I was over-the-moon when I discovered that amazing food truck brand I tried back at the Vegan Festival not only had a brick-and-mortar restaurant, but also that some of their products were now available for sale at a grocery store!
I had only tried their burgers at the festival, but I was pretty certain that I would also like these PreTenders – and I was right!
Odd Burger (formerly Globally Local) definitely knows what they’re doing when it comes to food. The bag of PreTenders only came with 8 pieces and at $9.79 that’s a little over a dollar a nugget but, they were pretty big! So if you cut them up to add to something, they would go further than if you just ate them whole like I did.
I made them in the oven and paired them with some smiley face fries and was surprised at how fast they cooked! They only needed 10 minutes at 425 to turn perfectly golden.
The inside of the tenders was dark, not white and they had a nice chewy texture. They weren’t overly tofu-y like the Gardein nuggets and they ripped/pulled apart in a knit pattern, similar to seitan. They also had a coating of breading over them that added a nice little crunch to the pieces.
There was also a small kick of spice somewhere, but I had been dipping them in the thousand island dressing I also reviewed earlier this year, so I’m not sure if that was from the tenders or the dressing. (I didn’t know at the time the dressing was spicy)
Despite the tongue-tingles, these PreTenders made for a great dinner, and I’d definitely love to buy them again! Alas, they always seem to be sold out when I look. Which is good! Because that means other people are recognizing how great they are. But it still sucks for my own grocery shopping.
If you haven’t tried these Odd Burger PreTenders yet, I’d highly recommend you do! They’re some of the better nuggets/tenders I’ve tried and they’ve made me excited to try more of Odd Burger’s products!
This was one of the products I was most excited to try this year, despite it being coffee.
Unfortunately, it was also one of the most disappointing.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying this drink was bad, it just wasn’t as good as I was expecting.
For one, it didn’t taste like salted caramel. At all. I even shook the can first because it had been in the fridge for a little bit and I thought maybe the flavour had settled or something, but it didn’t seem to make a difference. It overwhelmingly just tasted like oat milk. (And coffee)
Which again, isn’t a bad thing – I drink oat milk all the time! – I was just expecting my salted caramel latte to taste like salted caramel. If I didn’t see it said the words ‘salted caramel’ on the can and I drank this, I would’ve just thought it was a normal coffee with oat milk in it.
I also poured some out into a glass – because I’m a curious person by nature and because I definitely couldn’t drink the entire can of caffienated coffee unless I wanted to be up for the rest of the week – and it had a light/tan colour with little bubbles in it. I’m assuming the little bubbles were the ‘frothed’ part of the ‘frothed oat latte’.
Unfortunatley, I’m not enough of a coffee snob to know whether or not the ‘froth’ actually added anything to the drink or if it just makes it sound fancier.
And, when I poured it out into the cup, it did smell a little like caramel. So, caramel was in there, somewhere! I don’t know why it didn’t carry over into the taste, though.
I also can’t speak to how ‘effective’ the caffiene part of the coffee was, since I’m hyper-senesitive to it, so it kept me awake for the same amount of time as every other non-decaf coffee I’ve ever had. So if you were wanting to buy this for a qucik afternnon pick-me-up, you’ll have to try it for yourself. (Or go read another review)
As I’ve mentioned, I don’t buy a lot of coffee or caffienated drinks, so I don’t know how this compares to others – last time I was even in a caffienated drink aisle was easily 10 or so years ago (I was picking up a Red Bull for a friend) – but this can was only $4.29 at Good Rebel and I think that was a good price for it’s size.
I can’t tell you whether or not that’s more expensive or cheaper than similar items, but I can tell you the price was the ultimate deciding factor in getting it over something else. If it had been $6-10 I definitely wouldn’t have tried it. But $4? That seemed reasonable.
For the name this drink has, it was a bit of a let down – but that in no way means I think it was bad/gross/disgusting. I just had different expectations and they weren’t met. But if you’re looking for just an oat milk latte in a can, this drink’ll definitely hit the spot!
Like a lot of other foods I’m reviewing this year, I’ve never had thousand island dressing before, so I wasn’t too sure what to expect.
