I saw this Vegetable Pate in my local Whole Foods back in January. I’d heard of vegan pates being made, so I checked out the ingredients. I saw none of my buzzwords, like rennet or gelatin. However, I did see a word I wasn’t familiar with: Aspic.

Now some might wonder why I didn’t whip out my smartphone and google it right then and there. Yeah, well…I just had to go the old fashioned route and ask. The woman behind the counter didn’t know what it was but said it wasn’t meat. So I bought a small piece.

I’m glad I had the good sense to write it down and search it when I got home. I’m also glad that the manager obliged in taking it back.

Don’t go through the same hassle. Add Aspic to your buzzword list and do the research before you buy.

At present, you cannot create a “full face look” with Tarte Cosmetics’ PETA certified, cruelty free and vegan product collection; that is, unless you want to use the gel eyeliner over your whole lid and lip tint/gloss on your cheeks, which you could do, I suppose. Last year, I’d gotten a bit of a boost of spirits from a brand rep…but my high hopes were soon put in check.

Query:

Sent: Sunday, May 16, 2010 9:59 AM
To: info@tartecosmetics.com
Subject: tarte.com contact submission
name: Sarah

Hello,
I am a vegetarian and I was recently speaking with a representative of your
brand at a Sephora store. The rep said that the brand was getting an
overhaul to make it entirely vegan or vegetarian. Is there any truth to
this? If not, are there any plans to change the packaging or store displays
(like Urban Decay using the Marley Footprint) to denote that a specific
product is vegan or vegetarian?
Thanks!

Response:

Hello Sarah,

At this time our main focus is removing any harmful ingredients from our
products. We will absolutely have more vegan products in the future. Thank
you for your inquiry!

Please continue to check the http://www.tartecosmetics.com for the latest on new
product releases. Our customer care team is always available to assist you
monday through friday, 10am to 5pm est. if you have any additional
questions.
 
Thank you for your interest in tarte cosmetics!
Tarte Cosmetics Customer Service Team
www.tartecosmetics.com

In the end, I can’t knock them for their honesty.

I’ve always been a brand disloyalist anyway; picking and choosing what I liked best. My picks from their PETA certified Vegan collection?

• Lip Surgence natural matte lip tint: it actually lasts longer for me than the original or luster varities I tried before I found out they weren’t all vegan.
• emphasEYES eyebrow pencil: good for adding a little extra definition.

Though I wish I had Professor McGonagall’s nack for transfiguration, when I decided to “Go Veg,” I didn’t transmutate into a turtle. So what’s with all the lettuce, damn it?!?!

One afternoon, I couldn’t resist the ease of grabbing a premade sandwich from a cold case. From Whole Foods, to Westerley, to Morton Williams, to Amish Market, many choices remain the same. I decided on this one by Natural Power-Fu.

I like lettuce, don’t get me wrong. Leafy greens of all kinds have a place on my plate and in my sandwiches. That said, everything in moderation please. The ones in pita don’t seem to have the same, um, problem.

My mother’s hypothesis: to make the sandwich look bigger. If you’re in the know before me, let me in; what’s with all the lettuce?

I don’t have Celiac Disease but I’ve been asked by a few friends who have it, if I have any recommendations. Whether something is veg*n friendly is really my concern. As I have scanned the labels for my own concerns, I have come to notice gluten-free labelings as well. So for all my gluten-free friends out there, here’s some of my “Accidentally Gluten-Free” Favorites.

Nature’s Path: Both the cereals below are listed as vegetarian and gluten-free. I’ve been a little hesitant about this company after their round-about response to my whey query. Judging their ingredients, these cereals do appear to be safe.

• Crunchy Vanilla Sunrise
• Crunchy Maple Sunrise

On the Go:

Larabar has to be my number one grab and go. All gluten-free and nearly all vegan, how they get can get between 5-7 simple ingredients to taste like Key Lime Pie or a Cinnamon Roll is uncanny. 

