food review

2 Comments Posted on August 26, 2014August 26, 2014 food reviews, Uncategorized, vegan

Vegan Friendly Review Of Squaw Valley, Lake Tahoe

Earlier this summer our family took an awesome road trip/family vacation while reviewing the 2014 Toyota Highlander, which we drove round trip from Sacramento to Lake Tahoe.

While there in Squaw Valley, I kept a close watch on the “vegan friendliness factor” of the area; as I recently wrote a vegan friendly review of the city of Atlanta.

This review is for the growing minority of Americans who are living the plant-based life, or who are at least curious or open-minded about it, and may be travelling through Lake Tahoe; specifically, Squaw Valley, home of the 1960 Olympics.

It was this trip that our family officially realized the greatness of cheese-less veggie pizza.

Right where we stayed, at The Village at Squaw Valley is Fireside Pizza Company, my favorite restaurant of the entire Lake Tahoe area.

We dined there at least 3 times during our stay. We were able to get vegan pizza; yes, the crust and sauce are vegan.

The food was delicious and fresh; and honestly, the prices were not bad at all.

Venturing out of Squaw Valley just a few miles towards Lake Tahoe is Stony Ridge Uncommon Kitchen, a healthy cafe style restaurant at the back of a holistic grocery store called New Moon Natural Foods; where we were able to stock up on goods.

We also happened upon a Tahoe Mountain Brewing Company, which serves vegan burgers; given that you don’t order the type of bun brushed in butter. I was happy!

Close to Stony Ridge Uncommon Kitchen is a grocery story called Save Mart Supermarkets, that in the likeness of Kroger, has a vegan-friendly section.

They even had my favorite Kombucha… on sale!

Between all those options, we had everything we needed.

I will say that we also dined at a Mexican place called El Toro Bravo, but they didn’t understand what “vegan” means.

Their “vegan burrito” (that I invented and ordered off menu) included cheese on the 1st go-around. They got it right the 2^nd time, though.

Also, I verified that their chips are fried in vegetable oil, not lard.

So yes, you can make the trip to Squaw Valley in Lake Tahoe a plant-based one. Hopefully you have found my vegan friendly review to be helpful… or at leastly oddly entertaining!

Leave a comment Posted on August 4, 2014August 10, 2014 food reviews, Health, reviews, Uncategorized, vegan

Vegan Review Of The Farm House In Downtown Nashville

Even though I live just about 12 miles from the glory and fame of downtown Nashville, I only end up there a couple times each year…

But last week while attending the Lexus NX Press Preview at Union Station Hotel, we car reviewers were treated to dinner at a high end restaurant called The Farm House; featuring the music of Jeff Hyde and Jeremy Spillman.

We got to ride a trolley there…

One of the things that tremendously sets The Farm House apart is that the food they offer is local. Their slogan is “local farms create local plates.”

That’s impressive, seriously!

However, The Farm House’s food truly is fresh- because the food didn’t have to travel that far to the plate.

It’s a very relevant idea that I believe will becoming more of a trend. But The Farm House is already doing it.

Perhaps the true test of how good a restaurant really is, is to have a vegan like me to do the review:

When you strip away the rich flavor of meat, eggs, and dairy from a meal, you get to really find out how good the food actually is or isn’t.

I can confirm that I was not disappointed in the least with my meal. As peculiar as it may sound, my meal was a huge bowl full of garden vegetables including potatoes, okra, tomatoes, and eggplant; varying from pickled, seasoned, and fried.

It was a complete delight! And so hearty.

(It reminded me of a month ago when I visited my parents in Alabama. They have an all organic, non-GMO garden. For a few meals during our family’s visit, we simply ate grilled garden veggies.)

For dessert at The Farm House, I had cantaloupe sherbet infused with chili powder. It was a lot of fun.

As you can see from my photo collage above, I am not the only one to say that The Farm House is a truly respectable establishment. (It was the winner of the 2014 OpenTable Diner’s Choice.)

I predict that if you end up at The Farm House, you will be pleased. I definitely was.

