Stuff I Ate

Here are some random meals I've been eating lately — in no particular order.

My office is downtown, and last Friday was day two of the World Championship BBQ Cooking Contest downtown. It's a massive and very non-vegan event that attracts barbecue cooks from all over the world. It's really awful. Throughout the fest, the air around my office reeks from the smell of barbecue (and I can't help but think of all those poor pigs), and the area around our office basically becomes a giant parking lot. So, thankfully, our office has a tradition of closing at noon on BBQ Fest Friday every year because parking for our employees becomes next to impossible. And since we were off at noon, my editor Susan and I decided to hit up our favorite Vietnamese buffet at Pho Binh.

For less than $10 at Pho Binh, you can fill your lunch plate with as much tofu as you want! There is a little meat on the buffet, but most of the dishes are vegan. Last Friday, they had their standards — Green Beans with Tofu, Curry Tofu, and (my very favorite) Lemongrass Tofu. Pho Binh's lemongrass tofu is legendary.

The new Just Mayo dressings (including the ranch!!) are available at our Target here in Memphis now, and they were on sale last week for $3 a bottle. I picked up Just Ranch and Just Sweet Mustard (like a vegan honey mustard dressing). I'd tried the ranch once before when it came out on a limited release last year, and it's AMAZING. But I immediately cracked open the Sweet Mustard when I got home from Target and whipped up this messy Big Ole Dinner Salad with chickpeas and dried cranberries and lots of veggies. The mustard dressing is the best! It's just like the creamy honey mustard I remember from my pregan days.

I've been eating a lot of Miyoko's Creamery cheese lately — the stash I brought back from Little Rock since it's still not available here. This is the Garlic-Herb Cheese (made with aged cashews) with fig jam and crackers.

My strawberry plants are making strawberries like crazy! I was craving chocolate one day earlier this week, so I topped So Delicious Cashewmilk Creamy Chocolate Ice Cream with Fresh Strawberries, Chocolate Syrup, and CocoWhip. So good!

Are you tired of seeing protein waffle pics yet? Too bad! I had another FitQuick Birthday Cake Protein Waffle this morning topped with maple-agave syrup, Miyoko's Creamery Cultured VeganButter, and CocoWhip. These waffles have 22 grams of protein!

And here's a FitQuick Pizza Waffle stuffed with fancy olives and spinach and topped with marinara and Follow Your Heart vegan parm. I'm basically obsessed with FitQuick Protein Waffles. Yes, they're expensive, but the cost for a bag of 8 servings is about equal to the cost of protein powder in the same amount (and protein powder is also very expensive, but I view it a necessity during training season).

Speaking of breakfast, have y'all had this Califia Farms Better Half creamer yet? OMG! I picked it up on a whim at Whole Foods, and it's my new fave thing. It's sooooooooo thick and creamy because it's mostly pure coconut cream. Makes for very creamy coffee!

For Mother's Day, my mama made Vegan Dumplins (like chicken and dumplins but without the chicken), hash brown casserole, vegan dressin', and green beans. I blogged about that awhile ago. But last week, I had some leftover dumplins, and I'd been eating leftovers for a few days. So I decided to mix it up a bit by adding Soy Curls to the dish. I still love my mama's dumplins plain (without any plant meat) the best when they're fresh, but on day four, the Soy Curls were a nice addition.

I guess I've been eating a lot of brown food. I didn't realize that until I started putting this together. Well, here's something green for you. On Tuesday night, Memphis' Planned Parenthood put on the first event in a monthly series called Beers with Pioneers, where local feminist icons talk about their fight for women's rights while guests drink free beer and chow down on food truck fare. It was in my neighborhood, and feminism, beer, and food trucks are all my favorite things! Fuel Food Truck was there, so I got the Vegan Tacos (Fuel's homemade veggie burger crumbles, vegan cheddar, vegan sour cream, onions, lettuce, and lots of avocado) and a free Ghost River beer.

Okay, I've saved the best for last. Cause today I had TOTCHOS! That's right — tater tot nachos. My friend Cassi sells them at Pink Diva Cupcakery. The tots are piled high with vegan cheese, black beans, brown rice, lettuce, salsa, onions, and sour cream. I don't order this often because it's a lot of food, and I cannot stop eating tots once I start. I ate all of these tots for lunch today. And I counted. There were 30.