Food Haul: Fred Meyer

Another food haul to share! Fred Meyer is great for staples and some vegan-specific goodies like their meat substitutes under the Simple Truth brand.

This trip wasn't too terribly exciting, mostly staples. Fresh & frozen fruit & veggies, some good ol' plain yellow mustard too!

They had the Amy's California burgers on closeout for super cheap! I ended up getting 3 packs of them. The Amy's soups were on sale, as was the Pirate's Booty and Tings. Goodies I've had before, but now I'm gonna write reviews about them! :D

Sjaak's Organic Chocolates - Bite Size (variety of flavors)

Who doesn't love a good box of chocolates? Now, imagine getting to buy those decadent filled chocolate morsels as foil-wrapped individuals! Sjaak's does make boxes of their chocolates as well, but today I'm tasting a variety of their individual flavors. And just how were they? Let's find out!

Evol Quinoa & Roasted Veggies

Frozen microwave meals have a reputation for being terribly unhealthy, but today we have an offering from Evol that looks pretty promising. Is it really healthy? Does it actually taste good to boot? Let's find out!

Dollar Tree Chef Ernesto Veggie Burgers

Not too long ago, I hit up Dollar Tree for the first time ever having found out that they carry an interesting variety of accidentally vegan goodies. Check out my full blog post about my experience here! Today I am finally doing my first review of one of the items I purchased there: the veggie burgers! I went into this having no idea what to expect, so here goes nothing!

Amy's Light & Lean Sweet & Sour Asian Noodle

When it comes to frozen vegetarian meals, Amy's absolutely dominates the market. They even have a product line called Light & Lean, for entrees that are lower calorie and less fat than some FDA legal standard. This gives the impression that it should be healthier than other, similar products, right? How does this sweet & sour noodle dish actually compare? Read on to find out!

Butler Foods Sam's Harvest Jerky

I probably should've picked a better backdrop than a window sill
for something packed in a transparent bag. 

Vegan jerky seems to be one of those things where either you love it or hate it. I love the stuff myself, especially what I've had from Primal Strips and Stonewall's. Recently I've discovered this new vegan jerky, made from soy curls by the very same company that brought us soy curls! So how does this offering from Butler Foods compare to my old favorites? Let's find out!

Sweet Earth Natural Foods Kyoto Burrito

It's burrito time again! Today we've got one with a Japanese flair from Sweet Earth. Is there any cuisine that doesn't taste good wrapped in a tortilla? Let's take a look!

So Delicious Candy Corn Coconutmilk Non-Dairy Dessert

Seasonal treats! Who doesn't love them? Every year when Halloween rolls around, I always get a little sad when I realize that vegan candy corn does not exist, but then last year So Delicious came out with this candy corn coconut ice cream novelty! I was ecstatic! Alas, I was not able to find a box last year, and I had all but given up on finding them this year too. That is, until a friend let me know that my local New Seasons had a few boxes left. Success! After searching for so long, were these frozen treats worth it? Read on to find out!

Tofurky Deli Slices - Smoked Ham Style

Once upon a time, when I first started going veg, my choices for deli slices were salty, rubbery crap or salty, rubbery crap. Not too appealing, eh? And then along came Tofurky, purveyor of the awesome holiday roast, they decided to make the roast in a sliced form with a variety of flavors! But how did it compare to the lackluster offerings from Yves and Light Life? Let's take a look!

The Higher Taste - Golden Slice

You might think that finding vegan grab & go foods would be like finding a unicorn, and in many places you might be right! But here in the Portland, OR area, we have The Higher Taste to fill that niche. So many grab & go products have a reputation of being pretty awful though, so you may be wondering how this sammich made out. Read on to see for yourself!

Food Haul: A Trip to Winco

Winco is my favorite store to shop at for day to day staples. This is my most recent haul from there, though after I got home I realized I forgot several items (carrots, onions, kale, etc), oh well!

As you can see, I do eat stuff other than junk food! Though the junkier items I pretty much bought to review on this very blog. I do try to eat healthy most of the time!

