Review

Vega

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If you are vegan then you probably know about Vega, by Sequel Naturals which makes plant-based whole food products, if you haven’t heard of Vega yet then it is time to jump online read all about them and then head out to your local natural foods store and pick some items up.

I was given the opportunity to try Vega’s Complete Whole Food Health Optimizers and Vega’s new Whole Food Vibrancy Bars.  The Complete Whole Food Health Optimizers are great in smoothies- I like the chocolate with 1 sliced frozen banana and 1 cup of nondairy milk (usually almond).  

The Whole Food Vibrancy Bars are great I loved Green Synergy.  I enjoyed it at the end of my work day when I need a pick me up before I went home to use the elliptical and it was great and kept me energized and satisfied through my workout until dinner.

There are a number of other products by vega that I have not tried yet but hear great things about; these include:

  • Whole Food Smoothie Fusion
  • Vega Antioxidant EFA Oil Blend
  • Vega Sport Performance Optimizer
  • Vega Energy Bars

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Doi Chaang Coffee

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I was recently given the opportunity to try coffee from the Doi Chaang Coffee Company out of Vancouver British Columbia. This is a very unique company as it is the grower, roaster and marketer of the coffee.

“Doi Chaang Coffee produced by the hillside Akha tribe of Northern Thailand in Doi Chaang is Certified Organic, high altitude and shade grown, hand picked, fresh-water washed, sun dried and in all aspects cultivated with the sustainable farming practices of the 900 family co-operative that owns the coffee growing and processing operations. It is we believe, the only coffee (from anywhere) that from grower to seller is the same entity.”

 

This coffee has received great reviews and on the 100-point review (much like those in the wine and beer industry) conducted by Kenneth Davids it received 90 points on the Medium roast and 93 points on the Peaberry roast. 

 

I received the Single-Origin Signature and the Single-Origin Peaberry roasts.  I have at this time only tried the Peaberry roast and I found that it was amazing.  I was really impressed with the earthy flavor.  I am looking forward to sampling the Signature roast as well. 

Currently the best way to get your hands on this great coffee is to purchase directly through the Doi Chaang website.  However you can find it in select shops in LA & Ojai CA, as well as in various provinces in Canada.  Where to Buy & Online Shop

Vegan Yum Yum

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Lauren Ulm a well known vegan food blogger has released her first cookbook Vegan Yum Yum featuring “Decadent (but doable) Animal-free Recipes for Entertaining & Everyday.”  I just received a copy of this book and went right to town on cooking up various recipes.  There were a few recipes from the blog that I love that made the book which I’m very excited about as well as a variety of new recipes that are just as wonderful. I have tried the following recipes from the book:

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All of these recipes are absolutely amazing and I can’t wait to cook all of the other recipes in this book. One of my favorite features of this book is that there are many recipes that are for 2 servings and is great for my husband and I and all are easily doubled or tripled.  I also really enjoy the fact that recipes are all easy to make and are great for everyday eating and for entertaining. I would recommend that you pick yourself up a copy of this book.  It is bound to be a go to cookbook for all vegans. 

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Check out the Vegan Yum Yum Flickr Site for more photos http://www.flickr.com/groups/veganyumyum/pool/

Pick up your copy here.

Kimchi Fried Brown Rice

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So, I don’t know about you guys, but I really love Korean food, kimchi especially. The issue I usually have with Korean food is that a lot of it has fish sauce. We recently received a bottle of fermented, raw kimchi from for review, so I decided to put it to good use by making some Kimchi Fried brown rice.

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I decided to substitute the scrambled egg you typically find in Asian fried rice dishes with crumbled tofu and the meat you may typically find with white mushrooms.

2-3 cups of cooked rice (I made mine in a rice cooker)
1/2 C to 1 C of Kimchi
1/2 onion
4-5 small mushrooms
1 clove garlic
1 T veg oil/olive oil
2 T soy sauce
1/4 block of tofu
1-2 T Sesame Oil
S+P to taste

1. Slice the mushrooms, mince the garlic and chop the onions into small pieces
2. Heat the veggie oil in a wok/skillet and sautee the mushrooms, garlic and onions for a couple minutes.
3. Crumble the tofu into the mixture and add the soy sauce and some pepper.
4. Add the kimchi to the pan and warm it up.
5. Add the cooked rice and stir in the mixture of the tofus and vegetables.
6. Once warmed, add sesame oil to taste.
7. Add S+P to taste.
8. Add fresh kimchi to top as garnish.
9. Enjoy!!

