It’s official, I’m becoming old and completely lame.

My typical weekend goes a little something like this: after I get off of work on Saturday, while many others are either out and about or preparing for a night out, I like to make popcorn and cuddle up under the covers on my couch to watch a movie. I usually start to fall asleep about halfway through the movie and it’s pretty rare that I actually make it all the way to the end. Then, I wake up early on Sunday morning and skip over to the grocery store so that I can be one of the first people there to peruse the freshly stocked fruit and vegetable aisles. Ok, so I don’t really skip, but I’ve definitely thought about it before.

Wow, that sounds even more pathetic now that I’ve admitted it. But the truth is, I wouldn’t have it any other way

Last night was definitely no exception. I popped in Water for Elephants and whipped out my handy-dandy popcorn-maker:

I think I got this thing off of Amazon.com and it’s amazing. For some reason, popcorn is a must whenever I’m watching movies. It’s definitely not the healthiest food, but since I make my own from scratch, I’m able to use healthier ingredients like organic corn, coconut oil and nutritional yeast instead of butter and processed cheesy junk. **At least this is what I tell myself to justify my popcorn obsession.

I’ve mentioned nutritional yeast a few times already in my recipes and it’s high time that I explain why I think it’s so wonderful. Aside from the occasional fish dinner (and by occasional I mean maybe once a week), I don’t consume any animal products, including dairy and eggs. Because animal products are considered some of the best sources available for B-vitamins, protein and iron, I have to find other ways of supplementing my diet with these essential vitamins and nutrients. Enter nutritional yeast. This deactivated yeast is sugar, milk, and gluten-free with a strong nutty, cheesy flavor. You can purchase it in the form of either powder or flakes (I prefer flakes) and one heaping tablespoon contains as much as 200% of the daily value of Vitamin B-12 and 4.5 grams of protein.

In my opinion, nutritional yeast is an amazing substitute in recipes that typically have a cheesy flavor. It’s especially great if you are transitioning your diet; it certainly helped me quite a bit. In fact, I enjoy it so much that I put it on everything from salad and soup to popcorn and my Vegan Nachos.

It was tough whenever I first began cutting out dairy and meat and I thought that I would never be able to eat some of my favorite foods again. However, I’ve learned now that if I make smart substitutions, I am still able to enjoy healthier versions of many not-so-healthy foods. Since I stocked up on nutritional yeast this morning at the grocery story, I thought I would make a lunch that really highlights its’ delicious flavor.

As you probably know, it’s March Madness and I am a HUGE Kentucky Wildcats fan (Go Cats!). Although the games make me extremely nervous, I have really enjoyed watching my team make it to the Final Four. Well, similar to how popcorn and movies go hand-in-hand, it’s also customary to enjoy classic comfort food while watching sports. For some reason nachos sounded really good today. I’m not about to eat nachos drenched in cheese, so I decided to make a lighter, healthier, but equally delicious version using nutritional yeast.

These nachos were so good. Almost as good as watching my Cats win

I just had to add this picture of me holding my dad’s tickets to the upcoming games. I was tempted to run out the front door with them, but then I remembered he would definitely know where to find me.