Guest Post and VeganCuts Giveaway / Traveling Pink Lips- CLOSED

To start of, I would like to thank Corrie for having me here on Brooklyn Bliss. Here’s to a check off my bucket list 😉 She has helped me make a very rational decision last week, hair cutting involved. Corrie is the girlfriend you want to have around you! She knows fashion, stands for animals and knows how to cook a meal!

When Corrie asked me to be a guest blogger, I knew exactly what I wanted to share with you all, a review of my 3-month Vegan Cuts Snack Box subscription! For those of you who don’t know, VeganCuts started a movement a little while ago where they ship a monthly box filled with great snacks and coupons.

Let’s start, shall we?

February:

I started my subscription in February. After hearing a few reviews from the January snack box I knew it was time for me to give in. Now, this review is my personal opinion and taste. Let’s keep this in mind 🙂 Alright, back to business, we are. This box was my least favorite of them all.

My First VeganCuts’s Snack Box!

VeganCuts’s Snack Box Of February!

A few of my favorite items in this box were Simply 7 Pomegranate Chips, Dang Coconut Chips, and Surf Sweets Fruity Hearts! This box was sweet and love filled. The Dang Coconut Chips were amazing. I decided to take this box to work and have at it then. I loved them the most. I took the Pure Fit Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip bar with me to a wedding as my “survival snack” just in case this herbivore didn’t find anything to bite on. It was enjoyable and a good call! Along with these came one of The Merry Hempsters’s Organic Lip Balm, Righteously Raw Divine Mint Chocolate Square and more sweets. The coconut chips and pomegranate chips kept me in good spirit from this box.

I give this box a 5.

March:

The month of March was an exciting one! Between my 25th birthday, trip to California and endless work hours, a box in the mail was the perfect wind down! My snack box for the month of March came in right after I came back from LA and I couldn’t wait to see what was in store.

VeganCuts’s March Snack Box!!!

Barre Snack Bar, Nyl Body Lotion and Caramel Pops!

The Vegg, Earth Balance, VBar, Falafel Chips, Nyl Body lotion!

WOW! What A Haul!

Okay, this box was the complete “redeemer”, if you know what I mean! I was SO happy when I opened it. The first thing that caught my eyes and stomach was the Earth Balance Vegan White Aged Cheddar Puffs. I have been hearing about them for a while and I was super excited to finally have a bite at it. Delicious! They taste exactly like the regular puffs but of course MUCH better! Next up, CocomoCorn Caramel Pops, my mum fell in love with them and may have taken the bag from me. That’s a good review, right? I had no idea there was such thing as falafel chips so this was a total surprise for me. I wasn’t too crazy about them. Perhaps it was because I am not too crazy for falafel? Now, the best part of this box was the Sunflower/Cranberry Vbar!

Cranberry/Sunflower Vbar from Benefit Foods.

Vbar Sunflower/Cranberry From Benefits Foods!

It was the best bar I have ever had in my life. The savory Sunflower Nut Butter is what held this snack bar together. I love cranberries so this was another win. The brown rice cereal gave this Vbar a crispy touch and pleasant joy. I loved this Vbar and I can’t wait until I can find it in stores. If you find the chance to try this bar, go at it! You won’t be disappointed! The Equal Exchange Dark Mini Chocolate has been by far my favorite chocolate bar to taste. It was smooth and rich and not too dense. I was expecting a robust taste like other dark chocolate bars but not this one! Overall this box was exciting, I got to taste some awesome new products on the market and fell in love with chocolate.

I give this box a 7.

April:

And this was the month is the end of so ends my snack box subscription. I have had a lot of fun with this subscription. And I hate to see it go. I am thinking about renewing for another 3-month but I guess I will see what the May box holds.. I may have gone for another, hehe.

April’s Vegan Snack Box From Vegan Cuts!

Favourite Box This Month!

Cheeze Me, Please!

The ultimate win of the month! I was very happy, excited and ready to dig into this box. Some of the products sent I already had a taste at. One of my favorite products from this box was the Hazelnut Caffeine-Free Herbal Coffee from Teecciano. Wow! I never thought I’d see the day.

