Stuff I Ate

Here's some random stuff I ate. On Sunday, I met my friend Pam for our usual brunch at Imagine Vegan Cafe. I'd been craving their waffles for weeks. But at our last brunch, the power in the restaurant was out, and while they were still open and able to cook some things on the stovetop (they use gas), they couldn't use the plug-in waffle iron. And then last weekend, we skipped our Imagine brunch because some friends were in town and they needed to have breakfast earlier than Imagine opened, so they could hit the road back home.

So FINALLY, this week, my Imagine Vegan Cafe waffle craving was fulfilled. This one is topped with vegan butter, maple syrup, and crumbled veggie sausage. SO GOOD!!!

You can always count on me having a meal from Imagine in these "Stuff I Ate" posts. And you can also be sure that I'll have a meal from Pink Diva Cupcakery. A couple weeks back, I got the BBQ Tofu Sandwich and the Spaghetti Squash with Tempeh to go. Plated on the plate I keep in my desk at work. Love Cassi's deep-fried BBQ tofu!

Another fine sandwich was this Portabella Po'Boy that I had at the Bayou Bar & Grill on Monday night. The Bayou is a very meaty Cajun joint, but their portabella po'boys are AMAZING. I order mine with no cheese, no mayo, and no butter on the bun, and it's still just the most flavorful sandwich. I'm typically underwhelmed with mushroom sandwiches, but this one is an exception. The Cajun fries are great too.

The newspaper I write for, The Memphis Flyer, sponsored a craft & beer fest last weekend called Crafts & Drafts. And it was just a block from my house. So my friend Andy and I wandered over there, sipped a few local beers, and ordered sushi from the Sushi Jimmi food truck. I went with the Avocado Roll.

And the Vegetable Spring Rolls. These really hit the spot. I did not share. I ate all three.

I've been eating quick 'n' easy meals at home lately. Whole Wheat Bagels with Kite Hill Almond Cream Cheese for breakfast.

Had a Grilled Cheese last week with Daiya vegan cheddar. And I subbed out Just Mayo on the outside of the bread instead of butter. My friend Sheridan suggested that, and it was a great idea. It made my grilled cheese so soft and rich.

Here's an Amy's Bean & Rice Burrito, straight from the microwave and topped with salsa and Yellowbird Serrano Sauce.

I was on vacation last week, so I spent most of my days in my PJs binge-watching Lost. And many of my meals last week consisted of TV-watching snacks, like Let Thy Food's Spinach Artichoke Dip with Pretzel Crisps, Salsa, and Pumpkin Hummus.

For the Love of Food and Yoga

It's not often that I'll review a cookbook that isn't 100-percent vegan. Well, tonight's review features a vegetarian cookbook, so some of the recipes contain dairy products. But I wanted to review For the Love of Food and Yoga: A Celebration of Mindful Eating and Being because it's not just a cookbook. It's a yoga book. And I'm really into yoga these days.

This hard-cover, full-cover book was written by yoga teacher by Liz-Price Kellogg and her student Kristin Taylor. It's both cookbook — filled with a mix of vegan, vegetarian, and raw recipes — and yoga book — peppered with gorgeous photos of the authors in various asanas. The yoga posture pages include a description of each pose and what it does for the mind and body. For example, the photo of Liz and Kristin in Salamba Sirsasana (Supported Headstand) mentions that it is "liberating, stimulates the nervous system, brings clarity, king of all poses."

I love the yoga portion of the book because, even though I've been doing yoga for years, I'm still trying to learn all the Sanskrit names for postures. But the recipes are pretty awesome too. As I mentioned, not all are vegan. But for the most part, the only non-vegan ingredients are cheese, honey, milk chocolate, and Greek yogurt. All of those things are easily subbed out with vegan versions.

Even though so many of the recipes are unique and inventive, for some reason, I was stuck on trying the Liberating Lentil Soup. It was simple and pretty basic but so satisfying as the days grow cooler.

