I should start this vegan tomato sauce review by noting that I’m not a big fan of jarred tomato sauces. There are plenty of vegan and organic options out there, but they usually have too much sugar, too many additives or just don’t have that homemade taste you want in your pasta or pizza sauce. You know?
 
I’m also not one of those vegans who eats a lot of pasta. So, since I only eat it occasionally, it’s not a problem for me to take the time to make homemade sauces when I do.
 
However, my omnivore wife -- who isn’t all that concerned with eating organic -- is a huge pasta fan and is not the type to cook from scratch, which means we always have jarred tomato sauces in the pantry. Since I am far more concerned with her eating organic (and non-GMO) than she is, I was very quick to say yes when I was approached by the folks at Uncle Steve’s Italian Specialties to review their vegan, organic sauces.  
 
After all, if I can stock the pantry with tasty pasta sauce and pizza sauce options that just happen to be organic and vegan, everyone is happy.
 
So, let’s talk sauce.

Folks who eat plant-based, organic diets are usually more concerned with where their food comes from and who is making it than our conventional-Western-diet counterparts.
 
So, of course, we all want to know who Uncle Steve is.
 
Uncle Steve is Steve Schirripa. You probably know him as Bobby Baccalieri on The Sopranos or Detective Anthony Abetemarco on Blue Bloods. Aside from his numerous acting credits, he is also an author and launched Uncle Steve’s Italian Specialties in 2014 as a tribute to his late mother and using family recipes handed down from her.
 
As a little side note, the first line in his Twitter bio is, “Tomato sauce with a conscience.”

The sauces made by Uncle Steve’s are different than most others on the store shelf for several reasons. First off, they are made in small batches, which is not usually true of sauces you can buy on Amazon or from stores like Walmart. Secondly, they are made with fresh, organic ingredients – and you can recognize and pronounce every word on the ingredient list.
 
As noted on the Uncle Steve’s Organic Sauces website, “Our products are USDA certified organic, gluten free, dairy free, vegan, kosher and contain no added sugar. With no GMOs, no harmful pesticides, and nothing artificial.” His sauces are also certified paleo.
 
Sounds pretty good to me.

We were given three flavors of sauce to review: Organic Marinara, Organic Tomato and Basil, and Organic Arrabiata. I’m noticing that the Organic Tomato and Basil is not currently available on his site and is only available in limited quantities elsewhere. This leads me to believe he may be focusing on just the marinara and arrabiata now, so I, too, am going to focus on those two in this review.

The Organic Marinara sauce is made from organic, imported Italian whole peeled tomatoes, organic fresh onions, organic extra virgin olive oil, organic fresh garlic, sea salt, organic fresh basil and organic black pepper.
 
As mentioned above, it is organic, vegan, paleo, gluten free, non-GMO and kosher.
 
Although my wife is usually only in charge in the kitchen when Mexican or Puerto Rican food is on the menu, she has somehow also become the chief pasta maker. So, I handed her the jar and went back to work in my office. Soon, the house was filled with the aroma of simmering tomato sauce that smelled just as good as the homemade sauces I occasionally make.

Normally, she adds all sorts of stuff to jarred sauces, such as fresh garlic, peppers, onions and hot sauce (I did mention the Mexican/Puerto Rican thing, right?). But I requested that she add nothing this time so that we could get a real feel for how this sauce tasted without the normal doctoring.
 
The first thing I would say about the taste is that it was clean and fresh, which are two things I do not expect from pasta sauce in a jar. It also had a bit of chunkiness to it, which is much more like a homemade sauce than something you grab off of a grocery store shelf.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by this sauce and really enjoyed the pasta dish we made using it. We also both really dug dipping our gluten-free garlic bread in it.
 
I can definitely see using this sauce in a variety of dishes and just adding different ingredients to fit the dish.

We decided to use this sauce on homemade pizzas and were not disappointed.
 
The Organic Tomato Basil sauce is made from organic, imported Italian whole peeled tomatoes, organic fresh onions, organic extra virgin olive oil, organic fresh basil, organic fresh garlic, sea salt, and organic black pepper.
 
It tasted fresh and delicious as pizza sauce, and I can see this one being just as delicious on pasta or in other dishes that call for tomato sauce.

Since we like things a little spicier than some folks, we saved the Arrabiata for last and were very much looking forward to giving it a try.
 
