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Earth Balance Vegan Spread
This is a fabulous product for baking, enjoying on toast, or anytime a recipe calls for butter. It
comes in 2 varieties: The green & white tub is "whipped," and the yellow & red tub is the original.
I use the whipped variety for toast or garlic bread and the original style (same product only with
less air in it) for baking. I make deliciously naughty sugar cookies with this stuff and they are
truly indistinguishable from the original classics.
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EnerG Egg Replacer
This stuff is a quick and easy way to substitute for eggs when veganizing baked goods. It works for
up to 3 or 4 eggs, depending on the recipe. Egg substitution takes some fiddling with, and you may
not get it right the first time. When I have the time and inclination, I also like to use flax seed
as an egg substitute: Grind 2 heaping tablespoons of flax seeds until coarse like corn meal. Add
1/3 c. water and blend until thick and viscous. This goop is equal to 2 eggs.
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Soy Milk, Nut Milk, Rice Milk, etc
There are so many kinds of soy milks, rice milks, oat milks, almond milks and so on... They are all
a little bit different nutritionally and flavor-wise. It's good to have a variety of milks around
so that your intake is more varied, but it's also good to taste a bunch so that you know which ones
you prefer for different purposes. You might like some for cereal, some for baking, some for coffee,
and so on. I really like the Silk brand "unsweetened" and "enhanced" varieties of soy milk... in
part because they take care to add calcium and vitamin B12.
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Mori-Nu Silken Tofu
Silken tofu is good to know about! It doesn't need to be refridgerated, so it's an easy way to have
some tofu on hand. Also, it's the right kind of tofu for making creamy mousse or pudding-type desserts.
It's great for breakfast scrambles and for adding to recipes to make sauces creamy (you gotta blend it up).
Tofus also come in many styles and textures... it's good to find a brand you like. Ideally, look for
a brand that is "calcium-rich," or "calcium-set" - as this will give you a lot of calcium too!
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LightLife "Gimme Lean"
Mmmm mmmm good! This stuff is super tasty and really tastes like breakfast sausage. It's super yum.
I usually make it into little patties and saute' them in a bit of canola oil until browned. It's a
very low fat & very high protein item, that's also tasty. I also sometimes saute' up little bits of
this stuff to add to stuffed bell peppers or casserole dishes. Everyone likes this stuff, even all
the meaty-eaters in my family.
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Vegan Boca Burgers
Hoorah for Boca Burgers! The vegan variety of Boca Burgers are pretty tasty and loaded with soy
protein. It's an easy thing to keep in the freezer and whip out for a quick lunch or dinner. I cook
ours up on the BBQ, which is fun. It's a bit meaty tasting... which is a little weird - but good for
a quick fix or carrying along to a BYO-meat sorta party.
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Wildwood Garlic Aioli
This tasty vegan product is my favorite vegan mayo substitute. It's very tasty and I mostly use it
on our "BLTs," which we enjoy from time to time. However it is also good in seasoned dip recipes that
call for mayo or on other savory-type sandwiches. Check it out! Much better than some of the bland
fake mayos out there.
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Wildwood Original Veggie Burger
Now That's A Veggie Burger! Yumola! These filling and tasty little buggers are made with tofu and
veggies and some other things that must be super delicious. They taste great cooked on the grill or
on a skillet. These are the veggie burgers that they serve at the Walnut Ave. Cafe in downtown Santa
Cruz.
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LightLife Smart Bacon
It's been way too long since I've had actual bacon to know how closely this resembles the original,
but that is certainly just as well with me. It was actually my grandfather who turned me on to this
product. I cook them up in a little bit of canola oil on the griddle, until about 1/2 crispy, and
then I make up some fake BLTs. It's a tasty summertime treat, especially with homegrown tomatoes!
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Tofurky Sausages
To be truthful, I haven't yet tried the flavor that I've pictured here... but I already know that
I like the Italian Sundried Tomato Sausage and the Bratwurst Sausage. These are flavorful soy
protein blasts that are fun to eat. I don't have any fondness for meats of my yesteryear, and I'm
not looking for exact replicas. In fact, I shunned fake meats for many years. But these days, if it's
tasty and healthy, I like it... even if it is supposed to be meat. It's certainly worth checking
out. I especially like to have these around for times when I am doing loads of yoga so I can have
lots of easy-to-prepare protein on hand.
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bionaturae Whole Wheat Spaghetti
Maybe it's because of all the time I've spent in Italy, but we eat a lot of pasta! As often as
possible, I try to use whole grain pasta because the protein and fiber content is a lot higher. So
far, this is my favorite whole grain noodle... not too dense or "wheat-y" like some. I think the fine
shape of the spaghetti noodle also helps.
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Eden Organic Kamut Spirals
Here's another tasty and nutritious whole-grain noodle. Very high in protein and fiber, with the
added benefit of being made from kamut (an ancient grain similar to wheat)... Remember, it's always
good to have variety in your diet! I don't know if I could have made the leap straight from
traditional pasta to this, but after getting acquainted with the whole wheat spaghetti, there was
no problem!
