Friday I’m In Love: Vega Bars

May 2, 2014 by Lindsay Ingalls Leave a Comment

Disclaimer: This post was made possible by Fit Approach and Vega. I received a variety of Vega Bars to try and review on my blog. No other compensation was provided. As always all opinions are my own!

Happy Friday! Who is excited for the weekend? I am! I have a few events this weekend and plan on enjoying some quiet time with my family and my new computer – my old Mac officially died earlier this week and my new one should be here sometime today.
So let’s get down to the love of the day: Vega Bars.

I recently had the opportunity to try four different types of bars which included: Vega Snack Bar, Vega One Bar, Vega Sport Energy Bar, and Vega Protein Bar. Now I am not new to Vega, my husband and I have been long time consumers and fans of Vega products but I honestly haven’t really given the bars a try. Mostly we buy protein powders and the Vega Sport products but I think that might change now.

Let’s start with my favourite bar of the four- the Vega Snack Bar. This bar is brand new and I absolutely loved it. Seriously one of the best snack bars I have had recently and perfect for on the go or a quick snack while chasing my toddler. Speaking of toddlers, Edith also enjoyed sharing the Vega Snack Bars with me. I sampled two flavours of this bar: dark chocolate mixed nuts and sea salt and the cranberry almond. Both flavours were tasty but which one do you think I preferred? The chocolate one obviously! There are three other flavours that I now need to try once they are in stores. Which Snack Bar do you want to try first?

On to my next favourite bar- the Vega One Bar. I was a little hesitant when I opened this bar because I mean it looks like a glorified candy bar, so I mean how healthy can it really be? While it is coated in chocolate and might look and even taste like a candy bar it is also filled with protein, fiber, omega 3’s and lots of other vitamins and minerals that keep you satisfied.

I was out and about yesterday running errands so I through one in my bag to try and of course mid-morning I was getting hangry for a second breakfast (pregnant + 6am wake up = two breakfasts) so I broke out my Chocolate Cherry Almond Vega One Bar. Let’s just say this was oh so good AND it gave me the pick me up I needed and kept me satisfied until lunch. I also was sent a Chocolate Peanut Butter one that I handed off to Neil because I can’t stomach PB right now and he enjoyed it and shared a bite with E who went nuts for it.

Third kind I tried was the Vega Sport Energy Bars and well I liked them but I didn’t love them. These bars are part of the Vega Sport series which have three categories: Prepare, Sustain & Recover. The Vega Sport Energy Bars are part of the Sustain category so they are intended to be eaten mid activity to help provide you with the energy needed to complete your workouts. They come in two flavours Chocolate Coconut Almond and Apple Cherry; of the two I preferred the chocolate. I can’t see myself buying these right now because I didn’t love them for snacking on and I am not currently doing any workouts that require fueling mid-workout. I do however think that these are perfect for those who are long distance runners or cyclist or hikers who need a snack to provide them with energy and is easy to eat and digest.

The last bar I received was the Vega Protein Bar which is also part of the Vega Sports series. It is intended to be eaten post workout for recovery. These bars are filled with protein and nutrients to help recharge you and repair your muscles post workout. Now I received two of these bars and realized just before I started this post that I didn’t get to try either of them because someone (I’m looking at you Neil) ate both of them before I had a chance to even sample them! What I can tell you is that he enjoyed both the Chocolate Coconut and Chocolate Mint flavours that he tried. Now I really was looking forward to the Chocolate Coconut flavour so I guess I’ll have to get my hands on one so I can actually try it out.

Have you tried Vega bars or products? What are your favourite? What kind of bar would you most like to try? I plan on stocking up on Vega One and Vega Snack bars for postpartum nursing snacks because I know with a toddler and a newborn I’m going to need quick and easy snacks on hand and I remember newborn nursing hunger with E was 10x worse than pregnancy hunger.

{Recipe} French Lentil Dahl

November 12, 2013 by Lindsay Ingalls 2 Comments

Healthy. Cheap. Easy. Three keywords when it comes to recipes lately at our house. Lentils are just that healthy, cheap and easy to work with and they are so energizing and filling. Last week I made this dahl for dinner and Neil took it to work for lunch the next day. That same day he had the opportunity to go out for lunch (for free) but decided he would rather have leftover dahl, brussels sprouts and rice <-- that's how good this recipe is; don't believe me? Try it out for yourself and see.

