Potato Barley Soup & Things

Because of the cold and snowy weather I can't stop thinking about soup!  So yesterday I made some Potato Barley.  I had both potatoes and barley on hand and wanted to use only the items I had on hand.  Oddly, I have had this barley in my pantry for quite some time and have been trying to think of what to use it in.  This soup seemed to be the perfect fit.  As you can see I topped with Nutritional Yeast and Smoked Paprika but it was only a sprinkle of each.  With the leftovers I didn't add anything to the top.  Below is the recipe.

About 4 or 5 Potatoes
1/4 C Barley
4-6 C Water *
4 T Vegan "No Chicken" Powder **
1/4 Onion, Minced
1/4 C Parsley
2 T Vegan Butter

* I started with 4 C but ended up with 6 C Water because it was so thick.

** I used a vegan "no chicken' powder.  All it contained was onion, garlic, corn starch, turmeric, sunflower oil, salt, yeast, celery seed.

For this specific vegan powder I used enough to work with 4 C water because that is what I started with.  The brand was Frontier Co-Op and a friend of mine a while back gave me a pound of it and I never opened it until this weekend.  The date was still good on it so I figured why not.  It was alright.  A little salty for my usual tastes.  The soup was still tasty but next time I will probably go lighter on the ingredient - that is - if I use it again at all.  I usually just use water - which you could totally do here instead of using the vegan stock, broth, powder, etc.  In that case I would probably just add some Bragg's Liquid Aminos, onion, garlic, etc.

 Either way - this was a very hearty soup - almost like a chowder.  I boiled everything for about 15-20 minutes, let cool, and then put everything in a blender.

Another thing I wanted to share with you today was these crunchy cookies from Simple Mills.  I found them at the Buffalo Whole Foods the last time I went.  They were pretty good while they lasted but I don't think I would buy them again unless they were on sale.  I think they were $4.99.  They did last me a while, however.  They looked different from what the package looks like here.  They were pretty small but a nice crunchy snack regardless.

I'm already sick of winter and it's only really bee a week.  This past week we have had 3 back-to-back-to-back snow storms.  BLAH!  I'm sure I will be doing more cooking today so I will have more vegan foods to share with you tomorrow.  In the meantime, I will be catching up on blogging buddies posts and such.  What did you do this weekend?

Gut Punch, Unicorns, & Vegan Cheese

DH and I got a fairly early start this morning and drove to Buffalo Wholefoods - among other places.  While I stopped in at WF I picked up a few things that were things I have been looking for, haven't been able to find in other places, found at a low price, or really needed.  One of the first items I want to share with you is this Farmhouse Culture Cola Gut Punch Sparkling Probiotic Veggie Drink.  Farmhouse Culture the brand known for its probiotic-rich Kraut, fermented veggies and Gut Shots, has introduced a ready-to-drink sparkling probiotic beverage line called Gut Punch. It comes in five flavors, including Mango Guava, Ginger Lemon, Cola, Strawberry Hibiscus and Cherry Cacao. Made with a fermented beet base and infused with real fruit essences, the line contains no added sugar added, with each variety retailing for a suggested $3.79 per bottle, however, it was $3.99 at Buffalo Wholefoods.  Normally, I wouldn't spend that much for a Booch or other Probiotic beverage but it looked really interesting and I probably won't be able to visit another WF for 4 to 6 months.  Personally, I wanted to grab the Mango Guava but I thought DH might like to try the Cola and we could split it.  He tried it and hated it.  I tried it and it was ok.  VERY different.  Glad I tried it - probably wouldn't spend the money on it again unless it was drastically reduced and on sale.  


Over the next several days I will share more of my WF Finds with you but I also wanted to tell you about our trip to Barnes & Noble!  Since we don't normally get each other or much for Christmas we decided to pick up a few things while we were out today.  DH went to a couple of music stores and found some interesting things and I found 4 books at B&N.  

Before I share the first of the 4 books I grabbed I thought I would show you these cute i-Clips.  They are magnetic bookmakers with Unicorns on them!  Many of you know that I collect Unicorns and I knew I just HAD to have them!  They are small but fun.  There are 4 sets of 2 for a total of 8 i-Clips!

There was snow on the ground in and around Buffalo.  A couple of inches in yards but the roads were clear.  Near our house we didn't get any of the snow they were calling for but my sister about a half hour away got about 4 inches.  I was lucky enough to spend time with her and my niece Trinity yesterday for a couple of hours and then DH and I met up with some friends and stopped by a small town for a Christmas Walk.  It was VERY COLD.

Sorry...back to...TODAY!  Here is the first of 4 books I wanted to share with you from our B&N Buffalo Trip.  Vegan Cheese by Jules Aron.  I've only thumbed thru a few of the recipes so far and I can't wait to try to make some of the cheeses!

I will try and spread the other books throughout future posts.  The more I have been thinking about the Virtual Bookshelf the more I feel like I need to do it myself and not use a widget or app.  It's going to take a LONG time but little by little I hope to add more and more books to my bookshelf.

