Food Finds Friday: Tofu Pups vs. Smart Dogs

Okay everyone, so I've been on vacation, and whilst visiting grocery stores that are very different from the ones near my own house, I have come across many curiosities.

So, Lightlife makes many vegan products, including hot dog alternatives. I have only ever come across their Smart Dogs before.

These things are decent. For being vegan, gluten-free, only 50 Calories, and packing 7g of protein, I don't mind that they don't have the most fabulous flavor. If you eat them with some sort of toppings, it tastes better anyway. The texture is pretty much the same as real hot dogs. 

But then I found Lightlife's Tofu Pups. 

These things are significantly softer than both the Smart Dogs, and real hot dogs. It's kind of weird at first, but it's not bad. The taste is, in my opinion, much better than smart dogs though. Granted, they still don't taste like hot dogs, but that's totally okay! I didn't like hot dogs very much anyway. Good news is, they are also vegan, gluten-free, 50 Calories, and 7g of protein. Crazy huh? But they're definitely different. I think I might have to take some back home with me if there's space in the car.

I hope this was helpful, everyone! Have you tried either or both of these faux hot dogs? Which is your favorite? Have you found vegan (and preferably gluten-free) hot dogs my another brand that are better? Let me know in the comments!

Fall Veggie Favorites

So, as you are surely well aware at this point, it is Pumpkin Everything Season. (Also known as Autumn or Fall.) However, there are lots of other kinds of squash that are soooo in this season. Today, I'm hopefully going to convince you to try a slightly less common one: Spaghetti Squash.

Why is it called spaghetti squash? Well, for starters, it's a squash. And when you prepare it, it looks a whole lot like spaghetti. Here's the part where I blow your mind. (Maybe.) You can even eat it like you would eat spaghetti. OMG. This is too much! But I'm serious.

Are you looking for something to eat that's easy, cheap, delicious, satisfying, vegan, (also gluten-free,) and good for you? (Note: vegan food is not always actually good for you. Might I remind you, french fries and Oreos. It's okay. We're all guilty. But anyway. . .) You really should try it. I got a medium-sized spaghetti squash for under $3 at Trader Joe's, and I got about 6 servings out of it. Add marinara sauce with gluten-free, vegan faux beef crumbles (for protein,) and vegan Parmesan cheese, and you've basically got everything you need in a meal in one dish. (BTW,  you can get all those things, except maybe vegan Parmesan, at Trader Joe's for cheapsies. P.S. They'll also be organic.) Preparing Spaghetti Squash is also really easy, like I said. Basically, you vent your frustration with *insert noun here* by stabbing the squash several times. Then you put the squash on a plate or even just some paper towels, and cook it in the microwave. NOTE: Cooking times vary depending on the size of the squash. Just look it up on the internet. It's pretty simple. Again, mine was a medium squash. I cooked it for 20 minutes, and it was perfect. Whenever you're done cooking it, pull off the stem carefully, and cut the squash in half. Scoop out all the little spaghetti-looking parts, and eat it! No boiling water or stirring necessary. Congrats. You're so fancy. That would cost you about $10 per plate at Ruby Tuesday. (My version is normally less than $3 a serving with toppings, and you can eat it at your own house. What.)



This is one of the most amazing vegetables out there, so what are you waiting for? Do you have a good spaghetti squash recipe? (Hint: You can also eat this stuff NOT like spaghetti. What.) What do you think about spaghetti squash? Have you ever tried it? Do you love it? Is it your favorite thing? Let me know in the comments! Until next time! Much love.

CTTVCC: Micro-Ritos

Hello Everyone! This recipe is on page 155 of PETA's Vegan College Cookbook. This is a particularly easy recipe. As is often the case, it makes a LOT of food. I'd recommend cutting the recipe in half unless you're making enough for you and a few friends, or unless you just REALLY love burritos. I know it's been a while since I did a Vegan College Cookbook post, so here we go!

The recipe calls for:

• 1 (8-ounce) bag vegan chicken or steak strips
• 1 (16-ounce) jar salsa
• 1 (15-ounce) can black or pinto beans
• 1 (10-ounce) package Mexican-style vegan cheese, grated
• 1 package (10-inch) tortillas
• 1 bag boil-in-bag brown or white rice (optional)

I chose to use Beyond Meat Grilled vegan chicken strips. They're gluten-free too.

I used Target-brand salsa, and Earth Fare brand black beans.

I didn't have any Mexican-style vegan cheese, so I used half a bag of Daiya Cheddar shreds, and half a bag of Daiya Mozzarella Shreds. 

I made my first burrito on a 10-inch tortilla, but the tortillas kept falling apart, and that much burrito was a little bit too much for me to eat. So, I switched to little 6-inch corn tortillas of some obscure brand. I also decided that since the rice was optional anyway, I'd substitute quinoa to make the burritos have a bit more protein. Besides, I had precooked quinoa sitting in my fridge taking up precious space.

Here is what mine looked like:

As the picture makes very obvious, this is horribly ugly. But then again, you wrap it in a tortilla so you don't have to look at it. The physical attractiveness of this food is inversely proportional to the yumminess. (That means it tastes great!) 

So, if you chose to make the recipe differently, or even the same as I did, I'd love to hear how it turned out. Please, leave a comment and tell me what you thought of the recipe!

