No One else seems to be blogging, so here we go again…

Monday, I had Amy’s Organic Medium Chili. It was hearty, full of vegetable protein, red kidney beans, onions, peppers, jalapenos and more, rounded out this fall dinner. I added a dollop of red hot pepper puree, which was a nice addition. It was quite filling, flavorful, and rich. The spices seemed to be slow cooked which is what makes a good chili. Chili is an art, especially vegetarian chili. Amy has succeeded.

Tuesday was Amy’s Organic Margherita Pizza. Unlike Ellios, this pizza actually cooks in the oven, rather than simply defrosting. The pizza is small, about 8 inches, but is filling. Traditional Margherita pizza is fresh tomatoes, fresh mozzarella along with basil and other spices. Amy uses this same traditional recipe. The pizza cooked thoroughly, but the pizza itself, was rather boring. The crust was my favorite part. It’s thick, not too mushy and doughy, and it toasts up a bit in the oven. The pizza does not need to be cooked on a cookie sheet; in fact, they suggest the opposite (just directly on the oven rack) in order to get the maximum crispiness. If you like frozen pizza, try this healthy alternative.

Wednesday, Amy E’s Organic Pecan Praline Biscotti. Amy E, no relation to Amy’s Kitchen, produces and sells biscotti. I tried the Pecan Praline this week. It’s organic and vegetarian. Biscotto is traditionally hard and crunchy and this followed those rules. In fact, it was so crispy that it broke off into perfect bite sized pieces. The pecans and pralines are sweet and crunchy which made it a perfect lunchtime snack. Amy E’s simple packaging is easily disposed of in the proper way.

Thursday I ate Amy’s Organic Chunky Tomato Bisque Soup. The simple recipe consists of organic tomatoes, cream and spices. It’s hearty, warming and filling. The soup is smooth and the chunks of tomatoes make it even better. The only thing missing is the grilled cheese sandwich.

Friday I ate Amy’s New Indian Paneer Tika frozen entrée. Basmati rice, spinach potatoes and paneer (Indian Cottage Cheese) in a mild tomato sauce make up this dish. Five minutes in the microwave and you’re set. The rice is traditional basmati cooked with carrots and spices. The spinach is quite plain and not full of garlic and spice, a common occurrence at Indian restaurants around New Jersey. The potatoes are soft and not too salty. The paneer is cut into cubes and sits inside the mild tomato sauce. The complexity of the flavors of the paneer seems to get lost in this dish. The paneer seemed way too mild. This dish was an average tasting meal.

This week was devoted to Amy. Amy’s Kitchen also has a promotion in conjunction with 10 Minute Solutions where you can visit Amys.com and download a free video then receive coupons to purchase the full 10 Minute Solutions DVD. This promotion starts in January and ends at the end of April.

Check that out by visiting Amy’s Diet Plan.

There have been many Amy’s reviews before and there will be more. More Amy E’s reviews will be coming soon. Don’t forget to visit AmysKitchen.com or AmyE.com

COME VISIT, Leafygreen.info FOR TONS MORE REVIEWS!

Just Tomatoes is an independent company whose product is tasty, yet simple. Just Tomatoes sells mainly dried fruits and veggies with a hint of real fruit in the mix. Most recently, I have been eating the Just Pomegranate and Organic Just Gone Bananas.

The pomegranate seeds are freeze-dried, antioxidant-rich, healthy and crunchy. I added them into granola for a crunchy bite, however they are just as powerful as a snack. Recipes are available, or be creative and make your own.

The Organic Just Gone Bananas are amazing. The crunchy yet soft banana chips are incredible. The flavor of the banana is well preserved and tastes more bananariffic than regular ripened bananas.

The chips are sliced thick and most of the nutritional value is preserved during the freezing process. I ate the banana chips by themselves, but also stacked them on a peanut butter sandwich.

Just Tomatoes products are wonderful and their simple, kid friendly packaging will appeal to everyone.

Check out justtomatoes.com for more information and check back soon for more reviews.

Go ahead and click over to Leafygreen.info for more information and to read a TON more reviews!!

Two of my favorite foods wrapped up in healthy goodness. Spinach and Tofu cooked Indian style with onions, soybeans, garlic, jalapeno, turmeric and Amy’s blend of secret vegan spices. This frozen wrap is perfect for a quick lunch. It’s got 11 grams of protein, fiber, Vitamin A, lots of iron, and a fair amount of good fat.

The organic spinach/tofu mixture heats up thoroughly, leaving no random cold parts. The wrap is perfect for lunch, a snack, dinner and even breakfast. Then again, I LOVE spinach.

Amy’s products never cease to disappoint me and I’d encourage you to try them out.

Amy’s website is full of information and if you’re new to the healthy, vegetarian/vegan, organic lifestyle, check out their easy to follow legend.

Stay tuned for more Amy’s Kitchen reviews and read other reviews here.

Visit AmysKitchen.com if you’re hungry.

