Hi could you give any guidance on low fat snacks. I love grazing but do not have a large budget. I actually want to lose weight.

A question that I often am asked is for some low-calorie Vegan snack ideas. While it may be easier to cut back on calories as a vegan, we are still guided by this basic formula - gaining or losing weight is eating above or below your daily maintenance caloric intake - the amount of calories you need per day to maintain your current weight.

Losing Weight

1 Pound = Around 3500 Calories. This means that to lose 1 pound a week, you would need to eat 500 calories less than your maintenance calories. This works as a general rule, but as always there is more to it - A Calorie is not just a calorie.

Here are some snacks that I enjoy that help with my cravings:

1/4 cup hummus + 1/2 of a Pita bread pocket = ~150 calories

14 Baby Carrots = ~35 calories

Celery + 3/4 oz of peanut butter = ~130 calories

Silk Soy yogurt = ~ 150 calories

1 Cup Soup = ~125 calories

6 Dried Apple Rings = ~100 Calories

3 Cups Air-popped Pop Corn = ~ 93 calories

2 Cups Concord Grapes = ~120 calories

2 Cups Strawberries = ~100 calories

2 Cups Diced Watermelon = ~100 calories

3 Plums = ~100 calories

3 Peaches = ~100 calories

1 Vegan Boca Burger = ~70 calories

1 Tofutti Cutie = 130 calories

6 teaspoons brown sugar + 1 Apple cored, baked = ~140 calories

Other Low Calorie Options

Look at the calories in different vegetables that you really enjoy (Like a Red Bell Pepper ~ 30 calories) and look for something healthy that you could pair it with for extra flavor like hummus or a low calorie dip.

Accidentally Low-Calorie Vegan

You may also want to check out the 100-calories snack packs. Many of them are Accidentally Vegan, just be sure to read the labels.

Stopping the Cravings

The problem with any snacks around 100 calories is that they won't leave you satisfied for long. Some of the tricks that I'd suggest are eating snacks that contain protein or by drinking a full glass of unsweetened tea or water 5-10 minutes before eating any of these snacks. These will both help to not leave your stomach feeling empty after eating the snack and will make it much less likely that you'll go back for more.

What Are Your Favorite Low Calories Vegan Snacks?

Did I miss your favorite snack? Share your snack ideas in the comments below.

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Karen Asks:

Thank you for having such an informative and wonderful website. I am a recent yet struggling vegetarian to vegan. I also have Hashimoto's disease which is an autoimmune disease of my thyroid, hypothalamus and pituitary gland. According to my doctor I must limit or exclude all soy based products from my diet. So do you have any suggestions for soy free/tofu free cheeses or ricotta's?

Veganfood Answers:

It's amazing how many more options there are in the store for Vegans compared to just a few years ago. Before I delve into some of the products that you can buy, remember that it's always vegan to eat raw! Fruits, vegetables, and nuts make great meals and snacks - especially for someone looking to cut something like soy products out of their diet. OK - Onto some vegan replacement products (feel free to bookmark this post to refer back)

Soy Free Milk

Just like with soy-milk, you'll most likely need to try many different brands in order to find something that you really like. Another thing to note is that if you are considering using any of the drinks for more than just taste or cooking, make sure that you look at the nutritional values.

Taste the Dream Rice Milk

Blue Diamond Almond Milk

Homemade Almond Milk

Living Harvest Hemp Milk

Soy Free Ice Cream

While there are tons of vegan ice creams available now, there aren't as many non-soy ice creams out there yet - But more and more companies are starting to add Soy Free products.

Taste the Dream Rice Ice Cream

Luna & Larry's Coconut Bliss

Turtle Mountain Purely Decadent made with Coconut Milk

Good Karma Organic Rice Cream

Soy Free Cheese

I had a lot of trouble finding some soy-free cheese products for you (hopefully some of our readers can make some suggestions as well!) - so I've tried to include some homemade links as well.

Galaxy Foods Rice Cheese

Lemon-Pignoli Ricotta

Vegan Almond Ricotta

Soy Free Faux Meat Replacements

Here are some ideas and links for soy-free meat replacements. Also look into trying some fun Marinated, Sauted, or Fried Mushrooms - I just stayed at the Inn at Biltmore and they made me some really really good sauted Portabella Mushroom-steaks.

