Honey Stinger Joins Ironman

 This exciting announcement came from Lisa Bentley, an 11 time Ironman Champion:

 

"Ironman is so pleased to have Honey Stinger on our team! The partnership will raise Honey Stinger from the healthy speciality niche sport product to the main stream athlete choice. Honey Stinger is entering the "NHL" of triathlon and will fuel 6000 Ironman athletes to the finish line at Ironman Mont-Tremblant (2700 athletes), Ironman 70.3 Mont-Tremblant (2100) and Subaru Ironman 70.3 Muskoka (1200 athletes). This summer, the spotlight will be on these new Ironman events and Honey Stinger will share in that national and international reach. As our athletes prepare for their respective endurance events, they will reach for Honey Stinger to fuel those 6 hour bike rides and 3 hours run in training for race day. The reach of this partnership goes well beyond race day! It starts now!"

Mrs. Crimble's is Here!

Award winning snacks, Mrs. Crimble's are the world's best selling gluten free cookies and crackers. They are also amazingly delicious! Planet Foods will be carrying the Cheese Crackers line (Original, Rosemary & Onion, Tomato & Pesto), and the scrumptious Macaroons (Original, and Chocolate).

Mrs. Crimble's was founded over 25 years ago, and they are dedicated to making treats as yummy as possible - and the receipes just so happen to be gluten free!

Their commitment to the Earth and sustainability can be seen in the packaging of Mrs. Crimble's. You won't find extra foil or individual wrappings, so you can feel good about what's left after you've finished off a case (trust us, you'll go through them quick!). 

Look for Mrs. Crimble's Crackers and Macaroons in a store near you!

Congratulations to Ryder Hesjedal!!!

Canada has a new cycling star! Ryder Hesjedal from Victoria BC won the Giro d’Italia this past Sunday, becoming the first Canadian to win this prestigious event.  He is also the first Canadian to win one of the three grand tours of cycling.  This victory is a major accomplishment for Ryder who beat the second place finisher by only 16 seconds.  He won the race on the final day, making up a deficit of 31 seconds and becoming only the second racer in the history of the race to win The Giro on the final day.

The Giro d'Italia is a grueling, three week race that covers nearly 3500km! Ryder Hesjedal should be proud of his victory and Planet Foods congratulates him on this incredible achievement.  For more information on Ryder, go to http://ryderhesjedal.ca/  

(image from) http://m.ctv.ca/edmonton/20120527/canada-hesjedal-giro-d-italia-120527.html

Plants Keep You "Strong & Healthy™!"

Planet Foods Garden! (about half of the plants we have in the office)

We knew there was a reason we started getting a plant crush half-way through our Calgary winter! Canadian Gardening tells us "How houseplants keep you healthy" ...


"Plants are more than just a pretty decoration for the home or office: science has long since proven the benefits of bringing plants into indoor living spaces... Sick building syndrome is the result of energy efficiency; while great for the wallet, newer buildings and homes are often so tightly sealed to avoid energy loss that they are virtually cut off from the outside world, meaning all the potential pollutants off-gassed from synthetic building materials are trapped indoors, in the air we breath... [which] can result in poor health, respiratory problems and chronic illness. (emphasis added)


"...keeping plants in your working and living spaces can do more than just help your physical health; it can improve your mental well-being, too.


"'By putting plants in the work environment, people are healthier, they're happier, they're more engaged with people around them...people are up to 17 percent (emphasis added) more productive just by having plants there.'"


For more information check out the Canadian Gardening article or website. 

Breakfast "YUM!"

We though we'd put a Planet Foods twist on Kathy Patalsky's recipe! You can check out Kathy's blog for the original recipe and more great tips on a healthy morning!

Planet Foods Superfood Toast:

1 Slice Quality Bakery Bread (pick your favourite!)

1 Tablespoon almond butter

3/4 Banana, very thinly sliced

Dash cinnamon

Sprinkle of Decacer Maple Flakes

Sprinkle of chia seeds

Sprinkle of raw cocao nibs

Why not enjoy a redespresso® with your breakfast? You can make it in your drip coffee machine or for a stronger taste try making redespresso® in an espresso machine, French Press, or stove-top espresso maker. For something a little different try making a fresh red®!

1. Make a redespresso® shot

2. Fill a glass to the top with ice

3. Fill glass with white cranberry juice

4. Gently pour redespresso® over fruit juice and ice

For this and more amazing red espresso recipes, check out the redespresso® website.

Enjoy your breakfast treat!

Krisda - Stevia Sweetened Soda - Better for You

Why should you switch your soda habit to sodas that are sweetened without sugar or artificial sweeteners.

Drinking regular soda, or pop depending on your word of choice, causes weight gain. No shock there, but the areas of the fat build up should give you pause.

