What’s On My Shopping List: Carob Powder

If you follow my photos on Instagram, then you see the food I buy, make and eat. Of course I get some great questions! I posted a photo this week of something I’ve been eating for years. It’s called Carob Powder. I received a lot of comments on it, so I thought you might be interested in learning more about it and adding it to your shopping list!

Why: Carob is caffeine and theobromine free. Chocolate contains both of these things which can cause or contribute to these conditions: acne, racing heart, insomnia, fatigue, obesity, dizziness, irritability, anxiety and much, much more. So if you are craving a sweet before bedtime, opt for carob!

Carob also contains vitamins A and B and minerals such as calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper, manganese, selenium, potassium and even protein. Two other facts: carob has no trans fats and is basically fat-free (not to be confused that fat is bad for you) where chocolate is half fat. The other important thing to note is that is doesn’t contain oxalic acid that interferes with absorption of calcium (this is found in chocolate).

One other cool tidbit? It’s been suggested that it can boost your metabolism.

How: Use it just like you would in recipes calling for cocoa powder. I make my famous fudge-like sauce. I mix carob powder, water, honey and EVOO and mix well. Heat for 30 seconds, add fresh fruit, unsweetened coconut and nuts. So, so delicious! (Recipes can be found in the monthly eNewsletter.)

Taste: To be really honest, it tastes just like chocolate! Maybe a little bit better though?! It won’t be as sweet as chocolate so when using it in baked goods, you might need to add a touch more honey or natural sweetener.

Where: Where can you buy it? I don’t recall ever seeing carob powder at a commercial grocery store (Safeway, Giant, etc). You can easily find it at Whole Foods Markets, Wegmans, Trader Joe’s, local natural grocery stores (Sunflower Market, Vitamin Cottage, some co-ops) or online ( Z Natural Foods).

Grocery shopping today? See if you can find it and add it to your cart!

Eat For Health!

photo credit: Vegan Feast

Good morning from Chicago! What a beautiful morning it is! Someone said it was humid, but trust me, it isn’t. They must not have been to DC!

My meetings didn’t start super early this morning so I was looking forward to getting in a 10 mile run. Running in Chicago is running on a concrete jungle. My legs+body really like trails, so I was apprehensive about the run this morning. Last time here, I was in major pain.

**quick sidebar** to all my friends in Chicago, I don’t know how you run here day after day! Kudos to you ALL!

Started out & soon enough my left knee/quad area starting feeling funny. I ran for a mile, then not wanting to jeopardize my awesome training I decided to walk & see if that helped. I moved from a jog to a walk, then gave up on the jog all together.

Let me say this. It was hard to walk when runners are FLYING past you. And cyclists are SPEEDING past you. I kept reminding myself that my goal is to remain injury free for the next 18 days. Very hard for this chickie to do, but 100 mile is my goal. Not a 10 mile training run. Not this close anyway!

4.5 miles in an hour. ARGH!

The rest of the day was spent walking from meeting to meeting. Another meeting in heaven (Whole Foods Lincoln Park). Got to catch up with Sarah Evans http://twitter.com/prsarahevans before the Hyatt 4 Good Mashable event in the evening. Great convo! Thanks Sarah!

It was a packed day full of fun. New topics to write about. Ready to encourage your & your life!

Photo by jordanfischer

Whoa. I have never had so many “off” days before except when injured! Now that I am 20 days out from race, I will start to take it easy (as much as I can that is).

I had another packed early day, so I enjoyed a nice morning of sleeping in. Chicago’s weather was a bit iffy today. A little rainy, sunny, and of course windy.

The highlight of my day was visiting Whole Foods Lincoln Park. Talk about a store! Wow. I could live here forever. Seriously. They have everything one could possibly need!

The store just opened about 2 months ago. Perfect time for a visit. They had a wine bar. A coffee bar. A beer bar. A “drive in diner” type theme area. More selections of pasta, olive oil, tomato sauce, cheese, chocolate and fresh produce then you can shake a stick at! I enjoyed my tasting tour immensely!

The Whole Body section was also fabulous. The kids+baby section was full of awesome products, not just to eat, but also to learn!

Eating was my “training” for the day. I did do a lot of walking, does that count? lol!

Great meetings. Great people. Great life. Its all about perspective.

Photo by Joe M500