Vegan Products: A Review

My vegan-days are numbered people. It is April 20, which means that I have ten days left. Ten days! It's been a great journey so far, but you better believe I will be partaking of a few non-vegan food items come May 1. Ice cream for breakfast? Don't judge me please :)

Along with lots of reasons to try vegan, there were two goals I made for myself during this time. First, try new vegan food products. Second, try new vegan food recipes. Confession time-I failed at number two. I am coming up on the May 1 deadline for my entire year of work. In one word: hectic. In two words: So Exhausted. In three words: Never Am Home. Hence the lack of creative vegan recipes. However, I did try lots of new vegan-friendly products, and I'm here to share them with you today!

 Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet Cheese Alternative. That is a mouthful. I was craving a soft pretzel (BTW is totally vegan), but everyone knows a pretzel is not much without that gooey gross nacho cheese. I bought this in the "nacho cheese" variety, figuring it was worth a shot. If you melt a chunk in the microwave, and add a spoonful of salsa, you would be hard-pressed to find a difference in the normal nacho cheese. I mean, nacho cheese is fake and weird anyway, right?

Wegman's Vegetable Potstickers. I was craving some not-good-for-you takeout food, and stumbled across these. They're healthy, but still fill that need for a salty treat. And thanks to Wegman's packaging, I could tell they were vegan by the V they place in the left corner of the box. Thanks Wegmans! Your labeling and potstickers rock. 

 

Dark Chocolate Dreams. Yes people, this is dark chocolate peanut butter. And it is every bit as good as you can imagine. It's not as sweet as Nutella, which I think is a good thing. Plus, it goes great on everything. Okay, I didn't try it on my sauteed eggplant last night, but it's amazing on toast, fruit, oatmeal, waffles, and pancakes.

Primal Spirit Foods Meatless Jerky. This one has a weird story. Johnny and I actually do not eat meat very much, and I'm pretty sure we've NEVER bought jerky. But you know how when someone says you can't have something, suddenly that's all you can think about? Well, that was what Johnny was like on our first vegan shopping trip. He kept looking at every meat substitute product, drooling, and declaring that he just couldn't give up meat. Then, he emerged with this. Meatless jerky. It was a lost cause trying to remind him we haven't ever bought jerky before. Plus it was only $1.19, so we added it to the cart. Come to find out, it was actually okay! Again, this coming from a non-jerky-eating-person, but it was definitely worth the buck nineteen we spent trying it out. 

So Delicious Coconut Milk Fudge Bars. Word to the wise: If you do not like coconut, you will not like these. That should be an obvious statement, but apparently when one is desiring an ice cream bar, one tosses their dislike of coconut to the side and buys these. I kept thinking, "Maybe they don't taste very much like coconut!" Um, yes they do. Johnny and I sat down on the couch, each having a fudge bar in hand. I took one lick, and handed my fudge bar over. Let's just say, he enjoyed his box of coconut fudge bars very much.

 In case you missed the comments I made about this product, let me add it to the list. I love macaroni and cheese. I love Amy's Macaroni and Cheese. So, I thought this Macaroni and Soy Cheeze (yes, it's spelled with a "z", and that should have been my first warning) would be great. I thought wrong. It tasted like hot cardboard, and ended up in the garbage after the second bite.  

Amy's Texas Veggie Burger. This was a great Amy's product-thank you Amy for redeeming yourself. It was a good consistency, nice portion, and had a smoky BBQ flavor to it, just as the label promises. I ate it as the picture suggests, with a slice of tomato, some fresh spinach, and a hamburger bun. Delicious.

So, there ya have it! The good, the bad, and the ugly of the vegan products I've tried in the last twenty days. If anyone has a product to recommend, please feel free. I've still got ten days left, and there's only so many vegan jerky strips I can handle :)