Non Dairy Ice Cream

Ice cream is one of those treats that seems to taste so much better when summer is around along with the hot weather. Some people are very limited to what they can have as far as cool treats due to having milk intolerance - those of us with no allergies or intolerances can be grateful that we're able to choose from a variety of options. I was browsing Chocolate Covered Katie's blog and saw the post Ice cream Recipe – Healthy Haagen Dazs! and saw how good it looked in the photos so I decided to make some right away.

I doubled what the recipe called for and used Silk True Coconut - Original milk. I used regular sugar for the recipe and 5 tsp of vanilla extract to make it vanilla flavored ice cream. It was simple to make when following the directions and I ended up using the ice cream machine method. It's easiest to scoop the ice cream later if you freeze according to her instructions.

The ice cream after I put it in the freezer for a couple hours and then scooped it.

I gave some to my brother who's never had dairy free ice cream before and after he took a bite he told me that it was really good. He looked like he wanted more right away - he really loves his ice cream. When I tried some I was delighted at the nice rich taste and loved the different flavors. This has to be my favorite ice cream recipe that I've made at home!

I'll definitely use the batch for more than just eating alone :)

Dairy free ice creams I've bought from the store have tasted good but it's so much more fun to make different foods at home, plus you can know what's really in it if you make it home.

Different blogs I'd recommend to people thinking of going vegetarian or vegan, and people who just want to add some yummy meat free dishes to their diet are:
Chocolate Covered Katie
Vegangela
Oh She Glows
Hell yeah it's vegan!
JL goes Vegan
Melomeals
The Happy Go Lucky Vegan
Vegan Lady Eats
The "V" Word

Food Review: Amy's Kitchen Rice Macaroni with Cheddar Style Sauce; Alo Comfort Watermelon + Peach drink

There's different groups of people I would recommend the Amy's Kitchen Rice Macaroni frozen meal to.

The list includes: Vegans, vegetarians, anyone who cannot have gluten, anyone who loves macaroni but has milk intolerance, anyone avoiding soy, and anyone who has tried and enjoys other Amy's Kitchen products.

This was my first time trying this macaroni dish so I wasn't sure what to expect. The total time in the microwave is about 4-5 minutes (depending on how powerful your microwave is). It will take longer if you cook it in the oven or a toaster oven (approximately 30 minutes). I was hungry so I decided to follow the microwave directions. I enjoyed the aroma of the dish as it was cooking.

The above picture is how it turned out after the time in the microwave and then transferring it into another dish. The Rice Macaroni uses Daiya vegan cheddar style shreds for the cheese sauce, if you're a fan of Daiya cheese there's a good chance you'll love this meal. It has a nice rich taste to it.

The texture of the pasta is so similar to gluten filled pasta. I was happy from the first bite to the last as I ate the whole thing. The Daiya cheese adds a nice creaminess to this Rice Macaroni and it's not overly salty tasting. I've tried other gluten free macaroni packages from the store and this one is my favorite. It tastes just like the non-vegan macaroni and cheese which people tend to love. Whether vegan or not this dish has appeal for a wide range of people.

Next up for review is the Alo Comfort Watermelon and Peach drink. Some people have the view "Aloe vera?! I thought that was just for putting on skin!". Aloe Vera and aloe vera juice both have health benefits when you eat or drink them. This drink has aloe vera pieces in it so it's not a smooth drink. If chunks bother you there's always the blending option.

I had never thought of what peach and watermelon would taste like until I tried this drink. The pleasant sweetness hit my taste buds right away. I imagined that I was laying on a tropical beach while enjoying the warmth of the sun.

A while after finishing the bottle 500ml (16.9 oz) bottle I felt energized and ready to go exercise. The first flavor I had tried was called Awaken which has the aloe vera and wheatgrass. From there I've slowly been getting around to trying all the flavors available to me.

I have more mental clarity after sipping on the alo drinks and they're good at quenching thirst. 

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Question for the readers: What's your favorite pasta dish?

Food Review: Original Field Roast Grain Meat Co. Italian Sausage Links

For dinner one night I felt like having sausage but wanted to try a vegan option so that I can eat less meat while feeling satisfied with my options. Enter the Field Roast Italian Sausage Links. I thought this would be a nice little option to try.

The way that the flavor is described is "made with fresh eggplant and packed with fennel, red wine, garlic and sweet peppers". I wanted to see if this could satisfy my sausage craving compared to sausages made with beef or pork. One of the options for cooking the sausages listed on the wrapper was to saute it in a pan, that was the method I chose. There's a warning to not overcook the links. 

I turned the links in the pan until the sides started to brown up enough and then removed it from the pan.

One of the sausages broke when I tried to roll them out of the pan. That doesn't really affect the taste though - good food will still taste good even if it falls apart a little ;)

After a little bit of thinking on what to have with the sausage links I decided to slice the links up and have it in a bun with some toppings.

They had a good amount of moisture inside and the flavors burst out with each and every bite. I thought that the links had a nice texture to them as well. As someone who enjoys meat a great deal I have to say that I truly enjoyed each and every bit of the sausage link sandwich. It was a satisfying meal for me and filled me up.

Verdict: Worth the cost and would buy again

Food Review: Sweet&Sara Toasted Coconut Marshmallows

Warning: If you do not like the taste of coconut try Sweet&Sara Vanilla Marshmallows or Strawberry Marshmallows instead!!! 

A number of people I know have been telling me how good the Sweet&Sara marshmallows are (plus I've seen some of the press coverage) so I decided to buy the toasted coconut flavor. I wanted to see for myself how good they taste.

I took out some of the marshmallow pieces and put them on a plate so I could try some and let the others I live with try some as well . When you have others around that like trying new things you either learn to share or hide your stuff really well.
The idea of coconut and marshmallows sounded so good me so I had to have a bite!

After taking a bite into one of the marshmallow pieces I could taste the toasted coconut and then the texture of the soft vanilla marshmallow. It felt like a bite of pure pleasure and oh so good. You can enjoy the experience for longer if you let it slowly dissolve in your mouth. The website says that they dare anyone to just eat one. It's way too hard for me to do that. The taste delighted my taste buds right away.

The container will probably be empty soon since it's not just me that's loving the taste of these marshmallows! I'd have to say this is the best tasting marshmallow I've ever had - they're way better than the ones in the grocery store!!! From just this one pack I've got to say that they're quite addictive since right after having just one marshmallow piece I wanted another then another.

The place I bought a package from only sells the Toasted Coconut, Strawberry, and Vanilla marshmallows by Sweet&Sara. It definitely makes me think of trying the Peanut Butter Smores, Original Smores, Cinnamon Pecan Marshmallows, Rocky Road Bark, and Rice Crispy Treats sometime in the future.
Sharing the marshmallows with friends is a good idea so you don't eat the whole thing yourself ;)