Not-So Delicious Coconut Milk Yogurt

I've got good news and bad news. The good news is that Turtle Mountains So Delicious Ice Cream made with coconut milk is just as the name states "purely decadent". The bad news is this same great taste does not translate into their coconut milk yogurt.

The blueberry and raspberry flavors were good but not great, certainly not worth the $1.99 spent on each of them. In general they were way too sweet and had a bit of an after taste that sticks with you until your brush your teeth. The vanilla was completely inedible. The slight aftertaste of the blueberry and raspberry flavors was the entire taste of the vanilla flavor. Everything was wrong with it. Too sweet and yet tart at the same time. I was starving so I tried to finish it but I just couldn't bring myself to do it, instead I just brushed my teeth to get the taste out of my mouth and left the house hungry.

If you feel like shelling out $1.99 for yogurt that is just ok then I would recommend the blueberry and raspberry flavors. Steer clear of vanilla. But honestly, that money can be better spent elsewhere.


Update: It's very rare that I reject a comment on this blog but I have to say for this particular review I've had to reject at least 4 from people with some really mean-spirited comments regarding my review. And trust me using the term "mean spirited" is an extremely watered down version of what has been written - all this over a little coconut yogurt review. I wanted to take this time to clarify my review, especially for those who just read the title but not the entire review. I really liked the blueberry and raspberry flavor (hated the vanilla). But overall I don't recommend this yogurt not based on the taste but on the cost. I had a little extra food income this month so I splurged and bought some blueberry, passionate mango and strawberry banana flavored coconut yogurt. At Whole Foods it was about $1.89 and at Publix/Krogers it was $2.59! And that's just for one little cup of yogurt! Frankly, that's absolutely ridiculous.

What makes the whole situation even worse is that I'm now head over heels in love with the strawberry banana flavor and in a semi-like with passionate mango. I wake up in the morning wanting a cup but who can afford $2.59 each morning for just yogurt? I've also heard rumors that there's a pina colada flavor out there that I would love to try. Really the only flavor that I don't like is vanilla. As you read above. It makes my tastebuds revolt against me.

So hopefully this has cleared up my position on coconut yogurt and the hate mail can stop now.

Restaurant Review: Village Pizza Company Atlanta, GA

I've always been jealous of cities like New York and Chicago where a vegan slice of pizza is not terribly hard to come by. Little did I know that right here in my backyard of Atlanta I had access to great vegan pizza by the slice or a whole pie.

Village Pizza Co. ( 186 Carroll St., Atlanta, GA 30312) , nestled in the heart of the Cabbage Town district of Atlanta, has an excellent assortment of vegan ingredients including soy based vegan cheese, vegan sausage, vegan beef and vegan pepperoni in addition to just about any other type of veggie you like on your pizza. The prices are low and the slices are huge. For me one slice of the Village Vegan Supreme Pizza (pictured above with vegan cheese, vegan sausage, vegan pepperoni, vegan beef olives, bell peppers and onions) is more than a meals worth. Here’s a quick guide to all things vegan on the Village Pizza Co. Menu:

Toppings:
21 different types of vegetables (and fruit) including: mushrooms, onion, green peppers, red peppers, Roma tomatoes, black olives, green olives, broccoli, baked eggplants, artichoke hearts, garlic, jalapeño peppers, banana peppers, pepperocini, pineapple, sundried tomatoes, zucchini, basil, spinach & summer squash

Vegan Meats: beef, pepperoni, sausage

Salads:
House Salad (minus the mozzarella) with balsamic vinaigrette – romaine lettuce, mushrooms, onions, green peppers, black olives & Roma tomatoes

Green Salad (minus the feta cheese) – mixed field greens, mushrooms, onions, green peppers, red peppers, broccoli, Roma tomatoes, black olives, cucumbers and pepperocini

Spinach Salad (minus the feta cheese) – spinach, Roma tomatoes and balsamic vinaigrette

Specialty Pizzas:
Veggie – mushrooms, onions, green peppers, black olives, green olives, Roma tomatoes, garlic and cheese (make sure to ask for soy cheese)

Veggie Supreme – spinach, eggplant, sun dried tomatoes, red and yellow bell peppers, summer squash, zucchini, broccoli, Roma tomatoes, garlic and cheese (make sure to ask for soy cheese)

Village Vegan Deluxe - vegan cheese, vegan sausage, vegan pepperoni, vegan beef, mushrooms, black olives, green olives, green bell peppers and onions

Calzones:
The Village Calzone (minus the ricotta and Parmesan cheese) – garlic, Italian spices and your choice of filling from the toppings selection (ask for soy cheese instead of mozzarella)

Village Pastas:
Classic Marinara – Roma tomato sauce made with extra virgin olive oil, sautéed onions, garlic, red wine, basil herbs and spices

Panini Sandwiches:
Veggie Delight – mushrooms, onions, red bell peppers, green peppers, artichoke hearts, black olives, tomatoes (ask that they replace all cheese with soy cheese)

Pillsbury Pizza Crust (Vegan Calzone Recipe)

Pillsbury is one of my favorite mainstream brands that has a wide range of accidentally vegan products. Two of my newest favorite products are Pillsbury’s pizza crust in original and thin crust. Although I love to make my pizza dough from scratch it’s nice to have a low cost back-up when you’re low on time. With the Pillsbury original pizza crust I made a classic vegan pizza with loads of veggies like broccoli, spinach, tomato, onion and bell pepper with no cheese just a little nutritional yeast sprinkled on top of the veggies. It cooked up in 10 minutes and made a perfect quick lunch between classes.

