Green Chilie & Cheese Tamales!

In the past, I have not been able to find a meatless tamale that I liked. However, that changed today! I saw Archer Farms Green Chile and Cheese mini tamales at Target and decided to give them a try. They were amazing! My meat lover husband had them with me and he even liked them. We both only had one complaint, that I didn't buy more!

Firm Prices!

Does it bother anyone else that restaurants will make a dish with meat without the meat but won't change the price?! For example...I am at a local restaurant with a amazing sounding mac and cheese (except for the meat of course) they said they can take out any of the ingredients. This made me happy until  I was told I would still be change $13.49 even though I was not getting the bacon or the chicken! Ridiculous (at least I think so)!!! Anyone else agree?!?!

Califlower Cheesy "Bread"

I decided to finally try a cauliflower substitute recipe since I see them all the time. The one that caught my eye the most was the cauliflower cheesy bread. I knew it would not taste exactly like bread but expected it to taste a bit better. Below is the recipe I used along with suggestions on ways to possible improve it.

- Grate a head of cauliflower (8 cups). - Then microwave it for 6 minutes until it softens.
- Once it cools down a bit add 2 eggs, 2 teaspoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons minced garlic, 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper
- Lay mixture out on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
- Sprinkle 1/2 cup of shredded mozzarella on top.
- Bake at 350* for 20 minutes.
 
The cauliflower was crunchy so if I ever made it again I would try to microwave the cauliflower longer. I also think it would be best to leave out the minced garlic and use cheddar rather than mozzarella cheese. It still would not taste like bread but would probably be better than what is listed above.

Baked Ziti

I found a baked ziti recipe and altered it to make a meatless, cheesy baked ziti! The sour cream really gives it an extra creamy flavor! The picture really do it justice.


Ingredients:
1 box ziti                              
 2 jars of onion garlic spaghetti sauce
1 cup sour cream                  
10 slices of provolone cheese
2 cups mozzarella cheese       
1 cup grated parmesan  


* Preheat oven to 350 degrees
* Cook  Ziti al dente then drain
* Grease 11x13 pan
* Layer one half of the ziti, 1 jar of sauce, provolone cheese, sour cream, rest of the ziti, 1 jar of sauce, mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese
*cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes
* remove foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes to lightly brown the cheese

Rino's Italian Restaurant

My husband took me to Rino's Italian Restaurant in Lorain when we were dating. We went for lunch so we each just ordered off the appetizer menu and didn't even look to see what else they had. This time we went for dinner and it was a much more memorable experience. 

We started off with a fried cheese ravioli appetizer topped with fresh mozzarella and diced tomatoes. The coating on the ravioli was light making it the perfect pre-dinner snack. I then ordered there homemade Gnocchi. It was AMAZING! It had an incredible creamy blush sauce. It came with there homemade rolls and choice of soup or salad. I was pleasantly surprised when the waitress told me that had a tomato basil soup that was meat free. I went with the salad but did sneak a taste of the soup since my husband picked it.The soup was a very light broth and was very tasty as well. 

I am looking forward to going again! 

Moosehead Grill

So Friday my husband and I went to Moosehead Grill, which we had been looking forward to for weeks! Unfortunately, when we sat down and began to look at the menu we both instantly notices that the artichoke dip was no longer listed as an appetizer. It makes me sad because it really was the BEST creamy artichoke dip I have ever had! The waitress came over and we asked if they still had it. She explained that they took it off the menu. I asked her if there was any items that were meat and seafood free she could recommend and she said salad. I was surprised that that was her only suggestion since they do have pasta dishes on the menu. Oh well, we left and ended up with a very enjoyable meal somewhere else! 


See next post to find out where we ended up! 

Lean Pocket

Lean Pocket has a new vegetarian Pretzel Bread Sandwich. It is Spinach and Three Cheese! The pretzel bread is stuffed with spinach and reduced fat mozzarella, fonina and romano cheeses. It is very tasty! 

String Cheese Stuffed Shells

While student teaching, one of the paraprofessionals taught me a creative use for the extra sting cheese we had leftover from school breakfast....stuffed shells. I made this for dinner yesterday because it is easy and I don't like ricotta cheese.


