Recipe: Thai Asparagus Soup

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While winter is when you crave stews and soups, a light green soup can also make a lovely dinner on a brisk summer night. Here's a flavorful thai asparagus soup that's delicious, healthy, and easy to whip up. It beats the canned stuff any day!

Thai Asparagus Soup

Serves 6

* 1 large onion, chopped

* 3 Tbsp. canola oil

* 3 Tbsp. minced lemongrass

* 3 Tbsp. minced fresh ginger

* 3 pounds asparagus, trimmed (take about one inch off the bottom of the stalks)

* 0.5 tsp. black pepper

* salt, to taste

* 1.5 c. canned coconut milk

* 5 c. canned vegetable broth

* 0.5 tsp. fresh lemon juice

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Review: New Arctic Zero!

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Ice cream is probably my favorite dessert and I love finding ice cream varieties that are less heavy than the standard. Ice cream is delicious and the fully indulgent stuff is good now and then, but having regular ice cream daily can make me feel sluggish and weighed down, which is no fun at all.

Arctic Zero is a pioneer in the light, high protein ice cream alternative space, but for a while there they were edged out by Halo Top for tastiness - the original Arctic Zero creamy pints and even the newer chunky pints just didn't have the same creamy mouthfeel of full fat ice cream. No wonder, since they're more of a frozen protein shake. Still, when you're feeling less virtuous, it didn't quite hit the spot. The new Arctic Zero flavors, made with real cream and no sugar alcohols, do!

These pints are still better for you than traditional ice cream - they're mostly 360 calories per pint, with a few flavors just under that, and are lower in fat and sugar than traditional ice cream. They also come in plenty of delicious flavors!

I was most excited to try the Peanut Butter & Chocolate Cookies, Cookies & Cream, and Cookie & Brownie Dough pints, but the Toffee Crunch was a close second.



Bae was most excited for the Chocolate Chunk (because if anyone loves chocolate more than me, it's him), as well as the Mint & Chocolate Cookies.

Lastly, there's the Vanilla Bean - it's the lightest of the flavors, just 280 calories for a whole pint, and is a great, creamy base for milkshakes, topping for pies, etc.

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Review: No Cow

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If you're at all into fitness and you've been anywhere near Instagram, you've seen the craze about Quest bars. Low carb, low sugar, high protein and high fiber, they're great - unfortunately, they're not vegan-friendly. If you're plantbased, or just trying to go dairy free, then they're just not an option, since they lean heavily on whey protein.

Bummer.

Luckily, there's a bar with as impressive stats as Quest bars and a much more natural (and plantbased) ingredients list!

No Cow bars started as D's Naturals quite some time ago, but have since expanded and reformulated their bars. While I enjoyed the original No Cow bars occasionally (and I really liked their nutritional stats and virtuous ingredients lists) they were a bit dry/crumbly tasting sometimes. The flavors were delicious, though, the textures could just use some work.

The new formula has taken care of that!

These bars are moist, flavorful, sweet (but naturally sweetened and still incredibly low in sugar), and while they're higher calorie than the original bars and now some of them contain palm oil, they're not more than comparative sized protein bars, both vegan and not.

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Review: Rawvolution Box (and a discount!)

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It's pilot season, tax season, and the season of trying to get our lives (and bodies) in shape. The perfect time for a little boost from a convenient meal delivery service, no?

While meal delivery services tend to be pricier than making your own food, and often even more expensive than eating out, they can be really helpful when you're busy. You don't have to think about getting or making food, it's just waiting for you in your fridge when you're hungry! That sounded totally ideal to me, so I decided to give Rawvolution, the raw vegan meal delivery service endorsed by Alicia Silverstone, Cher, Carol Alt, and other glamorous LA types, a try. LA loves it and now there's nationwide shipping, so NYC must love it, too, right?

...well... this will be a really mixed bag review, because the food was AMAAAAAAAAZING but the logistics of long-distance shipping left a bit to be desired.

My experience started on a less than great note. Admittedly, the chaotic deliver wasn't the company's fault, but due to weather/UPS. The food was supposed to arrive by 1:30pm on Tuesday. Instead, it arrived at 8pm on Wednesday. Grrrrr. Considering that next day shipping to NYC costs between $60 and $100 per box, depending on the speed you select, that sort of delay can be quite frustrating.

Worse, the food arrived only cool (not cold) to the touch - after spending $120 on the meals (that's the cost without shipping) I was worried that some of the food might go bad before I could eat it all.

