Product Test: So Good soy milk

I love tofu and other soy-based products such as veggie burgers, so over the past few years I cut back on drinking soy beverages, as I didn’t want to have too much of a good thing. Given that many coffee shops and restaurants only offer soy milk as a dairy alternative, I decided to make some adjustments to my diet and bring soy milk back into the mix. I recently received some coupons to try So Good soy milk, so I decided to taste test two of their products:

So Good Chocolate Single Serve – what a great blogging buddy : )

So Good Chocolate Single Serve 3-pack

One of my weaknesses is chocolate. I absolutely love it so I was naturally drawn to So Good’s chocolate soy milk in single serve 3-packs. I liked the convenience of the single serving since it would help me to control my portion size (yes, ladies and gents, it’s all about portion control!). I kept the pack in the fridge for a few days, so it was nice and cold before I tried it and I was so surprised at how creamy and delicious it was, in fact, I couldn’t believe that there was no dairy in it at all. The amount of sweetness was perfect for me too and it was so tasty that I pushed the straw too far into the package to get the last sip and lost it in the carton…ha! The packs also come in vanilla and strawberry, so I think I’ll give those flavours a try too, although chocolate will likely still win in my books : )

So Good Omega DHA Vanilla

So Good Omega DHA Vanilla

The other product I tried was So Good Omega DHA Vanilla. As a vegetarian, I have to work a bit harder to find veggie-friendly sources of nutrients that are often easily available in animal protein. I was happy to find out that So Good Omega DHA derives its DHA from a 100% vegetarian source and delivers it together with ALA, another important Omega-3 fatty acid found naturally in soybeans and flax (Source: So Good website). This was great news for me as a lot of other products with Omega-3 that I want to try derive their source from fish oils (not cool for me). I loved the subtle vanilla flavor in this soy milk and the level of sweetness and creamy texture were perfect for me. I made a quick smoothie this morning with the So Good Omega DHA Vanilla, a banana and a handful of frozen strawberries and it was delish…mmmm.

On a side note, I LOVE contests, so I thought I would share info on a fun one that So Good is running right now. Go to http://www.sogoodlife.ca/ – then upload an image and caption that shows why life is “So Good” to enter to win So Good products.

If you want more info about So Good, check out their website at http://www.sogoodbeverage.com – they also have a lot of interesting recipes on the site that use soy milk, including this soup recipe:

Creamy Broccoli and Cauliflower Soup

Serves 4

Creamy Broccoli and Cauliflower Soup, made with So Good Original

The recipe can be found on the So Good website here – http://bit.ly/dggIzm

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 ½ teaspoons cumin seeds

1 large onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

½ kg broccoli florets

½ kg cauliflower florets

1 ½ x 10g vegetable stock cube

4 cups water

1 ½ cups So Good soy milk (Original)

¼ teaspoon salt (optional)

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add cumin seeds, onion and garlic and sauté until soft.

2. Add broccoli, cauliflower, stock cubes and water. Bring to boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

3. Remove from heat. Place in a blender and puree until smooth.

4. Add So Good and salt and process until combined.

5. Return to saucepan and reheat. Garnish with parsley and serve with crusty bread.

Have you ever cooked with soy milk? What have you made?

Disclaimer: I received coupons to try So Good products in the mail. All opinions expressed in this post are my own.

YorkTest Program’s Food & DrinkScan, a Food Intolerance Test – Part 4 – My call with the Nutrition Advisor and the “No Cow Dairy” diet

 Note: This is Part 4 in my series of posts about YorkTest Program’s Food & DrinkScan, a Food Intolerance Test. You can find the earlier parts here:

Part 1 – http://bit.ly/M8QPne  Part 2 – http://bit.ly/L7okuY  Part 3 – http://bit.ly/N2T92g

A few days after I received my results, it was time for my first call with one of YorkTest Program’s Registered Naturopathic Doctors, Dr. Michelle O’Neill. She took me through my results chart and helped me to understand that I didn`t need to eliminate all of my main AVOID (RED) items immediately, specifically Cow Dairy, Yeast and Lentils, and advised that it would be best (and easiest) to start with the worst offender, cow dairy. Cow dairy was the top item on my AVOID (RED) list and therefore was the food that my body was fighting the hardest against. I was slightly surprised as I thought that by only including lactose-free milk, yogurt (the amount of lactose apparently reduces during the fermentation process) and hard cheeses (apparently also lower in lactose) that I had things under control. Clearly not!

Dr. O’Neill was so easy to talk to and asked what my current diet consisted of, so we could work together to pinpoint the key sources of cow dairy. From there, she walked me through potential substitutions for cow dairy and I was so happy to hear that I actually had options!

The plan – eliminate all sources of cow dairy for two full weeks and see if I felt any different. Dr. O’Neill was quick to point out that it would require a lot of willpower and planning ahead to make this work, as many of my daily food and beverage choices would be affected. She mentioned that in addition to the straight and obvious sources – milk, yogurt and cheese – I should look out for modified milk ingredients and related ones such as whey and casein when making choices.

