Thanks for the long question! Hopefully I can answer everything you’re asking…if not, just ask some more :)

Question: What about vegan pharmaceuticals? 

Answer: I know many vegans who are adverse to taking drugs that have been tested on animals or use animal products. For me, I am vegan first for the health reasons and second for the animals. I believe that as long as there is no reason to resort to animals then they should not be used. That being said implies that I feel my own self-preservation is more important than that of another living creature, and I will say that I do feel that way. I would much rather take an antibiotic than have an infection that I may die from. As I said, if I can avoid it I absolutely do. You can always ask for your drugs to come in different forms so you can avoid things like gelatin, but depending on which country you live in all your drugs may have been tested on animals and some drugs do contain animal products. I avoid it as much as I can but I will not put my health in danger. 

You do say that you’ve had a headache for the past couple days, so I’m curious if you’re still sick, are worrying about it to the point of headache, or if you’re having an adverse reaction to the medication.

Question: What about vegan clothes?

Answer: I personally never liked leather so it wasn’t an issue for me when I went vegan. I personally would not like to wear anything that is made from animals because it’s pretty nasty of an idea…wearing someone’s skin or hair is a creepy thought! But no one says that you have to ditch your clothes and spend money you don’t have when you go vegan. Don’t buy it anymore and transition when you can. 

Also, cotton comes from trees…cotton is perfectly vegan. Wool is what you’re probably thinking of, which comes from sheep and is not vegan-friendly.

Question: Is Maybelline vegan-friendly?

Answer: You don’t need to ask me…you can find this out online by typing “Is [make-up brand] vegan friendly?” into Google. I don’t know these off-hand so I have to look them up. *looks it up* According to this site, Maybelline is definitely not vegan-friendly. You say that you don’t have time to go buy make-up because you have prom in eight days…eight days sounds like plenty of time to snag new make-up if you’d like to. Like I mentioned earlier, you don’t need to blow a bunch of money you don’t have, but you’ll start to realize that having that stuff on your skin or on your body just feels…gross knowing the cost.

Question: You like your silk dress and you can’t tell your mum to take it back.

Answer: Okay, it’s not really a question but it’s one thing to say “I don’t have the money” and another to say, “I know it’s not vegan and it kills living creatures, but I don’t want to ask my mum a question and I just like how it looks.” If you like how the dress looks and think that means you should wear silk, you may need to re-evaluate your reasons for being vegan. 

Question: How many of you vegans actually wear the right clothes? Seriously?

Answer: Well, first, you seem to be thinking that if other people call themselves vegan and don’t wear vegan-friendly clothes then somehow that’s okay for you to wear a product literally harvested from the death of living creatures (silk). Second, I wear vegan clothes and use vegan skin/hair products. It’s cheaper, leaves me with a clean conscience, doesn’t feel weird (like I said, wearing skin is pretty messed up), and the hair/skin products are almost always better since they aren’t loaded with weird chemicals that had to be tested on animals in order to ensure safety. 

Question: You’re getting negative comments about it.

Answer: You should be doing this because it fits with your morals and views of the world…not because of what other people think. 

Definitely a fair question!

I’ve always hated hearing “Kentucky Fried Cruelty” for three reasons. First, it implies that KFC has chickens in the store that it encourages employees to kick around, and that’s not the case. KFC gets its chicken from a supplier, namely Tyson. Second, it implies that only KFC cooks chicken that was tortured (tortured by Tyson, not KFC), which also isn’t the case. Tyson not only supplies large grocery chains, but also supplies McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King and the same Taco Bell that I mentioned. In other words, if you think Taco Bell is bad because it is part of a larger company that also owns/licenses KFC and you think KFC is bad because it gets its chicken from Tyson, you can ditch the KFC argument and just say that Tyson is bad, Tyson supplies Taco Bell, and therefore Taco Bell is bad. Third and lastly, calling KFC cruel because they use Tyson chicken (Tyson being pretty popular for some instances of torturing their chickens) implies that the act of killing and eating an animal in and of itself is not cruel and it is only cruel if that animal was tortured first. Of course, this is not the vegan mentality. In other words, I’m really curious why you felt the need to bring KFC into this at all. :)

All of the above just underscores why I think “Kentucky Fried Cruelty” is more of a sensationalist play on the KFC acronym and really is meaningless in substance. To answer your question on why I posted about Taco Bell and veganism, it’s only to give people something to eat that is found widely (depending on what country they live in) when they’re out driving and hungry that has no animal products in it. That’s all. People are vegan for different reasons and while I don’t think anyone hates animals, not everyone is vegan for the animals first and foremost. I absolutely realize that veganism is not a diet but instead a lifestyle, but some people are willing to make compromises because they aren’t doing it for the animals first and foremost. And, again, if you are doing it for the animals first and foremost, I don’t understand why you’d feel the need to make a KFC argument when Taco Bell serves the same chicken, plus beef and shrimp. 

