Welcome to Monk Island, a food blog with a new perspective. This blog documents my experiences as a roaming vegan with limited time, money, and resources. I search the land for simple, plant-based meals for one person, and I share those here with you. This blog is for herbivores on the go who don't live in the kitchen, don't have a kitchen, or don't have a home. No politics or extremist rants. Just peace, respect, and veggies.
Sunday, February 9, 2020
Original Bitchin' Sauce
I like strange foods. And I liked this dip very much. I will admit the first taste was confusing. It took a few seconds to see where it was going. The liquid amino gave this a flavor similar to soy sauce. The almond, garlic and lemon juice provided a tangy creaminess similar to ranch dressing. This is a really weird product, but I kept going back to it. By the end of the day I had eaten the entire contents of the tub. This was good!
I would recommend using this product as a dip for raw vegetables such as celery, carrots, cauliflower and broccoli. If you think hummus and ranch are a bit boring as dips, this product is a good way to add some excitement.
Sunday, February 2, 2020
Patty Melt At The Wild Cow Vegetarian Restaurant In Nashville TN
This was my first visit to The Wild Cow since they moved to Five Points. The new location has an open-air seating area, but overall it doesn't seem to be bigger. The sound doesn't echo so much at the new location, but it is still uncomfortably loud.
The Wild Cow is a great place to eat some of the best vegan food you will find and meet very creative and interesting people. If you've never been, be prepared to see friendly people with tattoos, face paint, brightly colored hair, and fashion choices that simultaneously amaze, confuse, and inspire. Anything goes in the east side of Nashville.
Click here for The Wild Cow Vegetarian Restaurant website
Super Bowl From Hippea Camper In Huntsville AL
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| Mongolian Veggies at MeiWei in Huntsville AL |
From the perspective of an herbivore, the Hippea Camper is Huntsville's best food truck, except it's really a camper. The menu is all plant-based. They also sell tea, juices, and lemonade. I usually get one of the teas. Excellent!
Click here to see the Hippea Camper website
Saturday, February 1, 2020
Home-made Vegan Nachos With Black Beans And Mushrooms
Friday, January 31, 2020
Home-made Collard Green Wrap
Monday, January 27, 2020
Gas Station Snack: Lay's Limon Potato Chips And Tea
This surprisingly does not contain milk. Most flavored potato chips do contain milk.
Sunday, January 19, 2020
Blue Plate at Laughing Seed Cafe In Asheville NC
The Blue Plate was on the Sunday brunch menu. This plate included organic scrambled tofu, a vegan gravy biscuit, smoky potatoes, seitan “sausage” and a kale pickled onion salad". Every bite was perfect. The gravy biscuit and potatoes were the highlights of this meal.
If you order this, be sure to ask for the vegan version. Laughing Seed Cafe does offer this as a vegetarian meal with eggs. This meal was priced at $14 and did throw my budget off quite a bit. But this was real food made from scratch by professionals. It was worth the price, but I must save this kind of eating for special occasions.
Wednesday, January 15, 2020
Amy's Vegan Tortilla Casserole With Cheeze
The flavor was equally pleasing. Although this was not a cheap meal, the serving size, quality of ingredients, and satisfactory taste made this a much better value than a trip to Taco Bell.
This is one of the best Amy's products I've tried. I will definitely be included on future shopping lists.
Click here to see the Amy's Kitchen website
Tuesday, January 14, 2020
So Delicious Strawberry Dairy Free Yogurt Alternative
I've never had real yogurt. I assume all yogurt has a texture like thick pus. The taste is good, but I don't understand the obsession with yogurt. I didn't grow up with it. I may buy this again. Maybe I can use it as a fruit dip next time.
Monday, January 13, 2020
A Small Salad From Earth Fare
Sunday, January 12, 2020
Sophie's Kitchen Vegan Fish Fillet
The outside crust gets crispy and a bit flaky when cooked. The inside is soft, slightly stretchy, and moist. This stuff is great! Notice that it's also non-GMO. I will surely buy this again. Excellent product!
Tribe Lemon Rosemary Hummus
Wednesday, January 8, 2020
Upton's Naturals Bar-B-Que Jackfruit
Checkout the texture. It's not as heavy, dirty, and offensive as I remember pork to be. This is a lighter, good karma version of pork. I ate mine on French bread with spicy mustard and Follow Your Heart Vegenaise.
Breakfast Beans
Sunday, January 5, 2020
Amy's Tofu Scramble
Monday, December 30, 2019
Farmwise Veggie Rings
Check this out. These look just like the picture!
Wednesday, December 25, 2019
Vegan Style Broccoli "Cheese" Baked Potato
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.
Tuesday, December 24, 2019
Vegan Christmas Dinner 2019
Sunday, December 22, 2019
A Vegan Lunch At Fern in Charlotte NC
Check out this heavenly mound of plant material! This is the Buffalo Cauliflower.
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| 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.
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| 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
Thursday, December 19, 2019
Marie Callender's Blueberry Pie
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.
Wednesday, December 18, 2019
Lentil-Walnut Burger at Avo in Nashville TN
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
Monday, December 16, 2019
Mellow Mushroom Vegan Garlic Cheese Bread
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
Wednesday, December 11, 2019
Vegan Rob's Brussel Sprout Puffs
Monday, December 9, 2019
Boca Burrito at Salsarita's Fresh Mexican Grill
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| Boca Burrito Combo at Salsarita's Fresh Mexican Grill |
Click here to see the Salsarita's Fresh Mexican Grill website
Quorn Fishless Sticks
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.
Saturday, December 7, 2019
Home-made Vegan Sushi Bowl
Wednesday, December 4, 2019
Another Vegan Pizza at Pieology
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
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.
Saturday, November 30, 2019
Nongshim Soon Veggie Noodle Soup
Thursday, November 28, 2019
Vegan Thanksgiving 2019
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!
Wednesday, November 27, 2019
Ener-G Stuffing Gluten-free Traditional Stuffing
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.
Tuesday, November 26, 2019
Another Veggie Delight at Subway
Saturday, November 23, 2019
A Snack at Gadsden Variety and Cafe in Gadsden AL
Monday, November 18, 2019
Bagel & Lox From Hippea Camper In Huntsville AL
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| Bagel & Lox from Hippea Camper in Huntsville AL |
Click here to see the Hippea Camper website
Wednesday, November 13, 2019
Kombucha Flight at Rosetta's Kitchen in Asheville NC
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.

















































