New LB Flavs, Artisana, and Raw Demonstrations

It’s Monday again, but no worries because I have some exciting info to share with you all!

First off, imagine how thrilled I was to find this box of LARABARS at my doorstep this week.

I’ve always been a big LARABAR fan, with my favorite flavors being Coconut Cream Pie, Apple Pie, and Peanut Butter Cookie. I ended up having to search immensely to finally taste the Coconut Cream Pie flavor when it first came out last fall. But let me tell you, it was love at first bite.

Once I got word that LARABAR was launching three new flavors, via twitter of course-  I knew I needed to try them! The three new flava flavs are Peanut Butter and Jelly, Tropical Fruit Tart, and German Chocolate Cake and my package included 2 of the 3!!

There are also a few flavors that I haven’t ever gotten a chance to try before included, so I can’t wait to try them all out!! I owe a huge thank you to Lewis over at LARABAR for sending them over.

Another package that I was super excited to receive arrived while I was away- A batch of Artisana raw nut butters (and 1 oil) from Tristan at Premier Organics.

He hooked me up by sending over ample sample jars- which is perfect for getting a taste of their large variety of products. Besides the fact that all of their products are gluten, peanut, dairy free and kosher, the best part is the unique nut butter flavors. You better believe I’m super pumped to try the pecan, walnut, macadamia, and cashew butters. Oh, and lets not forget the Cacao Bliss!

And, just in case you were wondering who the heck Artisana is and why you haven’t seen their products in your local grocery store? It’s a small company operating out of Berkeley, CA and I’m pretty certain they primarily sell their products online. If you are interested, here’s a list of the online retailers.

Premier Organics/Artisana is self described on their website as:

Creating unique, delicious, healthy, gourmet food is a work of passion for us, blending together nuts and seeds like the vibrant colors of an artist’s palette. Handmade with care, our organic live foods are crafted using a special low heat process that always preserves the life-essential fatty acids, proteins, vitamins, and enzymes. Artisana: Raw life-energy from Sun to Plant to Body.

I dug right in to these cute little sample jars. My first ever experience with walnut butter couldn’t have gone any smoother. This walnut butter smeared on cinnamon raisin walnut bread was simply a match made in heaven. I love walnuts and the the nut flavor was very pronounced. A delicious way to start my Sunday.

With the toast I had a purple smoothie, made with 1% milk instead of almond milk. I had been on an Almond Breeze unsweetened vanilla almond Milk kick lately, but I thought I should switch it up a little. Especially since cow’s milk has more protein than the almond milk.

I hung around the house for the majority of the day, hit up Kroger, and then made my way to a local yoga studio for a new to me class- Core Flow. I wanted to try this class because my core is a key area I need to strengthen. I realized this after working with a personal trainer who noticed that my back arched greatly when I did lower ab exercises. It was a challenging class and made my body work both physically and mentally. Needless to say, shavasana felt amazing.

In other news, I have some important info for all the Raw Foodies (or even folks who are slightly interested), especially those of you in or nearby Richmond, VA. There are two Raw Food cooking demonstrations by raw food chefs and educators, Jackie & Gideon Graff happening this weekend in Richmond!!

As most of you know I don’t eat a raw diet (and I don’t plan to) but I am interested in it and I like eating whole, natural foods (raw foods included) so I thought this would be a great learning experience for me. Unfortunately I won’t be able to make it to the Saturday session, but I will definitely be attending and blogging about Sunday’s Caribbean Extravaganza. I can’t wait!! And, I’m hoping it will feel like an extension of my Caribbean vacation.

Raw Food Meal and Presentation with a Tex Mex Theme

Saturday, August 22, 2009 from 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM (ET)

Good Food Grocery

1312 Gaskins Road (Gaskins Road & Gayton Road)

Richmond, VA 23233

Saturday’s class will be a two hour presentation of the raw food lifestyle. Jackie and Gideon will give an overview of Raw Food Nutrition; how cooking affects foods, raw vegan sources of proteins, vitamins, minerals, and essential fatty acids. There will also be a raw food demonstration and a meal with a Tex Mex theme including Tomato Salsa, Nacho Flax Chips,

Sunflower and Walnut Taco, South of the Border Cole Slaw, Strawberry Cobbler. After preparation all foods will be served buffet style. Pricing and registration details.

Raw Food Caribbean Extravaganza, Half day class

Sunday, August 23, 2009 1:00PM – 5:00PM

The Home of Rob Murphy

9400 Country Way Road

Glen Allen, VA 23060

This is a four hour presentation of the raw food lifestyle. On the menu: Ginger Beer, Banana Bread, Jerk Nutloaf, Jerk Sauce, Plantains, Sweet Potato and Coconut Pudding, Okra and Tomatoes, Bahama Avocado Salad, Caribbean Cole Slaw, Caribbean Corn Fritters,Tropical Tahini Dressing, and Green Salad – Served Buffet Style. Pricing and registration details.

Not close to Richmond? You might be in luck, the Raw Food Tour is heading to Maryland and North Carolina as well.

If you plan on attending the Richmond classes be sure to let me know. I would love to meet some readers or bloggers in the area!

Tagged as: almond butter, Artisana, Cinnamon walnut raisin bread, LARABAR, Premier Organics, Raw Food demos, richmond, va