Thursday, February 16, 2017

Review of Silk's Unsweetened Creamy Cashew Milk - Original





When I first tried this, I loved the taste. It tasted a little bit like those ice cream toppings I used to have as a kid. It is also much creamier than the other milk alternatives (like rice, almond, and even soy milk).

I like that they made this unsweetened version. It helps me to continue eating sugar-free.

The ingredients list is not too bad, but of course could be better ("sunflower lecithin" and "natural flavour" sound like euphemism words for something not so natural and probably not so healthy).

It's nice that it's non-GMO. But would be better if it were organic too.


I have been buying this when it's on sale, and will continue to buy it (when it's on sale and the other items on sale are of the same quality).

I know Silk is no saint when it comes to ingredients, but unfortunately there aren't that many better options at the grocery store.

Thursday, February 2, 2017

Review of Daiya's Cheezy Mac - Deluxe Style Alfredo


http://daiyafoods.com/our-foods/cheezy-mac/deluxe-alfredo-style/


My opinion of this product is very similar to the one for the Cheddar flavour.

When I opened the package, I noticed again how small the pasta is.
 IT did grow after cooked, though.

However, like the cheddar, the Alfredo sauce tasted just like the regular cheesed Alfredo sauce. There was still a very slight chemical taste, but not nearly as much as the cheddar.

Similar to the cheddar, the Alfredo sauce also tasted a bit sandy. I don't know if that's the sugar of if it's something else that doesn't dissolve properly.

Talking about sugar, I was again weary of eating this because it contains refined sugar. I looked at the box and it says "Sugars: 0g" so I understand why I bought it. But it is listed in the ingredients list, so I know there is a little bit.

Still on sugar, I also felt a small "more more more" addictive craving for this pasta. Not nearly as much as the cheddar, but still a little bit.

I wouldn't buy this again because of the sugar, but in terms of taste it is ok.

Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Review of Great Value's Organic Corn Flakes



For those who don't know, this is a brand owned by Walmart.

I decided to give this one a try because a) it has no sugar, b) I love trying new things and c) I want to encourage Walmart to keep on making affordable organic food. I'm hoping it will help people (who think they can't afford organic) get into organics.

Overall the cereal is ok. I think it's a good transition for those who already eat normal corn flakes. It tastes just like the non-organic corn flakes.

But if you are spoiled like me and have been eating only whole grains for 2 years, I'm pretty confident you will find this cereal tasteless.

Ever since I switched to whole grains, whenever I eat white bread it tastes like I'm eating air - because of the lack of fibers and nutritional value. So after eating President's Choice' Ancient Grains for over a year, this one tastes like paper. (In fact, looking at the Nutrition Facts on both boxes, the PC cereal has 3 times more fiber than the GV one!)

It is cheaper than the PC, though. So if you are tight on budget or want to try switching to organic, this could be a good option.

Personally, I won't buy it again. For me, the nutritional value of the PC cereal is worth the extra money.

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Review of PC Organic's Ancient Grains

http://www.extrafoods.ca/en_CA/products/productlisting/pc_organics_ancient_grains_cereal18222.html

This cereal has quickly become one of my favourites.

After I found out that Whole O's now has refined sugar in the ingredients, I went looking for a replacement for my daily cereal.

And I was pleasantly surprised to find this one. In fact, I've been pleasantly surprised to find a lot of organic products from the PC brand. It's made organic food much more affordable.

The fact that the cereal only has whole grains and - more importantly - no refined sugar, was what made me try it.
And after I tried, I loved it!
I have been buying and eating this for months now.


I haven't found any other organic cold cereal that doesn't have refined sugar for sale, so this (and the 7 Reasons flavour) are the only cold cereals I currently buy.

I wish PC would make other organic cereals without sugar. They have a lot of other organic cereals but they unfortunately all have sugar (or its euphemisms). But I'm glad that there are at least 2 that don't have sugar. It's better than nothing.

I am becoming a big fan of PC Organics products.

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Re-review of Whole O's Cereal







On my initial review of this product I mentioned that it didn't have refined sugar. It was the reason why I sang its praises and why I kept buying this cereal - until recently.

One of these days, I was looking at the bigger package of this product (the one that comes in a plastic bag) and I noticed that it had refined sugar. I thought it was odd that the big container had refined sugar and the small one didn't. So I grabbed the box from the shelf and checked the ingredient list - and there it was: sugar (disguised as "granulated sugar cane juice").

So I never bought this product again. It's sad to see that this company sold itself out (to the pressures of sugar producers? or to the pressures of uneducated consumers who are addicted to sugar?) and decided to add refined sugar to this product. This was the only product that I still bought from them (all the other ones already had sugar in the recipe). Now I have no reason to buy anything from them. Goodbye, Nature's Path.

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Review of Daiya's Cheezy Mac - Deluxe Cheddar Style


http://daiyafoods.com/our-foods/cheezy-mac/deluxe-cheddar-style/

I bought this product because I love trying new things, and I do enjoy the shredded and block cheeses from this company.


My first disappointment came when I opened the box. There was another package for the pasta inside. These days I am working on being more conscious of my waste footprint by making an effort to avoid buying products that have a lot of unnecessary extra packaging (for example, individually wrapped toilet paper). So it was disappointing to have to open (nevermind throw away) another package just to get to the pasta.

The instructions were clear and easy to follow, for the most part. I almost missed the "drain" step because of how their instructions are formatted: one column with the verbs and the other with the rest of the sentence (for example "cook" and then "for 7-8 min"). But in the "drain" step, the sentence next to it is not the rest of the sentence (like "pasta using a colander") but rather another step ("return to sauce pan"). In my opinion, that verb ("return") and the rest of its sentence ("to sauce pan") should be in a new row.

The other thing I noticed was how smaller the macs were when compared to regular original Kraft Mac and Cheese (from what I remember - it's been years since I've had it). However, after mixing the cheese, they did look just like the original one.

Looking at the package, I was disappointed to notice that it has refined sugar (and wondered why I had bought this product if that was the case). But since it is listed as 0g in the nutritional facts, I thought it might be ok (and maybe that's why I bought it). I was wrong. Hours after eating it I kept getting the same addictive urge from my brain that I get when I eat refined sugar: I want to have "more, more, more".
It was disappointing because their cheeses don't have refined sugar. I don't know why they decided to add it to this product.

The cheese sauce itself didn't taste completely creamy. I felt some grains in my mouth (like when you put a but too much cocoa powder in your milk and it doesn't all dissolve). Or maybe I just didn't keep it in the pan for long enough?

It does taste almost the same as the Kraft M&C (from what I remember). But that also means it still tastes kinda unhealthy, artificial, chemical.

I think if I just buy the separate mac and put their own cheese into it, it will taste better than this product - and wont have sugar.
Either way, I wont be buying this product again.

I'm sad to give such a bad review because I do like this brand. But I have to be honest with my readers and myself.

Friday, November 18, 2016

Review of OrganicVille's Ketchup







This ketchup tastes amazing! The seasoning is very good.

However, I don't know how refined Agave Nectar is, so I don't know how bad that sugar really is. But I've seen it as a liquid for sale, so I know it's not nearly as bad as the white refined powdered sugar.

I would buy this brand all the time if I could actually find it for sale.