Products I Like

Sheese

Sheese is a vegan cheese made in Scotland by Bute Island Foods. I tried very hard to find it since no one would ship it to me, but finally Vegan Essentials came to my rescue again. I ordered the blue style and smoked cheddar style and when I tried them I must tell you I felt that I was rewarded for being vegan! They smell and taste amazing, and have really good texture. After trying many disgusting plastic/wet textured vegan cheeses, when I hear the words ‘vegan cheese’ I am really scared! But Sheese is just lovely. It is exactly what every vegan [ex-cheese lover] is looking for. A sharp, cheesy flavor and creamy texture. So if you still haven’t tried it you should and I promise you will love it.
Thank you, Bute Island Foods for making the vegan world tastier with your products!
Here is the link to their website : Bute Island Foods

SoyMilk Chocolate By Zotter

Zotter is a very promising chocolate factory from Austria. They make by hand, organic and fair trade chocolates with very creative combinations of flavors. I first saw their product line of basic-40, a line with different couverture chocolates. Huge variety, from pure chocolate without ANYTHING added[unsweetened]to many different variations. I first tried the sugar free one, excellent quality and perfect for baking and adding your own sweetener. But what drew my attention was the soymilk chocolate. In the past I have tried a vegan rice milk chocolate by another brand and though the white version was amazing, the regular tasted like bitter chocolate which wasnt bad, but disappointing to my expectations. So I was reluctant on buying this one, but I took the risk. But this product made me believe that ANYTHING can be made vegan.
When I opened it, the color was milky brown, like regular dairy chocolate. And smelled like one. I tried it and I couldnt believe it. It was ridiculously milky and sweet exactly like the dairy ones. I could not believe in my taste buds! I started melting it [it melted perfectly] to make regular peanut butter cups
and prove to the world that vegan chocolate can be totally decadent, tooth-aching, kid-friendly and BETTER than dairy. And the plus to all of this is that this chocolate is organic, fair trade, sweetened with unrefined brown sugar and flavored with real vanilla. I got it from Prasino Market but if you stumble upon it anywhere, dont make the mistake of not buying it. It is a top-notch quality milk chocolate. We win! Everyone likes to have choices, and the vegan world is no exception.
Here is the link to the website so you can read all about the company.
Zotter Schokoladen Manufaktur Gmbh
I made regular peanut butter cups with it and they were amazing!maybe a bit too sweet for me though..haha!

Bjorg Mushroom Paste

I got this today but wasnt sure about it. I had once mushroom pate in my life and it was awful. This one thought was promising. It had shiitake and morelles mushrooms in it.When I opened it, it kind of smelled like tuna, but in a non-fishy way. Anyway cant really explain it. It has a very complex and deep taste, its creamy smooth, very hearty but surprisingly light! I love it! Its great on oatcakes or in a sandwich toast with some vegan mayo!

Soyatoo Rice Whip

I got all excited when I saw that the vegetarian store on Panepistimiou carries now also the spray whipping cream![They used to have only the carton one]When I first tried the carton one I have to admit I didnt really like it, because it has a strong taste of bean-y soy. And even though usually I dont mind bean-y taste, [I am all like soymilk is the best milk!] in cooking creamers and whipping creams I dont like it. Actually if I think about it I dont like any cream, soy, rice, oat, dairy whatever. I just dont. Like I cant tolerate large amounts of margarine and oils [dont even mention butter!]
However seeing this nice vegan whipping cream spray a shop IN GREECE, I just felt like I HAD to buy it. It was calling my name. And they actually had a soy one and a rice one! I thought I should go with the rice one since I didnt like the soy in the carton. I got home, chilled it, sprayed on my finger and that what it. I loved it. Its so airy and light![Thats probably why I like it, since I am not a fan of thick creamers!]You can totally taste the rice, but I like that.[im sure if you add vanilla the rice flavor will be totally masked] It has a nice earthy tone, nothing like the soy one. But then again maybe the soy whip spray will be nice as well because the texture will be different than the carton one.

SoYeah Ice Cream

SoYeah ice creams have been around Greece for about a year. I spotted them at Prasino Market and got the vanilla one last summer. Though the texture was good I was disappointed by the flavor. It just wasnt good. Fast forward 1 year later, I found again at Prasino Market SoYeah chocolate ice cream. I pulled it out of the freezer to take a closer look, and as I was trying to put it back convinced it would be similar with the vanilla one, the freezer was stuck! I was pulling and pulling the door but nothing. So I said, what the heck, lets try it since its begging to go home with me. As soon as I stepped in my house i took out a spoon to try it and to my surprise it was WONDERFUL. Really good fluffy creamy texture and chocolate flavor, no bean-y aftertaste or weird flavors. I m really happy I got it since its organic and 100% vegan , as labeled.

