the mooing vegan

   Vegan at Restaurants Part 1: IHOP By: Megan     In this series, I will be discussing vegan options at popular restaurants and will be trying them and giving my thoughts on them. I have always loved IHOP. I was randomly wanting IHOP and told my friend we had to go to IHOP; it was non-negotiable really. IHOP really is not the best place for vegan options. They do not have any vegan waffles or pancakes which is a bummer. I ended up getting a serving of Hashbrowns, potato pancakes, and sourdough toast. I would not say this was the most filling meal, but with not a lot of vegan options in the area, it was a nice change. This meal was very carb-filled and I could have easily gotten a fruit cup instead of one of the potato options, but who doesn't love a whole plate of potatoes?      I will start off with the hashbrowns. They were very good. I mean they are hashbrowns, so they are self-explanatory. Luckily, their hashbrowns are naturally vegan, so I did no...

Vegan Taco Bean Recipe By: Megan       I made this recipe as a fairly new vegan. I loved tacos and there were absolutely no vegan ground beef options in any of the stores near me. I was going through a bit of a taco withdrawal and was desperate to find anything that could work for tacos. I opened up the pantry and saw numerous cans of beans and thought "hey, I could work with this." I started pulling out the beans and then saw a can of Rotel. I figured it could not be a bad idea, so I drained and rinsed my beans and threw them into a pan with the Rotel and some taco seasoning. I then spotted some rice and boom my meal was completed. Over the years, I have made this recipe in different ways and have perfected it, but I have never actually used measurements because I tend to add ingredients until it feels right, so y'all are going to have to bear with me on this one. Vegan Taco Beans & Rice Ingredients 1 can Light Kidney Beans 1 can Dark Kidney Beans 1 can Black Be...

Vegan Snacks Part 2: I'm Going Nuts By: Megan     Healthy snacks are sometimes far and few between and can often be kept in the shadows of unhealthy vegan snacks. Nuts are one of my go-to snacks. They are filled with protein and are one of the most filling vegan snacks I have found. There are many different brands and types of nuts and I am going to share just a few of my favorites.  1. Cashews     Cashews are probably one of the most versatile and used nuts in the vegan world. It is used for sauces, dips, and just for snacking. I love cashews because they are very filling. They are very low in sodium and pretty good in calories and protein. There are many different brands of cashews and types of cashews. Raw cashews are probably the healthiest, but there are also flavored cashews in the brands Karma and Sahale Snacks. The Berry Macaroon Trail Mix by Sahale Snacks is very good and the Cocoa Dusted Cashews by Karma are to die for. Cashews are typically high ...

     These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things: Vegan Chicken Part 5 By: Megan   This post is going to be a variety of different types of chicken. There are not really any products to compare them to because they are stand-alone vegan products. I figured they were important to do a review on because they are very good options for vegans and vegetarians.  1. Gardein Chick'n Sliders     The  Gardein Chick'n Sliders are a good start to a meal or a small snack. They only have 180 calories per slider, so I would not say that is enough for a meal, but paired with chips, and some fruit and veggies it could be a good meal. These sliders have 10 grams of protein, which is a surprisingly large amount,  and 270 milligrams of sodium. These sliders have good flavor and are a good premade meal option. The sliders are approximately $4 and I have found them at Walmart and Target. 2. Gardein Chick'n Florentino     The Gardein Chick'n Florentino is not m...

      A popular misconception in the non-vegan world is that soy will give men feminine characteristics. I have no clue where this myth originated, but it has become a very common thing on social media that has started different terms and phrases such as "soy boy."     Soy is a phytoestrogen meaning they are natural estrogen producers, but they have nothing to do with the endocrine or reproductive systems. In other words, it is plant estrogen, and just like mammalian estrogen cannot affect plants, plant estrogen cannot affect mammals. Phytoestrogens are found in all types of plants such as rice, wheat, and even apples and carrots. The hype comes from soy products because soy is very high in phytoestrogen. Many posts have gone around saying that soy is scary because it gives men breasts. I would just like to say that if soy caused you to have larger breasts, it would be the most money-making industry in the world, and lots of females would be all over that trend ...

