This is the 2nd Post of the last week and weekend happenings. While we were out of town for my Aunt's Funeral - my niece stayed home with her father and other grandparents. She is in Pre-K now and on Friday they played out in the snow. Her teacher texted this photo to my sister. It was the first time my sister had been away from her for more than a work-day. I think she handled it well but she said otherwise. Maybe she just 'hid it well'.
The one night we went to the Pizza Plant - which is one of my faves while visiting the Buffalo Area. My sister had not been there before so we decided to go after the viewing. They have a lot of vegetarian and vegan options. This is what they refer to as a 'pod'. It's similar to a stromboli, I guess. Thursday night's they have a special on pods to build your own with up to 3 'extras'. I chose Tofu, Mushrooms, and Broccoli. I opted for the vegan cheese, of course.
I've had their pods several times before and LOVE them. I've also had their pizza which is also great.
My sister - who usually has issues with red sauces - really enjoyed their sauce and it didn't seem to bother her tummy. She also had a pod. My mom had soup and my dad had a personal sized pizza. Everyone enjoyed what they ordered.
Speaking of Pizza...I ended up having that another night while visiting Duff's. If you're ever in Buffalo you will hear locals having the on-going argument of who has better wings - Anchor Bar or Duff's. From a vegan's standpoint it's sort of mute until they come out with a Vegan Buffalo Wing...just sayin'.
Anyhow...while at Duff's I was trying to figure out what to eat because I was getting "salad-ed-out" (at the lunch after the service I had one and then upon arrival we went to a sub shop and I had one). So...I politely asked the waitress if there were vegan options and she proceeded to tell me that their Pizza Dough was technically vegan and that they could do a pizza for me. I did that. It was topped with Garlic Olive Oil, LARGE Tomatoes (that covered the entire pizza - really impressive), Spinach, and Oregano. I forgot to take a photo of the pizza when it came out BUT this is the leftovers I took home and added my own vegan cheese to it. BOTH were tasty.
One of the pics I didn't post in the other blog post about the hotel surroundings was this one. In the lobby they had this character all decked out for Valentine's Day. I don't know what they call him but I named him Alfred. At this point I'm pretty sure my family finds it strange if I "don't" do something weird when I'm with them so I decided to pose for this photo. Yes...all masked up...and bundled up, too, because it was in the "teens" - both cold and windy.
Before heading home on Saturday I suggested to my parents and sister to visit The Whole Foods Market since none of them have been to the Buffalo location before. We all agreed. While we were there I picked up a few things to take home. I figured since it was so cold it would fair the ride home and I was right.
This photo shows the Buffalo Cauli Mac from Ark Foods. I have tried the original/regular flavor before but had not seen the Buffalo flavor. Probably because when I found the other one we were in Ohio. It's fitting the Buffalo Flavor was found in Buffalo. I had it as part of my lunch today and it was tasty. Not overly spicy but a nice flavor. I added some vegan margarine to it to stretch the sauce a bit more.
I spotted a new flavor of Daiya Mac & Cheese...Cheddar Jalapeno. It's not my favorite vegan mac and cheese but I always like to try everything once, you know! I'm eager to try this one - I haven't yet - but might later this week.
I also found this "new-to-me" vegan cheese slices from Parmela Creamery. Has anyone else spotted and/or tried these? Smoked Gouda! Yes, please! I haven't tried them yet but will - soon!
I also found these Spinach Bites. I had some of them during the Super Bowl last night. They were pretty good! I'll probably have the rest of them for part of a dinner this week.
From the same company - Strong Roots - I grabbed these, too. I haven't tried them yet but loved they had Broccoli and Purple Carrots in them so I was pretty excited.
I'm working a little backwards here but I did find these on Thursday morning - prior to meeting my parents and sister to travel to Buffalo - at our local ALDI. I went with the intention of locating those burritos I found last time and was unsuccessful on that. I was, however, successful at locating a NEW product...these VEGAN CHEESE STICKS! Yay! I tried them right before we left my parents house to pick up my sister and continue on to Buffalo. These were pretty impressive...I have to say! I'm glad I bought 3 bags! The first time I tried them - we baked them in the oven and during the Super Bowl I made them in my Air Fryer. They were even better!
I'm really hoping we get more of the new vegan products at our local ALDI that I have seen others post about. Honestly, I didn't know these Vegan Cheese Sticks existed - even on the other channels and feeds I have seen posting about other Vegan ALDI Products. I guess I lucked out! I hope they continue to carry them, too, because they are CHEAP! I want to say they were $2.39 a bag! Woot!