Brown lentils and greens (I used turnip greens) provide an earthy flavor, but the tart apple in the dish adds just a touch of sweetness. I'd never used apple in lentil soup before, but it makes so much sense. This was delicious with a side of crusty garlic bread.

I wanted to try one of the drinks from the Fountains of Youth chapter, too. Mostly because I love the name of the chapter. It's filled with smoothies, healthy shakes, and other health drinks. I picked the Bloody Merry (yes, they spell it that way), an alcohol-free veggie smoothie. 

The base of this is tomatoes and celery, and there's added ginger, horseradish, flax oil, lemon, garlic, and spices. Rather than using a juicer, you put everything in a blender. The flavor is great, just like some of my favorite veggie juices. But the texture was thick like a smoothie. That was kind of weird, I'll admit. I'd have preferred this same combo in my juicer rather than in my Vitamix. But nonetheless, I felt super-healthy for drinking this before my yoga session one morning.

There are so many great vegan and veganizable recipes in this book! I'd also love to try the Sweet Potato Boats (sweet p's with black bean salsa and a yogurt dressing that could easily be veganized) and the Happy Pig Banh Mi (made with tempeh, slaw, and pickled veggies). Other recipes that caught my eye: Raw Deal Cashew Corn Chowder (made with cashew cream), the Karma Kale Caesar (with dried cherries!), and the Chakra Fruit Salad (because it's pretty!)

Totally 80s!

As you probably have read on this blog a number of times over the past couple years, I'm slowly but surely working on my next cookbook, which will be a collection of veganized recipes by decade. It's been super-fun researching what people were eating way, way back in the day — during World War I, the Great Depression, the swingin' '60s.

But I actually remember the last two decades of the 20th century, and it's been neat to relive some childhood memories. Well, technically, I don't remember much about the cuisine of the '80s, since I was born in 1980. I was pretty young throughout the decade and can't recall the food trends (except maybe the junk food and candy trends). But through googling, I was reminded that crepes were all the rage in the 1980s. I can't remember my mom ever making them. Maybe she did. I do remember trying them somewhere in the early 90s.

Anyway, I knew I had to have a crepe recipe in my 1980s chapter! I'll probably do one savory and one dessert crepe in the book, but I started with the savory. Last night, I created these White Bean, Spinach & Mushroom Crepes with Kalamata Olives and Mozzarella. 

I veganized a simple crepe recipe, and it came out perfectly. Just the right texture and thickness (or should I say, thin-ness?), very buttery. The filling was sort of a little bit of this/a little bit of that. I started with a plan to make spinach-mushroom crepes. And then I thought I'd add beans for bulk and protein. And then I found some kalamata olives in the fridge and threw those in. The vegan cheese really sets it off, but it's totally optional.

On the side, I made this California Raisin-Carrot Salad!

I may not remember crepes, but I LOVED the California Raisins when I was a kid. What kid didn't? This is your basic raisin-carrot salad with vegan mayo. But I added walnuts for an extra crunch. I'm sure the California Raisins would be pleased.

Amazing Grass Review & GIVEAWAY!

I've always wished I could have the patience, skill, and space to grow and juice my own wheatgrass daily. But I'm not that great at gardening, and since I have a houseful of destructive, curious cats, indoor plants are out of the question. So a few years ago, I started using green superfood powders that contain a mixture of powdered wheatgrass and other cereal grasses every morning. Amazing Grass was always my fave since they have so many flavors.

Well, somewhere along the way, I fell off the green powder wagon. I guess I just ran out one month and forgot to buy more. And then too much time passed, and well, you know how it goes. But a few weeks back, Amazing Grass offered to send me a giant sample pack to review. I'd only tried a couple of their many flavors, so I was excited to try more and get back on the wagon.

Inside the box were three full-sized tubs of Amazing Grass, a stainless steel water bottle, and a shaker cup stuffed with sample-sizes of 7 Amazing Grass flavors.

