Breakfast Smoothie

My current favorite smoothie has so many ingredients in it but it's so good! The recipe is from a nutritionist named Brianna Hanratty. She had a little seminar at the school I go to and she shared this amazing recipe for a breakfast smoothie.
This smoothie will provide you with fiber, folate, iron, manganese, omega-3, potassium, protein, beta-carotene, vitamin C and B. It's a very long list of nutrients and that's a reason why I love it.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
• 1/2 cup soy or almond milk
• 1/2 banana
• 1/2 cup blueberries
• 1/2 cup pineapple
• 1/2 cup strawberries
• 1-2 table spoons of flax, chia, hemp, or any good source of fiber

Blend everything until smooth and done! You have a delicious tasting smoothie for breakfast.
You can also put all the fruits in a plastic bag and freeze, so when you wake up you put everything into the blender and blend. Easy and fast.

-Monica

Mamma Chia

So when I volunteered at World Fest the people at the Mamma Chia tent were super kind enough to give me and my sister a free bottle and since then I've been waiting to get more! Although I was not a fan of chia being in drinks after tasting a kombucha chia drink and I did not like the texture of it ( or maybe it was the acidity of the kombucha that made it weird for me). Anyway I first tried the Blackberry Hibiscus at the fest and I loved it! It wasn't too sweet but still had a good flavor to it. Today I bought the Blackberry Hibiscus again and I got to try a new flavor, Cranberry Lemonade, which was again pretty damn good. If I forgot to mention, chia seeds are these tiny wonderful seeds that are high in fiber, calcium, magnesium, and Omega-3.

This drink contains 120 Calories. 2500mg of Omega-3. 965mg of Omega-6. 365mg of Omega-9. 6g of fiber! 4g of protein. 14g of sugar. It is a bit high in sugar but it's not from anything bad, I promise. Each bottle costs around $2.70 but luckily I had a coupon to get $1 off two.
Overall, I love this drink because it's jam packed with some awesome nutrients and it's high in fiber, so what more can you ask for.
Check them out here!

-Monica

gfreely November box

 Even though i didn't expect to get a sceond box i was so happy i got this one because of the brownie! Anyways this is the November 2012 gfreely box and again this is not a all vegan goodies box but i think for $19(+$5.95 shipping) it is worth it. If you wan to give gfreely a try click here!

 These four products were my favorite foods in this box. I loved the brownie, it was all chocolaty goodness. The baked lentil chips i wasn't to sure about but when i tried them they were surprisingly good and i would buy these again. I have tried the Enjoy life brand cookies and i loved them because they were vegan and i really enjoy the Seed & Fruit mix i think its a good little snack which i will definitely buy them again. There were two products that weren't vegan but my sister did enjoy eating them. Overall this box was really good and i was really excited for it so thank you gfreely!!

-Monica

gfreely October box

 This lovely box filled with a bunch of goodies goes by the name of GFreely and at first i wasn't too sure about the name but it just means the company is Gluten Free. So $19 a month plus $5.95 shipping they will send you a box like this packed with gluten free products and it's so worth the money because they do packed this box full!

 This was Octobers box and i loved the post card it came with because it went with the Halloween theme. Everything that comes in the box is listed on this post card and shows you the "High Quality", "Exceptional", or "Remarkable" status of their protein, healthy fats, energy and vitamins which i love how they did this. Also on the back of this card they have a recipe for Gluten Free Flax Cereal Bars you can make.

 In total there were nine products in this months box which did include five items that weren't vegan but my sister loved those products, and those non-vegan products included Surf Sweets gummy/jelly beans candies, 479 popcorn, Apple Cinnamon cereal, and a Rise Bar. Also sorry i couldn't get photos of them, they were gone quick! Of course i didn't expect that this box was going to come with all vegan products because they do aim for gluten free only but the products i am very excited to try are the Cranberry Wild Rice and the New York Greenola.
So overall if you are like me, being the only vegan in the family, i think this box would be good to try out so your family gets some goodies too and you can keep the vegan items to yourself!

You can check out their website here!

-Monica

Nature Box Goodies

NatureBox.com

I am so excited to get this months Nature Box because everything looks/tastes soo good!
For some who don't know Nature Box is a monthly food subscription box that sends you 4-6 full size healthy snacks for $19.95 a month. But if you're like me and are broke you can get 30% off by Bex Life by going to her website at BexLife.com and using her referral code which is on a banner on her site or if that doesn't work you can use REFER25 to get 25% off your first month. To find out more about them go to there website NatureBox.com

Big Island Pineapple and Toasted Sesame Stixs

Nutritionist Approved! & Vegan!

I received 5 full samples for my first box and they were Pistachio Power Clusters, Umami Roasted Nuts, Big Island Pineapple, Apple Orchards Granola and Toasted Sesame Stixs.
I have tried the Pistachio Power Clusters, Toasted Sesame Stixs and the Big Island Pineapple so far which i loved! The Pistachio Power Clusters are a familiar taste but this times i know it's not highly processed like other granola bars you get in some stores and the Toasted Sesame Stixs are soo good and i think they will work well in a salad to give a crunch or you can take Nature Boxs suggestion and dip them in hummus. The Big Island Pineapple pieces are sweetly delicious perfect when i crave sometime sweet, which is always.

Also i love that the card they send in the box is filled with "Health Myth Busters" which say small facts about food like "Healthy fats fill you up so you won't find yourself grazing mindlessly later in the day."

You can watch me open the box here!

                                                                                                                                                                                                           

-Monica