Happy Friday everyone! It’s an absolutely beautiful spring day here, and I hope all of you are getting a chance to enjoy some sunshine and warm weather as well. I’m really looking forward to Mother’s Day this weekend, and spending as much time outside with the gang as possible. Somehow, it’s time again for the next installment of Friday FAQs! (You can check out previous weeks’ posts here: Week 1, week 2, week 3.)
Q1: My husband is allergic to sunflower seeds (and nuts). Is there anything I could add to replace them in your Perfect Veggie Burger?
A: Hey Jennifer, I would try toasted pepita seeds (shelled pumpkin seeds). They are so delish! I love eating them as a snack too.
Q2: This is a little off-topic, but I’m looking for some good sauce recipes to combine with other things in delicious vegan bowl recipes. Thanks so much! PS – And congrats on your new baby. My first 2 were 23 months apart, and the best advice I have is to remember that the older one is still a baby too! She looked so much bigger than the new one, I think I expected too much of her…..(but she did turn out great anyway!)
A: Hi Carrie, For veggie bowl sauces, I’d recommend my teriyaki sauce from the Speedy Veggie Noodle Bowl, Lemon-Tahini Dressing, and the nutty almond butter sauce from the Rad Rainbow Raw Pad Thai. Each of the three sauces will transform veggie bowls in exciting, unique ways! Thanks for your congrats and words of wisdom, too. :)
Q3: I was wondering if you would have any ideas or suggestions about a meal plan for a 4-day vegan camping trip. All I’ve got is a cooler, and fires are prohibited on the grounds. My boyfriend and I are going to a rock festival (not the most vegan-friendly environment) and I’d love some ideas that don’t require much refrigeration or reheating. We don’t mind eating room temp food for a few days, as long as we can avoid food poisoning and get enough energy to brave the mosh pit, we’re golden.
A: Hi Melodie, That’s a tough challenge, indeed! Of course, your safety is my first priority and food poisoning is no joke, so a little disclaimer: I’m not a camper by any stretch of the imagination, so my suggestions should be taken with a grain of salt. ;) (Side note: I’d love if some experienced campers chimed in on this one!) Anyway, I suggest bringing some of your favourite fruits and veggies that tend to travel well and do fairly well at room temperatures (to save space in your cooler for other meals where refrigeration is a must), like apples, oranges, bell peppers, and avocados. Dried fruit, either store-bought or homemade, is another great option as it’s energy dense. I’d also suggest bringing granola or muesli—again, either store-bought (which likely has a lesser need to be refrigerated) or homemade recipes, like my Ultimate Nutty Granola Clusters (p. 31 of The Oh She Glows Cookbook). For something more savoury, you could also bring crackers (try my Endurance Crackers or Homemade Wheat Thins). Protein bars or energy bites, like my Dark Chocolate Cherry Energy Bites, Classic and Present Glo Bars (pp. 215 and 217 of The Oh She Glows Cookbook), or Feel Good Hearty Granola Bars, will give you a great boost for that mosh pit! hah. Keep those chilled. If you have a really good cooler situation going, you could also consider making a salad that travels well (like my Chickpea Salad), or perhaps a gazpacho that can be eaten cold, but both of those would have to be kept cold at all times. You could also bring single-serve, non-refrigerated plant-based milks available at some grocery stores, and little baggies of pre-portioned vegan overnight oats (chia, oats, dried fruit, cinnamon, a bit of granulated sweetener) and mix them up just before breakfast. It wouldn’t be cold necessarily, but it works in a pinch. Or you could simply serve granola with milk! Cans of baked beans always work in a pinch too (just don’t forget the can opener). I recommend eating the most perishable items first, and this may be a situation where it’s worth stocking up on some store-bought, less perishable options because most foods won’t last in a cooler for that long. I hope this helps get the wheels turning, and that you have a fantastic weekend!
