vegansaurus!

Product Review: Peanut Chews!

Peanut motherlovin’ chews. They are MY JAM. They’re a chocolate-and-peanut candy from a Philly company and they are delicious. Falling under the accidentally vegan category, they are enjoyed by vegans and non-vegans alike. I grew up on these! They were my big brother’s favorite candy, and as he’s the first-born male and no cares what girls think (what about MY needs, dad!), we’d all get peanut chews. I haven’t seen them ANYWHERE in San Francisco! WTF? You people need to import these mofos! Better yet, I should import them and make a million dollars selling them to you non-peanut-chew-having Bay Area folk! Every day I’m hustling.

PS, you can also order them online. Laura believes that you might be able to get them at Phat Philly but it’s unconfirmed because we’re the laziest.

Book Review: The Better World Shopping Guide

The other day, Laura and I were shopping for tomato sauce or something. We ended up spending a ridiculous amount of time researching various organic brands on our phones to see who owned them, and weighing the consequences of our purchase. Rainbow Grocery, where we were (and where there is terrible phone reception—is the building lined with lead?) used to have some kind of chart displayed that showed this information, but it seems not anymore.

What we needed was this! The Better World Shopping Guide is a super-convenient, pocket-sized handbook, which ranks brands with grades from A to F, according to their performance in terms of human rights, environmental sustainability, and animal protection. The content is organized into categories, covering everything from airlines to wine. A lot of vegan brands are included, as well. Under meat alternatives, for instance, we discover that Tofurkey wins a B+, while Gardenburger gets only a C, and Boca scores a dismal F (they’re owned by Kraft). I was heartened to learn that all my favorite beers earned a B+ or higher, while Guinness and Red Stripe, two beers I know offhand aren’t vegan, were both down near the bottom with a D (ha!). I’m sure a lot of this is information that many people already know, but it’s nice to have that assurance in your pocket.

Where the book falls short is that it’s merely a quick reference guide. There is no real info as to why each company earned the ranking they did. That data is starting to become available on the website’s research page. In the meantime you have the assurance that “data is collected over the past 20 years from a wide range of nonprofit sources on the social and environmental responsibility of more than 1,000 companies.”

In addition to the book, all of the content is readily available on the website. There is also an iPhone app available! It’s $1.99, and makes getting the info that much more convenient and very swanky.

I give this book an A+*!

* [Ed.: ADORABLE].

Product Review: Joseph Banks Cassava Chips!

Joseph Banks Cassava Chips are the best chips I’ve ever had in my life. This week. They’re now available at all Northern California Whole Foods and in a few other places around the United States. Get the Roasted Tomato flavor even if you don’t like roasted or tomato things. It is eating savory smoky deliciousness perfection in a chip. Plus, cassava chips are (way?) better for you than potato chips so go ahead and eat the whole bag. You know you want to, fatty.

If you’re even more bored than usual with the internet, you can read the story of Joseph Banks on the site. However, if there is ANYTHING else you can do, do that instead. I’m talking cleaning your dog’s teeth or staring at the wall. Try masturbating! What do you have to lose! Besides your vision!

Product review: Vaute Couture Coats!

Um, I can’t really review these because I haven’t tried them on but Vaute Couture has some hella super cute vegan winter coats. As any vegan lady knows, those are as hard to come by a baby robin at a Cute Baby Animals Convention. Just not happening. Plus, Vaute Couture is the baby of Leanne Mai-ly Hilgart, a rocking vegan lady who is doing it to it and she definitely deserves our support. Oh and the proceeds from the Vaute coat go to Farm Sanctuary! Pretty. Awesome. <— see how I did that?

The coats are available for special pre-order right now (which means that you can get them for as much as HALF OFF THE RETAIL PRICE)! They’ll arrive in October, just in time for you to not wear that ugly North Face windbreaker all winter! Woohoo! Note to all (read: Jonas): I <3 the gray pea coat with the vintage buttons.

Vegansaurus SHOWDOWN: Marshmallows!

