ProBar Halo Bars

New from ProBar is the Halo line of snack bars! All four flavors are only 150 calories AND taste great. I would say these are closer to a healthy snack bar than a candy bar, but that's not a bad thing. The quality ingredients and complex flavors really shine through.

Out of the four, Nutty Marshmallow was my absolute favorite. I found it to be be very marshmallowy but more substantial then a rice crispy treat. The sweet nutty flavor really hit the spot. Next on deck was Rocky Road. Never been a fan of Rocky Road but the bar was enjoyable in all its chocolaty nutty goodness. Now for something completely opposite is Honey Graham and I know what you're thinking, yes it's Vegan. The taste was surprisingly on the lemony side with a hint of honey. And last but not least was the S'Mores bar. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it but it suspiciously tasted like the Nutty Marshmallow bar, even with the additional chocolate. In closing, I think the Halo bar is a high quality snack bar that gives you candy taste without all the calories.

Trader Joe's Peach Pops

Yesterday I went to Trader Joe's to pick up some essentials, not expecting anything new. Well look what was staring at me out of the freezer case!

Holy crap these are good! At first you are probably like "these look like normal Fla-Vor-Ice pops, what's the big deal?" Well the big deal is that the first ingredient in the pops is peaches. With the first and last bite, you'll be eating real peaches. Delicious! Did I mention I'm so happy to have a Trader Joe's near me? Summer just got real, go get 'em.

John's Macho Nachos

If you went to Omaha Public Schools in the 1980's or 1990's you most likely remember Macho Nachos. Every week the lunch schedule was printed in the newspaper and I would count down the days till Macho Nacho day. It was my favorite lunch meal next to the cheese pizza with French fries. While I can't remember exactly what was on the nachos, I feel like I've been able to reproduce the spirit. So here is my version of the Macho Nacho!

As you can see it's pretty loaded. Sometimes I add more ingredients and sometimes I add less. Things I left out this time are black olives, green onions and salsa. And you may be thinking, "John, where is the the Frank's Red Hot?" Well, I did put it on but it was after I took the photo. Now let's check out the other ingredients.

I decided to go with Nacho Teese and I'm glad I did. Out of all of the Vegan cheeses I believe this is the most like old school nacho cheese because it's oozy and melty.

Uptons Chorizo-Style Seitan is the jam! If you've had the Uptons Seitan Tamales then you know exactly what I'm talking about. It's spicy and easy to make, total Laziest Vegans material. If you have this stuff in your area, try it, you'll love it.

And in the same breath, Amy's Traditional Refried Beans are the best refried beans I've ever had (in a can anyway). These aren't your old bland refried beans. I love 'em!

Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet Sour Cream is the only Vegan sour cream I've enjoyed. The only downside is that is goes bad fairly quickly. In the future I hope Follow Your Heart can sell it in smaller portions.

Garden of Eatin' Blue Corn Tortilla Chips are my gold standard. So that's my version of the Macho Nacho! How do you fix your nachos?

The Laziest Vegans Top Ten Asks Bianca Phillips

Bianca Phillips is the creator of the amazing blog Vegan Crunk, where her love of the Dirty South shines through. On any given day you might see a recipe for Vegan Deviled Eggs, the latest review of a Memphis restaurant or the spotlight on new Vegan convenience foods. When Bianca isn't blogging, she's writing for the Memphis Flyer, specializing in LGBT, progressive and environmental issues. I've never met Bianca personally, but that will change in August when she joins me at Vida Vegan Con in Portland, Oregon. And last but not least, Bianca has an adorable cat named Gelfling. So now it's time to get Crunk, go Bianca!

What is your favorite store-bought veggie burger?
Hard decision, but definitely one of the Amy's frozen patty flavors. I love the Texas Barbecue, but the Quarter Pounders are mighty satisfying. I'm also a fan of the taste of the Soyboy Okara Courage Burgers, but the patties are little too small for my monster appetite.

What is you favorite frozen dinner?
Hands down, the Amy's Vegan Macaroni & Cheese! I love homemade vegan mac & cheese, but no homemade version can top the frozen Amy's mac. It's made with ungodly amounts of Daiya cheddar, so it's uber-creamy. If I made mac with Daiya at home, I think I'd be nervous about using as much as the Amy's folks do because it's a total calorie bomb. But when Amy's does it for me, I feel like it's out of my hands and I'm free to pig out.

What is your favorite ice cream?
I'm a big fan of Turtle Mountain's Purely Decadent Turtle Trails, a vanilla soy cream with a caramel ribbon and chocolate-coated pralines. Also love, love, love Tofutti Cuties in any flavor.

What is your favorite chip or cracker?
Eco-Planet Vegan Cheddar Crackers totally rule my world!! Also, Spicy Sweet Chili Doritos are a very guilty pleasure! I can eat a whole bag in one sitting.