Q4: Hi Angela! I have a question hopefully for one of your upcoming Friday FAQs! (loving this series so far BTW!). I’m currently 8 months preggers with my first child, and I’m starting to get into nesting mode! I’m wondering if you could suggest a handful of dinner/lunch recipes for cooking & freezing ahead of time—ones that maintain their taste & texture after de-thawing. Thanks in advance & congrats on cooking up bun #2! :)
A: Congrats on your pregnancy, Amy! I love this question because it’s one that I’m going to be thinking about once again this September. Below are some of my favourite recipes that freeze well. I hope this helps you stock your freezer with some tasty options! In addition to these, I’d also recommend taking advantage of spring/summer produce and whipping up big batches of gazpacho! I’m not sure if it’s freezer-friendly, but it takes just 5 minutes to make.
- Glowing Spiced Lentil Soup
- Red Lentil, Tomato, and Kale Soup
- Our Favourite Vegan Chili
- Our Perfect Veggie Burgers
- Peanut Better Balls (who doesn’t want a little sweet treat on hand?)
- 10-Spice Vegetable Soup
- Classic Glo Bar (The Oh She Glows Cookbook p. 215)
- Present Glo Bar (The Oh She Glows Cookbook p. 217)
- Golden Red Lentil Dal with Cilantro-Speckled Basmati
- Black Bean and Sweet Potato Enchiladas
- Chia Seed Pudding (did you know it freezes and thaws beautifully!? I like to freeze individual servings)
Q5: Will you be starting up your pregnancy updates again? I really enjoyed reading them! (This question has been asked by a lot of you!)
A: I just posted my first pregnancy update last night! You can find it here. Or simply click the “baby” section on the main menu at the top of the page.
Comments of the week:
Mac D writes, “I saw on snap that you had uploaded the No-Bake Chocolate Fudge Cookies to the app… I wanted to make them so badly last night so I kept refreshing and refreshing hoping it would load…and finally it did!! Hoorah!!! These are so delicious. SUPER fudgy and chewy. My husband and I had two last night and I’m enjoying another one (or three) at my desk today. Thanks for the awesome recipe! Also, I am LOVING the frequency of newly uploaded recipes to the app.”
This put a big smile on my face! :) I’m so glad you love the cookies as much as we do. They don’t last long in this house!
Bina writes, “I found your Glowing Spiced Lentil Soup when googling red lentil soup recipe. I have to say, this is the first time I have ever written a recipe review but I could not, not comment on how amazing this soup is. I am a really good healthy cook, although we are not vegetarians, we eat mostly vegetarian dishes and this soup is one of the best soups I have ever had. I made it exactly as written and would not recommend changing a single thing. Upon finding this recipe I decided to navigate your website and found the Chickpea salad which I just finished eating…omg, another winner. I also made that exactly as written and it was perfect. I finally found a recipe website that I can feel good about and I know I will be trying a lot more of your recipes. Thank you.”
Bina, I’m so flattered by your kind words! Nothing makes me happier than hearing how much a recipe is enjoyed. It’s definitely one of my favourite soups too. Happy cooking!
See you guys next week!
For the camping inquiry, I suggest the following:
-dry ice! It stays colder, longer
-can you borrow a heavier duty cooler? These keep food colder, longer as well
– freeze food that you will eat later (I.e. pre-made smoothies), which will also act to cool other food
– accept that you may have to make do with limited tesources (it is only four days).
– have fun!
:-)
SMART MOVE on the frozen smoothies!
Great idea on the smoothies! We camp all the time and I’m going to have to try this.
Re: camping. Do you have a backpacking stove (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0009PUR5E/ref=twister_B00GVLDK4A?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1)? That makes it easier,but totally not necessary.
Here are my go-to recipes, all of which have some protein component in them. Everything comes from a can or is otherwise shelf-stable until you open it.
We call our favorite meal “campachos” as in camping nachos. One can black beans, one can corn, one jar shelf-stable salsa, one jar shelf-stable queso for my non-vegan fiance, one big bag tortilla chips. If you have a stove, heat up the beans and corn. If not, room temp is fine!
