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When I heard about raw foods I had my doubts. Mostly because raw foodies are also vegans. I tried the whole vegetarian/vegan thing for a couple years and I walked away thinking I had done my body more harm than good. My eyes had dark circles, I was weak and tired all the time, my nails were brittle and broke often, my hair was dry and lifeless like straw. People would take one look at me and run screaming from all thoughts of a vegan diet. It was BAD.

After researching the raw food diet and trying it for many months I have come to some realizations…a vegan diet would have been just fine IF I had gone raw as well. Most of the food I was eating was cooked or processed. Tofu, soy dogs, vegan lasagna, vegan tacos with soy tofu “meat”, soy milk, soy ice cream, etc. Now I realize how dangerous it is to be eating all that soy and I won’t touch it with a ten foot poll. So that combined with the fact that I was cooking everything, except for small salads or the occasional banana, made for a very unhealthy diet.

Cooking usually destroys around 30-50% or more of the nutrient content of any given food. So cooking automatically renders something half as healthy as it should be. Cooking kills ALL of the life giving enzymes. The enzymes are what help us to digest that particular food…they come neatly packaged with everything you need for maximum digestion and absorption. When the enzymes are destroyed our body has to scramble and look for some within the stores of our body. Enzymes are a necessary element in maintaining good health and are responsible for every reaction in the human body. If our enzyme production is insufficient we open ourselves up to many health problems; and if we don’t have enzymes we will die. There is really no other way to put it. While the body has the ability to produce enzymes on it own, it is not enough to produce the quality enzymes needed…not when our optimal diet is SUPPOSED to have that covered.

In addition to the enzymes, raw foods are filled with the necessary vitamins and minerals that we can all use for healthier bodies. There is no need to worry about missing essential fatty acids, iron, calcium, or protein on a raw vegan diet; because raw foods contain some of the highest sources of each of these necessary nutrients.

So when I was eating vegan before I was essentially destroying my food before I consumed it. THAT was why I was so unhealthy…not because I wasn’t eating animal products and meat. I admit that I will not likely give up ALL animal products. I do like my raw milk on occassion and I like sushi something fierce but eventually I would like to make those occasional vices only and the rest of my diet would ideally be vegan.

Because of this realization about raw/vegan eating I have also started to disagree just a bit with Mr. Weston Price. Carrie please don’t flog me. I think animal proteins have their place in many diets..I truly do but only because we humans are not eating what we should be in the first place. I absolutely loved the book Green for Life as it explained this beautifully.

We share an amazing 99.4% of our DNA sequence with Chimpanzees. In fact, many scientists believe they actually should be classified as humans! They have the same A-B-O blood groupings as we do. We are also closely related to Gorillas. With all of the similarities between us why do they not also have our degenerative diseases? Their diet! A Chimpanzee’s diet consists of 50% fruit, 43% greens, 5% pith, bark, and seeds, and 3% insects and on rare occasions…small animals. Are we eating diets proportional to that? Heck no!

They eat hardly any meat but yet would you call chimps or gorillas wimpy??? No, they get ample protein from plants and we can too. We could technically eat 1-2 pounds of plain leafy greens (Kale, Romaine, Spinach, etc) every day but who wants to. I sure don’t…unless I mix them up with some fruit and make a green smoothie. I can easily down a pound of Kale if I put it in smoothies and drink it throughout the day. The problem isn’t that we can’t get the protein from plant sources, the problem is that we aren’t willing or able to eat enough of it most times to GET that protein. Green smoothies though have solved this problem for many people though, including a lot of raw foodies. Consider too that animal proteins are extremely hard for our bodies to digest making it likely that much of the protein will be useless to us and you can see why I think plant based proteins win out every time.

I remember once reading about this a long time ago from a Biblical perspective too. The author talked about how humans were meant to eat what they could get from the Garden of Eden…fruits and greens. Only later did our diet adapt as we were essentially forced to eat what we could get our hands on. I can’t remember what book that was though.

