Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award

Claire from Almost Skinny Vegan Food gave me this lovely award too long ago (May), and I'm just getting to respond now.  I already thanked her shortly after she bestowed this on me, but I wasn't able to actually pass this on...until now.  Thank you, Claire, for thinking of me!  And now I'm thinking of all of you.  Read below for the rules and questions.  :-)

There are five rules to follow if you decide to accept this award:

1.  Visit and thank the blogger on their blog who nominated you (that would be me, ahem).
2.  Acknowledge that blogger on your blog and link back (I give you permission to use capital letters and flashing stars around my name.)
3.  Answer the ten questions (now, don't make us yawn!)
4.  Nominate up to 12 bloggers for the Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award (up to 12? Surely, I will have a harder time NOT going over that limit!)
5.  Copy and paste the award somewhere on your blog (up high, where we can see it!)
**If it's not obvious, do not add the parens to your post.  Those are just my unique additions.  :-)**

The 10 Questions: (dum, dum, dum!)  - again, my parens, sillies.

1.  What is your favorite color?  Well actually, I love all the colors, but I learned when my oldest was a toddler, that that wasn't an acceptable answer.  I NEEDED to have a favorite, and the rest of my children demanded a concrete answer as well.  So, yellow, yes, yellow is my favorite color.  It's happy, and I like it.  But, I love wearing brown, ssh.

2.  What is your favorite animal?  Of course, being vegan I love ALL the fuzzies.  Again, not an acceptable answer.  Okay, so my top faves are in no particular order: kitties, bunnies, elephants, and dolphins.

3.  What is your favorite non-alcoholic drink?  Hot apple cider and hot chocolate. Yes, I know it's two, ssh!

4.  Facebook or Twitter?  This is the only online place you will see me, except for my e-mail.  Just my blog and only my blog, thank you very much.  Psst, I'll let you know if that changes...but, it probably won't.

5.  What is your favorite pattern?  This is a very open-ended question - could it mean clothing pattern like McCalls?  Could it mean geometric patterns?  I'm going to stick with my first reaction and go with my OCD.  I like symmetrical patterns, whether they be numbers or picture frames.

6.  Do you prefer getting or giving presents?  Giving, of course, right?  Everyone knows  that!  Especially when you're asked that on the Internet, sheesh!  Unless, of course it's my birthday, then gimme, gimme, gimme.

7.  What is your favorite number?  Well, I could say 3 since I have three children. Or, I could say 6, the number of precious children with which I've been pregnant.  But, I think it's got to be 4 or 8 because when I go grocery shopping, I always buy things in groups of 4 or 8, so it must be 4 or 8, yes, I'm sure of it.

8.  What is your favorite day of the week?  Monday, absolutely, right?  The beginning of the week, homeschooling those eager kids, work stretching out eons ahead of me.  Ah, no.  Sunday, for sure! That's the one day that Mama gets a nap, and even G doesn't bother me for that hour.

9.  What is your favorite flower?  Well, it could be a rose, since my middle name is Rosa - whoops, personal information alert!  It's a family name that's been passed down for generations, and the R in my own SR's name is Rose, but...I love Gardenias, I admit it!  Love, love, love those beauties.

10.  What is your passion?  Besides the obvious - God, Family, and Food, I love writing.  I've submitted four manuscripts, one of which was with a publisher for a year before not making the cut.  I'm finishing up my first full-length novel and will be submitting it to agents later this year.  So, yes, writing.

Hope you enjoyed this, and now it's your turn!

My fellow sisters, in no particular order...well, maybe by category and then alphabetically, but that's it!

1. My dear friend from church, Susan of Fruitful Words

2.  My dear friend from church (did I already say that?), Lynette of Lynettejoy

3.  Because she inspires me so much, Diane of Fit to the Finish 

4.  My Seattle buddy, Andrea of Andrea's Easy Vegan Cooking 

5.   Because I'm curious where she's flicking them, Joey of Flicking the Vs

6.  I like her style, Maud of Food Feud

7.  She does amazing food creations,Caralyn of Gluten Free Happy Tummy

8.  She impresses me with her athleticism, Ingrid of Ingrid Improves

9.  Loving her pizzas and cookies, Miss Rachel of Miss Rachel

10.  For a Puerto Rican take on vegan food, Millie of Nuestra Cena-American & Latin Vegan Cuisine

11.  I travel vicariously through her, Molly of Rambling Vegans

12.  Because she told me through a private e-mail that she really LOVES memes, SV of The Shenandoah Vegan

Don't forget to visit these sites and see what they have to offer!