Sloppy joes: one or two cans lentils, one can sloppy joe sauce, burger buns. Serve with (canned!) baked beans. Again, heat up if you can but if not, it’s not awful.
Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (bring the components and make them as you need them– PB doesn’t need the fridge, and the jelly will be fine for a few days).
“Veggie” wraps: bring tortillas, and whatever canned beans and veggies you can deal with. We like garbanzo beans, red beans, diced tomatoes, etc.
Canned veggie chili plus (if you don’t have heat) Fritos and a jar of salsa. If you do have heat, make pasta.
Bring little baggies of salt, pepper, and chili powder.
Bring fruit that doesn’t get squishy. No bananas. Yes apples and oranges.
Bring pocket-sized snacks that don’t melt and won’t get crushed (ex: granola is better than granola bars). Nothing with chocolate.
For breakfast, we do coffee and oatmeal but that requires a stove.
Bring sandwich baggies for your PB&J and snacks so you can take them with you. Don’t forget utensils and a can opener. A big bowl for mixing stuff together helps too. If you don’t have refrigeration, don’t bother with food storage like Tupperware. Unfortunately, you have to throw out what you don’t eat…but at a music festival, you can also offer your leftovers to someone else!
Wow! Dara’s post is awesome..I’m definitely going to use some of those. I would also add to the camping list what I call “adventure sandwiches” because they are so delicious for an adventure: marinated tofu+hummus+avocado+sprouts/spinach+cucumber+anything else imaginable! They taste amazing once you get to the peak of a long hike!
Wow! All the activity on the blog and the app….it’s amazing! Thank youuuuu for sharing!
Regarding the camping inquiry? Even though fires are prohibited, stoves are often allowed. Have you checked? A camping stove or backpacking stove would give you more flexibility in food choices and help keep you energized for the mosh pits. When I camp I have oatmeal for breakfast every morning; I eat tons of nuts, snacks & hummus; I like to make stews and crockpot meals to bring along and then reheat them for dinner or lunch; we also often have taco bowls with chips, beans, and salsa. You could even add guacamole to round out the meal. Good luck!
We go on multi-day rafting trips where keeping food cold is of the utmost importance when it’s hot and you really need a cold beer on day 3. :)
My advice: bring a few coolers.
Designate one as the “ice cooler” and fill it with bags of ice (keeping the bags intact keeps the ice frozen longer) as well as a bag of dry ice. The dry ice will keep the ice cold for days and then you can freshen your active use coolers with new ice each morning.
If you can plan ahead, group each additional cooler by day. Tape shut the coolers for later in the festival. If you don’t open them, they will remain cold longer.
Someone mentioned freezing certain items- that is a great idea! Whatever you can freeze will remain cold longer, and then you can eat it when it finally defrosts. Not vegan, but we freeze cartons of egg whites that eventually defrost, and we eat them for breakfast on day 2 or 3.
Hope that helps!
For camping we take corn tortillas and things like little packs of black olives, salsa and cans of beans for impromptu tacos. Peanut butter is a standby with whatever cracker floats your canoe. We also do the little packs of applesauce and shelf stable milks with cereal and oats. I love someones frozen smoothie idea! Hadn’t thought of that one. I also make little packets of nuts, dried fruits, seeds and things with different seasonings on them to keep boredom at bay.
Angela – I love this series and the app rocks our life. Thanks so much!
hey! I wanted to also give a shoutout to raw wraps: http://www.rawwraps.org/#sthash.yZxRkI3D.dpbs
I take them on vacation for easy wraps or tacos and they don’t need to be stored in a refrigerator.
Almond milk, unopened, is temperature stable. We had it at burning man! Really good with cereal or granola!
Also, look into some Indian food pouches -some may be vegan. If they have coffee and tea stands, you can get a cup of hot water. Bring a bunch of couscous (regular, not Israeli). You can put a few spoonfuls into a container with a lid with with boiling water and let them soak a few minutes. Serve with canned beans or other main. Easy and shelf stable! You can add salt and pepper, and dry spices before you go!
