Go Max Go Foods Jokerz Candy Bar

Growing up I wasn't allowed to eat much candy. Let's just say I was a "spirited" child with more than enough natural energy to go around and my mom wasn't about to take the chance that adding a little extra sugar would send me over the edge into a tiny tazmanian devil of energy. Since I never really ate candy or chocoaltes as a child  I have to say they don't appeal to me very much as an adult and so when Go Max Go came out with their line of all natural vegan candy bars I wasn't that excited. I was even less thrilled at the price tag, it's been a while since I bought a candy bar but I don't recall that they were ever $2.50 each which is the hefty price tag that these bars carry.

Finally one day last month I found myself at Cosmo's Vegan Shoppe picking up a small list of vegan goodies and as I started to eye the healthy protein bars and snacks my attention began to shift to the Jokerz candy bar glistening in it's bright red packaging begging for me to try it. Being the lady I am I can't turn down a candy bar's offer when it just flat out asks me to eat it so, of course, I did. I waited until I got into the parking lot, and slowly unwrapped the bar. It smelled like a sweet little piece of chocolate nirvana and before I knew what was happening half the bar was gone. The chewy peanut nougat, velvety caramel and roasted peanuts all covered in chocolate are reminiscent of a Snickers. But Snickers pale in comparison to these nougaty wonders. Snickers are like the red headed step child (no offense to the red headed step children out there) to the Jokerz. I can't believe it took me so long to try these. They are worth every penny of the price and, on a positive note about the price, it is set high enough that I won't be tempted to eat these every single day so they will remain a lovely treat that I get to indulge in from time to time. 

To purchase Jokerz Candy Bars head to Whole Foods, Earth Fare, The Fresh Market, assorted health food stores, Cosmo's Vegan Shoppe, Natural Candy Store and Amazon.com

Independence Day BBQ Tempeh Hoagies with Chipotle Mayo

After a nearly 4 month absence I'm back! I've been busy working on my new book Quick and Easy LOW-CAL Vegan Comfort Food  and a new blog dedicated to veganizing Paula Deen recipes called The Lady and Seitan. I'm busy as ever but finally back and I have a stockpile vegan goodies to review for you. What better way to start the month than with a recipe for BBQ Tempeh Hoagies with Chipotle Mayo from Quick and Easy Vegan Celebrations. Enjoy!

BBQ Tempeh Hoagies with Chipotle Mayo

Makes 4 hoagies

Get your napkins ready and your bib on tight because you’re about to dive into a boat of Smokey Maple BBQ Sauce with a little tempeh on the side. If there are skeptics of vegan food in your life then this is the hoagie to start them out on. I set these out at a cookout last year just for a moment while I went to grab some chips, and when I came back I found they had all been kidnapped by my omnivore friends. Let’s see how long they last at your summer cookout.

2 tablespoons canola oil

½ small white onion, sliced thin

½ medium bell pepper, of any color, sliced thin

One 8-ounce package tempeh, any variety, sliced thin

1 cup Smokey Maple BBQ Sauce (recipe below)

4 hoagie rolls, lightly toasted

Chipotle Mayo

½ cup vegan mayonnaise

1 teaspoon vegan Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon adobo sauce

1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce

¼ teaspoon dried oregano

Warm the canola oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and bell pepper and cook for 1 minute. Add the tempeh and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, or until the tempeh is warmed through, stirring often.

While tempeh is cooking, add all chipotle mayo ingredients to a mini food processor and process until smooth.

Remove from heat and stir in Smokey Maple BBQ Sauce.

Spread Chipotle Mayo on each side of the hoagie roll and fill with the tempeh mixture

Smokey Maple BBQ Sauce

Makes 1¾ cups

1 tablespoon canola oil

½ cup diced white onion

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup ketchup

¾ cup Grade A maple syrup

2 tablespoons vegan Worcestershire sauce

½ teaspoon hickory liquid smoke

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

Warm canola oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Put in the onion and sauté until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Stir in the ketchup, maple syrup, Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, and red pepper flakes.

Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes. This sauce can be stored for up to a week in the refrigerator in an airtight container

Vegan Bake Sale for Japan!

