Anywhere, here are some random food photos I'd like to share with you guys (not all from one day and definitely not all that I eat in one day).
So, to reference this month's theme of staples, I love making fun stirfries and experimenting with different oils, spices and spreads.
This mix features tahini and sesame oil, with peas, kabocha squash, cauliflower, some potato for good measure, and sugar. Also in the bowl are blueberries, peanut flour, and cashew butter. And a frost bitten chocolatey goodness thingy in the back.
Some more pasta happened.
What can I say? Though I'm not a huge fan of this form of carb (I'm a big fan of most others), a bag of spaghetti is pretty darn cheap and NYC?
Well, it's not.
Also, pasta's flavor can easily be overwhelmed by whatever flavors you pair it with. But what I just can't seem to get the hang of is cooking pasta al dente. I always forget about it and end up with a bowl full of overcooked, gummy pasta :P
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| Pasta with olive oil, ketchup, sundried tomatoes, and bac'un |
My favorite way to eat the bars is with soy yogurt, cereal or crumbled rice cakes (see below) and craisins. I looooove craisins, guys.
Here's something that I didn't love, even though I really wanted to.
A while back, Two Moms in the Raw sent me their Almond Butter Cacao Truffles to review, alongside these raw crackers. I loooooved the truffles, so I had high hopes for these crackers. I'm also a big fan of the short, simple, and super healthy ingredients list, as well as the company's general mottos about life (they're all about healthy food that tastes good, does good, and makes you feel good).
Unfortunately, this didn't do it for me. As you know, I love raw desserts - but I have trouble getting over the onion/garlic factor in raw savoury foods and there's something about them that just makes me queasy. I was hoping that I wouldn't experience that with these, as they don't have any onion, but the garlic was enough to do it.
It's obviously a high-quality food and, if you're into that kind of thing, you'll probably love it (I mean, look at all those flax seeds! It's so pretty!). But if you're like me and you can't do the raw onion/garlic, then these are probably not a good bet.
My dad, on the other hand, is definitely going to love them - he's all about the garlic, so I'll save the rest of the bag for him.
I asked a friend, who is not vegetarian or vegan, much less a rawist, to try them and she really liked them. She's a fan of sour cream & onion potato chips and said that, while these clearly don't taste like that, she likes the savory richness of them. She also liked how, while she could eat a whole bag of potato chips, after one big square of these rich (and nutritionally rich!) she was full and couldn't eat any more. It prevented that queasy, ate-too-many-chips feeling that can happen after a Saturday night out for drinks and dancing.
As a better post-party munching snack, she said that she's going to look if she can find these in Whole Foods and keep some in her pantry. So just because I don't like them, doesn't mean that they're not good to other people.
But I just have to be honest in all of my reviews, even when it means I have to say something not-so-positive about a product from a company that I really like, because otherwise what's the point of a review?
I tried it in soy yogurt (eaten straight out of the tub, since there was only a serving or so left) with honey, cinnamon, and frozen blueberries and liked it a bit better with the sweet stuff, but I still couldn't get over the garlic.
Sorry, raw crackers, you're just not for me.
Raw truffles on the other hand, especially the swoon-worthy almond butter ones from Two Moms in the Raw, are.
AAAAAAND these:
These gluten free, raw, vegan bars (with all of their healthy fats coming just from all the fabulous nuts this bar is chockfull of) have a nice short ingredients list, like Two Moms in the Raw is so super-awesome for always doing.
And all the ingredients? They're the kinds of tasty things you might have in your kitchen if you're well-stocked (no castoreum, lanolin, or polydimethylsiloxane here)!
As you might have noticed (or not) each bar is actually two servings. The flavor and texture of the bar definitely makes up for that portioning oddity, though!
It's the perfect amount of sweet, with natural richness from all the nuts and - here's the oddest thing - really tasted like pecan pie to me. Well, I guess that's not the oddest thing ever, since pecans are the second ingredient, but it's certainly the healthiest 'pecan pie' you'll ever eat!
I liked how this bar had waaaaay more emphasis on the nuts than the dried fruits (note that there are no dates, as make up the bulk of Lara bars, and syrup isn't one of the first few ingredients either) meaning that the bar ended up neither being too sweet nor having a boatload of sugar. If you're diabetic, watching your carbs, or trying a more protein- and fat-rich diet, these bars are a really great option!
Or if you just like yummy food. ;)
The granola is very similar, but the grain to nut ratio is more tipped towards the fun grains.
It's gluten-free and raw, of course.
I was a little surprised by the granola, because it's packed as bars - four bars, each one serving (which makes it really handing for grabbing one on the go)! It's full of healthy ingredients, with great stats.
And it holds together as a bar, rather than just being all crumbly, so it's perfect for on the go! I really liked this bar-form and despite being stickier than normal granola (it's more sticky than crunchy) it was just mildly sweet.
Less sweet, in fact, than a lot of granolas but that's perfect for showcasing the nuts, seeds, dried fruits, and cool grains this bar is made of - check them out!
I really love this, it's one of my new favorite granolas! I hadn't had a lot of the grains in this bar before, at all, and I loved them!
I need to go out and try all the rest of their flavors! In case you're wondering, that's blueberry, gojiberry, and raisin. Though I'm a big raisin granola fan, I think I'll buy the gojiberry one next.
Perfect plane snack for my flight on Wednesday, no?
Do you like raw crackers?
What kind of bars do you like best?
What's your favorite granola?
What kind of bars do you like best?
What's your favorite granola?
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