Soylent 2.0 Makes Me a Modern Woman

Soylent 2.0 comes in a plain white bottle.

I'm probably the last person in the world to be a good customer for Soylent, the meal replacement drink beloved by coders who refuse to leave their computers long enough to even greet the pizza delivery guy. I think about food a LOT, and I basically NEED every single meal to be at least delicious and/or healthy, even if it's simple or consumed while working. I also have no trouble remembering to eat, ever, so obviously I will never make a lot of money as a coder.

I first heard about Soylent in this New Yorker article and it intrigued me mainly because it was so damn weird. But since I do eat lunch at my desk every day, and I'm always up for trying the latest thing, when the Soylent company offered to send me a pack of bottles, I said, "Why not?"

Oh yeah, and let's just get this out of the way: it's definitely made of people. That's a thing now.

Here's what happened.

The bottle: Soylent 2.0 comes minimalistically packaged in plain white plastic. (It's also available in a powder.)
If you want to know what the ingredients are, you'll have to go to the website. Some of the main ones are soy protein, sucralose (Splenda), and a prebiotic fiber (from oats and some other stuff). It recommends chilling before drinking, so definitely do that. But it doesn't have to be refrigerated until it's consumed, so I guess that's the advantage over buying a bottle of juice with protein at the market and risking it going bad if you forget to use it or don't refrigerate it. The only thing the bottle says is that it has 400 calories, which should be enough to get you to the next meal. It's not designed to be a weight loss drink, although I suppose it could be if you used it to replace higher-calorie meals.

And now, the taste: Chalky milk, basically, like plain soy milk with protein powder mixed in. It's not noxious or repellent though -- the flavor is basically the absence of flavor, kind of a milky bleak nothingness.

Is there any way to improve it? The Internet is full of people trying to "hack" Soylent. I dumped a shot of espresso in there, figuring coffee improves pretty much anything, and the bleak nothingness kind of sucked up the flavor of the coffee so I could barely taste it. Then I added a packet of Stevia and chugged the rest. Basically I think if you need to add a banana, Stevia, cinnamon and cocoa powder to make it palatable, as some have recommended, why not just make a healthy smoothie with fresh ingredients? Or, this is a crazy suggestion, but like, make a sandwich or something.

Did it keep me full all afternoon? This is really a key question since if I could just stop thinking about food all day I might actually be able to get some work done. I don't snack after dinner or eat fast food so afternoon grazing (and a desk job) is really my only impediment to dropping a few pounds. If there was a substance that completely removed my desire to snack, I might endure it no matter what it tasted like.

Sadly, the answer was no. I consumed a packet of cheese Goldfish immediately after drinking it and I don't even LIKE those, but I needed to taste an actual flavor in my mouth, even if that flavor was fake cheese. The rest of the afternoon and early evening I had an apple, almonds, dried apricots and a cheese stick -- the usual amount of snackage. The only thing that can prevent this desire is eating a lunch of something like a hefty piece of salmon or chicken, brown rice and veggies -- basically having a full, healthy dinner at lunch. That, and possibly forcing the entire office to never have any snacks around, ever.

What about that prebiotic fiber? Ever since a disastrous experience with an entire pan of roasted Jerusalem artichokes, my insides quake at the words "prebiotic fiber" and I try to avoid foods with added chicory --like Go Lean Crunch cereal, for example. Thankfully, the type of fiber Soylent uses is somehow more sophisticated and it had no ill effects on the digestive system.

So why DO people drink Soylent instead of just grabbing a smoothie with protein powder? 
Hell if I know. The cost is $2.42 a bottle -- somewhat less than a smoothie, but more than say, a scoop of protein powder, some kind of milk, a banana and some cocoa, which is probably pretty delicious. It's got a more complete array of vitamins and fiber, which might be important if you're using it to replace a significant number of meals, but not at all important if the majority of your meals are actual food.

Personally, I don't think drinking any meals is a very good idea, and I don't think juicing is that great, either. I think humans need to chew fruits, vegetables, nuts and other real foods, preferably at every single meal. If you don't have time to do that, you're likely doing something wrong. But if you're one of those people who forgets to eat, by all means try some Soylent, your body will probably thank you for the protein.

