Vegan Product Review - August 2020

This is my first review in five months so there's a few items that may not be so new anymore LOL

I have only just discovered THIS!!!! Nocciolata Dairy Free Hazelnut Spread tastes just like Nutella!!! Except... it's VEGAN! Plus it's all organic and NO PALM OIL!!! Seriously this stuff is the bomb diggity! And it was on sale at Wholefoods so naturally I stocked up!

One of the best recent finds work perfectly together! Beyond Meat Breakfast Sausage which has great flavor (and as a bonus has all recyclable packaging, no plastic inside) and Just Egg ready made folded egg squares. These taste like scrambled egg with a spongy texture. My kids loved the egg!!

I found these Wholly GF Pizza Crusts at Sprouts Market. They were around $8 and contain 3 crusts. At that price point I will probably wait till they are on sale before buying again but there were really good. They are thin and crispy. The personal size so perfect when I make my son and I different toppings, we can have one each.

Sally Hansen released a Vegan range of nail polishes called Good. Kind. Pure. I bought the French manicure colors with top coat and they turned out pretty nicely, lasted about a week before really starting to chip at the ends. The amount I use my hands for cleaning etc I'm actually shocked they lasted that long! I actually also bought the hardener which I use when I'm not using color. 

My boss gave me these nail polishes from Orly Breathable which apparently is a vegan line of nail polishes I've never heard of. The beautiful of these particular ones is that they have the base and top coat build in so it's just one step. Easy! I used on my toes and it lasted weeks with very minimal chipping which when I go to the beach and run around barefoot a lot is testament to it's longevity!

With the prospect of spending another term homeschooling got closer I thought I'd treat the kids to ice-cream sundaes. Yes I'm the mean mum who doesn't buy ice-cream very often LOL

AT Wholefoods I found vegan Santa Cruz Organic Chocolate Syrup and Oatly Vanilla Ice-Cream (Oatly is fast becoming a favourite brand in our house!) and some salted peanuts. Wholefoods even had some vegan natural gummy bears in their candy section but they weren't as much of a hit.

This Charles Smith Winery "The Velvet Devil" Merlot was on BOGO at Publix so when I saw it was vegan on Barnivore of course I had to get it! I was pretty decent I have to say, quite a mild merlot. Perfect for table wine!

So the family has mixed reviews on this Forager Plant-based Butter Alternative. I wasn't a fan, I thought it taste like margarine and I was hoping for more of a Miyoko's Creamery Butter taste. However the kids loved it and thought it tasted like real butter (and they've definitely had real butter a lot more recently that I have). 

I usually make my own worcestershire sauce but when I saw this Annie's Organic one on sale I thought I'd try and it was really good. As close to the real thing as I remember. And probably with a longer shelf life than the homemade one :)

I got these Vero Gusto Italian made sauces on sale. I should make my own because it's so easy, cheap and a lot less salt etc but sometimes it's nice to not have to think too much about dinner so I like to have a few jars handy. These were pretty good, particularly the Heritage Marinara.

The last time I was at Cooper's Hawk which is probably back before lockdown, so maybe March, I got there Almond sparkling wine. OMG. Soooooo good. I'm not even a sparkling wine fan but this is heaven. If you're getting together with your girlfriends (social distance style at the moment LOL) bring a bottle of this to share. So delicious!

Yes, another sale item LOL I found these Enjoy Life (a brand that rarely disappoints) Chocolate Brownie Mix  (including chocolate chips) and thought I'd try it. It was a huge hit with the kids, of course and a nice change from mum's homemade zucchini brownies LOL

Kombucha Kombucha everywhere but not a drop to drop (usually because the kids get to it first)

I do enjoy Kombucha but I don't usually buy it in the stores for a few reasons. One is they are very high in sugar, two because they are pretty pricey and three because I like to support local business like the amazing Gnarbucha. Having said that....sometimes I see them for very cheap at the discount store and like to try new brands :)

GTS Kombucha - Tantric Turmeric. This was definitely earthy and not too sweet but I loved it!

Actually I'm not even sure this in kombucha, just a plant based drink but it was really good. WellWell Recover.