Not as bad, but also not appealing, is the presentation. While LA customers receive their meals in deli containers, shipping customers receive their meals vacuum sealed in plastic bags - a not at all appetizing presentation, especially for the wet dishes (which is over half of them). Shipping costs are already super high, though, and I suppose the meals are vacuum sealed to keep them from being positively astronomical.

On to the next thing - the contents of The Box. Boxes are non-customizable, so you get whatever the fixed menu is each week, in fixed amounts.

I received:

1. Green Cleanse Fresh-Pressed Juice
2. Roots Infusion Fresh-Pressed Juice
3. No Bean Hummus
4. French Carrot Salad
5. Cauliflower Couscous
6. Creamy Sunflower Seed Salad
7. Nut & Veggie Pate Wrap
8. Enchilada Blanca
9. Greek Pizza
10. Sloppy Joe Sandwich
11. Pecan Crumble
12. Cinnamon Raisin Balls

I'm not much of a juice drinker and would rather have traded the two juices ($20 worth of product, if you divide the total cost by the twelve items in the box) for more of something else. I also would have probably swapped a few other menu items. If I could tweak the service, I'd make opting in and out of menu items the first change.

Anyway, onto the actual food. While there may still be some significant kinks to work out with the long distance shipping service, the food itself is INCREDIBLE and Chef Matt definitely has real talent for turning healthy vegetables into delicious meals! Seriously, the food was among the best I've ever eaten and, if I had infinite money and the shipping issues were worked out, I'd order from Rawvolution every single week.

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Busy Girl Fitness

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When my friends moan about trying to get healthy, or letting a fitness resolution falter, the most common complaint is just not having the time or bandwidth to prioritize health. I'm going to go against the grain and say that's totally fine.

Sometimes I prioritize my health and sometimes I don't, but I always manage to live a pretty healthy lifestyle. Finding a healthy lifestyle that's sustainable even when other things are in the foreground is key to long term health (and sanity)! Here's what works for me. You may find that some of these tips work for you and some of them don't, because everyone is different and everyone's needs are different. Feel free to pick and choose!

Cap your day with fitness.

I find that, especially when I'm busy, I just don't find the time to work out sometime during the day. I also find I'm too tired at the end of the day, or I have "just one more thing" to do until suddenly it's bedtime and I haven't moved all day. Starting every day with a little activity works best for me! It becomes routine and it sets me up to feel good all day! 

If I have a lot of time that can be a full workout, but if I'm busy, even 5-15 minutes of at home calisthenics or a few trips bounding up and down the stairs, followed by some light stretching, is much better than nothing! It also sets me up to want to move more during the day, subconsciously.

Make things a little more difficult for yourself.

I know we're all about making things easier in this techno age, but sometimes making things a little more difficult can be good. Getting lunch? Instead of ordering in, go walk the three blocks to that local place you like. You can call your order in ahead (or place it as a pickup order online) so it won't take much longer than ordering in, and you'll have added some fresh air and physical activity to your day. Unless it's seriously terrible weather, I refuse to order delivery from places that are within a seven to ten block radius of me. It's the budget babe in me who stays firm (picking it up yourself saves on delivery costs and tipping, which really adds up over a year) but my health benefits, too!

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Review: Genuine Health Fermented Vegan Proteins+

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I'm not vegan and I'm actually not even vegetarian anymore - after 12 or so years of being strictly vegetarian, I'm now a pescatarian. That manifests itself as occasionally ordering salmon at a restaurant or, more frequently, enjoying sushi and sashimi. 

It's a recent change, but I've been positively surprised by how easily my body adapted to it! I have a sensitive stomach and worried it could cause me some pain, but my body has been happy having fish once or twice a week for the last month or two, since the switch to pescetarianism. Yay!

Still, I love vegetarian and vegan food and the vast majority of the time I still order vegetarian and vegan food when I'm out and still eat mostly vegetarian food at home. A mostly plantbased diet gives me energy, keeps my stomach and my skin happy, and just suits my tastes the best. Since most of my days are still vegetarian, I'm still always interested in learning about healthy plantbased sources of protein. 

So many protein bars and powders are full of ingredients that I wouldn't even want in a skincare product, much less in something I'm eating. Genuine Health is different - they're committed to creating products that are actually good for you. 