The only ‘real’ thing I know about it is from a scene in a tv show, where one character explains they’re eating a salad with thousand island dressing on the side for lunch because they’re on a diet, and another character asks, “Isn’t thousand island dressing, like, really fattening?”
To which the first character replies, “Yeah, that’s why I got it on the side.”
But that was played for laughs, so I’m not even entirely sure if that was true, or it was just supposed to be ridicluous.
What I do know, though, is that this dressing is pretty good!
I’d also never heard of the Walden Farms brand before, so I was excited to check them out, as well.
A cursory look at their website let me know they apparently make salad dressings, syrups and coffee creamers, and they all seem to boast being dairy, gluten, cholesterol, sugar and calorie free!
Which is pretty cool, if you ask me.
I wasn’t able to find a specific About page, so I’m not sure on their full story – or whether or not they’re Canadian – but they had a Bac’n Ranch and Pancake syrup that that caught my eye, so I think I’ll definitely be trying some of their other products in the future.
But for now, we’re here to focus on their Thousand Island Dressing!
First thing I noticed about their dressing was that it had was very runny – even after I shook it! It was closer to juice than syrup consistency, which isn’t a dealbreaker by any means, it just took me by surprise.
I went to pour some out into a container and it came out a lot faster than I was expecting. Guess I’m a little used to Daiya’s dressings or my own homemade ones which are notoriously thick.
The dressing itself had an orange-y/pink colour and it smelled like what I remember French dressing being.
Originally I tried this dressing as a dip with some Odd Burger Pretenders (review coming in August!) and smiley face fries. The consistency of the dressing made it a little hard to use as a dip, unfortuantely.
It also had a slightly-too-vinegary taste for my liking, and was a touch too spicy, as well. Taste-wise, it was fine to use as a dip or later when I used it as a sandwich spread, but I don’t think I could handle the spiciness of it if I used it for it’s intended purpose and actually put it on a salad. So, keep that in mind if you decide to try it.
As I said above though, I’ve never had Thousand Island dressing before, so I’m not sure if it’s supposed to be spicy or if that’s unique to this one.
It was also only $5.99 at Good Rebel, so it was a decent price for a normal-sized bottle, which I definitely appreciated!
It took me a few months to finish the bottle (I bought all the review foods back in Decmber), and honestly, I’m not sure if I would buy it again.
My low-spice-tolerance-body definitely wouldn’t be happy with me if I did and I also just don’t think the taste was there for me. The homemade ranch dip I make is more my speed, so I just don’t think it’d make sense for me, personally. Maybe once in a while if I feel like switching things up.
Don’t get me wrong: I’m not saying this product was bad by any means. It’s just not staple material in my book.
And I definitely think you should try it out yourself!
Being allergic to dairy, it might not surprise you to learn I haven’t tried that many different cheese flavours.
I’ve actually tried more different kinds of cheese being vegan!
So, I want you to keep that in mind while you read the rest of this review. If I say anything that’s clearly a cheese ‘newb’ thing, just, roll passed it. I don’t know, what I don’t know, y’know?
This cheese came in a square box, and was one of those what I refer to as ‘classic’-looking cheese wheels. It was also squishy, which I wasn’t expecting. I’d akin it to the texture of un-cooked tofu: solid enough it held it’s shape, but sponge-y if you poked it.
Something else that surprised me, was that it didn’t really smell like anything when it was cold. I don’t know what exactly I was expecting, but it was definitely more than… nothing.
The wheel – it was so soft the top got imprinted with the paper it was wrapped in!
I was also surprised to learn after cutting off a piece, that this cheese apparently had a rind on it?
I don’t know if this is common cheese knowledge or not, but I wasn’t sure if I could/should eat the rind or not. I figured it didn’t look like something that wasn’t edible, so decided to try it.
I was wrong.
Not in a ‘I almost died’ way, but the rind… I definitely don’t think I was supposed to eat it. It ended up burning my throat in a similar manner that happens when you eat too many salt and vinegar chips. And the piece I had wasn’t even that big!
Raw piece of cheese cut straight out of the fridge – see the difference in the rind colour vs the actual cheese?
The non-rind part of the cheese had a pretty mellow taste, thankfully. It tasted pretty close to Daiya’s mozzarella, if I had to compare it.
