Shopping trip

I have totally been slacking in updating ever since I got my tooth pulled! I can finally eat normal foods again so we decided to do some food shopping. We took an hour trip to Wegman's and this is what we came home with...

 A healthy alternative to fruit snacks 

We had never tried this before and its really good! We bought strawberry, blueberry, vanilla, and raspberry! Will definitely be buying again :)

 If buying this mac and cheese, buy the one that says dairy free and soy free on the top! they make 3 different kinds

 Never tried these before but they look good. I was never a big fan of hot dogs but my daughter loves tofu pops

 Of course Daiya :) They only had mozzarella tho!

 Never had these before either. I don't think you can screw up pita chips though!

 These were expensive. Made by Caesar's . I hope they are good!

I'm really excited to try these. I'm a fan of Tofurky's products since they have never let me down.

17 month old eating tofu on video

I thought you guys might enjoy this. I get asked alllll the time how I get my child to eat tofu. She has been eating it for the last 9 months without ever refusing it! It just happens to be one of her favorite foods :) She usually shovels it in and throws the fork to the side, but she was a bit camera shy today.

Question - Becoming a Vegan

"I've been thinking a lot about trying to go vegan (even if it's only for a week), but I get overwhelmed because if animals aren't IN something that I want to eat or use, they were harmed to make it. I'd really love to hear about your transition to veganism. I'd also be interested in a post about your favorite vegan-approved products (health & beauty AND foods!)"

This is a really great topic to discuss. I get asked a lot how to transition from your old lifestyle into the life of being a vegan without feeling overwhelming guilt for not knowing everything. Even if you don't stay a vegan, you still have the option to pick products that are animal friendly. Being educated is key!

Its very important to decide why you want to make the change and to draw guidelines for yourself.  For some people, easing into the change will be easier, while others will want to jump in 100%. You'll need to decide which products you want to cut out first if you are going to ease into the change. When I first became a vegan, I started with food products first, then transitioned to other lifestyle products (clothing, material, beauty products, etc.). The most immediate change you can make is to your diet. My transition was quick due to my milk allergy but you can go at any pace that is comfortable for you.

• Learn to read labels. The main things you want to avoid are any kind of meat (lard, by-products, chicken/turkey stock), dairy products (milk, cheese, whey, buttermilk, butter, lactose, lactic acid, casein), eggs, and anything made from animal bones (gelatin) . Most companies will bold products for allergy reasons, but at least glance over the entire list for anything that could possibly sound like it might be related to an animal. They only have to list things that will cause an allergic reaction. You will also have to decide for yourself if you will consider honey to be vegan or not vegan. If a product is labeled to be a 'cheese alternative' or 'meat alternative', check to make sure it is vegan. Many cheese alternatives have milk or casein in them, as well as many meat alternatives. When it comes to food, home made is best. Eating out will be tricky but always ask questions. Some companies, like Amy's and Whole Foods, are proud to put 'vegan' on their products. Learning vegan recipes or how to use vegan foods will also help your transition. I started this blog to teach people how to make simple meals that won't cost a lot and don't involve crazy ingredients that you have never heard of before.

Here is a great site that shows some hidden animal products http://www.cyberparent.com/nutrition/hiddenanimalsfoodproducts.htm

• Reading labels can also be applied to clothing and beauty products. My biggest secret - Trust most store brand products and avoid almost every major brand.. 'Knock off' products are made to be cheaper, and usually contain different materials. Avoid suede, fur, and leather when buying shoes, belts, couches, cars, etc. Most store brand clothing will use a fake suede, fur, or leather. Always read the labels of cosmetics and beauty products. Almost every big cosmetic company does test on animals. If a company does not test on animals, they will be proud to say so. Question any product that does not state that no animals were used in testing. Google search a list to print out and keep with you when you go to the store. There definitely are some gray areas, where companies will test the ingredients on animals but not the final product. It is incredibly hard to know whether or not they did use animals but you can always call or write to the company and ask questions.

• Reward yourself! Being a vegan is a huge lifestyle change that shouldn't be taken lightly. Whether you go vegan for a week, a year, or a lifetime - YOU can make a difference in the life of animals. We, as consumers, have the ability to control what is in demand. We can successfully lower the prices of healthy foods and animal friendly foods. Remember - if you mess up or accidentally consume something not vegan - it's okay! Accidents will happen. I didn't become a vegan years ago and get where I am today without making mistakes! I've accidentally eaten products that had eggs or dairy in them. We learn from our mistakes and move on. Education is so important and google is your friend in this. Google and ask every question you have. If you are having doubts about why you are doing this or ready to give up because it is too hard, google some images or videos of what happens to these animals. It is truly heartbreaking and enough to make anyone want to be cruelty free.

