vegansaurus!

Vegansaurus Giveaway: Coracao Confections Deluxe Box of Chocolates!  »

Hubba hubba! This 22-piece deluxe sampler box from Coracao is up for grabs! You can see the box in all its glory above. I think that’s the bee pollen truffle in the middle but I checked with Coracao and they said that the bee pollen truffle doesn’t actually come in the sampler. So it’s all vegan—don’t worry your pretty lil’ head!

As you know, we are big fans of this yummy chocolate. This box sells for $60 and is not only vegan, it’s raw, organic, gluten-free and soy-free. Coracao also sent me a bunch of links about the possible health benefits of raw and dark chocolate:

1. It improves memory and slows down dementia. 

2. The countries with the highest chocolate consumption have the most Nobel prize laureates. Seriously.

3. One ounce of pure cacao has 200% of your daily USRDA Iron needs.

4. Cacao is one of the highest antioxidant foods ever tested. (PDF)

5. Decreases inflammation.

6. Prevents the formation of blood clots, which can lead to heart attacks and strokes.

7. A 2004 study in Britain showed that Theobromine in cacao is more effective at suppressing coughs than codeine.

8. Chocolate releases serotonin, helps make people happier and helps alleviate depression.

So obvi, raw chocolate is the new penicillin.

To win: “Like” the Coracao FB page and leave a comment here about how this deluxe raw chocolate sampler box will help you take over the world. I’ll pick a winner next Friday!

Vegansaurus Giveaway: Oriya Organics Superfood Protein and more!  »

Our lovely new advertiser Oriya Organics wants you to win some great stuff! What’s in the pot:

1 unit of Superfood Protein Medley
2 units of SuperGreen Medley
1 Shaker Bottle

This has a retail value of over $100. AND it’s all vegan, gluten-free, non-GMO, and organic!

To win: like the Oriya Organics Facebook page (come on, it’s easy) and leave a comment on this post about how super vegans are! I’m picking at random though so you don’t have to write a novel. We will pick a winner next Friday.

ALSO! For those of you who just can’t wait (or hey, you could win and just have more!), there is a promotion code that gets you 10% off and a free shaker bottle. Just enter “veganraptor” at checkout. Expires March 1st. 

OK, GO!

Vegansaurus Giveaway: Win tickets to the Vaute fashion show!  »

Obvi the Vaute fashion show next Wednesday is the talk of the town. Will you be in NYC Feb. 6th and want to come to the show? We’re giving away 10 pairs of tickets! So that’s two tickets for ten winners. I’M going to be there so YOU KNOW it’s going to be the funnest!

VAUTE
by Leanne Mai-ly Hilgart

Showing of Women’s and Men’s Outerwear and Ready-to-Wear Autumn/Winter 2013

Wednesday, February 6, 2013
11:30am - 12:30pm

TO WIN: just leave a comment on here about why Vaute is awesome BEFORE SUNDAY AT NOON (EST). I will pick ten winners and notify them by Sunday night. That’s when I’ll tell you where the show is and all that jazz. Yay! Go!

Best present practices: Vegan food gifts, from Vegan Food Gifts!  »

This is what you need to know:

1. Joni Marie Newman’s recipes are perfect, basically foolproof instructions for making incredibly delicious food everyone will love.

2. Food gifts are very excellent gifts.

3. Joni’s written a new book, Vegan Food Gifts, perfect to use to make your own gifts, or to give as a meta-present!

4. She’s giving away a copy of Vegan Food Gifts right now on her blog, along with the instructions for making this lovely jar of soup mix/recipe for this actual soup.

So what are you waiting for? The deadline is to win the book is Friday, Nov. 30, so enter already! Or buy the book! Make vegan food gifts for everyone you want to give presents to this year! Obligate them to have you over for dinner! “Oh, this soup? I made it from your mix. Happy holidays in February!”

[photo by Celine Steen for Vegan Food Gifts]

Win a Tofurky Roast from PETA!  »

I know you guys like winning stuff, because you’re a bunch of winners! So I thought this might interest you. It’s easy to enter, you just have to fill out a little thing on the site before the 18th. Enter here. You should win and trick your grumpy old grandpa into eating Tofurky!

OMG there are so many veggie loaf options this year I can’t decide! Woodstock Farm Animal Place, help me!

