Tag Archives: the veg life

Annie’s Deluxe Rich & Creamy Shells and Vegan Cheddar with Broccoli Mac N Cheese Review

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I’m gonna be honest, this mac n cheese is not that good compared to Daiya’s. That’s not to say that this one is bad per se, it’s just… not the one I’d recommend.

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So, this box of mac was shells, with pieces of broccoli in it. I liked that they were shells, I don’t know why the go-to shape is macaroni, but shells worked just as well. The box is the same size and portion as Daiya’s (both boxes only make one bowl), which was great! I was actually a little considered because the box looked smaller for some reason, but when I put them side by side, they were the same.

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The noodles were packed loose in the box, which I don’t really mind because that means less packaging, which means less harm to the Earth (which is always a win!), but the sauce packet was surprisingly smaller.

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Not only was the sauce packet small, but it was also a lighter colour. I didn’t really mind the lighter colour, but was surprised that it tasted watered down.  And I even added vegan margarine and almond milk to it! It was a much mellower taste than Daiya’s. Like, if someone was trying to make mac n cheese from a memory of how it tasted. It was there, just very subtle-y. You could actually probably use this mac n cheese and turn it into another pasta dish without knowing it was originally mac n cheese.

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The dried broccoli tasted pretty much how you’d expect dried broccoli to taste, and the pieces were very small. I mean, I like eating raw broccoli by itself, so maybe I’m just a freak, but if you’re gonna write on the front of your box/advertise that the mac n cheese has broccoli in it, you’d think there would be more broccoli in it, y’know?

All in all, this mac n cheese is pretty underwhelming. Maybe years of eating Daiya has desensitized my taste buds, but it was a pretty subtle flavour. If you don’t like how strong Daiya products taste, then I’d definitely recommend you try this one! Maybe you’ll love how subtle a flavour it has. But for me, this was a miss.

Except for the shells. Whoever was in charge of choosing the shape was on their game.


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Skinny Pop! White Cheddar Popcorn Review

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I’m gonna be honest, I love popcorn in basically any form. (The exception being that sweet/sticky stuff people put on it at Christmas… I think it’s called ‘kettle corn’?) And I especially love it when it comes with faux-cheese flavour. Before we discovered I was allergic to dairy products, I used to eat Smartfood White Cheddar Popcorn when we had end-of-year class parties in elementary school, and let me tell you, I was so into that stuff!

Maybe it’s because it was tied to the end of school/beginning of summer, or maybe it’s because I was just so young I still thought everything was amazing, but I was crushed when we discovered my allergy, and I learned that I couldn’t eat one of my favourite treats anymore.

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Now, as I’m sure you’ve guessed, it’s been quite a while since I’ve had the ‘real’ thing (I think it’s been about 20 years now [… how old are people in gr. 2?]), and I don’t know if Skinny Pop! was even trying to emulate it, but this tastes very similar to what I remember the Smartfood popcorn being.

Needless to say, I love this one, too!

Not only do these bags of popcorn bring back fond childhood memories with their flavour, perhaps the best part of them? They (sometimes) come in giant bags!

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Seriously, this thing is roughly the same size as my torso! And yes, it still had a lot of air in it, but that’s still a big bag!

One thing I don’t like about this popcorn, is that the seasoning sometime falls all to the bottom of the bag. This has a simple fix, though. Just shake the bag/turn it upside down for a little bit before you open it to redistribute the flavour.

Speaking of the flavouring, it’s powdery, white and sticks to your fingers. Similar to ketchup dust from chips. But it’s so good, I’m sure you won’t mind licking it off yourself when you finish.

Other than that, there’s not really too much to say about this product. It’s vegan and awesome, and I recommend everyone try it. They also have other flavours, though I’m not sure if all the flavours are vegan. I’ve also tried their plain popcorn one (Green bag), that one was good too.

If you like popcorn, you definitely have to try this one!


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Daiya’s Meatless Pepperoni Style Pizza Review

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Pepperoni pizzas are considered to be pretty basic, but just because a product isn’t overly complicated or a mash of six different flavours doesn’t mean it shouldn’t get just as much attention as the more exotic products out there!

Sometimes, you just need a simple meal to fill you, and that’s what this pizza does best.

