Morning Star Farms Corn Dogs

As an omnivorous kid, I always enjoyed corn dogs. In the South and the hills of Appalachia, corn dogs are frequently found at large flea markets, county fairs, and other rural gathering places. They're not just for kids. Everyone loves them. Most people eat them with ketchup or yellow mustard, or both. They're usually cooked fresh on site using pre-made hotdogs. While I am now an uppity city dweller, I once lived a very traditional Southern lifestyle that included corn dogs. This product reminds me of my simple past life as a carefree eater.

Morning Star Farms Corn Dogs taste very much like the real thing as I remember them. The taste is close enough to make me just a little bit concerned and check the ingredients one more time. A real meat eater may notice a difference, but this really will fool most people. These things are made with plants!

The beautiful consistently smooth outer shell was a bit sweeter than I expected. Being an herbivore for decades, maybe I forgot what most corn dogs taste like. The inner "meat" had a classic texture and flavor, and the batter coating was firmly attached. These even had the little crispy batter piece on the stick. With a little dip in the ketchup and mustard, the flavor was perfect. Nice job, Morning Star Farms.

Home-made Veggie Soup

This veggie soup was made with lentils, edamame, carrots, peas, water, Marmite, basil, black pepper, and salt. This was very inexpensive and easy to make. Soaking the lentils did take about an hour.

Marmite Avocado Toast

What you see here is Dave's Killer Bread toasted with melted Earth Balance, Marmite, and sliced avocado. This was an excellent light breakfast.

A Vegan Meatballs Bowl at The Hummus & Pita Co.

This blog post is documentation of my first visit to The Hummus & Pita Co. and my thoughts on the experience coming from my obvious vegan perspective. A while back I was shown a menu from The Hummus & Pita Co., and I noticed several clearly marked vegan options available. I decided to go check it out.

Vegan Meatballs Bowl at Hummus & Pita Co

Upon entry, I noticed the restaurant was clean, quiet, and filled with the pleasant aroma of Mediterranean foods. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the employees were wearing masks in the proper fashion along with gloves. It looked safe, so I proceeded to place an order.

The menu appeared to be a visual mess. I could not make any sense of it and had no time for learning because of it being a time-restricted lunch break. I told the lady what I'd like to try, and she helped me decide on what I believe would be called a Vegan Meatballs Bowl. It included the following items:

Pita bread

Fresh raw spinach leaves

Roasted pepper hummus

Vegan meatballs marinated in a slightly spicy Moroccan sauce

Tabbouleh

Chickpea salad

Kalamata olives

Red cabbage

Skhug sauce

To break the suspense, I will reveal that everything about this meal was absolutely excellent. The pita bread was fluffy and made a perfect pocket for the vegan meatballs. The vegan meatballs looked and felt just like meat. They were were mild, but the flavorful sauce provided balance. The placement of the high-heat pepper-based skhug beside the Moroccan sauce was not harmonious, but I'll get the skhug on the side next time. All ingredients were great, but my favorite surprise was the roasted pepper hummus. It tasted mild at first, then the tahini flavor hit me. It was amazing! It reminded me of peanut butter. I loved it!

 

The price for this meal was $11.25, which is a bit high for me. However, the serving size was enormous. I made this bowl last all day. It provided 3 delicious meals.

This will be the first of many visits to The Hummus & Pita Co., because I completely enjoyed my meal. They have plenty of Mediterranean vegan items on the menu, many of which are clearly marked "VEGAN". I recommend looking at the company website for vegan options. There's too many to list here.

Click here to see the website for The Hummus & Pita Co.

Roasted Red Pepper Soup at Whole Foods

This Whole Foods soup was made with the following ingredients:

Ingredients: Roasted Red Pepper, Water, Sherry Vinegar, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Safflower Oil, Tomato Paste (tomatoes, citric acid), Sea Salt, Garlic, Paprika, Red Chili Pepper.

This soup had a very strong pepper favor. The consistency is similar to tomato soup, thicker than water and with a slight oily mouthfeel. It had a slightly bitter aftertaste as pepper often does. The pepper heat level was very mild. Recently, I've enjoy this soup enough to buy it very frequently, sometimes twice a week on my lunch breaks. This soup also makes a good dip for bread.

A Simple Home-made Vegan Dinner; Cabbage, Peas and Carrots, and Potatoes

I wanted a very simple vegan meal. This is home-made boiled red potatoes with onions, boiled cabbage, and canned peas and carrots. I didn't season anything in any way. I wanted to capture the natural flavors as much as possible.

Home-made Vegan Pizza With Thin Crust

I used a recipe found online to make this pizza crust, then I topped it with canned pasta sauce and leftover veggies. I oiled the crust half way through the cooking process. This meal tasted great, and it was almost free. 

A Vegan Chip Butty

This Chip Butty was made with Dave's Killer Bread Burger Buns, Simple Truth Crinkle Cut Fries, melted Earth Balance Buttery Spread, and Heinz Ketchup. This one was made American style. I used a hefty portion of everything, and this one actually was made in The States. This is another attempt to cook a vegan British meal at home.

I have no idea why this brilliant sandwich idea hasn't yet made its way into American cuisine. It has some of our favorites; potatoes, butter, bread, and ketchup. The oily buttery spread combined with the crispy fries and ketchup made this very much like a fried fish sandwich, except without the dead fish. I loved it! This blog post should prove to my fellow Americans that British food is not all rubbish. Just make it without the meat, milk cheese, eggs, and milk. It can be done!

Whole Foods Black Bean Quinoa Chili

The local Whole Foods buffet has been closed for a while because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But they recently reopened small parts of it, including the soup area. I was able to enjoy this on my lunch break. This perfectly seasoned Black Bean Quinoa Chili was loaded with veggies. This filled me up and kept me warm.

Victoria Vegan Vodka Sauce

Another really good pasta meal! I used 365 Everyday Value pasta shells with Victoria Vegan Vodka Sauce. I topped it with Bragg Nutritional Yeast.

This Victoria Vegan Vodka Sauce was so good! This brand of sauces has left me with no good reason to eat at Italian restaurants (most Italian restaurants don't have vegan food anyway). This really is one of the best pasta sauces I've had. They don't pay me to say it either. I should show some love to the shell pasta and nutritional yeast too. All of these products together make a perfect meal.

 

Vegan New Year's Day Dinner 2021

Happy New Year! Some traditional New Year's Day foods, such as black eyed peas, lentils, greens, peas, and cornbread, can very easily be served vegan style. The consumption of these foods are said to bring money and good luck in the new year. 

My meal included canned black eyed peas with pickled peppers, canned spinach, and a home-made biscuit with Earth Balance Buttery Spread. This meal is uncomplicated, traditional, minimalist, healthy, and predictable. I hope my new year is the same.