Love With food Box. October. Review.

Last month I had a new experience with monthly food subscription box Love With Food.

I read a few reviews about them and was ready to try it by myself.There are so many different food boxes subscriptions but I always try to pick the healthiest and affordable ones. This one sounded like the perfect one.What is Love With Food?Love With Food helps you discover new organic, all-natural snacks delivered to your door every month. Subscription membership starts as low as $10/month. Every month, Love With Food members will receive a curated box of unique, hard-to-find tasty snacks which varies based on seasonal themes.For every box sold, they donate a meal to several food banks such as the Feeding America Network and Share Our Strength – No Kid Hungry.I waited for my box for a few weeks, and was excited to open and try new healthy foods.

The October Love With Food theme is “Scary Delicious”.  Love with Food suggests enjoying your treats this month as you keep an eye out for trick-or-treaters and other ghosts and goblins that may appear!

Here what I got:

I ordered a Tasting box, which has 8 different snacks:

1. Always organic ( they seem healthy but not all of them are organic)

2. All natural( any brand can put “all natural” on the label, so I don’t really trust this phrase)

3. GMO- free ( not sure about this either, only if it says on the box)

4. Gluten-free ( it depends on the product)

Here is the list of my box:

1. Chocolate Pizzelle Crisps from Silk City Snacks.

These are light and crispy italian waffle cookies, all under 100 calories.

These are not organic, not gluten free and probably GMOs because contain canola oil.

They taste ok and my daughter liked them but I am not buying them by myself.

2. Glee Gum, Triple Berry from Verve INc.

Glee Gum uses brown rice and cane sugar to coat their free treat.

This gum is definitely better than any others, but besides rice syrup and cane sugar, they also use glucose instead of sugar. Three kinds of sugar in one gum?

3. New World Caveman cookies by Caveman Bakery.

These cookies are made with mix of pumpkin seeds and maple syrup.

I mentioned them before and they really taste good. Great healthy treat.

4. Organic Hard Candies from Torie &Howard.

These candies are made with luscious and all natural fruit flavors.

Unfortunately, I am not a big fan of candies, and I couldn’t find the list ingredients for them, but they tasted a little too sweet to me.

5. Kind Bars from Kind Snacks.

I am not a fan of Kind Bars, because they use glucose and soy lecithin in them, so it’s better to stick to something more natural, or make your own nut and dried fruit bars.

6. Toasted Coconut Chips from Dang.

These are crunchy, lightly salty, and sweet coconut chips.

It’s a great alternative to a healthy snack. Everybody loves them.

7. Happy Squeeze from Happy Family.

Everybody knows about these fruit and veggie pouches. They seem ok, and works great on the go.

This was the first time my daughter actually ate it, because she didn’t like it before. Did she ask for me? No!!!!

8. Pixo Pearls from Vinaigerie Gingras.

These are apple cider vinegar pearls, used as a dressing or spices for your foods.

I didn’t try it yet.

There were also a few coupons for the products which were in the box, but I didn’t have a chance to use them yet.

Overall, I liked the goodies that I got, I even can say my family enjoyed them more than me. It was a nice foodie box, but I am still concidering if I should order it again.

Disclaimer:  I was not paid to write this post, I paid for this box and all opinions are my own.

Yumvelope Box. Review.

Last month I got Yumvelope Food Box in a mail.  This is the other monthly food box that you can order on line.

What is Yumvelope?

Yumvelope sends out some of the best-tasting artisanal food products to their customers monthly. $21 gets you a large USPS padded envelope sent to you filled with a minimum of six full-size products, including snacks, drinks, desserts, and chocolates.

Yumvelopes are the newest way to discover awesome brands and find new favorite products. Be it dutch-process hot cocoa from a small-batch chocolatier or granola baked with Michigan maple syrup, there’s certain to be a product for everyone in each shipment. Unlike “sample” style subscriptions, you will always receive full-size products. Unlike “expensive” style subscriptions, your subscription won’t break the bank!

Why I picked this box?

All their products seem to be healthy.

They send you a lot of products that you can not find in any state.( I even got one granola bar from Australia).

Their customer service is great.

You don’t need to sign up for a year or 3,6 months, you can just try it once and decide if it works for you.

Here is what was in my box:

1. Caveman Cookies.

Vegan, gluten free, flour less delicious cookies. The ingredients are very simple: honey, almond meal, hazelnut meal, toasted ground carob. They are really delicious, but you can easily make your own ones at home. There were 5 cookies in the box.

2. Crum Creek‘s Mini-Breadsticks.

These are vegan soy breadsticks. Their ingredients didn’t make me happy: soy oil, wheat flour, corn syrup etc. They taste ok, but probably I wouldn’t pick them at the store.

