Tuesday, February 25, 2020

"Just Being Honest" {Daily Harvest}

As some of you may remember, a few weeks ago Daily Harvest contacted me about giving their deliciousness a try. I did a little happy dance when I got the email because I had been stalking following them on social media for a while and was STOKED to taste some of their products. The first go-around I selected an assortment of their smoothies (since I felt like that was what the majority of the people I follow loved the most). You can check out my review of them HERE if you didn't read it the first time around. This second delivery I decided to try some of their soups and bowls (you see, although we live in SoCal, it can still get "chilly" in the wintertime so I thought some warmer options would be great to chow down on).

Just in case you didn't know before, you can probably tell from my flavor choices... Mushrooms are my jam!

Ordering from Daily Harvest couldn't be any easier. You get to build your box with 9, 12 or 24 cups (choosing any combination from their smoothies, harvest bowls, soups, bites, oat bowls, chia bowls and lattes). They even have a filter you can use when making your picks to input your likes and dislikes, key benefits and dietary restrictions. (Just in case you were wondering the specifics I use to narrow down my search, I love most fruits and veggies but hate cucumbers and am trying to eat vegan.) And then, BAM, the deliciousness arrives at your doorstep like it's Christmas morning.

GET IN MY BELLY (but, first, in the freezer)!

And, because I forgot to address it last time but still think it's uber important to mention, I appreciate that all of the packaging is recyclable. The cardboard box, cups and insulated bag surrounding the dry ice are all recyclable. The lids on the cups can be recycled in most locations. The liner that holds the dry ice is biodegradable (it is made from recycled denim - how cool?!) and can either be brought to a fabric recycling facility or tossed in the trash to degrade (yes, really!).

Love that they use recyclable packaging (and the least amount of it required to keep your food frozen)!

Anywho, enough chit-chat, let's get to the "important" part of the post... THE TASTE! As you can see from the first picture, the three cups I decided on (which, let's be real, narrowing down the options to my top three took close to 30 minutes...) were the Broccoli + Cheeze Harvest Bowl, the Spinach + Shiitake Grits Harvest Bowl and the Mushroom + Miso Soup.

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The first cup I tried was the Broccoli + Cheeze Harvest Bowl. I actually scarfed it down after finishing a 24 mile run. I will say that it was definitely scrum-didily-umptious (although, doesn't anything taste amazing after a long run?!), but next time I may put it over a baked potato or maybe some rice. A 240 calorie lunch (especially after expending upwards of 2,000 calories) just wasn't enough for me, but the taste was yummy. I love that the nutritional yeast added that "cheeze" flavor without the need for dairy (and even the color was on point... even if I'm not the best at photographing food, hehe).

I cooked this one on the stovetop (and did not need to add any water or broth) for about 6 minutes.
As you can see from the far right photo, it didn't stand a chance against my runger ;)

Next up to try was the Mushroom + Miso Soup. I'll be honest, I didn't have high hopes for this one. With only 100 calories, I was expecting it to be a very flavorless soup (with a few flakes of mushroom floating in it). Surprisingly it was chocked full of goodness. I am normally not a squash fan, but I didn't really notice it in there (obviously there were many pieces of it, but I mean I didn't notice disliking the flavor or texture because of it). With that said, I'm not exactly sure why (since I LOVE mushrooms), but the smell was a little off-putting for me. I normally don't have miso, so maybe that is just something with the soup, but for some reason the smell didn't sit right with me. Also, although there was much more than just water in the soup, it was a bit bland for me, so I ended up adding a little black pepper and umami seasoning (because one can never have too many mushroom flavors ;)). I don't know that this would be a go-to for me (it might be better if you used a vegetable broth instead of straight water), but for a quick soup to warm you on a chilly day this would do the trick.

I didn't realize there would be so much butternut squash, but in the end I didn't mind!

My final cup to demo was the Spinach + Shiitake Grits Harvest Bowl. Confession time - I have never had grits before. I have a "texture thing" and for some reason grits always seemed like something I wouldn't like (I understand oatmeal can be great for you, but I just can't get over the soggy oat feel, and I guess in my mind I figured grits would be the same). I was slightly nervous about the texture of this one, but was excited about the flavor profile. Thankfully this one delivered on both fronts. I cooked it on the stovetop for about five minutes and I'm not sure if I cooked it too short or if the millet was supposed to still have a little crunch left in it, but either way I was glad it wasn't just a gooey mush. Similar to the soup, I did add a little extra umami seasoning (but it probably would have been fine without it). At only 140 calories, this strangely seemed more filling than the Broccoli + Cheeze Harvest Bowl (but then again, I did mow down the first one right after a 24 mile run, so I'm not sure my stomach can completely be trusted on that one ;)). Side note - I realize my pictures don't do the food justice (I'm not sure how food bloggers do it...), but I promise the taste was spot on!

Okay, okay, so the picture looks like a pile of mush, but it actually had different textures and a crunch to it!

At Daily Harvest, they believe in eating more whole, organic fruits and vegetables (as does the McDot household ;)). Contradictory and confusing messaging makes it hard to determine what’s actually “healthy”. In an effort to capitalize on trends and produce “healthy” foods that taste like their unhealthy counterparts, the food industry has become reliant on gums, natural flavorings, fillers, additives, and highly processed flours, oils, and sugars. Americans consume these artificial ingredients on a daily basis without fully understanding the long term effects. Daily Harvest is “Just Being Honest” to help educate consumers on what it means to be healthy. I mean, shoot, just take a look at their ingredient transparency to see what I'm talking about... their ingredients are things you can pronounce and real food that you recognize!

Source: @dailyharvest Instagram feed

Curious about what you're actually eating? Get Vegucated and text 917-267-0722 to find out what’s actually in your food.

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In case you are looking to give Daily Harvest and their REAL ingredients a go, you can use code "CARLEEMCDOT" to save $25 on your first order. (And, because you know I always gotta shoot straight with you, I want to be upfront with you and let you know that I do make a couple bucks any time my code gets used, but hopefully you know by now that I am only going to rep and share about brands that I legit believe in. Obviously I'm not in this whole blog thing for the money...)


Do you look at the ingredients of foods you eat?

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