Awesome Vegan Food Products I Like

Do you remember the first pair of sneakers you bought that molded to your feet and hardly felt like shoes at all?  You wore them long past the time you should have thrown them away.  Or maybe instead you have a favorite book, one that you return to over and over, simply because it speaks to you like no other book does.

When you find something you love, it's hard not to keep coming back to it.  I hope you finally found the will to toss the sneakers, but chances are you'll never pitch the book.  That's the way I feel about foods I've grown to love.  Now, don't get me wrong.  I'd much rather eat whole foods that I've prepared myself, but I'm also realistic.  Some days I just don't have time to prepare an entire meal from scratch.  Or maybe I can, but I don't want to also bake a loaf of bread from scratch every time I put together dinner.  There's something to be said for the age of convenience.

That doesn't mean, though, that all convenience foods are equal (you know exactly what I mean).  When I buy those types of foods today, I'm looking for products that are healthy, preferably organic, and vegan (of course!).  Here is a list of some of my favorite brands:

Alvarado Street Bakery breads:  Not all of their breads are vegan (some contain honey), but many are.  My local grocery store right now only carries their breads, but I hope they begin carrying some of their other products soon (like bagels and tortillas).  What I really like about their products is that many of their breads are made from sprouted seeds (like sprouted rye or sprouted wheat).  When you eat sprouted seeds rather than flour, your body digests it more easily.  They also don't use GMO (genetically modified) foods, and that is a huge plus for me.  Most of their products contain no dairy or eggs, so most of their goods are vegan.  YAY!  If you're curious, you can check out Alvarado St. yourself!

Amy's Kitchen products:  Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while will find this entry as no surprise.  Not all of Amy's products are vegan, but a good many are.  More than that, though, Amy's prides itself for using natural and organic ingredients, and none of their ingredients are genetically modified.  Amy's makes frozen foods, canned foods (like soups), and other products.  Those products of Amy's that are not vegan are vegetarian.  Some of my favorite Amy's products include the Bean and Rice Non-dairy Burrito (I will never grow tired of these!), the Black Bean Vegetable Enchilada entree, and the No Chicken Noodle Soup.  And what would I do without their Roasted Vegetable Pizza?  They label their vegan products so you can find what you need without wondering.  Want to see their website yourself?  Amy's Kitchen.

Kashi:  Not all of their products are vegan, but like Amy's, they label the ones that are.  I have to admit it:  I love several of their frozen vegan entrees.  On nights where I feel like I just can't do another thing, it's nice to be able to pop one of their entrees in the microwave.  My faves include Black Bean Mango (so unusual but really good!), Mayan Harvest Bake (again, strange, but in a good way), and the Tuscan Veggie Bake (more traditional if your taste buds just want good old-fashioned comfort food).  You can check them out here:  Kashi.

Galaxy Nutritional Foods Rice Vegan American Flavor "Cheese" Slices:  Most vegans I know worship at the alter of Daiya.  Daiya's not bad, but it doesn't taste like cheese to me.  I don't know how to describe it, but my taste buds are not fooled for one second.  I still use their cheddar and mozzarella shreds, but I just can't embrace them as the vegan cheese.  I've tried lots of vegan cheeses, and few have satisfied that occasional craving I get.  That is, except one.  When I use Galaxy's rice vegan American slices in a sandwich, I can believe I'm eating a good ol' slice of American cheese.  I can't just have a grilled cheese sandwich, but if I have a veggie sandwich with a slice of rice vegan (or make a plate of nachos with refried beans, salsa, and rice vegan), I am happy!  I have to go out of town to buy this cheese, so I'm glad I don't eat it a lot, but I'm looking forward to the day when my local health food store carries Galaxy products.

Boca: I'd almost bet there isn't a vegetarian out there who hasn't heard of Boca (well, American veggies, at any rate).  I don't like all Boca products, but they do have a few I like.  If you buy Boca, you'll notice that they package their non-GMO soy products differently, and those are the ones I buy.  They are in brown packages, whereas their regular products are in red.  Sometimes, dang it, I want a burger and fries, and I don't care how unhealthy they are, but my burger still has to be vegan.  Some Boca products I love (all the non-GMO soy versions):  Vegan Meatless Burger, Original Chik'n Patties, Original Chik'n Nuggets, Spicy Chik'n Patties, and Ground Crumbles.  I don't know what I'd do if they didn't have non-GMO versions!  I used to love Morningstar Veggie Patties, but they use egg products (and probably GMO products as well), so I hope someday Morningstar jumps on the vegan, non-GMO soy bandwagon...but I'm not holding my breath.  Thank goodness Boca did!

