frozen pizza? confectioner's sugar?

[molly]

Is there really no vegan frozen pizza with cheese? (Not that I don't LOVE Amy's Roasted Veggie pizza!) I was sure I had seen Toffuti's cheese pizza, says it's dairy-free. Is there some other evil lurking in there I missed?

Also, I want to adjust an old recipe that calls for lots of confectioners sugar (or powdered sugar, whatever you choose to call it). I think it's made from white sugar with a little corn starch (maybe?) or something added to it, but it's obviously much finer than white sugar. Does anyone know how to make it vegan (assuming we define white sugar as refined with animal bones & therefore not vegan)?

[Lucy S]

Molly,

Can't help you with the pizza, but for vegan powdered sugar - whirl together unbleached cane sugar/other vegan sugar and cornstarch or arrowroot until powdered, in the ration of 2 cups sugar to 1/2 cup cornstarch/arrowroot.

[reb_granger]

Tofutti's cheese pizza *is* dairy-free as far as I know, but it does contain partially hydrogenated oil, if that's of any concern. If you ever try it, please post your review of it!

[CarlaJ]

I've tried the Toffutti's bagel cheese pizzas. YUM! Does anyone remember eating those little individual pizzas you make in the oven with the thin crust? They normally came in a pack with 3. Well, they taste like that! The "cheese" doesn't really melt, but it's quite yummy! Definitly junk food though :D

I would recommend them for sure. If you cut it into small peices, and stuck toothpicks in them, they'd make yummy appetizers for a party.

[EricP]

Most of the "vegan" pizzas with cheese contain casein (a milk derivative)...

It's such a shame, but from all the ones that I have seen, this was the only thing that stops me from purchasing it.

Regards,

EricP

[EricP]

I just checked the Tofutti site for their pizza, and it contains no animal ingredients from what I can see!!!! This is good news.

Mmmm, can anyone say pizza :D

NOTE: Please read the ingredients on Tofutti products because I noticed that some products contain egg whites, lecithin (non-soy).

EricP

[reb_granger]

Pizza!!!

Oh no, I said it...I said the 'p' word!! :p

[reb_granger]

Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese is supposed to be excellent, in case anyone's interested. Beware of the salmon flavor though.

I've tried the Roasted Garlic cheese slices, and they're pretty good in grilled/toasted cheese sandwiches, but I haven't dared to try them cold. Since they're made mostly of fat, they melt down to hardly anything between a sandwich. The American slices are *horrible* in my opinion.

By the way, Canadians, I've heard that Tofutti's available in Canada, now! :)

[EricP]

I'm from Canada and have been eating Tofutti "ice cream" for years!! I just love it. My wife loves the "Better than cream cheese".

It's too bad they don't have a 4 litre container for $2.99 like the dairy based ice cream... I'm sure in time they will.

EricP

[reb_granger]

Have you tried the cheese slices, Eric? And the shredded cheese (cheddar & mozza)? The shredded cheese is supposed to be tasty and economical, or so I've heard (it's not available here).

[Erin Pavlina]

I was really enjoying the Toffutti cheese pizzas but Whole Foods removed them from the store. I thought they stopped manufacturing them. I wonder if we can still get them.

I like Better Than Cream Cheese. Their Sour Cream tastes like the cream cheese which just isn't right in my opinion.

I'm wishing I had the Toffutti cheese pizzas back.

And yeah, a lot of the Toffutti products contain dairy, but thankfully, many of them don't.

[reb_granger]

If I'm not mistaken, many Whole Foods markets don't sell Tofutti cheeses because they contain partially hydrogenated fats.

Funny policy, I feel. Meat and milk also contain trans-fatty acids, don't they? Yet they can be purchased at Whole Foods.:confused:

[EricP]

LOL

Good Point Rebecca!

[Lucy S]

I just picked up some Tofutti soy mozarrella slices - I didn't see anything in the ingredients that was of concern - and quite liked them. I made a pizza on pita with some yesterday and didn't find them bad at all. They certainly melted well! And the taste was fine. I've had some vegan cheeze products that were just awful. I don't mind the "Vegan Slices" American flavour ones, as long as it is in a grilled cheeze sandwich - not cooked I think they are awful.

I still think Tofutti is the best non-dairy frozen dessert around. We have several brands available now in Canada (my part of it at least) and Tofutti is the best. Umm...

[EricP]

"Have you tried the cheese slices, Eric? And the shredded cheese (cheddar & mozza)? The shredded cheese is supposed to be tasty and economical, or so I've heard (it's not available here)."

Rebecca, I'm not too much of a "cheese" eater myself, but my wife really likes the Tofutti slices (it's one of the only ones she really likes!). Unfortunately, many of the "vegan cheese" around here contain dairy derivatives, so there aren't many vegan choices. I've tried one brand that had their products grated like parmesan cheese and it tasted fine to me, but my wife disagreed.

:)

Do you mean shredded cheese isn't available where you live?

Regards,

EricP

[molly]

Wow, I think I found a good conversation starter with the pizza thing.... Looks like I'm not the only one of us in love with cheese! Now if I could just live on cheese & sugar (vegan versions, of course!) I would be in heaven. :) Is hydrogenated fat a concern because of heart/cholesterol issues or what? Thank you too, Lucy, for your help--I will have a happy baking weekend!

[reb_granger]

I'm not too sure about the hydrogenated fat issue myself, but some vegans will go out of their way to avoid it. It's not a 'healthy' fat because it doesn't melt at body temperature or something like that, so it's supposed to be even worse than saturated fat.

But seriously, I doubt it can do much harm if consumed on an occasional basis. Personally, I wouldn't sacrifice tasty vegan goodies only because they contained hydrogenated fat!