I can't believe I haven't blogged in over 6 weeks! The daily grind of school, work, writing a new book and working on a new recipe based blog has me thinking I might have bitten off a little more than I can chew and my poor Vegan Guinea Pig blog has suffered. Well, I'm working on a bunch of new content for you guys but in the meantime I can think of no better reason to break my 6 week silence than to plug the Vegan Bake Sale for Japan taking place this Saturday, March 26th from 12-5pm at Criminal Records in Atlanta. If you don't live in the Atlanta area check around your town and I'm sure there's a Vegan bake sale in the making and if there's not then it looks like it's time to organize one! :)

Whole Kitchen Pad Thai with Tofu Frozen Dinner

Many moons ago, back in my ovo-lacto days I used to live and die for a good ole fashioned Whole Foods Whole Kitchen brand frozen meal or soups. Their french onion soup was stacked in my freezer 4 x 4 deep. For the longest time the Whole Kitchen brand hasn't really had much to offer in the world of vegan dishes. However lately, slowly but surely, I'm starting to see more vegan products creeping into the line. Even though these days I feel like I'm in the kitchen 24 hours a day (writing cookbooks, cooking for my new blog and making treats for friends and family), inevitably once or twice a week I'll open the fridge, starved and tired, only to realize that I started a component to a dish but didn't finish the rest and I can either spend an hour conceptualizing and cooking the rest of it or I can rummage around in the freezer for something quick, easy and thoughtless. Needless to say I'm always in the market for a new frozen dinner.

Whole Kitchen's Pad Thai with Tofu looked pretty appetizing out the box but once I heated it up I became a wee bit skeptical. I gave it a good stir and my first bite was not a pleasant one. It was bland and tasteless. But on this particular day I was too starving and tired  to find an alternative meal so I was determined to power through it. I gave this dish another good stir to get all the sauce over every inch of noodle and voila! The perfect Pad Thai. They key to making sure this dish tastes amazing is really making sure you get sauce on every square centimeter of rice noodle real estate. The Pad Thai was sweet, peanuty and perfect. I also like that the picture on the package was true to form of what the dish really is. The tofu wasn't minuscule in comparison to the big plump pieces on the package and the peppers were as big green and bright as the food stylist, who no doubt meticulously positioned them in the photo, made it. All in all it takes about 4 minutes to heat this dish up and about $4 to buy. With 9 grams of protein, 340 calories and 490mg of sodium ( a bit high, but it is a frozen meal after all) the Whole Kitchen brand has now found a new place of prominence in my freezer.

Book Review: The Vegan Girl's Guide to Life by Melisser Elliott

Over here in the land of the Vegan Guinea Pig I get boat loads of vegan cookbooks to look over and review month after month. There’s so many amazing (and some not so amazing) cookbooks out there that it seems to take forever to review them all. What I don’t get often is a vegan book that is more than just a cookbook but a real guide to what being vegan is all about.

On the off chance you’ve been living under a rock or on a deep sea adventure for the past couple of weeks you might not have heard that Oprah and 378 of her staff members went vegan for a week and chronicled the entire experience for her show. I had mixed feelings about the show but one positive that came from it is that it peaked a lot of folk’s interest in a vegan lifestyle. I’ve been getting non-stop emails, calls, and tweets asking how to make the transition to veganism, what are the best cookbook’s to try, where do you start, etc. Before I mention one cookbook (even my own) I refer people to Melisser Elliott’s The Vegan Girls Guide to Life. The Vegan Girl’s Guide to Life is more than just a how-to into the land of veganism but it actually puts you face to face with vegan mavens and mavericks all over the world, shares their stories, experiences, likes, dislikes and the amazing vegan resources they use.

I honestly can’t think of a better how-to guide to veganism. Elliott goes over the basic in’s and out’s of veganism (what a vegan eats, what a vegan doesn’t eat, what a vegan wears, what a vegan doesn’t wear, what kind of soap a vegan uses, what kinda of tattoo ink to look for, the list goes on forever).  She also dedicates a whole chapter to the nutrition aspects of veganism, surviving as a vegan in a non-vegan world, shopping for non-food related products (with a very extensive list of great vegan health, beauty, clothing, and home products). I’m a shoe-freak so I dog-eared the shoe and handbags section to keep handy anytime I find a few extra nickels at the bottom of my purse. Elliott then follows it all up with a hearty section of simple recipes that will help get you started on your road to veganism. Vegan superstar’s Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero even contribute a few recipes.

My only bone to pick with this book is the nutrition information. But then again, you would expect that of me by now. I really wish Elliott would have called on a vegan registered dietitian for help in this section of the book. There are so many fabulous, knowledgeable RD’s out there that are always willing to share that it seems a shame that more vegans don’t utilize them as resources. I cringed reading chicken breast being put into a nutrient battle with kale when a better example would have been a similarly protein rich plant source like legumes or nuts and seeds. Some of the recommended daily allowances (RDA’s) were a bit on the low side of what is recommended for vegetarians and vegans which can be slippery slope especially when making recommendations to menstruating women. But, all in all, it’s a good place to start and thankfully, like some other vegan books I’ve read, she doesn’t give any out and out incorrect nutrition information.

Nutrition section aside The Vegan Girl’s Guide to Life is a must have for new vegans, anyone who has ever pondered going vegan and even for old seasoned vegans. The personal stories and spotlights throughout keep it light, entertaining and a joy to read. Bravo Melisser! I can’t wait to see what you have coming up next!