Three Bean Salad with Mint

Here is a wonderfully fresh and light salad to serve on a hot day.  My mom made a kind of sweet three bean salad when I was growing up, and I liked it, but now I like a tangy version.  I added a few other ingredients to snazz this up, and it's definitely a favorite of mine.

Three Bean Salad with Mint

Ingredients:

1 - 15oz. can of green beans
1 - 15oz. can of garbanzo beans
1 - 15 oz. can of kidney beans
2 sprigs' worth of mint leaves (about 8 to 12 leaves), chopped small
1 stalk celery, chopped small
1 green onion, sliced thin
1/2 cup of your favorite tangy dressing - can adjust to taste (We used LaMartinique True French Vinaigrette)

Directions:

In a large colander, pour all your canned beans and rinse under cold water.  Drain completely, and put in a large bowl.  Stir in the rest of the ingredients, and chill for at least two hours before serving.  Toss, taste, adjust dressing if necessary, and serve.  Yummy.  Feeds five hungry vegans.

Medical Scare - Back to Blogging

Hello, everyone!  It's been several weeks since I last posted on July 19th.  (You'll see shortly that the title of this post could have been a very different one.)  I have been very busy with medical tests to try and resolve a swollen lymph node in my neck. 

I first noticed it on July 20th, SR's sixteenth birthday and the day of her surprise party.  I noticed it, probably putting on makeup, I'm not really sure.  But, when I swallowed to check for a sore throat and checked my forehead for fever, I couldn't find any cold-like symptoms to explain the swelling.  After a few days, the swelling was bothering me - it was uncomfortable, large, and it wasn't going away (the lymph node would sometimes not be uncomfortable as the weeks wore on).  I contacted my doctor, and he put me on antibiotics to get rid of any infection that might be in my body that I just wasn't able to feel.  After a full ten days, my lymph node was still swollen; it was so swollen, you could see my neck bulging.

I went to my dentist, and he did a complete oral check and could find no dental reason why my node was swollen, even giving me new x-rays.  Imagine hoping for tooth decay!  But, no luck - everything looked good.  :-)

I went back to my doctor (he had prearranged a follow-up visit), and he ordered a CT scan.  During the CT scan, they noticed some masses on my thyroid.  I went in to have the largest one biopsied.  Also during that follow-up visit with my doc, he ordered a referral to have my lymph node biopsied. Several days went by, and while I was in the waiting room, waiting to be called for my lymph node biopsy, the medical assistant of the endocrinologist called to let me know the mass on my thyroid was a cyst and unrelated to the lymph node - just a coincidence.

I was called in to the procedural room for my lymph node biopsy, and of course, G was with me.  The doctor showed me my lymph node on the ultrasound.  It looked like a black circle/oval with white fibers running across it.  He showed me one of my healthy lymph nodes near it, and it looked like a black circle with a white center.  Because they had ruled out infection, cyst, fluid, salivary gland, dental, anything that would be easily explained, he looked at me and said, there really weren't any more options: the most likely cause was cancer.  I looked at G, and he gave me the most, intense, serious look that I've seen in a long time.

For those of you who don't know, I had cancer when I was in my 20's, and it's a very emotionally draining experience to have.  But, I was just shy of having my children then, and now I have three beautiful Blessings, ages 16, 13 and 7.  G was with me during the first cancer go-around, and here he was facing this with me again.  The thought of leaving my family now, and even my parents, who love me and depend upon me made me very, very sad.  I am Christian, that's listed below my photo here on this site, so I wasn't afraid of being with God, I just didn't want to leave my family at this time.

Anyways, he took six biopsies of my lymph node and said I would get the results in several days.  Of course, family, the church staff, and a few others had been praying for me, and I had been reading Scripture and praying.  The next day, we were supposed to have a garage sale, and I woke up excited to have it and also just to have a fun distraction.  But, in few minutes, I was overwhelmed with nausea, the shakes, clamminess and weakness.  It was so strong that I had to lay down.  G drove me very quickly to Emergency.  They ran a variety of tests, and they all came back good, which I found very encouraging.  I hadn't told anyone yet, but JK's party was the weekend after SR's, and I couldn't blow up a single balloon at his party, so I had been worried about my lungs.  They couldn't figure out what was wrong with me, so they sent me home with anti-nausea and anti-anxiety meds.  My ER doc told me she was Christian, which I thought was not coincidental.

