Vegan Products - June 2017

Here are some vegan items I've tried in the last month!

Trader Joe's always a fairly productive stop for vegan items;

The Tikka Masala was actually pretty decent! I've had their frozen vegan meals before and didn't really rate them but this was ok.

Trader Joe's Soy Chorizo was like the others on the market, tasted the same as others on the market and was the same consistency.

Trader Joe's Beef-less Ground Beef, this I was actually pretty impressed with! I normally buy Gardein but I think I like this better! 

Trader Joe's vegan chili in a can was pretty average - really lacked any kind of real flavor and definitely needed salting!

Trader Joe's vegan baked bean - YUM!!!! I was pretty impressed, I've only had the Amy's or Annie's one before and this was on par with that for sure!

Miyoko's Creamery Vegan Butter - I'm a big fan of Miyoko and this is good, but not cheap. It will set you back around $6 but has all organic and natural ingredients and does have a more buttery taste than the other brands although I wouldn't go so far as to say it tastes like butter. Also is very hard from the fridge so spreads kind of like real butter. If you have the extra cash then it's probably worth it to you :) Excellent butter replacement for young children being organic and natural.

I love the Natural Candy Store online! It's great for bulk orders and has a great range of vegan items (even tells you all ingredients and whether it's gluten free). If you have anyone with severe allergies this is the place to get their candy, they'll even package things separately to avoid cross contamination.

I'm surprised more people don't sell Eli's! I can never find it in store and so get them from the Natural Candy store. It's such an amazing vegan chocolate bar and no palm oil!

Found this vegan and gluten free Candy Tree licorice the last time I was shopping on the Natural Candy Store website and it's conveniently in shoelace style which is great for cake decorating.

Every time I'm on the Natural Candy Store site I get myself some Moo Free chocolate - it's just SOOOO good! The only time I'm eating real milk chocolate only VEGAN!

Go my hair all chopped recently and even though I'm still using my Shampoo Bar and that's basically it (link to my shampoo free experience), the hairdresser gave me these samples because she said Pureology is a vegan company! Smoothing Serum was great for frizzy hair (kind of essential in Florida!), and the Smooth Perfection conditioners were lovely and smoothing also.

Got this Pacifica nail varnish in "Abolone" because in the bottle it looked very pearlesque but when i put it on, even a few layers it just looked gun metallic grey - which is nice too but not what I hoped for.

I love EO's bubble bath so I was excited to try their face wipes which come from their new "Everyone" line.

I'm sad to say these were very disappointing, probably fine for removing your average day's worth of dirt and oil but terrible at make up removal. It barely took off the face make up let alone the eye make-up! I think that this is their "affordable" line even though it was around $10. Sorry to say these aren't for me, back to Simple brand eye make up removal wipes!

This was an interesting Bixby chocolate bar I found at Earth Fare. It's a combination of a protein bar and candy bar - genius! Tasted pretty good too but with a lot less calories! Quite a few flavors too.

Sol Cuisine Portobello Burger I found at Earth Fare and was pretty good actually! Tasted mushroomy but had a very meaty consistency and didn't fall apart which was nice.

Salazon Salt Chocolate - pretty good, quite creamy for a dark chocolate and the saltiness was very subtle.

I especially like the pattern on the bar but that's only important to my aesthetic sensibilities ;)

Also Fair Trade - yay!

When in Orlando...go to Ikea of course ;)

Just some things to get you excited for Jacksonville's grand Ikea opening this fall!

Found these drinks at Ikea which are so delicious! The one's in the boxes and the ciders are organic so definitely vegan but the concentrates are not organic. They don't have their country of origin on them and when I emailed customer service about where the sugar came from they told me they could neither tell me where the raw materials came from or where the product was manufactured which is entirely scary and makes me very wary of buying Ikea food in the future!

They were out of Ikea brand dark chocolate but they had Talanda dark chocolate and it was every bit as rich and creamy as the Ikea one (may more so! Sacrilege!) I haven't got a response back from the manufacturers on the vegan status of their sugar but it's made in Poland and I am of the impression that most European countries use bone char free sugar.

This is a staple of my life - one I'd been missing since moving to Jacksonville. I think these veggie balls are the bomb, they taste like vegetables though not meatballs. I love them plain, so good!

Got these Terra Sweets & Beets chips at Publix in Kissimmee and they were pretty good and very natural.

I've mentioned Natura before (because all their wines are vegan and you can get them at Publix) but I hadn't tried the Malbec! It was pretty good although I still think I prefer to the Pinot Noir.

Finally made it to the Riverside Arts Market (Jacksonville FL) and had a lovely time strolling along the Riverwalk and meandering around the venders. They even had some live music in a stage area which was nice. Found lots of local fruit & vegetable stands which was great and found some other hidden treasures!

At the Riverside Arts Market I found Olive My Pickle which had 100% vegan produce, mainly olives and pickles but they also had vegan kimchi! It was a little salty but other than than soooo delicious! The olives were really good too, can't wait to try the pickles!

The main reason I went to the Riverside Arts Markets was to find the Zen Butcher! Unfortunately they haven't got any GF vegan products yet but their queso cheeses are GF! I tried the Creamy Queso Blanco. It had a nice, albeit slightly garlicky, flavor but the texture was a bit gritty so it didn't work as a dip so much. I was great in roast vegetable lasagne (even without marinara - I did both versions) and I imagine it would be great in Vegetable Stackhouse or another pasta dish.. I am looking forward to trying the Creamy Nacho Cheese too!

My lovely friend bought me this Candoni Green Organic Pinot Grigio from Earth Fare, and it even has "vegan" written on the label. It was a very very nice wine too!

Wasn't sure if I had tried these Gardein Veggie Burgers before but I definitely had not! The were so delicious!!! Didn't need any condiments. They taste like vegetables, not meat (similar to Dr. Praegers Kale Burgers) and had a bit of oil in them so I didn't need to use oil when I fried them. Very nice!