Tried It: Sun Basket for 1 Week

Writer's note: This post was written back in March 2019, I did not realize that I forgot to post it. My apologies! 

Thanks to Nikki Vegan on YouTube I found a meal delivery service that offers vegan options (SunBasket)! I got my first box for about $30 + free shipping. It's nice how they have so many options for your box and you can mix and match whatever you want. They also have the option to let you add in salads, snacks, or sauces for your week.  I added in a spinach and artichoke dip (for $4.99). Just like HelloFresh you can skip or cancel at any time. I used NikkiVegan's code on one of her videos to get a discount because of course I'm not going to try these services for full-price especially when I cook as much as I do. Without a discount code my total would have been ~$77.

Week of March 19, 2019

For my week I ordered the Vegan box (obviously) and I got spinach and artichoke dip as a side. My meals included 1) Sweet and Sour Tofu with water Chestnuts, Snap Peas, and White Rice, 2) Tempeh Sloppy Joes with tangy coleslaw and pickled jalapenos, 3) Tok-sel Lima Bean and quinoa Bowls with avocado and orange.

I also took some screenshots from their website so you could take a look at their other options for the same week. So much more to choose from than the other delivery service I tried.

Regular means with meat and veggies and dairy- screenshot from their website for the same week I ordered my food

Vegetarian options for the same week I ordered food. I almost go the first option cause it had eggs and sometimes I still eat them, but I wanted to try all vegan options for this post.

Food arrived in the middle of the day on March 19- on time as expected. Here's what my box looked like when I opened it. I loved the packaging. My food was cold and I was given instructions on how to properly recycle everything.

I went to the gym after work so my food was left on my doorstep for a few hours and everything was still cold. perfect.

 I decided to start snacking on the spinach and artichoke dip I ordered... It was SO good, not like a typical dip which is super cheesy- but it does have a slightly nutty flavor. You mostly taste the spinach and artichokes.

I found these cracker thingys and I also used up some pita chips with the dip. Pita chips were better.

Sweet and Sour Tofu with Water Chestnuts, Snap Peas and White Rice

Still a lot of packaging... but oh well. I saved the container from the sauce for some snacks in the future.

There is a recipe book that comes with the box with all the recipes for the week (all meals, even ones you don't get). They had this booklet hidden on the side of the packaging, so I had to dig for it. I changed up some stuff with this recipe. For the tofu I did fry it a little in a pan, but then I continued to bake them in the oven to get it crispier. I also added sesame oil and ginger to the veggies as they were cooking in the skillet. Some extra flavor. Oh and the black sesame seeds were used for presentation. I loved this and would totally make it again. It was filling and I definitely have a lot of leftovers ( I will probably make more rice to stretch this out).

I honestly had enough food to get 3 servings from this. So good.

Here were the last two meals I made from SunBasket. I was saving the sloppy joe for the end of the week because I was most excited for it. Definitely worth it for a single-living gal like myself. I would totally recommend this to my friends. Its pricey, but if you can afford it then why not! I will not continue purchasing from this company, but it was good to try it. I got sick toward the end of the week so my taste palate may have been affected but it was still yummy to me.


Happy cooking :)

Tempeh Sloppy Joe and coleslaw!

Tok-Sel Lima Bean and Quinoa Bowl

Vegan Mushroom Spinach Lasagna Roll

Vegan Mushroom Spinach Lasagna Roll

My boyfriend and I made this dish for valentine's day and it was really good! I've tried making it a few times since then, and I like the original recipe the most, but it's fun to change it up. Let me know if you try it or try something similar. Sorry for not being exact with my recipes- we all know I don't measure anything HAHA

Ingredients: 

Vegan Mozzarella Cheese (I used Follow Your Heart Brand)

1 Package of lasagna noodles (do not use the oven bake ones that do not require pre-cooking)

Garlic

White/ Yellow/ or Sweet Onion

1 Package of baby Bella mushrooms

1 package of Spinach

1 jar of your choice pasta sauce

Olive Oil

Salt and pepper for taste

Red Pepper Flakes (Optional)

Ingredients for Ricotta Substitute:

Cashews

Lemon

Basil

Garlic

olive oil

almond milk or any other dairy free milk

Salt and pepper for taste

Ricotta Substitute Instructions: 
1. Soak cashews overnight in water- i left mind to hangout in the fridge
2. Once soaked, drain cashews and add to a blender or food processor
4. Add in lemon juice, garlic, basil, and a tbsp of olive oil. (salt and pepper here too)
5. Add in a little almond milk and blend. add more as necessary while blending
6. Blend to desired consistency

