Add in some celibacy, and it's my idea of hell

I have a friend from college coming to visit. I'm pretty excited; it should be fun and I'll get to meet his girlfriend. But here's the thing: he's a vegan. I can see the vegetarian thing. I've even been a vegetarian at different times in my life, although never with strong conviction. A BLT could always sway me from my non-meat-eating ways. But I can understand the desire to become a vegetarian, either for health or environmental reasons.

A vegan, though...that just seems like a big ol' pain in the patootie. That's a lot of rules. Having a child with food allergies and having to worry about the contents on everything he eats, always having to closely read food labels and ask at restaurants, I know it's a lot of work. I am torn between being impressed that people would choose to limit themselves in this way and scratching my head in wonder.

Because being a vegan means no eggs and no milk. And you know what that means: no cake. Oh sure, I bet you can have some kind of vegan substitute, but really, let's face it: being vegan means no cake.

No bacon, no cake...

Wait, let me say it again: no bacon, no cake. Hell, if I could, I'd make bacon cake. Some vegan somewhere probably just threw up a little. Hmm, bacon cake actually sounds pretty disgusting even to me, so sorry Friendly Readers! I take it back, bacon cake isn't on the menu.

Luckily for the first time, I feel completely at ease preparing vegan food. Our fridge is overflowing with veggies, grab some black bean dip or hummus, and we've got a perfect snack. Anyone else have any quick and easy vegan-friendly snack food ideas?