Of course if you don’t chew your greens properly until they are like a liquid paste in your mouth…you are not accessing all of the nutritional benefit. The cells of plants are very tough and have actually one of the strongest molecular structures on the planet. In order for the nutrients to be released from the cells they have to be ruptured or “chewed” to a pulp. Think of how a cow can chew on the same wad of greens for like 5 minutes, LOL. Humans have lost their jaw power after centuries of soft, cooked foods. A good blender will “chew” the food for you and release all those lovely nutrients.

And one more tidbit…greens makes the body alkaline. This is optimal for health. Animal proteins and by-products make your body acidic. In 1931 a man named Otto Warburg won the Nobel prize for his research that showed cancer cells form when the body cells have become to acidic. When I was diagnosed with cancer I was told repeatedly I shouldn’t drink milk and I should reduce meat because cancer cells thrive on the acid. I have already shared that I think meat consumption played a BIG roll in my illness.

Anyway…can you believe I just went on an on about that when the whole point of this post is that I am joining a Green Smoothie Challenge? Mrs. Blabbermouth strikes again.

Lately I gotten so busy I have neglected my green smoothie drinking and I have started to have cravings for food I know isn’t good for me. So I need to do this Green Smoothie Challenge from the Raw Divas. It only costs $5 and you get a free pass to gift to someone else. And $3 of that $5 is donated to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) an international non-profit, marine wildlife conservation organization whose mission is to end the destruction of habitat and slaughter of wildlife in the world’s oceans in order to conserve and protect ecosystems and species. Pretty cool!

In addition to that they are having a celebration on International Green Smoothie Day (August 15) which challenge members will be invited to and you can win prizes.

If you are looking for an easy intro to raw foods or you just want to try and incorporate more greens into your life then I suggest you take this challenge. Hope to see you there! I also whole heartedly recommend that everyone read Green for Life.

Perhaps this may be a tad early but schools will be back in session next month. Something going on right now will certainly have an impact on your local school’s lunch room.

This article at The Associated Press confirms something I have suspected…the skyrocketing gas and food prices will be hard on public schools and school lunches.

Even a one-penny increase in the cost of milk can cost the nation’s schools another $54 million, said Pavel N. Matustik, chief food services administrator of the Santa Clarita Valley School in California.

According to the article it costs well over $3 (let’s say $3.50) for a school lunch. The state reimburses the school only $2.57 per lunch. AND remember that $3.50 isn’t just food. That $3.50 has to cover the wages for the lunchroom staff, and operating the lunchroom. When everything is considered this leaves the school with about $1.00 per child for actual food according to Ann Cooper of Lunch Lessons. And that was when food prices were lower. Now that figure may be closer to .85 cents or lower.

How much quality are they getting for .85 to $1? Especially when the operating costs of most lunchrooms leave little room for them to do anything other than microwave convenience foods. This is very scary IMO.

Now might be a good time to start thinking about homemade lunches. Here are some articles and links that may help:

Healthy, Frugal, School Lunches

Laptop Lunches

Nutritional supplement companies have done a brisk business over the years because of the general concern that modern food processing and lifestyles preferences may be having a detrimental impact on our nutritional intake.

The message consumers are receiving from supplement companies is that there’s no need to worry if you’re not eating enough fruit, fiber and protein as supplements can help to make up for the vitamin deficiencies in your diet. The key point that consumers need to be aware of is that not all supplements are created equal. For some reason it never “clicked” in my mind that MOST of these vitamins and supplements, even the ones for children, are synthetic. The vitamin C is not real Vitamin C from a source like oranges…instead it is created in a lab from heaven knows what. Researchers are now finding that most vitamins do zip or worse because they’re synthetic.

Synthetic vitamins offer you much less than you think are receiving. Some studies have shown that certain synthetic vitamins give only 50% or less of the biological activity as compared to whole vitamins (vitamins that come directly from vegetables). Why do companies choose to use synthetic vitamins if they are not as effective as whole vitamins? Many argue they do so because synthetic vitamins cost far less to manufacture. I would have to agree. The vitamin business is a racket.

