Candle Cafe in Your Dessert Case

On my last trip to Whole Foods I noticed something special in the refrigerated section of the bakery. Normally I'll spot a couple Chicago Diner treats or Vegan pumpkin pie, but this time I found Candle Cafe Cheesecake and Tarts! The three flavors of the tarts were Raspberry Linzer, Chocolate Peanut Butter and Chocolate Mousse. The lone Cheesecake flavor was Vanilla. As someone who has been to Candle 79 I can tell you that they are one of the best Vegan restaurants in the country. So to have them do some prepackaged stuff is exciting to me. Now let's talk a little bit about the goodies!

The Raspberry Linzer Tart had a nice tangy zing without being, too, uh, tart. The rich buttery crust was a plus. And one thing that applies to all of the tarts is that they are very rich. Being rich isn't a problem but you will underestimate the small size and assume you can down one and still be hungry. Not that I know anything about that...

The Chocolate Peanut Butter Tart is just what a PB lover like me wants. Smooth peanut flavored cream cheese with a hint of chocolate topped off with some peanuts.

Holy crap! My favorite of the four is this vanilla cheesecake. The vanilla taste is strong with an explosion of vanilla bean. Slightly smaller than then the tarts but oh so worth it!

And last but not least is the Chocolate Mousse Tart! Creamy and chocolaty goodness in such a small package. Thank you Candle for branching out to the poor souls that have not been to your restaurants. Now, can you package that cannolli?

Kettle Tias! Salsa Picante Chips

Sometimes a product is so awesome I jump in the air and high five the invisible Vegan gods. This bag of Kettle Tias! Salsa Picante Chips is such an example. I noticed the colorful bag in the chip aisle and just assumed they weren't Vegan. To my delightful surprise they were animal product free!

When I got home I had to know how good these things were. I mean, are they Doritoish? Do they have any flavor? Did I waste my money? Well Kettle hasn't failed me yet so I opened the bag optimistically. From the first bite I knew these were the chips I was waiting for. The cheesy spiciness hit me and sent me back to my 4th grade lunch room. These are the closest to Vegan Doritos without a doubt. I'm going to start 2011 with a new favorite chip!

Congrats Kettle, please keep them coming!

Love,

John

Have a Vegan Pepperminty Christmas!

While I'm not the biggest Christmas fan, I can appreciate all of the treats associated with the holiday. Candy Canes, check. Cookies, check. Soy Nog, check. The common thread is the overabundance of peppermint. If you love peppermint then you must be doing cartwheels right now. My advice is to chow down out on this stuff while it's around!

The legend...Candy Cane Joe-Joe's. I've heard about these cookies forever. Now that Omaha has a Trader Joe's, I can finally try them out and see if they warrant all of the hype. The verdict? They are one of the most amazing cookies I've ever had! It's a basic sandwich cookie but the little candy cane pieces in the frosting make them divine. Seek them out.

These Dark Chocolate covered cookies from Late July has some similarities to the Candy Cane Joe-Joe's but ultimately I didn't enjoy them as much. They are dipped in chocolate and have peppermint sprinkled on the outside with a hint of a salt to go with the sweet. The cookies are fancily individually wrapped so you feel guilty when you eat 6 at a time. I see this as more of a gourmet cookie for all of you foodies out there.

Good ol' candy canes from Tru Sweets! I think everyone can agree Christmas isn't Christmas without a candy cane. These are pretty much the most awesome candy canes ever because they are Vegan and organic. I'd love it if they introduced other flavors like cherry or bubble gum, just because I'm weird like that.

This Chocolate Peppermint Stick Soy Beverage from Westsoy is the jam! I'm not sure if I'm under the spell of peppermint right now, but I enjoy it almost as much if not more, than the Silk Nog I reviewed last month. I even drank it a room temperature and it blew my mind. The chocolate/peppermint combo is a match made in heaven. I'm definitely going back to the store to stock up on this stuff.

I'm Moving The Facebook Group to a Facebook Page!

Ain't no thing but a bag of frozen fries.

Hello fellow Lazy Vegans! I'm moving our Facebook group to a new Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/LaziestVegans. I hope you come "like" us. Thanks for the support!

John

The Laziest Vegans Top Ten Asks Kelly Peloza

This is a new segment I'm calling The Laziest Vegans Top Ten. This is where I get to ask a prominent Vegan what their favorite pre-packaged convenience foods are. Today's guest is Kelly Peloza, author of The Vegan Cookie Connoisseur. This first time author is originally from Chicago, IL and is currently in Milwaukee, WI as a Photography Major at MIAD. Kelly can also be found at her blog Seitan Beats Your Meat. So let's get started!

What is your favorite veggie burger?
I love any kind of black bean burger, and Boca vegan burgers are pretty good.

What is you favorite frozen dinner?
I'll probably get an F on being a real college student but I don't really ever have frozen dinners.

What is your favorite ice cream?
Temptation from Chicago Soydairy

What is your favorite chip or cracker?
Whole Foods Rosemary Crackers

What is your favorite cereal?
Peanut Butter Panda Puffs

What is your favorite candy?
Sour Patch Kids and Go Max Go Bars

What is your favorite cookie?
ABC Cookies or Candy Cane Jo-Jo's. Or any kind of Oreo-type cookie, really

What three pre-packaged food items would you take to a desert island?
Sabra Pine Nut Hummus, Ricemellow Fluff and Peppermint Chocolate Soy Milk

Name a product you would like Veganized?
A really good vegan salami. I used to have it all the time as a kid, so it's more of a nostalgia thing that a craving. This may or may not be too gross to include in the post, but I'd eat it with chocolate, all in one bite

What are your favorite local and/or online stores for Vegan products?
Riverwest Co-op, Beans and Barley and Vegan Essentials (online AND local!)

And that concludes The Laziest Vegans Top Ten. Thanks Kelly!

Rudi's Organic Bakery 7 Grain with Flax Bread

Without a doubt my favorite bread is Rudi's 7 Grain with Flax. When I buy it, I just don't buy one, I buy three. Two go in the freezer and one stays out. So what do I do with all that bread? Well, mostly I use it for my pb's (no j), but also for veggies burgers. My old mainstay bread was a Wild Oats (R.I.P.) brand. but those are a little hard to come by these days.

The bread is chewy and had little seeds all over the loaf. It can be a bit moist so make sure you use it up or it will go bad pretty quickly. One of my favorite parts of this bread (besides the fact it tastes wonderful) is that it says Vegan on the back! It's just the little things. So what is your favorite bread?

Moo Free Vegan Advent Calendar

Happy December everyone! Can you believe how quickly this year has gone by? Pretty insane. I'm going to take this month to remember and reflect on the crazy year that was 2010. So much has happened in the last 11 months that it's hard to wrap my head around it. Anyways, lets talk about this cool Advent Calendar I got!

When I was growing up we always had an Advent Calendar for Christmas. Advent Calendars have a tiny door for each day in December leading up to Christmas. When you open one of the days you get a chocolate. My brother and I shared, one of us would get odd days and the other would get even days. I thought it was one of the neatest parts of the holiday (well except for the gifts). At some point last month I decided I would seek out a Vegan Advent Calendar to help me not feel so grinchy about Christmas (don't get me started).

Luckily Vegan Essentials got these Moo Free Advent Calendars in stock a week before Thanksgiving. I think they are really cute and perfect for a Vegan or dairy intolerant person.

December 1st is here!

Even your parents will appreciate these. Today's chocolate appears to be an ornament, and it tastes silky smooth! Only 23 more chocolates to go!