HUGE GIVEAWAY VALUED AT OVER $300!!

To celebrate reaching 300+ likes, I am giving away a prize package worth over $300!

I am grateful to Barlean's, Bright Earth Foods, CocoKefir, Kyle Dine, Selina Naturally and Wish Garden Herbs for sponsoring this giveaway.

What You Get if You Win:

Barlean's
1 Bottle Organic Greens
1 Bottle Flax Oil
1 Bag Chia Seeds
1 Bottle Olive Leaf Extract Capsules
1 Bottle Olive Leaf Extract
1 Box of Omega Swirl To-Go


Bright Earth Foods
1 Bag Chlorella
1 Jar Raw Choco
1 Bag Himalayan Salt
1 Jar Superfood Smoothie Mix

CocoKefir
1 Bottle CocoKefir
1 Jar CocoYo

Kyle Dine
Food Allergies Rock CD

Selina Naturally
1 Bag of Makai Pure Sea Salt
3 Jars of Seasoned Celtic Salt (Celery, Rosemary, Smoked)
1 Jar of Sesame Salt

Wish Garden Herbs
1 Bottle Sleepy Nights for Kids
1 Bottle Digestive Ease
1 Bottle Genius Juice
1 Bottle Emotional Ally
1 Bottle Kiss Ass Immune Activator


To be eligible, you must sign up for the my newsletter below. I will be periodically sending one. I promise I will be sending you any spam. Then proceed to the Rafflecopter widget for additional requirements.

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Book Review & Giveaway: Practical Paleo

When I started blogging about my 21-Day Detox cleanse in July, I had no idea how much I would learn about diet and nutrition as part of the process of writing about my experiences. I've always been interested in cooking, but recently I have moved towards becoming more educated about the true nutritional value of the food I'm eating. I've been stocking up on cookbooks that are also educational and provide viewpoints on certain ways of eating. Since I have been moving towards becoming completely grain free, I have been very interested in blogs and books that center around the Paleolithic (Paleo) lifestyle. One blogger who I have been following is Diane Sanfilippo, of Balanced Bites and author of the highly informative Practical Paleo.

































I don't often get excited about nutrition and cookbooks, but Practical Paleo is a pretty amazing book. It's not wonder it's been on the New York Times bestseller list for 3 weeks in a row. If you haven't gotten yourself a copy, you are missing out and here are 5 reasons why:

1. It has over 120 easy recipes all that are gluten-,grain-,legume-,dairy- & refined-sugar-free.
The recipes are well organized by meal type: breakfast, sides & salads, treats & sweets, also by protein type. Some delicious recipes include Apple Streusel Egg Muffins, Nori Salmon Handroll, Baked Beets with Fennel, and Nutty Bacon Bark (yes! bacon candy)

2. It has multiple 30-Day Meal Plans to help support recovery from a number of health issues such as autoimmune conditions, digestive health, blood-sugar regulation, thyroid health, cancer recovery, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, fat loss, athletic performance, and general health

Each meal plan has a specific shopping list as well as a list of useful supplements that you could be taking for your condition. Additionally, a symptom checklist allows you to determine which diet is best for you. Finally Practical Paleo provides specific lifestyle suggestions to help you achieve your goals, such as adding more superfoods and avoiding fasting when trying to regulate blood sugar.

3. It has beautiful colorful guides such as: Guide to Paleo Foods, Stocking a Paleo Pantry, and Guide to Food Quality

If you are every confused about what you should be eating, these colorful guides help you on your trip to the grocery store. The Guide to Paleo foods even highlights items that are considered to be nightshades and can aggravate arthritic conditionals such as gout and arthritis. The Guide to Stocking a Paleo Pantry helps you make sure that you have plenty of grab-and-go foods while you are trying to establish your health, reminding you to have canned sardines, coconut milk, and plenty of nuts on hand. Having a well stocked pantry also ensures that if you happen to lose power, like many on the East Coast, you still have plenty nutrient dense foods to enjoy. I have some recipe suggestions here. Finally, the Guide to Food Quality helps explain terms like pastured-raised, cage-free, natural, and naturally raised.

4. It has really pretty pictures. What's a cookbook without amazing photography? I often spend more time looking at the pictures in cookbook then I do actually cooking the recipes. Practical Paleo has it's share of food p0rn!

5. Finally, Practical Paleo doesn't just provide delicious easy recipes, Diane Sanfillipo explains why "everything we've been taught about good nutrition is wrong."

