Vegan Mofo: Making a Dish From Pantry Staples

In today's Vegan Mofo post, we're supposed to imagine we're snowed in and can't leave for groceries. What would we make with items already in our pantries, fridges, and freezers? The temps are still in the high 80s here, so that's a little hard to envision. And quite frankly, I'd prefer to never see snow again. Screw winter.

But for the sake of this post, let's just pretend stupid winter is already here. Memphis rarely sees snow, but we do get at least one snowfall, typically in February. And we usually get a few awful ice storms. If that happened today, I'd reach for an item that I need to review anyway — Earth Balance Gluten-Free Vegan Cheddar Flavor Mac & Cheese. I've had this lingering in my pantry for more than a month now! Why have I waited so long?

This is new in the EB line. The gluten-containing mac & cheese has been out for awhile, and it's the perfect substitute for the old Kraft mac & cheese. But as someone who prefers the texture of gluten-free mac, I'm happy to see they've released this new version! Same delicious powdered cheese, but the noodles are made with corn and rice flour. They're not gooey or fragile though. In fact, they're almost indistinguishable from the regular pasta used in the original version.

But back to that snow storm. I could make plain ole macaroni and cheese. That would be delicious and comforting. But why stop there? I had some homemade steamed seitan sausages in my freezer, so I sliced and sauteed three of those. And I added some peas for good measure. I always have frozen peas in the freezer.

Mmmmm. Nothing like mac & cheese with wieners in it to warm you up on a (pretend) cold day!