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Feels good to brag about Bragg! Review by HYL Sister: Aida

The Bragg family have been on the forefront  of  live food and health since 1912. They have many wonderful quality products like dressings, olive oils, drinks and more.  The two particular products that have been a staple in my home forever are Bragg Liquid Aminos and Bragg Organic Apple Cider Vinegar. The Aminos I use in place of salt and soy sauce and the apple cider vinegar I use everywhere… from putting it in my bath to salads!

The Bragg Aminos are deliciously tasty they are dark brown and can be easily sprayed on as a seasoning or used in cooking.  It is also great to add into home-made dressings. My son sprays it on pasta, rice, or proteins for a tasty kick.  Though there is sodium, it is not MSG. Gluten free and made from certified NON-GMO soy beans it is the basis of a protein, containing 16 amino acids.

The apple cider vinegar is made from organic apples and is not pasteurized thus it contains the “mother”.  The “mother” is a mucky thick substance at the bottom of the bottle.  Don’t worry when you see this, it is not a bad batch! It is actually healthy to consume.  This apple cider vinegar taste far exceeds the Heinz vinegar you commonly get.  That stuff actually bites the taste buds and leaves your mouth dry. The Bragg’s Vinegar is softer and full of real apple flavor.

The health benefits of apple cider vinegar and amino acids have long been known.  These days when we are all cutting out processed foods, unhealthy fats and salt it is great to have these products to ramp up the taste of whatever you are eating; after all, flavor is the variety and zest of life.

Amino
www.bragg.com

No to Kefir, hello to Kevita / Review by HYL Sister: Siga

The label on a bottle of Kevita sparkling probiotic beverage calls it a “superdrink.” It also says it gives you “delicious vitality”™, and even love. Strong claims for 450 ml bottle of reverse osmosis water laced with four strains of living probiotics.

My flavor in favor is the pale, gently perfumed Coconut (you can see the sediment from the fruit speckling the bottom of the glass, so swirl before you chug). Not too sweet, it’s lightly effervescent (far subtler than kombucha), with a tropical hit of coconut water. The yogurt tones of the probiotics give it an almost creamy texture, which may satisfy the cravings of those with a dairy allergy. All the ingredients are organic, non-GMO, and vegan; the Coconut variety is also only 5 calories per serving. The only negative is that you’ll drink it too fast the first time you try it. Learn to savor the moment.

The health benefits of probiotics are well-known, and a full dose of Kevita leaves your stomach feeling like it’s had an hour of insightful personal Health Yoga Life coaching. Your whole digestive system experiences a happy glow. So it’s delicious and vital. And the love? What better way to give your stomach, actually your whole body, some love than treating it to a bottle of good health?! Superdrink, indeed.

Kevita
http://kevita.com/product-family/

Ah-mazing Grass! Review by HYL Sister: Zara

Chocolate in its foundational form per se, is seemingly not so bad for us. Instead, it is all the additives (oils, dehydrated milk solids, salt, or even hydrogenated fats-double gross!) which turn cocoa into various chocolate snacks that are bad for us.

Normally when I need a chocolate fix I reach for a sliver of extra dark, at least 85% chocolate, or even better some raw chocolate. And it normally makes me feel happy to skip dessert. But then there are the times when all I want is a thick, chocolate milkshake to bring me back to the days of sitting on a chair when my feet still didn’t reach the floor – enjoying a glass of Ovaltine with grandma. But now that I am tall enough to reach the cupboards I have found a brilliant thing to stock them with… Amazing Grass Green Superfood. Chocolate plus a whole lot more!

For someone who can’t (or for those who choose not to) tolerate dairy, it is the creamy, frothy answer to a brilliantly healthy ‘milkshake’.  Packed with super greens, detox and digestive enzymes I call it my SuperShake! When pressed for time, I like the fact I can take in some micro-nutrients quickly to feel more balanced. Plus, I can’t always get my hands on wheat/barley grass or the load of other goodies in this powder.

Anyone who owns a Vitamixer,  or ‘juices’ with other equipment, knows the importance of a fresh cup of green stuff; but getting two pounds of kale, parsley, apples and spirulina into an 8 oz glass, and getting it to taste tolerable, frankly takes a bit of time. Amazing Grass products are the answer for when you don’t have time to buy, wash, blitz and clean.

Your diet doesn’t have to suffer on the days when you have one arm through your jacket, a toothbrush precariously in your mouth, and the directions of where you were meant to be 10 minutes ago evaporate. An empty water bottle, some soy, oat or whatever milk you like, a scoop of this green-chocolaty goodness and you’re off! Energizing and light I love it between meals when I feel a bit peckish but don’t want too many calories, like before yoga class or a shiatsu. The best is that the taste is smooth because it mixes up really easily. It makes me feel hydrated, nourished, and very simply: great!

