Another New Year's Resolution Post

Hi everyone! So, we're about halfway through January. Did you make any New Year's Resolutions? If so, how are they going? If they're going well, GREAT! Keep up the good work! As you may remember in my last post, Why You Should, and Ways to Drink Green Tea, I have resolved to drink 3 cups of green tea per day. So far, I have been completely successful. So, I wanted to just share how I've managed to be successful so far, and whether you want to keep up a resolution better, or you just want to make a change in your life, hopefully these tips will help.

So, my first tip is: Mark things on a calendar. Everytime you complete a goal, or something that is part of a goal, mark it on a calendar, and keep it where you an see it. For me, it reminds me to finish my goals each day, and is a way of congratulating myself on all the successful days I've already had. I find that this gives me a lot of motivation not to give up. I have a color coded system and I mark a tick mark on each day for each cup of green tea I drink in one day in green, every time I publish a blog post in brown, every time I work out at home in orange, every time I go to the gym in red, and every time I go roller skating in blue. Granted only the green tea was an official resolution. The rest of those things were just things that I've been wanting to do more. But seeing it all right there on my closet door reminds me to keep at it, and shows me how often, or not, I've been doing each thing. If you don't have a calendar that you wouldn't mind marking up, then check out this free printable calendar that you can mark up to your heart's content! You can even decorate it with your favorite animal rights stickers. Again, if you want some ideas for resolutions, especially ones that are directly related to animal activism, check out my blog post from last year about New Year's resolutions.

Next, I have a tip for those of you who want to get in shape, work out more, lose weight, be healthier etc. Guess what? It doesn't involve joining a gym. In my blog post, 5 Ways to be Vegan and a Little Less Poor, the last thing I talked about was an app called Punchcard. This app allows you to earn mPOINTS, which can be traded in for gift cards and things. (Again, FYI, the $1 Amazon card is the best value.) But there are several really helpful mPOINTS apps that allow you to track your fitness activities or help you train more effectively. Runtastic Situps, Runtastic Pushups, Runtastic Squats, and Runtastic Pullups are all free apps that provide a training program for building muscle by doing those activities. They all reward you mPOINTS for each day you use the app, and each day you do 3 activities in one day. This can be any combination of training sessions and / or quick log sessions. These apps can also be synced with myfitnesspal, for those of you who use it for fitness, food, and weight tracking. Nexercise is another app that gives you mPOINTS for working out, and it allows you to log past workouts, so if you use one of the Runtastic apps, and then also log the activity on Nexercise, you're essentially getting paid twice for the same workout. Granted, you won't be making a ton of money off of it, (don't quit your day job,) but a little extra money, or Amazon cards, never hurts. So, I guess that would also be helpful if you've resolved to make more money. Sort of.

Thanks for reading everybody! I hope this has been really helpful. What resolutions did you make, if you made any? How well have you been keeping up with them? If you try out any of my suggestions, I would love to know how well they work out for you! Have a fabulous 2015!

Why You Should, and Ways to Drink Green Tea

Hey everyone! So, it's not New Year's Day, but I'm going to be talking about resolutions anyway. It's still pretty early in the year. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you might be aware that I wrote a New Year's post last year. The stuff I'm writing about today is completely different. But the things in my last New Year's post is, at least in my opinion, are all pretty good ideas for resolutions, and they're super-relevant. So, if you want some ideas for animal rights and environmentalism related resolutions, click here!

So I have actually made a legit resolution this year. I have resolved to drink a minimum of 3 cups of green tea per day. To me, that really doesn't sound like a lot. However, when I told several of my friends, they were surprised and kept saying how that was so much green tea! Come to think of it, maybe they meant the cumulative amount of green tea. Whatever. It's not that much.

But why green tea? Why 3 cups? Well, that's the average amount that most things I've read have suggested for daily consumption, though some suggest up to 5 per day. And at that amount, it's supposed to have all sorts of positive side effects. Well it's common knowledge that drinking green tea can boost your metabolism (which means that if you've made any weight loss or muscle toning resolutions, they'll be easier to attain!) According to About Food it can help prevent or alleviate rheumatoid arthritis. My family has a history of arthritis, so if I can avoid it, I'd love to. According to SFGate (disclaimer: this article cites some studies which involved animal testing which I do not endorse, and am strictly opposed to.) drinking green tea fights bacterial infections, (which can help with acne problems,) and may prevent certain viral infections including the flu, and certain STDs. According to Livestrong, the antioxidants in it can also prevent certain types of cancer, as well as heart disease. It's like freaking magic. I'd say those are some pretty great reasons to drink the stuff.