French Lentil Dahl

1 teaspoon coconut oil
1 red onion, Diced
1 carrot, Peeled and Diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
15oz lite coconut milk
1 teaspoon ume vinegar
1 medium tomato, diced
2 cups French Lentils, cooked

Melt the coconut oil in a medium heavy bottom pot over medium heat. Add the carrot and onion; sautee for 7-10 minutes until softened. Stir in the garlic, curry powder, salt and pepper. Add the coconut milk, tomato, ume vinegar and lentils. Bring to a simmer, cover and reduce to low. Cook for 30 minutes. You can leave it as is but if you would like it a bit creamier remove 1-1.5 cups of the dahl and blitz in your blender until smooth; return to pot and stir to combine. Serve with rice over a bed of baby spinach.

{Recipe} Lentil Marinara

November 7, 2013 by Lindsay Ingalls Leave a Comment

Every since pregnancy I have been kind of obsessed with lentils. I started eating them more for the nutritional benefits and then I just kind of fell in love. There are so many varieties of lentils from red to beluga but today I used French lentils for this recipe. French lentils are hearty and give this sauce some meatiness while began a healthy vegan sauce. My toddler devoured this so if you’re a parent looking to get your kid to eat more protein, fruits (yes I think we forget tomatoes are a fruit) and veggies this is a great sauce to have.

Lentil Marinara

1 yellow onion, diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
3 garlic cloves minced
1-14.5oz can salt free diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup cooked French lentils
1/2 teaspoon ume plum vinegar
1/2 cup water
Olive Oil Spray

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Spray with olive oil spray and then add the onions and carrots; sautee 7-10 minutes until softened. Stir in the garlic and oregano. Add the tomatoes and lentils; stir to combine. Add your remaining ingredients and then cover and cook cover medium-low for 15 minutes. With a hand blender or a stand blender puree the ingredients. This will leave you with a thick sauce which is fine as you will want to add your pasta directly to the sauce, carrying a little pasta water with it. If you are not planning to toss this with pasta then you may want to add additional water to thin the sauce out slightly.

*I made extra of this to freeze so once I try it I’ll come back and let you know how freezing worked out.

{Recipe} Black Bean & Kale Salad with Lime Vinaigrette

August 6, 2013 by Lindsay Ingalls 2 Comments

What’s that a recipe? Yes I actually took the time to write down and measure ingredients so I could write a recipe post. Lately I have been in the kitchen just tossing things together hoping that they workout and haven’t been writing down anything but that is going to change. This recipe is one that I have been thinking about for awhile now and it is based on one of my favorite salads from a local restaurant we love.

Ingredients

1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
4 cups shredded kale
1-15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1-15oz can white beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup of fresh or defrosted corn
Lime Vinaigrette (Recipe Below)

Preheat oven to 375F. Toss sweet potato with olive oil, salt and pepper and spread onto a sheet pan. Place in the oven and bake for 25 minutes until tender and lightly browned. Toss the kale, beans and corn with the lime vinaigrette. Add the warm sweet potatoes to the salad and toss to combine. Serve room temperature.

Lime Vinaigrette:

1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons agave
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
Juice of two limes
1/4 cup EVOO

Whisk everything except olive oil together. While whisking slowly stream in the EVOO.

PDX Sites & Eats: The Cheese Plate

May 28, 2013 by Lindsay Ingalls 2 Comments

I really thought when we moved to Portland that we would spend all of our time trying the various vegan friendly food carts but honestly we have only been to a handful. While we are trying to make a better effort to diversify our food cart experiences we seem to keep coming back to The Cheese Plate.

Yes you read that correctly, The Cheese Plate.

It doesn’t seem like it would be a very vegan friendly place and at first I was skeptical of it as well but they actually have a lot of vegan options on their menu including an amazing cheese plate. This plate has a selection of their housemade crackers, housemade cashew cheese, Heidi Ho’s feta, housemade pickles and Missionary Chocolates.

I mean how could you not want to eat all of that? Plus they make two super delicious vegan grilled cheeses.

On top of that they are right next to our favorite Portland brewery Captured By Porches and if you aren’t into cheese there is an Indian cart (also vegan friendly) next door as well as a retro food cart.

Bonus on (at least) Friday nights and Sunday afternoons there are local musicians who come out to play in this little food pod area. We also love how baby/child friendly the area is so of course we will keep returning.