Here are the samples that were stuffed inside that shaker cup. And at the end of this post, you'll have a chance to win your own shaker cup and the 7 samples! Amazing Grass has offered to send the cup of samples to a lucky reader. Just leave a comment at the end of this post about which Amazing Grass flavor sounds the best to you (more on the flavors in my review below). The contest is open to U.S. readers only, per Amazing Grass rules.

But what is Amazing Grass, you ask? Each flavor has a few different ingredients, but the powders all start with a base of non-GMO wheatgrass, barley grass, alfalfa, spirulina, spinach, chlorella, and broccoli. And then they have antioxidant blends and fiber blends and digestive enzymes, all made from 100-percent whole foods. No weird chemicals.

Here are my thoughts on each flavor I tried. I'll start with the ones they sent me in the full-sized tubs —Lemon-Lime Energy, Goji & Acai, and Original.

Original — This is the flavor I used to purchase the most often. It's your basic greens powder with cereal grasses, antioxidants, digestive enzymes, etc. Add it to a little water in a shaker cup, and drink up. Tastes like greens. Even though many of their other flavors are naturally sweetened, this one is straight up. No sweetener. No fruitiness. Some people might be turned off by the natural green taste, but I like it the second-best (I'll get to first-best in a few).

Lemon-Lime Energy — All the goodness from the original but with 85-mg of plant-based caffeine from yerba mate and matcha tea. Plus natural lemon-lime flavor. Tried this one morning when I was really tired, and it did help me wake up.

Goji & Acai — This one has added acai and goji berries, so it has a higher dose of antioxidants. And the acai flavor really shines through. It almost totally masks the greens flavor, so if greens aren't your thing, this is the way to go.

Antioxidize ORAC — ORAC stands for Oxygen Radical Absorbency Capacity, and it's how antioxidant power is measured. On the Amazing Grass website, they give an example that a 3.5-ounce serving of carrots has 210 units of ORAC per serving. But this powder has 15,000 units per serving. So this is super-antioxidant powder!! This one is great for detoxing, healthier skin, and boosting immunity. And it tastes pretty awesome. It has a strong berry flavor that's similar to the goji & acai blend.

Cacao Chocolate Infusion — Okay, this one was my fave!! It has added Dutch cocoa and cacao, which both provide polyphenals. And those help regulate cholesterol. The chocolate flavor pretty much totally masks the greens taste. Most Amazing Grass is best mixed in water, but I think this one would be awesome in almond milk.

Alkalize & Detox — I had this one the day after Halloween, when I had a bit of a hangover. It has 12 cleansing ingredients to help detox the body. The flavor is similar to the original. And I can attest that I did feel slightly better after drinking this.

Pineapple Lemongrass — So just FYI, this one isn't vegan. It contains a D3 blend that comes from wool. I didn't realize that until after I tried it though. No biggie. I don't sweat little mistakes. I can say that the flavor was delicious. I wish they'd switch to a D2 vitamin so vegans could enjoy it. Oh well.

Tangerine Immunity Defense — Another one that's not vegan. Same issue. It contains D3. It's formulated to boost immunity and contains a blend of organic mushrooms, herbs, and vitamins. But I wish they'd switch out their vitamin D to a vegan-friendly blend. Thankfully, the other Amazing Grass flavors do not contain D3 and are vegan.

Alright, well those are my thoughts! Now, if you want to win a shaker cup filled with samples, leave a comment here! And please be sure to leave your email address (like this — name[at]email.com — if you're worried about spam) so I can contact you if you're randomly chosen. Remember, U.S. residents only. I'll pick a winner on Wednesday evening.

A rep from Amazing Grass told me that they'd ensure the winner only gets the vegan flavors in their shaker cup!

Vegan Dog Treats!

Most of my product review posts are about people food. But this one is for the dogs. Barkworthies sent me a package of their all-natural sweet potato chips to try out on my two pups. Of course, they were happy to oblige.