Fresh Tomato Strawberry Sauce

I was at the supermarket, and to my surprise, I saw this new Greek line of tomato sauces. Really nice and creative combinations of flavors, like tomato&strawberry, tomato&orange, tomato&green pepper and more I cant recall. Also nice packaging. Wow Greece is starting to get how things should be done-or al least seems like its trying to. I had the tomato&strawberry one[what a surprise]on buckwheat soda noodles with grated soy parmesan. It was delicious! I think all the sauces I saw were vegan, at least the one I got was, and they are actually labelled ’suitable for vegetarians’, which is rare in Greek products, especially for a brand that is not all-veggie.
Papayiannides Foods

Bjorg Mayosoja

I never really liked mayonnaise. All my life I was hating it with a passion. But my mum loves it, and when she asked me to find her a healthier and lighter mayonnaise I did. So I got this one, by bjorg. Its egg-free, dairy-free, cholesterol-free and contains soy[thats good, except if you are allergic to soy]. Its almost vegan-contains honey as a sweetener. But seriously its so light and lemon-y ! I love it! I have to say its the only mayonnaise I actually like. And my mum? She loved it, ate the whole jar the first day!

You can find this product at Thanopoulo and some health food stores.

Waitrose Organic Jumbo Oats

Ok these are the-best-oats-ever. They are really jumbo. Big, whole oats not like the other ones that are crushed powdery and miserable. This is rolled oats royalty![and they are organic] They come in a 1kg pack which is great, because you never run out f them. They make the best oatmeal texture-wise and flavor-wise. In Athens, you can find them at Thanopoulo.

Provamel Caramel Soya Dessert

This is by far my favorite sweet snack. Its kind of like custard cream, but caramel flavored and though it contains sugar its not overly sweet. This also comes in vanilla flavor and chocolate flavor which are ok, but I only eat this one, and sometimes vanilla. I am not a big fan of the chocolate one, bit if you like anything chocolate flavored I guess you will like it. They come in a 4 pack and they are cheap and have long self life (unlike yogurt) and you can keep them out of the fridge too and chill them whenever you want to eat them! So its a perfect snack to take with you to work or school as well! Alpro and Bjorg [ other leading soy product brands] make these as well and the packaging looks almost the same! So if you cant find this one, try the other brands. Provamel is my favourite brand on these treats though, and soymilk. But the taste differences are small. These are avaliable all over Europe, and in Greece you can find them at Green Farm and Prasino Market. Some Alpro and Bjorg products are also sold at Carrefour(desserts, soy milk, tofu) and some Bjorg at Vassilopoulo ( but not the desserts ).

Valsoia Gelato Sandwich

Valsoia is an Italian brand that carries lactose free products. Valsoia products have been in Greece for quite some years now, in many big branch supermarkets like Vasilopoulo and Thanopoulo. They have many types of ‘gelato’. The one pictured above is my favorite. This cute mini gelato sandwich is vegan, and low in fat. Quite healthy I must say. I am totally addicted to them, I eat one everyday and always makes sure I never ran out of them!I have to admit the are not thaaat creamy, but the biscuit is very tasty, as well as the soy ice cream filling. And they are very easy to find. They come in a box with many[ I dont remember how many,I think 8 ] individually packed ice mini creams. Its a perfect frozen snack! Valsoia also sells a very nice pizza[lactose free but not cheesy] with many veggies on top. But note that not all Valsoia products are vegan, the soy meat alternatives contain egg white.

Verde&Bio Vegan Chocolate Croissant

As I was checking the organic section of the supermarket I shop, I noticed these organic croissants. Usually I am no big fun of croissants, vegan or not, packaged or fresh. I never crave them, and I dont like the buttery taste on the non-vegan ones. Anyway I checked it out (you know reading all the ingredients one by one…) and guess what? They are vegan, sugar free, sweetened with agave syrup, and with non hydrogenated oils! I had to get them, even though I still wasnt convinced they would be good due to poor design packaging. But when I tried it, it proved me wrong. Fluffy, lightly moist and sweet with a tasty chocolate filling! I liked it a lot. I think its as good as it get for packaged croissants, vegan or not. And its actually a healthy snack. You can find them IN GREECE[like, wow] in organic health food stores, or at Thanopoulo on the bio section.

Provamel Yofu

Provamel is my all-time favorite brand for soy milk and soy desserts. I have seen on their website that they also make soy yogurt, yofu [thats how they call it, brilliant huh?] but they were not available in Greece, until a couple of days ago that they hit the stores! Or I think I must say the store . The only organic shop that sells them is Prasino Market. There is a chance that they are available somewhere else in Athens, but I havent seen them anywhere else. And I live in health food stores.Haha. So anyway, back to the yofu. They come in 3 flavors : natural, peach and rasberry vanilla. They all taste great and have great texture with pieces of fruit inside. You can either get them in 4 individual packs or in one big container. The peach flavor is amazing. Its the first time in my life I like peach yogurt so much!

Ricemellow Fluff

I ordered Suzannes Ricemellow creme from VeganEssentials and I have to say it was AMAZING. It was actually better that marshmallow fluff. I’m serious!It is gluten free, vegan and sweetened with healthy sweetener, brown rice syrup! I cant believe this stuff tastes so good and its actually healthy!It has a candy-sweet taste, very fluffy and light texture, and the greatest smell in the world! I love it. I eat it everyday, even plain. I eat like a teaspoon when I am craving something decadently sweet and I am satisfied. If you live outside of the U.S. you can order ricemellow creme from vegan essentials, that does international shipping.