I tried the cheese cold alone, on a cracker, in a deli slice sandwich and heated up in a grilled cheese. Cold alone and smeared on a cracker it was fine, but definitely not my favourite vegan cheese. I did try it this way after I’d eaten part of the rind, so my throat was still a little burn-y, so I’m not sure how accurate my tastebuds were in that moment.
I also wrapped it in a Gusta deli slice, and that helped ease the burning, so I was happy about that. (I also ended up drinking some water and brushing my teeth, putting the cheese ‘away’ for the night)
Smeared on a cracker – easily spreadable, like cream cheese!
The next day, I used it in a grilled cheese, to see if the flavour changed when it was heated. I also painstakingly peeled the rind off the part I was using, because I did not want to burn my throat again.
Unfortuantley, it still happened – but not as badly! While the grilled cheese was cooking, I could actually smell the burning sensation in the air – which I thought was kinda weird – and then when I was eating it, I could definitely tell it was back, but was tolerable enough I could finish the sandwich. It wasn’t nearly as bad as eating the rind raw.
I have no idea why the rind burned my throat, whether or not that’s normal or just a ‘me’ thing, but I definitely can’t in good concious recommend you guys try eating the rind if you decide to try this cheese yourselves.
If I’m being completely honest, I don’t think I would buy this cheese again. It was an adventure, and I’m glad I tried it! But the taste at best was neutral, and at worst, hurt me, so I just don’t think it’d be worth it. It was also $16.99 at Good Rebel, so I can’t justify spending that much on something I wasn’t over-the-moon about.
Maybe if I was making a charcuterie board for a party and was trying to appear fancier than I actually am, I would buy it, but I just can’t see this cheese becoming a staple on my grocery list.
So, what about you guys? Have you tried this camembert before? Do you have any tips on how/why I could’ve tried it in a different way to have a better experience? Any doctor readers out there know why it burned me and whether or not that was ‘normal’?
Even before going vegan, I wasn’t able to eat Kit Kats, because they not only have milk ingredients in them, but also, they have ‘whey’ – which is the specific part I’m allergic to! Needless to say, I was pretty excited when these were announced.
Unfortunately, these were a big deal, which meant they were sold out for a while. I finally managed to get my hands on one of them back in December, which also kind of sucked, because while it was good and I would’ve gladly bought more, they’ve since been discontinued.
But, I still wanted to post a review of them, in case Kit Kat is taking notes of people who want them to come back, and so – on the off-chance they actually listen and do bring them back – you’ll know whether or not you need to put them on your grocery list.
If you’ve also never had a Kit Kat before, they’re basically just a chocolate bar with little/thin strips of waffer cookies inside, so they have a bit of crunch to them.
This bar came with 4 sticks in one pack/bar, so it was one of the bigger-sized Kit Kats, which was great, because it meant I could make it last a little longer than if it’d been the standard 2 stick kind.
It also didn’t taste like dark chocolate, despite what the wrapper said. It was closer in flavour to the No Whey! Milkless bar, if you’ve ever had those. Not bitter like straight dark chocolate. It also had what I assume is the ‘standard’ waffers on the inside, which added the right amount of crunch. Not super hard, but definitely made a satisfying snap when biting into it.
Because it was winter and I had the heat on, I did end up sticking mine in the fridge, because it got a little melt-y in my pantry. But putting it in the fridge I don’t think affected the flavour or structural integrity of the chocolate bar at all. It maaaybe added a little extra to the crunch, but it wasn’t anything too different.
I gave one of the sticks to one of my friends, and they said they tasted ‘pretty close’ to the non-vegan version. The only thing they said it was missing was more crunch. But I don’t know if that’s for non-vegan-bar-closeness reasons, or just their personal preferance for chocolate bars. So, feel free to take that criticism with as much salt as you’d like.
Another thing I liked about this bar, was the price! It was only $4.79 at Good Rebel, and while that does sound a little more than what you’d expect a chocolate bar to cost, keep in mind, it was the 4-bar size, so I was essentially getting 2 bars in one, and that would’ve made them $2.39 each, which is not that bad of a price at all. Especially when we’re talking about vegan chocolate.