Practical Paleo dissects all of the recent US Dietary Guidelines such as increasing low-fat dairy intake while limiting full-fat, using oils instead of solid fats, and consuming grains. She explains in layman's terms why these recommendations are causing Americans to not only be overweight but to also be very unhealthy. Diane also provides a science lesson on how our bodies process carbs, proteins, and fats and why the Paleo diet works for not just weight loss but also improved health.

I was really impressed with this book. Not only is it well written and beautifully illustrated, but it provides important, relevant information. I can attest to how much of a difference a paleo-centered diet can make. In the months that I have been grain free, I have never felt better. Practical Paleo will now be my go-to book for easy, simple, and quick Paleo recipes. Practical Paleo is available on Amazon for $23.97! You can go get yourself a copy or you can win a copy in my Practical Paleo Giveaway! 

To be entered in the contest, you must first be a subscriber to my blog. You can subscribe via email on the top right corner. Next follow Rafflecopter's easy instructions!

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Celebrating Barlean's Week With An Amazing Giveaway plus Recipe for Coconut Carob Mousse!

This is a really exciting week here at A Crafty Gourmet. First I get to announce the winner of my Unbleached Paper Products Giveaway. The lucky winner is Monica! I will contact you to get your address and will ship you the prize package.

Next, this week is officially Barlean's Week! The whole week, I will be showcasing Barlean's and their wonderful lines of products, including flax oil, fish oil, chia seeds, greens powder, and their unique olive leaf extract. I'm also giving away a prize package filled with everything that I'm showcasing! Scroll to the bottom for official rules!

I have been a fan of Barlean's since I was in high school when I used the oil to make my own dressings with the flax oil, which I will share later this week. And since then, their line of products has significantly expanded and just recently, they've launched their organic chia seeds.

The chia seed is an ancient aztec superfood. It's a seed that is very high in protein and fiber, as well as heart healthy omega 3's. It's also packed with essential minerals such as phosphorous, manganese, calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium.

Chia seeds have many health benefits:

1. Help you feel full: Because chia seeds absorb 10 times their weight in water, they form into a gel that helps provide the bulk in a meal and in your belly

2. Helps hydrate: The bulky gel helps provide hydration. If you're and athlete, you can mix the gel with coconut water to make your own recovery gel that will help with electrolyte balance and thirst

3. Help control blood sugar: Some studies have shown that chia seeds slow the absorption of simple sugars, and so help keep blood sugars stable.

Besides baking with them, one of my favorite ways to enjoy chia seeds is in a pudding or mousse. To highlight, how amazing these little seeds are, I've created a Coconut Carob Mousse.

Coconut Carob Mousse
Ingredients
1 1/2 cup Coconut Milk (I use Native Forest because they guarantee that their cans are BPA free)
2 tbsp raw carob powder
2 tbsp maple syrup or agave or raw honey. You can also use 5-8 drops of Stevia if you prefer
2 tsp of vanilla powder or 1 tbsp of vanilla extract
1/3 cup Barlean's Organic Chia Seeds
2 tsp of Coconut Cream for Topping
5 raspberries for Topping

Process:
1. Pour milk into a bowl and mix to get rid of any clumps of coconut cream

2. Add carob powder and mix until all clumps of carob are gone. You can use the back of your spoon and push the clumps again the wall of the bowl

3. Add sweetener and vanilla and mix well

4. Add chia seeds and mix well, removing seeds from the walls of the bowl

5. Let stand in refrigerator for 10 minutes

6. Empty into a cup or bowl and finish with coconut cream and raspberries

7. Enjoy!

To be entered into the contest you must do the following things:

1. Like me on Facebook

2. Leave a one comment here for every product in the prize package (6) and let me know what interests you about it. Every comment is an additional chance to win

For more chances to win:
1. Go to Barlean's Facebook page and Like them

2. Follow me on Twitter

3. Follow Barlean's on Twitter

4. Follow me on Pinterest

5. Share with your friends and let me know via a comment (you can do this daily)

Again, you must a comment for each entry.

Contest will run from October 1st until October 15th. I will announce a winner on October 16th. Good Luck!

So You Want to Buy A Juicer: Hurom Slow Juicer vs. Breville Ikon **PLUS MY FIRST GIVEAWAY**

Two weeks ago, when I started the cleanse, I decided to buy a Breville Ikon. The hubby and I did some research at about 1am on a Friday night and I told him to just buy it. I was super overwhelmed by all of the choices: centrifugal, masticating, triturating. To this day, I still don't know what any of it means. 