During the time that I was waiting for lymph node biopsy results, I tried to just take life normally.  I am an intensely affectionate mom, so my poor kids had to deal with even more hugging than usual.  On Tuesday, I read Hebrews chapter 11 that listed several people that trusted God in their lives to do amazing things, they had faith.  I was so humbled because I realized that I had been vacillating between having confidence that God would heal me to being very fearful.  I had been praying for healing, that the lymph node would be benign, or that whatever I had would be curable.  I realized that I hadn't been consistent with my faith.

On Wednesday morning I read the first three chapters of James.  One section jumped out at me, James 1:2-8, and one verse specifically had a major impact, ""But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind" (6).  I was so convicted when I read that, that when I was done, I prayed, "God, you know I'm scared, but I'm going to believe that you will heal me, that this swelling will go down, and that I will be well."  Throughout the day, when I would get fearful, I would remember my prayer, brush away the fearful thoughts and believe.  During the day, I could swear that my swelling was going down.  At 4pm, my regular doctor called and said that none of the samples were malignant or cancerous!  He said they didn't know what was wrong with my lymph node, but whatever it was, they were sure it was benign.  I told him that I thought my swelling was going down, and he said that if it was still swollen to call him in a couple of weeks but that it should eventually go completely down.  I told him about the Scripture that had such an impact on me that morning, and he told me he was Christian - I never knew that.

Anyhow, it's been two awesome days, and my swelling continues to go down.  To go from thinking that I'm going to have to fight for my life - again, to being set free and allowed to enjoy my family and plan a normal school year is beyond wonderful to me.  I know this is laced with a lot of talk about God, but I feel it incumbent upon me to share this story completely.  There is no other reason besides divine intervention why my lymph node is suddenly getting healthy.  I saw it on the ultrasound, and all the docs had no other clinical reason besides cancer to explain what was going on.  I am thankful for the prayers on my behalf, and I hope I still get prayers for the swelling to completely disappear.

Enjoy every moment you are gifted.  Don't be harsh with each other.  Love any kind of weather that comes your way.  Appreciate each other's differences.  Notice nature.  Be vegan.  And finally, Praise God!

In a few days, I'll be back to blogging again.  I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer.  God Bless.

Desperation Garbanzos

It was a Saturday afternoon, and I was on the hunt for something to feed the fam for lunch.  Things were low in the pantry, but I didn't want to make a run to the store.  I was feeling desperate.  What to do, what to make?  Eight eyes were expectantly staring at me, almost audibly demanding, "Food!  We want food!  And not toast and cereal either!  Make something, Woman of the House, and make it good."  Gulp, oh, yes, the desperation was increasing.  Let's see, I had cans of garbanzos but no tahini - not gonna have hummus.  I had a strange bunch of just celery leaves I picked up at the Farmer's Market.  How to combine...  No potatoes, but rice is located, yes!  It's coming together...  I began sauteing, chopping, stirring, seasoning, and before I knew it, I had a dish, and not just any dish, but a dish that those demanding eyes would approve of.  I had...Desperation Garbanzos!  Read below to see how you too can make this awesomely satisfying dish that I will definitely be making again.

Desperation Garbanzos

Ingredients:

1 Tbs. canola oil
1/2 red onion, diced
2 - 15oz. cans garbanzo beans, drained
1 and 1/2 cup celery greens, chopped (or celery if you don't have enough greens)
10 mint leaves, chopped
1 - 11 oz. of your favorite peanut sauce
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. curry powder
1 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

Jasmine rice

Directions:

In a medium pot, heat the oil over medium heat.  Add the onion and saute for five minutes.  Add the rest of the ingredients and cook for another five minute over medium heat.  Lower heat to medium low and simmer for another fifteen minutes.  Stir occasionally.  Serve over rice.  Very flavorful!  Feeds five hungry vegans.

Review: Nasoya - Vegan Nayonaise and Vegan NayoWhipped

Here is another of my horribly belated reviews.  I am grateful to companies who entrust me with their products enough to send me free samples, or in this case, full-size jars, in order to feed my family and do honest reviews.  I have just been so caught up in the doings of things in our life, that unfortunately, they got put on the back burner too long.  Anyhow, here this one finally is.

