Review: Nourish Snacks

Snacking is my absolute weakness. Some days, by dinner time, I realize I hadn’t had a single real meal yet, just a slew of noshing. As a mom of two, I know I’m not alone in this.

I’m also very guilty of not making the best snacking decisions. If I mange to get the baby down for a nap, while the oldest is in school, you can likely find me parked on the couch enjoying something that, for once, isn’t animated and yelling at me about where we go after Candy Bridge and Fuzzy Mountain. And what goes better with trashy reality TV and daytime talk shows? An entire bag of Doritos or a line of Oreos, of course! Or so I have often thought….

Joy Bauer, NBC’s TODAY Show Nutritionist founded Nourish Snacks, out of a need for delicious crave-worthy snacks, in correctly portioned packaging, filled with nourishing, energizing ingredients. With 25 powerful flavor combinations to choose from, there really is something for whatever you are feeling.

I was sent a small variety that included 5 different bags to try. My first reaction was that I wished they were resealable. They appeared a little big to me for one sitting! I quickly found they were just the right size, and there was always someone nearby willing to share if I dare thought otherwise.

Each bag had a nice clear window on the packaging, which gave a great introduction to which I was about to eat. The names are all super cutesy, but uber fitting for what they are comprised of. I liked the small details on the package, like the ‘Eat Happy’, across the bottom, and the ‘Open with Joy’ at the tear line.

Right away, I wanted to eat the Mr. Popular. Its actually kind of humorous that I had that one, because JUST the night before, my husband and I were a lying in bed, watching a movie with a bowl of popcorn. At the end I was digging through the seeds when my husband asked what on Earth I was doing.

Now, we’ve been together a decade, so I don’t know how we got this far without him knowing but I LOVE the half popped kernels. He thought that was completely absurd. So, HA, in his face! Must not be if there is an ENTIRE SNACK BAG filled with nothing but.

It was so perfect, every kernel was perfectly half popped to perfection. Mmm! With ingredients like Non-GMO corn, soybean or sunflower oil and sea salt, and coming in at a whopping 190 calories (granted the sodium was 130mg) I didn’t feel nearly as guilty as I would after a bag of popcorn.

The next snack I tried, was the Cinn-Sational. It is made up of cinnamon spiced apples and almonds. It was pretty good, but far from my favorite. I’m not a huge fan of the texture of dried apples, but they had a wonderful flavor. I gave most of them to my daughter while I savored in the flavored almonds. This bag was a bit lower in calories, at 150.

For breakfast one day, I decided to give the Berry’d Treasure a go. These super tasty chewy granola bites were packed with real apples, blueberries and apricots. I personally prefer crunchy granola for snacking over chewy, but this made for a wonderfully fueling breakfast on the go. This had the least calories of the ones I’ve tried with only 130.

I was actually a little afraid of the next one. Honey Bee Good is honey-roasted chickpeas. I don’t generally care for chickpeas, and only like them mashed up like hummus.

However, these actually turned out to be one of my favorites. They had a decadent sweet honey flavor and a wonderful crunch like a roasted peanut. They weren’t too hard, and nothing like a plain cooked chickpea. These had 180 calories, but a higher protein count with 7g.
 

The last one I tried, was the least enjoyed by my entire family. In fact, only enough was tasted to write this review, and the rest got tossed.

Chili’n in the Corn’r were citrus chili-roasted corn. For starters, none of us like corn nuts or similar dried corn snacks. On top of that the flavor was extremely strong, and the smell alone was enough to turn us off. It was par with the rest on calories at 150 but easily the most sodium filled with 260g.

Although there were one or two that I wasn’t crazy about, there are 20 other flavors I haven’t tried (and I WILL change that!). I think Nourish Snacks is filled with a great set of snacks, many of which are super unique, and I’m sure they will come out with even more as time goes on.