Giveaway and Product Review: Zen Society Natural Skincare!  »

Zen Society is a line of vegan, natural skincare. It’s made with USDA Certified Organic ingredients, plant botanicals, and fruit extracts. Zen Society is super environmentally friendly; the shipping boxes are made from recycled materials and all the packaging is 100% recyclable. The products are also gluten-free!*

I like this part from their site:

Zen Society takes pride in offering fresh, handcrafted products. We use the highest quality of 100% Natural and USDA Certified Organic ingredients which are cold pressed and unrefined. If our oils are heated, they are never heated above 120° so they retain all vitamins, minerals and nutrients to provide ultimate nourishment to the skin. Each ingredient contains at least 10 vitamins and minerals. We include Fair Trade and locally harvested ingredients whenever possible. No parabens, pesticide sprays, petroleum, silicone, synthetics, artificial fragrances, dyes, GMO, or harmful processed additives.

They are also recognized as a cruelty-free company by PETA and donate a portion of all sales to Friends of the Earth. Kind of sounds perfect, right? Well guess what! Zen Society sent me the rosewater mist and the macadamia body oil on the house and I can say they ARE perfect! The rosewater mist is a nice little astringent or pick-me-up and, well, it smells like roses! Roses smell good.

The macadamia body oil is just about my new favorite thing in the whole world. It absorbs quickly and easily but the best part was when I put it on my elbows! I have rough, ashy elbows and after using this stuff like twice, they were totally better! No body lotion I’ve tried has made any difference and this stuff fixed it overnight. Pretty awesome. I had never even heard of macadamia body oil—now I’m in love! What a difference a day makes. 

OK, now, because I love the macadamia body oil so much, Zen Society has agreed to do a giveaway! To win your own macadamia body oil, leave a comment on this post answering this question: We already care about animals, why should we care about earth-friendly products too?! I’ll pick a winner next Monday.

I also encourage you to follow Zen Society on Twitter and like their FB page because they announce sales, specials, new products, and nice stuff like that. Don’t miss out!

*Is gluten bad for your skin?!

Product Review and Giveaway: NBW Skincare!  »

Yay! It’s the next giveaway for Vegansaurus Giveaway Week! Check every day this week for more prizes! This is the last one but you still have a chance to win them all!

NBW is a line of natural skincare products with a focus on organic, fair-trade ingredients. Not everything is vegan, but most of the products are, and nothing is tested on animals. Yay!

I tried the Yarrow and Rosemary Light Daily Moisturizer. From the site:

“Yarrow has anti inflammatory, antiseptic and astringent properties to sooth blemishes and remove excess oil. Yarrow contains high levels of azuline which gives its strong anti-inflammatory effect.

Rosemary contains naturally powerful antioxidants which inhibit the activities of free radicals and slow the effects of aging. In addition, it possesses excellent astringent and antiseptic properties that make it especially suitable for oily and acne prone skin.”

This stuff is lovely. It absorbs nicely, and kept my oily skin moisturized without making it greasy. That’s a difficult combo to find! I’m a fan.

But wait, super-fun news! We are holding a giveaway so you can win your own NBW product!

To enter, leave a comment on this post telling me which of their products you totally want.

OK? OK! Go! Happy giveaway week!

Giveaway: Thundershirt for the cat or dog in your life!  »

Yay! It’s the next giveaway for Vegansaurus Giveaway Week! Check every day this week for more prizes!

You heard right!: we are giving away a Thundershirt! This is an amazing invention that helps dogs with anxiety problems. It can help hyper dogs, dogs who are fearful of traveling, dogs scared of fireworks, lots of stuff! This is Figaro modeling his own Thundershirt. He’s much happier than he looks, he was just hella tired. Prob because he was wearing his shirt! I swear, he falls right asleep like a lump when we put it on him. 

Figaro is a pretty high-strung dog. He came to the SPCA as a starving stray and when I first adopted him, he was pretty much scared of everything. He’s a lot better now but he is still on edge a lot. We got the Thundershirt for Fig on the recommendation of a trainer, she said it can help with anxiety. Turns out, it’s totally awesome! He always wears it when he’s scared during thunderstorms and he just totally falls asleep once it’s on. It’s hilarious. He straight passes out.

I hear the Thundershirt has been great for shelters, helping to modify behavioral issues that would keep a dog from getting adopted. The company actually does a lot of work with rescues—they donated 5,000 shirts to rescues in 2011! So cool! If more people got one, maybe a lot of dogs wouldn’t end up in the shelter in the first place! That would be nice, wouldn’t it?