Now admittedly, if you are drinking 3 cups of green tea per day, you'll probably go through boxes of tea fairly quickly, and while it's a lot cheaper and better for you than carbonated beverages. However, it could feel like you're spending a lot more money than you used to. Now, I know Trader Joe's carries pomegranate white tea (which is the same as green tea, only it has more antioxidants (the stuff that helps you out so much, and less caffeine,) and I'm pretty sure they carry green tea as well. If you're not as familiar with Trader Joe's, they normally have some of the lowest prices of all the health food stores. But, Costco also carries green tea in huge bulk. I'm talking a case of 100 bags of green tea. It's their store brand, and I can't remember exactly what the price is, but I know I did the math once, and it was pretty much the best price I could find. It's technically matcha green tea, which means that there are super-fine particals which stay in the water after you take the bag out. Actually, normally a lot of them have already come out of the bag, and are loose in the individually-wrapped packages. You just pour them into the cup or mug you're preparing it in. The only set back is that instead of paper tea bags, they use nylon tea bags, so they're slightly harder to compost. You have to tear or cut the bag open to compost the leaves, but it's really not hard to do. I don't know if they carry any flavored green tea, so if you're wanting tea infused with fruits or something, you can either add them yourself, or you can just look for coupons and buy those sorts of teas at a regular grocery store. But if you're willing to give the normal green tea a shot, this stuff is great. Admittedly, I am not a big fan of any real tea plain. By real tea, I mean black, green, or white tea, which is actually made from a tea plant. Herbal stuff doesn't count. But there are several ways that I make it that I think are really delicious.

Tea Latte: So, basically, you brew your tea, and then put it in a cup with equal parts green tea and your favorite alternative milk. I usually go with soy. Sweeten it to taste. Easy enough. Your tea latte will have only as many calories as the amount of alternative milk you put in it, just in case you're counting.

The second way to make it is also really easy, but can be made entirely with bulk items purchased from Costco. (Though, I guess if you bought soy milk at Costo, you could make the other one entirely from Costco bulk products too.)

Tea Lemonade: First, you brew your green tea. Then add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. (Costco carries TrueLemon.) Then Add 1-2 packets (I use 1 1/2) of Truvia, or your preferred sweetener. (Also available at Costco.) The advantage of this version of green tea, if you're counting calories, is that it has none. (Unless you use real sugar of course.)

Hopefully, I've convinced you that you need this in your life. So, let me know in the comments if you want to start drinking more green tea! If you don't, I'd still love to know. If you have any yummy, easy recipes for gren tea, please share! Thanks for reading everyone! I hope this has been helpful.

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!

Guide to Vegan Eggnog

So, I'm really annoyed right now. I was feeling all great about myself because I had written several blog posts the past few weeks, and I had finally gotten back into the swing of blogging. I had been using the Blogger app on my phone, and as it turns out, it published nothing of what I wrote. In fact, it's been “saving” for weeks now, and so I can't even access the drafts to recreate them on a computer. So, I'm going to try to rewrite some of the best ones. I actually had written a post on Thanksgiving Day comparing and contrasting the 3 vegan eggnogs that I've found. So, Christmas is over, but It's not New Year's right? So maybe it'll still be helpful? Oh well. At least you'll have a guide to post-holiday sales. So, here are my thoughts about these things. Happy All The Things.

1. Silk Holiday Nog

This stuff is perfect. It is, in my opinion, the closest flavor resemblance to real Eggnog. (Though, to be fair, I haven't had real Eggnog in a REEEAAAALLLLYYYY long time.) I can't get enough of it.

2. Dream Rice Nog

This stuff is not quite the same flavor as Eggnog, but it is a really good flavor. It's not quite as strong, so if you want to drink a larger serving, I would go for this one. It actually quenches thirst, because it's not as thick. (Bonus tip, use it to make vegan hot chocolate, and it tastes great!) The best part though, is that it is shelf stable, so you can stock up on it when it goes on sale, and have a year-round treat! (That is what I'm planning on doing.)

3. SoDelicious Coconut Nog

This stuff has seriously intense flavor. It's good, but I find it slightly overpowering. But, that means that if you're using it as an ingredient in holiday baking, it's perfect, because you'll actually be able to taste it! (Check out my post about Vegan Eggnog Cheesecake if you want ideas!) If you're a coffee drinker, this makes a good flavored latte, but I wouldn't really drink it straight up. It has larger particles of suspended spices, and so it has a slightly strange texture. But, if that doesn't bother you, and you like sweet things, then this is perfect for you.  

AAAAAANDDD how about a bonus thing? Since this is an unfortunately delayed post. . . 

4. West Soy Chocolate Peppermint Stick Soy Milk!

Yummy. (And on sale now probably because Christmas is over.) If you drink it cold, it's soy milk! If you drink it hot, it's hot chocolate! That is some serious holiday magic. This makes my inner child very happy.

 Have you tried any of these? What did you think about them? Did you find any other Faux Eggnogs? Are there any other holiday beverages that are a must have? Leave a comment below and tell me all about it! Happy Holidays!

How to be Vegan and a Little Less Poor: Part 1

Hi again everyone! I know I keep saying how I'm going to post way more regularly and have tons of interesting things to tell you, but I keep getting really busy and not having a lot to say. I'm sorry. But guess what? Today I have something really awesome that I want to share with all you lovely people out there. (Before anyone asks, I'm not getting paid to promote this stuff either. They're legitimately my own personal recommendations.)

