Food Finds Friday: Tofu Pups vs. Smart Dogs

Okay everyone, so I've been on vacation, and whilst visiting grocery stores that are very different from the ones near my own house, I have come across many curiosities.

So, Lightlife makes many vegan products, including hot dog alternatives. I have only ever come across their Smart Dogs before.

These things are decent. For being vegan, gluten-free, only 50 Calories, and packing 7g of protein, I don't mind that they don't have the most fabulous flavor. If you eat them with some sort of toppings, it tastes better anyway. The texture is pretty much the same as real hot dogs. 

But then I found Lightlife's Tofu Pups. 

These things are significantly softer than both the Smart Dogs, and real hot dogs. It's kind of weird at first, but it's not bad. The taste is, in my opinion, much better than smart dogs though. Granted, they still don't taste like hot dogs, but that's totally okay! I didn't like hot dogs very much anyway. Good news is, they are also vegan, gluten-free, 50 Calories, and 7g of protein. Crazy huh? But they're definitely different. I think I might have to take some back home with me if there's space in the car.

I hope this was helpful, everyone! Have you tried either or both of these faux hot dogs? Which is your favorite? Have you found vegan (and preferably gluten-free) hot dogs my another brand that are better? Let me know in the comments!

Food Finds Friday: Fall Favorites

First, I would like to apologize for so much alliteration in the title. It was just so perfect. Alright. So, first of all, dear vegans, Fall is coming, and with it, the jealous lusting after pumpkin spice lattes that still aren't vegan. (Though, if you have seen those ingredient list things circulating the internet, you're probably a lot less jealous now.) I'm sorry to say that I have yet to come up with the perfect vegan pumpkin spice latte. I'll work on that. But I have found some delicious things that will make it all better. (Hopefully.)

First, Archer Farms hot chocolate. I'm pretty sure it's available at Target exclusively. I haven't checked all the flavors they have, but FYI, not all of them are vegan. I do know that the dark chocolate, peppermint, and coconut macaroon flavors are vegan though. I like making them with either coconut milk or almond milk, which makes them super-creamy and wonderful. If you're a fan of Mayan/Aztec hot chocolate, you can add a VERY SMALL dash of cayenne pepper to your dark chocolate powder to give it that tiny extra kick. Be SUPER careful though. The only way to fix it if you add too much pepper is to make a ton more of the hot chocolate, and mix them all together until it's diluted enough. (Then you'd probably have to store the rest in the fridge and reheat it when you're ready to drink it.) So, while it's not a pumpkin spice latte, I hope this is a fall beverage you'll enjoy.



The other find I have for you today actually IS pumpkin spice. However, it's not a drink. Pumpkin Spice WAFFLES, everybody. These are gluten-free, AND vegan. On top of that, they're made with super-healthy things like quinoa and flax. OMG. I cannot express in words how delicious these are. My little sister, who is neither gluten-free, nor vegan, ate an entire box of them while I wasn't looking. This might be my new answer to "If you were stranded on an island with only one food, what would it be?" Last time I checked, Whole Foods had them on sale. Try them! You will like them! You will see! I think I'm going to go clean out my freezer so I can just load up my freezer completely full of these. (Perhaps I should just come up with a gluten-free, vegan pumpkin spice waffle recipe on my own. OMG SO YUMMY.) This is fabulous as breakfast or dessert. Or both.



Do yourself a favor, and go try both these things. After you've tried them, I'm betting you won't miss the PSL (Pumpkin Spice Latte) at all. VEGAN PUMPKIN POWER! Let me know how you like these in the comments below! Also, If you have found any other fabulous pumpkin things, let me know! I want pumpkin all the things.

Food Finds Friday: Faux at Trader Joe's

I love Trader Joe's. It's a cute grocery store, it has lots of gluten free and vegan products, and it's inexpensive. We got one in my city a few years ago, and since then, I've fallen in love. While I could go on for ages about the wonderful things I've found there, this post is going to focus on only faux dairy products.

 

First, they have some amazing soy coffee creamer. (Not to mention amazing coffee.) I love this stuff. It's delicious, and it helps me survive mornings.

Next, I've found the most wonderful vegan cream cheese there. You may recall a post I wrote a while back that compared different vegan cream cheeses. Oh my. If I'd found this stuff then, I would have included it. This is the most delicious vegan cream cheese I've ever tried. The texture isn't 100% like the real stuff, it doesn't taste 100% like the real stuff, but guess what it is 100% of? BETTER!  Oh my goodness. I make whatever excuse I can to eat it. It's amazing. Love at first bite.

My last favorite to mention now is maybe not really faux dairy, because most sorbet doesn't have dairy anyway, but if you think of it as fake ice cream, I think it counts. Trader Joe's mango sorbet is divine. I adore this stuff. In moderation of course. My sister on the other hand, would eat the whole carton while I'm not looking if I'm not careful.

