Product Review: Bush’s Grillin’ Beans- Southern Pit Barbeque

Out of the four flavors of Bush’s new “Grillin’ Beans”, three are vegetarian. This is the second kind we have tried so far. I was afraid that these would also be too sweet for Toby, but he really liked them! I liked them too (even though they have a little bit of a kick to them!). I served these with some (Faux) meatball subs and potato chips.

rating: 9

http://www.bushbeans.com/products/grillinbeans/

Product Review: Santa Fe Style, Black Bean & Corn by It’s All Good

I’m back! My MIL from Germany was visiting for awhile, and we like for her to do all of the cooking (!) while she is here, so there were no posts from me. The day before she left, she made a casserole that I could just pop in the oven as a quick dinner, so that’s what we had last night, along with this new product from It’s All Good. I picked these up at our local grocery store (Giant). I was so excited to see them when we went to our out-of-state college reunion, so that’s great that they are now carried locally. So these looked pretty good on the package. To prepare them is simple- pierce the plastic and microwave for 2 minutes (you get 2 little (faux) chicken breast-like things per package. I don’t know, there was something weird about the sauce. Toby said he liked his, but not enough for me to rush out and buy some more. I didn’t even finish mine. Good thing Oma left us a big noodle casserole!

rating: 5

http://itsallgoodfoods.com

Product Review: Veggie Chick’N Bites by It’s All Good

This is the second product we’ve tried by It’s All Good. We picked this up at an Earth Fare grocery store while we were out of town (Boone, NC). These are little fake chicken “cubes” that are in a light sauce (a “light provencale marinade”). I wasn’t sure what I would make with them, but yesterday I sort of improvised. I usually go to the grocery store on Monday mornings, but I had to spend the morning waiting on the plumber to come by, so there went the grocery store. I had to scrounge around the house for a dinner. I found a boxed pasta dish (Organic Cheddar & Herb Chicken by Annie’s Homegrown- you add your own chicken or FAKE chicken), so I thought maybe I could just use these little fake chicken cubes. All I had to do was warm the Veggie Chick’N Bites in a pan, then I added water and cream, then the pasta and the sauce packet that it comes with. The Annie’s box actually calls for milk, but I was out of my normal Silk (hello, it was grocery day!), so I had to use some cream that I had in the fridge. I was a little worried about how the sauce that the Veggie Chick’N Bites comes in would affect the taste, but it was great! I actually got a “wow!” out of Toby (and that’s saying alot!).  These were really good, and would buy them again if I ever see them in our grocery stores. With this we enjoyed a green salad.

rating: 8.5

http://itsallgoodfoods.com/

http://www.annies.com/home

Product Review: Veggie Beef Skewers by It’s All Good

We were in Boone, NC this past weekend for a mini-college reunion, and we passed by a grocery store called Earth Fare. I know of them but have never been in one. I always like to look in different grocery stores to see if they have any vegetarian food/products that I’ve never heard of. Well, sure enough, they did! I have never heard of this brand of veggie food: It’s All Good (http://itsallgoodfoods.com/). I bought the four meat substitutes that they had, and this is the first one we tried. I decided to try them in a dish I’ve made before, called “Chicken & Black Bean Tostadas”. I figured that I would just cut up the veggie beef and put it on top of the finished tostada. I didn’t realize that the veggie beef is indeed on a skewer, so that was kind of nice and different. I just sprayed a pan with some olive oil, and heated the four skewers a little on each side. The verdict? They were good. Toby liked them more than I did. I liked the texture, but I think what I didn’t love was the flavor, which on the box says it is a chipotle barbeque sauce. If these came in a different flavor, I would try them again. The Earth Fare store is alot like Whole Foods, and I know they are a chain as well.

rating: 7

http://peppertree.wordpress.com/2008/12/12/chicken-black-bean-tostadas/

Product review- Lightlife Smart Tenders

Are these new to you? They are new to me! I got the two flavors the store had: Lemon Pepper and Savory Chick’n. There are 6 tenders in each package, so I knew I would need more than one. It says that preparing them in a skillet is the prefered method, so that’s what I did. I sprayed a little olive oil in the pan, and fried them until they were a little brown on each side. The verdict? They are good! Both of us preferred the Lemon Pepper, but they were both good. It says that you can serve these on a bed of rice, wrap them in your favorite pita, or toss into a fresh salad. I just served them as is (with some honey mustard dipping sauce), some homemade mashed potatoes, a salad, and a roll. Good stuff!

rating: 9

www.lightlife.com

Product Review: Romano’s Macaroni Grill Restaurant Favorites Creamy Basil

Whew! What a title! I saw this on the grocery shelf, read the ingredients, and sure enough, it’s vegetarian. I used Quorn Tenders instead of real chicken, and Silk soy milk instead of the milk. The little kit comes with all you need except for the chicken, milk, and butter. You boil the included pasta, cook your chicken, then add to that some butter, milk, and then the included sauce, sun-dried tomatoes, and then sprinkle the included cheese on top once you have added your pasta. When I was making this, I thought, oh no, this is NOT going to be enough for me and Toby. But once I added the cooked pasta to the chicken mixture, somehow it made 2 large platefuls. Toby said that his was good, and that he would for sure have it again. Me, not so much. It was ok, but I think I make better pasta creations.

rating: 6

http://restaurantfavoritesathome.com/

Product Review: Quorn Turk’y Roast

I’ve actually had this several times before, but I thought that maybe some of you haven’t tried it, so here’s my review. This Quorn product really needs to thaw out in your fridge overnight before cooking. You can cook it frozen, but I think it takes alot longer. You can also cook it in a roasting bag with some olive oil and herbs, but I’ve never tried that. I just pop it in the oven for about 30 minutes. It comes sealed up in plastic, almost like a sausage casing. There are two little metal things at each end, and when it’s done, you have to cut it out of this thing. I usually just slice it up, and eat it like turkey slices. We’ve had this at several Thanksgiving gatherings, and it makes a nice meat substitute. My son likes it too, cut up into little cubes. For this meal, we had a dipping sauce of honey mustard. This is a nice basic fake turkey, so you can kind of dress it up however you like. I served this with some sauteed snow peas & red peppers, cheese pierogies, and a biscuit.

rating: 8.5

Something new- product reviews! Tonight: Ore Ida Steam & Mash Potatoes!

I thought I would add something new to the blog. I like to try new products, and I recently bought a few, so I thought I would start sharing them with you! Tonight’s pick was the Ore Idea Steam & Mash Potatoes. They are in the freezer section, and come in 4 flavors (sweet potato, russet, garlic-seasoned, and 3-Cheese). I chose the Russet to start with. They are pretty easy to make! Now, these are NOT “instant” mashed potatoes. These are just REAL cubed-up potatoes, and you steam them in your microwave. You leave them in the bag, and cook them for 10 minutes in your microwave, and then let them sit for an additional 2 minutes. Then you CAREFULLY open the bag and dump everything into a large bowl, where you then mash them and add butter, milk, whatever. I really liked them! I would like to try the other flavors. I can’t remember how much they cost, but it wasn’t outrageous, whatever it was, or I wouldn’t have bought them! We also had some Quorn Naked cutlets, some green peas, and a ciabatta roll. Toby is not a mashed potato person, so he thought they were better than the instant kind, but nothing special. He’s a more potato-salad type of guy.

rating: taste-8.5, easy to prepare-10

more details on the product here: http://www.oreida.com/varieties/steamnmash.aspx