One Frugal Foodie

Okay, if you are like me, “ice cream” could make the menu when the snow is falling… but as summer unofficially comes to a close after labor day weekend, the hype for frozen dessert also winds down.  Before it escapes completely, I thought I would do a very quick dairy-free frozen dessert round-up just for fun!

Great Deal on Purely Decadent - I should have jumped on this one sooner (sorry about that!), as it is only good through Sept 4th.  But, if you live anywhere near a Wild Oats, head over quickly and stock up on Purely Decadent pints by Turtle Mountain.  Available in so many awesome flavors, this is the brand that saved me in my transition from ice cream addiction back to the dairy-free world.  Of course it is vegan and delicious.  Anywho, they are on buy one get one free, and in my Wild Oats that equates to just $1.75 per pint… take that Ben & Jerry’s!

“Ice Cream” Sandwiches on Trial - The people at the Vegetarian Site were kind enough to share their thorough review on the vegan “ice cream” novelty category.  Definitely worth a quick read.

Non-Dairy Frozen Dessert Rankings from Dairy-Free “Outsiders” - Of course, I had to put in my 2 cents on their rulings.  Another quick overall review for anyone who is curious about dairy-free “ice cream.”

Hannah’s Awesome “Ice Cream” Reviews - In the midst of creating recipes for her new vegan dessert cookbook, Hannah went on a vegan “ice cream” frenzy.  After a horrifying trial last year, she daringly jumped back into the reviews this year and fell in love with It’s Soy Delicious and Blackwell’s Soy Gelato and Sorbetto.  Really, the pictures alone are worth a peek.  Here’s just one of them (copyright Hannah Kaminsky on the photo) …

My Top Picks - Hard to find, but tops on my list is Whole Soy & Co.’s Non-Dairy Frozen Yogurt.  Insanely low in fat (1g) yet the richest and creamiest of the soy ice cream bunch, this brand won over me, my family, and our Baskin Robbins going friends.  Second would be the massively tasty collection of Purely Decadent pints.  I like those “exciting” flavors, and they cover it well.  However, I am a sucker for “ice cream” sandwiches, and though it was a controversial brand (talk about a love-hate product!), something about Rice Dream’s Frozen Pies just worked for me.  You can pick up an individual one anytime at Wild Oats (and I presume Whole Foods) for just $.99 each (cheaper when on sale).  So they also slide in easily as a Frugal Foodie pick.  I haven’t trialed the Purely Decadent line of Sandwiches as of yet though.

Awesome Homemade Recipes - This summer has been packed full with great vegan “ice cream” recipes, but alas, I do not have an ice cream maker.  If you do, then try one of these out and tell me how they are, okay?:

• Maple-Pecan “Ice Cream”
• Chocolate Ice
• Peanut Butter “Ice Cream”
• Carrot Cake “Ice Cream”
• Mummy’s Best Vanilla “Ice Cream”

I don’t know why I do it, but every few months I forget my prior experiences and decide to pick up a new tea flavor at Trader Joe’s.  Their prices are always so great, and the flavors of the Trader Joe’s brand of tea always sound a bit exotic.  Let it be known that I am a huge fan of Chai tea, even without the milk and honey added, and I recently discovered a love for Rooibos tea.  So when I spotted their Rooibos Chai, I thought, “That sounds too perfect, maybe this one is different.” 

Drats, they captured me once again!  You see, the Trader Joe’s brand of tea is horrible.  Perhaps it is just my personal taste buds, but they seem to produce almost lifeless tea.  No spark, no zest, no nothing really.  It was most certainly the most bland Chai or Rooibos (let alone a combination of the two) that I had ever tasted. 

I pondered iced tea, but this often requires a stronger tea if anything.  Then, I thought maybe, just maybe, I could chill the tea and use it in smoothies?  After all, the package referred to their Rooibos as antioxidant rich, it would be such a shame to waste it.  Curious if anyone had trialed tea smoothies, I set out on an internet search.  I certainly found a few green tea concoctions, but those used mostly green tea powder.  Slowly, I began to unearth various creamy teas, and I was surprised by the method.  Rather than brewing and then chilling the tea, they just ripped those bags right open and tossed the contents in.  This sounded easy enough.

