Oh so wonderful!

Are you a pomegranate juice fan? I wicked am, didn't use to be, but those people at POM are pretty convincing. I mean just check out this graph about antioxidants... aren't graphs 100 times better than reading all the facts... I think so too! OK if you want to read about it go here.


The wonderful people (ha get it...) at POM sent me some more juice to try out, and I can't stop chugging it! I love it after a workout to give me a little fuel before I start cooking dinner. And it tastes great added to smoothies. I know I probably sound like a commercial but it's just too good to not talk about! :) If you haven't yet, go give it a try, you'll get hooked :)

So tell me, what way do you prefer to drink your pom? Mixed up, straight up??

Strawberry POM jam

So I had an idea... take the strawberry agave jam I made a little while ago... and add in pomegranate seeds!! I mean I already used POM juice in the jam... why not go full on with the seeds!?

So what do you think? :) An even tarter jam, with a little added snap of the pom seeds! Wicked fun!

check out the cute POM logo on the labels... LOL oh wait is that copyright infringement??? It's not like I'm selling these so no worries right? :D

Tart Strawberry POM Jam sweetened with Agave
recipe by steph chows

2.5 lb bag of whole frozen strawberries
1 cup agave nectar
1 cup pomegranate and nectarine juice or strait up POM juice
1 package Ball no sugar fruit pectin
1 pomegranate, seeded and skin/pith discarded
7 sterilized 1/2 pint jars

Place frozen strawberries in a large pot, heat on medium until they start to thaw and sauce up. Once they are soft enough mash them with a potato masher. Add agave and juice and turn heat to medium high. Bring to a rolling boil, stirring the whole time. Keep stirring and let it roll for 1 minute. Gradually add in pectin and continue to stir and boil for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in POM seeds, pour into sterilized jars. Process in boiling water for 10 minutes. Remove from water and let cool undisturbed overnight. For more specifics on canning check our this post here.

This jam was super flavorful and the pom juice gave it a nice tart kick!

POM

The people at POM wonderful sent me some more tasty products to try out... this time...


Pomegranate and kiwi juice along with a bottle of pomegranate and nectarine juice! (images taken from POM wonderful website)

I've talked about all the health benefits that come along with pom before, you can check them out here. The thing is, some people aren't the biggest fan of the flavor... enter in these juice mixes! They take a little bit of the kick out of the POM juice (which I personally like) but still leave you with the health benefits.

I thought I'd be over the moon for the nectarine version... but to tell you the truth I wasn't blow away. Now enter in the kiwi version... I was NOT thinking I'd like this... cracked it open and did a "well here goes nothing" *slurp* wait a second... *slurp* this is darn good!!!

So I say go and pick up the flavor you think you'd like the least and try it, you'll be surprised!! (These also come in mango, cherry, and blueberry!)

POM tea

Remember how I used some POM Wonderful juice to make some wicked tasty granola, and some muffins? Well the people at POM wonderful had a new treat for me to try, POM tea. This time I think I'm going to stick to just drinking the stuff :) no adding this into baked goods for me!


They sent me two flavors, pomegranate blackberry tea, and a light pomegranate wildberry white tea. (there are a ton of other flavor options too) The light tea only has 35 calories a serving... now that's what I'm talking about. I'm a "eat my calories" kind of girl. You can have your high calorie drinks all you want... me I just want to eat, I want my drinks to be low or no calorie (hence why I guzzle green tea from morning to night) YUM!

The light tea was refreshing and had a slight berry taste to it, nothing artificial or overpowering. Actually I wish it had a little more fruit flavor to it, it's a bit on the bland side. It has 9 sugars per serving, so it's not over the top, but I'd think it would have tasted sweeter with that number. I really like the idea though since straight up POM juice can be a bit overpowering to some, so this would be a great option for those kind of people. Get in those antioxidants in a mellower way!

