Veggie Bits
Get Caught With Your Hand in the Cookie Jar!
Late July has added to its family of crackers and snacks with two delightful, organic varieties of sandwich cookies. The Vanilla Bean flavor uses two whole-grain chocolate cookies to encase a creamy Madagascar vanilla-and-green tea filling that you will want to lick straight from the center. In addition, the Dark Chocolate employs those same cocoa cookies to deliver an intensely fudgy filling that will make chocoholics think they've died and gone to heaven. Both varieties will have you eating an entire single-serve package, if not much of a 9-ounce box! To learn more, contact Late July Organic Snacks via mail at 3166 Main Street, Barnstable, MA 02630, or via phone at (508) 362-5859. You can also visit the company’s website at www.latejuly.com.
Kettle Brand Offers Healthier Savory Baked Potato Chips
Kettle Brand has come up with some vegan Baked Potato Chips that have all of the flavor but much less salt and fat than typical chips do. Their Lightly Salted variety has just enough seasonings to keep them from being bland, while their Sea Salt & Vinegar made for a popular snack around the VRG office. Both flavors are available in 4-ounce bags on supermarket shelves.
Write to Kettle Foods at 3125 Kettle Court SE, Salem, OR 97301, or call the company at (503) 364- 0399. Their website is www.kettlefoods.com.
MimicCreme Dairy Substitutes
Tired of drinking your coffee black or trying to thicken soymilk when recipes call for dairy products? Well, MimicCreme has created a wonderful solution. The company's non-soy, gluten-free cream substitutes are available in three varieties - Unsweetened, Sweetened made with vegan sugar, and Sugar- Free Sweetened made with a natural sugar substitute.
Contact MimicCreme at 1177 New Scotland Road, Albany, NY 12208, or at (866) 486-5495. Their website is www.mimiccreme.com.
Catch the Croutons Craze!
What late-summer salad would be complete without a sprinkling of crunchy croutons? Olivia's Croutons is a small, Vermont-based company that produces phenomenal vegan Multi-Grain with Garlic croutons. The company has also introduced organic croutons and offers a vegan variety called Garlic & Herb, with ingredients such as organic granulated garlic and onion, organic sunflower oil, and fresh herbs.
Contact Olivia's Crouton Company at 1423 North Street, New Haven, VT 05472, or call the company at (802) 453-2222. If you can't find the varieties you are looking for in your local natural foods store, order them online at www.oliviascroutons.com.
Tempeh: The Next Generation
Turtle Island Foods, the company that offers those tempting Tofurky holiday roasts, has introduced yet another innovative creation. With their new Tempeh 2.0, they have taken organic soy tempeh, thinly sliced it, and infused it with one of three delicious sauces. The Coconut Curry has two types of flavorful curries, the Lemon Pepper features cracked peppercorns, and the Sesame Garlic has a tangy sesame-garlic taste. All three varieties are ready for you to throw in a pan and brown for stir-fries, sandwiches, salads, soups, and more.
Write to Turtle Island Foods, Inc., at P.O. Box 176, Hood River, OR 97031, or call them at (541) 386-7766. Their website is www.tofurky.com.
Enjoy Summer Year-Round With Native Forest Chutneys
Now you can have that fresh-picked tropical fruit that you're enjoying right now all year long in the form of authentic Sri Lankan chutneys. Native Forest has made organic versions of these classic South Asian condiments into perfect blends of sweet and fiery flavors. Great for topping everything from tortilla chips to tofu, these chunky chutneys come in Hot Mango, Mango Passion, Papaya, and Pineapple varieties in 10-ounce glass jars.
Contact Native Forest's parent company, Edward & Sons, at P.O. Box 1326, Carpinteria, CA 93014, or via (805) 684-8500. Or visit www.edwardandsons.com.
Kashi Brings Five Vegan Frozen Entrées to Your Microwave
The next time you're passing the freezer case at your local supermarket, look for Kashi's Frozen Entrées. The company has recently expanded its vegan options to include some new natural foods meals. Choices include the lasagnalike Tuscan Veggie Bake with whole grain noodles, chunky squash, eggplant, sweet potatoes, and a topping of tart basil sauce, or their Black Bean Mango with mangos, roasted onions, red and green peppers, and carrots on a bed of brown rice pilaf. However, their best offering has to be the Mayan Harvest Bake with sweet potatoes, kale, black beans, and chunks of plantains smothered in a decadent ancho sauce.
TofuXpress Works Presses Excess Water out of Tofu, Vegetables, and More!
Have you been looking for an easy way to remove the water from your tofu? Then you need to get your hands on a TofuXpress! This unique kitchen device allows you to press out the extra water in your tofu the way that Indian cheesemakers press the water out of paneer cheese. Just place the tofu into the TofuXpress, snap on the lid, and let the spring-activated top do the rest. And when you're done, just fill up the accompanying marinading lid with your favorite flavors and place your tofu inside to continue your meal preparation.
One of the best things to note about the TofuXpress is that its usefulness isn't limited to tofu! It will remove the water from thawed spinach, sliced eggplant, and many other foods. And those are only the uses that the VRG staff found for it so far!
TofuXpress is available exclusively through the company's website at www.tofuxpress.com. You can also send correspondence to TofuXpress, P.O. Box 331, Ambler, PA 19002.
SoYummi Lives Up to Its Name
SoYummi has come out with a homestyle whipped soy pudding in seven remarkable flavors - vanilla, dark chocolate, cherry, raspberry, lime, tapioca, and rice pudding. Available in packs of four 3.5-ounce servings or as individual servings, these tasty treats are great straight from the package or tuck neatly into lunch boxes. Plus, they are available in many natural foods market chains that you probably already frequent.
To learn more, contact SoYummi at 3655 Redpath, Montréal, Québec, Canada H3G 2W8. You can also phone the company at (514) 393- 3232 or visit their website at www.soyummifoods.com.
Have an Apple a Day the Smashies Way!
Never has there been such a fun means to consume applesauce! Smashies has created a no-mess, on-the-go, resealable, squeezy pouch for its products. This smart, shelf-stable 3.2-ounce packaging, with a wide, built-in straw, allows kids to indulge in deliciously sweet, organic applesauce straight from their lunch boxes, their backpacks, or mom's purse without worrying about spilling or packing a spoon.
Contact Smashies Pouches, Inc., at 207 South Street, 1st Floor, Boston, MA 02111 or via phone at (866) 680-5528.
The Vegetarian Resource Group is on the Combined Federal Campaign List
The Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) is the charitable workplace campaign conducted by the U.S. government for all federal employees - military, civilian, and postal. The Vegetarian Resource Group is included among the organizations to which you can donate. Please don't pass up this simple opportunity to support vegetarianism and the work VRG does year round.
For other workers, please remember to name The VRG in your matching gifts at work, or write in The VRG for your United Way campaign.