Original Recipe: Vegan Chicken and Broccoli over Spaghetti

Alright. So first things first, the name isn't 100% accurate. Honestly, you can use whatever pasta you want. Of course, whatever noodles I use are going to be gluten-free as well, and I prefer using more string-like noodles like fettuccine, angel hair, or even pad thai noodles (obviously not with pad thai sauce for this.) But like I said, really any pasta will work. This is a variation of a favorite recipe in my family, and my family has traditionally used spaghetti.

So what you will need:

• a regularly-sized package your choice of pasta, cooked (gluten-free if needed)
• 2 cups unsweetened alternative milk (I prefer flax milk)
• 2 tbs. corn starch
• 2 tbs. vegan butter
• garlic powder, salt, pepper to taste
• 1 small package of frozen broccoli, thawed (you can use broccoli with other veggies mixed in)
• 1 package of vegan chicken, chopped to bite-size (Beyond Meat is good for gluten-free people)
• vegan cheese, parmesan or mozzarella 
• microwave-safe pan that will hold all the pasta and also fit in the microwave, greased
• large microwave-safe bowl

How to make it:

• In microwave-safe bowl, melt vegan butter into alternative milk.
• Add cornstarch to the butter and milk, and whisk until evenly mixed.
• Add garlic powder, salt, and pepper to taste.
• Mix thawed broccoli and chopped vegan chicken with the cream sauce.
• Spread cooked pasta evenly over the bottom of the pan. 
• Pour chicken, broccoli, and sauce over the pasta.
• Sprinkle on desired amount of vegan cheese.
• Microwave for 10 minutes on high or until veggies are hot. 
• Allow to cool to an edible temperature, and enjoy!

WOAH! That's so simple! Really. It's not very hard. It's also very satisfying because it has carbs, veggies, and protein all in one dish. If you want to look fancy, you can serve it with salad and / or vegan garlic bread, or you can eat it by itself.

Let me know if you tried it! Let me know if you made any alterations or substitutions, and how they turned out! If you have any pictures or reviews on this, I'd love to see them. I want to know what you thought. 

Original Recipe: Nearly-Instant Taco Wrap

So, this is a really basic, simple recipe. I'm pretty sure a 5-year-old could make it without even making that much of a mess. I don't know why, but I've been craving tacos a lot recently. And so I make them. And I keep on wanting them. Does that mean they're my favorite food? I don't even know. Maybe it's because these are actually pretty good for you, and they're so ridiculously filling. I make them gluten-free and vegan, (obviously,) and they're super-easy to make free of whatever else you need it to be free of. They could be a snack, or a meal. That all depends on how hungry you are, and how much you make.

What you will need:

soft tortillas
vegan taco filling (as in fake meat)
vegan sour cream
vegan cheese
fresh spinach

What I use:

Food for Life (Ezekiel Bread) Brown Rice Tortillas

Tofurkey Chorizo Grounds

Tofutti sour cream

Daiya Cheddar Shreds

And spinach. 

What to do:

Place a tortilla on a microwave-safe plate. Spread desired amount of vegan cheese out over one side of the tortilla. Add desired amount of taco filling in a column on the center of the tortilla, leaving about 1.5 inches of space from the end on one side. Microwave for 30 seconds to a minute. Add desired amount of spinach on top of the column of taco filling. Add desired amount of sour cream to the column as well. Fold the end with space up and the sides in so that you can eat it with your hands. Enjoy!

Here's what mine looked like:

Words. Cannot. Describe. (And I will proceed at an attempt at verbal description anyway.) This is really super-amazing. I still don't know if it counts as a recipe. . . Because You aren't really COOKING anything. . . Whatever. This counts. So good. I said it was pretty good for you at the beginning of my post. It is. veggie crumbles / taco filling has a TON of protein. Fake cheese also has lots of protein. I'm pretty sure even vegan sour cream has a decent amount of protein. And let's face it, as delicious as iceberg lettuce is, spinach has way more goodness in it, like iron, calcium, antioxidants, etc. 

I'd love to see pictures of your own taco wraps! If you made these, let me know how it went! What did you think? Did you like it? Is it your new favorite thing? Did you make any awesome changes? Hit me up! Leave a comment. Can't wait to hear how things went!

Sushi Salad

So, I'm a huge fan of sushi (vegan, obviously,) but I don't have one of those fancy sushi-roller-things, and getting sushi from a restaurant gets kind of pricey. It adds up pretty quickly if you get it on a regular basis. Now, I don't mind going out to a fancy sushi restaurant where I can get fancy things that I can't make for myself, or don't want to anyway, for special occasions or dates, but just your standard pre-made veggie sushi, I've kind of decided that it's not worth it. Now, recently, I've seen a lot of "deconstructed sushi bowl" and "sushi salad" recipes for and I decided to give it a go. Actually what happened was, I saw that my parents were cooking rice, and I was eating seaweed snacks, and I thought to myself: "Self, it would be so cool if I could eat some sushi." And then I thought, "But wait, it would taste the same whether it's all just a mess in a bowl, or if it is neatly arranged into little rounds. I will make a mess in a bowl." And so a mess in a bowl I made.

It was so delicious. But as I was saying, that was the messy version. I did make it look nicer first. But I'll post a picture of that later. I'm going to tell you how to make it. It's kind of up to you how you put it together.

