Know Your Food Series Part 2: To Juice or Not

When people find out we’re plant based, and care about eating healthy foods they have a lot of questions!  The first one, as most vegans are aware of is: “where do you get your protein?”  That question has been answered enough though, and we can really break it down again if anyone needs it another time.  Interestingly, the second most common question we get is “do you juice a lot?”

This question comes from so many directions, and while we’re not certain of the origin, let’s get right down to business.

Juicing is OK, for SOME PEOPLE, under CERTAIN CONDITIONS.  That’s right, in short, juicing is not all good, or all bad, but it is commonly misunderstood. 

We are both athletes that consume an above average amount of calories every day and neither of us is trying to lose weight.  We will juice or drink juice every once in a while (once or twice a month), but more frequently we just drink juice when we have a cold or something when a concentrated nutrient/sugar boost helps kick up our system (in addition to our G2 (garlic/ginger magic drink we’ll discuss later)).  Additionally, we would rather buy raw vegetables or a plant based meal then spend $8 on some juice.

The Good: 

The one major upside to juicing is the amount of vitamins and other nutrients you can cram in just one glass.  While not all the nutrients make it in the juice, you are ingesting a serious shot of liquid nutrition.  You can also get the minerals from plants you may not otherwise eat.  Think of it as taking a natural multi-vitamin. 

The Bad:          

Rule number 1 of juicing: do not supplement your diet with tons of juice if you’re trying to lose weight!  We really can’t stress this enough.  The high amount of sugar in juice, and low (zero) amount of fiber is a bad combination for those trying to shed pounds.  It basically tricks your body into thinking that you didn’t eat anything at all and just drank liquid, when in reality you just got an insane amount of calories in the form of fruit and vegetable sugars (yes veggies have sugar! although not as much as fruits).  It’s not going to fill you up like a normal plant based meal. Think of it as the natural form of soda, seriously…it can be dangerous if you don’t use it properly.  You’ll find plenty of reading material raving about this juice cleanse and that, but from what we’ve seen those cleanses create temporary change, while the best way to keep your system clean is consume copious amounts of fiber found in plants.  If you want a short term boost or weight loss, feel free to do a juice cleanse.  

The Ugly:

One other problem with juicing is that the chewing process is skipped in the digestion process.  When you drink juice, your body doesn’t activate the usual food digestion, so it’s short circuiting your natural digestion and rushing into the rest of your system before it had time to prime itself.  Basically you are priming your body with a sugar high, and then crashing because your body is confused by this process.  We are not going to get into the chemistry of it, but just think about it for yourself.  There are some types of masticating juicers which simulate the chewing process as opposed to the cheaper, pulverizing ones.  These are better in this regard, but still not as great as the human digestive system.   

In summary, if you do choose to have a juice, keep these few tips in mind:  use 80-90% vegetables, 10-20% fruits.  Use your pulp for compost or bake it into bread.  You’re being more sustainable, and utilizing all those great fibers.  Also, if you do undertake a juice cleanse be careful, and make sure you’re drinking enough fluids and getting enough calories. 

Cheers!          

Know Your Food Series: Part One, Grass Fed vs. Conventional Meat, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Know Your Food series will begin to look at food in ways that you may not have before, and investigate confusing and not so explored issues within the world of food.  Our first subject is looking at grass fed versus conventional meat production.  Meat is big business, and a huge part of the Standard American Diet.  However, many people don’t think of the consequences of eating meat and the distinctions between grass fed and conventional.  Let’s break it down in the western classic, Clint Eastwood style:

(full disclosure: Eastwood is not a known vegan and may or may not approve this message.  Feel free to forward it to him if you’re in touch.  However, Woody Harrelson is, and he’s been in some westerns right?)

