#Veghead Problems:

Lessons and Gripes of Vegan Life:

Becoming a vegetarian or vegan is easier than most people think, but it's also very easy to overlook some things. For example, many people would assume that gummy bears don't contain meat byproducts, but they do! Scary, but have no fear, most of these issues can be solved by a quick look at the products' ingredients. The text above is from one of my friends who recently became (mostly) vegetarian/vegan. I laughed really hard after receiving this message from her out of the blue.

Here's a list of some of the mistakes that I've made and lessons that I've learned since going vegan:

1. A lot of vegetarian products are not vegan: most Morningstar products include both egg and milk products. Even some of Boca's products contain non-vegan ingredients.

2.  Unfortunately for us former McDonald's fries lovers, their fries are NOT vegetarian. They're made with beef flavoring.

3. Make sure to check pre-made vegetable soups for chicken or beef stock and/or dairy products. A lot of them are made with chicken, beef stock, or dairy products. (See text above ☝).

4. Baked beans are usually made with pork. Get around this by buying vegetarian baked beans instead.

5.  Gnocchi and/or dumplings are generally made with eggs. Check the ingredients to make sure, and if you can't make any without eggs, make your own! (I will include a recipe very soon).

6. I learned this one the hard way after my obsession with gummy bears in Spain last summer: Gummy bears, marshmallows, and Jello are not vegetarian. They contain gelatin, which is made from meat products. Gelatin is made by boiling  what the meat companies have left over: the bones, tissues, hooves, and skin of animals. For more info, read this and this.

What did we learn? - When in doubt, check the ingredients! ❤