 You simple cook the shells as directed on the box (I make 24). Then cut 12 string cheese sticks in half (I use mozzarella but any would do). Put string cheese half in each shell. Place shells in a baking pan with some of your favorite spaghetti sauce on the bottom. Sprinkle with italian seasonings, shredded mozzarella cheese, and the rest of the jar of spaghetti sauce. Bake on 375 degrees for 45 minutes. 

Luchitas Mexican Restaurant

I love Luchitas! They have a friendly staff as well as great food, margaritas, and are vegetarian friendly! I have only tried 2 menu items the Guaccamole Picado and Tinga de Pollo Vegetarian. Both items were delicious! They have other items that are always meat free and options like Tinga de Pollo that list "vegetarian available" (pictured above) on the menu. I went there on Friday and had the item that I get the most....Tinga de Pollo Vegetarian!

Tinga de Pollo - "Shredded chicken in a smoky chipotle, tomatillo, chorizo, and a tomato-based salsa, topped with homemade Mexican cream and slices of avocado. Served with Mexican white rice and black beans. Vegetarian available."


The picture above shows the vegetarian one. It is also severed with tortillas. As you can see the meatless option varied quiet a bit from the menu description. The chicken, chipotle, salsa is replaced with a mix of veggies. To be honest I'm not sure what all is in it but it is a great blend. Layed together on a tortilla with some of their amazing salsa makes a great meal with enough to take home for a second meal! If I is not hungry enough for a meal then I order the Guacamole Picado. It again is amazing and just like the Tinga de Pollo, I add their salsa to spice it up.


Guacamole Picado - "Made fresh to order. Avocados diced with onions, tomatoes, cilantro, peppers, and fresh lime juice."


I forgot to take a picture of the Guacamole Picado (sorry...next time). I will show you a picture of the Golden Margarita's. They need no description but I will tell you that after the picture was taken it was suggested that we try the Golden Pom Margaritas. It is the golden margarita with the addition of Pomegranate liquor. Not only does this make it a pretty pink, it gives it a nice fruity taste.

Pizza Hut

Oh Pizza Hut! Why do I continue to give you another chance!? 

After seeing several commercials advertising the cheesy bite pizza, I  tried it today! In a word CARDBOARD! So now for the long explanation. The best tasting part unfortunately was the cheese bite crust. It is unfortunate because it wasn't oozing with cheese like shown on the commercials. The bites were not only over cooked and crunchy, but once you actually was "lucky" enough to bite into cheese it was a hard. Now this could very well be due to the fact that the pizza arrived 20 minutes past the estimated delivery time and was cold. But the part that puzzles me the most, it how the cheesy bite crust was so hard to bite yet the pizza fell apart when picked up because it was so thin and soggy. 

New California Kitchen Pizza

Seven hours ago the California Pizza  Kitchen Facebook page posted that the winner of the new limited edition pizza flavor is "Chipotle Roasted Vegetables". It is a "crispy thin crust pizza topped with roasted read and yellow peppers, poblano peppers, roasted corn, black beans, chipotle lime sauce, parmesan, asiago, romano and mozzarella cheeses". It is AMAZING! My only complaint is that the box says "Limited edition". Thin crust is my favorite type of pizza and to have one that is a spicy vegetarian pizza is even better. I did add some jalapeno hot sauce to it but only because I like a lot of heat! This pizza is definitely my new favorite!

Buffalo Wild Wings

I enjoy Buffalo Wild Wings...well at least the bar and grill! =) They have several options included mozzarella sticks, potato wedges, fried pickles, soft pretzels, queso dip, onion rings, artichoke dip and in case those already meatless options don't sound appealing, they make many other menu items minus meat (at full price of course).


So last night I had one of my favorite "minus the meat" menu items... The Grilled Chicken Buffalitos. It is "two soft flour tortillas with grilled chicken, lettuce, pico de gallo, a blend of cheese, sour cream, and your choice of your favorite buffalo wild wing sauce" VERY TASTY!

Healthy Choice Three Cheese Marinara

To sum it up in one word it was DISAPPOINTING!


