Category Archives: Giveaways!

Vegan Sandwiches Save the Day! And a Chance to Win!

I remember when I got the email asking me if I would like to participate in the Vegan Sandwiches Save the Day! book tour; I was ecstatic! My original plan was to ask for this as a Christmas present, but clearly X-mas has come early. When the book showed up on my doorstep I was so excited to open it up and look at the terrific photos done by Celine Steen (always amazing) and all of the insane sandwich recipes. Let me tell you, I was not disappointed. The cover, itself, definitely gave me an idea of what was inside of it.

Tempeh Arugula Caesar Wraps

With chapters like “Going Topless”, “Bold New Ground”, and “Sweetness Follows” I was immediately convinced that I was going to fall in love with this book. One night I went through the entire book, marking all of the recipes that I wanted to try right off the bat. Corey soon became annoyed with me as a kept flipping the pages, showing him photos of recipes that I thought he might be into (but that I definitely was enthusiastic about).

Meat(less)ball Sub

I decided that I would try out three of the recipes from the book for this review, although I wish that I had delved into the dessert side of things, too. (Hello! Wafflewiches!) But, I’ll leave that for another day. One thing that I will say, is that all of the recipes are pretty elaborate and some are time-consuming. This is not a sandwich recipe book for sandwiches on the fly, but I’m totally okay with that because I love complexity and I found that every time it was worth the effort. They do use a symbol to show which sandwiches take less time than others, which is very convenient, but some of those recipes involve making another recipe in the book for it (like deli slices, or bread, for example).

The three recipes that I ended up making were the Tempeh Arugula Caesar Wrap, Meat(less)ball Subs, and the Scrambled Burrito. So, I’ll go over how I felt about the specific recipes that I tried, but keep it relatively brief.

  • Tempeh Arugula Caesar Wraps: The recipe for the Caesar dressing is highly addictive and although I baked my tempeh instead of frying it, they were still delicious. Having the remainder of the wrap consist of arugula, romaine, roasted bell peppers and red onion was perfect and refreshing. This makes a great lunch! I do have to add that your breath is going to be super garlic/onion/caper-y after this meal, so be aware!
  • Meat(less)ball Subs: I’ll just say now that I was drooling over the picture of this recipe the minute I opened up the cookbook. Meatball subs used to be one of my favorite sandwiches and I haven’t had one in quite some time, here was my chance! I bought pretzel rolls for the occasion, which ended up being great with the marinara (which I added mushrooms to) and meatballs. I would say that a lot of the taste in this recipe relies on what sauce you end up making, which the authors leave up to you. I fed these to my parents and they really liked them, but thought that the meat(less)balls were a tad under-seasoned. I, personally, thought there was a bit too much Vital Wheat Gluten in them which lead to a lot of chewing. But, I’ll be making the meatless balls again in the future, just a little modified. :)
  • Scrambled Burrito: From the first impression this burrito sounds like it would be of the breakfast variety, but this is not the case (in my opinion). The scramble refers to the small pieces of tempeh in the filling, which has amazing flavors, but doesn’t give off a breakfast vibe. I would even go as far as to say that the filling (when not thickened) would make a great dip for chips and veggies at a get-together. I enjoyed it wrapped in a tortilla and then pressed to give it a crispy shell and may try this with tofu, next time for more of a breakfast/brunch vibe.

Overall, I highly recommend that you check out and purchase Vegan Sandwiches Save the Day!, so that you can make incredible sandwiches and wraps for yourself as well as friends and family. If they don’t think that vegan food can taste good, here is a great chance to show them just how wrong they are. Plus, there are recipes for seitan, bread and SO many great sauces in the book that are multi-purpose. You really can’t go wrong with this one.

Scrambled Burrito

Now, I am giving you the chance to win a copy of your own! Just look to the giveaway widget below and enter for a copy of this awesome compilation of vegan sandwiches. Please keep in mind that this giveaway is open to the residents of US and Canada, only. Sorry, everyone else!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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YogaEarth Keen-Wäh Bars Review & Giveaway!

