Meatless Monday: How to Survive a Non-Vegan Cookout!

This weekend I went to my first cookout of the seson, which may seem a little early but the weather was perfect and it was a birthday celebration of a very long time friend of mine.

I live in a neighborhood where cookouts and back yard parties are very common and because I am blessed to have some awesome neighbors, so as soon as the weather gets warm its constant cookouts.

When most people thing of a cookout, the first thing many think it hotdogs, hamburgers, potato chips, coleslaw, and potato salad. None of these things generally lend themselves to being vegan and it can sometimes be hard to find food at these events.

Tonight I want to focus on how to eat vegan at a cook out! Here’s my 3 biggest pieces of advice!

1.  Find out what they are going to be serving and bring something similar for you. This weekend they were serving chicken, so I brought my own vegan chicken patties. I just discreetly cooked them and ate with everyone else.

2. Let the host know what you can and cannot eat and maybe they can do something different for you! This past weekend my friends, who know about my vegan lifestyle, made cheesy pasta salad and baked beans, but she set some aside for me before adding the cheese to the salad or the meat to the beans!

3. Bring something vegan to share with everyone! This is my favorite thing to do because then I have food to eat and I can share it with everyone!

I hope this helps! If you have any other ideas, leave them below! 

Vegan Product Review: Nabisco Grahams

Tonight’s product review is a little silly, but it will be essential for tomorrow’s recipe and it makes a great snack for people of any age!

I’m talking about graham crackers.

Now most graham crackers have honey in them, which makes them not technically vegan, even though some vegans are not as strict on the honey rule.

Nabisco, the same company that makes Honey Maid Graham Crackers also makes a honey free alternative called Nabisco Grahams.

This is a picture of the box and they taste just like their honey alternative. 

A serving size is 8 graham crackers and each serving contains: 130 calories, 3.5 grams of fat, 2 grams of protein, and no cholesterol. 

You will definitely want to pick up a box for the amazing recipe that is headed your way tomorrow!! 

Pizza Rolls Go Vegan!

I keep seeing this commercial for Totinos Pizza Rolls and every time I start craving pizza.

Since know one has yet to create a vegan pizza pocket that is readily available, I decided to create my own!

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Vegan Pizza Pockets

You will need: 

1 packet of crescent rolls 

1/4 cup of pasta sauce

1/2 cup of vegan cheese shreds

This is the cheese that I am using. I bought this cheese to try on a burrito, but it wasn't very good. I'm hoping it will taste better melted! 

Directions: 

1. In a small bowl, mix the cheese and tomato sauce. 

2. In an unrolled crescent roll, put a spoon full of the sauce and cheese mixture. 

3. Fold over and into a triangle and close the sides with fork. 

 Bake in the over at 350* for about 20 minutes or until golden brown. 

Plus I'm happy to report that this cheese is delicious in his melted form!! 

I can't wait to show you guys all the new things I'm going to try with this new 'cheese'.

A Vegan Review: Olive Garden Soups

I’ve written about a Olive Garden in the past, but I recently went back for lunch. They have their unlimited soup, salad, and breadsticks promotion for $6.99.

As I’ve mentioned before; the salad is vegan as long as you leave the dressing off, it has cheese and the bread sticks can be made vegan if they are made with out the butter.

To go along with this, I added the Minestrone Soup. It’s listed right on the menu as being vegetarian, but with further questioning and an inspection of the ingredients, it is in fact vegan! 

This soup is the perfect combination of noodles and veggies! If the weather is going to keep being cold, at least I'll have this to warm up with!!

Unfortunately this is the only soup on the menu that is vegan, but if you want to see any of the other soups get a vegan makeover, comment below & tell me which one is your favorite! 

Meatless Monday: St. Patrick's Vegan Shepard's Pie!

Saint Patrick’s Day some how losses part of it’s magic when the Leprechaun stops coming in the middle of the night and tearing apart your class room. At least until you turn 21, then it’s all about green beer and some kind of blue-ish concoction called an Irish Trashcan. In between, there is Irish food but corn beef and cabbage always steals all the thunder.