Let’s start with the ingredients: organic, imported Italian whole peeled tomatoes, organic fresh onions, organic extra virgin olive oil, organic fresh garlic, sea salt, organic fresh basil, organic crushed red pepper, organic black pepper.

Now, I’ve read some other product reviews for Uncle Steve’s Organic Arrabiata where the reviewers thought it was pretty spicy. I agree that it has a bit more kick than the others, which is great for folks who like a fuller flavor in their tomato sauce. However, we didn’t find it to be particularly spicy…and we did end up adding some hot sauce after trying it without. If you like a little bit of heat, I think you will like this one quite a bit.

The first night, we made spaghetti with some sauteed vegetables and garlic bread, which was pretty darn good. Then, I added some vegan Italian sausage and vegan parm to the leftovers the next day, and it was borderline amazing.
 
Overall, this one also had the fresh, clean taste of a homemade sauce, which was just such a nice surprise from a jarred sauce.

You can buy Uncle Steve’s Organic Sauces (plus pasta and gift sets) on the Uncle Steve’s website, from Walmart or on Amazon. If you purchase them on the Uncle Steve’s website, you get free shipping on orders over $40. If you purchase them from Uncle Steve’s through Amazon, you get free shipping even if your order is less than $40, so that’s a little bonus.
 
If you live in the northeastern US, you can also use this store locator on the Uncle Steve’s website to find a store selling Uncle Steve’s Organic Sauces near you.
 
At the time of this writing, each jar comes out to about $7.97 on the Uncle Steve’s website with free shipping on orders over $40. It is $8.97 per jar on Amazon, but you get free shipping on orders totaling less than $40. So, if you plan on buying one set of three jars, you are better off getting them on Amazon. If you are planning on buying more than one set of three jars, buy them on Uncle Steve’s website.

For our friends at the FTC: I was provided with free product samples in exchange for this product review. The opinions are my own and are never influenced by whether I receive a free product to review or I purchase the product to review.

You may have never heard of Saucy Lips’ line of gourmet sauces, and that is likely because they are not available in stores. So, unless you meet the folks behind the sauce at a farmers market or festival – or happen to come across their website – this may be your first introduction to their vegan, GMO-free sauces for cooking, grilling, sautéing, marinating, dipping and dressing salads.
 
The limited availability is by choice and is a big part of what sets these sauces apart from other options. Saucy Lips is a small, family-owned company that makes their sauces fresh to order in small batches, which immediately makes them kind of awesome. They also get extra points for having the four-legged members of their family in their family photo on their website.

These gourmet cooking sauces outshine other options in that they are gluten free, soy free, GMO free, dairy free, nut free, vegan, all natural and paleo friendly, which means just about anyone can enjoy them. Plus, did you see that calorie count? If you are using this as a salad dressing or marinade, that is definitely an improvement over most of the sauces you are going to find in stores.

They use no preservatives other than apple cider vinegar, so the sauces have a shelf life of about a year and need to be refrigerated once you open them. And, because they want to make sure you receive the freshest ingredients possible, this is another reason they can’t have their sauces sitting around in warehouses or on store shelves.

The tantalizing flavor combinations offered by Saucy Lips include:
 
Ghost Pepper & Tamarind
Habanero & Carrot
Jalapeno & Green Apple
Peppery Strawberry
Pineapple Thai
Tangy Mango
Zesty Cilantro
Pumpkin Mustard

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to try the Zesty Cilantro and the Peppery Strawberry, so let’s see how that went…

I got my first taste of the Zesty Cilantro gourmet sauce by Saucy Lips on some vegan Beyond Chicken served with mashed potatoes and broccoli. The fake chicken started out frozen, so I wasn’t able to marinate it like I had originally planned, but I ended up using the Zesty Cilantro sauce more like a simmering sauce, which made the house smell SO good while it was cooking.
 
In fact, I think this might be the first time my omnivore wife was super interested in the vegan chicken cooking up on the stove.
 
This zesty cilantro vegan chicken was so good that I ate it for dinner that night, ate the leftovers the next day, and then made the exact same meal on the third day and ate those leftovers on the fourth day. That’s how good this stuff is – totally worth eating four days in a row.

Now, of course, a girl can’t live on Beyond Chicken, mashed potatoes and broccoli alone, so my next taste test was a simple snack of a handful of cherry tomatoes from my backyard garden tossed with some Saucy Lips Zesty Cilantro gourmet sauce.
 
Yep, that worked out pretty well too.
 
The Zesty Cilantro has this tang to it that is just awesome and definitely makes the sauce live up to its name.

