Potatoes! Beans! Pasta!

It's a pantry party! I'm used to frequent (almost daily) trips to the grocery store for this or that, but on my last big shopping trip, I tried to stock up so I could avoid those trips as much as possible. Sure, I'll have to venture out for fresh produce soon. But I'm well-stocked on beans, grains, potatoes, and frozen foods.

A recent No Meat Athlete podcast with guest host Julia Murray covered some pantry staples for the pandemic, and I took that list with me to Trader Joe's a couple weekends ago. One meal idea Julia (of Hooked on Plants) mentioned was a Potato Party! Cook some potatoes any way you want (I air-fried mine) and top with beans, salsa, avocado, and whatever you have on hand. I added soy yogurt as a sour cream stand-in, plus black olives and nooch. So good!!

Dry pasta is cheap and keeps forever, so I stocked up on whole wheat spaghetti and canned tomatoes (for homemade pasta sauce). Paul and I made Spaghetti & Mushrooms again last weekend. I added spinach to my bowl (Paul doesn't do green leafys) and a side of garlic toast (made with sliced bread cause it's what we had).

And I had some leftover pasta and sauce on Friday night to carb-load for Saturday's long run (currently marathon training for a "social distancing" virtual run). I added a chopped Morningstar vegan chicken patty and some Violife mozz (it keeps well in the freezer!) for a Chick'n Parm dish.

I am leaving the house to pick up takeout sometimes! I'm ordering from Imagine Vegan Cafe at least once a week to show my support. I know restaurants are having a hard time, and I feel like it's my duty as a vegan foodie to show them some love! Not everyone can afford to eat out right now, so as someone who is lucky enough to still be working, I feel very strongly that I should spend some of my money on takeout. Last week, I got Imagine's Southern Staple to go. Black beans, brown rice, collards, garlic aioli, and cornbread. They give you SO MUCH FOOD.

I ate half of that (and all the cornbread) for dinner that night and saved the other half for lunch the next day, enjoyed with some steamed broccoli with nooch during a work WebX meeting. Y'all, WebX meetings for work/Zoom workouts with my gym/Google Hangouts with friends are pretty much my entire life these days. I've already earned the office reputation as being the girl who is always eating during WebX meetings! But I was the girl who was always eating in the office as well, so it's fitting.