vegan

UPDATE – This batter mix from McCormick is no longer available, and one from McCormick that is, (see link below) has eggs in it. You can use this onion ring batter mix instead >>

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I never trust anything battered and fried in restaurants. When I do ask the wait-person if I can eat it, I usually regret it. So (when I am not dieting) I make them at home.

There are many batter mixes and a lot of them are vegan. I didn’t think so for a long time, and one day I saw a packet by a big batch of fresh Vidalia’s and just on a whim I picked it up and read it…vegan.

This is McCormick Onion Ring Batter Mix [caution, contains eggs] and even McCormick’s is vegan [not anymore] and I bet they didn’t do it on purpose! So read the package you find in your grocery store by the onions and then fry up some onion rings, mushrooms, broccoli, cauliflower, okra, zucchini, whatever.

Put a game on, get some beer, call your friends, wear a T-shirt, swear a lot and pretend you’re in a sports bar.

I have actually read the words – “There is no such thing as a fat vegan.” – Well, come to my house! I am blaming it on the summer, (pies, blueberry coffee cake, etc.) on this blog, (I have to eat to post!) on a lot of things, but the reason is I feel like I am denying myself (meat, dairy, eggs…) so I indulge myself.

And it’s true, but I don’t want to be fat so before this gets totally out of hand I am taking steps and sugar snap peas are one of my weapons against total porkdom. I need to snack, I need a nice crunch and a sweet flavor and these peas do it. Eat them shell and all, crunch, crunch, but very tender.

There’s plenty around right about now and I am taking advantage of them.

Now, promise not to laugh when I make the Duncan Hines chocolate cake I have in the cupboard. (I have to eat to post!)

Can you tell that I have been busy lately? The 2 last posts are package dinners. Well, summer’s almost over and chili is on the way.

If you like Indian food, these Tamarind Tree dinners might be good for a quick meal, especially if you have a microwave at work. They do not need to be frozen or refrigerated. They are “retort packaged” or vacuum packed so you can take them to work and leave them there for up to 24 months!

The only down side is you will have to bring a 1 1/2 quart microwave safe dish in which to make the rice, but the upside to that is the rice comes in these neat little pouches with holes in them. Get the water boiling, then submerge the rice pouch in the water and microwave it for 3-5 minutes. Take out the pouch and slit it open – no muss – nice rice.

Pita bread or tortillas are also suggested if you can’t do the rice.

I’ve only tried the Dhingri Mutter, extremely spicy, but good. I am going to try the rest of the vegan ones, 4 out of 8 are vegan – Alu Chole, Channa Dal Masala, Vegetable Jalfrazi.

I found them in my good health food store, and they are also for sale online [no longer for sale] at the Annie’s Homegrown website.

I am a fan of Yves. Their insanely quick (2 min.) microwavable vegan foods save me on days I cannot cook for one reason or another. Mostly because I am tired and hungry.

The Mac’n Soy Cheese has casein in it, but the rest are completely vegan. (for those who eat casein, the Mac’n Soy Cheese is really good) Both the Santa Fe Veggie Beef and the Thai Lemongrass Veggie Chick’n are quite spicy. Veggie Beef is my favorite.

This is about a previous entry – Taco Bell. I wrote that a rice and bean burrito at taco bell is vegan. (w/o cheese of course)
But then I received this comment in reply to that post:
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taco bell rice is made with chicken stock. sorry, hate to be the bearer of bad news.
Posted by: [Unsigned] at August 6, 2004 04:49 PM
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I wondered what the truth actually was so I emailed Taco Bell and asked them. That was 2 weeks ago, I had almost given up on them, but I received a letter from Yum! Brands, Inc. today – they own Taco Bell.

Now, I am a member of PETA, so I know that Yum! is not the best company because of their purchasing of chickens that are tortured and treated horribly. (reason I am vegan, animal cruelty) I am with Peta in their attack on KFC, but I have got to give credit where credit is due and I see from Yum! what I hope is a glimmer of hope.

There is no chicken stock in Taco Bell Seasoned Rice!