One of the biggest concerns that people frequently tell me, and one of the main reasons people hesitate to go vegan is that sometimes vegan food can just be downright expensive. (Now, I know there are tons of cheap recipes in the Vegan College Cookbook, but sometimes, it's still a tad expensive.) But even if the money isn't a problem for you, it never hurts to have more of it right? So, I'm going to give you 5 tips and recommendations for how you can get the vegan products that you want, and have a bit more money when you're done.

My first tip is perhaps a bit obvious, but always check for coupons! Alternative milk products always have coupons out. Brands like Silk, So Delicious, and others have lots of coupons available all the time. Normally. you can find them just by doing a quick search on the internet. Other times, grocery stores print out coupons with your receipts, so hang on to those. I frequently get coupons for veggie burgers that way, because they give you coupons based on what you already buy. The best part is, frequently, you can stack coupons with other deals and savings, especially if it's a manufacturer's coupon. If you've gone to the store, and forgotten to check for coupons, you can normally pull the coupons up on some sort of mobile device, so you can access them really easily.

My next tip is use the Ibotta app.



When I first heard about this app, I thought it sounded a bit too good to be true, but it's completely legit. Ibotta has cash rebates for specific products and stores. I primarily use it for groceries, though, they have rebates for lots of other categories like clothes, beauty products, pet supplies, restaurants, electronics, etc. Many of those categories have rebates for a certain amount back when you spend another certain amount, which is great if you were going to shop there anyway. But anyway, back to groceries. Ibotta has a lot of different products that can be purchased from a lot of different stores. They have rebates for stores like Walmart, Costco, Bi-lo, Walgreens, Whole Foods, and more. They products they offer rebates for changes, but they often have rebates for So Delicious, Enjoy Life, Peace Cereal, and several other vegan-friendly brands. Sometimes they also have rebates for fruits and veggies, and the brand doesn't matter. One nice thing is that you are earning the rebates on top of whatever sales or coupons you use to buy the products, which means you can get a phenomenal value for these products. Also, as the app advertises, you are rewarded with cash, not just with more coupons. You can send your rebates basically straight to your bank account, which is super-convenient. And, it's really easy to rack up a lot of cash from rebates. Honestly though, one of the most amazing things about this app, is that it lets you benefit from teamwork. Sure, you can be saving money all by yourself. But, they have things like teamwork bonuses as well. Your team is made up of any people you refer or are referred by and / or any people you know connected social media who also use the app. In any given month, when you and anyone in your team redeem any rebates, it goes toward the teamwork bonus. There are multiple levels of the bonus, but basically, when you and your friends are earning money, you earn even more money. (Of course, these can be completed by yourself, but it's easier to complete them with friends.) If you're new to Ibotta, and would like to be in my team, use the referral code "arbiza" when you sign up, or send me a message using the Contact Form on my blog, and be sure to include your email and a note saying you're interested in an invite to this app. You'll probably get a ton of money just from all the rebates I've redeemed, just FYI. Obviously, not all the products they offer rebates for are vegan, but you don't have to buy them. So, it's okay. Ibotta has a minimum cashout of $5, but that's really easy to earn.

Tip # 3 is use the Checkout 51 app.



This app is similar to Ibotta, but not exactly the same. For starters, it's really only for groceries. It's a little bit easier to use, and it doesn't matter what store you buy the products at. However, there aren't any kind of team bonuses on Checkout 51, and there aren't quite as many different rebates available. But, Checkout 51 frequently has a lot of rebates for fresh veggies and fruits, and a lot of their other rebates aren't brand-specific. That means that when they have a rebate for bread, you could get gluten-free, vegan bread, and they'd still give you the rebate. Checkout 51 also has some rebates for vegan brands though, like Earth Balance. Checkout 51 has a minimum cashout of $20, which might take you a little bit longer, but it certainly isn't hard to get. Checkout 51 also has a weekly drawing for $500 that you qualify for if you spend at least $60 on any single shopping trip during the week. (Trust me, $60 sounds like a lot, but it's way too easy to do.) Sometimes the rebates on Checkout 51 overlap with Ibotta, which means you get rewarded twice! Twice is nice.

Another tip is to use the Receipt Hog app.



This app rewards you for groceries (and also convenience store trips,) but unlike Checkout 51 and Ibotta, it doesn't even matter what you buy! Any groceries from anywhere earn you coins on Receipt Hog. The more money you spent on a trip, the more coins you earn, but you get rewards no matter how much you spent. You can also get spins on the Receipt Hog "slot machine" for every receipt you upload after uploading at least one receipt per week for 5 weeks straight. You won't always get a reward for this, but you have the opportunity to earn a few extra coins. You can redeem coins either for a $5 check in the mail, or a $5 Amazon gift card. It takes a little bit more time to earn the rewards on this app, but you can get rewards for whatever you want from whatever store basically. On top of all that, you can use this app to get rewards in combination with the other apps for sure, because it doesn't matter what you bought, or where. If you'd like an invite to this app, send me a message using my Contact Form, and let me know you are interested in an invite to this app.

