Product Review: Vite Ramen

I love ramen in all its forms: the classic cheap bags that have accidentally vegan flavors, the healthier baked ramen, fancy restaurant ramen, gluten-free ramen, rice noodle ramen. I'm here for all of it. But there's a new ramen in town, and it's not only delicious but loaded with vitamins, minerals, and protein. Vite Ramen sent me their vegan flavors — Vegan White Miso and Sichuan Chili Edition — and they are truly a meal in a bag! They also included a Vite Ramen spoon and chopsticks in the package!

The noodles are baked (not fried) and made with quinoa, corn flour, wheat, and kansui (a traditional ramen ingredient that helps with bite and texture). Each bag has up to 31 grams of protein (that's more than a four-ounce steak, y'all). The next time someone asks me where I get my protein, I'm just gonna say "ramen."

They're also made with a proprietary nutrient blend (which they call "noodtrients") that contains 27 micronutrients, plus 7 grams of prebiotic fiber, MCT oil, and ALA omega-3s. 

I tried the Vegan White Miso first and added tofu, spinach, and scallions. Likely due to the high protein, this was a super-filling bowl, and the flavor was so intensely awesome. The seasoning packet is quite large so you don't have to worry with adding any additional flavors to your bowl. I've been known to add lots of Bragg's my Koyo ramen bowls, but these Vite Ramen packets have all the flavor you need.

The noodles have a firm bite, much like fried ramen. They reminded me of the fancy homemade noodles I've been served in good ramen restaurants.

The Sichuan Chili was my fave though! It comes with a spicy oil, and this bowl was just bursting with flavor. I added tofu and lots of veggies: mushrooms, carrots, corn, green beans, snap peas, scallions, and spinach. 

This ramen is fantastic! If you served this to someone who didn't know better, they'd assume it was not healthy. When health food tastes like junk food, that's a win in my book!

Thanksgiving Burgers, Chickpea Quiche, & More!

I've mentioned on this blog about a million times that I'm trying to make every single recipe in the No Meat Athlete Cookbook, and I'm nearly there! But one recipe that I keep forgetting to make when it's seasonally appropriate are the Thanksgiving Burgers. I always look at the recipe in the summer and think, I should remember to make those around Thanksgiving. And then I forget. Well, this year was different. I finally remembered! These veggie burgers are made with tempeh, butternut squash, brussels, cranberries, pecans, and a fall/winter seasoning blend that's heavy on the sage. They taste just like Thanksgiving dressin (or stuffing as people up north would say). I've been enjoying these with homemade pickled onions and whole grain mustard on Dave's Killer Bread buns (with a side of sweet potato fries).

Another recipe that I finally tried from the book was the Chickpea Quiche. This has a base of chickpea flour and greens (I used spinach) and is basically Indian pudla. I love pudla, and I'm not sure why it took me so long to make this recipe. But it's an easy one, and I'll be making it again and again.

The book also makes suggestions for how to reuse leftovers in new and fun ways. They suggested trying the quiche in a sandwich with greens, so I had that for breakfast one day this week (with vegan mayo, spinach, and sprouts).

Here's some delicious Lentil Soup from Global Café at Crosstown Concourse (where I work). I got this to-go for lunch one day and took it home to eat it for lunch. They serve their soups with hand-fried tortilla chips!

And here's a bowl I had on Sunday night! I made some marinated and baked noochy tofu and served it over brown rice with avocado, kale, and pickled onions. Seasoned liberally with Bragg's and hot sauce!

All the Potatoes! And More!

I've been on a potato kick lately! I baked some potatoes for quick dinners and lunches last week and topped them in fun ways. My favorite was this Loaded Baked Potato with vegan cheese, seitan bacon, bacon-y roasted chickpeas, sour cream, chives, and Earth Balance. I seasoned those chickpeas with vegan bacon salt and air-fried until crispy.

Here's another tater topped with black beans, salsa, broccoli, avocado, sour cream, and sprouts! Like a salad on top of a potato!

Last week was Hanukah, and though I'm not Jewish, I do love latkes! I made Isa's Baked Potato Pancakes (her low-oil spin on traditional shredded and fried latkes) from The Superfun Times Vegan Holiday Cookbook. These were really awesome with vegan sour cream and applesauce!

I got some beautiful turnips in my last CSA, so I roasted them up and served with a slice of seitan roast (that I put up in the freezer when I last made a big batch) and kale.

And finally, here's a tasty and quick work lunch. Vegan Mac & Cheese (from a box! The Annie's Naturals brand) with seitan bacon and broccoli, plus a yummy side salad with vegan ranch.

