A Nutty Review - Tru-Nut!

Those of you who've been reading my blog for a while know that I'm obsessed with all things nutty. Nuts are delicious!

Or maybe I'm just a nut.

Anyway, I recently discovered a new nutty product to add to my already nutty pantry, stockpiled full of almond butters, roasted cashews, salted brazil nuts, crunchy peanut butters, and so on.

Tru-Nut is perfect for when you want to take that baked good (yay, it's baking season again!) up to the next level, or make a peanutty sauce and don't have a heating device to melt your peanut butter, or you've already eaten a small nation's nut rations that day and still want more nuttiness but your stomach can't handle much more fat. Even healthy fat can cause stomachaches - been there, done that (a lot).

Tru-Nut comes in three flavors, original, cinnamon, and chocolate. I tried the original and cinnamon and really enjoyed them! While a peanut powder product will never get the mouthfeel of peanut butter right (but that's what peanut butter is for) because of the reduced fat content, when fat is what causes that smooth, creamy, rich mouthfeel, I think these are perfect for adding to shakes or baking with.

If you do want to make a nice sauce, they also mix up really easily without any big clumping drama and the peanut flavor, if not the peanut butter mouthfeel, is spot on. It's a great product for what it is!

I also enjoyed the addition of the cinnamon to the cinnamon-flavored one. Original and chocolate are generally the only options you have with this sort of product, but cinnamon works so well with nuts! Especially if you're also including honey or jam (and why wouldn't you? It's a great combination).

With just a few natural ingredients (roasted peanuts, sugar, sea salt, and (in the case of the cinnamon one) cinnamon, it's also nutritionally sound and doesn't have any of those icky fillers that light spreads usually are packed with. Overall, I'm a fan!

What's your favorite thing to make with peanut powder?

Do you make a special breakfast on the weekends?

What are your plans for Thanksgiving?

Edamame Crunch Chocolate Bars!

The Praim Group has several food brands, including Seapoint Farms.

Do you recognize that name? They're the guys who make the frozen edamame you can buy in jumbo packs at Sam's Club!

But guess what? They're now making chocolate bars, too!

Edamame Crunch Chocolate Bars. The bars come in Milk Chocolate and Dark Chocolate (55% cacao).

They're both 3.5oz each and made with dry roasted edamame and a touch of sea salt.

They're both really creamy and delicious and the creamy, high quality chocolate pairs delightfully with the crunchy dried edamame! It's sort of like a hazelnut chocolate bar or an almond chocolate bar, but it has that milder edamame flavor.

And the edamame adds a nice little bit of protein! Plus, the dark chocolate bar has 16% of your daily RDI for iron (yes, I'm pushing to make these be healthy for me, they're just so tasty).



The chocolate and edamame is a really delightful combination, especially with the touch of sea salt. There are such wonderful contrasts in this bar - creamy and crunchy, sweet and salty, indulgent and healthy. Yum!

I also have to point out something I was a little impressed with:



The paper wrapper is made of 25% recycled materials. Way to go, Seapoint Farms!

Do you shop at Sam's Club?

What's your favorite type of chocolate?

What are your favorite contrast combinations?

Mama Micki's All Natural Bakery and Vegan Bakery

Mama Micki's is an all-natural bakery and vegan bakery specializing in baked goods made from only organic, natural ingredients. They don't use any artificial ingredients, artificial colors, preservatives, GMOs, or even refined sugar. In addition to biscotti and cookies (some of which are vegan) Mama Micki's even makes dog treats.

But I stuck to trying the human treats this time.



The cookies come in cute bags of six (not a bad gift, as they're nicely packaged!) and the biscotti come in bags of three.

I tried two flavors from their normal cookie line and two flavors from their vegan cookie line.



The top two cookies on the plate (sugar and chocolate chip) are vegan, the bottom two (oatmeal raisin sunflower seed and peanut butter chocolate chip) are not vegan. But even the non-vegan cookies are made of organic ingredients like organic malted barley flour and organic cage-free eggs.

The cookies are all fresh and good-sized (not huge, but not tiny either). They're soft and chewy (but firmer on the outside, crisper) in a good way and are sweet and buttery (even the vegan cookies, who get their buttery flavor from Earth Balance vegan buttery sticks).