All in all, I really enjoyed this chocolate bar! It wasn’t my favourite kind – that, if you’re curious, is Go Max Go’s Twilight bar, which I highly recommend – but it was pretty good. I definitely would’ve been happy if I’d got some of these on Halloween.
Important: This is the 3rd last article of the year! I’ll be taking the last half of December, and first half of January off from posting. I’ll be back January 16th 2026, with the first short story of the new year! (First article will go up Jan. 19th)
This year has surprisingly shaken out to include a lot of faux meat reviews, so I’d like to apologize in hind-sight about that. I usually try to pick food items that I think go with the seasons (like soups/heartier foods in the cold months) and are a good mix of products, but clearly that doesn’t always work out the way I plan. Next year I promise I’ll try to add a wider variety!
For right now though, we’re gonna do one more faux meat review – the last one of the year! (Faux meat review, not over-all product review)
Mostly I know Lightlife through their notdogs (which I haven’t done a review of because it would be one line – they taste like a hot-dog), so I was somewhat surprised to learn they made a few other faux meats, including bacon, ground round and sausages. Ironically, their website doesn’t list these faux chicken Smart Tenders, but it also says they’re an America company, so I’m not sure if they’ve been discontinued, or are just showing a different product range than what’s available up here. (Ontario, Canada)
These tenders come in a pack of 5 and it looked like they are vacuum packed in a plastic bag/wrap inside of the cardboard box. If you’ve been around a while, you know how I feel about companies using unnecessary plastic in their packaging, so while I’m glad the tenders weren’t individually wrapped, I’m a little annoyed that plastic is still the standard. But, I’m not a food safety person, so if that’s the way it has to be for health-standards, I’ll understand. (Albeit bregrugingly)
On the plus side, these tenders were a good/proper chick’n finger size, and surprisingly thick. They didn’t look like much in the package, but once I got them out and separated, they were thicker than my finger, and slightly longer, too. Unfortunately, I didn’t take a picture of them whole when I got them out of the plastic, because they were all stuck together and I had to start cooking them as a ball. (I didn’t know I was going to use them that day, otherwise, I would’ve defrosted them first) Once I got them cut into chunks though, you could tell how much chick’n they had!
The tenders didn’t have too strong of a smell, either, which I really appreciated! They only smelled once they started to cook, but it wasn’t over-poweringly meat-like, like the Beyond Meat products are. It was more subtle.
That was true for their taste, too. They had a ‘realer’ taste of meat than the Gardein products, but I would say were about halfway between Gardein and Beyond Meat. You could tell they were made out of plants, but they were close enough to give my brain that small warning it gets when it smells meat.
I also learned, these tenders are the same chick’n that’s used in PizzaPizza’s Plant-Based Boneless Bites, so it was that flavour, but without the breading. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before, but before I was vegan, I used to love PizzaPizza’s Boneless Bites. I used to like them so much, I started referring to them as ‘crack chicken’. Their plant-based Bites are also very worthy of that label, so if you haven’t tried those yet, I recommend you do!
These are also worthy of the label, so I definitely recommend these tenders, as well. I will say though, they have a bit of a weird aftertaste that I can’t quite put my finger on, so if you do decide to try these, I recommend you put them in something, instead of eating them plain.
I ended up putting them in a simple pasta I made (tri-coloured butterfly noodles, frozen peas, hemp hearts, the tenders, faux butter, a little oat milk and then just some oregano and basil), and they definitely added to the dish, instead of taking away. Their flavour was enough to know they were there, pleasantly, but they didn’t steal the show. Which I think is an important quality if you’re making a product that you want people to mix in/cook with other things, instead of eating it ‘plain’.
I don’t know very much about the NotCo brand – aside from their partnership with Kraft Dinner – so when I saw they had chicken burgers, I was obviously curious and had to try them.
These burgers were better than your standard veggie chicken burger for so many reasons, and I’m so happy I decided to try them! Their sizing, for one thing, was surprisingly good. They were, dare I say, slightly bigger than an actual burger!
Their breadcrumb coating was also nice. It had the classic texture of what I remember chicken burgers having, and they felt pretty solid when pulling them out of the bag. Like you could man-handle them a little without needing to fear they would break in your hand, y’know?