One synthetic vitamin causing much controversy is synthetic vitamin C. Some argue that this form of vitamin C can contribute to the thickening of the arterial walls of the heart by as much as 2.5 times. This is potentially very harmful. In another study, 22,000 pregnant women were given synthetic Vitamin A. The study was halted because birth defects increased 400% according to the New England Journal of Medicine, 1995.

In stores, ascorbic acid is often sold as vitamin C but it is actually only a chemically derived fraction of the whole food vitamin. In food, vitamin C is a complete complex made up of ascorbic acid plus rutin, bioflavonoids, K factor and J factors along with other substances.

The body is able to absorb and use this vitamin only when all parts of the complex is present. So when the chemically derived “fraction” of vitamin C is taken the body must first supply the other parts of the whole food complex. If the pill is taken on its own it will then be necessary for the body to complete the complex by taking the missing elements its own collagen tissue to complete the fractionated complex you supplied. This is the same reason why I am such a proponent of raw foods…raw foods have the required enzymes to digest and process the food, it is a package deal…when we cook the food the enzymes are killed and our bodies must scrape together what it can to get the job done. It stresses our bodies to have to do all this extra work to digest foods that should have come packaged with their own handy dandy enzymes. Vitamins too should come with all they need for absorption. It is no wonder we age so fast.

This whole process of robbing stores within the body to complete the complex can cause even greater deficiencies in the body.

Studies have shown that vitamin C from citrus extract was absorbed 35 percent more than ascorbic acid. Other vitamins have been shown to be more effective in their whole food form. For example the Medical Science Research publication reported that whole food vitamin E and vitamin A are more bioavailable than isolated, synthetic forms of these vitamins. The examination of vitamin A showed the food base product was retained 9.4 times more than the synthetic form.

Whole food vitamins do not cause deficiencies in areas of the body but instead supply the individual cells with the nutrients they need for vitality.

How can you tell a synthetic vitamin from a whole food vitamin? Look at the label. Instead of seeing a long list of chemicals you should find the names of foods listed as the vitamin source. A vitamin or mineral is synthetic if only its chemical and/or popular name appears, with no plant source. For instance if a label reads like this: Calcium Carbonate, Calcium Phosphate, Magnesium Oxide, Zinc Oxide….then you know it is synthetic. These vitamins and supplements also commonly have added sugars, preservatives, and dyes. If it is a natural, whole food vitamin it will list the foods, herbs, or spices used like strawberries, carrot, alfalfa, etc.

So if you are ready to stop wasting money on synthetic vitamins that will provide minimal nutrition and maybe even a harmful side effect or two there are a couple whole foods supplements I like for children.

EveryKid Children’s Multi-Vitamin – This very eco-friendly company out of Vermont believes that nature got it right the first time. EveryKid is the first organic, whole food children’s multi-vitamin, without the aluminum dyes, artificial preservatives and flavors, or chemical residuals found in many current alternatives. They are powder pouches that you can just give to your kids as is. My kids really like the Brilliant Berries flavor. You would think I was giving them powdered sugar. Of course I had to try to…for research purposes and yes…quite yummy.

They are easy to digest, gluten free, vegetarian, and contain no artificial colors or flavors. Some of the food “sources” include strawberries, cherries, blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries…all organic of course. My kids give them a big thumbs up.

Nutri Stars Multivitamin and Multimineral Children’s Chewable from a Rainbow Light. Besides all the regular vitamins and minerals you would expect to find in a chewable vitamin it has some bonuses like veggie concentrates from carrots, spinach, grean beans, broccoli, and beets. It also has organic spirulina and wheat sprouts. It is 100% natural with no artifical colors, flavors, preservatives, sweeteners, or other additives that are often found in other vitamin products. And here is the most important thing….kids like them.

