For the first meal of the day

Have you tried the new Rise breakfast bars (used to be Boomi bars which I am a huge fan of)? I just had the good luck of getting a whole sampler pack of these including the Crunchy Perfect Pumpkin, Crunchy Macadamia Pineapple, Crunchy Honey Walnut, Crunchy Cashew Almond and Crunchy Cranberry Apple. Just by the names alone I am sure you are drooling-- with this selection there is something or everything for everyone. Each bar is sweetly coated nuts and fruit then with their own special touches like big hunks of macadamia nuts, cashews, dried apples, dried pineapples and more! Upon seeing them there were two bars that were specifically calling my name to try-- the Macadamia Pineapple and Cashew Almond. My intuition was right on for these. The Macadamia Pineapple had such simple ingredients but huge on taste bursting with big chunks of macadamia nuts, sweetened with honey and topped off with pineapple-- my favorite. The Cashew Almond incorporated two of my favorite things-- cashews and almonds! The ingredients in this bar were also very simple and their combination was just right, this bar had dates also added to it which is one of my favorite additions to bars with its sweet flavor. All in all these are just great bars-- any one of them make the perfect breakfast (or anytime) bar.

Nutritious Meals To Go

Now who doesn't need nutritious meals to go? I am needing them more than on the go these days, the only time I have to grab a bite to eat is when my son is eating as well. If I eat at another time he wants only what mommy has. So that is why I was so psyched to try The Healthy Baking Companies two product lines-- Heart Thrive and Suncakes.
Heart Thrive:

Heart Thrives are a delicious, VEGAN and NON-GMO energy bar. Made with oats, soy and dried fruits, each Heart Thrive supplies 30% daily PROTEIN, FIBER and CALCIUM.  

Heart Thrives are made from ingredients with a low glycemic index that metabolize slowly providing sustained energy for hours. 

They come in delicious flavors like Chocolate Chip, Cranberry, Apple, Apricot, Raisin, Date and Poppy Seed. I loved these hearty hearts! They are literally heart shaped, dense, chewy and the taste is wonderful. So far I have sampled the Chocolate Chip (first of course) which won me over because it tasted like an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie with big chips and a sweet chewy heart. Also, the Poppy Seed which was oh so good -- I love poppy seeds and rarely find them in anything anymore so this was a treat. And the Date one, which had such a great sweet flavor that only dates can lend to food.

Suncakes, "A Meal in a Cake":

It's an oatcake. A perfect food. High in fiber, high in protein, low in fat, made without wheat, oil, dairy, cholesterol, salt, or guilt!

Suncakes are an ideal blend of complete proteins and clean carbohydrates made from oats, brown rice syrup, brown rice flour, soy protein concentrate, soy flour, dried fruit & fruit juice.

California Suncakes™ are 97% fat free and provide 30% of your daily protein and fiber needs.

I also found Suncakes to be a dense, chewy and oat filled treat. They did differ in the consistency and flavor but were equally as delicious. Suncakes come in Apricot, Cranberry, Apple, Date, Poppy Seed and Chocolate Orange. So far I have sampled the Poppy Seed and LOVED it. I could see myself eating these every single day and never tiring of this flavor. I just love that they use dates in their food-- they are perfectly sweet, so good and nutritious to boot!

So if you are looking for great meals on the go, snacks, hiking food, biking food or anything in between check out The Healthy Baking Company-- they really know how to make healthy taste good!

Love your heart!

Corazonas was kind enough to send me a couple of their best selling oatmeal bars to try out. While Corazonas snacks are aimed at those who are trying to lower their cholesterol they are a heart healthy and delcious snack for everyone out there. The oatmeal squares that I sampled are packed full of nutrition with 13-16 grams of whole grain, 5 grams of fiber and 6 grams of protein. They are also infused with plant sterols which are proven to lower LDL cholesterol levels-- thats the bad kind! So to the snacks! I tried the Chocolate Chip and the Cranberry Flax, both were great but of course me loving Chocolate so much that was my favorite. The Chocolate Chip one reminded me of an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie but heartier. The body of the bar was packed with oats and had just the right amount of sweetness then generously scattered with chocolate chips. I loved this bar. I thought it was a great size for a mere 190 calories. I saw on their website that they also have Peanut Butter and Chocolate Brownie. I would love to try both of those flavors! I think we all know someone who is trying to or needs to lower their cholesterol, so if they think that delicious snacking is out of the picture for them point them to Corazonas. We should all be proactive with our heart health and just reach for great snacks all the time. Corazonas has other heart healthy snacks in their linup too!

Jungle Grub Snack Bars (NOT just for kids)

I was so happy to get my grubby mitts on some of these snack bars. They have become quite popular with their award winning snackablitiy. In each bar they pack twice the protein of the average snack bar all with only 100 calories. Junlge Grub also contains a good source of Calcium and Vitamin C and has less sugar than a glass of milk. Perfect for feeding your little ones or yourself! At 100 calories they really are the perfect adult snacker too. I know so many people exist on those nutritionless 100 calorie “packs” but instead you could be eating something nutrient rich to not only qualm your snack cravings but pack some goodness in there too. The organically grown ingredients make up a great line up of flavors including: Berry Bamboozle, Peanut Butter Groove and our new Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.

Oh and ps—they are also gluten-free! I get so many questions about the benefits of following a gluten free diet and here is a tid-bit directly from their website:

Why do people need to eat Gluten-Free?
There are multiple reasons for following a gluten-free diet. About 1:133 Americans have an intolerance to a wheat protein called gluten, often diagnosed as Celiac disease. Celiac disease symptoms include severe cramping, diarrhea, chronic fatigue and malnutrition if patients are exposed to gluten in their diet. More information regarding Celiac disease can be found at www.celiac.org. We are proud to offer a delicious and nutritious snack for people of all ages to enjoy that is USDA Organic and Gluten-Free. We hope you enjoy them.