Please pass the mustard

What have we here? Two packages of convenience food if I ever saw any. Smart Dogs and crescent rolls.

Combined, they make


Pigs in blankets! Vegan version. And they aren't as bad for you as the other kind. These are not going to be to everybody's taste but we figure there is a wide range of veganism in this world, and some of us crave things like this from time to time.

On Veganism and Convenience

The last post was about making veganism more convenient. These links are to articles about how easy veganism is or why the convenience issue doesn't matter at all. Take a look:

• Convenience/Inconvenience Myth - "if one is concerned with the "convenience" of their diet, they necessarily sacrifice their health, which does nothing to improve the force of their argument - nor does it disprove the argument that a similarly [un]healthy vegan diet can be equally convenient; if, however, one is interested in eating a diet that is in their health interests or welfare, one will do well to put the necessary thought and effort into their food selection and avoid the downfalls of mere convenience."
• Isn't Being Vegan Difficult? - "It's profoundly more difficult to make excuses for inflicting avoidable violence on innocent beings, or to deny it, or to try and not think about the consequences of your actions, or to fend off your conscience. That wears on you, one way or another."
• Isn't Being Vegan Inconvenient? - "I don't feel inconvenienced when restaurants become exercises in patience, or when I've read the whole ingredients list only to realize that it said it had dairy in it in bold print at the bottom. I don't feel inconvenienced when by best-friend gets in a fussy mood and calls me a rabbit-food eating hippy or when I have to bring my own lunch to school every day. Those small and acceptable consequences are the trade-offs that I hardly notice for looking at the pay-out."
• Isn't being vegan really inconvenient? - "At first, not having so many options when it comes to being a consumer might seem a bit daunting, but once you know your stuff and get a little organised, it's really quite incredibly easy!"

PS - Here's a convenient vegan meal: a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Making Veganism More Convenient

Here are two resources with suggestions to make veganism more convenient for you:

• Veganism and (in)convenience - "Don't give up on the whole thing because you mess up a couple of times. You won't be struck down if you forget to check for whey powder until you've eaten half the packet of crisps. But it doesn't mean you might as well go back to your old eating habits! A new vegan who makes a few mistakes is still on track to do a whole lot more good than someone who doesn't even try. Just remember to check the label next time, huh?"
• 10 Helpful Techniques For Vegans Dealing With NonVegans - "The mistakes nonvegans often make are numerous, too many to list here, but some common misunderstandings are these:
  a) many people still assume fish and poultry is vegetarian, remind them it’s not,
  b) lots of people don’t understand what “dairy” really means and they think butter or yogurt (especially if it’s fatfree) is vegan, remind them that dairy means milk and all milk products,
  c) many people forget about broth, oil/lard, and those other little details, if you think something might contain those items, ask."

PS - Here's a convenient vegan food: a bean and rice burrito.

Quick and Easy

Need something really quick and really easy? Think frozen foods.

Here is a snack or side dish:

Just take some frozen veggies, any package will do, and empty it into a ceramic or glass dish. Add some water, about half a cup, cover with plastic wrap, and microwave it for about 3-5 minutes. Then drain the veggies and put them on a plate or in a bowl. Season them with Mrs. Dash, Tony Chachere's, or your favorite spice blend.

Now eat.

I didn't say it was going to be the best meal of your life. But it's quick, easy, and relatively healthy :)

Win the "Vegan Express" Cookbook!

Win a vegan cookbook at Vegan Soapbox!

Vegan Soapbox is giving away a vegan cookbook and one of the options is Vegan Express, a cookbook practically designed for readers of Vegan Convenient.

Head on over there and enter the contest if you'd like to win a free vegan cookbook!

Click here to win a vegan cookbook at Vegan Soapbox!

Convenient: Frozen Oatmeal

This is a pretty funny story from Bitter Sweet:

"Convenience foods are undeniably attractive options when compared with traditional, time-consuming dishes, and so I can see how easy it is to get lured in by the seductive notion of easy eating. Just heat and go! [...] Homemade is always infinitely better, but unless you do nothing but cook all day long, it isn’t always a realistic possibility.

"On the other end of the spectrum are those pointless conveniences that are made for the laziest and most reluctant cooks, and stumbling upon a box of frozen, steel-cut oatmeal at Trader Joe’s I thought for sure I had another one to add to the list. Seriously, frozen oatmeal? How busy/cooking-incompetent/mentally impaired would you have to be to need pre-cooked, frozen oatmeal?"

She buys the oatmeal and ends up eating her words. She loves it.

Some convenience foods seem like a ridiculous waste of money and cardboard packaging. But some, well some are just tasty :)

On the other hand, oatmeal is a pretty convenient food, regardless of what kind you buy. Even the regular stuff that's not quick-cook is simple and convenient. Just add water and heat up!

Convenient: Microwaves

When we first imagined this blog, Vegan Convenient, we were traveling. We stayed in motels with mini-fridges and microwaves. Aside from eating out and eating raw, all of our vegan meals were prepared in the microwave.

Microwaves are one of the most convenient methods of preparing vegan meals. They cook food up fast and they require very little space.

You can cook frozen, fresh, or canned foods in the microwave, but did you know you can also cook up rice in the microwave?

Look! It's a microwavable rice cooker.