By now, I didn’t have a whole lot of gourmet sauce left in the bottle, so I used the rest as a dipping sauce for some more backyard tomatoes and warmed bread (that is a gluten-free baguette by Schar in the photo, by the way).
 
I know it is hard to go wrong with bread, but not every sauce is ideal for bread dipping, so you never know. Turns out, Saucy Lips Zesty Cilantro is a perfectly fine – and quite delish – bread dipping sauce, so if you happen to pick some up, I definitely recommend trying it.
 
Overall, Zesty Cilantro was a total winner for me and I would definitely buy it in the future.

Once I had finished off the bottle of Zesty Cilantro, it was time to take on the Peppery Strawberry gourmet sauce. The emphasis here is on peppery and, while I really dug the zesty tang of the Zesty Cilantro, the peppery part of the Peppery Strawberry caught me a little off guard. As in, I actually coughed and had to take a second to recover. This may or may not have also involved the f-word.
 
So, we can start by saying this one has a bold flavor that might kick your ass for a second if you aren’t ready for it.
 
Now, I should note that I had poured some on a spoon and just popped it in my mouth so that I could get the flavor and determine how best to use it. So that is part of the problem: With these handcrafted sauces that use fresh ingredients, you don’t have to use as much to achieve maximum flavor, so…if you toss back a spoonful of something with “peppery” in the name, it is kind of your own fault if that doesn’t go so well for you.
 
I ended up using this Saucy Lips handcrafted sauce as dressing for a cucumber-tomato-beet salad, then as a dipping sauce for some cucumbers and tomatoes, and also as a dipping sauce for bread. After I knew that a little goes a long way in the flavor department with this one, it worked out fine and was a welcome change from typical salad dressings that are not as bold.

If you would like to try some Saucy Lips Handcrafted Gourmet Sauce for yourself, you can pick some up from their booth at farmers markets and festivals (mostly in California, Arizona and Florida), or you can order it directly from their website. When it is not on sale, it will set you back $19.99 per bottle with flat-rate shipping of $5.00 on domestic orders. I have seen it on sale for $14.99 on their website, though, so keep an eye out for sales.
 
Now, you and I both know that this cheap vegan chick would never buy a bottle of $19.99 gourmet sauce that I saw on a shelf at Sprouts or Whole Foods or some other store. So, if I had not met these fine folks at a vegan festival, I may have totally missed out on ever trying it. That would have sucked.
 
I know $19.99 sounds like a lot, but we do have to remember that this is not a mass-produced product – it is handcrafted in small batches as they get orders. Plus, you get to support a small, family-owned business that is truly dedicated to providing healthy, delicious sauces from fresh ingredients for our cooking, grilling and dipping needs.
 
So, for some of us, this might be more of a splurge product, but it is definitely worth it when you are looking for something savory and delish with which to treat yourself and your family.
 
Be sure to subscribe to their newsletter, which automatically enters you into a weekly giveaway where one subscriber wins a bottle of the handcrafted gourmet sauce of their choice. Plus, you will get recipes and a heads up about special deals.
 
If you have tried these or other flavors in the Saucy Lips line, let us know what you thought in the comments below!

For our friends at the FTC: The folks at Saucy Lips provided product samples for me to review. Opinions are my own, and there was no additional compensation.

Join us Saturday, September 9 for the First Annual Homes for Dogs Project adoption event hosted at Coldwell Banker Property Shoppe in Ojai!

Date: Saturday, September 9
Time: 11:00am to 3:00pm
Location: 727 W. Ojai Avenue in Ojai

There will be food, micro chipping, grooming, merchandise available for purchase and, of course, the chance to adopt a dog.

You just might find your new best friend!

We hope to see you there!  

Okay, folks...we don't have much time to take advantage of this freebie, so get to clickin' right away to claim your free bottle!

Click on the banner above or the link below to be taken directly to the page to order your free fruit and veggie wash.

Here is what you get: ONE BOTTLE of Eat Cleaner 6 oz. Fruit + Veggie Wash Concentrate

I have already ordered mine and am excited to get it and give it a try!

This is a natural, patented produce cleaning product used to remove bacteria, pesticide residue and wax from your fruits and vegetables. This is important for everyone, but it is particularly important for folks who cannot always purchase organic produce or those who use their produce for juicing.

This giveaway ends on May 30th, so head over to the Eat Cleaner website now to claim yours!