My cool and creamy beverage turned out to have more of a milkshake-like consistency, though the texture is inevitably up to the individual.  Honestly, it wasn’t bad.  It was still a weak bunch of spices, but at least their full essence was captured in this recipe.  The spicy twist to my otherwise ordinary shake was also a welcome enhancement.

Sugar-Free, Dairy-Free Chai “Milkshake”

• 1/2 to 3/4 cup vanilla almond milk
• 1 chai tea bag (I used the Chai Rooibos from Trader Joe’s, but I am sure there are better!)
• 1 frozen ripe banana, sliced
• 1 Tablespoon almond butter
• ice (optional)

Blend it all up!  If your mixture is too thick, add more almond milk.  If it is too thin, add more frozen banana or ice.

I think the perfect dairy-free / vegan “milkshake” would be a simple blend of the tea with some vanilla non-dairy “ice cream,” maybe Whole Soy & Co or Soy Delicious, some milk alternative, and your tea bag of choice.  However, since I am trying to keep added sugars out of the picture as much as possible, this banana and almond mixture seems to work quite well.  I even used unsweetened almond milk, but you don’t need to go that far.. I believe regular vanilla almond milk is still quite low in sugars, and it has a nice mild sweetness that will surely be welcomed by any beverage.

So sorry for the few days off from blog posts!  Today was the day for the Go Dairy Free monthly newsletter, which takes an insanely long time to send out, plus I was busy over the weekend putting it all together.  The August newsletter had a definite back to school theme, that I seemed to get quite into.  I couldn’t resist adding one more snack idea article to the website today … speaking of, thanks to my product review crew for the great suggestions!  Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys the info!

For the record, while many of the snacks in my dwelling are homemade munchies, such as trail mix, fruit, veggie sticks, and bread/rice cakes slathered with some nut butter… I always keep a stock of “bars” on hand for when we may be away from home for a while, and in need of some energy… such as hiking, running errands, or on a road trip.  Once or twice a week, at least one of us is caught reaching for these super-convenience foods.

Since the focus for Go Dairy Free was more so on kids, I didn’t mention our bars of choice, but will do so here, as we have definitely narrowed it down:

• As his taste buds have matured, my husband has graduated from Clif Bars to Odwalla Bars.  Still with the same sort of vibe, Odwalla Bars are less sweet, and my husband likes that they always seem to be on clearance.  He prefers the Chocolate Chip Peanut and Superfood varieties.  While I have never had a coupon for them, we pay anywhere from $.25 to $1.00 depending upon the sale.  They are often displayed in some part of the store no where near the other bars, interestingly enough. 

• He also likes Mojo Bars (made by Clif) which are like a trail mix in a bar.  Mambo Sprouts frequently has $.50 off coupons for Mojo Bars, and they often go on sale for $.99.  When I am in the mood, or see a good energy bar promotion, I stock up on Amazon.

• For myself, I am into those Clif Nectar Bars.  Remarkable similar to Larabars, but almost always lower in price, these bars contain a super-simplistic mix of dates, nuts, and spices that just work with my taste buds.  Likewise, I frequent the $.99 sale on these.  If you can find a good deal (I think Trader Joe’s has them for $1.29) I would recommend the Larabar as well, but only the ones with multiple ingredients.  Really, ones like their Pecan Pie or Cashew Cookie which are no more than a single nut and some dates seem to have no real zest, and make me feel really lazy for not just grinding up some nuts and dates myself.  So far, the Apple Pie and Ginger Snap are my favorites… but really, I haven’t had a Nectar Bar flavor that I didn’t like.

• If I were to really splurge, I would order Bobo’s Oat Bars.  But, I am still determined that I will one day remember to try making my own oat bars at home… hmmm, that sounds good!

Diet Notes: All of the above are vegan (dairy-free, egg-free) - wait, one of the Mojo’s contains honey; The Nectar and Larabars are also gluten-free and soy-free; The Odwalla and Bobo’s Oat Bars are made without wheat, but they do contain oats, and may contain traces of wheat. 

