I’ve talked about the superior flavour of Thai bananas, this is a snack that’s really healthy, just Thai bananas baked with honey (and only 1% of the total). Because these are fresh with little preservatives (honey is itself a natural preservative, and very little can grow in it), the shelf life is very short (compared to all the other snacks out there). The banana ends up being chewy with a honey flavour. Interesting, but I think I prefer the fresh banana.
Andrews Scenic Acres is a large farm with fruit orchards and other vegetables (a very large list); you can either buy from them or pick your own; they also have animals, wagon rides, playground and other fun things for a child to do. My beautiful Bride and daughter went there during the summer, to pick strawberries. When they were there, they also picked up for me some jams made with rhubarb. This one is rhubarb strawberry; they also bought one that has raspberry. The ingredients are just rhubarb, strawberry and sugar, so very little sugar, more fruit, and no added pectin, and I like that it is rhubarb first in the ingredients (normally it would be the other way). I thought, though, that they made these jams themselves, but I see on the label “Prepared For”; hopefully, they at least used fruit from the farm. The jam itself tasted okay, not really fresh, and not a strong rhubarb or strawberry flavour.
Quark is a traditional unripened cheese in Germany, made by heating soured milk until the whey separates (the milk proteins are denatured), and then strained. It is a cheese that you can make at home. It is similar to ricotta, but is different, as ricotta is made from scalded milk. It is similar to cottage cheese, except that cottage cheese uses rennet to denature the protein. Most quarks are made from cow’s milk, this one is different in that it is made from sheep’s milk. Ewenity is a cooperative of farmers who raise sheep, they make many products, alongside just milk, from sheep’s milk, including yogurt (which my young daughter likes). This quark is quite good. I enjoy it spread on bread with a little jam, and have made other desserts from quark. The small tub cost $5, which I purchased at Riverdale Organic Farm.
This is the third of the carob bars from Goldie’s that I tried, this one has no extra flavours or additions, a plain carob bar (and similar, to me, to a plain milk chocolate bar). Like all their other carob bars, it has no hydrogenated oils, no refined sugars, no preservatives, no chocolate, cocoa or caffeine. The ingredient listing is similar to their other bars, barley malt, fractionated palm kernel oil, carob powder, soy lecithin and milk.
How does it taste? Good, the carob is the center piece here, and I can see now what different flavour there was in the Hazelnut Praline (the hazelnuts). I don’t know how you can really make a dark carob version, whether that would work, adding more carob. Would be interesting, though. I think I would buy this bar again.
I’ve enjoyed this tea from Traditional Medicinals for a long while now, for the most part in order to get a jolt of caffeine on those mornings after late nights (and now with a toddler, there are more of those). Yerba Mate is similar to green tea in its range of antioxidants and health benefits, it also has theobromine (what is found in chocolate, what gives it its “kick”). I’ve read now that it has a darker side, down in South America, where they consume yerba mate in large quantities, more than a liter a day, there is a larger risk for certain cancers. The taste of yerba mate is supposed to be smoky, woody, bitter, but I find that the lemony flavour of this (which comes from West Indian lemongrass leaf and lemon myrtle leaf) combines and mutes the earthiness of the yerba mate. I quite enjoy the flavour of this tea (and they have a version that uses ginger, which I don’t like as much, which is odd, as I enjoy ginger), and find it does provide energy (given that it has about the same amount of caffeine as green tea), without any side effects of drinking too much coffee or soda. And, I only need to drink one large cup with one tea bag when I feel the need.
Traditional Medicinals makes many different teas, mostly Organic, and, according to the box, they purchase and manufacture their herbs sustainably, buying from cooperatives of herb farmers, supporting Organic farmers, and using 100% Wind Power to offset their energy use. This one features rose hips, something that I see in many caffeine-free herbal teas, and in one of my favourite, but I have never tried them on their own (and the rosehip tea I like so much, I’ve discovered has the flavour of roselle). I must say, I like the flavour of this tea, fruity, tart and sweet at the same time, a pleasant tasting tea that tastes fresh too (some of the teas have been sitting on the shelf for a long while, and have lost a little, a lot, of their flavour). The tea itself is light red when brewed. This one cost $4, but I’ve seen it for much more.
Now I have another tea to enjoy.
I’ve tried the Belgian chocolatier ’s Pistachio, and didn’t really care for, but I do like passionfruit, and this bar was on sale. Cote D’Or uses cacao beans from West Africa and South American to make its bars. The ingredient listing indicates that it just meets the requirements of a dark chocolate bar; sugar, unsweetened chocolate, palm and/or coconut oil, cocoa butter, modified milk ingredients, passionfruit juice concentrate, cocoa powder, banana puree, soy lecithin, natural and artificial flavours.
How does it taste? I was surprised that it was not a filled chocolate, like a jam, rather it was more like a dense mousse (likely the passionfruit-flavoured banana), though pleasantly surprised, as I find those types of bars too sweet. The passionfruit flavour was there but fairly subtle, and ultimately, I didn’t care for this bar, as there was some crunchy bits that I couldn’t identify as coming from the ingredients. I would not buy this bar again.
This is the last of the O.N.E. drinks that I tried. Acai is a new fruit superfood that is finding its way into a number of drinks, both health-oriented and even commercial ones; these Acai berries are wild-crafted from the Amazon Rainforest. Acerola cherries are an excellent source of Vitamin C. Drinking it, the liquid has a fair amount of brownish-red pulp, a little off-putting, and the drink tasted somewhat sour (from the cherries, no doubt). Overall, I would say this was my least favourite of the O.N.E. drinks, my favourite being the Cashew Fruit.
The second of three carob bars I tried (carob is made from the fruit of the locust tree) had hazelnut praline as its flavour. Goldie’s has been making carob bars for 25 years. Their bars contain no preservatives, refined sugars or hydrogenated oils. The ingredient listing looks like a milk chocolate bar, barley malt, fractionated palm kernel oil, carob powder, hazelnuts and soy lecithin.
How does it taste? Still good, I like carob in taste and smell, but the flavour of hazelnut was totally lost in this carob (it almost seems to me that I got a carob bar instead of one with hazelnuts). I liked their Banana better. I would buy this bar again.
I’ve tried Santa Cruz’s Lemon Lime, Raspberry Lemonade and Mango Lemonade, this one features lime juice. Well, mostly lime, it also has white grape juice and lemon juice. It’s pleasant tasting, fairly good Organic with better ingredients drink, and around $2 for the near 1L bottle.
