Gut Punch, Unicorns, & Vegan Cheese

DH and I got a fairly early start this morning and drove to Buffalo Wholefoods - among other places.  While I stopped in at WF I picked up a few things that were things I have been looking for, haven't been able to find in other places, found at a low price, or really needed.  One of the first items I want to share with you is this Farmhouse Culture Cola Gut Punch Sparkling Probiotic Veggie Drink.  Farmhouse Culture the brand known for its probiotic-rich Kraut, fermented veggies and Gut Shots, has introduced a ready-to-drink sparkling probiotic beverage line called Gut Punch. It comes in five flavors, including Mango Guava, Ginger Lemon, Cola, Strawberry Hibiscus and Cherry Cacao. Made with a fermented beet base and infused with real fruit essences, the line contains no added sugar added, with each variety retailing for a suggested $3.79 per bottle, however, it was $3.99 at Buffalo Wholefoods.  Normally, I wouldn't spend that much for a Booch or other Probiotic beverage but it looked really interesting and I probably won't be able to visit another WF for 4 to 6 months.  Personally, I wanted to grab the Mango Guava but I thought DH might like to try the Cola and we could split it.  He tried it and hated it.  I tried it and it was ok.  VERY different.  Glad I tried it - probably wouldn't spend the money on it again unless it was drastically reduced and on sale.  


Over the next several days I will share more of my WF Finds with you but I also wanted to tell you about our trip to Barnes & Noble!  Since we don't normally get each other or much for Christmas we decided to pick up a few things while we were out today.  DH went to a couple of music stores and found some interesting things and I found 4 books at B&N.  

Before I share the first of the 4 books I grabbed I thought I would show you these cute i-Clips.  They are magnetic bookmakers with Unicorns on them!  Many of you know that I collect Unicorns and I knew I just HAD to have them!  They are small but fun.  There are 4 sets of 2 for a total of 8 i-Clips!

There was snow on the ground in and around Buffalo.  A couple of inches in yards but the roads were clear.  Near our house we didn't get any of the snow they were calling for but my sister about a half hour away got about 4 inches.  I was lucky enough to spend time with her and my niece Trinity yesterday for a couple of hours and then DH and I met up with some friends and stopped by a small town for a Christmas Walk.  It was VERY COLD.

Sorry...back to...TODAY!  Here is the first of 4 books I wanted to share with you from our B&N Buffalo Trip.  Vegan Cheese by Jules Aron.  I've only thumbed thru a few of the recipes so far and I can't wait to try to make some of the cheeses!

I will try and spread the other books throughout future posts.  The more I have been thinking about the Virtual Bookshelf the more I feel like I need to do it myself and not use a widget or app.  It's going to take a LONG time but little by little I hope to add more and more books to my bookshelf.

I've also decided to start including more music to my posts.  At first I was thinking about adding a song to each post but maybe I will do a Monday Music Mention or something to kick things off.  What do you think!?

Blissful Journey Outing ~ Trader Joe's, Barnes & Noble, and Eats ~ In Buffalo

This past weekend we drove over to the Buffalo area and went to a few places.  Our main focus was their new Trader Joe's.  Eventho it's still almost 2 hours for us to get there - it's closer for us compared to the one in Pittsburgh by at least a half hour.  I was pretty pleased with the experience.  We got there around 9-ish and beat the rush for the most part.  I only spent about $75 or so and $7+ of it was a stylish new Freezer Bag - reusable - of course and another $7 was Pine Nuts. So for around $60 I got the rest...including but not limited to...

* Fire Roasted Tomato/Corn Salsa

* Light Coconut Milk

* Chickpeas (2)

* Lg Jar of Marinara Sauce

* Vegan Enchilada Sauce

* Sriracha Sauce

* Coconut Chips

* At least 4 different frozen Indian Dishes (more on that down the road)

* Falafel

* Tomatoes

* Roasted Veggie Pizza (no cheese)

* Frozen Kale

* Frozen Brussell Sprouts

* Whole Grain Dinner Rolls

* British "English" Muffins

* Corn Chips (2-pounds)

* Tofu 2-pack

* Frozen Carrots

* 2 different kinds of Veggie Burgers that I haven't tried before

* Tempeh

* A couple of "quick" vegan meals to have on hand and to use/eat sparringly

I MAY have missed a few things in there but that gives you a good idea of what I got!

I then went over to Barnes & Noble but didn't buy anything.  I was just REALLY excited they had not only a vegetarian cookbook section but ALSO a Vegan Cookbook Section!  There were a LOT of books missing that I was curious about but VERY thankful that they were there and clearly marked regardless!  My husband wants me to buy them via iTunes so I can have them on my iPad and iPhone so I MIGHT start trying to do that, I suppose :)

In our travels I went to a Pet Supply store to get Riley a Slow-Feeder for his dinner bowl - I'm sure I will blog about that in the future, too!  DH wanted to go to a tool place and found some 'good deals'.  We went to lunch at a burger place - and they did have vegetarian options - but I had to tweak it a bit because the veggie burgers had cheese mixed IN them.  I opted for a sandwich like conversion that included Avocado, Lettuce, Tomato, Onion, Hummus, on a specialty roll.  The highlight, tho, was this Salad.  With your meal you get a trip to their salad bar and it was a pretty good salad bar.  They made their own dressings and I chose the Lemon Herb.  On my salad I loaded up on various lettuces, dried cranberries, carrots, chickpeas, sunflower seeds, mushrooms, and roasted red peppers.  It was GOOD.  Overall it was OK but not great and hubby didn't like his 'meat eaters version' so I doubt we will ever go back since there are so many other options up that way.  The salad WAS the highlight for me and you can pretty mush get that anywhere, ya know!?

 

We pre-ordered some food to take home from another restaurant that has been a favorite of mine called Pizza Plant.  They serve much more than just Pizza, however.  They have Vegetarian, Vegan, and Gluten-Free options.  I decided to get one of their Pizza Pods but veganize it.  The one I had was stuffed with Spinach, Artichokes, Onion, and Sauce with Garlic "Crust".  It was YUMMY!  I REALLY wanted to get their signature Vegan Cheesecake but they were all out of it...BUMMER!

 

I have several other things to post about but will stop there or this post may be another MILE LONG!  Until tomorrow!