Here’s the description from the site:

With its patent-pending design, Thundershirt’s gentle, constant pressure has a dramatic calming effect for most dogs if they are anxious, fearful or over-excited. Based on surveys completed by over two thousand customers, over 80 pecent of dogs show significant improvement in symptoms when using Thundershirt. Thundershirt is already helping tens of thousands of dogs around the world, and is recommended by thousands of veterinarians and dog trainers.

As for WHY Thundershirt’s gentle pressure works to calm a dog, experts such as Dr. Temple Grandin believe that pressure has a calming effect on the nervous system. Using pressure to relieve anxiety has been a common practice for years. 

So it’s just like a pressure thing, no crazy pills or supplements! And now, it looks like they have a Thundershirt for cats too, so cat owners can get in on this! Oooh, I should get one for Mitsy. She’s so sweet but she FLIPS OUT at the vet. It takes two people to like restrain her so they can give her a shot or whatever. And they have to wear those giant (shearling, bleh!) protective gloves that go up to the shoulder. I’m like, I swear she’s a sweetie!

To win, leave a comment on this post answering this question: Why does your pet need a Thundershirt? I’ll pick a winner next Thursday! Go!

Giveaway: Giant FakeMeats.com prize pack!  »

Yay! It’s the next giveaway for Vegansaurus Giveaway Week! Check every day this week for more prizes!

FakeMeats.com, the meat substitute mega-mall and more, is offering this crazy prize pack for one lucky Vegansaur! We gave away a similar FakeMeats prize pack a little while back and I think it was our most popular giveaway ever. What do you expect? We’re talking Soy Curls!

This package includes one of each of these products. Not everything in their store is vegan, but everything in this prize pack is!:

Primal Strip: Teriyaki
Primal Strip: Texas BBQ 
Primal Strips are, juicy, meaty, vegan jerky made of seitan, soy, and shiitake mushrooms. 

Lumen Stonewall’s Jerquee: Original Mild
Lumen Stonewall’s Jerquee: Peppy Pepperoni
Lumen Soy Foods Stonewall’s Jerquee is all natural, vegan, and available in a variety of flavors. Most of the flavors are vegan, except BBQ “Beef,” which contains honey. 

Vegan Dream: Hickory Pepper Vegetarian Jerky
Vegan Dream: Teriyaki Vegetarian Jerky
Vegan Dream jerky is all-vegan and comes in a variety of flavors. This brand has a tough jerky texture and a unique blend of spices! Non-GMO soy, preservative-free, and high in protein.

Cactus Jerky: Hot and Spicy
Cactus Jerky is the leaf of the prickly pear cactus, dehydrated and flavored with organic tamari (a type of soy sauce) and a delicious combination of flavors and spices with a kick!

Seitenbacher Vegetable Broth Seasoning Mix
Seitenbacher Garden Herb Sauce Mix
Finally a quick, easy, and delicious vegan/vegetarian sauce mix!  These powdered sauce mixes have no eggs, no dairy, no gelatin, no cholesterol, and no MSG.  Just add water and heat.

Seitenbacher Sesame Veggie Burger Mix
Quick, easy, and delicious whole-grain veggie burger mix!  Just add water to this vegan, powdered mix, form patties, and pan-fry to perfection. Each packet makes four small patties or two regular-size patties.

Butler Soy Curls
Butler Soy Curls are a vegan, all-natural, whole-soy alternative to meat!  Made from non-GMO, whole soy beans. Just soak in water, drain, sauté, and add to any recipe!  

FakeMeats.com Reusable Grocery Bag
Declare your love for Fake Meats by using the FakeMeats.com reusable grocery bag with the message “Nothin’ but FakeMeats in here!”  

How to enter: Same deal as usual! Leave a comment on this post answering this question: What’s the best response to those meat eaters who talk trash on fake meat? I will pick a winner next Wednesday. Also note: this is for US residents only! Sorry!

Also, I recommend liking FakeMeats’ FB page. They post nice recipes and you can keep up-to-date on the newest veggie products. The owner tells me they will be introducing some brand new stuff soon! I think that’s one of the fun things about being vegan, all the novel products that come out. It’s exciting to see what they’ll come up with next!