Seitan (Wheat Meat) (Scroll down to the sub-category listing)

Polenta

Garden Burger

Soy free vegan burgers

Soy free vegan Sausage - These are a lot of fun!

Additional Information

Many processed foods have soy in them in some manner, so it's important to look at the labels. Here are some tips for checking ingredients for soy I hope these tips help you and good luck on your journey to become a soy free vegan! Let us know if you have any more questions! Please send your questions to veganfood@gmail.com - we love to help!

Did I miss anything? Add your comments about your favorite soy free vegan foods below.

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Betty313 Asks:

I just recently turned vegan, i was a vegetarian for 6 years, and decided to take the plunge! But i am still ignorant about what products both food and mercantile, that are harmful to animals like Jell-o and what not. Thank you for anyone with info on this matter.

Congrats on making the switch Betty!

The best advice I can give you is to take your time and don't beat yourself up if you make a mistake. Just by removing the majority of dairy from your diet you are already making an impact.

There are many great products that make it easy to replace dairy and eggs.

Soy Milk

I use many of these products for everything from baking, breakfast and cereal, to mini-milk juice boxes that are shelf stable out of the refrigerator. The shelf stable mini-boxes are great for trips!

White Wave Silk

Edensoy

Westsoy

Rice Dream

Vegan Ice Cream

This is actually the part that scares many vegetarians away from making the switch. How can one survive without Ice Cream! Fortunately there are tons of great flavors of soy based ice creams to help you get your fix. You may also want to look into Sorbet - many (but not all!) are dairy free and make a nice refreshing summer treat.

Tofutti

Soy Delicious

Vegan Cheese

Vegan cheese is a sticky subject. Faux cheese has come a long long way in the last few years, and you'll probably need to do a little experimenting to find the vegan cheese that tastes best to you. I personally use a different cheese depending on if I am baking, having a sandwich or making pizza.

Speaking of Pizza, many Pizzerias can make a vegan Pizza by just omitting the cheese and piling on every veggie imaginable. Makes an easy dinner.

Tofutti

Vegan Gourmet

Galaxy Rice Cheese - They even have a Soy Parmesan!

Vegan Rella

Vegan Butter

You can also replace butter in baking with things like canola or vegetable oil (you may have to experiment, I usually have to use less oil than the butter the recipe called for.)

Earth Balance

Fleischman's Unsalted margarine

Vegan Yogurt

I wasn't a fan of Yogurt when I was younger, but now I have one almost everyday as part of my breakfast. There are tons of flavors available - this is an easy switch.

Silk Soy Yogurt

Whole Soy Yogurt

SO Delicious Soy Yogurt

Vegan Egg Replacers

For vegan baking there are many options - Flax seed oil, Bananas, Tofu, Ener-G Egg Replacer Powder, even Soy Yogurt. Experiment and have fun with it!

For cooking eggs, tofu makes a great replacement for scrambled. There are even some great pre-made mixes for flavoring like Soy Scrambler or Amy's Tofu Scramble which you can just heat up.
It seems like a big list, but just take little steps at a time. Save this post to your favorites to check back on. View some of the recipes on the site, get involved with some other local vegans and have some pot lucks. Experiment converting some of your favorite vegetarian recipes. Above all have fun and enjoy yourself!

Questions?

Let us know if you have any more questions! Please send your questions to veganfood@gmail.com - we love to help!

Did I miss anything? Add your comments about your favorite vegan foods below.

Additional Resources:
Accidentally Vegan - many things you eat may already be vegan.
What the Hell does a Vegan Eat Anyway?
Vegan Lunchbox
Veganfood's Users Favorite Recipes
Vegan Feast Kitchen
Squirrels Vegan Kitchen

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Tracy from A Veg*n For Dinner sent over three new recipes that we are happy to feature on vegan-food -
- Red Wine Pasta Sauce
- Quinoa-Cocoa Cupcakes
- Summer Pasta and Vegetable Soup

Be sure to check out her site for more great recipes (and some wickedly funny posts.)
Thanks for sending the recipes over!

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