I had both white and spelt bread today, so I made two matching cashew butter and organic strawberry jam sandwiches, cut out with a large biscuit cutter. I also packed some baby carrots with vegan ranch dip, and we decided to give baby bananas a try for the first time. Here's something else new: Barbara's Snackimals Oatmeal Wheat-Free Cookies. I wasn't sure if these were vegan ("natural flavor" is so vague) until I saw them for sale over at Food Fight Grocery, an all-vegan grocery store I desperately want to visit someday. Beverage: plain fortified soy milk.Verdict: These baby bananas were the perfect fit for the lunch box and tasted just like their bigger brothers. He didn't like the brown half-a-banana I packed him once, so baby-size was the way to go. I think he could have eaten two, though. With no horrifying crusts to deal with, every bit of the sandwich and everything else was completely consumed. 4 stars.
Yeah MOM! You finally got rid of those evil, vile crust like substances! Somewhere a tribe of crust hating villagers are doing the happy dance! LOL! What a great simple lunch!
ReplyDeletegreat looking lunch and thanks for the lead on those cookies. Do you make your own vegan ranch or have you found a store-bought one that is good?
ReplyDeleteHorrifying Crusts! That is so funny. I always thought the baby bananas would taste different, so thank Shmoo for the taste-test. Did you make your own cashew butter?
ReplyDeleteoooh.... cashew butter and snackimals!...
ReplyDeletei have been sick for half this week and have been surviving on pb sandwiches on whole wheat bread and crackers...
i envy shmoo for your loving care with his lunches!!
I just visited the link to Food Fight Grocery. They have great junkfood vegan items like nacho cheese dip. Also there's this cute tote bag that says "one less meat eater"
ReplyDeleteOk, Jennifer. I posted my Best Brussels Sprouts disaster on my page for you to see.
ReplyDeleteI have been wondering about those cookies,too.
ReplyDeleteBaby bananas, I've never heard of those.
ReplyDeletewell, if you come out this way to food fight, i'd be pleased to buy you some cookies! :)
ReplyDeleteCome visit Food Fight! Then we'd get to see you! :-) Hibi's been talking about making a visit your way. I think she wants to sample some of your yummy vegan cooking. Poor thing, she's the only vegan in an otherwise vegetarian family.....
ReplyDeleteThough, I have to say. We didn't see food products in Food Fight that we couldn't have picked up in a well-stocked natural food store. But I suppose it's partly the attitude. :-) Hibi actually spotted it first as we were driving around--we were looking at a house to rent just, like, a quarter mile from there. But we didn't get it so she can't walk there. :-(
You are so inspiring to me!
ReplyDeleteHey, Leslie -- Those sprouts don't look like a disaster to me, I think you did great! I would have browned them a bit more at the start, but they look good. Honest! Since you haven't had them before, maybe you just need to get to know them a bit better and get used to them, or maybe they're just not your veggie. :-)
ReplyDeleteYour pics made me hungry for some Best Brussels Sprouts myself...
I wish you were my mommy!!
ReplyDeleteWhy are bananas brothers, as opposed to sisters? I can see an alliterative benefit, but still!
ReplyDeleteWhat do you end up doing with the crusts?
I really envy Shmoo, except for the living in Kennewick, WA part...
I love me some alliteration.
ReplyDeleteI either toast the crusts into croutons or (more usually) pulse them into bread crumbs for bean burgers.
> Why are bananas brothers, as opposed to sisters?
ReplyDeleteBananas are obviously male. :)
Since both Brussels sprouts and Food Fight Grocery came up on this thread, I thought it might be somewhat almost on-topic to share my foolproof method for cooking them:
ReplyDelete1. Buy some vegetarian oyster sauce (from Food Fight, or wherever. In case you're wondering, I think 'oyster' means 'oyster mushroom' in the vegetarian case)
2. Steam brussels sprouts (I use the rice cooker). You can use a fork to tell if they're soft enough. They took ~15-20 minutes in my rice cooker total but that includes the time it took for the water to heat up, so in a standard steamer maybe 10 minutes.