Instructions: 
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
2. Cook lasagna noodles- depending on how many you are making this could take awhile
3. In a deep skillet/pan saute chopped onions, garlic, mushrooms, and spinach. When done, set aside in a bowl.
4. Take casserole dish and add a layer of pasta sauce on bottom to coat pan.
5. Lay out one pasta noodle at a time and add vegan ricotta, and veggie mixture.
6. Roll lasagna noodle and place in casserole dish. Keep doing this for the rest of the noodles or until pan is filled.
7. Add more pasta sauce on top of lasagna rolls in dish and sprinkle whole bag of vegan cheese (add vegan parmesan if you have it)
8. I added red pepper flakes on top of mine. It's also good if you add rosemary or more basil on top.
9. Bake this dish in the oven enough to melt the vegan cheese (or to heat it up if the items got cold)
10. Towards the end of baking put the oven setting on broil and this may help melt the cheese or allow it to brown more.

Let casserole dish cool and serve!

Valentine's day dinner with the boyfriend.

Tried It: HelloFresh for 1 Week

So many of you have probably heard of HelloFresh. For those of you who haven't its a subscription box that sends you a weekly box of food. The box contains 3 different meals with recipe cards for the week. I chose the veggie box (for obvious reasons- I'm trying to go vegan). I chose the veggie box for 1-2 people.  You can skip or cancel your subscription at any time. I tried it out because I was given a coupon for free food (and free shipping) so... why not?! If you don't use a coupon it is about $50 a week for the box PLUS shipping costs. But if you are a student they have a little discount where you will get 15% off every box.

So here's what my box looked like when I got it:

Turns out that depending on the season you may get a different type of package for your box to keep your food cold. Their website explains what part of their packaging is recyclable- for those who recycle and care about reducing trash.

The meals that I was given were: grilled cheese and veggie jumble, creamy dreamy mushroom gemelli, and salsa verde enchiladas. I loved how easy they were to cook. The only thing I disliked was how much dairy was used in each recipe. For anyone who is lactose intolerant (like me) this is definitely not a box for you. For the veggie jumble and the enchiladas I was able to either substitute the cheese with a vegan one or just leave it out.

I made the veggie jumble with the cheese and picked it out because honestly, I loved the veggies and sauce on its own. I got my box on a Tuesday and I made this on Thursday. So flavorful. BUT. My issue with the veggie jumble was that my tomatoes were almost overripe (one more day and I would have tossed them in my compost) AND my avocado was under ripe and almost not edible. huge disappointment for such a big company that promotes sending you food that can be used right away. My avocado even had a sticker that said it should have been ripe. BUT LOOK HOW YUMMY THIS WAS!!!! I even had dinner for another day. This recipe definitely only served 2 people. The other thing I didn't like about HelloFresh is that they tell you to use like half an onion, or half the seasoning- what the heck am I suppose to do with the rest? I didn't follow the directions and completely used up everything to reduce my food waste (wasn't that the point of this box- get the proper serving size and reduce food waste?)

The next meal I made was the salsa verde enchiladas. I modified this recipe by not using the cheese that came in the box and used my Daiya vegan friendly cheese instead. It was really good and I was glad that I didn't have to modify this recipe very much. For the final presentation I added some avocado and lime. I definitely could have made this into 3 meals because I got 6 enchiladas and probably only needed 2 for one meal (but I got hungry- no judgement here). As nice as this was, i could definitely buy the ingredients in the store and meal prep so many of these for cheaper. I just wished I had a vegan sour cream to go with it (as the original recipe called for), so that's why I used the avocado. I also added some paprika on top- sorry I've a foodie and I like to add spices for flavor.







The last meal I made was the creamy dreamy mushroom gemelli. THIS WAS THE KILLER. So good, but horrible for my lactose intolerant friends. The sauce is literally butter, milk, and flour. I added the parmesan into the sauce because I substituted the milk for almond milk and it made it super thin- the cheese thickened it up. I also added some more flour for thickness. They had their own garlic herb butter to add and it made it heavenly. I topped it off with GoVeggie vegan parmesan. I took lactase pills, but it still hit me pretty hard. I made enough for 3 servings. I gave the extra servings to a co-worker since I obviously couldn't eat it.




