Whole Foods: Health Starts Here

For the last couple months I've seen these prepackaged Vegan meals for sale at my Whole Foods. I was intrigued but I'm more of a frozen dinner kind of guy, the fresh stuff goes bad too quickly. Right now I have my house up for sale so I need my kitchen clean at all times. Could there be a better time to give this stuff a try? Probably not. So in one fell swoop I bought all of these Health Starts Here meals and tried them out. I heated everything up in the oven because I thought it would taste better that way. So here's what I thought...

I had really high hopes for this enchilada because it looks like something I'd totally love. Sad to say I was disappointed. The first couple bites were fine but after that it seemed like a chore to eat. Bland is the one word that comes to mind. I suppose some salsa or taco sauce would have helped. I wish I could have loved you Mr. Enchilada. :(

The grain loaf was decent, it reminded me a bit of Amy's loaf. The veggies were just ok. I guess if I had to pick a favorite it would be this one.

I'm not even going to waste my time on this one...bland and boring.

This was the first thing I ate. It didn't look very appetizing but I gave it a shot anyway. If play-doe had meatloaf flavor, it I would taste exactly like this. The texture was like clay...not good.

I ate this along with the meatloaf. Mixed with the meatloaf sauce it was decent, by itself it was kinda blah. I just can't win with this stuff.

This Vegan pudding isn't in the "Heath Starts Here" line per se but it's in the same section. Everyone deserves a treat and this was a pretty good one.

So I think the bottom line is that the Heath Starts Here is mediocre at best. I hate to shit on anything that goes out of the way to cater to Vegans but I know Whole Foods can do better. And yes, Whole Foods made these for health conscious people but dear lord, come on! My only hope is that a non-Vegan will not judge all Vegan food on the basis of these dinners.

Daiya Day!

Quite possibly the biggest story of the year for Vegans, Daiya Cheese becomes widely available at Whole Foods Markets nationwide today. Why all the hype? Well Daiya is unlike any other Vegan cheese. First of all it has no soy which is pretty rare for Vegan cheese. Second of all it melts as if it were real cheese. I have a feeling that non Vegans looking for a cheese alternative will jump all over this. Third of all it tastes amazing! So the bottom line is Vegans now have a easier way to get Daiya and non Vegans will now have another option to try. In the end the cows win!

To celebrate this glorious day I decided to cook with Daiya! I know, I know, Laziest Vegans is all about not cooking. This will be one of the few times I cook for this blog so don't get used to it. Basically I whipped up some of Isa Chandra Moskowitz's Chickpea-Hijiki Salad Sammiches and topped them with Mozzarella Style Daiya. For the last step I broiled them in the oven for 5 minutes.

As you can see, the Daiya melts and browns as if it were dairy cheese. If you want to get REALLY lazy you could buy some English muffins and spaghetti sauce and make mini pizzas. And if you are REALLY REALLY lazy, Daiya is already in some prepackaged Vegan foods.

Amy's Rice Macaroni with Daiya

Gardein Marinara Chick'n Good Stuff with Daiya

The Higher Taste Vegan Supreme Burrito with Daiya

Out of these three the only one I've had is The Higher Taste Burrito. It was amazing as I'm sure the others are.

Chicago Diner at Whole Foods

If you are lucky enough to live in Nebraska, Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri, Michigan, Minnesota or Indiana then you can pick up Chicago Diner goodies at your local Whole Foods! I've noticed Diner treats at my Whole Foods for the last couple years but now it looks like they have a focused business plan. Newly packaged with their logo and nutritional info, they are positioned to take over the prepackaged Vegan bakery market (peep it here). Here are some of the goodies I've picked up so far. Oh and for full disclosure, Chicago Diner is my favorite restaurant in the world and they can do no wrong.

Big cookie, yum!

I love you Chicago Diner. 

 These are going, going, gone!

I Want Candy

Back in 2003 when I went Vegan it was hard to give up certain things, candy was one of them. Most popular forms of candy either had milk chocolate, bone char sugar or gelatin. To say it was frustrating was an understatement. I loved my Twix, Reese’s, Butterfingers, ect, ect.

2010 is a little kinder to candy fiends. New products such as the Go Max Go bars have made life more enjoyable. Below are some sterling examples of Vegan candy. Most of these items were purchased at the Food Fight retail store in Portland, Oregon. I want to thank them for doing the hard work by making sure all of these items are Vegan. If you've never been there, make sure you go!

Gummi Bears by Let's Do...Organic

They are so cute, who can resist?

Surf Sweet Sour Swirls and Gummi Worms

I love my gummies and these are some of the best!

Yummy Earth Lollipops and Vitamin C Drops

"the best lollipop I've ever tasted!"
Phil Lempert- Today Show Food Editor

Seitenbacher Blackberry Cats and Go Naturally Cherry Hard Candies

Panda Licorice from World Finer Foods

The Go Max Go Candy Bars

Twilight is my fav but they are all pretty good. Now if only Go Max Go would make a Cadbury Egg, I'd be in heaven!