Grass Fed

Good – it has less chemicals and is more natural (ranchers do not feed animals antibiotics and hormones).  Although the slaughtering process is just as inhumane as conventional, the lives the animals lead can be significantly better, although “pasture raised” and “grass fed” are pretty loose terms in the agricultural industry, so it might not be the pleasant, home on the range, as you’re imagining.  There is a wide spectrum of living conditions for the animals.  Additionally, grass fed meat appears to have less overall fat and saturated fat than corn fed.  The way grass fed ranches are set up, rotating fewer livestock around many pastures creates less manure waste and less soil and water pollution since the excrement is dispersed and used as fertilizer and not turned into a concentrated pollutant.         

Bad – The animal proteins that cause inflammation, creating a more acidic environment and are generally harder to digest are still in meats that are grass fed.  Also, did you know most “grass fed” cows are fed corn in the last few weeks of life to fatten them up a bit and get the appropriate “marbling” of fat on their meat?  Just as their conventional brethren, the free roaming variety are generally slaughtered in the same manner—inhumanely. That’s not to say that certain slaughterhouses aren’t taking steps to make the killings less painful and traumatizing, but they are few and far between.  At the end of the day, by consuming any meat, you’re taking the life of a living, breathing, innocent animal.

Ugly – This is when it gets complicated.  While it’s natural to think that grass fed is more sustainable than conventional, we invite you to take a step out of the box and look at this issue from another angle.  Think about this: As grass fed, naturally raised animals aren’t strictly controlled, confined and pumped with drugs and food, they need to eat more and drink more.  It takes them longer to reach their sale weight, so they live longer (4 years vs. 14 months), taking up more resources and more land.  The amount of land required to raise livestock is mind blowing, not to mention the amount of water and grain, which could be fed directly to humans.  The amount of forest that is cut down to graze cattle and grow the corn and soy to feed them is shocking and truly sad.  Grass fed animals take much more land and water than conventional ones, and due to their longer life span they produce far more methane gas. The Global Warming Potential (GWP) of methane is (28-36); meaning it is 28-36 times worse at increasing climate change than Carbon Dioxide on a 100-year time horizon (US EPA).

Conventional / CAFO (Conventional Animal Feeding Operation)

Good – Factory farms are just that, factories designed to produce animal flesh in the cheapest, most efficient manner possible.  The farms take in massive amounts of corn, water and soy and produce animal protein.  These factory farms, while disastrous for animals and workers, and their local ecosystems are counterintuitively better from a global air quality, environmental perspective.  As the production systems have been engineered to use as little water, grain and land as possible, the animals take up less resources and are on this planet for a shorter period of time, thus making them more efficient.

Bad – Health concerns with conventional meat (aside from the same concerns as grass fed (harder to digest, inflammatory, and acid causing)) come from the nature which the factory farm works.  The growth and size of these animals has been engineered to get them to grow as fast as possible, regardless of consequences.  The amount of antibiotics and hormones fed to animals is truly shocking.  More antibiotics are given to livestock in this country than to humans.  The antibiotics are not always necessary of course, they’re preventative, and only because the operators know the conditions are so horrific the CAFOs are a cesspool for infectious and viral diseases.  This greatly contributes to antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria, which affects the human population and our healthcare system.  We are quite literally running out of effective antibiotics, because we’ve cashed in significant scientific progress for cheap meat.    

Ugly – The ugliest part is the cruel nature of the animal’s lives and deaths, all so we can have cheap meat.  Few among us acknowledges that when they consume meat, they are part of the abusive factory farming system.  The horrific nature of CAFO animals lives’ cannot be explained here, but there are many documentaries and books with interviews from former factory farm and slaughterhouse workers detailing the horrific nature of how these animals are treated.  (Eating Animals (Safron-Foer 2010), Earthlings, 2005; Food Inc., 2009)  They are cramped in tight spaces, beaten, dismembered (tails docked declawed and debeaked) in order for easier storage.  All of these crimes against animals are generally unregulated and acceptable practice, as agricultural animals are not subject to the same standards of animal cruelty like our pet cats and dogs.  The entire animal’s lives are filled with pain and suffering, and the animals aren’t as stupid as you may be led to believe (although factory farm practices and inbreeding doesn’t bring out the best intellectually in these poor animals).  Animals feel sadness and pain and discomfort the same as a cat or dog would.  Pigs are arguably more similar to humans than cats or dogs, and are just as intelligent. 

