After a long day at work and an hour commute home on Friday evening instead of going straight home to veg out on the couch, I went to my community garden plot to continue my mulching project. I'm sick and tired of all the damn weeds in my garden, so I've decided that I need to mulch strategically (and also plant more plants) so that there are less weeds to pull in the first place.
So after weeding vigorously and unloading 3 totes full of mulch to form a lovely little path around the edge of my garden*, I decided to make a stop at my local Whole Foods store to pick up something quick and easy for dinner (Amy's No Cheese Vegan Pizza?). I also decided to get my groceries for the week. I mean, I might as well, it was Friday night and the store was easy to navigate since not many other people were there. I'm not going to go into too much detail on the groceries because I love food and could go on forever about the food choices and what I got. However, I picked up some
fancy new vegan convenience products: Tofutti mint ice cream bars, (vegan) sandwich thins (Score!), Tempeh "Bacon", and a jar of
Gluten Free Vegan Cookie Dough that was staring me down!
Gluten Free and Vegan? I was sold. I checked the ingredients and although there are quite a few, they're pretty basic. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the dough is made from a mix of chickpea and brown rice. I've heard that some people make vegan cookies with chickpeas, but I haven't had the chance (or felt the urge) to bake cookies since I started this challenge.
I ate it straight out of the jar, and I ate about 2 1/2 cookies before stopping myself. It's delicious (and slightly more nutritious)! I didn't get a chance to bake any because I had some more and my husband finished off the rest (about a dozen cookies worth!) on Sunday morning, but I bet the cookies would be amazing, too! One thing that I really like about this cookie dough is that it has less fat, less calories, and healthier ingredients than regular cookie dough! Score one for the vegans. Also, carnivores will like it too (evidenced by the fact that my husband finished off a dozen cookies all by himself)!
Next up: Tempeh Bacon!
Saturday morning, I tried out this tempeh bacon. After hearing about eggplant bacon and other vegan bacon varieties on some other blogs, I figured it was worth a try. So, I purchased some Litelife Tempeh Bacon while I was picking up some tofu. First off, I'm not the biggest fan of tempeh. I still prefer tofu and seitan to the texture and taste of tempeh, so that may have some bearing on my opinion of this product. It does have a nice smokey flavor, and like bacon, I dipped it in some maple syrup. (That's the way I've always liked to eat my bacon and sausage (veggie or otherwise in the past), with syrup. Yes, it's a little weird, but the
sweet and
salty combination is delicious!)
Findings: It was okay. The flavor was smoky and right, but it didn't really have the same texture or crunch as bacon. I'd give it a C+ for effort, but if you're looking for a bacon substitute, this is not it.
However, if you've a vegan, you probably aren't looking to eat anything that even remotely resembles the look or taste of meat. I'm not sure why there are so many meat substitute products out there. Maybe for all the transitioning vegetarians or also just for convenience in social situations. I know that when I go to a cookout and bring my own veggie burgers, it's much less of a hassle for me and my hosts. As a vegetarian, I don't ever want anyone to feel like they have to do or make anything special, so I usually bring a dish to share whenever I go to any food-focused get-togethers.
As a vegan (in the past 30 days), I haven't been to any restaurants yet where there wasn't at least one or two vegan friendly options on the menu. Some of my friends who know I'm doing this 90-day vegan challenge have been looking out for me to make sure that when we go out places, they have vegan food. I appreciate this effort, but so far it hasn't been that necessary. It's been a happy surprise to discover that most places already serve something vegan, even if it's just a salad or a couple of appetizers or side dishes. I thought that it would be a lot harder to eat at restaurants and go out while on this challenge, but it really hasn't!
*I promise to post some pictures of my garden plot once I finish planting the rest of my blueberry and raspberry bushes. It's nothing much right now. (I got it a little late in the season to do too much with it, and I don't have as much extra time and energy to spend on it as I'd like.) However, as of this week, I have 7 strawberry plants, 2 rows of carrots, 2 cantaloupe plants, 9 blueberry bushes and 1 raspberry bush. I ordered some kale, salad mix, and more carrot seeds that are supposed to come in on Thursday, so I will have a little bit more going on soon.
I also have some mint that won't go away. I guess the last guy planted it and didn't realize what an invasive weed it is. I let a few of the mint plants continue to grow because they smell nice and I thought they might be good to keep around for tea (as long as I keep pulling them before they try to invade again).
