At the end of the year I love to share a roundup of my favorite food and drink products.
I love that more and more companies continue to provide products that are good quality. This year I am sharing snacky foods, condiments, drinks + a couple kid favorite drinks.
Let’s get started.
Favorite Food and Drink Products of 2019
If you have been around long, it’s no secret to you that I love sauerkraut and we eat it daily in our home. The benefits are endless. Bubbies is a brand our family likes and their spicy one is amazing and probably my husband and I’s absolute fav!
2. Trader Joe’s Almond Milk
I used to make my own nut milks and still do sometimes but this one from Trader Joes is a game changer. Most nut milks on the market have added gums and thickeners to them, but Trader Joe’s is just almonds and water. I warm it up for about 10 seconds in the microwave and then froth it for my morning coffee.
3. Trader Joe’s Cauliflower Gnocchi
Speaking of Trader Joes, their cauliflower gnocchi is a staple in our home. My biggest advice is to not follow the instructions on the back of the bag. Here are the steps we use.
- Melt 1-2 tablespoons of butter in a skillet over medium high heat.
- Add the bag of frozen gnocchi into the pan and spread in a single layer.
- Let’s them sit undisturbed for 8 to 10 minutes to brown up.
- Give them a shake or gently scrape them off the pan to flip.
- Cook an additional 10 or so minutes, stirring occasionally.
We eat ours as is, but feel free to stir in some marinara or pesto!
I love Primal Kitchen dressings, but their ranch isn’t my favorite. It is a little runny and not a great dipper for veggies. My oldest has decided he will only eat raw veggies with ranch, so I think I may need to invest in Sir Kensington stock.
I love a good sparkling water but most have natural flavors in them, which is an ambiguous term and no one really knows what it means. Do I still drink the ‘other’ sparkling waters, sure, but I love Sound because it is flavored with extracts. For now, I have only found it available directly through their website. (I am patiently waiting for a good sparkling water in a glass bottle or carton so I can get away from cans – anyone know of any good ones?)
I love all things Simple Mills and their new granola bar released this year is no exception. Best part is it only has 8 grams added sugar instead of the 16-20 most other brands have. I don’t consider these a breakfast food, instead a special snack.
7. From the Ground Up Pretzels
I love a good pretzel and when we started eating gluten free (link son’s issues), not only did most of the gluten free pretzels taste not great, they were filled with junky ingredients. From the Ground Up is a company making crackers and pretzels from cauliflower and butternut squash. Trust me they are delicious and don’t taste like veggies. (I don’t consider them a veggie by any stretch!)
8. Stevia
I am new to the stevia game this year. I had many people ask me about it, so decided to give it a try and currently use it in my morning coffee. This is the brand I use and just by the clear flavor. I didn’t love the flavored one I tried.
Bonus: kid drinks! I am always looking for new fun drinks for my kids to have that aren’t loaded with sugar and junk. One of my kiddos likes flavored water, but the other doesn’t.
This is a drink with mostly water, but they don’t realize it because it tastes sweet like a juice box (and looks like a juice box). Great for on the go as well.
10. Nooma Chocolate Mint Electrolyte Drink
I found this company after doing some research on gatorade swaps. It drives me crazy that little kids are given gatorade after running around for 30 minutes on a soccer field, but that is just the stage we are in. This company is an electrolyte drink company but the basis is coconut water and it is flavored with stevia. The chocolate milk is my kids favorite because it tastes just. like. chocolate. milk!!
Check out the 2018 list here.
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