Instead of doing one product in specific that I love, I want to do a post on three products I tried within the past week that I bought at Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods that I was SO pleased with. I highly recommend these and they’re relatively cheap (always a perk)! If that doesn’t get you to go buy it, trust me when I say they taste way too good not to buy.
The first product is Trader Joe’s Seasoned Kale Chips. I’m a huge fan of kale chips and some of my favorite brands are Alive and Radiant and Brad’s Raw. The only problem is they’re a tad on the pricey side and I only buy them when they’re on sale usually. I knew Trader Joe’s had kale chips that were a nacho cheeze flavor (vegan) that I tried last year but wasn’t a huuuge fan. When I noticed these the other day on the shelf they put featured products on, for only $4 I was sold. I had to try them. Cashew butter AND tahini? Two of my favorite things on my OTHER favorite thing… kale. How could I say no?
The taste of these is very mild compared to other kale chips on the market. Not too sweet, very simple and you don’t taste that full cheese flavor. They would go well with anything really, unlike the nacho cheeze ones. I recommend eating the whole bag because despite the two servings, we all know everyone considers one bag of kale chips a serving.
I might need to go back to Trader Joe’s for more… very soon.
The second product I tried and was SUPER pumped about (please buy this if you have 0 interest in the other two) is Suja Juice‘s Holiday Edition Call Me Pumpkin smoothie. This smoothie is apart of their Suja Elements line and along with this seasonal addition, they are now selling a few other new ones like pure Apple Juice and Wassail To You – a cold-pressed apple cider. Talk about DEEEE-LISH.
I’ve been a fan of Suja for quite a while but once I saw the Call Me Pumpkin on their Instagram, I could not WAIT to get my hands on it. Finally this week, my Whole Foods had it and for only $4! I’d choose this over an artificially flavored pumpkin spice latte any day. Packed with sweet potato, carrot, pumpkin, pecans and nutmeg it is the perfect treat for this Halloween/Thanksgiving. The only sweeteners are maple syrup, coconut sugar and black strap molasses. All natural and all good for your body. Who doesn’t love maple syrup in the fall anyways?!
I decided to blend it with half of a frozen banana and some ice for a thicker texture and added my ultimate favorite granola on top that I rant about in 99% of my posts, Purely Elizabeth Pumpkin Fig.
This was the ultimate and perfect breakfast this week. Probably my favorite and I need to stock up on 5-10 more of these before the holiday season is over!
The last product that I really loved this week was this Lentil & Brown Rice Kit from the company Jaali Bean. Like jolly bean! How cute. Excuse me for being cheesy. Despite Indian food smelling absolutely horrendous (usually) in my opinion… I can’t get enough of it. I could live off of chana masala. Especially since Indian food is vegetarian, it is always such a good veg option for lunch or dinner. I bought this at Whole Foods before I came to school this August and had it chilling on my shelf ever since.
This week I finally got over my laziness and decided to take 30 minutes out of my morning to make it before lunch. The pouch contains a seasoning and a box of lentils/rice. All you need to do is sauté the spices in a bit of olive oil for a minute and then dump the rice/lentils into your pot with 2 1/4 cups of water (I used organic vegetable broth).
This product caught me right when I saw the ingredient list was extremely minimal and had nutritional yeast! How awesome. Although I don’t taste the usual cheesiness from the nutritional yeast, the cardamom and currants were A+ in this. 4 servings total and 6g of protein in 1 serving! So much flavor.
As you can see, I brought it in a tupperware downtown with me post-class and topped it with a ton of leftover kale I had in my fridge, butternut squash and cauliflower (both from Trader Joe’s). From looking at it, it didn’t seem filling at all but once I started eating it up… so good! I was stuffed. Just perfect. Even if it smelled reeeeaallly strong. As I was going up to the library to eat it I knew everyone was judging me but it always happens the ugliest and smelliest foods I eat sometimes are the healthiest and tastiest.
Jaali Bean also sells three other rice kit flavors including Creamy Coconut, Warmly Spiced and Cumin and Pea. What I’m hoping to see in my Whole Foods soon (or maybe it is there and I just missed it) is their soup kits! Lentil soup is what I am 100% about.
Carrot and carom lentil soup? Yeah you can count me in. Ginger, onion, cumin, turmeric, 11g of protein!? That product has my name written all over it.
So these are just a few of my favorites from this week and I hope to find some more goodies in the following weeks. Each of these products is so different from one another and that is what I love most about reviewing products. You can always find something catering to you despite your interests and tastes. From pumpkin to Indian fare… there’s always a little bit of goodness everywhere if you look in the right places!
-Addie
