Products I like…

First, let me apologize for not being up on my posting so much. Life away from the computer has been crazy – mostly due to a situation with my family. In short my brother is in Afghanistan and my sister in law is 8 months pregnant, with 2 kids and a lot going on with some legal battles. It’s been really hard on the family. If you are interested you can read part 1 here and part 2 here. And if you are interested in helping out we’re throwing an ‘online shower’ for my brother and sister in law.

Back to our regular scheduled programming…

Since I’m mentioning various products from time to time, I thought I’d write about ones that I like every so often.

Just a note – I don’t get anything for writing about products, I don’t work for any companies, and don’t get any money from them. There are some products that I really like, and that have made my vegan eating life a lot easier, so I figure it might help someone else. Generally I’ve tried lots of other brands of similar products, but have found favorites that I like to stick to. If I come of as sales pitchy – I apologize ahead of time, there are things that I like that I REALLY like

When I first went plant based I had very little clue how to get all the nutrients and vitamins that I needed. I also had a hard time with hunger. The switch was so fast for me, and I didn’t know what to eat, and often this would end up in me eating more starch and other filler kinds of food more than I wanted.

Early on someone suggested that I try doing smoothies to help me out. I had no idea what I was doing in the smoothie department. I liked going out for smoothies, but really had never succesfully made one at home. One day, while in the store, I picked up a bunch of small smoothie packets and decided to try them out. That is when I found Vega.

All of the Vega Complete Whole Food Health Optimizers are fantastic. Each serving has 100 calories 2.5 grams of fat, 9 carbs, 6 grams of fiber, 0 sugar and 11 grams of protein plus all of the vitamins and nutrients you could want – all plant based. When I first read the packet I honestly thought it would taste nasty. I was really happy to be proven wrong on that front. And on a side note – they have no bad effect on my blood sugar numbers at all, in fact, my numbers tend to do really well when I’ve had a few in my day.

I generally blend my mix with other things, but it’s really good on it’s own as well. It’s been a life saver while traveling – I never have to worry if I can get something to eat. I have a “blender bottle” and a good supply  of vega packets on hand. Even if we are in a hotel I can get some ice and water and blend. Makes life easy. (you can usually find blender bottles for under 10 dollars at sports stores/vitamin stores or natural grocery stores).

But I really enjoy when I can blend it with other stuff… some of my favorites:

Chocolate Banana Green
1 frozen banana
1 packet /serving chocolate vega
1 bunch kale leaves
water

Strawberry Chai
1 cup frozen strawberries
water
1 packet/serving vanilla chai

Citrus Aloe
1 packet/serving  original flavor Vega
1/2 cup of aloe juice
1 frozen banana
1/4 cup natural Orange juice
Water

Chocolate Peanut Butter
1 chocolate packet /serving
2 TBS of nut butter
water (or plain non dairy milk)

Almond Vanilla
1 packet/serving vanilla vega
3 TBS Almond butter
Water or milk

Berry Banana
1 packet/serving berry
1 frozen banana
1/2 cup frozen raspberries
water

Blueberry vanilla
1 packet/serving vanilla
1 cup blueberries
1 tsp agave
water

Acai Banana
1 packet /serving natural flavor vega
1 frozen ouch of Acai puree
1 frozen banana
water

Green Chocolate
1 packet/serving chocolate
1 bunch kale
1/2 avocado
1/4 cup aloe
(can be made with any flavor really)

Vega can seem a bit pricey – but when I figured out it was less than 3 dollars per meal I figured that I was spending a lot more than that on other things that were not nearly as healthy. You can find it at most natural health stores, and you can find it on-line. Currently bodybuilding.com has a good deal on it and the shipping isn’t bad either. If you aren’t wanting to commit to a large container, go look for the packets of it, they are sold individually at most stores with decent sections with protein powders. Pick up some other brands as well to see which one you like the best and experiment with different flavors and things to add in.

Smoothies are easy and they help with hunger and energy. It’s a great and tasty way to get what you need.