For those of you who don’t know about Expo West, it’s the largest Natural Foods (and supplements, beauty products, household products) trade show and take place every March in Southern California. It’s the Disneyland for healthy food geeks like us!
Every year we go in search of new food companies and new products that fit with our philosophy – nourishing your mind, body, and spirit with real food. This year did not disappoint.
Yes, we did the hard work. We nibbled and tasted, and drank as many offerings as we could and there were definitely a bunch that made it on our “Favorites” list. Without further ado (drumroll please…), here’s our picks for new food products you have to try.
Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods Let’s be perfectly clear, we have been into hemp before hemp was cool. Hemp seeds are one of nature’s most perfect foods – rich in protein, fiber, omega-3s, and one of the good omega-6’s, GLA. Hemp seeds can be added to smoothies, yogurt, pancakes, muffins, cookies, granola, and used as a crunchy topping for salads, pizza (we use it in and on our cauliflower pizza crust), chili, and soup. Plus hemp oil can be used in homemade dips and dressings. I was fortunate enough to have a chance to meet the founder, Mike Fata, and chat with him about his passion for hemp. Mike used to weigh more than 300 pounds and was sick and tired if being sick and tired. He overhauled his diet to focus on protein, fiber, and healthy fats, which included hemp and then wanted to share his passion with the world. These high-quality hemp seeds taste great and the company prides themselves on freshness and quality. Click the link to learn more about Manitoba Harvest Hemp Seeds.
Suzy’s Muffins Ok Soozy, your muffins are a GAME-CHANGER! Who doesn’t love muffins? They’re great for breakfast, snacks, or a late-night treat. But most muffins are just empty calories – carb and sugar bombs with little to no protein and bad fats. Even most gluten-free muffins aren’t much better – just because they use gluten-free ingredients does not make them nutritious. But Soozy’s muffins are different. It’s like Soozy took a page out of our baking book. Her muffins are GRAIN-FREE, DAIRY-FREE, PEANUT-FREE, and SOY-FREE! Her ingredient list is CLEAN and they taste DELICIOUS! Double Chocolate, Sweet Potato (so good), Banana Chocolate, Wild Blueberry, Coffee Cake, and our favorite, Matcha (you all know our matcha obsession). Moist, tasty, and macro-balanced so you won’t be left with a blood sugar crash. Find them in the FREEZER aisle. They come individually wrapped, so all you have to do is heat and eat. Now that ROCKS! Find out more about Soozy’s muffins here.
Siete Foods The grain-free chips and tortillas have been a huge hit in the U Rock Girl families as many of us can’t tolerate gluten. The flavor hit in the lime chips just smacks you in the face with that lime pucker! They’re light, crispy, and crunchy and oh so good! The tortillas are soft and delicious and taste even better than flour tortillas. This year, they’ve come out with a new line of chips that are a little thicker and crunchier and two new flavors of tortillas – we love the cashew flour tortilla! The new products aren’t quite available yet, but check at your local Whole Foods or online at Thrive Market to get your fix. And check out their Siete Tacos Chocos recipe. We’re in love!
Purely Elizabeth Hello gorgeous! They’ve gone ahead and upped the granola game – Grain-free Granola Bars with Adaptogens! If you don’t know what an adaptogen is, they are plants that help support immune function and aid in the body’s response to stress. Many adaptogens are found in the mushroom family and Purely Elizabeth is using Reishi mushrooms in her Chocolate Sea Salt Grain-free Granola Bar. With ingredients like cashews, sunflower kernels, pumpkin seeds, coconut nectar, dark chocolate chunks, cocoa powder, cinnamon, and sea salt, what’s not to love? Clean ingredients and a good balance of macronutrients. We’ll definitely be keeping these with us wherever we go. And have you seen their Vibrant Oat Cups? Blueberry, Turmeric, and Pitaya flavors go into their mix of oats, chia, quinoa, and flax. Beautiful and delicious!
Barney Butter Are you obsessed with almond butter like we are? Barney Butter has always been high on our list of favorites because their ingredient list is so darn clean and simple. We happen to love the Raw + Chia almond butter and their individual pouches of almond butter (check out all the flavors). You can take a different flavor of almond butter with you each day of the week. Great protein and healthy fats to keep you full and energized for hours without a blood sugar crash. And now they’ve come out with a chocolate almond butter, which uses Enjoy Life Chocolate!! We’re in love! AND they’ve come out with a POWDERED almond butter (coming out 5/1/18)! Pinch us! Is this for real???
Lantana Hummus So we’ve been obsessed with this brand’s hummus for quite awhile now. With flavors like edamame hummus, black bean hummus, beet hummus, yellow lentil hummus, and sriracha carrot hummus, what’s not to get excited about? They’ve gone and upped the hummus game! In the center of each hummus is a delicious “relish” of sweet, spicy, smokey, and tangy flavors that you mix into the hummus and provides texture and taste contrast. They debuted new flavors at the Expo – we were really intrigued by the balsamic strawberry and basil hummus. The brand is a keeper! You’ve got to pick up a tub next time you are shopping. They are in most major retailers, including Target!
Chosen Foods Are you on the avocado bandwagon yet? We LOVE avocados and prefer to use avocado oil when cooking for it’s ability to handle high heat. Chosen Foods has an amazing line of products including avocado oil, a super-clean avocado oil cooking spray, and avocado mayo, including this ROCKIN’ new flavor – Harissa! It’s spicy and creamy and oh so good! We spoke with TV personality, Sam the Cooking Guy at the Chosen Foods booth at Expo West and he suggested using a light coating of this mayo on the outside of a grilled cheese sandwich (on GF bread,;) ) and then cooking it in a pan. WOW! We can’t wait to try this!
We are hoping to do some special promos and giveaways with some of these companies soon, so stay tuned for those!
And all of you looking for our favorite SWEET picks from Expo West – we’ll be coming out with the review shortly. Keep following U Rock Girl on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for the latest news and information!
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