Hello Vegan Queso! 

Yep, it’s another redo that I’ve been dying to share, especially since Daiya shared my queso on their Dairy Free Dip list. You really should go check out all those delicious dips!

Sooo much meaty cheesy goodness in there, and it’s all cruelty-free! Can I get three cheers for delicious vegan food!?

Okay, go check out the recipe!

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If you’re planning to watch a football game or awards show anytime soon, or even just settling in with a good book, you’re gonna want to make this Creamy Vegan Bacon Corn Dip! I’m not sure I even need to try and sell you on this – I feel like these pictures will do that for me!

Need more encouragement? Just imagine: Cream cheese, bacon, sweet corn, crispy jalapenos and bell peppers… Yum! I enjoyed my dip with Fritos, and that would be my recommendation to you. Hard to imagine any other chip would be as perfectly suited to scooping up this magical deliciousness!

 I made this a few weeks back for a Broncos game, and maybe I’ll make it again this Sunday when my REAL team plays. Unless I make my Spicy Grape Jelly Meatballs… or my Vegan Queso… or my Loaded Baked Potato dip!  Can’t go wrong either way. Go Pats!!

Creamy Bacon Corn Dip

2015-01-15 08:23:17

Serves 4

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Ingredients

1. 4 slices vegan bacon
2. Salt
3. 1/2 cup diced sweet onion
4. 1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
5. 1 diced jalapeno
6. 12 oz frozen sweet corn
7. 1 tablespoon almond milk
8. 4 oz vegan cream cheese
9. 1 teaspoon sugar
10. 2 green onions, thinly sliced

Instructions

1. Dice the bacon, then fry the bacon per with a few spritzes of non-stick spray over medium heat with a pinch of salt, 4-5 minutes, flipping once. Set aside.
2. Add the veggies to the same pan with 1-2 tablespoons water and saute for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. You want to end up with no water left in the pan.
3. Add the milk, cream cheese, and sugar. Reduce heat to low and stir until melted. Spoon into serving bowl and top with bacon and green onions.

By Barb@ThatWasVegan

Adapted from Damn Delicious

Adapted from Damn Delicious

That Was Vegan? https://www.thatwasvegan.com/

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Sure, it may seem like food bloggers are always creating, cooking, and photographing fabulous meals to share with the world. Honestly though, sometimes we’re just like I’m hungry and want to eat without plating and styling the damn food! 

That’s what this post is all about… what I eat when I feel like I just can’t even… Oh, and most of these shots are from Insta, you should totally follow me!

French fries with homemade honey-mustard dipping sauce (made with agave):

A huge salad with sliced baby ‘bellas, and some leftover lemony couscous with sweet potato & kale salad:

Another salad, this time with pasta, red sauce, and Gardein meatballs – which, BTW, are freaking amazing!:

NACHOS!!! Guac, vegan sour cream, jalapenos, seitan crumbles, and a melty Daiya cheese sauce:

Whole wheat angel hair pasta n meatballs, and an enormous salad with broccoli, carrots, and red bell peppers… And homemade garlic bread:

Another salad (anyone sensing a theme here?), Earth Balance boxed mac n’ cheese (with ketchup bc I’m a child), and baked tofu with BBQ sauce:

Tofu scramble, spicy salsa, and a bagel: 

Some more pasta, this time with Beyond Meat crumbles, chopped peppers and onions, and crescent rolls:

Salad with sliced, roasted beets please!:

This has been my favorite baked potato since I was a kid – butter, cheese, and salsa:

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Vegan Cinnamon Waffles and Bacon… It’s what’s for breakfast! Or brunch. Or dinner. It’s all good!

I’m still a total noob with my waffle maker, but I’m dying to share my (current) favorite recipe, which is below. First, though, I want to tell you about this Sweet Earth bacon! They sent me some to review (along with breakfast burritos and burgers, which I’ll review in another post), and I’m hooked.

 The flavor of this bacon is wonderful, so smoky and, well, bacon-y. I also used it in my Raspberry-Pear-Bacon Grilled Cheese and it was perfect! Just look at the coloring and obvious flavor:

 You can click over to their FB page to use their store-finder app, and find some near you! Just keep in mind that not all their products are vegan… although many are, and ALL  are vegetarian. 