505 Southwestern:  I'm a sucker for a good salsa.  Heck, I'm a salsa junkie.  There.  I admitted it, and I feel better now.  505 products aren't targeted toward vegan audiences, so I guess they're what PETA would call "accidentally vegan."  My favorite products are both of their medium salsas, regular and chunky.  I use them in and on so many foods.  Their products are all natural, and any products that has just a few ingredients is better than a food that has dozens!  For instance, that medium salsa I told you about?  Seven ingredients, and one of them is water!  So it's not an entire meal...but it can make any blah meal awesome!  Check out 505 yourself and see what you think.

As I complete this list, I realize I've left off some products that aren't registering with me right off the bat.  I think this list will give you a good idea, though, so next time you're too tired to whip up an entire meal from scratch, consider one of these products!

One of Those Things That Really Ticks Me Off!

Okay, I need to rant.  I went shopping on Saturday (that's not enough to irritate me, although some days, it comes close).  I still buy meat-based foods for the family when I shop.  I don't like it, but I can't force them to eat the way I want.  I'm leading by example and I can at least be happy that, when I cook and they eat it, it's vegan!

Anyway, one of the things on my list was pot pies.  I grabbed the pot pies they asked for and brought them home.  Yesterday, the pies got cooked, and when I looked more closely at the box, I thought, "Oh, that's nice."  I'm not going to name the company here, but suffice it to say, it's a big one.  Anyway, the box said that, by buying the box of food, money would be donated to a particular (also nameless) homeless charity.  That's why I thought that was nice.  By buying the pot pie, the company was going to contribute money to people in need.

Ah, if it were only that simple.  But, no.  When I read the fine print, I realized that we needed to type in a code online.  Only then would the company contribute money to feed the homeless people.

So what's wrong with this picture?  Plenty of things.  First of all, the company (and they make plenty of money) really isn't doing anything out of the kindness of their heart.  They want us, the consumer, to take the time to read the fine print and then do what they've asked us to do.  Otherwise, no money will be donated to this cause.  So some people, I'm sure, will buy these pot pies, feeling all warm and fuzzy that their purchase is feeding not only their family but also other hungry people across the country.  Some of these people think that and don't bother reading the fine print.  Other people will read the fine print and take their precious time to type in the codes.  Still others (like myself) will get really angry and then type in the codes anyway, knowing that--if they don't--they will suffer horrible guilt.

But that's not right.

If the company were truly charitable, they would contribute money directly to the organization.  But, instead, they have to make a big show of it and also force their customers to buy their food in order to feed other people.  I don't buy their show.  Until they decide to simply give money to this organization without the games they feel the need to play, I don't buy it.  And I won't buy their crappy products ever again.

Vegan Schmegan!

You know, I never would have thought I'd been vegetarian (let alone vegan) long enough to say I'd heard a lot of funny reactions to my dietary and lifestyle choices, but I've heard more than I would think I should in such a short amount of time.  I'm already sick to death of being asked how I get my protein!  But I realize most people are trying to be respectful and are geniunely curious, so I answer them respectfully as well.  A lot of people don't know exactly what vegan is, though, so I'll cover here the range of vegetarian eating, for those who wonder exactly what vegan means. All of the eaters I describe below are considered "vegetarian":