They're the self-proclaimed fermentation experts and the products in their fermented vegan proteins+ line feature fermented organic spirulina, fermented alfalfa, fermented mung bean sprouts, fermented organic quinoa sprouts, fermented pea protein isolate, fermented organic hemp, and fermented brown rice. I love that it's all stuff that I recognize as food!

Why choose fermented protein, especially when there are so few brands out there doing it? Easy - fermented plant protein is 40% better absorbed and utilized by the body than the same protein, unfermented. 

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Recipe: Crispy Coconut Kale

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Kale can be very hit or miss and it's one of the most controversial vegetables out there. On the one hand, you have Those People who buy $7 bags of kale chips (with only two servings per bag) and wear Yale-inspired 'KALE' sweaters. On the other hand, you have the people who make taunting faces at bags of kale in the grocery store.

Yes, this is a thing that I have seen. Welcome to New York, city of characters.

Anyway, even for the most kale-adverse person out there, here's a surefire way to make the curly green enjoyable! It's crispy, it's spicy, it's flavorful, it's green and coconutty: 

It's hipster crack.

Another photo, because yum.

It's also super easy to make! I served it with coconut jasmine rice, roasted salmon, and roasted okinawan sweet potatoes for my first hosted dinner in my new (awesome) Upper West Side apartment. I must get around to writing up those recipes, as well, because the meal was a hit, but this crispy coconut kale was so good that I simply must share it NOW. Without further ado, here's the recipe.

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Recipe: Chipotle Creamed Corn

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Corn is one of America's favorite vegetables! 

...even if there's some argument around whether it should be counted as a vegetable or a grain. Still, most of us love it!

Creamed corn is a classic American comfort food side dish. I'm all for the classics, but mixing it up is fun.

Especially if you're pairing creamed corn with a milder main dish, like the Norwegian broiled cod pictured above (called Torsk, recipe coming soon), mixing it up with something a little spicier can be fun. 

Ta-da! Chipotle creamed corn brings a spicy twist to traditional creamed corn. It's a great way to change things up and the recipe, below, is easy to follow and quick enough for a weeknight dinner!

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Juice Press comes to Boston!

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It's a new month and a new year. Happy 2017!

A lot of us like to take advantage of the new year to make positive changes. For many, that means making changes to improve our health!

Health affects everything - productivity, mood, energy, etc. It's so, so, so important. I can't stress it enough!

Health also encompasses a lot - mental, physical, emotional, and financial health all matter. There are so many great resolutions that can improve your health and they're not all about hitting the gym more.

You can eat more fruits and vegetables. You can get more sleep. You can take up meditation. You can work towards a healthier work-life balance. You can pay attention to your relationships. You can save. You can indulge in bubble baths and quiet cups of tea. There are so may options!

For those of us who resolve to eat healthier, it can be tough to stick to it when the realities of life get in the way. We get busy with work, school, and socialization and buying, preparing, and cooking fresh ingredients on a regular basics can get tough. Or, for those who aren't used to cooking healthy food, it can be tough to come up with ideas of what to make. Sometimes it just feels like too many decisions and that's when the temptation to throw in the towel rears its head.

When eating healthy doesn't feel super fun or I'm super busy, falling back on healthy meal delivery services or healthy cafes is really helpful for me. When I lived in NYC, there were great health food cafes everywhere. Boston has its fair share, too, but many of my favorites were missing.

If you follow me on Instagram, you know I'm obsessed with Juice Press and, in particular, their Raw Falafel. After much waiting, Juice Press has finally come to Boston!

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How to Make New Year's Resolutions Stick

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It's a shiny new year! 2016 was really great for me in very many ways, but there's always something exciting about starting a whole new year.

Many of us make new resolutions in the new year, but many of us also find it hard to make those resolutions stick past the first week of January.

Here's how to set yourself up for success this year and not let broken resolutions get you down!

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Tips for Staying Healthy in Winter

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I love the holidays! And I'm so sad that Christmas is over and I have to wait another year for more Christmas. I've traveled the last two Christmases (Paris - I'm in Paris right now!) and plan to stay home next Christmas so I can do the whole big tree, baking cookies on a cozy Christmas Eve thing.

But the unfortunate thing about winter is that, in between the holiday festivities and lovely snow storms, there's also cold and flu season. Getting sick is never any fun! Here's how to stay healthy this winter and, if you do catch something, how to get better again quickly.

How to avoid getting sick:

Get 7+ hours of sleep per night.

