Teese Mozzarella Sticks

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Chicago Soy Dairy came out with vegan breaded mozzarella sticks using their vegan cheese called Teese. Teese is probably my favorite vegan cheese, so I was psyched to try these out. I work at a mostly vegan restaurant and my boss was able to get samples of the cheese sticks from a distributor for me to try.

I tried one of them by themselves and the rest I dipped into our homemade marinara sauce with a bit of Sriracha in it as well. My general consensus on them was: meh. They're not bad, but they're not something I imagine myself craving. The most disappointing part of them was the "cheese." It tasted like nothing. The breading on them was really good, but it didn't make up for the blah middle.

It's fried, so, yeah, if a plate of these were put in front of me, I'll eat them with gusto. I just wouldn't go out of my way for them.

Spicy Hummus

ok, so i feel i kinda talk about the same things over and over again on here. ice cream and sausage and trader joe's all get mentioned pretty frequently....i just can't help it, i suppose.
i discovered TJ's Spicy Hummus a couple months ago when my roommate and i were doing some shopping and i was wanting something to snack on right away. i also picked up some of the multi-colored tortilla chips (that are great) to dip with. after about 3 chips, i was in love. it's got just enough kick to it and great texture. it's not one of those dense hummus's, like Emerald Valley. you know, the kind that breaks your chips when you dip them in? my only problem with it is that it comes in such a damn small container. it usually only lasts me 2 snacktimes....really more like 1 1/2 snack times. it seems wasteful to go through those little containers all the time. maybe we should all write TJ's and let them know how we/i feel about that...at least twice the size would be nice!
of course, because it's a TJ's product, there are no pictures to be found. i'll try to remember to take some and post an update.....

Galaxy Brand Hummus

My good friend Jess (letsgetsconed blog, see links on right) gave me the Spicy Chipotle Hummus as a housewarming present. i was kinda worried that it would be too spicy for my taste buds. I have been trying to create a higher tolerance for spicy and i feel like i've improved, but i still feel like a wuss. Especially compared to my roommate Missy and our friend Matthew. They are spicy freaks!

So the other night I finally found the courage to open it up and taste it. It was delicious! I almost ate the whole container in one go. But i controlled myself and stopped. There was just something about the taste that i found very enjoyable. The first bite, honestly, left a weird taste in my mouth, but after that second bite I was smitten. It was just the right amount of spice. Any spicier and I think it would've kicked my ass.

I'm not sure how much this stuff costs, but since it seems to be mainly sold in grocery stores such as Albertsons (in Florida) and Safeway (Northern California) I have hope that it's affordable. I also don't know where it's sold here in Portland since there's no mention on the website. I look forward to tasting the Roasted Red Pepper and Garlic kinds as well. I do love flavored hummus!

Sweet & Sara S'mores

I had heard of these S'mores for a long time, but every time I had gone to buy one at Food Fight they only had the Peanut Butter type and I was just really wantin' the Original. I love peanut butter and chocolate together as much as the next person, perhaps even more, but when it comes to a s'more I want to keep it simple.
The other week I finally got one. They cost $4.00, which, yeah, is a lot, but everything in moderation (including pricey things), right?
It seems like my expectations were set too high. Not that I wasn't amazed at the marshmallow part. I feel like it's a big joke or something, like how can it be vegan? It's soo marshmallow-y! And I liked it, but I didn't $4 love it. Maybe there wasn't enough chocolate? The graham cracker part was crumbly, but that's to be expected when it sits in the fridge and has come across the U.S. for out tasting pleasure.
I have had the coconut marshmallows that Sweet & Sara make and they were awesome. I think what i would prefer to do is just buy some of their marshmallows and make my own s'mores. Or make Isa & Terry's S'mores Cupcakes (from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World), which are tasty-delicious.

The inside:

more ProBar talk....

I did a post about these bars not too long ago. Kendall from the company contacted me and asked if i wanted to try some that were fresher than what i had eaten (i had gotten the Apple Cinnamon Crunch about a year before i ate it at a vegan fest) and, of course, i said Hell, yes!
He/She? sent me, upon request, the Original:


Whole Berry Blast:


and Superfood Slam:



Of the three, i would say my favorite was the Original. It was tasty and had great texture. This is not to say that the others didn't have good texture. They did. I knew beforehand that i wasn't going to love the berry one. i'm just not big on chunks of dried berries in things, especially raspberries and strawberries. My roommate that had some of it, really liked it. The Superfood Slam just had a more healthy taste, which i usually don't mind. I think it's only because i could compare it to the Original and the Apple Cinnamon Crunch that i would say i didn't like it as much.

Kendall told me that there was a new flavor coming in April, so i look forward to trying that one out. These bars are kinda pricey for a snack, but if you're hungry and don't have time for a meal these would do you good. The ingredients are natural and almost all organic.

let me see that cinnamon roll!

yeah, a bad title...the tootsie roll song just got in my head....
so i was at New Seasons last night and i spied the new line of yogurts from So Delicious. I saw the Cinnamon Roll flavor and decided that, though it sounded kinda like a gross flavor for yogurt, i was going to give it a try anyways. At $1.09 this yogurt is kinda pricey, in my opinion. Last night after my dinner of refried black bean w/red jalepenos, better than sour cream and nooch with tortilla chip (fancy, right?) i decided to have the yogurt as dessert. It impressed me. I was not expecting it to taste so good, although i should've expected more since So Delicious ice creams are some of the best around. The yogurt didn't have that weird soy yogurt aftertaste. It was cinnamon-y goodness, creamy..... and tasty!
I look forward to trying their other flavors, i just hope they go on sale soon....