…but there is casein (sodium caseinate) in there, so Taco Bell’s Seasoned Rice is “almost vegan.” Legal for me, but if you don’t go for any dairy, don’t get the rice when you order a bean burrito with no cheese.

The rest of it is okay. The tortillas are clean, the beans are vegan, and of course so are the vegetables, and the hot sauce is too. As well as a number of different stuff on their menu. I got the entire low-down from them and I do appreciate it.

Here’s their complete Ingredient Statement – Taco Bell Ingredient Statements.

So I hope that Yum! will bow to the pressure that Peta is placing on them to clean up their KFC act and care more and more about the “ingredients” they sell in their restaurants.

I love these Sunspire [no longer available] (nice website) [gone] Vegan Carob Chips. Use these carob chips instead or Google it, I found a bunch of them.

I use them for everything, cookies, chocolate hazelnut biscotti (Stay tuned for that one!) cake, anything that calls for chocolate chips and beyond. If I have some too long I usually end up eating them by the fistful.

They make better than chocolate chip cookies.

UPDATE [2023] – They no longer make this vegan feta cheese.

Buy Vegan Feta at Trader Joe’s >>

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Look what I found!

I must warn you, this cheese is not completely vegan, it contains casein. For me it’s a great find because I give in and eat casein. That’s what makes me “almost vegan” as I have said before.

Soy Moon makes 6 different Gourmet cheeses, the rest are Soy Gouda, Soy Provolone, Soy Mozzarella, Soy Mozzarella with Italian Herbs, and Queso Blanco Mexican Picante Style.

I happened upon the little tub (4oz.) of soy feta yesterday and it is gone today.

Very, very tasty.

I love Soyrizo and so do a lot of people. Almost Vegan gets found by people searching for Soyrizo 3-5 times a week.

Another of my fave quick meals is Soyrizo veggies over yellow rice. I used zucchini and yellow squash that I bought from my neighbor’s little farm down the street. He sells his wares out of an old camper parked on his front lawn a few yards back from the main road.

His tomatoes are the best, huge and very red.

You can use any combo of vegetables, but I didn’t toss in the tomatoes. (Recipe in pic – 3 zucchini, 3 yellow squash, 1 onion, 1 green pepper) Saute the veggies in a generous amount of olive oil and then squeeze in the desired amount of Soyrizo when the vegetables are just about done. The Soyrizo only takes a minute or two on high heat.

I sauteed a huge pan of vegetables and only used 1/4 – 1/3 package of Soyrizo. I could have used up to 1/2 package, but I was sharing with folks who do not like spicy food.

I just made this pudding and it is in the refrigerator right now thickening up. I have not had pudding for the 5 years I have been vegan, and probably a lot longer than that.

This Oetker, Simple Organics Cooked pudding and Pie Filling Mix, Mocha flavor, I found at my health food store.

The reason I thought to have some pudding was because I saw a package screaming “Soy Pudding” on the shelf. Well, I read the ingredients on this extremely expensive Soy Pudding and then picked up the Simple Organics and saw basically the same stuff in it for half the price.

The only difference was the Soy Pudding called for soy milk in the directions. So I bought the simple organics pudding, decided to make it with soy milk and felt kinda clever. Oh, one more difference – Mocha flavor. It is tasty!

Soy Boy Ravioli is amazing. I have fed it to die-hard carnivores and they love it. It’s just darn tasty.

The company who makes it, Northern Soy, Inc., is incredibly low key. I “hear” (rumors on the internet) that they make different kinds of ravioli — tomato with roasted red pepper filling, and spinach pasta with tofu-based garden herb filling — but I have not seen them in my health food store, only this “original” ravioli so my suspicion grows.

They would be great with pesto sauce and are also excellent with tomato Sauce. If you want to be really decadent, after you’ve boiled them, toss them in a pan with some vegan butter plus a little garlic and fry them a bit. Then sprinkle with vegan Parmesan.

***UPDATE — I found the ravioli Verde on the – Soy Boy Website.

The funny thing is these guys can afford to be eccentric cause they make kill vegan ravioli, and that is no easy feat.
These are a must find/try! –> Good health food stores.