A Tofurky Thanksgiving

My Thanksgiving was about family, food and Tofurky!

I always say going vegan doesn't mean giving up great food. It does, however, mean giving up some traditions- like turkey and stuffing on Thanksgiving. I haven't had the traditional Thanksgiving meal in ten years and I've come to look at Thanksgiving dinner as a "whatever side dishes don't have animal products" meal. I was excited received a coupon to try out the Tofurky Vegetarian Feast and couldn't believe how much it meant to have a traditional meal to look forward to--- that was vegan!

The frozen box comes with the stuffed Tofurky, gravy, wishbones and an Amy's organic, vegan chocolate cake!

It was fun to pull apart wishbones that didn't come from a bird's intestines!

Everything in the box was already made and just required some defrosting, preparing and baking. It was pretty simple.

Maybe we should call this the blogger's Thanksgiving because I also tried Tasteful Selection's Purple Passion and Sunrise Medley Potatoes, which were sent to me to review.

First off, how cute are these potatoes!? I combined the bags and boiled for a few minutes. One plus: these babies cook FAST!

While the potatoes cooked I sauteed an onion in olive oil with Frontier Pepper Fusion. It is black peppercorns with chipotle. I immediately oooh-ed and ahhh-ed at the aroma of this spice!

The spice was incredible and really flavorful. The one thing I'd change is the little plastic lid. It is so thin that it almost got thrown out a few times!

Along with a little garlic I baked the potatoes (halved) and onions.

I enjoyed a salad, veggies, potatoes and the stuffed Tofurky. I only photographed plate #1 but I can guarantee I had more Tofurky!

The Tofurky was SO GOOD! I had family try bites of it and they couldn't believe how genuine it tasted. Comments of its yummy flavor and texture filled the kitchen. I usually stick with foods with less ingredients, but I will certainly buy a Tofurky again. It allowed me to fit in with the rest of the turkey-themed table and it was unbelievably tasty.

The potatoes were soft and flavorful. I loved the slightly nutty flavor and how easy they were to cook and eat.

I had Amy's cake, too, but forgot to photograph it. Yeah, it was tasty :)

***You still have time to enter to win $100 from V8 V-Fusion + Tea! Check out my review, see the other reviews and enter here!

What was your favorite Thanksgiving dish this year?

V8 V-Fusion + Tea will rock your socks off

This is a sponsored review by BlogHer and V8 Fusion + Tea.

Holy yum I'm in love with new V8 V-Fusion + Tea.

This review came in perfect time when I was sick and traveling and in need of a good immune booster.

V8 V-Fusion + Tea has fruits and veggies- plus the antioxidants of green tea.

I was Asheville, NC, visiting Richard, so we took an afternoon break to see if the taste of the V8 V-Fusion + Tea was as good as its benefits.

First up: Pineapple Mango Green Tea. The tea flavor was the weakest in this one, with the mango being most pronounced. It tasted like a yummy juice. I went on to have two more cups of this flavor!

Second in line: Raspberry Green Tea. The green tea was stronger with this flavor. It tasted like traditional raspberry tea, but with a green tea aftertaste rather than black tea.

Last but not least: Pomegranate Green Tea. The pomegranate flavor was more sweet than tart and really complemented the mild green tea flavor.

All three flavors were sweet and smooth in texture. I'd pair it with a pancake breakfast, use it as an afternoon pick-me-up or take it with me on a long workout.

I'm definitely buying these again. We liked all three flavors, but here's our order of preference:

V-8 V-Fusion + Tea is giving you 1 of 10 chances to win $100! Here is all the info, including the other 9 bloggers' posts.

The program runs from 11/15-12/15/2010.

For a chance to win, leave a comment below.

For a second entry:
- Tweet about this post with a link to it (and put your tweet URL in a separate comment below).
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- Read the official rules for alternate form of entry.

Have you tried V8 V-Fusion + Tea? What is your favorite V8 juice product?

Sixteen Miles in Photos + Vibrams Review

More than one year ago I got myself out of the house and on a three mile run by taking photos along the course and later blogging about it. I lived in Tampa, had shin splints three miles seemed quite far back then, but I still enjoy photographing where I run.

Fast forward 15 months and I'm living in Orlando and running 16 miles in preparation for an Ironman!

I had fun, but, honestly, the run was rough. About a month ago I was in a car accident that forced me to scale my training way back. I'm still working to overcome that loss of fitness.

Check out my new lululemon running bonnet! It was basically made for me and definitely made the run more fun :-)

VIBRAMS!!!

I don't yet do my long runs in the Vibrams as I've only worked up to about five miles int hem, but I did want to share some differences between the KSO and the Sprint models as I've now run in both.

KSO:

SPRINT:

They say the KSO and Sprint models are the same, expect the KSO's have a covered top to Keep Stuff Out. Here are user differences I noticed:

1. The KSO's are more covered so my feet got way more sweaty. There's no sock between my foot and the shoe, so I felt the sweat much more.

2. I did feel slightly more secure in the KSO's.

3. The KSO's are a pain to get on! The Sprints slip on much more easily. This could matter more if I was using them in a triathlon.

Other than those three minor differences they did perform the same. I'm planning on running in the black KSO's and using the pink Sprints for everyday use (just because the Sprints are much cuter in my opinion :).

While we're at it, here are some common Q+A's I get... well, just about every day ;)

Are they comfortable?

YES! They are all I want to wear anymore, hands down. It's like walking barefoot but BETTER.

Does it hurt when you step on rocks?

In the Vibrams I feel everything I walk on, but nothing hurts. The thin layer separating the foot from the ground is surprisingly protective.

Do you run in them?

Getting to the point where running in Vibrams is a process. It's a big change for the feet and leg muscles. Over the past few months I've been building up milage in them. I can currently run five miles in them comfortably. Basically the only "side effects" to breaking them in is sore calf muscles and my feet hurting a little. The Vibrams use so many different muscles compared to "supportive" running shoes.

Summary: I LOVE my Vibrams. I've never met a Vibram owner who didn't love theirs and stop to tell you all the cool features and research findings behind them. I wear them every single day, including out at night!

Do you own Vibrams? Would you ever consider them?