There is so much more to traditional Irish food, like beer bread, colcannon, and even potato & leek soup. With a few quick substitutions, all of these things can be made vegan.

Tonight I’m going to share with you my recipe for vegan Sheppard’s Pie. It’s delicious & I think that if you were to find a rainbow, a big bowl of this amazing dish would be at the end of it!

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Vegan Sheppard’s Pie!

You will need:

5 or 6 potatoes

4 carrots

1 can of peas

½ of a small onion, chopped finely

1 bag BOCCA crumbles

1 stick of butter

1/4 cup of soy milk

½ cup vegetable broth

¼ cup red wine

2 T of olive oil

salt, pepper, and parsley to taste

Directions:

1. Peel and boil the potatoes. When they are boiled, mash them with 3/4 stick of butter and soy milk.

2. In a frying pan, cook the onions and the crumbles together in the olive oil. 

3. Peel and slice the carrots. Put them in a bowl with water that fully covers the carrots and cook them in the microwave for two minutes or until soft. 

4. Mix together the onion and crumble mixture with the peas and carrots. 

5. Put the mixture in the bottom of a casserole dish and cover with mashed potatoes. 

6. Brush the top of the casserole with the remaining butter and sprinkle with parsley (it's green!). 

Bake for 30 minutes at 350*, serve, and enjoy! 

Just look how delicious this turned out!! 

Vegan Ricemellow Cream!!

Tonight’s product review is a little bit out of the ordinary; in fact it is definitely more of a treat! I’m talking about delicious and vegan marsh mellow cream!

Most marsh mellow cream contains gelatin, which isn’t vegan as it is made from boiling the skins, tendons, ligaments, and bones of various animals. YUK!

This delicious alternative is made from rice sweeteners and all natural vegetable gums. In addition to being vegan, this cream is also free of GMOs, artificial colors, refined sugar, preservatives, fat, and corn syrup.

I have had the most luck finding it at my local Food Lion, but you can check out Suzanne's Specialties website to find a retailer near you!

A Vegan Review: Red Robin

One of all of the places I like to go out to eat, I would have to say that by far Red Robin tops my list. They make the list primarily because vegan options are listed right on the menu and, of course, because they have delicious food. 

They offer the Vegan BOCCA Patty, which can be substituted in for the meat patty on any of the burgers. This means that almost all of the sandwiches can be made vegan with few moderations. 

Here's my order: A 'Keep It Simple' burger, which comes on a sesame seed bun and with lettuce, tomato, onion, and pickles on the side. 

It doesn't come with cheese or mayonnaise, so you don't even have to worry about asking for those things to be left off. 

For the sides, the bottomless fries are vegan but you can also opt to get a side of fresh seasonal fruit as well! 

Doesn't this look delicious!?! 

Click here to find the Red Robin location closest to you! 

What's your favorite thing to order at Red Robin?!?! I'd love to hear what burger you love!

Join the conversation on facebook!

White-Gravy Smothered Biscuits

I have been so ready for summer since basically January 1^st and yet the East Coast is once again getting snow. I am so over the cold weather, so much in fact that I avoided going out; especially to the grocery store where everyone is buying milk and bread like it is going out of style.

So, I felt like getting a little bit creative for tonight’s Meatless Monday recipe. So join me on this adventure and let’s have breakfast for dinner!

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White-Gravy Smothered Biscuits

You will need:

Warm biscuits, I’m using Crescent Rolls

1 cup soy milk

1/2 cup flour

1 T of vegan butter

Salt and peper to taste

Directions: 

1. Cook the biscuits  like the directions on the package. 

2. In a large cup or bowl, mix together the flower and milk until it becomes one consistency. 

3. Melt the butter in the pan and then pour in the flour/milk mixture. 

4. Add in salt and peper to taste.

5. Stir until a gravy like consistency is reached.

Scoop over the biscuits and serve! 

It is a delicious southern meal, perfect for any time of day. 

Try it out & let me know what you think! 

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