{Primal Kitchen}

OH MY HEAVENS!

{Primal Kitchen}

Hello cupcakes!

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend. I wanted to share a recent package I received from Primal Kitchen. May of you probably know I am totally obsessed with collagen at the moment. It has so many wonderful health benefits (especially for your skin, hair, & nails). Primal Kitchen now has collagen bars! WHOOP!

Okay... so I am getting a little ahead of my self. Sorry, I just can't contain my excitement. 

Here are some previous posts about Primal Kitchen:

{Whole30 meal prep with Primal Kitchen}

{Friday Favorites}

{Motivational Monday}

{Cassava Flour Spinach Tortillas with Primal Kitchen Mayo}

Okay now let me tell you where you can find Primal Kitchen Products. 

Primal Kitchen Products can now be found at many stores around the country (such as Kroger, Publix, Sprouts, and of course Whole Foods).  

Let me start off by talking about the new flavors of Primal Kitchen's Collagen Bars:

There's Dark Chocolate, Coconut Cashew, Macadamia Sea Salt, & Chocolate Hazelnut. 

• Each bar has 15 grams of protein and only 3 grams of sugar. 
• The bars also have more collagen than a cup of bone broth and even more than some leading collagen supplements. 
• The bars are also rich in monounsaturated fats. 
• They are an excellent source of prebiotic fiber for digestive health. 
• The bars are free of refined sugar, gluten, grains, dairy, whey, & soy
• Lower in carbs (only 12-15 grams per bar)

Let me know you the goods....

This is the Macadamia Sea Salt (which is my fav!)

This bars has a slight buttery, sweet taste from the macadamia nuts. This is also the lowest carb bar. 

This one is the Dark Chocolate Almond Bar

Who doesn't like the combo of almonds and dark chocolate? This bar is perfect for when I am craving chocolate because it also helps me fuel up with fats, proteins, and carbs instead of just sugar from candy or other junk foods. 

This bar is the Chocolate Hazelnut Bar

Did someone say Nutella!? This bar would be Nutella's healthy sister (insert winking emoji). This bar goes perfectly with a morning cup of coffee!

And last in the bar round up is Coconut Cashew.

This bar is pretty cool because it contains cashews, almonds, and pumpkin seeds which give the bars a nutty crunch. The coconut adds a sweet, creamy flavor to balance out the nutty crunch from the nuts. (This one is a close second to the Macadamia Sea Salt bar)

Now onto some bomb condiments...

Ranch Dressing & Chipotle Lime Mayo

The Ranch is DAIRY FREE!! The ranch is made with pure avocado oil, organic garlic, onion, dill, cage free organic eggs, nutritional yeast, black pepper, & chives. (There is NO buttermilk, gluten, soy, canola, or sugar!! YESSS!)

Also if you are on a round of Whole30, you can have the Ranch!

This stuff is seriously my absolute favorite condiment every invented... CHIPOTLE LIME MAYO!

If you follow my Instagram (@toriswholelife) you have been seeing me put this on everything! Currently I am obsessed with putting it on a whole wheat bagel or Ezekiel toast & topping it with an egg and Farm House Culture Jalapeno Kraut! BOMB!! DO it!

Here are the labels of these two.

If you want to get your hands on some goods for yourself, follow this link: {Primal Kitchen Shop}

You can also find the stuff at a grocery store or Amazon. 

To read the story behind Primal Kitchen, follow this link: {Mark's Story}

Later Taters

"It's a beautiful day, don't let it get away."

{Pinnertest} Food Intolerance Testing

Hello cupcakes!

With many questions regarding my Pinner Test, I thought it would be fun to write a blog post about my experience. 

So I received my Pinner Test in the mail and this is what the package looked like:

Once I opened up the kit, this is what was inside. It came with a needle to prick your finger, a cleansing pad, a blood sample pack, and the envelope to send in your blood sample. 

Patch wanted in on the action too!

I opened up the needle package, cleansing wipe, and blood sample packet. Next, I used the wipe to clean the top portion of my finger and then pricked the top of my finger with the needle. This is just a little prick such as when a diabetic tests their blood sugar levels. After that, you drop a few drops of blood onto the blood sample pack. It is basically a little pad that absorbs the blood. Then I closed up the blood sample pack, put a band-aid on my finger, and placed the sample in the envelope. I placed the envelope in the mail. About 10 days later, I received my results via email. Here is what some of the results look like...

So there were only four foods that showed up on my test: potatoes (level 3), grapes (level 2), broccoli (level 1), & beef (level 1).  Level 1= low reaction, Level 2= moderate reaction, & Level 3= high reaction.

Here are some screen shots of the FAQ's: 

What I liked about the FAQ's is the company breaks down the importance of figuring out which foods you are intolerant to. 

Here is the link to the website: {Pinnertest}

So what is a food intolerance? 

"If your body has problems producing certain enzymes, you can experience a lifetime of health issues due to maldigestion. These reactions cause inflammation in your gut system and can lead to discomfort and health issues including weight gain due to carb cravings and slow metabolism, depression, headache, bloating, edema, fatigue, brain fog, stomach ache, acne, eczema and more"(Pinnertest). 

Also on the website linked above, are videos describing food intolerance. Also, here is a link to more videos and information: {Pinnertest Food Intolerance}

Now a little bit about my experience:

If any of you have known me personally, followed my blog, or followed my Instagram (@toriswholelife), then you know I have struggled with stomach issues. 