The Lazy Baker meets the killer knife

I spent Saturday picking out a new fancy chef's knife for an early birthday present for myself and shopping at the Pasadena Farmer's Market to buy produce to make dinner for friends. I felt better to see that even Jonathan Gold's kid gets fussy when faced with a crowded farmer's market. But I sort of blew off thinking about dessert options for my dinner, thinking I'd figure something out at the last minute. Then I returned home, only to fortuitously find a package of gourmet baking mix that The Lazy Baker sent for me to try. Plus, it was oatmeal cherry raisin, one of my preferred cookie flavors. I try to only make things from scratch, but I have to admit it was helpful to have a shortcut after making a whole dinner of salad, Moroccan chicken and couscous. Since you add a stick of butter and and egg, the cookies taste pretty close to homemade. The ingredients are all natural, but they put them together for you with a separate packet of dried fruit. They also come in chocolate chip, brown sugar pecan shortbread and gingerbread. I'm not going to stop making cookies from scratch, but these are certainly handy to have when you're in a hurry or have some kids to entertain. The Lazy Baker is available at Whole Foods and Bristol Farms, or for $10.95 online.
While the cookies were baking, I got to play with my new scary-sharp Shun chef's knife from Bed and Bath. All my life, I've been using cheap knives, and I guess it's time to grow up, knife-wise. But it might be more commitment than I'm ready for. Anyone know where to get them sharpened?

Delicious brittle that's not political

My last post about Morning Glory Confections might have gotten buried in news of the Barack bake sale, so now that I've tasted all the flavors I'm coming back to the brittle. I think we're all pretty much over cupcakes and frozen yogurt, and creampuffs never really floated my boat, but boy, this brittle is good.
And if there's one thing I know about, it's brittle -- my family founded Pease's Candy in Illinois, which used to specialize in peanut brittle (pictured at right).
Morning Glory's Max Lesser, an Echo Park resident and new dad who was formerly a private chef, has come up with several flavors full of savory spices that take brittle to a whole new level. The only one not pictured above is the peanut/fleur de sel -- it's the closest to a traditional peanut brittle, and I gobbled it up so fast I didn't have time to photograph it.
Here's the flavor rundown:
Fleur de sel and peanut: This hint of salt was just what old-fashioned brittle needed to put it over the top, in a good way.
Chai tea and cashew: Nice hint of chai flavor, and cashews make a good brittle.
Coffee nib, cocoa bean, pecan: A little gritty but the deep flavor and slight caffeine kick really grows on you.
New Mexico chili and pumpkin seed: A spicy finish makes this one fun to eat.
Indian curry/pistachio: I like curry, but this one might have been a little heavy on the cumin or something -- good but not my favorite.
Morning Glory Brittle is available at:
Big Sugar Bakeshop - Studio City
Belwood Bakery - Brentwood
Lark Cake Shop - Silver Lake
Susina Bakery and Cafe - L.A.

Morning Glory brittle: here's to a sweet election

The best thing about bake sales, besides donating to a cause you believe in, is getting to taste homey handmade baked goods -- some of which are now available commercially. At last week's fundraiser, we tasted fudge from Ellelle, available at Little Flower Candy. Then last night we tried brittle with distinctive flavorings from Morning Glory Confections. Morning Glory brittle is an adult-oriented crunchy confection flavored with cocoa nibs, coffee, pecan, chai and curry, made by former private chef Max Lesser, whose wife Susan blogs at Silver Lake Blvd. and the more baby-focused Reservation for Three.The brittle will soon be available at local spots like Lark Cakes and Fix Coffee.