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I’ve only tried this pizza once – for some reason it’s really hard to find in Canada – and I ended up burning it a bit, so it was a bit more crunchy then I like, but even with that, it was pretty good!

The crust and cheese tasted the same as their other frozen pizzas. The pepperoni was more interesting. Now, the only other vegan pepperoni I’ve tried is Yves and the one that PizzaPizza uses (though they might use Yves, I can’t remember right now), and I don’t really remember what meat pepperoni tastes like, but I liked this one. It was actually pretty spicy, which I wasn’t expecting. It was about the same amount of spicy as the Beyond Meat Spicy Sausages. Which might not be that much for some of you, but for me it’s a lot.

Because they were spicy, they reminded me of what Hot Rods used to taste like. I don’t know how popular those are outside of Canada, but that’s pretty much what they tasted like. They were also pretty big in size, bigger than the pepperoni PizzaPizza uses, (I bought a pizza specifically to compare their sizes). Aside from the spicy aspect, they also had quite a strong smokey flavour.

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I obviously would’ve liked them better if they weren’t spicy, and just smokey, but the smoke flavour did a good job of sort of ‘washing’ your mouth out when you swallowed so it didn’t feel like your throat was on fire.

This pizza is also the same price as the others (usually $10.99), which you could maybe argue for it being less because there’s only one thing on it. Other than that, there’s not really much to tell. It’s pretty basic, but it’s good.


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Where Do Vegans Get Their Vitamin D?

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Everyone knows you get Vitamin D from the sun, and of course, almost every adult knows the joke version of where to get this nutrient, but I bet if you asked someone which plant foods have Vitamin D in them, they’d be at a loss.

I was even surprised to learn that the only plant based food that has naturally occurring Vitamin D is mushrooms. In fact, if I didn’t research it for this series, I probably wouldn’t have learned that. I mean, don’t get me wrong, there is Vitamin D in lots of vegetables, but the amount in other vegetables is so minimal, you can’t use them as your main source for the nutrient.

I was especially eager to do this nutrient, because as someone living in Toronto (Canada) where our weather is mostly winter, getting Vitamin D from the sun can be quite a challenge for the majority of the year. And as most people know, you can’t just go outside without sunscreen on for a few hours and ‘stock up’ on Vitamin D so you’re good for the year. (Though Vitamin D is fat soluble, meaning our bodies can store some extra)

So, what if you’re vegan and live somewhere with minimal sun, and don’t like mushrooms? Does that mean you’re just screwed?

Luckily, no! Similar to B12, there are foods available that have been fortified with Vitamin D, that are vegan friendly. Unfortunately, the list isn’t very long, but there’s definitely enough to have a bit of variety. Also, as someone who used to hate mushrooms, if you just make yourself eat them (in small amounts), eventually you’ll see they aren’t all that bad.

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Starting in the top left corner, going clockwise:

  • The Sun (10 minutes outside without sunscreen in summer)
  • Orange Juice (1C = 100IU)
  • Oat/Almond/Rice Milk (1C = 85-90IU)
  • Soy Milk (1C = 86IU)
  • Maitake Mushrooms (1C = 786IU)
  • Portobello Mushrooms (1C = 634IU)
  • Shiitake Mushrooms (1C = 26IU)
  • White Button Mushrooms (1C = 7IU)

For those who may be as confused as I was, IU stands for International Units. I’m not too sure why this is the unit of measure for this particular nutrient, but I’m sure there’s some scientific/important reason other than ‘just to be different’.

It’s recommended that people 1 year to 70 years old get 600-4,000IU of Vitamin D each day. This may sound like a lot, but don’t forget our bodies can store some excess Vitamin D, and even if you’re inside, if you’re by a window that’s in the sun, you’re still getting some Vitamin D.

Also, if you make a kick-ass mushroom dish (one of my favourites is a family recipe, called Peas and Mushrooms [can you guess what’s in it?]  or you could make a stir fry, stuffed mushrooms, pasta with mushrooms… there are tons of dishes you could make with mushrooms!) you’ll have plenty of Vitamin D stocked up.

And if you’re still worried, there’s always Tinder.


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Haagen-Dazs Non-Dairy Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate Ice Cream Bar Review

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While the Vegan Festival did happen this year, I didn’t think it was safe enough to attend, even though they had pretty good regulations in place to keep everyone safe. Although I absolutely loved the previous festivals, I’m not going to jump the gun just because I want to have fun.

