I Love Gardein!

I'm pretty cheap. Granted, I don't make that much working in the newspaper business, but I'm fairly certain I'd still be a frugalista if I had a million bucks. When I do splurge, it's generally on fancy vegan food items. I rarely buy clothes, shoes, or other necessities. Sometimes, I'm even too cheap to shell out a few extra bucks on faux meat like Gardein.

But after all the hype over Tal Ronnen's The Conscious Cook (a book I still don't have because I've been too cheap to buy it!) and his Gardein faux meat products, I finally broke down and spent the $4 on one package of Gardein Thai Trio.

The Thai Trio is a one-serving, chick'n breast stuffed with tomatoes, red peppers, and bamboo shoots. It comes with a creamy, coconut-spiced red Thai curry sauce and a generous portion of tender basmati rice. I was a little shocked at the tiny size of the chick'n breast. It's smaller than the palm of my hand, and I have small hands. But the texture was spot on. I suspect it's close enough to the texture of a real chicken breast to please an omni, but not close enough to be creepy.

I served my Thai Trio with steamed beets and spinach, which I doused liberally with Asian chili-garlic sauce after I snapped this picture. A quick, delicious week night meal. I've been a little pressed for time this week, which means less time for messin' around in the kitchen. Thankfully, the Gardein meal was ready in minutes. Definitely worth the $4. I think I'll stop being so cheap and start keeping this stuff on hand.

Have a great weekend, and be sure to come back on Sunday night for a super-awesome, surprise giveaway!