The company known most for it's vegan butter products has expanded over the years to now offer other condiments, boxed meals, and snacks. Earth Balance's vegan-version of the popular cheese crackers has been out for a while, and I recently tried them. But of course, the box is now gone (eaten within a few days, oops).

I have been told that these squares are more like cheese-its than the actual cheese-its (and the person who said this is not vegan, who recently had the original snack). To me, they taste like the perfectly light and crisp combination of Ritz crackers and Cheddar cheese. That is the most accurate way for me to describe it.

Whenever I go to Kroger, I end up with more vegan junk food than I do at my Whole Foods...
Yet when I shop at Walmart, I get affordable organic fresh and frozen produce and very little vegan junk (even though Walmart now carries So Delicious Ice Cream). It's nice that healthier alternatives to junk are expanding. It may not be super healthy, but at least these alternatives are a lot better than the original junk that they emulate. They offer a start and an option to worse snack foods.

A lot of people ask and wonder why there are now so many vegan/healthier versions that try to emulate the taste and likeness of popular junk foods. The reason for that is because a lot of these vegan products have had to step it up due to criticism of not being similar enough to the actual non-vegan meat/dairy items. So for people trying out or transitioning to healthier eating or veganism, those products can be helpful as a temporary substitute to what they are or were used to.
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For a good while I had been wanting cinnamon rolls but not just any regular cinnamon rolls, I wanted the particular cinnamon rolls from one of my favorite vegan restaurants, Dulce Vegan Bakery and Cafe. Unfortunately, I was not able to make the trip so instead I picked up a box of Chebe's cinnamon roll dough as I was walking though a natural foods store.

The mix contains a tapioca flour and cinnamon mixture for the dough. After that, the filling and icing is up you. I used bananas (to replace egg), brown sugar, and cinnamon in accordance with instructions, baked in muffin pan for a few minutes, added my own icing and the result wasn't bad. The cinnamon rolls tasted great but they are not going to have the gooey, doughy texture of a bakery cinnamon roll. They were more firm, but still moist, sweet, and sugary.


For my icing I melted together:

• Raw turbinado sugar
• Sometimes brown sugar
• Almond/coconut milk
• [Small amount] Corn starch (for caramel result) or flour (for icing consistency)*

It's best to mix flour with water before adding it into the pan with the sugar to prevent clumps of flour in the icing. Powered sugar would be much easier and faster to melt/break down than raw sugar, which is why it is most commonly used for a light glaze or icing.


Considering the fact that the list of ingredients in the product are only tapioca, cinnamon, and salt, this product is definitely not worth the price when one could probably easily make the whole rolls from scratch much cheaper.

Even though I haven't had onion rings in years, I decided to try these out and the turn out was a success.  I'm not one to eat prepackaged foods all the time since they are not really the best option, but occasionally it is a nice change especially when trying something new.

Photo: Alexia Foods

While walking through the frozen section of a grocery store, I noticed these onion rings on sale by an all-natural/organic company. Alexia's onion rings are made without the unnecessary additives, chemicals, hydrogeated oils, animal ingredients, and whatever else used in fast-food chains or other mainstream/cheap prepackaged companies.

For onion rings that are baked, instead of fried, not made in a fast-food chain, and are prepared with less than fifteen ingredients, all of which I can clearly read and understand, they are amazingly good with that crisp, signature onion ring-taste. Not to forget the onion rings even look better when prepared than the photo outside the packaging.

Ever since I saw that hilarious Belvita commercial, I wondered if the breakfast biscuits were vegan and it wasn't until yesterday I finally tried them out. The crunchy belVitas should be vegan-friendly, unless they changed the ingredients. However, the soft belVitas are not vegan. When buying products from a non-vegan company (or any product really), always read the ingredient list.

On the road, looking for those addictive, yet supposedly healthy nutritional bars such as the Clif, Larabars, Luna Bars, etc. I ended up running into these belVita biscuits. Before trying, I checked the ingredients and nutritional facts, as always, and figured they're close enough to those nutritional bars I used to indulge on. Although I imagined they would taste more like thick oat cookies, they actually tasted more like a healthier version of the pretty unhealthy, but still vegan, Biscoff cookies and a bit like more plain nutritional bars.. Thus, a mixture of which I didn't mind snacking.

I wish they would bring back these actors in a series or something but here's the awesome Belvita commercial I always tell people about:


Source: BelVita, 2012. "BelVita Breaskfast Police Pre-game Commercial." Commercial.



*I have tried the original and blueberry crispy flavors. I'm not sure if the other flavors are vegan as well so if you are vegan, make sure to check the ingredients.

Amy's Margherita pizza is a nicely delicious, easy to make frozen favorite. It is probably the best vegan frozen pizzas available.. With a flavorful sauce, great seasonings, and lightly sprinkled Daiya vegan cheeze, this pizza will have you eating it whole. The crust is also soft and possibly comparable to a flatbread..  I don't know about anyone else who has tried frozen vegan pizzas but this is most definitely one of the best and most zesty pizzas from Amy's vegan-friendly selection. Of all of the frozen vegan pizzas and non-vegan pizzas (prior to veganism), this is the best. The only problem with this pizza is that I cannot find it anywhere.





 Also, I'm pretty sure it's a slightly better/more nutritious alternative to other mainstream frozen pizzas (those higher in fat with dairy, meat, cholesterol, and several other things). This is not the type of item to eat often as it is still high in fat and sodium, but every once in a while..

I think it's become apparent that I've constantly talked about Go Max Go Foods on this blog perhaps a bit more than I need to. But what can I say, except that the candy is good to Flashback to a previous post or two.