I've been pretty happy with the Breville, being that it's the only juicer I've ever used and I've had nothing to compare it to-until today. I called the guys at Hurom Slower Juicer and asked them if they'd be willing to send me out a model to test and they gladly obliged. And so, I decided to put the two juicers to a duel!

The Hurom Slow Juicer

The Breville Ikon

I think the most important fact is how the juicers compare to one another, so I'm not going to bore you with the technical details. The one thing I will mention is how they make the juice (based on how I see it).

Breville: Has a "shredder/grater" at the bottom of a funnel and then pushes the fruit/veggie/nut through a mesh screen with teeny tiny holes

Hurom: Has a grinder that churns the fruit/veggie (similar to a traditional meat grinder) and then pushes it through a strainer with much bigger holes.

So which one should you buy?

I think there are a few things you need to consider:

1. Will prep time (peeling, cutting, cleaning) keep you from juicing?

2. Are you in a hurry when juicing?

3. Do you like a little pulp in your juice?

Below is a summary of how long it took me to make the same juice in each juicer.

Prep Time:

If you are going to juice with the Breville, the prep time is pretty minimal: all you really need to do is to peel vegetables with bitter skins like carrots or beets. On the other hand, with the Hurom, you need to cut the fruits/veggies down to two inch pieces as well. I did this by hand, but technically if you want to do it faster, you can use a food processor with the slicer add-on. 

1 Granny Smith, 2 carrots, 2 celery stalks, 2 inch piece of ginger, 4 stalks of kale

Juicing:

The Hurom takes longer to juice, because it's a slow juicer. It basically squeezes every last drop of the juice and this is noticeable in the dry pulp it expels. You do have to stand there and put the cut pieces into the funnel. The Breville is much much faster, so if you are in a hurry, it's something to consider. However, one thing to note is the quality of juice you will get. 

On the Left: Hurom, On the Right: Breville

I used 1 Granny Smith, 2 carrots, 2 celery stalks, 2 inches of ginger, and 4 stalks of kale in both juicers. The Hurom was not only significantly more green, but also yielded an additional ounce of juice. The Breville had much more froth and looked "watery" in comparison to the juice from the Slow Juicer. 

I had the hubby taste both juices blindly. Without knowing which juicer the juice came from or seeing the color, he chose the Slower Juicer's product because of its taste and texture. He said it tasted sweeter. Then when I showed him the two glasses, he said he liked the "green one" based on it's bright color.

Clean-Up

I've always found cleaning the Breville a bit cumbersome. The mesh screen collects every microscopic piece of pulp. You have to scrub until your hands hurt to get it clean. The Hurom was much easier to clean, even though it does have smaller pieces. And because you don't have to scrub the mesh so hard, it's also a bit faster.

Re-Assembly

The Hurom has more pieces and so it does take a little longer to put it back together. The Breville parts are larger, so if you have issues with holding smaller pieces then you may find the Hurom assembly a bit tricky.

Overall

By no means did I expect to like the Hurom so much, especially since I chose to buy the Breville. Honestly, I bought it for the name and the reputation. The Hurom Slow Juicer is brand new product on the market, so I was a bit weary to invest in it. It's available at Williams-Sonoma and having worked for the company, I know that they don't sell anything unless its been fully vetted. 

So back to the question: which one should you buy?

I think that if you don't have time to prep and still want to get into juicing, then the Breville is a perfect starter juicer. You will still get plenty of benefits from consuming nutritious fruits and vegetables. The Breville is also about $100 less than the Hurom, so if money is an issue, then this is a great juicer for the price. However, if you are willing to put in a bit more time and you want to truly drink "Green" juices, then the Hurom Slow Juicer is your best bet. The juice is much richer in not only flavor but also texture and color. Which ever you decide to buy, both are available for sale at my Gourmet Boutique!

Giveaway

I have a pair of Fabrikators Skrub'a Gloves to giveaway to one lucky reader.

These gloves are great for cleaning vegetables instead of peeling them and will help save you time while prepping to juice with your Hurom.

Rules:

To be entered in the contest, you must 

1. Go to my Facebook Page and Like Me: ACraftyGourmet

2. Leave me a comment on this post letting me know what you think of my review (be nice :))

3. I will pick a winner using Random.org and the winner will be announced on Tuesday August 14th.

4. You have until Monday, August 13th to enter. 

5. Good Luck!