These posts are quickly becoming one of my favourite to put together. I love sharing new-to-me foods as well as old favourites that have returned to my life.
So far we’ve seen:
- 7 Foods I’m loving right now – March
- 14 Foods I’m loving lately – April
- 12 things I’m loving lately – July
Don’t forget to tell me about your current food obsessions in the comments below!
Note: I purposely left all forms of squash, pumpkin butter, and apple butter off my list because that all goes without saying for this girl.
Ready….set….go!
1. Pomegranates
This is the time of the year when I mourn summer berries being out of season. To console myself, I like to think of pomegranates as off-season berries because they are so rich in antioxidants. Yes, I know they aren’t berries, but let’s pretend. Toss these little guys on salads to add a fun crunch and burst of antioxidant power. Just don’t try blending them in a smoothie without straining….that little experiment of mine, was…grainy to say the least. Apparently there are some things a Vitamix cannot pulverize!
2. Field Roast Smoked Apple Sage Vegan Sausage
There are simply no words for how much I adore this Field Roast grain and veggie based sausage. I finally tracked it down at Organic Garage and sampled all three flavours this summer. The apple sage flavour is by far my favourite. I like to pan fry it and throw it into quinoa salads or just stuff it in a bun with a little BBQ sauce and apple butter. Eric is a huge fan and even said he would eat this over a meat sausage any day. Each sausage has 26 grams of protein, zero trans fat and cholesterol, and just 1 gram of sat. fat.
3. Freshly Grated Nutmeg
Pre-ground nutmeg doesn’t hold a candle to freshly grated nutmeg; I’ve known this all along. Then why has it been so long since I grated the fresh stuff? Have you ever compared the two? It’s unreal. I sometimes forget this little fact and when I do go back to the fresh stuff I’m quickly reminded just how amazing the fresh stuff is (this is true for all spices really!). Plus, grating nutmeg take seconds and the aroma that fills the air is so comforting. If you’re like me you get a free nail filing at the same time.
4. Adzuki Bean Tabbouleh
I’m so over rainy fall weather. Give me sunshine in the fall and I’m a happy camper. Give me rain, doom, and gloom and I suddenly wish fall never existed. My relationship with fall is complicated. Anyway, this salad brings me a small dose of summer and sunshine back to my life, which is why I made it over the rainy weekend. You can’t help but feel happy when you eat quinoa tabbouleh served on top of kale!
5. Coconut Jam by Cocovie
Umm, say what? I know. Have you ever heard of coconut jam? This world keeps getting crazier. When I spotted this in Organic Garage a couple months ago, it was thrown into my cart so fast your head would spin. It’s made with just coconut milk and raw coconut sugar. Much like coconut oil, when it’s chilled it firms up and when it’s at room temp or warmed, it softens. You can use it as a spread or topping on all kinds of foods. Perhaps with a few tweaks to my coconut milk condensed milk, I might be able to make this jam at home. Hrrrmm…the wheels are spinning.
6. Edamame
Looking for a fun high-protein snack to throw into packed lunches? Meet edamame. I love to top salads with edamame or enjoy some for an afternoon snack. I could seriously eat an entire bag of this stuff in one sitting. It has a strange power over me. Don’t even tell me to remove the skins either…I love it all.
7. Whole Grain Mustard
For a long time, I only bought regular mustard and Dijon mustard. Yawn. Well recently, my wild child came out and I gave whole grain mustard a try. Whoa. How did I not try this before? It’s amazing in dressings and sauces and I just love the hearty, crunchy texture of the seeds. New kitchen staple, hello!
8. Sunwarrior Warrior Blend Raw Protein
I tried a sample of this protein powder a month ago and loved it so much I bought a bag of it. This Warrior Blend is a non-rice protein powder featuring a mix of easy-to-digest pea, cranberry, and hemp proteins. It’s easily the best protein powder I’ve tried to date and isn’t chalky like some protein powders can be. The downside is that it’s priced like gold, so try to buy it on sale to get the biggest bang for your buck. I justified my purchase because I go through protein powder very, very slowly – a bag will easily last me 3-4 months. They also have a chocolate flavour which I will be sampling soon!
9. Acetaia La Bonissima Balsamic Vinegar
It’s really sad to think how long I stared at this bottle in the grocery store to make sure it was actually balsamic vinegar. Darn you, label. Thankfully, it was worth it. This stuff is the real deal. I use it for salad dressings, roasting veggies, balsamic reductions, etc.
10. Allegro Ready, Set, Go! Tea
I purchased this tea on our trip in B.C. when I was running on about 4 hours sleep many nights (as you can see it got a bit busted in my suitcase!). This tea brought me back to life in the morning. It’s described as “assertive, yet balanced, with a hint of cinnamon”. I’ll take 743 please. I’d like to think it rubbed off on me too. Next time someone asks you what your personality traits are, you can end your description saying, “with a hint of cinnamon”.
Now my favourite part – let me know below what foods you can’t get enough of right now!
Love these lists!! Whole grain mustard is so wonderful–I first tried it in college and no mustard has measured up since!! :) Right now Im LOVING acorn squash, so glad its back.
I love, love, love Allegro teas! They taste fantastic and are just what I need on a cool fall morning. :)
I’m with you on the whole grain mustard and edamame, but I pretty much can’t get enough of those year round. I’m patiently waiting for Field Roast sausages to arrive at the Toronto whole foods, i’m told it will be about 2 weeks! But maybe a drive to Oakville is in order!
