Almost Vegan

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?

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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.

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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.

Okay, I know, I know…Wal-Mart is evil, but, but, they got Silk Soy Yogurt! I was so excited. They must have just started carrying it.
Now, if I don’t buy the soy yogurt at Wal-Mart (yeeha!), I have to drive 45 miles and pay $1.08 at my health food store. On the other hand, Wal-Mart is 12 miles away and they sell the Silk Soy Yogurt for 89 cents. Believe me, I looked more than 5 times just to make sure.
Now I know Wal-Mart must be getting their Silk Soy Yogurt from prison labor camps in China, but I don’t care.

I love to munch. (I little too much actually)
Luckily, as a vegan there are plenty of things to munch on.
One of my favorites, especially with guests, is crackers and cheese. These California Pantry Gourmet Sesame Water Crackers are great. Extremely simple water crackers with a nice sesame flavor.
Try them with Havarti and Dill, Blue Moon Soy cheese. Their Gouda is really good too.

It’s actually tofu with some mushrooms, green onions, and spinach. Really yummy. Also a very good source of precious protein, which we vegans need badly. I’ve been vegan a long time and I feel the lack of protein in my body. Tofu helps.
A great thing to do with these “eggs” is toss a tortilla in that hot pan, cook a minute, turn it over. Place a heap of those “eggs” on it, then a generous amount of Feta Crumbles (see previous post) and make a fantastic breakfast quesadilla.
Serve with guacamole and chow.

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)