Vegetarian Shoes & Bags - Orleans by Pink

Hi everyone, it's Jane writing tonight. No, it's not another Daring Bakers Challenge... I'm writing a product review. We were contacted recently by Vegetarian Shoes and Bags and asked to review a purse to help announce their new collection of 100% cruelty-free handbags.

As most of you know, Lane and I went vegan a little over a year and a half ago.  We're still wearing our old leather accessories and shoes.  Our reasoning here is that the cow has already been sacrificed; throwing away these items would be wasteful.  But they're slowly starting to wear out, and need to be replaced... this time with vegan items. So the timing of this couldn't be better for me.

Orleans Interior

My purse showed up within a week.  I received the Orleans bag by Pink Studios.   Typically, I tend to carry smaller bags, so Lane and I jokingly refer to this bag as "the luggage."  But in all seriousness, I LOVE IT!   This is, hands down, one of the better-made bags I have ever owned.   The zippers don't catch, there were no stray threads anywhere, and the seams are all even.

I've tried to abuse the bag a bit by overloading it, but so far, it's stood up to everything I've dished out.    In addition to the usual items you'd carry in your purse, I've carried two hardcover novels, my camera, and my knitting with no issues!

Orleans Bag Seam Detail

As for the interior of the bag - the main compartment zips shut with a cell phone pocket another smaller pocket, and an interior zip pocket.  Then there are two compartments that have snaps on either side of the main compartment, and two small pockets on the outside of the purse for quick access items.

All in all, I am very pleased with this purse and would recommend the Pink line of purses.  As for Vegetarian Shoes and Bags -- they're Vegan Society certified, and vegan themselves.  They reserach their manufacturers so the products they carry are 100% vegan in nature, without exception.  So you can choose your items without having to read any fine print.

Nogürt

Jane and I were asked to review a soon-to-be-released new product recently. The product is Nogürt, a non-soy based vegan yogurt. It's not only soy-free, it's also GMO free, dairy-free, casein-free, lacotse-free, gluten-free, and certified organic to boot. In other words, it's a healthy option.

Since going vegan, we've pretty much given up on yogurt. Jane does use soy yogurt in some of her cooking/baking, but neither of us has been satisfied with the soy-yogurt substitutes we've tried eating straight from the container. So you can imagine how excited we were when the folks at Nogürt contacted us. The product arrived during the holidays, so we had a little sampling with two of our family members. The tasting group wound up being three adults and one child. We were sent three flavors to sample: Orange, Blueberry, and Pomegranate.

Nogürt Orange

First the Orange.

Nutritional Info -- Serving Size:6 oz /170g; Calories: 220; Fat 1.5 g; Carbs: 50 g; Protein: 3 g

Neither Jane nor I had ever tried orange yogurt; to us, that flavor didn't really make sense. Although we both did love creamsicles when we were children... It smelled okay, but the taste and texture didn't work for any of us. Of the three flavors, this was the least palatable to the four of us.

Nogürt Pomegranate

Next we tried the Pomegranate.

Nutritional Info -- Serving Size:6 oz /170g; Calories: 230; Fat 1 g; Carbs: 52 g; Protein: 3 g

When we opened the container, we were all pleased with the aroma that came from within. It wasn't as tart as some pomegranate products. Of the three, this was Jane's favorite, and her sister-in-law's as well.

Nogürt Blueberry

Finally, there was the Blueberry

Nutritional Info -- Serving Size:6 oz /170g; Calories: 220; Fat 2 g; Carbs: 48 g; Protein: 3 g

Blueberry was always my favorite flavor of dairy-based yogurt. And this wound up being my favorite of the Nogürt brand. Our nephew also thought this was the best of the three (is it a gender thing?). It didn't smell as good as the pomegranate, however.

Overall product review:

The Nogürt, while not as smooth as dairy-based yogurt, is far superior in texture to any soy yogurt we've tried. Since we tested flavored varieties, Jane didn't cook/bake with any of them, so we can't report on that. Will we buy this product? Absolutely. However, as with most vegan "substitution" products, I don't think it is superior to the product it is replacing. If you or someone you love suffers from allergies, this product is a must-try.

As of this time, Nogürt is not yet available. Look for it soon in your local Whole Foods and if you're in Colorado, Vitamin Cottage and Sunflower Farmers Market as well.

Chocolate Soymilk Review

Jane and I thought it was time to do another side-by-side taste test of vegan chocolate milks.  Last year we settled on Silk's Light Chocolate Soymilk as our favorite, but things can change.  We found a soymilk in Target, Archer Farms Organic, and we also found some 8th Continent Light Soymilk which a number of you say you prefer.  So, we figured it was time to revisit the issue.  Without further ado, here are our findings:

Archer Farms Organic Chocolate Soymilk

Calories 130.  3 g fat.  5 g protein.

This was the only full fat chocolate soymilk we sampled.  Interestingly, it looked the "lightest" of the three.  It was paler in color and appeared more "watery."   It had a nice nose.  As for taste.  I enjoyed it very much.  Jane liked it too, but thought it had an aftertaste.  It placed second in our taste test today.

Silk Light Chocolate Soymilk

Calories 120.  1.5 g fat.  5 g protein.

Our personal favorite.  It still holds up as the winner.  The scent was more chocolate-y and the beverage itself has more body.  A very satisfying drink.

8th Contintent Light Chocolate Soymilk:

Calories 90.  1.5 g fat.  7 g protein.

Downright awful.  I thought it smelled like paint.  Jane, who typically has a better sense of smell than I do, thought it smelled like chocolate.  But we both agreed it was terrible.  It had a chalky aftertaste and the texture was also not as good as the others.  It was so bad we double-checked the expiration date to make sure it was still okay.  It was.

In the past we've also tried the Whole Foods store brand and didn't care for that either.  Hands down Silk Light Chocolate Soymilk is the way to go.

I have to admit, I'm not the target demographic for this type of product. Jane's tried to beat it into my head that we need to wash things before we eat them, but I'm a guy, and when I want to eat something, I simply want to eat it.  Washing things tends to get in the way.  However, the vendor contacted us and asked us if we'd like to review Fit Fruit and Vegetable Wash.  Since at least 75% of what we eat is produce, Jane thought it would be worth a test run.

The website and instructions claim you'll notice a marked difference between the produce you wash with Fit and the produce you rinse off in the sink.  Our experience didn't hold that to be true for most things we tried.  However, as I've mentioned before, we buy almost all of our produce at our local farmers market, and most of that is organic and/or spray-free.  So I'm not sure how much residue would be removed anyway.  We didn't find a significant difference when washing supermarket apples however, and that was a bit disappointing.  Jane is torn.  We know that the skin of apples has cancer-inhibiting properties, but there is usually a significant coat of something (wax?) on the skin, so we often eat our apples peeled.

We did notice a huge improvement using Fit on our citrus peel.  If you use the zest of lemons, limes or oranges in your cooking/baking, this product does a great job getting the waxy coating off the citrus rind.  I tried to capture before and after images, but it's too subtle for the camera.  The results are quite obvious in real life though, the rinds felt cleaner and weren't as shiny as they had been prior to washing.  We also had success using fit when washing blackberries.

Fit is easy to use.  You either spray, rub and wash for individual items, or add a capful to a bowl of water and soak things like berries, mixed greens, or cauliflower. Using the product, we noticed no aftertaste, no smell, no residue.

All in all, I can't say I agree with all the advertising claims made by Fit Fruit and Vegetable Wash, but I do see a place for it in our pantry.