Because you were concerned, however, I figure others may also be so I added a note explaining that the review is for the food only, not the business practices of a particular company or parent company. Thanks for your question!

The Venue

Created by a WWII Marine Corps veteran, Taco Bell serves Mexican food adapted for the tastes of the country it’s located in (the US, India, etc.). It was founded in 1946 in the United States. For the time, it was a pretty bold move to make a fast food restaurant, especially one that offered a food still considered exotic by most of the country…but then again, he was in WWII and a Marine, so it made sense that he had balls. Today, Taco Bell is found in many countries, including Mexico, which confuses the hell out of everyone I’ve met.

Vegan Eats

Taco Bell has limited already-vegan foods on the menu, like a side of rice, side of chips (tortilla chips) or French fries (though French fries are not located in all locations). That doesn’t mean vegan eats cannot be had, though! Unlike most other refried beans, Taco Bell’s do not come with lard so they are vegan-friendly, as are their tortillas. This means that you can order pretty much anything on the menu, make a couple substitutions, and you’re golden. All you need to do is order an item, remove the meat and any dairy products and sauces…then just substitute them for rice, beans, guacamole, potato bites, whatever you’d like. My stand-by is the 7-Layer Burrito, minus sour cream and cheese, add extra rice and beans. I also like the Pintos & Cheese (minus cheese) combined with a side of rice. You can easily veganize tacos, burritos, crunchwraps, grilled stuft burritos, taco salads and chalupas. Even their special drinks, like their To read it for yourself, here are the ingredient lists:

-Canada (click the Food Allergies/Sensitivities tab)

-United Kingdom (under construction as of the date of this post, but their FAQ says anything can be made vegetarian without meat, implying that none of the shells or tortillas contain meat products)

-United States (everything is listed, even regional offerings)

You’ll notice many locations are missing. If you’re from Cyprus, Greece, Iceland, India, Mexico, the Philippines, Spain, South Korea or the United Arab Emirates, you’ll have to ask for an ingredient list in person as I could find no information on their websites…if they even had a website. Considering fast food chains make minor variations based on country but their basic stuff is the same, I would imagine the tortillas would still be the same vegan-friendly ones. I was able to email folks in Cyprus so when I get that back, I’ll post it :)

The Review

Okay, Taco Bell isn’t “real” Mexican food, but so what? While I hear jokes about how their food gives people a hard time in the bathroom, I’ve never actually experienced this nor has anyone I know. They offer a wider variety of sauces now (used to only be mild, medium and hot, now they also have fire roasted and salsa verde), which can definitely add a lot of flavour. Considering Taco Bell is found around other fast food restaurants, it’s nice to be able to go to a restaurant area with friends and they can grab food somewhere and so can you. 

The food itself is also pretty tasty, I’m going to go ahead and say it. Have I had better? Of course. Have I had better fast food Mexican food? Yes, I sure have. Will I eat at Taco Bell again? Absolutely. I think some people are far too picky. Just because it’s not authentic doesn’t mean it’s automatically bad. I think it’s a fine, easy-to-find (depending on the country you live in) fast food. 

Price: 5/5…I would love to give it a 6/5, actually. Taco Bell has to be the cheapest fast food available!

Food Quality: 3/5…as I said, I’ve had better and you can definitely tell that this stuff is pretty damn processed. I’m giving it a three instead of less because I’ve never had stuff that was rotten, wilted or low-quality. 

Taste: 3.5/5…I personally like it but like I said, I’ve had better. That just means if I’m in the mood for Mexican, I won’t go to Taco Bell but I definitely do sometimes get in the mood for Taco Bell!

Ease of Acquisition: 5/5…depending on where you live, it may be a 1/5. 

