When I first ventured from vegetarianism to veganism about a year ago I was desperate to fulfill the demands of my sweet tooth. Unfortunately, however, I quickly discovered how expensive a lot of vegan goodies and sweet are, since they generally cater to a small, more specified market (this excludes Oreos, which are vegan, delicious, and terrible for you in a wonderful way). Thus I went in search of a book of vegan recipes that would be sure to fill my desire to bake and eat something vegan that didn't have a name like "Gluten Free Rice Prune Crunchies". In my search I found a few books on the subject that I liked and was relieved to find recipes like old fashioned chocolate chip cookies, sweet vanilla cake, "butter cream" frosting. Before I tried these recipes I mentioned them at a family get together, to which my brother-in-law replied, "Vegan baked goods and delicious are two contradictory terms."
With all due respect to my brother-in-law: Wrong! Since discovering the delight of cruelty free baking I have come across so many new and tasty recipes that I have had to keep myself from baking too often. I've had the delight of eating rich, crispy peanut butter cookies, moist chocolate cupcakes, whole wheat chocolate chip cookies (my favorite), sweet black and white cookies, rich silky faux butter cream frosting, and the list could go on and on. When I converted to veganism for ethical reasons I was dismayed at the thought of reducing the number of yummy baked goods to zero, but luckily I have avoided that fate entirely. In fact, the only downside I have to say about vegan baking is that, if you only want to eat healthy or are trying to lose weight, do yourself a favor and don't make any vegan goodies for yourself, 'cause once you start you won't be able to stop!
Want to know more about vegan baking? Check out these websites!
Great Vegan Baking Recipes
You Can Substitute Eggs and Dairy!
Monday, March 7, 2011
TVP: The Wonder Food
Simply put TVP is amazing; this versatile foodstuff travels easily, is packed full of protein, cheap, can be easily used as a ground meat substitute, and is all around just awesome. For those of you who do not know what TVP stands for, it is Texturized Vegetable Protein, or simply put, dehydrated unflavored vegetable protein crumbles pretty much consisting of soy. Now you may be asking yourself "Why is that so great? It sounds awful!" but let me tell you all of the benefits of TVP as I see them
A) Protein: It is hard to find vegan friendly, especially meat substitutes, that are packed with lots of protein and TVP is an excellent solution. Some people, especially men, may be concerned about eating too much soy, but as long as you are not abstaining from soy TVP is an excellent way to get protein since the product itself is almost entirely pure protein. Calorie for calorie TVP packs a protein punch.
B) Cheap: For those of you who have never bought TVP it is extremely cheap pound for pound, something I very much appreciate as a poor college student. I can usually find bulk TVP for the price of around $1.40 per pound, which is quite a lot when you consider how light TVP is. To get a rough idea of how much one pound of TVP is, imagine half to three quarters of a plastic supermarket bag filled.
C) Versatility: Admittedly I use this like a substitute for ground meat, especially in recipes where one would normally use ground beef. While TVP on its own is rather flavorless, when rehydrating TVP one can use any kind of flavoring either on its own or in combination with water to rehydrate and flavor the TVP. My personal favorites are a combination of 1/2 water, 1/2 bbq sauce for making things like sloppy joes and roughly 3/4 liquid smoke and 1/4 water for making ground beef for recipes like chili.
D) Awesome: Frankly, I just think it's an awesome food because it's cheap, keeps forever, and I can use it for so many things. And although I've never tried it, considering that this was one of the things my parents ate the most when they backpacked for days on end decades ago, I can't think of anything bad about TVP.
Curious about TVP? Check out these websites!
All About TVP
What Is TVP? Definition and Recipes
A) Protein: It is hard to find vegan friendly, especially meat substitutes, that are packed with lots of protein and TVP is an excellent solution. Some people, especially men, may be concerned about eating too much soy, but as long as you are not abstaining from soy TVP is an excellent way to get protein since the product itself is almost entirely pure protein. Calorie for calorie TVP packs a protein punch.
B) Cheap: For those of you who have never bought TVP it is extremely cheap pound for pound, something I very much appreciate as a poor college student. I can usually find bulk TVP for the price of around $1.40 per pound, which is quite a lot when you consider how light TVP is. To get a rough idea of how much one pound of TVP is, imagine half to three quarters of a plastic supermarket bag filled.
C) Versatility: Admittedly I use this like a substitute for ground meat, especially in recipes where one would normally use ground beef. While TVP on its own is rather flavorless, when rehydrating TVP one can use any kind of flavoring either on its own or in combination with water to rehydrate and flavor the TVP. My personal favorites are a combination of 1/2 water, 1/2 bbq sauce for making things like sloppy joes and roughly 3/4 liquid smoke and 1/4 water for making ground beef for recipes like chili.
D) Awesome: Frankly, I just think it's an awesome food because it's cheap, keeps forever, and I can use it for so many things. And although I've never tried it, considering that this was one of the things my parents ate the most when they backpacked for days on end decades ago, I can't think of anything bad about TVP.
Curious about TVP? Check out these websites!
All About TVP
What Is TVP? Definition and Recipes
Welcome to the Blog!
Hello! Let me be the first to say welcome to the Vegan Eatin' blog, your source for delicious vegan recipes and information and reviews on vegan food and vegan food products. This blog will be dedicated to providing viewers with pertinent vegan food information and topics, reviews, suggested products/recipes to review will always be appreciated and welcome. To send me any of the aforementioned information simply e-mail the address located in my contact information on this page.