Hazelnut Flavoured Herbal Coffee From Teecciano!

Everyone knows I love coffee! I can’t help it; it is one of the things signed under my name. This herbal coffee was delicious. I was impressed. I didn’t think I would have enjoyed it. The hazelnut flavor was sweet and just right. I must admit, I was little skeptical after reading the ingredient list to find “dates” which I am not too much of a fan of but I couldn’t taste it one bit. Fantastic!

New Products, Yes Please!

I am currently using Meow Meow Tweet Cocoa Lip Balm and I like it a lot, minimal ingredients [candelilla wax, *cocoa butter, *hempseed oil, and *virgin coconut oil (*certified organic)] and the ultimate moisture. I have yet to try Milas’s Roasted Peppers & Artichoke Bruschetta but I can already tell I will enjoy it. Overall, this box was great and I loved it. It was a nice one to end this snack box relationship. Included was one of Teese’s Mozzarella Vegan Cheese was the cherry on the top. Of course I made pizza right away!

I give this box a 9.

Final Verdict:

Vegan Cuts’s Snack Box is a must try! You are guaranteed to find new products and tons of coupons. If you’re not ready to plunge into a 3-month subscription no problem, you can try it for a month for $19.95 shipping included. You can’t say no to that. Each box is filled with great sized-snacks and products to love, forever. Can’t find the products in your local store? Don’t fret, Vegan Cuts also provides a section with a product list of the month www.vegancuts.com/big!

Note: Caring is sharing! This is my personal review and honest opinion, eh! Unless otherwise stated, everything I review has been purchased by me and at my own risk! –TPL

NOW on to the fun stuff, a giveaway! Yes, a giveaway 🙂 One lucky winner will get the chance to experience their very own VeganCuts’s Monthly Snack Box! This box will be given by me, Holly of Traveling Pink Lips and will be for the month of June. And also open to both Canada & US!

TPL & Brooklyn Bliss Giveaway!!!

1. Like Brooklyn Bliss on Facebook/ Facebook.com/BKBliss
2. Follow @Veganadian on Twitter and Tweet about the giveaway!
3. Leave a comment below and share with us which one of these boxes would have made it on your favorite list and why.

This giveaway is open until May 24th, 11:59pm EST. Open to both Canada & US!

I’d like to thank, Corrie for having me on Brooklyn Bliss and I look forward to read all of your entries 🙂

You can find more of me on www.travelingpinklips.com where I share restaurant reviews, product reviews and personal rant. It is lovely do stop by!

–TravelingPinkLips

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Gwynnett Street

Last Thursday evening, Jim and I participated in Dine Out Williamsburg for Sandy Relief. Gwynnett Street was a participating restaurant, and we’ve been dying to try it out for a while. What better way to try out a fancy new bistro than a night when 20% of their gross profits are going to provide relief to Sandy victims?

This meal totally impressed me.  Gwynnett Street is very vegan friendly.  So much so, they always have a vegan appetizer, entrée and dessert on their menu at any given time.

Jim started out with their Whiskey Bread, which wasn’t vegan but vegetarian.  It came with cultured butter and looked delicious.  I wish it was vegan, it looked so yummy it was torture looking at it.

For my appetizer I had the winter squash with bell pepper, szechuan pepper and peppercress.  Holy moly this was delicious.  Textures were great.  The squash had a nice bite to it, the herbs were flash fried, and it also had what I believe were pepitas throughout it which gave it additional crunch against the soft vermicelli noodles.  The sauce was delicately sweet and had a hint of citrus.  It was also probably one of the most gorgeously plated vegan dishes I think I’ve ever had.

For my entrée, I finally got to try their tofu.  This restaurant like Roberta’s was awarded a two star review by the New York Times, and the reviewer raved about their house made tofu.

This night it was prepared crusted in pistachio with avocado, celery and celtuce.  The texture was more reminiscent of a pate to me, and it had a great pistachio crust.  Very light and tasty, perfectly paired with the raw avocado, celery and celtuce (which I think is a combination between celery and lettuce?).

