Vegan versions of "regular foods"

Saturday was spent with a stomach ache for the majority of the day. This is what happens when you get excited about eating solid foods again and go overboard. Mexican certainly wasn't the best choice. 
Rested for most of the morning & afternoon and mended things with lentil soup. Lentils, yum, are something which had never been a part of my diet until I went vegetarian this fall. Many of the soups I've made over the past few months call for them and I have really enjoyed them. Beans are really making a larger appearance in my diet in general, through soups mostly.

I sat down to look through recipes for the week & I am having trouble picking out vegan recipes other than soups. I don't own any vegan cookbooks (except for the recipes included in some of the books I have bought) and I am finding that this will need to be something that I add to my wish list soon.

I was really looking forward to making some yummy vegan deserts and found  what seemed to be a very yummy recipe on Chocolate Covered Katie's website: http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2009/11/05/raw-vegan-mounds-bars/
When I got to the store to purchase the Cacao Bliss I found that it was $15 for a small jar - I didn't look at the ounces, but it was most likely 15 oz or less! This was ridiculous!! Instead, I satisfied my chocolate craving with an Endangered Species chocolate bar: http://www.chocolatebar.com/, delicious and vegan!

Did not eat well this weekend. I hope to get back on track this week & hit the gym again. With the gym closed this weekend and the weather a dreary, wet muck I didn't get to spend any time outside either. The plan is to do oatmeal in the mornings (until I finish up the bag & then switch to fresh fruits), smoothies for lunch, and a hearty meal for supper. On the list this week is a lentil/spinach stew of sorts & a tomato/pine nut/golden raisin pasta.

Sunday I do my shopping for the week and I picked up some vegan baking staples: agave nectar, turbinado sugar, etc. I was in a baking mood so I mixed up a batch of these: http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=6391.0 chocolate chip cookies. They sucked. Followed the recipe & I ended up with crunchy, crumbly, vegetable oil tasting sugary messes. I am having my sister take them to her classroom to see if her children will eat them. I was planning on throwing them in the trash.

There are so many vegan products I have never tried so I picked up my first vegan "cheese" today. I have been reading some terrible things about soy lately (will have to post about this later) so I selected rice cheese:
http://www.galaxyfoods.com/Products/VeganCheese/RiceVegan/riceveganSlices.stml
This was the particular brand I picked up in hopes to create a grilled cheese on tortilla. It tasted like rice. Big disappointment. So I am not hitting it off with vegan versions of traditional foods. We'll see what I come across next week.