3. Mix ~1/4c oyster sauce with 2 T. white vinegar (wine, rice, whatever), 1/2 t. sugar, and a few dashes of soy sauce.
4. Toss sprouts in sauce.
I love this oyster sauce stuff because I can add this type of sauce to sprouts, kale, and all things brassicish or cabbagey, and my husband will actually eat them. It's saved our winter CSA subscription. (my husband will wolf down anything laced with MSG, embarrassingly enough.)
Another way I make sprouts is using this Everyday Food recipe.
Oh to clarify above I use veggie bacon in that recipe I just linked to! There's no need for the extra first 10 minute baking then, at least with the type of veggie bacon I use.
ReplyDeleteI use Everyday Food a lot because so many of their recipes are fast and easy (why doesn't someone make a veggie magazine like this?). At this point my mind substituts vegan things for ingredients as I'm reading!
oh man.. I wish I could afford cashew butter/other protein-rich butters aside from peanut...
ReplyDeleteI love how you put the different kinds of breads in each sandwich :)
What a beautifully delicious looking lunch! I wonder if I could find baby bananas around here? They seem so perfect for kids' lunches!
ReplyDeleteVEGAN RANCH DIP!? Do tell! What brand or how do you make it?
ReplyDeletewhat a fantastic idea--using a biscuit cutter!
ReplyDeletevegan foodfight is amazing, from what i've heard. a friend of mine who lives in portland is just taken-aback at how amazing it is.
i'm not sure if you actually get a chance to reply to these, but i was curious as to if you have raised your son vegan his entire life? i would like to do this when i have a child but there is not a ton of info out there about it...
Thanks Jennifer. I am going to try them again, for sure with more browning. Thanks for looking and helping me out. I liked how "cute" they were and the flavor of your recipe, but maybe I just need to keep trying again.
ReplyDeleteI just LOVE this blog!!!
ReplyDeleteI have to ask... did you make the ranch dressing or did you find it at the store? I have been looking forever for vegan ranch dressing.
I made the ranch dip, and the recipe will be in the cookbook. I knew I had it right when my son wolfed down almost an entire bag of baby carrots in one sitting.
ReplyDeleteI didn't make the cashew butter (my mom had more than she could use so I inherited it) but I do make almond butter using my Vitamix blender.
Hi, allie! No, shmoo was not raised vegan; he ate omni with my husband until kindergarten, when he started asking questions about why I was vegan. He decided then to go veggie.
Hey, that Brussels sprouts recipe sounds yummy. You mentioned MSG, does the oyster sauce have MSG in it? If not I'm going to have to pick some up.
Re oyster sauce: Well, I just looked and it has 'mushroom flavor' in it, which is probably what gives it that flavor. I would guess this contains natural glutamic acid. (Personally I don't buy all the health concerns with that, but I know people who are convinced their consumption of glutamic acid causes health problems and have cut things like seaweeds out of their diet because of it.)
ReplyDeleteI'm not a nut butter person, except for peanut butter, but I am wondering if it is cheaper to grind your own vs buying it already in butter form. It also sounds like something that might be cheaper bought in quantity, although I suspect it would then have to be frozen, since oils can go rancid.
ReplyDeleteWe have a big freezer in our basement, so I buy whole nuts in bulk when they are on sale and store them in the freezer. I take them out and let them thaw, then grind small batches. I don't know how well they would freeze after being made into butter, though.
ReplyDelete:)
ReplyDeleteAny details about when you hope the book will be available or is it still too soon?
Leslie -
ReplyDeleteI had the same problem with the brussels sprouts recipe. I'm better off just cooking on my own without trying to stick to a recipe, it seems.
just found this blog - am now addicted!
ReplyDeleteFood Fight! is awesome. While you can find most of the stuff at a natural food store it seems more about having a sense of community. Next door is a vegan tattoo shop for (almost) cruelty-free tattoos, if that's your thing.
Be sure to check out the Food Fight blog that they have, it's awesome. http://www.foodfightgrocery.com/
Like I said, I'm new to the blog, but love it already and will be back often.