John's Macho Nachos

If you went to Omaha Public Schools in the 1980's or 1990's you most likely remember Macho Nachos. Every week the lunch schedule was printed in the newspaper and I would count down the days till Macho Nacho day. It was my favorite lunch meal next to the cheese pizza with French fries. While I can't remember exactly what was on the nachos, I feel like I've been able to reproduce the spirit. So here is my version of the Macho Nacho!

As you can see it's pretty loaded. Sometimes I add more ingredients and sometimes I add less. Things I left out this time are black olives, green onions and salsa. And you may be thinking, "John, where is the the Frank's Red Hot?" Well, I did put it on but it was after I took the photo. Now let's check out the other ingredients.

I decided to go with Nacho Teese and I'm glad I did. Out of all of the Vegan cheeses I believe this is the most like old school nacho cheese because it's oozy and melty.

Uptons Chorizo-Style Seitan is the jam! If you've had the Uptons Seitan Tamales then you know exactly what I'm talking about. It's spicy and easy to make, total Laziest Vegans material. If you have this stuff in your area, try it, you'll love it.

And in the same breath, Amy's Traditional Refried Beans are the best refried beans I've ever had (in a can anyway). These aren't your old bland refried beans. I love 'em!

Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet Sour Cream is the only Vegan sour cream I've enjoyed. The only downside is that is goes bad fairly quickly. In the future I hope Follow Your Heart can sell it in smaller portions.

Garden of Eatin' Blue Corn Tortilla Chips are my gold standard. So that's my version of the Macho Nacho! How do you fix your nachos?

C.H.I.P.S.

Some random trivia about me: I take my lunch to work everyday and I always have chips. Ever since I can remember I've been around chips. Growing up I loved Fritos, Bugles and Cheetos and as a teenager I worshiped Funyuns and Chili Cheese Fritos. Nowadays I try to buy natural and (obviously) Vegan snacks. I complied a little list of my favorites, I hope you enjoy. Let me know what you like!

Pirate Brands: Tings

I remember Whoa Wren told be about Tings. I've been waiting for a Vegan Cheeto for the longest time and this is the closet I've seen.

Food Should Taste Good: The Works

In the last year I've been tearing these things up! The Olive flavor was my first love but The Works is the new lick. I think of them as half cracker/half chip and all good!

Lundburg Bean & Rice Chips: Pico de Gallo

Normally I would stay away from chips like this because I just assume they aren't Vegan. BUT they say Vegan right on the back! Pretty awesome. These are some spicy tangy chips...I'm making my mouth water!

Popchips: Sea Salt & Vinegar Potato

These are pretty new on my radar. I love the vinegar ones and the salt and pepper ones.

Newman's Own Organic: Pretzels

A lot of Newman's stuff is Vegan which is great because you can find the stuff at normal grocery stores. I think the pretzels are great and I'll give my Aunt Julie credit for buying them like 15 years ago. Ahead of her time!

Kettle Baked Potato Chips: Salt & Pepper

A long time fan of the Salt & Pepper Chips, I'm giving the Baked Salt & Pepper the spotlight since they are 65% less fat and my girlfriend likes them.

Garden of Eden: Blue Chips

I always talk about O.G. stuff and these blue chip are definitely one of the first things I ever bought at Wild Oats. I was intrigued by a "blue" chip and overnight they became my replacement for the normal yellow supermarket nacho chip.