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Product Review: Lillabee Classic Yellow Cake Mix

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Vegan MoFo, Day 8

I picked up this dairy-free, gluten-free cake mix in Boulder a while back. In fact, Lillabee is a Boulder-based company. In addition to having no dairy or gluten, this cake mix is soy-free and all natural, meaning non-GMO. When I picked up a bag, I didn’t realize that the recipe requires 2 eggs, but thankfully, Ener-G Egg Replacer came to the rescue!

Lillabee’s aim is to provide delicious baked goods you make at home that are allergy-friendly. Other products include: Fudgy Brownies, Anytime Muffins, and Perfect Pancakes/Waffles.

So included in the bag is a sugar mixture (about a cup’s worth), the baking mix and directions:

Required ingredients: 2 eggs (3 tsp egg replacer + 4 Tbs water), 6 Tbs Earth Balance margarine, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 3/4 C non dairy milk, 2 tsp apple cider vinegar or lemon juice and an 8″ cake pan or muffin pan. It was a breeze to throw together–about 5 minutes using the mixer, then 45 minutes in the oven.

It smelled quite delish as it baked! I let it cool for about an hour and then sliced it up. It was wonderful! Very sponge-y and sugary and quite delightful. You can also add things to the batter before baking it, like blueberries, or other fruit.

So where can you find this decadent vegan dessert? If you live in Boulder (or close by) you can purchase it at Dish Gourmet and Caffe Victoria. But you can also order directly from Lillabee.  I was very impressed and next time we’re in Boulder, I will definitely pick some more up.

Product Review: Amy’s Non-Dairy Pizza with Rice Crust

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I cruised the frozen section of my favorite health food store for something new to try that promised to be vegan deliciousness. I came across Amy’s Gluten-Free and Non-Dairy Cheeze Pizza with Rice Crust. Sounded promising, especially since Amy scored with the non-dairy mac and cheeze. I decided to overlook the $6.99 price tag and give it a try.

I preheated the oven to 425, as instructed and inspected the 7″ pizza. It looked enticing with more cheese than I was expecting—most frozen pizzas can be sparse on the toppings, as was the case with Amy’s No Cheese Pizza.

The instructions suggest baking the pizza for 8-10 minutes, then “carefully remove pizza directly under the broiler. Broil for 45-60 seconds, just enough to melt cheese.” Well, this isn’t easy to do. I don’t recommend holding it up to the broiler–too hot. So I left the pizza on the rack, closed the oven door and let the broiler work its toasting/melting magic. The results were less than stellar. It’s pretty hard to melt the cheese without burning the crust in the process.

(Yes, the above pic is the baked pizza–I know, kind of hard to tell . . . see burnt edge of crust).

Anyway, I never let a little charred bread get the best of me, so I sliced it up and dug in. Drumroll, please. . .

It didn’t  move me. I did not do my happy vegan food dance that I am known to do when yummy vegan food leaves me speechless. This left me wanting some flavor. I was tempted to sprinkle on some Daiya cheese and throw it back in the oven, but after spending $7, I wasn’t going to add more to it by using up some of my coveted vegan shreds. (The back of the box even says, “And of course you can add your own favorite toppings!”) Not for that price. The crust was ok–a little too soggy in the middle. There just wasn’t any flavor—nothing. Pretty disappointing, especially for the cost. Oh well. So far it seems Amy can’t quite master the vegan pizza—but I will say, that’s not an easy task. However, I wonder since they use Daiya in the mac and cheeze, why can’t they use it for the pizza?

Click HERE for a list of the ingredients.

Product Review: Amy’s Organic Tuscan Bean & Rice Soup

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Today was just a soup day. Good thing I picked up a couple of cans of Amy’s Organic Soups the other day—2 for $4. I had never tried their canned soup before, so I was interested in giving them a whirl since I’ve had good luck with other Amy’s products in the past.

Just heat and serve–that’s it.

I wasn’t planning on eating the whole can (really, just 2 cups) but before I knew it, I had. The brown rice and borlotti beans weren’t mushy at all and the flavor was outstanding. It also didn’t have a grainy texture that some soups can have. I was mighty impressed and my soup craving was fulfilled.

So here’s what I also like about this soup: No trans fat, No MSG added, No preservatives, Gluten free, No GMOs, Organic and Vegan.  There are 160 calories per serving, only 0.5 grams of saturated fat, 5 grams of fiber, and 5 grams of protein. But, like everything, here’s the Debbie Downer: 680 mg of sodium. It’s still less than other brands of canned soup and you’re getting the benefit of no animal products, organic ingredients, and gluten free.

