Egg Nog. I once guzzled that stuff by the carton this time of year. I’m a nog lover. A connoisseur of the nog. AficioNOGdo. If your nog is off then I’ll know it. I’m on top of the nog. Etcetera etcetera… Let’s not think about the sugar and fat content in a glass of that drinkable pudding. I think it’s very tasty but of course since the vegan switch years ago egg nog has been off limits. Silk has had their variant on the shelves this time of year for a few seasons and now were confronted with other entries in this holiday guzzle-fest. I welcome them all but only want the one that tastes best and can hold up, as in coat the side of the glass, like a true nog should. No thin watery stuff. Nog should to be thick.

Looking on the shelves in the cold section of the grocery store this season I was greeted by the usual entry by Silk, a good standby when you just have to have the nog  but I also found some new ones. So Delicious has a coconut milk version of nog and Earth Balance has their own nog as well. One I was surprised to find is Rice Dream Nog. You won’t find this one in the refrigerated section, it’s in a septic pack.

I have four choices now for my nog fix and a decison needs to be made as to the best vegan nog available.  The best way to make such a decision and not be skewed is a blind taste test, Pepsi Challenge style. Four glasses blindly filled and letters corresponding to each nog placed in front of each glass. With paper in hand for notes on each nog this nog tasting was ready to get serious.

 

 

Tasting was not limited to just me.  Mrs. Nashveggie and The Kid also participated. Mrs Nashveggie is not the most avid nog fan and it shows in her opinions but it’s still good to get such an objective view included. The Kid, on the other hand, likes most anything sweet.

 

A – Rice Dream $2.99/32oz

My first thought when seeing Rice Dream Rice Nog is it’s not supposed to be pink! Getting past the pinkness and tasting this overly watery drink left little flavor. There are what appears to be spices in the bottom of the glass so that’s a plus but the only one. Pink, watery, bland.  F

Mrs. Nashveggie: Too pink! I don’t want to taste it… Sweet and chalky.

The Kid: It tastes good.

 

B – Silk Nog $2.69/32oz

I’ve tried this one before but it was still a little hard to pick out from the four. As a usual standby in recent years when I’ve had the urge for some nog it has stood up well. Being critical though, I could point out flaws as well as high points. Silk Nog has a good flavor. There’s nutmeg flavor you can pick out that should be there though the one flaw that makes this one fall is its consistency. While not as thin as Rice Nog it definitely could stand to be a little less runny.  B

Mrs. Nashveggie: Did you put something in this? Smells like yogurt. Tastes like rum.

The Kid: I like this one. I think it’s my favorite.

 

C – Earth Balance Soy Nog $2.69/32oz

Earth Balance is known for their vegan butter substitutes but lately they have branched out into other endeavors such as mayonnaise and,  more-notably, soy milk. Their seasonal offering of Soy Nog is likely my favorite of the four. It does have a good consistency and could hold up to a brandy, if that’s what you like. The flavor is a little lighter than I prefer but overall this is a good choice.  A-

Mrs. Nashveggie: Gagged. Too thick.

The Kid: It tastes a little sour. Just a little sweet.

 

D – So Delicious Coconut Nog  $2.99/32oz

I’m no fan of coconut milk beverages. I find them generally fatty tasting and off-putting. I do like coconut but everything has its place and coconut milk isn’t meant to be swilled like a bottle of cheap malt liquor. With that said So Delicious Coconut Nog had the expected consistency. Thick and rich and that works here. It has that right but that about the only thing. I thought I was drinking liquid candy! So sweet! My teeth hurt after drinking this. I couldn’t taste any spice, if there is any for the overpowering coconut flavor and booming sweetness. For those that want an alternative to soy you have this and Rice Dream Rice Nog to choose from. If I was forced to choose one of the two this would be it. For that reason alone I’ll give it a letter grade up. C-

Mrs. Nashveggie: Where’s the spoon? Thickest one. Tastes too much like coconut milk.

The Kid: This one tastes like coconut. Eww.

 

The clear choice of vegan nogs is Earth Balance Soy Nog. A good balance of everything though not perfect. Still, faced with the decision when these four on on the shelf it would be the one to come home from the grocery store with me.

Those are my opinions on the nogly offerings you’ll find this season. Suffice it to say Mrs. Nashveggie is not a Nog fan and I’ll not likely let The Kid near that much sugar at a time so I’ll be drinking what’s left of the nogs. Each of the four have room to improve, some more than others. Hopefully next year someone will have the perfect nog. I can hope.

 

A few months ago I wrote an article on SoyGo coffee creamer. SoyGo is a soy-based coffee creamer in a convenient packet that is easily taken with you so when you find yourself in one of those coffeeshops (or Panera, ahem) that doesn’t offer a soy alternative to the dairy on the condiment bar you can whip one of these out and fancify your brew. While the original formula had good intentions, I felt it missed the mark a little. SoyGo has now revamped their formula to address some of the concerns I had, though honestly I’m sure it wasn’t BECAUSE of me. I just like to think I have that power.

 

The new SoyGo still comes in the same small packets but now the amount has been increased from 3.5 ounces to 4 ounces. This addresses one of my issues where there seemed there wasn’t enough creamer to sufficiently give flavor to a full cup.  The powder also seems to blend a little better. While it still needs a vigorous stir a hand blender is not in order. Also, you will still find a little residue at the bottom of the cup but unlike before you’ll not be able to dry it out and return the SoyGo to the packet. It does actually dissolve now.

These are excellent to carry with you on your travels or just keep a few in your car as I do.

SoyGo is available at Whole Foods and Amazon or you can order directly from their website.