Race Recap: St. Jude Memphis Half-Marathon

Another Monday, another race recap! Fall racing season is well underway, and it feels like I've had a race nearly every weekend lately (though it's actually been two weeks since my last marathon in Nashville). This past Saturday was the St. Jude Memphis Marathon, and though I've run the full here a couple times, I opted for the half-marathon this year to give my legs a little break after doing two 50ks and a marathon in the past 90 days.

Let's start this post on Friday night with my pre-race pasta dinner. I picked up some dried pasta at Nicoletto's in Nashville when I was there, so I had some of that with jarred mushroom marinara and sauteed mushrooms, plus a lot of noochy-hemp seed parm. 

On Saturday morning, I got up around 5 am and had my standard pre-race bagel with almond butter. St. Jude did a staggered start this year, due to the pandemic, so my start time wasn't until 8:45 am, which is fairly late for a race start. My friend Megan was also signed up for the half, and it was her very first one! I was excited to be there running Megan's first half with her. We rode together (Paul dropped us off) and waited near the start line.

We crossed the start line at 8:45 am, and Megan and I ran together for about four miles, including a jaunt through the St. Jude campus. This race is St. Jude's biggest fundraiser and helps in their mission to never charge families for medical services. 

After we passed the campus, I was feeling good, so I tapped Megan on the shoulder and told her I was taking off. I sped up and held a pretty quick (for me) pace for the rest of the race. 

Paul is recovering from colon surgery, so I was surprised to see him waiting for me to pass on North Parkway near our house! That gave me a nice burst of energy.

Here's a banner that I helped hang for work the night before the race. It was cool to pass under it on the run. 

The race was just a giant party this year. Maybe it was all that pent-up energy from missing a year of the race in 2020, but the spectators came out in full force between Crosstown Concourse and Stonewall in the Evergreen neighborhood. 

When I passed the Crosstown Memphis CDC cheer station (I sit on the CDC board), fellow member Justin handed me a shot of Fireball. So I took that! Also, another CDC member Anna Joy ran with me to cheer me on for a bit! 

Then a few feet down the road, the Memphis Hash House Harriers were handing our beer shots. And then on Stonewall, a man handed me a shot of champagne. Beale Street Brewing made a special beer for the race, and they had samples on North Parkway. Whew! Oh, and on other parts of the course, there were whiskey shots and rum shots. It sounds kind of crazy, but these were very small shots, 1/2-ounce pours typically, so they're just enough to give you a teensy boost. What a fun time! There was so much booze that I ended up turning down a few shots.

Oh, and here's an asparagus that I met in the race.

I finished in decent time. Not my fastest race and not my slowest. I wasn't going for a PR, just a party. And boy did I get a party!

After the race, I got some vegetable soup from the McAlister's booth in the post-race area at AutoZone Park (our baseball stadium), and then I headed for the beer tent to try the special Lighting In All beer that Wiseacre Brewing made just for the race. Our local breweries are so awesome! Megan finished a little after me, and we enjoyed our beers in a grassy area on the hill. The St. Jude Memphis race is always such a good one! 

After my shower, I wanted something decadent to eat, so I went to Imagine Vegan Cafe and ordered the Appetizer Sampler with loaded potato skins, pigs in blankets, hot wings, chicken nuggets, and hush puppies. YUM!!!

Cookbook Review: The Alzheimer's Solution

Dementia runs in my family. My grandpa (Pa) had Alzheimer's, and my Granny had dementia. Watching someone suffer from dementia is tough, and it's a road I don't want to go down. So now that I'm in my 40s, I figure it's time for me to start making lifestyle choices to reduce my risk. I first learned about Team Sherzai (Dean and Ayesha Sherzai) on the Plant Strong podcast, and I've since become a little obsessed with this husband-and-wife team of vegan neurologists! 

A few months ago, I ordered their first book, The Alzheimer's Solution, which lays out a plan to help prevent and even reverse dementia. They call it the NEURO plan: N for nutrition, E for exercise, U for unwind, R for restore, and O for optimize. On the nutrition side, they strongly recommend a low-sugar, whole foods-focused, plant-based diet. I already had the whole foods and plant-based thing down, but I've never really thought much about sugar. 

So the book inspired me to start reading labels to look for added sugars. Natural sugars from fruit are fine, but they say to watch for added sugar from cane sugar, fructose, glucose, and even maple and agave. About 25 grams a day is okay, but some processed foods can have that much in one serving. I've started using stevia more often (like for coffee or for sweetening sauces and even collard greens). But don't worry — I'm not giving up desserts! On days when I want a donut or scoop of ice cream, I just make sure not to eat added sugars elsewhere in my meals.

At the end of the book, they include some vegan, whole foods-based recipes, and I've been working my way through those. I loved their Tofu Turmeric Scramble! 