In summary, when eating meat, there are no good options, and the options that do exist are riddled with negative externalities.  While many people proudly hang their hat on eating only “grass fed” meat, they likely don’t fully understand the consequences.  It’s also selfish to eat grass fed due to the quantity of land and resources that goes into those animals.  Although, even worse are people that eat conventional meat while thinking nothing of the suffering of the animals and the devastation of the local ecosystem around factory farms.  We tried to take an unbiased look at the positives and negatives of each method of animal agriculture, and hopefully our discussion will help you make the most informed decision possible about your food.  Understand your food, and take pride in what you eat.

   

 Stay tuned for the next piece in our series: To Juice or Not?

The 5 Things You Must Have in Your Kitchen

We've put together a list of the 5 essential items everyone needs in their kitchen.  We both use a few more specialty items, but if you’re looking to get into cooking, or need to reevaluate your equipment, here’s our top 5 must haves.  Everything else is optional.  

1. Knives and cutting board - Ironic to start with we know!  With Forks Over Knives (2011) and all, but it’s true, you need a few good knives, similar to Tom Cruise needing A Few Good Men (1992).  We’re talking kitchen knives by the way, not the kind you eat with; we actually don’t use those very frequently.  Even though you’re only cutting vegetables, you need a few different sizes to cut things as efficiently and safely as possible.  A stable, preferably large cutting board is key as well.   
1. One good all-purpose large knife (7-8”).  We prefer Chef (French) or Santoku Knives.  Great for all around rapid chopping.  We’re most efficient with the Santoku.    
2. One good all-purpose medium knife (5-6”).  Just a smaller version of the Chef/Santoku Knives works great on anything.  Your most versatile knife.  If you can only get one knife, make it this one, as it will cut everything safely.        
3. One good delicate/small knife (3-4”).  Common types are paring, peeling, clip point, sheeps foot, or tourne.  These are great for cutting small veggies like bell peppers or cutting small squash linearly.        

2. Set of pots and pans - this seems obvious, but you need some pots and pans if you’re not on a raw diet.  Quality over quantity on this as well! You don’t really need more than 4 total unless you have more than 4 burners on your stove, in which case you have a boss kitchen!  Nonstick, cast iron and stainless all work fine, just make sure you know the proper care and cleaning procedures for the specific material you have.      
1. One large fry pan, with flat bottom, flared sides (for easy flipping), and a good sturdy handle.
2. One large pot, for cooking things like pasta, soups and chili and boiling large vegetables.
3. One small/medium saucepan.  For making sauces, rice, or boiling small veggies.  Are we the only ones that are confused as to why this pot is called a pan?
4. Pyrex baking container or cookie sheet.

3. Blender - A blender is the most underutilized piece of equipment in the American kitchen.  Granted, if you have a food processor, you won’t be needing your blender as much, but of all the pieces of equipment we have, we use the blender most frequently.  You can use a blender every time a recipe calls for a food processor if you can control the speed setting.  Fine chopping, sauces, soups, smoothies, hummus, ice cream...a good blender like a Vitamix, Blendtec or Ninja can handle it all (we use Vitamix).  However, any blender will work, it just might not be as efficient.  Be sure to keep your blender clean and read the cleaning and operational instructions.

4. Measuring cups/spoons, stirring spoon and spatula - If you’re going to be following new recipes you haven’t tried before, you’re going to need some measuring devices to properly follow the recipe.  Also need some basic cooking utensils like a spatula, stirring spoon.    