3. Arizona Sunset Enchilada Soup Mix.

I tried these soups before and I liked them. I didn’t make this one yet, but I am planning to make it soon, and I am sure it is as good as the other ones.

4. Crum Creek. Soy Nut Mix.

This is the soy snack, a great alternative for nut-free snack.  It is organic, which is important for soy products, and it tastes pretty good. The ingredients are: organic non GMO roasted soybeans, organic chocolate chips, organic sunflower seeds, organic pumpkin seeds, organic raisins, sea salt.

5. Two Moon Shortbread. Rosemary and Sea salt.

This shortbread will work great with the cup of hot soup. It tastes good, but the only reason I won’t buy it anymore: the calories: 165 calories for one serving and this little shortbread has 2 servings. It means this tiny piece of shortbread is 330cal in total, like a bowl of salad.

6.Carman’s Kitchen Granola Muesli Bar.

The bar is made in Australia, which made it unique for me. It was a full size bar and it tastes as good as the other granola bars. Great snack on the go.

In general it was a great experience to try this food box. I tried some new foods, that I didn’t tried before, and some of them are in my food list now.

Disclaimer:  I was not paid to write this post, I paid for this box and all opinions are my own.

Enzymes.

In my previous post I named the supplements that I take every day.

This time I want to talk more detailed about enzymes. Why is it important to take enzymes every day? What do they do to your body?

Enzymes are very important to our health and beauty. Over the years, our enzyme reserve becomes diminished. Therefore, our body may not be digesting foods, even properly combined food, as well as it once did when we were children. We know that any amount of poorly digested food ferments and putrefied in the digestive tract, stimulating the growth of unfriendly bacteria and the creation of their toxic, acidic by-product and waste, which then become absorbed into the blood and deposited in tissues all around the body, especially soft-tissue areas, such as the joints. Toxins in the blood also negatively affect our skin and our physical appearance.

Digestive enzymes are therefore a critical aid to us. They can be taken daily and right before meals and should be ingested before any meal that contains cooked food. They give our bodies an extra boost of lipase, amylase and protease, to help efficiently digest fats, starches and proteins. We could all use the boost.

Here are some of their specific benefits:

1. Improve the absorption and assimilation of Beauty Minerals and nutrients;

2. Help to slow the aging process by preserving the body’s own enzymes;

3. Promote efficient digestion;

4. Free up Beauty Energy to rebuild and replace damaged cells, including the collagen of the skin;

5. Increase energy;

6. Enhance cleansing, which can improve acne and other imbalances;

7. Decrease bloating, gassiness and constipation.

When you choose a digestive enzyme supplements, be sure to look for one that is vegan and plant-based, rather than one that contains enzymes from bovine animals ( cows or oxen) or other animals or animal products. Plant enzymes may be more active at a fuller pH range than animal-based enzymes. Choose a supplement that contains a blend of lipase, amylase and protease, to help efficiently digest fats, starches and proteins. Cellulase is another category of digestive enzymes and can also be useful in a supplement, as it breaks down cellulose and chitin, a fiber similar to cellulose that is found in the cell wall of candida.

There are a lot of food contains enzymes too.

Source:

” Beauty Detox Food” by Kimberly Snyder.

Raw Carrot Cupcakes.

Vibrant orange carrots are a healthy addition to your daily diet. They are low in calories, contain no fat and supply significant doses of certain vitamins and minerals.

My other experiment with raw carrots worked great. This time I decided to make carrot cupcakes, and used nuts for the dough. It gave the cupcakes more nutty flavor and made them more moist and juicy.

Raw Carrot Cupcakes With Cashew Buttercream.

Ingredients:
1 cup raw almonds, soaked overnight and drained
20 pitted dates, soaked overnight and drained
2 cups shredded carrot
1/4 cup raisins
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 vanilla bean, scraped (or 1 tsp. extract)
tiny pinch of sea salt
1/4 cup coconut flour

Cashew buttercream:
8 oz. raw cashews, soaked overnight and drained
raw honey or agave (for vegan option)
juice of 1/2 lemon

almond milk

tiny pinch of sea salt
1 vanilla bean, scraped (or 1 tsp. extract)
2-3 tablespoons filtered water

Begin by soaking the almonds (in separate bowls), cashews and dates in filtered water overnight (or 12 hours). In the morning, drain them, and begin working on the icing. Place the drained cashews, juice of 1/2 lemon, vanilla bean (or extract), tiniest pinch of salt and about 3 tablespoons of honey or agave in a blender or food processor. Blend until creamy. Add almond milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency is reached. Add more honey to taste, if necessary.