When my wife and I were planning our six-day Puerto Rico trip in January, we were determined to travel with just carry-on luggage. Now, for those of you who haven’t met us, this is no problem at all for her and a bit of a challenge for me. V doesn’t wear makeup, throws her hair up in a quick bun every day, can do pretty much anything in a single pair of shoes, and has definitely learned to pack well after years in the military. I, on the other hand, need space for my flatiron, makeup bag, hair accessories, a couple of extra outfit options, and vegan snacks for the plane and layover.
 
Since moving back to Southern California, we have mostly been doing road trips, which means that we have been able to pretty much load up anything we think we might need and haul it along with us. So I have gotten a bit spoiled when it comes to how many pairs of shoes I can bring or toting along our blender to make breakfast smoothies.
 
After a couple of years of this, going back to plane travel and deciding to just bring carry-on luggage was a bit of a switch for us. But I was totally up for the challenge, since I love to organize, downsize and find space-saving solutions.

One thing I knew for sure was that I had to find makeup brushes with shorter handles. This was an easy way to save space without losing the product’s function and to be able to take along a smaller makeup bag. I first started my search by specifically looking for travel makeup brushes. There are plenty of options out there, but most of them are not vegan or cruelty free, and many of them are not quality brushes.
 
At first, I thought maybe I didn’t need great brushes, since this was just for short-term use while traveling. But then I started thinking about how we take way more pictures while traveling and that I would be seeing old friends and meeting new people. For some folks, this is not an issue, but for those of us who do wear makeup regularly, it would be nice for it to be just as easy to apply and to look just as flattering when on the road.
 
So my quest for the perfect, vegan, cruelty-free travel makeup brushes continued and, after a bit of trial and error, I totally scored. In fact, I got so lucky in finding the perfect brushes at a great price that I’m not using them just for travel; these have become part of my everyday makeup brushes…because that is how much I love them.
 
That, of course, is why I simply had to share them with you!

Okay, so this vegan product review is for the seven-piece I Love Bamboo Petite Pro Bamboo Brush Set by SHANY Cosmetics. These are not billed as travel makeup brushes, but the longest brush is 5 ½ inches in length and they come with a handy carrying case, so they were the perfect size to fit in my carry-on luggage without taking up any unnecessary room.
 
The handles are bamboo and the brushes are synthetic, which makes them a good choice for folks looking for cruelty-free makeup brushes. Unlike some synthetic brushes that have a plastic or nylon feel, these mini bamboo makeup brushes are incredibly soft and feel and look like high-quality brushes that are far more expensive.
 
Something else I really liked about this set is that is comes with exactly the brushes I need and use every day without any extras or lacking anything.

Here is what you get:
 
1. Powder Brush
2. Buffer Bronzer Brush
3. Rounded Foundation Brush
4. Eyeshadow Brush
5. Contouring Eyeshadow Brush
6. Rounded Concealer Brush
7. Brow Brush
 
Now…those are the official names given in the little information sheet that comes with the set, but I use them just a little differently, which shows their versatility and how this is just an all-around awesome set of brushes. For example, I use the rounded concealer brush for applying gel eyeliner and I use the rounded foundation brush for contouring.
 
I tested the brushes out a few times before our trip so that I could make sure I liked them and that I would be able to do my makeup just with this set (without needing to supplement with other brushes). This is when I realized that I actually liked them better than my everyday brushes – which I love and were more expensive.
 
They fit easily in my carry-on and performed perfectly on our trip. I have now been using them for about four months, and they are holding up great and are easy to clean. Since I travel often, I’m actually considering getting a second set so that I can keep one at home and one in my travel bag.

I seriously love these brushes, and I think that you will too.

I have not seen these in any brick-and-mortar stores, but you can purchase them on the SHANY Cosmetics website or on Amazon, which is where I purchased mine.
 
On amazon, it says that the set comes with a bag for brush storage, but I received the carrying case you see in the pictures that is made from a vegan leather material with a magnetic closure.
 
If you order them on Amazon, there may be more than one product option on the purchase page. Make sure you choose the one that says “SHANY 7 Piece Petite Pro Bamboo Brush Set with Carrying Case, I Love Bamboo” to get the cruelty-free, travel-size brushes that are reviewed here.
 
When I purchased them, they were listed at $12.99 and, since I have an Amazon Prime membership, shipping was free. If you do not have an Amazon Prime membership, you can get a 30-Day Free Trial that includes free, two-day shipping with no minimum order, as well as other perks, like the ability to borrow Kindle books and watch thousands of TV shows and movies. Get your free trial by clicking this link:

If you buy these, please let us know what you think of them in the comments below!
 
