oatmeal

Bee-Free Honee Giveaway

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Honey is one of those things I never thought much about until I went vegan and began reading labels and recipes and now I see that it is everywhere. Then came cooking where honey is often found in baked foods, desserts and granola and finding a vegan replacement can sometimes be difficult. Agave is usually a suitable replacement but the consistency is often too thin and the flavor is slightly too sweet.

When I read about Bee-Free Honee I jumped at the opportunity to review and it and of course to do a giveaway. I am even more excited to do the giveaway now because I really love this product and can’t wait to have you try it as well.
The website describes the product best “Bee Free Honee is a unique sweetener with a slightly tart flavor. It is “apple honey” in that it is made from apples rather than by bees! We use only three all natural ingredients, apple, pure cane sugar, and lemon juice. There is nothing artificial, no added color and no corn syrup.”

Although it doesn’t taste exactly like honey, it has more of an apple flavor- because well yeah it is made with apples. But it really is the closest in flavor and consistency to honey and it taste delicious. I have used it in my tea and oatmeal and on apples with cinnamon and almond butter. I haven’t tried it in baked goods or granola yet but that will be my next challenge.

Now that you know more about this wonderful product I am going to give two lucky people to win a bottle of their own. All you have to do is enter- oh and for an additional chance to win head over to Keri’s blog I Eat Tree’s because she is also giving away a bottle.

To Enter: (leave a comment for each entry) The giveaway is open to U.S. residence only. The winner will be randomly selected on Monday, March 21th, 2011 at 11 PM EST.

  • Leave a comment telling me why you’d love to try Bee-Free Honee
  • Visit the Bee-Free Honee website and leave a comment telling me something new that you learned
  • Follow me on Twitter and leave a comment below telling me you did.
  • Tweet, “Enter to win #vegan Bee-Free Honee @cookveganlover http://wp.me/pFVWo-1H2” and leave a comment to tell me you tweeted.
  • “Like” Cook.Vegan.Lover on Facebook and leave a comment below telling me you did.
  • Sign up for the Cook.Vegan.Lover. newsletter, and leave a comment to let me know you did

http://www.beefreehonee.com/

Weekend Wrap Up

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This weekend was freezing in Vermont so the Hubz and I spent more of our weekend inside working on a number of projects.  I am happy to say that I was able to organize the closets in our bedroom and purge a number of items that we had been holding on to for too long.  I also attempted to work on organizing our office but I think I just made a bigger mess.  We are in need of some major organizational materials and have visions of how we want things to look but until we head south and by south I mean to NYC and Connecticut where there is better shopping (Ikea and Target) we will just have to make do. Who knew we were such pack rats?

As for food this weekend I spent a lot of time working on recipes from Veganomicon for the Vegan Cookbook Club.  On Friday night I made Sauteed Seitan with Mushrooms and Spinach; I was lazy and decided to just purchase pre-made seitan to save me time.  Overall I thought the dish was really good but I’m not going to giveaway all my thoughts here you’ll just have to wait for my full review of Veganomicon. For the remainder of the night the Hubz and I just relaxed enjoyed an Ottercreek Black IPA and attempted to watch Dinner for Schmucks but we just couldn’t get into it; it really just wasn’t as funny as I hopped it was going to be.

Saturday was spent making a mess of the office while drinking coffee and watching The Real Housewives of Atlanta. Unfortunately for the Hubz my way of organizing is to make a huge mess and then clean it up so the state of our office is in disarray right now- however the closet in there is amazingly organized so WIN! We are heading to NYC and CT in a few weeks and will be hitting up Ikea and Target for some items to help in our organizational project but I should probably make one last effort to at least get that room orderly.  The second half of Saturday was spent getting lattes, groceries and gas- exciting I know. I didn’t photograph dinner and I can’t remember what we had so it must not have been that exciting. I did make the Lower Fat Banana Bread (muffins) from Veganomicon though and they were tasty.  I added chopped up dates to them and they were so good.

Sunday I was up early and ready to tackle the closets in our bedroom but first a mini french press of coffee and a two banana bread muffins.  Then I was on to organize and purge items in our closets, as well as take over the walk-in closet which the Hubz ended up with some how when we moved in. I never realized how much I could get a workout just from cleaning and organizing our bedroom; by lunch I was sweaty (TMI) and had worked up an appetite.  Lunch was a pasta dish per the Hubz request and included chickpeas and spinach in a creamy garlic sauce. I tried out my sample of Jovial Brown Rice Pasta, it was pretty good for gluten free pasta, but I prefer the Jovial Whole Wheat Penne.

After spending most of the weekend doing our own thing or sitting behind our computer screens the Hubz and I decided we needed a date night. Instead of spending money to go out we decided to stay in and enjoy a bottle of wine and a home cooked meal; we even showered and got dressed (I’d been in yoga pants all weekend).  For dinner I made the Chickpea Cutlets with Mustard Sauce from Veganomicon with roasted butternut squash and cornbread stuffing on the side.  I thought both the cutlets and the sauce were really tasty however I have a few criticisms regarding the wording of the recipes and the fact that in the directions for the sauce it left out a step that included major ingredients; again you’ll here more about this in my final review of Veganomicon.


Now it’s Monday morning and I am sitting back enjoying a mug of coffee and blogging. I started out my morning with a bowl of creamy oats with a spoonful of pumpkin butter and a little cranberry cinnamon granola on top for crunch.  I picked up this Sticky Fingers  Bakeries pumpkin butter from Marshall’s on sale and it is really amazingly good on oatmeal. Alright that is my weekend wrap up now it’s time to get ready for my work week. Enjoy your day!