There are several collections to choose from when purchasing such as chocolate, crunchy, energizing, etc. Or you can purchase a sampler of their stock. Their collections cost $36 for 20 bags! I think that is a wonderful price, and I will be patronizing that soon. You can also buy multiple packs of one single flavor 5 for $10 or 10 for $20, coming to just $2 a pack which I think is well worth it.

Or you can join their Snack N’ Save program and, along with getting exclusive look at new snacks and promotions, receive 10% and free shipping on orders over $25

On the Nourish Snacks website, you can also find a blog where they share health conscious recipes, highlight their snacks, fun DIY’s, etc.

I was very happy with this company and their products and will very much enjoy remaining a customer.

https://www.facebook.com/nourishsnacks
www.nourishsnacks.com

Balsamic Brussels Sprouts with Prosciutto & Cherries

You most likely know Paul Stanley, if you know him at all, from his starring role in The Phantom of the Opera on the Toronto stage for six months in 1999. You might also have heard of his rock band KISS, but they are pretty obscure.

However you know of Paul Stanley, you probably don’t know him as a cook. But in recent years he took up cooking as a hobby, and has turned into quite the chef.

I recently made a Brussels Sprouts dish that he created, and it was amazing, and pretty easy. Here’s a step-by-step of how I did it.

Steamed Balsamic Brussels Sprouts with Prosciutto

Ingredients:

Brussels sprouts (about a pound is good)

Prosciutto (I used 8 ounces from the deli section)

Dried cherries (about half a bag)

Olive oil

Balsamic vinegar

Shredded Parmesan cheese

First, get fresh Brussels Sprouts if you can, not frozen. Cut off the stem ends and split them in half. (How many sprouts? Paul advises “a good amount,” and reminds us, “I don’t measure.” I used all of a one-pound bag of fresh sprouts.)

Steam the sprouts for about 10-12 minutes; meanwhile, cut the prosciutto into half-inch pieces and cook in olive oil in a skillet until they soften a bit. Remove the meat from the pan and set aside.

In the same pan, cook the steamed sprouts and cherries together for a few minutes, until the cherries are softened.

Return the prosciutto to the pan and mix everything well.

Then coat the ingredients with balsamic vinegar and top with good quality shredded Parmesan cheese.


(I added a few sliced radishes because they were on hand, but they’re not an official part of the recipe; then again, improvisation and creativity are what rock and roll is all about.)

About the  Balsamic vinegar, Paul says,  

“Then get a high quality aged balsamic vinegar — I like thick ones, not cheap average store bought — the thicker it is, the more concentrated and sweeter. Add enough to the pan to coat all ingredients. Don't be shy.” 

However, an inexpensive store-bought brand is what I used, and it was just fine.

Ideally, you should top it all with lemon zest, but I had no lemon so I skipped that. I think it would definitely have been good, but all was fine without it. 

The dish lives up to the claim that even people who think they don’t like Brussels Sprouts will like it - I was one of those people. The sprouts are hefty enough to give it a formidable presence, while the interplay of flavors provides a certain controlled chaos in the mouth. It’s savory, sweet, very slightly bitter and tangy, all at once.

Now that you've seen my pictures, watch the maestro at work:

The total time to make it was about 25 minutes, and no part of it was difficult. This would be a great side for a wide range of entrees, or even a main course now and then. Give it a try. It will make you want to rock and roll all night.

 

 

Review/Giveaway: Nuun Hydration

You might think that there is nothing more boring than water, and you are not alone.  For many of us, drinking water is a chore and something that we only do if we have to.  Most folks replace water with drinks like soda, tea, and other sugary artificial color laden sports drinks.  Not a really good choice for anyone, especially when you are working out.  Enter Nuun Hydration.  Nuun is a portable hydration tablet that gives water a little make-over.

Nuun has different hydration products to fit different needs:

Nuun Active Hydration is the electrolyte enhanced tablet that is great for keeping you hydrated while working out.  It comes in flavors like Orange, Lemon Lime, Strawberry Lemonade, Fruit Punch, Kona Cola, Lemon Tea, Tri-Berry, Grape, Tropical, Citrus Fruit, Watermelon (seasonal), and Lemonade.  This version of Nuun does contain acesulfame potassium, which is an artificial sweetener.  Just something to keep in mind when choosing a Nuun product - other varieties use stevia as a sweetener instead.

