Post-MoFo Blogging

Well hello there on this rainy dreary first day of October! Vegan MoFo might be over, but I'm still in the blogging mindset, so here's a quick post for you today!

For lunch, I made Earth Balance's cheddar mac & cheese, topped with sliced carrots and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. 

For dinner, I decided to run with Tea and Sympatico's suggestion of using Old Bay Seasoning with baked tofu. It was good, but I should have used more of the spice mix; next time, hehe!

Served over peanut butter white rice and broccoli.

P.S. Jennifer of My Blissful Journey had the brilliant idea to put together an off-season blogroll of everyone who wants to keep in touch now that MoFo has ended. Feel free to join in on the fun!

In other news, I've started decorating for Halloween... 

Peace. :)

Random Food Since January

Hello everyone! Today's post features some of the stuff I've eaten and taken pictures of, but not blogged about, since the start of the year. But never fear, I still tried a new recipe this week, in fact, two new recipes. Together, my mom and I made the tempeh piccata, as well as the black-eyed peas and cauliflower from the cookbook Chloe's Kitchen. Good stuff! 

Now let's get started looking back on some of the new food I've tried since January. First up are the vegan cheddar flavor squares from Earth Balance. These were a pretty good snack; I enjoyed them.

Next we have some potatoes and carrots, baked with some onion soup mix.

I tried the Dr. McDougall tortilla soup; it was alright, but probably not something I'll get again. 

These were a special surprise from England; super delicious and I still have two left! Sure, a brown pudding isn't very photogenic, but it tastes amazing! 

Next up is an Amy's soup (Golden Lentil) I decided to try from the health food store. I love lentils, so I had high hopes for it, but upon trying it and finding out that everything, except apparently for a bunch of fennel seeds (?), was blended together, it was a bit too weird, texture-wise. The smooth, blended lentils would have been fine; taste-wise, it was absolutely delicious... but the whole fennel seeds really messed up the otherwise smooth texture and made it tough to enjoy. 

I tried two more of the Dr. McDougall soups: Thai Peanut and Garlic Vegetable. The Thai Peanut was alright; I preferred the Garlic Vegetable soup.

Next up is a let's-use-up-some-leftovers lunch: Tortilla chips, leftover black beans, and melted Daiya cheddar. 

Valentine's Day dinner with Zach: Spaghetti, Boca chik'n patty with some Daiya mozzarella, and garlic “bread” (bagel), with sparkling cider. 

I tried two new ramen that were on sale at the health food store. The lemongrass ginger one would be perfect for when you have a cold, and the Asian vegetable one was good as well. 

The new hummus I've been having with pretzels for a snack (it's good except for the pine nuts).

And finally, grilled cheese sandwiches featuring Field Roast's Chao cheese slices (creamy original), served alongside some Amy's vegan chicken noodle soup. 

And that about wraps it up! I'll probably do another one of these posts in a few months. For now, here's Buttons & Leela hanging out. Leela got to the sunshine first, but Buttons loves her little perch, so she didn't mind. 

Peace. :)

Earth Balance Vegan White Cheddar Mac & Cheese

Last night I tried the second Earth Balance mac & cheese. 

Served with oven-roasted broccoli with a bit of Old Bay spice mix.

I had high hopes for this one (I'd heard most people say this was their favorite), but I didn't care for it too much. 

It wasn't bad; it just wasn't all that great. 

(To be fair, I don't think I was much of a white cheddar fan before going vegan, so that could have something to do with it.) 

All in all, the cheddar mac & cheese gets my vote as the better of the two. 

Tonight I had the leftover white cheddar mac & cheese; adding salt & pepper improved it.

Served with oven-roasted broccoli with garlic salt.

Here's Leela, sensing that Buttons is at the bottom of the stairs.

And here's Buttons, blurry as she begins her race up the stairs.

Peace. :)

Earth Balance Vegan Cheddar Mac & Cheese

Sorry I've been away from my blog for so long! For my first post of the new year, I figured I would go over my cooking and blogging goals and also write about Earth Balance's mac & cheese, which I finally tried last night! 

Last year, one of my goals was to cook more new recipes and do one blog post a week, but that didn't quite work out. So this year I am combining them; ideally, I will cook one new recipe a week, and that will be the topic of my weekly blog post.

To start it off, I made the Earth Balance Vegan Cheddar Mac & Cheese for dinner last night. It was fun and simple to make, nostalgic and all that good stuff. (After ramen, boxed mac & cheese was probably one of the first things I learned to cook growing up.) Earth Balance's mac & cheese is prepared in the same way. Boil the mac, drain, and return to the pot; stir in plant milk (I used soy milk), vegan butter (I used Earth Balance), and the cheese flavor powder; mix and serve.

Served with carrot "fries" (carrots, canola oil, salt; bake for 10 min, flip, bake for another 10 min).

Now, no, it doesn't taste exactly like what I remember the mac & cheese of my childhood tasting like (Zach agreed, mentioning it had a slight aftertaste, something I've seen other bloggers point out in their reviews). But it's a nice comfort food, easy to prepare, and a quick dinner. I had ordered mine from Vegan Essentials, only to find out later that's it's being sold at the Giant grocery store near me. It's not something I'm going to buy regularly, but it was fun to have, so I'll probably just buy it when it's on sale. (I also bought the white cheddar version, and the vegan cheddar squares, so once I try those, I'll post about them, too!) 

P.S. Leela and Buttons say hello, from inside the cat tent.

Peace. :)