Stress-Free Drink and Books

The Delivery: C3* For Stress calming drink mix, Food And The City by Jennifer Cockrall-King, and non-vegan cookbook Herbivoracious by Michael Natkin
Staff Pick: The stress-free beverage

The DL: While the holidays are a favorite time of year for many, it can also be one of the most stress-inducing seasons. This drink may help calm a heated moment, but it’s important to develop long-term tactics to help you feel your best this December. Check out 10 Ways to Fight Holiday Stress for some ideas that may work for you. One last tip—beat the long lines and crowded malls, while supporting local craftspeople, by shopping at handmade e-marketplace Etsy. We’ve got just the guide to help you find the perfect cruelty-free presents!

Vegan Products and a Fresh Giveaway

The Delivery: Vega sport bar pack, GoPicnic sunbutter and crackers, Iron Man by Tony Iommi, The Rescue of Belle & Sundance by Birgit Stutz and Lawrence Scanlan, and Zenify stress-free drinks
Staff Pick: Vega bars

The DL: Guess what? We’re going to be giving away this Vega sport pack to one lucky This Just In reader! To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment on this blog post telling us what has been your favorite way to stay in shape in 2011 by Monday, December 12 at noon PT. If you’re looking to win other great prizes courtesy of VN, check out our Holiday Cookie Contest. Send us your recipe by Saturday at noon for a chance to win a KitchenAid mixer or another great prize!

Skincare Products and a Kids' Book

The Delivery: Fred Eats a Pea by Paula Weiner and Renew Botanicals' moisturizer, exfoliant, and eye cream
Staff Pick: The children’s book

The DL: Just in time for the holidays, this cute book arrives at our office and looks like a great gift for any young vegan or animal-lover. Engaging books and tempting foods are just some of the reasons that this time of the year is one of our favorites. Speaking of temptations, have you baked your first batch of holiday cookies yet? More than 50 cookie lovers have already perfected their recipes and submitted them to our Holiday Cookie Contest. Submit yours by Saturday for a chance to win an amazing KitchenAid mixer, a vegan cupcake kit, or cookies from Allison’s Gourmet.

Delicious Vegan Food

The Delivery: Two boxes of treats from Allison’s Gourmet; MozzaRisella’s vegan mozzarella; samples of sour cream, pudding, and cheese from WayFare; and Gardein’s beefless burgers, chipotle-lime crispy fingers, ultimate sliders, and mandarin orange crispy chick'n
Staff Pick: Allison’s Gourmet truffles, peppermint chocolate bark, peppermint cream patties, and peanut butter cups

The DL: Anytime one of the royal purple Allison’s Gourmet boxes arrives at the office, we can’t wait to dig in and see what Allison has come up with this time (needless to say, we are never disappointed). While she runs an artisan bakery, she’s not afraid to go savory now and again—check out her recipe for vegan lasagna in the Novermber+December issue of VegNews, which has already received tons of praise from readers. In case your sweet tooth still isn’t fixed after tasting Allison’s delicious confections, try This Week’s Must-Have: a Marshmallow Truffle Bar from Desiderio Chocolates. Just try to save some for the inevitable drooling onlookers (i.e. us).

Vegan, Gluten-Free Cookies

The Delivery: Organic, gluten-free chocolate chip pecan cookies, whoopie pies, brownies, chocolate chip-hazelnut blondies, pumpkin cookies, and oatmeal sandwiches from Conscience Confections
Staff Pick: The chocolate chip-hazelnut blondie

The DL: Today we hit the gluten-free jackpot. Every single one of these freshly baked treats are soft and and look scrumptious—so much so, in fact, that many of the staff voraciously demanded a taste test post-blogging. Even as this intrepid VN staffer types, others are circling the Conscience Confections goodies like, well, VN staffers over any baked good. It's what we do. Our love of baked goods is one of the many reasons we can't wait to test entries in our Holiday Cookie Contest. Does your vegan cookie recipe wow everyone this time of year? Enter now for the chance to win a KitchenAid stand mixer, a vegan cupcake kit from Divvies, or two dozen cookies from Allison's Gourmet!

