That IS Vegan?!

You may have read my previous post about the tricky stuff that isn’t vegan. Bit depressing eh? The good news is that are lots of items that are vegan yet seem like they wouldn’t be. Hurray!

 

Thanks to PETA for this much of this information – though you may harbour questionable ethics and I find you problematic in many ways (which I will get into in another post) this list is, as Tony the Tiger would say…  great!

 

1. Oreo’s – that creamy filling isn’t actually cream or dairy at all. The classic Oreo is vegan and the filling is a mix of canola oil, corn syrup, soy lecithin, and artificial flavouring.
2. Triscuits – these non- GMO certified salty and scrumptious crackers are vegan! Be sure to get the original or garlic & herb flavour. Imagine all those toppings possibilities…
3. Pilsbury crescent rolls, pizza dough and both the apple & cherry turnovers – this one is my personal favourite; I loved the rare occasion my mom would allow us pilsbury for breakfast growing up. If only I could tell my 6-year-old self that my 24-year-old self still finds crescent rolls morally a-okay!
4. Jolly Rancher original hard candy – another childhood favourite! Jolly Rancher’s don’t have a very common candy ingredient called ‘confectioner’s glaze’ which is (as I mentioned in the list of surprisingly not vegan things) a resin collected from beetles called shellac.
5. Aunt Jemima original pancake and waffle mix – sub in rice or nut milk for cow’s milk and use ground chia or flax-seed in place of egg. It’s very simple to make chia or flax eggs not to worry! Just put 1 tablespoon of ground seeds together with 3 tablespoons of water and let it set for 15 before using the mixture as you would a regularly egg. This is a great cruelty-free option for any recipe that calls for egg.
6. Kraft Creamy Italian Dressing – also Classic and Fat-Free Italian. While the label may say creamy there thankfully isn’t any actual dairy in any of the Kraft Italians. Mama Mia! This dressing is a good option should you find yourself in a convenience store type situation shopping for groceries. But the homemade options for vegan salad dressing are endless and you will save some coin ditching the bottled dressings too.
7. Frito’s Original Corn Chips – once again, stick with the original and you’re all good. These have only a few ingredients and all ingredients are vegan. Not necessary healthy but that’s not necessarily important!
8. Lay’s Potato Chips – original and BBQ! Now you definitely cannot have just one.
9. Old El Paso Fajita Mix – this is a good one for a quick meal, just fill up the fajita with lots of veggies, salsa, guac, cashew cream, dairy-free cheese and even a ‘fake’ meat if you feel like it. Beyond Beef ‘beefy crumble’ or Yves veggie ground are freaking delicious I promise you.
10. Fruit by the Foot – the second big win for my inner child, there are no animal additives in this delicious sugary snack.

 

 

I hope this list gave all you new-comers to veganism some hope that eating a plant-based diet doesn’t have to be all doom gloom and daikon. They are many diets within the umbrella of veganism and they aren’t all ‘healthy’ by any means. This list was meant to provide some education of how many different vegan options there are available!

 

 

All the power to you if you’re more of a Coke and Lay’s potato chip vegan. In the future, on this site, the recipes I post will focus on a whole foods plant-based diet, which I find works best in my life.  The animals don’t care either way!