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Salted Mixed Nut Clusters from Natural Noshings

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NOTE FROM ORGANIC EATER: I reblogged this post from the Natural Noshings blog. Her recipes are often unique and easy, and I always enjoy her creativity, even if I don’t make a particular recipe. This is one of our new family favorite treats . Add chia seeds for more nutrition. Add chocolate chips for more yumminess.  FYI: we used half honey and half molasses, and it gives them a rich caramel flavor! My son doesn’t even like nuts, and he eats these things up!

naturalnoshing's avatarNatural Noshing

Salted Mixed Nut Clusters

Another no-bake treat coming your way! If you can’t tell, I’m ALL about nuts and seeds these days. I can’t get enough almonds, walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, pistachios, peanuts and pepitas…high calorie or not, nuts have been my go-to snack, baking ingredient and add-in around my kitchen.

I found myself adding a handful of walnuts, sesame seeds and sunflower seeds to a huge bowl of cooked quinoa that was also sprinkled with nutritional yeast. Yep, that was my quick lunch one day. No judging, please…it’s better than eating 12 of these treats for lunch with a glass of almond milk, right?

I guess this recipe could be called “salted mixed nut candy” or even a brittle, but the word “cluster” makes me giggle so I went with that.

I even enjoyed these goodies roughly chopped over a salad of grilled chicken, mixed greens, raspberries and blue cheese…

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Natural Products Expo East 2012 Recap

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Christmas. Kid in a candy shop. Heaven.

That’s what it felt like for me at the Natural Products Expo East Trade Show last week in Baltimore, Maryland! In the words of Stephanie Quilao, I found “my people”, and it was my happy place just being with so many like-minded peeps. Personally, I loved every minute of it, and from a business/blogger standpoint, it was hugely successful. I connected with many bloggers, food brokers, exhibitors, and people who love the Natural Products Industry. Like my friend and industry broker, Donna,  stated in an InstaGram pic, it really is “an industry that’s changing lives”, and for that I am extremely grateful to have been a part. So here’s how it went down…

The hubs and I loaded the minivan and headed to Baltimore on Wednesday afternoon, and 8+ hours later we arrived. Now, you may be thinking what a long and terrible drive, but NO! As parents of two wonderful but chatty children, we cherished the 8 hours of adult conversation and quiet!! That alone made the trip worth it!:) We enjoyed every minute of the long drive (except for the construction on 85 near Charlotte. Yuck. Nobody likes that mess).  Baltimore is a beautiful city, the weather was perfect, and our hotel was across the street from Camden Yard! Score! My husband was thrilled, even though there were no games being played in it. He was happy to just be in its presence. The hotel had a baseball theme which also made him happy he took off work to come with me to this! Thanks Cramzee! You are the best manager, promoter, social media expert, sample holder, and card passer-outer I’ve ever had!!

So the next 3 days were spent strolling the Expo floors, perusing booths of natural foods and products, along with meeting bloggers and connecting with those in the industry. Free samples everywhere we turned! We basically ate all day, every day. Nice. (also ensured cramzee will be interested in going again next year).  The face-to-face meet ups were the best! I met Nutrition Diva, the Healthy Apple,  AllergicGirl, The Gonzolution and several on staff at New Hope 360. (Village Green Network was there too, along with FoodBabe and   Living Maxwell, but I didn’t get to meet them!) Meeting the entrepreneurs and creators of new products (i.e. moms and dads who wanted better for their kids) was so inspiring! It was all the things I love to do under one roof: eat, talk, and take pictures of healthy stuff! It was literally 3 days of heaven for me. I know I’m where I’m supposed to be and doing what I’ve been called to do because it was a natural fit (pun intended) in every way. I was a little tired by the end of day 3, but extremely fulfilled!

I found several stand-out products that I will share with you in the next post. I’m inclined to show you every picture (like a proud mama), but I will try hard to narrow it down to a Top 10 List. I also noticed some industry trends I want to share with you, but again, I’ll save that for another post. I need to get to the pictures now….

Where it all began. On the first aisle. Day One. Can you see the anticipation on my face??!! I did make it to every aisle, but could not stop at every booth, sadly.

Baseball themed hotel = happy hubby! (and I loved the Kandinsky, who is one of my favorites!)

OMG, I met the Nutrition Diva. She was lovely. I was a little star struck.

The beautiful Donna, natural products broker and friend, who is just as lovely on the inside as she is in this picture!

I met one of the creators and founders of Sea Snax. I was so thrilled to tell her how MUCH my kids love her creation! Sea Snax was an Innovative Product Award Winner this year!

Happy to meet The Gonzolution, and put a face with those beautiful pictures he posts! Meeting at the Navitas Naturals booth is always a good thing!

Ran into The Healthy Apple unexpectedly and it was so fun!

If you want to see pictures of most of the Expo, you can go to the #Expoeast hashtag on Twitter or Instagram to see every picture that was taken there with that hashtag. You can also visit Natural Products Expo on Facebook. Here is the link to Expo East if you want more details from their press release. Also, Living Maxwell already has a Top 5 Organics list from Expo East, and they’re five that  I didn’t even see at the show (to give you some idea how massive this thing is!)

Thanks for letting me share my trip with you! Have you ever been to Expo East or Expo West in California? I hear that one is WAY bigger! If you know of any other trade shows, etc. I should attend, please let me know. Hope some of you can join me next year in Baltimore!