Let me start off my saying that today is the first day of Vegan MOFO (Vegan Month of Food) AND World Vegetarian Day! So, this month, I’ll be posting more frequently and my theme with be a Month of Grains. What better way to start it off with a post on quinoa and a giveaway? Yes, I know that quinoa is a seed, but it is still considered a whole grain, which are the type of grains that I’ll me making recipes with all month.

When I was asked if I’d like to review the Keen-Wäh Decadence Bars from YogaEarth, I became very excited. I have tried these bars once before, and loved them, so I’m glad that I get to do a thorough review for my readers and tell you what these bars have to offer. I’m a huge fan of organizing with bullet points, so it’ll be easier to find what you’re looking for in this review.

  • About the Company: Community, sustainability and health make up the core of the YogaEarth philosophy. YogaEarth supports local community development by sponsoring cleanup projects, events and organizations such as the World  Y.O.G.A project. They also loan 1% of all product sales to Kiva.org women micro-entrepreneurs via the non-profit organization’s sustainability-focused lending program in the developing world and all loans are directed to countries where YogaEarth sources its ingredients (i.e., quinoa from Peru).
  • Packaging: I honestly love the packaging of these products. With bold colors differentiating the flavors and a subtle background print, you can find your favorite in seconds. Bold text highlights the name of the bars, but the front of the package remains simple and clean, holding the most important information (organic logo, flavor, etc.) without seeming cluttered. Overall, eye-catching and what some might consider “cute”.
  • Ingredients/Nutrition: Not only are these bars organic, they have a list of ingredients that has a host of whole foods and some star superfoods, like chia seeds and of course, quinoa. They use raw cacao to coat the base, which makes these protein bars seem more like a dessert than a snack (but in a great way). Keen-Wäh Decadence bars are also Gluten-free and GMO free, yay! With 6g of Protein per bar, these make for a good snack that will hold you over until your next meal or would be perfect for having right before working out.

  • Organic Chocolate Chia: This flavor is doubly chocolate with its chocolate-y inside and smooth chocolate coating; if you’re a lover of chocolate, this one is definitely for you. When you bite into it, you’ll find crunchy quinoa crisps in the midst of cacao butter, almond butter and chia seeds. Do you ever work out at night? This would be a great dessert-like snack for afterward.

  • Organic Coconut Almond: I have to say, this one is my favorite, although it’s pretty hard to choose as they are all delicious. The Coconut Almond flavor is slight less decadent than the Chocolate Chia, but doesn’t skimp on flavor. I am a huge fan of coconut, so once I bit into the chocolate-covered base, I was in love. (Don’t tell Corey ;) )

  • Organic Cayenne Cinnamon: This one was also a total hit with me, I love mixing spicy with sweet, as well as cinnamon. So, this flavor took all of those points and wrapped them into one neatly wrapped, protein-filled package. The cayenne isn’t too overpowering or overly spicy, it just emits a subtle heat after you’re done enjoying it. I love that!

Overall, I really enjoyed trying these bars out. I think that they’re a great alternative to a lot of the protein/workout/”natural” bars out there, especially when you compare what they use to make them and the ethics behind the company. If you’re on the run, or are an active person, it’s a good idea to have these on hand! You can order the Keen-Wäh Decadence Bars online, for your convenience.

YogaEarth has also been kind enough to give away some bars to lucky winners, so hold tight for the giveaway contest entry!

UPDATE! YogaEarth will be giving you guys the chance to win on of THREE 6-packs of their Keen-Wah Bars! Each 6-pack with have 2 of each flavor in it, so you’ll get to try all of them out. Enter below using the Rafflecopter widget, and Good Luck! :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: These bars were sent to me from YogaEarth to be reviewed, I did not pay for them, but my opinion remains the same and unbiased.

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Review + Giveaway!: Bearded Bros. Energy Bars

The awesome gentleman, and co-founders, of Bearded Brothers came to me a couple of weeks ago to possible try out their energy bars and maybe even include a giveaway. I’m so glad that they did! They have a great set of raw energy bars and I’m excited that you wonderful readers have a chance at winning one of each flavor. But, before I go into my review of their bars, I’m going to give you a little background on these furry-faced fellows.

