Shake Your Booty! (Pirates Booty)

Let me tell you about a little piece of heaven called Pirates booty (with caramel). When it comes to these big corporate meetings I have to bring snacks just to be able to stay up past the opening sessions or sit through a boring discussion about things I could care less about. Usually my co-workers baulk at any and every snack I pull out of my bag, whether it be primal strips, tings or just plain old walnuts they look at me like I’m from another planet. Some of them still have a sense of adventure and are willing to at least try some of my vegan vittles.

When I offered my skeptical co-workers a bite of my pirate’s booty they couldn’t resist. Really, who can resist a snack food with “booty” in the name? They were all immediately hooked. Not only did they love it but they kept on coming back for more and telling other people about it. Who can resist the taste of puffed corn and rice crisp with caramel drizzled all over it? Who can really resist the taste of anything with caramel drizzled on it? No one I say!

Pirate’s booty doesn’t only come in caramel flavor. There are a range of vegan booty’s including: Fruity Booty, Simply Booty and Veggie Booty. This bootiful family of snacks comes from the genius’ at Robert’s American Gourmet who specialize in vegetarian snack foods. They even have a little online suggestion box where you can send them new ideas for yummy vegetarian/vegan snacks. But don’t just take my word for it. Go out and show a little love to the pirate’s booty and try a bag. You won’t be disappointed.

The Breakfast Burrito from Hell

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. When it comes to Amy’s Kitchen line of vegan food fare sometimes they are fantabulous (yes, that’s a word…cause I say so!) and sometimes they are inedible. Amy’s Organic Beans & Rice Burritos were fantabulous. Amy’s Breakfast Burrito, inedible.

I had such high hopes for this burrito, especially since I am already deeply in love with the beans and rice burritos. Aside from the addition of potatoes and soy the ingredient list looked pretty much the same. The breakfast burrito is still low in calories (250) and has the same amount of fiber and protein that my beloved beans & rice burrito does. I just can’t understand what went so terribly wrong.

I couldn’t have tasted these burrito disasters at a worse time. I was running late to my 9am Saturday Chemistry class. I had no time to whip up a smoothie or brew any green tea. I had just enough time to throw Amy’s breakfast burrito into the microwave for 2 minutes and run out the door. Halfway to my destination I decided to bite into what I knew would be my tasty breakfast. I can’t tell you how fast I spit it out. I almost rolled down my window and threw it out, but I didn’t want to subject the poor birds to this awful concoction.

Read this very carefully…steer clear of Amy’s Kitchen Breakfast Burrito. I only say this for your own protection. Even if they are on sale 10 for $1, just avert your eyes and run in the opposite direction. Usually when it comes to bad Mexican food a little salsa will perk up the dish and at least make it edible. Unfortunately, no amount of salsa exists to cover up the awful taste of this burrito. Do you remember the sand and paper mache combo I talked about in my last blog? Just add big chunks of potatoes to that and you have Amy’s Kitchen Breakfast Burritos. So if you like paper mache, sand and potatoes this is probably the breakfast burrito for you. If, like me, you like your food to actually taste like food just have a beans and rice burrito for breakfast and call it a day. At this point, I just need to figure out what to do with the extra breakfast burrito I have sitting in my freezer (yep, I was so sure it would taste good I bought 2! Agh!)

Amy's Kitchen Non-Dairy Burritos

I feel like it's been ages since I posted last. Work, school and writing the cookbooks has me busier than ever. Because of this I've been eating a lot of on the go meals that take only a couple minutes to heat up and are most importantly portable. My new favorite on the go meal is Amy's Kitchen Organic Beans and Rice Burrito.


When it comes to those store bought freezer section burritos I tend to steer clear. They have always tasted like a mix between paper maché and sand (don't ask me how I know what either of those things taste, like i just do). Honestly, I wasn't expecting anything better from Amy's Beans & Rice burritos either. I've had hits and misses with Amy's. I love their black bean enchiladas and in my vegetarian days loved their cheese enchiladas. Amy's pizza's were always kinda good but not something I would crave (more to come on Amy's vegan pizza in another post).




Thankfully, this burrito turned out to be one of those hits, and thank God because I was starving the day I fished it out of the freezer. For all you vegetarians and omni's out there you won't miss the cheese I promise. In fact, these burritos somehow sneak in a subtle cheesy taste. More importantly they are incredibly filling, 1 is enough for an entire meal. They are relatively low in calories (280) and high in fiber(5g) and protein(9g) with no saturated fat. They are also a soy free alternative to most of the grab and go meals that contain some sort of soy.


As far as price goes it varies dramatically. At my neighborhood conventional grocery store they were $1.99 and at Whole Foods they were $2.69. Basically they are about double the price of a Taco Bell bean burrito without cheese but they are way more filling, are organic and if you stock up you don't have to leave the house to get them.

Hormel Vegetarian Chili

I'm very fortunate to live in Atlanta. Sure we don't have a vegan mini-mall but there are a plethora of Whole Foods, I belong to a vegetarian co-op and there are farmer's markets all over the place. Rarely do I have to venture to a conventional grocery store to get all the vegan goodness I need.

But there is a Kroger about a mile from me and a Publix about 3 miles away. So occasionally I run out of brown sugar or something and I find myself at my local conventional grocer. Thankfully all the grocery stores near me have a special section for vegetarians but just in case your grocery store doesn't, don't worry. There are still a ton of quick and easy options available for you that require nothing more than a microwave to have a quick and nutritious meal.

Case in point, Hormel Vegetarian Chili with Beans. It's on the aisle with all the other beans. Near the baked beans (they've got vegetarian versions of those too). They are 100% vegan and the ingredient list actually isn't that scary. It also contains no preservatives which is great especially for a canned meal. It takes about 2-3 minutes to heat up in the microwave or 5 minutes on the stove top. I like to have mine with toasted corn tortillas and green beans for a complete meal. You can also heat it and throw it in a thermos for a great lunch on the go.

1 cup of this chili gives you 10 grams of fiber and 11 grams of protein for only 190 calories! Plus you can usually find it for about $1. Give it a try, you won't be disappointed.

Vegblogs.com

Back when I was a vegetarian, I thought veganism was just sooooo hard. I whined about my love for cheese and how "difficult" it would be to give up things with egg in them. I mean, who could live without cake, right? Looking back now I can't believe how naive and silly I was. Now the thought of cheese disgust me and I get excited about the prospects of cooking with nutritional yeast. And half the fun of baking now is experimenting with all the cool stuff I can now do in the kitchen. Who knew the multiple uses of unsweetened applesauce or the powers of a little white vinegar and baking powder? As a cook, being vegan cook is 3000 times better than being an omni or vegetarian cook. And yes, I still have cakes, and crepes and even omelette's (I'll be blogging about these little tasty breakfast treats soon).

Most vegans have to find things out the hard way, trial and error, buying tons of books and cookbooks and so on. Eventually you might run across a terrific forum like the PPK (which is a life saver). Or this blog (aka greatest blog ever!). But if you're lucky, like me, you'll be browsing the internet one day and come across Vegblogs.com. It's a one-stop shop for the all encompassing world of vegan blogs. Whether your interests are culinary, AR or nutrition there's a vegan blog out there for it. Even yours truly made the cut!

And it's not just limited to blogs. Vegblogs.com will keep you updated on the latest vegan podcast and radio spots as well. I've bookmarked it and go there almost everyday to check out what's new in the world of veganism, grab new recipes, check out the latest hot topics in AR and just to read a day in the life of vegans out there. I highly suggest that you add VegBlogs.com to your morning to do list.