Vegan Snacks Part 1: Chips By: Megan      I am a big snack person. If it were up to me, I would eat snacks all the time. When I first became vegan snacks were kind of hard for me. I used to eat a lot of chips that were not vegan like sour cream and onion, and Doritos. Over the years, I have come across some of the best vegan snacks and I would like to share my favorite vegan chips. 1. Potato Chips I know potato chips are kind of a given, but one may be surprised at how many potato chips are not vegan. I prefer the lightly salted wavy potato chips. I buy them in the Kroger and Great Value brand typically. They are also available in the Lay's brand in various flavors just make sure to check the labels. The Bar-B-Que and Classic Lays are almost always safe bets, but if you want to switch it up the Limon and Dill Pickle Lays Potato Chips are also vegan. Potato chips can be found virtually anywhere, but I am usually able to find specialty potato chips in the organic section of...

Vegan Chili Recipe By: Megan   Chili is one of my favorite foods whether it is winter or not. I have a few different recipes for how I make my chili, but this one is using a lot of beans. I love to top this chili with the simple truth plant-based sour cream, plant-based cheddar cheese, and Fritos. Ingredients 1-15.5 ounce bag Hurst Hambeens 1/2 a small Vidalia onion 1/2 green pepper 5 cups water 5 teaspoons Vegetable Boullion 2 tablespoons minced garlic 1 cup Picante salsa 1 can pumpkin puree 2 & 1/2 Tablespoons chili powder 1 teaspoon cumin 1 teaspoon smoked paprika 1 Tablespoon Badia Seasoning Instructions 1. Chop onion and pepper and saute in an Instant Pot until onions are translucent 2. Add in water and vegetable boullion 3. Rinse beans and add to the pot. 4. Put lid on Instant Pot and set to Soup/Stew Mode 5. Turn on to sealing and set for 30 minutes 6. After cooking for 30 minutes, let the Instant pot automatically pressure release 7. After the pressure release, add in g...

These Are A Few of My Favorite Things: Vegan Chicken Part 4  By: Megan  To continue my series on vegan chicken, I am now reviewing my favorite vegan grilled chicken strips. There are two different brands I have tried: Morningstar Farms, and Gardein. Morningstar is a company owned by Kelloggs and has been based in Michigan since 1974. Gardein has been based in British Columbia, Canada for about 25 years now.      The first vegan grilled chicken strip I tried was Gardein and I did not like it at all. They had a weird taste and texture and looked really weird. It was a watery taste and there was no seasoning. I do not have much to say about this product other than I bought it about 2 years ago and have avoided it at all costs since then. They are also very spongy and it is the weirdest feeling having them in a meal. At first, I thought it was just me, but a few of my friends also think they are disgusting. Everything else about the product is good; it has approxima...

My Thoughts On The Gardien Soup Part 1 By: Megan       Recently, the brand, Gardein, has released four different vegan soups with mock meat in them. I believe this is one of the first brands that has put mock meat in a soup to be canned. I tried the be'f and vegetable soup and it was pretty good. I used to eat my great-grandmothers vegetable beef soup all the time and of course, nothing will ever be able to live up to that, but it was a good classic soup. The soup was $2.99 a can at Kroger which is pretty expensive compared to other vegan soups. The soup is 230 calories which is pretty good for a meal. The serving also contains 1110 milligrams of sodium and 14 grams of protein. The protein for the number of calories is pretty good, but the sodium is absolutely terrible. The daily intake of sodium should be around 2,300 milligrams give or take and that is almost half of it in one meal. In my opinion, this would be something good to eat half of and half of a grilled ch...

My Deal With Clearance By: Megan            Anyone who knows me well knows that I love the clearance section. It does not matter which store I am or if I have ever been there I will find the clearance section. Sometimes I go and there are so many different products and sometimes I go and it is completely empty. However, it does not matter if I have not found anything in clearance all day, I have to go to the section in every single store. I never really started going to the clearance section until I went vegan. I always thought it was just a bunch of expired food that could not be salvaged. After going vegan, the food I wanted to eat got to be very expensive. To get as much food as possible, I started shopping for the sales. Then, I discovered clearance tags. A lot of products such as yogurts, mock meats, and veggies would be on clearance often. I learned what was most often marked down and where I needed to look in the stores on quick trips. Usually, ...