From their About Page:

The Brothers
Caleb is an avid rock climber, runner, and cyclist and has a passion for raw organic foods and saw the need for tasty organic energy bars and snacks to fuel his adventures.
Chris, an outdoors lover, world traveler, avid disc golfer shares the same love for foods as fellow bearded brother, Caleb.  Chris also has over 11 years experience in the health food/supplement industry.
The shared passion resulted in Bearded Brothers, an organic snack food company. Handmade with love and joy, in Austin, Texas.

Bearded Brothers is an organic snack food company, located in beautiful Austin Texas. Most of our handmade energy bars are 100% organic, mostly raw, gluten-free, vegan friendly and amazingly delicious. Just try them, we guarantee you will be back for more.

Picture from Bearded Bros. Site

Now, onto the flavors. They currently have four different bars: Bodacious Blueberry Vanilla, Mighty Maca Chocolate, Fabulous Ginger Peach, and Colossal Coconut Mango. Of the four, I’d have to say that the Bodacious Blueberry Vanilla was my favorite; it had a slightly sweet flavor from the dates with a subtle hint of vanilla and blueberry, plus I really like the texture of all of the bars.

I loved the fruity-ness of the Colossal Coconut Mango bar, especially because those flavors always pair so well together; so, that would probably be my second favorite. That may sound weird considering there is a Mighty Maca Chocolate bar, but that one left a little more chocolate flavor to be desired. If that bar was just a tad richer, it would probably be my first choice. Lastly, the Fabulous Ginger Peach bar, with ginger stealing the spotlight from peach. The ginger flavor wasn’t completely overpowering, but I felt that if I could just get some more peach flavor in there it would be perfect.

Of course, everyone has a different palette and preferences so you may feel completely different about the taste of these than I! Overall, I thought the bars were great and that the size, although initially underwhelming, was perfect for keeping me satisfied before or after a workout. Definitely take a look at their site and consider supporting a new, vegan business with quality product. Plus, look at those shirts! So stylish and awesome. ;)

Check out the rafflecopter widget below to enter the giveaway! (Limited to U.S. Residents only, sorry!)


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Full Disclosure: These bars and bar samples were sent to me to be reviewed.

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Recap of Expo West + GIVEAWAY! (CLOSED)

After editing entirely too many photos, I’m already overwhelmed by what I’m about to show you in this post! I’m going to try and be brief about each company that I cover; I’m only highlighting a few of the brands that either stuck out to me or that had new products to show. And of course, as you can see by the title, there’s a giveaway at the end filled with tons of goodies that are all vegan!

As some of you may know, I went to the Expo with Jill of Vegan Cuts; if I had gone by myself I think I would have been completely overwhelmed! There was a breakfast sponsored by Earth Balance and Glutino the first day, but it was rather pathetic for anyone that is vegan. There was a smoothie bar where you could get a soy yogurt/milk/blueberry smoothie (not a whole lot of fruit :( ), some soggy tofu and some fried potatoes that I put salsa on. Earth Balance’s new peanut butters were there, but all of the bread wasn’t vegan! Urgh. I just spooned some onto my plate (as seen above), thankfully there would be tons of samples coming our way.

One of the first booths we stopped by was Big Tree Farms. Their raw chocolate was creamy and rich; but the product that we were most interesting in was their powdered coconut water. Coco Hydro is a powdered coconut mixture (some with different natural flavors) that you combine with water when you want to have coconut water on the go. It tasted good and was very interesting, plus the new packaging looks very clean.

Wean Green, a company hailing from Canada, has taken the old concept of Pyrex containers and revamped them to have a secure lid and unbreakable container. Even though their products are targeted toward families/parents with babies and young children they can appeal to a broader audience than that. The colorful lids that snap securely onto the container are brilliant and heavy-duty.

I quickly stopped by the So Delicious booth to check out their new line of almond products, plus pick up some tickets for the Vegucated screening that was going to be happening that night. The new flavors of the almond Greek-style yogurt that I tried were chocolate, vanilla, and blueberry (the also have original flavor); the blueberry was definitely my favorite. Their line of almond milks have added protein in them and taste great, but what really stole the show for me was the new almond ice creams they had. Mocha Almond? Yes, please!
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