Almost Vegan

I made the best soup! I make soup a lot when it is this darn cold out and snowing day after day. I live in Michigan and in the winter you have to do things to “comfort” yourself.
I received some Smart Strips Chick’n Strips in my package from Lightlife and was standing in front of the fridge wondering what to do with them. I was (and still am) going to make Chick’n pot pie, and had been planning on it, but I could not afford the time investment. So, getting a chill standing in front of the refrigerator I thought about soup.
Oh man, was that a good idea.
I sauted the strips in a little olive oil along with some onions, mushrooms, carrots, and whatever I have on hand at the time that sounds like it will be good in soup. When that’s a little brown I pour in water and add soup mix. You can either use Dixie Dinner Chick’n soup mix or Korr vegetable broth cubes. Bring to a boil, and then simmer for at least 15 minutes.
That’s it and it’s great!

You know, I don’t eat a lot of Tempeh. I probably should, because it is very good for you. That I know and maybe that’s why I haven’t eaten much up till now, I’m bad, really.
But Lightlife may be saving me from myself. First, I tried the Organic Tempeh – Flax, I made a nice stir-fry over plain rice and it was great, not to mention how healthy I felt because of the 1,000mg of Omega 3 in there, which is hard to get in a vegan diet. Even though this stuff is really good for you it is tasty and for me, very different. At this point I like different a lot. I find myself eating the same things over and over just because it’s easy not to think about it when I get busy at work. But it is fun to think about food and makes it an art form instead of a drudgery.
Then I made some “bacon” lettuce and tomato sandwiches with the Organic Tempeh Fakin Bacon on some really good fresh bread for myself and a carnivore friend. Great stuff, I hardly got much to eat because my friend loved the sandwich(es) so much.
If you see it in the store, this stuff is a must try.

This is a “Smart Meal on the Go” as Lightlife says on their website…and this is good chili.
I usually make my own chili and it is all beans and vegetables, but this Smart Chili from Lightlife (that they sent me in my goodies cooler – see prev. post, thank you Lightlife!) was such a new kinda treat because Lightlife puts their own very good vegan “ground meat” in it. I haven’t tasted “meat” in chili for some time, so it was really good.
This would be an excellent thing to take to the office and have for lunch, it takes 2.5 minutes in the microwave and it is great.
Here’s a $1.00 off coupon for Lightlife products good till 5/31/2007.

Not really, that title is a bit misleading, I don’t actually have free vegan food to give away. BUT I do have a LIGHTLIFE $1.00 off coupon.

CLICK HERE for a LIGHTLIFE $1.00 OFF Coupon
The link above will take you to the Lightlife site where a popup window will auto-open containing instructions on printing your coupon. They make you install a “coupon printer” (I did it, it’s nothing – you can say yes with no worries), and then your coupon prints. The coupon expires 5/31/2007, for those of you who find this page years from now and want your $1.00 off Lightlife coupon, sorry.
Did I just happen upon these coupons? No, they happened upon me. I am a lucky vegan. AlmostVegan.com is a lot of work, you should see the spam comments I have to sort through to find the real ones (1000 to 2), and they are disgusting — “Tall hairless blond…” — you get the picture, I’m sure. But, there are certainly perks. Eat your hearts out, I get free vegan food.
Lightlife, already one of my very favorite vegan food companies, somehow found Almost Vegan and wanted me to get a chance to sample some of their products that I don’t usually find at my local Wal-Mart. That’s right Wal-Mart. You gotta hand it to a vegan food company that have gotten their products in that store. Talk about reaching the masses, no matter what you think of Wal-Mart.
I love Lightlife and I have for some time. Proof below:
Search Almost Vegan for Lightlife >>
That link above turns up 6 posts, 7 if you count this one.
Well, Lightlife (bless them) sent me a huge box (actually a refrigerated cooler!) of their vegan food products. YEEEEUM! Most all of them I have never seen before. I have tried a few already and they are incredible…I mean really, really good, and they also sent a couple old favorites — Gimme Lean and Chick’n Strips. Out of my gratefulness to Lightlife I am going to do a series of posts on the products they sent me, thanks Lightlife.
Oh man. I am in vegan heaven…
And believe it or not, that’s not all. Amy’s noticed all the entries I had about their incredible vegan food products and sent me some coupons as a thank you. 5 of them are actually for totally free products, any kind I want, and some $0.55 and $1.00 off coupons too.

Thank you so much Amy’s!
Some days it’s great to be a vegan blogger.

Finally. I found it. Soy-whipped cream and in this handy spray bottle just like the real thing!
Soyatoo! Soy Whipped Cream is 100% vegan contains zero saturated fat or cholesterol and is made with organic ingredients.
Well, I also found a couple of hitches. It does have a soy-ey taste to it, but any true vegan that has not had dairy in a while won’t mind too much. The other thing is more of a problem. The can I got worked for about 3/4 of the contents, but then completely quit on me trapping 1/4 of my soy whipped cream inside.
Soy is heavier than cream so it is altogether harder to get this stuff to spray out. Be warned.
The people who came up with it’s website >>
But, it actually does work and is so much like the real thing I was shocked… So it’s a miracle.
*Happy Christmas*

Have a nice Thanksgiving or at least survive it as best as possible.
In case you don’t know about Tofurky, it’s great >>

Does anybody else do this? I can’t believe I am the only one who thought of it, because it is incredibly good and so easy.
Oasis Hommus is about the best store bought hommus I can find around here. One day, I was making some pasta and being totally sick of red sauce I thought, hey, I just got that hommus and if I cut it with a lot of olive oil that might make a good sauce.
You know what? I was so right. It makes a great sauce and with so much protein as well, and it takes about a minute to make. Put some hommus in a bowl, add any kind of olive oil and mix well until you get a saucy consistency, pour over pasta.
I have also saut

Blaze Your Own Trail,
Bake Your Own Bar
Matisse & Jack’s oatmeal energy bars are exceptionally good and they are pretty easy to make. I used some homemade applesauce that I went over to Crane’s in Fennville and picked up. Good Applesauce = extra-good bars, but I bet these are good with any kind of applesauce and even yogurt (soy yogurt of course), which is another wet ingredient option.
Every thing about the product and the packaging is user friendly; from the great and friendly graphic directions on the box, to the tasty bars that you end up with. Don’t eat them all in one day like I did!
Here’s their website – http://www.matisseandjacks.com/

I thought this was cute. I hope Reynolds doesn’t mind me using it.

I got this recipe from Chicago Tribune Food and Drink eNewsletter.
I really have to hand it to them for offering a vegetarian dish. That’s how pathetic this rampantly carnivore area of the country has made me!
I made it vegan with a little tweak *

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