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Coffee Cake: Better than Sour Cream

/ Kelly / 2 Comments

In my last post, I talked about the various changes that are happening in my life these days. Some things, however, remain steadfast and constant, comforting in their resolute resistance to change. Things like the Grand Canyon, which is always a giant gaping chasm in the ground, and also dark chocolate, which is always delicious. Additionally, there is my undying habit of buying some food item I really don’t want or need and then not knowing what to do with it. I don’t do this often, but I do it often enough that I really should know better. Sigh. Maybe I’ll learn one day.

The most recent offender was a tub of Tofutti Better than Sour Cream. I’d never had it before, and one day I went grocery shopping after work but before dinner (MISTAKE MISTAKE MISTAKE), and I was planning on making some sort of burrito dealio, and then I saw the BTSC and couldn’t resist.

And then I tried it and instantly regretted my purchase. Blech – it had no flavor, the consistency was just gross, and after a couple of days, a pool of milky water formed atop the sour cream. Ugh. So the neglected tub sat in my fridge for a couple of weeks while I pretended it wasn’t there. But the thought of letting an entire container of food go to waste because I made a stupid, impulsive purchase kept nagging at me, so I finally decided to do something with it. I figured that hiding it in a baked good was the best solution, and hey – I was right!

Sour cream and bananas... a match made in practically-spoiled-food heaven!

This is Sour Cream Banana Coffee Cake. And by “coffee cake,” I obviously mean the East Coast version of coffee cake, which is unashamedly coffee-free. It is, however, the perfect accompaniment for coffee. This cake is definitely one of the best original recipes I’ve created – it’s moist, flavorful, and delicate without being fragile. I was inspired to add a banana when I stumbled across this recipe; I had a very brown banana waiting patiently in my fridge for its chance to shine, and because it had made friends with the similarly-neglected tub of sour cream, I figured I should let their relationship continue in baked-good form. It added just the faintest hint of banana flavor, perfect for a banana-snubber like myself. Intrigued? Well, lucky for you, I wrote down the recipe as I put this together.

Sour Cream Banana Coffee Cake
Ingredients:
1 very brown banana
1 container Tofutti Better than Sour Cream
1/3 C alt-milk
1/2 cup sugar
1.5 t vanilla
1 T ground flax
1 1/2 C flour of your choice
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1/2 t nutmeg
2 t cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 350˚F and lightly grease or spray a 9″ x 9″ baking pan.

In a large bowl, mash the banana with the sour cream. Add the milk, sugar, vanilla, and flax and mix until well combined. Add all the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated. Pour the batter into your pan, pop it into the oven, and wait.

I can’t remember how long this took to bake, but I’d guess it was around 20 minutes. I topped it with a tablespoon of brown sugar and a sprinkling of toasted walnuts, but you could definitely get fancy and whip up a cinnamon-y streusel for the top. Either way, it’ll be delicious!

I should also note that I didn’t use a full container of sour cream, so I upped the milk to 1/2 cup. Your mileage might vary – play around with the liquid content if necessary.

And that, friends, is probably the best use for Better than Sour Cream.

What do you do when you purchase a food item that just doesn’t do it for you?

P.S. I LOVE MY NEW CAMERA. That is all.

Summer Ch-ch-ch-changes!

/ Kelly / 5 Comments

The sun is out, insects are gettin’ jiggy with it left and right, and my mom’s is bragging about sleeping in on her first day of vacation. [Why didn’t I do what everyone suggested I should do with my English major and become a teacher?!] Clearly, it’s summer, my favorite season. I used think I was an autumn girl, but I was just trying to sound mature – screw that! I love summer. Give me 87 degrees, a nice blanket of humidity, and blue skies, and I’ll be blissfully happy.

Admittedly, the transition from spring to summer this year was a bit anticlimactic. We’d already had some very hot, sunny weather, so the clouds that rolled in on June 21st were a little disappointing. Now, however, during this first official summer weekend, the mercury is rising and the sun is a-shinin’.

However, I didn’t get to enjoy the lovely weather yesterday. Things are a-changin’ around here – my roommate’s moving to Boston for grad school (sadface!), so this weekend was a crazy, hectic blur of packing and hauling furniture around. She needed to clear out her bedroom so I could move my stuff in there and my new roommate could move into my old bedroom. Thrilling! My bedroom was a little disorganized on Friday night:

Movin' out!