My last tip for today is use the Punchcard app.



Punchcard is one of many apps that allows you to earn mPOINTS. Your mPOINTs can be redeemed for a variety of products and giftcards, though the absolute best value is the $1 Amazon giftcard, FYI. (Other apps include a fitness tracking app called Nexercise, a super-fun, How To Train Your Dragon game called Dragons: Rise of Berk,  and for iPhone users, you can also earn mPOINTS with the MyPlate app by Livestrong.) Punchcard rewards you for uploading pictures of your receipts from grocery stores, restaurants, gas stations, and actually just about anywhere. (I'm including this app though because you can get rewarded for grocery receipts.) Again, you can use the same receipts to earn rewards on this app as you could on all the others. (Plus some.) When you upload a picture, you get a chance to spin their little "wheel of fortune" which will give you a certain amount of mPOINTS. You can earn bonus mPOINTS by sharing to a social media website. (You can always immediately delete the post.) When you go to claim your mPOINTS, you are frequently given even more bonus opportunities, like taking quick surveys, watching short videos, viewing some other sort of ad, or downloading and launching a promoted app, (which you can always immediately uninstall.) It's really easy to earn enough mPOINTS for a $1 amazon card especially if you use multiple apps that earn mPOINTS (Have I mentioned that the How To Train Your Dragon app is super-fun?), though you can only get 1 of any given reward per week. This app is a little bit less exciting than the others because you can't just get cash from it, but like I said, if you are getting those $1 Amazon giftcards every week, they add up. If you're a poor college student like me, that means slightly cheaper textbooks, (which turn into real money when you re-sell them at the end of the class.) Or you can also, you know, buy just about anything on amazon, like new gadgets or clothes, all of which are important.

Alright everyone. Thanks for reading, everyone! I know this was a bit of a longer post, and I know I recommended a lot of apps. But seriously, they don't take that much time, and they can help save you lots of money on products you'd be buying anyway. I really hope you found these tips helpful. If you know of any other apps that help you save money on groceries or other vegan / cruelty-free products, PLEASE let me know in the comments. I will love you forever!

CTTVCC: Micro-Ritos

Hello Everyone! This recipe is on page 155 of PETA's Vegan College Cookbook. This is a particularly easy recipe. As is often the case, it makes a LOT of food. I'd recommend cutting the recipe in half unless you're making enough for you and a few friends, or unless you just REALLY love burritos. I know it's been a while since I did a Vegan College Cookbook post, so here we go!

The recipe calls for:

• 1 (8-ounce) bag vegan chicken or steak strips
• 1 (16-ounce) jar salsa
• 1 (15-ounce) can black or pinto beans
• 1 (10-ounce) package Mexican-style vegan cheese, grated
• 1 package (10-inch) tortillas
• 1 bag boil-in-bag brown or white rice (optional)

I chose to use Beyond Meat Grilled vegan chicken strips. They're gluten-free too.

I used Target-brand salsa, and Earth Fare brand black beans.

I didn't have any Mexican-style vegan cheese, so I used half a bag of Daiya Cheddar shreds, and half a bag of Daiya Mozzarella Shreds. 

I made my first burrito on a 10-inch tortilla, but the tortillas kept falling apart, and that much burrito was a little bit too much for me to eat. So, I switched to little 6-inch corn tortillas of some obscure brand. I also decided that since the rice was optional anyway, I'd substitute quinoa to make the burritos have a bit more protein. Besides, I had precooked quinoa sitting in my fridge taking up precious space.

Here is what mine looked like:

As the picture makes very obvious, this is horribly ugly. But then again, you wrap it in a tortilla so you don't have to look at it. The physical attractiveness of this food is inversely proportional to the yumminess. (That means it tastes great!) 

So, if you chose to make the recipe differently, or even the same as I did, I'd love to hear how it turned out. Please, leave a comment and tell me what you thought of the recipe!

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!

Runway Wednesday: Vaute Couture

Before I start, I'd just like to apologize for posting this so late in the day. But, OMG. I am so excited to know the results of PETA's 2014 Vegan Fashion Awards! Looking at the winners, I'm really inspired. If you haven't already read the results, check them out here. I really think I might have found some new favorite brands. I think I'm already addicted to Vaute.

 I need it in my life. Here are some of my favorites (women's wear) currently on their website:

The Lisa In Waxed Canvas-Multiple Colors (This was the Women's Outerwear Winner)

Kristina Dress In Organic Velvet-Black

I Can't Even Look At You In That Fur Boyfriend Sweatshirt-Grey

Love Is Mighty Pumps

As a side note, the children's wear is adorable, and the men's wear is very striking. I wish I'd been able to purchase a certain extra-long, black peacoat for my boyfriend. Unfortunately, it's sold out, and I'm a poor college student. I never could have afforded it. 

