Where Did The Week Go?

Thursday, already?  Not sure where the rest of the week went but I knew I needed to get a blog post on before the craziness of the next few days takes place!  You see - my sisters baby shower is Saturday!  Both near-future grandma's are running around like maniacs and then there is the near-future 'Crazy Aunt' (that's ME) that has been overly busy at work and down and out not feeling well for a few days last week!  I haven't been as much help as I wanted the last couple of weeks!  Anyhow...today I will share with you some things I have been taking snapshots of over the past week and then I will blab about the shower next week!

First up is what I had for dinner last night.  It's the first photo you see in this post and it is LITERALLY something I threw together because I didn't want to fuss with anything special.  I found tortilla boats that happen to be vegan and I filled them with this chickpea mixture!

Smoked Russian Chickpeas:

1 Can of Chickpeas

4 T Vegan Mayo (I used Trader Joe's - see below)

2 to 3 T Ketchup

1/2 t Smoked Paprika

1/2 t Wildtree Memphis Dry Rub

3 Drops Organic Liquid Smoke

I cannot express how AWESOME this turned out!  I'm not going to lie - I kinda wanted to drink the 'dressing' which was a more smoked up version of my Vegan Russian Dressing I have done in the past.

This was the Vegan Spread and Dressing I used that I found at Trader Joe's the last time I went.  I'm partial to Just Mayo but this is pretty awesome on it's own.  It's not what I would call a straight-up vegan mayo but more like a dressing like it states - it seemed thicker and did have a different taste but the taste was pretty wonderful!

Another wrap I did within the last week was this one.  It doesn't look like much but it was a great comfort food!  I used a couple of potato patties, tomato slices, and vegan cheese sauce.  The vegan cheese sauce was the leftover vegan cheese powder I made not too long ago!  It worked well!

I had a huge salad this week, too, and I made this dressing.  It was supposed to resemble a vegan Ranch Dressing using Sunflower Seeds as the base but it totally missed the mark as a Vegan Ranch Dressing taste-alike.  The taste wasn't bad it just wasn't what I was going for.  

I'm grateful on a daily basis that Paco has been doing well the last several months!  A few months ago he wasn't able to do this!  He would barely move let alone look engaged in things!  

I still have to help him up on the sofa and recliner but the WANT and INTEREST is there!  I put him up on the recliner but he managed to get on the armrest all by himself and pose like this!  I couldn't tell you the last time he did that!  For about a year I freaked out when he did try to because his legs were so unstable!  How can these photos NOT put a smile on your face?

MELT Bar & Grill Visit

Last weekend hubby and I took a drive over to Mentor, OH, and then on to Woodmere, OH, to visit Wholefoods Market...more on that trip to the store another time.  Today I'm talking about the experience I had at MELT Bar & Grill!

I'll work a little backwards here and start with the food then move to the atmosphere!

First up...my main meal.  YES...they have a slew of VEGAN options!  Woot!  I opted for the half sandwich which was a good thing because I couldn't have eaten any more!  What you see here is called the PARMAGEDDON.  This 'bad boy' had Potato & onion pierogis, fresh Napa vodka kraut, sautéed onions, vegan cheddar on their bread!

I started things off with these 'puppies'.

These are Buffalo Tofu Wings with Vegan Ranch.  Believe it or not...my far-from-veg-husband actually tried them, too, and he REALLY liked them!

These were VERY memorable for both of us - especially because hubby already said he would have them again the next time we went back.

The vegetarian and vegan options were clearly marked on the menus.  The menu's were on the back of old record sleeves.

This place was AWESOME and eclectic and eccentric and just about anything else you can think of.  A wonderfully FUN place with lots of interesting food options.

Every couple of weeks they come up with some off-the-wall special feature such as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Cowabunga Melt or the Glazed and Very Confused Donut Bacon Melt...not that either of those are vegan but you get the idea...

Either way...it gives me great ideas to try to veganize, eh!?

What do you think!?  Here's their Instagram, too!

Vegan MoFo ~ Weird Food Combo

For today's Vegan MoFo prompt of "Weird Food Combos You Love" I have to admit I was a little stumped.  Mostly because the 'average person' thinks no matter what I eat is 'weird'.  I guess I could tell you about having to go a picnic or potluck where I didn't prepare my own food well and having to 'settle' for a vegan hotdog.  And by that I don't mean an actual vegan hotdog or veggie pup - I mean having Mustard, Ketchup, and Relish on a roll!  People really look at me like I'm going insane.  But desperate times call for desperate measure, eh?

So I guess instead of ranting about all of the weird things I eat or really trying to come up with an out-of-this-world flavor combo I thought this would be a good time to post some of the 'thrown together' wraps I have been creating as of late.  All of which have been pretty darned tasty!  First up is the one you see above!  This one has Potato Patties that I cubed and pan fried along with mushrooms, red sweet peppers, corn, cherry tomatoes, and Vegan Shriracha Mayo.

Next up is this one.  It may not look pretty but it was pretty darn tasty!  This has Zucchini, Red Bell Peppers, Pine Nuts, Mushrooms, Spinach, Corn, Spices,  and Sesame Oil.

This is similar but different, I guess!  This one has Carrots, Spinach, Corn, Red Bell Peppers, Zucchini, Hemp Seeds, Spices, and Jalapeno Grapeseed Oil (Wildtree Brand)

I guess moral of the story besides experimenting with different combos of food is that wraps are a great way to mix it up and throw in various fruits, veggies, nuts, and seeds to get more of a nutritional benefit.  Normally I would branch out even more with what I put in each in individual wrap but this is what I had on hand.  This was also an 'eating from your pantry' type post.  

Looking ahead to the weekend I did do some scheduled posts and they were pretty fun.  But I do see some potential rocky roads ahead with these prompts so I might tackle them in a round about way with a loose interpretation.