These crunchy treats have one single ingredient — sweet potatoes. That's it. No added sugar, no grain or gluten or animal protein, no preservatives. Just dehydrated sweet potato. I've given my dogs sweet potato treats before, but I'll admit they probably weren't the highest quality. I remember one brand in particular that a lot of extra ingredients. But these are pure and simple.

The treats look like potato chips, and they crunch like them too. My dogs LOVE chips, so I sneak them a chip or two every now and then. And these sweet potato treats have that same crunch when they bite into them.

I put them to the test earlier this week with Datsun, my 13-year-old mutt. 

And with Maynard, my 4-year-old pit bull.

As you can see, both dogs were excited to try them. Truth be told, they're excited to eat anything. These dogs even beg for lettuce. 

But both pups seemed quite pleased with these treats! Datsun could barely contain his excitement the next I offered him one. I couldn't even get an in-focus shot because he was trying to lunge at my hand.

And Maynard has taken to eating these on the couch. He'll grab it from my hand, carry it to the couch, and eat it there. Weirdo.

Barkworthies Sweet Potato Treats were a huge hit with my dogs! I checked out the retail locator on their website, and it looks like one Memphis store (some place called Memfish) and one North Mississippi store (MS is just right down the road from Memphis) carry them. I'd definitely buy them.

Drew's Salad Dressing & Salsa, Review #1

A rep from Drew's emailed me while back and asked if I'd like to review a few of their salad dressings and salsas. I've had Drew's before and loved it, so I jumped at the chance. I was expecting — I dunno — 3 to 4 bottles of dressing and a jar of of salsa. But when the package arrived at my office, the box was MASSIVE and impossible for little ole me to carry to my desk. I had to roll it to my desk with a dolly. Seriously.

Inside the huge box were three smaller boxes, two filled with salad dressings and one with salsa. In total, there were 16 bottles of salad dressing! And 12 jars of salsa! And each one was a different flavor. All were vegan. I was in salad dressing and salsa heaven. And I'm pretty sure I'm set for life. Or at least a couple years. There's no way I can review that many dressings and salsas in one post. So I plan to divide and conquer. Every so often, I'll post a Drew's review featuring 3-4 dressings and salsas. Here's the first.

For starters, in this review, I'll be talking about the Sesame Orange Dressing & Quick Marinade and the Roasted Garlic & Peppercorn Dressing & Quick Marinade.

Drew's dressings are designed to be used either as salad dressing or as a marinade for proteins. I went the traditional route with the Roasted Garlic & Peppercorn and had it on a side salad with tomatoes, carrot, and coconut bacon. It has a very creamy texture with a tang of dijon mustard. The roasted garlic flavor shines through, and the bits of ground peppercorn add just the right amount of bite. This is a great vegan sub for ranch dressing. Love it!

As soon as I lifted Sesame Orange from the box, I knew what I'd do with it. It seemed like the ideal marinade to use in a Gardein Beefless Stir-fry. 

I thawed some Gardein Beefless Tips (that I scored on manager's special at Kroger) and coated them in the dressing, and then I let that marinate all day while I was at work. When I got home, I sauteed some veggies (bell pepper, baby carrots, onions, broccoli, snow peas, and zucchini), added the marinated beefless tips, and let it cook until the marinade was absorbed and the tips were nice and brown. Served over quinoa, this was such a tasty and quick dinner. Interestingly, the sesame oil give this marinade a sort of beefy flavor, so it paired perfectly with the tips. And the citrus flavor was so bright and light.

Next, I tried the Roasted Red Pepper Dressing & Marinade.

I had this over a salad of romaine, red bell pepper, radish, J&D's bacon croutons (yes, they're vegan), and coconut bacon one day at my desk at work. The roasted red pepper flavor is very strong, and it's got a great tang from red wine vinegar. Paired great with the bacony flavors in my salad. Bonus: This dressing is fairly low-cal at just 70 calories for 2 tablespoons (most of Drew's dressings are about 140 calories for 2 tablespoons).

I've only tried one salsa so far — Drew's Organic Quinoa, Flax, & Chia Salsa.