Today I'm going to review Lightlife Smart Dogs, a vegan alternative to hot dogs. Reviews will be based on the following criteria: ease of preparation, versatility, level of healthiness, organic or not, texture, flavor, and the overall review.
Lightlife Smart Dogs
Ease of Preparation: 5/5 These not dogs can be prepared through boiling, grilling, or microwaving. The microwave is the recommended preparation method and the most appealing in my opinion because it keeps the texture uniform. The time it takes to microwave one hot dog usually ranges from 30-60 seconds, depending on the power of the microwave. Needless to say this is a pretty simple way to prepare a meal.
Versatility: 2/5 The flavor and texture of the smart dog make it pretty difficult to use it for much other than its purpose of hot dog substitute. I found that trying to use it to make something like corn dogs or franks and beans was difficult and not worth the effort because in the case of the former the batter was unable to really stick onto the dog and in the case of the latter the texture was off and didn't work well with the beans.
Level of healthiness: 4/5 I took one point off because of the arguments against eating processed foods, but other than that this is a pretty healthy choice for vegans and non vegans alike. At 45 calories per dog these are a very low calorie substitute for meat based hot dogs and many vegetarian hot dog substitutes. Each hot dog contains 8 grams of soy protein and a negligible amount of fat. There is some sodium in this product, although it is not as much as many soups and other hot dogs and dog substitutes. For what it is it's a very healthy choice and alternative to most meat based and vegetarian hot dogs.
Organic/Not organic: Not organic. This product is not certified organic, but the company does say on their label that they do not include GMO (genetically modified) soybeans in any of their food products.
Texture: 3/5 The texture of the smart dogs isn't great, but it isn't awful. When used like a hot dog it is hard to tell, but if you eat one of these dogs plain you will see that they can be pretty rubbery. The other side of this is that when overcooked they tend to get very tough, making it harder to pull them apart. That being said, the rubberiness is not overwhelming and not off putting, making it better than some and worse than some.
Flavor: 3/5 These dogs have a flavor, but it's pretty mild and underwhelming. Personally I don't mind this because it doesn't overpower the taste of toppings, which I like to pile high on my hot dogs, but for those looking for a flavorful substitute to a meat hot dog you will be disappointed here. These hot dogs have no spices as far as I can tell and are probably palatable to most, but certainly not exciting or bold.
Overall: 3/5 These hot dogs are not outstanding or very exciting, but they certainly do have a purpose as an easy and quickly made mainstay for busy nights and laziness. They have little chance of being off putting because of their lack of extremes in any direction so they are a generally easy serve at a bbq or get together. Overall these dogs are a very comfortable, middle of the road healthy substitute for the meat dog.
New to veganism? Check out these websites!
Vegetarian Resources
Vegan Action.Org- Your Intro to Veganism
Great Vegan Recipes
Today I'm going to review Lightlife Smart Dogs, a vegan alternative to hot dogs. Reviews will be based on the following criteria: ease of preparation, versatility, level of healthiness, organic or not, texture, flavor, and the overall review.
Lightlife Smart Dogs
Ease of Preparation: 5/5 These not dogs can be prepared through boiling, grilling, or microwaving. The microwave is the recommended preparation method and the most appealing in my opinion because it keeps the texture uniform. The time it takes to microwave one hot dog usually ranges from 30-60 seconds, depending on the power of the microwave. Needless to say this is a pretty simple way to prepare a meal.
Versatility: 2/5 The flavor and texture of the smart dog make it pretty difficult to use it for much other than its purpose of hot dog substitute. I found that trying to use it to make something like corn dogs or franks and beans was difficult and not worth the effort because in the case of the former the batter was unable to really stick onto the dog and in the case of the latter the texture was off and didn't work well with the beans.
Level of healthiness: 4/5 I took one point off because of the arguments against eating processed foods, but other than that this is a pretty healthy choice for vegans and non vegans alike. At 45 calories per dog these are a very low calorie substitute for meat based hot dogs and many vegetarian hot dog substitutes. Each hot dog contains 8 grams of soy protein and a negligible amount of fat. There is some sodium in this product, although it is not as much as many soups and other hot dogs and dog substitutes. For what it is it's a very healthy choice and alternative to most meat based and vegetarian hot dogs.
Organic/Not organic: Not organic. This product is not certified organic, but the company does say on their label that they do not include GMO (genetically modified) soybeans in any of their food products.
Texture: 3/5 The texture of the smart dogs isn't great, but it isn't awful. When used like a hot dog it is hard to tell, but if you eat one of these dogs plain you will see that they can be pretty rubbery. The other side of this is that when overcooked they tend to get very tough, making it harder to pull them apart. That being said, the rubberiness is not overwhelming and not off putting, making it better than some and worse than some.
Flavor: 3/5 These dogs have a flavor, but it's pretty mild and underwhelming. Personally I don't mind this because it doesn't overpower the taste of toppings, which I like to pile high on my hot dogs, but for those looking for a flavorful substitute to a meat hot dog you will be disappointed here. These hot dogs have no spices as far as I can tell and are probably palatable to most, but certainly not exciting or bold.
Overall: 3/5 These hot dogs are not outstanding or very exciting, but they certainly do have a purpose as an easy and quickly made mainstay for busy nights and laziness. They have little chance of being off putting because of their lack of extremes in any direction so they are a generally easy serve at a bbq or get together. Overall these dogs are a very comfortable, middle of the road healthy substitute for the meat dog.
New to veganism? Check out these websites!
Vegetarian Resources
Vegan Action.Org- Your Intro to Veganism
Great Vegan Recipes
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