Vegan Stuff

Oct 07, 2007 19:39

Vegan stuff
From the rockin' Ms. Andee Coco.

here's a very long-winded but delightfully extensive andee's guide to veganism. I really encourage you to read the links on the bottom, as they are very informative and great references:

REPLACEMENTS!!!

+ butter replacement: Smart Balance Light is vegan i think, and i really like Earth Balance a LOT and i know it's non-hydrogenated, and you can cook with it if you so choose.

+ egg replacement: long story! http://www.theppk.com/veganbaking.html

+ parmesan replacement: being italian, this is totally what i miss most. obviously nothing tastes like parmesan cheese, but i'm very partial to nutritional yeast, which can be found in the bulk aisle. it gives kind of the same effect on your tongue as parmesan. it also has all or most of the b-complexes in it.

+ general cheese replacement: trust me, it gets so easy omitting cheese. i think the stuff smells like death now. the thing that turned me off from cheese the most is the use of a calf-intestine enzyme in almost all commercially produced cheeses (EW!). as i said above, Scheese from three little figs is tasty, but it's kinda expensive. soy cheeses almost always have casein or caseinates in them, which is a milk enzyme. vegan cheese other than Vegan Gourmet or scheese tastes like dog food smells, literally. so don't bother with anything but vegan gourmet. Mozzarella and cheddar are both REALLY good, but be sure you melt them or they don't taste like anything. Broiling works best.
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PRE-MADE FOODS!!!
All of this stuff can be found at Whole Foods, Wild Oats, and many at regular groceries:

+really good cookies: Uncle Eddies oatmeal raisin (haven't tried the others because i like those so much), Alternative Baking Company (any variety is good, but they're all really caloric so i don't eat them that often:( ), bobo's oat bars, fiona's chocolate peanut butter granola bars

+really good (/good for you) drinks: anything from Bolthouse Farms (except for the whey protein ones, check the labels!), but i especially like the green one because it has so many different green veggies in it but still tastes pretty good, and the soy chai one which is REALLY high protein. If you miss egg nog, Silk Egg Nog is really good.

+canned soup: cheap-wise, Progresso Garden Vegetable Vegetable Soup is vegan as well as their Garden Vegetable Lentil. When I'm sick, I like Amy's No Chicken Noodle.

+vegan pizza: easy to make with Vegan Gourmet mozzarella cheese and nutritional yeast, which i like on pizza, but if you're buying a pre-made crust, be sure to check the label. frozen pizzas like Amy's Rice-Crust Dairy-Free Spinach pizza (REALLY good, esp if you broil it at the end to melt the cheese).

+breads and pastries: most bread at whole foods is vegan unless it has parmesan in the name ;) most breads actually have milk or whey in them, so be sure to check labels. I like Health Nut. also, the pastry case up front by the express lanes at whole foods has a bunch of vegan cookies and muffins.

+ fast snacks/foods: Smart Dogs are vegan, Fantastic Foods chili mix is really cheap and awesome (it has textured vegetable protein in it, too) but be sure to drain the beans but not the tomatoes, add an extra can of beans more than it calls for, stir it CONSTANTLY, and the longer you cook it the better it gets; Thai Kitchen Spring Onion rice ramen is actually not that bad for you and is pretty good and very cheap, Amy's Dairy-Free Burritos or Black Bean Enchiladas are kind of expensive but super good. and don't forget about smoothies for breakfast! Near East brand Garlic Herb and Olive Oil couscous is f-ing delicious. Edamame with sea salt is really good if you're not overloading on soy already.

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SWEET WEBSITES!!!
Be sure to read the asterisked ones.

+ http://www.veganoutreach.org/whyvegan/
i like this site a lot because it gives just about every reason for veganism, and every answer to every "why" question one inevitably encounters both internally and from others.

+ http://www.peta2.com/STUFF/s-recipe.asp
peta pretty much sucks, but they have some awesome resources. the "you mean that's vegan" link tells you all sorts of crappy (good) food that is vegan, and the "some assembly required" link has super simple recipes.

+ http://www.happycow.net/
guide to veg*n restaurants around the world, even pretty obscure places.

****+ http://www.threelittlefigs.com/boulder_guide.html****
the ultimate vegan guide to boulder, co. pretty extensive list. also, three little figs is an awesome, not-very-expensive vegan grocery on iris and 28th in boulder. the people there are nice and they have super awesome fake cheeses there called scheese (ask for a sample, they'll usually give you one).

+ http://www.peacefulprairie.org/links.html
poke around this website. It's pretty much amazing.

+ http://www.vegan-food.net/
tons of recipes.

+ http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/Vegetarian/Vegan/ViewAll.aspx
allrecipes ratings are usually pretty accurate since so many people visit the site. don't forget that it is possible to veganize almost any recipe, though!

+ http://www.theppk.com/recipes/
this site is VERY popular, but i've not yet tried anything from it. on this page, there's a sidebar that has "dietary considerations" where you can pick especially low fat, no refined sugar, or

+ http://store.foodfightgrocery.com/
this is a vegan grocery store in portland, but browsing the site you can get some ideas of what to look for at other grocery stores (or, heck, you can also just order stuff from their site).

+ http://www.govegan.net/
look around this site for sure, check out the links and everything. sarah kramer has made me a good vegan. i have two of her three recipe books, and her recipes are ALWAYS good and usually easy. plus she's just a really cool person.
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