Regardless of lifestyle, diet, or allergen concerns, when you read the federal government reports thousands of workers in meat processing plants have been infected with the coronavirus, and in the double digits have died, it makes you think twice about eating meat right now.
Small changes can have a big impact. By cutting out meat even just one day a week promotes better health, improves animal welfare, and supports a more sustainable world.
I was approached by 20 different food product companies making plant-forward, vegetarian, vegan and healthier food options for people to enjoy while #SaferAtHome. Here is a list of my favorites:
- Mother Raw is line of delicious, consciously crafted, and plant-powered dressings, marinades, dips and condiments. All Mother Raw products are made with nutrient rich ingredients. Mother Raw has options to suit everyone. Some of my favorites include the Vegan Queso for breakfast burritos, Caesar Dressing for salads, French Onion Dip for crudités, and their newest Lemon Tahini Dressing. Click on this link for recipes to help you create new dishes with Mother Raw products. Order online to be delivered to your door.
2. Beanfields Vegan Cracklins takes snacking to a crunchy new level. Beanfields mastered the texture of a fried cracklin, but in a baked, vegan crackling recipe. Each serving is packed with 3g of fiber and 4g of protein, and every bite is gluten-free, grain free, allergen free, and Kosher. They are made of beans, cassava flour and chickpea protein. Available now at Beanfields.com in flavors such as, Spicy Nacho, White Cheddar, Ranch and Korean BBQ.
3. SMART SWEETS are made with soluble plant-based fibers and have only 3g of sugar per serving. The founder of Smart Sweets uses fruit and vegetable juices such as pumpkin, carrot, and spirulina from natural algae for the vibrant colors in the Fruity Gummy Bears (87% less sugar), Sweet Fish (similar to Swedish Fish, yet with 92% less sugar), Sweet Chews (flavors include strawberry, mango and watermelon), Peach Rings (88% less sugar), and Sour Blast Buddies (91% less sugar). These sweet treats are gluten-free, and available at Whole Foods, Target, GNC, Kroger, Gelson’s and The Vitamin Shop.
4. BOBO’S are delicious, especially the whole grain coconut oat bars! The 100% organic, gluten-free, vegan, and certified Non-GMO. The Boulder, CO company makes their treats soy and dairy free. Flavors include Bobo’s original oat, coconut, lemon poppyseed and chocolate chip oat bars. They come in bites too, including peanut butter chocolate chip bites and sell a strawberry toaster pastry (healthier Pop-Tarts). New to Bobo’s product line are their nut butter plant-protein bars offer 11-12g of protein. There are chocolate chip peanut butter, almond butter, cherry almond butter with hemp seeds and banana peanut butter bars. Get 20% off by including the CODE: BOBOSMOM.
5. Pulp Pantry makes healthier grain-freetortilla chips that are vegetable based and made from fresh, upcycled pressed greens. These chips provide a good source of fiber in every serving, and offer the same crunch as regular tortilla chips. The Jalapeño Lime Pulp Chips packs the heat and is made with organic celery and kale fiber offering 4 to 5 grams of fiber per serving, or a full day’s serving of fiber in each bag. The gluten-free, plant-based and non-GMO flavors include Sea Salt, Barbecue and Salt ’n’ Vinegar. To order and have a box sent to your door, go to https://pulppantry.com.
6. KARMA NUTS – Recognized as the “Best New Snack” at the world’s largest NaturalProducts show, Expo West, Karma Nuts Wrapped® cashews have comparable anti-oxidative activity to blueberries and twice the fiber of a traditional cashew. The nutritionally-dense Wrapped® cashew offers a delightful crunch and has the skin of the nut intact. The skin offers for nutritional value. Their “skin-less” cashews are air roasted, not roasted in oil. All are non-GMO project verified, vegan, and have kosher ingredients. Their flavors include Cocoa dusted, Golden Tumeric, Toasted Coconut, Cinnamon Wrapped, Lightly Salted, Sea Salted, Sweet Matcha, Lime Twist, and spicy Peri-Peri. Sign up for Karma Nuts newsletter and receive 15% off your first order. Just use code 15KRM94568. Click here to see where to buy or order Karma Nuts online. They are available in 8 oz. jars and 1.5 oz. snack pouch.
