vegan cheese reviews

1. Most awesome and amazing DAIYA vegan cheese. I tried this at Sticky Fingers in Washington DC and I actually cried while I was eating it. This stuff stretched, melted, and tasted EXACTLY like real honest to goodness cow puss cheese. It isn't soy based, which is interesting. Having daiya pretty much solidified the decision that the second I graduate from college (18 more months woohoo) we are moving to DC. Kjonaas strongly approved of this cheese and all of the baked goods he ate at sticky fingers.




2. Also amazing tofutti american cheese slices. These are mindblowingly realistic and taste fantastic on everything from tofurky sandwiches to boca burgers. Kjonaas eats them cold and loves them. I just ate a slice on a boca burger and it was heavenly. I am so mad at myself for not trying these sooner. I walked by them at Wheatsville (a store in Austin) several times and thought, naaah no way they must be gross. I think that all the years of eating follow your heart and dealing with the unrealistic taste of it broke my vegan cheese seeking spirit.

3. Teese vegan cheese. We ordered the nacho version online and it was so/so I don't think I tried hard enough to make it into a good cheesy dip, so I can't speak too much on that one. The mozzarella teese that is sold at Hoboken Pie on Red River is absolutely incredible. I can't wait until they start selling this retail at whole foods or some other such store in town.


4. Follow your Heart, my old friend...you need to step it up and make your vegan cheese taste more realistic. You were there for me in some dark moments when I craved real cheese so badly I could have cried and I appreciate that...but I have moved on to more delicious and melty dairy free cheeses.

I'm so glad that Kjonaas doesn't have to grow up craving and yearning for grilled cheese sandwiches , cheeseburgers, etc. He can have a vegan version of anything that his meat and dairy eating peers eat.

Here are some new photos of his almost one year old cuteness.

He always squints when he gets his photo taken, I don't think he knows how to smile without doing this. He also thinks that kissing means biting the kissee on the face as hard as possible.



This is possibly the best face I have ever had the pleasure of seeing any human make.

junk food friday - woohoo!

today i decided that it was high time i made some junk food. so may i present, vegan corn dogs and onion rings. yummy deep fried goodness. the batter is simple...

1 cup ground corn meal
1 cup flour
tbsp sugar
tsp salt
tsp cayenne pepper
UNSWEETENED soy milk

all you have to do is roll your smart dogs in corn starch and then cover them in batter and deep fry them. i chose to use the same batter on the onion rings, but honestly i prefer them with a more traditional non-corn based onion ring batter...the recipe for that is:

bowl #1 : unsweetend soy milk + tsp corn starch (for thicknesss)
bowl #2: flour, salt, pepper, tiny bit of corn starch (for sticking to onion ness)

i use big sweet onions for this, first slice them into rings (duh) then dip them in the soy milk bowl and then the flour bowl and fry. it's best to have one hand designated for each bowl to avoid too much stickiness.

everything came out awesome, i wish kjonaas had more teeth so that he could enjoy them. he helped himself to some apple cinnamon puffs and sweet potatoes for breakfast. speaking of kjonaas, look at how freaking cute he is...he is walking now and it's amazing.

HEB's most awesomely accidentally vegan items (part one)

for those of you who don't know, HEB is pretty much the only major grocery store option in texas that isn't whole foods. i have roamed its vast aisles in search of things that are accidentally vegan because peta's list of accidentally vegan items just wasn't enough for me

#1 tradition ramen chicken style instant noodle soup

this is the holy grail of accidentally vegan foods, it's chicken flavored but all vegan!! wtf? this delicious heavenly food can be found in the kosher section if noah and i haven't already purchased all of heb's stock. holy crap vegan cup o noodles, i think so!


#2 mc cormicks ranch dip seasoning mix

for some this might be the best thing ever, epsecially if you miss ranch dressing as i so painfully have for years. all you have to do to this wonderment of accidental veganism is mix it with either tofutti sour cream or veganaise OR veganaise and some plain soy milk to make it really ranch dressingy. you will never have to long for ranch again. we like to make this with some boca nuggets and salad. so awesome!


#3 hill country fare refrigerated butter flavored biscuits

normally biscuits are no big deal as most dry mixes are already vegan, but the amazing thing about refrigerated biscuits is that once deep fried they make kick ass donuts. just purchase a tube of these babies, poke holes in the middle of them, deep fry them until they are golden and then dip them in cinnamon/sugar or sugar and they make mouthwatering donuts. you will not be sorry, trust me.

i will add more soon, but please do yourself a favor and eat some of these amazing (though not terribly healthy) vegan foodstuffs.