Introduction to Vegan Foods

So I decided to try vegan foods. Do I capitalize that? I don't care, it's damn dirty hippy food, so they don't get a capital v. Take that.

The first important thing to look into for any diet is what you will snack on. Trust me, I'm an expert. Well, no, not really. But that's always top of my mind, so when I decided to venture into the "Healthy Foods" section of my local Giant Foods, I was really shocked by first how huge it was, and second by how many of the foods actually looked... Well, not necessarily appealing, but certainly not as terrifying as I'd imagined. Sure, there was still some broccoli stuff here and there, and I even saw (shudder) a brussel sprout.

I controlled the urge to flee and explored further.

The first thing I sought out was snacks. There were plenty of things that caught my eye, and I wanted to try a lot of them. But the first thing I decided to try was some vegan snacks.

Almonds as a snack are a given (also as a projectile to torment the cats. Or the wife. Or both, if ). And Nature's Promise is a brand I see all the time, so it was nothing new. But I'm still not sure whether raw or roasted are better for you - and if there's really that big a difference, nutrition-wise. But almonds are delicious, and I love getting a handful of them to snack on, especially while I'm working. They're low in saturated fat and have TONS of protein - which is great for someone who's looking to cut meat out. So that's an instant win.

The next item was a "Larabar - Peanut Butter Cookie," and it is made from unbelievably simple ingredients: dates, peanuts and sea salt. It also contains 220 calories, 70 mg of salt and 12 grams of fat. When I read that on the label, I was ready to throw it out - if you consider it's being delivered to you in one 48-gram cookie, that's a little off-putting. It's a tiny food with a big calorie footprint.

But then I went on the interwebs and read a bit. For starters, my beloved almonds have more fat (17g) in a serving - but only 2 of those are saturated fats, the "bad" ones (well, one of the bad ones - trans fats are downright evil). The rest are mono- and poly-unsaturated fats, the "good" fats. And that's the same for the Larabar - just 2 saturated fats, with 6 mono- and 3 poly-saturated fats. Uh... Which doesn't add up to 12 - well, the 12th one evaporates. Once I learned that it wasn't as fatty as I had thought, I gave it a try, and found it to be pretty good - it definitely tastes of dates, but it's a smooth flavor like a PB&J sandwich made with REALLY thick jelly...

There's my first two snacks, and they're tasty. The Larabar isn't nearly as delicious as almonds, but it does have a great peanut-buttery taste, and considering it's only dates, peanuts and sea salt, it's impressive. Unfortunately, it's also a bit pricey - so while it was good to try and a nice treat, it probably won't be a regular.