View more reviews like this at Leafygreen.info

A little off topic, but it is vegan…

What a really interesting concept. Reclaiming elephant poo and recycling it into useable paper. See, elephants produce a hefty amount of dung each day and there are many undigested fibers that can be reclaimed and used for other purposes.

The Great Elephant Poo Poo Paper Company collects the dried elephant dung from Elephant Conservations and brings it back to their Poo Shop to start the process of making the paper. The process of making the Poo Poo Paper is tedious. It requires taking the dung to the shop, cleaning the dung, boiling the fibers, adding other natural fibers from pinnapples and bananas, laying the raw product out, drying the product (on trees outside, not with heaters) and then creating the unique paper.

The Poo Poo Paper Company gives part of their profits back to the welfare and conservation for elephants. Their slogan is “The Most Ecologically Responsible Products in a Really Long Time” and I’d agree. This all natural poo poo paper is a site to be seen.

I really love the idea and the product does not fail to disappoint me either. The journal has a dark, rustic, red cover, which is really beautiful. It is full of chunks and strands of fibers. Inside the journal are sheets of paper with beige fibrous strands.

Writing on the paper is not difficult, but you may have to write with a little more umph than you are used to. Sometimes, you may stumble across a fiber strand that is large… hey, just go with the flow and write directly over it, it will work.

The paper does not have any odor at all. It’s completely clean and awesome. When I first heard of the idea, I was blown away and I had to find out more. I am so glad I did. The Great Elephant Poo Poo Paper Company is wonderful and their ingenious idea is right on the money. This would definitely be a perfect gift for anyone who is environmentally friendly, into elephants, or just into unqiue, cool stuff.

The journal I have is just the beginning, however. There are so many other products to choose from like the different size journals, stationery, noteboxes (like nonstickie-stickies) and sets of various items. Check out their Poo-Tique for all the options.

I have to agree with another slogan of theirs… “Two Bums Up!”

Check out poopoopaper.com for all your poo needs. Let them know who flung you over there.

More at Leafygreen.info

The other night, I set out for a healthy alternative to burger and fries I started out by cooking Amy’s new Bistro Burgers, a hearty, grainy, veggie burger. The veggie burger is full of pinto beans, organic brown rice, assorted veggies, mushrooms and a hint of barbecue sauce. The burger is much larger than your traditional veggie burger and really holds up and stays firm when it’s cooked. It’s vegan, gluten free and low fat.

While cooking the veggie burger up on the range, I put a few of Linda’s Gourmet Latkes in the toaster oven, set the temperature and waited while the bite size potato and onion delicacies cooked up. Latkes, in case you aren’t aware, are a traditional Jewish/Yiddish food typically found during the Hanukah season. They are typically a combination of shredded potatoes and onions. They are also known as Potato Pancakes. Linda’s Latkes really have the homemade texture and taste. The bite size latkes are perfect for entertaining or as a small side dish. Typically, latkes are supposed to be eaten with applesauce or sour cream, but I dislike that.

When cooking Linda’s Latkes be careful of your temperature of the oven and your timing. They will burn and become to crisp and crunchy quickly due to the small size of the pancake itself. If you like them crunchy, then don’t watch out, but this is my warning.

I topped the Bistro Burger with some more barbecue sauce, a hint of Tabasco Chipotle Sauce and some Jersey tomatoes and ate them with a few of Linda’s Latkes.

If you are located near California, you can purchase Linda’s Gourmet Latkes from various stores and a few others around the US. Linda makes it easy to purchase if you live somewhere where it’s not available. They have their online store and there are only two choices, large or bite size.

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I’ve been thinking about how to become a freelance writer. Writing itself has always interested me, and I’ve written fiction and blogs for years and years now. I haven’t done a lot of nonfiction, but I’ve done some, and I love the idea of turning a pedestrian-seeming topic into an interesting story and educating people a little at the same time. There’s also the possibility of a baby and a move in the next few years that would be greatly benefited by a flexible money-making occupation–but at heart, I want to be a freelancer because I love to write.

So I’ve been reading books and articles and websites, looking for the how-I-began stories of freelance writers, trying to figure out how to get into it. From what I’ve learned, there are two ways: send out queries with article ideas until someone likes an idea and asks you to write the article, or write articles and send them out until someone buys them. Rinse and repeat. It’s that simple. Not necessarily easy–no one says easy–but simple.

But I mostly still sit in front of my computer, making lists of article ideas and thinking, “How do I get into this? What do I do?” Even though I’m pretty sure I already know. Even though I haven’t even tried yet. (Aside from a single submission I never got a response on.) I know that I need to stop researching and start writing, but I don’t do it.

I wonder if this is the way that some omnis feel when confronted by the idea of a vegetarian diet: the failed vegetarians, the I-have-no-willpower sympathizers, perhaps even the you-can’t-thrive-without-meat naysayers. I wonder if these people read the research, talked to people, realized it was a good idea–but still couldn’t do it. They were afraid to give up the way of life they knew. Or they felt it couldn’t be that easy. Or they didn’t want to make the effort to change. Or they were sure they were going to fail. I wonder if, in essence, they simply didn’t believe. Read more