Soooo didn’t I just host a So Delicious giveaway, like, last week?
I bet you’re not complaining though…I’m definitely not.
So Delicious seems to be rolling out new products monthly, all of them better than the last batch. Well, not really. Because I love them all equally. But every new package that arrives at my door is increasingly full of more organic ingredients, less processed chemicals and….drum-roll please….NO CARRAGEENAN!
So even though I am not a huge fan of plant-based yogurts or creamers, I was super thrilled to try some of the new kinds from SD. Mainly because the yogurts came in some kick ass flavors instead of the bland, plain variations I’ve tried before. And even though I am not a coffee drinker, I found some awesome alternate uses for them.
Here’s the rundown on the latest and greatest from So Delicious. And enter yet another Vegan Pact/SD giveaway below!
BLUEBERRY YOGURT: I think the blueberry version was the closest in taste to what non-vegan blueberry yogurt used to taste like. It was sweeter than the others, but not overwhelmingly sugary. I loved the bits of real blueberry and the texture was great overall
CHOCOLATE YOGURT: Definitely my favorite! But was it yogurt-like? I honestly thought it tasted closer to a pudding or mousse. Which I absolutely am not complaining about. It was rich and velvety and I had it after dinner one night rather than eat it as breakfast. And that’s my favorite part about being vegan. That blurred line between what qualifies as breakfast or dessert-either way there’s not guilt because it’s all healthy!
STRAWBERRY YOGURT: I LOVED the strawberry, too. The chunks of strawberry were so yummy and more prevalent than the blueberry one. It wasn’t really sweet, and had a slight chocolatey undertone. They do contain carob so I suspect that might be the reason why. It was quite refreshing by the pool though…as you can see…
PLAIN AND VANILLA YOGURTS: So, I have nothing negative to say about either one. Like I mentioned before, I am not a huge fan of the plain versions, only because it tastes a little “blah” when you eat them as is. I did, however, ass each of them to smoothies and the creamy quality they both produce is spectacular. And because they’re not too strong in flavor, they blend in well with whatever smoothie you’re making.
FRENCH VANILLA CREAMER: No coffee for you? No problem! This creamer was great for making vegan ice cream, and I also splashed some into smoothies as well. The vanilla flavor is truly perfect and adds an awesome touch of sweetness to smoothies, too.
PLAIN CREAMER: If you’re making a creamy pureed soup or a thick, sauce of some kind, then this creamer should be a go-to additive. I added it to a summer squash soup and a vegetable tofu curry (recipe coming soon!) and it make it super silky, without adding much almond flavor.
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I would love the yogurts to incorporate into my toddlers’ meal plans!! Fresh seasonal fruit and almond yogurt parfaits!!
I’d use the yogurt for a snack with some granola mixed in and the creamer for my coffee. Thanks for the opportunity to try it!
Seasidesmitten@aol.com
I really love So Delicious brand. I totally love soy vanilla creamer and would like to try almond milk one too. I’m not huge fan of yogurt but as you mentioned chocolate one as a desert you won me over.
I would use it to make homemade pudding! Also smoothies!
I already use almond milk in my coffee, so I would love an almond creamer
I would eat the yogurt with granola and use the cream in my husbands coffee.
I would love the almond milk creamer for my iced coffee. It also would make a great vegan white russian I bet lol
I like to add Vanilla creamer for flavoring to my oatmeal, but in addition to almond milk, not in place of almond milk. That would be way too many calories!
I’d eat the yogurt at breakfast mixed with some granola and fruit!
OOO vegan white russians! ive never thought of that-brilliant 🙂
I’m so glad I saw this post. Eating soy in the morning interferes with the absorption of a medicine that I take, and regular almond milk isn’t creamy enough for coffee for me. I would use the almond milk creamer in my coffee.
I hear you! Almond milk is too thin and I am super sensitive to most soy too!
Regarding the safety of carrageenan, there has been an amazing amount of misinformation being blogged about carrageenan being unsafe as a food ingredient. In spite of this misinformation, carrageenan continues as the safe food ingredient it has always been. If it were not, the principal regulatory agencies of the world (US FDA, FAO/WHO JECFA, EU EFSA, and Japan Ministry of Health) would not approve its use, and all of them give the necessary approvals. In fact, at its 79th meeting in June of this year, the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) completed an in-depth review of the science related to the safety of carrageenan and found it safe for use in infant formula, including formula for special medical purposes. After reviewing available research on carrageenan safety, particularly a new study of piglets that is representative of human infants consuming carrageenan in infant formula, JECFA concluded that “the use of carrageenan in infant formula or formula for special medical purposes at concentrations up to 1000 mg/L is not of concern.”
Why all the concern about the safety of using carrageenan in foods? Starting in the 1960s there have been research studies showing that if excessive doses of carrageenan are consumed in animal trials inflammation can be induced in the small intestine. Likewise, inappropriate methods of introducing the carrageenan into the animals, i.e. in the animals’ only source of drinking water, have induced an inflammatory response in the small intestine. However, there has never been a validated inflammatory response in humans over the seventy plus years carrageenan has been used in foods. The anecdotal “upset tummies” reported in blogs as coming from consuming a food containing carrageenan are hardly
reliable sources of information on the safety of carrageenan.
Inflammatory responses in animals only occur when carrageenan can cross the blood membrane barrier of the small intestine. This only occurs when the extreme feeding conditions mentioned above are employed. Normal feeding regimes induce no such response.
Over the last decade a group of molecular biologists at the University of Illinois at Chicago lead by Dr Joanne Tobacman have been exploring the in vitro interaction of carrageenan with various genes and conclude that carrageenan can cause inflammation in the gut via a binding mechanism involving TLR-4 receptors. This group also concluded that carrageenan degrades in the gut and the degraded carrageenan can permeate the membrane barrier. Recent studies refute both of these claims, and furthermore this recent research questions the validity using in vitro studies to mimic the in vivo events in the GI tract when a human consumes a food containing carrageenan.
The bottom line on the safety issue is that in spite of all the efforts to downgrade or question the safety of carrageenan, particularly by bloggers, carrageenan is a safe food ingredient in all of the major regulatory jurisdictions of the world.
Im sure everyone reacts to it differently. For myself, I have a severe intolerance and become extremely sick if I consume it.
So excited that So Delicious is offering more non-soy items in their product line!
This is really exciting news – I can’t use soy creamer as a base for ice cream because I have an allergic family member, and coconut… well, I don’t think every flavor is improved by adding a strong coconut taste. The more almond-based products there are, the happier I am!
I’d use the products to experiment with in baking yummy desserts.
granola parfaits!
i would use almond milk yogurt and almond milk creamer in smoothies.
Love the so delicious products! I have a yogurt everyday, use them in receipts for cooking and baking,
and drink all the milks!! Yummy!
I would use them in smoothies and in my coffee, and to make chia seed pudding. Good stuff!
Lebowski’s!