Jars of Fun: Vegan Parm, Olives, and Pomade

The Delivery: Olives from Musco Family Olive Co, Morrocco Method Int'l pomade (not vegan), and Parmela vegan parmesan replacer

Staff Pick: Vegan parm!

The DL: Made from fermented ingredients such as rice, nuts, and soy, this cruelty-free parmesan substitute from Parmela is a welcome addition to the VN pantry. We can't wait to sprinkle the stuff onto Managing Editor Elizabeth Castoria's dad's hearty homemade pasta sauce and meatballs—truly the stuff of legends, if you ask us. If you're not already drooling at the thought of authentic Italian pasta sauce, check out 5 Vegan-Friendly Towns on our Radar to catch a glimpse of the mouth-watering meals being churned out at eateries across the country!

Vegan Cheese, Body Care, and Books

The Delivery: Vegan Mexican-Style and Mozzarella-Style Cheeses from Galaxy Nutritional Foods, Intensive Hand Repair Cream from Earth Therapeutics, Mint and Citrus Soaps from Jack's Soaps, 175 Best Babycakes Cake Pop Recipes by Kathy Moore and Roxanne Wyss (not vegan), and The Rescue of Belle & Sundance by Birgit Stutz & Lawrence Scanlan
Staff Pick: The cheese!

The DL: You may remember freakouts over vegan cheese from such blogs as this one. We love Galaxy Nutritional Foods' vegan cream cheese, so we're pretty stoked to try these shreds. But to go back to the cream cheese (sorry, we can't help it): The spread was one of last year's best new products from Natural Products Expo West, and we can't believe it's already time to go back! We'll be live next week at Expo telling you all about the new, delicious vegan stuff that will be hitting the shelves in 2012. Make sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook to get the inside scoop!

Vegan Pizza and Cheese

The Date: Thursday, May 26
The Delivery: Frozen vegan cheese pizzas from Amy's Kitchen and assorted vegan cheeses from Heidi Ho Organics
Staff Pick: The pizza!

The DL: You might have noticed a fair amount of frozen pizzas gracing the pages of this blog. What's the deal, you might ask? Well, you'll just have to wait for our September+October issue to find out! While the entire office is still stuffed from last night's Southern Comfort dinner at San Francisco's Millennium Restaurant (check out Press Pass later this afternoon to hear about chili-cheese fries, beer-steamed brats with a topping bar, ice cream sandwiches, and much more), we still can't wait to taste these lovely cheese pizzas.

Books and Daiya Cheese

The Date: Thursday, February 24

The Delivery: The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutions by Celine Steen and Joni Marie Newman, Superbaby by Dr. Jenn Berman, and vegan pepperjack cheese shreds from Daiya Foods

Staff Pick: We would like the pepperjack cheese, please.

The DL: We would write in all caps about how excited we are to try Daiya's new pepperjack cheese, but that would just be rude. But seriously, take it from us, we're excited. The office is already thinking of ways to incorporate this new treat into our lunches: chili, nachos, and an empty bowl with a fork are a few of our many ideas. Vegan pepperjack, we think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. A friendship that involves us eating you at a rabid pace, but a friendship nonetheless.

Tea and Vegan Cheese

The Date: Thursday, January 13

The Delivery: Assorted teas from David Rio and vegan crumbled feta, smoked gouda, chipotle cheddar, and monterey jack cheeses from Heidi Ho Organics

Staff Pick: The feta cheese!

The DL: To say that we here at VNHQ love vegan cheese is like saying "the sky is blue" or "VN Jan+Feb cover girl Kris Carr is crazy sexy awesome." Not to get all giddy school girl on you, but we're as excited to try out the crumbled feta as we are for the upcoming MLK holiday. We're going to need some major detox after this sampling—check out our top detox foods for some body-purifying ingredients that can be found in your kitchen.

Dying for Daiya

Date: Wednesday, August 12
The Delivery: The September+October issue hot off the press, some vegan body-care products from Sevi, a non-vegan book, and a very special cheese alternative
Staff Pick: There's no need to ever say that you'll miss cheese again with Daiya Cheese

The DL: This soy-free cheese is a deal breaker! It melts and stretches like we always wanted vegan cheese to do. Yes, we will be making Daiya-infused meals for the next couple of weeks, and we can't wait!

Teese Me Baby One More Time

Date: Friday, October 17
The Delivery: Dairy-free cheese, a book, and wheat-free cookie assortment
Staff Pick: The new Nacho Cheddar Teese is 100-percent vegan and designed to melt when heated!

The DL: If you are dying to have a big ol' honkin' stack of nachos smothered in Teese and jalapeños right this minute, you wouldn't be alone. The large package ensures your craving shall be satisfied post-haste–that means rapido!

Na-cho Average Delivery

Date: Thursday, October 9
The Delivery: Tempting faux-nacho-cheese dip and toasty rice crackers
Staff Pick: Get out your favorite chips and drown them in some melted Nacho Chreese Dip

The DL: The only thing we find more irresistible than vegan chocolate is vegan cheese. I fully expect to find my co-workers huddled in a dark corner scarfing this stuff down ... any minute now.