Vegan & Cruelty Free {VCF}

What is Maca Powder & How to Use It

October 30, 2017 Samantha

Always consult your doctor before considering new additions or supplements to your diet.

Maca powder. It sounds like the name of an ancient ruler and looks like dirt. So why is everyone going crazy over this finely milled powder? You don’t have to maca me tell you! #nerdlife #veganpuns

What is Maca? Maca is a plant that grows in central Peru in the high plateaus of the Andes Mountains. It is a relative of the radish and has been cultivated as a vegetable crop in this area for at least 3,000 years. – Webmd

Maca powder has a sweet-ish smell, reminiscent of butterscotch. You can easily use it in place of cocoa powder or chocolate. It makes a great addition to protein shakes for a mocha like flavor: Add a tablespoon to some almond milk with a banana and some chocolate protein powder (tsp. of coffee crystals optional), blend it up and MM-mm.

Ok, so it tastes good. I know what you’re thinking, But why do I want to put it in my body. My body is a temple, I mean come on.

Health Benefits of Maca Root Powder

Rich in Vitamins and Minerals

According to Healthline, maca root is high in some essential vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin C, copper and iron. Because of these vitamins, it’s a great supplement when used in the right doses for people suffering from anemia.

Helps Balance Hormones

Rich in flavonoids, maca can help reduce anxiety and put you in a better mood. According to Wellnessmama.com, it is an endocrine adaptogen, meaning that it does not contain any hormones, but rather it contains the nutrients necessary to support normal hormone production. Because of it’s composition, it helps balance hormones and reverse hypothyroidism. Whoa.

Additional Benefits

Since it’s rich in vitamins and because it’s an endocrine adaptogen (throw that in someone’s face today), it’s a hearty root that may also help to*:

promote fertility
build muscle
increase stamina
relieve symptoms of menopause
boost energy
support prostate health
increase bone density
alleviate depression
boost libido
balance hormones

What to Look for When Buying Maca Powder

As always, quality matters. Sure you may pay more to get less, but that often means you need to use less, much like matcha powder [what my hubs thought I was talking about this whole time…maca, not matcha ;)]

1 – Date of Harvest

Not unlike other organic goods, you’re going to want to look for powder that’s been harvested within a few months of purchase. This plant can be grown as a perennial, so it really doesn’t have a “season.”

2 – Sealed for Freshness

Make sure it’s vacuum-sealed to preserve it’s quality.

3 – Color

Maca root comes in three different colors, kind of like potatoes. You have purple (black), white and red. The white/cream is the most popular, and so is the most affordable. No shade though, because it still have a high amount of benefits. According to gnowfglins.com:

Hormonally, the red (which is the sweetest tasting and has the highest phytonutrient levels) is recommended for women and the black for men.
Black is recommended for both men and women for these specific issues: muscle building and stamina.
Red is recommended for both men and women for these specific issues: energy, mental focus, depression, chronic fatigue, anxiety/stress, circulation, bone density, hair growth, and acne.

* Bullet list source

Question of the Day

What are your thoughts on maca powder? Have you tried it? Are you interested in trying it? What other natural supplements would you want to learn more about?

Friday Face Off, Vegan Food

Friday Face-Off: Vegan Protein Shakes

October 27, 2017October 27, 2017 Samantha

If you’re like me, you don’t eat breakfast. It’s such a terrible habit, but hey, if you’re not hungry when you wake up, why force-feed yourself, #amirite? When I do feel that hunger creepin’ in though, I still opt for something light and liquidy. If tea and (vegan) creamer just isn’t doing it, I usually go for a vegan protein shake.

I normally make my vegan protein drink at home with some vegan protein powder, frozen banana, maca powder (more on this to come) and almond milk, but sometimes, ya just want to be lazy! As a busy boss lady, I need my on-the-go options, which brings us to today’s Friday Face-Off: Vegan Protein Shakes!

Halloween is just 4 days away and if you have kiddos or are throwing your annual Halloween chili cook-off or something, then you’re probably short on time. Hell if you wake up, you’re probably short on time these days (raises hand). Which is why aside from fruits or vegetables, protein shakes are a good option to keep you goin’! I decided to put three to the test. These three came up in my research as some of the best.

Price. Each of these tetra-paks ranges from $2.50 to $3.50 depending on where you shop. I bought all three at Whole Foods. I personally think that’s a hefty price for 11 fluid ounces, of which all of these are. A pack of four is usually $12, so no real savings there either. I would check places (that aren’t Whole Foods), like Fresh Thyme, Sprouts or Jewel-Osco (Safeway) for when these items go on sale.

Now let’s go into the taste and nutrition of each separately with staged pictures that have nothing to do with the product (this one was a weird shoot, ya’ll).

1. Vega™

Taste: Vega protein shakes are either a hit or a miss. This one though, was a bit of a both. The flavor is a BIT chalky, but otherwise it’s good. It has that almost fake chocolate after-taste to it, which actually doesn’t taste as bad as it sounds. 6/10.