I hope this has been helpful! There are so many other wonderful things at Trader Joe's, like vegan yogurt, tofu, vegan hot dogs (they're also gluten free by the way,) etc. And I plan to write about more amazing finds from there soon. Have you find anything wonderful at Trader Joe's? Let me know about it! Leave a comment, and share with your friends!

Food Finds Friday: Chocolate Edition

As I've mentioned recently, I've found some pretty impressive things in grocery stores recently. REALLY impressive. For any chocolate lovers out there, (this should be just about everyone in existence,) I've found some absolutely DELICIOUS ready-made chocolatey desserts. (Are you drooling yet?) I'm going to be sharing 2 items that are both gluten-free, and vegan. Both can be found for sure at Whole Foods, and probably several other health food stores. Are you ready?

Set?

LET'S GO!

1. Zen Pudding



This pudding if so rich, you'll forget you're a poor college student. Or maybe that's just me. This stuff is really great though. I totally enjoyed it. I had to make myself ration it out, or I would have eaten the whole pack of four in one sitting. They have several flavors, including chocolate, vanilla, chocolate and vanilla, and chocolate almond milk (depicted above.) It is a tiny bit more on the expensive side though. While I really enjoyed it, I probably won't buy it often, especially when there are several Vegan College Cookbook recipes for chocolate pudding, such as Break-Up Pudding! If you make the pudding yourself, there's more to go around. So, my final verdict is: it tastes great, but the price is not right.

2. The Piping Gourmets Whoopie Pies

For the love of everything beautiful in this world, thank you for existing. So far, I've been able to try the first 3 flavors from the left. Let me tell you: they are amazing. If I had to choose between being rich and famous and having a lifetime supply of these, it would be a pretty tough toss-up. They come frozen, and personally, I think they taste best thawed, but they taste fine frozen too if you really cannot wait. If you're cooking dinner though, and you get one out to thaw while you're cooking, it'll be ready for dessert. These are so rich, and so yummy. It's very difficult to describe them with words. If you spoke whoopie pie, I'd get one out and roll it around on the keyboard so you'd know. . . These taste perfectly real, except for that they're so good, it's unreal. They don't have that I'm-an-allergen-free-version-of-a-delicious-food taste to them. I have no idea how to make something this delicious! I'm perfectly happy to buy them. I think this is love. Final verdict: Oh, kale yeah.

Alright, well I'm going to wrap this post up now, because I want to go eat another whoopie pie after talking about them so much. I hope these product reviews were helpful! If you have any products to suggest for review, leave a comment saying what I should try!

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Food Finds Friday: Annie Chun's

College students have a few kinds of reputations. However, there are two main things that college students are known for. One of them is for being party animals, and another is for being broke and having to live off only Ramen Noodles for weeks. I will only be addressing the latter of these two. Now, vegetarians and vegans are often thought, mostly by outside sources, to not get proper nutrition, especially while in college. I might just have a solution to the nutritional problems that students have, while keeping in mind expense and the fact that most students need nonperishable foods.

While it would be great if, while away at college, we could all cook all of our meals out of PETA's Vegan College Cookbook, there are still various reasons why we might not be able to. (By the way, the book can be purchased with Peta2 Street Team Points, which means basically FREE!) Sometimes, just the thought of having to think about what you're cooking might be too much for a brain about to go into a study-induced coma. There is something comforting about sitting down with a cup or bowl of hot noodles and taking a second to relax. So, before you place a bulk order of Ramen, (which is full or preservatives and has next to no nutritional value,) and become victim to the stereotype, consider trying a healthier, and in the opinion of many, tastier vegan option that should still be in your price range.

I recently tried Annie Chun's Miso Soup, and I was absolutely shocked at how good it was. It was more than a million times better than any prepackaged noodles I'd had before! Not only did it taste AMAZING, it's all natural, contains no MSG, or preservatives, has 8 grams of protein, 4 grams of fiber, only 240 Calories, and completely vegan. The container is also recyclable, or reusable since it's relatively durable and resealable. It is very fast to make. ( It takes 2 minutes vs. Ramen which takes 3 minutes. OMG A WHOLE MINUTE MORE TO STUDY! )

Annie Chun's also has other vegan soups such as the Udon and Korean Kimichi; vegan noodle bowls like the Garlic Scallion, Korean Sweet Chili, Kung Pao, Peanut Sesame, and Teriyaki Bowl; as well as Instant Rice; and well, they have Ramen too. Spring Vegetable is the only vegan Ramen flavor that I am aware of.

Soup and Noodle Bowls are $3.49 each if ordered or purchased individually, or $2.89 each if purchased in packs of 6 that cost $17.34. If you must have Ramen, theirs is $6.57 for a 3 pack, and $24.97 for a 12 pack. When I was researching this, I saw that there were other companies that were selling the Miso in huge bulk sets for a really good price, but I didn't really look at the actual website.

Anyway, I hope you have a chance to try the Miso, and that you love it as much as I do! Let me know what you think in the comments!

Update: I've added this to my Food Finds Friday series even though it  was written long before the series began. I also wrote this before I realized I needed to go gluten-free. So, I can no longer eat most of these products, sadly.