Product Faceoff! Amy’s Soy Mac & Cheese vs. Stouffer’s

This week I compared one of my favorite staples, macaroni & cheese. I’ve just tried about every mac & cheese out there (boxed and frozen), and as the sole lactose-tolerant writer of this blog, I couldn’t wait to see if soy mac & cheese could stand up to my regular lineup. Below are the results!

Price
Amy’s - $2.79

Stouffer’s - $2.00

Winner of Price category: Stouffer’s… and bonus, you get 12 oz with Stouffer’s vs 9 oz in Amy’s

Taste
Amy’s – Could definitely tell this was not the real thing. It had a very sharp, odd taste to it. It had a very strong smell to it as well, and it wasn’t a nice one…

Stouffer’s – the regular stuff didn’t disappoint in this category. It had a nice mild taste and it smelled delicious.

Winner of Taste category: This was not a close call – Stouffer’s gets the win

Nutrition Info
Amy’s – 9 oz serving
370 calories, 15 grams fat, 2 grams saturated fat, 500 mg sodium, 42 grams carbs, 4 grams fiber, 2 grams sugar, 16 grams protein, 15% calcium

Stouffer’s – 6 oz serving
340 calories, 16 grams fat, 7 grams saturated fat, 25 mg cholesterol, 810 mg sodium, 32 grams carbs, 2 grams fiber, 4 grams sugar, 13 grams protein, 30% calcium

Winner of Nutrition info: With the Amy’s soy mac & cheese, you get a 50% bigger portion for similar calories & fat, and much less saturated fat & sodium. With Amy’s you’ll also save on sugar and gain some fiber instead.

Accessibility
Both were from your neighborhood grocery store

Winner of Accessibility category: It’s a tie

Texture
Amy’s – Although the taste was very disappointing, the texture was alright. It was pretty similar to the regular stuff. The cheese melted well and the pasta cooked well in the microwave.

Stouffer’s – the cheese sauce was slightly thinner than the soy cheese version, but overall a great texture – better than the soy cheese

Winner of Texture category: Stouffer’s wins again

Final Results: This is no surprise – I couldn’t get past the taste and smell of Amy’s soy mac & cheese. It just had a very fake, strong taste and smell to it. If you have another dairy-free mac & cheese option, we would love to hear about them. Leave your comments below!

A Perfect Cold Day Meal - Stew like braised beef shanks over creamy polenta

Braising is one of my favorite methods for cooking.  You cook something long and slow and at the end you are rewarded with a warm bowl of goodness, perfect for a cool fall or cold winter day.

These braised beef shanks were originally inspired by an Emeril recipe I read and experimented with. Overtime I have “beefed” (pun intended) it up to make it stew like now though.  For this particular recipe, I like to cook the shanks just a little extra so the meat has fallen off the bone and has become part of the stew like mixture.  This is perfect then served over our lactose free creamy polenta.  Try this recipe and make it your own – you will not regret it.

Ingredients:

4 beef shanks (approximately 3 pounds)

2 large onions, diced

2 celery ribs, diced

2 large carrots, diced

¾ of a leek, sliced (make sure it’s thoroughly washed)

5 slices of bacon, chopped

2 rosemary sprigs

8 fresh thyme springs, leaves removed

½ cup of basil

9 garlic cloves, diced

3 ½ cups of red wine

2 cups of beef stock (I prefer the unsalted kind if you see it)

1 15 ounce can of crushed tomatoes

3 Tablespopons of tomato paste

“Stew” vegetables of choice – I prefer about 1 package of button mushrooms, ½ pound of boiling onions (peeled), 2-3 parsnips cut in ½ inch pieces and about 2-3 carrots also cut into ½ inch pieces

Pinch of crushed red peper

Pinch of sugar

Canola Oil & Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 bay leaves

Emeril’s Essence (can also use a little salt & pepper, smoked paprika and/or a little dried oregano)

Directions:

1.       Heat about 3-4 tablespoons of canola oil in a large dutch oven.  Sprinkle Essence (or choice of dried herb) over the beef shanks.  Add shanks to the oven and brown on each side – approximately 3-4 min per side, set aside.

2.       Turn stove heat down to medium- low and add onion, cerlery, carrots, bacon, and leeks. Cook and stire until veggies are soft

3.       Add garlic, bay leaves, rosemary and cook for another 2 minutes then add 3 cups of the red wine and stir well.  Use a wooden spoon to scrape the bottom of the pan.  Cook until wine has reduced by about 1/3. 

4.       Add tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, beef stock, basil, crushed red pepper, sugar and the remaining ½ cup of red wine and tire to combine. 

5.       Return shanks to the Dutch oven and increase heat to bring sauce of a boil.  After boiling, reduce heat and let simmer with the cover on for about 30 minutes on the stovetop.

6.       Preheat oven to 300F degrees

7.       After 30 minutes, give it a stir and put Dutch oven covered in the oven, cook for about 3.5 hours, string lightly occationalyy

8.       Add “stew” vegetables and cook for about 1 more hour

9.   Service over polenta and enjoy

Polenta:

1 cup of polenta

4 cups of chicken broth

1/2 cup of Veggie Soy Cheese, mozerrla and about ¼ cup of Veggie Soy Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1.       Bring chicken broth to a boil and slowly whisk in the polenta. 

2.       Continue whisking and then stir in the cheese. 

3.       Make sure to keep whisking slowly so it doesn’t burn and get s a nice creamy texture to it.

Pumpkin Muffins with Buttercream Frosting

Pumpkin Muffins are a really great fall breakfast, but paired with a nice lactose-free buttercream frosting they make a very nice dessert.



Pumpkin Muffins:
Mix a can of pumpkin with a box of spice cake mix in a large mixing bowl. Do not add any other ingredients. The mix will be a bit thicker than an average cake or muffin mix, so don't worry. Add the mix into the muffin or cupcake tray as you normally would and bake as directed on the back of the cake mix box. Viola!



Buttercream Frosting:
Ingredients -
1/2 c. butter
2 c. powered sugar
1/4 c. of milk
2 tsp. vanilla



I replaced the milk with vanilla Silk and I used actual butter. Butter is made mostly from butter or cream fat and therefore has no lactose or trace lactose.

Soften the butter and beat until smooth. Be careful not to melt the butter.

Beat in the remaining ingredients for about 2 minutes slowly adding the milk until desired consitency.

I usually put the frosting in the fridge to firm it up a bit.

Then spread on the muffins!