I've talked a bit about my desire for more sustainable living (baby steps people!) and a HUGE way to do that is eating more veggies, and less animal based products. I was incredibly excited to attend "Livin On the Veg" a blogger Event hosted by Sprouts with Dietician Suzanne Farrel.
A month into my Maternity leave, it was the perfect excuse to leave Leo at home with Chad and get out to see some familiar faces. We took a tour through a local Denver store and learned about some awesome plant-based products Sprouts carries, including a few that I'm already obsessed with.
Suzanne's motto for the tour was to think about eating as a "Dance with Plants," and boy has that stuck! Throughout the day you want to get in a wide variety of plants, picking different colors, and nutrients.
The biggest way to get all your veggies and fruits is to ... well eat a lot of veggies and fruits. And while that's the best way to get all your nutritional needs met, here are three of my favorite plant based snack that I learned about on our tour that you can purchase at Sprouts. Because if you're anything like me, it's snacking that tends to lean towards the more unhealthy side.
Image Via Boars Head
Chocolate Hummus
I was a chocoholic during pregnancy and I still haven't shook the craving. I had heard of chocolate hummus before, always with a "ewwww" gut reaction. Well we tried it and I am officially converted. It's creamy and chocolatey and I LOVE it on fresh apples, strawberries or bananas. It does contain sugar, but as it's chick pea based, there are way more nutrients than a scoop of ice-cream. Since the tour, when I get more chocolate cravings than necessary in a day, a few spoonfuls of the dark chocolate hummus does the trick!
Image Via Sprouts
Almond Dip
Chips and dip have been an easy snack recently while my urge to cook and energy levels have been low. Everyone loves a good salsa, but I like mixing it up, and they have a variety of almond-based sauces that are to die for and are a great alternative to queso. They are creamy and have a ton of amazing flavor and spice (if you're looking for it). My favorite combination is spicy almond dip with Sprouts Brand Plantain Chips!
Image via Ripple
Pea Protein Milk
Has anyone else seen the billboards for these around Denver? It was not something on my list of things to try until this tour. And it's INCREDIBLY delicious. I don't usually use protein powder, so this is a great way for me to get extra protein into my smoothies without overdoing it. I add in chocolate Ripple with Sprouts frozen Spinach, frozen strawberries, and almond butter and flax from their bulk aisle.
So next time you're shopping those grocery aisle, think of your meal as a "Dance with plants" and see where that takes you!
