31 days of Veganism: Vegan Sloppy Joes + a Couple Other Treats

So, it is day 3 of my little vegan adventure and I must admit, I'm still craving meat( mmmmm chicken breast). But, the more I cook and try various foods( and delicious, might I add) the more confident and appealing Vegan cuisine is to me.

My first experience grocery shopping was definitely an eye-opener, in terms of being more aware of the ingredients in the products I purchased. I still find myself checking ingredients now, and also googling ingredients that I am unfamiliar with. For instance in my oatmeal there was the ingredient guar gum. Do ya'll know what that is? Didn't think so! It is an extract from the guar bean, and is generally used as a thickener. I highly suggest you start looking at your ingredients, and next time you see guar gum you'll remember my precious little blog! :)

Isn't the knowledge just making you feel warm and fuzzy?

My biggest ingredient enemy was in bread! My mom can vouch for this, we spent a good 15 minutes in the bread aisle! What I ended up getting was Stonemill bread, as depicted in my delicious tofurky vegetable sandwich. Granted, I have only had the bread toasted, since it is pretty stiff. Let just say I'm not too tempted to see what it tastes like solo.

Sandwich + Mango smoothie

Now, onto the creation of sloppy joes. So having a vegan roommate is pretty much the best thing, as they can let you in on all of their recipes and I, in turn can tell all of you! So the latest "Vegan treasure" that I encountered was TVP. Now I know what ya'll are thinking, " Sara, is that a form of crack?"

No!

Textured Vegetable Protein(TVP):
So its basically a meat substitute made from soy flour, and the added benefit is that it shares equal protein content to that of meat, contains no fat, high in fiber and is low in sodium.

So for all of ya'll who are concerned about my nutrients and such- I got 'em in check :)

With that said, Brittany and I made some delicious Sloppy joes! Actually super good. So good in fact that I ate two, HA! lol Not to mention they were super simple to make.