Getting Out for the List

Happy Memorial Day weekend! It is so nice to have a long weekend, but we won’t be joining crowds at beaches, lakes, or malls even though things are starting to open back up here. I feel much more comfortable going for a run or dog walk outdoors and taking in the sights.

It was great to get out for a longer run today even though it’s getting hotter and summer feels like it is here with triple digit heat days next week – yikes!

There were my usual boring eats this week of salads, spicy soy curl stir fry, and marinara potato saute.

Hubby ordered a fun pack of goodies from The Herbivorous Butcher for Memorial Day grilling and tried the Ribeye Steak and Smokey Short Ribs this week.

Both were delicious, the steak ended up being a few meals for both of us because it was so large, I chopped up a chunk for a cold salad that was delicious. The ribs had a great smokey flavor and lighter texture.

I made a huge one-pot lentil stew with bay leaves and a hearty tomato broth that came out great with easy leftovers for the week.

And I found a great deal on Pure Famland’s Mild Italian Style Plant Based Crumbles at Grocery Outlet that was perfect with lentil pasta.

It has a savory sausage flavor and smell with fennel seed and worked well with pasta sauce.

And we went out to eat for the first time since the shelter in place order! Pho Vegan Asian Cuisine is open for dine in with the social distancing guild lines, so hubby and I went out to lunch on Friday.

I am leery about this area opening up too fast and seeing more ignore social distancing in public, our huge mall re-opened Friday which is kind of scary to me still. But we felt safe at Pho Vegan, the place was very clean as always and not crowded.

We have no plans for tomorrow which is sad, but better to be safe. We’ll be grilling more goodies from The Herbivorous Butcher and working on yard projects. I hope everyone has a safe Memorial Day and this list inspires fun in the kitchen.

• Low card tofu recipes. Always looking for more inspiration with tofu.
• Vegan spam could be awesome, I’m open to it.
• Vegan Instagram accounts to follow. New inspiration is a great thing for these times.
• Vegans may have better aerobic endurance. That is a great thing for getting more out of the day.
• Comforting vegan TikTok videos are also a great thing.
• Vegan Turkey Burgers at Trader Joe’s. Ugh, I need to make a trip back there soon!
• Lizzo got great vegan skills on TikTok. Love these fun videos.
• Mike Tyson and more vegan celebs.
• 20 must try vegan desserts. Some day when we can travel again, sigh.
• Budget friendly vegan cookout recipes for Memorial Day.