Batch of links - Product reviews

- I bought some Eat Pastry chocolate chip cookie dough on a whim. Well, I had heard about it a while back (basically, vegan ready-made cookie dough sold in the refrigerated section), but had never seen any – and then, there it was, at Whole Foods, on National Cookie Day, so I bought a package. I really liked it, but mostly because I could eat it straight or make just a few cookies at a time (and the dough is soft enough to be easily portioned even cold). It doesn’t beat a homemade cookie, of course, but it’s a good product.


- Kind neighbors gave us some Pioneer Brand Sweet Cream Pancake and Waffle Mix over the holidays – the same kind served at Guenther House – and let me tell you, it has ruined us for most other mixes, and perhaps some homemade recipes as well. It’s clearly not lactose-free, of course; there’s buttermilk and milk in addition to the sweet cream. But oh, it was so worth taking LactoJoy for this!

- That being said, I would be remiss if I didn’t also tell you about Foodstirs’ pancake mix, which also surprised us with how good it was! The add-ins are an egg, melted butter, milk and yogurt, and it was possibly the best pancake mix I’ve ever bought (considering that I was gifted the one above). This is one I intend to buy again too!


- Also, I’m still on a Noosa kick, and I can’t tell you how much I like their mates line, especially the coconut almond chocolate! And their regular vanilla bean, of course.


- I tried a Victoria Vegan sauce, the arugula pesto alfredo sauce, and we really liked it! It goes well with any type of pasta and is quite creamy, thanks to cashews. I might keep one of those in the fridge from now on!


- I never got around to trying all of Ben & Jerry’s latest vegan flavors, mostly because I have sensitive teeth these days and don’t eat much cold stuff. I did try Cherry Garcia and liked it, but my favorite right now is the Coconut Seven Layer Bar flavor (coconut with fudge chunks, walnuts, and swirls of graham cracker and caramel). Granted, I’d like it better without the walnuts, but still, it’s awesome.


- I finally tried one of the dairy-free Halo-Top flavors – the peanut butter cup one. I found it oddly grainy and airy and bland. I guess that’s because it’s so low in calories? On the bright side, it does have a scoopable consistency right out of the freezer, and there are so many flavors that I’m sure there’s one I’d like more. For the record, it’s kosher, vegan, gluten-free and soy-free.