Vegan Lunch Box Ideas Part 2

For this series of blog posts, I want to present an accurate view of regular vegan lunches for regular people. This series includes the following requirements:

• Foods must be inexpensive
• Foods must keep well for up to 6 hours without heating or refrigeration
• Foods must not require more than a few minutes of preparation
• Foods must be vegan  
  

 

Member's Mark Applesauce

This was a good light snack. The serving size was a bit small though. It would be good as one part of a larger lunch.

 

 

Fresh Almond Butter with Crackers

I used the nut grinder at my local supermarket to make fresh almond butter. I scooped the almond butter with vegan crackers. This was so fresh and tasty!

 

 

 

Cedar's Garlic Hommus Snack Pack

Another tasty Mediterranean lunch idea. This garlic flavor is just one of several flavors available.

Home-made Vegan Spinach Quesadillas

I used flour tortillas, Daiya Cheddar Style Shreds, olive oil, and fresh spinach to make these quesadillas. This was a cheap and easy meal. And the taste was as good as restaurant food.

A Vegan July 4th Work Lunch 2022

We had a July 4th feast at work! And they offered some vegan items. Free food!

This work lunch included Lay's Barbecue chips, Lay's Classic chips, a bag of popcorn, and a Dr Pepper. I enjoyed this so much I went back for more during my 15 minute break.

Some people would think of this as a disappointing lunch, since the others got to enjoy a fried chicken feast with several side dishes. I grew up poor. I see this as a really good free lunch. I'm grateful for what I get in this world. I think everyone would be happier if we all focused more on the good things in life.

At work I choose not to tell anyone that I eat only plant material. This just avoids conflict and misunderstandings. I would like to avoid having people go out of their way to get something special just for me, not only because I don't want to take the fun out of their celebrations, but also because they'd get their feelings hurt if they got something they think is vegan but is not. Also I want to avoid having people bring in their own assumptions about vegans and apply them to me. They may have known a very judgemental, outspoken, angry vegan who offended or scared them, and I am completely not like that.

A Vegan Lunch at Whiskey Joe's Bar & Grill in Pensacola Beach FL

Finding vegan food in Pensacola is only a slight challenge, but once you go over the bridges to Santa Rosa Island, it is nearly impossible to find something to eat. There's an abundance of seafood restaurants, and not a single one currently has a vegan meal on a menu. Herbivores are completely overlooked at the beach. Some restaurants have small vegetarian side salads with cheese, dressing, and croutons. Most of them have fries or other deep fried vegetarian items, but I assume they use shared deep fryer oil. It was a tough search, but I found something really good for vegans. Some creative thinking and a good attitude is needed for this one.

I found myself at Whiskey Joe's Bar & Grill. It's a nice place right on the beach, and I mean it is ON THE BEACH with beach sand all around and dining tables in the sand! Very cool. The bar is on a concrete pad under a big beach hut. It's very casual and comfortable. I chose the beach hut during this visit. They have all kinds of beautiful foods for omnivores. The adult beverages looked amazing, especially the one that's served in an actual pineapple. This place is so cool!

Whiskey Joe's Bar & Grill

 

The menu includes an appetizer called Joe's Pile of Nachos. It usually comes with tortilla chips, queso, shredded cheese, spicy beef, beans, guacamole, pico de gallo, sour cream and jalapeños. Be very friendly and nice to the server. Ask if they can make a vegan version with tortilla chips, black beans, guacamole, lettuce, pico de gallo, and jalapeños.

 

Vegan nachos at Whiskey Joe's

 

This was smaller but at the same price as the big Joe's Pile of Nachos. The quality and flavor was very good. This wasn't a vegan feast and it wasn't cheap, but this was the best vegan food on the island. Every part of this was fresh and flavorful. Order this with a good draft beer or fancy drink and you will be in paradise.

Remember, this is not on the menu. Don't go in there acting like you're special. Whiskey Joe's is very popular and has plenty of other paying customers. I'm not sure how they feel about special orders. It worked for me, and I hope to order this again next time. It was very good!

Vegan Lunch Box Ideas Part 1

For this series of blog posts, I want to present an accurate view of regular vegan lunches for regular people. This series includes the following requirements:

• Foods must be inexpensive
• Foods must keep well for up to 6 hours without heating or refrigeration
• Foods must not require more than a few minutes of preparation
• Foods must be vegan 
  

 

Publix Lightly Salted Peanuts 

These are great. Of course, I did not eat the entire contents of this jar during one lunch break. These are very satisfying.

 

 

Two Raw Apples

This is a great raw lunch. I prefer mine peeled, so I put a paring knife in the pouch of my lunchbox.

 

Snyder's Mini Pretzels and a Powerbar Plant Protein Snack Bar

with dark chocolate, salted caramel, and cashew! This lunch is non-GMO!

 

 

A Mediterranean-style Vegan Lunch

Dolmas from the Kroger olive bar and a Sabra Roasted Red Pepper Hummus and Pretzels snack pack!

