So hey, I'm not Vegan or Vegetarian.
Not even close. I don't have a private chef that sorts it out and
can't really afford those Beyoncé-like food delivery services.
(Interested tho'? Fitchef has options) I don't have time to
go to the store/ market to buy fresh daily. So basically my
vegetarian options are salad and Mac'nCheese.
A while ago I was wondering around the
frozen food section and saw a fridge top to bottom filled with green.
Nuggets, pies, Burger patties, sausages and schnitzel. I bought the
Golden Crumbed Schnitzel and I was amazed.
Now, I don't have a problem switching
up food. I like cooking and eating unusual things. But I'm not going
to be the only one eating it. I have a meat lover husband. I don't
know if you know Portuguese cuisine but it's nothing for them to have
pork, beef and poultry in the same casserole. Add rice, potatoes and
bread and you have a meal.
 |
| My meat stash for the month |
So I scouted Fry's Website for
a month planning delicious things and thinking of how to get bae to
participate. Should I sit him down, send an e-mail, Whatsapp an
e-card, idk? Eventually end of the month grocery shopping comes up
and we are standing in front of the fridge. I asked him “What do
you think of meatless Monday?” We picked up a whole lot of Fry's.
Please Note: I have not been paid to
say these things. I also bought the products with my own money. Here
is how it went:
Monday 1:
First meal was Chicken Stylestrips. In a wrap. I was sick with the flu cough thing everyone seemed to be
sick with. I thought it was going to be an issue. New food, I feel
like a walker. I was already making backup plans for KFC. I followed
the cooking instruction (I just used a damn hot frying pan instead of
a wok). Chopped tomatoes and lettuce and served with sweet chilli
sauce in a wrap.
[NO PHOTO BECAUSE I WAS A WALKER]
My Feelings: I would try this again but
make it with pasta. I don't like that it's suggested to be served
with sweet chilli sauce but it help us omnivores eat it the first
time.
What did he say: “It was good.” But
I could see it wasn't excellent. I like wraps like this, he likes
KFC's crispy type chicken wraps.
I give it 6 leaves out of a 10 salad.
I'll try it again before I judge it harsher. Cough flu had too much
in-flu-ence. (Ba-dum-dum-tish)
Ad-doc Meal – Saturday Fauxlony
Breakfast wrap:
I was intrigued by the Polony. I think
anyone who grew up in South Africa, your life got touched by polony.
(Baloney for other places) Either a friend's school lunch or after
school sandwiches, picnics or fried up with breakfast.
I like Breakfast wraps. Mine is usually
Mexicorn's Whole-wheat wrap, turkey or chicken loaf slices, scrambled
egg and spinach or finely chopped Swiss chard. Delicious, full of
protein and fibre. Instead of my normal sliced chicken/ turkey loaf,
I sliced some faux-lony.
My feelings: I dunno, for me it was not
that great. On the packed it said 'or lightly fried' so I put some
coconut oil in the pan and it was still weird for me. It's not so
much the taste than the texture. It's kind of like a paste texture.
Monday 2:
A lot of my food choices is that of a child. As an adult it's frowned
upon but I wish I had the option of eating of the kiddies menu at
some restaurants. I think it's because it's uncomplicated. Cue
Chicken style Nuggets.
My baby gas oven doesn't have a grill so I lowered my oven rack and
set my oven to its highest temperature. (295°C)
then let it heat up for 15 minutes. Poured a film of oil on the
bottom of a baking tray, arranged the nuggets and pushed them into
the hot oven for 4-5 minutes. Flipped them and cooked for another 5-6
minutes.
Served with Oven baked wedges and a Salad. (Here it the
dipping sauce recipe. I added a few drops of Tabasco).
My feelings: This is all I can think about. Delicious, fast
and easy cooking, crispy. You know how some idiots say it, but this
is everything. With or without sauce, it is just that good.
What did he
say: He just enjoyed chicken
nuggets. Until it was Wednesday we were talking and I said something
about Meatless Monday, he was all “Meatless Monday?? But we had
chicken nuggets?” BOOM! SUCCESS Fry's! You just became a BOSS in my
books!
I give chicken style nuggets a 'I bought two boxes of these and I
don't know if I should keep it for a dinner or eat it all myself' out
of 10.
Monday 3:
I choose you battered prawn style pieces. It's going to be hard to
follow the success of the nuggets but my hopes were high. The
suggestion on the box was to deep fry. I didn't really feel like
filling a pot with oil and waiting forever for it to come up to temp.
I cooked it the same way as the nuggets.
I saw up scale ramen on my Pinterest suggestions. So that is the
application I would use these for. I sautéed garlic, ginger and the
white part of a few spring onions in coconut oil, just until they
were soft. Then I added water (just enough to cook noodles) and
flavouring packets of two minute noodles (I used Fatti's and Moni's
Prawn flavoured ones) then cooked the noodles. I also boiled some
eggs for 7 minutes.
To finish I just added the green of the spring onions, peeled the egg
and dropped some soy sauce in and added the cooked prawn pieces on
top.
My Feelings:
I know it's maybe not full vegetarian as I do not know about how the
noodles are made. So super delicious. I think any person these days
(even if you didn't go to college/ university) between the age of 18
and 25 had gone through a time where 2 minute/ instant noodles was a
staple meal. Dinner and/or lunch. So by the time you touch 30, the
enchantment is gone. It's my emergency meal. This was next level of
next level. It was a filling flavourful meal.
What he said:
He thought it was good. He said he would have liked another egg. I'm
sure I could make it again.
This gets a 'I want to eat this everyday' out of 10
Ad-dock Meal: Tuesday Lunch:
Country Mushroom Pie is something I wanted to try since I put it in
the trolley. In South Africa we have a strong pie culture. It doesn't
matter what language you speak or area you live in, there is a 100%
chance that you've had a pie from a garage (petrol station). This
product falls right into that line.
My feelings: Like any pie, even though it was baked in a
civilian, everyday oven, the inside it like molten lava. So a check
to that. The pastry is crisp and flaky. The sauce has the taste of
traditional Chicken mushroom but the mushrooms themselves taste like
freshly cooked mushrooms and they actually look like mushrooms.
(sometimes, bits in a garage pies are suspect)
What he said (after making it that Saturday): Also a big
garage pie lover this pie ruined other pies for him. After having
this he had a garage pie and was very disapointed. All he could think
of was that it wasn't a Country Mushroom pie.
I give it 'I'm disappoint that I didn't bake the other pie in the
packet as well' out of 10.
Monday 4:
Golden crumbed Schnitzel was the first product I ever tried. Usually
after I run errands it feels like a big deal to get home and make
lunch. I didn't really feel like eating a sandwich or instant soup or
deal with prep to cook something and there are days a smoothie won't
cut it. I served this with an easy side salad and mash.
My feelings: It's a bit tricky to cook with a baby oven with no
grill. The first time I was more successfully in cooking them. Second
time was a bit not so great. It was still good though.
What he said: It was a just okay reaction. I thing next time I'll
serve it with a onion or mushroom gravy.
In Conclusion:
The next Monday I made some meat dish and got scolded because it was
Meatless-Monday. Since then, Fry's has always been on my shopping
list. I've also bought the burgers but don't burger them. I buy
bigger wraps or rotis and they are delicious with fresh lettuce
tomatoes and a dollop of spiced up Mayo. Also bough the mince
and made some Old El Paso Tacos. (Skipped out on the cheese but used
cottage cheese instead of sour cream)
Do you Meatless-Monday?
é
