Veggie food finds
 

Anyone who has found some fabulous food products or any handy items that promote the veggie lifestyle or help simplify your life or that you enjoy using please feel free to post and share.
:cookie: :chef: :hun:

One of my favorite companies veggie products are Yves Veggie Cuisine.

They have soy cheese slices for sandwiches - great for grilled cheese! and "ground round" which I use to make chili and spaghetti sauce with.

I just bought some Veggie Cheese (thats the name) and to my surprise was quite good (cheddar flavor). I got it in ShopRite (a grocery store here in the east) and it was on sale for $2.49 for 12 slices. Can't wait to try the motz flavor :D

Bandito organic salsa is really good. They have a green salsa, a red salsa and one that is chipotle pepper flavored. I found Bandito at a health food store so it would assume that would be the best place to check for everyone.

Linda McCartney Fettucini Alfredo - frozen dinner = creamy sauce, mushrooms and veggies.

I try to eat all fresh foods but in a pinch this is a good quickie meal.

Amy's Shepherd's pie is another good frozen dinner- 8 different veggies topped with mashed potatoes - and the veggies are organic :D Works better in the oven than microwave.

Not sure if these items are widely available but I found them at a Natural food store.

papadum. These are lentil-flour "crackers." They are sold in any Indian food store, and most big grocery stores with good international food sections. They have around 30 calories apiece (about the size of a large tortilla) if prepared like this:

Crumple up a paper towel and then sorta flatten it out again, so that you can lay the papadum on top and it will only touch in a few places. Spray the papadum on the top with cooking oil spray. Put the papadum, on the towel, in the microwave, and nuke it for a minute (times will vary depending on your own oven, but you will be able to easily tell when it is cooked because it bubbles up.)

Voila! While eating this one, start the next one. I can easily eat five.

Oooh I love those! I buy Patak's brand - delish :T - I actually like these better than chips.

Morningstar bacon strips are heavenly!

Mm USLady they are nice aren't they. I used to have them as a b*c*n sarnie. Funnily enough I never liked b*c*n so am unlikely to be pining for a b*c*n sarnie unlike a lot of veggies. Apparently this is usually their downfall. I also used to like them with salad - anything to perk it up!

We love the MSF's chik patties, especially the parmesan ranch. Also, the MSF's corn dogs are indistinguishable from the real thing. Even my dh loves them! A personal favorite of mine is mung bean sprouts marinated in a little soy sauce, sesame oil and toasted sesame seed with some chopped green onions mixed in. Yummy!!! You can get these at Korean restaurants as a side item also. Another Korean dish that is great tasting and good for you is Kim Chee. It is great with white rice and nori (seaweed) sheets. My kids love dehydrated bananas and strawberries as their "snack food." We do all our own dehydrating to ensure that the food is not dehydrated at temps that will kill the enzymes. Just a few of our favorite things!

Try Ethnic markets...Southeast Asian and Indian are my favorite ...both have huge selections of veggie friendly foods....I have found all I have to do is pick something up and say "what do I do with this" and I leave with amazing recipes!!! I did not know you could slice these tiny golf ball eggplants and use them like a cracker with a good spread on top...

Chinese broccoli!!
 

It is so good for you I wanted to scream!!! not to mention the wonderful taste and texture!!! I am not a fan of brocolli and my husband loves it...when I tried my first bite of chinese broccoli I knew we had found common ground!...this is to die for when steamed or stir fried with firm tofu and topped with oyster sauce...if you allow oyster flavor in your diet (I am a pesca veg and eat fish) ..if not hoison is a good substitute!!!

you know candy, there are a LOT of kind of kimchee! my grandma makes like 4 different kinds! we often give it to other people. there are cucumber kimchee, water kimchee, and a whole bunch! haha i love it with dried seaweed and rice too. haha except i dont eat it with rice anymore. i eat it with meat :D

Lean Cuisines New Deep Dish Spinach and Mushroom Pizza, at a mere 310 calories, its absolutely heavenly! I also like their Sante Fe Red Beans and Rice. Zatarans, and Uncle Ben's quick throw in the microwave rices are good. Watch out for dextrose though.

Chris

I just tried the gardenburger "ribblets" and they are so good. The BBQ sause is excellent. Also, I really dig the morningstar farms "sausage patties" - both are v. reasonable calorically and fat-gramically speaking!

veggie burgers
 

my all time fav veggie burger is morningstar farms- grillers prime. they're loads better than most of the other veggie burgers i've tried (and i've tried a bunch) most of morning star farms' stuff is good- though don't be fooled into trying their products made with quorn. yikes.

I love their tomato and basil pizza burgers! I don't like anything that is supposed to mimic regular hamburgers because I don't like them - real or fake. I used to love Gardenburger Fire Roasted Veggie burgers but haven't been able to find them in a few years :(

So Morningstar farms makes something with quorn? Eww! I checked their site and can't find mention of it, what do they use it in?

seems like last time i was at whole foods, i noticed the quorn packaging and the msf packaging (what limited msf my whole foods carries :( ) seemed to be morphing together-- i checked msf's site (and all its 'affiliate' companies) and quorn's and it's just my conspiracy-minded brain thinking that the two companies are in cahoots though! :dizzy: - that and i was so burned by my one taste of quorn i was made delirious at the very idea of it sneeking into my fav meat sub products! glad to see that msf is entirely quorn free.

cheers and happy holidays to all!

Do they taste like real bacon or like bacon frazzle crisps?
I've been looking for decent veggie bacon for years. Are they available in the UK?

Avoid Boca Meatless Breakfast Links
 

I was trying to find something different (healthier) than regular bacon so I bought the Boaca Meatless Breakfast Links. They should be renamed: Boca Tasteless Breakfast Links. They were pretty yucky!