I would avoid premade salad, though it’s delicious otherwise! If one thing spoils,it is all unsafe. You can usually bring components and mix on the spot, though! Cherry tomatoes + canned corn, black beans, and couscous with Mexican drug spices, with a bottle of oil/vinegar dressing, on there other hand, is easy to mix day of.
Amy’s canned soups and lentils are also good, though best eaten with something to keep you from getting too hungry. Even if you don’t usually count calories, do so for the meals you plan to make sure you bring enough.
Please consider the planet and don’t have any more children.
Love your recipes
Wow, what a loving, thoughtful thing to say Jennifer!
I’ve found that camping temps aren’t really “room temp,” but much hotter (we mostly camp in the southwest US), so I’d suggest multiple ice chests, if possible, to keep as much as possible cool (I put all our produce in them, usually). Keep them in a cool, shaded spot, if you can, NOT inside your vehicle during the day. The ice will stay ice for longer. I prep as much as possible at home. It’s a pain to chop veggies on a lopsided, wobbly picnic table. :) if you have or can borrow a camp stove, they’re usually allowed even when open fires aren’t, and then you can pretty much do your usual quick meals. I frequently do a basic stir fry in a skillet, and cook or reheat already cooked barley or quinoa to go with instead of rice, for the extra protei we always want when we camp, for example.
Re: festival camping: I went to Bonnaroo a few years ago and my experience was that it was really hot during the day and no one felt like cooking a meal, the good acts were at night and we didn’t want to waste time cooking then either. We also had a big ant attack, so seal the food well, try bringing things that don’t attract bugs. Ziploc bags are a MUST have.We ate mostly fruits, raw veggies cut up,bagels, nuts and PBJ during the day (seal up the jelly good, ants love it) and then splurged at night with the food vendors. The food vendors were great and not that expensive because the portions were huge and the food was really good, so we would split a meal and then take a blanket to the stage, eat and enjoy the show. Bring a tarp for shelter, the sun can get intense!
It seems like all these comments are about camping, but I’ll add my two cents! I go with my family every year in a relatively urban area, and I rely on peanut butter (even more than usual), canned refried beans (the non-fat ones are usually vegan), tortillas, rice cakes (for carbs without the preservatives), fruit (someone said not to bring bananas, but I always have), and munchable veggies like carrots and bell peppers.
Hi Angela… I am old as dirt and not very computer-literate … I cannot find your nutty almond butter sauce. Can you point me in the right direction, please? Also my bonus bundles seem to have only one recipe in each and I have no idea how to get at the recipes despite the fact that they are listed as purchased. Thanks for your help. Barbara
Hi Barbara, sorry for the delay in getting back to you on this! Was the almond butter sauce you had in mind sweet or savoury? You might be thinking of either the sauce for my Rad Raw Rainbow Pad Thai or maybe this oldie. Please me know if either of those is close! :) As for the app, are the other recipes in the bonus bundles showing up now, or are you still having trouble?
where do we submit a question if we have one?
Hi Lindsay, you can either comment on the blog or feel free to send you question my way via social media. Whichever you’d prefer!
can you share your favorite all natural beauty products
What’s your wheat grass latte recipe? What brand do you use for wheat grass & matcha??????? your gorgeous btw ?
Just got back from a week-long camping trip, so here are my suggestions:
-I actually did make a chickpea salad and ate it with crackers. It kept all week no problem in the cooler. I’ve also done a southwestern black bean and corn salad that packs well.
-for breakfasts I made some breakfast cookies that use mashed banana and applesauce. These were great with coffee or spread with peanut butter. Overnight oats would also be good!
-don’t underestimate the ol’ peanut butter and jelly.
-hummus + carrots, tomatoes, peppers, and crackers is quite filling. I like to chop up veggies before I leave the house. Wrap this up in a tortilla if you like.
-Make sure to bring enough savory stuff to snack on. Popcorn, chips, smoked almonds, tofu jerky, etc, helps break up the sweetness of fruit, granola bars, trail mix.