Ugh! Moving is so annoying. Not that I have a right to complain; I was just doing intra-apartment moving. My roomie is doing half-way-across-the-country moving. Needless to say, we’re all very sad that she’s leaving, but we sent her off in style – last week, another friend and I co-hosted a classy wine & hors d’oeuvres party. Most of the hors d’oeuvres were different varieties of cheese, but I also made hummus and brought along some veggies and crackers. The other friend made a gorgeous (and very non-vegan) chocolate cake, and I contributed this pretty little number:

Fruity!

I used this recipe, and on the whole it was really tasty. In particular, the shortbread crust was deliciously decadent. The pastry cream was a bit odd-colored – almost greyish – because I used oat milk, which is not as pure white as other alt-milks. If I make this again, I’ll probably use almond milk and I’ll definitely top the tart with blueberries for better color contrast.

Sadly, we did not have tart nor cake to tide us over during our moving adventure. Today, however, we rewarded ourselves for our hard work by spending some time walking around the UW arboretum, spotting wildlife (turkeys! bunnies! a three-footed turtle!) and getting some vitamin D. I also enjoyed the effects of yet another ch-ch-change – a haircut! No longer do my curls insulate my neck, trapping heat and making even this summer-lovin’ girl uncomfortable. Instead, I am rockin’ a new short ‘do! Here’s the old me:

Pondering.

…and here’s the new me! (Pardon the crappy Photo Booth picture.)

So much lighter.

Believe it or not (and you should, because it’s true), this haircut was the first time I’ve gotten my hair cut and styled in an actual salon. A family friend cut my hair ’til I went to college, and then I just didn’t cut it, except one time my BFF chopped it all off one night when we were bored. Anyway, I love my new style – it’s definitely a good change!

And I have one more change of note. I recently switched teams at work and had to get certified in another of our software programs, meaning I got a bonus (woo!). I decided to treat myself to this sexy little number. Oh yes. Get ready for some bangin’ food porn. :)

What changes have you experienced recently?

Bad-Mood Food

/ Kelly / 1 Comment

I did not have a fantastic Tuesday. It started out just fine, but by the end of the day, I was in a rather dour mood. Everything annoyed me – my skirt kept clinging to my tights in an irritating fashion; my office was cold and I was shivering; I had a headache… you know, typical #firstworldproblems. My life’s so tough, right?

I left work “early,” meaning “right around 5:00,” which meant I was caught in that post-work rush of people leaving campus, which meant I had to deal with traffic, which meant I became even more annoyed during my drive home. (Of course, my version of “traffic” means “more than five cars lined up waiting to turn,” so take that complaint with a large grain of salt.) Whilst waiting in “traffic,” I decided to take advantage of my otherwise-empty car by yelling colorful language quite loudly, and by the time I got home I felt slightly more chipper. However, the thought of making dinner did not appeal to me. Luckily, I had an easy out stored in my freezer: Gardein buffalo wings.

Generally, I’m fairly ambivalent about fake meat. I never crave it, but neither do I shun it completely. I enjoy it every once in a while as a novelty; I like variety in my diet. So when the buffalo wings were on sale at my co-op last week, I thought, why not? And on that bad-mood Tuesday, all I wanted was some sort of easy, tasty comfort food. Enter the wings.

Wingzorz!

I pan-fried these guys and served them up with the Pineapple Collards from Appetite for Reduction. These organic collards also came from the co-op; I found them in the “not-so-hot produce” bin and snatched them up for mere pennies (okay, a dollar or so). I love the co-op’s idea of not-so-hot produce – I also bought five organic green bell peppers for $1.19, and they had nary a scratch on them. Score! Anyway, I had some frozen pineapple, so I thought I’d try to conquer my aversion to sweetness in otherwise-savory dishes and trust Isa. I’m glad I did, too – these were actually really, really good! They had a bit of a kick to them from the red pepper flakes and the ginger, but the pineapple provided a smooth, sweet counterpoint.

And the wings? Well, they were so-so. I’ve also had Gardein’s crispy tenders, and I really liked those. But these wings were a little boring, a bit too squishy and flavorless for my taste (although the sauce was mighty spicy!). Still, this was exactly what I wanted for my bad-mood dinner. Served with a side of oat-bread toast, I had a comforting, filling, and mostly healthy dinner. And after eating, my bad mood was reduced by 47%, give or take. Maybe I was just hungry all along. :)

What foods do you crave when you’re in a bad mood? Any thoughts on Gardein?