Note: This review is for people looking to eat food sans animal products and does not guarantee that the company or its parent company/companies employ environmentally-friendly or animal-friendly practices.

I originally wanted to use the portabello mushroom slices as a wrap but that didn’t work out. This is what happened instead. 

You’ll Need

-6 slices of portabello mushroom, raw or grilled (mine are raw)

-Creamy Corn & Bean Salad (recipe) or other creamy salad (try macaroni salad or potato salad)

-Sriracha (optional)

To Do

Step 1: Lay the portabello slices on a plate to mimic a six-pointed star.

Step 2: Place the creamy salad of your choice in the center. This also hides any imperfections as the mushrooms layer atop each other. 

Step 3: If using Sriracha, trace around one side of each mushroom slice. This looks pretty and adds flavour and a spicy kick. Serve!

Variations

-For a different look, after step 2 bring up the ends of each mushroom slice into the middle and then secure with a toothpick for a neat food “basket.” 

I came up with these out of necessity. I intended to create a lovely, mostly-raw puree to top some mushrooms with but the blender where I’m staying was pretty gnarly so I opted out. Here’s what I came up with instead!

You’ll Need

-2 small, sweet peppers per person (or more if you’re doing this as a bigger part of a meal instead of appetizers)

-Creamy Corn & Bean Salad (recipe)

To Do

Step 1: Slice stem off of sweet peppers and remove any ribs or seeds (or leave them in, I kinda like them myself). This turns your sweet peppers into a “pocket.”

Step 2: Fill the sweet pepper pockets with the corn & bean salad, packing gently as you go.

Step 3: Using a very sharp knife, slice the peppers to resemble the picture above and serve. 

Notes

-Because the filling isn’t solid, you may need to gently hold the open end of the pocket when you cut into the sweet pepper. They hold together surprisingly well after that, though.

Variations

-A sauce or topping here would be just fine if you want to add an extra layer of flavor. I ended up using more of one of the components of the Creamy Corn & Bean Salad that made it creamy as a topping and dabbed some Sriracha onto it for extra heat and color. 

-While I used my Creamy Corn & Bean Salad, you really can use any filling. If you don’t have a soy allergy, try using a soy cream cheese that’s heavily seasoned and see how that works out for you!

The name is definitely subject to change but this is what I came up with. This was a seriously “rubbish bin” meal because I was using foods that were on the verge of being rotten, including ones I had to cut mould off of. This was due to being in a house where they don’t shop often for fresh foods and don’t use the ones they buy. 

You’ll Need

-15oz (1 can) prepared beans (I used black beans but any bean is fine)

-1 to 2 handfuls of grape tomatoes

-3 sweet peppers or 1 capsicum, thinly sliced or diced

-1 ear of corn

-2 stalks of celery, diced

-2 handfuls of onion (I used red onion), diced

-1 small spoonful of minced raw garlic

-Something creamy (I used hummus and a hickory “cheese” spread, but avocado, vegan mayo, guacamole, babaganooj, tahini, vegan salad dressing, or any other creamy type spread/dressing is fine)

-Lime juice, to taste

To Do

Step 1: In a large bowl using a can, your hands or the back of a wooden spoon, smash the grape tomatoes. 

Step 2: Place the peeled corn cob in the same bowl, standing on its largest end. Using a knife, slice down the corn cob so you can remove the corn kernels. If you don’t know how to do this, here is a YouTube video to show you how. The demonstration is done using a pan, but you can see that using a bowl is just as good. And here’s a high-powered way to do it if you have plenty or just like to bring your power tools into the kitchen!

Step 3: Add the remaining ingredients, stir and chill if desired. Use as a topping on salads, as a salad itself, as a filling, a burger topping, a salsa…whatever you’d like :)

All right, so I posted the In-N-Out review before letting everyone know what was happening. 

Just like I started this blog tired of hearing the “What do vegans eat?” question, I decided to start this based on the fact that people seem to think that vegans can’t eat out. What I will focus mostly on are food chains because more people will be able to eat there…I hate reviews that focus on a single restaurant located in some remote area. That’s not fun for anyone who doesn’t live right there. 

Eating Out Vegan will also feature some general tips on eating out as a vegan, like fail-proof food types to look for. 

