Category: food

Flax milk?

Recently I received an email asking if I’d like to try a new product, Good Karma’s Flax Milk. Another way to get more flax in my diet? Sure, I’m interested!

They sent a carton each of original and unsweetened. Now, when I used freshly ground flax seeds, they definitely have a taste. A little grassy I guess. Not a bad thing, just a thing. So I was sort of expecting the milk to have a little aftertaste. But it doesn’t. And you know how they get kind of slimy when you whip them up with water to replace eggs? Nope, not a hint of that either. Turns out, it makes a nice, creamy milk. The original was great on cereal and in smoothies. And I used the unsweetened in mashed potatoes and as a replacement for soy milk in a tofu fish stick recipe. Kevin usually doesn’t like unsweetened milks, but used this flax one on cereal and liked it.

When I headed over to their website to write this up, I noticed that they have creamer too. Unfortunately, it looks like the only places near that carry it right now are Wal-Marts. Hopefully that changes soon.

Raw chili

This is the chili from Everyday Raw. I can be weird about mushrooms, but the amount of portobello in here is small enough that it didn’t bother me. The texture was a nice mix of crunch and soft and the taste was spot on chili. The recipe made a huge amount. I will try halving it next time I make it. I can only eat so much of strongly acidic foods like this.

Cuban potluck

What do vegans bring to a Cuban potluck? I made some Gardein chicken and Daiya cheese empanadas. Pre-made empanada wrappers make these super easy.

I also made the bread for Cuban sandwiches. We used Gutenfleischer‘s ham, Daiya and pickles inside. They cooked up perfectly on a George Foreman grill.

And tostones, yucca fries, rice and beans, kale, and how did that slice of bahn mi get in there?

Another view.

And, one more.

How do you finish this off? Tres Leches cake! And ice cream.

Raw pizza

These pre-packaged raw items by Raw in the Garden have recently shown up in Sevananda‘s island cooler. So I picked one up to try for lunch.

With a pre-packaged item, I was worried it would taste fresh, but it was fine. I think the zucchini might have been marinated which was nice, gave them more flavor. It didn’t have a crisp crust, but the flavors of everything were definitely pizza like. With the nut-based crust and cashew cream it was also pretty filling. This could be pulled off without a dehydrator. I might try this at home.

Vegan banh mi: found

Our friends Taylor and Beth have been getting non-vegan banh mi at Lee’s Bakery for a while. They started asking about a vegan version and they said they could do that. Apparently, the menu changed about a week later.

Let’s look at that a little closer.

Yes, that says “vegan soup.” So you can get the tofu banh mi, just ask that mayo be left off, and a pho-like soup or a half sandwich and soup combo. We whipped together earth balance and veganaise and brought it with us for the sandwiches. I like the soup broth better than the Pho 96 one. It isn’t flavored with 5-spice powder. But it doesn’t have all the fake meats Pho 96 uses. Which is okay with me.

Our first visit, I did the half sandwich and soup combo. A half sandwich is about 6″ long.

And they have two sizes of the soup. This smaller one comes with the combo. Smaller, not small. Full of veggies, rice noodles, tofu, yuba, and sprinkled with green onions and fried onion. You also get a plate of sprouts and cilantro to add.

The combo is $6.95, a whole tofu banh mi sandwich is $3. I sure wish this was closer in town.