Eden Organics

A big thank you to Lisa from Eden Organics for sending me some great products from their line of foods to review!

One of my favorites that she sent were the Toasted Nori Krinkles:

Toasted Nori Krinkles

I never realized how nutritionally dense these sea vegetables are!  They’re VERY low in calories (only 10 cals in 1/2 cup!) and one serving gives you 392mg of Omega-3, 76mg of Omega-6, 90mg of potassium, 1g of fiber, and 10% of your daily Vitamin C!  The Nori Krinkles were yummy right out of the bag as snack food!  They were crunchy like kale chips, and kind of reminded me of them taste wise too!  They can also be used to create Miso soup in place of wakame!  I loved the natural saltiness.  They were better than munching on potato chips! 

Black Bean & Quinoa

Another product that I was infatuated with by Eden Organics, was the Black Bean & Quinoa Chili that Lisa sent.  This flavorful blend of organic shitake mushrooms, organic black beans, organic whole grain quinoa, in an organic spiced tomato sauce was so completely savory, I could’ve easily eaten the whole can at once.  It was pretty calorie dense though, at 190 calories per 1 cup serving.  I’m very pleased to report that just 1 cup supplies 1.5g of fat (0g saturated),  520mg of potassium, 6g of fiber, and 10 whopping grams of protein! 

 It was perfect for a quick meal when I didn’t have much time to prep, but it tasted homemade and kept me full for hours!   Eden Organics was told by the can maker, Ball Corporation, tells us that Eden is the only U.S. food maker to date to use these BPA free cans, which they’ve been doing since April 1999!  This stuff would be EXCELLENT over some organic tortilla chips ;)  I’d really love to try the Pinto Bean & Spelt Chili or the Kidney Bean & Kamut Chili now!

Pinto Beans

Ya know, the more I think about it, the more I realize that this company is soley responsible for my bean addiction lately!  I’ve been obsessed with them since I was sent this package!   The Pinto Beans were another winner in my eyes.  I used them straight from the can, heated with a little Sugar Free Syrup to make “mock baked beans”.  Ya know, the fattening kind with brown sugar, butter, and bacon in?  Let me tell ya, I could’ve sworn that’s what I was eating with the syrup mixed in…only it was MUCH healthier for me!

Check out the stats!:

A great source of fiber and protein!

I found it really interesting that they use kombu sea vegetable when cooking them!  You can’t taste it in the flavor, but its natural glutamic acid softens and enhances the flavor of beans.  Another thing that I thought was pretty awesome is that all of the water that cooks the beans is purified at Eden Organics!  

Make sure you check out the recipe section of their website too! There are some amazing concoctions on there!  You can even order your favorite products online!

Check out that awesome texture!!

Ode To Jonagolds & Jan.

Goooooooood

Morning!

The foodie highlight of my weekend was by far this brown paper bag of jewels:

It's the little things...

 Thanks so much, Jan!  You are THE BEST!

Jan is a great friend of the family and she knows how in love I am with this type of apple, but I haven’t had time to make it to the farm stand where they sell them!  It’s only about 1/2 hour away from my house, but I never seem to be headed that way and planned on making a special trip eventually, but never got around to it!  Saturday, she text me to let me know she picked me up a bag!  You have no idea how excited I was. 

Friday…

After work, I headed home to get my biking on after snacking on this awesome asian pear that I bought at market:

Asian Pear

Quite frankly, I just grabbed it because I thought it was pretty nifty and must be tasty if it’s carefully sitting in a foam protector.  Haha.  It looked like a “delicacy”.  It was pretty good too!  Very crisp, sweet, & juicy.  It was like a poor man’s Jonagold apple Just doesn’t measure up.

Then, I biked and biked and biked some more (burning 600 calories).  For the first time in a long time, I had no plans on Friday night.  My parents went to dinner & had a meeting with some friends and possible business partners and my little sister was at the high school girls’ basketball game (which I contemplated going to, but decided against it).  I just enjoyed a quiet night in.  Took a bubble bath, drank some red wine, and relaxed.  I didn’t actually sit down and eat a meal for dinner, I just picked and snacked all night on things like:

 

Pumpkin Fluff= canned pumpkin + cool whip free.

Cream Cheese Toast = whole wheat bread slice + Sonoma Jack's Cheese wedge + splenda

Baked Beans bowl = pinto beans + sugar free syrup + cinnamon

Random eats?  I know!  But whatever.  It’s what I was hungry for!  Lots of brown, too? Weird.

Saturday…

Saturday morning started with a quick and easy breakfast for pre-yoga workout fuel.  A slice of whole wheat toast with melted Sonoma Jack’s and splenda on a classy paper towel:

 

yummm.

Class began at 8:30, and was pretty relaxing.  It wasn’t too intense this week, but we did a lot of back bending and stretching which was good for me.  I was prepared and had packed a bag full of running wear for after class so I could leave straight from there for my morning run.  I absolutely LOVE Saturday mornings because I feel like I’ve gotten my exercise in by the time it’s about noon!  I actually ran from the church where our yoga class is, to my best friends’ parents house, about 1 mile outside of town.  She and her husband stayed over last night because they live about an hour away, and went with her parents to a Hershey Bears’ game the night before.  I totally surprised her when I showed up on her doorstep!  I visited for awhile, drank some water, and got back “on the road again…”  

When I finally got home, after a nice 6 miles, I still had some energy, so I biked for another 1/2 hour before I got a shower.  I figured I might as well!  I was already nice and sweaty glistening.  After my shower, I whipped up a quick lunch of:

 

Egg beaters, baby spinach, mushrooms, minced onion, broccoli, and carrots.

and a side of:

Farmer's market honeydewww

It wasn’t very ripe or sweet, which was a let down, but I ate it anyway…

Then, I took some clothes that I never wear anymore to the Consignment store a few miles from my town and then grocery shopping where I picked up the following three goods:

Black Cherry Sugar Free Jello

Jumbo Lump Crab Meat

Swiss Diet Sweet Tea

Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze

Check out the size of these apples!  Told ya they were amaayyyyzing.

When I got home from the store, I ate one as a snack.  I helped my Mom prep some foods for Sunday, since my Dad’s side of the family would be visiting from Lancaster for lunch and dinner after church.  Then, around 6 I got a phone call from my bestie, who was getting ready to head back to her apt. an hour away, but wanted to know if I could meet up for dinner!  I said yes, immediately

We went to Wayne’s, a local restaurant.  It was so good to spend time with her!  She got:

Mozarella Sticks

&

 

Cream of Crab Soup

And I ordered:

Steamed shrimp with a bare baked potato & veggies.

I later added ketchup & mustard to the tater

After dinner, they headed back to their place, I went to mine, and hung out with the family for the rest of the night.  Very low key…

Hope you all had a great Friday & Saturday!

Also!  Teri Jo at Amazing Grass has been so generous as to offer Freckled Foodie readers a 15% discount off of their total order!  Just use coupon code “healthy123” at checkout!!