ROBIN’S EDIBLE PICKS: Fun ‘n Healthy Family Eats ‘n Drinks
Periodically when I stumble on something cool, I like to share and blog about it. So, check out the following in the food/beverage arena:
CEREAL – ME AND GOJI
While Mother’s Day gifts are great, a generic box of chocolates is dull. A custom cereal from me and goji is a unique way to show someone you care. me and goji is the first custom cereal and granola company where you can design your own cereal from 60+ all-natural ingredients, name your creation, and upload a picture right to the label! Cereal then arrives in a Cereal Capsule, designed for portability and keeping your mix fresh!
They offer several fun gift options, from naming and placing a picture on your Cereal Capsule to personalized notes.In addition, they feature a special mix “diamonds aren’t delicious” consisting of granola, chocolate covered goji berries and strawberries.
I made up a custom Cereal Capsule for my son, and he got a big kick out of it, and it tasted good too! Visit http://www.meandgoji.com/.
TWIST WATER
If your kids don’t like plain water, try substituting with something like organic twist water. It is a natural blend of premium water with a twist of juice and only 9 calories. It is sweetened with organic agave nectar but does not have any artificial ingredients or flavors. A nice option to juice, soda or plain water.
Twist comes in six flavors: Mandarin White Tea, West Indies Lime, Mango Acai, Wild Strawberry, Lemon and Pomegranate Blueberry (the favorite of my son and I) . Visit http://www.drinktwist.com/
LIFELINE – VEGGIE ENTREES
Lightlife®, a pioneer in the vegetarian food industry, now provides consumers in New York and the Mid-Atlantic region a tasty, convenient way to eat “pro-veggie” with the debut of Lightlife Veggie Entrées.
The frozen entrées are available in six varieties and are quick and easy to heat in the microwave or conventional oven. Each meal has at least two daily servings of big, crisp, thick-cut vegetables and one daily serving of whole grains, complemented by a savory sauce on the side.
For a convenient, easy “pro-veggie” meal, Lightlife offers six flavors of their veggie entrées including: Asian Teriyaki, Indian Veggie Masala (my personal pick), Linguine Siciliano,Shanghai Fried Rice, Tuscan Portobello and Zesty Mexican- The flavors of fire-roasted peppers, corn, black beans, pinto beans and whole-grain brown rice are enhanced with a zesty lime-chipotle sauce. All of the entrées are just 250 to 390 calories for an11 to 12 ounce meal.
For product information and to find the store nearest to you, visit http://www.bepro-veggie.com/ and http://www.lightlife.com/.
SONNY and JOE’S – HUMMUS
Sonny and Joe’s hummus is made of finely ground Turkish chickpeas blended in micro-batches with authentic stone-ground sesame Tehini, Chilean garlic, Galilee olives, Mexican Jalapenos and spices from the markets of Europe and Asia. The taste reflects the extra care in preparing ingredients, longer cooking time to “marry” the flavors, finer blending process to create smoother, creamy texture, creating a protein-rich dip, appetizer, side dish, recipe ingredient and sandwich spread.
There are many varieties to choose from including Just Huumus, Hot Enough Hummus (with Hot Peppers), Hummus Pinoli (with Pine Nuts), Hummus Galilee (with Galilee Olives – my personal pick), Garlic Addiction (with Bits of Minced Garlic), Hummus with Toasted Sesame (with Toasted Sesame), Red Pepper Hummus (with Roasted Red Pepper), Jalapeno Hummus (with Jalapenos) and Buffalo Hummus (Hummus with Buffalo-style Hot Sauce).
In addition to Hummus, Sonny and Joe’s makes a full line of dips including Tehini, Babaganoush, Grilled Eggplant, Sauteed Eggplant, Turkish Dip and Matbucha Dip (Peppery and spicy tomato tones).
Sonny and Joe’s products are available at Zabars and Barzini’s Markets in New York; Krogers in Atlanta; select ShopRite stores and Sickle’s Market in New Jersey; and Carmine’s in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Visit http://www.sonnyandjoes.com/.
HONEY DROP
Honey Drop is an award-winning line of honey sweetened juices and teas. It is an organic beverage sweetened solely with a spoonful of organic honey.
Containing only 80 calories per 16.9 oz. bottle, honeydrop comes in three flavors: Bee Alive (Blood Orange), Bee Calm (Chamomile), and Bee Strong (Blueberry).
Company founder David Luks has collected research on honey’s health benefits, such as alleviating sore throats and coughs better than cough syrup, protecting against chronic conditions such as obesity and hypertension, and reducing swelling and scarring when used to treat wounds. Additionally, honey is lower on the glycemic index scale (64) relative to sugar (100) making it an attractive sweetener for diabetics.
Luks points out that the drinks are also great for athletes, whether weekend warriors or aspiring record breakers. Recent research from the University of Memphis found honey works to give athletes an energy boost before and after exercise. The research also showed that honey helps tired muscles recover more quickly after heavy exercise.
The company is certified kosher by the OU and only uses recyclable bottles, which are manufactured without BPA. Honeydrop is currently sold at natural food retailers across the country such as Whole Foods. Visit http://www.honeydrop.com/.
I had a cold/cough when I drank the Chamomile flavor (my personal pick), and it did actually have a soothing affect.
SMART FOR LIFE
The trailblazing company whose Smart for Life® weight management products featuring the cookie diet component has recently improved its Chocolate Chip Cookie (which I liked) to include the most protein offered in a meal replacement cookie on the market at a whopping 6 grams per serving. The amount of protein found in meal replacements is instrumental in curbing hunger, maintaining muscle mass, and providing energy, not to mention contributing to weight loss.
Smart for Life® continues to improve its 60% organic products to offer consumers better health benefits without compromising its taste. In addition, the new improved formula on the market includes replacing Palm Oil with Canola Oil in order to provide heart healthy oils. In addition, Smart for Life® has incorporated HeroFiberTM, its proprietary Super Fiber, that includes ForteFiberTM Soluble Dietary Fiber which helps to maintain cholesterol, glucose and insulin levels that are already in the normal range.