I was totally intrigued by the addition of quinoa, flax, & chia. When you open the jar, you can see little bits of quinoa and flax and chia seeds. Not a lot. That would be weird. It's just the right amount. You can't taste much of those though, but they add nice texture (and likely some nutritional benefits). The flavor is light and fresh with just a hint of roastiness. It's very garlicky (I like that!) and the lime juice adds a bit of tang. The jar says medium, but my spice-loving tastebuds would have rated this mild. Good stuff. Perfect for chip-dippin', which is what I've been doing with this.

Stay tuned for more Drew's reviews. I have soooo much salad dressing and salsa to work through!

An Open Letter to the Memphis Whole Foods

UPDATE: Less than a week after I posted this letter, Whole Foods got in a shipment of Kite Hill yogurts and cream cheeses! Yay!! And they've emailed me about checking into the availability of other items on this list.

Dear Whole Foods-Poplar,
I tried the new Kite Hill artisan almond milk yogurt this morning. It was amazing. Creamy, tangy, with just the right amount of sweetness and natural flavor. By far, the best vegan yogurt I've had. But I didn't buy it at your store. I would have if you carried it, but you don't.

This yogurt was imported — from Arkansas. My best friend picked it up at the Little Rock Whole Foods and brought it to Memphis. I've looked for it at your store on every visit. I even asked a nice man in the grocery department if y'all could order it. He said he'd look into it. He was very sweet and helpful. But several weeks have gone by and still no Kite Hill yogurt.

My friend Sheridan also brought me some Kite Hill Cream Cheese-Style Spread, which you also don't carry with any regularity. Sometimes you have it, but it tends to disappear for long periods of time when you run out.

That seems to be a constant problem at your store. An awesome new vegan product will appear on the shelves, only to disappear a few weeks later (I'm talking to you Earth Balance Vegan Sour Cream & Onion Chips). But an even bigger issue is the lack of so many great vegan products that are available in other Whole Foods stores across the country.

Here's a quick list of products that I've never seen in your store (or have spotted once or twice only to disappear later):

* the aforementioned Kite Hill Artisan Almond Milk Yogurt (plain, vanilla, peach, blueberry, strawberry)
* Earth Balance Chips Vegan Sour Cream & Onion Kettle Chips 
* Earth Balance Vegan Cheddar Flavor Kettle Chips
* Daiya Greek Yogurt Alternative, all flavors (peach, black cherry, strawberry, & blueberry)
* Daiya Cheezecake (you do carry strawberry, but we'd also love the New York-style, key lime, & chocolate flavors!)
* Field Roast Deli Slices (lentil sage, wild mushroom, smoked tomato)
* Field Roast Apple Maple Breakfast Sausage
* Wildwood Aioli (zesty garlic)
* Tofurky Pockets (broccoli "cheddar," "pepperoni" pizza, bbq chick'n)
* Miyoko's Creamery aged vegan cheeses (any flavor!)

You're awesome, Whole Foods. The store is massive and beautiful. The hot bar, flex venue, and Wok Street station offer delicious vegan options. Your produce is perfectly arranged. Your bulk bins never do me wrong. But I do wish you'd expand your vegan product line to include the above-mentioned products, most especially the Kite Hill yogurts.

They're really that good. You may not remember, but you used to carry a now-defunct vegan yogurt by Whole Soy & Co. That brand was most every vegan's fave. But the company went out of business leaving a hole in our vegan hearts. This Kite Hill yogurt is as good, if not better, than Whole Soy, and that's saying a lot. I think it would also appeal to your non-vegan customers, who may just be looking to cut out dairy for health reasons.

Please consider stocking the above-mentioned products. Pretty please!

Sincerely,
Bianca XOXO

P.S. While we're at it, can we also get a vegan option in the in-store BBQ restaurant? I heard y'all tried to add one when you first opened. I was super-excited for that, and I'm not sure what happened. But we vegans and vegetarians would like to sit down and enjoy a beer and a BBQ meal, too.