Cheree

Quorn
 

I love Quorn products. They have never made me sick. The chicken nuggets are the best! They're the only vegetarian company that makes really good chicken substitutes. Not all mushy like most of them out here. :cb:

Parmesan cutlets
 

Gardenburger's Herb Crusted Cutlets are delicious if you brown them and then add pasta sauce and cheese and heat until the cheese melts (I use 1/2 cup of sauce and 1 portion of the hard grated parmesan -- maybe 1/4 cup -- you buy in the store for each one to keep the flavor high and the calories low).

When I was a meat eater, I loved veal parmesan. This is the closest I've ever come to that in taste. And it makes an elegant dish for entertaining (add a salad and some pasta).

When I take it to work, people swarm the microwave and say "Mmm...What is that?!!!" People find it hard to believe it is vegetarian. :chef:

Hey yall! So I've been considering turning to a veggie lifestyle for a good while now-but every so often I really start to get a craving for meat. I know there are good meat alternatives out there, but what I'm wondering is which do you think are the best??? I've tried the chicken patties from morningstar- which I didn't really care for-but I'm wondering if maybe their chicken wasn't the best, but perhaps their beef substitutes are better? Also, I've heard mixed reviews on Boca, but I'm sorta like "well...I'll ask a few more people before I actually try it"- I hate spending money on something I may not like- especially when it isn't that cheap (it's like 6$ for a small pack here). Anyways, I was just hoping to get som e advice from yall as to what I should try and what's just a waste of time- and money!:) Thanks!!!

I'm vegan, so I don't eat most Morningstar products or any Quorn.

I like SweetEarth patties.

I like Wheetettes and Rich crackers. And I just discovered Toby's tofu dip/spread. It comes in various flavors: Garlic & Red Pepper, Tomato Basil, etc.

In answer to the one turning veg. don't try vegetarian products in the expectation that they'll taste just like meat. Expect them to taste different, and you'll be pleasantly surprised.

I'm not sure if it's been mentioned, but Boga sausages are great! As well as the ever popular Garden burger. I can even get my bo to eat those!

Gardenburger products are getting harder to find
 

A lot of local markets have dropped them and increased their Morningstar and Boca products shelf space. I used to love a veggie "meatloaf" made by GB, as well as a barbecue sauced "chicken breast." Haven't seen either one in eons. I did try a new Morningstar chicken strips product that was delicious in a stirfry. I bought the steak strips as well but haven't tried them yet, and their website indicates that they also have a sausage crumbles product, which I haven't found as yet.

I love EVERYTHING Morningstar, especially Buffalo tenders dippedin lowfat buecheese dressing!MMMMM. Has anyone tried Shirataki noodles?I read about them in a magazine.Apparently they are tofu pasta that boast low calories and carbs. I am wondering if it's too good to be true

My Favorites
 

I'm not vegetarian, but I do have some favorites (mostly Morningstar Farms' products) including:

*Morningstar Farms 'sausage' crumbles - the seasoning is just right. Of course they're good for pastas and pizzas.

*Morningstar Farms 'beef' crumbles are good, too. I use them to make a killer shepherd's pie.

*Morningstar Farms corndogs - taste like the 'real' thing with a fraction of the fat and calories.

*Morningstar Farms veggie burgers, Philly steak burgers & spicy black bean patties. I don't like 'fake beef' flavor, and the aforementioned products don't try to resemble meat (unlike Grillers Prime).

*Dr. Praeger's California veggie burgers - full of veggie chunks and all natural ingredients. These are my favorite veggie patties. They taste so fresh and delicious!

Fav fav frozen dish
 

I try to eat as much raw as possible, but on Saturday nights my fav veggie cooked food is Boco's veggie chilli..my god its spicey and my god its good:)
I am not totally totally sure its vegan, some of their stuff is not, due to cheese and milk, I did not see cheese or milk in the indgredents, and I was absoutely starving the first night I took a bite of it, so I am reading the package as I am chewing, and my god it tasted soo good, that I decided to put the package down before I did find a paragraph stating it was made on the same machine as milk or cheese..to be very honest I didnt want to know if it was cuz it is like seriously my favorite food in the world now..and only 150 calories for the whole dam package:)
Once I get burned out on it I will worry about if it was truely Vegan or not

I tell you what its hard being vegan in a small town , I have one lil health food store that I do buy alot at and a farmers market in the park in the summer, but the closest trader joes is in reno..and I can only get there every so often, sometimes not for months..

so I do what I can at walmart..but its really not the best store for a vegan I tell you what..

I am wondering if any other small town girls would ever like to get together and do a big letter writting campaign to the big stores like walmart or your closest cheapiest grocery stores asking them to carry certian brands and so forth..
I am going to do it to my walmart, try to make a list of products I really think they should carry, and then write up a letter begging them too in a very nice way..lol

Anyone care to join me??? :)

And I am going to write Trader Joes and beg them to open up a store in my town, but I just dont think were big enuff to lure them in here..

I really like TVP...or Textured Vegetable Protein. All you had to do is rehydrate it and use it as you would ground meat. I use it in chili all the time....and you can get it at kroger!
Also, Amy's organic pizzas are amazing. As a matter of fact, any of the frozen entrees by Amy are delicious. The Tofu Scramble is a big fave of mine!

Nirvanagurl, I know what you mean. I'm lucky we have the Kroger in our town, otherwise I'd starve. If you like, I could give you some interesting websites that offer vegan cuisine online and that you can order some things from. Just PM me whenever.

Fantastic foods Vegan low fat Sloppy joe mix and tofu scrambler is great. I also like the lentil and rice (Indian vegetarian) I get at Whole foods Market.
Very tasty but choose only the ones with lower calories.