So, with that in mind, I’m bringing you another ice cream review, instead.

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I actually first tried Haagen Dazs vegan ice cream at one of the festivals, so I thought it fitting that I reviewed their product in place of the festival review.

These ice cream bars are very tasty. It had that dark chocolate that makes you thirsty as a coating, encasing the peanut butter ice cream, on a stick. The bar is similar to what I remember Reece’s cups tasting like (though I haven’t had those in over 7 years, so maybe not the best authority on their taste. That said, it was chocolate and peanut butter, which is a great combo regardless of how close it tastes to a sugary snack.

Another cool thing about the Haagen Dazs ice cream, is that it is actually peanut butter ice cream, not almond, soy, or nut-based. They straight up turned peanut butter into ice cream, and used that. I think that’s part of why it tastes so good, because they didn’t make (for example) almond ice cream, and then blend peanut butter with it, it’s just peanut butter.

There were streaks/swirls of what looked like chocolate in the bar. I don’t know exactly what the swirls were made out of, but am assuming it was chocolate fudge, as the name suggests. I don’t know if I’d say it was a ‘fudge-y’ flavour, but it definitely added to the overall taste of the bar. Even the wooden stick the bar is on tastes pretty good!

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(Don’t mind the Supernatural pyjama background)

There was also a lattice pattern of drizzled chocolate over the coating, which made the bar feel very fancy. The box they come in is also a fancy looking green and gold, which really makes it feel like you’re buying a premium ice cream.

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Speaking of the box, only 3 bars come in one, which… well, I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: it sucks! Why do they make vegan food in such small quantities? Also, judging by the size of the box, you could fit at least one more in there. They wouldn’t even have to change production or make updated boxes! Four at least would be better, especially for the price. One box is $5.98 at Walmart, and while that’s pretty on par with the other vegan ice creams, if given the choice between a tub and 3 bars, economically, it just makes sense to buy the tub. You get more ice cream for almost the same price.

All in all, these bars make you feel pretty fancy/posh when you eat them (or maybe that’s just me?), and they are pretty tasty. If you haven’t tried them yet, I definitely recommend you add them to your summer shopping list. (At least once)


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Ben and Jerry’s Netflix and Chill’d Non-Dairy Ice Cream Review

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I was so happy and excited the first time I tried this flavour, that I thought it tasted similar to a marshmallow. While that actually isn’t the case, this is still one of my favourite flavours from Ben and Jerry’s. I’m so glad that they’ve continued to release new non-dairy flavours! (And, if you guys are taking suggestions, a Rocky Road pint would be awesome!)

*picture of pint*

This Netflix and Chill’d flavour has peanut butter ice cream, with sweet and salty pretzel swirls and fudge brownies. And honestly, with a description like that, how could anybody not like this flavour?

The base peanut butter ice cream is pretty good. It tastes like what I imagine Reece ice cream does. I will say though, that because there are so many other flavours going on with this ice cream, the peanut butter taste can get lost. For example, if you’re eating it and watching TV, it’s easy to forget/not taste that the peanut butter ice cream is peanut butter. At one point I had to re-read the pint because for a moment I thought it was vanilla, or some other ‘basic’ flavour.

The fudge brownie pieces are very good as well. They’re chocolate-y and cake-y, which is never not a plus when we’re talking about ice cream. Whoever was the first person to think ‘hey, y’know what would taste good in ice cream? Brownie pieces’ was a genius.

The only thing that I would say disappointed me about this flavour (other than the fact that the pint is still super small!), is the fact that the pretzel ‘swirls’ are like, little tiny pieces of pretzel – like the dust/crumbs at the end of a bag – and not actual pieces of pretzels. I think this flavour would be a better experience if there were actual chunks/pieces of pretzel in it. Need a little salty crunch to balance out all the other soft sweetness.

All in all, this is one of my favourite ice cream flavours, and I highly recommend you try it for yourself. Just make sure not to eat the whole pint at once (even though you’ll want to).


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8 Simple Summer Recipes

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Who doesn’t love summer? The long, cold winter is finally over, plants are in full bloom, and you generally just feel better all around now that you can actually go outside and see the sun.

But, there is one downside to summer: it gets hot.

