As most of you probably know, I'm currently transitioning from lacto-ovo vegetarian to vegan. I've been vegetarian since I was 12, but decided to go vegan a few months ago. Since that decision, I have not purchased dairy products (or products with dairy) for my own home. However, if you read my about my birthday week adventures in my other blog, you saw I ingested a LOT of dairy - in the form of pizza and ice cream (see here, here, here and here) - the BEST pizza and ice cream in NYC. It was a bit of a birthday splurge in addition to being an opportunity to enjoy that stuff before I eliminate it from my diet. Don't get me wrong - I don't feel deprived that I am not going to eat that stuff again, I am fine with it. I just wanted to consume the 'best of the best' before making the switch.
As for becoming vegan, I am still learning the 'secret ingredients' to avoid and figuring out what new foods work for me nutritionally. I'm expecting to be able to say I'm fully vegan by the end of the year.
Because of this significant change, I've been trying different products lately - finding stuff that tastes good and works for me, which brings me to this blog post. I've had 4 amazing products and literally the worst thing I ever ate in my life. Here you go:
Amazing find #1: TEESE
I found out about this vegan "cheese" thanks to you, my helpful blog readers. I had a hard time finding it but stumbled across it quite by accident at Boneshakers (a great vegetarian/vegan bike friendly cafe in Greenpoint). I have used it only for one thing so far - PIZZA! I make small margherita pita pizzas with it in the toaster oven: pita, 1/4 cup (or less) Don Peppino Pizza Sauce, 1 oz Teese and fresh basil.
Nutrition Info: 1 oz = 80 calories, 6g fat, 0g fiber (2 points)
Amazing find #2: FIELD ROAST VEGAN CHORIZO
Other than being high in sodium, I can find no fault in this soy-rizo. It is packaged just like sausage links and they taste amazing! They are my new favorite dinner (recipe blog in the works)
Nutrition Info: 1 link = 250 calories, 12g fat, 4g fiber (5 points)
WORST FOOD EVER: And the award for the worst food I ever ate in my life goes to: VEGAN RELLA "cheese" substitute
I tried that cheese hoping to use it in my salad. I tasted it before adding it (thank goodness) because it was the least palatable thing I had ever put in my mouth. Now, I have to tell you - in my lifetime, I can't think of a single food that I have hated based purely on taste. But this product was truly VILE. I checked the expiration date and it had not passed, so I assumed this is what it was supposed to taste like. Blech! No thank you!
I was so offended by this product, I decided to see if I could get my money back. So I headed to Whole Foods and explained my dilemma - how this was the worst thing I had ever eaten and the first time I had ever tried to get a refund for food, it was THAT bad. Even without a receipt, they were happy to refund my money. That's customer service for you. Thank you, Whole Foods!
I've since decided to omit vegan 'cheese' from my salad since I didn't love the taste of any of them and they provided little to no protein, which I realized is something I need in the middle of the day to help me feel satisfied. Which brings me to...
Amazing find #3: TOFU-LIN I now use this product Tofu-Lin from soyboy in my salads. It's a mildly spiced tofu that can be consumed right out of the package (perfect for my salad), or it can be cooked, so I use it for hot meals at home too.
Nutritional Info: 1/4 package = 100 Calories, 5 g fat, 0 g fiber (2 points)
Not only does this stuff taste great, but it has a lot of protein - 11g per serving. So this is much better for my salad than the vegan cheese which had little to no protein.
Amazing find #4: TURTLE ISLAND This company offers a lot of products. I discovered them just recently and so far I have only tried the "deli slices" and tempeh. They are certified organic and vegan. Just like the chorizo mentioned above, the only fault I can find with them is that they are high in sodium. But since they are high in protein, this has been a great find for me. I use the deli slices for a mid-day sandwich at work, and have used the tempeh to make a super quick, tasty, healthy dinners.
Nutritional Info: 1/3 package tempeh = 190 calories, 6 g fat, 6 g fiber (4 points)
Since some of you have written to me and asked - if you're looking for information on vegetarianism, this is a good place to start.
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16 comments:
My mom usually makes me a tofurkey loaf around Thanksgiving with vegetarian stuffing, it's very good. I don't eat a lot of meat substitutes because of the sodium but they are definitely good for variety. I love love love cheese and have had a hell of a time finding a decent vegan one, maybe I'll try "teese" but I'm so picky about good cheese that I don't think I'll ever find a truly satisfying substitute.
the field roast products are actually made of vital wheat gluten, so they are soy-free which is good for people trying to avoid too much soy. ive really liked al their products ive tried so far.