Getting too little sleep can compromise your immune system. Sure, there's a lot to do and you're worried that you won't get it all done if you don't stay up late, but too many late nights can mean the difference between being healthy and under the weather. If you get sick, you might have to take entire days off and that's so much less efficient. Aim for at least seven or eight hours of shuteye per night!

Eat fruits and vegetables.

Getting plenty of vitamins, especially vitamin C, can strengthen your immune system and help keep you healthy. If you feel something coming on, or everyone around you is falling ill, try to up your citrus intake. Oranges, orange juice, or lemons squeezed into hot tea are all good options!

Eating more produce doesn't have to be bland!

Stay hydrated.

Being dehydrated makes it harder to fight infection. Here's yet another reason to drink up!

Stay warm.

Being cold hampers our defense against falling ill. So while viruses make you sick, being cold effectively makes you sick, too!

Bundle up! Mom was right about the coat.

Wash your hands.

Germs can live on all sorts of surfaces and we touch things all day. Wash your hands often and thoroughly, with soap and warm water, to avoid unnecessary exposure.

What if you do get sick? Read on for what to do to recover faster.

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December Degustabox Review

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Once again, I can't believe it's already a new month - but I'm thrilled, because it's my favorite month! Christmas is my absolute favorite holiday and so all of December and the holiday season is my favorite time.

Everyone is cheerful and tries a bit harder to be kind. The streets twinkle with bright lights and cheerful decorations. And the air is full of the intoxicating scent of holiday flavors!

I can't wait to get started on my annual Christmastime baking madness, but in the interim, I was really excited to open this month's Degustabox. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know Degustabox is a subscription service that delivers a big box full of full-sized new foods (10-15 of them) to its subscribers. I was hoping for a box full of Christmas-themed and holiday-flavored delights, plus a few things to cook holiday dinner party entrees and sides with or bake Christmas cookies with! 

Here's what I found in the box:

December Degustabox Unboxing

To start, there were no overtly Christmassy products. That was a tiny bit disappointing for me, because I love Advent Calendars, Spekulatias cookies, holiday spiced things, and dark chocolate peppermint bark. But it was probably a decision on their part to honor that not all their customers celebrate Christmas and I respect that. Especially since the products they included can all definitely be used for Christmassy things!

To start:

Wise White Cheddar Popcorn is gluten free, whole grain, air popped, and a smart snacking choice for holiday parties! The season is full of holiday parties and snacks are a must, but it's nice to keep them on the healthier side, so that we don't get sluggish and bloated as the season progresses. These are a happy medium between carrot sticks and greasy chips!

No holiday season is complete without baking, but not everyone is a baker.

These Pillsbury mixes are easy enough for everyone and I like that they're a little more natural - no colors, preservatives, or artificial flavors! That doesn't mean, of course, that buttercream frosted white cake is healthy, but it can be part of a healthy diet. 

It's great that you can use them to make cupcakes, too. It's perfect for non-bakers who want to bake something sweet to bring to a holiday party or the last day of school before break!

If you really can't be trusted in the kitchen (or don't have the time or desire to bake) you're also covered.

Chips Ahoy! Cinnamon Sugar Thins are a new crunchy cookie from our long-beloved Chips Ahoy! They're cinnamony, with delicious white chocolate chips studding them throughout, and are a great thing to bring along to a holiday party. Perfect for when you're invited to a holiday party at the last minute!

If your crowd isn't into sweets, try these whole grain crackers:

Good Thins Oat & Flax are natural crackers where whole grains are the first ingredient! They're low in sugar, free of partially hydrogenated oils (surprisingly common in salty snacks) and free of high fructose corn syrup and artificial colors and flavors.

Top them with peanut butter and a chocolate kiss, cream cheese with cranberry jam, hard cheese and cucumber, etc. for an easy party snack. They're also great plain!

If you're looking for a jam for your crackers, look no further.

Smucker's new Fruit & Honey jams, which feature fruit sweetened naturally with honey, are another delicious inclusion in this month's Degustabox. The Strawberry Jalapeno jam is delicious and I love the spicy kick!

I also love that they're sweetened with honey instead of sugar and colored with vegetable juice instead of artificial dyes.

When you're out and about, buying Christmas presents, you'll need some sustenance.

Kala Beans are high in protein - they're roasted fava beans with seasoning and they're delicious!

The Kala Beans are my hands-down favorite in this month's Degustabox.

Speaking of holiday gifts, the Loacker cookies make great gifts for foodies!