What You Need:

• cooked rice
• seaweed snacks, torn into small pieces
• chopped carrots, avocados, cucumbers, or whatever vegetables you like in sushi
• soy sauce (gluten-free if you need)
• gluten-free, vegan fish or tofu (If desired)

What To Do:

• put everything into a bowl in the proportions you desire

I wish I'd had cucumbers, but I used avocado, chopped carrots, and gluten-free, vegan fish. obviously I used rice and seaweed, and my soy sauce was gluten-free. Here's what it looked like:

How pretty is that? I thought it was pretty. . . well. . . pretty. And you can put as much or as little of any ingredient as you want! So you can make it really easily. Personally, I didn't have to go to the store to buy any ingredients. I just used what I already had. So, I didn't have to spend any extra money. Also, it was incredibly satisfying, and I felt full, but not over-stuffed. It was a great balance, and I feel like it had a lot of good nutritional value. It doesn't take that much effort really, and you could honestly put even less effort than I did if you were just feeling extra lazy. No judgments. I hope you guys like this recipe as much as I did. I think if I was stranded on a desert island and I could only have one food, this would be in the running. For sure. Anyway, good luck! Enjoy!

(Vegan) Cream Cheese Comparisons

A thousand apologies everyone, for somewhat vanishing this past semester. College is a lot busier than I expected it to be. Being an art student, I don't have the luxury of plain and simple homework that you just have to get done. Art homework, such as sketches, and also in my case, apparel construction (sewing), takes a long time. I just didn't have a lot of time to blog. I probably would have died of never sleeping if I had. Anyway, I'm going to try to post a lot over the break, and get more posts ready to post during next semester. Today I am not blogging about a TVCC recipe, but instead offering a bit of insight for choosing between brands of vegan cream cheese, as the title suggests.

Seeing as a lot of holiday recipes call for cream cheese, like dips, or cheese balls, or cheese cake, or marble brownies, or cheese danish, etc. and presumably, my wonderful readers might want to veganize their classic recipes, I would like to offer you a bit of insight as to what brands to choose for what. Here are my top 3 favorites.

#3: Go Veggie!

This cream cheese is a good one for recipes. The taste is just fine. There is just something off about the texture. It doesn't have the real cream cheese feel to it. The texture is what gives it away as fake. If you can get over the weirdness about the texture, then feel free to enjoy it spread on whatever you like, but I just would only use it for cooking or baking recipes where the texture gets lost in the other ingredients.

I must say though, I can totally get over the texture to put the strawberry cream cheese on gluten-free, vegan English muffins. I know strawberry-flavored stuff doesn't really taste like strawberries, but I'm a sucker for it anyway.

#2: Daiya

 

Alright, so I haven't tried the strawberry version of this stuff yet. That is on my list of things-to-do. However, as far as the plain goes, it's pretty good. The texture, while not 100% perfect, is at least MUCH better than Go Veggie's. The taste is also pretty good, though I find it a little on the salty side. It tastes like they used the same base as they use for their vegan cheeses. So basically, it tastes a little bit like a cheese spread and not cream cheese. Really though, it isn't bad. The flavor is really growing on me. I think it is best in recipes that are more savory. I haven't tried it in any dessert recipes, but again, it is  more on the salty side, and I'm afraid of a recipe not turning out right because of that. But I'm sure it would be great for holiday dips and spreads, cheese balls, etc. It would also taste pretty good in vegan sushi, or roll-up and wrap sandwiches.

#1: Tofutti

 

I gotta say, this stuff is still my ultimate favorite. It gets the flavor extremely well, and the texture is PERFECT. It is great plain, or in whatever kind of recipes you want to use it in. It also tastes great with cinnamon-sugar on toast by the way. If you've never tried it, you need to. This is my go-to for vegan cheesecake too. OMG. That is amazing. (Last year I posted about vegan eggnog cheesecake that I'd made with this stuff. Check it out!) I really really really love this brand. For example, in high school economics class, we had a project in which we had a fake budget and spent our fake money on stocks and managed a stock profile and stuff, and this was a company that I kept on my stock profile. By the way, if anyone is looking to buy stocks in vegan food companies, Tofutti's stocks tend to be pretty steady. They don't always grow that much, but you at least won't likely lose a lot of money. (That tip was free, by the way.) And who knows, if everyone starts using this amazing stuff more often, maybe it will grow in stock value. Whatever. The only thing that isn't amazing about this stuff is the package design. I think that the package looks a little bit outdated based on the colors and design scheme, but hey. Don't judge by outward appearances right? The package doesn't make it taste any less amazing. 

Okay. I hope that was helpful to everyone! If you make any recipes with vegan cream cheese, I'd love to hear your thoughts and see your pictures! Who knows, maybe if I like your stuff, I'll feature you! I'd love to do some features on this blog, so go ahead and impress me. I love vegan cream cheese recipes. Good luck everybody, and Happy Christmas!

Veggie Grab Bag

One of my local organic, small-business grocery/diners regularly has coupons for half off of a giant grab bag of in-season locally grown veggies. I got one and had a lot of fun cooking and eating them. What I did for most of the root vegetables was to make bakes (not fries) out of them. It's super-easy.