What is your favorite cereal?
You know, I don't think I really have a favorite cereal. I buy a different brand and flavor every time, so I won't get bored. But the Whole Foods brand of cocoa puffs and anything by Barbara's Bakery are pretty awesome.

What is your favorite candy?
For chocolate, that would have to be Sjaak's Organic Peanut Butter Bites. They're like mini vegan pb cups. OMG! And for fruity candy, I'm a diehard fan of both Sour Patch Kids and the new vegan Skittles.

What is your favorite cookie?
Liz Lovely Cowboy Cookies are an all-time fave! But I also love Uncle Eddie's Vegan Cookies!

What three pre-packaged food items would you take to a desert island?
A package of Daiya mozzarella shreds (which I would totally eat with my hands, cold and straight out of the bag), a jar of Peanut Butter & Co. White Chocolate Wonderful, and a bag of Kookie Karma Cheesy Kale Krackers (best kale chips ever!)

Name a product you would like Veganized?
I really wish someone would invent vegan sour cream & onion potato chips! And vegan ranch tortilla chips!

What are your favorite local and/or online stores for Vegan products?
I alternate my orders from Food Fight, Vegan Essentials, and Cosmo's Vegan Shoppe. Locally, only the Memphis Whole Foods has a good vegan product selection, so I shop there.

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

Living Harvest Tempt Ice Cream Bars

You can say I'm a newcomer to Tempt. I've always seen pints of Tempt Ice Cream in the stores, but I just never took the leap and bought one. Hemp as a base ingredient is interesting to me, so it was just a matter of time. Recently my Whole Foods had a sale on the new Tempt Ice Cream Bars and I decided enough is enough and bought all four flavors.

The different varieties of Tempt Ice Cream Bars are Coffee with Cream Swirls, Vanilla with Blueberry Pomegranate Swirls, Chocolate Fudge and Vanilla with Fudge Swirls. One of the claims on the packaging is that each bar is only 100 calories. If you've followed this blog for any length of time you know I'm not a calorie counter, but for the people that are I'm glad this bar is an option for you. Also the bars are also relatively low in fat.

Out of the four bars, Vanilla with Fudge Swirls was my clear favorite. It reminded me a little bit of old school Jello Pudding pops. Delicious vanilla mixed with sweet fudge, I'm going to make this a regular purchase. The Chocolate Fudge was my second favorite. Nothing mindblowing but it was a really solid fudgesicle. Next was Vanilla with Blueberry Swirls. Similar to the Vanilla Fudge Swirl bar but replacing the fudge for blueberry. It was good, but I felt the berry flavor kind of clashed with the vanilla flavor. And last on my list was Coffee with Cream. I'm not a coffee person at all but I will say that if you love coffee then you will absolutely love this bar. So in closing, I think the Vanilla and Fudge are to die for and the rest are good, depending on your personal taste.

Amy's Gluten Free Baked Ziti Kids Meal

I think it's fair to say that I'm an Amy's Kitchen fan. Except for their new-new stuff, I've had all of their Vegan offerings. The one thing I know I've never had is their Baked Ziti Kids Meal. My local Whole Foods has had them for a while so I decided enough is enough. After all, I'm a kid in a 32 year old's body.

So you may already be familiar with the Baked Ziti from the grown up version. It's just as good here with its Vegan mozzarella, sweet red sauce and tasty noodles. Joining the ziti is broccoli, rice focaccia (aka bread) and apple crisp. While the apple crisp was delicious, the bread and broccoli were just ok. This is most likely due to my dinner being a tad overcooked. That's because I used the oven when I would normally use the microwave. For a Kid's Meal I found it a little complicated to cook the bread separate. Maybe it's me just being lazy, but I can't imagine a kid microwaving the dinner according to the directions. Barring the harder than usual directions, the Amy's Baked Ziti Kids Meal is an excellent Vegan choice for your little munchkin.

And I saved the best part for last! Look at the inside of the box and you'll find a coloring page. In my case, there was a scarecrow. Watch out for brown and pink squirrels raiding your garden, for real.

Trader Joe's Vegetable Burritos Featuring Daiya Pepperjack Cheese

I asked the Laziest Vegans Facebook page for suggestions on what to use with my recently purchased Pepperjack Daiya Cheese. Trader Joe's Vegetable Burritos was one of the suggestions. I've never bought the burritos before (or even noticed them for that matter) so I pretty much had to pick them up. I made this a couple days ago and it was delish!

First off, the burritos were excellent. I have to wonder if they are actually Amy's burritos in Trader Joe's packaging. They come two in a package so you have to be really hungry or you are going to have left overs. But it's nice to be able to cook them in the tray and not have to wrap them in paper towels. Taste-wise I found them spicy and very beany.

I've been a Daiya supporter from the start and I'm happy to see them branch out to new flavors. The Pepperjack tastes like a spicy version of the Cheddar to me. I microwaved the Daiya after the burrito was already cooked and it melted just fine. It tasted great on the burrito! I'm sure it would be a great addition to tacos or nachos too.