Next, start the cupcake dough. Grate the carrots (about 4 or 5 medium carrots). After you’ve grated them, strain out any liquid (by pressing them into a fine strainer, or wrapping them in a tea towel). Place the almonds in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until coarse. Add the strained carrots, soaked (and drained!) dates, and process again. Add in the cinnamon, vanilla and pinch of sea salt. Add coconut flour. Process until it forms a dough. Grab a muffin pan and place about 1/2 cup of dough in each mold and press down. Once you have 12, pop the pan into the freezer while you get the icing ready to pipe.

Pour the icing into a piping bag, then remove the muffin pan from the freezer, invert onto a piece of parchment paper to get them out, and ice.

Keep in the refrigerator.

I am probably not the best mom, but I let my daughter have this cupcake for breakfast. Why not? It’s healthy, delicious tiny treat that can work like breakfast sometimes.

Supplements.

I am not a big fan of supplements, and believe only in healthy, clean, natural eating. I don’t believe in multi-vitamins, or any other pills that assure you in healthy and long life.

I do take some supplements and would like to share with you today, what works for me.

1.Garden of Life Raw Probiotics, Women, 90 Capsules
RAW Probiotics^™ Women goes Beyond Probiotics offering a broad range of benefits specifically targeted for women:

• Supports colon health, bowel regularity and overall digestive function^†
• Supports gut-related immune system function and overall immune system health^†
• Supports healthy microbial balance by promoting healthy bacteria in the gut^†
• Supports healthy nutrient absorption and assimilation^†
• Relieves occasional gas and constipation^†
• Supports vaginal health and healthy thyroid function^†
• Emerging science suggests vitamin D supports breast health^†

Probiotics should be purchased from the store, from the refrigerator, otherwise they are not effective at all. They need to be ALIVE!!!!

I personally take them twice a day in the morning and at night.

2.Garden of Life Raw Enzymes Women,90 Vegetarian Capsules

• Helps your body process difficult-to-digest foods such as dairy, grains, sugars, nuts, seeds, beans, broccoli and cabbage†
• Supports colon health and overall digestive function†
• Supports gut-related immune system health†
• Reduces occasional post meal gas and bloating†
• Supports bone health and a healthy metabolism†
• pH optimized enzyme support for the entire digestive tract†
• Emerging science suggest that vitamin D supports breast health†

I try to take these 3 times a day before every meal.

3.NONI JUICE CERTIFIED ORGANIC

The best price as I said I found on Vitacost.

Noni Juice and Aloe Vera juice I add to my morning lemon warm water with some apple cider vinegar and honey. This drink gives you energy, speeds up your metabolism, cleans your colon system, helps your skin to glow.

4.Lily of the Desert Organic Aloe Vera Juice Inner Fillet — 32 fl oz

You can find it on Amazon or Vitacost.

5.Country Life Max-amino with b-6 (blend Of 18 Amino Acids), 180-Count

I take Amino Acids after every workout. These are the best for me.

Does Not Contain: Yeast, corn, wheat, soy, gluten, milk, salt, sugar, starch, preservatives or artificial color.

They help your muscles to heal after the workout, support your health and if you take them before exercising they will definitely give your the energy to hit your workout the best way.

6. Sunwarrior Warrior Blend Powder, Vanilla, 2.2 Pound

I don’t really take protein powders very often. It is an emergency food for me. If I don’t have time to make some food, I just make a protein shake with berries, almond milk and this vegan protein powder.

These are the supplements that I usually take.

Do you take any supplements? What works for you?

Share your thoughts and experience.

Vitacost Order.

I always try to make my Vitacost order once in 2 months, so I get enough stuff to last us for a while.

I mentioned already in the previous post, that their prices are unbeatable, but sometimes you should check it out, because you can find the same product for less money in the grocery store.( It happened to me maybe once), but I still saved the money because of using the coupons, and promo codes.

This time the order was big, because I needed different kinds of gluten-free flours, soap for Sophia, salt, coconut milk etc.

This is what I get:

How to save even more on Vitacost?

1. I used the promo code for 10% off for my order.

2. Because I ordered Bob’s Mill brand products they had extra 20% off this brand.

3. I also saved 10% off for some items using the options Set&Save. You just set the delivery for particular items you want to get regularly, and this let you save extra 10%

4. Because I was ordering some coconut products they had a promotion and gave me 3 jars of coconut oil for free.

Generally I saved around 60$ of my order.

Here are some things that I usually order from Vitacost:

1. Earth’s Best Tots Flushable Wipes. Chlorine Free.

These are the best wet wipes for potty training and they are chemicals free. They are more expensive in the regular store. I ended up paying 2.96$ for a package.