It should be noted that these reviews are for the ingredients only and do not address any business practices of a particular company.

As always, if you have questions or requests, please ask!

The Venue

Only offered in a select few states in the United States, In-N-Out Burger has something of a cult following. There are a few things that sets this place apart. Trans-fat free cooking oil, whole potatoes sliced in-store for fries (never frozen or shipped pre-cut), fresh ingredients, and old-style sponge bread buns. They probably have some info on the beef and cheese, but who cares? We’re vegans :)

In-N-Out has a very simple menu, offering drinks (soda pop, tea, milkshakes, coffee), one size of fries and three burgers: the hamburger, cheeseburger and Double Double (a double cheeseburger). In-N-Out also has a secret menu, known to a few people. The secret menu includes things like grilled cheese or ordering your food “animal style,” but what we vegans care about is their Veggie Burger.

Vegan Eats

In-N-Out does not offer a veggie patty, but instead offers a Veggie Burger…the balls on this place are pretty huge to offer a burger with only vegetables in it. The Veggie Burger can be ordered vegan by specifying no cheese or spread (ask for ketchup/mustard instead if you’d like). I like to add extra tomatoes to mine and, as with any In-N-Out burger, you’ll be asked if you want some onion. For those that haven’t tried it, these aren’t little diced onions or any ring of onion, but a whole damn slice out of an onion. Even if you’re not a fan of raw onion, try it since the onions they have aren’t full of that awful onion bite. Some In-N-Out Burger establishments will call this the Wish Burger, but not all In-N-Outs know what it is nor is it on the official secret menu found on their website. 

The Review

As I said above, you gotta have some balls to charge for a veggie burger that contains nothing but burger fixin’s, but In-N-Out Burger knows that their ingredients speak for themselves. The fresh buns and clearly fresh produce sing of In-N-Out’s mantra and dedication to delicious food done right. This is not just a passable burger, this is not just a “well, okay, but I hate that this is their so-called vegan option” burger, this is a crave-worthy burger! I actually wanted to order more! In fact, while staying in an area with an In-N-Out, we went as often as we could and I was thrilled to have their delicious, fresh burger in my face! Coupled with their never-frozen, fresh-cut-from-a-potato-in-store fries, this was a seriously delicious fast-food meal. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to eat a lighter burger or for fellow vegans in a state with an In-N-Out Burger nearby. This incredibly simple burger is tops on my list. 

Price: 5/5…cheapest restaurant veggie burger I’ve ever had…add fries and the total is about 5 USD. 

Food Quality: 5/5…the freshness shines through, this company does a great job.

Taste: 5/5…I actually crave this burger, so that should say something!

Ease of Acquisition: 1/5…In-N-Out Burger is not available across the United States, let alone world-wide. Because it is only offered in a handful of states, I consider it difficult to get a hold of. If you happen to live in the states that have an In-N-Out Burger restaurant, then the ease of acquisition is a 5/5. Just grab one and enjoy! 

Note: This review is for people looking to eat food sans animal products and does not guarantee that the company or its parent company/companies employ environmentally-friendly or animal-friendly practices.

Haha, you’re welcome! I started this blog to help people who had questions on veganism, not so much to offer recipes to fellow long-term vegans (though that’s nice, too). What do you like about it specifically? Anything I should do more of? Less? Add? :D

Awesome, thanks for following! :)

Need something sweet and creamy but without being artificial or heavy? Enter the RWB (Red, White, Blue) Parfait. It’s incredibly simple and incredibly delicious. 

You’ll Need

-Fresh strawberries (about four per person)

-Fresh blueberries (about two handfuls per person)

-Plain, unsweetened vegan yoghurt of your choice (vanilla would also be fine), about 1/4 cup or so (doesn’t matter, it’s up to you)

-Fresh mint, about 6-7 leaves per person

To Do

Step 1: Slice strawberries. Place half in a bowl along with one handful of blueberries. 

Step 2: Mince mint, place half of it in the bowl with the strawberries and blueberries.

Step 3: Cover with yoghurt. 

Step 4: Arrange the remainder of the fruit and mint atop however you’d like, sit and enjoy!

Just wanted to let everyone know I updated the summer rolls recipe with a new picture that better shows off just what you’re getting. 

Lol, thanks! What about it do you like? Anything you dislike? :P

I will as soon as I find one. If you haven’t noticed, my entries are cooked food, not baked goods…baking and I tend to not get along!