Plus for Nuun is a non-flavored tablet that contains carbs and electrolytes for rapid refueling during intense workouts.


U Natural Hydration is the natural line of electrolyte and vitamin enhanced drink tablets.  It comes in 4 flavors - Cucumber Mint, Goji Berry Green Tea, Tangerine Ginger, and Lemon Chai.  Great for less intensive activities and for folks looking for a natural calorie free sweetener - stevia.

Nuun All Day is a great vitamin enhanced drink tablet to keep you drinking the water you need, all day everyday.  It comes in flavors like Grapefruit Orange, Tangerine Lime, Blueberry Pomegranate, and Grape Raspberry.

Nuun Energy not only contains electrolytes and has no added sweetener, but also contains caffeine and B vitamins to provide an energy boost.  Its flavor choices are Cherry Limeade, Lemon-Lime, and Wild Berry.

For this review I was sent 4 flavors of Nuun Active Hydration, which is the #1 selling sports drink tablet among runners, cyclists, and other outdoor sports folks.  With Nuun Active Hydration, Nuun took the traditional sports drink and separated the electrolytes from the carbohydrates, leaving a product that keeps you hydrated, but lets you choose how to replace your carbs after working out.

My package contained 4 tubes of Nuun tablets: Watermelon, Fruit Punch, Lemonade, and Strawberry Lemonade.  Each tube contains 12 tablet and each tablet flavors 16oz of water.

The tablets are super simple to use.  Just open a 16 oz bottle of water, drop in the tablet, and wait 2 minutes for the tablet to dissolve.  The tablets are fizzy (sort of like Alka-Seltzer!) and do have a carbonated taste at first, but if you let it sit with the cap off for a few minutes, that taste (and fizz!) disperses.

All the flavors tasted pretty true to what they are supposed to be.  I had a hard time at first telling the difference between the Fruit Punch and the Watermelon, but after a couple of minutes I was able to detect the Watermelon flavor.

All the flavors are light, not sickly sweet, and the fact that they are free of artificial coloring was a huge plus too.

I used Nuun as recovery drink after my long runs and found it to be light and easier on the stomach than other sports drinks.  I had fewer headaches and muscle cramps too.  It makes a great pre-workout and during work out drink as well.

Nuun is extremely portable, the containers are small enough to drop into a purse, gym bag, or diaper bag. Great for traveling to all those sporting events and races.  You can't really go wrong with Nuun, it is a great sports drink and recovery product.  Flavors are good, it is free of sugar and artificial colors and flavors.

On the flip-side, they are a bit pricier when compared to other sports drinks, but I feel like the benefits outweigh the cost.  Also if you are wanting to avoid artificial sweeteners, than Nuun Active Hydration might not be for you since it does contains acesulfame potassium.

To purchase Nuun Hydration tablets, you can purchase directly from their website or check out their store locator for local options.

Nuun Website
Nuun on Facebook

Want to try some Nuun? Nuun is allowing us to host a giveaway of these really cool hydration tablets!

The winner of this giveaway will receive 2 tubes of Nuun in variety and flavors of their choice. This giveaway is open to readers in the USA only. The retail value is approx. $12 + shipping.

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment in this entry as instructed by the Rafflecopter, then leave the name you commented under and your email in the box in the Rafflecopter entry. (This allows us to contact you if you win!)  This will open up additional optional entries to increase your odds of winning.

This giveaway is open to US RESIDENTS ONLY
and will end just before midnight ET on 5-11-15. 

The winner will be notified by email within 24 hours after the end of the giveaway.  In order to claim the giveaway prize, the winner will need to respond within 24 hours of notification, or an alternate winner will be selected.

Good luck everyone!


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