5. Spices - I know you probably thought we were going to stick to equipment, but spices are such an essential part of cooking, especially plant based cooking, we couldn’t leave them off the list.  A good understanding of spices can really improve your cooking game, and the only way to get better, as with anything is practice!  Don’t be afraid to try new spices or new flavor profiles.  A few of our favorites we always have on hand are:
1. Cumin
2. Turmeric
3. Paprika
4. Oregano
5. Basil
6. Chili Powder
7. Cayenne Pepper
8. Parsley

Bottom line is the entry material cost of these materials isn’t that great.  You can get all the tools you need without spending an arm and a leg.  Once you have these basics, start playing around with some recipes to get a better understanding of how to use the equipment and how to flavor your food.

Good luck and let us know if you have any questions!     

Eating Out Tips

Spiral Diner & Bakery (1101 N. Beckley Avenue - Dallas, Texas)

Here’s a few tips we've learned from eating out to eat on a plant-based diet. It’s not always ideal, but most of the time we still eat really well and always make it work.

Option 1: go to a vegetarian or vegan restaurant.
- Do a victory dance, because you hit the jackpot! You’re likely in a big city or a progressive small town, and more often than not you’ll meet some really cool people here.

- You can likely order everything or almost everything on the menu, but be weary that while the food may be vegan, that doesn't automatically make it healthy.

- Try to avoid dishes with excess oil, fat and sugar. Avoid fried foods or foods that are just the vegan version of foods you know are unhealthy…don’t fool yourself. 

- If they use meat substitutes, don’t be afraid to ask what they are actually made of. If they’re not sure, you may not want to be eating it.

Option 2: go to a vegan friendly restaurant.
- We define a vegan friendly restaurant as a omnivore establishment with two or more vegan dishes on their menu.

- These places are great too, because you can order something right off the menu, without modifying anything and these options are likely the healthiest options on the menu as the restaurant is going to try to cater to “healthy eaters” and not just plant strong folks like us.

- Take a look at the rest of the menu though and see what interesting veggies and plant based purees or sauces are used with other dishes. At a high quality restaurant it’s common to find fantastic seasonal vegetables used as sides or as the base for some of their premier non-vegan dishes. Don’t be afraid to ask if you could get a side of just those veggies or puree.

- Fun fact, almost all Asian and Indian restaurants have plant based, vegan items all over their menu in disguise. If you’re not sure about something, ask first.

Option 3: go to a restaurant that can be easily veganified
- Any Mexican or Italian restaurants can easily have some vegan options, even if they don't know it. The emphasis on integrating vegetables into their dishes makes it easy to deconstruct and reconstruct a dish into a delightful vegan one. At Mexican restaurants you can get “veggie fajitas” with the fajita vegetables without the meat, or rice and beans if they are vegetarian. More and more places have veggie rice and beans. At Italian places, vegetable pastas are common, or can be created easily as are steamed vegetables like broccoli and spinach. Most Italian places also have a wide range of salads to choose from that can be made vegan.

- At your typical fast casual or sit down American restaurant the key is to get creative. These are actually some of the most difficult places to eat at, but fear not, they can be conquered too. The problem with American food is it’s not that common to integrate vegetables with dishes besides “on the side.” So you have two options, just order a bunch of side vegetables: plain baked potato, or sweet potato fries, roasted carrots, steamed broccoli or grilled squash…etc. Or you can try to construct a dish based on other things on the menu. It’s tougher as the chefs at these places are not usually as comfortable working outside the “Standard American Diet” box and the “Gluten Free” box, but you can always ask.

- Again, be weary of ordering something vegan you shouldn't be eating anyway. Many times a server has commented “oh we have a great fried mushroom appetizer that is vegan.” You don’t want those mushrooms fried, but that’s good to know that they have them in the kitchen.

Option 4: you are stuck at a very non-vegan friendly establishment, think fancy steakhouse, modern American fare or seafood restaurant for a business meeting or engagement party. If you’re on a first date, you really screwed the pooch on this once, best run out the back door now.
- Take a breath and prepare for things to get a little awkward. Don’t worry though, it’s actually not as bad as you might think.

