Tag Archives: quinoa

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Santa was quite nice this Christmas season! And by Santa, I just mean my husband. He looked at the back of all the different chocolate bars in the store to find ones that were vegan for me. I then pointed out the little vegan icon, to make shopping a little easier for the future. Best thing about this review? It is just in time to Valentine’s Day, so you know which chocolates to buy your boo.

The first bar I’ll talk about is the Salazone bar. The flavor was Organic Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt & Organic Turbinado Cane Sugar, I know it just rolls off the tongue! The Salazone company says that they don’t do a milk chocolate bar, which is funny since this bar tasted so creamy. This bar probably had the most sugar and fat in it, but it well worth it. I found it hard not eat the entire bar at once. The chocolate melts beautifully in your mouth, and gives little bursts of salt in the process. I might have to buy another one soon.

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I’ve tried some of the Endangered Species Chocolate bars, in particular the vegan creme filled line. I found them fairly disappointing, so I was little bummed that this came in my stocking. But I was really surprised by the Almond Butter Creme Filled bar. In the past most of the creme flavors disappear in the chocolate. But the almond butter stands out enough while working with the chocolate flavor. I would honestly buy this flavor again.

maca

I love Vega’s protein powders, I just wish they weren’t so expensive. They work with lots of different bloggers, and I see their products on social media all the time. So their Maca Chocolate Bar didn’t get past my radar. I love maca, and I love maca paired with chocolate! When I finally saw this on sale in Whole Foods I had to grab it. Out of all the bars this is the most like a “candy bar.” My only complaint is that the bar did have a little bit of grittiness to it. But I would still snatch up another bar if I see it again.

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I think I remember eating the Alter Ego Dark Quinoa in the past and thinking it was too fruity. But that was before I knew the difference between cocoa and cacao. I think there is a little bit of a shock when eating cacao for the first time. It taste so similar to chocolate but there is a clear difference in taste. Now that my taste buds are seasoned, I really enjoyed this bar. The quinoa give a nice puffed crunch to the bar. The chocolate is shiny and have a nice snap to it.

alterego

What about the Dark Mint bar? Well, it is a little bit of a mixed bag. I think the flavor was great, not too minty. But I was put off by their little mint crystals. I think I would of liked big chunks that you would see in peppermint bark. But the minty candy pieces are as small as turbinado sugar, so it tasted more like undissolved sugar.

Overall? I think my least favorite bars were the alter-ego bars. If I am going to spend $3 on a chocolate bar, I would stick to the first three brands as I found them the hardest to ration.


sloppyjoe1

Oh man! I am so excited to be back! Our host had too many sites on their server, which is why our page was taking so long to load. So for one week the site was locked, and we couldn’t make any changes, but it was still viewable. Then we had to spend another week with the site being 100% down. It was awful and I was itching all week to work on the site. 

But now the site is back up, and everyone can see our new link buttons on the side, and our big ass blog directory! But first let me share this super easy recipe.

sloppyjoe2

This recipe I’ve been holding on to for awhile now. It just seemed a little boring. I mean sloppy joes? With lentils? I mean don’t all vegans know about this? Surely?! Well, I gave some leftovers to my husband for work and everyone at his work commented on how clever it was. Sometimes when you are drenched in a subculture, you forget what is or isn’t common.

So even though this dish isn’t something uncommon with vegan blogs, I think it can still reach others to give inspiration. The recipe is also really non-vegan friendly- meaning if you are a non-vegan and you making something for your vegan guests, this is a great option. Quinoa and lentils are pretty frequently used in recipes, and the only “hard” work is reading the buns ingredients to make sure there aren’t any eggs or milk in them (which milk is often added to pre-made breads!) I used sprouted buns, but they taste best with the cheap fluffy white buns.

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om-nom-4

 Hey everyone … I finally MOFO’d!!! (It was definitely in September I SWEAR.)

I won’t lie to you, I have never actually made my own vegan meal before. That’s crazy right?! I have always just thought they would take a lot of time to prepare and I normally don’t have all of the ingredients that are necessary for them. When September rolled around Jenny told me about “Vegan Month of Food” and recommended that I try out a vegan recipe. I was definitely up for the challenge and then I found out that the recipe I made…wasn’t challenging! I was actually really proud of myself by the time it was done, and I like to cook, so I was happy during the entire preparation process.

I stumbled upon this recipe from Vegan Richa via Jen. She’s been following her (beautiful) blog for quite some time and now I am going to make it one of my favorite blogs too!

 For some reason I never seem to remember how much I love cauliflower until it happens to be in a dish that I make. I know that it’s really good for you, but I think I always find it to be daunting  when I see it in the grocery store and figure I’ll never finish the whole head. After preparing the cauliflower for this recipe I have continued to make it that way up until it was all gone. Hurray! This vegetable is just so versatile that I actually found myself saying “wait…save that because you could use it for this dish instead”. 

 I also love collard greens, but I find that I have a harder time figuring out how to prepare them as well. I have only ever had them once before this, and it was when my Step-Mother prepared them (oh, they were delicious) for us when my parents were living in South Carolina. I like the bitterness of the leaf as well as feeling like I am eating something good for me. Lettuce can be tricky sometimes! Anyway, this was also very easily prepared – just throw your greens into a pan with a smidge of sesame oil, pinch of garlic salt and a pinch of salt and you just wait until they are a bit wilted. Done! Delicious! 

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I’d made quinoa before, and while this was an easy preparation it never occurred to me to add things in while it was cooking. I don’t know why though, I guess it’s only because I never add anything to rice while it’s cooking and I make them the same way? The world may never know. 

The only thing that was REALLY intimidating me throughout this experiment was the Peanut sauce. On Richa’s site the recipe originally called for almond butter, which I neglected to purchase. Luckily Richa mentioned that the almond butter could be substituted for with peanut butter! I love peanut butter! 

I would definitely make this recipe again. It was a hit with everyone who tried it out and it was extraordinarily easy to make. I also think it has enough flavor but isn’t too intrusive so everyone can give it a taste without fear of disliking it. Thanks Richa! I will certainly be browsing her blog for more delicious recipes sometime soon. 

*Note: I actually had extra food after making this meal, which was great! I saved some for Mr. Ian to bring to work for lunch, and the rest I saved for myself for lunch! The only thing I didn’t have leftover after giving Ian his portion was the collared greens, and this recipe is so simple that all I had to do was throw it in the pan with some garlic powder and oil and it was done in just a few minutes. I was so so pleased with the overall outcome of this dish.