Quite honesty, I probably would have included links and pictures to practically every item on the site, but that would take the fun out of it for you! If I didn't post your favorites, leave the link in a comment! I'd love to see what you love! May all of your hearts be full of love, and my all your endeavors be fabulous!

Original Recipe: Nearly-Instant Taco Wrap

So, this is a really basic, simple recipe. I'm pretty sure a 5-year-old could make it without even making that much of a mess. I don't know why, but I've been craving tacos a lot recently. And so I make them. And I keep on wanting them. Does that mean they're my favorite food? I don't even know. Maybe it's because these are actually pretty good for you, and they're so ridiculously filling. I make them gluten-free and vegan, (obviously,) and they're super-easy to make free of whatever else you need it to be free of. They could be a snack, or a meal. That all depends on how hungry you are, and how much you make.

What you will need:

soft tortillas
vegan taco filling (as in fake meat)
vegan sour cream
vegan cheese
fresh spinach

What I use:

Food for Life (Ezekiel Bread) Brown Rice Tortillas

Tofurkey Chorizo Grounds

Tofutti sour cream

Daiya Cheddar Shreds

And spinach. 

What to do:

Place a tortilla on a microwave-safe plate. Spread desired amount of vegan cheese out over one side of the tortilla. Add desired amount of taco filling in a column on the center of the tortilla, leaving about 1.5 inches of space from the end on one side. Microwave for 30 seconds to a minute. Add desired amount of spinach on top of the column of taco filling. Add desired amount of sour cream to the column as well. Fold the end with space up and the sides in so that you can eat it with your hands. Enjoy!

Here's what mine looked like:

Words. Cannot. Describe. (And I will proceed at an attempt at verbal description anyway.) This is really super-amazing. I still don't know if it counts as a recipe. . . Because You aren't really COOKING anything. . . Whatever. This counts. So good. I said it was pretty good for you at the beginning of my post. It is. veggie crumbles / taco filling has a TON of protein. Fake cheese also has lots of protein. I'm pretty sure even vegan sour cream has a decent amount of protein. And let's face it, as delicious as iceberg lettuce is, spinach has way more goodness in it, like iron, calcium, antioxidants, etc. 

I'd love to see pictures of your own taco wraps! If you made these, let me know how it went! What did you think? Did you like it? Is it your new favorite thing? Did you make any awesome changes? Hit me up! Leave a comment. Can't wait to hear how things went!

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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(Vegan) Cream Cheese Comparisons

A thousand apologies everyone, for somewhat vanishing this past semester. College is a lot busier than I expected it to be. Being an art student, I don't have the luxury of plain and simple homework that you just have to get done. Art homework, such as sketches, and also in my case, apparel construction (sewing), takes a long time. I just didn't have a lot of time to blog. I probably would have died of never sleeping if I had. Anyway, I'm going to try to post a lot over the break, and get more posts ready to post during next semester. Today I am not blogging about a TVCC recipe, but instead offering a bit of insight for choosing between brands of vegan cream cheese, as the title suggests.

Seeing as a lot of holiday recipes call for cream cheese, like dips, or cheese balls, or cheese cake, or marble brownies, or cheese danish, etc. and presumably, my wonderful readers might want to veganize their classic recipes, I would like to offer you a bit of insight as to what brands to choose for what. Here are my top 3 favorites.

#3: Go Veggie!

This cream cheese is a good one for recipes. The taste is just fine. There is just something off about the texture. It doesn't have the real cream cheese feel to it. The texture is what gives it away as fake. If you can get over the weirdness about the texture, then feel free to enjoy it spread on whatever you like, but I just would only use it for cooking or baking recipes where the texture gets lost in the other ingredients.

I must say though, I can totally get over the texture to put the strawberry cream cheese on gluten-free, vegan English muffins. I know strawberry-flavored stuff doesn't really taste like strawberries, but I'm a sucker for it anyway.

#2: Daiya

 

Alright, so I haven't tried the strawberry version of this stuff yet. That is on my list of things-to-do. However, as far as the plain goes, it's pretty good. The texture, while not 100% perfect, is at least MUCH better than Go Veggie's. The taste is also pretty good, though I find it a little on the salty side. It tastes like they used the same base as they use for their vegan cheeses. So basically, it tastes a little bit like a cheese spread and not cream cheese. Really though, it isn't bad. The flavor is really growing on me. I think it is best in recipes that are more savory. I haven't tried it in any dessert recipes, but again, it is  more on the salty side, and I'm afraid of a recipe not turning out right because of that. But I'm sure it would be great for holiday dips and spreads, cheese balls, etc. It would also taste pretty good in vegan sushi, or roll-up and wrap sandwiches.

