VeganMoFo Day #9: Vegan Food Products That Make A Difference

For a long time I have thought about dedicating an entry to some vegan food products that truly make my vegan life happy.  I know many vegetarians don't want to give up their favorite dairy products.  I am myself a huge cheese fan, ice cream fan, yogurt fan, and whatever other good dairy things you can get out there.  I simply love good food.  With these loyal and healthy vegan food products, my dairy needs are more than satisfied.  Honestly, I have invariably had better experience with these vegan products.  I have had better taste.  I have had more fun with food, because they are light and easy on the digestion.  If you are adventurous enough (I know some people just won't eat anything vegan if they hear the word vegan), I promise you won't be disappointed.  And because they are not as heavy as their non-vegan counterparts, you can eat me, which is what I always do.

The first and foremost is absolutely Earth Balance.  Whether for spreading, cooking, or baking, Earth Balance is the queen of it all.  We call it the "better than butter".  It is light, buttery and healthy without the sickeningly strong smell once cooked.  Excellent for baking and frosting, Earth Balance will yield fabulous cupcakes and cakes for you.  For vegans, make sure you don't get Smart Balance which contains milk.

I am an ice cream girl.  I adore my ice cream.  I usually eat a whole container every time I dig in.  Why can't we just eat ice cream for our meals?  Turtle Mountain's Purely Decadent dairy-free ice cream is my best friend.  My favorite flavors include Belgian Chocolate, Pure Vanilla, Cookie Avalanche.  Their soy yogurt is great too!

For vegan cheeses, you have a few good options.  Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese is really good.  We didn't taste any difference between the "real" and the "better".  In fact, Tofutti is better since it is much more healthy and humane.  Just make sure that you buy Tofutti without the hydrogenated oil in your health food stores.  In many supermarkets, you will get Tofutti with partially hydrogenated oil.  You can also try Tofutti's vegan ice cream and ice cream sandwiches.

Teese vegan cheese is so far my favorite of all.  I guess those folks in Chicago really know their cheeses.  I will have to cook something with Teese in my new kitchen to share some photos here.  Too bad!  But, Vegan Gourmet Cheese Alternatives (by Follow Your Heart) offer some good options too, especially the Mozzarella.

Then there is my husband's favorite, Sunergia Soy Feta.  These vegan feta cheeses taste a little too close to home.  They taste so similar to feta that I can't eat them on their own.  I don't like feta so much.  I love more mild cheeses.  However, if you use Soy Feta in your veggies and salads, you will fall in love with it immediately.  That is what happened to me.

You can't forget about mayonnaise.  I love having a lot of mayonnaise on my burgers and sandwiches and wraps.  I eat my vegan hotdogs with mayo too.  Follow Your Heart Vegenaise is even better than some of the best mayos out there.  I love the Grapeseed Vegenaise and the Expeller Vegenaise.  But you know what, it is so hard to choose.  The four types of vegan mayo are all great.

Finally, how about some vegan yogurt?  I want to make homemade yogurt.  But in the meantime, WholeSoy Yogurt keeps me perfectly happy.  Don't get confused with Stonyfield Farm O'Soy yogurt (which is not vegan).

You can find these products in many places like Whole Foods, Wild Oats, Walmart, Winn Dixie, and other supermarkets and of course health food stores.  You can also order some of them online.