Yes, even activists are lazy. Luckily, after you buy these goods, your work here is done. Simply open, pour, chew, swallow, and repeat.
• When shopping at the big K, grab a bag of American Fare chocolate chip cookies and munch away. These yummy cookies can be found in pretty much every Kmart around the country.
• Trader Joe's offers tofu pad Thai bowls that can easily be warmed in the microwave in under 10 minutes. Trader Joe's has several other similarly easy-to-fix meals-on-the-go such as these, so keep your eyes peeled! Check out the raw, ready-made pizza dough that you just bake and fancy up with sauce and toppings. We also dig the vegan taquitos.
• Ghirardelli chocolate chocolate chip muffin mix is also vegan—and amazing!
• Zatarain's rice dishes (black bean and rice; black eyed peas and rice; red beans and rice, etc.) are roughly a dollar each and enough to feed two people.
• Lipton's rice meals in bags (teriyaki, oriental, and Cajun flavors are all vegan) are roughly a dollar each.
• Oriental Style Ramen Noodles (be sure to check ingredients—brands vary)
• Pasta with cheap sauce
• Instant mashed potatoes
• Tofu is cheaper than ANY meat. Use tofu in recipes that call for meat.
• Canned Hormel vegetarian chili
• Generic brand tomato soup
• Seriously ... you could survive from breakfast through dinner for the rest of your life if you only bought Amy's Kitchen products. With vegan options such as the Teriyaki Bowl, Black Bean Vegetable Enchilada, Asian Noodle Stir Fry, Thai Stir Fry, Tofu Scramble in a Pocket Sandwich, Mexican Tamale Pie, and Apple Toaster Pops, you really can't lose. You can find Amy's Kitchen products in most major supermarkets and in health food stores.
• All of Edy's Whole Fruit Sorbets are vegan, except Coconut.
• Luna Bars
• Robert's American Gourmet's Tings and Veggie Booty make for awesome snacks.
• Some brands of pirogies are vegan—check the label.
• Most fruity popsicles are vegan—check the label.
• Cereal and soy milk, baby! Many cereals are vegan, so check the labels on your favorites. We like Cookie Crisp, Cheerios, and Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.
• Pita bread and hummus.
• Bagels (check label to make sure the brand is vegan) with Fleishmann's, Earth Balance, Smart Balance, Spectrum Naturals, Willow Run, or any other vegan margarine. Or slather the bagel with peanut butter, cashew butter, hazelnut butter, almond butter, or any of the other vegan nutty butters that you come across.
• Boca, Gardenburger, Morning Star Farms, Lightlife, Tofurky, and Natural Touch all offer fabulous fake meats that are made for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Just throw them in the microwave or on the skillet, dress them up if you choose, and you're good to go! (Not all of their products are vegan, so be sure to watch out for casein, cheese, whey, or egg whites.)
• If you're in the mood for pizza but don't feel like explaining to your local pizza joint why you don't want cheese on the pie, go to the grocery store and grab Martha White's pizza dough mix (found in the baking aisle). You just add water and a little oil and put it in a pan covered with your favorite toppings, and you have a big pizza for under five dollars.
• Most likely, if you're vegan, you already know about the soy ice cream alternatives out there, but here's the deal: Soy Delicious, Tofutti, Rice Dream, and Soy Dream have some amazing products out (many of which you can find in standard grocery chains). You will feel as if you're cheating. There are several other brands of soy dessert treats, too, so seek them out!
• Fantastic Foods provides us with tons of delicious vegan ready meals, like their Vegetarian 3-Bean Chili, Pad Thai, Thai Lemon Grass, and Spanish Paella. They also have lines of soup and meal cups, cereal cups, simmer soups, soup and dip mixes and side dishes and entrées. Not all of their products are vegan, so read the labels closely.
• You will keel over and die when you taste Uncle Eddie's vegan cookies. The best part about them is that they can now be found in major grocery stores, not just health food stores! The options are boggling: Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal, Oatmeal Raisin, Trail Mix, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip ... These are a must-have for all you dessert lovers out there.