I love this time of the year when clementines come into season! They're like crack to me. I can never resist picking up a bag. For produce, I also picked up sweet potatoes, mushrooms, bananas, grapes (on sale super cheap!), and some kiwis.

I try to cook beans from scratch as much as possible, but having canned beans on hand is always super convenient. I stocked up on a decent variety of canned beans. The S&W brand were on sale but still slightly more expensive than Winco's house brand. When buying S&W, I always go for the reduced sodium variety, not only for the less salt, but they also don't have the added sugar like the normal version. Seriously, sugar in beans?!

I love the Portland French pub buns, and hope to make use of these reviewing some of the various burgers currently clogging up my freezer space. I also acquired a few additional pumpkin spice goodies, bagels and fig bars! I've had other flavors of the Nature's Bakery fig bars before, but this is the first time I've found the pumpkin spice flavor!

The Now & Laters were a completely accidental find. I haven't had this candy since I was a little kid, and I thought for sure it would have gelatin - nope! Lately I've been trying to find the creme variety of Smarties without much luck, but I guess at least I found something else to try & review.

And that's it for this food haul! Guess it'll just be another day or two before my next one though to get the items I missed this time. Dangit.

Sukhi's Street Wrap - Veggie Samosa

This samosa wrap got me wondering, since it seems like it's just an Indian burrito, just what is the difference between a burrito and a wrap? I actually tried to figure out if there is a official difference, but there doesn't seem to be one. I'm guessing that you could just think of a burrito as a particular variety of wrap for Mexican filled yummies. In the end, I don't think it really matters what you call a flatbread filled with whatever you've got as long as it tastes good.

For those who are not familiar, a samosa is kinda like an empanada in that it's a stuffed, savory pastry. This Indian treat is usually filled with spiced peas and potatoes and is often considered an appetizer. I love samosas, and I was looking forward to trying them in a wrap form, so how did Sukhi's do with it? Let's find out!

Amy's Vegetable Lasagna - Gluten Free/Dairy Free

First off, for sake of clarification, I want to emphasize that this is the "Gluten Free & Dairy Free" version of the vegetable lasagna, Amy's makes several lasagna entrees, and this is the only one that's vegan. They even have a tofu lasagna that's make with a soy cheese that still contains dairy - how frustrating! In general, vegan lasagna can be hard to come by, it's a dish that requires advanced preparation and so often the noodles are made with eggs as well. So unless you're making it yourself, good luck!

I was quite thrilled when I found out that one of Amy's bazillion lasagna varieties was vegan, so I snatched it up, eager to try! Almost everything I've had from the Amy's brand has been pretty awesome, but I can be pretty leery of gluten free goods, so how does this lasagna stack up? Let's find out!

Shopping as a Vegan at: Food Fight Grocery

My latest Food Fight haul!

Ok ok, I realize that for a store review, this is too easy. For those who are unfamiliar, Food Fight is a small, all vegan grocery store located in southeast Portland, OR. It's located in what's known as the vegan mini mall along with Sweet Pea Bakery, Herbivore Clothing, and Scapegoat Tatoo. There used to be a little vegan cafe around the corner called Red & Black that has since gone out of business. :(

More after the break...

Food Should Taste Good Olive Tortilla Chips

"Food should taste good" - no way?! I'm sorry, but I find the name of this brand to be a bit obnoxious. I'm also wary whenever I pick up something new from this brand, while many of their snacks are pretty tasty, I've managed to find a few that have tasted so vile not even I could stomach eating them. Today I'm looking at their tortilla chips that are olive flavored. They couldn't possibly mess up tortilla chips could they? Let's find out!

Field Roast Chao Cheese - Coconut Herb

The market for vegan cheeses has certainly exploded over the past few years! Back in the day, there were no commercially available vegan cheeses at all. I don't think any were available when I first went vegan in '99, in podunk Florida. Thankfully I had no issues ditching my cheese habit, but I understand that it can be difficult for others, and quality vegan cheeses are available to help!

