Garcinia Cambogia

Best protein bars to eat and a couple to skip

We have an online shop and perhaps you know this already. Last week I mentioned, to a friend, “we have those in our shop” and she said, “shop, since when do you have a Foodtrainers’ shop?” Carolyn and I can add that to the list of under promoted, overthought work-related items but I’ll tell you why we have a shop. It’s not really to make money (I recently read the best way to make money is to do something for free for 10 years….almost there). It’s because some of our “Foodtrainers’ Favorites” are small, difficult to find brands. There’s enough to stress about. We don’t need you annoyed with us because you cannot find the protein bar we recommended.

Speaking of bars, our Monthly Morsels newsletter today featured our top 10 nutrition bars. We didn’t delve too much into flavor specifics but my current loves are the strawberry coconut Yes Bar, peanut butter RX Bar and the chai by Yawp.I will also admit, over the course of a month, I made a good dent in the cranberry Perfect Bars they sent over. And my whole family approved the Clif nut butter filled bars that Carolyn and I brought home from California (Clif presented and had an outdoor yoga class too).

Years ago a frozen yogurt company (hint has a color in its name) sent me a cease and desist letter following a blog post. For this reason, I’m gun-shy about calling brands out I dislike. There are a couple of popular bars I don’t recommend. I don’t like soy protein in bars and so Luna is off our list (we told Clif this). And there’s a very well promoted bar starting with a “Q” with inferior ingredients.

Humor us, check out our shop. Taste test our top 10, there’s a lot of variety and goodness there.

What are your favorite nutrition bars? Any you’d like our opinion of?

Picking the perfect protein powder, give peas a chance

‘Tis smoothie season and whether you’re at the smoothie shop (we love our Juice Gen) or picking a protein for home blending there are a whole lotta choices. Well and Good recently asked for my opinion of protein powder newcomer pea protein.

Protein Pros

In general, increasing protein can increase metabolism and decrease levels of a hunger hormone ghrelin, So, ”go pro” and don’t be too concerned about it. How much protein? I think safe to go up to 1 gram per pound of body weight. So, a 150-pound person can consume 150 grams pro/day. Trust me, I don’t think you don’t have to count grams but some people need metrics.

Why Peas?

We hear about whey, soy (yuck) and even hemp protein powders but let’s give some props to pea protein. It’s a non-dairy, soy free, vegan protein made from yellow pea. Pea protein is a great option or those with allergies or food sensitivities. And rest assured, pea powder doesn’t take like peas or split pea soup.

Picking a Protein:

Look on your labels for pea isolates and organic if possible. Some of the best brands are Swanson, Sun Warrior blend (not 100% pea) and Naked Pea.

So expand your protein horizons, different proteins have different benefit. And if you need more "smooth" advice check out our 7 Steps to Smoothie Success video .

Healthy Travel- Dos and Don’ts for Airport and Airplane eating

Since I’ve been up since 4:30, (I kind of like Euro jetlag) and it’s fresh in my mind, I thought I’d offer up my two cents on airplane travel with examples from my most recent trip to Amsterdam.

Outbound 8pm flight

I’ll admit, I felt virtuous as I prepped for this trip. With no kids to pack for, it was an opportunity for selfish self-care. I planned to take Le Pain Quotidien’s frittatas (they boxed them up with sliced avocado) and cut veggies to consume pre flight. Best-laid plans…while sitting in traffic on the way to JFK, I realized my Eat Play Rose’ bag with frittatas and crudité had stayed home. I called my (yes my babysitter, kids are away) babysitter and she popped it all in the freezer. I still bitched and moaned for the remaining hour to the airport. Marc finally snapped at me, “you’ll live” I wasn’t so sure.

At the airport, I had to forage. Not only was I meal-less but the long-weekend traffic had delayed us. I ended up with a very red onion heavy tuna with capers and olives (first class sodium) and a small container of Caprese salad I scarfed these at the gate, bringing tuna and onions on a flight is an aroma offense I wasn’t willing to commit.

Once on board, I chugged a bottle of water, put on noise cancelling headphones, and a cashmere scarf, and airplane socks. I know my next move flies in the face of typical nutrition advice (oh well) but when the drink cart comes around I get a scotch and a glass of water. I take magnesium and Zyflamend nighttime (anti inflammatory with valerian root), use a disposable toothbrush and go to sleep.

I have a strict no airplane food rule (just like Anthony Bordain) so no dinner or carb-inental breakfast they offered. I’ll have more water and coffee before landing.

Return flight 10:40am

The way back our flight was during the day, which can be tricky. It’s easier to avoid eating when you’re asleep. We always try to have a hearty meal before take off. Luckily, we found omelets with ham and green smoothies. Once on the plane I had water whenever it was offered, Wakaya turmeric tea and New Primal jerky halfway through the flight. My husband had a Yes Bar and jerky.

We both felt energized having kept our eating lighter. Once home, we went for a bike ride and early dinner to acclimate.

What’s your airplane eating routine? Any road rules to share?

