Vegan
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Product review: CO YO coconut yoghurt
CO YO, the wonderful company making coconut yoghurt available for those who can’t tolerate dairy (or choose not to have it), has been around for a while but has been recently trying to expand their reach. Their yoghurts are vegan and free of dairy, soy, gluten, lactose, and added sugar. They have quite a few varieties that come in tubs from 250g up to 1k. All flavours contain organic coconut milk (88% in the fruit varieties, 98% in the plain and chocolate), starch (tapioca, pectin), stevia and live vegan cultures including Lactobacillus casei, L. rhamnosus, L. acidophilus, L. bulgaricus, Bif. bifidum, Bif. lactis, and S. Thermophilus. Note: I’m not quite…
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Product review: Luz cold pressed almond milk
As a FFG (former fat girl) I’m cautious when it comes to liquid calories. I drink mostly water, mineral water, black coffee or tea, but when I saw these little bottles in my local health food shop I couldn’t resist. Not only the bottles were cute, but the label read espresso with cold pressed almond milk followed by “gluten free, dairy free, soy free, cholesterol free (duh!), no additives or preservatives”. Sounded too good to be true. The label on the bottle next to it read Medjool dates with cold pressed almond milk. This is *real* almond milk (as opposed to the boxed varieties), so it sediments (give it a…
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Product review: Kitz Living Foods
Nuts, seeds and other plant foods (grains, legumes, etc.) contain anti-nutrients that can keep our bodies from digesting them properly and absorbing minerals and other micro-nutrients (for a longer explanation read this article). Cooking, soaking, sprouting and fermenting are ways to reduce the anti-nutrient content of foods. Nuts and seeds that have been soaked (usually overnight) and then dried at a low temperature are commonly known as “activated”. Kitz Living Foods offers activated nuts and seeds and snack products made with them that are free from: gluten, wheat, dairy, yeast, eggs, soy, peanuts, sesame, fish, shellfish and cane sugar. They are raw, vegan and made from mostly organic ingredients. We’ve…
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Product review: CocoLuscious organic coconut ice cream
On my very first visit to Paleo Cafe one of the many things that grabbed my eye was CocoLuscious organic coconut ice cream. The fact that Alvaro was not there was the perfect excuse to buy a tub to bring home. With many flavours to choose from it was very tempting to grab one of each but the price tag ($12+) helped with restricting the purchase. That first tub was the tropical (a.k.a. plain coconut) flavour. The ingredients are coconut milk, agave nectar, desiccated coconut and guar gum. I know… not perfect but much better than commercial ice cream. It was delicious, and while less sweet than sugar-loaded ice cream,…
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Recipe: Lúcuma smoothie
Here’s a 2-ingredient recipe for a great tasting smoothie. We used lúcuma powder because we love it and get it cheap every time we go back home (you can buy it here but it’s freaking expensive). You can substitute cacao powder or fresh/frozen fruit. The possibilities are endless.
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Product review: Spiral Foods organic coconut paste
In a recent visit to Bondi Junction I realised this is the suburb I should be living in. Aside from awesome places to eat (a review coming soon), there are a few great health food shops. One of my purchases that day was a box of Spiral Foods organic coconut paste sachets. The package reads “coconut paste can be used in soups, casseroles, curries, sauces, stir-frys, ice-cream and desserts to add a creamy texture and a great coconut flavour”. I have used it to make dairy-free “ice cream” (try this amazing recipe) but I view it more as a portable snack. It’s essentially the same product as the creamed coconut…
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Product review: Artisana nut butters
I had been wanting to try these nut butters for a while since I saw them in my local health shop but I couldn’t justify paying $3+ for a small sachet. I finally found the perfect excuse to give them a shot: I’ll be travelling soon and need to bring some portable nutrition. Artisana sachet products include nut butters (almond, cashew, pecan, macadamia and walnut – the butters contain nothing but nuts), coconut butter, coconut oil, and cacao bliss, a chocolate spread made with coconut butter, coconut oil, agave syrup, cacao and cacao butter. All of the ingredients are organic. For some reason I messed up when grabbing the sachets…
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Product review: Kimchi
Kimchi rocks. I love the stuff but so far I’ve been too lazy to attempt making at home and I didn’t know where to buy it. One day after attending a tech event I decided to stop at Maruyu on my way to Town Hall. While browsing the refrigerated section I found Park’s kimchi. The ingredients list looked pretty clean (it does have sugar but at least is listed after salt). Good stuff. So far my favourite way of eating it is with sardines and avocado, wrapped in nori. Not long after that I stopped at Miracle Supermarket on King Street to buy some shrimp paste. I was pleased to…
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Product review: Yerba mate
If you’ve ever been to Argentina or Uruguay, you may have noticed pretty much everyone walks around with a hot water bottle, a small round vessel called mate that contains green yerba mate leaves and a metal straw called bombilla. They sip yerba mate all day long, pouring more hot water as needed. That is the “proper” (i.e. traditional) way of consuming yerba mate, although the demands of modern life have driven the production of convenient teabags that you can pop in your mug. Yerba mate is highly regarded for its stimulant effects and antioxidant content. Another benefit that is probably less known is that it’s very good at keeping…
- Blog, Dairy-free, Gluten-free, Low-carb, Peruvian, Peruvian food, Recipes, Side dish, Vegan, Vegetarian
Recipe: Salsa criolla
Traditional tangy Peruvian salsa to serve with… anything!