But I drink the diet stuff and just the occasional regular stuff (at least when I am being good). I should be fine - Right?  Nope!

Researchers from the University of Texas Health Science Center monitored 475 adults for 10 years, and found that those who drank diet soda had a 70 percent increase in waist circumference over the 10-year study, compared with those who didn’t drink any soda. Those who drank more than two diet sodas per day saw a 500 percent waist expansion! A separate study the same researchers conducted on mice suggested that it was the aspartame, which raised blood glucose levels, that caused the weight gain; when your liver encounters too much glucose, the excess is converted to body fat.

Do you have the diet soda belly?

Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/scary-reasons-to-quit-soft-drinks.html#ixzz1qQEZc1sH

10 Reasons to Drink more Water

Top 10 Benefits of Drinking Water: Don't Medicate, Hydrate!

1. Increases Energy & Relieves Fatigue – Since your brain is mostly water, drinking it helps you think, focus and concentrate better and be more alert. As an added bonus, your energy levels are also boosted!

2. Promotes Weight Loss – Removes by-products of fat, reduces eating intake (by filling up your tummy if consumed prior to meals), reduces hunger (hello natural appetite suppressant!), raises your metabolism and has zero calories!

3. Flushes Out Toxins – Gets rid of waste through sweat and urination which reduces the risk of kidney stones and UTI’s (urinary tract infections).

4. Improves Skin Complexion – Moisturizes your skin, keeps it fresh, soft, glowing and smooth. Gets rid of wrinkles. It’s the best anti-aging treatment around!

5. Maintains Regularity – Aids in digestion as water is essential to digest your food and prevents constipation.

6. Boosts Immune System – A water guzzler is less likely to get sick. And who wouldn’t rather feel healthy the majority of the time? Drinking plenty of water helps fight against flu, cancer and other ailments like heart attacks.

7. Natural Headache Remedy – Helps relieve and prevent headaches (migraines & back pains too!) which are commonly caused by dehydration.

8. Prevents Cramps & Sprains - Proper hydration helps keep joints lubricated and muscles more elastic so joint pain is less likely.

9. Puts You in a Good Mood – When the body is functioning at its best, you will feel great and be happy!

10. Save Money! - Water is FREE! Even if you choose bottled/filtered water, it’s STILL cheaper than that high sugar and fat-filled latte!

The Localize Project Celebrates Local Foods

Sobeys / IGA and Planet foods ate going Local!  Alberta Agriculture & Sobeys are in the process of conducting a test project in 10 Sobeys / IGA Stores in Central Alberta.  Several products, including Quality Bakery Bread, Kicking Horse Coffee, Canoe Rice & Highwood Crossing.

For the month of February the test stores will feature these local products by giving them a ‘local rating’ out of 10 indicating how local each product is.  This is an exciting test for farmers & producers of local food as it highlights the brands in store that support the local economy.

For more information check out the Localize Project web site at http://www.localizeyourfood.com/

Look at what Saveur is saying about Simply 7

Simply 7 Chips

By Karen Shimizu

Email Print Save Article

Enlarge Image

This past week, I've eaten an unseemly number of Simply 7's crunchy, chickpea flour-based Hummus Chips. They break on your teeth like a hefty corn chip (think Fritos), while their pasta-shell shape and robust spicing make dip superfluous (think Bugles). There's also a line of lentil-based chips that are light, puffy, and dangerously noshable — the ones seasoned simply with sea salt have a broad, lentil-y flavor that's extremely addictive.

Look what the "Laziest Vegan" is saying about our Eco-Planet cookies

Eco Planet Vanilla Organic Cookies

If you haven't noticed by now, I'm a sucker for cookies. Be it my Mom's, Isa's, ABC's, Liz Lovely's ....whatever, I just love them. Writing this post reminded me how much I loved those animal cookies with the pink frosting. Holy crap were those ever good! Or the grasshopper cookies with green frosting. I vividly remembering bringing those to Kindergarten to share with the other kids. MMMM! Ok, all I guess I'm trying to say is that cookies are the best and you just need to realize that.


So that brings us to the Eco Planet Vanilla Organic Cookies. These have to be some of the most adorable cookies I've ever seen. Aimed at kids (or adults like me), the cookies are shaped in eco-friendly symbols. And the best part is that they taste awesome. Yummy vanilla wafers of goodness!


Aren't these cute or what! So you have the sun, I assume representing solar power. Next is the wind turbine representing wind power. Anytime I see one of those for real, I'm so amazed. I'd love to see more of our energy produced by the wind. There are a ton of those things in Iowa, not so much in Nebraska. Kind of a bummer. Anyway...cute cookie #3 is the electric car. Hopefully we'll all be driving one of these soon. Or walking. Or riding a bike. Whatever you prerogative is. And last but not least is Mother Earth. So not only are these wonderful tasting cookies, they are a great lesson about the environment.