Expo East Best and Worst Food Products: Part 2

These are a few of my highlight products from Expo East in Baltimore. I hope you have a chance to snag these in a store near you! Let me know if you've tried any, all, or your thoughts on each. Best Drink:

Metro Mint: I’ve heard the good word on this product from clients, and now I get it. This calorie free drink comes in varying degrees of minty-ness when paired with another flavor. I tried the orange mint version (middle of the road mint) and thought it was a great drink for between meals.  One of the more unusual flavors, chocolate mint, was frankly a little weird to me, but I understand the flavor profile.

Best New Snack Idea:

Sea Snax: This baked nori snack won the Expo’s most innovative product award. I made a version of these at home to pair with popcorn. Sea Snax come in flavors like sea sprinkles (sweet nori) and wasabi nori sheets. Each pack was 16 calories, with most of the calories from the olive oil used to bake the product. I definitely approve of the short ingredients list and crisp texture.

Best Chip:

Famous Falafel Chips: I’m sorry I didn’t go buy these in the store on the way home because I was hip checking my husband out of the way for the last one in the bag. Falafel chips are perfectly crisped with a ton of spices. Paired with hummus and veggie sticks, they would make a balanced and healthy snack.  They have 3 grams of fiber and protein per serving with only 123 calories. And if you're gluten intolerant? They're gluten free!

Best Good -‘Ol Snack Reinvented:

Angie's Kettle Corn/ Boom Chicka Pop: Did you know popcorn is a whole grain? Angie's created a sweet kettle corn, but also a slim snack called Boom Chicka Pop that won the best packaging award at Expo East. I actually met and talked with Angie and I'm glad I did. Angie is a registered nurse who worked in a psych unit with eating disorder patients. She wanted to create a healthy, calorie conscious snack that did NOT perpetuate disordered eating mentalities. Names like 'skinny pop' were out of the question, so Boom Chicka Pop made the cut instead. How is it different than other popcorn? Angie's selected a species of corn that had more POP per kernel equating to less calories per handful.

Best Sweetner:

Pyure Organic Stevia: Let me start my saying how much I despise most stevia sweeteners. The straight up strange aftertaste was not acceptable in sweeteners I tried before. At one point I bought my own stevia plant and used the leaves in tea to avoid the processing! When Pyure approached me at Expo I told them my feelings. They handed me a sample and I was impressed. No bitter and biting aftertaste! Apparently Pyure has figured out the chemical compound for the bitter and sweet parts of the plant, isolating the bad and getting rid of it in processing. So for this calorie free, different kind of stevia, I'll make room on my counter.

Best Frozen Snack:

Yasso: Freezing Greek yogurt is a tried and true dietitian trick for getting a creamy, better for you ice cream like bite. Finally a company has created a product for the on the move lady. Greek yogurt pops and Greek yogurt/fruit cubes for quick smoothies are a great suggestion for busy brides! No excuses, it's there, in your freezer waiting! I'll be doing a more in depth review of this tasty product later.