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!