Foodtrainers' Fancy Food Show Finds

Yesterday was our annual summer trip to the Fancy Food show. Basically, the Javitz Center is filled with a million food booths, some healthier than others. I have to give us a little credit and say we have become pros at the food fair thing. We didn’t eat ourselves into complete food comas or sample any more ice cream. Plus, we hit our 10k steps right away. It was great to see many Foodtrainers’ friends – Banza, Organic LivingSuperfoods (love the new look) and Grady’s cold brew . As always, we were on the hunt for new products too. Here are a few Fancy faves we’ll fill you in on, others we’re keeping a secret for our September Squeeze program and the Foodtrainers’ shop.

Super Sauces: do you believe in love at first bite? Filfil garlic hot sauce was my first taste of the day and my favorite. With over 20 cloves of garlic per bottle you may not want to consume this before a date or important meeting, but I promise you’ll fall in love with this spicy new Brooklyn based brand. We are also all about Primal Kitchen’s paleo Avo-mayo which now comes in chipotle lime And you might know The New Primal from their super spicy jerky but they have a new, clean bbq sauce line – sweetener from pineapple juice which also helps tenderize meat before you BBQ.

Alternative flours: Almond, cassava and chickpea oh my. We love seeing these gluten free alternatives in wraps, snacks and yup even pizza. Our faves go to Cappello’s pizza and pasta, Siete cassava wraps and Simple Mills crackers.

the far right had basil, wow

Chocolate: we are so happy that chocolate isn’t going anywhere - we are forever Eating Evolved and Hu faithful (Hu assured us single serves are coming) but the beauties from Moonstruck and the drinking chocolate from Treehouse Chocolate caught our eyes and tastebuds too.

There wasn’t a ton of new kombucha but we did dig Revive, which uses alternatives to black tea for some fermenting… coffee kombucha anyone? That was Lauren’s pick of the day and we also loved their white tea with cucumber and mint.

We have some ideas for summer travel snacks and our next September Squeeze. Make sure you are signed up for our newsletter to stay in the loop. Have a wonderful long weekend!

Which of the items mentioned are you most curious about? What do you see as the current trends in healthy eating?

Easy, Cold-brewed Iced Tea, No Boiling Required

In a session last week, a client mentioned it was too hot to drink warm tea. Even though I like hot coffee hot, regardless of weather, I agreed regarding tea. I suggested she make iced tea and she looked at me confused “do you just chill hot tea, how do you make iced tea?” As I explained to her what I outlined below I realized iced tea probably baffles a lot of people. We have to fix that.

To answer her question, I don’t like making iced tea from hot tea. It tends to have a burnt or harsh taste. Instead, I make it cold-brewed in the fridge.

All you need:

Large Mason jar (or as large as you have) or any container with a lid

Tea- loose or in bags, in the photo I used Bellocq's Green Mint tea

Water

Strainer

Optional: stevia

Add tea to the jar (I use 2 tablespoons of loose tea in a 32 ounce jar) but 1 teaspoon loose tea or 1 bag per six ounces of water is a good ratio. I gravitate toward loose tea as I generally have a lot to use up. And I find the flavor is better with loose tea but use what you have.

Add water, filtered water if you have a water filter (or a top-notch bottled water like Core).

Cover the jar. This is why I use a jar, many people use a pitcher but I’m weird about fridge scents and prefer a closed container. Also, I can take the Mason jar to work. Again…use what you have.

I steep the tea overnight, it needs at least 4 hours of brewing time.

When it’s done, strain it. I put a strainer over a bowl and pour the tea in. Discard the used tea that’s in the strainer, rinse Mason jar if any tea is stuck to it and pour iced tea back into the jar.

If I’m making a green tea, I’ll add stevia. Otherwise add sliced lime or lemons, fresh mint or just drink as is. Easy tea-sy.

Ice Cream Diet

You may know, from our newsletter this morning, that we had a Foodtrainers’ ice cream crawl. We went around the city taste testing. Sure, we tried to balance things out by walking from place to place (next year we’re going to run) but we know how that math works. We summarized our favorite pops and shops in the newsletter but we had so much information it didn’t all fit.

Raspberry Nice Cream

This recipe may not seem groundbreaking on paper but my sons (including the teenager), babysitter and husband all loved this.

Ingredients:

2 bananas on the riper side

1 container organic raspberries

couple tablespoons water (if needed)

and stevia optional (I used NuStevia)

Freeze bananas and a container (6oz) of organic raspberries.

Add bananas to food processor or high-powered blender (I used Vitamix).

At first they will splinter and you may feel it’s not working, keep going

Blend until creamy.

Add berries to the blender, you may need a tablespoon or two of water and I added a few drops of new stevia.

If using a Vitamix you need the plunger thingy and a little elbow grease.

Makes 2 nice-sized servings. You can freeze leftovers but you’ll need to thaw a bit to get smooth/soft-serve texture.

Konery

When we were at Victory Garden (home of our ice cream champion Sesame Mucho Miso Sundae) we were introduced to the Konery’s gluten-free cones. As someone who is gluten free, ice cream cones have been a thing of the past. We tried their gluten-free cardamom cone…yum. Konery sells boxes of the glutenfree goodies.

I scream, you scream, we are definitely screaming after all the “healthier” ice cream we’ve tasted…but enjoyed every bite.

What are your favorite healthy-ish frozen treats?