Oh man. This past week.
I have been so freaking lazy.
I moved out here with the goal that I would cook almost every night. I had so many reasons why this was a good idea.
All those reasons looked something like this… I hand wrote it at the time and recreated it on my iPad because I was exceptionally bored and it seemed like a worthwhile waste of time.
But you know what? It’s like I forgot all about that.
Every night after I get off work, I feel too tired, or too lazy, to cook. As a result, we’ve been eating a lot (and I mean A LOT) of Chipotle and Qdoba. I tend to only consume dairy when we go out for dinner, so that also means I’ve been eating a lot of cheese… And then there was that time I bought a bunch of mozzarella cheese and ate it all in two days — but that’s another story for another post, maybe.
Back in West Virginia I had gotten pretty good about making my meals every day. I had become obsessed with the Gardein “chicken” products, which are certified vegan. These products were sold at my local grocery store, so it wasn’t hard to grab a few every week. I was nervous that moving out here meant that I couldn’t find suitable products, and so far I’ve been right. I can, of course, grab your typical Morningstar Farms stuff, which is vegetarian and works in a pinch, but it’s no Gardein Crispy Tenders.
I’ve been here almost a month, and I have yet to find a local location that sells Gardein products, or Tofutti cream cheese, or Earth Balance mindful mayo. I’m trying to get myself back on track, but having to cook something from scratch when you’re tired is a stretch, especially for me. The lazy vegetarian has been winning… and winning big.
To get myself set up for success, and to stop going out, I made the hour and a half drive to the OKC Whole Foods.. Okay, okay. That’s a little lie. I had to take my boyfriend to the airport in OKC and decided to stop by Whole Foods on my way home. Man, is it a lovely store. A little crowded on a Wednesday at noon, but still lovely. And guess what?! They had everything I wanted!
Almost one hundred dollars later, and I can eat at home for a week. Almond milk, vegan mayo, vegan fake chicken, quinoa, tofu, vegan queso! My dad always jokes that Whole Foods should be called Whole Paycheck, and while he has a point, I’m totally thrilled that I know where I can find some Gardein products.
While I don’t have anything new to post, or anything other than “HEY I FOUND MY FAVORITE FOOD GUYS!” to say, I do have a nice recipe roundup from around the web to share. I’ll be trying these this week or the next (hopefully), and if it’s awesome, I’ll tell you alllllll about it.
Recipe Roundup From Around the Webz:
- The Vegan Stoner‘s Dill Weed Sandwich - If you’ve never visited The Vegan Stoner’s blog, do yourself a favor and go to it NOW. Go through every post. If you don’t want to eat everything there, you’ll at least appreciate the drawings that accompany each recipe. AND everything is simple to make.
- The Hearty Herbivore‘s Vegan Stuffed Peppers, just because they look awesome. This is actually what I plan on making for dinner… you know, when I have a sink again.
- Flour Mayhem‘s Buffalo Tofu Bites. I’ve actually made these before, but I was pretty messy at it. I’m DYING to retry it, because it was damn tasty. Note to self: press some tofu tonight.
- Any of these vegan popsicles from VegNews.
- I still really need to make VK Rees‘ Pretzel Donuts, too!
Now for some random Instagram photos!
Update: I have been informed, via Facebook, by some awesome local Stillwater folks, that there is a place nearby that has everything I’m looking for!
by Stephanie
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