And if you’re curious about other stories I’ve written that feature the Lexus NX…

I now invite you to view the Lexus NX Press Release Flickr page, as well as the completely library of posts I’ve published on the 2015 Lexus RX:

The “True Grit, Pure Grace” Lexus NX Press Preview In Nashville, TN

2015 Lexus NX Review/Preview Across The Natchez Trace Parkway Bridge

Vegan Review Of The Farm House In Downtown Nashville

2015 Lexus NX 200t: 10 Professional Photos

2015 Lexus NX 300h: 11 Professional Photos

2015 Lexus NX 200t F Sport: 13 Professional Photos

Luxury Package of 2015 Lexus NX 200t F Sport: 7 Professional Photos

2015 Lexus NX: A Flickr Link To Professional Photos

Thanks for stopping by. Be on the look-out for more of my reviews on the Lexus/Toyota/Scion family!

Leave a comment Posted on July 7, 2014July 7, 2014 Health, parenting, Uncategorized

Review Of Toddler Mum-Mums: Apple, Banana, And Strawberry Rice Biscuits

I love reviewing food products! Today I am featuring Toddler Mum-Mum rice biscuits, by a brand called Hot Kid.

For the review, I was sent 2 boxes of the banana, 2 boxes of the apple, and 2 boxes of the organic strawberry.

To meet the criteria for my review, the food could not contain artifical food dyes or flavors, or high fructose corn syrup; which in my opinion, is the easiest ways to identify junk food.

With that being said, Toddler Mum-Mum rice biscuits do not contain artifical food dyes or flavors, or high fructose corn syrup; nor do they contain preservatives, gluten, egg, or peanuts.

If you are a strict vegan or vegetarian, please note they contain gelatin, which is an animal by-product also found in pudding and marshmallows.

My niece Calla really loved Mum-Mums… all July 4th weekend. My sister, her mom, said she wouldn’t stop eating them!

As the name implies, Toddler Mum-Mums are especially intended for toddlers and older. (My niece just turned 3, though.)

While at the grocery store yesterday, I looked at the competition. Turns out, unless you’re at Whole Foods, most grocery stores contain mystery ingredient filled versions of Mum-Mums as the competition.

In other words, Mum-Mums stand out in the crowd in that their brand cares enough about its consumers to not include a long paragraph of ingredients you have to Google to even find out what they are; only to find out those ingredients shouldn’t even be considered as food to begin with. Mum-Mums only contain about 6 different ingredients.

For more informations, you can check out the Mum-Mums website at mummums.com.

Thanks for visiting Family Friendly Daddy Blog today. I wonder what I’ll review next?

2 Comments Posted on June 15, 2014June 15, 2014 Uncategorized

Unboxing Of GoGo Squeez’s Apple Mandarin & Gimme Five : Family Friendly Review

As the official daddy blogger of Parents.com for the past 3 years, I’ve always tried to be careful not to openly promote a product. However, with GoGo Squeez, it’s been difficult not to…

That’s because they are one of the few food brands out there that I approve of 100%.

GoGo Squeez is vegan friendly, non-GMO, kosher certified, gluten free, contains BPA free packaging, contains no artificial flavors or flavors or high-fructose corn syrup and, at the risk of sounding redudant here… is 100% natural.

All of their ingredients are certified USDA organic, grown on local farms in rich, healthy soil that hasn’t been treated with chemical pesticides or fertilizers.

We are a plant-based family, so all that stuff is a big deal to us!

My friends at GoGo Squeez send our family a care package for our upcoming family vacation to Lake Tahoe. So I used that opportunity to help spread the good word about this food company that I am personally passionate about.

I made some “unboxing” videos of my son trying some of their newer flavors: Apple Mandarin and Gimme Five! (a blend of apple, mango, strawberry, peach, and banana).

By the way, I promise I didn’t prompt my son to only say good stuff about these “on the go” applesauce pouches. I admit he was probably confused as to why we were filming him get to eat of of his favorite snacks, but he just went with it!

There are very few food companies out there that I openly stand by and trust. For a strict vegan like me, with a plant-based family, it takes a lot (!) to impress me.

GoGo Squeez is the real deal.

Thanks for stopping by my Family Friendly Daddy Blog today. Now, let me find something else to review…

Family Friendly Daddy Blog

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