J's Approved Products!

If anyone knows me well, they know that I really really love food shopping. Like I would probably rather go grocery shopping than clothes shopping. I know it's weird, but there is something so exciting about walking into a grocery store and seeing the endless possibilities of snacks, meals, desserts, and fresh produce that await my cart and ultimately my stomach. Over the years, food shopping has become a way for me to de-stress because I know that if all else fails, at least I'll  have my favorite foods to come home to (lol, that sounds way more lame than I intended...I promise I also have friends...).

A few years ago, when I began to change my eating habits, I was forced to find new foods that were healthy but also didn't taste like cardboard... which is much harder than you might initially think. There is nothing worse than trying to stay healthy when you have to watch your friends snack on Cheetos and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, while you're trying to force down a "health bar" that tastes like a baby regurgitated its mashed pees and carrots and it solidified into bar form.

That frustration may never go away, but I think the best way to combat it is to experiment with different brands and products to find what you love. I promise there are healthy foods out there that are JUST as good or BETTER than the stuff you may be eating now. Before you know it your body will start to appreciate the great stuff you're feeding it, and you'll begin to like, and ultimately love your new finds.

I have a few years under my belt with the ol' taste testing process so I wanted to share with you guys my favorite products that I've found along the way.

Breakfast: 

• Siggi's Icelandic-Style Yogurt (my fav flavor is the Pomegranate & Passion Fruit) 
  
• Califia Farms Café Latte Iced Coffee (made with almond milk!)
  
• Multigrain Puffins Cereal (gluten free!)
  
• Dorset Muesli 
  
• Three Sisters Oatmeal (Cinnamon Apple is great, but the Chai Spiced is also really good)
  
• Vans Wheat + Gluten Free Waffles
  
• Almond Breeze Almond milk (I usually try to find the unsweetened vanilla one-only 30 cals per
  serving!-but they're all good) 
  
• Ezekiel Cinnamon Raisin Bread (cinnamon raisin bread was seriously my favorite thing when I was little, now I still get to have it!!)
  
• Crofter's Superfruit Spread (they're all amazing)
  
• Vega One Plant Based Protein Powder (they have a vanilla chai flavor that is soooo good, but vanilla and chocolate are always solid as well)
  

Dinner: 

• Pacific Organic Soup (my favorites are the roasted red pepper +tomato, spicy black bean, vegetable lentil, and carrot ginger--but try them all!)
  
• Beyond Meat's Chicken-Free Strips (they're already lightly seasoned, but I like to add a bit of salt and pepper to them)
  
• Trader Joe's brand Frozen Edamame (with sprinkled sea salt on top, of course)
  
• Near East Quinoa Blends (so far I like the Roasted Red Pepper & Basil blend and the Rosemary & Olive Oil blend)
  
• La Bonne Vie Goat Cheese (you can literally crumble this over almost anything and it adds that tangy cheesy goodness that I know I always crave) realistically you can use any goat cheese though, this just happens to be the brand I prefer
  

Snacks: 

• Corn Thins Multigrain Corn Cakes 
  
• Barney Butter Almond Butter (they make to-go packets are great for snacking on the way to class...not that I have any experience with that...)
  
• Pure Bars (my favs are the cherry cashew, ancient grains peanut butter chocolate, and Apple Cinnamon. These bars are also great because they have a short ingredient list and are vegan and gluten free)
  
• Back to Nature Nantucket Blend (trail mix with cherries, almonds, cranberries, raisins, and pistachios)
  
• Eat Well Enjoy Life Hummus (they make all kinds of really cool types of hummus with unique flavors-some notable ones include Tuscan White Bean, Sweet and Spicy Black Bean, and Edamame)
  
• Blue Diamond Low Sodium Roasted almonds
  
• Glutino Sea Salt Crackers (always hard to find a really good gluten free cracker, but these are my favorite so far)
  
• Beanitos Black Bean Chips (if you like barbecue chips, then I beg you to try their chipotle barbecue black bean chips, they are so good and so addicting)
  
• The Good Bean Roasted Chickpeas (they have tons of flavors but my favorite is the smoky chili & lime during the day and at night for dessert I like the cinnamon one) 
  

Sweets

• Pamela's Gluten Free Chocolate Chunk cookie mix 
  
• Theo's Organic Dark Chocolate (my favorite is the mint one!) 
  
• Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate covered almonds (you can't possibly have just one)
  

*The opinions in this post are completely my own. I was in no way endorsed for publishing any of these comments. 


PHEW! Okay that's all I can think of for now but I'm sure as soon as I hit publish I'll think of 10 more things to add to the list.

 I hope this is helpful for anyone trying to navigate through Whole Foods or even the trusty Giant. And as always, I love to hear your suggestions and recommendations for products so comment or send me an email anytime!

Post-Christmas Food Coma

Greetings from my home here in Charlotte, NC! I can't explain how good it is to be here in my little bubble of southern comfort, with as little stress as possible...it's been far too long. I'm really sad to be going back to school on Saturday, but so it goes. At least I'll get to be back with my roommate and bestie, Lara! 

We sent out a Christmas card this year :)

I have a lot of food pictures to share from the Christmas break, so I'll get right to it and will be back this weekend with a good fitness post! 

First I'll start with the eats from just before I came home from break. So still in Balty!

This is a new find for me. I love Kombucha, which, according to Wikipedia, is "a lightly effervescent fermented drink of sweetened black tea that is used as a functional food. It is produced by fermenting the tea using a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast, or 'SCOBY'"

I drink it because I genuinely like the taste, and there is evidence to show that some of the active cultures are good for digestive health...which is something that's really important to me since I have a poor history with digestive issues. 