The Amazing Grass team seem to also understand it is the times when we are not near our Vitamixer that we need a substitute, as they make these convenient sachets, which I swear by when travelling.

Evidently there are heaps of other flavours. Evidently some people don’t like chocolate. Yeah…um…loss for words.

Amazing Grass

The perfect peanut butter! Review by HYL Sister: Vyda

There are a ton of reasons why I am thankful for this past season’s amazing snow fall in New England:  1. It got me back to the mountains of my childhood, where I learned to ski (although the snow was so good this year that I hardly remember a season like this in New England!)  2.  The snow lasted well into April which gave me the chance to go to Jay Peak with my three sisters and my niece and nephew! We had a ball and some great spring skiing! And  3. I am most thankful for the snow because it introduced me to no joke, the WORLD’S GREATEST PEANUT BUTTER!  You read right folks.  Who could possibly know that the most delicious peanut butter on the planet hails from Vermont?

We were up in Vermont getting some food at Jay Peak’s little provisions store, when my sister Siga insisted we get some peanut butter.  Considering we were only up on the mountain for 3 days, the peanut butter didn’t seem so essential to me, but she remembered my  mom always insisting that the two type 1 diabetics in the family (one is me!) always need an easy ready- to- go snack, especially when active,  with just the right combination of protein, carbohydrate and fat.  Peanut butter is the perfect way to get this combo.   We had left Skippy long ago, and always buy only freshly ground peanut butter, or at least a brand whose list of ingredients only includes peanuts and salt. It passed the ‘ingredient list test’,  had the fun “Welcome to Vermont” sign, and the words Chunky, so my sister and I figured it passed enough criteria to be bought.

Well the first morning for breakfast, we toasted up  some bread and made sandwiches with the Vermont Peanut Butter Company’s chunky style peanut butter.  Suddenly my staple breakfast of two eggs in the morning had a serious competitor.  This peanut butter is like no other peanut butter and is better tasting than freshly ground peanut butter. It has the perfect chunky consistency (we are talking whole peanuts) and the hint of sea salt pretty much makes this stuff addictive.   The peanut butter was suddenly making an appearance on bananas, rice crackers, even a tortilla chip.  Basically anything that could be a vehicle for more peanut butter.  And then there it was… the moment, when the knife scraped the last little but of scrumptiousness out of the jar.  Panic in the kitchen!

So I quickly went and googled the peanut butter from Vermont, and I was so excited to see the cool folks and story behind the brand.   And then was amazed to see that they have 10 unbelievably delicious sounding flavors, like “Good Karma” with peanuts and dark chocolate, “Bee Nut Butter” peanuts and raw honey (considering I can satisfy a cookie craving with nut butter and raw honey; these guys know flavor combos J), and the limited edition “Champlain Cherry” which I will now patiently await for October’s arrival.

Secretly, I dream that the Vermont Peanut Butter folks send me one of each flavor to sample.  But until then, I will be ordering my fix from their easy to navigate website.  Trust me, you should too!


Drats!Jar

Krunch’n’Munch / Review by HYL Sister: Vyda

KRUNCH!  Krunch! Krunch!  I am a nacho loving girl.  Tortilla chips, cheese, black beans, and just the right amount of spicy salsa.  However nachos should not be the staple of one’s diet.   There is a Whole Foods between my Boston yoga studio and where I live.  Convenient to say the least, but also can be dangerous on the wallet.  Needless to say I am there a ton.  Some days I run for the staple salad bar lunch, other days I walk in and linger around hoping to be hit with some new inspiration for a yet untried veg-friendly meal.

It was on one of those saunters, that I saw Kale Krunch.  It said “Raw! Vegan! Gluten Free!”  And then the words “Quite Cheezy” just jumped out at me.   Anything with the word “Cheezy” in the description gets me every time. Famished as I just had taught a 90-minute sweat inducing yoga class,   I was not even out the door when I ripped into the bag.  Not half way home, the last little green leaf had been swallowed up.  A new addiction began.

KALE KRUNCH touts itself as “Nature’s Green Supersnack”.  I just say it is a Super SNACK!  We all know eating more leafy greens is good for us, but little did we know kale and a little nutritional yeast could be this darn delicious.  Be forewarned this stuff is seriously habit forming.  Don’t just buy one bag, throw two in the cart. You’ll thank me later!

Krunch and Munch and krunch and…KALE KRUNCH!!

Krunch and munch and krunch....KALE KRUNCH