The battle for the kitchen!

Here's a post I wrote a couple months back and never posted. I've seriously been neglecting the blog, in case you haven't noticed.

Shortly after we found out Stephanie was pregnant she began having cravings. She tried the vegan thing for about a week of that time, but shortly after, started eating meat and dairy once again (not all the time - but here and there). She knows she doesn't need this stuff to be healthy and grow a healthy child (we've known and heard of quite a few people who have remained vegan all through their pregnancy with great results). Still, when she feels like crap already, she really just wants to eat what she can to make her feel better, and often that's a piece of chicken or some mac' n cheese. I even tried making vegan mac 'n cheese one night, and we both thought it was really good. Still her craving was for Kraft :) and she had to have it (she waited until the next day). Basically, most of the things I cook for dinner haven't sounded very good to her, and we've been cooking separate meals most nights.
Honestly, this has been pretty hard for me to deal with. It's been a huge hassle for both of us, and I've given up questioning it, and have finally just accepted that this is the way it is. She works until 7:30 or 8 pm many nights so on those nights I try to cook dinner before she gets home.

Since I wrote this a few months ago, things have gotten a little better. We've started trying to find more common ground in our menu, and we're just getting used to getting in each other's way in the kitchen. We're bracing ourselves for how having a child will make things even more complicated. Of course, because of nursing we hopefully won't have to deal with that for another year or so.

Chicago Diner

Stephanie and I recently went to Chicago for the wedding of our good friends Sara and Jack. Congratulations guys!! It was a great wedding for sure, but lately one of the highlights of my Chicago trips has been hitting up a little establishment called the Chicago Diner. Their motto is 'meat-free since '83', and the menu is almost entirely vegan. The great thing about this place is they have pretty traditional American -style diner food, but they've veganized it all without sacrificing any of the deliciousness. I may be vegan, but I still crave a nice meaty sandwich now and then, so this place always hits the spot. This time, I ordered the reuben with a side of mashed potatoes and gravy. Stephanie ordered the dagwood with some spicy corn chowder. Dang it was good. Oh, I almost forgot, for desert we shared a slice of chocolate "cheese" cake that was rich as can be and out of this world.
Even if you aren't vegan, I highly recommend this place if you're ever in Chicago.

Big shock - we hit traffic everywhere we went! Some day we'll wisen up and take the train.

vegan food reviews

Between working on the house non-stop and working at school, life has been pretty busy for us the past 6 weeks. The cooking in our kitchen has really dropped off, unfortunately. There have been a few good meals here and there, but there have also been quite a few packaged meals. While I usually share good foods I've cooked on the blog, this time I thought I'd share some of the store bought vegan fare we've been munching on.


Amy's Quarter Pound Veggie Burgers- These are amazing! They are our new favorite veggie burgers. They are not so full of veggies like a garden burger, yet they are not trying too hard to meat like a Boca burger. So I suppose they are the perfect balance in my view. I highly recommend them. At over 5 bucks for a 4 pack, we try to make these a rare treat in our kitchen.


Smart Dog - veggie protein links - These are a great substitute for a hot dog, and WAY healthier. Once you dress it up with some ketchup, mustard, and relish or onions, it's very hard to tell any difference between these and a hot dog. My only complaint is that the texture gets really weird (mostly the skin) if you cook it wrong. It's been hit or miss for me.

Hormel Veggie Chili (99% fat free) - I think these were about a dollar per can at Meijer so I got a few. I'm not a big fan of canned Chili, but these do fine for a quick meal or snack. They are just as good as any canned Chili as far as I'm concerned. Textured vegetable protein (TVP) gives them a meaty consistency. Can't say I'd recommend them to most people.

Almond Breeze Chocolate Drink - This is a pretty delicious tasting chocolate milk. I love it, and I don't really see why anyone would go back to the dairy stuff after trying this. Do yourself a favor and pick some up. Shake well!


So Delicious Frozen Desert - I've found that different flavors are either great or not so good, so I'll speak to the three flavors I've tried. Mint marble fudge gets a 'D'. Stay away from it if you know what's good for you. I'll give neopolitan a 'B+'. It was very good, but I've had better. Oddly enough my favorite flavor has been creamy vanilla. I'm giving it an 'A'. Definitely give it a shot.

And I almost forgot these -- Newman-O's -- like Oreo's except healthier (a little) and vegan.

The latest from our vegan kitchen

We got the Real Food Daily cookbook a few weeks ago and now we finally own more than one vegan cookbook. Dozens of vegan meals and goodies continue to flow from the Vanderzee kitchen. The following are a few I happened to have the camera around for.

This was a delicious tempeh meat loaf (that crumbled apart completely) with mashed potatoes and the best gravy I've EVER had (golden gravy from RFD).

Potato and kale enchiladas from Veganomicon with black beans -- don't worry it's Tofutti sour cream :)

Steph made a Falafel sandwich for lunch one day and said this tzatziki sauce was to die for. I had some leftovers later and agreed.

My own creation - mix a reuben sandwich with a smart dog and you get a reuben dog. Canned sauerkraut, and fresh rye bread from the Wealthy Street Bakery. Not bad. We also made the tempeh reubens from RFD a few days later and they were amazing. They were topped off with the homemade tofu ricotta and homemade thousand island dressing. Sadly, we didn't get pictures of those.

One of the only vegan feasts we've cooked for Steph's parents. These seitan enchiladas, black beans, and Spanish rice all got the meat-loving in-law seal of approval.

A parade of vegan food (photos)

Well, here they are, as promised. 2 days ago I just re-discovered the close-up setting on Steph's camera, so most of these photo's pretty much suck because they were taken before that :) Oh well, the meals were delicious. Many of them are already repeat visitors at our table, and all of them will be in the future.

Spaghetti and bean balls

Chili Cornbread Crusted Tofu "Po Boy"

Frying up some seitan for one of our favorites . . .

. . . the BBQ seitan and coleslaw sammich (these bbq strips cook well on the grill too)

Snobby Joe (sloppy joe style lentils - very good)

All the above dishes are from the Veganomicon. As you can see we haven't ventured very far from the "sammiches" section as of late, probably because I can get free (and great quality) bread from the bakery where I work part time.