Friday "Fun" - Freeze Pops...

Homemade Freeze Pops

I came across these "Zipzicle" http://www.amazon.com/Zipzicle-Patent-D614043-Zip-Top-Ice-Pop/dp/B00CE1PQDE  and it reminded me of childhood fun. My children are older now, but with it being the middle of summer, I thought they would be a FUN cool treat for any age.  I love the idea that I can fill them with whatever I want and I know what the ingredients is. No dyes of any kind and even though they have some sugar each one has very little over all. They were inexpensive to purchase and reusable! If your looking for some different ingredients ideas just look online. Be creative and share what you filled yours with!

If you would like help reading labels, shopping and/or making meal planning easy contact me athttp://www.wholefood-living.com/contact.html

Company/Product Review...

http://www.abesmarket.com/try/

I came across this company (as most of my finds, through something else I was searching) and I loved the idea that you could try up to three products a day for only $2.00 each with FREE shipping. Each product has a "info" button that allows you to click and see - an overview, the qualities the product has ( non- GMO etc.), ingredients, reviews and meet the seller. They are only looking for your feedback on the product. I love reviewing products!

Years ago I use to belong to a natural/organic food coop and we would order and divide items up so we could sample and try different things we wouldn't ordinarily purchase. It was so much fun and this company brought back some of that excitement. There are so many products on the market and it's nice to try with minimal commitment. And I thought they did a nice job with the packaging, I found it very appealing!

Here are the two things I picked to try:

I picked this because I thought the combination was really intriguing - cashew, cumin, cauliflower, coconut. And Indian flavor ~savory, not sweet. 

The full list of ingredients:

Cashews, brown rice syrup, tapioca syrup, cauliflower, lentils, coconut, coconut oil, potatoes, peas, mangoes, tomato powder, vegetable glycerine, sea salt, turmeric, onion, chili pepper, ginger, cumin seed

The first thing I tasted was the turmeric combined with broken up cashews and a slight sweet stickiness from the brown rice syrup and a nice soft texture. Other then that I couldn't really taste anything else. The turmeric has a strong presence which is not necessarily bad, but I think because it is so strong you lose some of the other flavors. I would have liked for the mango and ginger to be a bit more prevalent. 

Over all ~ I love the creative combination and uniqueness!

I picked this because I loved the way chocolate chip + macaroons sounded. Plus it was gluten and dairy free which is always a "plus" in my world!

The full list of ingredients:

organic coconut, organic raw agave, almond flour, non-gmo dark chocolate chips, ( unsweetened chocolate, cane sugar), organic extra virgin coconut oil, natural fair-trade vanilla flavor ( alcohol-free), organic vanilla bean, himalayan crystal salt and love!

( the last ingredient was my favorite!!!)

These were very good. My daughter and I had them gone in a matter of minutes. I personally would have liked a few more chips in each cookie and they were just a wee bit oily feeling (from the coconut oil) but it certainly didn't stop me from enjoying them!

Over all ~I would eat them again.

It was fun to try different things ~ 

Tuesday "Try"... Okra

Okra

A friend gave me some okra from her garden last year and I have to say I'd never really eaten fresh okra before then, and only knew of the slimy stories that come along when someone mentions the word "Okra." So when I was at the farmers market this past Saturday, I saw this okra and it was so beautiful AND organic. Okra is typically green but don't be afraid to try the same food in a different color. I just bought a few to play with and try something new with it ( now that I have fond memories of eating okra). I found a simple recipe... Just wash and cut the okra in slices.

Then cook some onion, diced fresh garlic, cumin, and red pepper flakes in oil ( I used some homemade beef broth I'd just made a few days ago. More about that in another post to come) until slightly done.

Then put the sliced okra in with the onion mix and continue to cook until the okra in tender as you like it. I left it slightly undercooked. I didn't want it to be to mushy. It was really really good. A nice summery side dish to add to any meal. I can see where this dish could have a lot of different spices added to it, depending on what you were pairing it with. Don't be afraid to play with your food!

If you would like help reading labels, shopping and/or making meal planning easy contact me athttp://www.wholefood-living.com/contact.html

Is is Natural?

Drying Vanilla Beans

As your reading labels, you often come across these two confusing words ~ Natural Flavors and Natural Flavoring, and what is the difference between the two? Here is some information that might help when trying to decide which is which in the food your eating. Because when were informed we can make different choices.

The term natural flavors is often used interchangeably with the term extract. A natural flavor or extract is generally made from a natural ingredient; for example, natural lemon flavor or lemon extract is made from lemon oil, and natural vanilla flavor or pure vanilla extract is made from real vanilla beans. the term natural flavoring refers to substances that are made in a laboratory that have the same or similar chemical formulas and flavors as a natural food, but are not derived from real foods as extracts are. They cannot contain any substances that are also contained in artificial flavorings.

* Excerpt From the book: The Science of Skinny-start understanding your body's chemistry- and stop dieting forever  Author: Dee McCaffrey CDC

If you would like help reading labels, shopping and/or making meal planning easy contact me at http://www.wholefood-living.com/contact.html

Compost...

As hard as I "try" sometimes, things slip by and I loose and waste a whole batch of greens. So I give myself the space to allow that to happen and know that all is not lost because it will go into my compost pile and begin again.

So the moral of the story is "stuff happens" and it's okay. We just pick up were we left off and keep going. And with the awareness we can be more mindful to maybe freeze or prepare it sooner then later next time.

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