Vegan MoFo Day 1

I feel a little lame starting off this Vegan MoFo with a product review post, but regular readers know I've been taking a vacation from blogging and eating a lot of convenience foods as I recovered from an inner ear infection. What this means is, I don't have a backlog of cooking pics.  Or any. But I wanted to do something to kick things off, so here we go!

I've been a fan of Amy's frozen meals for a long time. At my last job, I kept a bunch of them in the office freezer and they helped me actually look forward to days when I had to eat lunch at my desk. But my only job these days is raising Jackson and Olivia, so it had been a couple of years since I ate my last Amy's meal. I recently saw some new varieties that I wanted to try, but their prices have gone up. So I emailed the company and asked for some coupons. Did you know you can do this? I saw it on that nutty Extreme Couponing show. It works! Many companies will mail out cents-off coupons to those who ask. Thanks, Amy's! 

The steel-cut oats were nice and chewy, not gummy as you might fear with a frozen meal. If you really want the unique texture of steel-cut oats but don't have 30 minutes to stand over the stove, this is a convenient alternative. Although the oats are flavored with agave nectar and cinnamon, the taste was on the bland side, so I added peanut butter and stevia to mine.

The split pea soup was really tasty, with a smooth, blended texture. I didn't notice until I was eating that I'd grabbed the low-sodium version. Being something of a saltaholic, I had to add a little salt to mine. But it's great that they offer low-sodium soups for those who prefer a less salty soup. 

This vegan spinach pizza is also gluten-free. The thin crust is made with rice flour. I prefer a thick, chewy crust on my pizza, but my kids enjoyed this.

This pasta and veggie bowl isn't vegan due to the sprinkling of parmesan cheese on top. I heated it up for for Jackson and Olivia, and they both loved it. I stole a few bites of broccoli and asparagus, and I was really impressed. In some frozen meals, the veggies can be either tough and stringy, or watery and mushy. These were perfect, and the sauce was delicious.

The vegan, gluten-free baked ziti kids' meal was another hit. Jackson loved the ziti (Amy's really does have the best, most flavorful tomato sauces) and apple crumble. Again, the broccoli was perfect. The only thing we didn't like was the little square of focaccia bread -- too mushy.

Finally, the dairy-free veggie pot pie. It's filled with tofu, carrots, peas, and potatoes, and it's awesome. So warm and comforting. And, although the instructions tell you to bake it, I can tell you from my office days that if you microwave it for about 7 minutes, it will turn out just fine.

Happy MoFo to you all, and hopefully I will be back soon with some food that didn't come from a box. Have a great day!