Nasoya was kind enough to send me two jars of their new and reformulated versions of Nayonaise: the "now creamier" original nayonaise, and their new nayowhipped spread.  Our family was regular purchasers of the old nayonaise several years ago before we discovered a competitor's brand.  GR, however, always preferred nayonaise.  What made me make the switch to the other brand was that I liked their thickness, texture and flavor; I always thought nayonaise was a bit on the thin side, but it was a good product to have on hand when we wanted a vegan mayonnaise.  So, when I was contacted about an opportunity to review a new formula, I was very excited to give them another chance.

The jars arrived well-protected in a small box along with two lid grabbers to make jar opening easier.  I love these grabbers and use them all the time!  It took a couple of weeks to fully review these products because I wanted to try them in different capacities.  So, for the nayonaise, I made a batch of my Kids Love It! Potato Salad for the Fourth of July, and for the nayowhipped, I made my Macaroni Salad .  We also had sandwiches with them, as well as just tasting them right out of the jar.  Keep reading for more information.

Here they are nestled in their box with the lid grabbers behind them.

Here is the reformulated nayonaise with the potato salad.  You can see that the potatoes are not really coated with the nayonaise, giving away that it still is a thinner product than its competitor.  However, the taste was great, for some of us, on the salad.  I made this for my family and parents, and everyone has eaten my potato salad with the competitor's spread and so could make an honest comparison.  However, I told them instead of straight comparing, I wanted them to tell me what they thought of it completely on its own merit.  Everyone but SR and GR said they really liked the flavor.  SR and GR were adamant that the potato salad was not as good with nayonaise.  I liked it as well and also liked it on sandwiches.  Straight out of the jar, it had a subtle flavor, but I do still wish it was thicker.  But, overall, we liked this.  I'm not going to say we'll switch back to using this full-time, but it is a nice substitute.

What really surprised me was the reaction to the nayowhipped.  I thought that the Blessings would definitely not like the tangier flavor of this formula on the macaroni salad, but all three of them loved it.  SR and GR actually preferred this flavor over the nayonaise.  So, everyone (I didn't feed this to my parents) liked this in the salad.  I prefer the nayonaise in sandwiches, however, just because I'm not a fan of tangy spreads.  Straight out of the jar, the nayowhipped had an almost sweet aftertaste that I could do without.  It also has the same spreading consistency as the original flavor, so the texture for me was not a whipped one.

On an interesting note, I compared the ingredients of the two jars to each other to try and figure out what made the whipped have a different flavor.  What I found was that they had the exact same ingredients listed, just in a different order.  The only things that were a bit ambiguous were "spices" and "natural flavors."  So, I can't tell you why one is tangier than the other.

Again, to be completely honest, which is what I like to do, I won't go out of my way to buy these products on a regular basis.  But, GR was so happy to have them again, that I'll probably buy her a jar to have for her sandwiches.  And, when I make the macaroni salad, I'll use the nayowhipped.

Patriotic Salad and Fourth of July, 2013

I know, I know, I know, I said I was going to get all my reviews and award out first...but, this is a timely recipe, and I just had to squeeze this one in.  On the Fourth of July, my mom and I decided to just serve up four salads.  She made three bean salad and coleslaw, and I made my Kids Love It! Potato Salad, which will be featured in my next review (hint, hint) and a fruit salad.  The fruit salad was going to have tons of different kinds of fruits in it, but I started putting berries in the bowl first, and then I added a few bananas, and then something struck my eye.  No, it wasn't a wayward blueberry; it was the look of the salad: it was red, white, and blue.  Hello?!  This was the Fourth of July, by golly, so I just to had leave it as is.  And, yes, I can tell you, that I made a big deal of it at my parents'.  "Hey, did anybody notice the colors?"  "Isn't it great that this salad is red, white, and blue?"  I ignored JK's comments that the blackberries were black; they look dark blue to me, humph.  "I know what!  I'm going to call this my Patriotic Salad, yes!"  Yes, indeed, I was very proud of myself, and you should be too.  Er, I mean, it's pretty, isn't it?

Patriotic Salad

Ingredients:

1 cup raspberries
1 cup blackberries
1 and 1/2 cups blueberries
2 and 1/2 cups strawberries, halved or quartered
3 bananas, sliced

Directions:

Make sure all the berries are rinsed and drained well.  Put all the fruit in a large bowl and gently toss.  Refrigerate for at least one hour.  Try to finish in one evening; it does not save well.  Feeds five hungry vegans and a Grannyma and a Poppy.