My favorite of all four varieties that I tried was, in fact, one of the vegan flavors. The combination of the melty sweet chocolate chips with the organic golden flax seeds, organic walnuts, and organic almonds makes the vegan chocolate chip cookies every bit as nutty and delicious as they are heart healthy and nutritious.

These cookies make an excellent accompaniment for a chilly glass of milk and, with their all natural ingredients, are a treat you can feel good about.

I was less impressed with the vegan sugar cookies, because I like cookies with a lot of different flavors. My little sister really enjoyed them, though, as they are quite good for sugar cookies. If you like a simple, sweet cookies, these sugar cookies are a good bet.

And aren't the pink sprinkles pretty?

I couldn't choose a favorite between the two non-vegan cookies that I tried. The Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip was a rich chocolatey cookie with sweet, melty peanut butter chips throughout. There were enough chips to give the cookie a nice balanced peanut-butter-and-chocolate flavor and the chocolate was flavorful.

 The Oatmeal Raisin Sunflower Seed cookies improved upon the already delicious oatmeal raisin cookie (one of my favorite types of cookies for the last seven or so years now) by adding salty, crunchy sunflower seeds. The addition of the seeds, paired with the plump raisins and perfectly sweet (not too sweet, but sweet enough) base made for a delicious, more gourmet oatmeal raisin cookie.

I tested these in the freezer and they hold up quite well if frozen right after purchase (you can order them online or find them at several locations across the South Shore and Boston) and defrosted in the microwave.

Even if you're not de-freezing them, a few seconds in the microwave are great for these cookies - it gives them that great fresh-out-of-the-oven warmth and brings out the flavors even more!

What's your favorite type of cookie?

Do you like nuts in your chocolate chip cookies? I do!

Do you microwave (to warm) baked goods before eating?

Organic Rice Protein Pow(d)er!

Nutribiotic makes a variety of vegan protein powders out of  rice protein. I never thought of rice as a particularly high-protein food, but it turns out that isolated rice protein is an easily digestible, high quality vegetable protein!



Their protein powders come in several different flavors, including Cherry Vanilla, Mixed Berry, and Vanilla Bean. I tried their Vanilla, Chocolate, and Plain. As you can see, each serving of rice protein contains 80% protein!



A lot of protein powders add a lot of sugar and fat and other stuff that you don't always necessarily want in your protein shake or boost. I like that this one just gives you the protein and lets you add anything else that you may want. With just two ingredients and only 1g of sugar (but a great 12g of vegan protein) it's a really healthy protein boost!

You can mix the powder into a drink, add it to a smoothie, or pump up the protein content of a favorite recipe (think pancakes, muffins, bread, or even cookies) by subbing some in for part of the recipe's flour (don't sub more than 1/4 of the flour). 

It has a mild, malted taste, so while you will probably be able to taste the protein in there, it won't overwhelm your other flavors.

The powder dissolves really well, even mixing (clump free) into yogurt. One of my favorite ways to enjoy the chocolate protein powder is mixed into a cup of vanilla or plain yogurt with granola, dried fruits, and nuts on top - delicious!

What's your go-to protein source?

How often do you use protein powder?

What's your favorite way to use protein powder?

WhoNu Review

Happy Valentine's Day!

I'm not doing a particularly Valentine's-themed post today, as I'm sure there are enough out there.

Instead, I'm posting about cookies. Cookies are good, no?

WhoNu cookies have been around for a while (not super long, but long enough that even my mom has noticed them in Harris Teeter). I hadn't tried them, but I have wondered about them.

The pictures on the box look like standard Chips Ahoy! or Oreo cookies, but they claim as much fiber as a bowl of oatmeal, as many antioxidants as a cup of blueberries, as much Vitamin E as two cups of carrot juice, as much iron as a cup of spinach, and as much Calcium and Vitamin D as a glass of milk.

Okaaaaay.

There are several different varieties, but I decided to try the three that paralleled my usual favorites. I started with the soft & chewy chocolate chip cookies.

There's a resealable packet inside, great for keeping the cookies fresh. 

The cookies themselves are pretty standard in size and three cookies is a serving (it's the same for all three WhoNu varieties that I tried). That makes a nice-sized serving.

The cookies are really soft and delicious! The chocolate chips are fresh and chocolatey, not at all stale, and there are plenty of them!

I liked these even better than the (comparatively nutritionally devoid) Chips Ahoy! counterparts. They're slightly less sweet, but still sweet enough. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed them!

