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Vegan Street Reviews Products from Lightlife by Marla Rose When I was reached out to by Lightlife to see if we’d be interested in a little celebration to get the word out about their fabulous meatless products, I was happy to say yes. As a longtime vegetarian and then vegan, Lightlife products, particularly their iconic Smart Dogs, have helped me to be able to participate in many a BBQ, campfire meal, block party and more without compromise. As someone who grew up on Chicago hot dogs, there is nothing like a Jumbo Smart Dog in a warm bun with the works - yellow mustard, pickles, onions, sauerkraut, sport peppers and celery salt (hold the relish for me and definitely hold the ketchup) – to have an instant reminder that being vegan today doesn’t mean having to give up your familiar favorites foods. Years after my meatless transition, I have been able to continue the tradition with my own vegan son, sending him off to school or parties with familiar-looking foods that won’t draw too many prying eyes and it certainly doesn’t hurt at all that these are foods that he loves. From hot dogs to deli slices – including these fancy new ones my husband loves - burgers to sausage patties, Lightlife has helped us to create easy, tasty and affordable meals for the whole family and we’re not alone with that. This is why Lightlife has been around since 1979. Summer slipped by us before we got a chance to grill up some dogs but we have been rewarded with an extra boost of July-like warmth this weekend so we decided to put our grill to the test and have an end-of-summer hurrah before the cool temperatures send us indoors. We decided to just go simple with grilled dogs, but you can use them for all kinds of recipes, like these baked corn dogs, serve ‘em with veggie chili and dairy-free cheese or in a classic franks and beans recipe. You can’t go wrong! Especially with all the fixings and a great bun, they hit the spot. The tempeh-based burgers also went on the grill and were superb: savory and filling. Here is what is even better than all that, though, is that Lightlife recently announced that they will be removing the egg whites from the few products they have that still have them, specifically their sausages and chick’n. These new vegan products will be released by the end of 2017 and I can’t wait to be able to add them into our family’s rotation. As Lightlife’s marketing director Brad Lahrman told VegNews,“We’re in the final stages of transitioning our entire portfolio to 100 percent animal-free by adhering to Vegan Action standards…Animals or animal byproducts simply aren’t needed to create delicious, healthy, protein-rich food.” How cool is that? I love it when businesses do the right thing. Of course you don’t need summer to enjoy Lightlife. I’m thinking Mexican spaghetti sauce, club sandwiches, kung pao tempeh (yes, please!), empañadas. So much to enjoy! Check out our McVegan Breakfast Muffin for a hearty recipe you can enjoy any time of the year. Vegan Street received this product for free to review and this was my honest evaluation. © 2013-2017, Vegan Street