Hero Nutritionals Yummi Bears – This is a good whole food vitamin inside tasty gummy bears, so of course it won’t be hard to get kids to eat these. My kids always ask for these when we go to Whole Foods. Does not contain yeast, wheat, milk, egg, soy, glutens, salt, artificial colors, artificial flavors, salicylates or preservatives. Kids can have up to three bears per day.

And a good one for adults:

Green Pops and Purple Pops - A supplement whose ingredients are real foods minus the water and fiber. Vegetables, fruits, herbs, spices that contain all the nutrients in the real food - not just a blend of vitamins and minerals. The green pops are provide nutrition from veggie and sources and the purple pops are from fruit sources. They both have added antioxidants, digestive enzymes, and probiotics as well.

To your health!

Our desire for something sweet to eat is very natural.  The desire for something sweet is the body’s signal to you that it needs some energy packed food.  Unfortunately with much of the processed sugar we eat, our bodies are not getting any of the substantial nutrients, vitamins or minerals that it expects and needs and that would normally be present in a natural, unprocessed food product.

I also find that when you regularly consume processed, refined sugars you come to accept that sweets taste a certain way and REAL sweeteners start to taste “off” to us. Even delicious fruits like watermelon and mango can’t compete anymore. When I had kids I decided that it was very important to me that their taste buds not get “ruined” like that. Thankfully most times my kids will pick juicy watermelon over a chocolate bar. I even got my mom hooked on Stevia.

Natural sweeteners provide the ideal solution for your taste buds and your nutritional needs. If you are going to have sweets why not make them health building versions right?

Barley Malt Syrup

This syrup is made from sprouted barley and is dark brown and thick with a distinctive flavor like molasses.  It is half as sweet as white sugar and is best used in spice cakes, ginger bread and baked beans.

Sucanat

This is a natural sweetener that comes from organically grown sugar cane. It is actually the sugar cane juice that is then evaporated using a special Swiss process.  In its natural state it is highly nutritious because the molasses is not removed.

For a refreshing drink drop a little Sucanat in water – hot or cold.

Evaporated White Grape Juice and Brown Rice Syrup (Product called “Fruitsource”)

This yellowish-white granulated sweetener is good to use when the recipe you’re using requires something lighter colored than Sucanat. If the fruit flavor will be too strong for what you are preparing you can try using half Sucanat/half Fruitsource. 

Stevia

This comes from the plant of the same name. It is 300 times sweeter than sugar so it is used in extremely small amounts. A drop or two would be all you need for a cup of coffee. It is also a great option for diabetics and you can buy entire cookbooks that use this sweetener.

The best Stevia you can buy is from Sunrider. It kinda works like a club…you join and you can get discounts. Their products rock the planet and of course the most rockin Sunrider rep I know is Diana. She also has a blog and radio show that helps people kick cravings.

Unpasteurized Honey

The plant enzyme amylase is an important nutritional ingredient found in raw honey (not pasteurized).  This enzyme is concentrated in the pollen of flowers and is effective in helping the pre-digestion of starchy foods. I use raw honey a lot in my home.

Most honey you can buy in your stores is pasteurized which means it has been heated for up to 24 hours to prevent it from turning hard or hazy.  Still even though honey is not as high in vitamins and minerals as Sucanat it is a good natural sweetener.

Frozen Juice Concentrates

Even though frozen fruit juice concentrates in your store have been pasteurized they are far healthier for sweetening a sauce or salad dressing than white sugar.  Orange, pineapple and apple concentrates are great for sweetening salad dressings.

Dates and Raisins

Here’s a treat that you’ll likely love as an alternative sweetener.  Take a handful of raisins and dates and place them in your blender with a ½ cup of water.  Blend for 3 minutes or so and your ingredients will turn into a caramel colored pudding-like substance.  The flavor is wonderful and it can be used to top off your fruit salads, or used in baking and creating healthy desserts. I use dates to sweeten green smoothies quite often. I have also pureed them with avocado to make fillings for raw pies.

Stuff to Avoid

White Sugar
Brown Sugar - Brown sugar is usually white sugar with molasses or caramel coloring.