Although we love The Cheese Plate I guess we should try some new places as well, although we did buy two Living Socials’ for The Cheese Plate that we will be using. What are your favorite vegan friendly Portland food carts?

PDX Sites & Eats: Proper Eats

May 20, 2013 by Lindsay Ingalls 2 Comments

We’re moving! Neil landed a new awesome job that is in NE Portland so we are going to move once our lease is up in October (or maybe sooner) so until then we have decided to explore a variety of different neighbourhoods that have piqued our interest. This past weekend we decided to head to St. Johns for brunch and a little wandering.

Our main purpose of heading to St. Johns was to finally try the (mostly) vegan restaurant Proper Eats. We had actually planned to go to a different spot for breakfast and then found ourselves heading towards St. Johns so we decided to take advantage of the situation and try something new.

We picked a nice table near the back of the restaurant, grabbed a few building blocks for Edith to play with, ordered beverages and then perused the menu. After taking note of about 10 things that I would have liked to order, I narrowed it down to the tempeh scramble and the biscuits with gravy. I decided to ask our waitress which she would recommend between the two and before I could even finish asking she enthusiastically directed me towards the biscuits with gravy, she was so enthusiastic about it that Neil switched his tofu scramble order to the biscuits as well. They also had a great kids section so we ordered Edith a quinoa, black bean and cashew cheese burrito.

We watched as other patrons food arrived and I added to the list of dishes I wanted to try on our next visit (yes I was already making plans to visit again just based on the menu and other peoples’ orders). Finally our meals arrived and I couldn’t have been more impressed. The biscuits with gravy came with lots of yummy kale and veggies. Edith’s burrito came with a few pieces of fruit and was topped with avocado slices.

We all dug in and Neil threatened to steal some of mine if I didn’t watch out. Neil and I just about licked our plates clean and probably (most definitely) would have done so had we been at home. The biscuits were so delicious and the gravy was amazing. The best part is, I felt satisfied but not heavy and super full at the end of my meal. Edith also loved her burrito and devoured about half of it (okay I may have stolen a few bites). I was pretty impressed with the burrito and would have even ordered it for myself. I loved that it wasn’t salty and that it came with the avocado and fruit as well. I ended up eating the leftover burrito for dinner topped with an embarrassing amount of Aardvark Hot Sauce, so good.

After our delicious dining experience, we decided to take some photos of us in our Ergobaby carriers and took a little stroll around the area. We walked over to the St. Johns bridge, which is really beautiful and alone is worth the drive up to St. Johns. We also went to a few thrift/vintage stores where I found myself a top and a few vintage rompers for Edith. We had a great late morning/afternoon in St. Johns and we have added it to our ever growing list of potential areas to move.

If you are a PDX local, which neighborhood do you live in and why do you love it?

If you aren’t a local, tell me what your strategy is when looking to move to a new area.

{Review & Giveaway} Taste of Nature Bars

October 22, 2012 by Lindsay Ingalls

There are many days I find myself stuck on the couch with a baby on my boob making it a challenge for me to make a meal. I never understood how woman said that they forgot meals when they became moms but now I can understand. I don’t ever forget a meal but at times I find it a challenge to make a meal with such a wonderful but demanding baby. That being said I have been turning to quick, easy and healthy snacks that I can keep by the couch and in the pantry for when I need to grab something to eat but don’t have the time to make a meal.

Lately I have been enjoying Taste of Nature Bars which I first tried in my Harry & David snack tote and then again at the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon. I have sampled a variety of flavors and they are all wonderful. I love that these bars are 100% Organic, Certified Kosher, Certified Vegan, Low Sodium, Source of fiber, Source of Omega-3, Source of Energy,and Non GMO, source of antioxidants. They are also low on the glycemic index and are made with brown rice syrup and agave.

I enjoyed all of the flavors but the best one is the Canadian Maple Forest.

Giveaway: One lucky winner will receive a box of Persian Pomegranate Garden bars. (USA and Canada only). Giveaway closes 10/24 at 8pm

Winner:

Mandatory: Visit the Taste of Nature site and leave comment with which flavor you’d like to try most.

Optional: Tweet about this giveaway and come back and leave a comment saying you did so, oh and don’t forget to direct your tweet at me @runwithtongs

Disclaimer: Taste of Nature Bars provided me with their product at no cost. I was under no obligation to review them if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a giveaway. All opinions are my own.

Naturally Lindsay

vegan