Mock Meat Substitutes:

Lightlife has about 5 gluten-free, certified vegan options.

Soups:

Pacific Brand Soups

Pizza:

Amy’s Kitchen is an entirely vegetarian/vegan company. They have 100+ products for those with gluten intolerance, including 5 rice crust pizzas. The company has a Special Diets section for those with Celiacs, among others for various Illnesses and Allergies.

Alcoholic Beverages:

If you want to know more about gluten-free beer, click here. And for a listing of some gluten-free alcohol, click here. For vegans, please cross-reference with Barnivore’s extensive vegan alcohol guide.

Sweets:

Liv Lovely Cookies

Sharon’s Sorbet

Purely Decadent Non-Dairy Frozen Dessert made with Coconut Milk

•  I love to mix things up; this is both Soy Free and Gluten Free.
• Certified Vegan by Vegan.org.
• Cherry Amaretto is my favorite (so far), with only 130 calories a serving/4 servings a container, zero mg sodium and cholesterol. (Note: Don’t eat the whole container in one sitting, please. Coconut milk has some amazing health properties, but one serving does have 25% of your daily value of Saturated Fat. Enjoy over time.)
• Want to try SoDelicious. Request a coupon.

Gluten-Free Fast Food (Not veg*n): While I whole-heartedly encourage a veg*n deit, this is the bone I’m throwing any non-veggies who may have stumbled upon this page, as a reward for making it this far.

Recipes:

Mixed veg and non-veg gluten-free recipes from BBC’s Good Food page.

Gluten-Free recipes from Fat Free Vegan.

Cooking/Baking:

Try Bob’s Red Mill for the basis of your gluten-freen baking and cooking needs.

Cosmetics:

Ecco Bella Organic Cosmetics

• For veg*ns and gluten-intolerant, please be sure to read the product descriptions carefully. Some products are gluten-free, some vegan, some both. Any questions, please contact the company.
• Disclaimer: I have yet to try this brand personally.
• Available at select Whole Foods as well as other natural foods retailers.

It’s gone the way of the dinosaurs, having been worn into faded glory, but I bought a shirt on Delia’s that had “Vegetarian Before It Was Cool.” I like to think I was. Especially before it was cool with my peeps…since it’s only that they’ve been numbed into acceptance. Looking for a replacement, I’ve gots me some options.

PETA offers many shirts with their various slogans. My fave, a little chick with the tag “I am not a nugget.”

Other sites:

• CAFE Press
• Alternative Outfitters

Check out this post from VegNews: T-shirts by Vegan Artists.

For a coworker’s birthday, she was surprised with a room jammed full of coworkers and donuts from Dunkin’. I participated in the well wishing, but not the donuts. One of my coworkers asked me why I couldn’t have the Dunkin’ Donuts and I replied with whey…I’m sure among other things. Then he commented that it was disappointing that I couldn’t have donuts. Unless they made vegan donuts. Then it came: ‘Do they even make vegan donuts?’

Ha! Yes, they do. Donuts seem to be the new vegan challenge; one of the final veganize-this sweet frontiers.

Exhibit A: VEGAN TREATS

Aww, yeah.

This bakery’s goods are everywhere. I enjoyed my first vegan donut in January; purchased at Govinda’s Gourmet-To-Go in Philly. The size was a little daunting. Funniest though, it reminded of The Simpson’s…and I foamed a little in anticipation. Just call me, ‘Homie.’

 Exhibit B: DUNWELL DONUTS

It's what's on the inside that counts.

When I went into CHAMPS Bakery in Brooklyn a few months back and saw boxes of Dunwell Donuts on the bottom of the case, I almost pressed my nose to the glass. I’d heard some hype about these donut makers and I needed to have my own taste. It was a PB & J vibe going on at the shop that day and I was feeling it. Now I’d also like to feel the French Toast, S’mores, Sugared Plum, and Mexican Chocolate flavors on my tastebuds…though not all at once cause then I’d be feeling ‘em on my thighs too.