Nutrition: 1 carton is 170 calories, 4.5g of fat, 14g of carbs, 20g of protein and 7g of sugar. On the protein front, that’s a high protein to calorie ratio, which is always a good thing in my book. The protein comes from hemp, pumpkin seeds and peas. Looks like most of the sugar comes from coconut palm sugar and stevia leaf extract as well, aside from natural sugars.

When To Drink: I think this would be best to drink for breakfast or after a workout.

2. Evolve™

Taste: You guys. Have you tried Evolve protein before? I haven’t had their powder, but these protein smoothies? Scrumdiddly yumptious. They’re smooth and taste like the flavor they’re supposed to. So far I’ve tried chocolate and the vanilla flavors above. I have “Mellow Mocha Flavored” staring me down for lunch today. 10/10.

Nutrition: 1 carton is 150 calories, 0g of fat, 17g of carbs, 20g of protein and 6g of sugar. While this has just a couple more carbs than the Vega protein drink, it is a GREAT option for those on a low-fat, no-fat diet. I mean, those fat grams can seriously add up, especially when using this as part of a protein shake you make at home or something. After adding in all the fruits, veggies, powders, nuts and the kitchen sink, it can be a calorie bomb! With that said, this is pretty dang nutritious. As far as these drinks go, the ingredient list is much shorter than the other two.

When To Drink: I think this would be best to drink as a snack or before a workout because of the higher carb count.

3. Orgain Organic Nutrition™

Taste: Um, no. It tastes as fake as fake protein powder gets. Personally, not a fan. But if you don’t mind that fake taste, then more power to you! It’s not as bad as I say it is #dramaqueen, but in contention with the others, it definitely fell short. 4/10.

Nutrition: Ringing in at 220 calories, this protein drink is the highest in calories among them all. It also has 6g of fat, 25g of carbohydrates and 16g of protein. Nutritionally speaking, that isn’t the best ratio. It also has 9g of sugar.

Keep in mind that not ALL Orgain drinks are vegan. Some are made with whey protein. The good thing is, you can easily tell which are vegan and which aren’t: they tell you on the packaging itself.

When To Drink: Lower in protein and higher in carbs makes this more of a snack or meal replacement of sorts.

Verdict? …and the winner is…EVOLVE protein! Between the taste and it’s nutritional facts, this guy takes home the gold, some roses and maybe a teddy bear from the crowd. I think it’s well worth the price for the taste (although I would still have a hard time dropping $12+ for a case of 4–I’d run through that in no time). OK back on track–this is the good stuff.

Question of the Day

What protein drinks are your favorites? Do you have any go-to options? We’d love to know!

Vegan Food

Kid (& boss lady)-Friendly Vegan Halloween Mummy Pizzas

October 25, 2017October 25, 2017 Samantha

So I’m not going to lie. I failed at this vegan pizza recipe. Well kind of. From the title of this post, I’m sure you’re expecting some pizzas that look like mummies. I can tell you now, (before you even scroll down), that my pizzas only barely resemble King Tut. What I CAN tell you though, is that they’re so dang darn delicious! So whether they end up looking like our favorite wrapped monster or not, this recipe is a fun option to get your kids in the kitchen, or just you for a #netflixandchill kinda night (no shame) and enjoy nearly guilt-free pizzas. Best of all, you only need 4 ingredients! What whaaaaat.

Ingredients

– Vegan cheese of your choice
– Sandwich thins, One Buns or English muffins
– Your favorite pasta sauce
– Pimento stuffed olives

Directions

I used 100-calorie One Buns, which make two pizzas each.

Pull apart one bun into two, and spread about a tablespoon of pasta sauce onto each “pizza crust:”

This is where things went disturbingly awry. You can take shreds of the cheeze you like and spread them out onto the pizza so it resembles the wrappings of a mummy. I tried this, and by the time I heated it, it looked more like … well a sprinkling of cheese than an ancient monster. On the left is with cold cheeze and on the right is what it looks like when I heated it up:

You can either pop these (covered) in the microwave for 30 seconds, let them breathe, then another 30 seconds or into a small conventional oven for a couple minutes until the cheeze gets nice and gooey.

The secret to scary eyes comes from stuffed pimento olives. Chop them into little rounds, and place them near the top to make ghoulish peepers.

Whether it looks like a mummy or not, these are SO yummy and best of all, they take maybe 5 minutes to make. We don’t have kids but I can see myself making them as little treats after a long day of work.

What are your favorite easy go-to meals?

Vegan Food

Vegan & Cruelty-Free Halloween Candy

October 23, 2017October 22, 2017 Samantha

Figuring out how to enjoy a vegan Halloween can be tricky, especially since so many good-looking treats are filled with way too much tricks–no kid needs to eat chocolate filled with high fructose corn syrup or candies dyed with red 40 and other unnaturally-occuring substances…um, like why? So I did some digging and found some pretty easily accessible vegan and cruelty-free Halloween chocolate and candies to make every ghoul, witch and pokemon-dressed kid enjoy the treats you give out. The trick? They won’t be able to tell the difference.