Ingredients: FILTERED WATER, ORGANIC BROWN RICE, ORGANIC ONIONS, ORGANIC BORLOTTI BEANS, ORGANIC CELERY, ORGANIC SPINACH, ORGANIC CARROTS, ORGANIC TOMATO PUREE, ORGANIC EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL, ORGANIC GARLIC, ORGANIC SPICES*, SEA SALT, ORGANIC HIGH OLEIC SAFFLOWER AND/OR SUNFLOWER OIL, ORGANIC BLACK PEPPER. *100% PURE HERBS & SPICES (NO HIDDEN INGREDIENTS)

Product Review: Amy’s Rice Macaroni with Dairy Free Cheeze

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When I saw that this product made it as a readers’ fave in the latest issue of Vegetarian Times, I did a tentative happy-vegan-food dance. It sounded promising, especially since it’s made with Daiya cheese. Plus, it’s gluten-free. So I picked one up for $3.69. It was practically burning a hole through my reusable grocery bag on the way home. I couldn’t get it in the microwave fast enough. Then the moment of truth . . .

I did a full-fledged, unadulterated, happy-vegan-food dance like no other. Never in my life would I have thought there’d be a delicious vegan mac and cheese that rivals that of the real deal. Unbelievable. Even The Husband was hovering, hoping that I would share more than just the one tiny bite I had given him. No way.

Oh, man. Good stuff. It took me a few minutes to recover and wipe the cheeze from my face–I was not above licking the cardboard dish clean, nor am I embarrassed to admit that. It was creamy and tasted just like the real thing. You can cook it in the oven for 25-30 minutes (I had no patience for that) or in the microwave for about 4 minutes.

Alas, like everything delicious, it comes with a price. One 8-ounce container brings with it 520 calories (I better go for another run today), but it’s actually comparable to regular mac n’ cheese. Total fat: 22g, 5g of saturated fat and no trans fat Sodium: 740mg, Carbs: 72g, Protein: 8g, but hey, NO cholesterol! 🙂 Overall, with no dairy, no soy and no gluten, it’s an indulgence I can handle every once in a while. (Glad I bought two)!

Product Review: Tofutti Yours Truly Cones

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I have come to learn that thankfully, going vegan doesn’t mean you have to give up ice cream. I may not be able to grab a cone at the downtown ice cream shop, but thanks to Tofutti, I can enjoy it at home. I was actually going to pick up some Tofutti Cuties but my heart went aflutter when I spotted these. I can’t remember the cost (under $4.50 for 4) but who cares. They were worth it.

The scoop of ice cream is coated in a thick dark dark chocolate that is then sprinkled with chunks of cookie crunchies–delicious!! Then the ice cream. It’s smooth and cream vanilla (the outside of the box tells you all this) and the inside of the cone is lined with a thin layer of chocolate.

Now the cone is a little on the chewy/soft side and I don’t know if that’s how most frozen ice cream cones are because it’s been a heck of a long time since I’ve had one, so it could be the norm for such desserts. So don’t expect a real crunchy cone. I wasn’t complaining too much though–the thin layer of chocolate in the cone made up for that.

Each cone comes with 220 calories and 13 grams of fat, 3 of which are saturated. We’re also looking at 24 grams of carbs and 21 grams of sugar, but it’s still less than the real deal. So indulge every once in a while and enjoy!

Product Review: Stonewall’s Vegan Jerquee

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I was very intrigued when I saw these at my local Vitamin Cottage yesterday. For $1.65 for a 1.5 ounce package, I decided to try 3 of their 8 different varieties. The Husband and I tried the Original Mild, Teriyaki “Beef” and the Peppy “Pepperoni”.

On the outside, they look very much like real jerky nuggets and the outside coating tastes kind of meaty and salty. For nutritional information and ingredients, click here.

All of them taste like they’re made of seitan and I’ve got to give them kudos for trying, but these just don’t taste quite right. They’re not terrible, but there were some flavors in them that I just couldn’t put my finger on. The Peppy “Pepperoni” has a black licorice taste, while the other two have a chocolate-like flavor to them. I’m sure you could get used to them, but I think I’ll pass on buying these particular flavors again. Other varieties are: BBQ “Beef”, Tandoori “Chicken”, Original Wild, Spicy “Chicken”, Hot “Pastrami”, and Cajun “Bacon”. I’ll definitely give the others a try sometime, but for now, I’ll pass.

