Vegan by Circumstances
Vegan by Circumstances
Nutritional Yeast
My daughter asked me to pick up Nutritional Yeast (NY) for her at the store, and she explained that it would most likely be located near the spices. I was pleased to find it, but I had no idea what NY was.
When I got home, I asked, “Do you use nutritional yeast to add to the smoothies you make?”
“No,” she said. “I use it to be the cheese in our vegan macaroni and cheese.”
Oh, so that’s how she makes mac-n-cheese into a vegan dish! It’s good, but the vegan mac’n’cheese never has the bright orange color of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese (KMC).
When I was a financially struggling college student, I survived on KMC (less than $1 a box back then) and the 10¢ box of crumbs you could get from Long John Silver’s (LJS). I still love both of these foods. As I have admitted numerous times, I’m only a vegan because I eat the delicious food the two vegan cooks living here place in front of me. Call me a fraud! I’m definitely a healthier fraud, though, since eating like a vegan most of the time.
I always used to wonder why the KMC was such a bright orange color when you mixed the noodles with the ingredients from the little white packet that came in the box. I discovered that, originally, the orange color came from the artificial yellow dyes 5 and 6, which were used in the KMC sold in America (but not in other countries).
Once Americans started to complain about these dyes as being harmful additives, however, KMC stepped up and took action. Yellow dyes 5 and 6 were replaced with paprika, annatto, and turmeric to maintain the product's signature, eerily-bright orange color, and all other artificial preservatives were removed. KMC also reduced the saturated fat by 25% and lowered the sodium by 100 mg.
KMC had announced that the dyes would be removed by January of 2016. Instead, KMC made this change without any big hurrah in December of 2015. This did not cause a nosedive in sales in any way.
KMC then issued a press release referring to the change as "the world's largest blind taste test,” and proclaimed that "fifty million boxes later . . . people didn’t notice a difference."
Good for KMC! There’s nothing quite like eating better when the original taste still exists in a product. Are food dyes harmful to the human body? Perhaps or maybe not. Check out:
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/food-dyes#TOC_TITLE_HDR_8
NY, however, is definitely healthy. NY has benefits other than being used to create cheese. Some NY products add vitamin B-12, which helps boost energy (a deficiency of this vitamin can cause fatigue). NY can also support the immune system and reduce inflammation which results from any bacterial infection. For a listing of numerous NY benefits, see:
https://www.webmd.com/diet/nutritional-yeast-good-for-you
After graduating, I’m no longer a college student (so not struggling financially), and vegan Mac’n’cheese is made for me every few weeks. Thus, I also graduated from the blue box with orange noodles on the cover, as well as the white box full of fried crumbs. I do not purchase KMC now, although I still like the product (especially in light of the healthier changes that were made), and our town’s LJS closed years ago (so no boxes of fried crumbs are easily available).
These two vegan cooks living at my house might make get me to my healthiest existence in years. In fact, after eating vegan (except for a few exceptions) these past few years, my blood work showed evidence of improved health. My doctor actually gave me an “A” when he viewed my last blood test results (and he is not an easy A giver). I had lost a small bit of weight, and my A1C count was down. Hurray for proof!
I will probably always have a natural predilection for pre-packaged and/or fried foods (although I’m not sure “natural” is the correct adjective to use in this context), but I must realistically look at these as “sometimes” foods (like Cookie Monster says about cookies). The most important standard and still excellent advice in regard to any diet is, “All Things in Moderation.” Who’s up for some fried tofu?
Still, if I happen to pass any LJS in my travels, I might just have to stop for a box of crumbs. And I’ll never keep KMC completely off the table. Why? To celebrate memories of my college days. And because those crumbs and orange noodles are delicious!
What are some foods that remind you of your younger days? Tell me in the comments below.
After occasionally indulgences in “sometimes” foods, I will then gladly return to being a vegetarian by circumstances. Who doesn’t love having someone else cook for them? Getting healthier as a result is just an added benefit.
Hi Lisbeth! A memory from my childhood years is eating Dilly Bars from Dairy Queen. I still enjoy one once in a while for the memory!
College “meals” were free vibrantly-colored burnt sienna hot wings at the bar happy hour, and when not out partying at said bar, home eating lukewarm packets of ramen. Many many packets.