A couple years ago I started having really bad stomach aches, bad digestive problems, acid reflux, & allergies. The combination was not fun. I struggled to figure out the cause. I did an elimination diet and felt better after cutting out certain foods. That's when I gave up products with lactose. About 6 months after that I did my first round of Whole 30. Whole30 was such a good experience for me personally because it allowed me to understand my body and start to really pay attention to how foods made my whole body feel. My body felt better once I cut out the top allergen foods, but my stomach still gave me occasional problems such as bloating and stomach pains. This is why I was so excited to try Pinnertest. 

Since getting my results back, I have cut out the four foods that I have a reaction to: beef, broccoli, grapes, and regular potatoes. 

Above are the common symptoms of a food intolerance. Did you know a food intolerance can cause weight gain? Worsen allergies? Cause bloating? Cause headaches and mood swings? Pretty crazy right?

Here is a nice article I found that describes food intolerance a little more: {Food Intolerance}

If you have intolerance to foods, it is so important to read the ingredient lists on packaged foods. Personally, I try to consume mostly fresh, unprocessed foods because they are healthier and do not contain foods that cause me problems. 

Since cutting out those four foods plus lactose (because this gives me many problems as well), I have been less bloated and have not experienced any stomach problems. SCORE!!! I will keep everyone updated on my progress. 

How can you get a Pinnertest?

You can use the code "THESWEETLIFE" to save $60 on the test. 

The price will drop from $490 to $430

You also have the option of making 4 monthly payments to make the test more affordable. So the break down would be $107.50 for a total of 4 months. 

Please let me know if you have any questions about my experience using {PINNERTEST}.

Later Taters

"It's a beautiful day, don't let it get away." 

{Organic Gemini}

Hello cupcakes! Happy weekend!

I've previously posted about this awesome company {Organic Gemini}, so here are some links to my previous posts:

{Healthy Banana Muffins}

{Friday Favorites}

{Healthy Apple Crisp}

{Paleo Pancakes}

{Healthy Cupcakes}

{Chocolate Chip Protein Cookies}

{Mug Cake Recipe}

{Tigernut Salad}

Now let me tell you about some new products I got to try....

Tigernut Raw Granola

Here are the ingredients for the Apple Cinnamon Raw Granola which is dehydrated instead of baked to preserve the nutrients: 

Ingredients: TigerNuts*, Gala Apples*, Maple Syrup*, Sunflower Seeds*, Pumpkin Seeds*, Raisins*, Milled Flaxseeds*, Hemp Seeds*, True Cinnamon*, Cloves*, Cardamom*, Nutmeg*, Vanilla Extract*, Medjool Dates*, Sea Salt    *Organic

This was my favorite flavor of the raw granola. I take this in my bag to work for a snack throughout the day. You could also use it to top smoothies, oats, or yogurt. 

Tigernut Chocolate Clusters

Here are the ingredients for the chocolate clusters:

Ingredients: Sliced TigerNuts*, Maple Syrup*, Cacao Powder*, Sacha Inchi*, Sea Salt   *Organic

These little clusters can cure a sweet tooth! I loved these! It's hard for me to find chocolate that I can have since I am lactose intolerant, so I literally do a party dance every time I have chocolate I can eat. Check out that short ingredient list! All the heart eyes!

Tigernut Raw Snacks Peeled

These little tigernuts are perfect to add some crunch to salads or other dishes. I love stashing these in my hiking or camping bag too! They are the perfect travel food. I will be traveling back to my home state for Christmas and I will be taking these on the plane with me. 

Here are the ingredients: 

Ingredients: Organic TigerNuts   

*Please refer to my previous post for the benefits of tigernuts*

Tigernut Raw Snacks Sliced

I used these little slices to top muffins and the muffins turned out so cute! These are also awesome to use on top of smoothies, salads, oats, or yogurt. The ingredients for these slices are the same as the peeled tigernuts, just organic tigernuts. 

Tigernut Smoothie Mix

I was super excited to try the smoothie mixes because as many of you know... I am obsessed with smoothies! The super boost smoothie mix is nice to add to a smoothie because it doesn't have a powerful flavor. It adds a subtle nutty flavor to smoothies. The chocolate is also nice to use if you want to make a healthy, chocolate smoothie. I used frozen bananas, spinach, almond milk, vital proteins collagen peptides, and this chocolate smoothie mix... It was so tasty!

The nutrition is on point too!

Here are the ingredients for the super boost:

 Ingredients: Organic TigerNuts, Organic Sacha Inchi Protein Powder

& the chocolate:

Ingredients: Organic TigerNuts, Organic Sacha Inchi Protein Powder, Organic Cacao Powder

Tigernut Flour

The recipes that I posted above all use this Tigernut flour! I am in love with this stuff too. I love creating recipes using this flour because it adds more nutrients than regular flour. I recently made my healthy banana muffins (recipe link above) for my boyfriend's parents when they came to visit. 

If you want to get your hands on some for yourself, follow this link:

{Shop Organic Gemini}

These products can also be found on Amazon: {Amazon Organic Gemini}

I've been dying to try their Horchata, so hopefully I can share that with you all soon!

Later Taters

"It's a beautiful day, don't let it get away."