I am loving any roasted veggies – my faves right now are brussel sprouts, sweet potato, squash and broccoli. I’m also totally loving my flavoured herbal teas – pomegranate green and vanilla chammomile top my list.
Hi Angela,
Thanks for another great post. I have been loving burritos lately because they are so portable and can stuff so many different foods into a tortilla it is hard to get bored with them. Also, they fit well into my busy life as a bio grad student.
Have a great day!
I’m a pomegranate freak. Like, it’s probably up there with one of my all-time favourite foods (I absolutely love picking out the seeds!).
The first time I tried the grainy mustard was when we were in Australia and I, too, fell in love with it! I still have some but haven’t used it in a while – nows the time to reintroduce it! Also, I am dying to try those sausages. They had samples at the Veg Food Fest when I went, but the line was so long, I opted to not try them. Now I’m wishing I did!
I am loving teas (plural!) right now. I actually want to go to David’s Tea this or next week and pick up a random new one to spice it up!! Just give me anything apple or pumpkin related right now and I’m a happy camper!
The fresh ground nutmeg is a good idead! I am currently obsessed with coconut water, brussel sprouts, siggi’s vanilla yogurt.
I too love those apple sage sausages – the Italian flavor is amazing too! I’ve been LOVING hazelnut butter lately. It. Is. So. Good. A little expensive but worth it! Oh, and sea weed! SeaSnax onion flavor to be specific. I’m addicted!
Hey love the list… I was wondering where you got your tea from???
I think I bought it at a Whole Foods while in Vancouver.
Great list. I love Sunwarrior. I recently switched to perfectfitprotein.com by the Tone it Up girls. It works out to be cheaper including the shipping costs. It’s raw vegan brown rice as well. It’s mixes great too.
Things I’m loving lately: Manitoba Hemp Hearts, roasting brussel sprouts, and pumpkin protein pancakes!
Have you tried Rawtella? I was given a jar of the crunchy kind as a gift. (Best.Gift.Ever!) It was gone in three days! I tried to recreate it in my kitchen with no success :( Has anyone tried to make this? If so, I’d love the recipe :)
Yes! I love it…I actually featured it in a past round up post. I havent tried to make it yet, but Ive been meaning to at some point.
Fun list! I use the microplane to grate fresh nutmeg and it works perfectly!
Great list! I’ll have to try that Allegro tea, I’ve been looking for something to spruce up my ordinary breakfast routine.
Of course, right now I’m loving all things pumpkin, and cozy spices… but I’m also really loving baked apples, right now. They’re so simple, and it’s just like apple pie only without the guilt and without the hassle. I like to make a bunch of them, and then keep them in the fridge to microwave throughout the week (as if it needed to be any faster or easier!). :D
Grace brand coconut water, grace brand coconut milk. I”m not sure why…but man…this stuff is awesome. Loving roasted veggies…brussel sprouts, asparagus, potatoes you name it. My chickpea sandwich filling…roasted almonds and dried apricots…power toast (pb on toast with thin slices of banana and sprikled with chia and cacao nibs) and vegan french toast atleast once a week.
Homemade fig butter mixed with toasted pecans. I plan on using this in all kinds of savory dishes!
To anyone who has tried the field roast sausage: does it taste like a certain type of meat? It almost looks too much like meat for me to want to try it. I don’t really like fake meat that is made to taste like meat…
Also, has the amount of gluten in them bothered anyone’s stomach? Thanks!
No, it doesn’t taste a bit like meat, that I can remember. I’m going to join the chorus of “I LOVE THOSE SAUSAGES!” I tell meat eaters about them all the time :-) I find what I like about veggie sausages is that they taste like sausage without tasting like meat … if that makes any sense. Sausages taste like some interesting variety of spices, usually, and veggie sausages are the same. But the Field Roast ones (easily available at Whole Foods in the States, in my experience–but then I live in the northeast, where being veggie is normal) are far and away the best. I’ve never had issues with the gluten, but I live on wheat products. They’re probably similar to seitan in terms of gluten content?? So if that has bothered or not bothered you … ?
Umm coconut jam!?! I’ve never heard of this. Must try asap :) Love your latest foods, they look delcious!
I totally need to get some of that coconut jam! I’ve been lovin’ artisana’s coconut butter and Trader Joe’s pumpkin butter….I’ve been putting that stuff on everything. I still have plans to try making my own, following your recipe, of course.
any idea where i’d get that sausage in alberta?
I’m not sure Allison, I would check their website to see if they have a store locator. Goodluck!
Allison – I just called Community Natural Foods in Calgary to see if they stock them and she gave me an email to contact to find out and if not, request that they start stocking them. I’ll update you when I hear back!
Hi Allison! I heard back from Community Natural Foods in Calgary and they stock all 3 flavours of the sausage already – with a special flavour (Roast En Croute) being brought in just before Christmas. They range in price from between $6.50 and $22. Hope this helps (don’t know if you’re in Calgary or not!).
That coconut jam looks intriguing, wonderful, and like I want it now! Love all things coconut!
And Sun Warrior…havent had it in ages but of all the protein powders out there, that’s my fave and only one I use.
And nutmeg is glorious, especially when fresh!