Kung Pao Tofu

I had some extra-firm tofu that was close to expiring and had a hankering for something Asian so this recipe sounded perfect to me !

It’s not in the picture but this recipe called for 5 dried red chilies (I used chile de arbol) and I swear y’all, I cooked it for the time listed and I guess the heat was higher than whatever they used (recipe never does say) ’cause the chilies looked black ! I had cut off the stems before they went into the skillet so the dish still got a nice level of heat to it but I refused to bite into any of the actual chili peppers in fear of the level of bitterness they could’ve had. The bell pepper still had some crunch to it even after I was done cooking but I was okay with that since the tofu was seared but not crispy. This was really delicious but next time I think I’ll double this recipe so I can get the portion size I’d really like (it’s supposed to serve 4 but the three of us polished it off no problem).

Oh yeah, the recipe never gives an exact size for cutting the tofu but I went for roughly 3/4-inch sized cubes.

If you want to try this out for yourself, click here.

I wasn’t paid in any form to mention this recipe.

Take care y’all !

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Cookie Dough Bars

I definitely have a sweet tooth so when I saw this recipe, I had to make it !

You can choose to freeze or refrigerate these bars to solidify the chocolate layer on top and I went with the freezing option. Saves you on time, does make it a bit harder to cut into though ! Even though this is vegan, the flavor and texture reminded me of all the chocolate chip cookie dough batter that I really shouldn’t have ate over the years (seriously, I don’t know how I never got salmonella). Once the chocolate ganache hardened, it gave a nice snap and you think this dessert will be too sweet but the salt that gets mixed into the cookie dough cuts through the sweetness.

If you’d like to try making this yourself, click here.

I wasn’t paid in any form to promote this recipe.

Take care y’all !

Easy Onion Rings

Happy Fry-Day y’all ! I missed eating fried onion rings so when I saw this recipe was vegan and was being pitched as being easy, I knew I wanted to try it out !

Oh my god, these were AWESOME !!!! The onion was sweet and tender, the batter had an incredible crispy crunch to it and when you bit into the onion ring, the entire onion ring didn’t come sliding out ! I don’t know how much difference it will make if you change these three things, but I went with the 1/2-inch cut, I used Michelob Ultra beer and I used regular flour instead of gluten-free flour

If you’d like the recipe for this, click here.

I was not paid in any form to promote this recipe or Michelob Ultra.

Take care y’all !

BBQ Chickpeas

A vegan recipe that sounds good and requires no knife work? You know I’m trying that recipe out !

The original recipe mentions how you could use this in a variety of ways and since it’s still hot like summer time here, I chose to use it in a salad. The chickpeas were saucy enough that I didn’t add any kind of dressing to the greens. I did let the chickpeas cool down a little before adding them to the salad so I wouldn’t end up with a bunch of wilted greens. I liked the spicy, smoky and just a little sweet flavor of the finished sauce. I used Hickory barbecue sauce and chose to add liquid hickory smoke to my version so if you choose a different kind of barbecue sauce it might not have as much smokiness to the finished product. My mom thought the chickpeas were a little too spicy to eat all on their own so we also ended up fixing some brown rice to serve this with.

If you’d like to try this recipe out (and not necessarily in a salad or with rice), click here.

I wasn’t paid in any form to mention this recipe.

Take care y’all !

One-Pot Creamy Spinach Pasta

I haven’t really tried vegan cream cheese but I thought this recipe sounded like a tasty way to try it out.

For a dish that’s got the word “creamy” in it, I was expecting a saucier dish. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t dry, just… more like a coating of the pasta. The flavors didn’t really pop in this dish even though I definitely added salt and even a little more lemon juice than what the recipe called for. Because I wanted more flavor I chose to sprinkle some red pepper flakes on to give it a little heat.

If you’d like to try out this recipe yourself, click here.

I wasn’t paid in any form to mention this recipe.

Take care y’all !

Kung Pao Noodles

Pasta sounded so good to me so when I saw this recipe I was like “hell yeah, I wanna make this” !

Oh man I loved eating this ! The sauce was spicy, salty and a little sour/tangy. The peanuts still had some texture to them and I liked getting a bite with the green onion slices in it. I think this would also be really good with some fried tofu sprinkled on top !

Oh yeah by the way, the recipe calls for chile paste ( I used gochujang) and I decided to use 3 tablespoons of it. I also used 50% reduced-sodium tamari sauce instead of soy sauce to keep it from getting unpleasantly salty.

If you’d like to make the recipe yourself, click here.

I wasn’t paid in any way to promote this recipe.

Take care y’all !

Vegan Chipotle Mayo

I was looking for a different way to add some flavor to my seitan sandwiches and knew I wanted to try this out as soon as I saw it.

This was a pretty easy recipe to fix up ! It was creamy, smoky and a little spicy. I’d be happy to fix it again in the future.

If you’d like to try this recipe out yourself, click here.

I wasn’t paid in any form to mention this recipe.

Take care y’all !

Teriyaki Baked Tofu

The teriyaki sauce sounded delicious but it was the fact that this recipe cooks all the tofu at once in the oven instead of batches in a skillet that made the lazy side of me get really excited about trying this !

The sauce was full of flavor, wish I’d actually doubled it after tasting it but the texture of the tofu was kind of disappointing. I decided to go for the full 30 minutes instead of the minimum 25 but I really don’t think 5 minutes less would’ve taken away the… jerky like texture. But seriously though, the recipe really is worth making for the sauce, you just gotta find a different way to cook up the tofu !

If you’d like to make the recipe yourself, click here.

I wasn’t paid in any form to mention this recipe.

Take care y’all !

Easy Chickpea Vindaloo

I’m all for a delicious dinner that’s easy to make !

Ingredients

  • 2 (12.5 oz. each) jars of Maya Kaimal Spicy Vindaloo Indian Simmer Sauce (Hot)
  • 3 (16 oz. each) cans of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • Brown rice, for serving

Directions

1.) Add the chickpeas and sauce to a large skillet, setting it over medium-high heat. Once boiling, turn the heat down and let simmer for 15 minutes. Serve over rice.

Sure it could’ve looked prettier with some cilantro on it but this sauce was really tasty ! Mommy would’ve liked it just a little bit more if there’d been a squeeze of lime juice added to it but otherwise thought it was delicious. Even with the rice you could still get the heat from the sauce. This wasn’t one of those sauces that says it’s hot but it’s really not, this was definitely spicy !

I wasn’t paid in any form to mention Maya Kimal’s vindaloo sauce.

Take care y’all !

The Best Vegan Garlic Alfredo Sauce?

I love Alfredo sauce but if I can find a vegan version that tastes just as good then I’ll go for that ! With that thought in mind, when I came across this recipe online, I was willing to give it a shot.

I tried this with or without the lemon zest garnish and honestly I think the zest isn’t necessary ’cause this was freaking delicious even without it ! This really did taste like actual garlic Alfredo sauce, it was creamy, rich and the garlic definitely came through. The sauce would’ve been easier to show had I just poured some on over the noodles like the directions said to but I tossed the noodles around in the sauce so that every bite would have some of the sauce in it. I used a 16 oz. pkg. of linguine and it seemed like there was enough sauce from just one batch to coat all the pasta.

If you’d like to try making this yourself, click here.

I wasn’t paid in any form to promote this recipe.

Take care y’all !