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.
   

Natural Products Expo West 2014

I finally decided to stop being jealous of Quarrygirl's Natural Products Expo West blog posts and go visit the mecca for myself. Safe to say, I was blown away by the size and the quality of the Expo. I got to see some great products, meet tons of awesome people and, of course, get my name printed up on a press pass. The Expo is held in Anaheim, which is nice because it's right next to Disneyland, so you can really make a vacation out of it. Also, you're still close to LA (just don't drive there on a Friday night) so you can check out all the Vegan eats and catch a concert.

So, day one of the Expo, I really lucked out and caught Sarah from The Spooky Vegan in the press line. This was the first time at the Expo for both of us, so it really worked out because we didn't know what the hell we were doing. Sarah is the best Expo buddy you could ask for!

Ever since I've been back everyone is like "what was your favorite product???" I had a few that I loved, but the Gardein Golden Fishless Filet was my top pick. I still haven't seen it in Omaha yet, but I can't wait to get reacquainted.

So what else did I love? Well, Amy's Tofu Breakfast Sandwich was killer. Mr. Dewie's Cashew Milk Ice Cream was off the hook amazing. The Field Roast Hand-Formed Burgers (and Apple Maple Breakfast Sausages) were delish. And Phoney Baloney's new Coconut Bacon flavors (especially Apple Fennel) were mouth-watering good!

My favorite moment from the Expo is when I spotted Amy Berliner serving food at the Amy's Kitchen booth. I told Isa "look it's Amy!" and Isa was like "what are you talking about?" and I was like "look, It's AMY!" Isa finalllly got it and we were able to snag a pic. I'm happy to report that Amy is super nice and down to earth. And I finally got to tell her I put her through college. Life complete! Shout out to Allie Drew for making it happen.

And my second favorite moment from the Expo was getting Vega formulator Brendan Brazier and Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness creator Robert Cheeke together for a pic. Two cool dudes doing good things in the Vegan community.

So many awesome booths with great food! The Chicago Vegan Foods peeps brought the nacho cheese pump, so you know this expo is official. Follow Your Heart had yummy grilled cheese sandwiches right off the grill. Team Phoney Baloney was ready to greet the Vegans and all the people who ask "how can coconut be bacon?" One of the Qrunch team members was from Nebraska, gotta love my home state folk!

Sarah and I LOVED the Beyond Meat "Taco Beyond" booth. Their tacos were AMAZING. Cobra Corn is a product you need to try, headquartered in Chicago. The Bombay Seasoning Cobra Corn is worth getting shipped from Vegan Essentials. Daiya had a MASSIVE booth with tons of "Daiya Girls" walking around, giving samples. Mr. Dewie's had some really great ice cream and they entertained the heck out of us bloggers. Cybele from Cybele's Free to Eat told me she appreciated my putting up a pic of her cookies on Facebook. I thought that was pretty cool! And it took all three days of the expo, but I finally caught up with Jackie from Vegan Yack Attack. She's always the life of the party!

Nature's Path had some cool new things to sample and their rep was cracking us up. Dr. McDougall's had some new soups I hope to see soon. Vegetarian Plus had tons of stuff I've never seen before and I got to sample it. Sweet Earth had a sweet new Hickory and Sage Seitan Bacon that I can't wait to try again. Morinaga had a pamphlet with Terry Hope Romero on it, so we had to chat it up with them. And the Hail Merry ladies were super nice and gave us a heads up that Costco carries them now!

Always a treat to see Dan and Nicole from Upton's Naturals. Their Bacon Seitan is in my fridge 24/7. Happy to see the Liz Lovely booth, but they broke my heart by getting rid of the chocolate dipped cookies and pretzels. Wildwood got harassed by Isa about their creamer, I'm sorry. Vega had this nifty dispenser for Vega One. Oddly I didn't take any because it wasn't 6:20 am and I wasn't driving to work. Tofurky had a new gluten-free pizza I'd like to try again. I had a sample, but I need a whole pizza of that stuff. And Peanut Butter & Co. was in the house as they should be.

Sjaak's was very sweet and gave us bloggers a metric ton of candy to split amongst ourselves. I love their chocolates so much! JJ Sweet's Cocomels out of Boulder, Colorado was representing with their amazing caramels. Bee Free Honee gave a taste of everything. The honee is made out of apples, it's really good stuff! Endangered Species Chocolate had this amazing Raspberry Orange Creme Filled Dark Chocolate Bar that was to die for. I can't wait to find it here in Omaha.

So that was Natural Products Expo West 2014 in a nutshell! I didn't post half of what I actually saw, it really is a lot of stimuli. Lots of food, people and more people. Thank you to everyone who hung out with me and made my trip so special. I look forward to 2015!