7. Alpha Foods is a Glendale, CA based company now selling their delicious plant-protein Crispy Chik’n Patties at COSTCO Wholesale and online. Each patty is breaded and when heated in the oven is crispy on the outside and tender inside. It tastes similar to Chick-fil-A sandwich, but is vegan, non GMO, dairy free and offers 10g of protein and 6g of fat. Eat alone or on a soft bun with mustard, tomato, avocado and lettuce. Alpha Foods offers vegan recipes on their website. Other Alpha products include The Alpha Burrito and Breakfast Burrito, Pot Pie, Nugget, Strips, Pizza, Tamale, Burger, Patty and Crumble.
8. Outer Aisle Cauliflower has been the rage for grain-free, vegan, gluten-free and vegetarian dietary needs. PLANTPOWER pizza crusts and sandwich thins are made with over 60% fresh cauliflower (that equals one serving of vegetable per piece). The pizza crust and sandwich thins do have a little parmesan cheese to enhance the flavors. Just top with sauce, veggies and vegan cheese. It can also be used as a healthier wrap or tortilla for a quesadilla and breakfast burrito. The sandwich thins can be used as a bread substitute. Top with guacamole, hummus, olive oil or your favorite spread. They are gluten-free, low carb and calorie, and made with no flour, no soy and no artificial ingredients. Find them at Gelson’s, Whole Foods, Bristol Farms, and Lassens Natural Foods.
9. Cleveland Kraut offers crunchy sauerkraut packed with flavor and gut-healthy probiotics. It’s a great topping for veggie burgers, salads, savory breakfast bowls. Fermented foods are regularly consumed within European and Asian cultures, so Cleveland Kraut has been making it for American consumers. Add to you healthier diet for gut-health benefits from millions of probiotics. Their Beet Red is made with red cabbage, fresh fermented beets and carrots. This earthy and tart Kraut is great with tofu dogs, and salads. Order online or find the Kruat, Hail Caesar Dressing and Marinades at Whole Foods. Click here for Culinary Crafted recipes include Sweet Beet Tofu Wrap, salads and tacos.
10. ZENB takes vegetable parts that are typically thrown away – the stem, seeds and skin, and turns them into healthy snack bites and sticks. They add some diced almond, agave or date syrup, almond powder, cinnamon, nutmeg or coriander, sea salt and black pepper for an extra kick of flavor. Go online to get two free ZENB products or try a sampler box with four products for $1.99 (Save $12), exclusive to first-time buyer: Click here for Box of 2 (normally $7.99) for FREE $0. Click here to receive a box of 4 products (normally $13.99) for $1.99. Flavors include Corn, red bell pepper, pumpkin, carrot, beet, edamame and sweet potato.
11. RightRice offers nutritious ancient grains that are a blend of over 90% protein-rich, fibrous vegetables: lentils (loaded with plant-based protein and fiber, plus iron and other vitamins and minerals, chickpeas (packed with protein and fiber to increase satiety, boost digestion), and peas (pea fiber provides an ideal source of fiber with added protein) to elevate rice (provides essential amino acids for a complete protein, enhances taste and texture). This union offers twice the protein, 5 times the fiber, and 25% less net carbs than white rice. 170 Calories. 8g Protein. 5g Fiber. 28-29g Net Carbs per serving. Flavors include Spanish, lemon pepper, garlic herb, Thai curry, fried rice, cilantro lime and harvest pilaf. They now have a rice medley with ancient grains that includes harvest pilaf with garden sweet carrots, sea salt, pepper, and pumpkin seeds. My favorite cajun spice offers bold and savory New Orleans flavors, ideal with tofu and veggies. Ready in just 12 minutes this gluten free, non-GMO, vegan, kosher, low glycemic index, low sugar content, and free of egg, soy, peanut and tree nuts.