 What Being a New Vegan Feels Like  By: Megan    Being a new vegan was a very unique experience for me. After finding out the truth about everything that goes on in the dairy, meat, and animal agriculture industry, I just wanted to tell everyone about what goes on. I had been blindsided by the media for 16 years and knew others were as well. What hurts me the most was I knew my friends and family believed what I believed for way too long and wanted to help them find the information that I had found. The problem was that they did not want to hear it. They were very stubborn on what they believed and no matter how loud I would shout they refused to listen. This is what most people would call a "pushy vegan." I do not think it is being pushy though. I equate it to how people used to think about child labor. People knew that it was wrong, but they were told it was fine and perfectly acceptable. When someone is told something over and over again, it starts to become a par...

Responding to Vegan Myths Part 1 By: Megan        Vegan myths are very popular amongst the non-vegan community and are often used to "debunk" veganism or give an excuse for why they cannot go vegan. One popular and very common myth is that dairy is essential for bones to be strong. This is because of the calcium in it and calcium is responsible for bone growth and preventing osteoporosis. However, dairy is not the only thing with a surplus of calcium in it. Kale, broccoli, soy milk, and fortified vegan cereals also have calcium in them. Tofu is a huge source of calcium for vegans because it has roughly  868 milligrams of calcium per cup whereas cow's milk has only 305 milligrams of calcium per cup. There are even a ton of vegan supplemental vitamins that one can take to help get their daily intake of calcium. There are also many different apps in which one could use to track their micronutrients and macronutrients to make sure they are within their goals for the...

 Vegan Buffalo Chicken Dip By: Megan     Before going vegan, I had never had buffalo chicken dip. I thought buffalo sauce was extremely spicy and my sensitive self would not be able to handle it. I found a vegan version and completely fell in love with it. Since then I have changed the original recipe and developed one more suitable for what I liked. You can always change the recipe proportions to be better for your taste, but this is what I have found that is absolutely delicious to me.  Ingredients 1 can jackfruit in water 1/2 cup vegan ranch 1/4 cup buffalo sauce 4 oz simple truth plant-based cream cheese 1/2 cup vegan cheddar cheese  1 tablespoon Badia seasoning 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast Instructions Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Rinse off the jackfruit and break the pieces apart; getting rid of any tough pieces. Squeeze out excess water and place it in a small 1-quart baking dish. Stir in vegan ranch, buffalo sauce, and cream cheese. Spr...

Vegan Jerky By: Megan        Recently, I have discovered there are a ton of different types of vegan jerky. I have never had any type of jerky, even before I was vegan. However, I have wanted to try it for a while now, but it is very expensive in my opinion. A couple of weeks ago, I went to the store to do my monthly shopping and saw the Gardein Ultimate Plant-Based Jerky in the clearance section for half off! I thought it was a good time to buy it and review it. I am not sure if it tastes like non-vegan jerky or even compares to it since I have never had it, but I can give an overall review of the product.           The Gardein Ultimate Plant-Based Jerky is approximately $5.99 and I was able to purchase it at Kroger. It is made out of a meat replacer called seitan which gives it a stringy texture similar to a steak. The bag has about 2 servings and is 80 calories, 600 milligrams of sodium, and 12 grams of protein per serving. It is...

These Are A Few of My Favorite Things: Vegan Chicken Part 3 By: Megan                There are so many different types of chicken, and although it may surprise you, you can get pretty much all of them in a vegan version. One popular type of chicken is the chicken tender. I feel like a chicken tender is an underrepresented population. They are so good for wraps, salads, and even dipping them in sauce.                One popular vegan brand is Gardein and they have Seven Grain Crispy Tenders. They definitely are nothing like regular chicken tenders. They do not look the same at all. I would not necessarily say they taste like chicken though. It has a savory flavor similar to a chicken tender, but it is a bit unique. These have a serving size of 2 tenders which I think is not enough I usually at least have three. There are 90 calories in a serving, 230 milligrams of sodium, and 7 grams of protein. I w...