Bottled Water

The Delivery: Green Planet bottled water
Staff Pick: The water

The DL: It’s great to know that there is now bottled water made from bioplastic available, in case we’re ever stuck without our reusable water bottles—we know we’ll get our recommended eight glasses daily from somewhere! In addition to consuming plenty of water, there are plenty of other foods we should be increasing our consumption of, such as these five. So whip up some Taro Dumplings with a side of Cranberry Sauce and know you’re treating your body well.

Vega Sport Bars

The Delivery: Vega Sport energy bars

Staff Pick: The bars

The DL: These bars are the perfect food to energize whoever wins this week’s VegNews Holiday Giveaway—one lucky winner will receive a $100 shopping spree to Alternative Outfitters, just for leaving a comment on the giveaway page revealing his or her dream winter getaway spot (New York, anyone?). Even if you don’t win, check out our Holiday Store for some other great cruelty-free gift ideas—we have something for everyone!

Beauty Products

The Delivery: Lotion, bath salt, and nail polish from SpaRitual

Staff Pick: Organic moisturizing lotion made with Chinese jasmine

The DL: Cold weather tends to cause many people to suffer from dry skin, but using lotion like this will help you brave the outdoors and enjoy the serenity blanketing most of the country, especially the northeast, this time of year. In fact, now is the absolute perfect time to visit Upstate NY—the peaks of the Catskill Mountains are likely white with snow, rescued animals await visitors in their cozy sanctuary barns, and the delicious vegan food will surely warm you inside and out. Check out this handy guide for all of the perfect places to go in Saugerties and Woodstock. If you can’t get away for a weekend retreat, stay inside and work on your favorite cookie recipe for the VegNews Holiday Cookie Contest, instead—the top prize is a KitchenAid mixer! 

 

Pies, Fruit Bars, Personal Care Products, and a Book

The Delivery: Deadly Powers by Paul A. Trout, ProBar fruit bars, Jason body- and hair-care products, The Buddha Beauty Company foot cream and body butter, and raw pies from Sidesaddle Kitchen (see below)

Staff Pick: Delicious chocolate-chipotle, pumpkin-spice, and maple-pecan pies

The DL: Full disclosure—the reason why these pies did not make it in the group product shot above is because they arrived yesterday during our Thanksgiving feast and we ravenously made them disappear. Three pies, an entire Native Foods Wellington, more mashed potatoes than any normal group of people should ever eat, fluffy biscuits, salad, and more were no match for the voracious VegNews team. Now, we’re ready to nosh on amazing feasts during our upcoming five-day weekend—check out our plans and last-minute Thanksgiving tips for some inspiration. Happy Tofurky Day!

Chocolates and Dips

The Delivery: Desiderio Chocolates marshmallow truffle bar and salted chocolate caramels, and Blushing Apple’s vegan dips—roasted tomato salsa, tapenade, and roasted fig dip

Staff Pick: Vanilla marshmallow truffle bar

The DL: In just a matter of minutes, the entire VegNews staff will be chowing down on an amazing Thanksgiving luncheon. On the menu: Native Foods Wellington, homemade mashed potatoes, soy egg nog, roasted Brussels sprouts, and… you’ll have to check Café VegNews later today for more details! If you still haven’t figured out your Thanksgiving centerpiece plans, check out our taste test for some last minute ideas. Now back to that feast…

 

Vegan Food Box

The Delivery: Lollihop’s vegan food box with Food Should Taste Good brand chips, Pop Corners corn chips, Kind fruit and nut bar, Glutino gluten-free pretzels, Two Moms in the Raw blueberry nut bar, Larabar cashew cookie bar, Runa guayusa, Bumble Bar chunky cherry bar, and dried bing cherries from BellaViva Orchards

Staff Pick: Sweet potato chips

The DL: Snacks like these make vegan traveling so much easier, which is crucial at this time of year—just throw a granola bar and a bag of chips in your carry-on and you’ll be able to endure the inevitable delays and lines with a yummy snack in hand. Even if you do get stuck in an airport, you'll have time to dream up the perfect cookie recipe for the VegNews Holiday Cookie Contest! We’re looking for the most creative and scrumptious cookie recipes for a chance to win a KitchenAid mixer, Divvies vegan cupcake kit, or cookies from Allison’s Gourmet. We can’t wait to try your recipes!

