O U QT...

I'd like to post about what I've been eating, like so many of my favourite vegan bloggers -- to whip up something complicated and divine and post drool-worthy pictures.

But I'm lazy. And in the summer, cooking, for me, is just tossing together whatever veggies in the fridge are about to go bad. Tonight for dinner, I had a baked potato topped with black beans, the last of the red salsa I made the other day, and a boca chic'n patty...add some cumin and chipotle powder, and you have something that is mighty tasty and satisfying -- but no one wants to see a photo of that pile of mush.

Luckily, for dessert I had Cuties, which, as the name implies, are pretty cute.

Do you know Cuties? Cuties are the first vegan ice cream I ever tried. My good friend in college, who was also the first vegan I ever met, really loved them. I was still a long way from being vegan myself, but I agreed that they were irresistibly tasty. I introduced my lactose-intolerant brother to them, and he couldn't believe they were dairy free.

I don't really eat them much anymore (I prefer chocolate chip cookie dough coconut ice cream if I'm going to indulge), but our neighborhood grocery store randomly had them --and on clearance (which means they're probably never going to stock them again) so I had to grab a box, just for old times sake.

And they're still tasty:

I've been vegan-ish for almost exactly 2 years. My commitment to the lifestyle continues to grown, but I remember that when I was just starting out, it was nice to know that there were vegan analogues of the things I loved. I used to LOVE Skinny Cow brand ice cream sandwiches (ice cream is one of the few things I still crave), and for the first summer, it was nice to have Cuties around to protect me from myself when the Skinny Cows were calling my name. Two years later, it's much easier to think of the actual cows when I have a craving, but it never hurts to have a delicious vegan ice cream treat on hand, too.

What vegan goodies are so good that you loved them even as a non-vegan (or you know non-vegans who love them)? What animal product analogues do you think are even better than the "real thing?"