Now, WAFFLES!

 I love maple syrup and am always happy for a reason to drink eat some, even if that means dragging out the waffle maker. Plus, these bad boys are super easy!

 Ooh, more bacon!!

 Wondering what makes these waffles so darn easy? They start with Bob’s Red Mill Organic 7 Grain Pancake & Waffle mix! They’re healthy too. I use banana and apple sauce in place of eggs and oil. 

Cinnamon Waffles

2015-01-12 11:08:31

Yields 2

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Ingredients

1. 1 cup Bob's Red Mill Organic 7-Grain Pancake mix
2. 1 teaspoon cinnamon
3. 2 medium-sized ripe bananas
4. 2 tablespoons applesauce
5. 3/4 cup cold almond milk
6. Non-stick spray

Instructions

1. Combine the pancake mix and cinnamon in a mixing bowl and set aside. In another bowl combine the banana, applesauce and milk. Using a fork, mash the banana and mix into the liquid. a few small chunks are ok. Pour into the dry ingredients and stir just until combined.
2. Spray the oil onto your waffle maker and heat per instructions. When ready, pour half the mixture into the waffle iron. Cook per iron instructions. Repeat!

By Barb@ThatWasVegan

Adapted from Bob's Red Mill

Adapted from Bob's Red Mill

That Was Vegan? https://www.thatwasvegan.com/

*I was provided free product to review but the opinions are 100% mine!

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Updated review March, 2015! More great dishes!

This review is waaay overdue. I’ve eaten at Lyfe Kitchen about a hundred times, and I already shared some pics and thoughts from their invite-only pre-launch party. A brief little bit of background on the restaurant:  They’re a chain out of Chicago that focuses on healthy, quality food using locally and sustainable ingredients. Their message is “Eat Good. Feel Good. Do Good.” It’s a wonderful place to bring a mixed group of eaters because they have something for everyone. They have a vegan menu, a GF menu, and an “Everything” menu for the omnivores. Perfect. You can find them in California, Colorado, Nevada, Texas, Illinois, and New York.

Now, the food… which is what you came for, right!? #warning #longpost

The Morning Tofu Wrap: A wholewheat tortilla filled with tofu scramble, Gardein  sausage, Daiya cheddar, veggies and with salsa fresca and fresh berries on the side. Delicious!

Sweet Corn Chowder: Made with cashew cream, probably my favorite thing on the menu!

Unfried Buffalo Chicken Strips: Spicy, spicy buffalo sauce, and the pickles were delicious too!

Edamame Hummus Plate: I’ve never tried hummus made with edamame before, but it’s brilliant! So light and fresh!

Vegan Kale Caesar: It was so much fun being able to order a caesar salad in a restaurant! Us vegans don’t always get to do that. My fave part though? The whole wheat breadcrumbs. They were like croutons except you got some with each bite!

Baked Garlic Sweet Potato Fries w/ Chipotle Aioli: All aioli and mayp is vegan at Lyfe, so order away!

Tofu Tacos: Not spicy but oh-so-flavorful!

Crispy Gardein Chicken Sandwich: This one doesn’t seem to on their menu currently, but it was really good! Hopefully they’ll bring it back!

 Art’s Unfried Gardein Chick’n: This is kind of their signature dish and is so delicious. If you’re dining with an omni who wants to try something vegan, go with this! It has roasted brussels, b’nut squash, dried cranberries and a cashew cream. Ahhhmazing!

Garden Burger: Made with a Gardein patty and you can get it topped with Daiya too! 

Pomegranate Sangria: Yes, please. 

They actually have a good list of wine and beer and specialty cocktails to make your meal even better! 

They recently opened their second CO location in Boulder (their first is in Lone Tree at the Park Meadows mall), so they’re now pretty easy to visit from anywhere along the Front Range! Go enjoy their amazing food! 

