The natural life

I know that most of you know me as the girl who promotes the health benefits of wine, chocolate milk, fried chicken and pizza, but I swear I can eat healthy when I want to, and that happens to be most of the time.

After a recent trip to the nicest Kroger in town (the one on Zebulon Road) I became overwhelmed with the organic and natural foods offerings! Apple and pears! Boca burgers and tofu! Organic yogurt and whole wheat pasta! Oh my!

So I've sampled a few products for your reading delight. Go out and buy them. They are good, and no, I'm not being paid by any of these companies.

First up, True Lemon.

Ever hate the way water tastes? Even filtered water? Do you find flavored water too sweet? Do you loathe the taste of artificial sweeteners such as aspertame? Then you'll LOVE True Lemon. It's little one-serving size packets of crystallized lemon -- nothing else. It's like squeezing a fresh lemon into every glass of water, but without the knife and the lemon juice and people stealing lemons out of the company fridge. Look for it near the gatorade and Krystal Light in the grocery store.

Second up, Cocoa Via.

I first tried these when the company sent us a sampler pack at work, hoping we'd review them. We get all kinds of free crap (and I DO mean crap) at the paper on a daily basis. Most of it is, well, crap, but not Cocoa Via. Do you hate the way chocolate made for protein bars or low-fat Slimfast-esque snacks tastes? I do. But I LOVE Cocoa Via. These candy bars have only 80 calories and 2 grams of fat per bar. They taste great. Look for it in the organic section, near the protein bars.

Finally, Naked Juice brand fruit drinks.

From everything from straight-up juice to my FAVORITE, the protein smoothie, these little drinks are Y-U-M-M-Y. They are expensive, at like $3 a pop, but soooo worth it. The protein drink has 38 grams of protein and is all natural. It's made from blended fruit and soy protein powder. This is a great alternative for people like me, who can't seem to get enough protein in their diets, and don't like the taste of regular protein shakes. Look for it in the produce section, next to the vegan cheese and tofu.

Enjoy!!