Mmmm...potato pizza. Must try that one Spatz, though I'm lazy and just by Lebanese flat bread to use as a pizza base when I make them. Tried lentils in red wine? 250g Puy or brown lentils, soaked overnight 2 medium carrots finely diced 1 onion finely chopped 1 tbs tomato paste 2 tbs good olive oil 1L good stock 750mL red wine 1 stick cinnamon salt and pepper to taste In a saucepan, reduce red wine and cinnamon over a low heat to about 150mL, around 20 mins. Heat olive oil in heavy frypan and cook onions and carrots for 10 mins, stirring occasionally. Add lentils, tomato paste, wine reduction, stock, salt and pepper then simmer, covered, for 30 to 40 mins until thick and lentils are soft. Add water if necessary. This makes a fantastic pie filling, or as a bed under pan seared salmon, or as an accompaniment to whatever takes your fancy.

Very little processed food comes into our home. DH has to have his breakfast cereal, and I purchase ketchup & spicy mustard. Mayo etc we make when we want it and meals are made from the basic ingredients. My pet peeve is a recipe that takes "cream of something" soup. Just no pre-made soups...ever.

How true! I try to provide something nice to eat for guests with particular needs, and when I'm a guest, I try to eat what's in front of me, if it won't kill me. The last thing I want to do is cause a stir or make a hostess who has worked hard to make a nice table uncomfortable. I talk about food allergies a lot more here than I do IRL, partly to bring it into the conversation. OTOH, I've learned that going along with the Thai idea, and just finding the one thing on the menu that doesn't have fish or coconut can also upset one's companions, who would rather have gone elsewhere if they knew I was allergic. Those are the same people who really didn't want to go anywhere but Thai, so I guess you can't win for losing, but either way, I try not to make a big deal of it. Re the OP, I forgot to say: I don't do fake food. I'm happy to eat a seitan burger which tastes like seitan. I was at a very fancy, very pricey Vegan restaurant once where everything was named for its non-vegan counterparts. Some of it was very good--especially a cashew "cheese" which wasn't cheeselike at all (unlike, for instance, the almond milk "cheese" slices, or soy cheddar, that's cheap at the grocery store, which is fairly cheeselike if you squint and don't try to melt it. I don't like those, but at least they're actually cheeselike, whereas the good stuff at the restaurant was shaped like a round of goat cheese, but a gray cashew color, and the consistency and texture of margarine, though it tasted fantastic). OTOH, they had an abysmal sticky wad of congealed mess that they called "risotto" which was nothing at all like a proper risotto. You can make risotto with just water and a little seasoning--vegan to the max--let alone what could be done with a good veggie stock, so it's not the veganness of it that made it bad but the utter incomprehension of the cook as to what it was supposed to be, trying too hard to make a "vegan" version. (Hint: If you have to add cream or cheese to your risotto to make it "creamy", you're doing it wrong. It's the shed starch that gives it it's signature texture.) I love Buffalo cauliflower "wings" aren't trying to be chicken. At one local vegan place, they're fantastic. Much better than Buffalo chicken wings, IMHO. But while the pieces are cut to a similar size as wing pieces, that's the only resemblance to their chicken counterparts. They look and taste like cauliflower. The exception to all this is one little hole in the wall place which serves the vegan analogs of popular dishes in the traditional style of their homeland. I think it's Thailand. That vicinity for sure. They use soy products and TVP, and do call things "chicken" and other meats, and the flavor is reminiscent of those things, though the whole menu is vegan. They have the benefit of cultural knowledge and practice making their dishes good, rather than just someone who cares more about what he's not eating than what it tastes like throwing together a few bits and calling it "meaty". Of course, one also gets a lot of lovely vegetables which are the stars, rather than the TVP, and one is less demanding of a cheap lunch joint than a fancy dancy schmancy restaurant. So, no, I'm not making pretend foods at home, since I can barely tolerate them out. :) And I'm not buying fancy ingredients for them. Better to liven them up with real food flavors like onions, garlic, peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, mustard, soy sauce, hot sauce, pickles, etc. OTOH, if you want to try, why not? You'll never know until you try!

I used a Bluetooth temperature monitor for my stand-alone freezer (before I got a standby generator) - you place it in the fridge or freezer, and can check the temperature with an app on your phone if you're in Bluetooth range. It stores the temperature in between times you download......For instance, if you've been away and want to check the temperature while you've been gone, you download it to your phone once you're back and in range, and it will give you the last however many weeks or months of data since you last downloaded it. We use them at work now too. These are the ones I use - inexpensive and very useful: https://inkbird.com/products/bluetooth-hygrometer-thermometer-ibs-th2-series