First I found Blue Moon Feta Soy Cheese, and that is really wonderful. Now, I happened upon Del Sunshine Feta Crumbles. I love Blue Moon soy cheese, it is definitely gourmet.
But I must admit, Del Sunshine Feta is great for the mass amount they give you, for a most reasonable price. My 1lb bag was only $2.63, a steal!
And for that amount of money it is great feta soy cheese. I have so much of it, I am using it on everything. Pasta salad, scrambled “eggs” (mashed tofu, of course) I even made a really mean quesadilla with it the other night.
It’s almost vegan = contains casein (milk derivative)
It is great that you are making somewhat of an effort to not eat animals, but when you say that you were willing to take a risk on consuming dairy.. just made me sick. “Almost Vegan,” is the worst phrase I have ever heard. There is no such thing; you either are or you’re NOT, plain and simple. Sorry if this comment comes across as being mean, but I am very offended when people claim to share my vegan lifestyle and don’t really care. Being vegan is the ONLY way to have a pure body and save innocent animals; it hurts when I know some don’t care about that fact. <3 always, a true vegan
Ah, bit of a psycho-vegan then, aren’t we Cat?
Cat, I have not eaten an animal, had ice cream, or a glass of milk, or real cheese, or cake or pastry made with eggs/milk products, no butter either, for over 5 years.
Now I appreciate you think it is great that I make “somewhat” of an effort not to eat animals. Somewhat? How many animals do you think I hurt because I allow myself to eat casein so I can stay on my vegan diet?
Oh, I am not really a vegan like yourself, right?
Well then %$#! it. I gonna give up.
Yeah, I’m gonna go out right now and eat a steak, then some cake with ice cream on top and maybe have a really thick shake with dinner. I am not a “real” vegan, so why bother? I’m not gonna do it anymore, at all!
You win.
Denise,
Please don’t let those venomous comments from Cat get you down. Something is seriously wrong with that person. Does Cat truly believe that the way to have a pure body and clear conscience is to go around being mean to well-intentioned people? You can’t be anti-cruelty and then treat humans cruelly. Humans are animals, too!
I really like the term “Almost Vegan” — it really hits the nail on the head, telling how difficult it is to be a normal person who tries to follow a vegan diet. It does seem like casein, eggs, and unknown “natural flavors” show up in EVERYTHING these days. Anyway, I think you have a wonderful website here and a wonderful attitude. Keep up the good work!
Personally Denise, I view being vegan as a daily journey. Some days are better than others, and even if you do slip up one day, it’s best to say “I’ll do better tomorrow” and just keep on going. Don’t let people like Cat get you down.
meanness is the last thing on my mind, but products containing casein aren’t vegan. by your definition ‘almost vegan’ is anything made with small amounts of animal products. the question is what really matters, reducing the intake of animal food that goes into our body, or opposing the slavery and torture of sentient beings. if you’re an ethical vegan it’s the latter, and no matter how small the amount of animal ingredients in the finished product is, supporting the company who makes it means supporting their ties to the milk industry and voting a silent o.k. for the use of animals as products.
also, just because casein is a fraction of milk, doesn’t mean a fraction of milk was used to produce it. i have no info on this, but it would be interesting to know how much milk is used to produce a certain amont of casein.
all that aside, people approach veganism with different beliefs and criteria and it’s up to each of us to decide our limits. ‘vegan police’ is a terrible idea for anyone who otherwise believes in respecting the autonomy of others. still, when issues of torture and death are on the line it’s natural for people to have very strong and opposing opinions.
hello there. i am transitioning from vegetarian to vegan, as is my husband (and you can read about it at http://www.crueltyfreefood.blogspot.com), and he directed me to your blog because he thought cat’s comments were ridiculous and sad. i agree. we both became vegetarian for health reasons and remained so for health, ethical, ecological, and religious reasons. however, we are transitioning to vegan now solely for ethical reasons. veganism is about far, far more than food. it’s a whole life philosophy — this is why vegans also try not to use other animal products like leather and wool and to abstain from companies that test on animals. veganism is about reducing suffering in the world — as much as we can. but vegan can be kind of a loose term — some vegans don’t eat honey, for example, and i’ve also heard that some vegans won’t eat fermented foods, although i don’t know why.
there’s no such thing as a “pure vegan” or a “pure body.” that kind of self-righteousness is exactly why so many people write off vegans (and vegetarians) as inflexible, harsh, and condescending. the only way to ascertain that we are abstaining utterly from anything that causes suffering to animals is to build our own home with our own hands from our own trees, and to make our own clothes from sheep we’ve raised ourselves, and to grow our own food with manure from our own cows, and to never purchase anything, from anywhere, ever. you could never take a single photograph or read a single book or drive/ride in anything on tires (animal by-products in all three!). is this possible? maybe. practical? not really. a worthwhile lifestyle? definitely not, if you’re only causing suffering to yourself through obsession. so we each just have to do our best to reduce our consumption of products that have caused suffering to animals. in the meantime we also do our best not to cause suffering to humans by making them feel bad for their choices when we’re all doing the best we can in this life.
on the other hand, i’m not a stickler for labels, but i do have to say: avoiding eggs and dairy products is a very basic stipulation for veganism that is not really up for discussion. “almost vegan” essentially just means vegetarian. applying the “vegan” label to yourself is still a misnomer and will probably confuse people. i don’t think it’s “sick” to do so, but it is still basically incorrect. :) whatever the label, congrats on doing what you can to extend compassion and mercy to all who live.
For a knowledgeable, non-judgemental response:
First, I really liked Diaphne’s analytical thinking. Okay, I grew up on a self-sufficient family farm. We did have chickens, and we did use their eggs that were not fertilized by the rooster. We also hand-milked our own goats, we were not cruel to them, they were actually our pets. We did not eat them. In all honesty, why would a vegan consider this cruel treatment of animals?
Wink