Speaking of the bag, I loved that it was purple. It also only had instructions for oven or grill cooking (usually, I cook burgers in a frying pan), so I cooked them in the oven. On the plus side, the instructions said they only need about 10 minutes total, with a flip in the middle before they’re done, so they weren’t a pain to cook at all.
A small pet peeve of mine is when cooking instructions say things like: Frying Pan: 10 minutes, Oven: 30 minutes.
They don’t really change colour when they’re done, and the first time I made mine, it did get a little softer/more breakable, so I didn’t think 10 minutes was enough. Luckily, more than one come in a bag, so I was able to experiment a few times after the tester I made for the review. I found 15-18 minutes was better for my oven. But of course, ovens vary, so I would recommend checking after the time on the bag, and then throwing them back in if they feel a little squishy.
Sometimes with vegan food, it’s hard to know if a food is supposed to remain squishy after it’s cooked, or if it’s supposed to firm up, so I always exercise caution when cooking vegan products.
Also luckily, these guys firmed up a little after longer cooking, so if yours come out a squishy, pop them back in!
I kept my tester burger simple, with just some lettuce and a mayo’d bun. I also cut out a piece of the burger to eat ‘plain’ on the side.
It’s been a while since I’ve had a ‘real’ chicken burger (at least 9 years), but these burgers had the flavour and texture of what I remember. They’re not eerily close like Beyond Meat products, but it’s enough to tell you’re not just eating breaded tofu.
Also, the cross-section of what the inside looks like showed off a great texture.
One thing that is not-so-awesome about these burgers is the fact only 4 come in a bag, and they were $7.49 (Metro), so I wouldn’t recommend making them a new staple. But, I can definitely recommend you try them at least once – especially if they’re on sale – as they’ll be a welcome addition to help you close out the summer.
After trying the Beyond Meat Sausages, I’ve been a little more hesitant to try some of the newer/improved faux meat products that have come out in recent years. They have begun making some of them taste more like meat, and it’s too close for me to find enjoyable.
So when I heard of these Gardein Supreme Saus’ge Links, I wasn’t exactly jumping out the door to try them.
But working means not always doing things you’re looking forward to, so I finally sacked up and bought some to try. And, to my happy surprise, they weren’t that bad!
I first tried these sausages back in January, but decided to wait until the summer to review them because I figure you might be on the hunt for some new BBQ favourites.
These sausages came in the same sized box as their Supreme Burgers (which I don’t think I’ve reviewed yet), and they only came with four saus’ges in the box. They were what I like to call ‘proper’ sausage size – not too slim like the faux notdogs, and not weirdly long like some of the breakfast links – they were perfectly fat and short.
They also came in just one conjoined plastic sheet, which I liked because it’s less plastic than individually wrapping or packaging the links would’ve been. There is also clear seams on the plastic, so if you don’t want to cook all four links at once, you can just cut out the ones you want to use without inadvertently opening and needing to wrap up the remaining ones.
Because I’d never made them before, I decided to just cook them alone in a frying pan, which according to the box would take 19 to 25 minutes. When I took the links out of the plastic, they didn’t immediately smell like anything, but once they started to cook, there was a very strong sweet smell, that reminded me of maple syrup. The links also browned pretty fast, and I didn’t write down the exact time it took them to cook, but I did note it wasn’t as long as the box said. If I’m remembering correctly, I think I did 8 minutes on one side, then flipped and did another 6 minutes. (On my stove’s Medium setting)
One thing I did not like about these saus’ges was that they absolutely wrecked my pan!
I have no idea why, but they spit all over the place! I didn’t even add very much oil, and it’s not like I was constantly moving them around. All I did was flip them once. I noticed this is something that happens when I cook the Beyond Meat burgers/sausages as well, so I don’t know for sure, but it seems to be a weird by-product of the more realistic faux meats.
Luckily, it only looked like they killed my pan. Some water soaking in the pan immediately after cooking (once it was cooled down) and just a regular wash with a sponge and dish soap later, the pan was perfectly fine.