Some of my favorite food brands 

• Boca
• Earth Balance
• Amy's
• Wegmans
• Whole Foods
• Dominex
• Silk
• Tofurky
• Annies
• Yogi
• Purely Decadent
• Van's
• Vegan Gourmet
• Daiya

My favorite non-food companies that don't test on animals

• Wet N Wild
• Almay
• MAC Cosmetics
• Mary Kay
• Nature's Miracle 
• Physician's Formula
• Revlon
• Seventh Generation
• Tressa
• Urban Decay

Here is a nice list of animal friendly companies  http://punkrockbarbiedoll.tumblr.com/donottest

My biggest tip - If you are going to try veganism, please give it a month of serious commitment. If after a month you find it just isn't for you and that you can't make it work, then at least you gave it a good shot. If you give up before then, you really haven't had enough time to get used to it. It really is a lifestyle change and you can't change your whole life in a month.

Good luck to everyone and I always welcome questions! 

TofuXpress

So who would like to donate $40 to our blog to get us a TofuXpress??

A huge reason why people don't like cooking with tofu is because it is such a royal pain to press and drain. I have tried a ton of methods and it is just so wasteful, messy, and time consuming. For $40 + shipping you can get this bad boy to do all of the work for you. Seems to be a decent deal considering you probably waste well over $40 worth of paper towels and other supplies trying to get all of the water out of tofu! 

I asked for one for Valentine's Day so we will see if I get one :) I am not counting on it since I asked for this bad boy for Christmas and I have yet to see it...

Draining Tofu

Here is a little tip I learned recently in terms of draining tofu. Normally I press it with a paper towel until there is no moisture left, but google recently introduced me to a new method.

Microwaving!

I haven't perfected it, but I wanted to put it out there to see if anyone had any input on it. It was a bit difficult but did work. Basically it heats the tofu up and releases all of the water - which works great if you have something for the water to drain into. I've heard of people using coffee filters but it just seems like there is too much water for that to work. I put the tofu in for 2 minutes, then 30 seconds until most of it was drained. I had to keep pressing it in between because I didn't have a good drainage system set up.

I was also a bit concerned with the microwave taking out any essential nutrients since we tend to avoid cooking in them. Microwaves tend to kill certain vitamins (which is why you shouldn't microwave vegetables). I don't know how that works in terms of tofu, but I'm just putting it out there. 

How do YOU drain your tofu? Press it? Let it sit under a plate? Microwave? 

Snacks Part 2

In addition to the first snack post (which you can view here), I decided to do a part 2/what we are snacking on lately.

Broccoli,  Green beans, Peas, not too much of mushrooms tho

Veggie Straws - Our favorite

Rice Cakes

Bananas - must always have bananas in this house!

This is her new favorite - Peanut butter on toast. I can't complain! 

Original Chex Mix - an occasional snack

Chickpeas - delicious just by themselves!

Cucumbers - she loves them

 Blueberry bagels

 Strawberry Banana Orange Juice Soy Milk Smoothie (sometimes with tofu)

Wheat thins - I prefer the low fat ones! 

Tofurky Roast with Stuffing and Vegetables

I'll be the first to admit that I always side-eyed the Tofurky roasts in the store. I tried one years ago and it tasted awful, so I never tried it again....until now. It was absolutely delicious and I would definitely recommend to EVERYONE! Even my meat-eater boyfriend chose to eat this over real turkey. It lasted us a week and still tasted great! 

What you'll need

Tofurkey Roast (please read the ingredients - not all of them are vegan)

Vegetables of your choice

 

(The one I bought didn't have the brownie included)

How to Make

 It looks really weird right out of the box, but trust me, it is worth it. Be careful taking it out of the package.

This was so simple. It takes about an hour or so to cook. Follow the directions on the box carefully! You need to cook the roast for about a half hour first by itself with half of the gravy they gave you, then another half hour with all of the gravy and whatever vegetables you want. The gravy is absolutely delicious and they give you more than enough so you won't need to make your own! 

I would definitely make this again, even when it isn't a holiday. Its so tender and the stuffing is really good! The whole box was around $10.99 and totally worth it!

Tofu and Broccoli

This is my go-to recipe when we are short on time and hungry! From the sound of this blog, it sounds like we are always starving and rushed for time but I swear we are not. 

This is also my daughter's favorite recipe ever. She never says no to it. This recipe involves two basic, cheap ingredients - tofu and broccoli. This recipe reminds everyone of Chinese food, probably because it uses soy sauce.

You'll need

 Extra firm tofu

Broccoli

Salt/Salt substitute

Pepper

Vegetable oil

Lemon juice

Soy Sauce

Garlic

How to make

Start the broccoli in a little water and oil. While that is cooking, start on your tofu. Cut it into blocks and press out the water. The dryer the tofu, the better. Toss that into a second pan with lemon juice, soy sauce, pepper, salt, and garlic. Put as much as you want of each - There is no wrong way to make this recipe. 


After about 5 minutes of cooking the tofu, add the broccoli in. You can add some more soy sauce so the broccoli tastes of it too. We use low sodium soy sauce. You can also season this with stir fry sauce but we like the taste of the soy sauce.

When everything gets a bit of a golden brown hue to it, you're done. The tofu will firm up a bit and turn a golden brown and the broccoli will turn brownish from the soy sauce.

That's it! You're done. Cut it up into small pieces if you are feeding it to a child.