March ’15 Update

Woot! Another trip to Lyfe Kitchen! We ate there on a recent sunny spring day and tried all new dishes, so I just had to share…

Crispy Scallopini & Shishito Sandwich: It’s a Gardein chick’n patty with lettuce and tomato on a bun, and you might be thinking it’s boring but you’d be dead wrong. Shishito pepper relish you guys! That stuff is so flavorful, I’ve got to recreate it at home. 

Quinoa Crunch Wrap: Quinoa tabbouleh crunchy veggies, avocado & edamame hummus, and a crazy hot sauce on the side. Yum, and look at all those veggies!

And of course, since it was a beautiful sunny day and we were dining al fresco, there was also some chardonnay!

Want more Denver-area restaurant reviews? Check out my Mile High Vegan Eats page!

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Hello internets! It’s Wednesday and what better way to celebrate being halfway through the workweek than by tackling the question that I know has been on everyone’s mind lately… What’s the deal with Shepherd’s and Chinese Pie!?! Are they the same thing? What makes it Chinese? Is anyone still reading?

…

Okay, well. Obviously no one cares, BUT I redid the photos from my original Tex-Mex Chinese Pie recipe and couldn’t wait to share. Beans, corn, tomatoes, chilies… All covered in hearty mashed potatoes.

This is stick-to-yer-ribs food right here. My mom used to make the non-vegan, more traditional version quite a bit when I was a kid. Hamburger, corn, potatoes. It was one of my favorite things she made. She also made corn chowder.. and Chinese take-out. My mom was too busy to cook much, haha!

The original post with the recipe AND a nice history of why it’s called Chinese Pie is here. Go check it out and add the ingredients to your shopping list pronto!

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I may have started off the year with a salad but I just had to follow up with an amazing new pizza … The Vegan Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza! I had wanted to make this for quite a while before I finally got around to it. In fact, its first iteration was as a quesadilla! And it was wonderful wrapped up in a warm tortilla, but I’ll go on record as saying it’s even better as a pizza.

What is on this crazy delicious pizza? Well, (almost) everything you’d put on an actual vegan bacon cheeseburger!

• Bacon
• Beyond Meat crumbles (Seitan crumbles, Boca, etc would also work)
• Tomatoes
• Gooey cheese (a mix of Daiya mozzarella and cheddar)
• Pickles

You must not skip the pickles. They border on life-changing.

I want to kiss these pictures. MWAH!

 Are you hungry yet? 

Vegan Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza

2015-01-05 08:15:57

Yields 1

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Ingredients

1. 1 prepared pizza dough
2. 6 slices vegan bacon
3. Salt
4. 2 cups Beyond Meat crumbles
5. 1/2 cup pizza sauce
6. 1+ cup Daiya mozzarella and cheddar mixed (depending on how cheesy you like it!)
7. 2 tomatoes, chopped
8. 8 dill hamburger chip sliced pickles

Instructions

1. Preheat oven and pizza stone to 425.
2. Pan fry the bacon per package instructions, with a pinch of salt, chop and set aside. Cook the crumbles per package instructions.
3. Top dough with pizza sauce then spread the crumbles evenly. Spread the cheese mixture, and then add the tomatoes. Bake 12-15 minutes until cheese is melty. Add pickle slices so that each piece of pizza has a pickle!

By Barb@ThatWasVegan

That Was Vegan? https://www.thatwasvegan.com/

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 It’s 2015 (!!) and I felt like it was the right thing to do to start off the new year with a salad recipe. But not just any salad… a Jerk Bean Salad. 

See, I have a thing about salads.  I generally enjoy them. I know they’re healthy and I really do feel good when I eat plenty of raw veggies. But I get bored easily with them. 

The key to keeping salads interesting, IMO, is to add tempting toppings. I’m drawn to toppings that are different from what I usually eat, and especially warm toppings. Especially when I’m enjoying a dinner salad in the colder months, I find that warm toppings mixed in with raw veggies makes the whole dish more satisfying. Things like roasted sweet potatoes and buffalo chickpeas. 