Fructose

D-tagatose

Corn Syrup
Dextrose
Artificial Sweeteners - Nutrasweet, Equal, Spoonful, Neotame, Sunette, Splenda. These have not be proven to be safe - just the opposite in fact so don’t be a guinea pig for chemcial sweetener companies.

MSG - Monosodium Glutamate

Here is to a sweet and healthy life.

Recommended: Rodale’s Basic Natural Foods Cookbook - This cookbook helps you convert old favorites to incorporate whole foods and natural sweeteners.

I am getting ready to go on vacation very soon. We are spending a couple weeks in Florida in a 2 bedroom suite with a full kitchen. To make sure that my family is eating right and we don’t get all crazy eating clam chowder bread bowls from the French Quarter at Disney or eating lollipops for lunch because a $5 sucker is the cheapest option…. we are bringing our bentos with us.

If you are not familiar with bentos they are Japanese style lunch boxes and I LOVE them. I have a huge collection in fact. Of course my favorite is the Laptop Lunchbox system. All 3 of my kids have one and they will be using them all the while we are in Florida. So I reached for my Vegan Lunch Box book, which is a book full of recipes and ideas for healthy vegan eating using the Laptop Lunchbox system. I started making notes of what I would prepare and what groceries I will need to buy when we get to Orlando. We aren’t necessarily a vegan family but we DO limit meat and we tend towards raw foods so this book is perfect for just about any family.

Then I came across a discussion on the net about how these books are going for $50-100 a book because they are out of print. There is a revised edition coming out soon but I guess moms everywhere are desperate for this book. Pretty cool! Anyway as I grabbed my copy … which I would never sell so don’t ask … I saw that I have TWO copies. I vaguely remember there being some kind of buy one get another half off deal or something and I am a sucker for a deal.

So guess what one lucky reader gets? A brand spankin new copy of the original and now out-of-print Vegan Lunchbox. You will love all the healthy, delicious recipes in this book…especially if you pack a lunch for your kids. Also very handy for travel snack boxes.

To Win: Just comment!

If you want two chances to win you can link to this blog from your own blog…make sure to leave a trackback or a second comment to let me know about the link to so you have a total of two comments and therefore two chances to win. The winner will be announced on Monday, April 28. Good luck everyone!

Here is some bento inspiration and one of my son’s favorite lunches…a nut butter rainbow sandwich.

The above lunchbox is a Laptop Lunchbox. Also pre-order the new edition of Vegan Lunch Box.

One of my readers, Tessa, recently left a wonderful comment asking me to share some ideas for parents who are just starting to analyze their children’s eating habits and try to change them. Specifically she said she would like to see ”recipes for kids who are used to eating pizza and hot dogs”. This is a hugely important topic because there are so many parents out there that allow their children to be nourished by a diet of pizza, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, and French fries. I think they have some idea of how BAD this kind of food is but they probably don’t know just HOW bad these foods can be. Convenience may also be playing a big factor in how they feed their kids.

But to me this is a very serious issue. When I was 18, I started working in a movie theatre while I was in college. For years I ate buttery popcorn and soda as meals…it was accessible and it was free. Then when I had my first baby and I started working in marketing and advertising I let my 60+ hours a week work schedule dictate our diet. Let’s just say my oldest child had a lot of Happy Meals. This went on for about 2-3 years and started to change for the better when I got pregnant a second time and quit working. As my life made a huge shift towards natural family living and my days were spent at home, our diet improved greatly. But it was already too late…I would be diagnosed with colon cancer not too much later and it was stage 3 so I had it for awhile and didn’t know it. I think I had everyone in my family shaking the naughty finger at me. We pretty much all knew why I got cancer. Needless to say I look at food a lot differently now and I LOVE to research as much as I can on the subject. Amazingly I found that 40% of all cancers are attributed to diet. Yikes!