Once they were no longer cooking, the maple syrup/sweet smell dissipated, which I thought was a little odd. I initially thought the sweet scent was somehow activated during cooking, and once they were done, the links would continue to smell like that, but that turned out not to be the case. I don’t think they smelled specifically very ‘meat-y’ either, they just kind of had that done cooking smell. Or maybe I was just nose-blinded by the maple syrup, I didn’t notice.
These links had a great texture, and a good taste! As I said above, they weren’t super close to meat like the Beyond Meat products are, but they also definitely did have a meat-y taste. They also had what I described as an ‘undercurrent’ of flavour that I couldn’t quite place. My notes said ‘my best guess is mint, but not the toothpaste or candy cane mint flavour – it’s closer to when mint is in shampoo and has that ‘cooling’ effect, but in your mouth?’
This was actually a flavour I noticed in the Beyond Meat sausages, as well. At that time, I thought it might’ve been the fennel because they had the whole seeds/pods/whatever they’re called in them. But I’ve since been told fennel doesn’t have that cooling/mint effect, so I don’t know what else it could be.
I did read the ingredients, and there definitely is not any mint in the saus’ge links, so it might be just be a weird taste-bud thing.
I definitely wouldn’t let that odd description stop you from trying these saus’ges. Overall, they’re good! And I’m betting they’d be even better tasting if you cut them up and added them to something like a pasta or rice dish.
That said, they are on the slightly expensive side ($10.99 when I got them at Loblaws), so maybe best to keep them for those special BBQ summer occasions with family/friends.
Last year, I started taking a dance class. It’s been a lot of fun, but I wasn’t progressing as fast as I thought I should be, so at the beginning of this year – per the instructor’s advice – I started working out twice a week, and began drinking protein shakes/smoothies/whatever you want to call them on the same days.
And, to my surprise, I started seeing results!
Now, I’ll be honest: I’ve never attempted to build muscle seriously before, and due to my allergies, I’ve never tried ‘traditional’ protein powders.
This unfortunately means I can’t give you a comparison between this powder and another – non-vegan or otherwise – all I can give you is my experience with using the product.
Please keep that in mind as you read this review.
I’d also like you to keep in mind who is talking: I work a desk job and found normal working out (weight lifting, treadmills, other generic gym equipment, etc.) to be boring and often, hurt or felt like it wasn’t doing anything (though that’s a completely other post) so I stopped doing it. I still did stretches or some squats a few times a week, but for the most part, there wasn’t much body movement happening.
This also meant I had very little muscle going into the dance class. A running joke in my family was that I had ‘zero’ muscle – which isn’t true because I’d obviously not be able to walk around – but to put things into perspective, I had trouble lifting a regular sack of potatoes. Not carrying, lifting.
Okay, so now that I’ve painted you the accurate before picture of me, let’s get into the good stuff:
The first thing I noticed about this protein powder was it was listed online for $50 (Healthy Planet), and when it showed up, the container was a lot bigger than I thought it’d be.
Protein powder container compared to a Silk Oat tetra pack
The container also boasts all the good things about the powder in an easy-to-read format: 30g of Protein, 5g BCAA (explained as ‘Branched Chain Amino Acids’ in fine print at the bottom of the label), 5g of Glutamic Acid, 1 B/G CFU (Colony Forming Units) and Tart Cherries.
I don’t know exactly why they list Tart Cherries being in the product with all that other stuff, but I assume it’s somehow beneficial. Also on the subject of not knowing what all that means: you don’t have to!
If you turn the container around, it tells you why the things listed on the front are good things and what they do.
The label also says one container is supposed to last for about 19 portions, but my first container lasted for much longer. (I’m actually still using it! Looks like it will be done by Friday, though. Currently at about 37 portions [started January 6th], so by Friday it will have been 39 [April 18th])
I will admit, I don’t use the scoop that came with the powder, I use a Tablespoon, instead. I do this because I’ve been using a Magic Bullet, and the cup size is smaller than the amount of liquid the container tells you to use for 1 powder scoop. So after some quick mathing, I discovered 2 Tbs is the right amount for my cup.
If you’re using a bigger cup, or know what you’re doing, I would assume adjusting the portion to fit your needs would work, as well. Just keep in mind that that will change how long the container lasts.
“Ater,” you may be thinking, “all this is great, but how does it taste?” Good question!