Spring Cleaning: The Super-Hot Cupboard-Organizing Edition

/ Kelly / 6 Comments

Last weekend, Mama Nature walloped the Midwest with a most un-springlike heat wave – 90-degree temperatures, humidity, blazing sun… the whole works. Many people complained and avoided the outdoors, but me? I reveled in it. I’m one of those poor souls who’s always cold – slight breeze? I’m a-shivering! Less than 75 degrees? Where’s my sweater?! Heck, I even keep a fleece blanket at work for those days when my office is just too chilly for my taste. I just switched teams at work, and I’m sure my new co-workers think I’m utterly nuts when they walk past my office and see me sitting in dim lamplight, wrapped up in a blanket… but hey, the fluorescent lights hurt my eyes and I hate air conditioning!

Anyway, last weekend most people retreated indoors to their air conditioning and their cool drinks. Me? I basked in the sunlight and then went on a vitamin D-fueled cleaning spree. Besides giving my kitchen floors a long-overdue washing (Mom, don’t be ashamed of me!), I also organized my kitchen cupboards. This was, perhaps, even more long-overdue than the floor-washing.

Not exactly a "before," but this is a cupboard that has yet to be organized... gag!

You see, I am a slightly compulsive grocery shopper with mild packrat tendencies. I freaking love grocery shopping. I could spend hours meandering through the aisles, reading labels and checking out new-to-me food items and even just people-watching, shaking my head at all the junk most people throw in their carts as they zoom around the store, rushing through their shopping. I don’t spend a ton of money on groceries, but I just love having variety in my cupboards – who doesn’t need four types of rice and three kinds of nut butter and at least five varieties of beans?! I suppose if I had a family, this might be more justified, but I’m just a lady cookin’ for herself. I know many of you like-minded foodie folks can empathize with me, but let’s be real – most people are content with a big ol’ bag of white rice, a jar of Jif, and some refried beans for taco night. Me? Not so much. And my love of variety led to a rather unfortunate spacing situation – my cupboards were haphazardly filled with foodstuffs, making each cooking experience an adventure. Would the soba noodles fall to their death, scattering small soba sticks all over my floor? Would the nutmeg container roll out of the spice cabinet, knocking me on the noggin? Anything was possible!

Grr!

Not so now, however. My packrat tendency of saving jars finally paid off with more than just an overstuffed jar-and-kitchen-towel-and-dishcloth-and-large-utensil drawer. Now, those jars have a new lease on life. Check it:

Ahhh.

Beautiful, no? Those are my grains, re-homed, re-labeled, and generally re-organized. I didn’t even realize that poor bulgur wheat was languishing behind the beans! Who knew that I was in possession of such a quantity of cous cous?! Heck, I wish I’d saved more jars – I still have some bagged varieties awaiting a new home.

I only organized one shelf, but I already feel at least 37% less anxious when I open my cupboard now. I’ve got grand plans for my other cupboards, too – my spice shelf is a mess, and my pastas are out of control. But I’ve been re-inspired to continue my organization by Lindsay‘s oh-so-timely post about kitchen cabinet minimalism, and I’ve become obsessed with looking at canisters on eBay. So – what are your awesome kitchen organization tips? I know you’ve got ’em, so do share!

Serendipitous Sunday (Pancakes for Memorial Day Weekend)

/ Kelly / 2 Comments

Hi, friends. One day I’ll get back to blogging on a regular basis, but for now I’m just livin’ my life and not thinkin’ about blogging… which is not to say that I haven’t had blog-worthy food. I have, but I just haven’t told you about it. Lemme change that.

Last weekend, serendipity struck. Soyatoo had been on sale at the co-op, meaning I just had to purchase a bottle (my first!). I’d chopped up and frozen two mangos a couple weeks ago, so I had ready-to-go mango chunks in my freezer. Mangos and Soyatoo… a match made in some sort of foodie heaven. Just look:

Sunday brekkers.

Oh yes. Pancakes (recipe from VWAV/Vegan Brunch) topped with mango sauce and Soyatoo, with a cup o’ coffee and a side of my new favorite fruit – apriums. They have a goofy name, but they’re both delicious and adorable.

Pancakes are the ultimate weekend breakfast, aren’t they? And I love topping them with homemade fruit sauces; when I was a kid, I thought it was the neatest thing when my dad made strawberry sauce and spooned it over pancakes for us. Had I made pancakes in the shape of letters (K for Kelly!), I could’ve had a double dose of nostalgia for the good ol’ days. Maybe next time. :)

Eating and Socializing in the Ocean State

/ Kelly / 8 Comments

Oh dear. My blog stats are at an all-time low. That bums me out a bit, but really, what should I expect when I neglect my wee blog so shamefully? Ah well. Now I’m just going to continue the trend of my most recent posts: out-of-town eats!