The 30 Minute Vegan

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The 30 Minute Vegan is filled with a variety of great easy, quick, and delicious recipes that are (mostly) under 30 minutes. I received this book to review and had the most difficult time choosing recipes to try from it, not because I couldn’t find any but rather because I want to make everything.  That was my first indication that it had the potential to be a great cookbook.  However, the true test would be to see if any of these great sounding recipes actually turned out to be as good as they sounded.

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After hours (yes hours) of flipping through this cookbook I finally decided that I would make the Batter Baked Tempura with the Spicy Mustard Sauce, We Will Rock You Three Layer Nachos and Eggless Egg Salad.  The Batter Baked Tempura was delicious especially with the mustard sauce, however I am not sure if it totally resembled tempura but rather it was more like baked onion rings/veggies.  Nevertheless it was amazingly delicious and unfortunately was the only item I ended up taking the time to photograph.

The We Will Rock You Three Layer Nachos were next on my list of items to make and they were so good.  I made both the tempeh bean mixture and nacho cheese sauce which I put over baked blue corn chips and baked then topped with salsa, pickled jalapeno and avocado.  The recipe made so much sauce I only used half of bean mixture and nacho cheese for the nachos and saved the remainder to make a Tex-Mex Mac and Cheese the following night with mushrooms, onions and cherry tomatoes.

My husband’s favorite recipe that I made was the Eggless Egg Salad and it was certainly one of the best recipes for it that I have tried.  I served the Eggless Egg Salad in whole wheat pita halves.  The great part about this recipe is that it made enough for 2 days worth of lunches!

Overall I love this book and find that although not all of the recipes are 30 minutes with prep time and cooking they are still quick, fast, healthy and fun. You can order your own copy of The 30 Minute Vegan on Amazon. 

30minYou can also check out other reviews of The 30 Minute Vegan on the following sites:

Happy Herbivore

Basil & Spice

Vegan Guinea Pig

Chow Vegan where you can find reviews & recipes for Mango Gazpacho& Baked Tempura

Vegan Fusion – The authors blog

Vegan Crunk

Nutridel Cookies

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I recently had the opportunity to try Nutridel Gourmet Cookies, which were delicious. Nutridel which was created by combining Nutritious and Delicious has created cookies that are just that. These cookies are cholesterol free, have zero trans-fat, are loaded with fiber and antioxidants, have no refined sugars and are filled with omega 3’s.  Now here is a healthy cookie that you don’t have to feel bad about eating. 

1There are four types of cookies that you can try: Oatmeal, Almond, Flaxseed and Pecan.  I tired the Oatmeal and Almond both of which were delicious.  They are thin crispy cookies with a light sweetness. I really enjoyed both of the cookies but the oatmeal was both my and my husbands favorite. 

You can check out the website for retail locations near you or order online.

Review: Xan Confections

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Xan Confections was kind enough to send me some wonderful chocolate treats from their Jewels Collection and Saintly Sins. I was delighted when I opened the box to these fancy chocolates – the kind you see in chocolatier shops but are never vegan.

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The Jewel Collection  includes 5 non-dairy, gluten free caramels and are delicious. The flavors include Coconut Pecan Caramel, Espresso Almond, Butterscotch Caramel, Ancho Chili Caramel and Chocolate Caramel; all of which are delicious. I have to say my favorite was the Anch Chili Caramel though it has as nice spice that hits the back of your throat.

55The Saintly Sin Collection  are chocolates that have only 29 calories, 1 gram of fat and 5 grams of carbohydrates per piece and are diabetic friendly, gluten free and vegan friendly. How can you not love a piece of chocolate that is only 29 calories and comes in Raspberry Sin, Strawberry Sin and Pineapple sin? I have to strawberry was my favorite and my husband and I didn’t feel bad about sharing all 3 of them in one sitting.

Now you can just jump online and order these delicious treats and don’t forget to check out their Ladybug Truffles, Signature Collection and BigMouth Collections as well. Oh yeah and if you are lucky enough to live in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Michigan or Nevada check out the Xan Confections  site for the retail locations near you.