I know, I know, when you’re coming out of a winter that got down to -40, hot weather is something of a salvation. But! When it’s hot out, you won’t want to turn on the oven and make your place even hotter. And, let’s be honest, there’s only so many days in a row you can BBQ before you get sick of it. (Especially the clean up)

So, in a bid to save your electric bill and your BBQ, here is a list of 8 simple, no-cook summer recipes to get you through the days when you just cannot eat a burger.

 

1 Nice-Cream

While technically nice-cream isn’t a ‘meal’, it is no-cook, also, who’s gonna complain about a new way to make ice cream?

This nice-cream is super simple to make. All you really need is some frozen bananas, some Silk (or other non-dairy milk), and a blender. If you don’t want it to taste like bananas, you can throw other stuff in the blender as well. (I’ve tried frozen cherries, and cocoa powder with chocolate Silk, but really pretty much any frozen berry you’d want would probably work)

Once you have all your ingredients, toss them all into the blender at the same time, and blend until its maybe Slushy consistency. Don’t worry if you over-blend it. If it gets too runny, then just call it a smoothies.

And boom! That’s it.

Told you these were simple!

 

2 Chickpea Salad Sandwich

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I know I might be late to the game with this, but I recently discovered that chickpea salad sandwiches are actually pretty good – and this is coming from someone who doesn’t really like chickpeas! (Unless they’re in roasted red pepper hummus form)

I also learned that chickpeas in a can don’t have to be cooked before eating (but you should still rinse them), which is great in the summer because then you won’t even have to turn the stove on!

Another nice thing with not only this recipe, but with a lot of summer recipes, is that since they’re all meant to be eaten cold, you can make a lot on one day, and then just eat them directly out of the fridge for a few days after. No-cook weeks are awesome not only because they won’t heat your house when it’s already hot, but they also save you a lot of time!

Most meal prep takes about an hour, but if you don’t have to cook every single day, that’s an extra hour you’re gaining back to do one of the other millions of things I’m sure you’re ‘getting around to’.

Okay, so to make chickpea salad, you can actually do pretty much whatever you like (again, it’s food, which means it’s based on your tastes), but this is the way I like it:

  • 1 can of chickpeas
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • ½ tsp of Paprika (about)
  • 1 tsp Garlic Powder
  • 1 tsp Black Pepper
  • 1 tsp Dill
  • 1 Tbsp vegan mayo (optional)

Once you have all the ingredients, then all you have to do is smash the chickpeas with whatever masher you’d like – you can use an actual potato masher, or a fork, or a hammer, whatever way you like smashing your chickpeas – and smash them up so there are a lot of bits and halves, but also be sure to leave in some whole ones. This gives it a better texture.

Once all the chickpeas are somewhat smashed, add all the other ingredients to the bowl and mix until it’s all pretty much evenly distributed. You can then either eat it right away, or (depending on how long it took you to smash the chickpeas), throw it in the fridge until it gets cold again, then you can put it on a sandwich.

You can also add other things like lettuce or spinach to the sandwich to make it a little more filling. Or you could over-fill the sandwich so there’s a lot of chickpeas in it. When I make them, I use about 2-3 Tbsp of the chickpea mix per sandwich.

Or, you could go even simpler and just eat the chickpea mix right out of a bowl and skip the sandwich making all together.

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  1. Cucumber Noodles

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I know cucumber noodles are pretty big in the raw vegan community, and they have all kinds of inventive dressings, sauces and ways you can dress up these bad boys, but I like mine kept simple, with just a little salt and pepper.

You could try one of the thousands of sauces that are out there, but sometimes you just need something simple to hit the spot. I mostly make cucumber noodles when I want to eat cucumber slices, but want to make them ‘fancy’.

You can achieve the ‘noodle’ like strands with the cucumbers by either running it through a Spiralizer, hand-cutting them thinly, or I believe a mandolin would work, as well.

The first time I tried cucumber noodles, I actually hand-cut them. They didn’t look nearly as appetizing as the above noodles, though they still tasted good! It was still just cucumber after all.

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See? Not the prettiest, but taste was on point! (Minus the pesto)

 

  1. Salad

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You know, for as bad of a wrap salads get (no pun intended), they are actually quite a handy meal. You can basically throw together anything in a bowl and call it a salad. Fruits, vegetables, beans, pasta – there are like a million different ‘salad’ recipes possible.