Last weekend I headed back to my natal state, dear darling Rhode Island, to watch my little brother graduate from Worcester Polytech. As a big sister, I am both indescribably proud of my brilliant, charismatic, and all-around wonderful brother and slightly shocked that said brother is now a college graduate. Jaysus! At least my little sister is still in college. Lawd knows how I’ll feel when she graduates. I don’t even know how my parents can handle it!

Anyway, on to the good stuff – food. After Mum picked me up from the airport, we high-tailed it to RI’s premiere veg eatery, the Garden Grille. Okay, that’s a lie – we tried to high-tail it, but were held up by various circumstances. By the time we arrived, we were both quite famished. I ordered the Red Bean Rice Burger, and Mama chose one of the daily specials, some sort of salad with tiny potato bits. (Yes, Mom, I should’ve written down the name of your dish!)

Burger noms!

I love veggie burgers with visible bits of veggies and rice and other real food, and this one totally fit the bill. It was perfectly satisfying, and I enjoyed the slaw on the side. It’s embarrassing to admit, but up until fairly recently I thought all coleslaws were disgusting, mayonnaise-laden goopy affairs, and it’s been quite enjoyable to try the non-goopy varieties I encounter. This one was simple and tasty.

Salad situation.

I only tried a bite or two of Mom’s salad, and I don’t remember the details about it, but I do remember that it was also quite delicious. :)

After lunch, we headed next door so I could experience RI’s one and only VEGAN BAKERY OMG. Wildflour is a bakery and juice bar, but I was so full from lunch that I didn’t try any juices and just picked up some snacks for later. Mum and I got a black forest cupcake and a few raw treats – some sort of ganache-y brownie, a coconut macaroon, and a “Rawreo.” They were all incredibly rich and delicious, particularly the brownie… oh man, I’m salivating just thinking about it. I only snapped a shot of the cupcake, though.

A thing of beauty.

Oh, JK – you can see some macaroon and a corner of the brownie. Mmm.

The vegan eats continued on my second day in RI, too. My brother belongs to a fraternity, and he and his fellow senior brothers organized a post-graduation event at their house for their families. They have a cook who makes food for the brothers on a daily basis, and Ian put in a special request for vegan food for my mom and me. I’ll admit that I didn’t have great expectations, but I guess I was doing the cook a disservice, because he and his wife whipped up four vegan options at the party! There was a portobello mushroom wrap, a pasta dish, a cold potato salad, and a vegan chili. Totally perfect for a grad party! And to top it all off, his wife came around while everyone else was eating dessert and handed us a big plate of vegan cookies – I think they’d gotten them from a local bakery, and they were perfectly soft and delicious. Hooray! It’s really nice to have your expectations exceeded by a long shot, isn’t it?

Culinarily, my trip to RI was a smashing success. But really, I didn’t go home for the food. I went to spend time with some of the people who are nearest and dearest to me, like these five goofs…

Love my family.

…and these dearies…

My RI gals are the greatest.

…and, of course, my crazy dogs:

Tamale & Mistletoe

…what a fun-filled, jam-packed three days. :)

California Eatin’

/ Kelly / 2 Comments

Greetings from not-so-sunny California! Never fear – the reason it’s not sunny is because it’s barely 6:00 AM. I’m sitting at the airport waiting for my flight back to Madison (via good ol’ Minneapolis) after spending a couple days in Laguna Hills on a work trip. Okay, that’s a lie, because I started typing that last Wednesday and didn’t finish it until now. Truth be told, I’m sitting on my lazy butt here in Madison. Cough. With that out of the way, let’s resume the narrative, shall we?

Said work trip was rather frustrating (Kelly + inefficiency = RAAAGE), but at least I got to make up for those annoyances by seeing my grandfather and his wife and eating delicious food. On my second night in California, my grandfather and his wife picked me up at my hotel and we went out to dinner. I very rarely see them, so I was quite excited when I realized that my work trip serendipitously took me very close to their area of residence. I wasn’t sure how they’d feel about the vegan restaurants I suggested, but they weren’t fazed at all and it took it in stride. My step-grandmother had just read a book about veganism, and she asked all sorts of great questions. Hallelujah!

