Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Magic Vegan Bacon Grease with Coconut French Toast

I've had this jar of Magic Vegan Bacon Grease for a couple months now. I've been waiting for the right place to use it. First of all, a lot of people have poo-poo'ed Magic Vegan Bacon Grease as gross. Well, it's coconut oil, people. Sure, there's some Vegan Bacon bits in there and some flavor, but you are cooking with coconut oil. Not so crazy, huh? People have said to cook the grease with green beans or some other veggie. That sounds delicious, but I knew I had to try something different. Enter Coconut French Toast from Isa Does It!

If you follow me on Instagram, you've probably noticed that I've been cooking a lot. There are many reasons why, but one is the challenge. I'm not a natural cook, so I count on the cookbook to be clear and precise. Isa Does It has been great in that regard. So, what I did was replace the refined coconut oil with the Magic Vegan Bacon Grease, alchemy!

As you can imagine, the Coconut French Toast turned out delicious. An already decadent breakfast was made more so. The hint of bacon with the explosion of coconut was heaven. Vegans finally get everything they want minus the cruelty! So, If you have something that you would normally cook in coconut oil, Magic Vegan Bacon Grease will add a fun smoky kick that you will enjoy.  


Sunday, July 13, 2014

Earth Balance Vegan Mac & Cheese

I'm sure most of you grew up on Kraft Mac & Cheese or the generic equivalent. It was super easy to make. Boil the noodles, add butter, milk and the packet of "cheese." It was definitely one of my favorite summer meals when my parents were at work. Well good news! Earth Balance just released two brand new boxed mac & cheeses, Vegan Cheddar Mac & Cheese and Vegan White Cheddar Mac & Cheese. The hype is real and Vegans are EXCITED. I got a couple boxes and I made them with the quickness. Here are the results!

First was the Cheddar. You make it essentially the same way as the Kraft Mac & Cheese. Water to boil the noodles, Earth Balance Buttery Spread, your favorite non-dairy milk and the "cheese" packet. Quick to make and super tasty, I was impressed! The cheddar flavor was amazing. Creamy, zesty, tangy and quite honestly, pretty similar to Kraft. A total home run!

The White Cheddar was similar in the taste department, maybe with less tanginess. Some people have complained that they hate one flavor or the other, but I'm pretty happy with both. I may give the Cheddar a slight edge, but very slight. So all in all, I think Earth Balance has produced an amazing product that a majority of Vegans will enjoy.

My only complaint is that the nutritional info is misleading. It doesn't include the fat or calorie content from the Earth Balance Buttery Spread or the non-dairy milk. Without that data, the Mac & Cheese looks low fat, which is misleading. Hopefully Earth Balance adjusts the data so it makes a fair representative of the fat content. Besides that, it's great!


Sunday, July 6, 2014

Saffron Road New Vegan Frozen Entrees

Saffron Road contacted me about their new line of Vegan frozen entrees and offered to send me a few to sample. Uh, heck yeah, send them all! They sent Bibimbop with Tofu & Brown Rice, Thai Basil Chili Tofu with Basmati Rice and Manchurian Dumplings with Basmati Rice. Let's microwave these bad boys and chow.



Bibimbop with Tofu was easily my favorite of the three. The tofu is some of the best I've had in a frozen dinner. The sweet and sour flavor is perfect, not too far one way or the other. I would have liked to have more food in the bowl, but that's a good thing. I'll buy two. If you've never had bibimbob and can't get to a Korean restaurant, this would be a good introduction.



The Thai Basil Chili Tofu was a nice stir-fry meal. Nothing too amazing but it's a solid meal. Love the little baby corns. One thing I'd like to point out is how spicy it is. Or I should really say I'm not a spice fan. If you like a little kick with you food, then this meal is PERFECT.



Manchurian Dumplings was probably my least favorite of the meals. I wasn't really feeling the consistency and taste of the dumplings. A little too mushy and the flavor (ginger?) just wasn't my cup of tea. Hope you have better luck than me.

All in all I'm happy to see these new frozen dinners on the market. The Tofu Bibimbop is a must, the other two are so-so depending on your personal preference. Hope to see them in the store soon!


Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Gardein Golden Fishless Filet

The first time I had a Gardein Golden Fishless Filet was at Expo West in Anaheim over the Spring. It was my favorite product of the show, and I've been eagerly waiting its arrival in Omaha. Well it's finally here! I found it at my local Natural Grocers of all places. I was delightfully surprised and super excited to relive the delicious experience. So the question is, were they as good as the ones I had at Expo West? The answer is YES, YES, YES!

To me, the filets taste like Long John Silver's fish filets. Tons of batter, a little greasy and very filling. I've had food like this in a Vegan restaurant, but never from the frozen food aisle at the grocery store. It's really game-changing (to me anyway) that you can have a frozen Vegan fish filet that is decadent and better that the real thing. I have a feeling that meat eaters (or fish eaters, whatever) will really take to what Gardein has done here. The filets are not revamped Crispy Tenders, they really look and taste like battered fish!

The batter is divine, nice and crispy. The toaster oven or regular oven is recommended for cooking and I totally agree. Don't even mess with the microwave on this one. The inside is juicy and tangy, it will really take you back. How they got the texture and flavors down, I have no idea, but I'm happy they did!

As you can see, I made up my little version of Vegan Long John Silver's. It's got balsamic vinegar, ketchup, fries and the filets. I died! It was soooo good. Now let's be honest, this isn't low fat food. It's greasy, but that's what makes it so wonderful. Sometimes I wanna' splurge and this is the perfect food to do so.

Gardein has become the king of Veganizing food experiences from my non-Vegan past. Chicken Fingers? Check. Beef Cutlet? Check. Chicken Patties? Check. So far, this is my favorite new product of the year and I don't know what could possible top it, but I'd sure love to see someone try.
   

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