Also, I wanted to mention that my son (who was injured by a vaccine) developed epilepsy by the time he was 3. The part of his brain that caused the seizures was actually damaged so Doctors held out little hope that he would ever be seizure free. He went on prescription medications as suggested by his neurologist but I also decided to see if I could control his epilepsy or even get rid of it by changing his diet. Within a few months of following a diet like the one I describe below, I took him off his meds and he has not had a single seizure. His Doctors are still scratching their heads over that one.

Here are some scary health facts about the healthy diet/kids connection:

* Autopsies done on children as young as 2 years old are showing signs of fatty cholesterol buildup in the arteries.

* Over 100 studies have been done that validate the theory that food dyes and additives are a factor in ADHD and ADD.

* It is estimated that 10% of 2- to 5-year-olds and more than 15% of children between the ages of 6 and 19 are overweight. 25% of those are obese.

* 14% of children now have type 2 diabetes, a condition that used to be pretty much specific to adults.

So what can you do? I don’t want to lay down a list of hard and fast rules here because well… different strokes for different folks but…in general the things most important to me when I feed my own kids are these:

* Organic foods - It is important that my family eats food with no pesticides, antibiotics, hormones, or chemicals in it. All of these things can accumulate in the body and cause health problems. For me it is issue of clean or dirty almost. Organic is “clean” food and I that is what I want to eat and what I want my kids to eat. I wrote an article last year about how to eat organic affordably. 

* No food coloring - Synthetic color has no nutritional value whatsoever. Beyond that, the food colors approved for use today are in a class of chemicals called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons that are universally suspect as carcinogenic (cancer causing). But according to the FDA it only causes cancer when it is injected into rats, not when they are feeding on it. Therefore, they conclude that it perfectly safe for humans to eat. Food coloring is also predominantly in super sugary foods that kids don’t need anyway. My oldest child can be VERY hyperactive after he eats something with food coloring in it.

* Unprocessed whole foods with no preservatives or additives - Many processed foods have chemical preservatives and additives in them. Some of them have been linked to cancer too. For instance, hot dogs, bacon, and deli meats are packaged with a preservative called sodium nitrite. In the 1970s it was discovered that sodium nitrite was not safe and it was linked to cancer. The government tried to ban it but food company lobbyists played hardball and in the end they got their way. These type of products are a no-no in my home unless they are preservative and additive free. Dedication to whole foods would also eliminate things like white breads and flours because they have been refined and left nutritionally lacking.

* No refined sugars  - Refined sugars can really be bad news for my kids where behavior is concerned. This is especially true for my daughter. Give her a bit of sugar and she will be unbearable all day long with bad mood swings, crying, tantrums, and irritability. Refined sugars will send my oldest into hyperactivity and aggression.

Ingredients to avoid are: Sugar · Brown sugar · High Fructose Corn Syrup (or HFCS) · Glucose · Fructose · Corn sweetener (HFCS) · Corn syrup · Dextrose · Fruit juice concentrate · Invert sugar · Lactose · Maltose · Malt syrup · Sucrose · Syrup

To sweeten things in my home we opt for raw honey, stevia, raw agave nectar, raw sugar cane, coconut milk (on rare occasions), natural maple syrup, raw yacon syrup, and fruit… like figs.

* An abundance of raw (uncooked) foods - Raw foods are living foods with their life giving enzymes still in tact. Heating and cooking foods kills those enzymes and renders them useless so eating raw food is important. Cooking also kills off a large portion of the vitamins and nutrients, approximately half of the protein content, and it causes fats to become rancid.  I like to make sure my kids have lots of raw fruits, nuts, and veggies in their diet. Check out my previous post on the benefits of raw food and my recipe for raw peach cobbler.

* Raw (unpasteurized) milk and cheeses - They might be hard to get in your area but the benefits are wonderful. In fact raw milk is the only milk I can drink. Check out the Real Milk site for all you could ever want to know about raw milk and where to find it in your area. I also prefer raw, organic because I don’t like pesticides and growth hormones like rBST in our milk.