#1: Tofutti

 

I gotta say, this stuff is still my ultimate favorite. It gets the flavor extremely well, and the texture is PERFECT. It is great plain, or in whatever kind of recipes you want to use it in. It also tastes great with cinnamon-sugar on toast by the way. If you've never tried it, you need to. This is my go-to for vegan cheesecake too. OMG. That is amazing. (Last year I posted about vegan eggnog cheesecake that I'd made with this stuff. Check it out!) I really really really love this brand. For example, in high school economics class, we had a project in which we had a fake budget and spent our fake money on stocks and managed a stock profile and stuff, and this was a company that I kept on my stock profile. By the way, if anyone is looking to buy stocks in vegan food companies, Tofutti's stocks tend to be pretty steady. They don't always grow that much, but you at least won't likely lose a lot of money. (That tip was free, by the way.) And who knows, if everyone starts using this amazing stuff more often, maybe it will grow in stock value. Whatever. The only thing that isn't amazing about this stuff is the package design. I think that the package looks a little bit outdated based on the colors and design scheme, but hey. Don't judge by outward appearances right? The package doesn't make it taste any less amazing. 

Okay. I hope that was helpful to everyone! If you make any recipes with vegan cream cheese, I'd love to hear your thoughts and see your pictures! Who knows, maybe if I like your stuff, I'll feature you! I'd love to do some features on this blog, so go ahead and impress me. I love vegan cream cheese recipes. Good luck everybody, and Happy Christmas!

Back to School

I'm taking a quick break from CTTVCC to address an upcoming issue many of us will be facing shortly, if not already.

So, one of the biggest problems going back to school for a vegan in pre-college levels or for college day students is what you can pack in your lunch. Well, never fear, I'm here to help you with that! Now, this is going to assume for the most part that you will have access to a microwave during your lunch hour. Sticking with the philosophy of The Vegan College Cookbook, I want to try and give you tips that are inexpensive, healthy (for the most part,) and delicious.

First, many of The Vegan College Cookbook's recipes work great for packing in a lunch. I have found that these recipes tend to generate a lot of leftovers. It's best to pack leftovers in a sealable microwaveable container if you intend to reheat the food. If it's something like a salad or something else that you don't have to heat, microwaveableness is then not necessary, but it never hurts.

Just a tip about salads though, if you're packing a black bean and corn salad or any other salad that has a lot of liquid, I would recommend draining it the night before you intend to eat it. It keeps it from getting quite as messy. If you don't want to waste the liquid, it makes a really great marinade for grilling tofu. Or if you don't have enough left for marinade, you can always add a little bit of another vegan sauce or dressing, and you can toss in a few herbs like rosemary, pepper, or whatever you like. Then you'll have plenty.

I must not overlook an obvious option. Fresh fruits make delicious sides for lunch. Bananas work very well, because they require practically no preparation. Citrus fruits like oranges, tangerines, clementines, or grapefruits are best pre-peeled and put into sealed containers. Peeling them in advance saves you time, and saves you a mess when you're trying to eat your lunch. Apples, pears, and other fruits with a core and stem can be eaten around the core, and thusly, do not require preparation, but again, if you want to save some mess, you can pre-cut them. If you do, I recommend dipping them in a bowl of lemon juice or orange juice immediately after cutting them, and before putting them into a sealed container. The same thing goes for peaches, plums, and other fruits with a pit. Berries and grapes require little preparation, so they work great as well. For grapes, I'd recommend taking them off the stem, and for strawberries, I'd say to cut the tops off, and dip them in a citrus juice before packing them into a sealed container that doesn't have a lot of extra space, so they won't roll around and get bruised. Melons, mango, or pineapple work best sliced into small chunks and packed into a sealed container with as little juice as possible.

On the other hand, many fresh veggies are also perfect for lunches. Some of my favorites are baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, and celery (chopped into smaller pieces,) stringless sugar snap peas, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumber slices, and sliced bell pepper. Some good choices of dips for those veggies would be peanut butter, almond butter, sunflower seed butter, cashew butter, hummus, or black bean dip. All of those options can be purchased in single-serving, doesn't-need-to-be-refrigerated packages, though buying them in traditional packaging is cheaper, and easier. I would avoid packing salad dressings to dip them in, because they are rather high in calories, with little redeeming nutritional value. Also, they're terribly messy.

There are many varieties of frozen meals that you can take from companies such as Amy's or Candle Cafe, but keeping them cold can be sort of a problem. Also, there's not always a good selection if you have to be gluten-free too.

Now,  an absolute must is shelf stable food. Why? Because I'm sure that you've forgotten to pack your lunch until the last second and grabbing a Clif Bar way too many times. Because I forget my lunch all the time, and I'm sure everyone else in the world does too. Whether you remember in enough time to grab something handy-dandy-healthy, or you stash a collection in your locker for those occasions like I do, not having to keep all your food cold can be a great thing. Here are some of my favorites:

As a side note, not all GoPicnics are vegan, and there are some vegan ones that aren't gluten-free. But, they're on sale this week at Target, so stock up if you have the chance. Now then, I hope that you found everything super-helpful. If you'd like to share some of your lunch favorites with me, I would absolutely LOVE to hear them. I mean seriously. I like variety, and trying new things. So, enlighten me. 