I always enjoy the bu kombucha and this tangerine one was very refreshing!

The kids normally hate the chia seed kombuchas so I'm usually safe buying them and not having to drink it all the minute I get home! This GTS Kombucha Cherry Chia was really good, I love cherry!!

I was very impressed with this Dah! Organic India Style Almond Yoghurt. I would like to try the plain one for raita!

This Califia Farms vegan yoghurt drink was a bit sour but I like it that way, Was great in smoothies!

Califia Farms Oat Milk is actually pretty decent. I do like Oatly better but this one is more widely available.

Lifeway Plantiful drinkable probiotic yoghurts, I really liked this actua;;y. It was tart but I'd have a swig every morning.

This Califia Farms oat creamer was pretty good, a little too sweet for me which is why I never buy creamer but nice consistency.

I liked that these Beanfields chips are made of beans and not corn and my kids loved them too so it was a double win! All their products are GF and vegan.

I'd never heard of this brand before but these Plant Snacks vegan GF cheddar crackers were made from cassava root and were very tasty. Definitely a hit with my four year old.

I'd never heard of this Nafsika's Garden vegan cheese slices but they were pretty good. good flavour and melted well with grilled cheese. Not so much under the broiler though.

This One Degree Organic Foods Sprouted Cinnamon Flax Granola was a hit with everyone. Very tasty and not too sweet.

I found these Dr. Praegar's Super Greens Veggie Nuggets and I think they are pretty good, maybe a tad on the salty side but my son will eat them and that's all that matters!

These Maika patties are really good. I definitely liked the Color Full Mix the most but they were both good.

These Hilary's Organic Root Veggie burgers were good, nice and starchy ;)

These Cybele's Free to Eat vegan GF cookies were pretty good, I like crunchy cookies so these were great for dipping.

Miyoko's Creamery can't do much wrong in my opinion. This Fish Free Lox (smoked salmon style cream cheese) was so good. I loved it alone, with capers or with this Sophie's Kitchen vegan smoked salmon.

I thought I had already reviewed Miyoko's Creamery Mozz but I can't it and it bears repeating. This is AMAZING!!! It tastes great, it melts perfectly on pizza. Seriously if it wasn't for the price I'd buy it all the time, which is probably a blessing in disguise!

Miyoko's Creamery Farmhouse Cheddar, I really like the flavor and it was good on crackers but it's definitely my least favorite of her selections. You can win them all, most of them are amazing!

Trader Joe's brought out two vegan patties; Turkeyless Protein Patties and Plant Based Burgers. ow they both contain oats so are not listed as gluten free but I didn't have any issues myself. The Turkey Patties were really good, I would definitely by them again. However, the Plant Based Patties were horrible, very chemical after taste.

I discovered this Good Planet Smoked Mozzarella at the discount store. I've never heard of the brand but it was pretty decent actually, good flavour and not too rubbery. Even melted ok on pizza, not that you';d want smoked mozzarella on your pizza but hey we use what we got lol.

I got these Tofutti dips at the discount and the only reason I won't buy them again is because I discovered after I got home that they contain palm oil which made me very sad. Having said that the Jalapeno Cheddar was ok, especially melted down on corn chips but the Garden Cucumber was my favorite, very heavy on the dill which I LOVE so great for dipping veggies!

So this was probably the most exciting and anticipated of the new releases; The Impossible Burger, now available in Trader Joe's and Publix. So there are pros and cons to this products. The pro is it absolutely tastes like meat, even though it goes a grey when cooked it tastes like a McDonald's beef patty and the whole family loved it. The cons are that the packaging is in no way recyclable (Beyond Meat's is mostly recyclable) and secondly that they tested the ingredient that makes it "bleed", soy leghemoglobin, (if you read some accounts the animal cruelty involved was quite horricif) on animals to make the products which I found out after I bought it so unfortunately for me the cons outweigh the pros and I will be sticking to Beyond Meat.

I just discovered this Lakanto Monkfruit Sweetener. If you're watching your calories this stuff is great, it has a slight aftertaste but in my opinion not as strong as Stevia which I hate. I found this sweetener and the Matcha Latte mix (it's soooo good).