What (Lazy) Vegans Eat: Why Being Vegan Is Easier Than You Think

Today I'm going to debunk the common misconceptions that eating vegan is:

  • Expensive. We are Broke-Ass Millennials™ and we are happy to report that our grocery bill is comparable to our bill pre-veganism. (And we actually eat out significantly less, resulting in savings!)
  • Difficult. I am both inept in the kitchen and incredibly lazy and therefore would have reverted back to turkey 'n' sammiches in a week if I lacked for easy, animal-free ways to feed myself. 
  • Joyless. Life would not be worth living if I was eating only spinach or some shit all day. Luckily, I still look forward to most of my meals, because they are tasty.  

Here are the reasonably-priced, easy-enough, delicious vegan things we shove in our mouth holes.

But first, a few disclaimers...

These meals adequately fuel both my husband and myself. I run about 20–30 miles a week and maintain an ashtanga yoga practice; my husband lifts several days a week and also has a yoga practice (with the occasional short run mixed in). 

That said, vegan does not automatically equate to healthy. These meals are relatively healthy when compared to the average American diet, but they are not strictly whole foods plant based and may not fit your specific dietary needs.

Finally, I've noted the grocery stores where I've found many of these ingredients, but it's by no means an exhaustive list.  

Now let's get to the good stuff. 

Pizza

vegan pizza

Do I miss pizza? Hell no I don't miss pizza, because I eat it at about once a week. Homemade pizza is one of our go-tos. Here's how we make ours:

  • Mama Mary's pizza crust, which we find at Hy-Vee.
  • Muir Glen pizza sauce, readily available at both Hy-Vee and Whole Foods. 
  • Daiya mozzarella, available at Hy-Vee, Whole Foods and Target. 
  • Beyond Meat or Boca crumbles. You can find the Boca crumbles at Hy-Vee, but it took a trip to Whole Foods to discover the Beyond Meat crumbles. 

Throw on some veggies (I like spinach and diced red peppers) and cook at 425–450 degrees for about 12 minutes. Top with NOOCH! Boom. 

Burgers & Fries

vegan burger and fries

Another easy staple that we make at least once a week. For the burger patties, our faves are:

  • Beyond Burgers for grilling and the most "meat like" experience. Available at Hy-Vee and Whole Foods. (Also, certain restaurants are beginning to make this their go-to veggie burger, removing any question whether the veggie burger is actually vegan.) 
  • Various types of Dr. Praeger's (California veggie is pictured above). Has been spotted at Hy-Vee, Whole Foods and Trader Joe's. 
  • Hilary's World's Best Veggie Burger, which I've only ever found at Hy-Vee, is grainy and delicious. 
  • They're not for everyone, but I always enjoy a simple Boca burger, and you can get these at Wal-Mart, Hy-Vee, Whole Foods, Target and probably lots of other places. (Note that they make a veggie burger that isn't vegan, so be sure to check the label.)

Most store-bought fries will be vegan, though we're partial to Hy-Vee's sweet potato fries. We use Orowheat whole wheat buns and sometimes throw some Chao cheese (found at Whole Foods) on that bad boy. NOTE: All of Field Roast's vegan meats and cheeses are delicious.

Brinner

vegan brinner

Tofu scramble, featuring black beans and whatever veggies we have on hand—usually red peppers, mushrooms and/or spinach—has become a breakfast or, just as often, a breakfast for dinner staple. Nooch, turmeric, onion, garlic powder and buttery spread make this shit even more flavorful than your standard scrambled eggs. And it's easy as hell to make. 

Vegan waffles and/or pancakes are also usually on the docket. We're still searching for the perfect recipe, but this is the one I used in the picture above, and it was pretty tasty. We were tragically out of maple syrup, so I subbed some agave nectar.

Field Roast makes a dope breakfast sausage, but I've only found it at Whole Foods, so it's more of a treat than an everyday staple. 

Noods

Being vegan means never having to feel guilty for consuming all the hot, steamy noods you can. (IMO.) Some of our favorite recipes come from Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Thug Kitchen. These cookbooks do have non-pasta dishes, but...pasta.

Dessert

vegan cake

This cake. THIS. MOTHER. FUCKING. CAKE. It is so, so good. This is the frosting recipe we have now used twice in the past week, and it's a winner if you like your frosting the same way I like my men (rich and thiiick). 

The cake recipe comes from Chocolate Covered Katie. It is absolutely delicious. I've made several of Katie's "healthy" vegan desserts, and while they all have been okay or good, this one deserves a damn Nobel Peace Prize, or the cooking equivalent. 

I also have consumed what is a frankly staggering amount of vegan ice cream. (Remember how I said this isn't a whole foods plant based diet? Yeah.) Here are my faves:

  • Ben & Jerry's currently has nine dairy-free flavors. My faves are Peanut Butter Half Baked and Coffee Caramel Fudge. Tastes just like the "regular" stuff to me. (Probably because it's approximately the same amount of empty calories. Mmmm.)
  • Nada Moo Caramel Cold Brew and Cookies, The Rockiest Road and Birthday Cake Cookie Dough are absolutely to die for. I'm usually not on board with coconut milk-based ice creams because they tend to taste very coconut-y, which I'm not into, but these particular flavors don't have that. 
  • So Delicious has coconut, almond and cashew milk-based ice creams. If you're about that coconut flavor, then you'll like their coconut milk ice cream. If, like me, you're not, don't worry—their cashew milk ice cream is, as promised, so delicious. My preferred flavors are Dark Chocolate Truffle and Chocolate Cookies 'n' Cream. 
  • Talenti sorbetto is pretty widely available and is a solid choice. While nine times out of 10 I'll take the chocolate-flavored anything (as you may have noticed), the Roman Raspberry sorbetto is so good I actually prefer it to the Chocolate and Peanut Butter Fudge flavors. 

Eating Out

Eating out is not as easy as it used to be, but it's also not impossible. Most Asian and Mexican places can offer you vegan-friendly options besides a sad ass salad with nothing on. (Nothing infuriates me more than getting stuck eating a sad ass salad because a restaurant's veggie burger is made with egg or some bullshit.)

Chain restaurants are often shockingly vegan friendly. Google is your friend when it comes to checking on particular eateries, but my top picks for easy vegan eating are:

  • Noodles & Company's Japanese pan noodles, with tofu, are vegan without modification (and tasty AF), and they have other dishes that can be made vegan as well. 
  • Taco Bell is actually crazy vegan friendly, which comes as a shock to most people. But you can order anything "fresco style" which means they'll take off the cheese and sour cream and sub it for pico instead. I like to do a black bean and rice burrito (or two, because those guys are kinda puny) fresco style, with guacamole. And maybe some potatoes. 
  • Chipotle also makes eating vegan easy. I do a burrito bowl with rice, black beans, corn salsa, pico and guacamole. They also offer sofritas (tofu) as a protein option, though I generally pass on those. 

There you have it. If you've ever considered going vegan—whether it's for environmental or ethical reasons or because you saw a scary Netflix documentary about meat—but have felt like it's an impossible lifestyle change, hopefully it now looks a little less daunting. 

Comment if you want to talk more about food, particularly ice cream. And, any fellow vegans reading, please comment with your favorite easy vegan eats!