Bleh. Life has been weird lately. So it goes, right? Anyways, we’re not here for me to complain. We’re here to discuss some recent vegan eats.
If you’re new here, this is a weekly/bi-weekly series where I just mention some things I’ve eaten recently that I also happened to have taken photos of. It’s a realistic view into things I eat on the daily, with some highlights along the way.
Brownies
I had a serious hankering for brownies on Friday night. Like, old school brownies. I whipped up a (very mini) batch with simple ingredients using a simple method and was super pleased with the result. I may try to make a bigger batch and actually pay attention to what I’m doing so maybe I can post a recipe!
Banana dog!
Haha! My aunt gifted me some Angelic Bakehouse hot dog buns leftover from a cookout. So naturally I warmed them a little in the microwave, then slathered their insides with nut butter and a banana and cinnamon.
For a couple days in a row I ate two of these banana dog things for lunch with apple slices or melon and some snap peas and carrots. Yummy. Low key incredible.
Re-friend Bean burritos
Yummy. I’ve been on a retried beans kick lately. I just buy organic retried beans from Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods (refried pinto is my current fav) and heat them up with some spices (cumin, a dash of cayenne, and a hint of turmeric) and enjoy on whatever tortillas happened to be cheap or on sale (using whole wheat or corn) and enjoy with lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, guac if I have it, condiments galore!
I tried the new Trader Joe’s taco sauce and it was pretty good; however it was not quite spicy enough for my taste buds. I have a weird soft spot for Oretega Hot Taco sauce (total nostalgic food for me…yes I’m weird) so I like taco sauce spicy! But luckily I just added extra hot sauce to bring the heat up to my desired level.
I also recently tried this Zhoug sauce:
It is delicious! It is indeed spicy, but also very herby and bright with an interesting note of warmth (probably from the cardamom). Yum. I added this to my bean burritos and also enjoyed mixing it with hummus for a veggie/bread dip.
Speaking of burritos, here is Millie as one:
Blueberry flax breakfast muffins
I was feelin’ them! Recipe here.
Subway
Last week I picked up subway for lunch for me and my good friend jimmy and we had a mini picnic on his lunch break at the lake front.
Millie joined and had a great time.
Uncle Jimmy is among her favorite humans!
I had a veggie sub with guacamole and every vegetable (minus raw onions cause #acidreflux) and approximately 18 sauces because I’m all about the sauce. I also tucked in a slice of Chao vegan cheese from home. I took no photos of my sub but use your imagination.
Millie enjoyed some diced hard-boiled eggs, green beans, and watermelon. A lot of people ask me what Millie eats. I feel weird addressing this because I’m not a vet or a dog nutritionist so I don’t know what is best for other dogs. What works for Millie is a mix of high-quality dog food and high quality vegan dog food for one meal a day, and one meal a day of hard-boiled eggs and green beans. This way she gets a mix of different things and not too much of any one thing.
I felt weird feeling her only dry dog food because I feel like that’s boring and also highly processed. At the same time I didn’t want to only feed her food I cooked because I know commercial dog foods are fortified with micronutrients. Anyways, this is what works for us. I’m no expert. But since people ask, that’s my answer. Moving on.
Banza with leftover pasta puttanesca sauce, and salad with sliced Trader Joe’s Beets
Simple dinner making use of things in the pantry/cleaning out the fridge before doing a big grocery haul. I had some leftover puttanesca sauce in the freezer from when I made it a couple weeks ago. If you ever have too much sauce, freeze it!
Banza wheels with nutritional yeast, olive oil, salt and peas, roasted bell peppers, and salad with Trader Joe’s pre-cooked refrigerated beets.
Aka a random non-fancy meal assembled when there was barely any fresh or frozen food in our house. Nothing spectacular but tasted good enough and did the trick.
PS – if you like beets but not the prep, I highly suggest the TJ’s beets! Found in the refrigerator section by produce.
Ice cream cake!
