New Vegan Products: Babybel, Biscotti, and Beyond Meat Jerky!

This is not a traditional product review post, where a company sends me something to try. I just picked up a few fun new-to-me items at stores, and I wanted to talk about them. First up, I am so in love with the new Plant-based Babybel Cheese!! I heard our local Costco had it, but I don't have a Costco membership, so I asked my friend Nicole if she'd pick some up for me. And she did! As a gift! And because it was Costco, the bag was supersized with 32 cheeses! Memphis friends: I've since heard Whole Foods also carries it. 

As much as I love to be eco-friendly and not waste plastic, I did appreciate that they're all individually wrapped because these are perfect for tossing in a purse for a snack.

The most exciting part of Babybel is peeling the wax. I've been treating myself to one of these every day just because I love peeling wax. As for the taste, they're really good. I'd say they're closest in taste to Follow Your Heart mozz. Now if only someone would come out with vegan string cheese ...

Next up is inBite Vegan Mini Biscotti. We have a new small, mom-and-pop (or more like mom-and-daughter because it's run by an awesome mother-daughter team) grocery called Grind City Grocer. They offer most Memphis-made products, but the owner is vegan, so she also stocks a few fun, non-local vegan items, like these tiny biscotti. 

I stopped by to grab another product (more on that soon), and she hooked me up with a bag of these. They're perfect for coffee-dipping, and they have a strong almond flavor on top of the chocolate chip. Makes my second cup of coffee extra fun in the mornings!

And finally, I nearly squealed out loud when I found the Beyond Meat Jerky at my neighborhood Walgreens. They had three flavors, but I opted to start with the Original. 

I snapped the pic in the store to send to a friend, so I grabbed a pic of the Teriyaki. But I haven't tried that one yet. I do need to run to Walgreens later to restock some elf makeup products, so I will definitely be getting more jerky. The flavor tastes very much like all the other Beyond products (which is a good thing), and the jerky has a nice chew.

Product Review: Bite Society Vegan Cookies!

A few weeks back, I did a post about Bite Society's awesome vegan baskets! Bite Society — an LGBTQ- and woman-owned company — features Seattle-made products, and they're packaged in reusable tins and jars with cute Americana flash tattoo art. When they sent a basket with truffle chips, dilly bean pickles, granola, tulsi tea, Salsa Macha, and more, they had not yet released their vegan cookies. But they've since added a vegan option to their Sweet Cookie Collection, so they sent me a tube to try.

Yes, that's right. A tube of cookies. The Vegan Lime-Coconut Cookies come in one of their signature flash tattoo-styled tins.

These are crunchy butter cookies (made with plant butter, of course) with hints of lime and toasted coconut. One bite has me thinking about the beach because nothing says summer like lime and coconut. 

One thing I love is that they're called "after dinner cookies," which makes them feel extra special for some reason. Like, of course you can eat them whenever you want, but I love the idea of having a little sweet treat right after dinner. I've never been a big dessert after dinner person; I'm more of a dessert around 2 p.m. with tea person. But I've been enjoying these after my dinner because I like following instructions.

You can order these a la carte, but Bite Society also offers vegan gift baskets that include the cookies, as well as those amazing truffled kettle chips, granola, pickles, teas, and so much more!

Chickpea Mac, Pumpkin Pesto, & a Tofu Wrap

Several weeks ago, I picked up a box of Banza Vegan Mac & Cheese. I love Banza pasta, which is made from chickpeas, as a high-protein pasta option. Sometimes you want lots of carbs, and other times, I want my pasta to be filled with protein. I finally made the mac last week and enjoyed some in a dinner fit for a three-year-old — Fry's Family Vegan Chicken Nuggets with Spicy Maple Mustard, Banza Mac & Cheese, and Sauteed Swiss Chard (from the farmers' market).

The mac was really good. The powdered sauce mix was made with all whole food ingredients, like sweet potato, nooch, and pumpkin. I mixed the leftovers with some sauteed broccoli the next day for a tasty bowl.

Last Friday, the night before my long run, I opened a jar of Wicked Foods Pumpkin Pesto and mixed with whole wheat penne and toasted pumpkin and sesame seeds (as recommended on the jar). This was fantastic! Creamy, pumpkiny, perfect with sides of chard and broccoli while watching Bad Vegan. Y'all, have you watched this yet??? I had no idea how crazy Sarma's story was!

Earlier in the day on Friday, I biked to Young Avenue Deli to meet my old Memphis Flyer coworkers Susan and Toby for lunch. The deli has a lot of vegan stuff, but my go-to is always the Hummus Pita (add fried tofu). The tofu is a $3 up-charge, but it's worth it. The Deli has really great fries, but Susan ordered some for the table. So I got a side salad as my side.

Paul's 42nd Birthday Dinner at Pete & Sam's!

My partner Paul turned 42 this past Tuesday. He had to work, and we didn't have anything planned because he wasn't sure what time he'd get off. But when he learned, mid-day, that he'd be off by 5 p.m., we decided to go to dinner. He wanted to find the best meat lasagna in Memphis, so we ended up at Pete & Sam's. This is a Memphis institution, and it's been around since 1948. The sign and decor haven't changed much over the years, which is pretty cool.

I'd eaten there once before — when I was vegetarian and not vegan — and had the pasta marinara. So I assumed I'd order that again. But when we got there, our server informed me that the marinara had cheese. Damn. So I had basically two options — order a cheeseless pizza (but I wasn't in the mood for that) or order a salad and make a meal of salad, bread with olive oil, and Chianti. I did the latter and ordered the Miss Vita Salad, which was perfect with the free loaf of bread they brought out. By the way, our server was super-awesome in helping me navigate my options!

