It's All Good- Veggie Chick’n Breasts in Tomato Tuscan Marinade Review

Yay, VvonV cooked dinner last night!
He made some "It's All Good" faux chicken breasts, corn on the cob and stewed beans.

I wish he'd have given me time to take a few pictures of it before we dug in, because it looked very pretty. According to him, he cooked the faux chick'n according to the package, and then topped it with sauteed onions, sweet red peppers and cherry tomatoes- with a splash of white wine. He scarfed his so quick I doubt he tasted it. We'll have to work on that...

It's been almost 24 years since I've had chicken, so I have no clue as to how close it is to the real thing. It is one of the first larger 'breast' sized analogs that seemed to get the texture right. That seems to be important to people who are just starting a vegetarian diet.

I will be writing a more in-depth review (and making it again so we have pictures) on vegan-o-rama, so look for that there.

More Black Salt

Well the boys are back, so our mango supply has diminished greatly. I wanted to know what they thought of my new Black Salt, so I put the tiniest dust of a taste on their tongues. Both of them immediately made a sour face and said EWWWW! I asked each of them separately what they thought it tasted like, and surprisingly both said 'popcorn'. Popcorn?
I'm not a fan of popcorn because I hate those crunchy little hard kernel bits in it. But if you're a popcorn fan, I'm guessing that sprinkling a teensy bit of Black Salt on your popcorn might make it more 'popcorn-y' tasting.

This as about the cheapest I've seen online, at $3.49. The shipping isn't cheap, but it averages out pretty good, especially if you don't have an Indian Grocery store nearby.
Click here
Black Salt (Kala Namak) 7oz

Black Salt - Kala Namak

Yay! I have finally found some Black Salt, or Kala Namak.

It's an earth salt- a volcanic salt, rather than a sea salt. And it's not black at all, it's a peachy beige colour. It was only $2.49 for 7oz.

I was so looking forward to this. I opened the bag and sniffed- nothing. Sigh. So I licked a finger and stuck it in. WHOAH! I have not eaten eggs for 24 years, yet I immediately recognized the taste- yolks from hard-boiled eggs.

It was easy to give up eggs. I never really liked them without dressing them up. But I really understand why some of the Indian websites say they use it as an appetizer, because I can't stop tasting it. I haven't even cooked with it yet! Maybe as a vegan I just haven't been getting enough sulphur? Who knows? All I know is that this stuff is good. I have a feeling I might not like it in cooked food, since I've never liked eggs, but I intend to try to make a vegan omelette and a quiche with it and test it out on my neighbors. I'll let you know how it goes. Buy some Black Salt.

Click here
Black Salt (Kala Namak) 7oz

Mango-Tango!

Ok, so I forgot to take the mangoes I bought at India Sweet and Spices home, so I had to go back for them another day. Fibromyalgia brain-fog or something.

The good news is, I now have mangoes. And aren't they pretty? They look like Easter Eggs.

They cost $10 for 11 of them. You'll note in the picture that there are only 8. That's because Vvonv and I tore into them and ate 3 within 10 minutes of getting them home. I love the camphor taste of mangoes. We'll see how long they last when the boys are back tomorrow.

While driving to pick them up, several things caught my eye. It seems like every time I drive, within a couple of blocks I see one of those nasty plastic bags scurrying across the road. Jeez I hate those bags and litterers. Then I drove past a ponding basin and saw geese and coots and a heron and some beautiful white egrets. I wonder if anyone else ever sees them? Are they too busy in their cars? And how sad is it that the only place these birds have to go now is artificial ponding basins?

Then, I saw the cutest thing- some kind of skippy-hoppy-jumpy rodent ratty-mousy thing bouncing across the road. He hopped across the road and disappeared into the railroad tracks. He was a brave and bouncy ratty thing, and it's one of the cutest things I've seen in a long time.

Quick Vegan Lunch

This was lunch today.
Browned potatoes with onions, red and green bell peppers, garlic and basil and avocado salad and apples.

You are probably wondering- why does she have tomato juice in a wine glass?

In short, because sometimes I feel the need to trick my kids. People often have REAL dislikes in food. I hate mushrooms. No two ways about it. I have tried every kind in every way, and I just don't like them. Sad, for a vegan. I cook with them, though, and pick around them when I eat because I know everyone else loves them. And they are fun to cook with.

Zephyr does NOT like tomato juice. Or avocados. At least he thinks he doesn't. For some reason both he and Gryphon will drink anything if it's in a real wine glass. Therefore, the wine glass. I also mixed the avocado with Wildwood's Garlic Aoli and lime juice, both of which he likes, so he ate the avocado. Kind of like how yesterday I made 'milkshakes' for the boys- both boys claim to not like soy ice cream, and Zephyr has decided he doesn't like bananas. But when I mixed soy ice cream with a banana, orange juice, soymilk and coconut powder, both boys ate it up. It's more important to me to have them eat a variety of healthy foods than to cater to their tastes.

Tofutti Bagel Sandwich

Yeah, I know there are some people who really hate Tofutti. But compared to the alternative, I think it's ok. Not my favourite, but VvonV and the boys like it- and the important thing is that anywhere I've taken it- nonvegans have liked it. It has it's place.

VvonV comes home for lunch every day. He's lucky that way- so many people can't. This is really easy to make. Vegan bagels from Trader Joe's, Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese, tomatoes, avocados, romaine lettuce and a chiffonade of fresh basil topped with a little chopped garlic.
Not rocket science, but still good. Yes, that is kind of a 'jam jar' in this picture. Every once in a while our local Long's has a sale on some jarred fruit (with no added sugar) that's about 99 cents. I buy them then, because the fruit is good, and we use the jars as juice glasses. I'll choose glass over plastic any day.

Anyway- let me know what you think of this picture from my new camera.