And I'm so jealous of all those people who can get Tofutti vegan pizza! This pizza has received rave reviews even on another vegetarian website!

To Eric: No, I don't get the shredded Tofutti cheese.:( I'm a deprived vegan!!!

[EricP]

Rebecca,

You don't get the Tofutti cheese?!?!?! :o

HOW DO YOU SURVIVE!?!

LOL, just kidding. Where do you live? I'm sure you can order that cheese from SOMEWHERE.

Regards,

EricP

[Lucy S]

I'm with Rebecca. I'm not going to worry too much about hydrogenated fats simply because I know I don't have them often.No more than I'd eat a container of Tofutti Vanilla Almond Bark every day. An occasional indulgence isn't going to hurt (me at least). I know my diet is healthy - heck, I'm healthier as a vegan than I ever was as a omni (meat eating or vegetarian).

I've never seen the Tofutti frozen pizzas - I'll have to keep my eyes open for them. I have to say that I bought one of the Amy's frozen roasted veggie ones last autumn and wasn't that impressed, especially not with the high price tag. I am a cook - I enjoy (generally) cooking - and I find that it makes me extra critical of prepared foods. I often think "I could make this better". Especially when I consider the cost. As a consequence, I've generally made pretty much everything for us (including "uncheezes" from Stepanik's Uncheese Cookbook). With a rapidly growing one-week-until-she's-a-year-old, however, I don't have as much time/energy for cooking, so I have been looking at bit more at vegan prepared foods (including the Tofutti slices).

[EricP]

WOW - Abby's almost a year old! When is her birthday? My little one will be 10 months old tomorrow. :D

Here's a link explaining a bit on Hydrogenated fats (for those who would like some more information on it) :

http://www.foodstandards.gov.uk/healthiereating/asktheexpert/healthyeating/hydrogenatedfat

Regards,

EricP

[Lucy S]

Abby's birthday is next Friday, the 7th. Hard to believe it is almost a year!

Thanks for the link, Eric.

[EricP]

Mmmm, I can taste the Vegan cake from here. :p

EricP

[Lucy S]

It will be Abby's first cake. We aren't huge cake eaters - I'm more into fruit based desserts (crumbles, pies), but what's a birthday without a cake! I also have to prove to a few people that it is possible to make a good vegan cake.

On the topic of this thread - Abby has had some vegan pizza with the Tofutti slices and approved. She's a bit of a picky eater (especially when she has teeth coming in - which she does), so I take it as a sign that it's good stuff.

[reb_granger]

I can get only Tofutti Roasted Garlic slices here :( I'm in Singapore, by the way.

Happy birthday in advance to little Abby!

And happy baking to you, Lucy! The last time I tried to bake a cake, it came out tasting like chocolate-flavored bath sponge. LOL

I do make nice cookies though, although people find it very hard to get their teeth through them ;)

[Lucy S]

I'm still trying to decide what kind of cake to make for her. I'm leaning towards a simple white cake. I'll be pulling out some vegan confectioner's sugar soon, too.

Abby took her first step this evening. The very proud Mama in me just had to add that! :D

[EricP]

... and she didn't even break the one-year mark yet.

Wow that's great Lucy!

:D :D :D

EricP

[Erin Pavlina]

Congratulations on those first steps!! It's so cute to watch them learn that skill. It's very exciting for them.

[reb_granger]

Lovely!

When my nephew was learning to walk, he would totter and fall over quite often. Every time that happened, he would stare around suspiciously to determine if anyone was laughing. If one of us gave away even the slightest hint of a snicker, he would burst out crying in embarrassment.

Children are so smart. He's seven years old now and lectures everyone on how cruel it is to kill "inno-sink" chickens. :)

[Lucy S]

Thanks everyone. She is really picking up the walking business quickly. I suspect she'll be running before we know it.

Kids really are much more in tune with what we are saying/ doing that many people think. We are very sure to applaud all of her achievements and I certainly wouldn't laugh at her when she falls. She is so proud of herself and we try to nurture that.

[reb_granger]

Way to go, Lucy!

My brother-in-law had the mistaken notion that by laughing at his child's fall, he would empower his child with the ability to laugh at himself. That proved to be terribly wrong, as we learnt. Laughing at a child's distress will only serve to crush his/her budding self-esteem.

What did make me smile was the acute sensitivity of the child who glared around fiercely to make sure no one was laughing. Then again, the poor boy must have been painfully wary of being laughed at. What we found cute then could have developed into a psychological problem.

[Lucy S]

That's sad, Rebecca. I was, unfortunately, laughed at quite a bit when I was small. By my family. I was "too sensitive", whatever that means, and got teased endlessly. I was then told to "toughen up", or some such nonsense when I got upset. I was no more than 5 when I remember this starting. Anyway, not to ellicit pity, I just remember it very clearly and know first hand that it does not build character or teach children to laugh at themselves - it ridicules them.

Gotta' go. My little walker is ready for some attention!

[Compsognathus]

Another idea for powdered sugar is to use the Oetker vanilla frosting mix. I don't think it contains cornstarch, though, so you could add as much as the homemade powdered sug recipe calls for.

[kkmc]

...I recently discovered making pita pizzas. I buy those lovely round & flat & fluffy Mediterranean pitas, just brush olive oil, the spread pasta sauce & herbs & veggies on them - mushrooms, squash, zucchini, whatever you like - and bake them for a little bit, even just in the toaster oven - they are quite yummy! Don't need cheese at all. Sometimes we put the (Yves brand, I think) pepperoni-analog on them. Quick, easy, and less expensive than frozen pizzas (I love that Amy's Roasted Veggie one, too, but it seems to go too quickly and costs so much).