Unreal Brand Chocolates

For healthy, well really I should say, “better for you” chocolate, Unreal will appeal to vegans and non-vegans alike. They have milk chocolate and dark chocolate options, and according to their website, ALL of their dark chocolate options are indeed, vegan. #raisetheroof. So instead of handing out Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, consider Unreal dark chocolate PB cups, dark chocolate gems and more! The one downfall? They’re pretty expensive–I bought mine at Fresh Thyme for $11.99 (a box of 20 treat packs). So this may be a good option if you only get a handful of trick or treaters to your doorstep. You can use their Store Locator to find a store near you–I called my Fresh Thyme before I went and he said they didn’t carry them–lies. Because they had them on display right as I walked in! So the Store Locator knows more.

2. Little Secrets Chocolate

Little Secrets chocolate is a hit or miss. While they say you can’t really call their chocolates vegan (because they don’t own the factory where the sugar comes from), their ingredients say otherwise. According to their FAQs page, however, “[Their] Classic Dark, Raspberry, Sea Salted Peanut, and Seasonal Peppermint candies do NOT contain any dairy in the ingredients, while [their] Peanut Butter, Toasted Coconut, and Seasonal Spiced Pumpkin Pie do contain dairy.”

These little packets seem to be a little hard to get your hands on. They may be worth it if you stumble across them at your local Whole Foods or other health food store.

3. Surf Sweets

It seems like all of Surf Sweets treats are either vegetarian or vegan. Unlike with the Little Secrets chocolates, you don’t even have to go through the trouble of reading the ingredients to see if they are, because it says right on the package: Vegetarian or Vegan. #lazyvegan

These packets are maybe too big to hand out one-by-one to each ghoulish child that comes your way, but you may also get the reputation of being that house that hands out King Size candies! Either way, they make a great treat for your kids (or even you because come on face it we all want sugar) to have with lunch as Halloween nears. Get in that spirit, child!

What are your favorite Halloween treats? Share with us!

Friday Face Off, Vegan and Cruelty Free Beauty

Friday Face-Off: Artis Makeup Brushes

October 20, 2017October 14, 2017 Samantha

Artis makeup brushes disturbed the makeup industry and every Youtube Beauty Guru kind of lost their ish. Needless to say, I was part of that crowd, but I was also super skeptical. They do look kind of like toothbrushes, after all. So I decided to put them to the test.

Let’s start with the Artis brush. You’ll have to excuse the fact that I only bought one because…

Price. ONE Artis brush. That’s right, just ONE Artis brush ranges anywhere from $40 to $70. The one pictured below is the Artis Elite Smoke Oval 7 Brush, which costs $62, and closer to $65 with tax. I picked mine up at Nordstrom.

Quality. Although the packaging is nice, it doesn’t feel like $70 packaging, whatever that may be. What I did like about the quality of the brush was the sturdy handle and the good balance it has. You can’t tell from the image below, but it’s balancing on just one of my fingers, so it has a good weight ratio.

Also, the bristles are really soft and the perfect amount of dense. It feels soft to the touch and smooths on makeup without leaving brush strokes behind. According to Nordstrom, it is made exclusively with CosmeFibre, a revolutionary engineered fiber made for applying cosmetic and makeup products.

VCF? With that said…yes! Artis is cruelty-free and vegan. The brand strictly believes against animal testing.

Now, let’s take a look at one of the many dupes on the market for the Artis brush. The one I purchased came in a kit of 10. It is the Yoseng Makeup Brush Set.

Price. I bought this set of 10 Yoseng Makeup brushes on Amazon for $13.99. All of the brushes came in their own plastic sleeves, all packed in another plastic pouch. This pouch was in a black box and as with most Amazon purchases, it came unharmed and intact.

Quality. I couldn’t believe it guys. When it comes to the quality of the bristles, it wasn’t a far cry from the Artis brush head. They felt just as soft and evenly spread my makeup…WITHOUT leaving brush strokes or brush hairs behind. I seriously couldn’t believe me eyes. Compared to my Real Techniques brushes, these brushes evenly smoothed the powder over my foundation and set everything into place. Btw, the Yoseng Makeup Brush set also comes in four color options: Black, Golden, Rose Golden and Silver. #notsponsored (seriously, how many times can I say that). I opted for the Rose Gold, only because it’s pretty and shiny, and ya girl’s a sucker for shiny.

The one negative thing when it comes to the quality of these Artis makeup brush dupes is that the handle feels rather clumsy. I tried to take a photo of balancing it, but I wasn’t able to so that weight ratio simply isn’t there. Which, TBH, I’m not sure it matters. But when I was applying powder onto my face after prepping my skin with SPF face lotion and matte foundation, I felt like the handle may break at any moment–but only time will tell.

VCF? According to the Amazon page, the material is high quality premium synthetic fiber, free from chemical treatment & hypo-allergenic & cruelty-free. So yes! They are!

Verdict? Purely based on price and quality for value, the winner is the Yoseng Makeup Brush set, with Artis super super close behind. If you’re thinking about splurging on the Artis makeup brush, I say go for it, BUT see if this type of brush is for you by purchasing a dupe first. And of all the dupes, this 10 brush set is solid.

What are your favorite VCF makeup brushes? Do you own Artis brushes and like them? What dupes have you tried?

Let us know! What would you like us to test out next for Face-Off Friday?