Tags
accidentially vegan, coffee review, dandelion tea, polish vegan, sonaki, vegan food from poland, vitamin c showerhead
May was a month full of surprises for our Genki Household. Since we moved to Indiana in January we have not had the pleasure to see leaves and flowers in the yards around us. May started to bring these things to us along with some warmer weather. Or shall I say warm’ish? The last two days brought close to 90F/32C temperatures and then this morning the temperature is in the 40F/4F degree range. That’s a drastic change in temperature and while I am thankful it is not as drastic as the temperatures as in Indiana, it is a big change to our bodies. So May has definitely been a challenge and a reward all at the same time. With that being said, here are some new products I have found useful and interesting for our household through these changes.
Seen in the photo above is the box for the Sonaki Shower head that comes from South Korea. We had never heard of this before doing some intense research on shower filters before moving to the North where the water is one of the hardest in the nation. Cities in America are supposed to share water content results every few years but unfortunately the results have come back “inconclusive” in our city. Not sure how many years a city can continue to put this into their public database but it appears they don’t have to share what is in our water (above the law?). So when we moved here we weren’t sure what we were going to get as far as water conditions. For those of you that live in areas where the water is fresh and not hard, this may come as a shock to you. But, water here in the states is generally ‘cleaned’ by chlorine or other harsh chemicals to ‘purify’ the water that goes to all city residents. The chlorine in some cities can be so strong that one can smell it when the tap is running. We thankfully can not smell the chlorine in the water but there is some chemical that is being used that made my skin break out in a rash. I’ve lived in different countries, traveled to 3rd world countries after hurricanes and etc – no issues. Moving here and I break out in a bad rash all over my body. So, we found this Sonaki shower head that works with hot water in showers. Apparently shower filters normally do not work with hot water but this one does. It also kills the chemicals such as chlorine out of city water. A week or so after using this shower head with vit C, the rash went away. When I don’t use it, the rash comes back. Highly recommended!
Two new vegan approved almond milk brands I tested this last month. The Meijer Almond Milk Vanilla Unsweetened was delicious- similar to the other name brands on the market. It is inexpensive compared to the others though. It’s an exact replacement. The Flax Milk Vanilla Unsweetened was also a nice find. We test it out when it first come out in our stores a few years ago but it was not the same as now. This brand is thicker than years ago and it has a more vanilla flavor. It is not as thick as Almondmilk but rather is the texture of cow’s skim milk. It does have more calories and also more unnatural ingredients than almond milk. Both of these tasted very good and can be used in cooking/baking recipes.
Lately I have been taking in more water and for some reason I have had more retention too. So I took it upon myself to get some Dandelion tea to help with reduction of water retention. Hopefully that’s not too much information for all of you. Thankfully I found Traditional Medicinals, a company that I love for their commitment to green business practices, sell this tea. There are other brands but this is a great company that sells mostly organic teas for specific ailments. It does have a slight ‘weird’ flavor that I do not love but Genki Husband does… it is like a fennel, licorice, spearmint, dandelion flavor all mixed up. I actually have bought two boxes now with this tea because it works like a charm! I make 8oz hot water and put it in a mug, cool and then chug. G.H gently sips on it. It all depends on your taste buds.
If you follow me on instagram I ordered a mixed box of medium roast Crazy Cups coffee. Well the entire box is all gone now but we did pick out a few favorites. This Banana one smelled amazing! It is actually not a medium roast by any means but rather a light roast. The best thing about this coffee is the smell of bananas. It is more like banana candy (you know those marshmallow ones or Cirus Peanuts)! So if you like the smell of those, you will love the smell of this coffee. It does not taste like banana candy but the smell is really there when you first take it out of the keurig.