Best tastes from Savor the Season

Apricot, tangerine and lemon-flavored salt from Saltistry

The Absinthe Fairy with her treasure box of souvenir bottles

The best thing about going to the big food and wine tasting events like last night's Savor the Season benefit for Break the Cycle is getting to see what's new in local products as well as tasting dishes from restaurants you haven't been to yet.
I think my favorite place to hang out was the Saltistry booth, where dozens of flavored salts could be paired with fruits, nuts and tiny new potatoes -- wonderful with the truffle salt.
I also enjoyed meeting the ladies from Ventura Limoncello Company, who make an intensely lemony liqueur made from locally-grown lemons, that would be fun to try in some different cocktails.
I also found out about a new organic food delivery service called SPUD which delivers organic produce and groceries -- everything from Brooklyn Bagels to prepared soups and meals -- all over L.A. and Orange County once a week. I known there's a huge demand for this sort of thing so it will be interesting to see how much it catches on.

Hungry Girl boosts shirataki noodles

Back when I was lackadaisically trying the Atkins diet for a few months, Matt used to call my shirataki noodles "flesh-eating noodles." That's because I told him that with only zero to 60 calories per package, they basically took more calories to chew than you took in. Plus they're made from konnyaku yam flour, which both fills you up and cleans you out. I started reading Hungry Girl around that same time, but quickly grew tired of her processed food, low fat-cheese approach to dieting. But as this NY Times story, Tofu Noodles Get a Lift, recounts, because of her endorsement, shirataki noodles have become wildly popular, and they've even redesigned the package to make it easier for calorie-starved folks to comprehend and put her logo on it. I don't recommend trying her scary-sounding faux alfredo, but the slightly slimy wide noodles are pretty good in Asian dishes like low-cal/low-carb drunken noodles, for example. See, bloggers can really make a difference, at least when it comes to noodles.

Bustelo coffee gets cool

No matter how often I go to Intelligentsia and Lamill, I don't seem to be able to turn into a permanent coffee snob. In fact, until the fancy places opened up, I usually drank Cafe Bustelo espresso in the festive red and yellow cans, which is only about $4 for 12 oz. at your friendly neighborhood Hispanic market. I still think it's pretty solid stuff for the price, so when Bustelo offered to send me a sampler of some of their new products, I said, "Si, por favor!" Bustelo Cool Cafe con Leche is a small can of coffee similar to the Starbucks Doubleshot. It's got a nice flavor over ice, and it's sweetened with evaporated cane juice, not high-fructose corn syrup. I wouldn't mind it even stronger though, because if I'm going to use 130 calories on coffee, I'd like it to really wake me up. Even better was a new type of Cafe Bustelo they sent, Supreme by Bustelo premium gourmet espresso. I'm not sure which local stores carry it, but if you want a really well-priced dark roast coffee, give it a try. My current mix is half Bustelo, half Peet's French roast -- what's your favorite coffee for a sturdy dark roast taste combined with a decent price?

All these products are also available at JavaCabana (email me if you want a discount code for the website).
Product rating: Bustelo Cool -- 3 spoons (out of 5)
Bustelo Supreme -- 4 1/2 spoons (out of 5)

Weird product of the day: Batter blaster

Somehow Whole Foods isn't the place you expect to come across pancake batter in an aerosol can. But when my daughter spotted Batter Blaster, she had to try it. Because you know, mixing up Trader Joe's pancake batter when you're off school for the entire summer is such an onerous chore. But hey, it's organic, so who can complain? I have to admit, the delivery system is fun -- you can shoot the batter into the pan in any shape you like, be it kitties or alphabet letters. But the taste was too sweet for me -- I don't put sugar in my pancake batter -- and at $4.99 a can, it only made around four servings of pancakes. A box of pancake mix (about $2) makes about 10 zillion servings. But it would be great for car camping, and it's certainly fun for the kids to try once. Product rating: 3 spoons (out of 5)

