gardein product review

it's been a spell since i gave an official PITAV product review. here they are! i do occasionally eat a prepared frozen or fresh meal if i spot it on clearance. with my busy life, sometimes the last thing i want to do is actually cook. i'd rather reheat and eat. that does to get expensive and for me it negates why i chose veganism. i know i'm preaching to the choir that prepackaged foods are not great for you or the environment. if you are going to go that route, it is better if you can choose a vegan option. it is a lovely and awesome thing that so many vegan and GF options are coming out of the woodwork ready for us eco-conscious folk to purchase. i just hope in my heart of hearts that it is truly for the better good and not another way for one group of people to exploit another group of people to make money.

and i'm not one of those super lucky bloggers that receives elaborate care packages from companies because i'm adorable and have 500 followers. nope. for the record, i am cute. and poor. so i rely on my super thrifty spousal unit to be the clearance and sales watchdog for specialty vegan items so i may consume them and give you my honest opinion. i have nothing to gain from these reviews.

so now onto the review...yves potvin (YES that YVES) has done it again with his gardein line. i've tried the thai trio and the santa fe good stuff and they are both excellent meal substitutes if you're too lazy to cook. if you're one of them vegans that doesn't partake in fake meat or shies away from fake meat that tastes like meat, you might want to pass on the gardein line because they TASTE LIKE MEAT. so much so, i kept doing double and triple takes at the official "vegan" logo because i thought someone was feeding me pork in the thai trio and spicy chicken in the santa fe good stuff. so as far as authenticity goes--well done, yves!
my only criticism aside from the regular retail price is the portion size. when i eat i don't mess around, so i found the portions to be skimpy. again, if you're going to get these--get 'em on clearance. the gardein site offers $1 off coupons, so if you can find a store that doubles to that amount, AND they're on sale--well you can laugh all the way to the bank.

verdict?
flavor: two tables and a microphone. they know their spices.
price: not worth it! watch for clearance. use coupons.
portion: boo.