Which is great, because many of them only require you to chop up a few things and mix them in a bowl. You can’t get much simpler than that! And, what’s more, is once you have the salad done, you can use it in other meals, too. For example, instead of just eating a salad in a bowl, if you throw it in a tortilla, now you’ve got yourself a salad wrap!

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This will of course depend on what kind of salad you’re gonna make. While I’m not trying to limit your salad creations, I just don’t think a fruit salad wrap would work. But you do you.

For a lettuce salad, I always start with the same basics

  • Lettuce
  • Cucumber
  • Bell Pepper
  • Hemp Hearts
  • Nooch/Cheese Shreds

Then from here, you can dress it up however you want! Sometimes I’ll add black salt to give it an ‘egg-y’ taste, or you can add bacon bits (No Name Bacon Bits are vegan!), dill, vegan mayo, and lemon juice to make a ranch/Caesar style dressing.

Or if it’s not astronomically hot, and you don’t mind turning on a burner, you could cook up some chick’n nuggets/strips and add those to your salad to turn it into a chick’n salad.

Or, you could make pasta salad, instead. For pasta salad, I usually add peas, bell pepper and celery to the noodles (either macaroni or Scoobi-Doo shapes are the best for pasta salad), and then for the dressing, I add: white vinegar, yellow/French’s mustard (optional), salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion (either powder or very small cubes), nooch (optional), and vegan mayo (also optional). Then you mix it together and let it cool in the fridge, or you could be one of those freaks who eat it when it’s still a little bit warm.

I love making pasta salad in the summer, not only because it’s super easy, but because it takes just as much effort to make a little bit of it as it does to make a lot. So I can usually make a big ‘batch’ of it, and then throw it in the fridge and eat it all week!

Also, same as lettuce salad, you could get a little creative and make a pasta salad wrap, or use leftovers in a warm pasta dish (I’ve turned left over pasta salad into mac n cheese) if you make it at the tail-end of summer. And, assuming it would last long enough you need to turn it into something else.

 

  1. Avocado Toast

I’ll be honest, I haven’t actually made avocado toast all that much, since I’m not that big of a fan of how avocados taste. I don’t know what it is, but it’s just not really my bag.

That said, I have been trying to force myself to eat them more often (which isn’t hard when you’re starting at ‘never’), because I know they’re super good for you. So, with that in mind, I’ve only made avocado toast twice, but both times I didn’t feel the need to immediately vomit, so I’m taking that as a good sign.

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This is the first way I tried it. I made some VeganEgg scrambled eggs, and then put some avocado slices on top of toast with a little bit of salt and pepper on top.

This… it tasted good, but as my first time trying avocado toast, with the giant pile of egg, it was too much of a not-that-great-texture in my mouth at once. I didn’t spit it out, but it was waaay too mushy for my liking. I did however finish it.

Some time after this, I had discovered I could eat at this place called Chipotle, so I went on a bit of a Chipotle kick, and decided to always get guac ‘on the side’, so I could continue to test the avocado waters. I wouldn’t eat the whole container of the guac (partly because Chipotle is super filling, and partly because I still wasn’t too into the taste), but my friend was more than happy to help me out. (This was pre-COVID, when sharing was still a thing we were allowed to do)

After that week of basically eating Chipotle straight, I didn’t eat avocado again until this year (2021), when I tried my hand at avocado toast again.

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This time around, I figured since I liked chickpea salad, if I made it ‘taste like summer’, I’d probably enjoy it more. Which, I don’t know if that’s why I liked it, or if my body had just gotten more used to eating avocados, but this time when I ate it, it wasn’t that bad. (Which was good, because I had another avocado in the fridge)

For this avo toast, I put salt, pepper, black salt (for the ‘egg-y’ tasty), a slice of PC Vegan Swiss Slices (side note: PC has come out with a whole line of new vegan products in Canada, which is awesome!), and smushed half an avocado on top, to which I mixed in some lemon juice, garlic powder, a smidge of paprika and dill.

