Vegetarian Junk Food 3

Ok – how much vegetarian junk food there is?!?!? Lots.

This is part 3 on a series on Vegetarian Junk Food… check out the previous installments – Part 1 and Part 2.

Gelatin

Back in the day I was a Jello junkie. My favorite flavor is orange, but I would make them in all flavors. One large package a day sometimes, especially when I was home on vacation. Ever since I learned gelatin comes from the bone marrow of animals, I had to say goodbye to Jello and to many other sweets and goodies made with gelatin.

But last year I discovered these Natural Desserts Jel desserts in a Whole Foods in one of my many business trips to the US. I bought a few flavors to try. I was skeptic at first, but believe me… these ROCK!!!! After not having a gelatin for so long, these taste pretty similar to the original. Because they are natural and do not contain artificial colorings, the colors are not as intense, but the flavors are. You make them exactly as you would regular gelatin. I still prefer the orange flavor, but the strawberry and raspberry ones are pretty good too.

It also comes in unflavored version to use in other savory applications… I have not tried it yet, but I am confident that it’ll be as awesome as the flavored ones.

Chocolate substitutes

I am a chocolate girl. And when I had to give up chocolate I thought my world would end… But then Carob entered my life. I will be honest with you, even though my mom now kills for a piece of carob bar candy, I personally don’t go for the stuff. If it doesn’t taste like or better than the real thing, I don’t eat it. There are good brands out there, but I do not know them by heart because I usually buy them only when I am traveling and if I can’t see the packaging I am lost.

But let me tell you… I use carob chips in my regular chocolate chip cookie recipe and I can’t tell the difference. I have drank hot chocolate made with carob powder and evaporated milk and it’s to die for. I have worked with the carob powder on cake and brownie recipes and it’s amazing.

My point being… not need to deprive yourself totally of chocolate-like desserts when there’s carob around… even if you still dream of a piece of Hershey’s Kisses in your lips. I know the feeling…

Candy

And to conclude this series, candy… who doesn’t love a gummy bear or a jelly bean? I was never crazy about them, but these Surf Sweets are a good compromise for the Skittles and Starburst I used to eat at the movies. The bag is small, so it fits in any decent purse when going to the movies. I particularly like the Fruity Bears because they have a sugary coating on top of the gumminess… they’re like those orange slices, but in various other flavors. If they would make them only in orange flavor, I would buy several every week…

Marshmallows… I never ate a ton of marshmallows, but how much you miss them when you hear about smores, the topping over a sweet potato dish on Thanksgiving and several other seventies delicacies my mom used to make with tinned fruit salad. Ohhhh, and the rice krispies treats we all love so much… we already found a way to make these treats without the need of marshmallows. But once in a while, if you do crave something sweet and mellow you can go online and get them. They might be available at a Whole Foods, but because we do not have one in Puerto Rico, the ones I get are online… check these out. These are vegan so they’re super safe to eat.