1. A lacto-vegetarian is one who excludes meat from her diet but includes dairy (such as milk and cheese).
2. An ovo-vegetarian is one who excludes meat from her diet but includes eggs.
3. An ovo-lacto-vegetarian is one who excludes meat from his diet but includes eggs and dairy products.
4. A pesco-vegetarian is a vegetarian who eats fish (just like a pollo-vegetarian eats chicken) .  I never quite understood this one, but there it is anyway.  There are also other weird variations on this theme, but I gotta tell ya...my opinion is that a vegetarian eats no meat, be it fish, fowl, or other!  If a person is lactose intolerant and excludes milk products from his diet, he doesn't all of a sudden become a bovine-pollo-pesco-ovo-vegetarian.  Where do we draw the line?  There's a new term for these people which I find less objectionable, and that is semi-vegetarian.  That term, to me, implies a person who is vegetarian some of the time, and I think that's okay.  I don't want to judge someone else's eating choices, but I don't think they should call themselves vegetarian when they really aren't.  There. I've said it.  Yes, I think I feel better.
5. A vegan is a person who excludes all animal products from her diet.  This includes not only all animal flesh but also foods harvested from animals (by this, I mean cheese, eggs, and the like).  This even includes products like honey.  Even though the formal definition of vegan refers simply to the act and not the spirit, many vegans take the vegan act past the diet.  In other words, lots of vegans (yes, that includes myself) choose to use products that are vegan (make-up and cleaning supplies, for example) and avoid wearing anything made from animals (for example, things made with leather, wool, or angora).

I started out by simply excluding meat from my diet.  I was convinced that I would never want to give up cheese.  But my journey has brought me there.  After a while, it was also easy to exclude eggs.  And now I have shunned all dairy.  I realize that not everyone wants to be this "extreme," but I've done it for multiple reasons: my health, the environment, and my conscience.  And I really do feel better all the way around for it.

Easing into Vegan Eating, Part 2

So...let's say you've decided for sure you want to become vegetarian or vegan or maybe even just want to incorporate more vegetarian dishes into your life.  Or maybe you're wanting to become vegetarian on some level but the rest of your family is resistant...and maybe you're the cook in the family or at least one of them.  What are some things you can do to ease into the vegetarian lifestyle?  Here are a few things that I did along the way:

1. Have a salad with every meal.  A lot of families already do this and if you do, I congratulate you!  It's a great way to incorporate fiber and phytonutrients in your diet.  Salads don't have to be boring.  There are so many lettuces out there as well as tons of raw veggies just waiting to be chopped up!  And dressings...that's where I really enjoy experimenting.  If you can, avoid conventional bottled dressings--they're full of horrible additives, things like high fructose corn syrup and other sugars as well as a host of preservatives.  You can even make your own croutons with bread, olive oil, and seasonings, toasted in the oven.
2. If you can't get rid of the meat on the plate, at least make it smaller.  Nutrition experts say that a serving size of meat is about the size of a deck of cards.  So make sure it's no bigger than that.  Make the rest of the plate veggies!
3. Do you (or your family) have a favorite vegetable or fruit?  Find ways to incorporate that veggie in a lot of your meals.  For example, if the family can't get enough yams, don't wait until the holidays to eat them!  Thanks to the internet, you can search and find dozens of recipes online in no time flat.  Do a search for your veggie--for example, search for "yam recipes."  Try a new one every week.  Hang on to the ones that make everyone gobble it all up.  Who needs meat when the veggies taste so delicious?
4. Plan to make one meatless meal a week.  Even most hard-core meat eaters have one or two meatless entrees they enjoy.  So take advantage of that.  If the family likes broccoli and cheese casserole, then make it more often!
5. Find ways to convert old favorites.  Here's where the fun comes in.  If you like experimenting in the kitchen, see what you can do with some of your old favorites.  Maybe you had a dish that was made with ground beef.  Why not try making it once with Boca crumbles?  See what the family thinks.  With the right spices and other ingredients, they might not even figure out what's missing!

If becoming vegan is your ultimate goal, then keep trying.  No one's perfect!  But if you want to be vegan, you can do it!  My final recommendation is to find websites and books that give more information on vegan nutrition and offer tons of mouth-watering recipes.