I was so excited to discover at least three all-vegan eateries within 20 minutes of my hotel, and at the rather exuberant recommendation of the hotel desk lady, we hit up the Veggie Grill at Irvine Spectrum. I didn’t realize that VG was so fake-meat-centric, but as it turns out, fake meat is just the ticket to convince omnis that a veg-based diet is totally doable! My grandfather wasn’t super hungry, but he ordered some “chicken” tenders that he said were pretty indistinguishable from their fowl-based brethren. My step-grandma enjoyed a portobella burger, and she couldn’t stop raving about it! I had a chipotle BBQ burger, featuring strips of faux beef, and I was quite surprised to find that I really enjoyed it – normally, I can take or leave fake meat. But this was just plain tasty, and I got to talk about the merits of veganism with receptive relatives, so I’m calling the whole experience a success (even if I didn’t get any pictures).

Another success: vegan pizza! There were only a few restaurants in the vicinity of my hotel that delivered there (I didn’t have a rental car), and I was a bit concerned that I’d have to order a salad and french fries for dinner one night. But a quick internet search led to this post, which taught me that BJ’s Brewhouse has easily veganizable deep dish pizzas. Hallelujah!

"Friday was pizza day, the best day of the week...!"

This crust was seriously tasty. I was initially a bit wary of deep dish pizza, because the only other time I’d had it was in Chicago in my pre-vegan days, and it was so damn cheesy and heavy that it sat like a brick of dairy in my poor tummy for hours afterwards. But this crust was perfectly light and chewy and everything I could have dreamed for in a delivery pizza. I got it with artichoke hearts and tomatoes and a side salad, and ate the whole damn thing in one sitting with no ill effects. Woo!

So that’s what I’ve been up to lately. I’m also super excited because I’ll be back in RI on Friday to attend my little bro’s college graduation, yay! What exciting things have you done lately?

Oh, and happy day of the mothers to any moms who might be reading! I can’t wait to see mine later this week. :)

Austin/Easter

/ Kelly / 1 Comment

Eep! My poor, neglected blog. I’ve been so busy! Austin was fantastic; I got to spend time with lots of lovely people, basking in the sun and getting a tattoo (more about that later!) and eating tons of yummy vegan food (Mother’s Cafe! Whole Foods! Counter Culture! Other places! Etc!). Then I got back to Wisconsin and froze to death (lie) in the cold and the rain and the FROST ON MY WINDSHIELD, HOW DARE YOU MOTHER NATURE.

Buttttt anyway. I don’t have photos of my Austin eats, because, quite frankly, I was too busy cavorting and finding moonlight towers to photograph my food. However, when I returned to WI, the one consolation for the nasty weather was an Easter package from my marvelous parents. Mumsie and Daddy sent me a bunch of goodies from Pangea! I got chocolates, jelly beans, soap (Mum, do I smell?!), lip balm (perfect timing, because I just ran out of my Crazy Rumors!), and a cute pin.

Easter basket?!

Yay! Thanks, padres! The truffles are delicious; they have little bits of hazelnut in them, and they remind me of one of my favorite pre-vegan candy bars: Kinder Bueno bars. My friend Justine and I fell in love with these bars when we were in London way back in 2004, and we’d always try to pick up a box of them whenever either of us returned to Europe. Alas; they’re not vegan. But now I know I can approximate their flavor with these tasty truffles!

Now I am getting ready for yet another trip, this time to California! It’s a work trip, but I am serendipitously stationed close to where my grandfather lives, so I will get to meet up with him and his wife. :) Yay! How are y’all?

Lovely Blogging and Cop-Outs Galore

/ Kelly / 6 Comments

A couple days ago, I was pleased as punch to notice my humble little blog listed next to the One Lovely Blog Award over at Greyt Vegan Life. I always enjoy Christina’s posts and comments, and if you haven’t checked out her blog, you definitely should. There is food, and adorable animals. What more could you want? Oh, there’s also this – Christina’s take on the VegNews controversy. My feelings are quite in line with hers, so you should go give her perspective a read. (Cop-out numero uno.) Now that VegNews has issued an apology that, um, actually apologizes for their deceitful ways, I hope things will take a turn for the positive – all that negativity was getting me down. Here’s to turning over new leaves, changing for the better, etc etc etc!