The server did confirm that their homemade Italian dressing was vegan, and this salad was SO GOOD.  Olives and pepperoncinis are my fave. I actually love simple meals like this and was kinda glad I couldn't eat the pasta. Because this meant I got to eat a whole loaf of bread for dinner.

Paul ordered lots of non-vegan stuff, so I'll spare you the details. But he was very pleased with his birthday dinner.

And I was very pleased with this glass of Chianti. I wish I remembered the brand!

Easy Fried Rice, Black Bean Pasta, & More!

I had a hankering for some Just Egg the other day, but I didn't bother to look at the date on the bottle in the store. I noticed when I got home that it said "expires April 19." I've never been one to care much about that sort of thing, but I've heard that Just Egg goes bad pretty quickly. I've never had that experience, but I always try to use it before the date. That said, as long as it passes the sniff test, I'll still eat it. But in an effort to use it quickly, I made some Tofu & Veggie Fried Rice using day-old brown rice, air-fried tofu, Just Egg, frozen carrots and broccoli, onion, and spinach. Plus, a little sesame oil for flavor. A perfect lunch!

I also had some for breakfast yesterday with a side of Avocado Toast on LuLu's whole wheat sourdough.

Speaking of LuLu's, I also picked up this tasty Potato Focaccia from their stand at the Cooper-Young Farmer's Market on Saturday. A perfect post-10-mile run treat! I went to the market and then stuck around CY for a run, so this was waiting for me in the car after my workout.

Here's my weekly Raw Girls lunch from Monday! I got their Black Bean Pasta, which is tossed with hemp seeds and comes with sides of pesto and fresh tomato salsa. Man, this is SO GOOD. The protein pasta dishes at Raw Girls are my fave (well, those and the falafel bowl).

BBQ Bella, Beyond Burger, & More

This past weekend, a couple of Paul's best friends from high school flew in to celebrate his birthday (which is Tuesday), and they're both meat eaters. And when meat eaters visit Memphis, they want barbecue. I suggested Central BBQ because, not only are they known for their pork 'cue, they also have a vegan option! The BBQ Portabella Sandwich typically comes with slaw and cheese, but it's vegan if you leave those off. It's not the most exciting sandwich (portabellas rarely are), but it's nice to have an option. Most BBQ places here have nothing I can eat. And Central's homemade BBQ chips are awesome! Washed down with a Memphis Made Brew Junt for extra Memphis points.

Here's a recent Beyond Burger that I made at home. It's topped with Follow Your Heart provolone and served with truffled kettle chips from Bite Society. Those chips are seriously the best chips I've ever had.

Here's a not-so-pretty bowl, but this is what a lot of my meals look like. It's quinoa, pintos, steamed kale, canned beets, and tahini sauce. Simple and healthy.

And here's a delicious plate of pasta that I had one Friday night! The sauce was Wicked Foods Black Olive Pesto, which I mixed with some fun-shaped pasta from Nicoletto's (a Nashville-based pasta company), asparagus, mushrooms, and bell pepper. The Wicked Foods pesto is SO GOOD. It's kind of pricy, but I had some coupons so I stocked up on Wicked stuff.

Cookbook Review: Easy Vegan Home Cooking

I've long been a fan of Laura Theodore (aka The Jazzy Vegetarian). Her PBS cooking show was one of the first vegan cooking shows back when veganism was still considered a weird hippie thing, and her recipes are always so simple and wholesome. 

I was sent a review copy of Laura's new book, Easy Vegan Home Cooking, which features more than 125 plant-based and gluten-free recipes. Now, I have nothing against gluten, but as a vegan, I know what it's like to feel excluded. So it's nice when recipes are both vegan and gluten-free so EVERYONE can eat them. 

Since this is "easy home cooking," Laura includes a nice pantry section featuring plant-based must-haves for quick meals, like rolled oats, canned beans, and tahini — all ingredients featured in many of her recipes. She includes a section on making your own cream sauces with cashews, cauliflower, or white beans, plus tips on how to select and prep tofu. Then she dives straight into the recipes.

I made a couple dishes; first up, the Savory Asparagus Tofu Scramble. This was a classic scramble, but I'd never though to use asparagus. That's a veggie I just don't eat enough of, and it's in season right now! The scramble also called for shredded vegan cheese, which made it extra special. I'm now inspired to start adding cheese to all of my scrambles.

Although Laura calls for optional vegan cheese here, she very rarely relies on processed foods. Her recipes call for fresh veggies, grains, greens, beans, nuts, and seeds. Her style is very old-school hippie vegan, and the recipes remind of meals I ate in my early vegan days before we had all the fancy vegan meats and cheeses and ice creams and other junk foods. Love those things! But I also love a healthy, wholesome meal. 

Next up, I made Laura's Buddha Bowl. This has BBQ tempeh, roasted sweet potatoes, turmeric quinoa (she uses a lot of quinoa in this book), shredded carrots, steamed kale, maple-y tahini, and toasted sunflower seeds. Bowls are my favorite thing to eat on a busy weeknight. They're super-healthy, and they digest well on nights when I go to bed early. For the BBQ tempeh, you make a homemade BBQ sauce that's maple-sweetened, which feels healthier than sugar. I especially loved the sweet and savory lemon tahini sauce!

Other recipes I can't wait to try: Confetti Potato Salad (it has green olives and red peppers!), Chicken-ish Salad (made with chickpeas), Chili Roasted Cauliflower Steaks with Crispy Mushrooms, and Hot Cha-Cha Tofu (a baked sriracha tofu). Her desserts are of the healthier variety, and I really want to try the Orange Creamy, Dreamy Pie (an orange pie made with blended cashews and tofu in a cookie crust) and the Peanut Butter & Chocolate Pudding Pie. There's even a Blueberry-Vanilla Soup with Orange Cream that sounds a little like smoothie bowl. Yum!