Wednesday, February 17, 2010

*WARNING* – vegan cheese to die for! and camping too!

Dreaming of Vegan Cheese? I know you are!

Hey peeps! Happy Wednesday! I hope you all had a fab Valentine's Day. We went camping with the kids – I  know, not very romantic but we had alot of fun anyways. On the way home, I finally got my crippled hands (get it? I have RA - crippled hands?! haha) on some Daiya Vegan Cheese! Yeah baby! I was at Whole Foods in Henderson, NV and decided to see if they had any of this taking-the-vegan-world-by-storm cheese stuff in stock. At first I could not find it *sigh* but I finally asked some nice WF dude and we found it in the pizza/olive section. It was in plastic containers, so I am guessing they buy it in bulk? Who knows…I bought two kinds - yellow cheddar and white cheesy Italian – It kind of looks like cheese, but who cares what it looks like – WHAT DOES IT TASTE LIKE??!!???  That is the ultimate question for all you "wanna-be-vegans-but-wont-commit-cuz-you-love-cheese" people! jk - (BFF you know who you are! hee hee).

 

Daiya Italian Shredded and Cheddar Shredded

It kinda has a crumbly-shredded texture

So this raw girl decided to do some actual vegan cooking!

I am still trying to stay clear of gluten for the most part and these Trader Joe's Brown Rice Tortillas were a nice alternative. They are really stiff so they would be hard to eat right out of the bag. I decided to make a yummy quesadilla with my new non-cheese find.

 

This was one screaming-good quesadilla –with grilled onions and peppers – I thought I died and went to cooked food Heaven.

Check out the melty not-cheese action! Got it going on baby!

I wanted to play a Barry White song!

Can't get enough of your love baby! Oh yeah it was that good.

 

Daiya not-cheese rocks the house people! I mean it was really melty and greasy (in a good way) like real cheese.

 

And I think it tasted like cheese – although I have never been a huge cheese connoisseur. If I think about cheese too long, visions of spores, molds, and fungus fill my head – hee hee – its twu- its twu!

 

ABCDEFGHHIJKLMON

The verdict: Me like 'em Daiya not-Cheese!

ABCDEFGHHIJKLMON

 

Hey, we went to the Valley of Fire in Nevada over the weekend and took the whole fam damily camping. Even flew in the college kid to spend the weekend with us. The red sandstone scenery was spectacular. You will love this place if you are into rocks - rocks are awesome by the way – of course I am a geologist so I am partial. Check out this pic my son took of an arch in the park. Amazing.

valley of fire Cool arch – looks like a scorpion tail

valley of fire

Cool campsite at Arch Rock Campground

 

valley of fire Another cool shot of the campground – we used to have a big trailer and F350 when the kids were little. Now we just tent it. We like the easy set up. I could live in a tent and plan to for a few years when we retire – cannot wait!

valley of fire

It was 40 degrees in the manana, I have 3 layers of pants on and 2 tops and a jacket on! People with RA get really cold (in general). All the kiddos are still sleeping in the tent~

 

valley of fire

My raw breakfast – GoRaw Chocolate Granola with Brazil Nut Milk and my Sierra Sunrise Cocktail (juice). And while we are on the subject, as far as nut milks go, Brazil Nut milk is my all time fave! I also packed three days worth of Massaged Kale Salad, Carrot Juice, sprouted bread with some coconut butter, oranges and apples, avocados (of course), veggie burgers, Pure Bars and Larabars, and a vegan cookie – so I stayed about 85-90% raw on a three day camping trip – not bad eh? I did have one handful of popcorn before the fam buttered it up – man do I miss popcorn on the raw diet!

 

valley of fire

My Chiquitita

 

The Valley of Fire is a great place to see some thrust fault action. Younger, Jurassic sandstone is found beneath the older Cambrian Limestone in this area. I came here for a geology field trip back in my college days – I am surprised I can remember it. I am sure you have heard about geologists – hardcore partiers– hey, but not me! lol (in case my kids read this blog.)