Vegan Marshmallows have garnered some controversy in the past. First there were those vegan marshmallows that weren’t actually vegan and then there were the ones that were hella tasty but aquired by Whole Foods who DISCONTINUED THE VEGAN MARSHMALLOWS AND REPLACED THEM WITH BOILED PIG SKIN MARSHMALLOWS THE NERVE.

But now we have two accessible replacements on the market. PRAISE THE LORD AND PASS THE S’MORES! To determine which marshmallows were worthy of your dime (er, many, many dimes, this ain’t coming cheap!), Vegansaurus recently conducted a taste test with both Sweet and Sara and Dandies. The things we do for you people.

AND SO WE PRESENT:

DANDIES VS. SWEET AND SARA
IN THE ULTIMATE VEGAN MARSHMALLOW SHOWDOWN!!!

Okay, enough of that. So we decided to do two very scientific side-by-side taste-tests of the marshmallows, in 1) their solid(ish) state; and then 2) microwaved for a couple seconds, stopping the microwave ATTHEEXACTRIGHTMOMENT before they are set to explode, and sampled when all warm and gooey. Science is Delicious.

OUR CONCLUSIONS
Dandies were fluffier but had this weird grainy thing going on. It felt like you were biting into sweet, fluffy sugar…a little cotton candy-ish. Maybe cotton candy mixed with sand. But denser. Does that make sense? They were good but were not the same as the jet-puffed campfire marshmallows I thought they would be. Sweet and Sara were denser, but the texture was smooth and perfect. These are like sweet, delicious marshmallow cakes. I love them.

Both ballooned up when microwaved. That’s when Sweet and Sara turned into a real marshmallow, the kind that when melted in hot chocolate would fool anyone. Dandies were tasty but maintained the weird graininess. I’m sure they would both make excellent Rice Krispie treats because they both melt well, and the graininess of the Dandies would surely be less evident when mixed with Krispies deliciousness, but for my money, the Sweet and Sara marshmallows remain the better foodstuff. They are a LEETLE more expensive, but worth it. Besides, you don’t need to be eating marshmallows for breakfast, lunch and dinner unless you’re this guy (weirdo cannibalism involved).

In the SF Bay Area, you can get Sweet and Sara at all Whole Foods, Real Foods on Polk, and Rainbow, or you can buy them on their site. According to the Dandie’s website, they’re currently only available online at Vegan Essentials.

Finally, The cast of Lost is way into Sweet and Sara vegan marshmallows, check out Hurley’s post here. Don’t read the comments, they will make you want to murder the world.

Product review: Daiya Cheese!

Daiya Cheese has taken the vegan world by storm. I mean, I think. I haven’t been able to find much out about it on the internets but I know this shit looks amazing and whoever can invent a truly amazing melty, stretchy vegan cheese will do more for veganism than anyone ever. Lofty statement, I know but HOW MANY FUCKING TIMES have you heard, “But I couldn’t live without cheese!” As if cheese were air! Or human touch! Or POTATOES! Well, it’s not. It’s just fucking cheese, it’s nasty, moldy milk from a cow’s teet, you foul freak. Anyway, with Daiya, we finally have something that can at least run with the big (cheese) dogs.

Daiya Cheese is based in Canada and until recently, was only being sold at a few restaurants in Vancouver. About a month ago*, Pangea started selling Daiya and we were ON IT.

Daiya Cheese is interesting because it’s not soy-based**, the main ingredient is CASSAVA. Crazy, right?? Other ingredients include arrowroot and pea protein. I don’t know what all that’s about but i do know that this stuff MELTS and this stuff STRETCHES and it’s GOOD. We made some grilled cheese sandwiches at Vegansaurus HQ and we were all pretty excited. Meave says, “Tastes like grilled cheese from Carrows ca. 1989. Very good. Quite salty.” Joel says, “Stretchiness is great. The flavor isn’t as perfectly cheddary as Follow Your Heart, but the texture is spot-on. This, friends, is a grilled cheese sandwich!” From Jonas, “Best vegan cheddar I’ve had, better than Teese and Follow Your Heart, which are kind-of nasty. Tasty, cheesy and stretchy!”

