2 Product Reviews: Antioxidant Smoothies & Fruit Leathers

So I recently found out that being a food blogger gives you free license to either ask for free stuff, and occasionally get offered free stuff. What a wonderful blogger world this is!

POM Wonderful recently sent me some cute little 8 oz. bottles of their 100% pomegranate juice. Tart and delicious, I don't usually buy them because they can be rather expensive, but they are loaded with good-for-you antioxidants. My only concern is the packaging. Although very cute and identifiable, it seems like a a bit wasteful to buy small containers of this stuff, if you can afford to buy one large one. Just my eco-thoughts.

Anway, since it is now a searing 96 degrees here in Davis, what better way to utilize this beautiful elixir in a nice frosty smoothy! ...Just add some more antioxidant-rich fruits to kick some free-radical ass!

Blend together:
8 oz. POM 100% pomegranate juice
1/2 C. fresh blackberries
1/2 C. fresh blueberries
1/4 C. strawberries
1/4 C. red seedless grapes
1 red apple (cored, and skin on)
1 large banana
1/2 C. vanilla soy milk
1 1/2 - 2 C. crushed ice

makes one pitcher

Mmmmmm......refreshing!

Now, what could bring you back to childhood faster than fruit roll-ups? The "healthy" snack that our moms got for us, when we begged for candy bars and pixie sticks. Back then, it was like injecting straight sugar into our veins- oh, what a rush! To avoid our bug-eyed hyperness, mom would opt for the fruit, and we would sigh heavily for a moment of unappreciative borderline tantrum, but then jump in happily with our new food toy. We unrolled it, played with it, tore it up into strips, poked holes in it, re-rolled it, sucked on it, and finally ate it with glee.

Mom just didn't realize that those fruit roll-ups probably had just as much sugar as, well.. sugar.

Well, now there's a truly healthier alternative from Chef Robert's All Natural Snacks, home of Matt's Munchies Fruit Leathers. An "adult" version, but still fun. And not all that added sugar and artificial flavoring!

Chef Roberts sent me a sample pack of the following flavors:
Apple Pie, Choco Nana, Ginger Zest, Banana, Mango, and Island Mango.

Here's the review: Favorites in my household (from most liked to least liked) are Island Mango, Mango, Banana, Apple Pie, Choco Nana, and Ginger Zest.

Surprisingly, we didn't like the Choco Nana as much as we expected, but I thought they were all pretty good, and not surprisingly- the 12 packs were gone in a few days, with maybe a couple partials left.

I thought the ingredients were spectacular with the organic fruits, and would definitely recommend these snacks over their sugary and artificial counterparts!

My only wish is that they were a bit easier to peel, and maybe in larger sheets to play with ;)