12. Life’s Grape grown on vines in California, Selma Pete vine-dried grapes are a cross between three delicious grape varieties. They are picked when they are dried hanging on the vine, resulting with a delicate, sweeter, meatier, juicier nutritious snack. Easy to digest, these vine-dried grapes offer fiber that allows the slow release of sugar to prevent a quick insulin spike. The USDA ranks vine-dried grapes among the top antioxidant foods. If you don’t like raisins, give Life’s Grape a try, especially the ones dipped in dark chocolate and peanut butter. Find them on Amazon, Raley’s Family of Fine Stores, Cost Plus World Market and https://www.lifesgrape.com.
13. Sweet Nothings is like a smoothie in a 3.5 oz serving, that is a fruit-based frozen ready-to-eat treat made from organic fruits (strawberry, banana, blueberries and dates), vegetables (beets) nuts (cashews and peanuts), and seeds (chia and flax). These cold treats are vegan, and made with no added sugar, gums, and stabilizers. It’s an ideal mid-morning snack, mid-afternoon pick-me-up, and guilt-free dessert after dinner under 100 calories. Flavors include chocolate, peanut butter, strawberry, coffee, and blueberry beet.
14. Good Good offers low sugar jams and syrups that are plant based, dairy and gluten free. Good Good started in 2015 in the small Nordic country of Iceland, where three friends were concerned about the amount of sugar in popular food items. Since two of the friends had close relatives with type 2 diabetes, they wanted to make eating easier for those who have to limit their sugar intake. They started making products using Stevia and acquired a small production facility in Iceland to produce Stevia drops and as a tabletop sweetener. With an excess of our erythritol and stevia blend Sweet Like Sugar, on stock, they came up with an idea make jam to prevent food waste, and their most popular line of Good Good products -the Keto-friendly spreads took off. Their spreads come in blueberry, strawberry, raspberry, and apricot, and they even offer a maple syrup.
15. Highkey are low carb, Keto approved, gluten-free snacks. HighKey’s Chocolate Chip Mini Cookies are the perfect anytime sweet snack for when the sweet craving hits. Their website has a Keto Calendar that calculates your BMR & TDEE. They offer a variety of mini cookies, baking mixes, hot cereal, protein cereal, and granola. They use premium ingredients like almond flour and monk fruit extract to make their snacks healthier than traditional snacks. What is Monk Fruit? Known as Luo Han Guo, grows natively in China and Thailand and is believed to have been used Traditional Chinese Medicine for hundreds of years. Monk Fruit is a plant-based sweetener that is nearly 200 times sweeter than sugar, and has zero calories and zero grams of sugar, so it won’t spike your blood sugar levels. Order online here.
16. After receiving 4th & Heart Ghee, I may never cook with butter again. This clarified butter from grass fed cows is soft and offers a more intense buttery flavor (ideal to melt and pour on top of freshly popped popcorn. People who have a casein allergy (facial swelling or skin reactions) or intolerance to the milk sugar (gas, bloating, diarrhea, indigestion, and skin troubles) can enjoy this, because both casein protein and lactose are removed. Ghee also has a high smoke point at 485 degrees, while butter is at 350 degrees. This makes Ghee ideal for pan-frying or cooking basically anything in place of butter, coconut oil, olive oil, or avocado oil. Ghee contains fat-soluble vitamin A – a powerful antioxidant that supports immunity and skin health. Also vitamin E – repairs damaged skin, fights free radicals, and promotes heart health, and Vitamin K – important in bone health and normal blood clotting/wound healing. Go online to see all of 4th & Heart’s products and receive 15% off your first purchase by signing up for their newsletter. Their website offers some great recipes.
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Walking into the luxury Beverly Wilshire, a Four Seasons Resort in Beverly Hills, I admired the exquisite flowers on a center table before attending an invitation-only special Wellness Month event at the hotel’s rooftop Secret Rose Garden.
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