 

Book, Coconut-Almond Milk, and a Giveaway!

The Delivery: Non-veg cookbook Bean by Bean by Crescent Dragonwagon and Blue Diamond Almond Breeze Almond-Coconut Milk Blends

Staff Pick: Almond Coconut Milk

The DL: Coconut milk is definitely a favorite here at the VNHQ, and this new product combines it with almond milk for a new twist. If this product doesn’t excite you, let us know what does, and you could win a copy of The Tipsy Vegan. The book contains incredible recipes like Coconut HELL-O! Shots, Bad-Ass Beer Cake with Bourbon Raisins and Amaretto Frosting, and The Chugging Pumpkin Soup, all made with alcohol! We’ll be picking a random winner on Tuesday at noon, so you could be noshing on boozy foods soon after Thanksgiving. Happy Friday!

This Just In: Giveaways!

The Delivery: The Tipsy Vegan by John Schlimm, Nava Atlas’ Vegan Holiday Kitchen, and Main Street Vegan by Victoria Moran

Staff Pick: The Tipsy Vegan

The DL: This holiday season, VegNews is all about giving back to our readers. In addition to this week’s vegan feast giveaway (only three words need be said: Native Foods' Wellington), we’ve just announced our first ever holiday cookie contest! We’ve already received some tasty-sounding recipes, so submit yours soon for a chance to win a KitchenAid mixer! Pretty much every VegNews staffer has their eyes on this fabulous prize, but only readers are allowed to win. We’re also running a special giveaway exclusively for readers of This Just In—leave a comment below telling us which product we’ve featured on This Just In that you’re most excited for and you could win a copy of The Tipsy Vegan! We'll pick a random winner at noon on Tuesday, November 22, so enter today! Don’t you love the holidays?

Cookbooks and Tofu

The Delivery: Celebrate Vegan by Dynise Balcavage, Tofu Misozuke from Rau Om, a galley of Gluten-Free Vegan Comfort Food by Susan O’Brien, and a galley of Chloe Coscarelli’s Chloe’s Kitchen

Staff Pick: The miso-cured, two-month-aged tofu

The DL: Thanksgiving is right around the corner and we’re counting down the days to our annual holiday luncheon (just six left!). The main course will be a Native Foods Wellington and we couldn’t be more excited! One lucky reader will dine in VN-style with a Native Wellington, delivered to their door next week and that lucky reader could be you—just leave a comment on the giveaway page giving us the DL on your favorite Thanksgiving dessert. As a bonus, the giveaway also comes with a box of treats from Babycakes NYC. The VN staff is truly filled with the Thanksgiving spirit, and we can’t stop thinking about thankful turkeys, heartwarming events, and mouthwatering recipes. 

 

Books, books, books!

The Delivery: You Can Heal Yourself by Julie Silver, Gluten-Free and Vegan Holidays by Jennifer Katzinger, and Vegetarian Entrees That Won’t Leave You Hungry by Lukas Volger

Staff Pick: Gluten-Free and Vegan Holidays

The DL: With holiday get-togethers becoming more frequent this time of year, there’s no better opportunity to try some gluten-free recipes for guests. In fact, we have two great guides to get you started—Allergen-Free Game Day will help you prepare the perfect football spread that’s safe for most people to eat, and an amazing gluten-free Thanksgiving menu, featuring a gorgeous Cranberry Orange Ice Cream Pie for dessert. If you want any other last-minute holiday feast tips direct from vegan chefs, join in our Twitter chat tomorrow evening at 6:00 PST. Thanksgiving is next week! Are you prepared?