CTTVCC: Chick-Un Parm Sammich

Open the Vegan College Cookbook to page 49 for this recipe. This is a delicious, savory recipe that is great for when you want some Italian finger food that is relatively cheap, and you don't mind making a bit of a mess. Or a lot of a mess. I guess that depends on your level of skills.

The recipe calls for:

• 1 vegan chicken patty
• 2 slices whole-wheat bread
• 2 tablespoons marinara sauce
• 1 slice vegan mozzarella cheese

I used Beyond Meat Lightly Seasoned Strips for the chicken, which, I know, isn't a patty. But It's the only gluten-free, vegan chick'n I've been able to find. They worked fine though. Granted, a patty would have been a bit easier to eat, but still. I'm just waiting for Beyond Meat to come out with some more products that I can eat, and use for making these recipes!

Obviously, with my gluten-free restriction, whole wheat bread is a bit out of the question, so I used Food for Life Rice Millet Bread. If the point of suggesting whole wheat bread was just so people would pick a more wholesome bread than basic white bread, then I'm sure this counts. 

I used generic marinara sauce, but I picked one that was garden vegetable style so it had a bit more flavor than plain tomato sauce. Plus, extra veggies! Extra veggies are a good way to roll.

Follow Your Heart Vegan Mozzarella Cheese was the only vegan mozzarella cheese I had, and it wasn't pre-sliced. So, I used more than one slice of it otherwise it wouldn't have covered all the chick'n. Don't want my fake meat getting scandalous, now do I?

Here is my finished sammich:

If you can't tell, I really like my vegan cheese.

This is a nomalicious recipe that I will definitely be making again. It's perfect for using up little bits of leftover pizza/ pasta sauce. I must say though, don't wear a white shirt while you're eating it. It's a very high-risk sort of thing, putting marinara on a sammich. In fact, wear red. Or something dark. And for the love of vegan food, don't eat this on a first date. I probably wouldn't even eat this with my boyfriend around unless he was preoccupied, and wouldn't see me, or if I made it in a wrap instead. But really, if you won't be humiliated in front of someone you're trying to impress, or you won't be ruining one of your favorite shirts, it is so worth it. 

CTTVCC: Leafy Nuggets

The recipe for this salad can be found on page 93. The book claims that this is a painless way to get your greens, and they're totally right. I've never had a problem with eating my vegetables, but occasionally, simple salads are just too boring. Even though this is an extremely basic salad, it's still delicious.

The recipe calls for:

• 1 (16 ounce) bag of pre-washed salad greens
• 1 (10 ounce) box vegan chicken patties
• Vegan salad dressing, to taste

I picked Organic Girl 50/50 salad mix which is half spring greens, and half spinach. Spinach is one of my favorite greens, if not my absolute favorite. It's my main source of iron (probably, that is, I've never sat down and actually calculated that.) The main thing to remember about spinach is that you have to consume plenty of vitamin C along with it in order to absorb the iron from the leaves.



I used Beyond Meat Lightly Seasoned Chicken-Free Strips which are gluten-free, and vegan. I have only been able to find gluten-free, vegan strips though, not patties. lucky for me, this recipe ends up turning these into strips, which saved me a bit of work. For those of you who can still have gluten, I'm sure Gardein would work fine. Really though, it tastes so much like chicken that I actually felt guilty the first time I used it in a recipe, even though I knew it was completely fake. It's almost creepy how similar the texture is to meat. I just hope I don't develop a soy allergy, or I won't be able to eat any pseudo-meat.



I used Annie's fat-free raspberry balsamic, but it really would have tasted better with Italian dressing or a vegan ranch. The sweetness didn't compliment the faux meat very well in my opinion, but it wasn't bad. Even a tangy fruit dressing would have worked. Hey, just straight up lemon juice would taste awesome with this.



Overall this is great. I really don't know if I've ever put faux meat on a salad before. I might have put chopped up veggie burger on a salad one or twice before, but I don't ever remember it. Honestly, I don't know if it had occurred to me to put faux chicken on a salad. It seems super-obvious, but since I was never a huge fan of meat, even before gong vegan, I never felt like I was missing out. It seems like a good way to get protein though. I definitely plan on making this again.

CTTVCC: No-Need-To-Visit-A-Diner-For-Hash-Browns Casserole

This recipe is available on page 42. I apologize for posting this recipe review so late in the day, (I've been helping my older sister move,) and I apologize in advance for only having one picture of my finished product. it smelled too delicious to wait for more than one picture to dig in. While I don't normally consider broccoli a breakfast food, this breakfast casserole was pretty good. I guess I would think of it more as brunch, which is exactly what I made it for. Who needs to wake up before noon anyway? I cut the recipe in half just because I was only intending to make it for one person (me,) with maybe one or two sample-filchers. It didn't say exactly what size of a container to cook it in, so I used a glass bread pan and had plenty of room for more. I'm not positive that it would hold the entire recipe, but I'm sure it would at least come close.