* Limited meat (except fish)- I like to limit meat for a variety of reasons…one is environmental impact. Meat eating is a big time contributor to pollution. Organic meat can be expensive and is therefore less likely to be the heavy on my grocery bill. Also, since I like to emphasize raw foods as much as I can this usually leaves meat out. I won’t prepare raw/very rare meat dishes in the home but when we go out we will enjoy a good steak tartare and we LOVE sashimi and sushi. Usually once or twice a month the whole family will head out to our favorite Japanese market for fresh sashimi and we usually have one or two cooked fish meals a week.

* Superfoods -These are the foods that are considered to be nutritional powerhouses. They are generally rich in antioxidants, nutrient dense, and they help the body fight degenerative conditions and diseases like cancer. We like blueberries, Goji berries, seaweed, Spirulina, and cacao beans among others. Just throw some seaweed, green powders, or Spirulina in a fruit smoothie and everyone is getting a big boost of healthy nutrients.

Of course these are my choices for health. I have other sticking points that are more ethical in nature such as eating local when we can, growing our own food, and I guess organic falls in under the ethics category too. It is a heck of a lot to consider for a someone who is just beginning to question the standard American diet but baby steps are okay. My outlook on food as outlined above was not an overnight thing. Try picking one thing above, do some research on your own and see how you can make some changes. When you have that aspect under control switch gears and start again. This is one area where you may never stop learning…I know I haven’t. The end goal is worth it though…the health of our children. You are what you eat.

Be sure to check out the recipes section of this blog…and these related articles:

Healthy School Lunches  | Healthy Snack Ideas  | Easy Ways to Get Your Kids to Eat Vegetables  | Natural Family Recipes

Natural Family Food Reviews:

My family and I tried a handful of new products lately and I wanted to a quick write-up for each and give our thumbs up or thumbs down. Hopefully this will be a regular feature as we try new things.

Wholesome Valley Organic Hummus in Roasted Pepper- I have to admit that I am not a big Hummus fan. This is unfortunate because Chickpeas are so good for you. With reluctance my family and tried the Roasted Pepper Hummus and and guess what…it wasn’t awful, LOL. The kids and I actually liked it for dipping fresh cut veggies in and and my hubby liked it enough to request we keep buying it. So if they carry it at Whole Foods we will be picking this up occasionally. It is organic and has no trans fats and no preservatives.

Our verdict: Thumbs up

Wholesome Valley Organic Mozzarella & Chedder Cheese Slices - Now these I don’t usually buy. In fact I can’t remember the last time I bought pre-packaged cheese slices so when Galaxy sent me these, my kids didn’t even know what they were. These too are organic and they contain no antibiotics or growth hormones. Personally I did not care for them much. My kids ate the cheddar cheese ones and didn’t complain but they didn’t ask for more either. I used the mozzarella cheese slices on a Chicken Parmesan dish and they tasted kind of bland and they didn’t melt very well.

Our verdict: Thumbs Down

Raw Hemp Nut Brownies with Almonds- Brownies are yum right? Well, not these ones. Generally my kids and I thought these were gross. These uncooked brownies are made with hemp and cacao powder and then sweetened with agave. They are supposed to be a sweet and nutritious source of protein and they were….they just didn’t taste good. My hubby on the other hand thought they were “okay”.

Our verdict: Thumbs down

R.W. Knudsen Organic Sensible Sippers- I was already a fan of R.W. Knudsen Organic juices so I pretty much knew I would like these. They are juice boxes with organic juice, no sugar added and 40% fewer calories than regular juices. The sippers have the Berenstain Bears on them too so my daughter referred to the different flavors by the different characters on them…aka the sister juice or the papa juice, etc. Pretty cute.

They come in four flavors: Apple, Banana, Fruit Punch, and Mixed Berry. My kids liked them all but Apple and Mixed Berry were the faves here.

Our verdict: Thumbs up

I just came across the trailer for a new movie that will be released soon on the web…Food Matters. It appears to discuss how what we eat is what is making us so sick. It looks like it will be pretty awesome. I was especially excited to see David Wolfe in it.

Check it out!