Here is the variety box I bought from Amazon. It is inexpensive but I still have to warn you it is not medium roast but tastes very light. I couldn’t drink the pumpkin vanilla creme because of my allergy to hazelnut/nutmeg but I tested the other ones. The frosted oatmeal cookie really did smell like a cookie, cinnamon churro was flat (no real strange smell or taste), caramel truffle sundae smelled like chocolate and salted caramel was nice to smell like caramel. None had a strong flavor as these are really light roasted but if you have moments in your day when you want something comfy scented, I would recommend a few of these.
Green Mountain Brown Sugar Crumble Donut is another coffee I tested out this month. I loved Blueberry Crumble from Green Mountain (I think it’s organic). This is highly suggested if you are in the mood for something sweet but do not want the calories. You can make this and the smell and taste just takes you away to your happy place. Highly recommended!
You know we love coffee so it’s probably not a surprise that we also tested out this new Hurricane Coffee Nor’Easter k-cup box. This was a dark roast from a variety box we purchased from Amazon too. We purchase a lot from them because our stores do not have many options- just run of the mill and I am the type of person that wants lots of options. This was a really nice dark roast that had a good flavor, as far as keurig k-cups go. We would buy this again.
Newman’s Own Newman’s Special Blend Coffee is not something to really write home about but it is tasty as another option. This is a fair-trade certified coffee and it is a darker roast. We would purchase this again.
Caza Trail Extra Bold Medium Roast Coffee is another one that is just okay but I would not probably purchase it again. It is a light dark roast and has an okay flavor but it just wasn’t enough to make me pay about $1 a k-cup for instead of others for the same price.
White Coffee is a product that I have mentioned before from Big Lots. It is an organic coffee k-cup that can be recycled 100% (minus the grounds of course). We tried the Breakfast Blend, Dark Blend and also the salted caramel. The last one was the best but these are pretty good. I would suggest these to my close friends (which of course is all of you). These are very well priced and can be purchased as a normal item from Big Lots (hopefully everywhere but I’m not sure about that one).
Rice cakes from Poland which contain no sodium or sugar! Yes and thank you! I love rice crackers, rice crackers and basically anything with rice. This has to be from my days while living in Japan since my family doesn’t really eat rice. The thing is in America, the rice cakes have sugar and lots of it. I used to love it when my mother would go on a diet years ago and buy all those rice cakes with “no flavor” as she would put it. Then after she quit her diet I would get to eat all of them. She’s always thought I was weird so it doesn’t matter… These are terrific if you can find them in your area. I found these at all places, Big Lots! It’s strange how one can find such as healthy international products at Big Lots and not other stores. A lot of the times we find products at this store and when they are no longer available it is available at Whole Foods Market and other health stores. It’s almost as if the market is being tested for lower end markets before going into high end ones. Either way I am thrilled and love these natural rice cakes.
Ooohhhh….circus peanuts. I have a fondness for them because they were one of my mom’s favorite candies. I remember her every time I have one.
Oh that is so funny! My mother loves them too! She used to love setting them out open and letting them get hard though. Did you mother do that too?
Yes, she did. I guess that’s why I kind of like hard marshmallows 😉
oh no! haha My sister and I always thought it was just our mother being crazy. There are more of her…. haha Did your mother do it with peeps too?
We never had Peeps….I guess ‘cos their an Easter thing.
Are they just an Easter thing? haha I didn’t even realize until you said that actually…
I always assumed they were….Easter eggs….chicks. It should have been they’re not their. Bad grammar, Natalie.
Okay I’m a dork if that’s the case because I always thought they were just spring eggs. Maybe that’s why my mother bought a ton of them during Easter… I guess I was never observant as a kid.. oops!
I remember the days of city water and rashes. I’m spoiled with well water right night but I’ll be definitely need one of those shower heads when I move!
You get rashes too from city water?
Oh I hear you on that one… When I was growing up in Michigan my parents had/have well water and it is worlds’ apart from city water. You’ll love the sonaki if you move away. It is amazing! We are thinking about putting in a water softener too but are worried since it’s not great for the environment nor ones’ health.