Some bits and bobs of plant-based eating
Disclaimer: the products, creators, authors and establishments mentioned are sincere consumer opinions, from my point of view as a plant-based enthusiast, meditation believer and yoga newbie, always mindful of our planet, seeking to improve life... my way. None are paid advertisements.
With this collection of how I eat plant-based snippets, I hope to cement the fact that I will remain away from animal products with an even stronger conviction than before.
Click here for my previous post “about being wrong”.
I don’t call myself “vegan”. The mere label can be often perceived as restrictive, extreme, militant, dogmatic, absolutist, purist, self-righteous and not fun at all. And at this moment, I am really enjoying food SO much and this new way of cooking, that I am not comfortable identifying with such labels. But the main reason is that there are still elements in my life that have not undergone the full transition towards “zero” animal products:
· I still take some medicines that most likely have animal-based ingredients.
· I still own and wear all my leather clothing/shoes purchased before 2018 and I am not sure how I feel about the quality and durability of vegan leather.
· In certain social situations where no choices or clarity is given about the food, then I make the best decision available that tends to be vegetarian at best.
The mindset is there, I want to avoid as much suffering as possible and this is enough of an identity for me. So “plant-based” I am!
Enough of the dense stuff. Here some tasty food content!
Yes. Snacks. Vegan. Need.
What does it look like to go into a supermarket and go for late-night munchies *vegan* snacks? Like this:
Alnatura always has good stuff. It is an expensive store, but it does promote certain agricultural local-ish initiatives that leave you with a feeling slightly better than those mega-markets where money trumps everything else (the other day I heard the definition of quantity over quality stores: “pile ´em high and sell ´em cheap”, how awful does that sound?!).
Those corn tortilla chips taste exactly like Doritos but accidentally vegan. Lots of garlic and spices.
They have so many small brand varieties of potato chips, that I always like to try a different one. This one featured, unfortunately, had a very strong rancid aftertaste. See? That is what happens when the masses ask for “zero additives”, you end up with a product that might fail to reach shelf life. Sometimes additives (ie. Antioxidants) are useful and not always their harm has been scientifically proven.
The Taifun flavored tofu slices are a guilty pleasure because they are so freaking delicious. Super salty and fatty. I eat them cold out of the pack when I get late-night munchies. They make me happy. I just wish that these get cheaper overtime with Taifun company growth.
Those fruit-filled waffles have been accidentally vegan for SO long and only now, they added a tiny little logo. Almost like trying not to piss too many people off and to still lure those who are actively looking for vegan stuff. They are delicious. Super sweet and jammy. Addicted.
I am trying to move away from evil Oreos and all that palm oil that Mondelez is just not willing to give up! This is an Alnatura brand attempt of cream-filled chocolate cookies. They are nice, but not great. They are all about coconut, which is not always my favorite flavor. But when the late nite sweet tooth attacks, having these at hand does the job.
Give new life to leftovers
On a different topic, if you have a full-time-job-single-no-kid household then you are probably faced with leftovers like myself. Leftovers are the best thing for salads or buddha bowls.
Here I have amazingly crispy tofu nuggets thanks to a recent order to Fleischfrei, a vegetarian takeaway option in the Lieferando app. Chop´em up and pair them with some high protein pasta. This time I wanted to try the bright green pea protein spirals. Mix up with freshly chopped rainbow salad, and douse everything with your favorite type of dressing. You got yourself something delicious and nutritious by giving new life to reheated tofu nuggets from days ago.
Granted, legume-based kinds of pasta are not traditional pasta. They have a mealy texture, difficult to gauge the “al dente” point, decidedly bitter and definitely taste like legumes! But for pasta salads, where you are gonna add all types of ingredients and a tangy powerful dressing, none of the above really matter. If you are planning to do a minimalistic Italian style pasta and super light sauce (ie. Aglio e olio) and where the pasta texture should shine, well then…
The trifle is another fancy way to repurpose your baked experiments.
From a few posts ago, I baked these gorgeous sunny lemon blondies.
Click here for my Instagram post.
As much delicious as these were, I cannot possibly eat a whole tray. Once I´ve had enough, I use the same baking paper from the tray and use to individually wrap the single portions and freeze them.
A perfect fridge staple is the no-refined-sugar chia jam made with frozen fruit that I keep in rotation. This time there were chunky sour aromatic cherries that are just saucy enough to ripple through the yogurt. Yum!
I always have in stock some plant-based yogurt, Alpro Natur being my favorite. More often than not, impromptu desserts revolve around the last bit of a yogurt pot…
Now all you gotta do is layer´em up! First the yogurt. Then crumble the blondie/cake/cookie overtop. Then spoon in the jam. It looks super nice and it does not feel like repurposing leftovers, but a brand new fancy little trifle just for you. #treatyoself
Click here for my post of the sugar-free quick jam, that time I used blueberries.
My leftover repurposing tendencies go way back, as you can see from this post, where I repurposed stale cookies like peanut butter banana toasties.