 

 

Season's Choice Gourmet Onion Rings

These delicious onion rings were found at Aldi for an unbelievably low price. Most packaged onion rings are made with non-vegan ingredients. These looked safe, so I had to buy them. I'm glad I did. The taste and texture was very good!

 

 I ate this with some leftover Heinz ketchup from Burger King.

Vegan Avocado Hors d'oeuvres

These Simple Truth crackers are topped with Treeline Herb Garlic plant-based spread and chucks of avocado. This tasty vegan snack is a very easy way to get the party started. Your non-vegan guests will think you've fallen off the vegan wagon, because Treeline plant-based spread tastes very much like the real thing.

 

Vegan Halloween 2021

Happy Halloween to all. Once again, I have created home-made vegan Halloween foods to share with you. I enjoyed these tasty treats at my own spooky party, this year including only me and the dead.

I started with Avocado Monster Toast. It's simple enough to see how this was created. Even a zombie could make this.

I bought some vegan Halloween candy, not for the kids, because there are no kids, but for me to enjoy with my fortunately unseen dead companions watching. I did not share. They no longer can enjoy such pleasures, so no hard feelings exist on my part.

The big finale for the evening included the enjoyment of home-made vegan pumpkin muffins with vanilla icing. I added spooky lighting to get the mood right. A party for one complete with decorative lighting sounds quite sad, doesn't it? But what a perfect holiday for creative melancholy.

I cheated. My home-made muffins were made with Simple Mills Pumpkin Muffin & Bread mix and icing. Both are vegan. I made this just as instructed, except I replaced the eggs with a vegan egg substitute. This ended up being a good choice. The icing is a bit too sweet though.

Flea Market Vegan Foods

I found a few good vegan items at Mountain Top Flea Market just outside of Gadsden AL. These all came from Mexico. I got 2 poblano peppers, 2 bags of spicy nuts, and a nut bar. Excellent!

Sabra Snackers Guacamole & Tortilla Chips

Check out the great deal I found on this vegan snack!

Garden Of Eatin Chips And Garden Fresh Gourmet Salsa

I found a great deal with these Garden Of  Eatin' chips. I ate them with Garden Fresh Gourmet Sweet Onion Salsa. Both of these vegan products are some of my favorites.
 

 

Snyder's Mini Pretzels

Here's a good vegan non-GMO work snack. Pack this in the truck and snack on it all day long.

Planters Cashews

Peeled Baked Pea Crisps

Here's another great non-GMO vegan snack!

Sliced Mango with Tajin

This mango is sprinkled with Tajin, which is a salty seasoning with a peppery lime flavor. This makes a good beach snack.

Sliced Mango with Tajin

365 Everyday Value Pea Crisps

365 Everyday Value Pea Crisps make a great vegan snack or light meal. This was my camping snack for the day. I just nibbled on these for a few hours while I watched the deer nibbling on nearby trees.

365 Everyday Value Pea Crisps

 

A Mustard Biscuit

This home-made vegan biscuit was made with only flour, salt, baking powder, water, and Earth Balance Buttery Spread. I split it like sandwich bread and put mustard on it. This was very satisfying.

I learned to enjoy mustard biscuits during my time living in poverty. During my more flexible vegetarian days, I could go to fast food restaurants and order a plain buttermilk biscuit and coffee for just a couple dollars. I used the free mustard packs and ate it inside so I could get a free refill of coffee just before leaving. Sometimes I'd get 2 biscuits and eat the second one later. They keep well in the paper bag.

It's good to remember the hard times. I recommend it to everyone, because it helps us all appreciate the good things in life. It also makes our life stories more complete. We can see the big picture when we reflect and use those memories to enhance the present.

Morning Star Farms Corn Dogs

As an omnivorous kid, I always enjoyed corn dogs. In the South and the hills of Appalachia, corn dogs are frequently found at large flea markets, county fairs, and other rural gathering places. They're not just for kids. Everyone loves them. Most people eat them with ketchup or yellow mustard, or both. They're usually cooked fresh on site using pre-made hotdogs. While I am now an uppity city dweller, I once lived a very traditional Southern lifestyle that included corn dogs. This product reminds me of my simple past life as a carefree eater.

Morning Star Farms Corn Dogs taste very much like the real thing as I remember them. The taste is close enough to make me just a little bit concerned and check the ingredients one more time. A real meat eater may notice a difference, but this really will fool most people. These things are made with plants!

The beautiful consistently smooth outer shell was a bit sweeter than I expected. Being an herbivore for decades, maybe I forgot what most corn dogs taste like. The inner "meat" had a classic texture and flavor, and the batter coating was firmly attached. These even had the little crispy batter piece on the stick. With a little dip in the ketchup and mustard, the flavor was perfect. Nice job, Morning Star Farms.

Peeled Snacks Peas Please

I discovered this vegan non-GMO snack at the dollar store. These are actually very good. What a great find!

More Vegan Christmas Hors d’oeuvres

I made these with Milton's Multigrain Crackers, Treeline Herb Garlic cream cheese alternative, and orange and green bell pepper chunks.