It’s been about six months since I started this blog, and as this little milesteone approaches, I’m excited to bring a contributor on board. My friend Brielle will be embracing a 30-day vegan challenge and has agreed to share her experience on Lazy Girl Vegan. Welcome, Brielle!
What did you love to eat as a child? Growing up in the 90s, I enjoyed the standard American fare as many others did, like meat, dairy, packaged snacks and heat-and-eat foods from a box. As I got older and changed my diet, I gave up some of the more popular convenience food brands. Fortunately, many of my old favorites, likes chips, cheese, bacon, cupcakes and toaster pastries, have now been re-imagined, plant-based style. Many of them are available at your nearest grocery store. Oh how the times have changed!
Here are some favorite foods from childhood that have now been re-imagined, vegan style.
I love almonds, but after drinking almond milk almost daily for a year, as well as eating raw almonds and using face products that contained almond oil, I noticed allergic reactions on my skin. It turns out that almonds and other tree nuts are some of the top offenders on the allergy chart. Luckily, I received two samples of Living Harvest Tempt Coconut Hemp Milk and found some new favorite milk as a replacement!
Dried fruit is one of my go-to treats because it’s convenient to store in my purse and can be a healthy snack throughout the day. Since dried fruit is one of my favorite snacks, I was happy to try it in a new way with The Funky Monkey Freeze-Dried Fruit.
Last year, a couple of my family members moved to the gorgeous U.S. state of Georgia. Since a friend and I embarked on a road trip last week from Cincinnati, Ohio to Pensacola Beach, Florida, we decided to stop by Atlanta on our way back home. While we were there, we had brunch at Radial Cafe, an awesome green restaurant with several vegan options on the menu. I’m in love with this place and their mission, so I had to share it with y’all!
America has been hit by a juice craze that’s making many of us drop $55 or more on a colorful liquid cleanse. In New York City, we have so many juice spots that it’s hard to walk around Manhattan without stumbling upon a Juice Generation or Juice Press, two of the more well-known places that have popped up there. But it’s not just NYC that’s sippin’ on juice and juice. The craze has come to my hometown, Cincinnati, with Off The Vine juice bar.
March 4-8 marked the 2015 Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, California. I wish I could have gone to this event, but because I wasn’t there in person, of course I’ve been following the expo news on social media. From what I’ve seen, it looks like this is a great year for vegan food.
Unfortunately, the end of February was the last week that New York City could spot The Cinnamon Snail truck on the road during regular business hours. It’s one of my favorite food trucks, and most of NYC also agrees this food is amazing. In 2014, The Cinnamon Snail was crowned Best Food Truck in NYC by winning the 10th annual Vendy Cup, thanks to their specialty sandwiches and doughnuts. At one point, I was having their lunch at least once a week in midtown Manhattan, and I always saw a line of hungry New Yorkers! Clearly, there was a huge demand for this vegan food, so it’s sad the truck is going off the roads.
It’s so easy these days to find vegan options at the grocery store, and not only kale and carrots (though they hold a special place in my heart and weekly shopping list). After priority #1 which is getting fresh produce, it’s nice for us plant-based eaters to find products that are meat-free, dairy-free, egg-free, and often organic and non-GMO certified. These convenience products make healthier food switches easier, especially now that most big-name grocers carry them. Even vegans want quick options, too! Here are some vegan packaged food items that have recently hit the market.
For a while, it seemed like every single protein bar out there was made with soy protein isolate, which was frustrating as a plant-based eater. Since I eat edamame, tofu and tempeh every week, I like to limit my soy-based protein bar consumption since too much soy isn’t good for our bodies. Thankfully, Squarebar uses brown rice protein for a different way to fuel up!
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