2. Mary’s Gone Crackers. Original Seed Crackers.

These are my favorite REAL gluten-free crackers. They taste super delicious. GMO free, organic, nut free, dairy free, gluten free. The best price on Vitacost. They cost 5.60$ at Whole Foods. I ended up paying 4.31$

3. Selina Naturally Celtic Sea Salt Fine Ground.

I only buy Celtic Sea salt. Celtic salt is good for you and when you use it, you don’t need a lot of it, just a little.

The price at Whole Foods is 13$. I ended up paying 8.90$

4. Vitacost Organic Certified Tahitian Noni Juice.

I take it every morning, and the benefits of it are priceless:

1. Fight the cancer.

2. Promotes Cellular Health.

3. Combat Fatigue.

Noni Juice is usually expensive, and the best price I found on Vitacost-8.99$

5. Avalon Organics Tear-Free Baby Shampoo and Body Wash.

This is the only soap that I use for my daughter. Her skin is very sensitive and it gets worse in winter. This soap has no chemicals, no smell, and works great for us. Vitacost Price 5.45$, Whole Foods Price 8.50$

This is a little example how to save money on healthy organic products.

So if you want to try their service you can use the link:

https://www.vitacostrewards.com/dYhTYqV

to get 10$ off your first purchase.

Sugarbooger kids’ food containers review.

Because our kids snack a lot these days, and we personally spend a lot of time out of the house, I always look for eco- friendly options of snack containers or bags for my daughter. They should be non-toxic, BPA-free and food-safe.

It’s not easy to take glass containers everywhere, so this time I was looking for some BPA-free plastic ones.

Sugarbooger by Ore makes the cutiest stuff for kids: silverwear, lunch sacks, placemats, bibs, sippy cups, kiddie aprons, lunch totes etc. Their design makes your lunch, snack or any meal super fun.

When I got this set for Sophia, she was super excited. Matryoshka doll style shows Sophia where our family roots come from. She wants to pack her food in these containers all the time now, and gets happy when we need to take them with us.

They also have other designs for boys and girls.

One more thing that I really like: their products match. You can get silverware, lunch tote, plates, food containers in the same design.

This stackable set of four reusable kids’ food containers from Sugarbooger® by Oré is the perfect solution to wasteful plastic baggies and ho-hum lunch containers. The colorful, whimsical graphics make lunchtime fun time, while the leakproof Tritan and rubber design makes use and cleanup easy! Whether off to school, daycare, camp or travel, these reusable Snack Containers from Sugarbooger® by Oré are the perfect choice for a waste-free lunch or snack.

These reusable, see-through containers are made from food-safe, non-toxic, BPA-free Tritan. They are odor-, stain-, shatter- and scratch-resistant. Leak-proof food storage containers with snap-on lids are perfect for little users, while the see-through design let’s you know exactly what’s inside. Stackable, graduated sizes are perfect for storing, serving, heating and freezing food portions. Microwave and top-rack dishwasher safe.

• Reusable kids’ food containers replace disposable plastic and Styrofoam containers, bags and baggies
• Stackable, leakproof, transparent food storage containers with secure, but easy snap-on lids are perfect for little users
• Safe and free of BPA, phthalates and other toxins
• Microwave and top-rack dishwasher safe
Sugarbooger 4 Count Good Lunch Snack Container, Matryoshka Doll

Disclosure: All views in this post are the opinions of the author. I will never accept payment in exchange for a review.

Raw Banana Strawberry Cream Cake.

My experiments with raw desserts never end. I try a lot of recipes during the week, and pick my favorite ones to share with you.

The raw treats taste different from the cooked ones. They have deep flavors. They are juicy and naturally sweet. They are REAL, because they are made of real food.

I made couple of cakes recently, and my 2 years old daughter thinks it’s somebody’s birthday all the time. As soon as she sees the new cake, she starts singing “Happy Birthday!” song. So we have pretending birthday parties almost every day.

This recipe is from one amazing girl’s blog, who follows raw food diet. Her recipes and ideas are amazing. I changed the recipe a little bit, but this raw cake tastes delicious.

If any of you likes frozen dessert treats, this recipe is for you. This is the healthy and delicious version of ice-cream cake.

Banana Strawberry Cream Cake.

Pink filling:

3 bananas

2 cups frozen strawberries (or other berries)

1-3 tablespoons coconut oil (optional but it will make it creamier)

Cream exterior:

2 cups macadamia nuts

2 cup dates

2 peeled orange

2 tablespoons melted coconut oil

Water, as needed

Put the bananas in your blender, followed by the frozen berries and blend until smooth. Spread evenly into a spring form pan.