These Are A Few of My Favorite Things: Vegan Chicken Part 2 By: Megan               Chicken nuggets are probably my favorite form of chicken. They are the OG in my opinion. Fortunately, there are a bunch of nugget brands. Unfortunately, I have not tried a lot of them. However, the ones I have tried, I have a lot to say about.                MorningStar is probably the most accessible brand in the area. They have a lot of different amazing types of vegan and vegetarian foods . The Chik'N Nuggets are very similar to the MorningStar Chik'N Patties. They have a crunchy outer layer and the actual nugget is kind of stringy like actual chicken. They are $3.67, at my local Walmart, Kroger, and Food Lion, for a bag that has 12 nuggets. A serving size is 4 nuggets which contain 12 grams of protein, 200 calories, and 370 milligrams of sodium. These pair perfectly with fries, and a vegetable to complete the meal. T...

My Mistakes By: Megan            As a vegan, I have made so many mistakes. Most of them happened as a new vegan because I did not realize half the things that were not vegan that I was eating. Even now that I have been vegan for 2 years, I still make mistakes. This one time I was looking for a vegan alfredo sauce at a store. I had bought this product many times and could not find it, but I found one in similar packaging the only difference was this one was roasted garlic flavor. I figured I could try it and bought two jars of it. It was not until I went to make a pot of chicken alfredo that I opened the jar and tasted some. It tasted a little too much like cheese. I looked at the back and you can imagine my surprise when I found out it had milk and cheese in it. I was freaking out because I had already put the sauce all over the noodles. I quickly went online and searched for what to do. I came across a lot of varying opinions, but I came to the concl...

   These Are A Few of My Favorite Things: Vegan Chicken Part 1 By: Megan          Chicken was one of my favorite things as a non-vegan. Especially chicken nuggets. Back when I went vegan in 2018, there were not many vegan chicken options around me. Luckily, vegan products have exploded and there are so many options for everything.           One of the first vegan chickens I tried was by the brand Boca. It was the Boca Original Chik'n Veggie Patties. I loved them! They are one of the closest vegan chicken products I have had thus far. It has this smoky flavor to it that other vegan chickens do not have. They have 11 grams of protein per patty which is a reasonable amount given they are 130 calories per patty. Boca makes two different kinds of the Chik'n Patty. One is in a red box and the other is in a yellow and purple box. They are mainly the same thing except the yellow box one has approximately 300 fewer milligrams of so...

      I LOVE MOO! By: Megan               I love cows! They have been an obsession of mine over the past year. I haven't always loved cows; I used to think they were gross and smelly when I was younger. As I got older, I guess I didn't really think about cows; I was more concerned with what they made. I loved milk, yogurt, CHEESE! Don't even get me started on cheese. I used to put it on anything and everything. I loved going to the store to pick out a fresh cut of meat to douse in cheese and mayonnaise and eat on a bun. Hamburgers were probably my favorite thing. I ate them at every restaurant I went to. When I went vegan everything changed for me. I don't know exactly the moment it switched for me, but it was very sudden. I looked into their eyes and saw the same eyes my dog had. I saw them as a pet. I then discovered adorable videos of cows chasing playground balls. Maybe that was the moment that changed everything for me; I am no...

5 Things I Learned By Going Vegan By: Megan        I have been vegan for two years now. I have learned so much along the way and am continuing to learn new things every single day.      1. Just because it's vegan doesn't mean it's healthy      Many people think veganism is this healthy diet and is really good for you. I thought this before going vegan as well; however, just like any other diet, veganism can range from being extremely healthy to being super unhealthy. There are tons of healthy options and there are even more vegan junk food options. It all depends on you and your journey. Vegan alternatives can be really instrumental in converting non-vegans to being vegan in a matter of days. These include but are not limited to faux meats, cheeses, and even mac n cheese.  2. Not everyone will agree      It was a shocker when people did not agree with my lifestyle at first. Just because others...