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Nate's Zesty Italian Meatless Meatballs
Yum Yum Yum! These little buggers are super tasty & add a real protein punch to a last-minute spaghetti
dinner. My boyfriend Matt is nuts for these. In fact, nothing makes him happier than the good news that
I'm making spaghetti-and-meatballs for dinner! Find 'em in the frozen section.
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Primavera Tamales
These tamales are totally out of this world. So delicious, so hearty, and quite filling. They make
lots of flavors (both with cheese & dairy-free, so be sure to check closely). Our favorite is the Zucchini
and Corn, but Green Chile and Butternut Squash are also both delicious.
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Amy's Pizza
Amy's actually makes a lot of tasty and reasonably healthy frozen/packaged foods. Frozen and canned
foods do tend to be pretty high in sodium, so it shouldn't be a daily event - but it's good for
desperate measures, or to have on hand at work... It's certainly healthier than resorting to junk
food or incessant snacking. I love this Roasted Veggie pizza... it's so tasty and unusual. I pick
up one of these when I'm going to a party where everyone will be eating pizza. Then I'm still part
of the scene, and I get to eat something extra tasty. Sometimes I even get two so that I can share
with all the curious party-goers.
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Annie's Spread
This stuff is very tasty! It's good for serving at parties as a veggie dip or a cracker spread. It's
also good on sandwiches and I especially like it with some chives, salt, and pepper on my baked
potatoes. Yummers!
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Soken Ramen
Ramen is never good for you, but once or twice a year, if I am feeling stuffy and under the weather,
this is a perfect comfort food: warm and salty. This brand makes a variety of nicely seasoned vegetarian
flavors and has an important added bonus of being quite low in fat (unlike regular ramen).
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Braggs Liquid Amino Acids
I found out about this product after I bought the "How It All Vegan" cookbook and a lot of their
recipes called for it. It's basically a lot like soy sauce, but with some added essential amino acids.
I use it instead of salt in soups or stews and in place of soy sauce.
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Hains Instant Gravy
You can make delicious and nutricious vegan gravies from scratch, but this is good in a pinch if you
don't have time or materials. We enjoy it with mashed potatoes and I always make some up at
Thanksgiving for the family vegans. That's especially easy, when I'm not even in my own kitchen. Just
add hot water, bring to a boil, and stir for one minute.
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Soy Yogurt
There are few different soy yogurts out there are these two are my favorites. Personally, I really
prefer the Wildwood yogurt because it's liquidy, creamy texture reminds me of the yogurt that I
ate while living in Italy. My boyfriend and other friends seem to prefer WholeSoy, which has a more
familiar yogurt consistency. Most soy yogurts have added sugar, so they are good sweetie snacks that
lean toward the healthy side. Wildwood has the best unsweetened plain yogurt for cooking with.
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Tofutti Cuties
Hoorah!! Okay, so here's a perfect example of "vegan" not translating as "healthy." All the same,
these tasty little monsters are a great summertime treat. They come in a variety of flavors... the
original vanilla ones are still my favorites, although I also like mint chip and chocolate.
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Soy Delicious "Ice Cream"
Sadly, there are a lot of very yucky vegan "ice cream" products out there on the market. If you are
really feeling the absence of this naughty treat in your diet, keep hunting around for different
brands and flavors until you find some that you like. Up in San Francisco there is a neat ice cream
parlor called Maggie Mudd where you can order from a
delicious selection of vegan flavors. The rest of the time, my favorite brand is Soy Delicious. Some
of the vanilla flavors taste a tiny bit off to me, but the Mocha Almond Fudge is 100% delicacy!
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Whole Soy Cultured Soy
This is my new favorite frozen soy treat. This brand is very tasty and not full of weird processed ingredients
OR fat!! And yet it is full of flavor!! I especially think that this brand's "Vanilla Bean" flavor is the absolute
best non-dairy vanilla experience out there right now. When I was a little girl, I would eat piles of fresh raspberries
from my grandparents' garden all mushed up with vanilla ice cream. Because of the weird aftertaste of most soy-vanilla
ice creams, that was an experience I'd abandoned as a vegan. Now I'm back at it though!!! This stuff really is that good.
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Hot Cocoa
Okay, I admit... I'm a hot cocoa addict. I love it! A lot of hot cocoa mixes come with evaporated
milk already in them. These are two good types of hot cocoa mix that are vegan. I use soy milk for
this because it's creamier than the other milks. These days I like to mix a little bit of both of
these brands and the result is just perfect - not too sweet, not too bitter. I'm also totally in
love with the new Dagoba Xocolatl hot chocolate!! It's got a little bit of added cinnamon and chile,
and a little bit added into the mix really goes a long way!
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Oetker Pudding Mixes
You may notice that I have a bit of a sweet tooth. Anyhow, I especially like this coconut pudding mix.
I just follow the directions except that I use soy milk instead of milk. Sometimes I'll just make
a little pudding for fun, but I use it a couple times a year to make a custard base for a fresh fruit
tart. Traditional pudding and custard is loaded with milk and eggs... so this stuff really is helpful
for a vegan!
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