Freeze until solid.

To make the cream layer: soak macadamia nuts in the water for 4 hours.

Rinse the water from the nuts.

Blend all ingredients until smooth, adding as LITTLE water possible, if you need any at all. The less water you use, the creamier it will be. Spread the macadamia cream layer on the top of the pink one.

Freeze until solid and then garnish with strawberries.

Slice and enjoy!

Store in the freezer.

Recomendations: I will use a little macadamia nuts in the pink layer next time, to make it more creamier.

I will use cashews next time instead of macadamia nuts.

Raw Carrot Cake.

Carrot cake is one of my favorite cakes. Honestly, I’ve never made it before. I usually have it from the bakery or Whole Foods. Many people’s favorite part of the cake is frosting, but it is so hard to find the carrot cake with the good frosting. Most of the times, I just scoop the frosting off the cake and eat the plain cake, because it doesn’t taste good to me.

Carrot cake sounds like healthy dessert, but using the butter, sugar, white flour in it does not make it healthy at all.

Trying to be creative with healthy cooking and trying different combinations, I came up with the raw carrot cake recipe.

This cake is nothing fancy, but is really easy to make and has suprisingly delicious flavors melting in your mouth.

I did it only once, but it was a hit at house. Sophia and my hubby were fighting for the last piece:) I couln’t be happier: two loving ones fight for healthy food.

Raw Carrot Cake.

1 cup pitted dates, soaked in warm water for 15 minutes

1 large or 2 small apples( I used Golden Delicious)

1/4 cup of water

1tbs lemon juice

1tsp vanilla extract

1tsp ground cinnamon

1/2tsp of nutmeg

1/4tsp sea salt

1 pound shredded carrots( I got the fresh ones at the Farmers Market)

3/4 cup coconut flour

walnuts

Frosting:

3/4 cup cashews or macadamia nuts soaked in the water for 3-4 hours and drained ( I used cashews)

1/2 cup almond or coconut milk

1tsp lemon juice

10 drops of Stevia or any other sweetener

Combine the drain dates, apple, water, lemon juice and vanilla in food processor and blend it until fairly smooth.

Add the cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and blend again.

Mix the shredded carrots with the mixture from the food processor and stir well.

Add the coconut flour and stir until the batter is combined and uniform. Set the batter for 10 minutes to allow the coconut flour to absorb the liquid mixture. Add some chopped walnuts.

Put the batter in the rectangle form, pressing it firmly and evenly, and freeze for 4 hours. After it firmed up, cut it half, making two layers of cake.

Frosting.

Combine the drained cashews, milk, lemon juice, stevia in a high speed blenderand blend until completely smooth.

Place one half of the cake on the plate and frost the top only with the frosting. Carefully place the other cake half on top, and use the rest of the icing to frost the top of the cake.

Refrigerate overnight, or until ready to serve.

The Best Homemade Baby Food On The Planet

I remember myself deciding what should I feed my baby. Do I make baby food by myself or just go to the store and buy organic baby food there?

My choice was obvious. I decided to do it by myself.

The baby food is very easy to make, but you need some ideas and recipes for it. You can search the internet, find the recipes, but it might take you more time as you expect.

I got the baby food book that helped me a lot: The Best Homemade Baby Food On The Planet.

The Best Homemade Baby Food on the Planet is the single most comprehensive baby food book available today.Written by two highly-respected experts, the book contains more than 200 delicious, wholesome and natural baby food recipes along with guidance that takes the guesswork out of cooking for baby. It’s a must-have for moms, dads and grandparents alike!

Each recipe is simple to make and doesn’t require complicated steps or expensive ingredients. Most recipes can be made in 10 minutes or less! The book also provides information about what foods are safe to introduce to baby from weaning to two years of age.

Praised by pediatricians, The Best Homemade Baby Food on the Planet features:

• Nutrition analysis for every recipe
• Beautiful full-color photographs
• An easy-to-spot snowflake  symbol next to recipes that are perfect for freezing
• Valuable information about infant nutrition and oral care, allergies and optimal development
• A fun recipe evaluation chart, so you can rate what meals your little one likes best

From baby’s first purées to meals for the active toddler, the recipes and suggestions in The Best Homemade Baby Food on the Planet pave the way for your child to enjoy a lifetime of good health!

I tried many recipes from the book and they worked great.

I really liked the chapter about the Best early Nutrition for you little ones at the end of the book. The guide to Vitamins is fantastic. It explains every vitamin in details, what it does, source of it for every age.

If you are deciding what to feed your baby now, I would highly recommend to read this book.