Easing into Vegan Eating, Part 1

Well, I must admit that when I first became vegetarian, there were four times I had meat after that:

1. I'm on the Booster Club for my kids' school, and every spring we have a barbecue for the kids.  We had a bunch of leftover hamburgers.  I had been a vegetarian for two months and was going to pass, but I thought, "Well, it'll go to waste if I don't...".
2. Several months later, my sister and I took my mother out to eat for her birthday at one of our local Chinese restaurants.  She had ordered some kind of rolls stuffed with pork.  I didn't know it at the time, and she apparently forgot that I had become vegetarian a few months earlier.  She told me her food was really good but that she couldn't eat all of it and told me to take a bite, because I'd love it.  I asked afterwards what was in it (stupidly) instead of before!
3. My parents went to Alaska for the second time on a long, leisurely trip.  My dad and uncle went hunting for caribou and did a lot of fishing.  They shipped back some halibut that my sister stored in their freezer.  Upon their return, they invited us over for dinner.  My dad asked why I wasn't eating the fish.  "I'm vegetarian, dad."  I know there are a lot of pesco-vegetarians out there, but I wasn't one of them.  Still...I felt bad and he was so proud.  So I ate a couple of bites. 
4. Last Thankgiving, we went to my aunt's house, and I brought a vegetarian rice dish.  I didn't have turkey or ham, mind you.  I carefully looked through all the food and in the corner was a crockpot bubbling with green bean casserole.  Mmmm...mushrooms, green beans, crunchy stuff on top.  I put a lot on my plate, in the space where the ham and turkey used to go.  I was almost done with it when I spotted a piece of bacon!

Needless to say, I ask now if it's not immediately apparent, especially since I'm now vegan and milk products are sometimes easy to hide in things!  But that's not why I told you about these events.  Instead, I wanted you to know that even if/when you do make that commitment, if you do slip up, don't beat yourself up about it.  If you become vegan, you have made that choice for yourself.  If you slip up once or twice, that's okay.  We've been raised in a society that is serious about its food, and meat and dairy are huge to our culture (some of you might remember the "Four Food Groups"--meat and dairy were two of them, half of the food we were supposed to eat!).  So...being vegan is sometimes hard, especially at get-togethers, but it's not impossible, and you'll get smarter, like I have (I always ask now!).

Being a Vegan in a Meat-eating Family

No, it's not easy.  My teenage daughter pokes fun at me (it's all in fun, yes, but she's so darned picky and she hates veggies.  I suppose if that's her extent of rebellion, I should be happy!).  My husband misses the days when I cooked with meat (although he does like some of my new dishes and is quite supportive, even when he does feel a little deprived).  My boys are a little more supportive than my daughter, but the entire family (except for yours truly!) enjoys the occasional (shudder) White Castle burger.  And when we go to grandma's (my mother)?  They bemoan to her about how I've abused them with tomatoes and cauliflower, bell peppers and wild rice...

All joking aside, it's easier now than it was when I first converted.  My carnivorous family eats meat a few days/nights a week (I teach at our local community college two nights a week, so they can cook animal flesh to their hearts' delight without a look or word from me); when I cook, they know there won't be any animal protein at all.  And seriously...there's a lot less complaining now than there was at the beginning.  In fact, the family's beginning to like a few of the dishes I make.  When I made "Chipotle-clone" burritos, for example, they chowed down!  (We don't have a Chipotle in our town, or we'd probably eat there A LOT!  We hunt them down whenever we have to head to the big city.)  As I perfect my new versions of my old favorites, they're beginning to enjoy as I learn from my mistakes.  For example, I've made and re-made spaghetti sauce and chili, experimenting with herbs and spices and different veggies, figuring out how to make the perfect meatless version.  The last time I made chili, there wasn't a drop left.  All I had to do was add fresh jalapenos (not many), and voila!  (Is that proper chef etiquette to use three languages in the same sentence?)

So if any of you are lonely vegans like I was, take heart.  If you can get clever, you can keep them eating with you.  I'm not a huge tofu fan (but I will eat it on occasion), so it's not like the food I make for my meat-eating family is "strange" or "yucky."  They like tortillas.  They like pasta.  They like lettuce, tomatoes, and watermelon.  I just have to show them that I don't need meat or dairy to make a delicious, hearty meal.  And I get better and more versatile every day.

One last thing...I was never a huge mushroom fan (I liked the flavor but hated actually chewing on them).  Now I can't get them enough.  Isn't that crazy?  And now eating a piece of steak grosses me out.  Funny how things change!