This protein powder has a chalky taste when it’s alone (yes, I taste-tested it by itself for this review, you’re welcome), similar to what So Good Chocolate used to taste like. (I haven’t bought this brand in years, so can’t say if it’s still chalky) It’s more chalk than chocolate, but since you’re not supposed to ingest it that way, I wouldn’t hold that against it.
When it’s blended into a shake/smoothie/whatever though, it either disappears completely, or helps adds to the chocolate-y taste.
My shakes I like to keep simple, so they are just: banana, faux milk (used to be Silk Chocolate Almond but that has gotten harder to find lately, so recently I’ve started using Earth’s Own Oat Chocolate), the protein powder and some peanut butter.
Because I’m using faux chocolate milk, it’s hard to say if the chocolate taste is from the milk alone, or if the protein powder helps. With how strong the scent of chocolate is when you open the container though, I wouldn’t be surprised if it enhances the flavour when blended.
It also blends very easily, but my Magic Bullet is old (was bought around 2014/15) so sometimes the frozen banana makes it hard for the dying motor to get everything completely smooth.
But even when it’s lumpy, the taste is still good!
As for how much it helps with your actual muscle gains, as I said above, I haven’t tried other powders so I can’t compare to those. However, I do think it has helped on my growing muscle journey. I wish I could give you specifics, but I can’t. The only thing I can tell you is it does seem to help my muscles recover faster, and I have noticed a slightly dramatic increase in muscle mass during the three month time. (Though this might also be because I started to work out 3 times a week, as well)
All in all, I would recommend this product for people who want to start working out, switch from their other protein powder or if nothing else, want to make getting enough protein in their diet easier.
I believe this protein powder is doing good, I’m just too much of a newbie to properly explain the science for why.
I first tried these truffles back in 2023. I’d been eyeing them for a while, but couldn’t find an excuse to buy them until then. (They were a joint Valentine’s/birthday present)
They were definitely worth the wait! Not only did they exceed my expectations, they also made me feel fancy. Due to my allergies, I hadn’t had truffles in a long time, and I forgot how much I used to like them. Opening the box and trying the different flavours. Sure, it came with a flavour guide, but it was still exciting!
I’m going to break this review into 5 parts, so each truffle gets equal billing. Unfortunately I didn’t completely love every flavour, but I would still say over-all these truffles were a hit! They’re also going to be listed in box order, not my order of preference.
Before we get into that, though, I want to tell you a little over-all about the box. I tried the 15 piece box, so there was only 3 of each kind of flavour. Also, despite knowing it was only 15 pieces total, when the box showed up, I was surprised at how small it was! I thought it was going to be bigger for whatever reason.
I also bought the box directly from NoWhey! which is unfortunately, a US based company. So, at the time I purchased the truffles (February 2023), this box was $29.50 USD and shipping to Canada was another $23.23 USD. Which means total Canadian, I paid $75.61.
Now, I don’t go around buying truffles very often, so maybe this is on par with other truffles, but to me, this seemed like a lot to pay for 1 box. They were delicious, as you’ll see below, but the shipping costing almost the same amount as the truffles isn’t something I loved.
Luckily though, I’ve since found these truffles at a few different Canadian vegan grocery stores, so when I buy them next, I’ll be sure to get them from there!
Milk Fudge
This truffle was definitely the ‘plainest’ one I tried, but that doesn’t mean it was bad!
This truffle, like all the others had a solid chocolate shell on the outside and a creamier/softer chocolate on the inside. Similar to the Lindt chocolates, but it’s been such a long time since I’ve had them, I’m not sure if that’s entirely a fair comparison.
It also just tasted like chocolate. No gimmicks, no tricks, nothing overly complicated. I hadn’t tried it at the time, but this Milk Fudge truffle reminds me of the Milkless bar they have for Halloween. I don’t know if it’s actually the same recipe, but if I had to guess, I’d say it is.
I would recommend this truffle to the less adventurous eaters out there. If you’re worried about liking the other flavours in the box, take solace in knowing there’s at least one you’ll enjoy!
Raspberry
This raspberry flavoured truffle had the smoothest inside out of all the truffles. I don’t know why it was the smoothest – it didn’t have jam inside, it was still solid chocolate – but it was a nice change of texture.
