Falafel and fattoush

I have to confess that I have been extremely wegan in the last week.  After two weeks of devotion to the 21-Day Vegan Kickstart, I have allowed cheese and eggs back into the food I've consumed... and I have been paying the price by feeling very slouchy!  So, it's time to clean up my eating, for the millionth time (it is what this whole blog is about, right?!), and get back to a vegan diet!

While visiting the Chicago-area last weekend, I was shown the awesome-ness that is Costco by my mom-in-law, and I was able to snag some vegan foods that I probably would not find where I currently reside.  Two of those dishes: Falafel and fattoush.  Falafel is a blend of beans, veggies, herbs, and spices that is formed into balls and typically served warm, and the fattoush that I bought is basically like a coleslaw, made with cabbage and other veggies and spices.

I first heard of falafel when I visited The Taste of Denver about a year and a half ago.  I remember that I wasn't that crazy about it, because I don't care for chickpeas, but I was willing to give it another try.  Never had I heard of fattoush, but the ingredients met my criteria--vegan, no artificial ingredients or colors, no high fructose corn syrup, and no preservatives.

Wanting to have a vegan dinner tonight and try some of the new foods I had picked up last weekend, I "goodsearched" (goodsearch.com--I goodsearch for Illinois School for the Visually Impaired) what to eat with falafel... and what d'ya know?  Fattoush was one recommendation!  So, I decided on this Middle-Eastern/Mediterranean-themed dinner and went to work.

And what hard work it was... to read the directions for how to prepare the falafel, pre-heat the oven, get out a baking sheet, open the package, take out four falafel and place them on the baking sheet, put the baking sheet in the oven, and set a timer for 10 minutes.  It even sounds more difficult in writing than it really was (I could have even microwaved them, but I wanted to seem more impressive for when I blogged about it later).  Once the falafel was done, I cut each one into fourths and scooped some fattoush on top of it, just like my dad would do (I can even hear him say, "It all ends up in the same place anyway...").

The end result I would describe as just "okay," again because I still don't care for the flavor of falafel (it's the chickpeas--I generally don't like hummus for this reason).  The meal was edible and filling, so it did what it was supposed to do, but I just don't think I care for this kind of cuisine.  However, I would still recommend to everybody who is looking for something different to try it!

I would love to hear if anyone else has tried falafel and/or fattoush and how you enjoy eating it most.  I am going to try the falafel different ways as there are recipes on the package and on the website.  I also tried the fattoush on Pita Bites a couple days ago, and it was really good!

So, moral of my story... try new [vegan]  things!!!  And check out the great products I've made links to in this blog and on the right side of the webpage.

My story: 21-day vegan kickstart, day 2

Today marks the second day of the 21-Day Vegan Kickstart program (do it!).  I decided to partake in this venture to motivate myself to eat completely vegan again!  So far, so good.  I'm also going to try to cook more and post anything that is worthy of passing along.  However, I have been taking the easy route lately by just preparing frozen and canned foods for meals (veggie patties, beans, vegetables, etc).  I do have some Yves Meatless Ground Round that I still haven't tried.  I think I might use it to make some "beef" tacos.  We'll see.

Recently, I've had some friends contact me about being interested in eating vegan.  I'm wondering how you are all doing with that?  What are some problems you have run into on your journey so far?  Have you found enough food items at the store?  Is it worth continuing?  I'd love to hear your stories!

Finally, on the right side of this page, I put up a list of links to products that I have tried and therefore recommend.  Check them out, and let me know of others that you recommend!

Until next time ... happy vegan eating!