What you need:

• Assortment of your favorite root vegetables (carrots, potatoes, rutabaga, beets, etc.)
• olive oil
• your favorite blend of spices (I recommend salt, pepper, Rosemary, cumin, red pepper, Italian seasoning.) ( Note: For veggies like sweet potatoes or beets, I like putting cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar on then instead.)
• large mixing bowl
• baking sheet

What to do:

• preheat oven to 350°
• peel and chop your vegetables into small sticks or chips (depending on the natural shape of the vegetable.)
• place the chopped veggies in the bowl and drizzle a sparing amount of olive oil on the vegetables. Toss or stir the vegetables until all are lightly coated in olive oil.
• add your spices to the bowl, and toss or stir until all veggies until the spices are relatively evenly distributed.
• place veggies on the baking sheet in a single later (you might have to bake in multiple batches.)
• place baking sherry in oven and cook for approximately 10 minutes or until veggies begin to crisp.
• allow veggies to cool enough that you won't burn your mouth of when you bite into them.
• enjoy! 

CTTVCC: Vegan Mac 'N' Cheez

This recipe can be found on page 187. This is a pretty good recipe, though I admit I wound up making several adjustments to it. I've been searching for the perfect vegan macaroni and cheese recipe, and while I am still hoping to find or some up with one that tastes a little more authentic, this one isn't bad. In my opinion, it ended up tasting a little bit plain, so I'd pair it with some high-flavor sides.

The recipe calls for:

• 1 (16 ounce) package elbow macaroni
• 1/2 cup soy milk
• 5 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1/2 cup vegan margarine
• salt, pepper, and garlic powder, to taste

I used Ancient Harvest Quinoa macaroni, which is very yellow to begin with. Actually, I think that's where most of the color in the dish was coming from once I'd finished making the whole thing. I love quinoa pastas because they're higher in protein because quinoa is simply packed full of it. It's some of the best gluten-free pasta out there because many brands don't actually hold together very well, and just turn into mush. This, however, has rather good structural integrity.

For soy milk, I used West Soy shelf stable soy milk. By the way, shelf stable alternative milks are simply a must. All too often, I've run out of fake milk when the store isn't open, and then my coffee, tea, cereal, recipes, etc. either don't turn out, or can't be made at all. Save yourself some drama. Keep a few cartons in your sock drawer.

I've finally switched to buying my nutritional yeast in bulk at my local health food stores. I still haven't found the exact sort of container I'd like to keep it in, but it'll probably end up going in a plastic-bag lined sealable canister of some sort.

For the margarine, I used Earth Balance Coconut Buttery Spread. This is some of my favorite butter replacements ever invented. Coconut is so good for you, an it has an extremely delicious taste. The only downside is that it remains rather firm, so you have to let it sit out for a while if you want to be able to really spread it smoothly.

Salt, pepper, and garlic powder were a random assortment of things from my parent's pantry. Like a mentioned at the beginning of this post, I added a few things in. I used red pepper in addition to the black pepper. I ended up having to use way more nutritional yeast because the sauce was too runny. I probably should have added more garlic powder, except for that I didn't want to have garlic breath when I was going to be hanging out with my boyfriend later. 

All in all, this is a decent recipe. It goes really well with veggies like sugar snap peas, corn, or broccoli. It also is delicious with extra-seasoned potato wedges or fries. I will probably try more macaroni recipes before I make this one again, but I can definitely see myself making this again. I suppose smaller kids might like this because younger children tend to prefer more bland foods than foods with a kick. If you did anything to this recipe to alter it, let me know in a comment, and tell me what you thought! I'm really excited to perfect vegan macaroni and cheese. 

Back to School

I'm taking a quick break from CTTVCC to address an upcoming issue many of us will be facing shortly, if not already.

So, one of the biggest problems going back to school for a vegan in pre-college levels or for college day students is what you can pack in your lunch. Well, never fear, I'm here to help you with that! Now, this is going to assume for the most part that you will have access to a microwave during your lunch hour. Sticking with the philosophy of The Vegan College Cookbook, I want to try and give you tips that are inexpensive, healthy (for the most part,) and delicious.

First, many of The Vegan College Cookbook's recipes work great for packing in a lunch. I have found that these recipes tend to generate a lot of leftovers. It's best to pack leftovers in a sealable microwaveable container if you intend to reheat the food. If it's something like a salad or something else that you don't have to heat, microwaveableness is then not necessary, but it never hurts.

Just a tip about salads though, if you're packing a black bean and corn salad or any other salad that has a lot of liquid, I would recommend draining it the night before you intend to eat it. It keeps it from getting quite as messy. If you don't want to waste the liquid, it makes a really great marinade for grilling tofu. Or if you don't have enough left for marinade, you can always add a little bit of another vegan sauce or dressing, and you can toss in a few herbs like rosemary, pepper, or whatever you like. Then you'll have plenty.

I must not overlook an obvious option. Fresh fruits make delicious sides for lunch. Bananas work very well, because they require practically no preparation. Citrus fruits like oranges, tangerines, clementines, or grapefruits are best pre-peeled and put into sealed containers. Peeling them in advance saves you time, and saves you a mess when you're trying to eat your lunch. Apples, pears, and other fruits with a core and stem can be eaten around the core, and thusly, do not require preparation, but again, if you want to save some mess, you can pre-cut them. If you do, I recommend dipping them in a bowl of lemon juice or orange juice immediately after cutting them, and before putting them into a sealed container. The same thing goes for peaches, plums, and other fruits with a pit. Berries and grapes require little preparation, so they work great as well. For grapes, I'd recommend taking them off the stem, and for strawberries, I'd say to cut the tops off, and dip them in a citrus juice before packing them into a sealed container that doesn't have a lot of extra space, so they won't roll around and get bruised. Melons, mango, or pineapple work best sliced into small chunks and packed into a sealed container with as little juice as possible.