What absolutely made my night is when the waitress told me the chef was going to come up with a specialty vegan dessert for me.  She later came back out with what I believe was a sorbet with poached pears, fall spices (lots of cinnamon), a nut cream sauce, and fresh berries.  This was as delicious and seasonal as it sounds.  Isn’t the plating beautiful?

I was extremely pleased with my meal at Gwynett Street and will for sure be back.  It’s now one of my favorite restaurants in the neighborhood.

Have you tried the vegan options at Gwynett Street?  What did you think?

Robertas Pizza

Last Saturday, Jim and I dropped off a load of Sandy Relief donations at Roberta’s Pizza in Bushwick. We had never eaten there, and figured we’d stay for lunch. That’s not to say we haven’t tried to eat there before. Last time we tried it was closed down due to these folks eating there.

If you’re unfamiliar with Roberta’s, the restaurant somewhat pioneered the Brooklyn food scene and has given Brooklyn a rep for having restaurants just as good as Manhattan, if not better. In fact, the New York Times awarded them a two star review.  I don’t know they’re entire history and story but do know that they actually grow a lot of the produce they use on site.

There was of course a wait when we arrived.  They have an additional bar outdoors in a heated tent, so we sat out there for a bit while we waited for our table.

All the seating is pretty much shared.  So we were sat with another couple on one side and a family of four on the other, all at the same table.

I informed the waitress I was vegan and asked what she recommended, and she was very accommodating. I was recommended the Delicata Salad minus the cheese, which was roasted delicata squash with pea shoots and what I’m guessing was a pumpkin seed dressing.  It was absolutely phenomenal.  After the first bite I understood why Roberta’s was awarded those two stars.

They also made their hash brown potatoes minus the pork hash for Jim.  It wasn’t vegan due to butter, so I couldn’t have it.  He ate the entire thing so I know it must have been delicious.

Can’t go to Roberta’s without trying the pizza.  The Rosso pie is on their standard menu and is  vegan.  It’s very simple with a flavorful garlic tomato sauce.  This pizza was by far the best pizza I’ve ever had in New York.  The crust was perfection, light and crunchy, not too heavy.  I wouldn’t even think of bastardizing this with a layer of daiya.  And I LOVE daiya.  It was that good without it.

The food is just too good not to go again and again.  I’m really looking forward to my next visit.

Purume

My BFF Nikki at Purume

A few weeks ago I met up with my BFF Nikki for dinner at Purume, a now fully vegan eatery in Union Square.  This restaurant is the restaurant above Karaoke Cave (formerly Lemongrass) for those of you karaoke freaks who might be familiar with it.

The restaurant was very spacious, and the decor very “zen”, which didn’t really surprise me being I’ve heard of the place for their macrobiotic cuisine.

Nikki and I both ordered the same thing.  We started with the miso soup, which was absolutely delicious and highly recommended.  After we had their tofu entrée, which again was really, really good.  The tofu was marinated and very flavorful, and the presentation was better than I’m used to at most vegan eateries.  The only disappointment in the dish was that the portion size was on the smaller side, and I was hungry that night so it wasn’t really sufficient for me.

For dessert, I opted for their apple tart a la mode.  The tart though it looked amazing was a bit of a let down.  I had expected them to have vegan vanilla ice cream to accompany it, but they didn’t so the next best choice besides green tea was chocolate, which was a bit odd.  The filling of the tart itself was very good, but the crust was hard as a rock and basically inedible.

All in all, while I enjoyed my meal there I’m not sure it was worth the price tag.  The prices for the portions served was on the high side.  Then again I’m spoiled with all the vegan options available to me in Williamsburg and it’s not that often I go out to eat in Manhattan, so it could just be I’m a bit out of touch.

If you’re looking for a good, quick, vegan macrobiotic bite and are in the Union Square area, I’d recommend checking Purume out.

Paul Labrecque Hair Care / Review and Giveaway- Closed

The folks over at Paul Labrecque had contacted me a while back to review some of their products. I didn’t feel right trying any products that weren’t vegan, but after a few emails back and forth confirming their curly hair care products were in fact vegan (they are) we were good to go. A few days later I received a package in the mail containing their curly shampoo, conditioner, styling cream gel and finishing spray (not pictured).