Again, I don’t know if I liked this one more because I’m more used to eating avocados, or if it’s because I used less of it, but the second one I definitely wouldn’t mind eating more often. (… Which I realize isn’t that great of a selling point on a recipe, but hey, you’re here for honest opinions anyway, right? If you want awesome vegan recipes, go check out HotforFood)

 

  1. Cheese and Tomato Sandwich

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This one is probably the easiest recipe in this post. You literally take a slice of cheese, and a slice of tomato (or two) and add them to bread. Boom, done.

If you’re feeling adventurous, you can add some vegan mayo, and/or salt and pepper.

 

  1. Snack Plates

Like salads, snack plates are awesome, because you can basically make them whatever you want to eat.

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In summer especially, snack plates are great, because you can cut up a bunch of fruit and/or veggies, and then just mix and match them onto 1 plate, whip up a quick dip, and boom lunch is done.

I eat snack plates all the time and love them. Mine usually consist of: cucumber, green pepper, broccoli (or cauliflower), carrots and dip. But you can add whatever you want to them, really. It all depends on what you like to eat, and what you have. Sometimes, I’ll swap out one of the veggies for crackers and cheese, or some frozen nuggets or something. Or you could do a fruit mix with watermelon, strawberries, grapes, golden berries, etc.

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Or, you could do little lunch meat + cheese sliders and cut up veggies. Or meatballs, mozzarella sticks, and crackers, or… pretty much you want to center your snack plate around whatever your dip is. As long as all the foods you choose pair well with the dip, they can go on the same plate.

The possibilities are literally endless!

And there you have it! Hopefully this small list of summer recipes has inspired you to create your own no-cook recipes. It’s really not that hard! Most veggies are great to eat cold, and all it takes is (usually) a little bit of creative thinking, and usually a tortilla to make a kick-ass, cold meal.

Do you have any favourite no-cook summer meals? Are you going to try any from this list? Let me know in the comments!


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Vegan Fast Food: Subway Edition

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Some people don’t include Subway as a fast food place, because what they serve is more healthy then usual, but I say it’s called ‘fast food’, not ‘unhealthy food’.

Also, as vegans, we don’t really have the luxury of leaving places off our lists of acceptable places to eat.

Luckily though, Subway is pretty much a vegans’ dream because they have a lot of vegetables, and it’s pretty reasonably priced.

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In order, starting in the top left corner:

  • Ciabatta
  • Italian White Bread
  • Tortilla Wrap
  • Banana Peppers
  • Cucumber
  • Green (Bell) Pepper
  • Jalapeno Pepper
  • Pickles
  • Lettuce
  • Green Olives
  • Black Olives
  • Red Onion
  • Tomato
  • Falafel
  • Veggie Patty*
  • Beyond Meat Meatball
  • Avocado Puree
  • Guacamole
  • Black Bean Soup
  • Lays Classic
  • Lays Oven Baked Classic
  • AquaFina Water
  • Pepsi
  • Brisk Lemon Iced Tea
  • Pure Leaf Lemon Iced Tea
  • G2 Fruit Punch (Contains Red 40)
  • Tropicana Orange Juice
  • Subway Coffee

There were also some vegan options I wasn’t able to find pictures for. The not-picture vegan options are:

  • Hearty Italian Bread
  • Roasted Garlic Bread
  • Grilled Onions and Peppers
  • House Sandwich Sauce (Zesty Italian)
  • Mustard (Deli Brown)
  • Mustard (Yellow)
  • Sweet Onion Sauce
  • Mediterranean Soup

*Some restaurants have a veggie patty that contains egg and/or milk. Please ask before ordering.

I was surprised to learn that Subway offered coffee, and that so many of their sauces are vegan! Every time I’ve gone previously, I never got any sauce, unless they had ketchup. I thought I’d be cursed with eating dry sandwiches forever, but now I’m excited to try some sauces!

I also recommend asking the store what they have, as not every location always has every option available.


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Yves Spicy Italian Veggie Sausage Review

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First things first: they call these ‘sausages’ but they’re actually closer to not-dogs than sausages. I don’t know why they don’t just call them spicy not-dogs, but don’t get confused. If you want sausages do not reach for these! If you want spicy not-dogs however, feel free to stock up.

I first tried this product at the 2018 Vegandale Festival, it was the very last thing I ate before leaving, it came in a little cup on a toothpick. It was… well it tasted pretty much how I remember hot dogs tasting, but had a bit of a kick to it. (I assume that’s why they call it ‘spicy’) It was also big. They don’t call them ‘jumbo’, but these were pretty thick. Not overtly, but they’re definitely thicker than their regular not-dogs.