Thanks for the tips! I might try some of your suggestions! :)
Some neat stuff there. Have you tried eliminating egg yet during your vegan transition? I'm having a tough time trying to find a decent egg substitute for various baking.
sorry for the double - my favorite vegan cheddar is follow your heart. but my secret to enjoying vegan "cheese" was actually to not eat any (no real cheese obv, and no subs) for about 6 months. after that it starts to taste alright! haha. heres a good comparison of some popular vegan cheeses: http://www.veganbaking.net/vegan-baking-articles/product-reviews/the-big-vegan-cheese-review.html
For cheese also try Follow Your Heart brand. It works well, in a vegan cheese sort of way. They sell it at the Garden on Nassau. Though it must be said that products like this are all a relative approximation and are an acquired taste for many. Sliced thin with earth balance spread on the outside of the bread, FYH makes a great grilled "cheese".
so many of my friends LOVE vegan rella. I'm glad i'm not the only one who thinks it tastes like crap.
A vegan friend of mine swears by almond milk and almond cheese. I also recently had some vegan "ice cream" that was made with coconut milk. I am the furthest thing from vegetarian, but it was AMAZING. The same company apparently makes coconut milk yogurt too.
Great post. I'm sharing a link to it with my Sweetie who is a vegan. Good to know about the yucky "cheese" but I had to laugh when you said you were "so offended" by it. I eat Tofurky sandwiches regularly for my work day lunches.
If you like mayonnaise, may I recommend Vegenaise? It's definitely the best tasting vegan mayonnaise I've ever had. Great on Tofurky sandwiches.
I am not a vegetarian or vegan but I do enjoy fake meat products. They usually have much less fat and calories than real processed meat products. One of my favorites is the Boca Spicy Chik'n patty. Also after reading Michael Pollan, I decided that if I am going to eat processed foods I feel better about eating veggies than unknown meat products.
Camevil- Yes, I had no problem eliminating eggs at all, actually. With baking I would suggest trying applesauce, pumpkin or try one of the dry/powdered vegan "egg replacer" products.
Lindsay/Visqu- Believe it or not, I am not a cheese person. I can easily live without cheese so I don't even care if the vegan stuff tastes like cheese, I was using it more as a protein source in my salad. But then I realized the soy cheese had virtually no protein, and I wasn't crazy about the taste, that's when I decided to start using tofu instead.
Gotta do it- I *LOVE* the almond cheese. It's what I started using in my salad a few months ago but then I made the horrible realization that it contains Casein (a non-vegan milk ingredient). Let your friend know in case she doesn't realize it. I have also had the vegan coconut ice cream and it's AMAZING!!!
Miss Rachel- Thank you for the suggestion, but I have never cared for mayo. I'm a mustard & tabasco person. The spicier the better. I'm not a fan of creamy anything.
Carrie- Even though you're not a veg, glad to hear you read Michael Pollan and came to that realization, good for you!
Oh Whole Foods how I love thee! I don't eat meat and I never have issues with finding great food.
Whole Foods does have many great qualities. However, their CEO advocates for several issues in a way that runs counter to the type of ethical ethos the company projects. It's only an issue if that sort of thing bothers you though and if so there are lots of other great stores that have a similar scope.
Those are amazing finds! Well, except the yucky "cheese"!
I played around with vegetarian/veganism for a while a few years back. I really liked it; wish my family did:( Too hard to cook so many things, so I gave it up, but I have an awesome recipe for Baked Seitan that tastes like pepperoni. You bake it into a log shape so it even resembles pepperoni when you slice it. Shoot me an email if you'd like the recipe and I'll send it off to you.
Hey there Just wonering if you have the cookbooks
How it all Vegan
The Garden of Vegan
La Dolce Vegan
There really great cookbooks and the writers are fun and witty...
There canadian gals .... Have a look see on amazon.com...
There my fav vegan cookbooks ever...
I agree with all of this! Another amazing vegan find is the soy whip cream! They have a new rice whip cream out now, which I can't wait to try. Both are by soy-a-too and I've seen them both near the dairy whipped cream bottles at Whole Foods. Yum.
My favorite NYC vegan find is definitely Lula's vegan ice cream though!
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