I've also decided to start including more music to my posts.  At first I was thinking about adding a song to each post but maybe I will do a Monday Music Mention or something to kick things off.  What do you think!?

Vegan Buffalo ArtiHearts & Plant Based Veggie Chips

I've teased a few of you about the mini haul I was able to get this passed weekend but I almost forgot about 2 items I got prior to that.  These Spicy Artichokes AKA Monterey Farms ArtiHearts Buffalo Flavor showed off the vegan "V" on the back of the package.  So I knew I had to try them at least once.  I found these at the Erie Giant Eagle a few weeks ago!  Tonight I put them in a Sun Dried Tomato Wrap and what I couldn't fit in the wrap I ate as-is and dipped in salsa.  Both were tasty but I will say due to their size they were a bit difficult to eat in the wrap.  I think they would be ideal for stand alone dipping or even thrown in a salad!

Next up are Brad's Veggie Chips CHEDDAR.  Again, they feature the "V" we tend to look for on the packaging.  They are also Raw, Soy-Free, Gluten-Free, USDA Organic, Non-GMO, etc.

These are NOT a new product but rather an updated, re-packaged product.

I'm almost finished with these and wanted to share them with you before I move on to other foods and snacks.  It's been a while since I had Brad's.  Mostly because when I do find them they are really pricey.  But the last time I went to the Whole Foods Market they were on sale for at least 2 bucks off so I was surely tempted.

Have you seen the flavored Artichoke Heart yet?  Have you tried them?  What did you think?

Worth A Re-Visit Thanks To Their New Vegan Smoked Gouda!

It's been a few years since I last purchased vegan cheese from Follow Your Heart.  Probably even before I went vegan, actually.  I have to say I wasn't fond of their vegan cheeses.  So that - in short - is why I haven't bought them again...UNTIL NOW...

Many of my blogging buddies who have been lucky enough to locate Daiya's Smoked Gouda and have blogged about had me craving it.  I thought maybe if anyone had it - it would be the brand new Whole Foods Market in Buffalo.  But, Nope!

So...I when I saw they had this smoked gouda from FYH I thought I would 'settle' for it.  Well, color me SURPRISED!  It's flippin' fabulous!  Now I want to go out and grab all of the other Follow Your Heart Sliced Vegan Cheeses I come across to see what I have been missing!

They must have really upped their game the last few years because I don't remember having a positive encounter before.  Glad I stepped outside my comfort zone and paid them a re-visit!

A funny addition to this story is that DH mistakenly opened MY VEGAN CHEESE and ate TWO SLICES out of it before I did!  When I went to use it for the first time and noticed the package was open I asked him about it and he said that he didn't know it was mine.  I totally believe him because he always poo-poo's my stuff.  I said to him...well, it must have been good if you didn't complain about it.  He said that he didn't notice...so...I'll chalk that up as a WIN in the vegan cheese category!

Road Trip to Rochester & Buffalo: Pi-Craft, New Whole Foods Market, and Wind Farms!

This past weekend DH and I were headed to Woodmere, OH, and decided to change directions and head to Rochester, NY, instead.  We wanted to get the Abarth out before winter, too!  When we got to Rochester we visited 2 Music Stores he wanted to go to and we stopped at a place called Pi-Craft for lunch.  It was WONDERFUL!  Basically, you put the toppings that you want on your pizza and they Stone Fire it in 3 to 6 minutes!  They had VEGAN options!  So as you can see here I opted for the Vegan Cheese, Sauce, Tomato, Artichoke, Mushrooms, Spinach, Garlic, etc.

Come to find out not only do they have a location in Rochester - they have another one in Buffalo!  I'm sure we will be stopping at the Buffalo Location in the future!  While we were in Rochester we briefly stopped at Trader Joe's.  I only bought 3 items one of which was their Apple Cranberry BOOCH.  It was a strange trip because we kept changing our direction throughout the trip.  We ended up in Buffalo on our way home.  I found out they finally opened the new Whole Foods Market there so we stopped real quick and it was unlike any other WF's I have seen!

I bought some things there but totally forgot to take photos before putting it away!  Oops!  This store was HUGE!  In this 2nd pic if you look to the far left there is a restaurant and bar there with local brews.  We weren't able to stop to eat there but it looked really neat.  We might be going to Buffalo on the 23rd with my parents who are looking into a camper so I might see if we can stop there again!

Because we were driving all over the place I can't really tell you an exact location where we started seeing these Wind Turbines and Wind Farms but I know one of the many locations was in or around Warsaw, NY.   There were HUNDREDS of them all over the place.  I've seen them in other places here and there but on this trip, we were certainly in the core of the Wind Farm zone.

Agree or Disagree with them - it was certainly not something most of us see every day!  

Again, I have multiple posts today so be sure to scroll down.  I just couldn't wait to share my vegan pizza with you or the mention of the new WF's in Buffalo!

CHEERS!