Veganish and Spaghetti-nos: If it Makes You Feel Gross, Stop Eating It!

I've been a lazy blogger. . . mostly because I've been an unbearably busy employee.  This past week, I worked myself into exhaustion, ate poorly (which didn't help my exhaustion), and got some bad news (again, exhausting).

So rather than being too exhausted to think about food-like, I've been looking forward a day off on Thursday when I can slave away in MY kitchen for MY belly and then share it with you!  And I've got plans to make a lovely dinner for my husband and at least one yummy treat to get me through the week.

But why wait until Thursday to post?  I just can't do that!  So I wanted to share some pictures of my experiment with Spaghetti-nos from Isa over at Post Punk Kitchen.  When I came across her post, my mouth started watering.  The story she tells about being  in her mid-teens, wearing too much eyeliner, and eating spaghettios reminded me of a the first summer that my mom worked out of the house and left me home, when I would heat up spaghettios EVERY DAY.  I would love to be able to replicate that with real food!

I think this is a good time to make my own confession, much as she made hers.

1. I am addicted to Glee.  Yes, I watch it on my laptop while cooking things for this blog.  Yes, I sing along to every stinkin' song, playing out the roles in all their cheesy glory. 

2.  Although I am 100% vegan in all the food I prepare and I try very hard to follow a vegan diet when I am out, I think it is fair to use the term "Veganish" to describe myself.  Sunday night, I was a vegetarian instead, indulving in some cheese and creamy pasta at one of the best rated restaurants in the Philadelphia area.  It was absolutely delicious, but as I knew I would, I felt a bit lumpy and gross afterwards (although, i believe six courses of anything will make you feel like shi-poop).

My first post gave some details as to why I began my vegan journey, but it didn't cover the ideology and depth of reasoning for my decision.  But I think it did make clear that eating the Standard American Diet (how SAD) did make me feel like a foul lump of stomach upset.  Most of my vegan exploration has resulted in much better digestion and fewer stomach issues for me.

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Unfortunately, Spaghetti-nos made me feel pretty gross.  They are tasty enough, although I felt like the sauce was a bit "off."  I know that I rolled my lentil-balls too large and I did not have anellini so I used fusili, but neither of those were the problem.  If I had drizzled the pasta and balls with a bit of olive oil and garlic, I would have been in heaven.  Even a fresh marinara or the tomato sauce I made with my falafel would have been great.

The orange sauce prescribed for was okay when fresh and hot, but did not live up to leftover glory.  It was a bit on the too sweet side and too thick to be like real spaghettios to me.  I do think, however, that done right (I wanted to make alphabets instead of fusili, but I forgot to pick them up at the store), this would make kids very happy.  But my adult palate just wasn't digging on it.

That being said, I will definitely be making lentil-balls again.  They were just lovely.  I think that I will have to make them into lentil-ball subs next time we have friends over for a casual evening.  Or we can recreate a lovely Lady and the Tramp moment with spaghetti and lentil-balls on our next romantic evening alone at home. . . Any other great suggestions for living the lentil-ball dream?