Overall my experience with HelloFresh was pretty good.

Would I recommend it to a friend? yes and no. If you have any type of dietary restriction then you should not get this box. If you are strictly a vegetarian and can have dairy then the veggie box is perfect. If you have a large family, they do have that option for you too. If you eat everything and want the 1-2 serving size box, they have that too. I've looked through their recipe archive and their weekly plans for the next month. They have loads of options, but after awhile it looks like they start repeating the meals and you definitely have no option to substitute a meal or just leave one out altogether. Basically you are told to pick a box and serving size- and it will generate the meals for that week and you're stuck with them.

How much does this cost?
Classic or Veggie box
($59.94) 3 meals for 2 people
($119.88) 3 meals for 4 people
Family box
($69.92) 2 meals for 4 people
($104.88) 3 meals for 4 people

Is it worth the money?
Maybe. ~$50 plus shipping for 3 meals (~2 servings per meal). I think the family plan costs more- I obviously didn't get that. Not a bad deal for someone who can afford it and is not looking to spend a lot of time in the grocery store each week. As a vegetarian/vegan I think I could spend my $50 more wisely in the produce section of the grocery store to purchase enough food for more meals than that.

Is it environmentally friendly?
Probably not. Although the website does inform the customer of what part of the packaging is recyclable, they do use a lot of plastic for the individual ingredients inside each bag. I try to live as low waste as possible, and my trash can filled up pretty fast while using this box. I was very unhappy with the amount of packaging. But impressed with the company encouraging people to recycle as much as possible. Here's the page on recycling.

Is it truly lowering your food waste?
Kind of. The company will send you the perfect amount of food to make for the meals, except when making a few of my dishes it only called for half an onion or a tbsp on minced garlic- what the heck am I suppose to do with the rest? I like food, so I just used it all and ignored the recipe and it still tasted fine. Maybe food waste is lowered, but not completely if you follow the recipe exactly (how many of you will remember and know what to do with the leftover onion?!)

Does the food actually taste good?
YES. I thought the box was perfect for mixing up my normal spices routine. It was so yummy and I would definitely make the chimichurri sauce again (that I made with the veggie jumble).

Do you have a promo code? 
Nope, all I have is a normal referral code. Here it is- LINK. My referral link will give you $40 off. I don't plan on using this again, but if you want to- go for it.

Is this post sponsored?
NOPE. All opinions are 100% my own and this was my experience. I did my research before ordering this box so I had an idea of what to expect and I was super excited- definitely lost that excitement as I started cooking.

If you don't 100% recommend this box, what do you recommend?
Shopping on your own at the grocery store. Go on pintrest and find recipes and write out a list for the grocery store. Shop in the bulk produce and bulk aisles of the store. reduce your food and plastic waste at the same time and get yummy recipes. easy.

Tried it: Failed at Veganuary :(

So I'm starting this new type of blog post series on this site. I'm going to try new things and write about them and my experiences. For the month of January I tried something called veganuary. Basically you go vegan for the month. 

As many of you already know I've been vegetarian since May 2017 (the day after I graduated college). I chose to become a vegetarian for environmental and sustainability reasons- I love animals and I care about the cruelty but that is not my main focus. So for the last year I have omitted any meat, and fish  from my diet. The only thing I have allowed myself were dairy products- yes I ate eggs. I know eggs are a debatable topic for vegetarians, but I only ate it in certain situations where I couldn't avoid it. I'm also lactose intolerant so I should have been avoiding dairy too.

I decided to try Veganuary because I'm already halfway there, why not go fully vegan? Let me start off by saying, I failed. I did consume dairy (cheese) on a few occasions. I started off the month by making some tofu tikka masala as part of my meal prep. According to the label on the sauce it contained milk- oops- but I wasn't about to waste a perfectly good jar of sauce. The was my first mistake. I believe a few other cookies and crackers I ate throughout the month had egg or milk as an ingredient, but again- I was trying to use up food in my pantry. Then there was the night I went out with my friends for dinner. We chose this restaurant because it had something for all of us (2 vegetarians, 2 omnivores, and me being vegan). I ordered a vegan burger- but I still ate the one cheese stick my friend ordered as an appetizer. OH BOY did that cheese hurt my stomach later that night. Then I tried a box from HelloFresh- so much dairy- but I'll discuss that in my next post. So those were the times I failed this month. Not too bad eh?

