Vegan MoFo Day 24: What Sally Ride Would Eat If She'd Been Vegan

"Ride-s". Licensed under Public Domain via Commons.

Today's Vegan MoFo prompt asks us to write about what [Insert Someone Famous] would eat if they were vegan.

Although she passed away in 2012, I decided I'd write about a childhood hero of mine for this entry: Sally Ride, the first woman in space.

She was not just an awesome astronaut; she also advocated continuously for science and math education in schools, and wrote one of my favorite books when I was young: To Space and Back. I could go on to detail more of her remarkable accomplishments, but if you just follow the links above, you'll get the idea.

When I was young I was pretty obsessed with space and space travel. Aside from my impressive book collection (including several, remarkably intricate coloring books), I went to Space Camp (twice) and was thrilled when my school also took a week-long trip to Astro Camp. My interest in outer space followed me all the way to college, where I was torn between an art major or astrophysics. I ultimately opted for the art, but my love of outer space and admiration for women like Sally Ride endures.

In researching for this post, I discovered that Sally Ride was not much of a cook. She's been quoted as saying she was not much interested in home economics in her day --  not surprising, given how all her other interests must have occupied her time!

She did say, that she "winds up eating junk food a lot."

Vegan junk food? I happen to be something of an expert in this area.

I will cover this topic even more in my upcoming "road trip" entry, so for today I tried to think about an American classic "junk food" meal; I opted for good ol' Kraft macaroni and cheese.

I know I've tried plenty of vegan mac and cheese recipes, but what comes closest to the classic Kraft, while meeting the same easy-to-make ("Sally Ride friendly") requirements?




The answer: Earth Balance vegan cheddar flavor mac and cheese. This is it. Complete with the macaroni elbows and the cheesy packets you love and adore. Instant vegan macaroni and cheese has arrived.

This stuff can be a little hard to track down, though most Whole Foods stores carry it. You can also try ordering online, which is always a great option if natural foods options are limited in your area.

And what if making her own mac and cheese was just a little too much effort? Well if Sally Ride happened to be in Brooklyn, I would have told her to head on down to Morgan's Barbecue. They have a pretty epic vegan mac and cheese--complete with avocado, tortilla strips, jalapeños and vegan chorizo. Yummy!



For more "junk food" I'm sure Sally Ride would have loved, stay tuned for my vegan road trip entry... coming September 29th!