The recipe calls for:

• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/2 cup soy milk
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Olive oil, for coating
• 1 (20 ounce) bag shredded potatoes (can also use hash-brown-style potatoes), thawed
• 1 (12 ounce) bag veggie veggie burger crumbles, thawed
• 1 (10 ounce) bag frozen broccoli florets, thawed
• Hot sauce (optional)

I used Red Star Nutritional Yeast again. I don't know why, but I like nutritional yeast in recipes, even though I'm not particularly fond of the smell of it when it's dry in the container. (My sisters complain about it every time I use the stuff.) Really though, it never ceases to amaze me that you can make it taste so much like cheese. What is this wizardry?

Instead of using soy milk, I used Unsweetened Flax Milk which is a great source of Omega-3s without fish oil. (Blech!) I don't recommend substituting flax milk in everything, but for most recipes or cereal it's great. It just tastes kinda gross in coffee or tea. The main reason I like using this stuff is because it's only 25 calories for an 8 oz serving. (The sweetened version is still only 50 calories.) It's just an easy way to keep the food slightly healthier without sacrificing flavor.

 I used generic olive oil, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and broccoli florets.

 It took me forever to find ANY hash-brown style potatoes, but I think I was just not looking in the right place. I did finally find these Alexia Hashed Browns and they worked fabulously. I don't know why Alexia has past-tense hashed browns instead of present-tense hash browns like everyone else, but whatever. Maybe they wanted more letters on their packaging.

For the veggie burger crumbles, I used Marjon Original Tofu Crumbles. I found them one day at Publix grocery store, and as soon as I realized they are gluten-free and vegan, I instantly made them a staple in my refrigerator.

I didn't use any hot sauce, just because I've never been a huge fan of the stuff. I might have tried it if we'd had hot sauce lying around the house. However, we didn't, and I didn't want to be responsible for eating all of it if I had bought a new bottle.

This is my finished casserole:

Overall, this recipe is pretty good. It took a little bit longer to fix than other recipes I've made so far, but I think that might have just been that I had to actually measure things because I cut the recipe in half. I found it very satisfying and filling. I would definitely make this recipe again, and I think my cats hope I do too. This is the sort of food that tends to make you accidentally drop crumbs, and my kittens seemed to think this was just the greatest stuff ever. Though, admittedly, they aren't that discriminant when it comes to food. Whatever. This was yummy! I honestly wish I had made more of it so I could have pigged out. I hope you all liked it too!

CTTVCC: Thai Takeout (Hold the Takeout)

I apologize in advance for posting today's review so late in the day. Today's recipe is on page 78 of TVCC. This recipe was pretty tasty, though, I think you need a veggie like (frozen) broccoli or something to go with it. It was also a bit unclear with the amount of rice you need because it doesn't specify if the amount of rice measured should be cooked or uncooked. If it's supposed to be measured before cooking, I would recommend cutting the recipe in half unless you're sharing. I think it would probably work better with a cup of cooked rice, unless you were going to make a bit more of the sauce.

The recipe calls for:

• 1 cup rice
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce

For the rice, I used Della Basmati Brown Rice. I measured a cup of uncooked rice when I made mine.

I used PB2 powdered peanut butter because it has fewer calories and significantly less fat than normal peanut butter. All you have to do is add water to the powder to use it just like regular peanut butter.

Instead of regular soy sauce, which has gluten in it, (Why? I have no idea.) I used Bragg Liquid Aminos soy sauce. It's gluten-free and is supposed to have more protein in it than the regular stuff. It tastes just like regular soy sauce, in my opinion. I must say though, The packaging looks like it hasn't been redesigned since the 90s. Just saying.

 

Here is what the peanut butter and soy sauce looked like mixed together:

Here is the finished rice:

So, I'm not sure if this turned out like it was supposed to because of the whole not clear about the rice amounts thing. I would love it anyone who makes this recipe leaves a comment and tells me how you made it and how it turned out. Did you cook a bunch of rice and then measure out a cup of the cooked rice? Did you measure a cup of dry rice and then cook it? Really. I would love to know your opinions!

Gluten-Free, Vegan Cheese Melties

Recently, I have had to go gluten-free for medical reasons. That makes being vegan extra difficult because a lot of psuedo-meats and other vegan proteins are made with wheat. Also, a lot of gluten-free products aren't vegan, so it can get hard to balance. Really though, one of the things I miss the most is just bread. My inner carboholic has a hard time dealing with it, trust me. However, I found a fake sandwich round bread that is really delicious. Amy's Gluten-Free Sandwich Rounds are the perfect size for most veggie burgers, and they taste amazing. They also pair up perfectly with Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet Mozzarella for a delicious snack.
 

 

 

(FYI, when this cheese melts, it really melts. like, it turns to liquid. So, be very careful once you've heated it.) 

Really people, even if you aren't gluten-free, you should really try this stuff. It is so good and it goes perfectly with tomato soup, Ramen, pasta (gluten-free if need be,) or just about anything.