I made this for a shower / BBQ thing at my aunts house. I used to make froyo cakes when I worked at Yo Mama and they’re easier than one might expect.
All I did was bake a thin layer of vegan brownies (with walnuts and chocolate chips) and layer ice cream, a layer of crushed Joe Joe’s (Oreos work too) and vegan fudge sauce mixed together, another layer of ice cream, and a layer of whipped topping (I used MVP So delicious dairy-free CocoWhip) and sprinkles. Yum!
I also ate a veggie burger with guacamole and lots of fruit and some vegan salads my aunt made (one black bean mango salad and one carrot cumin-y concoction; both were great). Enjoy this blurry photo.
Yummers.
Cereal
Every night! Usually eaten a little bit after dinner with lots of chilly almond milk while writing or editing. Also yes, my foot is weird.
Also, my hot take: Trader Joe’s Joe’s Os are better than Cheerios. Better crunch and mouthfeel, imho.
Panera poppyseed salad
To quote Billie Eilish, “duh.” Eaten outside with Millie, who has been in rough shape lately with a knee issue and a torn ear. Poor girl! Luckily we are heading to the vet next week..
To make your own, click here!
Vegan Doughnuts from Cranky Al’s
More leftovers from the BBQ. I’m not the biggest doughnut gal still but these are actually really good! Especially the simple glazed one (the above pictured is chocolate glazed with sprinkles).
Iced Sport Tea
From Collectivo at the lake after a lovely walk by the lakefront/Milwaukee beaches with my friend Sarah. I do not like Collectivo’s iced coffee; however, I do like their iced SportTea.
I have a lot of mixed emotions about Collectivo. It’s a long story and you probably don’t care. But I have heard they have a new vegan cauliflower bahn mi I’d like to try. Anyways..
Thai Basil Eggplant Stir-fry with tofu
My mom wanted to try some frozen Eggplant Thai Basil veggie thing from Trader Joe’s. I’m not the biggest eggplant gal on earth (don’t hate it, just wouldn’t order it or buy it), but this was maybe the best eggplant I’ve ever had? Haha! I liked the Thai Basil and hot chili peppers.
Served with marinated tofu, other veggies (frozen organic mix from TJs) and rice. A pretty okay meal.
Tempeh
On a tempeh kick! Can’t stop won’t stop. I love making tofu lettuce wraps. Maybe I’ll recipe that ish and post it!
Beans and Barley
Again! Haha. I got the house salad with balsamic tofu and a single pancake on the side for brunch a couple hours before typing up this post. Yum! The best of all worlds (sweet, savory, veggie, tofu, carb, pancake). Mmm!
Wraps with Beans and Barley Hummus
I grabbed a tub of the Beans and Barley housemade hummus to-go from the Beans and Barley market place. Smeared it thick on tortillas with veggies and some vegan cheese sauce for a satisfying, quick meal.
Honestly the best hummus I’ve ever had. BEANS HOW DO YOU DO IT?!
**EDIT: I found the recipe! And now I gotta make some.
This random cupcake gum
I don’t often chew gum because it gives me terrible IBS issues (swallowing air = bloating, gas, and constipation for me), but I had to try this when I saw it at Target and OH MY GOSH. It was yummy.
That’s all for now! Thanks for reading.
Feel free to say hello below in the comments, or via Instagram, Twitter, or YouTube!
Have a great day and remember, Millie loves you!
More recent vegan eats:
The ice cream cake sounds so good! What brand of ice cream did you use? Also I didn’t realize you wrote for Spoon University 😀 I just read the “30 Foods You Probably Didn’t Know Were Vegan” article (I actually didn’t realize so many ‘regular’ things were vegan which is awesome) and got a pleasant surprise to see your name at the bottom of it.
Hi! Yes I did write and work with Spoon for a very long time! NYU Spoon was actually my first ‘media’ experience. So many memories! Haha. Thanks for the comment! 🙂 hope you have a great weekend !