Almost Vegan

I received this email today, and by God I’m gonna make this my post. No, it is not entirely because I have been working really hard lately so I have not had the time to post much (true), but it is a really good email and I liked it a lot.
(Especially the part about the potato wedges at Wal-Mart)
Enjoy:
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Hi Denise!
I ran across the almost vegan website just a couple days ago, and I
was delighted to find every day commercial things listed. I wanted to
contribute a post, but I couldn’t figure out how to do it. I’m
guessing the only way to get a post up is to email you, so here I am!
I’ve been a vegan for 8 months or so now and I’m constantly reading
the ingredient lists for this. I put together a little webpage with my
usual things on it because other people wanted to know what I could
eat as well. All three of these pages have pictures too:
http://www.brick.net/~izaah/diet/katdiet.html
http://www.brick.net/~izaah/diet/newstuff.html
http://www.brick.net/~izaah/diet/newstuff2.htm
Here are some other things that I didn’t list that are vegan:
Snyder’s of Hanover Jalapeno Pieces
Website and Picture:
http://www.snydersofhanover.com/Pages/Bakery%20Selections/products_pieces_jalapeno.html
The Potato wedges sold at walmart in the deli are also vegan. I got to
see the box of ingredients!
The spaghetti marinara at Fazoli’s is vegan (they used to put parmesan
on top, but now they only put parsley)
Domino’s thin crust pizza dough is vegan…remember to leave off the cheese.
Thanks!
Angela

I always feel the need for protein and this Tofu Mate is a good help with that. It makes a nice sauce and is great over rice.

I actually am trying to cut down on hydrogenated fats so I went to the store and looked for some popcorn. Gosh, what trouble finding some without butter flavor! This Full Circle brand has no hydrogenated oils and is also organic.

www.fullcirclefoods.com
Most of them were in fact vegan, but one after the other had hydrogenated oil in there and simulated butter flavor. They were all way too flavorful, even for me, which is saying a lot.
I found this brand and it was nice and clean tasting. The popcorn? I joined Netflix. No late fees.

Ore-Ida’s Fast Food Fries are just one of their many offerings that are vegan. Check the ingredients, (please).

The tater tots are legal and even some of the seasoned curly fries have no animal products in them. Hard to believe, cause they are so good. I started eating these because my family, big meat eaters who think I am nuts, make these thinking they probably have some sort of animal ingredients in them.
HAH!
Ore-Ida Website

This vegan Oreo newflash was brought to my attention by Violaine, a regular Almost Vegan visitor. She’s funny and seems really fun too. Here’s the note she sent me…
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Indulgence AHOY!!!
The new Golden Oreos are VEEEEEEEGAN!!!!
*dances*
Just thought you might like to know!
-V
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See for yourselves at the Nabisco site.
Thanks V.
***ATTENTION #2*** I have heard, on very reliable authority that at least in Florida, these are vegan. Danielle is a regular Almost Vegan contributor, (and a great blogger herself: http://www.joeparadox.com)She writes:
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Hi Denise! I saw these on a recent trip to Florida, and the label did indeed prove them to be vegan. I tried one at a party a few weeks ago and I thought they were ok! (No Liz Lovelies, of course!)
Posted by: Danielle
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***ATTENTION #3***
Another commenter offered this…
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It seems there are multiple factories which produce the cookies (shocking, no?), and it’s up to each factory to choose their ingredients… (continued in comments)
Posted by: Tougi
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***ATTENTION*** I’ve gotten a complaint-comment on this post:
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That’s strange…the ones I bought today say “modified milk ingredient” listed in the ingredients….why is that?
Posted by: Nancy
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This is scary, so please read the label! Do not take my word for it. I have been known to be wrong about stuff from time to time. Nobody’s perfect. All I can do is print the labeled ingredients from their website below and the company’s own disclaimer circled in blue.

If you are ever in Chicago, go to this place!
Chicago Diner
3411 N. Halsted
Chicago, IL 60657
773.935.6696
It is very close to Wrigley Field in a great neighborhood. The decor and seating is a bit nicer than a normal diner and they have incredible vegan and vegetarian food. They do serve eggs and real cheese, but the menu is very well marked and if you tell them straight up you are vegan, they take good care of you.
If for nothing else, go for their deserts. Huge cakes, cheese cakes and “milk shakes”. The place is very Chicago, which is the best part. (I am originally from the Chicago area)
Here’s an E-Z Artichoke Dip I got from their email newsletter. I’m still looking for the best vegan mayonnaise, suggestions?

Read more

Carrot cake for Easter seems to fit. I think I’ll leave a piece out for the Easter bunny.

Don’t even think about making this a layer cake, just be happy to be eating tasty carrot cake as a vegan and count your blessings. I tried to get fancy and ended up eating a lot of gooey, broken pieces of cake that I could not paste together for the life of me.
This recipe does it in a 9×12 pan. Good enough.

Read more

Jodee, an Almost Vegan reader who was kind enough to email me, gave me this tip. She wrote me this in an email first:

“I know the feeling of wanting something you never cared about before you couldn’t have it – isn’t that funny?
I am an avid label reader – so if I’m standing next to something at the market you can bet I”ll read the label – DOLE lime gel cups with pineapple in teeny-tiny letters at the bottom of the package says – no animal products!”

Then Jodee did her homework and followed up by sending me an email she received from Dole themselves.
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Dear Jodee,
We appreciate your interest in Dole Food Company. We’re glad to provide the information you requested and hope it is useful.
DOLE Fruit-N-Gel Bowls do not contain any animal sourced ingredrients. The gel is derived from plant. The gel is made of Carrageenan and Locust Bean Gum. The two main ingredients that form the gel in this product are carrageenan (derived from red kelp) and locust bean gum (from the locust tree seed). These polysaccharides are like starch and they form a gel when combined with water. No gelatin is used in our gels and they are free from animal-sourced ingredients.
Try our other flavors:
DOLE Fruit-n-Gel Lime Gel w/Pineapple
DOLE Fruit-n-Gel Orange Gel w/Mandarin Oranges
DOLE Fruit-n-Gel Strawberry Gel w/Peaches
DOLE Fruit-n-Gel Reduced Sugar Pears in Kiwi-Berry Gel
DOLE Fruit-n-Gel Mixed Fruit in Black Cherry Gel.
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Thanks so much for the gel(lo), Jodee.

Look at this – Soy Boy’s New Website!
It is really nice with shots of the actual people making the food and great quotes like: “Traditional tofu masters have a saying that there are two things they will not show another person: how to make babies and how to make tofu.” – The Book of Tofu
I learned of their new site, because a very nice man in their company emailed me today. He happened upon my Almost Vegan review of their Soy Boy ravioli and here is his review of my review:
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Hello Denise,
I just stumbled across your review of our tofu ravioli and was thrilled to read it. We don’t think you could have put it any better. I printed it out and have it hanging in our break room so everyone here can see it. That kind of positive feedback really means a lot to us. I also wanted to let you know that we do have two other varieties of ravioli and several other products that you can see at www.soyboy.com, now that the site is up. Thanks for the support!
Kind regards,
Tim
Northern Soy, Inc.
345 Paul Road
Rochester, NY 14624
Tel: (585)235-8970
Fax: (585)235-3753
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Boca Ground Burger is not bad and it is completely vegan, unlike other Boca products. (read the box!)

I gave it a lot of help though, browning it with onion and green pepper in olive oil and giving it a dash of spike. I made soft tacos with the mixture and seasoned rice with soy cheese on top.
Very tasty dinner.