Review: Vegan Cuts Snack Box

Okay, everyone, be prepared:  I have three reviews to do and a blog award.  But...not all in this post.  I'm way behind in getting all these posts up, however; so, they will all be up within a week.  Hope you enjoy the sneak peeks at these products!  First up is the snack box by Vegan Cuts.

This is a monthly subscription box filled with samples of vegan products, mostly food, for you to try.  It was so fun receiving our box for review.  It was filled with products that I like, and one especially (Teese cheese) that I have been really wanting to try.  The only non-food product in this box was a lip balm.  I took pictures of all the products out of their packaging, but then that just got to be too many pictures.  So, you'll have to do with what I've pictured here.  :-)  Keep reading for a detailed review of these products, and how I feel about the subscription box in general.

 Here are the products kind of jumbled together in our box.  It was stuffed full of goodies.  Besides the products, there were coupons and a list of the products that were sent.

 Here's another shot of everything we got outside of the box.  From left to right we have Food Should Taste Good Sweet Potato Chips, Skinny Pop Popcorn, Teeccino Herbal Coffee French Roast Organic Dark Roast, 22 Days Plant Protein Power Chocolate, Oloves Lemony Lover, 22 Days PB + Chocolate Chip Nirvana Vegan  Protein Bar, Milas Roasted Peppers & Artichoke Bruschetta, Meow Meow Tweet Lip Balm Rosemary Eucalyptus, Teese Vegan Cheese Alternative, and Life is Life Parmesan Style Aged Nut Cheese.  Please note, I did not misspell any names; if one or two seem "off," that is how they are really spelled.  

So, in order of how we tested them:  

22 Days PB + Chocolate Chip Nirvana Vegan Protein Bar:

Ingredients: Organic Rice Protein, Organic Peanut Butter, Organic Tapioca Syrup, Organic Dates, Organic Inulin, Organic Dark Chocolate Chips, Organic Sesame Seeds, Organic Sprouted Flax. 

Of course you knew we'd I'd have to pick the chocolate bar to down first.  Did I really have to share?  Of course!  As a matter of fact, my whole family tried each and every one of these samples and gave me their honest feedback.  Here's what they had to say about this bar:

JK:  Good!  It looks like seitan.

GR: It's edible.

SR:  You can definitely taste the peanut butter; I like the chocolate chips.

Me: Besides a slight chalky taste, which is not unpleasant, I liked it.

G: It's one of the best protein bars I've ever tasted.

Overall, we gave the bar a thumbs up!

Oloves Lemony Lover:

Ingredients: Pitted green olives 91%, sunflower oil, lemon pieces 3%, garlic, oregano, salt, vinegar, acidifiers: lactic acid and citric acid.

JK:  They're great!

GR: Mmm, they're pretty good!  

SR:  They're really good; they're one of the best olives I've had.

Me:  They are really good, very  lemony.

G:  I would eat them, if I had other olives to mix them in with.  It's not bad, a good olive blend.

Overall, we gave the olives a thumbs up!

Teese Vegan Cheese Alternative:

Ingredients: Filtered water, tapioca maltodextrin, tapioca starch, coconut oil and/or sunflower oil, pea protein, yeast extract, salt, carrageenan, vegan natural flavors, lactic acid (vegan), natural white color added, annatto.

So, this is non-gmo and gluten-free, as well.  It says on the package that it's great for mac and cheese, so that how we tested it.  I made a big bowl of mac and cheese and we dug in.

JK: Good.

GR:  Liked the cheese, but missed the rest of it that was spilled.  (See my comment for explanation.)

SR:  Doesn't like cheese, so didn't taste it.

Me:  I liked the flavor.  What surprised me though, was the unexpected explosion and subsequent propulsion of a few tablespoons of cheese when I punctured the tube.  That was a good photo!

G:  I wouldn't not eat it, but it's a little too sweet.

Overall, we gave the Teese a thumbs up.

Life is Life Parmesan Style Aged Nut Cheese:

Ingredients: Cashews, Nutritional Yeast, Soybeans, Salt, Tamari, Lactic Acid.

JK: Good.

GR:  Didn't care for it.

SR: (Dared to taste this even though she doesn't like cheese, but she likes nutritional yeast flakes.)  I'd take this in small quantities.