- Lots of chefs, especially at nicer restaurants take pride in being creative and accommodating all dietary and flavor palates. The chefs at these places are usually highly trained with vegetables and capable of making great vegan dishes if they don’t get fussy about it. Don’t be afraid to ask them to make you a vegan surprise as long as they understand the plant based concept.

- If the staff/chef is not willing to do something special for you, that’s OK too. These types of places also have very nice, sophisticated salads. Just make sure to mention you want them vegan.

- Back to the side attack. Most places have side dishes you can order off the menu, just confirm they aren't cooked in butter or cream or anything. I've had really good meals composed of just potatoes, broccoli, asparagus, squash and a salad.

Overall, eating out isn't as difficult as most people think. You just need to stay true to yourself, stick to your vegan guns, use your vegan powers to convince them to serve you something plant based and voilà! Remember to carefully read the menu, ask questions, be kind, courteous and patient and you should have a great time out! You might even make some new friends that are curious about your lifestyle.

Product Review: neat

We recently had the opportunity to try out some of Neat’s products.  For those that don’t know, Neat is a plant-based meat substitute, made mostly from pecans and garbanzo beans.   Neat’s founder Phil connected with us via Instagram and we were immediately intrigued by their products.  While neither of us are big on meat substitutes, we were really impressed by Neat’s ingredients (full ingredients listed below).  Neat does not have any soy or isolated plant proteins as many other substitutes do.  Neat is also gluten free, while many other meat substitutes (like Seitan, “wheat meat”) are actually concentrated gluten.  Additionally, all of Neat’s ingredients are also non GMO, which we’re a fan of.  Neat’s story is pretty awesome too.  Phil’s daughters (6 and 9 years old) came home one day and decided they wouldn’t be eating meat anymore for ethical reasons.  I wish we had that level of compassion and foresight at that young age!  Phil and his wife Laura went about trying a lot of meat substitutes on the market, although none of them really passed the test.  That’s when Laura went about creating Neat.

The “Neat Meat” comes packaged in dehydrated, powder form, and is cooked to form a substance remarkably close to ground beef.  To prepare Neat, you simply add water, eggs (vegan egg substitute in our case), mix and cook as if it were regular meat.  We tried out four of the main Neat products: The Original Mix, Italian Mix, Mexican Mix and Neat Egg.

Original Mix

INGREDIENTS: PECANS, GARBANZO BEANS, GLUTEN FREE WHOLE GRAIN OATS, ORGANIC WHOLE GRAIN GLUTEN FREE CORNMEAL, GARLIC, ONION, SEA SALT, SPICES. 

For the original mix, we went with a classic veggie burger imitating the standard beef burger we both grew up eating.    After mixing the Neat with the water and egg substitute, we decided to toss in some chopped onion and garlic for a little more flare.  We grilled the burgers, about 4 minutes each side in a pan.  The burgers came out with a nice texture, blackened in a few places, very solid and dense.  Quite unlike most of the other veggie burgers we make.  We garnished the burgers with grilled Onions, Tomatoes, Swiss Chard and BBQ sauce, atop a whole wheat bun.  Sinking my teeth into the burger presented a pleasant flavor profile, with a nice, dense, although pleasant texture.  I imagine it to be very similar to a standard hamburger, although it’s been many years since I’ve had one.  Our omnivore friends over for dinner also enjoy it, thus passing the primary meat substitute test. 

By far the best meat replacement/imitation style veggie burger we've ever had.   This is a seriously tasty burger, with an incredibly quick prep time.  Although we’ll always prefer our homemade burgers, you can’t beat these in a pinch.  This will surely be a party favorite with us as well as thousands of others.  5 out of 5 for the original mix!      

