May 30, 2005
Vegan Green Giant Garlic & Herb Potatoes
Thanks Green Giant for quick and easy Garlic & herb potatoes that are vegan.
After a weekend with my family of: "Can I eat any of this stuff? What's in the wild rice?" family: "Chicken broth, I'm sorry." Cheese and cream in the potatoes, creamy-cheesy Cesar salad, yesterday they finally put the cheese sauce on the side instead of right on the cauliflower so I had something to eat.
Thick steaks Friday night, chicken Saturday and a tenderloin Sunday night, all grilled to perfection by Ryan with ooohs and aaahs all around.
I am starving.
(Potatoes were Angela's tip - thanks)
Posted by Denise at 03:24 PM | Comments (4)
May 22, 2005
Gimme Lean Sausage Style Pasta
I have been cooking with Gimme Lean Sausage Style a lot lately. It is really tasty and adds a good shot of protein, where if I only used the veggies to make the same meal (which I often do), I would otherwise miss out on.
Try this excellent pasta dish. It is fast, easy and not too messy to make. One skillet and one pot to boil the pasta.
Gimme Lean Sausage Style Pasta
1/3 package Lightlife, Gimme Lean Sausage Style
6-8 oz pasta (I used Cavatappi and I love it, penne, elbows, anything)
1 bag of washed baby spinach
5-6 medium size mushrooms
1 small-medium onion
Garlic powder or 1-2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
Basil (I had fresh - about a handful chopped, or a pinch of dry)
Favorite jar sauce (about 1/2 jar or less)
Olive oil
Salt & pepper
1.) Put a pot of water on to boil for pasta.
2.) Chop mushrooms and onions and toss in the skillet.
3.) Scoop Gimme Lean out of the tube in small chunks and put in the pan one by one. (gross part) Wash hands.
4.) Turn heat on high, wait till you hear sizzling and then carefully pour a liberal amount of olive oil into the pan. (You want to wait so the mushrooms don't absorb it, they won't if the pan is hot enough)
5.) Is the pasta water boiling? Then toss in the pasta. Set the timer.
6.) If you have fresh basil or garlic, chop it and get it ready.
7.) Stir the Gimme Lean Sausage and mushrooms and onions often, while they saut? over a high heat so it doesn't burn, but gets very brown and crisp. (best that way) If you are using garlic powder sprinkle a nice (to your taste) amount over the mixture, season with salt & pepper, and stir.
8.) When the sausage is browned, toss in the fresh basil, fresh garlic (if you have it) and the bag of spinach. Turn down the heat to a simmer and stir until the spinach is cooked. (like a minute - very quick) Then pour in a bit of the pasta sauce, 1/4 - 1/3 of the jar. I like to cut the pasta sauce with water, about 50-50, because then it doesn't overpower the vegetables.
9.) Hope you took the pasta off when it was al dente.
10.) Pour the sauce over the pasta and put some "cheese" over to finish it. I only had Veggie Shreds Mozzarella Flavor so I used that - almost vegan. You can use Soymage Vegan Parmesan Alternative to have a completely vegan meal.
Enjoy. Serves about 2 or so people.
Posted by Denise at 02:50 PM | Comments (2)
May 18, 2005
Vegan Egg Rolls
I found these VAN 100% Vegetarian Egg Rolls in the "deli" (it's not a deli, it's just a refrigerated island of packaged food) section of my super Wal-Mart. Right next to some brats and brie. It's funny, I never look in there, but wandered over and found these. I read the ingredients and couldn't believe it.
They are pretty good for egg rolls minus the eggs.
Be warned, they make 4-5 different kinds, the rest have meat in them.
*(of note) Angela, a new reader who has taken a great interest in Almost Vegan, emailed me about these egg rolls the very next day after I found them. I think they must be new, at least at Wal-Mart.
Posted by Denise at 12:47 PM | Comments (2)
May 15, 2005
Vegan Granola Bar
I found one.
Now I have been looking for a vegan granola bar for some time now. I don't know how many bar's ingredient lists I have read and it surprised me that I didn't find one that was vegan. Always milk in them. I had almost given up.
But then I noticed the Full Circle brand on this package and because I have recently discovered Full Circle, (Hey, I live out in the middle of nowhere) I thought what the heck.
Score.
I tried the wild berry. Yum. They have a little, Rice Crispy Treat-like texture to them. Don't be fooled though, their Cobbler Cereal Bars do have milk in them. Rats!
Posted by Denise at 09:36 AM | Comments (1)
May 08, 2005
Angela's Post
I received this email today, and by God I'm gonna make this my post. No, it is not entirely because I have been working really hard lately so I have not had the time to post much (true), but it is a really good email and I liked it a lot.
(Especially the part about the potato wedges at Wal-Mart)
Enjoy:
-------------------------------
Hi Denise!
I ran across the almost vegan website just a couple days ago, and I
was delighted to find every day commercial things listed. I wanted to
contribute a post, but I couldn't figure out how to do it. I'm
guessing the only way to get a post up is to email you, so here I am!
I've been a vegan for 8 months or so now and I'm constantly reading
the ingredient lists for this. I put together a little webpage with my
usual things on it because other people wanted to know what I could
eat as well. All three of these pages have pictures too:
http://www.brick.net/~izaah/diet/katdiet.html
http://www.brick.net/~izaah/diet/newstuff.html
http://www.brick.net/~izaah/diet/newstuff2.htm
Here are some other things that I didn't list that are vegan:
Snyder's of Hanover Jalapeno Pieces
Website and Picture:
http://www.snydersofhanover.com/Pages/Bakery%20Selections/products_pieces_jalapeno.html
The Potato wedges sold at walmart in the deli are also vegan. I got to
see the box of ingredients!
The spaghetti marinara at Fazoli's is vegan (they used to put parmesan
on top, but now they only put parsley)
Domino's thin crust pizza dough is vegan...remember to leave off the cheese.
Thanks!
Angela
Posted by Denise at 09:50 PM | Comments (5)
May 05, 2005
Tofu Mate - Tasty Protein
I always feel the need for protein and this Tofu Mate is a good help with that. It makes a nice sauce and is great over rice.
Posted by Denise at 04:08 PM | Comments (2)
