Product Review & Giveaway: Namaste Foods

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The winner is: Ashlei

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Namaste Foods small manufacturer of fine foods that contain no wheat, gluten, corn, soy, potato, dairy, casein or nuts. Most gluten free products can be pretty expensive however Namaste Foods has created a number of meals and mixes that are GF and inexpensive.  Their products include mixes for muffins, waffles & pancakes, flour mixes, cookies, cakes & desserts, pastas, bread & pizzas.  As you can see there are a number of great products for anyone who is looking for GF products.

Namaste Foods sent me a sample package of their Pasta Pisavera Pasta Meal to try. This product is easy to make in ready in about 15 minutes. Just boil this veggie brown rice pasta, drain, and add the delicious Italian Seasoning packet to make 4 side portions.  I decided that I wanted to make 4 entree portions from this so that we could have dinner and leftovers for lunch the next day.  I added steamed cauliflower, black beans, onions, mushrooms, sundried tomatoes and artichoke hearts to make it a hearty meal.

Namaste Foods has decided to give you all a chance to try their products.  You can enter to win a “Namaste Tote with perhaps a pasta mix and a Pizza crust which may be better for the vegan diet, along with a Living Without magazine, recipe cards, coupons and assorted goodies!”  If you would like to enter please visit the Namaste Foods Website and let me know which product you are interested in trying. Please enter by March 22nd at 8am.  (Sorry this is open to US residence only.)

For Additional Chances to win:

1. Follow me on twitter @cookveganlover (come back and leave a separate comment)

2. Tweet “I want to win the Namaste Foods Giveaway @cookveganlover http://wp.me/pFVWo-zk” (come back and leave a separate comment)

Disclaimer: Namaste Foods provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.

Product Review: Panda Licorice

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I am a huge fan of licorice and was delighted when Panda decided they would send me a few samples to try.  They sent me Panda Licorice Creams which are filled with chocolate, caramel & strawberry.  The caramel was delicious.  The hubz even didn’t mind these and he is not much of a licorice fan. Along with these I tired the raspberry licorice which is so hard to stop eating especially when it is in the box and you just keep popping the bite sized pieces.  Lastly my absolute favorite the black licorice bar which is chewy and delicious.  Panda licorice is all natural and not filled with wax and artificial flavors like those other “licorices”.

 

Disclaimer: Panda Licorice USA provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.

Product Review: Eden Organic Wild Berry Mix

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Eden Organic gave me the opportunity to try one of their products and I chose the WIld Berry Mix.  This Wild Berry Snack Mix has no added salt and is filed with organically grown roasted almonds, roasted pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, raisins, dried wild blueberries and dried cranberries.

This snack mix was delicious and I’m sad I don’t have more (I guess I’ll have to go to the store and find some). I ate this for dessert some nights with some mini vegan chocolate chips to it to make a yummy dessert.  This would also be a great snack for hubz and I to bring hiking with us this summer.  It is filled with protein and fiber and has a nice bit of sweetness.

Disclaimer: Eden Organic provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.

Product Review: Artisana Raw Organic Nut Butters

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Artisana Raw Organic Nut Butters sent me some teasers of their amazing raw nut butters. These cute little jars had one serving of nut butter in them just enough to get a taste and leave you wanting more. These handmade and raw gourmet nut butters are a great treat. Although they are expensive they are amazing and worth the money as an occasional treat. My absolute favorite of all the samples was the cashew butter; it was amazingly creamy, silky and smooth.  The cashew butter was closely followed by the luscious macadamia cashew butter.  Of course all the others were tasty too.

Disclaimer: Artisana provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.

Product Review: Rishi Tea

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Rishi Tea provided me with a few samples of their organic fair-trade tea to try. Rishi has many great teas such as: African Rooibos, Ancient Tree Tea, Black Tea, Caffeine Free Botanical Blends, Chai, Green Tea, Iced Tea, Oolong Tea, Organic Tea & Botanicals, Pu-erh Tea, White Tea and Yerba Mate.  They also carry some great tea cups, pots and other accessories for any tea lover.

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Rishi Tea sent me their Rishi Masala Chai, Organic Wild Rose and Organic Mandarin Citrus.  My husband is a huge fan of chai tea and was excited to try this one.  It is described as “a robust and full-flavored black tea blended with traditional masala spices.”  We enjoyed this tea with some unsweetened almond milk and stevia.

The other teas that I tried were both white teas the Mandarin Citrus and Wild Rose.  I enjoyed the Mandarin Citrus described as “Jasmine scented white teas hand blended with Australian lemon myrtle leaf, mandarin orange and grapefruit.” This tea was light and refreshing, a great morning tea.

The Wild Rose is a white tea infused with wild harvested roses.  I am not a huge fan of floral teas and this one was just too over powering.

I look forward to trying some of the other interesting teas that Rishi has to offer.

Disclaimer: Rishi Tea provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.

Pantry Challenge Update

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5 Suggestions on How to Make a Pantry Challenge Successful:

  1. The first thing you need to do is figure out why you want to have a pantry challenge, how much money you will need to spend on produce to make it successful and how long you think you will be able to do it.  Also, don’t get so caught up in how long you do the pantry challenge because you might get a week and half in like I have and decide that you don’t have enough stocked in the pantry to go any further.
  2. Check out the weekly circulars for your local grocery stores before heading out to shop.  This is a great way to find out what is on sale and you can use this to your advantage when planning your menu/outline of meals for the week.
  3. Look at recipes before you go shopping whether it’s online, in cookbooks or asking friends for advice on what to use with the items already in your pantry. Having an outline as to what you are going to make for the week will help to keep you on track and help to calm any frustration that might occur.
  4. Visit your local farmers market! Many times these are the places where you are going to get the best deals on produce and it’s local and many times organic which are two great bonuses! If you are like me and live in a northern climate farmers markets in the late fall/winter/early spring months are limited and don’t carry a vast amount of produce but are still worth checking out.
  5. Lastly, have fun! Get in the kitchen and just enjoy cooking and using those products that you have been stocking up.  It’s spring cleaning for your cupboards!

Recipe: “Sausage” Stuffed Mushrooms

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“Sausage” Stuffed Mushrooms

These mushrooms make a great appetizer for any dinner or cocktail party. You can make the stuffing ahead of time and fill mushrooms and bake before your guest arrive.  The stuffing would also be delicious in zucchini boats and stuffed squash.  You could also stuff portobello mushrooms and serve with your favorite sides as an entree.

Makes 4-6 Servings

Ingredients:

  • 16 white mushrooms
  • 5 tablespoons good olive oil, divided
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons Marsala wine (you could also use sherry or vegetable broth)
  • 1 vegan Italian Sausage (I used Field Roast), minced
  • 6 scallions, minced
  • 2 garlic cloves minced
  • 2/3 cup panko bread crumbs
  • 4 tablespoons of vegan cream cheese
  • 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
  2. Remove the stems from the mushrooms and chop them finely. Set aside. Place the mushroom caps in a shallow bowl and toss with 3 tablespoons of the olive oil and Marsala. Set aside.
  3. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the sausage, mushroom stems, garlic and green onions cook for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  4. Add the panko crumbs, stirring to combine evenly with all the other ingredients.
  5. Turn the heat off and  stir in the cream cheese until it has melted and made the sausage mixture creamy.
  6. Place in a medium bowl and stir in the nutritional yeast, salt and pepper. Cool slightly.
  7. Fill each mushroom generously with the sausage mixture. Arrange the mushrooms in a baking dish large enough to hold all the mushrooms in a snug single layer.
  8. Bake until the stuffing for 50 minutes, until the stuffing is browned and crusty.