Exhibit A:
I consider this stuff to be a gift from God. It is SO creamy and delicious!! I add a splash to my coffee and oatmeal every single morning (I know it sounds weird, but it gives so much flavor and creaminess to the oatmeal that I make with water, not milk). And at 20 cals per tbsp, my waistline likes it too.
So, imagine my dismay when my new vegan-radar went off in my head. "Wait a minute Nora... isn't that creamer made from milk... which comes from a cow.... which is an animal... which means YOU CAN'T EAT IT!!!" I might have gone ahead and used it today anyways... I didn't have any soy or almond milk to sub in, I can't bear black coffee, and no one wants me trying to teach a bunch of 5 year olds without my coffee!
My mid-morning vegan snack:
A honeycrisp apple and some roasted carrots and sweet potato chunks. Yes, I eat roasted veggies cold. Yes, I know I'm a freak.
Lunch:
Chopped romaine and organic baby spinach, with a vine-ripened tomato, pinto beans, and some snap peas. I dress it with a light raspberry vinaigrette (please don't tell me that's not vegan).
Dinner:
A spicy soup with potato, kidney beans, broc, cauli, and carrots. Hungry Hubby's bowl included shredded chicken and jalapenos. So easy and delicious! I will post the recipe later this week.
The other dairy trip-up in my 1st vegan day.... a miniature Snickers bar a student gave me (from their Halloween stash, of course). I don't make a habit of eating candy, but I definitely was eyeing it as my afternoon slump set in. Then came that vegan-mind-radar again... "It has milk in it! It's off-limits lady!" So I resisted and brought it to Hungry Hubby tonight. ;) This vegan thing might end up being great for weight-loss goal if it keeps me away from chocolate!
My questions for seasoned vegans: What do you put in your coffee? Any good flavored soy or almond milks that work well? And what about chocolate!?!?! Any alternatives at Whole Foods or the like?
I personally don't drink coffee but I know that there are vegan creamers (you can definitely find them at Whole Foods!), made with either soy or coconut milk. As for chocolate, there are tons available, you just have to read a couple labels. Endangered Species chocolate (you can find these pretty much anywhere) have lots of vegan options. You might also want to check out Go Max Go bars, which have vegan versions of Snickers, Three Musketeers, Almond Joys and Milky Ways. They are amazing. Good luck with your journey!
ReplyDeleteA lot of dark chocolates are vegan! Off the top of my head I would suggest Lindt and the Love Letter bars, just check the back to be sure. And Oreos, of course :-)
ReplyDeleteRice Dream has a really good vegan chocolate bar with lots of variations (with almonds, the Crunch Bar-type chocolate, etc.) and you can get them at HEB. I love vanilla flavored rice milk from Rice Dream in my cereal and for other everyday stuff because it doesn't have the thick texture of almond milk, but in coffee I think almond milk is better. Hope this helps, good luck!
ReplyDeleteThat is totally rad that it's your first day! I'm still slipping up on stuff (had a LOT of Relax brand wine at my wedding last weekend and guess what? NOT vegan.) I think the important part is not beating yourself up for every little thing you slip up on. No one's 100% at it (unless you live in like backwoods-no electricity-USA or something). Congrats, dude!
ReplyDeleteJes
yourmomsavegan.blogspot.com
Congrats on making the full-time vegan leap! It can be tricky at first, but everything falls into place soon enough.
ReplyDeleteI used to LOVE hazelnut creamer in my coffee. I slowly phased it out when I was on this major fitness kick a few years back, and now I prefer it black! I've even tried coconut milk creamer (hazelnut flavor!) recently but just couldn't drink it. I love my black coffee now! Never, ever thought I would!!
But yes, there are plenty of vegan creamer options out there! Like I said, try the coconut milk creamer!
Oooh, and don't even get me started on chocolate! I've found LOTS of delicious vegan chocolate! My latest discovery is "Chuao" chocolate. Look it up! SO good! They've got flavors like "panko sea salt" (my fave!!), "espresso anise" and "cinnamon cayenne".
Good luck to you!
I like Silk's Dark Chocolate Almond Milk in my coffee. Yum!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite vegan chocolate bars are by Chocolove (I think they are what sgcorrie meant by "love letter chocolates"). They have a good raspberry, and, IMO, the two best flavors ever: cherry & almond and roasted almond & sea salt. Chocolove is available at most health food stores, and even Target!
ReplyDeleteWhole Foods should have a whole selection of vegan dark chocolates, and even some rice milk or almond milk chocolate. At their store here, they even have housemade truffles and fudges. They also have WF brand dark chocolate bars in mint, almond and coconut...and maybe even a crisp rice flavor. Their coconut is pretty awesome.
Endangered Species bars are great and pretty easy to find (I think I've seen them at Target and Walmart), and they have a great raspberry bar. Newman's Own makes a few vegan bars, I think sweet orange, dark chocolate and almond?
Go Max Go bars are amazing! But they cost upwards of $2.50 each, and, while much sweeter, don't satisfy me as much, so they are a very infrequent treat for me.
Be careful of Lindt, some of their bars are okay, but many of their dark bars contain butterfat, whey, or other dairy products (all of their other styles of treats contain dairy)...I think the only ones that don't are the 80% or higher.
Check the ingredients each time you buy a buy because chocolate companies seem to reformulate an awful lot. Dagoba used to have at least 8 bars that were vegan, but now they all contain something like 1% dairy. Lindt also used to have more dairy-free bars, but dairy is a cheap filler, so companies are using it more and more.
Hazelnut milk is amazing and tastes really luscious and creamy, though soy milk the best for frothing for cappuccino. I don't drink coffee, so I don't have much experience, but I have made excellent, super frothy steamed soy milk for hot chocolate. If you need something creamier, there are some really popular so or coconut milk creamer, that are widely available. I'm not a fan of the coconut milk beverages because they seem too oddly thick, but I know people who swear by them. I'd try the soy milk coffee creamers first.
You really really really need to try So Delicious coconut milk products. Their coffee creamer is out of this world and it comes in 3 flavors, Vanilla, Hazelnut and Original. Be on the look-out I will be giving away coupons for my favorite product. Congrats on your vegan journey!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your first day. I personally don't drink coffee but I have used a soy creamer from Wildwood for some desserts. It's nice a rich and I know people who use it in their coffee. I believe that Whole Foods carries it and the Trader Joes in my neighborhood has it as well.
ReplyDeleteI recently purchase a few chocolate bars from http://www.naturalcandystore.com/. It has a lot of vegan options. I believe that a lot of these bars are sold at whole foods as well.
Let me know if you find some great chocolate :).
Torani syrup, or as I recently tried, pumpkin spice silk soy milk! MmmM!
ReplyDeleteAlso...it's my first vegan day today! I am definitely going to keep reading your blog!!