Things I Love Right Now (November 2016)

I wrote my first “Things I love Right Now” post in October and asked you all to like/comment to gauge your interest in it. Since I did receive a good amount of positive feedback, I decided to go ahead and roll out to making “Things I Love Right Now” a monthly series.

Tofutti cream cheese (herbs & chives flavor)

I am so into this that I’ve been putting it on all my toasts, no matter the combination (avocado, jam, fruit, nut butter, etc). It’s seriously so good and tastes just like the dairy version. I am usually pretty skeptical of imitation dairy products, but this ones NAILS it, I promise.

tofutti

Fuyu

Fuyu is a type of persimmon, but is smaller and shaped like a tomato. It’s crispy and sweet, and forms these cute flower-like shapes when cut across. I love its flavor and I’ve been eating a lot of them lately since they’re in season. If you like apples or pears, you’ll love fuyu. They can be found at Asian markets or big grocery stores.

VSCO app

This isn’t really specific to something I love this month, but it’s an app I use daily so I thought I’d include it. It’s technically a photo sharing app like Instagram, but I just use it to edit my photos. It has some really useful editing features (like tilting photos up/down, left/right), and I love its filters. I used to use another app called Afterlight and only used VSCO sporadically, but I gradually shifted over to exclusively using VSCO. I find it simpler and more user-friendly than Afterlight and other photo-editing apps.

vsco

Pressed Juicery’s “Freeze”

Pressed Juicery is primarily a juice place, but they also make this vegan soft-serve called “Freeze.” It’s made out of their juice and it’s so good. Like, I-want-it-every-day-even-in-the-dead-of-winter good. They have different flavors depending on the location, but I’ve only had their chocolate/vanilla twist. The ingredients for the twist are cacao, almonds, dates, vanilla bean, and sea salt. Does it get any simpler than that??! I’m amazed that they can create such a creamy, flavorful treat with such minimal ingredients.

The soft-serve is $3.95 for 4 oz and $6.50 for 6 oz. I got the 4 oz size and I found it to be just right. You can also add 3 toppings for a dollar extra. I recommend doing so. Their vegan toppings include: berries, shredded coconut, chia seeds, shaved almonds, almond butter, cacao drizzle, and sea salt.

GET THE CACAO DRIZZLE. YOU HAVE TO. It turns into this chewy, chocolate-y concoction and I cannot stress the importance that you add it to your freeze.

Processed with VSCO with c1 preset

Garam Masala

I recently bought this spice to use in curry, but I’ve been putting it on basically everything because it adds so much depth of flavor. I use Greenpoint Trading co‘s garam masala, which is a little pricey, but I don’t mind spending money on spices since they last a long time and I think quality really matters for spices. I find that whenever I buy low-quality, cheap spices I can tell a huge difference in flavor.

Sprinkle some of this when roasting veggies, add it in stir-fries, sauces, basically anything! I especially like it on roasted potato/sweet potato wedges. The ingredients (in the one I bought; the ingredients vary) are coriander, cumin, chilies, cloves, laurel leaves, cinnamon and ginger. It has a mild curry flavor, is slightly sweet, and aromatic.

garam-masala

Peaceful Provisions

Peaceful Provisions is a vegan bakery. They don’t have a brick & mortar store, but they sell their treats at various events. They recently came to a vegan shop up at Pine Box Rock Shop in Brooklyn. This was where I was introduced to the magic that is Peaceful Provisions.

I tried their cannoli donut, and it changed my life forever. I literally had a foodgasm eating it. It was this huge, soft, moist donut with a creamy cannoli filling and I never wanted it to end. I was legitimately upset and nearly in tears when I finished the last bite. I cannot wait to go back and try more of their treats. I’ve literally been dreaming about this donut ever since that day.