vegan

Not really, that title is a bit misleading, I don’t actually have free vegan food to give away. BUT I do have a LIGHTLIFE $1.00 off coupon.

CLICK HERE for a LIGHTLIFE $1.00 OFF Coupon
The link above will take you to the Lightlife site where a popup window will auto-open containing instructions on printing your coupon. They make you install a “coupon printer” (I did it, it’s nothing – you can say yes with no worries), and then your coupon prints. The coupon expires 5/31/2007, for those of you who find this page years from now and want your $1.00 off Lightlife coupon, sorry.
Did I just happen upon these coupons? No, they happened upon me. I am a lucky vegan. AlmostVegan.com is a lot of work, you should see the spam comments I have to sort through to find the real ones (1000 to 2), and they are disgusting — “Tall hairless blond…” — you get the picture, I’m sure. But, there are certainly perks. Eat your hearts out, I get free vegan food.
Lightlife, already one of my very favorite vegan food companies, somehow found Almost Vegan and wanted me to get a chance to sample some of their products that I don’t usually find at my local Wal-Mart. That’s right Wal-Mart. You gotta hand it to a vegan food company that have gotten their products in that store. Talk about reaching the masses, no matter what you think of Wal-Mart.
I love Lightlife and I have for some time. Proof below:
Search Almost Vegan for Lightlife >>
That link above turns up 6 posts, 7 if you count this one.
Well, Lightlife (bless them) sent me a huge box (actually a refrigerated cooler!) of their vegan food products. YEEEEUM! Most all of them I have never seen before. I have tried a few already and they are incredible…I mean really, really good, and they also sent a couple old favorites — Gimme Lean and Chick’n Strips. Out of my gratefulness to Lightlife I am going to do a series of posts on the products they sent me, thanks Lightlife.
Oh man. I am in vegan heaven…
And believe it or not, that’s not all. Amy’s noticed all the entries I had about their incredible vegan food products and sent me some coupons as a thank you. 5 of them are actually for totally free products, any kind I want, and some $0.55 and $1.00 off coupons too.

Thank you so much Amy’s!
Some days it’s great to be a vegan blogger.

Finally. I found it. Soy-whipped cream and in this handy spray bottle just like the real thing!
Soyatoo! Soy Whipped Cream is 100% vegan contains zero saturated fat or cholesterol and is made with organic ingredients.
Well, I also found a couple of hitches. It does have a soy-ey taste to it, but any true vegan that has not had dairy in a while won’t mind too much. The other thing is more of a problem. The can I got worked for about 3/4 of the contents, but then completely quit on me trapping 1/4 of my soy whipped cream inside.
Soy is heavier than cream so it is altogether harder to get this stuff to spray out. Be warned.
The people who came up with it’s website >>
But, it actually does work and is so much like the real thing I was shocked… So it’s a miracle.
*Happy Christmas*

Have a nice Thanksgiving or at least survive it as best as possible.
In case you don’t know about Tofurky, it’s great >>

Does anybody else do this? I can’t believe I am the only one who thought of it, because it is incredibly good and so easy.
Oasis Hommus is about the best store bought hommus I can find around here. One day, I was making some pasta and being totally sick of red sauce I thought, hey, I just got that hommus and if I cut it with a lot of olive oil that might make a good sauce.
You know what? I was so right. It makes a great sauce and with so much protein as well, and it takes about a minute to make. Put some hommus in a bowl, add any kind of olive oil and mix well until you get a saucy consistency, pour over pasta.
I have also saut

Blaze Your Own Trail,
Bake Your Own Bar
Matisse & Jack’s oatmeal energy bars are exceptionally good and they are pretty easy to make. I used some homemade applesauce that I went over to Crane’s in Fennville and picked up. Good Applesauce = extra-good bars, but I bet these are good with any kind of applesauce and even yogurt (soy yogurt of course), which is another wet ingredient option.
Every thing about the product and the packaging is user friendly; from the great and friendly graphic directions on the box, to the tasty bars that you end up with. Don’t eat them all in one day like I did!
Here’s their website – http://www.matisseandjacks.com/

I thought this was cute. I hope Reynolds doesn’t mind me using it.

