Vegan Eggnog

If that doesn't sound like an oxymoron...

About a week ago Jane bought a quart of Silk Eggnog. We've enjoyed the Silk Coffee-Milk and Silk Chocolate Milk, so Jane figured we'd give this a try for the holidays.

One of our guests to this blog, Shannon, commented that this product is amazing. So, once again, I had high hopes. Well, Shannon is right. It's really good, and while I can't say I'd want it every day, I certainly expect we'll be having more of it over this holiday season.

Caveat to the reader: I was never one for traditional eggnog, I always found the rum to be too overpowering. I remember having some one year waaaay back when, in my adolescence, sans booze, that was really good - but my girl cousins wouldn't have more than a glass, too many calories.

The Silk product isn't going to help you out if you're dieting, but it's probably a whole lot lower in calories than those traditional egg and cream concoctions!

I Miss Milk

I know there are all kinds of reasons not to consume cow's milk. I've embraced a vegan diet. I drink soy milk, rice milk and almond milk these days. Even though we were drinking fat-free milk in our house prior to this vegan thing, I understand that cow's milk may not be healthful. Not to mention the horrors of the dairy industry.

But nothing beats a tall glass of real milk to go with warm chocolate chip cookies straight out of the oven.

I simply cannot drink a glass of soy milk. I can put it over my cereal and it's an ingredient in many of the meals Jane prepares. But I cannot drink a plain glass of soy milk, or even almond milk. The rice milk is sort of like Horchada (a mexican rice milk concoction that's sweetened and there's a bit of cinnamon too), but unless it's doctored...

I miss cow's milk.

Mocha Frappuccino -- Who Needs It?

So yesterday Jane brought me home the Silk Coffee flavored soy beverage. Yummy. It's like a Starbucks Mochaccino. Ok, I don't really know if it's like a Starbuck's Mochaccino, but it certainly makes a nice iced afternoon snack.

Jane's not fond of coffee, but she had a sip and decided it's not bad, not quite her cup of tea (pun intended), but quite drinkable.

It was hot here again, so we popped some into the blender with some ice cubes. Yummy. If you like coffee, I'd suggest this as a nice "adult" snack.

And, it's cheaper than anything you'd get at Starbuck's... not to mention vegan!

No Whey!

Today's post is dedicated to my ritual breakfast. For years now, I have been having a shake for breakfast. No, not Tommy Lasorda, and the shake for breakfast, a shake for lunch, and a sensible dinner thing. But Jane would argue with you. It is a sensible dinner, and generally a sensible lunch too since I'm a 'brown-bagger' bringing my lunch to work most days.

Anyway, that breakfast I mentioned consisted of a cup of milk, a scoop of whey protein powder, a banana and a tablespoon of almond butter. Yum! However, do you see any problems there? I was very concerned that my favorite breakfast was now going to be off limits or at least, not so palatable with the milk/whey substitutions I was required to make. But thankfully, that was not the case.

I've used soy milk, plain and vanilla, sweetened and unsweetened, almond milk (same variations) and rice milk... All were equally palatable, but I've decided on the unsweetened vanilla almond milk as my liquid of choice. As for protein powder, I'm using the soy powder available at my local Trader Joe's. It's relatively inexpensive, but not as tasty as the whey powder.

Overall, there's almost no difference in taste. No whey!

Lane