And wow. They taste so so good.

There are seven flavors, of which I have tried and love five: Chocolate Brownie, Cinnamon Raisin, Lemon Ginger, Orange Cranberry, and Peanut Butter. I have not tried Espresso Chip (don’t like coffee) or Banana Walnut (don’t care for tree nuts).

Image credit here

The Gnu Bars are advertised as being fiber bars – each bar has 12 grams of fiber. I don’t need more fiber in my diet, but really enjoy the flavor and texture of these, so I have been having one from time to time.  At only 130 calories they make a great snack, and they are chewy and a bit dense – the way I like bars/cookies.

I haven’t seen these bars in the stores (maybe at Whole Foods?) and thought maybe some of you have not seen them either, so I ordered 7 more for one of you to sample!

Gnu Bars Giveaway Rules

1. One reader will receive one of each flavor of Gnu Bar: Chocolate Brownie, Cinnamon Raisin, Lemon Ginger, Orange Cranberry, Peanut Butter, Espresso Chip and Banana Walnut.
2. Required to enter the giveaway: tell me which Gnu Bar flavor you are most excited to try.  
3. This giveaway is open until 5:00 PM CST on Thursday February 9. I will use random.org to select the winner. I will announce the winner on Friday February 10. 
4. This giveaway is open to all readers.

…it is important to not forget that hunger is the price a picky eater must be willing to pay without becoming insufferable

Listen to your own advice much? The author complains that there are only two fully vegetarian restaurants in Kansas City. Um… that doesn’t mean you can’t go somewhere that serves meat and figure out what you can eat there. I mean, come on, we practically only eat out when we go to Kansas City, and it’s not in those two fully vegetarian restaurants every time. In fact, I had not even heard of one of them before (more on that below)!

Later on in the article, the author recommends checking out websites in advance for options (duh), going to a Chinese restaurant (more veg-friendly options?), and bringing your own food to eat before or after (duh). That’s all obvious to me. Of course, I am not from NYC (like the author) – where there is a higher per capita of vegetarian restaurants. But what did he expect?

While it is totally awesome to go to a restaurant and know I can order anything off of the menu, I am realistic. I know that is rarely going to be the case. I try to avoid restaurants I know won’t have anything close to a vegan option. But hey, sometimes you can’t. Get over it. 

Back to that quote – which I do love – do you know anyone who is extremely picky about food and is a martyr about it? 

I have to admit I have had my whiny baby moments. But I am getting better… right, Steven?

Alright, I kind of got off on a tangent on that silly article. I just meant to mention that I am happy Erin sent the article to me, because we were in Kansas City last weekend and went to the vegan restaurant listed in the article – Füd – and absolutely loved it!

We went with our two friends Amy and Adam, and got a nacho appetizer: (!!!)

And our own plates, which we all tried a bit of. I had macaroni and cheese, Steven had a fish filet, Adam had bbq pork and Amy had a chalupa.

What was cool is that they used very different meat substitutes that I had not even heard of! The “meat” on top of my macaroni is some sort of fruit! Who knew?! I loved it and want to go back. And try everything on the menu. 

They’re a new vegan product Steven recently added to FakeMeats.com!

Soy Curls only have one ingredient – whole soybeans – and are all natural. 

The idea is that you can substitute these in your favorite meat recipes. We decided to make a fajita mix with them!

The first thing you do is soak them in water for 10 minutes. 

Then you drain the water, season them and add to your recipe (then cook according to the recipe)!

Super simple! For the fajitas, we used the Chik-Style Seasoning (also available on FakeMeats.com, from the same manufacturer, and all natural), and Steven added taco seasoning too. 

Yum yum yum.

They turned out really good. We were both like “Holy crap, how can these be so good?!”

The chewy, pull-apart-with-your-teeth texture reminded me of Gardein products. Only a lot cheaper – under $3.50 for the 8 servings in a bag. And they don’t have to be refrigerated (but that will extend their freshness, if you do). I have a feeling we are going to be using these Soy Curls a lot. 

Since Steven has been running FakeMeats.com, it’s really given us the opportunity to try a lot of fun vegan (and vegetarian, for him) products. I love how adventurous he is in trying new things, and how many cool products there are out there!