We have our huge annual family beach trip coming up in three weeks and the meal prep has started. I would love to make something different and healthy because I feel like vacation is code for “gain 10 pounds”. Do you have any good recipes for a warm spinach and artichoke dip or a casserole or crock pot type meal that won’t take a lot of time away from playing in the sand and sun but will feed a dozen people?
For the camping question…
I second Sabina’s suggestion to borrow a good cooler if you don’t have one. That way you can bring things that feel like real food, rather than snacks. Angela’s chickpea salad, hummus, and vegan cheeses would be good options.
If you can’t get your hands on a good cooler, non-perishable snacks will have to do. In this case especially, think about what to bring from the perspective of nutrition. If you’re trying to put together a meal from just snacks, try to get some veggies and protein. For example, Kale chips would be a good way to get in some greens, and Angela’s Salt & Vinegar Roasted Chickpeas would be a good source of protein. Not only will you feel better physically, but I think it also helps you feel better mentally, because you’ll feel like you’re eating a real meal.
I would also suggest bringing some sturdy fruits and veggies. Avocados would be great to use as a spread. If you bring veggies like bell peppers and carrots, keep them whole and cut them at camp so that they’ll last longer without refrigeration.
Happy mother’s day!
I just wanted to tell you how amazing you are… I practically live off of your recipes! And being the only vegan of my familly, cooking for them is quite demanding. However, I made your sweet potato casserole (from the app) for dinner andI must say that it was perfect! Being the youngest in the familly (16), it’s really hard to know what everyone will like, but EVERYONE was just lovin that casserole! It was hard to stop!
Thanks for making mother’s day soooo delicious. :P
Hi Angela,
I love your site and book and recommend them to absolutely everyone because every recipe comes out absolutely delicious,
I have a questions about your glo bars- brown syrup is very expensive in my part of the world and I’m wondering if you can recommend an alternative? I tried date syrup but they only held together when frozen. I would love some ideas.
Thank you!
Sophie
Camping!
We use a stove for breakfasts and dinners on canoe trips but we always pack no-cook lunches so we can eat them by a portage or whatever without hauling out a stove. Wraps are my favourite go-to for this. The key is to eat your most perishable foods first so you aren’t stuck eating the same dried food for so many days. So, for example, for four days of lunches, I would probably bring a cooler bag (or a solid cooler in your case) packed tight (stays cold better that way) with ice packs, vegetables, and some frozen packs of hummus or bean dip, as well as a separate, unchilled bag with tortillas, dried fruit and nuts, and a bunch of nut butter. Eat unfrozen hummus with veggies in a wrap the first day, the (now thawed) frozen hummus and veggies in a wrap the second day, and almond butter/raisin/granola/nut wraps the third and fourth day when the cooler isn’t cold anymore. Nut butter is fine for several days out of the fridge, and so are bell peppers and carrots, so bring a few extra of those and you can have them as a side dish once your fridge is just a plastic box.
For breakfast I would second the shelf-stable soy milk idea for a festival (we use powdered soy milk because it’s lighter but it’s less delicious and you’ll be staying still). Bring that, a bag of apples, and some granola and you’re set. I would also splurge on those Starbucks instant iced coffee packs – they are pricey but if you’re a coffee drinker they’ll be a life saver if you can’t boil water.
Dinners with no heat are a challenge. You could just double your lunches if you don’t mind things getting a little boring. I’d be sure to bring something delicious and nutritious for your first night that can go in the cooler, like one of the soups or salads that Angela suggested. It will stay cold for one day if it’s in with frozen foods. Cans of baked beans in tomato sauce can be eaten cold in a pinch with bread, chips or more tortillas. Ditto for cans of veggie chili.
Definitely bring a ton of snacks – trail mix, dried soy beans or chickpeas, tortilla chips and salsa (open a can of black beans and mix it into your salsa!), protein bars, bags of dried fruits and nuts, carrots, apples, celery, bell pepper, chocolate bars if it’s not too hot outside.
Don’t open your cooler too often, keep it full of cold things as much as possible, and keep it in the shade.