On the other hand, many fresh veggies are also perfect for lunches. Some of my favorites are baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, and celery (chopped into smaller pieces,) stringless sugar snap peas, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumber slices, and sliced bell pepper. Some good choices of dips for those veggies would be peanut butter, almond butter, sunflower seed butter, cashew butter, hummus, or black bean dip. All of those options can be purchased in single-serving, doesn't-need-to-be-refrigerated packages, though buying them in traditional packaging is cheaper, and easier. I would avoid packing salad dressings to dip them in, because they are rather high in calories, with little redeeming nutritional value. Also, they're terribly messy.

There are many varieties of frozen meals that you can take from companies such as Amy's or Candle Cafe, but keeping them cold can be sort of a problem. Also, there's not always a good selection if you have to be gluten-free too.

Now,  an absolute must is shelf stable food. Why? Because I'm sure that you've forgotten to pack your lunch until the last second and grabbing a Clif Bar way too many times. Because I forget my lunch all the time, and I'm sure everyone else in the world does too. Whether you remember in enough time to grab something handy-dandy-healthy, or you stash a collection in your locker for those occasions like I do, not having to keep all your food cold can be a great thing. Here are some of my favorites:

As a side note, not all GoPicnics are vegan, and there are some vegan ones that aren't gluten-free. But, they're on sale this week at Target, so stock up if you have the chance. Now then, I hope that you found everything super-helpful. If you'd like to share some of your lunch favorites with me, I would absolutely LOVE to hear them. I mean seriously. I like variety, and trying new things. So, enlighten me. 

CTTVCC: Piz-Tato

This recipe is on page 284. Starting out with this recipe, I wasn't sure what to expect. I stopped really liking potatoes a while ago, but now I'm starting to think that's just because I got sick of the way my family always fixed potatoes, which was full of butter and cream cheese, and cheese, basically, just dairy overload, which was also rather bland. This recipe has renewed my faith in potatoes. Not only was it good, it was really delicious, especially since I was expecting not to be impressed. I absolutely loved it. Next time I want vegan, gluten-free pizza, I won't bother whining about finding one of the holy grails of gluten-free, vegan frozen-in-a-box-from-the-grocery-store pizzas because making the gluten-free dough is normally more work than I want to do anyway. I'll just flip to this recipe.

The recipe calls for:

• 1 large baking potato
• 3 tablespoons pizza or tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella-style vegan cheese

As I mentioned earlier, I wasn't expecting this to appeal to me very much, so, consequently, I did not get a large baking potato, I got a small potato. Because I got a baby-sized potato, I cut the rest of the ingredients in half. I definitely won't be cutting the recipe in half in the future, because this was so yummy!

I used store brand, garden-style pasta sauce, and Daiya Mozzarella- Style Shreds. Those two ingredients are a match made in heaven. Or perhaps made in America. . . but inspired by Italy! 

Here is my finished potato:

How adorable is that? They're like baby-pizzas!

Yeah, I wasn't sure how to eat them. Do you pick them up and eat them like pizza? Do you cut them into bite-sized pieces? I gave up guessing and mashed it all together. So, now it doesn't look that attractive, but it tasted amazing!

I really loved this recipe. I will definitely be making it again. I with there had been more of it. Oh well. At least I'm more open to the other potato recipes in the cookbook. I know I wouldn't have come up with this recipe on my own. turn a potato into a pizza? How often do people do that? Well I've decided: not often enough. Let me know what you thought by commenting on this post!

CTTVCC: Pantry Raid Pasta

This recipe is on page 163. This recipe is phenomenally delicious. It tasted like I had put a bunch of effort into it when really, you just throw it together. This honestly tastes better than some restaurant Italian food I've had, and it's ready so much faster, and costs so much less. Even my non-vegan family members fell in love with this. I foresee making this a lot in the future.

The recipe calls for:

• 1 (16-ounce) box elbow pasta
• 1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 2 (8-ounce) bags vegan chicken strips
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Okay, so I didn't use elbow pasta. But isn't that the point of the pantry raid? I had gotten a sampler box of a bunch of random gluten-free foods from Vitacost, and the company had sent a gluten-free penne the month that I bought it. The package was, most appropriately, almost completely in Italian, but lucky for me, there was also a French section, and I was able to figure out that the only ingredient in the pasta was corn. It was all just made of corn. I found it a little hard to believe, but I figured that I wouldn't die from it. After I cooked it, I realized that it probably was entirely made of corn because it lost all structural integrity, and basically shredded itself, so obviously it didn't  have a very effective binding agent. It tasted great though!

I used generic diced tomatoes, but I used ones with Italian seasonings mixed in with the tomatoes. I would definitely recommend using  tomatoes with Italian seasonings because you don't want your pasta to taste bland.

For the faux chicken, I used a mix of Beyond Meat Grilled Strips and Beyond Meat Lightly Seasoned Strips, just to mix things up a bit. Actually, I just didn't have enough of the lightly seasoned strips to make the recipe, so I opened the other package to augment it.

I tried not to use too much salt, but I was very generous with the pepper. I am a firm believer that pepper helps enhance the flavor. Also, I've heard that eating spicy foods boosts your metabolism. Maybe it'll counteract some of those pasta-carbs. 