I have to be honest. I totally put off trying these products out for a while. Main reason being I was really happy with the products I was currently using on my hair. Everything I use is normally vegan, organic and chemical free. So I was slightly terrified to put something else in my hair. Why would I? I liked my current stuff.

Well long story short I’m really sorry I waited so long to try them out. Immediately after rinsing out the shampoo, I my hair felt softer. The conditioning cream is rich and thick, and really moisturized my parched locks. The cream gel was also a surprise, it gives fantastic hold with no “crunch” (if you’re a curly girl I know you know what I mean). The finishing spray makes my locks shiny and not greasy, and keeps them frizz free. I’ve also found the spray has helped perk up my curls the following day, so I can now go a day or two between washes.

The absolute nicest surprise has been that my curls have been 100% frizz free in the humid, NYC summer weather. I didn’t think that was possible!

Better yet, Paul Labrecque is giving Brooklyn Bliss readers an opportunity to win the same, four piece curly hair care kit I received valued at $92.00!

To enter to win, you need to…

1. Be located in the Continental United States
2. Leave a comment below about how you currently fight frizz.

Follow me on Twitter and leave your twitter handle in the comments, and you’ll receive a bonus entry.

It’s that easy! The giveaway will be open until 11:59 pm on Friday, July 29th, after which a winner will be chosen randomly.

Pure Food and Wine

Very recently, instead of taking a vacation, I decided to take a staycation. There are so many things I never get to go and do in New York City considering the hours I work, and a staycation would give me the opportunity to do so. That, and I’d still save money over a standard vacation and I’d still get to shop and eat out to my heart’s content.

I’ve had two things on my must do list for some time that I knocked out at the same time. One was to eat a leisurely lunch, alone, while in the city. The second was to finally try out Pure Food and Wine.

Though I’m a vegan, I’ve always been somewhat terrified of raw foods. I’m a stickler for food texture, and for some reason cold food always seems off to me. I have a really hard time getting down gazpacho and salads, they’re not really my thing. Regardless, I’ve read some great reviews on Pure Food and Wine and really wanted to try them out.

One thing that stands out about the restaurant is its gorgeous, huge patio. Plenty of seating, nice comfy cushions, and peaceful quiet from the hustle and bustle of the city only yards away.

The patio was perfect for enjoying my leisurely daytime lunch and glass of wine. Now let’s talk about the food.

I decided to go with the prefix lunch, which included an appetizer, lunch entrée and a dessert.

For the appetizer I went with their Caesar Salad. The salad was okay, but didn’t really impress me too much. I was expecting the dressing to be a bit creamier, and the macadamia nut “parm” to be a bit more grated. The seaweed also kinda threw me for a loop flavor wise, though I can understand why they used it in the salad (to make up for the fact there was no anchovies in the dressing, seaweed can still give dishes that salty, ocean flavor). I ate the whole thing, though if I returned to the restaurant I don’t see myself ordering this salad again.

Ah, the Zucchini and Heirloom Tomato Lasagna. This dish convinced me there’s really something to raw dining. It was absolutely delicious! The zucchini was a great and convincing stand in for lasagna noodles, and their nut cheeses and pesto intertwined in the layers made it much creamier and richer than it appears to be. The tomato sauce was also made with sun-dried tomatoes, which imparted a sweet flavor throughout the dish. It was bursting with flavor and well worth the money spent on it. I highly recommend it.

For dessert, I ordered the number one thing I’ve long missed since going vegan, and that’s a Mallomar! If you’re not familiar with this delicious cookie (it seems to be a NYC thing), it’s a seasonal cookie made by Nabisco and will usually be seen on shelves starting early fall. It’s basically a graham cracker, topped with marshmallow and coated in a layer of chocolate. Think of it as a s’mores cookie. When I was a child, my grandmother would allow me to eat an entire box in one sitting which would drive my mother nuts.

The Pure Food and Wine version was pretty close to the original. My only critique of it is I was expecting the center to be denser, like a marshmallow. The texture instead was more like ice cream. It was still absolutely delicious and the perfect ending to my lazy day lunch.

Have you ever tried raw food? This meal was my first experience with it and I’ve been playing around with raw cooking more and more every week. It’s always fun to try new things.