Sometimes, convenience trumps freshness.

My life can be chaotic at times. I'm a graduate student and a teaching assistant, so while it's nice to not have a set Monday to Friday work schedule, it is sometimes difficult to fly by the seat of your pants. Some days can end up in pure chaos, with students showing up to my office at unscheduled times, emails that need to be answered at all hours of the night and my own research to be conducted somewhere in between. While I really do enjoy trying new things, exploring potential new favorite recipes and dreaming up my own concoctions, somedays I am starving and I want food immediately. And I don't want to have to do any of the preparation myself.

In the old days I would just consult my three drawers full of takeout menus and fast food coupons. As a vegetarian, my options have been reduced so dramatically that all that is left is three lonely flyers for various vegetarian restaurants (or at the very least, restaurants which I've researched that have vegetarian options. By that I mean REALLY have vegetarian options, not just a random soy burger and questionable french fries). All of which can be pricy and none of which deliver. Boo.

So, I always make sure that I have some frozen goodies on hand that are delicious and most importantly, quick, with very little requirements of me, other than opening a cardboard box and throwing something in the oven.

Again, this isn't everyday. I do prefer to prepare things myself and eat fresh, but come on, we all have those days where we just want to stuff our faces quickly in front of the television. It's okay to admit it.

As a result, I wanted to share my most favorite vegan-friendly convenience food. It's fast. It's easy. It makes you wish there were more in the box.



Starlite Cuisine's rolled tacos.
Oh, I am drooling just looking at 'em.

They come in many delicious flavors, but my personal favourite is chipotle. They've got a good amount of zip to them, if you like spicy foods. If you prefer something a bit more tame, give the garlic 'chicken' or santa fe 'chicken' a try. There's also a black bean one that has recently come available at my favorite vegetarian grocer, but I haven' had a chance to try it yet. However, I'm yet to find a flavor of these little buggers that I don't like, so odds are it will be delicious too.

They're not exactly that healthy, or that low fat, and they don't have all the nutrients we require from a meal. But on those hectic days that call for pajamas and extreme amounts of vegetation in front of the tv or a good book, these are my absolute favorite.



I haven't seen them in my regular big box supermarket, but I do get them at my vegetarian grocer. There is a chance that they might be available at other kinds of food specialty stores, as these places often have vegetarian sections. Check out the Starlite Cuisine website for more information on how to get some. And if all else fails, talk to the manager of your supermarket. I worked as a cashier at our local grocery store for a year, and customers would constantly make suggestions about products we should carry. Management would always look into it, as stores are always looking for new things to stock the shelves with.