Natural Delights Date Rolls: Review

Happy Friday!

Let's chill out and talk about some healthy treats.

Today's post is sponsored by Natural Delights. Product opinions are always my own. If I didn't love it, you wouldn't be hearing about it. Thank you for supporting the occasional sponsored post that helps fund all the deliciousness you see here.

Let me introduce you to one of my favourite little snacks: Medjool date rolls. I'm pretty positive you'll fall in love like I have.

I always like to have healthy snacks in the house made from whole foods, ready to go for when hunger hits. Plus they're great to have on hand while travelling. So when I was contacted by Natural Delights to try out their Medjool date rolls and review them, I gladly accepted. I had already tried their fresh Medjool dates before...they taste like candy! I actually discovered them as a natural sweetener when I first began baking and cooking healthier. Not to mention snacking healthier! I've long been a fan of dates, but I have to admit, for years I didn't know there were different kinds of dates out there. Then one day, I stumbled across the fresh plump Medjools in the produce isle at the grocery store. Ever since I tried them I haven't looked back. They're sweeter than dried dates, oh so soft, and crazy good! Not to mention crazy good for you.

Getting back to these date rolls though. Natural Delights sent me 3 different flavours to try including coconut, almond, and their limited edition pecan pumpkin pie spiced (only seasonally-available). They're made from chopped, compressed dates and then rolled and coated in simple, pure ingredients like coconut flakes or chopped almonds. I tried the coconut date rolls and pecan pumpkin pie spice ones first. They were melt-in-your mouth good and had the same soft texture and sweet caramel flavour of the Medjool dates! The almond ones were just as good, but my favourite were the coconut. I ate a few of them as an afternoon snack to keep me going until dinnertime. They kept me satisfied without the crash that comes from eating regular sugary snacks. That's what I call a win-win situation!

I knew that Medjool dates were very good for you, but I didn’t realize just how many health benefits they had until I read up on them. If you didn’t already know about this power fruit... Medjool Dates each contain 16 vitamins and minerals (including 50% more potassium than bananas!), which is excellent for muscle recovery in addition to protein. Plus they are a very good source of dietary fibre.

Additionally to being a good source of fibre and potassium, they contain no added sugar, no fat or cholesterol, are high in antioxidants and offer other important vitamins and minerals including Copper, Magnesium, Vitamin B6, Niacin, Calcium, Iron and Vitamin K. They’re also gluten-free and vegan making them a great choice for nearly everyone.

I really enjoy these date rolls as a part of a post-workout snack, but they are also perfect for snack time anytime or even dessert!

If you’d like to find out more check out the Natural Delights website and look for them in the produce section of your grocery store. I hope you love them as much as I do!

Disclaimer: This is a compensated sponsored post from Natural Delights Medjool Dates. All opinions are 100% my own as always. Thank you for supporting brands like this that help make this site possible!

North Coast Naturals Vege Pro-7 Protein Powder {Review}

Have you heard??

The fabulous team at North Coast Naturals has just recently released a new product!

It's called Vege Pro-7, a vegan plant-based protein powder. It's made from 7 organic proteins including sprouted raw whole grain brown rice, hemp, coconut, quinoa, alfalfa, pumpkin and chia. No artificial ingredients here.

Now I'm not a vegan, but I do believe that when it comes to eating a clean healthy diet, it's important to eat more whole foods and plants such as fruits and vegetables while making sure you're getting enough quality protein. Avoid the processed foods and keep artifical sweeteners to a bare minimum. And ideally shop locally for meats and produce. 

I’ve been a supporter of North Coast Naturals ever since I was contacted by my lovely friend Deryn and started testing out their products about a year ago. There aren’t too many products that I review here on my blog, but when I do you can be certain that I'm completely genuine. My opinions are my own and if there was something I didn't like about a product I would tell you.

What I love about North Coast Naturals is that they make all their products with only natural whole foods and quality ingredients that you can feel good about enjoying.

I couldn’t be more excited for the launch of this new product. 

Vege Pro-7 is gluten-free and 100% vegan.

Here is the nutritional rundown of information for both chocolate and vanilla flavours:

CHOCOLATE

Ingredients: 7 Organic Proteins (Organic, Bio-Fermented, Sprouted Whole Grain Brown Rice; Organic Pumpkin Seed; Organic Canadian Hemp Seed Protein; Organic Sprouted Quinoa; Organic Chia Seed; Organic Coconut, Organic Alfalfa); No Aritifial Flavouring (Organic Cocoa, Natural Chocolate Flavour, Coffee Powder, Natural Water Extracted Stevia Isolate(Rebaudioside-A); Ground Cinnamon, Monk Fruit Powder); Natural Thickener (Guar Gum).

                                           

VANILLA

Ingredients: 7 Organic Proteins (Organic Bio-Fermented, Sprouted Whole Grain Brown Rice; Organic Pumpkin Seed; Organic Canadian Hemp Seed Protein; Organic Sprouted Quinoa; Organic Chia Seed; Organic Coconut, Organic Alfalfa); No Artificial Flavouring (Organic Cocoa, Natural Vanilla Flavour, Coffee Powder, Natural Water Extracted Stevia Isolare (Rebasudioside-A); Ground Cinnamon, Monk Fruit Powder); Natural Thickener (Guar Gum).

 

Final Thoughts

I first tried the chocolate protein stirred into my morning oats along with 1 tablespoon of flaxseed, cinnamon, and raspberries and it was pretty tasty. The first thing I noticed as I stirred was the coconut (it smelled so good!), which if you love coconut like me, it's an added bonus! I must say the texture was quite impressive. Both flavours were in no way gummy or green tasting. I think my favourite of the two was the chocolate flavour, but the vanilla is pretty good too.

The only negative thing I found was with the vanilla. When I first opened it I found it to have a bit of a green smell. Probably due to the hemp seed protein. But when I tried it, there was no hint of it tasting green...You know, like when you use a powdered veggies supplement and add it to your smoothie. I tried them both mixed into my smoothies made with frozen fruits (banana, strawberries, wild blueberries and other fruits), almond milk, matcha green tea powder etc. They both tasted pretty excellent.

Personally I love both these products, especially the chocolate flavoured protein powder. I thought they were both delicious. It's a great healthy way to get some extra protein into your diet!

I've been doing some recipe testing and I've had some pretty awesome results so far. Next week I'll have a decadent dessert like protein bar recipe to post for you all. It involes coconut butter and chocolate. So stay tuned!

Happy Hump Day :)