Next up were the crispy chocolate chip cookies.

They're also quite tasty, with the same yummy chocolate chips. Like the soft & chewy cookies, they're a little less sweet than the usual chocolate chip cookies. I have quite a sweet tooth, however, and they were still sweet enough for me.

These did still have a slightly odd taste - not bad, but different from your standard packaged chocolate chip cookie. Maybe it's the oat bran? 

Next up were the chocolate sandwich cookies. 

I'm a BIG Oreo fan, so I was really excited to try these. I do think that Oreos are a bit too sweet (I always top them with peanut butter and I think they taste great crumbled on ice cream, too, so there are always enough flavors going on that I don't need that super sweetness). 

I preferred these, because they're a little less sweet but the cookies are still chocolatey and rich and tasty. The cream in the middle tastes spot on and these are also super delicious with peanut butter. Parent Trap style!

This is a little off-topic, but I have high hopes for Lindsay Lohan.

She was such a talented actress and I refuse to believe that her gift is gone for good. I also think she's genuinely a good, nice person who's been subject to a lot of negative press at a tough time in her life.

I think she'll bounce back! I'm rooting for her.

Have you tried WhoNu cookies?

Do you love Oreos and peanut butter? 

Lindsay Lohan: love her? Hate isn't an option, I'm not interested in hearing anyone talking smack (she's not here to defend herself). But if you like her, it would be nice to hear someone saying something nice for once!

Homemade Vegan Grilled Cheese

I've enjoyed grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch since I was a kid, but only occasionally. My stomach doesn't enjoy all the cheese, so I can't have it as often as I'd like.

I'd heard about vegan cheese, but always had my doubts. How could something made out of pea protein, yeast, and arrowroot flour make a tasty grilled cheese sandwich?

Daiya offered to let me try their dairy-free cheese, so I decided that I'd finally see if a vegan version of my stomach-upseting childhood sandwich could be as good.

They have wedges and shreds, but my local store was out of the cheddar wedges and I wanted to use cheddar 'cheese,' since it's what I'd typically used on my grilled cheese sandwiches.



I decided to get the shredded cheddar for the sandwich and see if packing it on would work.

It did :)

Homemade Grilled Cheese Sandwich (vegan)

* 2 slices of bread 

* 1/4 c. Daiya shredded cheddar

* 1 small tomato, sliced

* 1 tsp. olive oil

* salt & pepper to taste

1) Sprinkle the olive oil on one side of each slice of bread.

2) Flip the one slice of bread over and arrange the tomato slices on top. Pack on the cheese.

3) Top with the other slice, place in your pre-heated panini press. 

ENJOY!!

The verdict? The sandwich was every bit as delicious as the dairy version, but completely free of the subsequent digestive distress associated with my childhood grilled cheeses. 

The flavor was spot on and the cheese shreds melted very well, even achieving the delightful stretchy-strings-of-hot-gooey-ooey-cheese effect!

Have you tried Daiya cheese?

What's your favorite type of cheese?

What do you put on your grilled cheese sandwiches? I like tomato slices on my grilled cheese sandwiches. If a grilled cheese sandwich doesn't have any tomato, it definitely needs ketchup!

I Scream for Blue Bunny Ice Cream!

I'm an ice cream lover, but it feels like its been a while since I reviewed a new ice cream on the blog.

Let's rectify that, shall we?

Though we've seen Blue Bunny around a lot, something about the packaging just never really called out to me as much as the other brands - so I'm pretty sure this is my first time trying their ice cream!

I picked out four varieties at Harris Teeter.

While there are some questionable flavors (like the bright blue birthday cake) there are also a lot of really tempting looking ones! I had trouble settling on just four, but there's only so much ice cream that one girl can buy at once ;)

I decided to go with the White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookie:



the Mint Chocolate Chip:



the Peanut Butter Panice:



and the Vanilla:



They seem to be a bit more budget-friendly than other brands, at least if you're not taking sales prices into account. They cost the same as other tubs, but instead of the usual 12 servings, they have 14 - an extra 2 scoops without an increase in price.

The ice cream is on the softer side, comparable to Edy's or Breyer's, and doesn't take a long time at room temperature to be scoopable. The convenience of this is definitely a plus for busy college students and busy professionals, who just don't have the time to spend ages prepping a snack each night. I put the cartons on the counter and they were ready to scoop less than five minutes later.