Neat Egg Substitute

INGREDIENTS: CHIA SEEDS, GARBANZO BEAN

We’ve used a number of egg substitutes, and commonly make our own out of ground flax seed.  Most of the store bought substitutes and even our housemaid ones do the job, but don’t really have that egg look and feel to them.   The Neat Egg however, does.  It performs, looks and even feels just like an egg when mixing together the Neat.  While we’re going to stick to our trusty tofu for tofu scramble, we are definitely considering making the switch to the Neat Egg for our egg substitution needs.  5 out of 5 for Neat Egg!

Mexican Mix

INGREDIENTS: PECANS, GARBANZO BEANS, ORGANIC WHOLE GRAIN GLUTEN FREE CORNMEAL, GARLIC, ONION, SEA SALT, SPICES. 

For the Mexican Mix, we decided to go with some ground Neat tacos.  We mixed the Neat together with the appropriate amount of water and egg substitute and tossed it on the pan.  We also grilled up some peppers and onions to complement the Neat, and served the tacos with Cilantro and Salsa.  It’s been a very long time since either of us had ground beef tacos, so we were pretty excited about these.  Unfortunately, the flavor profile of the Mexican Mix was rather underwhelming.  I will qualify this by saying we are both from Texas, well-acquainted with Mexican food, and have VERY LOFTY taco standards.  Bon Appetit on the Food Network singled out a taco shop about 10 blocks away from us as “the best tacos in America!”  For us, the spices just weren’t there.  The ingredients only list “spices,” not calling out individual ones, but if we had to guess, there is not nearly enough Cumin and Oregano in the mixture, and a hint of cayenne pepper would go a long way.   Texture was almost on point; although moisture content was a tad off.  It didn’t have that juicy and greasy texture I remember in ground beef tacos (although I never liked that greasiness anyway). 

Although the Mexican mix wasn’t our favorite, it was still good.  From a global perspective, we definitely understand the rationale of Neat with the spices and flavor profile.  Most people are not accustomed to real Mexican spices and “spiciness” like we are.  In Texas, we rate things from movies to restaurants on a chili pepper scale, and I’d rate these 3 out of 5 chili peppers and will likely try them again, with a supplemental spice blend.      

Italian Mix

INGREDIENTS: PECANS, GARBANZO BEANS, GLUTEN FREE WHOLE GRAIN OATS, GARLIC, ONION, SEA SALT, SPICES. 

For the Italian mix, our third and final foray into the Neat product line, we went with Neat balls.  I was really excited about these Neat balls, as meat balls were my favorite Italian dish back in my pre-plant-based days.  The directions were just as easy as the others, water, Neat mix, egg substitute, boom!  Couldn’t be any easier.  We did not add anything to the mix, and went straight up with these balls.  We decided to pair them with a Marinara sauce, Linguine and fresh basil.  Upon first bite, the balls are a little denser than I remember, and don’t quite have the same juiciness I remember from meat balls or our Beet Balls.  However, the spices are absolutely perfect and pair nicely with the marinara sauce and fresh basil.  Another super easy tasty meal with the help of Neat.  We also tried these in a meatball sub sandwich, and they were even better than with the Pasta.  Next batch we make, we’d like to try it with our Linguine or in a filled pasta such as Ravioli.  4 out of 5 on the Italian Mix.   

Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed Neat’s products.  They are easy, tasty, healthy, non-GMO, gluten free and entirely plant-based.  I have yet to see a meat substitute that has as few and whole ingredients as Neat.  They also come pretty darn close in taste and texture to the meat based alternative.  For guys like us who know our way around a kitchen, this isn’t the kind of thing we will be eating all the time. It’s more of something that we’ll have on hand in case we don’t have time for an extensive meal, or if we want to give our omnivore friends a familiar taste.  Additionally, with Neat, the mixture and preparation is simple, exact, and forgiving.  You cannot screw this up!  Even we mess up our own recipes at times, but you’ll be happy with your Neat creation 100 out of 100 times.  For someone just transitioning to a plant-based diet, or those omnivores out there that want to reduce their meat consumption, Neat can’t be beat!   

