Review Round-Up

I don’t want to give you review overload, but I realized that I’ve tried quite a few new-to-me products lately, and maybe you’d be interested to hear what I think. I’m always interested to hear what I think, after all.
There are a few mock meat products, as well as other items I’ve enjoyed lately. Click to the full post to read all my mini-reviews.
Quorn Turk’y Burgers — (Pictured) I’d seen these around the blog world, but it wasn’t until just the other day that I finally spotted them at a Whole Foods. I snapped them up! When I opened the box, I was disappointed by the size; they’re thick, but not very big around, which made it tricky to eat as a burger. But the flavor was absolutely fabulous. It’s not quite the same as the Quorn Turk’y Roast (it was even better, I thought), and the texture is much more ‘juicy’ than the roast, as well. I will give Quorn the benefit of the doubt and assume that making a bigger, flatter patty would result in a dryer burger. I will definitely continue to buy these, especially if they make their way to my mainstream supermarkets.

Whole Foods Soy Crispettes — (Also pictured) I picked these up after enjoying the Newman’s Own Organics soy crisps. I tried the cheddar flavor, and I really, really like them. Like the Newman’s crisps, these are basically tiny rice cakes (except made from soy, so they’re a good source of protein). They have a decent amount of the magic orange cheese powder, which is satisfyingly junky-tasting (without actually being junk).
Light Life Smart Bacon — I’ve always bought Morningstar ‘bacon’ strips in the past (although infrequently), but I picked these up when I noticed how much more nutritionally impressive they were — much more protein. They don’t taste very dissimilar to Light Life’s deli ‘ham’ slices, but they still make a great veggie BLT.
Vegetarian Plus Black Pepper Steak — I got these at Whole Foods on my birthday, because I wanted to try something new. The little ‘steak’ medallions come frozen in the black pepper sauce, although you can separate the individual pieces without needing to thaw it all (but it’s soooo cooold to do so!). They remind me a lot of the fake beef used at the Evergreen, a Chinese restaurant in Minneapolis that has a mock-meat version of every dish on their menu (awesome). The fake steak pieces are very good in fried rice, but I don’t think I’d use them for a non-Asian-inspired meal.
Barney Butter — I’m in love with Barney Butter. This is another product I’d seen floating around on the blogs, and I finally got around to ordering the free sample packets a few weeks ago. Imagine the best-tasting almond butter with the consistency of Skippy or Jif, and you have Barney Butter. It’s produced in a 100% almond factory, which is great for those of you who have other nut allergies, but I like it just because it’s amazingly good. The only downside is ordering it off the website (it’s not available in brick-and-mortar shops in all states, like Minnesota, say) — shipping costs more than the actual jars! But you can buy a three-pack off Amazon.com for $23, and it counts towards their free shipping with a $25+ order. I convinced Alex to go thirdsies with me (I’m keeping two jars), because the stuff is like a drug. They send out free samples, knowing you’ll get hooked once you’ve tried it!