Does the Follow Your Heart Vegan Egg Work? | Review (VIDEO)

I haven't baked in forever, but I had to dust my cupcake pan off to test out the new Follow Your Heart Vegan Egg.

What's the biggest difference with this egg replacement? You can actually scramble it like chicken eggs! Crazy, huh?

Even though I haven't scrambled them yet (not a fan of scrambled eggs), you can see The Sexy Vegan make it here), I had to test the vegan egg in bang bang cauliflower and cupcakes.

All you need is 2 tablespoons of the vegan powder (main ingredients are algal flour & algal protein - see the other ingredients here), 1/2 cup cold water and a whisk (or blender) per egg.

This product is gluten-free, non-gmo and soy-free

Here's the review video....

Products mentioned in the video:

Follow Your Heart Vegan Egg - I purchased mine from Amazon (usually sold out fast) but rabbitfoodgrocery.com has it.

Cake mix is from Immaculate Baking Company - I purchased it from Target and used almond milk instead of dairy milk and Earth Balance vegan margarine instead of dairy butter.

Recipe for the Bang Bang Cauliflower - the original recipe is vegetarian and from Kirbie's Cravings. I switched out a few ingredients (and omitted one) to make it vegan.

Bang Bang Cauliflower

by Brown Vegan

Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 20-30

Keywords: snack vegan

Ingredients (2-3 servings)

• 1/2 head of cauliflower, cut into bite sized florets
• 2 cups panko bread crumbs (check label to ensure it's vegan)
• 2 vegan eggs
• 1 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped (optional, for garnish)

bang bang sauce

• 2 tbsp sweet chili sauce
• 2 tsp sriracha
• 1/4 cup vegan mayo (Just Mayo is a good brand)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400F.

In a small bowl, dip cauliflower pieces in vegan egg.

Place panko crumbs in a second bowl and then roll in cauliflower until fully coated.

Place on baking sheet.

You will need to use your fingers to press on the coating to help it to stick to the cauliflower bites.

Repeat until all cauliflower is coated.

Bake for about 20 minutes (bake longer if you prefer a crunchy and/or darker coating)

While cauliflower is cooking, make the bang bang sauce.

Add all ingredients into a small bowl and whisk until uniform and no mayonnaise lumps remain. Drizzle over finished cauliflower, reserving additional for dipping.

Garnish with fresh parsley, if desired.

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Have you tried the VeganEgg yet? Leave a comment

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Fish Tacos using Gardein Fishless Filets | Review

I heard about Gardein Fishless Filets nearly a year ago and it took forever to get my hands on them.

When it comes to meat alternatives, Gardein is one of the most accessible brands out there (they even sell their products in Wal-Mart), so I have no idea why they're making one of their best products sooo hard to find. 

Anywho, my local Wegmans has them and I came right home to test them out on fish tacos.

Each bag contains 6 small filets, so I purchased 3 bags for the fam.

^^^Uncooked...right out the package

Pros:

• Will take care of your fish craving
• Tastes much better than Sophie's Kitchen fish (I wasn't a fan of those)
• Great texture-Very similar to Gordon crispy battered fish filets

Cons:

• Hard to find at most grocery stores (you can order it online though) 
• Kind of pricey-Since the filets are small, we have to get 3 bags to feed our fam of 5. It was $15 for us

I think these are a great occasional meal and are definitely an awesome replacement for fish.

Check out the full list of ingredients here

Have you tried the Gardein Fishless Filets yet? What did you think?

P.S. In case you're wondering, here's the recipe for the creamy chipotle sauce I used on top of the tacos...

Creamy Chipotle Sauce

by Brown Vegan

Keywords: appetizer vegan

Ingredients

• 2 chipotles in adobo, finely chopped
• 1/2 vegan mayo (Vegenaise and Just Mayo are good brands)
• 1/2 cup vegan sour cream (Tofutti is a good brand or you can make it using this recipe http://www.brownvegan.com/recipes?recipe_id=6070003
• 1 teaspoon lime juice
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions

In a small bowl, combine all the ingredients mixing well.

Serve on vegan tacos

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Beyond Meat Grilled Strips | Quick Review

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that Beyond Meat is coming to Target.

I picked up a couple of their "ground beef" crumbles (for tacos and spaghetti) & grilled strips yesterday to test out in a salad. 

The strips are just okay to me. I think I expected them to be better.

I hyped them up in my head, since I love their crumbles so much. lol

The texture wasn't as firm as I expected....it was a little too soft and weird for my taste.

Not horrible...just not what I expected.

Eric and Brandon enjoyed the strips in this salad (the other ingredients in the salad are romaine, spinach, tomatoes, avocado, red bell pepper, red onion & tortilla strips).

Elijah & Jason decided to eat leftovers because they didn't want a salad (so I didn't get any feedback from them).

If I buy the chicken strips again, I will chop them up into small pieces (like I do with Gardein products to stretch them out in pasta, soup & tacos) and I'm sure it will taste better.

I love that these strips take less than a minute to cook on the stovetop on high heat with a little oil.

I think this meat alternative is perfect for folks tip-toeing into vegan life with the fam...just don't expect it to taste like traditional chicken. Embrace it like a new experience. :-)

From the Beyond Meat label....

Non-GMO, contains soy, vegan (of course), gluten-free, kosher, contains as much protein as chicken

Top 3 ingredients on the label: water, soy protein isolate & pea protein isolate

Have you tried these chicken strips yet?

Gardein Crispy Chick'n Sliders Review

I saw these on clearance at Target and figured I would test it out on the fam. You know being that the price was right.

These Gardein sliders are a blend of soy, wheat and organic grains & vegetables. Since we don't own a microwave, I popped them in the oven for 15 minutes, flipping them over halfway. I also toasted the buns during the last 3 minutes or so.

Then I used Vegenaise, mustard and spring mix to serve it.

They're delicious!

Crispy on the outside and tender (of course not as tender as chicken but it has a nice bite) on the inside. It reminded us of a regular chicken patty.

The fam approved!

Even though there are microwave directions on the box, I have a feeling these wouldn't be very good in the microwave. Skip it if you can!

I think this is an awesome last minute meal and would definitely make it again.

Even though products like these aren't good to eat every day, I appreciate that this option is available. It can definitely take care of a chicken craving!

Store locator for Gardein products in your area -----> here

Have you tried these chick'n sliders?

How I Got My Hubby To Replace His Cheddar Popcorn | Earth Balance Popcorn

Eric isn't a vegan, but he is very vegan-friendly.

Let me explain...

He enjoys the vegan meals that I cook, but will still eat frozen cheese pizza (at home) and wings when we eat out.

I've heard horror stories about spouses not being as open-minded, so I'm very fortunate that he's willing to eat ( and enjoy) vegan meals at home. 

I've always tried to be respectful of his meal decisions (as he is with mine), so Eric being "vegan-friendly" is a good enough compromise for our family.

Overall, I feel this way about most people on a vegan journey. It really is about progress and not being perfect.

We recently tried Earth Balance cheddar popcorn and we love it! I didn't think Eric would be a fan since he usually eats Smart cheddar popcorn (which isn't vegan).

This popcorn has a hint of cheddar flavor, is non-GMO and "buttered" using Earth Balance vegan margarine. It's a winner! He even agreed that we can replace this Smart popcorn with this brand.

Woohoo!

Have you had a chance to try this popcorn? What did you think?