 This time around, I started with Boston bibb lettuce which I am a huge fan of. It’s more expensive than “regular” lettuce and I usually only use it for making lettuce wraps. On top of the lettuce I added sliced roma tomatoes, cucumbers and baby ‘bellas. I also had a couple leftover fingerling potatoes that were already cooked, so I sliced those up and added them. 

The absolute best part though? The jerk beans! Basically all I did was heat a can of cannelloni beans in a small pot with jerk seasoning. Once they were heated through, they topped my salad. Oh, and of course some Follow Your Heart vegan ranch because obviously. 

I plan to eat a lot of salads this year, haha!

Jerk Bean Salad

2014-12-23 07:25:17

Serves 2

A delicious way to keep your salad exciting!

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Ingredients

1. 2 prepared dinner-size salads, with whatever toppings you would normally use, and dressing of choice
2. 1 can cannelloni beans
3. 1/2 to 1 teaspoon jerk seasoning

Instructions

1. Drain and rinse the beans, then heat in a small pan over low/medium heat. Sprinkle with the jerk seasoning, starting with just half a teaspoon. Taste and add more as needed.
2. When the beans are warmed through, add to the top of your salad with a sprinkle of S&P. I highly recommend Follow Your Heart vegan Ranch with these!

By Barb@ThatWasVegan

That Was Vegan? https://www.thatwasvegan.com/

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I read a lot. A LOT.

Since I was a kid I could always be found with my nose in a book. My Grandma and Grandpa gave me the Little House boxed set when I was little, and I pretty much memorized them. (True story: I still have them!). I always read well above my own grade level, including some of Anne Rice’s erotic literature at the ripe young age of 12. 

It was a trilogy and I was only halfway through the first one when my mom found them and took them away. Oops. Fortunately for me she wasn’t very good at hiding them. I quickly found them, and snuck them back one at a time to read them. When I was done, all three were left in her hiding spot, and to this day I don’t think she knows I discovered them 😉 I don’t blame her for taking them away. They were pretty racy! Made those Fifty Shades books look like YA fiction… 

Then, as a young idealistic college student I decided I was going to read the entire canon before I turned 30. Umm… didn’t happen. 

ANYWAY. I read tons. I listen to audio books while commuting (except, of course, when I’m listening to Serial!), and I read while I eat lunch at my desk, and I read at night before I go to bed. I mostly get ebooks from the library on my ipad, but if it’s a special book I’ll fork out for a hard copy. 

I really haven’t kept track of what I’m reading though, which is a shame. And I haven’t been reading with intention. I haven’t put much thought into what I read, and that’s a shame. 

I think it would be nice, this time next year, to be able to look back and see every book I read. Plus I see other bloggers, like my pal Angie, doing it and I think it looks like fun! So, starting here and now, I’ll keep track. At the beginning of each month I’ll lay out the books I’m planning to read. At the end of the month I’ll check back in  and give my opinion, and share my books for the next month. 

Definitely please feel free to chime in via comment with your own reviews, and any recommendations you have for me! I think you’ll find my taste in books to be interesting, varied, and eclectic. Sometimes even downright weird.

Okay, lets go!

Books for January 2015

1. Scatter, Adapt, and Remember: How Humans Will Survive a Mass Extinction by Annalee Newitz … I actually bought this book about a year ago and it made the trip to SE Asia with us. I had started to read it, but as soon as we got to Cambodia I bought a couple books about the local history and switched to those. So, time to pick it back up!
2. Entering the Shift Age: The End of the Information Age and the New Era of Transformation by David Houle … This has a similar backstory to the one above – I started reading it, LOVED it, and then never finished it. Pattern?
3. My Story by Elizabeth Smart … The story of Elizabeth Smart has always fascinated me. I remember when she was found, and how surprising that was. I cannot even imagine what she and her family went through. 
4. 20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill … I’ve read a couple books by Joe Hill and enjoyed them all. For those of you who don’t know, he’s Stephen King’s son and writes amazing scary fiction!
5. The Wild Truth by Carine McCandless … You’ve probably read the book Into the Wild or seen the movie (or both). This book, written by his sister, tells the story of his upbringing, the domestic violence and everything else that led to his life ending in that bus in the middle of Alaska. 

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