A Day Full of Prize Finds!

Well, today wasn't entirely vegan. I had bread with my veggies-only sandwich at lunch (avocado, cucumber, lettuce, tomato, onion and olive on a whole wheat bread). But other than that I had a very healthy day and even found some absolutely fantastic MUST HAVES!

I know me, and I know my eating habits. I can have all the best intentions in the world, but if it's not convenient, delicious, FAST, and filling, I'm going to the dollar-menu at the drive through. I don't have time to mess around, and I have a real weakness for being hungry; it's why I've failed nearly every diet I've been on.

After my supremely healthy lunch (I had V8 with the veggie sandwich), I was craving something sweet. I went to the employee store at work and perused the shelves, hoping to find something vegan, or at least vegetarian, and without a huge guilt-factor. What I found was Richmoor Natural High Organic Fruit Snacks, which is simply dehydrated bananas, strawberries, blueberries, and mangos. Dehydrated, not dried, like the hard fruit you've had everywhere. No, these are light, fluffy...and DELICIOUS.  Here's a link: http://www.rei.com/product/803373


Dinner tonight, I wanted to be creative, so I went to the store and wandered in the nutrition aisles, seeking inspiration. I found it in the form of a small colored box of vegan taco filling. Vegan, you ask? Taco filling? What the hell? Isn't that a contradiction in terms? And you're right, it is. But, this project is about putting aside my old habits and trying something new with an open mind, so I picked it up, along with some tofu sour cream (dairy free!) and some avocados for guacomole.

I got my experiment home and read the box. Seemed simple enough. Just add some water and some oil. Right-o, let's give it a shot!

From the moment I opened the packet, I know I was in for something good. The aroma of the seasonings just flowed out of the bag and made my mouth water on the spot. It just smelled....GOOD.  Vibrant, if that makes sense. I poured it into the water and started to stir, and it just got better.

Now, ordinarily, when cooking with soy meat, even if the seasoning is spot on, there's a weird texture thing that happens which is a dead giveaway. Not with this stuff; it crumbled nicely and had a nice consistency, just like ground beef. It cooked up quickly and when it was done, I loaded it in some tortillas with some homemade guacomole and the fake sour cream (Tofutti Sour Supreme), poured on the obligatory amount of hot sauce and took a bite.

It.
Was.
WONDERFUL!

Seriously, I'm such a fan. It was a good, quick, vegan meal, that actually was cheaper than its meaty counterpart. There wasn't much prep involved, and I was able to eat until I felt full without feeling guilty. It's definitely getting added to my list of MUST HAVE vegan foods!

Here's a link to the Taco Filling I used. My goal is to sample the other products they make, since they hit it spot on with the first one I tried. http://www.fantasticfoods.com/productlist.aspx?catid=Vegetarian+Entrees