Encouraging Health,

Organic Eater

Hashtag Envy

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I don’t fit in. I’m not a vegan, vegetarian, raw foodist, or paleo. I’m not a Traditional Foods expert either (I don’t even know how to make my own yogurt for heavens sake!).  I LOVE all of those diets/lifestyles for different reasons, I just don’t fit in to only one of them 100%. The closest title I might fit is “real food” foodie, I suppose. But I do eat what some consider “processed food” (think protein bars and powders, not Doritos, here people), so I’m not a real food purist either.  I’m an organic eater, obviously, but my blog goes into detail about how even that‘s not always my top priority in every food selection.

I do not diet. I did for 12 weeks while detoxing, but as soon as that contest was over, I figured out how to make food and exercise fit my real life, for the rest of my life. This is a lifestyle I choose to embrace and encourage others to do the same, but it’s hard to name it exactly….

I’ve been a little bummed, not fitting in with a particular food crowd, trying to navigate exactly where I fit in. I wanna #hashtag that identifies me a little better. Haha! And my problem was solved this week! I listened to a podcast at Underground Wellness (the guy who created “Just Eat Real Food”), and on there someone (forgive me for not researching and giving the credit) mentioned what will be my new mantra in eating: a LOW CRAP diet! Yes, that suits me just fine. I like it. It incorporates all my food beliefs into one simple phrase and makes me smile every time I hear it! I’m still Organic Eater (I love my social media name!), I just so resonated with this “low crap diet” thing! That broadly describes the way I try to live: low crap, real food, mostly organic and/or pesticide free, pastured animal products, traditional, and FOR ME it’s gotta be low sugar and grain because that stuff makes me FEEL like crap! So, I encourage you to find out what makes you feel like crap, and get that out of your life!! If you’re not sure, start with grains, dairy, fast food, processed foods, or sugar. Start eliminating one at a time and see how it goes. Experiment with your own lowcrap diet and see what works for you, just give it a couple weeks (at least), for each elimination and really pay attention to how your body is reacting. It could get worse before it gets better. There are lots of elimination diets out there, so contact me if you want some direction getting started.

So, how about you? What would you say your eating style would be named? Are you a purist at whatever food lifestyle you choose, or do you put an “-ish” on the end of whatever name you give yourself? Thanks for letting me rant a little, and now you will understand why you’ll see #lowcrapdiet on mysocial media posts from now on! 🙂 Enjoy!

Encouraging Health and low crap,

Organic Eater

Food Babe Investigates: Chipotle vs. Moe’s – 100 Days of Real Food

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Today I read a very enlightening article on Chipotle vs. Moe’s. Even after reading all this sad news on ingredients,  I would still put them in a “better” category (everything on a good-better-best spectrum) compared to fast food, with Chipotle ahead of Moe’s. We should all be AWARE of what we’re eating, even if we don’t agree on which ingredients may be harmful (I did agree with her assessment, btw). And restaurants should definitely make it EASY to know ingredients in their food. That seems like a no-brainer to me. So, I’m passing this along to you guys, so you can be aware of the potential problems with some (ok, many) of the ingredients used at restaurants like these. Do not be discouraged. If you are trying to improve/maintain your health, and you are in a situation like I was recently where this was the only choice for lunch, just cut the (fake/processed/preservative filled) meat out and eat a salad. (I have no problem with pasture raised healthy meats) See if they’ll add fresh avocado if you need some healthy fats. Ask for olive oil and vinegar instead of using their dressings. Use salsa as a dressing. There are some things you can do that will get you by, until you can get to some really great food (usually at home). Salads are almost always a healthier route than highly processed oils and/or fake meat. Some will cry “moderation”, but everyone’s definition of moderation is different, so make sure your definition of moderation truly supports & helps you reach your health goals.  Now, here’s the link:

Food Babe Investigates: Chipotle vs. Moe’s – 100 Days of Real Food.

And here’s my encouragement: eat at home (or from home) as much as you can!  When it’s not possible, educate yourself on what you can do to make the best alternate choices, ie. read my blog, so you’ll know!! Do the best you can, whenever you can, where you are. Heard that today somewhere….

PS: I would like to give Chipotle credit for making some efforts at some level in this whole healthy food thing. Kudos for any attempt at all. Let’s all work hard to do better!

Encouraging Health,

OrganicEater

Kombucha recipe from Anna’s Favorite Things

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Note from OrganicEater: If you are in the Charlotte area, the blog post above is by a Charlotte blogger, so you can get cultures from her! If you follow my Instagram account, you know I love me some kombucha. Reed’s Kombucha is my very favorite store bought brand! I am so excited to have found a site that will teach me how to make kombucha (and other healthy fermented goodies). I’m posting this to share the goodness with you guys too!! Let me know if you try this!

Here are a couple others that have great kombucha making information and videos:

Kombuchakamp.com

Culturesforhealth.com

thehealthyhomeeconomist.com and she is on YouTube with videos that are helpful

Get your kombucha brewin’,

OrganicEater

Anna's Kefir Grains's avatarAnna's Favorite Things

I love ferments!  Our gut has anywhere from 600-1000 different microbials working to keep us healthy.   We tend to do a lot of things that negatively impact these microbials – diet is one and antibiotics is another.   I don’t do antibiotics any more and am grateful that my youngest (12) has never had them and my oldest (14) hasn’t had them since we got her out of the hospital!!

But many of us have taken them over the years and they effect our gut balance for YEARS, some any say generations as we pass our gut issues on to our babies.

One thing we can do to help is to consume a variety of ferments.  There is NO need for expensive store bought probiotics.  Not only are they unnecessary and expensive but really don’t do the job.   Most store bought probiotics only have a few strains and that just…

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