Breakfast Lifesaver! Amy's Tofu Scramble in a Pocket Sandwich

I'm not a morning person. Not even a little. Getting up at 9am is my idea of getting up early. But now that I have a little girl my schedule has been turned upside down and I find myself getting up before sunrise to get ready for the day. Between getting myself ready, my daughter ready and heading out the door on time breakfast has slowly shrunk lower and lower on the priority list. But as a breastfeeding mom skipping out on any meal isn't an option. I love making tofu scramble breakfast burritos but that requires me getting up even earlier to make tofu scramble every morning which also isn't happening these days.

I've always been very skeptical of store-bought tofu scramble, especially frozen scrambles. They never looked that appetizing and the few that I have tried have been bland and pasty.When it comes to Amy's brand products things have been hit or miss for me. I love their enchiladas, hate their breakfast burritos. Love their black bean burritos but hate their soups and the list goes on and on. When I saw these breakfast pockets I was desperate and willing to try anything. I threw a pocket in the microwave as I was headed out the door with  my daughter on my hip and was surprised that it was amazing! The pocket was a little gummy but the scramble was dead-on and delicious. The next day I decided to pop the pocket in the oven while I got ready, 30 minutes later the car was packed, we were ready to head out the door. I grabbed the scramble pocket out the oven and headed out the door. The gummyness of the pocket was gone and it was divine. My only complaint is the size. It's super yummy but also super small. It really takes two and some orange juice to fill you up. But size aside, this is absolutely perfect. And if you have kids this would be the perfect size for a breakfast on the go!

So Pricey Yet So Delicious Greek Style Coconut Milk Yogurt

A belated happy new year to all of my wonderful readers! I have had a fantastic hiatus from blogging taking care of my new baby girl and am finally getting a chance to return to both my blogs and share great recipes and reviews with you again.

First up is So Delicious brand Greek Style Coconut Milk Yogurt. If you've made it past the title of  my review on So Delicious Coconut Milk traditional style yogurt then you know I love this stuff but, years later, I'm still debating if it's worth the pricetag and that's where I find myself with this new greek style yogurt. I've never had cow's milk greek yogurt (and never will) so I have nothing to compare this to as far as it's authenticity to being a true greek style yogurt. I can say that I have tried all the flavors that my Whole Foods had on the shelf and with every flavor I didn't so much as taste the fruit that was flavored them but a tartness that permeated through every spoonful. It wasn't an awful tartness, just a tartness. And the tartness didn't stop me from eating it. I'm just assuming that greek yogurts are more tart than traditional styles. What I love about this new greek style yogurt is that it is really high in fiber (8 grams), lower in sugar than the traditional style, and also has the good stuff like calcium, vitamin D, and B 12 without being high in fat.

Of course, at $2 a cup this won't be something I eat everyday, or even every month. I wish the price would come down on both lines of So Delicious coconut milk yogurt. I would eat this stuff everyday if it did. But $2 for 6 ounces of yogurt is just ridiculous. It cost me more to buy the 4 flavors of yogurt that were available at my Whole Foods than to eat a full meal at my favorite restaurant. That being said, if you happen to win the lotto in the next couple of weeks So Delicious Greek Style Coconut Milk Yogurt is a great investment, if not then I'd say give it a try if it's ever on sale or there's a coupon.

And The Winner Is....

This has been one of my most fun contest ever. I absolutely loved reading about everyone's favorite celebrations from weddings and birthdays to impromptu celebrations with friends over food. But without further ado the winner of a signed copy of Quick & Easy Vegan Celebrations is Janel! Not only that but Janel is a newsletter subscriber who put in the secret newsletter code so she also gets a free 1 pound bag of royal harvest flax seed. Congratulations Janel! Send me your shipping info to veganguineapig@gmail.com

GIVEAWAY! Win a free, signed copy of Quick & Easy Vegan Celebrations

Wowzers. Vegan Mofo went by so quickly this year! I didn't get in half  or even a fourth of the blogging I planned to and now the Vegan Month of Food is almost over and I have yet to have one giveaway! Well that's all about to change. With a new baby on the way and my latest cookbook Quick & Easy Low-Cal Vegan Comfort Food off to the publisher I have a lot to celebrate and want to share my joy with all of you so what better way to do that than to have a giveaway of my sophomore book Quick and Easy Vegan Celebrations.  This giveaway is running not only on the Vegan Guinea Pig blog but also on my new blog The Lady and Seitan and if you win and you happen to be a newsletter subscriber then you get a special bonus gift as well (more information to come in today's upcoming newsletter). The rules are simple. Just post, in the comments section, on either blog or both blogs your favorite celebration of the past, present or one you're planning for the future and I'll randomly select a winner from the bunch! If you post on both blogs you double your chances! Contest ends 10/31/11 the last day of Vegan Mofo and my last official day of blogging for the rest of the year (but rest assured I've stock-piled some great reviews and recipes that are scheduled to post throughout the rest of the year). Good Luck!

Royal Harvest Flavored Flax Oils

A little over a year ago, by happenstance, I found myself having lunch with a man that had been vegan for 30 years. I picked his brain about the evolution of the vegan diet from the whole foods diet (which was all that was available when he went vegan) to the tower of processed foods that are now staples in many diets. The conversation was absolutely fascinating and as he got up to leave he turned and gave me one word of caution "don't forget your fatty acids or you will pay the consequences to your heart health later. I wish I had know that decades ago." As a masters of nutrition student I already know of the countless benefits of essential fatty acids but something about this real life example of how important they are turned a light on for me. Ever since that moment I've been obsessed with making sure I get my essential fatty acids in everyday and now as a pregnant vegan growing my own little one I find it even important and don't go a day without incorporating several types of essential fatty acids into my daily routine.

You might have heard about the omega 3's, 6's, ALA's and GLA's that seem to be the buzz words of the moment? Those are all essential fatty acids or EFAs and can be found in nuts, seeds, blue green algae and variety of other oils and fats. One of my favorite ways to get these EFAs is through ground flax seed and flax oil. Royal Harvest has just come out with a new line of flavored flax oils and super fine ground flax to help fill this need. And when I say super fine this ground flax is feather light and practically dissolves into smoothies, over cereal or into baked goods. It comes in chocolate, which I like to stir into almond milk for a healthy chocolate milk. Coconut flavor, which I put in smoothies and make one mean virgin pina colada with. Caramel, which I drizzle over vanilla ice cream (vegan of course). And lastly, Banana which I either blend into a smoothie with frozen strawberries or drizzle over ice cream to make a healthy version of a banana split. Stay tuned for my virgin pina colada recipe and a giveaway!

Currently, Royal Harvest products are sold online and at select natural food and grocery stores including Hannaford, Shaws, Earth Fare, Mom’s Organic Market, Roots Market, Dave’s Marketplace, Feel Rite Fresh Markets, Mrs. Green’s Natural Market, Wild by Nature Market, and Whole Foods Markets in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Atlanta and Florida. Made by Shape Foods, Inc., headquartered in the heart of North American flax country, Royal Harvest Flax Oils and Flax Meal are gluten-free, vegan friendly and Kosher certified.  Suggested retail price is $9.99 per bottle and $3.99 per bag.