 

judy

13 comments:

bitt said...

i have heard a lot about that cheese. everyone seems to love it. we tried some but it hurt my stomach. oh well! guess this raw girl has to stick with dr. cow.

such pretty pictures! looks like the trip was really fun. i'm so impressed with your diet. did you carry it all in?

i missed popcorn for awhile when i was raw then caved and ate a bunch. now i seem to be over it. sometimes those emotional connections are strong.

Ingunn said...

Very cool - both the cheese and Valley of Fire! I had some of that cheese last month and loved it...I had to tell myself it could only be a "sometimes food" :o)

We went to see that same arch in Valley of Fire last year, it's so beautiful and fragile-looking.

crunchyveganwifelife said...

Well you know me....I used to be a cheese glutton..sigh, I have to have Daiya Cheese...HAVE TO HAVE IT!
Your camping trip looked awesome!!! I ahve never camped a day in my life but I want to, I have a tent...lol Is your entire family raw, or do you have the kind like mine, 1 meat eater, 1 vegan(moi) 1 vegetarian and one that cannot make up her mind?

I loved the it's twu,it's twu....are you a fan of Blazing Saddles as well?????
Next month I am doing a 70/30 raw all month long..Oh Lord help me now!!!! I am going to post it on my other blog....I think....
If you have any good starter meals I would love if you would share!!!!

RA is Wild said...

haha - I am a HUGE fan of Blazing Saddles (and Young Frankenstein) - I am glad someone understood my "it's twu" - lol - 70/30 raw/cooked should be fairly easy. Just do raw for brekkie and lunch, then dinner cooked. I am starting to add a little more cooked in my diet. But trying to stay aboe the 75% raw mark.

And I am the ONLY one in my family that is a raw/vegan. I live with voracious carnivores! They are eating a bit more healthy since I am stocking the house with good stuff and trying to get rid of the cr@pola!

HiHoRosie said...

I want to try that cheese!!! I've been wanting to try it but have yet to find it. I'll have to check another WF near me - see if they carry it.

Beautiful campground. Not sure I'd ever leave if I was there. :) Okay, I would because I love the luxuries of home but wow, just beautiful.

Love food you whipped up too. Yum!

crunchyveganwifelife said...

Isn't Mel Brooks brilliant! My husband told me I was starving him last week after the week before he said just feed him what i eat, light weight...lol
I cook all the meals so sometimes it feels like I am chined to the stove, but overall, I am thrilled that I get to decide the meals my family eats and it is nutritious. I wish I could get Chris to stop eating beef....sigh...
Love your posts, they make me smile!!!

Kristen's Raw said...

We LOOOOOOOVE DAIYA!!!!!!!!!

Gena said...

I may be the only person who hasn't tried Daiya yet!

RA is Wild said...

haha Gena, now you know I ate some cooked food! jk. The cool thing about this cheese was that I used so little..like 1 TBSP and it got all melty. Im gonna freeze it now for later use. Im not a huge cheese lover so I can live without, but kind of nice to have if you want some mexican flair!

outdoor.mom said...

beautiful camping photos!

R3 Method Show said...

The arch shot looks like the perfect movie setting.

WarmSocks said...

The dairy-free cheese sounds great! Is it also soy- and corn-free?

RA is Wild said...

here is info from the Daiya site for ya:

33% less fat than dairy-based
cheese with equivalent attributes

Cholesterol free

Trans Fat free

Dairy free

Free of all animal products (Vegan)

Free of common allergens
including: Soy, Casein, Lactose, Gluten, Egg, Wheat, Barley, Corn, Whey, Rice, and Nuts

Free of Artificial Ingredients

Free of Preservatives

Free of Hormones & Antibiotics

An excellent source of a naturally occurring vegan vitamin B-12 as well as an excellent source of B vitamins in general