-Out is known for their meaty meals, but they do have some items for vegans and vegetarians. They have good baked potatoes, baked sweet potatoes, and sweet tea. They also have grilled onions and grilled mushrooms. I tried to get more information about those. All I could get from Steak-Out is that they're soaked in "soy sauce and other seasonings". Are they cooked on the same grill as the meat? Are they seasoned with cow blood? I don't know. It's a secret. Vegans, eat ate your own risk! I ate the onions and only tasted soy sauce and onions. I didn't get diarrhea, so that makes me feel a little bit better about it.

Here's the baked potato with grilled onions and a sweet tea. It came with butter and sour cream in small take-out packages. I just gave those to an omnivore.

This lunch was very good. Every part of it was perfect. Carnivores and omnivores have plenty of options at Steak-Out, but it seems that herbivores are limited to ordering the baked potatoes, baked sweet potatoes, and drinks.

Lantana Yellow Lentil Hummus with Pita Bread

One of my favorite vegan foods is hummus. Here's a good one. I ate this with pita bread.

Peppered Tofurky Slices

Tofurky has a product made to be much like peppered pastrami slices. Unsure if I've ever had pastrami, my ability to compare the two would be inadequate and dishonest. I can say that this is an excellent product that satisfies every time. This is one of my favorite Tofurky products, and I buy it frequently.

This is so good I occasionally eat it straight from the package. To maximize my lunchtime pleasure, I gently place separated slices of Tofurky between toasted Dave's Killer Bread with a generous amount of Vegenaise.

With vegan sandwiches this good, there's no reason to think about animal flesh.

Banh A Long Time At Happy Tummy In Huntsville AL

I went back at Happy Tummy in Huntsville for another plant-based lunch. This is the Banh A Long Time wrap. To make it vegan, I just ordered it with no mayonnaise. This was so big the wrap almost didn't close. It was stuffed full of fresh veggies like cucumber, pickled daikon & carrot, cilantro, jalapeno, bean sprouts and cabbage. I added jerk tofu for an additional charge. It came with my choice of chips, which was Lay's original potato chips.

Banh A Long Time at Happy Tummy in Huntsville AL

This was a very good lunch. The jerk tofu and jalapenos really made it hot, which is what I expected. The fresh ingredients were crisp. There was a hint of exotic spices, probably from the jerk sauce. The service was great as usual, and the cafe was peaceful and quiet at the time of my visit. I will return!

Click here to see the Happy Tummy website

Lantana Black Bean Hummus

This is one of my favorites! Lantana Black Bean hummus is slightly spicy and tastes even better than the bean dip I learned to love as a kid. This goes perfectly with corn tortilla chips!

Vegan Liquid Part 2

Liquid Vegan Part 2

This blog entry highlights some of the many vegan beverage options. I just picked some of my own favorites. These drinks do not contain blood, pus, or bee vomit. Drink up!

Core Hydration pH Water

Hot Spiced Tea at P.F. Chang's

GT's Muliti-Green Kombucha

Alo Awaken Aloe Vera Water

One Pure Coconut Water

Hint Blackberry Water

Dr Pepper with real sugar

Tazo Jasmine Green Tea