New hazards in the grocery store

What do we have here? 

Can you see what’s in there or do I need to zoom in for you.

 

Oh hello there hippie bowl of yum.

I cheated on the protein portion.  Normally I make my own seitan.  But I had to go to the co-op for an emergency purchase (almond milk) and ended up leaving with two impulse buys.  Dang it!  Budget fail. 

I’ve seen Upton’s Natural seitan on other blogs before, but never in the store.  Or maybe I just wasn’t looking.  Either way I found it now, and they have a few different flavors.  Bad for business (mine not theirs).

Nutritional stats.  Fine by me.

 

Appearance.  Hmmm.  Might wanna work on that Upton’s.  I don’t think I need to say it…we’re all thinking it right? 

My hunger doesn’t creep up on me anymore.  It arrives like an out of control freight train, barreling down on me at full speed, with little to no warning.  It’s quite scary.  I go from fine to woozy in two seconds flat. 

So as you can imagine, my recent meals aren’t exactly well thought out chef-tastic creations, but instead whatever is on hand and can get my blood sugar up faster than fast.  Sabra hummus and whatever is where I turn first. 

This lunch was an anomaly.

 

It took longer than 3 minutes to make and it involved cookware (as opposed to the microwave). 

It’s basically a warm hippie bowl. 

Grain = quinoa

Green = kale

Protein = seitan

And I added avocado after because…well, just because.  It’s avocado!

 

I charred the seitan in the pan before I added in the kale.  I tried a piece of the seitan before cooking and it had a weird aftertaste (almost tangy??), so I was not overly encouraged about how it would taste once cooked, but I just went with it. 

Turns out, browning it (like real meat) in the pan added a ton of flavor and removed the odd aftertaste entirely. 

After I added the greens I let them steam with the lid on so they would get soft and wilty. 

And then I added the quinoa.  And a glug of soy sauce.

Served it into a bowl (the entire portion…as opposed to the half that I thought I’d eat) and topped it with avocado.

 

I wish I hadn’t liked the seitan.  I wish Upton’s had disappointed me.  But it didn’t.  And it was convenient.  Bummer.  At least making my own has the price thing going for it…be strong Elise, be strong!

And while I’m on the topic of addicting things, can I just tell you about Trader Joe’s vegan oatmeal chocolate chip cookies? 

This is 100% Alene’s fault.  They are better than great.  They are soft and chewy with the perfect amount of chocolate and hints of salt that make them impossible to stop eating.  I had three for dessert.  I know there are two shown above, but I went back for the third because it was the last one in the bag.  And it’s insane to think I have the will power to leave one cookie behind.

Grocery shopping is now a dangerous activity.  I don’t know how I will avoid accidentally grabbing these products off the shelf in the future.