I’ll admit, I’m not the biggest fan of fruit in chocolate, but this one worked surprisingly well for me! I think because of the lack of jam, the raspberry flavour was a lot more subtle than I was expecting. I had tried the Strawberry Ganache Hearts at the same time and let’s just say I’d happily take these over those.
I also don’t remember what I meant, but in my original notes on the flavours, for this one, I wrote down, ‘no overtly raspberry flavour, more cooling’. So… take from that what you will.
Salted Caramel
This truffle was hands down my favourite, but I assumed that going in.
If you’ve been here a while, you’ll know salted caramel is one of my favourite flavourings, and this truffle did not disappoint!
It was salty, it was caramel-y… what more could you ask for?
The only thing I would say I didn’t like about this one – and this is just if I had to be nit-picky – was the salted flakes on the top. I don’t know if the ones we got were representative of all of them (the box I got only had 3) or if we got a couple less-than-perfect ones, but I felt there was a little bit too much salt on the outside. It reminded me of the salt flakes on that Sno Crunchy Salted Caramel Ice Cream Cone I tried. (Well technically, I since I tried the ice cream after the truffles, those salt flakes reminded me of these)
Grand Marnier
Do you know what ‘grand marnier’ means? Because I sure as hell didn’t. But it sounded fancy, so I thought it was going to be something like wine, or some other Grown Up Flavour… apparently it just means it’s orange.
Okay, technically it means it’s orange liqueur, but still. I was not expecting an orange flavour when I bit into the first truffle I tried out of the box – yes I tried it first because it sounded fanciest – and maybe I just didn’t eat enough of them, but it also didn’t get me buzzed. (I know that’s not necessarily a thing that happens with all liquor, especially in food)
The flavour was what you’d expect knowing it’s orange and chocolate. If you’ve ever had those chocolate oranges that are usually around at Christmas, it tasted like that, but a tad less orange-y.
This was my least favourite flavour out of the box, even after knowing what to expect. I wasn’t surprised by this though, because as I said above, I’m not that big a fan of fruit mixed with chocolate.
Coffee
And that brings us to the last but not least truffle of the box: coffee! This one was probably my second favourite flavour out of the box.
I know what you’re thinking, and I have the answer! I actually Live Chatted with an agent from No Whey! so that I would know whether or not they used decaf or regular coffee for the flavour. The agent told me they used regular coffee, but only used ‘a little bit’ and it was baked into the truffle directly, not added after or anything, so it shouldn’t have any coffee-like affects.
Which I was very glad to hear, because as you know if you’ve been around a while, my body is very sensitive to things like caffeine.
And I’m happy to report: I did not have any trouble with the caffeine from these truffles! So if you’re similarly affected, you can rest easy. Also I was glad to discover the agent didn’t lie about how much was used. (Which I’ve unfortunately experienced in the past)
The truffles tasted how you’d expect if you mixed coffee with chocolate. You could definitely taste the coffee, so if you’re not a fan of that, you’ll probably want to skip this one. The inside of this truffle was also more brownie consistency than the rest of them.
That’s not a complaint though, just an observation!
Overall, I would definitely recommend trying this box of truffles. Especially if you live in the US or find a place to buy them directly that’s less than $75.
The 15 piece box was also a great sample size box to write a review for. Since each flavour had only 3 truffles, there was one initial tester, a second to really think about the flavour and then the last was to be enjoyed like a regular person/non-food blogger. (Or given away to a friend if you didn’t like it)
If you’re not sure if you would seriously enjoy all the flavours, No Whey! also sells each of these flavours in alone, smaller boxes (I believe the single flavours come in a box of 6?), or they have a bigger box if you’re having a party, or know you’ll love them.
So, No Whey! Signature Truffles. Have you tried them? If you have, which flavour is your favourite? If you haven’t, which flavour do you think you’ll like most? Let me know in the comments below!
The wheel – it was so soft the top got imprinted with the paper it was wrapped in!
Raw piece of cheese cut straight out of the fridge – see the difference in the rind colour vs the actual cheese?
Smeared on a cracker – easily spreadable, like cream cheese!
Protein powder container compared to a Silk Oat tetra pack
