You say, "Jerk Seitan Sloppy Joes." I say, "Hail Seitan!"

As the October days get colder, I find myself wanting comfort food; the kind that keeps me warm and puts a smile on my face. Sloppy Joes just happen to be one of those foods for me (alongside tomato soup, grilled cheese [working on a vegan version of this], and chili). While browsing the Post Punk Kitchen website, I came across this wonderful  Sloppy Joe recipe. The meat substitute in this dish is called seitan (pronounced "say-tan"). It's sometimes called "wheat meat" because it is made from wheat gluten. It's made by washing wheat flour dough with water. This eliminates the starches, resulting in a dense gluten product. From here, you can cut it up, bake it, fry it, whatever you want! I had never had seitan before, so I was very eager to try it out. Having experienced it now, I can honestly say that it is absolutely delicious and one of my favorite "meat" substitutes, as you can see by the picture. (This is my new vegan hoodie I purchased from an online store.)

Now, when I say meat substitute, I simply mean something that can replace the meat aspect in a dish or
give a dish a more "full" appearance or feeling. I don't want to give the impression that I was craving meat or needed a dish to replicate that feeling of eating meat. Suzanne and I have been incredibly content and happy since giving up meat and other animal based products. It's just fun seeing how we can re-vamp traditional meat based dishes into a creative vegan dish.

Now, back to those tasty sloppy joes. These things were crazy good, and Suzanne even made homemade wheat buns to go along with them. The original recipe called for coconut creamed spinach but Suzanne and I decided to forego that part of the dish. We like Spinach and coconut, but we just weren't in the mood for it. You can find the recipe at the link below. (I would type it out, but I'm pressed for time and I have some catching up to do on the blog!)

http://www.theppk.com/2012/04/jerk-sloppy-joes-with-coconut-creamed-spinach/

So, Suzanne and I have been vegans for a little over three weeks now, and we're absolutely loving it. To be honest, if you would have asked me several years ago about going vegan, I would have said, "Pfffft, man, I just don't think I could do it." The reasons behind that response would include laziness and the ridiculous idea that my body "needs" meat in order to sustain itself. This experience has been very enlightening for me. It has opened my mind to alternative methods of nourishment and sustenance while maintaining a healthy approach. Not only has my health improved, but this dietary change has also brought my wife and I closer together. Since we can't have "lazy" nights that include ordering pizza and wings, we end up spending time together in the kitchen; cooking and laughing, and then being rewarded with a beautiful supper. It's just nice knowing that the food we make and eat is nourishing our bodies and the experience of making it is nourishing our souls. In one of my earlier blogs I mentioned that Suzanne and I would be doing this for the month of October. Now, things are starting to look a little more permanent. I can't say that I know we'll eat vegan forever, but as of right now, this has been a special change for us and I don't see us changing it anytime soon.

While eating vegan has brought forth a plethora of positive changes in our life, there has been one change that could be seen as negative. If you HATE doing dishes, you might struggle with all the required cooking :P

To some, this may look like a mess or a chore. To me, I see a night well spent and a fridge full of wicked good food. Have a great day everyone!

-Bearded Vegan