Review: Hail Merry Strawberry Macaroons and OCHO Coconut Bars

When you're craving a strawberry treat, you hope your snack tastes as delicious as this macaroon from Hail Merry. It's a perfect bite.

My Vegan Cuts Snack box contained a wonderful treat from Hail Merry. The company's strawberry macaroons are little bites of chewy goodness that are bursting with strawberry flavor. 

You get the texture of shredded coconut with every chew, but all you taste is this beautiful strawberry flavor.

I haven’t tried many raw treats, but the few I have were not tasty at all. I was expecting not to like these macaroons, but they were exceptional. I would eat these all day, every day.

Another thing to keep in mind: All products sold by Hail Merry are free of corn, soy, and starches.

OCHO makes a scrumptious coconut dark-chocolate candy bar that's leaps and bounds better than a Hershey Mounds bar.

I purchased a box of eight OCHO Coconut Bars from Vegan Cuts. I was always a fan of Hershey's Mounds bar as a child, and when I saw these, I had to try them. It's been years -- decades even -- since I've eaten an Almond Joy or Mounds bar, but I do remember the overly sweet coconut filling and tasty chocolate shell.

The OCHO Coconut Bar did not disappoint. Not only is the product organic and vegan, but it's free of artificial preservatives and ingredients. Eat that, Hershey!

As you bite into the coconut bar, you get a slight crunch as you break the dark-chocolate shell. Then you taste the slightly sweet, gooey, coconut filling. You can feel the shredded coconut in your mouth, and the flavor is amazing. Before you know it, the bar is over, but you feel satisfied. That's not to say you don't want another bar right away, but you don't feel this addictive craving for another bar like you do with the conventional, overly sweet candy products on the market.

Well done, Hail Merry and OCHO -- well done!

Review: Earth Balance Vegan Cheddar Kettle Chips and The Daily Crave Veggie Chips

Earth Balance Vegan Cheddar Kettle Chips are delicious and bursting with a tangy, cheesy flavor.

The Daily Crave's Veggie Chips are crispy and have a melt-in-your-mouth quality that a lot of veggie chips have. 

My Vegan Cuts Snack Box for February contained a lot of wonderful goodies -- as shown below:

The Vegan Cuts Snack Box is a subscription service that costs $19.95 a month. 

Today, I'm reviewing two chip products from my February Snack Box: Earth Balance Vegan Cheddar Kettle Chips and The Daily Crave Veggie Chips. Both products have wonderful flavors and textures. 

Here's the breakdown on each:

The Daily Crave Veggie Chips taste like the generic veggie chips from Whole Foods, so it might be hard for this brand to distinguish itself on the market. That said, it's nice to know the product has no artificial ingredients, flavors, or colorings. It's also non-GMO and free of hydrogenated fats. I have never heard of this brand prior to my snack box arriving, so I'll keep an eye for it when I go to Whole Foods.

Earth Balance Vegan Cheddar Kettle Chips have been highly anticipated by plant-based foodies on social media. These chips definitely live up to the hype. The chips are sturdy and crunchy, as you would expect a kettle chip to be. Each bite brings on a burst of tangy, cheesy goodness, so it's very difficult to have the suggested serving size of 13 chips. I plan to savor this bag as long as possible before my order of more chips from Rabbit Food Grocery arrives (I also ordered Earth Balance's new Sour Cream and Onion flavor Kettle Chips, and I have no doubt it will be amazing). 

So, if you're lucky enough to spot Earth Balance's kettle chips at the store, stock up on these babies because I'm sure they'll sell out quickly.

Review: Eli's Earth Organic Drinking Chocolate and Cocoa Felice Hot Cocoa Mix by Coop's MicroCreamery

These two drinking-chocolate products taste horrible on their own, but when you combine them, you get a rich and satisfying cup of cocoa.

I’m a little disappointed in the chocolate-drinking mixes by Eli’s and Coop’s MicroCreamery. Neither one left me wanting for more, but I’m sure they will be suitable as baking ingredients. Coop’s product even has a recipe for chocolate pudding on the back, and reviewers have said this pudding is tasty. I’ll try it later and report back.

First, I’ll talk about Eli’s Earth Organic Drinking Chocolate. I purchased the milk-style flavor, but there’s also dark chocolate, almond, and hazelnut. One of those other flavors might be tastier than the milk-style, but I don’t intend to purchase them to find out. 

The good:

Eli’s Earth donates 5 percent of sales to non-profits that benefit children.