So let's talk about what I ate during the month. I'll talk about different meals and how I kept it interesting so I wouldn't get bored.

I never really eat breakfast- I know it's a bad habit and I should. Breakfast was usually green tea, or oatmeal. I would boil water in my tea kettle and use the water for the tea and oatmeal. I was using quick oats with flax seed, hemp seed, chia seed, coconut sugar, maple syrup, cinnamon, and fruit. I mixed up my fruit and sometimes I added cashew butter or a hazelnut almond butter (vegan of course). I also had some leftover bagels that I ate with a tofu "cream cheese" spread- sprinkled with the Everything bagel seasoning from Trader Joe's and some paprika. I also made some protein shakes or fruit smoothies for "breakfast."

Everything Bagel with tofu "cream cheese". Everything Bagel Seasoning from Trader Joe's and paprika

Oatmeal with blueberries!

Lunch time. Yes, I suck at this meal thing too. Some days I skipped lunch and did a workout instead- ate a banana and granola bar to sustain me. But I started off strong with salads I got from Whole Foods (I made them myself). Loaded up on the veggies. Now for lunch I'm sticking to my mini workout and apple, cashew butter, and granola bar for lunch.

One of my lunches I got from Whole Foods.

This was another salad I made form Whole Foods. The Grilled tofu was my favorite part. I also had so vegan chikn salad on the side!

Dinner varies all the time. I'm constantly cooking new food and trying new recipes so this changed. I did HelloFresh for a week and that's discussed in the next post- one of the ways I failed. I also made a stuffed pepper dinner for my friends- totally vegan friendly. Had some pesto pasta, vegan pizzas, salads, and sweet potato black bean soup/chili. I went on Pintrest and looked for recipes. I also looked at a lot of the food I was buying when I went out to see if I could make it at home. I watched many YouTube recipe videos for inspiration. I made cooking fun, so it was easy to make this stuff plus the meals lasted for a long time.

Vegan Stuffed Peppers with mashed avocado and lime

Sweet Potato back Bean Quinoa Soup/Chili

Homemade! Vegetarian Everything Pizza (Left) and Vegan Green Pizza (Right)

Dessert? Yeah still had that. I made banana nice cream a lot. Basically it's just frozen bananas in a food processor. I added cashew butter, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, ginger, agave, coconut sugar, and vegan chocolate chips.  This was the perfect dessert. Healthy and tasty!


Also beverage-wise, I drank mostly tea and water. I cut out soda about 8 years ago and only have it on occasion. I tried to increase my water consumption because I was also increasing the intensity of my workouts.



I found that because of my current restrictions on my diet, dairy was my main cut this month. I definitely had a hard time with this, but I wanted to see how would I feel about my body at the end. Its January 31st, and here's how I feel now.

A few days ago I would have told you I felt amazing and this vegan thing was amazing. BUT I ate dairy like 2 days ago because of that pasta in my HelloFresh box and my stomach is very messed up. Before that meal, I was feeling so much better about my body. I felt like I was losing weight because I was finally avoiding dairy (which is something I needed to do) and I had more energy. I'm not saying that everyone should go vegan- everyone has a different body and it may not work as well for others.

For me, it was perfect. I had a little slip up with the cheese and how did my body react? The most recent time I ate cheese was the worst, but the others just caused some cramping and pain in my abdomen. This time I had the full effects of being lactose intolerant. I'm definitely very bloated and my body is not happy with me. I plan to continue trying to fully transition to being vegan, but I don't think I'll ever be fully vegan with my diet. I'm hoping I can get my body back to what it was a few days ago since I threw it off with the dairy.

Yes, I know there are other aspects of veganism, but I'm trying to focus on one thing at a time. My diet is the most important thing right now, so I'm trying to figure out what works. As for material items, if I own something that is made from an animal or is tested on animals its usually because it was a gift or I have it and should use it instead of throwing it in the trash. Gotta focus on those low waste values too!

I would definitely recommend veganuary to anyone who is interested in a vegan lifestyle/diet. It's a fun challenge and much easier than you think. Many people don't realize how dependent our diets are on animals and animal products until they do this. There is a website where you can sign up and it send you daily emails with inspiration and facts about being vegan. Go ahead and check it out! https://veganuary.com/

January might be over, but you can participate in the challenge at any time. If you try it, let me know what your experience is and what yummy meals you made!