Gardein Buffalo Wings Review:Pancakes

I meant to write this blog a few days ago but when I sat down to write it, after sentence in a HUGE bug crawled across the keyboard of my laptop which made me accidentally throw the laptop on the floor while I screamed and ran like the little girl that I am.  Luckily the laptop is okay (of course my husband isn't sure if he's going to allow me to use it anymore lol) but I had to get the nerve to sit down and write again.  So with that said, sorry for the delay!  I picked up some new gardein products at the co-op the other day.  I've tried the regular chick'n strips which are pretty good.  Some of the refridgerated ones are just okay for me.  Tal Ronnen is one of the cooks who helped create Gardein and he is fabulous!  I've tried a few recipes from his cookbook.  They are pretty labor intensive with uniquie ingredients so I save it for special occasions.  If you go to their website Gardein.com you can find a TON of recipes using their products that are more simple than Tal's cookbook.  I think if you are a meat eater trying to transition to being a vegetarian or vegan they are great products to use.  I find my husband likes them much more than I do. 

So I picked up the spicy buffalo wings.  I wanted to make a traditional American dish.  So I cooked the buffalo wings according to the package over the stove.  I made the famous ranch dressing for dipping (I added some horseradish to the mix this time to kick it up a notch).  With twice baked potatoes on the side.  It was all super yummy and Rich said it was one of his favorite meals yet.  The buffalo wings were good, but that was partially due to the buffalo sauce and ranch I dipped it in. 

For the potatoes I just threw a bunch of stuff together without following a recipe.  So the following is a general idea of what I did.  It's super easy to adapt to your liking. 

2-3 potatoes
Few tablespoons of prepared ranch dressing (see hyperlink for recipe above)
Few tablespoons of butter
Teaspoon or so of horseradish
Salt/Pepper to taste
(I think that is all I used, but it's been a few days now and my memory is failing me, feel free to add seasoning upon tasting)

Directions:
1.  Boil the potatoes until fork tender, not too soft or else the skin won't hold up
2.  Cut the cooled potatoes in half, and spoon out the inside with a tablespoon (metal works the best)
3.  Put the spooned out potato in a bowl and mix with the remaining ingredients
4.  Oil your baking dish
5.  Take your potato skins and spread with oil and sprinkle with salt to taste.  I just turned them upside down, took a baster and oiled the skins, sprinkled with salt, and let them sit until I was ready to fill
6.  Turn the skins over and spoon in the potato mixture.  Divide evenly, you should have plenty for a large mound in each skin
7.  Bake at 350 degrees until golden and crispy

You can probably do plenty of other things with the wings, maybe make a buffalo wing sandwich with some good bread.  For my leftovers I cut up the buffalo wings and mixed with a left over potato, topped with some ranch, butter and seasoning.

Since I waited so long to post, I'll just extend this one out.  I watched my nieces and nephew this weekend and made some vegan breakfast with them!  We had fun making pancakes, and even better they loved the pancakes.  Their plates were EMPTY!  Which is always impressive for a 10, 6, and 2 year old!  I found the pancake recipe food.com.  It was super easy, and the ingredient list should be readily available in your pantry.  The only adjustment was the batter was a little runny so I had to add a few more tablespoons of flour to thicken it up. 



My niece Lilah helping in the kitchen!  She's so adorable!



I also attempted to make a breakfast quinoa, but I'm wasn't a fan, and the kids didn't like it either.  I prefer my quinoa savory and for dinner rather than sweet.  There are plenty of recipes online if you would like to try it.  I just made the quinoa with rice milk instead of water, mixed in with some brown sugar and cinnamon, and fresh fruit.  Give it a whirl, you might just like it.  =) 

Till next time, and hopefully no more buggies...

Laissez Les Bon Temp Rouler!