CAO-POW
I mentioned yesterday that I received a package from Navitas Naturals. It was a delightful little package indeed- I am super pumped to try all these super foods.
Said package contained the Trail Power (tasted for the first time yesterday and the bag is now one bite away from being empty- oh yea, it’s that good) chia seeds!!, goji berries, maca powdered, sweetened cacao nibs!!, and cacao powder, plus a sweet little water bottle.
All of the above foods are considered super foods and have a ton of great benefits. Rather than bore you with one long post on the benefits of each. I’ll elaborate on each as I use them.
So, Nativas Naturals touts that they are Power Foods for the Modern Lifestyle. With this in mind I decided to add a little power to my morning routine by having a cao-pow smoothie for breakfast.
This was one of the best smoothies I have had in a long time- I absolutely loved the texture that the cacao nibs added.
Cao-pow Cacao Smoothie
- 1 frozen banana
- ¾ cup frozen blueberries
- 1 Tbsp. nut butter of your choice
- 1 Tbsp. cacao powder
- 1 Tbsp. cacao nibs
- 3 cubes of ice
- ¾ cup almond milk
Blend all ingredients in a high-powdered blender until smooth. Pour into your favorite glass and enjoy!
Cacao plants produce cacao (pronounced Ka-Kow) beans, the source for all chocolate and cocoa products. We all know that the darker a chocolate is, the better it is for you! Well cacao powder and cacao nibs are straight from the source, darker than dark, and have great nutritional benefits. These benefits include a rich supply of antioxidants, flavanols – which increase blood flow to the brain and offer other circulatory health benefits, dietary fiber, magnesium and essential minerals.
And incase you were wondering what the difference between cocoa and cacao is, because I certainly was.
The official name of the chocolate tree is Theobroma cacao but, some experts say, over the years the word “cacao” became Anglicized, and probably through error, people started replacing it with the word “cocoa”. I’m pretty sure most of us grew up saying cocoa bean, not cacao bean – I know I did. But the raw foodies out there and super food companies alike are going back to the roots and calling it the proper name which is cacao.
Cacao Powder Nutrition Facts: Needless to say, the cacao powder is good for you, but it’s also tasty. Perfect for smoothies, desserts, sauces, and chocolate drinks. I wouldn’t recommend using it plain because it is bitter-sweet and definitely isn’t as sweet as cocoa powder. (Notice the 0 sugar grams below)
If you are interested in purchasing Navitas Naturals product check out their website or the store locator.
I’ll be featuring the other super foods soon, but for now, get excited, it’s almost Friday. Woot Woot!
Ooooh – great package of samples! I’m uber jealous!
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Wow, those all look so yummy and healthy!
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OOOOOOH love that smoothie combination.
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that smoothie looks so good!
thanks for pointing out how to say cacao– i’ve been saying it right but was always wondering if that’s how it was pronounced
have a great day!
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NICE! THAT IS AN AWESOME AMOUNT OF LOOT! I’m especially digging the sigg-esque water bottle!
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What a great package!! Thanks for the cacao powder info
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Those are some neat products. I’ll check out the site .
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Thanks for the great review and I love your smoothie recipe! You’ve also been posted on the Navitas Naturals Facebook Page. Come join
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=34103421092&ref=ts#/group.php?gid=34103421092&ref=ts
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So fun! Love the navitas page…looks great
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im so jealous of your samples too! I’ve been drying to try cacao!!
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That is one awesome looking smoothie. Really, how can you go wrong with cacao though?
Even the cacao fruit is quite tasty – I was lucky enough to try it when I was in Ecuador.
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