The ice cream seems a bit hit-or-miss. Three of the four flavors were really delicious, but the vanilla just fell short. I expected it to be made of the same base as the other ice creams, but I don't think it was. While all of the other three flavors were creamy, with a great rich texture, the vanilla was not very creamy. It wasn't exactly icy either, but it just wasn't very creamy. The vanilla flavor also wasn't very strong, though I must mention that they also have a 'homemade vanilla' flavor (it may or may not be better, I haven't tried it).

But I really enjoyed the other three flavors a lot and would definitely buy them again! 

My favorite is the Peanut Butter Panic, which is sweet and creamy with the perfect pairing of peanut butter and chocolate in just the right proportions. The ice cream base is also peanut butter flavored and it's rich and indulgent!

The Mint Chocolate Chip is very refreshing and not artificial tasting. The chocolate pieces aren't too hard and they break up the minty, creamy goodness delightfully.

The White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookie is also really tasty, with soft pieces of melt-in-your mouth cookies with sweet, tasty chunks of white chocolate. I would have liked more mix-ins in the ice cream, but I'm also crazy about textures and love having a TON of mix-ins.

What's your favorite brand of ice cream?

What's your favorite flavor of ice cream?

Do you like more mix-ins/toppings or more ice cream?

Cavewoman Bars Review

Cavewoman bars are a fruit and nut type bar, based on sticky sweet dates and rich, crunchy nuts.

 

There are several different varieties of bars, but they are all vegan, non-GMO, low in sodium, 100% natural, gluten-free, and free of added sugar.

When a bar is packed with as many naturally sweet dried fruits as these are, there’s really no need for an additional sweetener!

I tried the blueberry pancake bar first and it is very, very blueberry! It’s sweet and fruity and soft and chewy and delicious.

I’m not so sure about the pancake bit, though. To me, it tasted like a really good blueberry fruit and nut bar.



The baklava bar, on the other hand, really does taste like baklava. I’m not sure how they do it, because no baklava that I’ve ever had is made of dates and nuts. There’s usually butter and sugar and eggs and flour involved, but this bar has none of that. And yet it tastes distinctly, and delightfully, like baklava!

The PB&J bar has the best of the nutty, fruity flavors of a traditional PB&J, but all the sweetness of the other Cavewoman bars. The result is a healthy snack to satisfy any sweet tooth!

The Banana Nut Bread bar was less exciting, but only because I’m not wild about banana bars. I like bananas best chopped into a bowl of muesli or yogurt and granola. I liked it better crumbled over a bowl of yogurt and granola, however.

The Pineapple Upside-Down Cake is a winner all by itself, however! There are big chunks of dried pineapple, whole pecans, and a bunch of dried cherries. I like having a lot of different flavors and textures in my snacks and this bar really passes that test!

The addition of the pecans is just sheer genius.

Have you tried Cavewoman Bars?

What’s your favorite fruit and nut bar flavor?

What flavor should they make next?

Guest Review: Mom Takes Over!

I'm a vegetarian, so I don't eat fish. Fish has so many health benefits for omnivores, however, ranging from heart health benefits to muscle and tissue benefits and even brain and nerve benefits!

I have to keep my bases covered by eating plenty of walnuts, almonds, etc.

But if you're an omnivore, fish is a great way to get those super healthy DHAs in! The rest of my family are all omnivores, so my mom's taking over the review today to share one of her favorite convenience foods with you.

VitalChoice sells canned seafood and their canned sockeye salmon is my mom's favorite. It's a lot more convenient and a lot more budget-friendly than fresh salmon, making it possible for her to serve salmon a few times a week (as recommended) instead of just on special occasions.



The salmon is wild and not farm-raised, so the whole family really appreciates that in terms of what it does for the environment. And they think wild fish just tastes better!

My mom's favorite way to serve VitalChoice canned sockeye salmon is as lunch for her and my (adorable) little sister. My little sister likes her (weird) ketchup-mayo concoction with her salmon and bread.



My mom prefers a it more plain, with just a little mayo on toasted wheat.



Both of them really like adding some parsley for a burst of fresh flavor (and it looks so nice with the pretty pink salmon)!

Do you like fish?

How often do you eat canned foods?

If you're veg*n, is your family veg*n too?