Deceptive Marketing Targets Dumb Vegans (like me!)

Each Thursday I make a meal for our middle son who delivers produce for his organic produce business, and we are his last stop before he heads home. We enjoy socializing together, and I enjoy trying out new recipes on him. I'm not much of a shopper, so most of my meals are from scratch, but I got a wild hair today while in the big city, and did some vegan shopping ... or so I thought. I had wanted to make a Vegan Italian Hoagie that was a knockoff from a traditional recipe I had in my archives. It was all pretty simple except for the cheese. I had never had any type of vegan cheese (except soft, spreadable cheeses I'd made from cashews or almonds). I headed for the health food store after finding nothing at the grocery store. There was a whole section of "health food cheese" including organic dairy cheese, so I knew I'd have to shop smart. I found the soy cheese I'd heard people talk about, and there were many varieties. I chose a Monterrey Jack variety and headed back home to set up my sandwich bar.

My son has been a vegan for several years, so apparently he knew the game better than I did. He asked to see the package the cheese had come in, and one of the ingredients was casein. I didn't know what that was, but surely it couldn't be a non-vegan ingredient if it was in soy cheese. Who would buy soy cheese except someone who is avoiding dairy? Anyway, he informed me that it was an animal product, so he would not be eating it. Fortunately there were enough other ingredients on his sub for him to enjoy it: arugula, roasted red pepper, olive tapenade (I made this myself so that I would know what was in it), and he piled some kimchee on there too. Now, let's not get into the bread issue, at least not today. I'm still reeling because of the cheese.

After he left, I did a google search on foods vegans might not realize contain animal products (search: vegans beware). Here is one site that explained the casein and a few other things if you'd like to check it out.

http://www.drinksvelte.com/2014/05/vegans-beware-these-animal-ingredients-could-be-hiding-in-your-food/

It is a little overwhelming to think how best to plan my menus. Like I said before, I like to cook from scratch with very basic foods, so it sounds like I better stick with that plan. 

My food today:

Breakfast: watermelon; 3 bananas later on

Lunch: 8 bananas; 16 oz Harmless Harvest coconut water

Dinner: Italian Vegan Hoagies, kimchee

Total calories: 3042

Caloronutrient ratio (carbs/protein/fat): 85/8/7