Aaanyway, back to blog awards. I am now tasked with sharing seven random things about myself. And it’s a good thing, too, because I don’t have anything else to share with you today. :P

1. I can’t imagine having kids at any point in the near future (I still feel like a kid myself!), but occasionally I get really excited about the prospect of being one of those hippie moms who uses cloth diapers and makes all her own baby food and carries her baby around in a sling. I’m totally going to use “I need to puree fruits and veggies!” as an excuse for buying a Vitamix. :P

2. I’m currently 3/4 of the way through Dune, and I think it’s an absolutely fantastic book. I’m a big sci-fi/fantasy fan, and I’m kicking myself for not having read it sooner!

3. My family has two dogs, Tamale (a chihuahua), and Mistletoe (a mini dachshund). Missy ruptured a disc in her spine and now wears diapers and tools around in a sweet doggie wheelchair/cart. My pups are back in RI, and I miss them terribly! I hope to adopt a pupper of my own in the very near future.

4. The only time I skipped school in high school was to attend an all-day showing of the three Lord of the Rings movies. I wore a homemade Eowyn dress, stood in line for hours, and got on TV because my friends and I sang a LotR-themed parody of ‘Jingle All the Way’. My dad dressed up as Gandalf, and when he arrived at the theatre and walked across the parking lot, everyone in line started cheering. It was easily one of the geekiest, most fun days I can remember.

5. My sister is four and a half years younger than I am, but people frequently think we’re twins or that she’s older than I am.

6. My friend and I started this sweet Tumblr, and you should check it out.

7. I’m going to Austin next weekend! The fella and I are traveling to Texas to visit various friends, and I am SO excited to escape the never-ending Wisconsin winter. Any recommendations for awesome vegan eats in Austin? I found this list, and it looks like there are tons of options! Yay!

So, I’m supposed to pass this on to 15 lovely blogs, but I’m too tired and lazy to do that right now – plus, I think many of you have already been officially designated as lovely. :) If you haven’t, though, consider yourself awarded – for reals! (Cop-out numero dos.)

Thanks again, Christina!

Shirataki & Seitan

/ Kelly / 8 Comments

I do not consider myself a picky eater. Sure, I don’t care for bananas, raisins remind me of bugs, and balsamic vinegar turns my tummy, but it’s not like I’d refuse to eat any of those things were someone to offer me one of them or use them [sparingly] in a dish. (Unless it was some sort of balsamic-raisin-banana hybrid, in which case I’d politely refuse and vomit quietly in a corner.) And, truthfully, I used to be much pickier – I didn’t like squash or sweet potatoes or pasta as a kid. Pasta! Oy.

I’ve since discovered the joys of squash and sweet potatoes and pasta. In fact, these days, I’m quite adventurous in the food realm – I’ll try anything! I credit much of my foodventurism to becoming vegan – as an omnivore, I never went out of my way to try new foods, but now every trip to the grocery store is a chance to buy a new type of bean or experiment with an unfamiliar grain. In the past, you probably could not have paid me to purchase a product called “seitan tidbits” from the Asian section of the grocery store, nor could you have convinced me that fish-scented noodles made from tofu would be remotely palatable. But omnivore-Kelly is a girl of the past, and vegan-Kelly relishes the chance to try such a delightfully-named product as “seitan tidbits”.

Tidbits!

So… have y’all ever tried shirataki noodles? I’d heard rumors that fresh out of the package they smell like fish, and THEY TOTALLY DO. It’s weird and a little off-putting, but after taking a nice bath in some cold water, the odor of the sea dissipates (thank heavens). Apparently they’re a dieter’s best friend because they are quite low in calories and carbs, but I just wanted to try them because they’re so weird! You buy them in a squishy package from the refrigerated section of the grocery store, and they’re swimming around in fish-scented juice… mmm.

As you can see from that photo right up thurrr, I added my noodles to a broccoli-laden stir fry. Said stir fry also featured the aforementioned seitan tidbits, and let me tell you, this was one bizarre-o stir fry. The noodles were a little chewy, but they tasted just fine. The seitan tidbits, however, were just… weird. I ate one and thought, “Oh, these are okay!” but after chomping a few more, I changed my tune slightly. They were very, very squishy, and they kind of oozed some sort of liquid-y, oily substance. I didn’t even check their nutritional stats when purchasing them, but because they’re packed in oil, they’re disgustingly fat-laden, to the point where I felt a little sickish after dinner. Bleh.

So, for a dish that featured two new-to-me and slightly less than mainstream foods, this wasn’t half bad. (It was only 1/3 bad.) I’m glad I can cross shirataki noodles and canned seitan off my vegan bucket list, and I’d definitely consider using the noodles again, but next time I’ll stick to homemade seitan. :)

Have you ever tried either of these two items? What did you think about them?