I got this recipe from Chicago Tribune Food and Drink eNewsletter.
I really have to hand it to them for offering a vegetarian dish. That’s how pathetic this rampantly carnivore area of the country has made me!
I made it vegan with a little tweak *

Read more

Oh, God! I did not get them all. I only got the children! (please see post below)
I took my Tip Trap down last night, at like almost 3am because I hadn’t caught one for hours. Just to check, I put one piece of cat food in there and a fresh cap of water. This morning the cat food was gone so I decided I had to get the Tip Trap back out and try it again tonight.
Well, first time I checked on the Tip Trap it was turned over, again, and nobody was home…But, somebody did chew the label a bit. I thought, that’s odd. I set it back up again and waited. I heard a clunk and rushed in the bathroom. I opened the door under the sink (where they are hiding out) and I see the Tip Trap again on it’s side, and a mouse standing next to it. (she got up into the pipe hole before I could nab her)
Now last night all the mice I shuttled out were very small and light in color. They all looked young. The one standing before me tonight was not. It was fairly large and very dark. I think it’s the mom. She may have been trying to chew her children out of the Tip Trap, at least in my imaginary mouse world she was.
I feel so badly.
I think I have broken up a family. Her children are outside and she is still in the bathroom and I can’t catch her because she has figured out the Tip Trap.
Aaaaah! Help!

We’re all vegans here, right? Well, I don’t think it’s always about the food, frankly. For the last 4 hours I have been shuttling mice out of my house. Yes, shuttling. I thought I had one mouse trapped in my bathroom. I have 2 cats, and one is a real hunter. I am always trying to save mice from her evil clutches.
Sometimes she catches them and they get away from her and one ended up in the bathroom, trapped. I knew he was in there at first because of the cat stakeout outside the door and then there were other “signs”, ugh. But he (actually it must have been a she mouse) had some good places to hide where the pipes went into the wall and I could not get to her. (this is actually a very long and involved story, I thought the mouse was gone for a couple of weeks and then I found signs again) So I needed some way to get her out and get my bathroom back.
I found the Tip Trap humane mousetrap by searching on Google. As a bonus I found a cool ecommerce website where I purchased it. Make a visit and see what I mean (especially if you have a mouse in your house) — http://www.greenfeet.com/tip-trap-mouse-trap.html
I found some great humane products, and some of the most heartwarming testimonials about another live-capture mousetrap that I did not purchase on this site — http://www.abundantearth.com/store/mousetrap1.html

These people make that trap pictured above, really cute concept. Take a look — http://www.seabrightlabs.com/mouse.htm
So I ordered a Tip Trap mousetrap from Greenfeet.com, gave my mouse a capful of water everyday, and waited for my Tip Trap to arrive in the mail. (they don’t sell humane traps of any kind out in the country where I am) I had given her some cat food and water when I first realized she was in there, but after I ordered the Tip Trap I decided to let her get hungry, I thought she was stashing the cat food as well. How much can a little mouse eat?
Well, it turns out it was about 8-9 mice. I really don’t know how many. Just that I have been shuttling them out of the bathroom and outside the house all night since I got home from an Andru Bemis concert (local musician friend of mine). I get one out, put the Tip Trap back, sit down at my desk and a few minutes later I hear the clunk of the Tip Trap go over, run in, take the mouse outside, put the Tip Trap back… on and on.
It’s been quiet for over an hour or so now… maybe I got them all.
The Tip Trap is a nice little device, but the clever little buggers were messing with me and either got out of it, or tipped it over without going in a couple of times. That was creepy.
But it worked for like 9 mice. (not sure, felt like 9 or more) Highly recommended by me and it’s only $2.25 at Greenfeet.com. Such a deal!

This post was a suggestion by an Almost Vegan reader. I must admit, I was skeptical whether these were actually vegan so I wrote Keebler and this was their reply:

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Keebler Fudge Shoppe Fudge Pops are vegan. Our gelatins are not vegan. We appreciate your patronage and interest.
The Jel Sert Company

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New delicious vegan product: Keebler Fudge Shoppe