Here is my finished dish:

Mmmmmm. That stuff was crazy-good. Can you see all that shredded pasta? Even though it's molecular integrity was compromised, it still tasted amazing! I just can't get over how delicious this was. If I wasn't trying to cook through the whole cookbook, I'd probably stop and just make this over and over for at least a week. It's that good people, it's that good. Let me know how yours turned out, and if you liked it as much as I did by leaving me a comment below. Comments are always welcome!

CTTVCC: Dirty Chick (Pea) Clean-Up Salad

Turn to page 115, please. This is a really delicious recipe that I know for sure I would not have thought of myself. It's a combination that I wouldn't have come up with, but yet, compliments each other very well. It's savory and sweet; soft and crunchy at the same time. It's a simple recipe that I know I will turn to in times of need, or need for something to pack as a lunch on those days when I don't feel like trusting the cafeteria.

The recipe calls for:

• 1 (15.5 ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 cup diced celery
• 1 Red Delicious or Gala apple, cored and diced
• Salt, to taste

I used store brand chickpeas, and fresh celery, and a Gala apple. My favorite kind of apple (right now anyway,) is the Pink Lady apple, which I will use next time I make this salad. It would also be interesting to try using a Granny Smith apple for a more sour taste. Basically, it doesn't matter what kind of apple you use. The kind of apple will, obviously, slightly change the taste of the salad though. I would love to hear what kinds of apples you've used, and how you thought it tasted! Just leave a comment on this blog entry to let me know.

Also, I love celery. All the sources I've come across say that your body burns more calories to digest celery than the celery contains. Essentially, celery is negative calories. Figured I'd throw that out there, just in case you didn't know.

I only used a small pinch of sea salt, because I knew the chickpeas would taste great salted, but I wasn't sure about the apples.

Here is my finished salad:

This salad is really easy and fast to make. It doesn't require any baking, it doesn't really matter if your proportions are slightly off, you can eat as much or as little as you like at a time without wasting, or having half eaten sandwiches or whatever littering your fridge. It's packed with protein and fiber as well as good flavor. It makes a great snack or main course, and every bite is delicious. I hope you love this!

CTTVCC: Black Bean and Corn Salad (Salsa Remix)

Hello to all my charming readers, this recipe is on page 113. This recipe is great. It's versatile as it can be eaten on chips, in a taco or wrap, by itself, on a bed of lettuce, or even upside down. Though, I wouldn't recommend the latter. I really liked the taste of this. I think that the beans and the corn compliment each other so well. While the Black Bean and Corn Salad (Extended Dance Mix) is a delicious zing of flavors, sometimes less is more. I guess it depends on the person, or maybe more specifically, on said person's mood. This is another good recipe for parties, by the way, and I wouldn't plan on having leftovers.

The recipe calls for:

• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (8.75 ounce) can corn, drained
• 6 tablespoons lime juice (fresh or from a squirt bottle)
• 5 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chives
• 1/2 cup salsa
• salt and pepper to taste

I used Earth Fare brand beans, corn, olive oil, salsa, salt, and pepper. I didn't use lime juice, because I didn't have any, but I had a bunch of lemon juice, and I figured that it's probably close enough in taste. I used Real Lemon brand lemon juice, though, I'm sure fresh lemon juice would taste better. Admittedly, fresh lime juice would taste even better than that, but hey.

By the way, I would recommend using a medium salsa at the mildest. This is the sort of thing that tastes best with a bit of a kick. I only had mild salsa in the fridge, and I didn't want to open another jar, so I just used cayenne pepper instead of black pepper. It did the trick. Of course, it makes it spicier the longer you're eating it, but hey, it helps counteract the law of diminishing return, since each bite has flavor that doesn't just start getting dull after a while. Of course, if you combined cayenne pepper with hot salsa, you might be able to make some cash by selling the drinks at your party, or perhaps use the opportunity to force people into trying your favorite fake milk? Just kidding. Don't do that. It's not a good way to make friends.

Here is the evidence of my food DJ skills:

The olive oil makes this look especially shiny. It's just saying "Eat Me!"

Perhaps this would be a good recipe for trying to determine which brand or tortilla chips actually taste the closest to Mexican restaurants. I mean, a bunch of them claim to, but which ones are telling the truth? This is a great excuse for playing chip-detective. Or if you melt some of your favorite vegan cheese in a taco shell or soft tortilla, this makes a great entree. You can pull this out when you want an unboring snack, especially when you get early-hour-of-the-morning-munchies when you're trying to finish up a project last minute. That sort of situation would be the perfect time for you to use the spiciest combination possible, you know, to wake yourself up. Don't get me wrong, I love my coffee, but sometimes, your body just grows immune to the effects of caffeine. I would definitely try this recipe out, because let me tell you, even if you make it as mild as possible, it's still delicious!

CTTVCC: Ramen Holiday

This recipe is on page 131. This is a simple go-to recipe that is perfect for rainy days. I don't know about you, but when the weather is nasty outside, I always want soup. From tropical storms to snow storms, it's my bad-weather panacea (cure-all.) This is similar to how my mother used to always fix ramen noodles when I was a kid. It adds more volume to the soup, but I am not sure whether she did so because it would give the soup more nutritional value, or because then she wouldn't have to use as many packs of ramen to feed me and my three sisters, plus my parents. Well, that was a nice trip down memory lane. Reminiscing time over now.

The recipe calls for:

• 1 package ramen
• 1 cup frozen mixed Italian veggies

I used McDougall's Pad Thai Noodle Soup, and generic frozen veggies. Unfortunately, all I could find in my freezer was Normandy-style veggies not Italy-style veggies. To be perfectly honest, I prefer French to Italian anyway. The veggie mix had broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and squash. That's some pretty high-class stuff there.

