Now before my American readers get offended, it isn’t because I am a Canadian snob or dislike the U.S. but I genuinely believed that as a vegan I would starve. Seriously….

My fear of hunger drove my belief that I would never travel to the deep south of the United States.

I have always had a romantic ideology of the South: the dirt roads, pickup trucks, cowboy hats, beating the midday heat on a porch swing with a cold glass of lemonade, sun-kissed skin and in particular: the accents. I have the weirdest obsession with a good Southern drawl, when words just hang in the air to dry and time moves just a little bit slower. Less romantic note: sometimes when I maybe am drinking that red wine I pretend to have a Southern accent and in my head I am really good at it. Also I may have had a crush on one particular eyeglass wearing legitimate cowboy that I served once at the restaurant I work at but that is a different story.

Why all this talk about the South? Because on May 29 I am headed to Austin, Texas for Vida Vegan Con! I surprised myself when I hit the confirm button on my ticket and flight but the more I think about it, the happier I get about my decision. It is wild to think I will be meeting fellow vegan bloggers in person, going to seminars and demos and if the authors don’t find it super lame, getting my cookbooks signed. How heavy can my carry-on be anyways?

Turns out Austin, Texas is one of the most vegan/vegetarian friendly cities in the U.S. and I plan to eat my fill. I love going to a new place for the learning experience and making connections but mostly its an excuse to eat more than I normally would. Apparently tacos are a really big deal there, especially when served out of a restaurant trailer so I plan to eat a lot of tacos sitting on a blazing hot sidewalk. Please forgive me in advance for my possibly very sweaty, taco-eating selfies on Instagram while I am there. It will be ugly.

During all this excitement of booking my travels, I wanted a dish that was Texas-inspired. This is probably not on any menu of any restaurant in Texas but it is pretty darn good. I was experimenting with a nut-free nacho cheese on Instagram a while back and people were thrilled with the idea! On my account, I drizzled (more like globbed) the sauce onto a big pile of cumin-roasted potatoes and they were delicious however I wanted to lighten things up a little. I decided it needed more greens and a lot more protein to make this meal more balanced than a big pile of potatoes. It may seem crazy, it may seem wild but I just went for it- why didn’t I use the nacho cheese sauce as a salad dressing? Say what?? Oh yes, I went there. I drizzled it on my barbeque baked tempeh, roasted cumin sweet potatoes, fresh avocado and red pepper and dannnng it was banging. All the ingredients in the nacho cheese are pretty good for you and it is no different than any other sunflower dressing so just go for it!

See y’all in Texas! I promise not to wear a cowboy hat. Maybe….

The post Big Ol’ Texas Bowl with Nut-Free Nacho Cheese appeared first on Sprouts & Chocolate.

Here I am Day 11 of the month long cooking (and eating!) vegan food fest that is VeganMoFo! While it has been a little stressful I organized my ideas for a few recipes on my fridge whiteboard calendar to make things a little easier for me since I started school and continue to work. So far, I am right on schedule with a few modifications here and there and couldn’t be more pleased by my organizational skills. I have never been much of a meal planner but now I get what the big deal is about! It is less hectic now that I am coming back from school and knowing my dinner is already in the fridge (along with my after school snack because apparently I am 5 years old). Also having a meal plan doesn’t force me to go on a serious snack quest when I come home from a long day and feeling extra hangry, consuming everything in my path. 

But what about breakfast? I have to admit I am pretty terrible with planning breakfast since it is always rush-rush for Mark and I in the morning. I usually stick to a smoothie but that was before I re-entered school and I definitely needing the extra fuel for my brain in the wee hours of the morning.

Mark is a huge fan of cereal but store bought just doesn’t fill him up as a meal and before you know it half of the box is gone. I needed to make a substantial breakfast to boost our energy before we head out.

Granola is always my first choice for cereal since I can make a lot of it at one time and it lasts all work/school week in an airtight container. Is it too early for pumpkin spice? I would say not since Starbucks came out with their Pumpkin Spice Latte in August! I have a love/hate relationship with pumpkin and its warm spices- I love it until I hate it. You know that song you play on repeat a zillion times and then you hear it on the radio for your zillionth and one time and all of a sudden you think “If I hear this song one more time I may lose it!” That’s my relationship with pumpkin. I eat EVERYTHING pumpkin for two months straight and never want to see it again [until next year that is]. Perhaps this year I will enjoy pumpkin in moderation? Haha who am I kidding?

 8 recipes down, 12 more to go!

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