Crispy Cat Bars and Betty Lou's Golden Smackers

Terra Nostra Organic Ricemilk Choco Bar with Almonds and Green & Blacks Organic Dark Chocolate

Glenny's Marshmallow Treat

Soy Dreams

I can vividly remember the first time I ate fake meat. It was before going Vegetarian but I was at the point where I started thinking about cutting out meat. While in the frozen foods section I noticed a meatless meatloaf. I thought to myself "how the hell is it meatloaf without meat?" It was an Amy's Veggieloaf frozen dinner and it turned out to be one of the most delicious frozen dinners I've ever had. It was one of those a-ha moments where I realized I didn't need meat to have a hearty delicious meal. For a couple years I ate the shit out of those dinners but once I went Vegan I had to stop because it contained honey. I would LOVE it if Amy's could bring out a Vegan version or just get rid of the honey all together (pretty please!!!).

Anyway this brings me to the point of my post. For those of you that think you have to give up all of you meat/dairy convenience foods because you go Vegetarian or Vegan, you are just dead wrong. I'm not going to lie to you and say everything tastes just like the original, but in most cases it tastes better. Down below are a couple of examples where I think someone got it right.

Tofurky Deli Slices by Turtle Island Foods

I never had any desire to try these because I was never a big lunch meat person. Late last year someone very sweet made me a sandwich with Tofurky Deli Slices and it was amazing! Now I buy them fairly often for my sandwich fix.

Field Roast Smoked Apple Sage Sausages

These were forced on to me by Whoa Wren. I'm serious, she fixed them in my house! I wanted nothing to do with them because sausage used to make me sick. Amazingly they were delicious and now I keep a couple packs in my refrigerator at all times. I'm also anxious to try Field Roast's other products...all in due time.

Yves Meatless Pepperoni

I don't make pizza that often but when I do I usually go with all veggies. A couple months ago I had a Vegan pizza party at my house and my friend Jenny brought some Yves Vegan pepperoni. I thought it tasted great! If you are really missing that pepperoni flavor this should do the trick.

Teese Mozzarella by Chicago Soydairy

Teese is my favorite pizza-making cheese right now. I agree Daiya is hella good but until I can buy some at the store I'm rollin' with Teese.

Follow Your Heart Sour Cream Alternative

This is a must for nachos! I also enjoy the Follow Your Heart Nacho Cheese, good stuff! Oh and of course Vegenaise, the O.G. of Vegan condiments.

Vega-riffic!

For almost three years now I've been using the supplement Vega religiously. Produced by Sequel Naturals and formulated by Vegan Triathlete Brendan Brazier, Vega is the first all whole food Vegan supplement. Vega is loaded with vitamins, minerals and protein to provide an easy way to get a majority of your nutritional requirements. In a perfect world you would be able to get all of that nutrition from you daily meals, but I just don't have the time to do that. Every day right before I go to work I make sure to whip up a serving. I hate to eat anything when I wake up but I also know that the first meal of the day is the most important. Vega is always my breakfast! FYI- my favorite flavor right now is Vanilla Chai.

I was introduced to Vega by Robert Cheeke, who is a Vegan bodybuilder. Robert produced a documentary called Vegan Fitness Built Naturally. I bought the DVD hoping for some workout tips as I had just started working out at the gym. Watching the documentary made me really proud to be Vegan. The best part is you have three different body types and exercise styles represented in the film. Robert gives you the bodybuilding insight, Tonya Kay dazzles with her aerobic skills and Brendan displays the workout of a Triathlete. You know, we can do anything a meat eater can. Vegans can be ripped, muscular and energetic.

So while Vega might be the norm for the typical fast food Vegan, I would wholeheartedly recommend it for someone always on the go. It's a tad on the expensive side but you have to realize you get what you pay for. Vega can be found online and at almost any Vegan/ Vegetarian supermarket. I'm partial to Vegan Essentials because of their monthly 15% coupons but Vegan Proteins and Food Fight would also be fine choices.

PDX to HNL

I was lucky enough to make a nice little winter trip to Portland and Honolulu earlier this month. Here are some of my finds...

Sin Dawg from Dave's Killer Bread

I've heard a lot of good things about Dave's Killer Bread so I had try one of his products. I saw this at the New Seasons Market in Portland and I grabbed it right away. Oh my god is it ever good!!! The guy at the checkout was telling me how awesome it was but I had no idea. It's super cinnamony and gooey. If you make it out to Portland you have to try this stuff...amazing.

Spirulina Popcorn from North Shore Naturals

This was a find from the Down to Earth in Honolulu. It wasn't as good as it looks but it wasn't horrible either. Just a little bit more salt or nutritional yeast and it would have been a home run.

Sweet & Sara Toasted Coconut Marshmallows

I'm sure Sweet & Sara is readily available in most major cities but it's pretty much non existent in Omaha. I saw these at Down to Earth so I jumped at the chance to buy them. Needless to say that I ate them in one sitting.