Carma's <3 Aka-still one of my favorite cafés in Baltimore. This is their vegan pumpkin black bean soup with a side of health bread toast + hummus 

Lunch with my Mama when she came for the Sirens concert. We went to a great local market and had some great local food. I had the kale veggie soup with a hunk of crusty bread for dipping. We shared a kale and beet salad, and my mom had a sandwich with apples, brie, and bacon on cranberry wheat bread. So delicious!!

The oatmeal returns!!-my usual quick oats made on the stove with almond milk, flaxseed, chia seeds, almond butter, cinnamon, agave, and berries on top!

Quinoa + veggies + goat cheese all in a bowl

So that's a look at what I was eating before coming home. Not to shabby eh? Well break time eats were even better. 

One of my favorite salads of all time is the Palm Beach salad from Charlotte's Bricktops restaurant. It has lump crab meat, shrimp, avocado, and tomatoes.  It's one of the best salads around here in my opinion. 

Family birthday dinner at a new restaurant in Charlotte called Baku. They specialize in Japanese cuisine but most of their menu consists of small plates so we ended up ordering a bunch of stuff to share. It was all good, but my favorite dishes were the ones that I attempted to capture here in pictures before they were eaten! Above is their Gokuju Tuna Roll that was super fresh and flavorful. Below is their char grilled asparagus with soy sauce. Also delicious and didn't last very long on our table. 

We couldn't leave without getting the tasting of fresh sorbet and a baked alaska. My sweet tooth has been going crazy this holiday season! Definitely time to bring in the reigns and get back on track.

Birthday lunch with extended family :) My mom made an amazing pumpkin soup, sandwiches, and a salad with beets (because she knows how much I love them!)

We had my favorite cake: the almond cake from Edible Art--a bakery here in Charlotte. My cousin was really enjoying it. His favorite part was the icing I think ;) 

And he also helped me blow out the candles because I couldn't do all 21 by myself!

And the birthday celebrations continued! I am a lucky girl to have so many good friends and family who truly spoiled me for my birthday this year. People always ask if I get shafted because my birthday is so close to Christmas, but actually it's the opposite! I'm always with family and friends who go above and beyond to make it special.

Salmon salad from Vida Cantina in uptown Charlotte. They also had some good margaritas ;)

Besties <3 

Christmas day! My great aunt made this really cool cake that I didn't get to try but it was beautiful on the inside--red velvet and cheesecake were BOTH in there...come on...that's just amazing

yo bro

G-Daddy!!

Christmas dinner this year was a little different for my family. Instead of a big sit down dinner like we usually do, we did a more casual hors d'oeuvre spread that anyone could come and munch on at any time. I actually liked the set up a lot more. I didn't get a picture but my mom made this amazing beet bruschetta with goat cheese. It looked as pretty as it tasted. Check out the recipe here! 

And then before we knew it, Christmas was over and it was time to go on vacation to VEGAS!

We met up with family friends and had a great few days in Sin City seeing shows, shopping, and of course having great food.

Kale salad with feta cheese and pickled pickled onion relish. 

That view though!!!

Grouper with muscles and shrimp in a spicy broth, finished with a little orzo at the bottom. 

Fruit and nonfat yogurt parfait. Scrambled egg on the side and 1 soy latté to get me through the day :) 

We were lucky enough to get to tour the Hoover damn. This particular picture below is of Lake Meade (the manmade lake created by the dam). It was really magnificent to see something so huge that was built by humans. 

Evan and Joey 

Evan, me, Joey, and our family friend Hope

Dad and I by our favorite animal-the polar bear!!

My favorite meal of the trip was at a sushi restaurant called Yellowtail. I had an amazing tuna appetizer (pictured above), seaweed salad (below) and then a great salmon roll with a bit of heat. I've been all over the Japanese cuisine this break!

Breakfast back home in Charlotte. The same oatmeal I've been eating all winter long (and probably will continue with that for at least another month) as well as a piece of ezekial toast with sugar free raspberry jam. 

New Years Eve dinner--spaghetti squash with zucchini and tomato broth. Really hit the spot!

I was in Asheville last night and was lucky enough to eat at the Wicked Weed Brewing Co. They brew their own beer and have kick-ass food to go along with it. We started with their cheese plate and order of calamari for the table, both were pretty good, but nothing spectacular. The real star was my main dish--salmon overtop grilled shrimp with split pea cream purée. The salmon and shrimp mixed in with the purée and it became this savory seafood chowder type thing. I very much enjoyed that dish.

This morning before heading back to Charlotte we stopped in Early Girl Eatery--a restaurant that specializes in southern comfort food using fresh local ingredients. It really doesn't get much better than that! I got the vegan tofu scramble with onions, kale, peas, and tomatoes. It was the perfect filling breakfast.

Rainy drive back to Charlotte, but the mountain views were still really beautiful with the clouds surrounding them. 

Quick lunch to-go today while getting my hair done. I ran into Earth Fare (a fresh and healthy grocery store here in Charlotte-a lot like Whole Foods) and got a smoothie with apple, banana, kale, blueberries, and almond butter. And a vegan chocolate chip cookie on the side :) 

PHEW! Okay that's alllllll the food pics I have from this break so far! I will be back this weekend with a great fitness post that I've been working on! Hope you all have had a great holiday and are still getting to relax!!