|
07.26.2018

Friday Five: favorite food brands and places

Welcome to another edition of the Friday Five. The Friday Five is a blog series that consists of 5 things I’m into each week. In honor of it being “Nutrition Week” I wanted the Friday 5 to have a food theme hence “my 5 favorite food brands and places.” I really thought about this one because I wanted brands/places that I truly love but also ones that you can replicate in your own life.


Let’s get to it…
 
ZOE’S KITCHEN
Without a doubt, my go-to restaurant when I want to eat out but something light and healthy. For those of you who aren’t familiar, Zoe’s falls into the not-fast-food, not-a-sit-down-restaurant category; you know the types of places where you stand in line to order, sit and they bring your food to your table. 
Zoe’s is Mediterranean style food and they pride themselves of fresh, wholesome ingredients. You can taste that in every meal. The food is satisfying yet light. The are all over Texas but if you want to see if there is one near you, I’ll link the locations page here I highly recommend this place!
MY FAVORITES: chicken kabobs, shrimp kabobs, chicken salad & fruit plate, tossed greek salad, chicken & orzo soup, basil pesto hummus
 
ANNIE’S ORGANICS BRAND
This is my favorite “snack brand” if there is such a category. This brand first started with mac & cheese, so instantly it’s a hit with me lol. Whenever I’m at my grocery store, I’ve become more conscious of the nutrition label; I focus less on the calories and carbs and more on the ingredient list. This is actually how I was drawn to this brand.
I also recommend this brand to moms. My son loves graham crackers and mac & cheese, and I feel a lot better about him eating this brand and the organic, more nutritious ingredients. I’m also “normal” in that I don’t want to pay 4x the amount for an “organic” or “healthier” option. Annie’s pricing is comparable and my regular grocery store carries a ton of their products.
FAVORITES: oatmeal raisin granola bars, bunny grahams, cheddar squares, shells & white cheddar mac & cheese 
 

SNAP KITCHEN

If you’re not familiar, Snap Kitchen is like a personal meal prep-er. They have a selection of meals, snacks, smoothies, juices, etc. You can buy just 1 meal or you can sign up for a weekly meal plan. They even deliver for free.

They reached out to me to share some meals and I actually ended up signing up for one of the meal plans because you get a discounted rate on each meal and I’m a sucker for savings. I chose the 3 day/week meal plan because I like to combine my own meals with preprepared meals… it’s kind of the best of both world in my mind. I just did a regular meal plan but they offer options like Whole30 and paleo, which I think is nice.

I gave it a shot this week and you know I don’t sugarcoat anything… the meals weren’t just “healthy good” they were “good good.” So far my favorites have been chicken fried broccoli rice, bison quinoa hash, grass fed beef lasagna (made with almond flour noodles!), and the pancakes!

I will continue reporting my favorite Snap Kitchen meals because I really think this is going to help me stay on top of my nutrition game. I’ve actually been strategically using these meals for times when I don’t want to cook or I’m about to reach for some snacks to have a healthy, already-made meal.

You can go HERE to see if there is a location by you and if there isn’t, you should request one because it’s amazing lol. Normally I don’t share discount codes because that’s not really my thing but I truly love Snap Kitchen so much I went back to them to ask for one for you, so if you end up ordering anything, use code LGSISTERS for $20 off your first meal plan. 

 
AMY’S BRAND
This is a brand I know I mention a lot… tried and true, I guess! I make sure I have 4-5 of these items in my freezer at once because they serve as a Healthy Eating Plan B option fo rme. If you haven’t read my blog post on that, you can HERE
Just like with Annies, I like that this brand is very accessible; my normal grocery stores has like 20+ products. I add in rotisserie chicken or ground beef/turkey to these to make a complete meal. I normally wouldn’t eat a “microwave meal” but with this brand, I feel comfortable making an exception.
FAVORITES: broccoli & cheddar bake bowl, brown rice lasagna
 
WHOLE FOODS
Not Whole Foods rather the Whole Foods hot bar. I say that because I actually haven’t done a major grocery shop at Whole Foods in 3+ years. They have awesome stuff but I just prefer my normal grocery store. Although now that Amazon bought them, I am interested to see how it affects their pricing and inventory.
Let’s talk Whole Foods hot bar… my husband, Anthony introduced me to this. When he worked in Dallas, he and his coworkers would go out to lunch but a sit down, not-so-healthy lunch on the daily isn’t his style. The restaurants they would go to often were located by a Whole Foods so Anthony would pop in there for a hot bar lunch. His coworkers all became hooked too!
Have you ever been? I know each hot bar varies by location but they’re pretty amazing. A HUGE salad bar with every topping you could think of. Fresh fruit. Several meat options. Rice. Pasta. Sandwiches. Pizza. They have a lot of pre-made meals but also ingredients where you can kind of build your own.
I love it because of the amount of options. Whatever I’m craving, they usually have. This is also a go-to of ours when we travel. I love eating out on vacation but after awhile, I get tired of heavy meals, so we often find a Whole Foods where we can have some lighter meals.

Save this post

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

No comments.
Shop LG plans
Powered by chloédigital