 My Beef With the Dairy Industry By: Megan      The dairy industry is one of the most funded industries in the United States. It is funded by both consumers and the government. Many Americans do not have a problem with the dairy industry, but I do. To start, the dairy industry participates in a lot of actions that would be considered illegal if it were done to humans. Cows do not just produce milk, just like humans; they have to have a baby in order for this process to begin. Because the dairy industry is heavily demanded, dairy farmers cannot just wait for cows to get pregnant, so they artificially inseminate them. The farmers collect a bull’s semen and inject it into the cow's cervix. This procedure is also done in humans except for a doctor to perform it, they need consent from the parties involved. Last time I checked, animals cannot give consent and it would be considered rape if done to a human.  After the cow is pregnant for 9 months, they will g...

Vegan  Lasagna Ingredients ¾ block extra firm tofu 1 tbsp nutritional yeast ¼ tsp italian seasoning ½ tsp garlic powder ½ tsp onion powder 1 ½ tsp salt  2 tbsp non-dairy milk (I use unsweetened soymilk) 2 ½ cups traditional Prego Pasta Sauce 1 cup spinach ½ cup daiya cheddar cheese, shredded 1 6 oz can petite diced tomatoes, drained and rinsed About 5-6 oven ready lasagna noodles 4 -6 Gardein meatless meatballs            Instructions Preheat oven to 350℉ Press tofu for about 3 hours - see instructions below Put tofu, nutritional yeast, spices, and milk in blender and blend until it has the consistency of ricotta cheese Grease a 6 cup rectangular baking dish I use a Pyrex it’s about 2 lasagna noodles wide and ¾ of a noodle in length  Put a tablespoon of spaghetti sauce and meatballs in a pan to cook. Break apart into small pieces as you would hamburger meat. Spread a thin layer of spaghetti sauce on bottom of ...

Just a Vegan Girl, Living in a Non-Vegan World By: Megan   Being vegan is not the easiest thing in the world, especially when the world is not made to accommodate vegans. New struggles arise every day and I have learned tips and tricks on how to get around them. Here are a few struggles I have faced while being vegan.     One of the biggest struggles that I face every day is acceptance. There is a surprisingly large amount of people who believe that vegans are in a cult and are being brainwashed. A lot of people are very against veganism. This is a struggle mainly when I go out to eat because some people are cruel enough that when you order a vegan option or say “I'm vegan” they purposefully put animal products in it. There are many stories where restaurants have been saying a product is vegan and using meat products for it because it is cheaper. This is very inconsiderate and irresponsible. This is extremely harmful for people like me because animal products ar...

Why Vegan? By: Megan I went vegan (“ a way of living which seeks to exclude, as far as possible and practical, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose) on November 1, 2018 (Veganism). My reason to go vegan is a little bit different than most peoples. Most people watch documentaries such as “Cowspiracy”, “What the Health”, or “Forks over Knives”, and decide they want to adopt veganism for the animals, health, or the environment. Not me though. My story is filled with lost hope and lots of doctors. In 2013, I started having random bursts of pain. I would always say my back and legs hurt. After a while of having these pains, I talked to my pediatrician about it. She brushed it off as growing pains even though I had, for the most part, stopped growing. I did not mention it for a couple years and just dealt with the pain and complained to friends and family A LOT. In 2017, I began to have constant pain in every part of my body especiall...

  In The Veganning By: Megan I’m Megan, a teen cow-loving, vegan. I adopted this lifestyle two years ago. Reading from others who had the same lifestyle brought me comfort in knowing I was not alone. Now, I have developed a sense of security in being vegan and would like to share my life with others in the hopes of providing the same comfort I was given. I want to break the stereotypes centered around being vegan. I’m not a hippie or crazy.  Some of us are just normal people who do everything everyone else does, just a little differently. Join me on my crazy journey of navigating life as a teen into adulthood as a vegan.