Here's my finished soup:

Well, I really liked this recipe, especially my Normandy-style veggies. And my Pad Thai. I would definitely recommend adding veggies to ramen for the exact two reasons my mother used to use. If you are trying to get by on a small budget, we all know ramen is cheap. But you can stretch your ramen and get some extra nutrients into your meals by adding frozen vegetables, which also tend to be pretty cheap. Now, what would be super-great, would be combining this recipe with the Rent's Due "Cheezy" Ramen, and throwing a little bit of nutritional yeast in there. That would really be perfect. Hope you all enjoy this recipe!

CTTVCC: Chick-Un Parm Sammich

Open the Vegan College Cookbook to page 49 for this recipe. This is a delicious, savory recipe that is great for when you want some Italian finger food that is relatively cheap, and you don't mind making a bit of a mess. Or a lot of a mess. I guess that depends on your level of skills.

The recipe calls for:

• 1 vegan chicken patty
• 2 slices whole-wheat bread
• 2 tablespoons marinara sauce
• 1 slice vegan mozzarella cheese

I used Beyond Meat Lightly Seasoned Strips for the chicken, which, I know, isn't a patty. But It's the only gluten-free, vegan chick'n I've been able to find. They worked fine though. Granted, a patty would have been a bit easier to eat, but still. I'm just waiting for Beyond Meat to come out with some more products that I can eat, and use for making these recipes!

Obviously, with my gluten-free restriction, whole wheat bread is a bit out of the question, so I used Food for Life Rice Millet Bread. If the point of suggesting whole wheat bread was just so people would pick a more wholesome bread than basic white bread, then I'm sure this counts. 

I used generic marinara sauce, but I picked one that was garden vegetable style so it had a bit more flavor than plain tomato sauce. Plus, extra veggies! Extra veggies are a good way to roll.

Follow Your Heart Vegan Mozzarella Cheese was the only vegan mozzarella cheese I had, and it wasn't pre-sliced. So, I used more than one slice of it otherwise it wouldn't have covered all the chick'n. Don't want my fake meat getting scandalous, now do I?

Here is my finished sammich:

If you can't tell, I really like my vegan cheese.

This is a nomalicious recipe that I will definitely be making again. It's perfect for using up little bits of leftover pizza/ pasta sauce. I must say though, don't wear a white shirt while you're eating it. It's a very high-risk sort of thing, putting marinara on a sammich. In fact, wear red. Or something dark. And for the love of vegan food, don't eat this on a first date. I probably wouldn't even eat this with my boyfriend around unless he was preoccupied, and wouldn't see me, or if I made it in a wrap instead. But really, if you won't be humiliated in front of someone you're trying to impress, or you won't be ruining one of your favorite shirts, it is so worth it. 

CTTVCC: Wicked Good Wafflewich

This recipe is found on page 71. Is this dessert or is it breakfast? Who cares? Not me! It's delicious. It was not as messy as it seemed like it was going to be, and it was really tasty. I am not quite sure it could really claim to be good for you, but it's not really bad for you either. This seems like a really good comfort food though. Bad test? Bad day? Bad breakup? I could see myself going through a stack of these.

The recipe calls for:

• 2 vegan waffles, toasted
• Vegan chocolate chips, to taste
• Peanut butter, to taste
• Maple syrup, to taste

I used Van's original gluten-free, (also vegan) waffles. They're pretty good. If I didn't know they were gluten-free and vegan, I wouldn't think they were. 

I used Enjoy Life Mini Chocolate Chips, generic peanut butter, and I used agave nectar instead of maple syrup. I think that the taste of the agave was actually better than it would have been with maple syrup, because it is a light flavor, and allows you to enjoy the chocolate and peanut butter without their flavors being overpowered.

Here is my finished breakfast:

Like I was saying, this recipe is great. It's indulgent, yet it won't forever ruin your figure, I'm sure, you know, with moderation and all that stuff. Whatever. It's definitely got a great flavor and it's so simple! I don't think I would have come up with it on my own. I wouldn't have put peanut butter and syrup (or agave) on the same wafflewich, and I don't think I would have put the chocolate chips on. I would have probably been boring, and used something like, I don't know, jelly. I hope you all enjoy this recipe!

CTTVCC: Brainy Bac'n Cheese Toast

This yummy recipe can be found on 37. This is listed as a breakfast recipe. However, It didn't really taste breakfast-y to me. In fact, I ate it for lunch. It was very good though. It had a good savory taste and I liked it a lot, even though I am not that big a fan of tomatoes. It has a great combination of flavors that makes each bite taste just as delicious as the bite before it. It would take a lot of these sandwiches to start noticing the law of diminishing return. (Thank you, economics class.) 

The recipe calls for:

• 2 slices bread, toasted
• 8 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 4 tablespoons vegan bacon bits
• 2 slices vegan cheddar cheese

I used Food for Life Gluten-Free Brown Rice Bread, which I then proceeded to toast. The nice thing about rice bread is that is is very moist and soft, so when you toast it, it gets lightly crisped on the outside, and it's still soft on the inside. Perfection.

I used a combination of cherry tomatoes and yellow grape tomatoes just to be more colorful and fun. You know, give it variety and all that good stuff. Retrospectively, I wish I had made a little checkerboard pattern, just to be extra fun and cutesies. Oh well. I also think that maybe this recipe would be better (at least with gluten-free bread, which tends to be smaller,) with 6 halved cherry tomatoes rather than 8. When I was eating it, it seemed that one of the tomatoes was always falling out.