I used the thin crust pizza dough to make a gooey cheesy vegan calzone and the leftover dough to make garlic knots. Recipe follows:

Vegan Spinach Calzone
Yields 2 Calzones

1 package Pillsbury Thin Crust Pizza Dough
½ cup vegan mozzarella
½ cup tofu ricotta
½ cup steamed spinach
Canola oil spray

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

Roll out Pillsbury thin crust pizza dough on a lightly floured flat surface. Cut dough in half with pizza. Divide vegan mozzarella, tofu ricotta and steamed spinach evenly amongst two sides of pizza dough. Fold dough over to cover cheese/spinach mixture and use the pizza cutter to round out the edges dough. Crimp the ends of calzone closed with the tip of a fork all the way around dough.

Lightly spray a foil lined baking sheet with canola oil. Transfer calzone’s from working surface to baking sheet and spray tops lightly with canola oil. Bake for 10 minutes allow to cool slightly and serve.

Veganism Made Simple: 24 cupcakes, 3 minutes, $5

Vegans have a special obsession with cupcakes. There’s even an entire cookbook dedicated to Vegan Cupcakes. The thing is, sometimes you want cupcakes and you just don’t feel like dragging out 10 different ingredients and taking the time and money to bake delicious vegan cupcakes. Like most of you, I grew up on boxed cakes, as a vegan I really stopped paying attention to everything on the baked goods aisle besides sugar, flour and shortening. But I sold myself, and veganism, short! You would be surprised at the arsenal of products on the shelves that are vegan, many of which you have been eating all your life.

My new favorite is Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Butter Cake Mix. Despite the name there isn’t an ounce of butter or any other type of animal products in this cake mix. In fact, nearly the entire line of Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Cake Mix is vegan including:

• Banana Supreme


• Butter Recipe Golden


• Butter Recipe Fudge


• Classic Yellow Cake


• Dark Chocolate Fudge


• Devil’s Food Cake


• German Chocolate


• Lemon Supreme


• Orange Supreme


• Pineapple Supreme


• Red Velvet Cake


• Spice Cake


• Strawberry Supreme

Now here’s the trick. The back of the box calls for 2/3 cups water, ½ cup softened butter and 3 eggs. This can be easily veganized. Try the following substitutions:

• Replace the ½ cup softened butter with ½ cup softened Earth Balance


• Replace the 3 eggs with 3 teaspoons Ener-G egg replacer whisk together with ¼ cup warm water, ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce and ½ teaspoon baking powder

Follow the directions on the back of the box and within 3 minutes you have yourself a full batch cupcakes or a mouth-watering cake.

I topped it off with Pillsbury Creamy Supreme Chocolate Fudge icing (many of Pillsbury’s frostings are also vegan, but always do a label check just to be sure).

All in all these cupcakes cost me less than $5. The cake mix was $1.07 (but I had a coupon for 50 cents off so it only cost me 57 cents!), frosting $1.50, cupcake liners $0.99. Everything else I already had around the house bringing my grand total to $3.56.

Cooking Notes:Be sure to only fill the cupcake liners somewhere between 1/2 - 3/4 full. If they are too full you'll end up with cupcakes that are delicious but look disastrous. If you accidentally fill up the liner too full then wait until cupcakes are completely cooled before you take them out the pan then let them sit at room temperature or in the refrigerator overnight to stiffen up a bit. You can proceed to ice them from there although the center will still be a bit crumbly.

Also in place of 3 eggs you can also use ¾ cup pureed soft silken tofu or 4 ½ teaspoon Ener-G Egg Replacer whisked with ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons warm water

Vegans Guide to the Universe Part 5: Egg Replacer 101

After 4 years of being a cheese-obsessed vegetarian I finally went vegan. It wasn’t hard taking the cheese out of my diet, mainly because after 21 days without it I no longer had a taste for it, but it was hard to figure out how to replace eggs. All of a sudden it seemed like everything I made needed eggs in some way shape or form.

After a good deal of trial and error, Google searches, triumphant tries and complete culinary flops I finally came up with a working list of egg substitutes for nearly every recipe.

Baking (1 egg equivalent):
¼ cup unsweetened applesauce + ½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ cup pureed soft silken tofu (plain)
1 tablespoons ground flax seed simmer in 3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons water + 1 tablespoon canola oil + 2 teaspoons baking powder

Scrambled Eggs:
1 pound firm or extra firm tofu, drained and crumbled – find your favorite tofu scramble recipe and you’re off!

Quiches, Omelettes and Frittatas:
Firm of Extra Firm Silken Tofu should be used in place of eggs. Popular Recipes are the Papa Chorizo Frittata, Susan V.’s Vegan Omelette for One and Susan V.’s crustless Quiche

Ener-G Egg Replacer is also an excellent choice for replacing eggs in baked goods. 1 ½ teaspoons + 2 tablespoons warm water whisked together equals 1 egg. 1 box has over 113 servings! So it’s a great low-cost way to replace eggs in baked goods.