Me:  This was a very small sample, about one teaspoon.  So, I made pasta and sauce and sprinkled just the tiniest bit on to everyone's serving.  What I tasted, I thought was subtle but good.

G:  Strong but tasty.

Overall, we gave the parmesan cheese a thumbs up!

Food Should Taste Good Sweet Potato Chips:

Ingredients: Stone Ground Corn, High Oleic Sunflower Oil and/or Safflower Oil and/or Canola Oil, Sweet Potato, Corn Bran, Evaporated Cane Juice, Sea Salt.

JK: They're fine.

GR: Doesn't like sweet potatoes, so she doesn't like these.

SR: They tasted like a combination of tortilla chips and potato chips.  She liked them.

Me:  Yes!

G:  They're good.

Overall, we gave the sweet potato chips a thumbs up!

Skinny Pop Popcorn:

Ingredients: All Natural Popcorn, Sunflower Oil and Salt.  "That's all.  Nothing More.  Nothing Less."

JK:  Didn't like this.

GR:  It's okay.

SR:  Liked this.

Me:  I liked this.

G:  Okay for diet popcorn.

Overall, we gave the popcorn a thumbs up!

Meow Meow Tweet Lip Balm Rosemary Eucalyptus:

Ingredients: Cocoa butter, virgin coconut oil, hempseed oil, candelilla wax, essential oils of rosemary, eucalyptus and peppermint.

JK:  At first thought he liked it, but didn't like the smell.

GR:  Didn't like this.

SR:  Was worried about being poisoned by the eucalyptus, but also didn't like it.

Me:  Was overpowered by the menthol-like smell and bitter taste.  I did like the tingling on my lip and the smooth texture.  But, I didn't like it enough to say yes, I like it.

G:  Loved it!  He earned it for his pocket.

Overall, we gave the lip balm a thumbs down!

Teecino Herbal Coffee French Roast Organic Dark Roast:

Ingredients: Organic carob, organic barley, organic chicory, organic ramon seeds, natural coffee flavor.

This was one tea bag-like serving that G steeped in a mug, which we all shared.

JK: Didn't like it. - no surprise there!

GR: Pretty good!

SR: Liked the tea bag for convenience.  Better than the coffee at church but not better than Dad's coffee.

Me:  I'm not a coffee drinker, but I gave this a whirl.  Ready?  It tastes like coffee!

G:  Everyone who knows him knows that G is the ultimate coffee snob.  He also liked the bag and thought it would be good for the office for those people who didn't like the office coffee.  He didn't personally care for it but thought the flavor got better the longer it steeped.  Prefers caffeinated coffee and doesn't see the point in drinking caffeine-free coffee.  But, he would accept this in a social setting!

Overall, we gave the coffee a thumbs up!

22 Days Plant Protein Power Chocolate:

Ingredients: Organic fruit and vegetable blend, organic flaxseed, organic whole grain brown rice protein, organic cocoa, organic guar gum, organic natural flavor, sea salt, organic stevia leaf extract.

The directions said you could blend or mix this with water, so I whisked it with water in a large mug.  Definitely should have been blended.  I could not get out the lumps.  Also, we all agreed it would have tasted better with a tall cold glass of your favorite vegan milk.

All of us:  None of this liked this product.  The flavor was off, it didn't taste good in water, and it was too lumpy no matter how long and hard I whisked it.

Overall, we gave the protein power a thumbs down!

Milas Roasted Peppers & Artichoke Bruschetta:

Ingredients: Roasted Pepper, Onion, Artichoke, Vegetable Oil, Tomato Paste, Garlic, Salt, Vinegar, Thyme, Black Pepper, Basil.

I toasted a burger bun and spread this small sample on for all of us to taste.

JK:  Nope - not surprising to Mom.

GR:  Doesn't care for bruschetta, but this one was okay.

SR:  Likes the sour-y part of it.

Me:  Yes!  I loved it!

G: Would eat it.

Overall, we gave the bruschetta a thumbs up!

Whew, that was a lot!  So, for the box in general, I think this is a great idea.  It gives you a chance to do just what I did: try a sample of something to see if you like it before you plunk down money and/or shipping costs. I would have liked to see larger samples in the parmesan cheese and coffee, but everything else was large enough.  I also liked the variety of samples.  Their website is:  www.vegancuts.com.  I'm also looking into being an affiliate with them.  So, if I can figure out how to do their link, you may see that up on my page.  Keep an eye out for it.  Overall, my family loved VeganCuts!