Recently I was in West London for a couple of weeks, and I couldn’t take any of my raw staples with me. I decided to have faith that I would find what I needed and lo, it turned out that Planet Organic was just round the corner from where I was staying. I knew Planet Organic have begun stocking Raw Living products so I wasted no time in exploring the store. And there it was, a whole section of shiny packets with the familiar purple labels, and quite a few other branded goodies too. It was like bumping into old friends in a foreign country. Actually it was more exciting than that, I felt like Dorothy in a sort of raw food Oz – chia and cacao and maca, oh my!
One of the things people tend to find most difficult with going raw is adjusting to weeding out the biscuits and crisps that are for many people the epicentre of their everyday diet! At the beginning of transitioning to cleaner foods, it can often be tricky finding a substitute for that afternoon snack that is satisfying and healthy. So when I discovered Inspirals Crackits, I was delighted. I have tried a lot of crackers in my time and I have to say that I’m not a huge fan of dehydrated food. Yes, I have a dehydrator and I do use it occasionally but I prefer to eat the majority of my foods fresh and living.
I wasn’t sure what to expect with this pesto because even pre-raw I was never keen on ready-made pasta sauce out of a jar. Being vegan, Seggiano pesto doesn’t contain parmesan and it doesn’t contain garlic either (I thought they would put some in to make up for the lack of parmesan.) So it was a delightful surprise to discover how intensely tasty this stuff is. It has a deep, almost meaty punch of mellow flavour, in fact to me it reminds me of Bolognese sauce. I don’t know how the makers manage to get so much flavour into such a simple set of ingredients. I imagine the ingredients are seriously high quality.
sun & seed hemp butter
The only other kinds of nut or seed butter I have up until now – apart from peanut butter before I went raw – were raw almond butter and raw tahini. I like both but they are comparatively coarse in texture, certainly not very buttery. This hemp seed butter, on the other hand, has an amazing silky, muscular texture that half runs, half dollops off the spoon. It tastes not unsimilar to peanut butter only not so salty. I keep finding new ways to use it, not just in dips and spreads but in sweet concoctions too. Hemp packs a big nutritional punch and so this butter is a creamy and tasty way to get my Omega 3 and everything else that hemp delivers. Besides which, it’s greenish in colour and I can’t help thinking that anything green is good to eat. With the possible exception of bogies and caterpillars.
I go on a lot about alkaline and acidic foods purely because a diet that is highly acidic makes us more vulnerable to developing chronic disease. Acidic foods promote inflammation within the body and we know that inflammation is the root cause of most chronic disease such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, arthritis at al. Eating a highly acidic diet also allows our intestinal bacteria to get out of whack. You’ve seen those adverts that promote drinking those sugar-laden drinks that help to restore healthy gut flora right? Well, there’s a healthier way to do it. Eat cultured veggies!
I like hemp. I like hemp A LOT.
And we all know that hemp is pretty fantastic for us, full of protein and those essential fatty acids.
Despite this, I’ve never really loved hemp butter, always finding it a bit grainy and not that exciting.
So, I was a little bit dubious before trying this one. This changed as soon as I took the lid off. Creamy and smooth, this organic, slow ground hemp butter drips beautifully off your spoon.
It’s amazingly versatile, too! You can spread it on your raw breads and crackers, make into sauces for salads or blend into smoothies. It’s also wonderful by the spoonful, of course…this is peanut butter for the super being, I think!
Wasabi & Wheatgrass Kale Chips from Inspiral
As snack foods go, these are undoubtedly one of the healthiest and most delicious. Kale chips have that uniquely yummy quality to them that makes you feel like you’re doing something naughty by eating them even when you’re not. With Kale chips it’s easy to eat your way through the equivalent of a bag of kale without batting an eyelid.
As Emma attested in her Kale Chip review here they’re not something you can just put down and walk away from and my advice is, if you want to share them, buy double.
I admit it, I’m a kale crisp addict. A kalecrispaholic if you will. I defy anybody to try kale crisps and not instantly become hooked on the crunchy moreish kaley crispy flavoursome gorgeous snack. In fact, when I make these myself, they never make it off the dehydrator tray! I just keep going back for more and more and more even before they’re properly dehydrated. You get the picture, I’m a complete addict!
Now for the embarrasing part. Whenever I blog or review items I always, always have photos. Here is my photo of the kale crisps I tried:
Wow! I’ll start off by saying these are the most bursting with flavour nuts I’ve ever had. Gone Nuts come in a variety of flavours including Marinara Almond, Sesame Teriyaki, Sweet & Spicy, Cilantro Lime and Rosemary Garlic. I tried the Rosemary Garlic flavour which is soaked and sprouted almonds and pistachio nuts marinaded in a luscious rosemary and garlic combo and gently air dried to create a super crunchy zingy snack.
I don’t normally snack on nuts but now I know why, they never compare to this kind of flavoursome treat! These are so moreish, scrummy for snacking on and a great size to carry with you on the go. I truly, truly loved these nuts. As you can see from my pic, there weren’t many left after I opened the packet – plus I had to hide them from the husband!