*Just checked Pangea and it looks like it’s sold out. Arg! I hope it comes back soon! When it does come back, you have to order it with a freezy pack and get fast shipping. I recommend ordering a large amount and then freezing some of it so that you can make the most of the ridonkulous shipping costs.

**Actually, the site says all this:
Daiya has 33 percent less fat than typical cheese! It is cholesterol-free; trans-fat-free; dairy-free; free of all animal products—vegan/parve; free of artificial Ingredients; free of preservatives; free of common allergens, including soy, casein, lactose, whey, wheat, barley, corn, rice, gluten, nut.

I would think it was chemical death if I didn’t already know that it’s made with cassava and arrowroot…making this basically a whole, healthy food. At 88 calories for an ounce serving…not bad. NOT BAD AT ALL.

All photos courtesy of the awesome Joel! Actual sandwiches by Meave.

Product review: Go Max Go Candy Bars!

Go Max Go has released a line of vegan candy bars that are the Designer Imposters of the sweet treat world! And much like PRIMO smelled exactly like Giorgio, these candy bars are pretty g-d close to the originals. They have the Buccaneer (vegan 3 Musketeers), Twilight (vegan Milky Way), Mahalo (vegan Almond Joy) and Jokerz (vegan Snickers)! We conducted a taste test at Vegansaurus HQ with three of the bars, and here are our results:

Buccaneer Bar (vegan 3 Musketeers)
Joel: A little gummy, denser than I remember the original but delicately sweet. Chocolate shell is convincingly milky, that is, tastes like nothing much.

Meave: Darker nougat, a little grainy, though of near-equal fluffiness—high quality. Exterior missing signature diamond pattern. Chocolate is very milky and sweet—quite accurate. Overall, excellent. Have very pleasant memories of devouring original; would attempt to repeat with this one.

Jonas: Tastes right. nougat stuff is perfect. outside maybe flakier?

Laura: Delicious!!

Twilight Bar (vegan Milky Way)
Joel: Surprisingly accurate to how I remember it. Least visually appealing but it has just the same unctuousness that causes the entire gob to slide down your throat involuntarily when you try to swallow a little bit [Ed. note: I almost puked typing that]. That sounds pretty bad [Ed. note: at least he realizes it] but it’s just how Milky Ways are.

Meave: Initial exterior is ugly. The 50/50 caramel/nougat ratio seems heavy—was Milky Way more 30/70? Caramel tastes oddly of vanilla; needs salt. Nougat still excellent.

Jonas: Caramel taste is too strong. Too much caramel. Too gooey.

Laura: Delicious!!

Mahalo (vegan Almond Joy)
Joel: So good. Not as overstuffed with coconut as it should be but the filling? JUST RIGHT. Honestly, in Almond Joy vs. Mounds, the nut just distract. But the coconut is all that I want and more.

Meave: I admit prejudice against Almond Joy, which I always hated. Same prejudice applies—can only assume is accurate replica. Again “milk” chocolate is good but I can’t stand the sickening-sweet coconut filling. Blech.

Jonas: Really good! Really sweet!

Laura: DELICIOUS!!! This tastes so much like Almond Joy (aka THE BEST CANDY BAR EVER), it’s ridiculous.

The bars average $2.50 on the these sites and it’s well worth keeping a stash in your candy drawer*. What I think is pretty impressive about the bars is how they got that cheap candy bar flavor down. Most of the vegan chocolate that’s available is dark and I gotta be honest, it just doesn’t do it for me. Before I was vegan, I liked CHEAP chocolate, I’m talking Russell Stover CLASSAY—the more waxy and not-quite-a-real-food-tasting the better. These candy bars fill that spot quite nicely. It’s worth the extra money to eat something that is pretty right on AND supports a vegan-owned business. I’m into it.

*Does anyone still have a candy drawer? And if you do, isn’t it just filled with sex toys? Well, time to Take Back the Candy Drawer and fill it with chocolate. Or chocolate and sex toys. Peg Bundy-style, y’all.

All photos courtesy of the awesome Joel!