Product Review: Backpacker’s Pantry Freeze-Dried Meals

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Backpacker's Pantry Freeze-Dried Meals

Camping . . . Vegan Style

We decided to head out to the great wide open and finally get a camping trip in this summer. We escaped the brutal city heat, much to the delight of millions of vicious mosquitoes. Nothing two full cans of bug spray couldn’t handle. Aside from just good old-fashioned family fun, it gave us a chance to test out some vegan freeze-dried meals for our upcoming backpacking trip in August, where there will be about 4 miles between us and the car—not 500 yards or so like this trip.

You can car camp and still get away from other campers, as well as be close to a lake or river—in this case, the Laramie River, just below the Continental Divide. The first night, we fired up some veggie burgers, topped them with avocado slices, and sandwiched them between two toasted buns. (Obviously we were too hungry to stop and snap a pic)! They were perfect camp food.

We of course made s’mores—the Sixth Grader putting away two of them and me, quite possibly having my first one ever. That’s right. . .I can’t remember ever making them before. It was a monumental occasion, not to mention delicious.

The next morning, we enjoyed some Starbucks coffee. Tucked in the remote wilderness was a Starbucks, run by none other than. . . bigfoot. Ok, so no, but we enjoyed their VIA Ready Brew Italian Roast packets:

For breakfast, we fried up some diced onion, potatoes, and green and red bell peppers for the best damn breakfast burritos ever.

Topped with vegan cheddar and salsa, they tasted phenomenal. Maybe everything tastes great while camping—either way, we weren’t complaining.

It was a relaxing morning with some sun, coffee, breakfast, and Neil Young, via the iphone. (We decided that a solar-powered iphone charger would be a wise investment).

While the boys fished, I took advantage of the quietness to write, work on my current project, Folsom’s 93, and finish reading Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, an enjoyable, quick read by Dai Sijie.

So on to the review. . .

We were pretty excited to see that we could find vegan freeze-dried meals since we try to do a couple backpacking trips each summer. Backpacker’s Pantry, out of Boulder, has a few varieties and we chose two of them: Pad Thai and Spicy Thai Peanut Sauce with Veggies, each for $5.95. All freeze-dried meals require boiling water and a utensil to eat with. And since they’re so light, they are ideal for backpacking. Before going vegan, we used to buy freeze-dried meals from Mountain House and have always been very happy with those, but they don’t seem to have vegan ones. Plus, they are a couple of dollars more than Backpacker’s Pantry. Each package is 2 servings and they really would easily feed two people–there’s a lot there.

The Pad Thai comes with a packet of chopped peanuts and a peanutbutter packet. Take those out, add 2-1/4 cups of boiling water, stir it up, and let it sit about 15-20 minutes (which is pretty standard for freeze-dried meals).

The Spicy Peanut Sauce and Veggies came with a spice packet and 2 packets of peanutbutter that you have to mix in a separate bowl with a 1/4 cup of boiling water. I wasn’t crazy about the inconvenience of dirtying a bowl, but I later found that it was worth it.

Then you add 1-1/2 cups to the bag, stir it up, let it sit for 13 minutes, then stir in the sauce.

The Spicy Peanut Sauce and Veggies was outstanding. It was a little soupy and I would have liked larger veggies, but overall, it was so delicious. The consensus was that the Pad Thai was not quite as good. It too, is on the soupy side with rice noodles and it certainly wasn’t terrible, it just wasn’t as tasty as the other one.

They come with a high calorie count. But when you’re backpacking, you’re needing to replace your calories and it’s pretty easy to burn them off. Each serving of the Pad Thai is 460 calories, and 490 for the Spicy Peanut Sauce.

The Husband wanted to try the Garlic Herb Mashed Potatoes for just a $1.90 which had 2-9 ounce servings. There was quite a bit. I didn’t try them since they contained milk (he says he’s 99% vegan since he’ll still eat a little cheese–I’m working on nixing that 😉  However, I can’t complain since he’s made it this far)! Anyway, we didn’t bring up any salt, so he said they were pretty bland.

So there’s the low down on the freeze-dried meals. We will certainly be buying those for our backpacking trip coming up.

Laramie River, a few yards from the campsite

All and all, it was a fantastic trip. The second (and last) morning, we woke up to having a deer staring at us from a safe distance and once he took off, we toasted some blueberry bagels and drizzled them with agave. They were great with our Starbucks. 🙂

I’ve been known to have a grumpy side when I have been roughing it too long, especially if coldness and/or rain are involved. Somehow, I managed to keep things civil between me and the elements, even with the carnivorous mosquitoes. The kid was happy to constantly poke at the fire, whittle, and partake in some pine cone sling-shotting. The Husband caught quite a bit of fish and the three of us had a wonderful time laying by the fire, solving all the world’s problems.