That is, if you can bear to part with them. The Coconut flavor is my favorite - creamy milk chocolate and a rich coconut filling layered with crispy cookies!



But what if all the parties, overlapping with the seasonal stress and the fact that it's flu season, end with you in bed with a sore throat?

Ricola lozenges are my favorite when I'm feeling off. I love that they're natural, I love their less-medicinal taste, and I love that these honey herb lozenges do more than just fight your current sore throat - they also support your immune system and help fight against fatigue, so you feel better going forward. It's the perfect offense and defense pairing!

I also always love honey when I'm under the weather.

Honey Acres Honey Straws come in more flavors than I knew honey could come in! I love that they're easy and clean to open - just pinch and pop, no smeary, sticky lids - and perfectly portioned for a sweet pick-me-up or to squeeze into a cup of tea!

And finally, because girl can't live on sweets and holiday cheer alone, there's an Urbane Grain Ancient Grain Blend ready-cup in every Degustabox this month!

I got Beef Burgundy, which is a three-minute pasta and protein meal that you can prepare in just three minutes with a microwave. So easy and convenient!

What are your favorite holiday treats? 

What are you looking forward to the most this holiday season?

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New Detour Simple Bar Review: Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Almond!

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There's a new Detour Simple bar flavor and it's chocolatey, nutty, and delicious!

Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Almond sound delicious and the bars don't disappoint! They're sweet and taste like candy, but their nutrition stats are quite different.

With 20g of protein, no gluten, no GMOs, and only 4g of sugar, it's the fittest candy bar you'll find. 

I like that a protein blend is the first ingredient, as it should be in a protein bar, but the list is a little long for my liking. The nutritional stats are great, but with these bars that comes at the sacrifice of all 'whole foods' ingredients. That said, the nutritional stats are still great, the bars are a better replacement for a traditional chocolate bar, and overall they get a thumbs up!

The chocolate coating is creamy and delicious and chocolatey with no weird artificial sweetener aftertaste.

The inside is chewy, like a thick layer of nougat topped with perfectly crunchy almond and a bit of caramel. I don't distinctly taste the sea salt out of the bar, but I wouldn't change a thing about the flavor. They're delicious! They're a great snack and even, in a pinch, a tasty lunch when paired with greek yogurt and a banana.

Have you tried the new Detour Simple bars?

What are your favorite protein bars?

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Review + Giveaway: GoMacro's Thrive Bars

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MacroBars are delicious and GoMacro, the company behind them, has recently released a new line of Thrive bars! 

Thrive bars are made up of a superfood ancient grain blend, are vegan, and provide plant-based protein, essential fatty acids, and prebiotic fiber.

I tried six delicious flavors - chocolate, nuts & sea salt, blueberry lavender, chocolate peanut butter chip, ginger lemon, almond apricot, and caramel coconut.

How delicious do those flavors sound? Especially chocolate, nuts & sea salt, peanut butter chocolate chip (noticing a trend?), and caramel coconut.

Thrive Bars are all USDA-certified organic, non-gmo, kosher, certified gluten-free, soy-free, and 100% vegan. There's nothing in them that you don't want in you! 

And unlike some bars, where it feels like you either have to suck it up and pay shipping fees or you have to go on an epic journey to hunt them down, Thrive Bars are available in stores at Whole Foods as of this month, October 2016. Yay!

I can definitely stand behind their front of package pitch 'Ingredients: Grown Not Made.' Works for me!

Especially because they're chewy, the right amount of sweet, and flavorful.

They're filling, hearty, chewy, and have a nice crunch from the ancient grains. I liked all the flavors, but was surprised to find that I liked the fruit flavors, like Ginger Lemon (above) a lot more than I expected! They're not boring or flat at all, likely due to the spices that they mix in.

But don't take my word for it - try them yourselves! The team at GoMacro is giving away one box of assorted Thrive bars (MSRP $26.28) to one lucky Living, Learning, Eating reader. 

Just enter below by midnight on 11/05. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you don't want to wait, get 30% off of your order of Thrive bars using the promo code Thrive30.

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How to Stay Fit on The Go

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I'm currently split between Boston and NYC for work.

There are a lot of tricky logistics that come with living between two cities - choosing which one is home with a full time apartment (Boston for me), finding a part-time apartment in the other city, managing travel and doing cost-benefit analyses for different modes of transportation, etc.

Another thing that gets trickier when you're not consistently living in one place is being healthy! You can't stock up on vitamin-packed produce when you're only going to be somewhere for two days. Getting two gym memberships generally doesn't feel worth it, especially when all the time lost in commute cuts into the time you'd usually have to work out.