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Only 4 come in a pack, which again, is one of the downsides to buying these premade vegan foods – though their regular sized not-dogs come in a pack of 5, so I suppose it makes sense that these thicker ones have less. They’re also $5.99 at Loblaws, which isn’t that expensive when talking about vegan substitutes.

One thing I like about both these spicy not-dogs and their non-spicy ones, are that you can eat them cold or cooked, and their taste doesn’t change all that much. Also, again, like the non-spicy not-dogs, you can freeze these ones as well without a noticeable texture/flavour change. This is a great option, because that means you can buy them on sale, and then keep a few ‘extra’ packs in your freezer. Their FAQ even says their products can last 1-3 months in the freezer!

Another good thing about these? They have a recyclable packaging program! This is something I actually didn’t know about, but am so glad I found! The cardboard sleeve can be regular recycled, but then they also have a TerraCycle program for the plastic part.

Unfortunately, the link provided on their website to TerraCycle brought me to a 404 Error page, but once I hear back from the company, I’ll be sure to update this post with the specifics of the recycling program.

All in all, these spicy not-dogs are just that: spicy not-dogs. They’re nothing fancy, but you should definitely make space for them in your summer recipes!


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Where Do Vegans Get Their Omega-3’s?

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Now, I’m not gonna lie, I haven’t really paid attention to my Omega-3 intake as much as say, my B12 or protein. Which is actually really bad, because it turns out that Omega-3’s are really good for our bodies – getting enough Omega-3’s can help prevent plaque build-up in arteries, and can help reduce the likelihood of having a heart attack or stroke – and our bodies can’t produce Omega-3’s by themselves, which means we have to get them from an external source.

Like most other things I don’t have knowledge of, I blame school. Honestly, school teaches you a lot of stuff, but as I keep getting older, I keep finding it didn’t teach me very many practical things. (Such as how to do taxes, or how to budget – even though I took both a business and ‘family studies’ class)

In school, I learned Omega-3’s were in fish, but there wasn’t really a big emphasis on them being important – we focused more on The 4 Food Groups (Grains, Dairy, Fruits and Vegetables, and Meat + Alternatives). Now, don’t get me wrong, teaching little kids that eating from all those food groups everyday is good for your health is a great starting point, I just think that as I got older (read: in high school) we could’ve went a little more in depth to the why eating the food groups are important.

Luckily though, we live in a world where I can find an answer to almost anything I desire right from the comfort of my own home, so I’ve also done my own research into all the things I’ve always wondered about.

Also luckily, I wasn’t raised on processed sugar, so I didn’t have too many bad eating habits to unlearn. (For example, I am perfectly happy eating raw broccoli [or cauliflower, carrots, cucumbers, etc.] as a snack)

Also, doing this nutrient series has opened my eyes to the (apparently) minimal info I was given growing up about nutrition. This is also a big reason of why I’m so happy to share what I’ve learned – there’s no way I’m the only person on the planet who doesn’t know this stuff, and I want to make things easier for others to find. I think knowledge should be shared.

And on that note, time to share what you came for:

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Starting in the top-left corner, going clockwise:

  • Hemp Hearts (1oz = 6g)
  • Chia Seeds (1oz = 5g)
  • Flax Seeds (1Tbsp = 6.7g)
  • Cauliflower (1C = 37mg)
  • Edamame (1/2C = .28g)
  • Blueberries (1oz = 12.6g)
  • Walnuts (1oz = 2.5g)
  • Spinach (3.5oz = .37g)
  • Avocado Oil (1 Tbsp = 136mg)
  • Kidney Beans (1/2C = 10g)
  • Spirulina (1C = 922mg)
  • Nori/Seaweed (1/2C = 79mg)
  • Canola Oil (1Tbsp = 1.28g)
  • Perilla Oil (1Tbsp = 9g)

Thankfully for us non-meat eaters, Omega-3’s aren’t just in fish, and the foods that do contain them aren’t that hard to find. Another good thing? We only need 1.1g-1.6g a day, so fitting Omega-3 rich foods into our routines shouldn’t be that hard.


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