The bad:

There is hardly any chocolate flavor. There are scratch-and-sniff stickers that give off more chocolate essence than this drink. I followed the directions, which stated warming up 1 cup of milk and adding 2 tablespoons of the drink mix. I was interested in purchasing the almond or dark chocolate mix, but because I was buying this product for my young son, I thought the milk-style would be more inviting to his palette. I think this is definitely a drink for older children and adults because there’s no sweetness to it. And believe me, I don’t like overly sugary things, but this didn’t have any sweetness. I checked the label, and there are 15 grams of sugar in the product. Perhaps if you used a sweetened non-dairy milk (I used unsweetened), you’d enjoy the flavor more.

Next, is Cocoa Felice Hot Cocoa Mix by Coop's MicroCreamery. This only comes in one flavor.

The good: 

It’s twice the size (22 ounces) and $2.50 cheaper than Eli’s, which is 10 ounces and $12.99. 

The bad:

Talk about a complete opposite from the other product – this mix produces such a sweet-tasting drink that even my son didn’t like it. The recipe calls for adding 2 tablespoons to 3 tablespoons of mix to 1 cup of warmed up milk. I first made it with 3 tablespoons – big mistake! As I stated, it was way too sweet. My son eventually drank about half because I put in some Dandies mini marshmallows in it, and I spooned him the drink with the marshmallows. I had to dump out the rest. I made a second cup later and only used 2 tablespoons, and the drink was definitely more palatable. It was still too sweet, so I poured it into the mug with the Eli’s drink. 

These two drinks, when mixed together, produce a very nice mug of hot cocoa. There’s a deep rich cocoa flavor that’s highlighted with a hint of sweetness. Too bad you have to buy both products to achieve this tasty result. 

Review: Vegan Shelf-Stable Bacons

photo comes from my Instagram feed

Vegan bacon products can add a salty, smoky crunch to hors d'oeuvres, such as this date appetizer. Medjool dates stuffed with Tofutti cream cheese. I mixed 2T of cream cheese with one thinly sliced green onion, 2T of chopped water chestnuts (for texture), and a pinch of salt and pepper. I topped the dates with a few pieces of Phoney Baloney's Coconut Bacon.

WayFare'S Bacony Bits add a great crunch and a slightly smoky flavor to each bite of this pasta salad. To make the pasta salad, cook 1 cup of pasta. In a separate bowl, mix 1/2 cup each of shredded carrots, sliced black olives, peas, sauteed mushrooms, and chopped tomatoes (you can add more or less of these ingredients to your liking). For the sauce, I mixed 1/2 cup of vegan mayo with 3 tablespoons of yellow mustard, 1 tablespoon Dijon Mustard, 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon maple syrup, and 1 salt and pepper to taste. I had 2 tablespoons of Tofutti cream cheese left, so I mixed that in as well for extra creaminess. Feel free to add other spices and hot sauce. 

Today I’m reviewing Phoney Baloney’s Coconut Bacon and WayFare’s Pig Out Whole Grain Bacony Bits.

Here are some features of both products:

• Coconut Bacon: This gluten-free product consists of 1-inch and smaller flakes of salty, smoky goodness. Upon first bite, you taste salt, and then the flake begins to dissolve somewhat in your mouth. You taste/smell the natural hickory smoke concentrate, and you get a slight kick from the spices, which include pepper. You don't taste coconut at all. The company says their product is best consumed within six months of production and is best served as a topping because “the Coconut Bacon does not hold up well in extreme heat or moisture.” The tamari used in the coconut bacon is non-GMO. The product can be purchased on the company’s website, as well as a number of other online and brick-and-mortar retailers. See the list of sellers here.

• Bacony Bits: This soy-free product is labeled as non-GMO. It’s extremely crunchy – almost like Grape Nuts cereal (if you’re familiar with that product). Upon first bite, you definitely know you’re eating bacon bits. It tastes similar to the bacon-bit products you might have tried from large commercial manufacturers. The bits are salty, but not as salty as the coconut bacon, and there’s a great smoky aftertaste that comes from the hickory smoke powder. Reviewers have said that it’s easy to snack on the product straight from the bag, and I can see why – its crunchy texture is addicting and the smoky aftertaste is satisfying. This product can be purchased from online retailers, including: veganessentials.com, vegancuts.com, and rabbitfoodgrocery.com.

I find that both products have room in the vegan-bacon market. Those who need a soy-free product can utilize the bacon bits, while those who can’t consume gluten can enjoy the coconut bacon. Phoney Baloney’s Coconut Bacon adds a nice, slight crunch and salty-smoky flavor in tomato sandwiches and as a topping on hors d'oeuvres. WayFare’s Bacony Bits keep its crunchy texture longer than coconut bacon, so it’s great atop appetizers and as a topping on pasta salad, salad greens, and anything else you where you want to add a salty, smoky, and crunchy element.

If you don’t have any diet restrictions, I urge you to try both products. You won’t be disappointed.