So I think there are so many vegan blogs in blog world that my mind has officially blown trying to at least glance at all of them. Even the amount of vegan blogs on wordpress blows me away. There is so much good stuff out there. I love and admire these writers plugging away every day churning out new work. It really is inspirational. The only struggle I face trying this vegan life is having to cook two meals… one for me, and one for my carnivorous boyfriend.
So I have taken to cooking for him, and eating a lot of salads. But when I don’t slack, I do attempt to cook two meals that kind of build off of one another. Basically a vegan meal that I can throw some meat in and satiate the man at the same time. This works really well with salads, pastas and stir frys.
Through some of my research (taste testing) I would have to say that these are some of my absolute favorite products…
http://www.tofutti.com/ I love cream cheese. I was a cream cheese addict in a former life (2 years ago). I used to take cheese its and dunk them in cream cheese and eat handfuls like that. This is a good substitute. Actually I really like all of their products. They are creamy and lovely and I could eat them with cheez its. If I was allowed.
http://www.gomaxgofoods.com/ candy bars are awesome… Thats just it.
http://bragg.com/products/la.html Super duper soy sauce substitute. I can put this all over steamed veggies and not even miss soy. Plus you don’t have to worry about the sodium. Its a win win.
http://almondbreeze.com/ I buy it in the cardboard containers because its the cheapest I can find!!! Plus I can store it in dry storage until I need to use it. AWESOME
http://www.missionfoodservice.com/about/FAQs.aspx Mission tortillas. They are my go to tortillas for ALL THINGS! I even wrapped peanut butter and banana in them yesterday. I love it. They are perfect. Albeit a little fattening, but still really awesome.
I also love these vegan meatballs that I find at whole foods… I just cannot find a link to the company. So I found this yummy recipe that I am going to try right away. http://www.vegangela.com/2010/10/05/vegan-meat-balls/
Soooo… If you want another more professional looking list check it out here. This is a fantastic blog I just discovered today… http://conservegan.wordpress.com/best-vegan-products/ I also find an easy way to make quick vegan meals is to keep a ton of frozen veggies and fruit in the freezer…And throw them in everything! Also invest in a magic bullet, or something of the sort. I have a faux magic bullet from walmart, and it even chops up large ice chunks. Love it. I even make hummus and soup in it. It makes my life so much easier. And that is my goal…Always to make life easier.
xoxo
Stop.Refresh.Go 
October 23, 2012 at 12:33 pm
Does you boyfriend absolutely have to eat meat in every meal? My husband also eats meat. But I only cook vegan meals at home. He is ok with it. When we go out to eat, he can order meat dishes. If he really feel like having meat, he would just go buy something for himself. That way, I don’t have to cook two meals, and I don’t have buy animal products which I really don’t want to buy. This system works well for us. Maybe you can talk to you boyfriend and work something out? So you don’t have to do so much work. 🙂
October 23, 2012 at 9:45 pm
You know what… I guess I have been scared to cook vegan for him…If that makes any sense? Sometimes I make veggie chili and he loves it…And I can get away with faux chicken noodle. But I guess I just need to find some recipes that he really likes and doesn’t miss the meat. He is an old school, meat and potatoes guy. What do you find are big hits with your husband? In terms of vegan meals?
October 24, 2012 at 10:51 am
My husband likes faux meat dishes. He also like anything spicy. I think most people think vegan dishes are tasteless and bland, just a bunch of boring veggies. But if you make it really flavorful, then they don’t really need the meat. 🙂
October 25, 2012 at 12:50 am
I think you are right! I am definitely making the noodles you posted yesterday at some point within the next week. I think he has a hard time adjusting to new things? Its like…He thinks in his head that he will hate it, so he ends up not even giving it a chance. Im going to get creative!