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!