Bookmarked Recipe: Spicy Peanut Butter Ramen (Adventures in Veganism)

Hi everyone! Today I made the spicy peanut butter ramen from Adventures in Veganism (Vegan MoFo 2017); I always love recipes that include peanut butter, and this one was really fun and delicious! I’ll definitely make it again soon!

(I decreased the sriracha and red pepper flakes to 2 tsp each, which still kept it nice and spicy, and next time I’ll use less soy sauce; it was a bit too salty for me.)

Here’s Cringer… 

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. :)

Skillet Lasagna

Hello on the 17th day of the Vegan Month of Food! Tonight continues my health food store vegan week with a pasta mix that Zach thought would be interesting; I made it for our dinner tonight.

It's one of those simple toss-it-in-the-skillet kind of things: Combine pasta & seasoning, water, and crushed tomatoes (I used pasta sauce instead) in the pan, bring to boil, cover & lower heat to medium, & cook 20 minutes.

So I did just that, and then some... but even after 10 extra minutes, the pasta was still a bit stiff... Well, we were hungry, so we just figured, heck with it, and I added in 6 oz. of Daiya shredded mozzarella, stirred that in, left it to melt for another five minutes, and then we sat down to eat.

Another not-so-photogenic meal... whoops...

I don't know, I didn't think it was that great, but Zach was a good sport about it and said it was “okay.” We determined that it was the spiciness of the seasoning mix that made it less than ideal, plus the fact that some of the pasta was still a bit, ah, “crunchy.” So, my takeaway from this is that I'm just going to stick with making my own instead of using seasoned mixes. In the past we've enjoyed simple pasta dishes with Daiya-cheesy spaghetti sauce. No need for all the silly additional seasonings. Ah well... now to figure out what to do with the leftovers, haha!

Oooo, steamy...

Lunch today was half of the other ramen I bought (millet & brown rice ramen). I added some carrot slices and had my leftover tempeh from yesterday on the side. Didn't like this ramen as much as the first, though. The forbidden rice ramen is still the one to beat!

And for a snack, a gala apple from the health food store with some more dollar store trail mix, yum! 

Buttons and Leela continue to be cuties.

Buttons likes sprawling out at the top of the attic steps.

And Leela enjoys curling up in the corner next to my nightstand.

Peace. :)

Forbidden Rice Ramen

Hello on the 15th day of the Vegan Month of Food! How is it possible that we are already at the halfway point? Tonight's dinner is another of my finds from the health food store, one of which I would have been skeptical had I not seen Anzia's post over at Peace, Love, Be Vegan where she wrote about eating “forbidden rice.”

Now, bear with me, I know this might not be the most photogenic meal, but it is delicious, simple, and awesomely purple!

It was so quick to prepare; literally, just boil the water, chuck the ramen in, simmer for 4 min. (I did it for a little longer), add the seasoning, stir, and serve (I sprinkled some chives atop, too).

Seriously, how cool is this? This block of black ramen...

...turns into a ton of soft, yummy, purple noodles!

Round Two, hehe.

The package said it was two servings, so I started out with just half the pot, but it was so good that I came back for the rest and ended up stuffed! Definitely healthier than regular ramen, plus it was reduced sodium, so for once I didn't get that gross sodium-overload feeling I'd come to associate with ramen. Hooray!

Silly Buttons, however, never seems to get full. She was super dramatic last night about being a poor, starving kitty. She kept crying for more food, even though she'd already eaten, and finally she hopped up & settled down on the little blue bench next to her (empty) food bowls. With a heavy “woe-is-me” sigh, she decided to take a nap and dream of noms unending. Zach snapped these shots of her:

Leela was super wired this morning, darting back and forth to get out her energy (she wasn't interested in toys or yarn for long). She's quite the sprinter, and it's amusing to watch her go. Later, once she'd chilled out, she decided she wanted to cuddle, so we did for a bit. I mean, really, how can you resist cuddling with someone this cute? (Again, photos by Zach.)

Peace. :)

Dr. McDougall's Vegan Ramen Chicken Flavor

Hello on the 11th day of the Vegan Month of Food. Today I have a review of Dr. McDougall's Vegan Ramen Chicken Flavor. (I don't have vegan ramen often, but I decided to try this one out when it was on sale.)

Dr. McDougall's Vegan Ramen Chicken Flavor

 

It's simple to prepare.

Take the lid off and remove the flavor packet.

Empty flavor packet over noodles.

Add water to the fill line & stir.

Microwave on high for 2 minutes. Stir, cover, and let stand for 5 minutes. Remove lid & stir. Enjoy once it has cooled off enough.

Thoughts: I enjoyed the taste and texture of the noodles (which were noted to be organic), and it was nice that there were some vegetables included in the flavor packet (corn, carrots, and tiny spinach flakes), but there definitely could have been more. If I were to make it again, I'll probably take the extra time to cook and add more vegetables myself. The broth's flavor was a bit different, not quite what I expected as "chicken flavor" but still good. The cup is labeled as containing 2 servings, but that's just silly to me; there's no way half of that cup would be filling enough. I had the whole cup, plus lentil chips and an apple as sides. However, it has significantly less sodium (and less fat) than the other vegan ramen I've had before, so even if you eat the whole 2 servings like I did, you're still consuming less sodium than if you'd had only one serving (half the packet) of the other.

Bottom line: It's a quick and easy meal, no washing up required other than the fork used to eat the noodles (I just sipped the broth right from the cup instead of using a spoon; I'm so classy). If you're looking for a vegan ramen, this seems to be an overall healthier (though pricier) option. 

Here is a silhouette of Mystery to bring today's post to its close.

Peace. :)