Monday, February 18 Gardien BBQ Wings, Slaw and Tater Tots Rating: 3.75

What? This clearly isn’t a health food blog. Also, I didn’t really plan dinner since I wasn’t sure what our evening would look like until the last minute. I had picked up a bag of Gardein BBQ Wings to keep in the freezer for just such an emergency. I learned at some point during the day that it was national cabbage day, so what else could I do but make slaw to go with the BBQ wings? I don’t really use a recipe for the slaw, but my freehand version is loosely based on a recipe in 1000 Vegan Recipes. I’ve also lately taken to buying pre-shredded mix because I really can never use up an entire head of cabbage before it starts to go bad. This way, I just buy what I need. I know, I know, it’s way more expensive to do it that way, but I’d rather pay more than throw away food. So, not-wings – check; slaw – check. What else rounds out a meal, if not tater tots? Whatever, they’re good. Judge all you want. I actually was feeling a little bad about the very small veggie presence (slaw representin’!) so I picked up an heirloom tomato to slice and have alongside dinner. A little balsamic and a sprinkle of garlic salt and voila! (except the tomato itself wasn’t very tasty so, not so much) The wings were pretty good, nothing to write home about. As far as vegan meats like this, Gardein is probably the best around, so if you like that sort of thing, these are probably a good bet for you. Anyway, I didn’t see how we could have not-wings & tots without something to dip them in (no, not ketchup) so I made a quick batch of ranch from Cookin’ Crunk. OK, I’m also slightly addicted to it and need to have it in the fridge at all times. You never know when there could be a ranch emergency.