Reminder: Check out the Fiery Vegan Valentine Contest.

Oats In A Jar, Oats In A Jar, I love me some Oats In A Jar

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This morning was wonderful because there were Oats In A Jar (OIAJ) aka the best breakfast ever! My husband and I actually have an “Oats in a Jar” song which I can’t help but sing (slightly off key) while I make my oats in a jar because its just that exciting; its not every morning that you get to have OIAJ.

This is where it all starts- a almost empty nut butter jar- this morning it was a Peanut Butter Jar

Other items in this mornings mix: cooked rolled oats (1/2 cup rolled oats + 1 cup water; bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer until cooked 5-7 minutes), defrosted frozen mixed berries, chia seeds, and a little crunchy granola topping.

Nothing goes better with OIAJ than a nice mug of coffee and an excuse to use my new french press.

My parents got me this little french press for Christmas and it is perfect for those mornings when the Hubz or I are alone and want one cup of coffee instead of making a large french press. Curious on how to use a french press? Check out my how to post here.

Are you a french press, electric coffee maker or instant person? I am a french press person at our house, if we are out I will buy drip coffee but we don’t have an electric coffee maker at home.  I really find that a french press makes the best cup of coffee but that’s just me.

Falling in Love

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It’s Fall my favorite time of year and I am so excited to get back in the kitchen.  Lately most of my time has been spent in the kitchen working on recipes for my upcoming soup e-book but this morning I decided that I would try out a new recipe.

I have had a hankering for pumpkin and finally made myself some pumpkin pie oatmeal. It was delicious!

Ingredients:

  • For the Oatmeal:
    • 1&3/4 cup water
    • 1 cup rolled oats
    • 1/4 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie puree)
    • 1/8 tsp ground ginger
    • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
    • 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
    • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
    • 2 tsp chia seeds
  • For the Topping:
    • 1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds
    • 1 tablespoon pecan pieces
    • 2 teaspoons brown sugar

Directions:

In a small pot over high heat bring the water to a boil; stir in the oats and reduce to a simmer.  Simmer for 5-7 minutes until most/all of the water has cooked away.

While the oats are cooking place the pumpkin puree in a small bowl and combine with the spices and vanilla extract.  Place the pumpkin seeds and pecans in a small sauce pan and toast over medium heat until just lightly browned and aromatic.

Over the heat stir in the pumpkin mixture.  Turn the heat off and stir in the chia seeds.  Divide into two bowls. Top the oatmeal with 1 teaspoon each of brown sugar and half of the pecans and pumpkin seeds.

I Was A Breakfast Hater Until I Met…

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I used to hate breakfast.

I have always been a lunch or dinner gal not into those breakfast foods and especially since going vegan when breakfast can sometimes be more challenging (or time consuming) to figure out.

And then I met…..chia seeds (Buy Now). oatmeal. and nutbutter.  Now of course I liked these things on their own and in other forms but once these all united I saw the light and fell in love.

Tuesday Breakfast: Whole Wheat Waffles with Coconut Peanut Butter, Bananas, Chia Seeds, Oats, Goji Berries and a little Agave Drizzle

Wednesday Morning Oats: coconut, peanut butter, chia seeds, cacao nibs, goji berries and stevia

Multigrain Oats with above mentioned fixings

Q: What breakfast items make you swoon?

Where can you find:

Back in the Oatmeal Groove

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I used to eat oatmeal for breakfast almost every morning but once the weather got warm it just wasn’t as appealing for me and ever since I have struggled to find something that fills me up and keeps me satisfied until lunch.  I tried oats with soygurt, toast, cereal, smoothies and fruit but none of them seemed to work.  Now I am back to my old ways and in the oatmeal groove and I’m loving it.

This mornings oats included my favorites: Irish Style Oats, cinnamon, chia seeds…..

banana and coconut peanut butter!

Nothing goes better with oatmeal than a french press of coffee in a tiki mug!

Q: What is your go to breakfast?

Don’t forget From now until August 16th you can save 25% of your total purchase when you use coupon code EXCITE25

Product Review & Giveaway: Coach’s Oats

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The Winners are:

Jenna- “My absolute fav.. pumpkin oats with banana, pb, flax seeds, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and vanilla. I could eat it every day and not get sick of it!”

And

Regina “I like mine with vanilla soy milk chocolate PB, banana’s, and flaxseeds.”

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As many of you know I am a huge fan of oatmeal and eat it most mornings with banana, cinnamon and stevia.  So you can imagine that I was delighted to have a chance to try a new kind of oats.  Coach’s Oats sent me a few packages of their oats to try.  Their oats are prepared a different way than steel cut and rolled oats.  “The groats are toasted to bring natural sugars to the surface of the oat then cracked into small pieces.”  (source)

The oatmeal cooks up in only 5 minutes so it is a quick nutritious breakfast when you are short on time.  Unlike other oats these get so creamy and delicious, I loved them.  These were also super filling along with my traditional fixings. Since Coach’s Oats sent a long a number of packets for me to sample I would love to get 2 readers a chance to win 2 packets to try themselves.  If you would like a chance to win enter By March 24nd, 2010 at 8am leaving a comment letting me know what your favorite oatmeal creation is.

Disclaimer: Coach’s Oats 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.