Vegan Products - August 2017

Vegan products for August YAAAYY! 

My lovely husband sent me a truffle box and a sample box from Coracao Chocolates, all vegan and a little pricey. They were very good but the chocolate is dark so has a bite to it and they use very natural/superfood typ ingredients so they don't taste like your average chocolate box.

After much research (you're welcome!) I found these vegan wines at Total Wine;

Marlborough region in New Zealand is known for their amazing Sauvignon Blancs so I always try those first!

Layer Cake Pinot Noir & Sauvignon Blanc and Paringa Shiraz are also vegan and on the Total Wine website but I couldn't find them in store (Town Center). 

Mallee Point Merlot & Pinot Noir (South Eastern Australia)

Whitehaven Sauvignon Blanc (New Zealand, Marlborough)

Geisen Sauvignon Blanc (New Zealand, Marlborough)

I got a lovely helpful email back from the people at Menchie's Frozen Yogurt. They confirmed that all their non-dairy varieties use non-char bone sugar and so are considered vegan (sorbets, coconut milk varieties). The Pina Colada was AMAZEBALLS!

There is a caveat though...the almond milk based varieties often have egg so ask the server.

Also any non-dairy varieties that have added ingredients (such as Oreo cookies) would then be considered not vegan by the ingredient.

I've mentioned Sweet Pete's before but I had never been inside..it's so cool! Like Willy Wonka's Chocolate Facotory mixed with Wonderland. They had a few varieties of individual vegan chocolates and the servers seemed to be very knowledgeable about ingredients which is always a plus!

they also see the Go Mars bars upstairs if you consider them vegan (I don't because they use non-sustainable palm oil).

Also looks like they have GF/vegan options on their menu too, so winning!

They go by weight so these little lovelies set me back $2.

Found some bargains at Home Goods (TJ Maxx's home wares store);

Found these Free to Eat GF vegan chocolate chip cookies. I'm a fan of crunchy chocolate chip cookies because I like to dunk them in my tea so I didn't love these because they were the chewy kind but you may love that! They also had very granulated sugar so a grainy texture. Taste was good though.

They had this Palais Des Thes iced tea mix down to $1, was pretty good! A fruity oolong.

And these Simply Protein Bars which were pretty good, they came in handy on my road trip! A bit crumbly though.

And these Veggie Sticks which at first I thought were a bit bland but then they grew on me lol

Bought this organic juice from Earth Fare and it was not that great, especially for $7. Tasted a bit watered down :(

I found these vegan GF Lucky Spring Rolls at Earth Fare. LOVED THEM! They still stayed crunchy after baking, I'm sure not super healthy but nice for a treat! They came with a sauce but I didn't really like it so I made my own Sweet & Sour Sauce.

I've spoken about Little Northen Bakehouse bread before (my new favorite GF vegan bread) but I hadn't tried the Cinnamon & Raisin Bread...totally addicted to having this every morning. Their website also says they have hamburger and hot dog buns coming soon!!!!

I just discovered that Paul Newman (Newman's Own) now has organic pasta sauces and sugar free! This one was really good. I normally like to make my own pasta sauce but this is really great alternative for nights when I need an instant meal. I nearly wet myself when I found out he also has an organic Sockarooni sauce...ohmegawd!!!

Just tried the Garden Truck Food Co. last weekend at the Riverside Art Markets. I had the BBQ pulled "pork" jackfruit bun with a side of potato salad and baked beans, I think $7 altogether.

The only complaint I would have is the GF buns weren't goo and very dry but if they could find a better bun the rest was delicious!

I loved the Zen Butcher Creamy Nacho Cheese, delicious!

The Provision pesto and cream cheese was also pretty amazing!

Really been trying to find an Australia style French Dressing (like the old clear Kraft one) for one particular recipe so in my desperateness I found this Drew's Organic Italian Dressing. It was pretty good but alas not what I was looking for.

Bought this Heartland Gluten Free Lasagna. I was skeptical about the "oven ready" part as I normally soak GF lasagna slats but these really didn't need it and I was impressed with the texture, slightly chewy but not sloppy or under cooked. Used it for Roast Vegetable Lasagna. MMMMMM

I went to one of Fresh Jax's clear out sales (still very sad about the closing) and got these items...

The Better Chip Jalapeno Corn Whole Grain Chips, loved the heat from the pepper.

These Vega Snack Coconut Cashew Bars, pretty tasty and no chocolate.

And these Edward & Sons Brown Rice Snaps - Vegetable. I really liked these but I haven't really seen them anywhere else.

I had heard that Publix (Atlantic/Hodges) had Kite Hill Cream Cheese in so I went to try, I didn't try the plain only the Chive but it was pretty nice. It also has a coupon on the back side of the packaging for 50c of the next purchase.

I bought these Cascadian Farm Organic Purely O's for my 18 month old son because kept eating other children's Cheerios at the baby gym. These are super plain, no sugar and organic whole grains but he loves them so win!

I had tried the plain unsweetened Califia creamer and liked it a lot so I tried this Hazelnut one and it was SO sweet, way too sweet for me but if you like it sweet then it might be for you!

Start with chocolate end with chocolate, m I right?

I had reviewed one of these Bixby bars once before but I have now tried all the vegan ones that Earth Fare had and I loved them all! A cross between a chocolate bar and protein bar these are a lovely treat and great for travel! Judging by their website there are many vegan treats to try!