Gardein Turk'y Cutlets

The Turk'y Cutlets with gravy is possibly my favorite Gardein product. This is amazing! I ate it with home-made mashed potatoes and fresh steamed green beans. I don't remember real turkey ever tasting this good. Vegans are missing out on nothing!

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Vegan Krystal-style Sliders

I was recently remembering the pleasure of eating at Krystal. Spending much time on the threshold of  poverty in the South was greatly enhanced with the very affordable and satisfying Original Krystal burger. The last time I ate beef was also my last time eating a Krystal. The Krystal was with me until the last day of my omnivorous life. 

This plant-based meal was made to show respect to the Krystal. I used Gardein Beefless Sliders and added steamed onions, yellow mustard, and dill pickle slices.

While this was very enjoyable and completely satisfying as a plant-based food, it really wasn't the same as Krystal burgers. But it was close enough for me.

 

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Vegan Thanksgiving 2020

I present to you my 2020 Thanksgiving meal. Everything shown here is vegan. I shared this Thanksgiving meal with one omnivore and one other vegan. We each made a few things. This plate includes all the vegan items that were available.

Gardein Holiday Roast With Gravy

I bought and cooked this because it's absolutely heavenly! This is one of my favorite Gardein products. The bag came with 2 holiday roasts and 2 servings of gravy, which was perfect for us.

 

Home-made Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

The other vegan in the family made chunky mashed potatoes with a small amount of almond milk. The gravy was made with mushrooms, onions, Edward & Son's Not Ckick'n bouillon cubes, almond milk, and spices. Very good.

Home-made Vegan Pupusas with Salsa

I spent about 2 hours making home-made jalapeno and "cheese" pupusas and some black bean pupusas. They were very good with Garden Fresh Gourmet salsa, however the family didn't seem interested in them at all. I'm the weirdo of the family, as usual.

Home-made Dressing

The other vegan family member made this with vegan cornbread. a leftover hamburger bun, flax seeds, egg replacement powder, cranberries, celery, onions, garlic, and plenty of spices. This was very earthy and delicious.

Garlic Green Beans

I cooked these green beans with fresh garlic, olive oil, salt, and cracked pepper.

Crowder Peas

The omnivore made crowder peas from a can. They were seasoned with salt, pepper, and olive oil.

Gardein Skillet Meals, Chick'n Florentino

This is my first impression of a Gardein skillet meal, more specifically, Chick'n Florentino.

I had no idea what to expect with this meal. I was unfamiliar with this kind of food because I'm an herbivore and I grew up too poor for fancy looking food like this. Let's get to the good part.

This skillet meal serves two and takes about 10 minutes to prepare. A skillet with a fitted lid and a small amount of oil was needed. All I had available at the time was a deep pot with a lid, but that worked well for me. The sauce comes frozen in a pouch and must be warmed in a bowl of hot water for a few minutes. My sauce pouch began to leak into the water. Fortunately it was almost thawed when the leak was apparent, and the leak was tiny. Other than that, preparation was easy. The aroma made my immediate surroundings smell like a nice restaurant.

As this meal was cooking, I was concerned with the sauce. It appeared to be a bit thin. However, once I removed it from the heat the sauce became nice and creamy. The sauce was great! This had plenty of broccoli in it, which is excellent for me. I love broccoli. The broccoli pieces were a bit large, but that's not a big deal. The noodles were perfectly cooked. The chick'n had an addictive, mild flavor with a meaty texture. I personally liked the chick'n, but it wouldn't fool meat eaters. Some people would prefer a more authentic dead bird flavor. I prefer to know my food is not dead flesh, so this was perfect for me.

This product is a great choice for single people and anyone who wants an easy meal. It was very easy for such a good tasting meal. The price was a bit high, but the flavor is better than other frozen vegan options, and this is cheaper than restaurant food. I'll buy this again. This product is another winner from Gardein!

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Gardein Chick'n Sliders With Vegenaise And Lettuce

I've posted about these wonderful little sandwiches before. This time I went with a traditional style and added Follow Your Heart Vegenaise and lettuce. These are so good I could eat the entire box!

 

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Home-made Vegan Not Chicken Pot Pie

Another vegan in the family made this special treat. I can't share the recipe with you because this is not a recipe blog. Sorry. I will tell you this was 100% vegan and tasted just like the classic chicken pot pie your great-grandmother made.  Hint: Gardein Chick'n Scallopini and Edward & Sons Not Chick'n Bullion Cubes.

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!

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!

Homemade Vegan Cheese Burger

To make a delicious vegan cheese burger, I used Rudi's 100% Whole Wheat buns, Gardein Beefless Burger, and Daiya vegan cheddar cheese.

I added Just Mayo chipotle flavored mayonnaise alternative, fresh red onion, hydroponic lettuce, and cracked black pepper. Here's what the final product looked like.

This was great! The "meat" tasted real enough to satisfy but no so real that it was scary. The cheese was pretty close to being the same as real cheese. It took longer to melt. The buns were vegan, but no one would know the difference. This was a nice treat that did cost more than my average home-made meal, but was worth the price and effort.

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Gardein Home Style Beefless Tips

Today I tried Gardein Home Style Beefless Tips for the first time. I've been noticing them in the supermarkets but never thought of getting them because I left beef behind many years ago with no desire to go back to it. Beef was my last meat, and the last time I ate beef I nearly threw up on myself in public. I was a little bit nervous about this. But I thought I'd just see if this Gardein product is good. I have family who will eat it if I don't like it.

I decided to use it just like I would use beef. I stir fried it with onions and green peppers and tossed it over some rice.

To made this dish I used the Gardein Homestyle Beefless Tips, onions, bell pepper, olive oil, soy sauce, non-GMO corn starch, water, and black pepper. I cooked the onions and peppers a few minutes first, then added the Beefless Tips and cooked as directed.

I must admit this was really good. It looks and cooks just like beef. It has a nice beefy flavor, but I wouldn't say it tastes like beef. It has a taste of its own that has the essence of beef. Beefless Tips have a smoother, softer texture and cleaner mouthfeel that is equally satisfying as dead cow muscles. This product will not fool omnivores, but it's good for opening up meal options for herbivores. While this isn't really my kind of thing, this is another great plant-based product from Gardein. I plan to use the remaining portion for a vegan beef and broccoli meal. I can imagine this would also make good fajitas. 

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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!

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Spicy Fishless Wrap

I used Gardein Fishless Filets with hydroponic butter lettuce, Veganaise, Huy Fong Sriracha Sauce, and a Toufayan wrap to make this tasty meal.

Gardein Fishless Filets

Gardein Fishless Filets are great! This is another one of the very few meat replacements I do like. These look, feel, and taste just like mild fish, maybe flounder, but without the fishy smell. The outside is crispy and flaky. The inside is soft and moist. This is an excellent product.

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Gardein Beefless Sliders

Gardein Seven Grain Crispy Tenders

This is one of the few meat substitute products I really do like. This is Gardein Seven Grain Crispy Tenders. I usually eat this as a snack with a left-over Chick-fil-a ketchup pack. The texture of this product is very similar to dry chicken. It has fibers like chicken meat, but this product is not greasy and nasty. The taste is excellent, almost as good as real chicken. On a sandwich, a meat eater may not even notice it's not real chicken. I highly recommend this product, especially to people who are new to the plant-based lifestyle. This will make the transition so much easier. Kids will enjoy this too. This is another great non-GMO vegan product.

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