Exhibit C: SWEET AVENUE BAKE SHOP

Pic totally nicked from their Facebook page.

I will admit that I’ve never been to this Rutherford, NJ-based vegan bakery. Judging from their Facebook pics and recent Food Network contestant submission video for Cupcake Wars, I really do need to see what the fuss is all about.

I showed you mine! Now you show me yours! Have a shop that makes bad-ass vegan donuts? Don’t keep it to yourself. That wouldn’t be nice. Share.

A friend posted about Emily Deschanel‘s July interview with Ladies Home Journal in which she discusses her approah to being happy and living healthy, which includes maintaining her vegan diet through her pregnancy.

I still have to defend myself because people don’t understand it. As a pregnant woman especially, people will say to me, “You must eat meat and dairy.” You really have to tap into your self-esteem whenever people try to convince you you’re making the wrong choice.

Deschanel’s personal, be-true-to-yourself attitude resembles that of her on screen persona’s; her dogged assertion that facts are everything.

I didn’t hop on the Bones wagon until late in season 4; now BONES marathons on TNT have become the thing of lazy holidays with the family.

I have to admit I’ve never read any of the books the show is based from, so I’m not sure if the character Deschanel plays, Dr. Temperance Brennan, was originally vegan or if that was written in for the actress.

For more Deschanel, click below to watch her PSA for PETA, and check her out this fall on FOX for the 7th season of BONES.

If you ever have a skeptic complaining that veg-friendly cookies are too dense or bland, just break a piece off of a Liv Lovely cookie and shove it in their mouth. Certified vegan by vegan.org and with a number of gluten free varities, these are some of the best cookies I’ve ever had. And, yes, that’s best cookies; not just best vegan cookies.

At the Vegetarian Food Festival back in April, I was a bit of a pig and went back for a second as I left. They’re really soft and fall apart in your mouth but they’re not dry and crumbly. Even though I have my favorites, I haven’t tried a variety I haven’t liked.

I grabbed a pack of the Cowgirl Cookies from Westerley’s. Cookie Dough cookies. Genius. I just couldn’t resist; there’s just something about Friday’s. The end of a long work week drains your resistance. Why resist something so good?

This actually brings me to really my only problem with these cookies: they’re two cookies in one sealed pack. There are 2 cookies (4 servings) in one bag; each serving around 200 calories, so 400 a cookie. I don’t have to try very hard to think of reasons to eat the whole pack. I do have to try to hold myself back and the reasons tend to seem so insignificant.

It would be an extra expense to the company and extra plastic waste to seal each cookie individually. Once you open the pack, both cookies are exposed to the air. Sometimes I look at the bags and think, ‘I’d like both of these.’ In my head, I count up the calories and then put either one or even both back.

If the cookies were sealed individually, you could buy both the Cowgirl and Cowboy Cookies and have them in turn without having to worry their package partners weren’t losing their freshness. I’d buy more and probably more often if I could have a variety and not be tied to 800+ calories a go. Cause you know you just can’t say no.

But, hey, if that’s my only problem, maybe I should just consider sharing? Nah.

Join the fan club for giveaways and discounts.

Just got off a plane from Orlando, FL. after a blur of a weekend. Had an amazing time at Daytona Beach and Universal Theme Parks! As always, sought out some veg*n food.

The airport can be a difficult please to navigate. I took Sarah Kramer‘s advice from her travel/cookbook Vegan A Go-Go! and stashed a few treats in my sack for the flight. On my way to Orlando, for my wallet’s sake, I splurged in the terminal only on an orange juice.

I traveled Southwest Airlines and they do give you some little treats. The ones in my sack came in handy if for no other reason than I was out almost before the wheels were up. When I woke up, I noticed a young man sending little bears to drown before their beheadings. For me, these may have been fine; for vegans, I’m not sure Teddy Grahams would be on the menu.

When we touched down in Orlando, food was not optional. So after we dropped our bags, we headed to a little restaurant in Winter Park.