I’m going to tell you right now that I’m going to talk about how to prepare the sushi ingredients, not how to roll sushi. I find that it’s much easier for people to understand how to roll sushi if they watch it, so I recommend bouncing over to YouTube and finding a sushi rolling instructional, like this one (rolling starts at 5:17). Because of this, the “To Do” sections are going to explain how to make what you see above.

Sushi is an art form.

This just teaches you how to get all the yummy sushi flavours. There’s a very important distinction to make as many people are very serious about their sushi and…well, I’m not. Sushi is seen as some kind of production by many, but to me, it’s a very quick, go-to food because I have most of the ingredients on-hand so I just throw it together.

You’ll Need

-Nori (seaweed sheets)

-Cooked short grain rice (must be short grain)

-Rice vinegar

-Soy sauce

-Wasabi (optional, if you don’t like it then don’t use it)

-Pickled ginger, aka gari (I like it, some people hate it…if you hate it, don’t use it)

-Sushi fixin’s of your choice…really, you can put anything in ‘em. If you want to make what I’ve made in the above picture, then see below. Make sure to cut your fixin’s into long strips.

To Do - Making Sushi Rice

There are a lot of options to make sushi rice and most of them include at least two different sauces. That’s not the way I learned it, and quite frankly I use rice vinegar in other stuff so I like having it on-hand…I don’t use those other ingredients for making sushi rice, including sugar, so I don’t see the need to go out any buy them specially.

Sushi rice, DailyVeganEats style, is therefore incredibly simple: cook the rice according to the directions (or as shown in my rice cooking post) and add in enough rice vinegar to make the rice stick to itself…a good splash will work. If you’re worried about ruining it, the rice vinegar bottle should tell you how much to use…if not, Google it. I never measure it, it’s all by feel.

Next, you need to cool the rice. Some people let it sit, some talented people can fan as they stir, but I’m not that coordinated. I add rice vinegar, stir once or twice, then fan it with a Tupperware lid for about 30 seconds and repeat until the rice is cool enough to handle. Hot rice is a BAD idea for sushi!!

To Do - Making the Top Left Roll

The ingredients here are simple veggies: avocado, cucumber and carrots.

To Do - Making the Top Right Roll

This roll was fun because it included a couple sushi ingredients I’ve never used in addition to the cucumber. First was a vegan cream cheese (I used Tofutti brand), which is the little white blob you see. Second was something I found at my local Asian market called Vegetarian Laver Ro Su. This is a vegan-friendly version of tuna floss and is very flavorful. So cucumber, laver ro su and vegan cream cheese make the top right roll.

To Do - Making the Bottom Left Roll

The bottom left roll is really just the end of it, which is why you see all that fun red leaf lettuce and avocado sticking out. I don’t have the actual roll on the plate because I ate it already. :) I’m a big, big fan of including lettuce in a sushi roll as it provides some really lovely texture and freshness. Red leaf lettuce is my favourite as it helps as a digestive aid. Lettuce and avocado pair well together because of their contrasting textures.

To Do - Making the Bottom Right Roll

The bottom right roll is the roll with the red stuff smeared on it. If you go to a sushi restaurant, they’ll usually have a “spicy sauce” that they add to rolls like the spicy tuna roll. This sauce is ridiculously easy to make: mayonnaise + Sriracha. Sriracha is an absolutely delicious hot sauce that you may be familiar with if you’ve dined at Vietnamese or Thai restaurants. It can be purchased at any Asian grocery or any other grocery store in their Asian section. For this sauce, I used the same company’s chili garlic sauce because I love garlic :) The mix is simple…you just add mayonnaise and Sriracha together until you get a flavour you like. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s one part Sriracha and two to three parts mayonnaise.

Inside the roll are shiitake mushrooms I had marinated in a combination of soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic powder, ginger and a little rice vinegar. Also in the roll were carrots and cucumber to offset the heavily flavoured mushrooms.

As I said in the ingredient list, you can really put whatever you want into sushi rolls. Vegan bacon, any vegetable you can think of, fruits, cooked potatoes or yams, tempura vegetables (I’ve done this before and it’s amazing), chopped nuts, bean purees, whatever you want…really. The only limit to sushi is your imagination!