Sensible Foods for Sensible People

My family is vegan. We eat no animals and no animal products, including honey. Yet, we are modern vegans living in modern society. We don't garden (we tried for several years, but all the plants died even with hundreds of dollars of care and water); if you can garden -- WONDERFUL! I also don't enjoy cooking and only do it as necessary. This could cause a dilemma, but it doesn't. Yes, I want the absolute best nutrition for my family at all times. I am a strong believer that "You are what you eat". Our health reflects that.

You can "disease proof" yourself and your kids. Check out pcrm.org for more information on curing diseases with diet. The China Study gives an amazing account of how diet can change the health of a society. It is highly researched over many years.

Back to us, we want to eat with our friends and family, yet we never sway in our vegan ideals. So, we are always looking for snacks and foods that meet our needs, yet are so tasty that all the people around us want to steal our food. This actually happens a lot and we don't usually mind. :) Afterall, we want our friends and family to live long and healthy lives, too.

Here are some of our current "take to the park" snacks:

• Sensible Foods "Crunch Dried" Fruit and Vegetable snacks -- WOW, these are good! I usually buy them on amazon.com since their price is the best. The corn is our favorite.
• Primal Sticks These come in actual sticks (like Slim Jims) and jerky flat strips. I usually buy these from Food Fight Grocery, but Vegan Essentials has them and so do several of our local grocery stores. Check yours! You might be surprised.
  
• Organic Rice Krispies with Ricemellow “Marshmallow” Crème No need for vegan butter to make these treats. They are perfectly delicious with just the rice and fluff mixed together. I buy the fluff from Vegan Essentials. The Marshmallow tastes amazingly good in every form I've tried, including frozen, although I am partial to it in hot chocolate.
  
• Baked Tings These "vegan Cheetos" are delicious! The only place I can find the baked ones are at amazon.com and robscape.com. The regular ones can be found at many grocery stores.
• Eco-Planet's "cheese" crackers The only place I've found these are at Vegan Essentials. They are super cute and taste better than goldfish crackers. The best part is they are dairy-free and organic.
• Mary's Gone Crackers These are wonderful tasting crackers that are the healthiest I've ever seen. They taste great plain, or with toppings (such as Eggless Egg Salad). We usually buy them locally, but I've seen them on Vegan Essentials and amazon.com.
  
• And, of course, fresh fruits and vegetables (but these don't hold up well in 100+F summer heat over a few hours and you all know where to buy these).

Amazon.com has over 200 vegan foods in their grocery section with new ones added all the time!

Our other favorite online food sources are:

• veganessentials.com This shop sells many of the products that I've mentioned and thousands more!

• rightfoods.com Dr. McDougall's ready made vegan meals. Just add hot water and enjoy! These are super delicious, easy, quick, and affordable. If you don't know who Dr. McDougall is, check out his awesome site!
  

• foodfightgrocery.com Funky vegan shop that has many new items before anyone else.

• robscape.com Online source of Tings and Baked Tings (we also find these locally and on amazon.com).

I've just discovered the Go Dairy Free site. What a fantastic resource for finding out more about what to feed dairyless children.