 

 

I’m a lover of sauces. I cook with it and pour it on my food. I even make my own barbecue sauce. One of my favorites is Worcestershire and one of my favorite uses is putting it on a baked potato. I know that may seem odd to some but until you try it don’t sneer at it. Up to now the only vegan Worcestershire sauces I’ve found have been Amy’s and The Wizard’s. While good, both of those are a little to thick for me and don’t quite hit the flavor. I just discovered Robbie’s Worcestershire, a vegan Worcesterchire that is the most perfect vegan Worcestershire I’ve found. What makes Worcestershire not vegan, you may ask. Anchovies. It is the ingredient in most conventional Worcestershire sauces though I never remembered tasting it in sauces from Lea & Perrins or French’s.

Robbie’s Worcestershire is thin, just as every conventional sauce I’ve used and has the absolute perfect flavor. As a plus, it is the same price as Amy’s and The Wizard’s for twice the amount.

Robbie’s Worcestershire is available at Whole Foods in Franklin.

Time for some potatoes on the grill!

I sometimes go through two pounds of coffee a week at home. That’s alot of coffee and I sometimes drink it with a creamer. When I’m not home finding a vegan creamer at a coffee shop or restaurant isn’t easy and is usually impossible. SoyGo is trying to fix that.

SoyGo Soy Creamer is a soy-based powder coffee creamer in a small, travel-sized packet that’s easy to carry wherever you go. Very welcome to the vegan or health conscious who don’t want the unpronounceable chemicals in most powdered creamers or a non-dairy creamer in their coffee.

A single pack of SoyGo gives enough creamer for an 8 ounce cup of coffee. Much more coffee than that and you’ll need a second pack of SoyGo to get the flavor and proper results. It’s been a couple decades since I used a powdered coffee creamer such as CoffeeMate so I don’t remember how well it dissolves but SoyGo needs a very good stirring before breaking down sufficiently and then it still leaves a powdery swirl in your cup. I stirred for about 30-40 seconds yet the majority of the powder had still not dissolved. The flavor is there, lightly but I would prefer it dissolve better. At the bottom of your cup you will find a sludge of soy powder goo once you drink the coffee.

The ingredients are all-natural and all-vegan. – Soy Powder (non-GMO), Vegan Sugar, Color Added (All-natural whitener), Xantham Gum, Inulin, Natural Flavors (French Vanilla), Natural Flavors (Non-dairy cream flavor), Dipotassium Phosphate, Lecithin, Salt

Overall, SoyGo is a welcome product. I like having the option to get a cup of Sock Juice (brewed coffee) while away from home and have the option to add a vegan creamer. I would like to see it dissolve a bit better and maybe a half-ounce more product per packet so a larger cup or mug of coffee can be fixed up with just one pack. With that said, I’ll be sure to take a few packs with me on road trips. It will come in very handy at those coffee shops where vegans are never taken into consideration at the condiment bar.

SoyGo Soy Creamer is available at most Whole Foods locations including Coolsprings and Green Hills. You can find it in the baking aisle near the cocoa in both of those stores. It is also available directly from SoyGo, Amazon and some other online vegan outlets.

For more information on SoyGo Soy Creamer visit SavingOpusOne.

SoyGo Soy Creamer Review

Over time I gather thoughts. Some I tell myself I’ll write about and some I think why bother. Most of these thoughts never have enough behind them to warrant a lengthy post for the site so I toss them aside and forget it. What I’ve decided to do is throw those all into one post. There won’t be much to go on but jump in the comments and complete my thoughts. I’m counting on you.

I’ve been on the fake meat bandwagon once in my vegan/vegetarian life. It was early on, of course, as most people who do get into that habit of eating with convenience in mind. I’ve not so recently put that aside. Fake meats are, to me, for transitioning vegetarians. They lend the familiarity of what once once the edible mainstay but as a vegan I have moved on to fresher foods. That’s not to say I don’t eat some here and there and you’ll likely see reviews for them pop up on this site. They are what they are, a transition food and that’s fine.

While on the subject of fake meats Just a mention that one of my biggest dining-out peeves is a vegan or vegetarian restaurant that relies on fake meats to fill their menu. How about the veggies, guys? I don’t want to pretend to chew pork or chicken/chick’n/chic’n, no matter how many letters you remove form the word, when I’m paying $15 to eat at your restaurant. If you can’t prepare fresh vegetables, and I don’t mean prepared in some gourmet-style, just simple fresh vegetables, then you have no place running a vegetarian dining establishment.

I have been noticing Earth Balance soy milks at Whole Foods for a few months. I’ve even bought the milks regularly but it wasn’t until recently that I noticed the absence of Silk products in the refrigerated section at Whole Foods. I asked about the disappearance and was told that Whole Foods had decided to stop carrying Silk due to the changes Dean Foods had made to the product line. Specifically, the dropped “Organic” from the standard packaging and came out with a new package design and marketed the Organic line again though with a higher price tag. There was no marking on the original package to signify it was no longer organic less the absence of the organic seal. Shady? Greedy? Shysters? No big deal?

For the past few months I’ve been doing P90X. I completed the first 90 days and immediately started a second 90 days which, at this point, I’m at day 60. I’ve had tremendous results losing some weight and finding muscles I never though I had. I have discovered that Tony Horton, creator of the series, is vegetarian and is now working on a vegan diet plan for his next workout series. Vegan P90X works!

“Flexitarian” is just omnivore disguised in a fancy catch phrase that makes advertising pop and sounds trendy. You know how people love trendy.

As the father of a vegan 5 year old I ‘ve often wanted to hear from other parents of vegan children. If you fall into that description drop something in the comments about your experiences. I would love to hear from you.