Another thing we really like about Neat is they are a company that cares about their impact beyond dollars and cents.  There aren’t that many companies out there, (let alone food manufacturers!) that we truly believe in and support wholeheartedly, but Neat is one of those companies.  The more I learn about Neat, the more I am impressed by the values the Neat team.  One example is their manufacturing facility is actually operated by Vision Corps, a facility that assists the visually impaired.  The production of Neat helps employ the visually impaired with stable, meaningful, well-paying jobs.  

Although we can get behind any company trying to decrease meat consumption, the manner in which Neat does it is truly admirable.  Healthy, quality ingredients, affordable, whole-foods, plant-based, local manufacturing and ethical production.   Neat truly exudes Plant-Pride!  We are definitely in support of Neat and their products and will be rooting for them from here on out.  You can find their products in a surprising number of grocery stores, or online in their online store.       

           

Enjoy, and let us know what you think!

Product Review: Bluebonnet Soap Shop

We recently had the opportunity to try out some Soaps from Bluebonnet Soap Shop.  We first discovered Bluebonnet Soap Shop when we met the owner and creator, Emily Bayless, at Texas VegFest last month.  Emily operates her shop out of Texarkana, Texas and runs an Etsy shop online as well.    

We’re always looking for all natural and vegan products as opposed to conventional ones, so we were immediately intrigued.  These natural soaps are in keeping with our philosophy of trying to consume food, and use products that are as natural as possible.  Bluebonnet Soaps has a wide product line with an all-star list of ingredients.  The soaps we tried out and ingredients are listed below: 

Bluebonnet Signature Soap:

Olive oil, Organic Coconut Oil, Raw Shea Butter, Kaolin clay, Organic Bluebonnet essential oil and Organic Lavender essential oil.

Sweet Lemon Soap: 

Olive oil, Organic Coconut Oil, Raw Shea Butter, Kaolin clay, Organic Citrus Blend Essential Oil.

 Baby Carrot Aloe Soap: 

Olive oil, Organic Coconut Oil, puréed baby carrots, Pure Aloe

Men Shaving Bar:

Olive oil, Raw Shea Butter, Kaolin and Rhassoul clay, Organic Light Musk Essential Oil.

 You can see, there are no hard to pronounce chemicals, heavily processed ingredients or chemically engineered detergents.  These soaps are made by hand, the old fashioned way.  We’re also a fan of local producers like Bluebonnet Soap Shop as they don’t test their products on animals and also generally have more sustainable packaging process.  As soon as we opened these up, we noticed the delightful smell.  All of them have a really nice, although unique fragrance.  We’re not very familiar with the world of natural soaps, so it was a really interesting process trying them out.       

We used these bars for a few weeks, and overall, we really enjoyed them.  The Baby Carrot Aloe soap and Bluebonnet Signature soaps were our favorites.  They both has a really smooth feel to them which appealed to us.  None of them irritated our skin at all, which was nice as we’ve both had negative reactions to commercial soaps.  The only soap we didn’t really like was the Men’s Shaving Bar.  That one, we found it a little too difficult to shave more than a day’s worth of scruff.  It seemed hard to get that soap to foam up enough, and it did not seem to adequately disperse once wet and on the face.  Maybe it just takes some getting used to though, we’ll have to try some other natural shaving soaps to compare.  When using all of the soaps, we definitely felt very clean and not dried out.  The scent of the dried soaps, while profound, was not carried over to the wet state as we were initially expecting.  Although we definitely smelled good, just not as strong of a scent as commercial soaps.  The overall scent of these is generally neutral yet pleasing.   

   

After trying out the Bluebonnet Soap Shop product line, we’re really pleased with what Emily is offering.  We will be making the switch from commercial soaps to all natural ones, and are excited to have found a great vendor like Emily.  You can check out the Facebook page and Etsy shop here.