The Great Vegan Queso Standoff

Sorry for my lack of a Meatless Monday post yesterday.  Sad smile 

I’m having a hard time figuring out how to balance this class I’m taking with other stuff right now.  We have two tests a week, 2 quizzes every day, and 2 chapters to read every night. And right now I’m still working three days a week so that’s not really leaving me much extra time. (p.s. this weekend is my last weekend of work!!!)

Anyway, I thought this would be a fun post so here we go!

Before I stopped eating dairy I looooved cheese with a capital L O V E.  My cholesterol levels did not however (hello total cholesterol of 260- yikes!).  Anyway, just because I’m not eating dairy any more doesn’t mean I can’t have something cheesy and delicious tasting!

Enter vegan queso!  I introduce to you, my friends, the great vegan queso standoff of 2011!

 

In one corner we have Food For Lovers Vegan Queso!

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I’ve had this one before.  Actually I buy it all the time.  And when I say all the time I mean that I always have a jar on hand in case I run out of the open jar I have in the fridge.  Embarrassed smile

 

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It clocks in at 20 calories and zero fat per 2 Tablespoon serving.

 

 

And in the other corner we have Nacho Mom’s Ultimate Vegan Queso.

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I’ve seen this one before but I’ve never had it.  I was super excited to try it!!

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This one clocks in at 10 calories and zero fat for 1 oz.  When I weighed it 1 oz came out to about 2 Tablespoons.  So technically this one’s lower in calories, but really I don’t think that 10 calories is a deal breaker for the other one, LOL!

 

The vessel that would carry the sweet sweet cheesiness to my tastebuds…

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Aaaaaannnnnnddddd….

LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLE!!!!

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Categories are spiciness, scoopability, and overall chessy awesomeness.

Spiciness…

Food For Lovers- this will burn a hole in your tongue it is so spicy.  I’m not kidding.  I love spicy food so much that if I’m not crying and my nose isn’t running then it isn’t spicy enough for me.  And this is almost too spicy for me.  I don’t mind the crying and the nose running though, but maybe you do.  So if you don’t like really spicy stuff this might not be for you!

Nacho Mom’s- this is very mild.  Not too spicy, but not at all bland.  Perfect for people that like a little spice without overdoing it!

 

Scoopability…

Food for lovers- this is perfectly scoopable right out of the jar!  It has a nice consistency and when it heats up it gets a teeny bit thicker.  Which is fine because it does seem a bit thin when you’re spooning it out of the jar.

Nacho Mom’s-  this one is hard to scoop out of the jar.  You have to stir it a lot before you can spoon it out.  But once you do, it stays the perfect scoopable consistency for ultimate chip dippage.

 

Cheesy Awesomness…

I have to admit that it’s really hard for me to tell how cheesy the Food For Lovers is because my taste buds have been burned off from the extreme heat of it, haha!  So I’m just going to give this one to Nacho Mom’s!  It’s seriously awesomely cheesy!!!  As in tastes almost exactly like regular queso!

 

AND THE WINNER IS….

Well, there wasn’t really a clear winner/loser here.  I believe that they both have a place in my fridge.  I do, however, think that I would eat the Nacho Mom’s on a more frequent basis than the Food For Lovers because it’s not nearly as spicy!

Where to find them…

I found both of these at Whole Foods!  I’ve also seen them at a few of my local health food stores.  Or you can find them online through several online realtors.  Visit the Food For Lovers or the Nacho Mama’s website for the deets!

 

Hope you enjoyed this- hopefully I’ll have more of these in the future, it was fun!

 

Peace out peeps, I’ve got a test tomorrow I’ve got to go study for!

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Super Cheesy Awesome Sauce

Who says you can’t have an awesomely creamy cheesy-tasting sauce without dairy?!  You CAN have the awesome flavor without poisoning your body with saturated fat (ewww!!!!)!

We’re going to take advantage of the amazingly cheesy flavor of nutritional yeast and I’m going to give you a basic recipe that you can adapt several different ways to suit what you want to use it for.  Oh and 2 Tablespoons of this super cheesy awesome sauce is around 58 calories and ZERO fat!

Let’s do this!

Basic Recipe…

Super Cheesy Awesome Sauce
(Print this recipe!)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Nutritional Yeast
1/2 cup flour
2 cups water
a big pinch each of garlic powder and paprika
1 tsp salt

Directions:
Combine dry ingredients in a saucepan.

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Whisk in water over medium heat until thick and bubbly.

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Remove from heat.

 

Variations…

Use as is as a cheesy sauce for your steamed veggies or baked potato.

Add a can of Rotel for an amazing queso- you can even throw it in one of those little crockpots to keep it nice and warm to serve at a shin dig.

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Stir in a spoonful of dijon mustard and 8 oz of cooked whole wheat elbow macaroni for an easy mac and cheese that’s to die for!

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Hope you try this- it’s awesomesauce!!!  (anyone watch Parks and Recreation?  Love that show!)

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