The Cache La Poudre River

Product Review: Field Roast’s Smoked Apple Sage Grain Sausage

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As you probably all know. . .I love Field Roast. I’m always so impressed with how those folks can make such a tasty, satisfying meat alternative that is also good for you. These sausages taste very similar to their Celebration Roast and regular Field Roast, but in a bratwurst form.

After removing the plastic casing with kitchen scissors, we grilled these guys for about 15 minutes on low. They do get a little dry on the outside, but stay moist and very sausage-like inside. Made mostly of Yukon Gold potatoes, apples and rubbed sage, these don’t need a lot of fixings, but I opted for the old standbys (ketchup and spicy mustard). Use your own favorite toppings (but I think sauerkraut would overpower the flavor of them). Go unconventional with maybe some sliced avocados and vegan jack cheese. . .get creative.

They also recommend browning in a saute pan with some oil over medium heat, or break it up and use in sauces, stir-frys, and scrambles. (Just don’t over cook)!

So here’s the other great news: They have 10 grams of fat, and only 1 gram of that is saturated fat. Impressive! A Johnsonville Brat has 22 grams of fat and 8 grams of saturated fat! Blech. And get this—these sausages have no cholesterol! Where the real deal brat has 60 mg and also more sodium.  Here’s the kicker. . . (I love telling non vegans who give me hard time about protein) . . .these Field Roast sausages have 26 grams of protein per link where a cancer-licious brat has only 15! For 240 calories, you too,  can get as excited about these as I am. 🙂

Ingredients: Filtered water, vital wheat gluten, expeller pressed safflower oil, nonsulphered dried apples, yukon gold potatoes, naturally flavored yeast extract, onion powder, barley malt,garlic, natural hickory smoke flavor with torula yeast, sea salt, spices and rubbed sage

Product Review: Dr. Cow Vegan Cheese

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So I found some vegan cheese that is pretty darn good! It’s called Dr. Cow’s Tree Nut Cheese and here is what the company has to say about their product:

“Our cheese is made from 100% raw, organic nuts. First we carefully select the nuts and seeds, then we mix the raw nuts with our own home-made acidophilus and a little royal pink himalayan salt (one of the best salts available in the market!).Thus we have made nut curd by applying the same procedures for making traditional dairy-based cheese! Our cheeses are made with absolutely no preservatives, stabilizers, artificial ingredients or additives of any kind. 100% dairy free, no gluten, no casein, no soy and lactose free, 100% organic and vegan!”

Unfortunately, it’s tough to get a hold of since it is only available in a few stores and can get pricey from online stores. Dr. Cow offers a 5-cheese sampler for a whopping $75, or you can buy just one or two from other places such as www.veganessentials.com. Here’s a link to where you can buy it.

I bought 2 from Vegan Essentials: the Aged Cashew and Hemp seed and the Aged Cashew and Dulse. $38 and 2 days later, I receieved my box of (2) 4oz cheeses. Yep. I paid $38 for two tiny things of “cheese” that were a lot smaller than I was expecting…but they were damn good! They do have a bit of a mayonaise taste, but otherwise, they’re very cheese-like. I only tried these two and I haven’t attempted to buy others–saving my pennies Eye-wink But you may find that you just can’t live without it and you may also be lucky enough to live near a store that sells it. The cheese I bought was $9.49 and $8.95 and I also had to buy a cold pack for $2.95 AND pay for 2-day shipping to ensure freshness. (My husband about killed me)!

Ingredients for the Aged Cashew and Hemp Seed variety: Cashew nuts, acidophilus, hemp seeds & himalayan pink salt

Ingredients for the Aged Cashew and Dulse: (not listed on their website)

For a great review of ALL of the varieties, check out this site.

Have you tried this “cheese”? What’s your opinion?

Product Review: Barry’s Bakery French Twists

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I picked up a box of Barry’s Bakery French Twists on a whim–was looking for a quick little dessert for a get together. For about $3.89 you get roughly 10 twists and can choose from 5 different flavors (I chose Wild Raspberry). They were delicious! They’re made with layers of crispy, cinnamony puff pastry and with about 30 calories per twist (snack-size) they’re Watch Watcher’s approved. Approved or not, I’ll eat ’em!

They have no eggs, cholesterol, butter, yeast or dairy! However, they do have high gluten flour, so they’re not for everyone. Ingredients: High gluten wheat flour, soy oil, palm oil, beet sugar, cinnamon, salt, and natural raspberry flavor.

If you’re looking for a nice cookie to serve with tea, these are perfect—I’m looking forward to trying their other other varieties. Check out their site for more information.

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