Ruby Jewel's ice cream sandwiches will rock your world

After extolling the joys of all things Portland, I heard from Lisa, who makes lovely ice cream sandwiches for Ruby Jewel treats. But unlike Portland's famous tamarind whisky sours and bacon maple doughnuts, Ruby Jewel ice cream sandwiches are available in L.A. at several Whole Foods markets (you can also order them online). I picked up two at the Pasadena location, Lemon cookie with Honey Lavender ice cream, and Dark chocolate cookie with Fresh Mint ice cream. I love how the delicate cookie didn't overpower the ice cream like some sandwiches with giant, dense oatmeal cookies. The light cookie provided a pleasant lemony counterpoint to the creamy, subtly lavender-perfumed ice cream. Matt termed that one a "ladies flavor" and grabbed the chocolate mint variety, immediately proclaiming "This ice cream sandwich rocks my world." There's also peanut butter ice cream with double chocolate cookies and cinnamon chocolate cookie with espresso ice cream. Ruby Jewel uses locally-sourced Oregon mint, lavender, honey and milk, plus, Lisa has offered a visit to where they're made next time I'm in Portland. Yum!
PRODUCT RATING: 5 spoons
(out of a possible 5)

Popchips, for those who crave vinegar

The folks at Popchips love food bloggers. Reviews of the healthyish chips can be found on dozens of blogs, and yesterday a carton of assorted flavors arrived in EatingLA's cubicle. I usually shy away from reviewing food items that are sent to me, because it seems so mean to say "these people sent me such and such, and it was disgusting."

Popchips, however, are actually pretty good. I try to stay away from snack foods, because it cuts down on the calorie count available for real food like Vito's Pizza, which we're having for dinner at work tonight.

But every so often I get visions of misty British pubs wafting through my head and start craving salt and vinegar potato chips. A little package of them runs around 250 or 300 calories, which hardly seems worth it just to get a bracing hit of that lovely vinegar taste. Popchips solves the problem with a nice-sized pack weighing in at 120 calories. Good vinegar flavor, all natural ingredients, with an elusive potato taste not unlike a healthy Pringle's. Much better than those strange soy crisps or other pretenders to the potato chip throne. Of course, they have lots of other flavors like garlic parmesan or salt and pepper, but I'm pretty much a straight-up vinegar person when it comes to chips.

Strange and wonderful products of the week

Charles Perry writes on the L.A. Times food blog about West Hollywood's new Healthy Bean coffee shop...their coffee is apparently chock full of anti-oxidants and also, protein! They add some sort of whey to give it five grams of protein a cup...add some milk, and you've got breakfast on the run. I'm kind a sucker for added benefits , so perhaps I'll give it a try, although parking in West Hollywood -- not my favorite activity.
***
Not strange, just wonderful...I'm in the midst of a major popcorn binge these days, so I had to order a four lb. bottle of Savanna Gold from Fireworks Popcorn. There doesn't seem to be anyplace in all of L.A. that carries really good popping corn. Current favorite topping: butter, soy sauce, seaweed and sesame sprinkle.
***

My recent trip to Marukai market yielded some furikake seaweed for my new popcorn craze as well as a box of green tea/red bean popsicles. Nicely sized for Japanese appetites, they're not very sweet and pack several interesting flavors onto one little stick. Also, whilst googling, here's the contents of some guy's freezer in Japan...a nice tour of Japanese frozen treats.
***

Last but not least, we come to Quorn. I know, you say, fake meat, meh. Or perhaps you say, mycoprotein, what the hell is that? Yes, Quorn is British fake chicken made from some mutant strain of fungus, but I don't care -- I get really tired of having chicken all the time, it's pretty healthy stuff, and I think it tastes ok. And I've heard all that propaganda that the Center for Science in the Public Interest dished out when Quorn appeared in America, and I'm not really buying it. I don't trust those folks, and look at all those healthy Brits with their good teeth and such.

Product of the year, so far: Activia yogurt

Now, I'm usually not one for touting mass-produced, sugar-sweetened grocery store products. Nor do any of you really need to know much about my inner functioning. Let's just say that I'm pretty darn amped about Dannon's new Activia yogurt. It contains a special strain of probiotics that is scientifically proven to "reduce intestinal transit time." If that sounds wierd to you, then just skip this post. But if it sounds like it could be helpful, then try Activa, which starts working after a week or so of eating one container a day. I actually like the prune flavor, but I'm wierd. In France, where they've had this since 1987 under the Bio label, those lucky frogs can get the stuff in flavors like cranberry, kiwi, rhubarb, coconut and muesli. Here's the French site, where you can watch cute TV commercials for Activia. Enough said.