How often do you try to cook with new products, or new to you foods? Do you stroll around the grocery store looking for new items like we do?

Truth – I did not even know what a slow cooker was, but apparently, I sent Steven a recipe a long time ago that required one. I didn’t believe we had one until he pulled it out of “junk” (sigh) cabinet.

Oh! It’s a Crock Pot! I am familiar with that word. But I am pretty sure we haven’t used this one since I’ve lived in this house (5 years this May). It was time to remedy that on Sunday! We made this Moroccan Slow Cooker Stew, and I was super impressed with how easy it was to just throw everything in the slow cooker, and let it sit for six hours. 

And I loved the way it made the house smell!

Ha ha. I didn’t realize the Crock Pot would get so messy, as it sat all afternoon. I guess that makes sense. 

The mess and wait were worth it. This stew is awesome. We made some rice to go with it, and it was the perfect combination. The recipe called for cumin, cinnamon and crushed red pepper as the spices, and it just went so well together. We will definitely be making it again!

This slow cooker is pretty nifty… do you guys have any slow cooker recipes to share with me?

It makes me laugh that this thing cooks all day… and I eat it in 5 minutes. Yeah. I still struggle with not eating too fast. 

Then I checked the mail later in the day and had a package from Caveman Cookies!

Ha ha. I had forgotten I saw their ad in a magazine and was intrigued and asked them to send me some samples to review.

But the cool thing about Caveman Cookies is that they only have a few base ingredients (they’re kind of like the Larabar of cookies!), they’re low in calories, they’re gluten-free and they’re dairy free! They’re not vegan, because they have honey in them, but… I eat honey. Sigh. I am not a real vegan. The secret’s out!

Here are their cookie flavors and ingredients:

Original Caveman Cookies: honey, almond meal, walnuts, raisins, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon.
Tropical Caveman Cookies: almond meal, honey, unsulfured coconut, macadamia nuts, ginger.
Alpine Caveman Cookies: honey, hazelnut meal, almond meal, toasted ground carob.
Rainforest Caveman Cookies: honey, almond meal, brazil nut meal, chopped almonds, dried cherries (cherries, sunflower oil), nutmeg, cayenne pepper.

I think the story to how Caveman Cookies got started is really cool:

And what is really interesting is that this cookies are designed to be a part of the paleolithic diet, which I mentioned in this post! And their little caveman guy is so cute:

Okay, on to the review! The cookies are chewy and dense, which I LOVE! I am not a fan of brittle or crunchy cookies. 

And they are not overly sweet! I think honey was the predominant taste in most of them. They reminded me more of a healthy snack, than a cookie. Which they even say in their literature “sweet enough for a dessert: healthy enough for a snack.”

I don’t think I would eat one of these as a replacement for a cookie, but if I was looking for a filling, somewhat sweet in the afternoon, I would grab one!

Want to give them a try? I have two sample cookies of each flavor to giveaway!

Caveman Cookies Giveaway Rules

1. One reader will receive two cookies of each flavor: original, tropical, alpine and rainforest. 
2. Required to enter the giveaway: leave me a comment telling me which flavor you want to try first. 
3. This giveaway is open until 5:00 PM CST on Wednesday January 18. I will use random.org to select the winner. I will announce the winner on Thursday January 19. 
4. This giveaway is open to all readers.

An entirely vegan restaurant (Native Foods Cafe) opened across the street from my office. This… could be bad. Vegan cupcakes, only a 2 minute walk away? Vegan chicken wings? Vegan Mac and Cheese?!

Ahh! I must be good. I must be good. I must be good. (Ironically, I have a post scheduled for tomorrow about willpower. Hmm).

It’s really rare for me to find a place where I can walk in and order anything off of the menu (and I recognize it’s my own choice to live this way). It’s actually overwhelming.

Today, I went with a bowl – tempeh on rice with kale, veggies, curry sauce, cranberries and green onions. The presentation was stunning.

My coworker went with a different bowl – tofu, veggies, quinoa, currants and almonds. We agreed hers was better! Mine was very good too.

We grabbed a menu so we can mark all the things we’ve tried. Ha!

Chicago bloggers – if you are looking to meet-up… let me know! Let’s just get there early. There was quite a line!