Let me preface with, I’m the only veg*n of my bunch. Sat down at this cute little place my friend likes, asked if they had anything vegan cause I like to start as extreme as possible, and sweet as pie the girl goes, ‘Yeah, we’re really not at all vegan friendly.’ I was actually really happy to hear that; luckily for me she had a family member who is vegan and so she pretty much nixed with the shoveling.

I set about scowered the menu for anything that would make up some semblance of a plate, so as not to be the pin at the party; popping everyones’ balloons. I admit, if I’d have really played it safe, I’d have had toast and fruit…but I felt a little Southern summer morning and had me some grits and a biscuit.

You know these cakes just long to be made vegan. Come on. Make their wish (and mine) come true.

Sadly, their cakes looked amazing. Vegan cake makers, please stumble upon this page and decide to make vegan cakes this huge…and really GOOD. Or veg*n friends, please stumble upon this page and tell me if you know a vegan cake maker who makes cakes this big…and that are really GOOD. Thanks!

After soaking up some sun (and upping my chances of getting cancer; I swear I put on sunblock), the evening came…and oh, more food, please. May I just say, I love smartphones. I don’t have one yet, but I like them and their fancy apps; I can admit that.

We searched for some vegan-friendly places and put out an A.P.B. to veg friends in the area and we sort of hit up two places.

First we tried Drunken Monkey. Wasn’t quite the seating arrangment we were looking for, but I couldn’t leave without grabbing some of the yummy looking vegan brownies. I was really intrigued by the Mocha Mole Brownie. It was good; I will say. There was a good spice to it. Downside, someone wasn’t wearing their hairnet; I’m just sayin’.

Onward to STARDUST. They’re not a vegan restaurant, but they can make several items vegan; just look for the ’cv’ throughout the menu. I had me a yummy, yummy veganized Rob Reiner sandwich.

This place really speaks for itself…very loudly with a bustling crowd on Friday. And so, I went to sleep full…and all was right with the world. Fine, all was right with me at that moment.

We woke up early and headed to the Universal Theme Parks. I’m gonna own; I’m gonna own: I went to Orlando solely for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. There, I said it. Oh, and there ain’t nothin’ wrong with that.

Rode some rides and drank me some Butterbeer. Which I am sumpremly confident, is not vegan. They put this foam on top, vegetarian but I swear it can’t be vegan. In fact, I’m not sure veg*ns exist in the Harry Potter sphere.

On the map of the parks, there is an apple symbol to denote restaurants that offer vegetarian/healthy options. Walked into one place and the healthy option was a chicken ceasar salad. Turkey legs are everywhere. So you’ve been warned. When you see a place with soft pretzels, that’s the pot of gold…just make sure you ask for one that’s actually, oh, I don’t know, soft, maybe.

On City Walk, though, you have a few more options. Try Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville. I only had a small salad, but they have a few items that can be made vegetarian.

For Sunday brunch, we hit up EOLA Wine Company. An $8 flight of mimosas and a Veggie Wrap (hold the Goat Cheese) is a winning combination.

Still to come:

• Dandelion Communitea Cafe
• Downtown Disney
• If you must eat at the airport…

I had an amazing time in Florida! My sister and friend kept telling me I ate like all of 500 calories the whole trip, but no. I totally splurged and broke the caloric bank on some good eats!

'You just open back up today?' 'Yes...and you're the first person to take a picture.'

It’s official, after 5 months of remodeling, Westerley Natural Market officially reopened on Monday 8/8/2011. The prices seem comparable, well, at least, to Whole Foods. The variety is still there. Though I’ve tried faux fish at some restaurants, I haven’t seen it in any other markets yet, so I’m thinkin’ I’m gonna be tryin’ me some newness. Not sure, though, why they didn’t do anything about how awkward their lines are arranged. AND I really thought they were 24 hours before…but I may be mistaken. Regardless, their hours now are Monday though Friday 6am-12am, Saturday 7a-12am, and Sunday 8am-12am.