I love VeganMoFo. It’s one of my favourite times of year, and I love seeing the vegan blogging community come together with some of the most creative and fun ideas anywhere in the food blogosphere. But this year, I swore I was out. September is looking busy at best, and chaotic at worst, so while I vowed to take part over at veganmofo.com, I was sure things would be quiet in these parts. But just a few days ago, my defences fell and I succumbed to the contagious excitement- I was signing up before I knew what had happened!
So, here I am. Things will look a bit different to previous years- I had a theme in mind, but no time to execute it, so that will have to wait until next year. This month, things will be a bit less structured than usual- by which I mean, I still don’t know what I’m doing! I’m quite partial to the idea of daily themes, and I’ve always been fond of Jojo’s football food- and with Australian football heading into finals season and American football starting up again in September, that theme was definitely one to tackle.
Chadwiko is a huge Washington Redskins fan. But the life of an Australian NFL fan is an inconvenient one, with his love of the game forcing him out of bed at 3am on a Monday to stream it live. So in our house, football food is breakfast food. The season may not have started yet, but we decided to get training and whip up a junky, football-worthy dinner in anticipation.
Enter totchos.
Tots (or potato gems, as they’re called in these parts) are one of Chadwiko’s not-so-guiltiest pleasures. Covered in nacho toppings, they’re his sports-viewing dream come true.
The recipe comes from the brand-new Bake and Destroy: Good Food for Bad Vegans, which I picked up in Adelaide over the weekend after Chadwiko flipped through the book in a bookstore and landed on this recipe. It was dude-food love at first sight. It’s a ridiculously simple recipe and not my usual style of cooking at all, but after a long day of travel and an evening flight home, it sounded pretty close to perfect. Topped with refried beans, tomatoes, jalapeños, guacamole and an old-school vegan nacho cheese sauce, these tots were definitely dressed up for the game. And while the look was a little less than polished, the mess was a fun and tasty one.
From my first glance, ‘fun and tasty’ seems to perfectly sum up Bake and Destroy. It’s a beautiful book, and it’s bursting with silly party foods (like totchos) alongside some more serious, from-scratch stuff. I’m looking forward to giving a few more recipes a try in the coming weeks- and the return of both football and Vegan MoFo seems like the perfect occasion for it. Do any of you have this book yet? I would love to hear any recommendations to narrow down the ‘must-try’ list!
Tagged: bake and destroy, football food, veganmofo
These look sooo flippin’ delicious. I want these in my mouth right now. Guess I have to go to the store and pick up some tater tots for this
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Happy MoFo! I have a weakness for tots and would totally go for these.
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[...] I picked up a couple of new cookbooks in Adelaide over the weekend. In addition to the super-fun Bake and Destroy, I also finally got my hands on Tami Noyes’ Grills Gone Vegan. I’d had my eye on this [...]
I’ve only just started hearing about the Bake and Destroy cookbook. After hearing your thoughts I have just added it to my Book Depository basket.
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Oh mylanta why have I never had totchos before?? Yours looks so good! I must make these!
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These look amazing!! I don’t remember the last time that I had tater tots! It may be more than a decade! I can almost feel the crisp texture in my mouth, and I love that you added refried beans to the mix for additional deliciousness.
Add me to the list of people who are glad that you got caught up in the MoFo excitement and signed up for another year!
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Your totchos look awesome and this cookbook sounds fantastic. I love indulging in these types of meals on weekends every now and then.
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Yes! This is what Football Food Sunday is all about!! I might actually make these for next week’s FFS.
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Yay for Wiko posts! I think my hubb y would like some of this “dude food” as well (even if he doesn’t watch football
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Yay!! I’m so glad you broke down and decided to mofo! Last year I just flew by the seat of my pants, and I really enjoyed it. This year, I’m doing a theme, but I have done no advanced prep, so there might be some random posts too.
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I have never had totchos and those look so good! YUMMY.
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