Top Ten List Tangent Tango

My favorite vegan convenience food

Yeah-yeah, you've read Veg News. You've looked at PETAs list, and if you're really cool you hang out on the PPK so much you know just the right thing to say so people will like you. Well, as the hit band Moving Pictures cheerfully sang, "What about Me?" Doesn't my opinion matter?
You betcha it does. That's why the internet was created, right? Mo Rocca said that all you need these days to be a food critic is to have internet access and a stomach. Check and check!

Why aren't you laughing?

So, I've made up a few top 10 lists of my favorite vegan things. Sure, you could Google "Top 50 Vegan Blogs" and get a nice list. I'm a fan of many of those blogs, and a few are even on my roll. But you'll never see my name, and depending on who you ask that's just sad.

Since Vida Vegan Con is just a week away, I'm upping the blogging thing. There are gonna be over 200 people there, and it would be pretty lame to be at a blogging conference and have to say, "Um, yeah--I haven't blogged for a few weeks." No. No. No.

Without further adieu, here they are. I plan on hanging out with this tangent all week covering a wide variety of vegan what-have-yous, so stay tuned for possible helpful information and a few chuckles.

Jewbacca's Top Ten Vegan Thingymabob Lists Part 1

Top 10 Convenience Foods:

1. Kashi Mayan Harvest Bake
2. Amy's Rice Macaroni and Cheez
3. Goodbelly probiotic juice drinks
4. Helen's Kitchen Thai Curry
5. Coconut Bliss Island Vanilla
6. So Delicious Peanut Butter Zig-Zag
7. Bloomingfood's peanut butter chocolate cookie bars
8. Bloomingfood's vegan breakfast sandwich
9. Gardenburger BBQ Ribs
10. 7 Layer burrito from Taco Bell, NO Cheese, NO sour cream, EXTRA guacamole

Ten Foods You Should Never Buy Because They Are Ultimately Cheaper To Make Yourself-(Whew!):

1. Seitan-Quit making excuses and make your own. There are a bazillion recipes on teh interwebs to make it taste like different kinds of meat. It's super easy, and a $5 pkg of vital wheat gluten will give you 2-3 batches of seitan which cost anywhere from $3-5 retail for ready made stuff.
2. Mayo- That's right. Stop buying Veganaise. I know it's awesome, but it is $5 a pop! Robin Robertson's make your own mayo from Vegan On The Cheap is not only more awesome, but much nicer to your wallet. You do like money, don't you?
3. Hummus- Duh. Quit bringing that dry instant mix to vegan potlucks. The only use for it is to amend the soil in my garden.
   
4. Cookies- It's easy to get some Newman O's, or go to your favorite co-op or whatever to get a box of satisfaction. Wouldn't you be more satisfied to get some friends together and make your own damn cookies? Plus my fellow vegan foodies like Kelly Peloza, Isa Chandra, and Terry Hope Romero needs to get paid--ya heard? If you're too broke to buy, just check out the internet. Awesome recipes.
5. Salad Dressings- Don't do it! I like eating condiments made from things I can pronounce. The Green Goddess dressing from Appetite for Reduction is so much better than Annie's anyway.
6. Veggie Burgers- Helping of hexane anyone? Most commercial veggie burgers have 'em. It's in such a small amount you'd have to eat a ton to hurt you, but ew. No thanks. Go to the Magical Loaf Studio and make patties out of the burgers, or look to the trusty internet to find a recipe. That's how you found me, right?
7. Jam-Fruit, sugar, and lemon juice boiled and simmered. Stick it in the fridge-that's it. Great use for near rotting fruit.
8. Pesto- Use my recipe. Put it in ice cube trays and have a little Summer in the Winter. Oh yeah.
9. Bread- After that incident with Flatout, I'm just convinced I can get it at the local bakery or make it myself. I'm over my fear of yeast.
10. Granola- I can't believe I was ever scared of making this. Sure, if you have the heat too high you'll mess it up, but I learned to love the setting of 275.

Speaking of granola, you have until midnight tonight EST to enter my granola giveaway. Are you afraid of challenging me with a wacky combination? This isn't a random winner. I'm looking for an intriguing combination for the win. So get off your ass and enter. If a famous vegan chef was making it, I'd have a hundred entries by now.

Tomorrow morning, I'll announce the winner and have another Top Ten List!

Seitan wins the #1 spot of a vegan food you should never have to buy.