Over the summer I noticed yet another gas station chain that started carrying more random vegan things! YAY! This Willy's brand of salsa had 2 or 3 of them that I tried. I have to say it's unlike other salsas and I truly believe it's because of their punchy-use of bold cilantro. I know cilantro is one of those things that some people love and others hate. I've always liked it but I can see in some cases where the over the top use of it could give certain things that soapy taste. For some reason the loads of cilantro worked here. They also seem to love garlic. Lucky for them...I love garlic, too!
Here's a pic of the new, local Falafel that is being made in-house at Total Evolution. It's also vegan and pretty wonderful! This was a HUGE sandwich! You can pick your own toppings for it, too!
Prior to August, this was our set-up for camping season. Our new-to-us-but-gently-used 5th Wheel is on the left and my parents Jayco is on the right. I don't especially like the specific spot we had this year or last year but I didn't complain too much either.
Here's another meal I grabbed at Total Evolution this past summer. You can build your own wrap. Most places that tends to be the vegan option around here but you basically get lettuce, tomato, and onion. I then see if places have salsa or a balsamic for the dressing...BUT...with Total Evolution they have some really neat things to include. This one contained their in-house hummus, carrots, greens, sprouts, celery, tomato. I've done variations of this from time to time and I will certainly start sharing more of them with you!
At our local Tops I have fell in love with a new product but that love comes with a hefty price tag so when I see them on sale I will grab one. It's the line of products from The Coconut Collaborative. In this pic, here, you will see the Chocolate Ganache. When I opened the first one I thought...gee...I could eat all 4 in one sitting! But, you know what? They are so rich I could only eat one!
Many of the products in this post are new or new-to-me products from Aldi and that includes this one! It's the Vegan Vegetable Potstickers! They are tasty!
Another find at Aldi are these Eggplant with Yellow Pepper Raviolis! I LOVED these and hope I can find them again soon! There is another kind, I hear, but I haven't seen those locally yet.
I finally spotted their Vegan Sour Cream. I grabbed some. It was ok. It was certainly good enough for the price! A nice, cheaper alternative. I would probably buy it again!
One of the one pot meals I did in the camper this year was squash with vegan margarine, vegan pepper jack cheese, and topped it with tortilla strips! It know it doesn't look like much but it was VERY yummy! I would categorize it as a vegan comfort food for sure!
I don't really have time to do a blog post YET re-capping fair week but I thought I would give you a little teaser for now. These were our new work banners that were at our broadcast booth!
Moving on to a thing or two from Wegman's! I did grab this to have the camper during fair week. Let's just say...it lasted about a day!
I can't remember which place I spotted these at since there were about 2 to 3 weeks I seemed to travel all over the country-side grocery shopping at various places. I'm not sure if I grabbed them at Wegman's or Mustard Seed. I don't think I went to Whole Foods Market, Whole Foods Co-Op, or Trader Joes during that specific time so it might have been Wegman's or Tops. I'm leaning more towards Wegman's as the possibility. They were easy to do in the microwave and for a nuke-able meal it was tasty! I recommend vegan mayo and ketchup on them!
One thing I know I found at Tops was THIS! Mango Sorbet! I thought I would try it but didn't really have a WOW pre-judgement, however, when I had my first taste...I was blown away! This was one of the BEST naturally-tasting mango flavored treats I think I have ever had! YUM!
Also at Tops - right around the same time - I found these gorgeous watermelon radishes! I knew I had to buy them since we don't usually see them available for purchase in our area! I really enjoyed them. I share them with my mom, dad, and 2 ladies at work and all for of them thought they didn't have much taste. They were a sweeter flavor and not a spicier flavor like regular radishes usually are and I think that threw everyone off. I think most people go for your 'standard' fruit or veggie and then when you ask them to try something new they already have a pre-judgement that they aren't going to like it.
When I saw this at Aldi this summer I knew I had to buy it because my local Aldi isn't consistent with what they carry so when you see it you should buy it because you don't know if or when it will be back. I still have yet to open this but it sits nicely in my freezer until then!
And finally, another find at Aldi! The first go around with these - that everyone was talking about - I didn't have them at my local store - but - I was able to find them this summer and tried them. They were pretty good! Next time I would like to try and top them like they did on the box...with mushrooms and onions...and greens, oh my!