 

Cleo's

In earlier posts, I've discussed the Snap, Jokerz, and Mahalo, but I didn't mention the Cleo's - A chocolate candy that will make the mouth feel as if it's swimming in a sea of chocolatey deliciousness. With it's light, slightly crisp sides and smooth delicious peanut buttery center. It is the best peanut butter chocolate cup candy!

This is pretty much how to make breakfast taste awesome 101. You make a banana split sundae and this is how it is done..

This spinach pizza doesn't taste spinachy, or overwhelming like spinach. It definitely has a distinctive taste and the rice flour crust is also a different texture and taste. I think this pizza is one that may take some getting used to...

Vegan Pizza? Hell yes!

awesome and delicious

 Half-way through Amy's Spinach Pizza, I realized I was not going to be able to eat this thing in one sitting. I usually do with most vegan pizzas (except Amy's). But this pizza was different from any other pizza I've ever had. It was definitely filling.

 

  In an earlier post, I discussed one of my current favorite vegan candy bars, the Mahalo Bar - filled with coconut, topped with almonds, completely coated in chocolate - Delicious.  But moving to a different candy bar, if Mahalos don't 'coat your fancy' then perhaps the "SNAP!" or "Jokerz" will.
  

Oh, Snap! = the nice, healthier, crunchy and light alternative to the mainstream candy I used to eat prior to becoming vegan. Here, the SNAP! vegan candy bar resembles the crunch chocolate candy bars, but in vegan version nicely excluding the animal products.

 "Jokerz"

This chocolate bar might not have you bursting out, laughing in ha-ha-ha's but it will definitely have you wanting more with its sweet chocolatey coating that surrounds a creamy, thick caramel layer without forgetting to add the peanuts, as well as it's bottom layer of nougaty nougat.  
This isn't your average vegan candy bar- it's better than the average with it's vegan-tastic ingredients and a name that even has a 'z' in it so you know it's "serious." 

I think this is the vegan version of the snickers candy bar. 

 

And the Twilight bar..

Chocolate, nougat, gooey goodness!

 

 


To end this post, I will say "Mahalo" which means thank you in Hawaiian. These awesome vegan chocolate candy bars are made by a company called Go Max, Go Foods.

Photo: Allied Artist Pictures Corporation. Juran. (1958). Found on Art.com

 Attack of the 50ft Woman

This is may not be one of the best movies you will ever see, but it is definitely a film you won't forget.  This 1958 cult classic is a must-see for anyone, like myself, who loves certain classic films. It's only about 65 minutes long, but really, quite interesting as the story follows female protagonist who discovers her sleezy, conning husband has been cheating on her AND plotting to kill her for her money. But she surely gets her fifty-foot, much deserved revenge on him. It is a fun woman-versus-man, and woman wins sort of film, however, that doesn't mean that it completely ends well.

Now for the vegan snacks..

Photo: Probar.com

Quick Snack Mash!
Whenever I'm out, and looking for a snack, I'm always looking for bars! Some of my favorites include Larabars, Probars, and Raw Revolution. They're a nice, somewhat healthier option and delightfully portable vegan snack.

I really enjoy the Halo selection of Probar bars, which feature S'mores, Nutty Marshmallow and, Rocky Road flavors that are all so good and taste so much like the candy they attempt to resemble. If looking for a nutritional, vegan snack-bar, that tastes like candy OR a complete substitute for severely unhealthy candies and candy bars, I recommend to give these Probar Halos a try instead. The bars are relative low in fat, while high in nutrients and carbohydrate calories, which is what you want in a vegan snack. 
#801010-ish = low fat, low sodium, high carb, high nutrient.

These snacks may not make you grow to be 50 feet tall, but they're still like a nicely portable, tasty vegan sugar-rush candy!


Update: Probar very much unfortuantely no longer carries the Halo bar line, which sucks because the Halos tasted like really delicious candy bars. They were actually also considerably low in fat and sodium in comparison to other bars.

Tofurky Vegan Cheese Pizza



Nope. I didn't put it on a plate - I already knew it would cease to exist in seconds.

From these slightly blurred photos (sorry), the pizza doesn't even look vegan. So if you think vegans can't enjoy good pizza, it wouldn't be a bad idea to try to re-think that. There are many great vegan pizzas out there just waiting to be devoured. Tofurky's vegan pizzas are somewhat, semi-healthier than the mainstream/average take-out pizza and are tasty. Tofurky's 'Vegan Cheese Pizza' tastes just like any other frozen pizza with its light, crisp crust and the cheesiest melted top. This vegan pizza has a frozen pizza.


As Jimmy would say, "Pizza train, pizza train. . ." from Late Night with Jimmy Fallon's mini-episode of Seventh Floor West (Season 1, Episode 4), which you can see what I mean here.

Tagline: 
Do you happen to have a veggie burger, but aren't sure what exactly to do with it?
 Well, here are two ideas that are easy, simple, and pretty fast!


A Vegan Burger:

 
Ingredients:

• Wheat Buns (Rudi's)
• Veggie Burger - Amy's California Veggie Burger
• Sliced Vegan-Cheese
• Lettuce
• Tomato 
• And any other additional toppings/vegetables

to create the buttered look, cut a small square of the vegan cheeze

The Vegan 'Royale' with Organic Ketchup 

Ingredients:

• Organic Ketchup
• Earth Balance
• Amy's California Burger (or any other veggie burger)
• And any additional vegetables you want it to go with

For all the veggie burgers I have tasted during my time as a vegan, and prior years as a vegetarian, Amy's has been my favorite so far. Both the Sonoma (second photographed with org. ketchup) and California Burger  (first veggie burger photographed with buns) are vegan and super tasty! I feel that the Sonoma has a very distinct, seasoned taste while the California burger is more of a traditional veggie burger. Either way, I recommend them both if looking for a vegan veggie burger snack to have every once in a while.


Post inspired by Pulp Fiction.