And the Oatmeal Amaranth Porridge was a great way to use up some of the amaranth that's been in my pantry for years. I never know what to do with that stuff! This has amaranth, oats, chia, walnuts, blueberries, and banana, and it's sweetened with stevia. I know some people don't care for stevia, but I like it!

These Spelt Pancakes with Chia-Berry Sauce were fantastic! The chia-berry sauce was stevia-sweetened, and it stands in for maple syrup. I'll still be using maple on my pancakes most days, but one tablespoon has a day's worth of sugar, so it's nice to have a substitute for days when I want to get my sugar elsewhere.

And finally, here's a dinner from the book. These Black Bean & Squash Enchiladas are stuffed with beans and delicata squash and topped with a garlicky homemade enchilada sauce. I will definitely make these again!

The exercise chapter recommends about 30 minutes of exercise a day, but as an endurance runner, I'm exceeding that by quite a bit. The unwind chapter is all about relaxation, like meditation and yoga, and I do those things daily. The restore chapter is about sleep, and I've been focusing on sleep hygiene lately and have gotten much better at it! My Garmin sleep score has been improving lately! The final chapter is about optimizing your brain through challenges and brain games, and I'm hoping to bring in some habits in 2022 to work on that (maybe learning a new language?!).

Team Sherzai also has a newer 30-Day Alzheimer's Solution book with a full plan and full-color cookbook, and I've asked for that for Christmas! So I'll probably be doing a 4-week meal plan at some point!

Vegan Chicken & Spaghetti!

Vegan chicken and spaghetti! But not together. Though that would be delicious too! Here are a few recent meals. I've been on a vegan chicken kick lately. Last week, I had some Fry's Family Foods Chick'n Nuggets with Annie's Rich & Creamy Vegan Mac and Kale. The Fry's nuggets are really tasty, especially crisped up in the air fryer. And that boxed vegan Annie's mac is excellent! I got the kind with bits of broccoli. I think Daiya boxed mac is still my fave, but this was good.

I also recently made the Gardein Nashville Hot Chicken with Coleslaw, Whole Wheat Biscuits (from Cookin' Crunk), and Kale. Also, some cashew ranch for dipping! This was my first time trying the Gardein Nashville hot chicken, and it was awesome! My friend Greg bought these tenders when he was visiting Memphis last month, and he accidentally left them in my fridge. Yay for me!! I'll buy him some more when I see him again.

And here's a recent Spaghetti Plate with canned mushrooms, baby spinach, marinara, and lots of nooch. I always prefer fresh mushrooms, but we keep cans in the pantry for those nights when we make pasta and forget to buy mushrooms (it happens a lot!).

Thanksgiving & Black Friday Recap!

I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving! I sure did, despite the fact that Thanksgiving was a little different this year. Most years, I head to my parents' house on the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving and spend the night at their house. On Thursday, I get up and run, and then I'm in the kitchen helping my mom finish up the cooking.

But Paul had to have surgery on Tuesday for diverticulitis, and he was in the hospital for five days. I spent most every night there (except for Friday, more on that in a few), so I knew I'd be there Wednesday night. Also, my parents moved this year, and they're about two and a half hours from Memphis (before, they were just an hour away). So we decided to do a quick Thanksgiving lunch at my me-maw's house. She still lives in my hometown, just an hour away. My mom and me-maw did the cooking, and I just left the hospital in time to get there for a late lunch!

We had all the usual stuff my mom makes — Tofurky, my mama's amazing vegan dressin, hash brown casserole, homemade rolls, and cranberry sauce. And me-maw cooked some corn and chickpeas. My mom always makes everything vegan so I can enjoy all the dishes (but they do have turkey and some non-vegan versions of the casseroles as well). 

My parents aren't pumpkin fans (I know, it's crazy!), so our dessert is usually not very seasonal. But that's okay! This year, we had Daiya Cheesecake with Strawberry Topping, and it was delicious!

Here's my family! My mom is holding my "uncle" Gray Boy (me-maw's cat!).

After lunch, I made the drive back to Memphis and headed back to the hospital. Paul was eating some solids by then, so I brought him a small plate of leftovers.

The next morning, I hung out at the hospital for most of the day, but after spending three nights there, I wanted to sleep in my own bed. And I always put my holiday decor up on Black Friday, so I wanted to do that too. I went home around 6 pm that night and made myself a lovely Holiday Charcuterie plate with Miyoko's cheddar slices, Renegade vegan salami crackers, Bubbie's pickles, pickled green tomatoes, marcona almonds, baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, hummus, figs, and grapes. 

I enjoyed a glass of wine with my snacks, and then I made a spiked nog drink with the Chobani Oat Nog (excellent stuff!!). 

Here's my solstice tree!

Black Friday is also my veganaversary! I've been vegan for 18 years and vegetarian for 28 years!