I used Frontier Bac'uns for the vegan bacon bits. They were pretty good. They had a nice crunch to them, which was pretty good. Squishy-bacony-fat always disgusted me. Ugh. Even just thinking about it. I must say though, I would recommend cutting the bacon bits in half. Not literally cutting each bit in half of course, but only using 2 tablespoons. I think that 4 tablespoons was just too much of a good thing. I couldn't get them all to stay in the sandwich, and at times, the bits were a bit overpowering. The nice thing about these things are that they're also already gluten-free. 

My 3-legged cat, C3PO, certainly thought they smelled legit though. Isn't he just a cutie-pie? Not that you can really tell that well in this picture. . .

I used Daiya Cheddar Style Slices for the fake cheese. I had split the bac'n bits between the two slices of bread, and then I melted the cheese slices over the bits in an attempt to keep the bits on the bread. 

Here is my finished sandwich:

Doesn't that just look scrumptious though? Just looking at these pictures makes me want to make another one of these sandwiches. Though, maybe I'll make it a wrap instead of a sandwich. On a 10" tortilla, you probably wouldn't need to cut down any of the ingredients, plus you wouldn't have to worry about having facon and tomatoes abandoning you whenever you took a bite. This is a great recipe though, and it's highly satisfying. I hope you all love it!

CTTVCC: Cuke-Chick Salad

This salad recipe is listed on page 101. This is another simple, delicious recipe, but this one is particularly refreshing. It's low in fat, so it doesn't weigh you down or make you feel uncomfortably full. It's very flavorful because you can taste the individual ingredients' flavors. This is the type of food I would want to eat at a meal right after a workout, or on a school day when I've put off all the homework for my afternoon classes, and am then trying to rush through it during my lunch break, while still attempting to make good grades.

The recipe calls for:

• 2 cucumbers, sliced
• 1/2 (15 ounce) can chickpeas
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 cup distilled vinegar
• salt and pepper, to taste

I used cucumbers, chickpeas, onion powder, salt, and pepper from Earth Fare. I chopped the cucumber slices in half  so that they were little crescents that were closer to bite sized because the cucumber was a bit chubby.

I only had balsamic vinegar, which was Newman's Own Organics. I figure that it probably didn't alter the taste too much. I mixed the onion powder, salt, and pepper into the vinegar before pouring it on the chickpeas and cucumbers, that way it would have all mixed evenly to that I didn't have all of the onion powder on one half and all the salt and pepper on the other half and get seasoning whiplash. Or all of the seasonings could have ended up on one half and then the other half would have just been super-boring. (Really though, I could just eat the cucumbers and chickpeas plain. I think chickpeas have a very nice flavor even just on their own.)

Here is my (mostly uneaten) salad:

It's kind of hard to see the vinegar, but trust me, it's there on the bottom.

Like I was saying, this is an easy crisp salad that could be used as an appetizer or snack, or it could be paired with some sort of light soup, such as a tomato or bean soup. When I make this again, I will cut down the vinegar a tiny bit, because I don't really like having the puddle of liquid at the bottom of my salad. I always feel like I'm wasting food when I have such puddles because I'm not going to drink the vinegar or something. That sounds very undelicious. As it is, I just used the leftovers as the dressing on another salad, but the downside to that is that then there's an extra thing taking up space in the refrigerator until I use it. This is very yummy though, and perfectly uncomplicated, just like I wish all my interactions with other humans would be. Maybe they should have named it "I think my boyfriend still has feelings for his ex" salad, or "my BFF is being a diva" salad, or "I think my BFF has a crush on my boyfriend" salad, or "I think my guy-friend wants to BE my boyfriend" salad, or "one of my groups of friends hates my other group of friends" salad, or, hey, even "my friends all hate my boyfriend" salad. (Guys, replace 'boyfriend' with 'girlfriend'.) Whatever. Enjoy!

CTTVCC: Saffi's Chick Salad

This recipe is available on page 114. I admit, that I had my doubts about this recipe. I wasn't sure it would taste good with the olive oil. It did taste pretty good, however, next time I will probably use slightly less olive oil, that way it has the moisture without the slight greasiness.

The recipe calls for:

• 1/2 (15 ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 1/2 cups cooked rice
• 1 tablespoon chives
• 1 long English cucumber, peeled and finely chopped 
• 4 tablespoons dried parsley 
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

I used Earth Fare chickpeas, chives, cucumber, olive oil, salt, and pepper. I forgot to get parsley, and when I checked my house, we didn't have any. Too bad I wasn't visiting my out-of-town family though, I could have gotten some fresh from their garden. 

I used ReaLemon lemon juice. I would have preferred to use fresh juice, but I don't have fresh lemons and I do have lemon juice already. 

Here is my finished concoction:

This stuff was pretty good, and it kept fairly well. I ate it for lunch, but I made it the night before. It had a bit of a different taste than when it was fresh, (I sampled it as soon as I made it of course,) probably because the cucumber wasn't crisp anymore, but it didn't brown because of the lemon juice. If I was going to make it in advance though, I would probably make it the morning that I wanted to eat it for lunch though, instead of the night before. I definitely would recommend it though. It's very filling, and pretty tasty. I hope you all liked it as much as I did.