But being healthy feels good and has countless benefits for wellness, productivity, happiness, etc. Here is how I stay fit with my on-the-go lifestyle!

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Review: Healthy Chef Creations Vegetarian Meal Delivery

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Healthy gourmet meals, made for you, and delivered fresh - never frozen - nationwide? To this busy girl, that sounded pretty great. 

I love cooking and baking and spending quality time with my kitchen, but sometimes life gets crazy and having a few days, or a week, where the food just magically shows up ready to eat can be a godsend. Enter Healthy Chef Creations!

Healthy Chef Creations' menu is spa-inspired and delivered weekly all across the US in individually packaged meals, snacks, and desserts that are fresh and never frozen. 

              

As long as you transfer them to your fridge immediately, they'll last for a week. It's healthy, it's fresh, and the dishes are even tempting to non-healthnuts.

They offer meal delivery programs and a la carte meals suitable for omnivores, vegetarians, vegans, and/or people on gluten-free diets. You can customize your meals accordingly! And it's always natural and organic.

Healthy Chef Creations: The Food

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Review: Halo Top Creamery Ice Cream

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Once upon a time, there was a girl who loved ice cream. 

Her very favorite ice cream of all time was Edy's Loaded Cookies & Cream Ice Cream. Her freezer was never without a tub and her wonderful mother always made sure to have some in the freezer when she came home for break from boarding school (because her mother was/is wonderful).

Then, one sad sad SAD day, Edy's discontinued their Loaded Ice Cream line. The girl experienced her first heartbreak and was inconsolable. 

But slowly, oh so slowly, she learned to love again. This time, she fell for Edy's Slow Churned Yogurt Praline Crunch. There were many delicious afternoon snacks, a toppling birthday ice cream cake she insisted on making out of her love, and infinite apples dipped into ice cream. Until...

...Edy's discontinued her love. AGAIN. The girl's faith in the ice cream industry was shattered. Alas! She was not meant to be allowed to keep a love. 

And then she met Halo Top Creamery during a leisurely stroll through a Whole Food's freezer aisle. 

Halo Top Chocolate Mocha Chip:

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Review: Hak's Paks

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When you're working full-time and juggling some pretty time-consuming side things, having time to cook healthy meals can be a challenge! 

Luckily, Haks' One Pot Cooking Sauces make it easier to juggle busy weekday schedules with cooking healthy meals at home. Eating out every night isn't cost-effective at all! 

I tried Hak's Paks in three flavors: Chipotle Bourbon, Caribbean Jerk, and Korean BBQ.

I like that the ingredients lists are pretty short and natural. No crazy chemicals or unnecessary artificial colors or flavors. All Hak's Paks are all-natural with no-GMOs, no preservatives, and no gluten.

 Cooking Fast, Easy, and Healthy:

Hak's Paks make cooking really easy. Just boil a pound of veggies, meat, fish, tofu, etc. and pour the contents of the Hak's Pak evenly over the boiled base. 

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Review: Arctic Zero's New Pints!

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I was SO bummed when, after an absolutely gorgeous labor day weekend full of lovely strolls on perfect high 60s-low 70s days, the summer decided to make a return visit and burn me up with 90-something scorcher days.

So I was SO thrilled when a surprise package from Arctic Zero showed up on my doorstep! Exactly what I wanted to help me cool down on these hot days.

The Flavors:

The original creators of healthy, high protein, low-sugar and low-fat 'ice cream' are constantly coming up with new brilliant ideas and their Chunky pints are the perfect addition to their line! 

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Back to School with Garden Lites!

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It's back to school time! My little sister is eleven years old now (how did that happen?!) and heading into her second year at her new school in Germany. She loves it! 

Though we have a later start here in the USA, my coworkers' kids are all heading back to school soon, too. Back to school is the perfect time to refocus on goals (consider it a mini New Year's Eve) and set your family up for a happy, healthy, and successful academic year. 

Garden Lites are the perfect delicious lunchbox treat, after school snack, or breakfast component. Kids (and big kids) love them and parents love that they're packed with 3g of fiber, 5g of whole grains, and vegetables at the main ingredient. 

I tried two of the three delicious muffin varieties - chocolate and blueberry oat.

Both are delicious! They're the right amount of sweat, flavorful, not heavy, and neither greasy nor dry. They're perfect!

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