I just tried the full on sugar version. It has 80 calories and 18 sugars per serving. (2 servings per 16 oz bottle) it has a lot more flavor than the light for sure! It's really good flavor and sweetness wise. I'm pretty glad I tried the low cal one first, because I think if I went the other way I really wouldn't have liked the low cal version. I say stick with the original for this one, and I totally recommend the pomegranate blackberry tea, YUM!

Do you drink a lot of your calories? Or are you an eat your calories person like me? :D

Quinoa POM Wonderful Muffins

And they have blueberries in them too! These things are an antioxidant powerhouse, they are also chocked full of protein and all types of good for you things! OK I see all you anti-health food people trying to sneak away! Get on back here! Because these things are crazy good! Taste tested on a variety of guinea pigs (house mates, fiances, coworkers) everyone really enjoyed them! The inspiration and original recipe came from Bitter Sweet. If you haven't visited her blog she makes AMAZING vegan treats and delicacies, and even if you are a serious meat eater, I'm sure you'll find something you'll love over there.

She originally just posted the image since she wasn't totally happy with how the recipe came out. But due to so many people harassing her for the recipe (me included), she gave in and posted it! Thank you so much again!!!

I gave it a whirl and changed a few things, and I'm definitely happy with how this came out. Let me know what you guys think! These are still vegan, but I did use splenda.... but totally give it a try with the agave like she says ( I added in subs for the splenda in the recipe).

I've been eating these as a mid morning snack every day for the past week. Totally powers me through until I eat lunch at 1. :)


Quinoa POM Wonderful Blueberry Muffins - vegan friendly!
Original version of recipe by Bitter Sweet, this version is my adaptation

2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 Cup Rolled Oats
1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 teaspoon Fine grain sea salt
1 Tablespoon Flaxseeds (I didn't have any on hand, but want to try these with this included next time)
1.5 Cups Fresh or Frozen Blueberries (or 1/2 blueberries and 1/2 pomegranate seeds)
1/2 Cup Chopped Walnuts
2 Cups Cooked Quinoa
1/2 unsweetened apple sauce
1/2 Cup Splenda Granulated (or use 1/2 cup Amber Agave Syrup or 1/2 cup white sugar)
1/4 Cup Dark Brown Sugar, Packed
1/2 Cup Pom Wonderful Juice
Turbino Sugar (optional)

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and lightly grease 12 muffin tins.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, oats, cinnamon, baking powder and soda, and salt. Grind the flaxseeds to a fine powder using a coffee or spice grinder, and mix them in as well. Add in the blueberries and walnuts, and toss them to coat.

Separately, combine the cooked quinoa, apple sauce, splenda/sugar/agave, brown sugar, and POM Wonderful juice. Once the mixture is well-mixed, pour these wet ingredients into the bowl of dry, and use a wide spatula to combine. Stir only enough to bring the batter together, leaving any small lumps that form in favor of mixing it as little as possible. Distribute the mixture evenly between your prepared tins, and sprinkle with about 1/2 teaspoon turbinado sugar per muffin, if desired.

Bake for 18 - 22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes in the pan before moving them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

POM Wonderful!

A week ago I got a comment from Janny asking me to contact her, little did I know it was to see if I was interested in taste testing some POM Wonderful!! I jumped on the chance! I've eaten the fruit before but never the juice. If you've never had the fruit, it's an experience for sure haha. It's a very unique looking fruit with tons of little pockets of the delicious juice. Some people aren't fans of the texture, if that's your case, totally try the juice from POM!! It's the only 100% pomagranit juice out there (says their site) and it's super good for you. All the delisiousness without the seeds or weird texture!

And for all you health nuts out there (yes I'm talking about myself) this stuff is a powerhouse when it comes to antioxidants! I'm a huge green tea drinker and this stuffs kicks green teas bottom!

If you go to the POM site, you'll also find a ton of recipes. I may give one of their cookie recipes a try (after I chop the butter out of course :) ) I'll keep you updated once I make something!

A special thanks again to POM, and totally give them a try, super tasty AND healthy :)