According to the Healthy Choice website, The three cheese marinara will allow you to "Take a trip to the heart of Italy with this wholesome nine-grain pasta dish. Hearty tomatoes, yellow zucchini, and zesty onions are tossed in a savory marinara sauce and topped with Parmesan, Romano, and Asiago cheeses. And with just 310 calories, your taste buds—and waistline—are sure to find this saucy combination simply "delizioso!"" but really I thought it lacked both sauce and flavor. I totally get that it is suppose to be a healthy low calorie meal but I have definitely had a lot better tasting healthy pasta meals. The cheese was not nicely shredded throughout as pictured but rather a thick mass that wouldn't separate and I also got the joy of biting into a huge salt chunk. It had enough basil to last an Italian family of 4 an entire week...and I like seasonings! But please feel free to try it for yourself! I am still going to try some of there other vegetarian selections in hope to find one worth of a blog posting!

California Kitchen Pizza

Yesterday for dinner I tried a Limited Edition frozen crispy thin crust fire roasted vegetables pizza. It is  topped with roasted red and yellow peppers, spinach, garlic and mozzarella, smoked gouda, parmesan, Asiago and Romano cheeses. I love thin crust pizza and was very pleased to see a vegetable pizza without mushrooms. The sweetness of the peppers and the crispy crunchy crust  is to die for. I really hope they change their minds and take the "limited edition" off the box. 

Domino's Pizza

I like Domino's more all the time! I haven't ordered anything from there lately other than pizza. You see, I like to order online and they didn't allow you to edit items (take meat off) online. However, now you can order any pasta and click options to edit and take off the meat OR you can create your own pasta. I did the create your own pasta today. You can pick up to 3 toppings and your choice of alfredo, cheese, or marinara sauce. It was disappointingly dry but after I added extra sauce that I had at home, it was much better. I would definitively order this again but with extra sauce. The only things with Domino's is that sometimes when you click a topping they don't carry it at that particular location or it prints wrong on their end and you end up with ground beef instead of green peppers or chicken instead of garlic. However, they do call to verify all online orders so I am always able to resolve this before they get to my home. 

Famous Vegetarians

Pamela Anderson          Jim Carrey *           Shania Twain         Albert Einstein             Mahatma Gandhi       Leonardo Da Vinci Paul McCartney            Bob Barker            Lisa Simpson ~       John Chapman             Paris Hilton *          Joan Jett       Rachel Barry ~          Michael Jackson *      Anne Hathaway   Hayden Panettiere        Pink *                   Natalie Portman   Carrie Underwood       Mark Twain *          Forest Whitaker       Rob Zombie              Phoebe Buffay ~      Tobey Maguire

Source: Wikipedia

* = rumored or disputed

~ = fictional character

Taco Bell (again)

REALLY?!?!?!?! Taco Bell is getting rid of the cheesy bean and rice burrito!!! I don't know what they are thinking it is by far the best vegetarian thing on their menu (not that they have much to compare it to). 

Bob Evans (again)

Well just like the stir fry the tomato soup is now gone! I don't understand why they ALWAYS get rid of their vegetarian items. Especially when it was something like tomato soup which is so delicious. The waitress said it might come back but I was told the same thing about the stir fry. Well maybe I can start going back around lent when restaurants all of the sudden start to care about providing options for vegetarians.

Tofurkey on Top 5 WORST Thanksgiving List ...... What do you think?

I don't eat Tofurkey but I know people that do.... I found this link of  "The Five Worst Thanksgiving Dishes" posted from a local news station. Tofurkey was listed as #2.

"2. Tofurky -- Looking more like the suppurating testicle of a rhinoceros than an actual turkey, Tofurky is getting increasingly difficult to dodge these days, and it's been on more than one occasion that we've witnessed the horror of Tofurky baking next to Tom Turkey in the very same oven."

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/forkintheroad/2011/11/the_five_worst_1.php

Vegetarian Chili

ummm.... I love chili! I do not use meat substitute because I don't eat meat substitute but I cook it the same way plus meat for my husband and he love it too. I combine dark red kidney beans, onions, green pepper, and diced tomatoes in a pot with the juice from the diced tomatoes and a small amount of water. I add pepper, italian seasonings, and some other spices and cook until beans and veggies soften. Then I add tomato sauce and simmer it on low until time to eat. I LOVE to eat chili with shredded cheddar cheese and sweet cornbread mixed in. It is smelling delicious and I can't wait until it is ready to eat.