I would love to go out and buy up all the fancy new vegan cheeses out now, but they are unfortunately rather expensive! Although to be fair, the prices of them do seem to be on par with gourmet dairy cheeses, but it's still cost prohibitive if you just want a cheap cheese craving fix.

Alas, is this cheezy offering from Field Roast worth it's price tag? Read on to find out!

Food Haul: A Trip to Trader Joe's

Yes I realize there is a non-food item here.

I am planning on doing a detailed post on shopping at Trader Joe's, but in the meantime, here's my most recent haul from them!

I picked up some staple items that I'm not intending on reviewing, such as the almond milk, soy sauce, sliced mushrooms and southern greens blend. Also the pumpkin body butter, I'm on the fence about doing completely non-food related reviews, so I'm not sure if I'll make a full blog post about it. Cosmetics/skincare & toiletries are something that I just don't get really excited about.

And then there's the more interesting finds that I do plan on reviewing: zucchini fries, portobello fries (cashier said they're good! can't wait to try them myself), ghost pepper chips (a review I stumbled upon elsewhere said they're not hot at all. DISAPPOINTMENT), and the pumpkin o's cereal!

Buuuuuut... there's something missing. I mostly went there to look for the infamous pumpkin spice Joe Joe's, but they were no where to be found! I inquired the cashier about them, and she informed me that they had people lining up outside the doors the day they got them in (this is the Lake Oswego location), yikes! Needless to say, they did not last long, nor will they be getting more in, so I missed the boat there. More disappointment! :(

I do still love shopping at Trader Joe's, however. They have so many interesting vegan goodies to find, and so many seasonal items that come and go. I love how bonkers they go with the pumpkin spice stuff, but it's irritating how little of it is vegan.

Trade Joe's Vegetable Burritos

Ah the ubiquitous frozen burrito, so often associated with the gas station convenience store and shrugged off as complete garbage as far as food goes. Vegan frozen burritos, even today aren't terribly common, and if you happen to find one, it's most likely Amy's. So for vegan burritos, we've gone from cheap garbage to something that's closer to real food and a lot more expensive to boot. Then we find this offering from Trader Joe's, how does it fare as far as frozen burritos go? Let's find out!

Quickie Update: Target Food Haul

My most recent food haul from Target

At some point I want to write a more in-depth review about shopping at Target, but for now here's my most recent food haul from them. I've known about their cartwheel app for some time, but never got around to installing on my phone until recently, as I found out about a 25% discount on Gardein products from it. Sadly, at my time of posting, that deal has already expired. Sorry!

I was surprised to find a Gardein product at Target that I have yet to see anywhere else - Barbecue wings! I did not even know those existed! I also found the Gardein beefless crumbles there, which are oddly hard to find. The cartwheel app brought the price down $3.21 each, pretty nice! I would have stocked up on more, but my freezer is currently reaching critical mass.

I also picked up a couple of Sweet Earth burritos, they have plenty of vegan options. I want to say I've had one of their burritos in the past, but it's been so long I don't even remember if I liked it or not.

I also got a couple of the Amy's frozen meals since they were on sale. I've had the tamale verde before (it's soooo good!), but the sweet & sour noodles are completely new to me. And then there's the evol quinoa & veggie bowl, I'm a bit apprehensive about this one as the other vegan offerings I've had from this brand have been really unimpressive.

While picking up the Gardein products, I was very surprised to find that Target now has their own meatless offerings under their Simply Balanced brand! They had a handful of different varieties, but I only picked up one because of my freezer situation.

I'm a sucker for hot sauce, and while the Frank's brand annoys me, they were on sale and so I picked up two flavors I haven't tried before.

Ah, and then there's the pumpkin spice Oreos! I've had these before and liked them well enough, but I bought them again just to review (in a future post, of course!). I've heard that this year they are a Target exclusive, but I can't confirm one way or the other since I have only found them at Target so far. I've got quite the backlog of pumpkin spice flavored goodies to review, and I am planning on doing a post all about my take on the pumpkin spice craze, so stay tuned if you love pumpkin spice!