If you have read my review on Amy’s (vegan) Veggie Burgers, then you already know how the veggie burger bug caught on in our household.  To summarize, after we ran out of hamburger buns, I took AllergicGirl’s burger salad lead and whipped up some lunchtime veggie burger salads.  My husband liked them so much, that he has begun requesting these meat-free salads a couple of times a week.  He stated how much lighter and better he felt after eating them.  The words “we might want to try out a vegan diet for a little while,” even left his lips.  I was truly speechless.  While we have not yet made the full conversion, meat is definitely making less of an appearance each week, acting more like a “garnish” than the base of the meal. 

So… I couldn’t resist continuing the veggie burger trials.  With a $1.00 off coupon for Dr. Praeger’s Veggie Burgers (from the Mambo Sprouts coupon book), I picked up the Tex Mex variety at my local Trader Joe’s yesterday.  End price was $2.29 for the four patties.  Of course, with all of the wonderful things I have heard about the Trader Joe’s brand Masala Veggie Burgers ($2.49), I couldn’t resist throwing those into the cart as well. 

We arrived at home with bags full of groceries, yet when I offered my husband a veggie burger salad, he responded “that sounds great!”  I opted for the Masala burgers first, lightly cooked in some coconut oil (you could use whatever oil you like) on the stovetop for about five minutes.  I chopped them up, and sprinkled the bites atop a bed of arugala along with chickpeas (garbanzos) and mushrooms on my husband’s salad, and chickpeas, carrots, and green onions atop mine.

The burgers were good, they were full of flavor and had a nice warm spice that added some interest.  They were quite different from the other burgers we have tried, as these had a definite mashed potato base.  They held their own, not too soft and squishy, but my husband said he still preferred the Amy’s brand.  I was also a bit disappointed to discover that canola oil was the second ingredient, since this is a common GMO oil, and there are so many better options.  While these might go well bun-style, I think they may be a bit too soft.  Nonetheless, if you do opt for these during a barbecue, I would dress the bun with nothing more than some mayonnaise or vegannaise, as they have a wonderful Indian spice flavor that should not be overpowered.

Today I busted open the Tex Mex Veggie Burgers from Dr. Praeger’s.  First comment, they really could use some packaging consulting.  Well, the packaging itself was great, individual servings, resealable box, etc…. but the name ”Dr. Praeger’s” coupled with a very frumpy looking, frowning doc pictured on the back, plus a less than stellar use of overall color kept me from even considering these veggie burgers in the past.  It was the coupon in the end that enticed me.

Really, these seemed to be the veggie burgers I was looking for.  They are non-GMO, wheat-free (contain oat bran and oat fiber, and made in a facility that handles wheat) and really they were mostly veggie based, no textured soy protein in site.  In fact, whole little bits of vegetables and black beans dotted these “burgers.”  I did like the tex mex flavor, which was rather sedated, calm, and influential, lacking the barbecue sauce flavor of Amy’s Texas version.  They were generally tasty, yet something was keeping me from shouting, “wow.”  I think my husband stated it best when he said that the Amy’s veggie burgers taste richer.  I really wished some avocados had been on hand, as I think some sliced avocado along with our black beans and green onions atop some greens would have enhanced these burgers quite a bit, adding a touch of indulgence … but really, at $1.50 per avocado, I was definitely holding out for the season!

Considering they are also made with organic ingredients, I think the Amy’s brand is still on top in our household.  More specifically, we voted for the Quarter Pounder for actual veggie burgers (bun and all) and for the Californian and Bistro (gluten-free) burgers for general veggie burger and salad chomping.

Of course, true to my frugal nature, next on the horizon is making homemade veggie burgers!  In fact, I almost turned the falafels into a burger style.  It seems I was preparing.  There are two veggie burger recipes in Vegan Vittles.  I plan to give one of these a shot, but am still on the lookout for a more veggie-based, or even a mushroom-based burger.  Let me know if you have seen a good one!