Vegan Favorites For Non-Vegans

I’ll be starting another vegan week after I get back from my beach vacation. Who wants to be vegan on a beach trip? Not me! But although I’m not eating the vegan diet during my in-between weeks I have found several vegan staples that are creeping their way into my every day life.

If giving up dairy and animal product and by-products doesn’t fit into your lifestyle, try picking up a few of these items on your next grocery trip and give them an honest go. Going “vegan” may not be in your future, but that doesn’t mean a few “vegan” foods can’t find their way into your pantry!

So Delicious Mini Fudge Bars: Made with coconut milk and agave nectar, this treat is chocolatey-coconuty goodness-on-a-stick. And at only 70 calories, you won’t feel guilty. Added bonus? My kid doesn’t know or care that it’s not typical ice cream! Available locally at Harris Teeter and Fresh Market.

Dried Fruit Bar/Leather: When I need to eat something, but I’m not really hungry (don’t lie, you know that happens to you), I grab a dried fruit bar from Trader Joe’s. Only sixty calories and straight up fruit. Satisfies my sweet tooth, and my kids happen to love them too. I keep these in their back packs for “emergency” snacks.

Silk Live! Soy Vanilla Yogurt: I struggled with almond yogurt during my first vegan week. It tasted fine, but it had a funky curdled kind of texture. I discovered, however, that soy yogurt is just fine! I now alternate between my Greek yogurt and soy yogurt. I like the protein that I get in the Greek yogurt, but the dairy-free component in the latter.

Sucanat: Essentially, this stuff is pure dried cane juice, is unrefined and retains some of its molasses content which gives it it’s brown color. Sucanat can replace white or brown sugar in a 1:1 ratio. I’ve played around with some recipes using this ingredient and the outcome has been great. If this leaves you pondering why you need to replace white sugar in a vegan diet, you can read up on it here. I don’t complete remove sugar from my diet during vegan week, but I use Sucanat instead when I can. Available at Healthy Home Market.

Silk Soy Hazlenut Creamer: I now no longer use half and half in my coffee at home. This was probably the easiest switch that I made, although I fought it for years. Let’s not tell my husband this, but he’s been trying to get me to make the switch for years. I protested, but now I don’t see why I did. It’s good. And, sweet enough where I don’t feel the need to use sugar in my coffee!

Are there any vegan foods that you enjoy? Have you tried any of these that I listed?