Ocho Coconut Bar

Time to review something sweet! And what's not to love about a combination of chocolate and coconut? In year's past, I would occasionally indulge in Sunspire's chocolate coconut bar, but it seemed to be inconsistently vegan, so I often felt wary about picking it up. Maybe they're more consistent now, but there's also other various vegan coconut bars out there now too! Is this one from Ocho any good? Read on to find out!

Nalley Original Vegetarian Chili

What have I done?!

 As the weather is cooling down and the leaves are starting to change, who doesn't enjoy a hearty bowl of chili to warm you from the inside? As luck would have it, there are so many vegan chilis to be found out there, many are awesome, some not awesome at all. So where does this offering from Nalley stand? Read on to find out....

Amy's Black Bean & Vegetable Enchilada

I can't imagine a vegan alive in the US who hasn't tried or at least heard of the Amy's brand. I'm pretty sure I've been eating these for as long as I've been vegan, and even when I first started going vegetarian in the mid 90s. The brand has expanded significantly since then and rarely have their vegan offerings disappointed me. I'm pretty sure that these enchiladas are one of the most senior products of their line up, but do I agree that they are worthy of sticking around for so long? Let's find out!

Saffron Road Vegetable Pad Thai

Ah, the frozen dinner, the penultimate lazy meal! For a blog focussing on lazy eats, is this really the first time I'm reviewing a frozen meal? Sure looks like it. And it's not an Amy's meal even! But fret not, many Amy's dinners are sure to show up here, for now we'll be looking at this pad thai from Saffron Road. Though Amy's does have their own pad thai frozen meal, currently sitting in my freezer even as I type! So just how good is this Saffron Road version? Let's find out!

Daiya Cheezy Mac - Alfredo

My how the times have changed! Back when I first went vegan, the only box mac & cheeze around was Road's End, and I have to admit, it never really tasted anything like the real thing, but I still enjoyed it. Now, there's so many options out there with so much promise to be awesome, and I intend to review all that I can get my hands on! Today, it's Daiya's turn.

I had no idea what to expect when I stumbled across the Daiya Cheezy Mac. I hadn't come across any other reviews or any real information about it other than the fact that it existed. So I went in to trying this mac without any preconceived notions! So what is my take on it? Let's find out!

Shopping as a Vegan at: Dollar Tree

My Dollar Tree haul. I plan to review all of these in future posts!

Now I am not one to normally shop at dollar stores of any kind, but recently having come across a Choose Veg blog post pointing out the many vegan options to be found at Dollar Tree, I decided to check them out. So how did I make out at Dollar Tree? Let's find out!

Recipe Review - Chile Sin Carne

This book has been in my collection probably longer than I care to admit.

Time for a recipe review! While I mostly want to do reviews of foods that you can just pick up at the store, sometimes I like to share recipes too. With sharing in mind, I do want to respect cookbook author's copyrights, and so I'm only reviewing recipes that are available online even if I'm originally finding it in my cookbook collection.

This particular recipe comes from Bryanna Clark Grogan's The (Almost) No Fat Cookbook. Although it says vegetarian on the cover, it's almost entirely vegan with the exception of honey in a few recipes, which is easily replaced. Something else to keep in mind with this cookbook is that it was published in 1994, so it does have a dated, almost retro-ish feel as far as (vegan) cookbooks go.

I have personally owned this cookbook almost for as long as I've been vegan (I went vegan in 1999) and there weren't a whole heck of a lot of vegan cookbook options at the time. I also have to admit that I haven't really made too many recipes from this cookbook. With the popularity of recipe blogs these days, printed cookbooks almost feel like a relic of the past these days. But I still love having a collection of cookbooks to peruse, and lately I've been making a greater effort to actually use them!

So the actual recipe I'm reviewing today can be found here, or on page 130 of the actual printed book. I'm not reposting it here, so might as well open it up on another browser tab for reference! Bryanna has a blog chock full of tasty sounding recipes here.

On to the review!