Here’s the thing – I normally get hooked on an energy bar, eat too many of them, and never want to eat them again (hello most Clifbars, Larabars, Odwalla, many LUNA flavors…). 

But these Chocolate Dipped Coconut bars from LUNA are so addictive. I have not hit my “never eating you again” point with them. Maybe I have found true love (in bar form)?

All joking aside, I never have more than one of these a day, and try not to eat one a day. But I found myself repeatedly buying them at Target when I ran out of stock at home so I decided to take the plunge and get these huge boxes from Amazon (at a better overall price). 

How long do you think 30 LUNA bars will last me? I’ll send one to whomever guesses most accurately. Ha ha. So, actually, how long do you think 29 LUNA bars will last me?

Do you eat energy bars*? What is your favorite kind?

*I am not really even sure how an energy bar is defined, and I bet these are just as bad as candy bars. Oh well… I guess if someone can tell me otherwise, that would be nice!

I’ve been telling my favorite coworker that I would like to try loose leaf tea and she got me this neat IngenuiTEA Teapot and some loose leaf tea for Christmas!

This teapot is so cool. Have you ever seen anything like it? I hadn’t! You put the loose leaf tea in, then add the hot water, let it steep, then put it on a cup and it pours in to the cup! I made a video for you. Ha ha. 

I am really digging this rooibos tea she gave me called “eggnog.” It’s funny though – I love it, but the smell reminds Steven of the smell of pipe tobacco before you smoke it! We have really different tastes in tea!

Do you like loose leaf tea? What kind?

I am excited to go to the store and get some new stuff to try. I did ask my coworker to bring me some more of this eggnog tea (she got it in her hometown, where she is now for the holiday).

It’s interesting, thinking about the Paleolithic diet compared to the vegan one I (mostly) follow. I try to eat a lot of veggies and fruit, but not fish or meat.  I also avoid dairy. But definitely not grains and legumes! In fact, the fake meat sausage we substituted in for the sausage in this recipe has vital wheat gluten as the fifth ingredient. It’s interesting how many different food lifestyles (“diets”) there are out there. 

Do you know anyone who follows the Paleolithic diet?

Anyway, we finally made this recipe this weekend. Holy cow, it was amazing. I wasn’t sure what to expect… but all the different ingredients went together so well. 

You basically take your favorite tomato sauce and puree it with some roasted red peppers, olive oil and basil. That is the base. Then you layer the sliced butternut squash. 

Put the sauteed “sausage,” onion and garlic mix on top of that, 

Then another layer of sauce. 

Repeat each layer one more time and bake! Super simple.

It totally fell apart when we took it out of the dish, but Steven thought maybe layering the squash would help with that (the recipe said not to layer it). 

Yum yum yum. It was just so savory and good. It got a bit crispy on top, and I liked that little crunch in some of the bites!

I’ve been doing the vegan thing for about 2.5 years, and if I had to make a list of foods I miss eating now that I am vegan it would be very short… but Fettuccine Alfredo would be on the top of the list! Yum, how I loved to get a dish of creamy Fettuccine Alfredo, devour it all and feel sick to my stomach later.

Do you like Fettuccine Alfredo? What is your favorite Italian dish?

A few weeks ago, Steven whipped up a quick vegan Alfredo sauce. We were both amazed at how simple, yet tasty it was. He tweaked it just a little bit, and now we have Fettuccine Fauxfredo!

Fettuccine Fauxfredo (makes 8 servings)

Ingredients:

• 2 c broth
• 1 c soy milk
• 4 tsp nutritional yeast
• 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 2 tbsp margarine
• 1/8-1/4 tsp salt (to taste)
• 2 – 2 1/2 tbsp cornstarch (until desired thickness is achieved)
• 1/4 c cold water
• 1 box Fettuccine noodles

And Data even came by to say hi. 

In fact… Data sat on the table for much of the last hour of the call being a grumpypuss. He did not like that we were on the computer for so long! He kept getting on the counters and fridge. He had a time out and attacked Steven when he left time out. Later that night (after the call) he chewed a hole through a comforter, then spent the night chewing on his stocking while we were sleeping. I don’t think Santa is going to be leaving anything for Data (which is a shame because I think Santa had two gifts for Data)!

Sigh. I hope Data is not turning in to one of those old grumpy cats. He’s only 9ish!