She was quick to point out that although cow dairy was off limits, I could try goat, sheep or buffalo dairy instead. Almond milk, rice milk, soy milk, coconut milk and other non-dairy sources were also easily available now at my local grocery stores. I was not only happy to hear that I had options but I was also looking forward to exploring new foods and beverages.

I decided to start Week 1 properly the following Monday, as I not only wanted time to prepare but I felt that my best chance at making this work was to start with a full week ahead of me. I sat down to make a list of all of the items I consume regularly with cow dairy in them and I realized just how big that list was. I was regularly consuming milk, plain yogurt, fruit yogurt and having cheese. Just as I started to pat myself on the back for having such a short list, I realized that many of my beloved sweet snacks, specifically chocolate, usually contained cow dairy as well….yikes! As painful as it sounded I knew I had to do this for the sake of my health. I was sick of feeling tired and having an upset stomach pretty much all the time.

I knew the only way to make this happen was to plan my own meals and cook at home as much as I could for the next two weeks, so that I could control the ingredients. I also knew that I would have to think of every food and beverage choice to make sure that I wasn`t putting cow dairy into my system. This was going to be fun and scary…

I headed to the grocery store and probably spent a good hour and half going through the aisles (this is not unusual for me, I love browsing in grocery stores), reading packages and filling my cart with the items I needed and wanted. I picked up the following alternative products to try:

• Almond Breeze Original (sweetened)

• Almond Breeze Original Unsweetened

• Almond Breeze Chocolate (sweetened)

• Rice Dream Enriched Vanilla (sweetened)

• Coconut Dream Original Unsweetened

• Becel Vegan margarine

• Daiya Shredded Cheese (mozzarella flavor)

• Goat cheese

• Liberté goat’s milk yogurt

I also stocked up on fruits, vegetables, tortillas and English muffins. I spent a FORTUNE on groceries that day, as alternative products are often a lot pricier, however I didn’t mind as I was excited to have an excuse to try some new products.

I spent the first week eating the following items (not all at once of course):

Breakfast Options:

• English muffins with almond butter and/or jam
• Breakfast wraps with egg, goat cheese or Daiya cheese and veggies
• Oatmeal made with almond milk and fruit
• Coffee with almond or soy milk OR a Starbucks Soy Americano Misto OR a soy latte

Lunch/Dinner Options:

• Rice with veggies and tofu
• Quinoa with veggies
• Pastas with veggies and Daiya cheese
• Wraps with egg, goat cheese and roasted veggies
• Vegetarian maki rolls (Japanese)
• Indian curry dishes, all made without dairy
• Homemade soups
• Salads
• Noodles

Desserts/Snacks:

• Fruit
• Veggies
• Smoothies
• Chocolate almond milk (heated)
• Homemade frozen ice pops

While I enjoyed the challenge of Week 1, it was also exhausting. After eating whatever I wanted that was lacto-ovo vegetarian for so long, I had to stop and think about everything I was putting in my mouth. This sounds simple enough, but when you look forward to having a small coffee with one cream and one sugar every morning, taking it away is rough. I’ll admit, on more than one occasion, I poured cream and sugar into a cup and was just about to add coffee before I realized what I was doing and had to throw it out.

Dealing with the food situation was okay, partly because my husband was away on a business trip and I didn’t have to cook for both of us that week. I also didn’t have many social engagements to deal with, which was a blessing as I’m sure that I was getting a little testy with some people : ) Week 1 helped me to realize just how much food I used to put into my mouth without thinking about it. Being a vegetarian is pretty easy once you get used to it but taking away the dairy and eggs just made it harder. For someone who loves food, it was a great exercise in restraint for sure. I wasn’t sure if I was exhausted because of the amount of effort or from what I was eating, so I asked Dr. O’Neill for her thoughts on how I was feeling. She advised that it was common for participants of elimination diets to feel tired in the first few weeks of making changes to their diets, as the body works to adjust.

By Week 2, I definitely noticed a change in my system as I did feel less bloated and wasn’t experiencing as much discomfort in my stomach. It was quite amazing to feel these changes as I had lived with my symptoms for so long that they started to feel normal to me. My pants started to feel a bit looser and the heavy feeling that used to drag me down all the time was lifting. I wondered at first if it was psychological but my stomach symptoms had clearly subsided! It was truly surprising. Now what was I going to do?

Want to learn more about the YorkTest Program? Visit their website at http://www.yorktest.ca/ or follow them on Twitter and Facebook

Stay tuned for my next post in the series – YorkTest Program’s Food & DrinkScan, a Food Intolerance Test – Part 5 – Product Reviews and changes I’ve made

Disclosure: In exchange for writing this series of blog posts, I’ve received a free Food & DrinkScan and enrollment into the program. The opinions expressed are my own.