Hey guys! This is the first of what I hope will be a helpful series of product reviews. I am going to take a look at all of the best and worst health food products out there and give you my realistic holistic opinion. Even if you disagree with me, hopefully it will help you to get adventurous, try new things and maybe re-evaluate other ones. 

Product Spotlight #1: Fresh Meals by Fresh City Farms

I have come to recommend Fresh City Farms to many of my clients as a way to get fresh, organic, local food. I also use the service myself because I’m a busy lady too and don’t always have time to run to the farmer’s market or health food store for the healthy groceries I need.

NOTE: I have no affiliation with Fresh City Farms except that I’m an appreciative customer and think they offer a fantastic service.

They offer a variety of options for weekly grocery delivery that accommodate however big or small your family is. Whether you need veggies, fruit, meat, eggs, bread, juice, kombucha or all of the above, they source the highest quality, organic and local varieties for you to choose from.

What I didn’t know, until recently, is that they also have gorgeous premade meals!! They offer a variety of smoothies and ready-made meal jars to make healthy eating EVEN EASIER!

Given that I have a lot of clients who are concerned about being crazy busy and the amount of time it takes to cook on the regular and ensure they are getting in healthy, organic meals everyday, I thought I would test these guys out and see if they were worth recommending as a solution! Also, I’ve just been crazy busy and needed a little help myself!! Luckily, they pulled through in a pinch!

Of the 15 beautiful Fresh Meals they have to choose from, I thought I’d just start out with three and see how it went. It took me about an hour and a half to make up my mind because I wanted to try them ALL! … And maybe I will eventually.

This time around the winners were… drum roll please! …

Deconstructed Salmon Roll!!

Tempeh Buddha Bowl!!!

and the ever so delectable…

Pulled Pork & Cabbage!!!!

These choices gave me a variety of fresh ingredients, different proteins, contrasting flavours and, let’s be honest, way cooler meals than I probably would have put together myself this week…. I don’t think I’ve ever ventured to make pulled pork in my life.

Let me take you through these beauties one-by-one.

DECONSTRUCTED SALMON ROLL

I was probably the MOST psyched to try this one. It’s such a genius idea for a fun, filling meal with unique ingredients.

Let me tell you, this sucker lived up to the hype. My mouth now waters on cue whenever I think about it.

UUUUMAMI! The sauce is a sweet miso ginger that hits every taste bud with a little bit of love, the fish was done perfectly, and the carrots and cucumber were crunchy and delicious!

Nutritionally, this meal is ON POINT! 

The generous serving of wild salmon, sourced from a community supported fishery in BC dedicated to protecting ocean resources and improving our local food system, provides you with a whole wack of anti-inflammatory omega fatty acids. The EPA and DHA from the fatty fish will keep your brain humming all day long for added focus and concentration too. I had this for lunch, and I was crazy productive the rest of the day.

My favorite part of this meal, however, is the addition of the nori krinkles. Even though the roll is deconstructed, it wouldn’t be right to leave out the seaweed for both taste and nutrition. Sea vegetables, including nori, are a superfood for your thyroid. Along with many other minerals, sea vegetables contain an extra dose of iodine, the key nutrient for thyroid hormone production!

Overall, this is a healthy, delicious, anti-inflammatory, thyoid lovin’ meal that I would recommend any day of the week!

Get the full ingredients list and learn more about the Deconstructed Salmon Roll here!

TEMPEH BUDDHA BOWL

 If you are at all afraid of tempeh, this dish will erase any hesitation!

My favourite thing about Tempeh is its probiotic content. Because it is a fermented food, it will provide you with some of the good bacteria your gut needs to balance out the bad, aid the digestive system and protect the immune system – something I think about often as someone with celiac disease.

There are many other benefits to Tempeh on top of that! It provides a huge punch of plant-based protein, tipping the scales at 15g of protein per serving (that’s more than chicken people!).

Fresh City sources it’s Tempeh from Noble Bean, a Montreal-based company, and prepares it beautifully for this jar. It is marinated to perfection and maintains a beautiful texture to compliment the crisp veggies.

The sweet potato and cabbage are almost as gut lovin’ as the tempeh.

The sweet potato provides that beta-carotene, an anti-oxidant that also converts to Vitamin A, which aids in healing of skin cells, including those in the gut lining. 

Cabbage has been known for its ability to heal peptic ulcers. Studies have suggested that it is the glucosinolates (and the anti-inflammatory isothiocyanates made from them), antioxidant polyphenols and the amino acid-like substance called glutamine that are responsible for that healing action.

It could have used a bit more veg and a little less rice, but that’s just me. I’m all about the veg.

Overall, I’d call this one gut-healing gourmet.

This puppy left me feeling full for days and helped my gut to hate me a little bit less after a weekend of eating mayyyybe a little bit too much.

Learn more about it and get a full ingredients list here.

PULLED PORK & CABBAGE

 Ok, so like I said, I have never made pulled pork in my life. Now, I’m gonna have to try because this was SO DAMN GOOD! Either that or I’m ordering these with my bag from Fresh City every week until the end of time… it’s really that good.

The seemingly strange combo with the purple cabbage made me a bit skeptical but Fresh City clearly knows what they’re doing. The flavours just zing off each other!

Their BBQ sauce, made from all natural, organic ingredients puts your chemical laden grocery store variety to SHAME!

The pork is so tender and so juicy, while the sweet potato and cabbage maintain their fresh texture and take on the flavor of the sauce beautifully.

I really felt like I was indulging with this one but it is chalk full of nutrients, so I was nourishing myself too!

Although pork is not often considered a health food, this stuff is sourced from Field Gate Organics in Ontario and is 100% organic. This means that they are anti-biotic free and the fats will not be swimming with toxins but can rather be relatively high in omega-3s – your anti-inflammatory, essentially fatty acid.

The complement of the purple cabbage amps up that anti-inflammatory action ten fold as it provides anthocyanins along with glucosinolates, polyphenols and flavonoids that contribute to its anti-oxidant and cleansing qualities.

Sweet potatoes are a beauty food. They contain the anti-oxidant carotenoid pigments are also a precursor to vitamin A, important for healthy hair, skin and nails. Sweet potatoes also double down on the anthocyanin content for some extra anti-inflammatory benefit.

And then Kale… well, its KALE! It’s full of magnesium, iron, potassium and detoxifying bioflavonoids!

So chow down, eat up and sway side to side ‘cause you’re gonna be doing a happy dance after you get this one in your belly!

This one was my WINNER!

I think it is a meal that a wide variety of people would find delicious and approachable to include in their diet as part of an effort to move toward organic, healthy foods in a simple way!

Check out more about this meal and get its full ingredients list here.

If you’re interested in trying out these Fresh Meals or ordering a bag from Fresh City Farms, use my referral link to get $25 off your first purchase!

As I’ve said, these meals look to me like an incredible option for people who need to have their meals ready to go for them to take to work or waiting in the fridge when they get home to avoid reaching for something not-so-good for you.

It is an easy way to amp up your nutrition without dedicating extra time in the kitchen.

Let me know if you have tried any of the other ones and if there are any other products you would like a nutritionist’s approval on. I’m scouring the city for the best, healthy products that can be integrated into a realistic holistic lifestyle.

Keep me posted and feel free to share your favourite strategies for staying healthy even during the hustle.

Keep it real!

Sincerely,

The Realistic Holistic