If you know of other vegan makeup brushes we should try, please let us know about those too!
 
Side note: Folks who might be on the fence about whether they want synthetic brushes or brushes made from animal hair should consider that synthetic brushes are easier to clean and are less likely to harbor bacteria when compared to animal hair brushes. And, of course, animal hair brushes are not vegan.

This post contains affiliate links for this bamboo travel makeup brush set on Amazon. The price is the same whether you purchase them through the link or go directly to Amazon. If you choose to purchase them through the link, a very small commission helps pay to keep the Cheap Vegan Chick site up and running. 

Take this fun, quick quiz to test your Vegan IQ!

After you take it, I would love for you to leave a comment to let me know how you did.

I missed two the first time I took it, but I'm fixin' to have a rematch!

Hello all!

I hope local folks will be able to attend this march to stand with the people who feed us! If you are not local to the Ventura County or 805 area, there are 14 other marches going on the same day. You can visit UFW.org to see if there is an event near you.

If there are no events near you, you can still help out by signing the online petition, donating to UFW and supporting the UFW by purchasing merchandise in their online shop.

Here is the flyer info in English:

Trump: Who Will Feed America?

Sunday, April 2

10:00am

The march starts at Cesar Chavez School in La Colonia in Oxnard, which is at the corner of Copper and Juanita.

The march ends at Plaza Park, which is located at 500 South C Street in Oxnard.

For more information: 805-486-9674

I hope to see you there!

Pressure cookers have become increasingly popular in the recent past. This is mainly because they are convenient to use and they also prepare delicious foods. There are different kinds of foods that can be cooked using a pressure cooker. Some of the foods that are ideal to be cooked using this kind of cooker include the vegan-friendly foods. Here are the top 5 vegan-friendly pressure cooker recipes.

Sweet Potato and Black Eyed Peas

This particular recipe is ideal mainly because it makes delicious and healthy food. The combination of the sweet potato and black eyed peas ensures that almost all the necessary nutrients are included in the meal. Only one pot is needed to cook this combination since the ingredients can be combined and cooked together. The first step should be to add water and the blacked eyed peas for the peas take longer to cook. The sweet potato should then be added on top of the peas so that the steam from the peas can play a role in cooking the sweet potatoes. If everything is prepared properly the entire process should take about thirty minutes for the meal to be properly cooked. You can read power pressure cooker reviews for more instructions.

Black Bean and Lentil Chili

This is another popular recipe which is ideal mainly because it also requires a single pot to cook. The beans provide the meal with the necessary proteins while the chili helps in adding vitamins and also making the entire meal taste better. The black beans need to be put in the pot first because they generally take longer to cook than the lentil chili. The beans should be left to cook until they are tender and soft. One should then add the lentil chili on top so that they can be cooked by the steam produced by the beans. It takes just a few minutes for the chili to become tender and edible.

Corn on the Cob

One of the most ideal for enjoying corn is to cook it using a pressure cooker when still on the cob. This is because the pressure makes the corn tender uniformly and therefore every part is delicious. The first step of preparing the corn on the cob is cleaning the corn and ensuring there are no impurities. A small quantity of water should then be added in the pot that is to cook the corn. The small quantity of water is the one that will produce steam to cook the corn. One should know the corn is properly cooked when it turns from white to yellowish.

Eggplant and Olive Spread

The eggplant might take more time to cook properly and as a result, it is advisable to start by cooking it. To ensure it cooks within a short time it is advisable to use high temperatures. After the eggplant has been properly cooked one should then proceed to add the olive spread. By adding the olive spread one will be not only adding flavor to the meal, but it is also an ideal way of adding nutrients.

Millet, Veggie and Lentil

This is another recipe that is rated amongst the top 5 vegan-friendly pressure cooker recipes because it is easy to prepare. Only one pot is needed with the millet going first for it takes time to cook. After the millet has been cooked one can turn off the stove and let the steam from the pot to make the veggie and lentil tender until they are ready to be served.

Hi, all!

Here are links to two $1.00 off vegan coupons you can find online and print.

$1.00 off any one Back to Nature product (excluding macaroni and cheese)

$1.00 off any Follow Your Heart product

(If you have not yet had the opportunity to try the Follow Your Heart Chipotle Vegenaise, you might want to use this coupon to try it. I love it!)