Gardein Crispy Chick'n Sliders

Lemme start this blog off by saying that I've been looking for these Gardein Crispy Chick'n Sliders ever since they came out...with no luck. For some reason, my Whole Foods doesn't carry them. But a couple months ago, Katie from Don't Eat Off The Sidewalk mentioned that her Target carries them. Target, I thought, that's kinda weird! But sure enough they had them. Actually, they had a ton of Gardein stuff, so give your local Target a try. Anyway, I couldn't wait to see if they lived up to my self-created hype.

In short, yes. They are everything you could ask for in a frozen chick'n slider. A toaster oven is your best route for preparation. Yeah, it's a pain in the ass to remove the buns only to put them on during the last two minutes of baking, but it's so worth it. If you're already a fan of some of Gardein's chick'n products, you'll fall in love with these. The breading is killer, and it's what sets it apart from other Vegan chicken products. That, plus of course your trusty, flavorful Gardein chick'n meat. Add some Vegenaise, lettuce and tomato and you're ready to go. You might feel guilty about eating all four sliders in one sitting, but don't. It's very easy to do, and honestly, they're small enough to do such a thing. So raid your local Target and have a chick'n slider party (preferably party of one.)

Gardein Lightly Breaded Turk'y Cutlet

I was on the lookout for new Vegan eats, at Target of all places, when I saw the new Gardein Lightly Breaded Turk'y Cutlet. The thought of a Vegan cutlet with gravy made my stomach growl, and I had to have it. A common hot lunch in elementary school was beef cutlet with mashed potatoes and gravy. I still crave it in a weird nostalgic way. So, I thought this would fill that little food void from my childhood. At the very least it looks really good on the package!  

A quick 20 minutes in the toaster oven yielded probably my favorite Gardein meal EVER. I attribute some of that to the emotional connection, but holy crap is this cutlet ever good! Crisp, hearty and tasty; I would take this over any fake turkey roast any day. The cutlet does have a hint of turkey, but topped with the gravy, it just tastes like a damn good cutlet to me. Nicely breaded with four servings in a packet, it feels like a full meal, just add veggies. The gravy packets that come with are super easy to use. Thaw the packets in hot water, empty them and then microwave the gravy for a minute or two. My only complain is that I would have liked more gravy, but wouldn't we all?

So, I give the Gardein Lightly Breaded Turk'y Cutlet the highest recommendation, the Golden Microwave. Actually, I just made the Golden Microwave up, but you get what I mean. If you're looking for something a little different that's more like a meal then just a snack, give the new Gardein Cutlets a whirl.

Gardein Holiday Roast

As crazy as it sounds, I've never had a faux turkey. Thanksgiving is one of my least liked holidays, so I usually rock some tacos or something non-traditional that day. But while shopping yesterday, I came upon all three of the major faux turkeys: Tofurky, Field Roast and Gardein. So I decided right then and there that I was going to try all three in one season. My first attempt is with the most recent addition, the Gardein Holiday Roast!

Right out of the box, you get the faux turkey and a couple packs of gravy. I added some broccoli and roasted potatoes to round out the meal. To prepare, you roast it in a casserole, covered with tin foil, for an hour. The gravy is thawed and microwaved. It was pretty easy!

The Holiday Roast is a decent size, I'd say it could feed three or four very easily. The flavor of the "turkey" part of the roast was a bit bland, but some pepper livened it up. The inside of the roast was very flavorful, stuffing with cranberries tucked in the center. I enjoyed the gravy too, and it seems like they give you enough because I used a ton and still had some left over. Also to its credit, it was the cheapest of the three brands.

Without having the other two faux turkeys, it's hard for me to say how it compares. But I will say that if you like Gardein, you'll love this loaf. The blandness was kind of a bummer but is easily correctable with a little seasoning. The center is delicious, the gravy is plentiful and the price is right. Enjoy!

Gardein Seven Grain Cripsy Tenders

I loved chicken nuggets as a child. Thinking about it now kinda makes me feel bad but at the time they were the jam. Decent Vegan nuggets are hard to come by. Many companies have tried but I think Gardein has done the best job so far. I've been eating these Seven Grain Crispy Tenders for over a year now and they are amazing!

The Seven Grain Crispy Tenders have a nice crispy coating with a tender inside. Pretty much what I remember as a kid, without the cruelty. They're also more of a strip then a nugget, but that's good for dipping! My dip of choice has been a mix of organic ketchup and Frank's Red Hot. So the next time you want to watch old episodes of You Can't Do That On Television, grab a juice box and Gardein's Seven Grain Crispy Tenders and have a tubular time!