Comfort Foods CAN Be Healthy!
When we think of comfort foods, we think of warm, hearty, stick-to-your-ribs kinds of meals. Lots of times comfort foods involve fat-laden sauces and gravies and very little in the way of fiber and veggies. My most recent Daily Harvest box has shown me that comfort foods can be both health AND delicious! In this Daily Harvest review, I’ll be covering their Mint + Dark, Melty Cacao Chips Scoops; Brussels Sprouts + Tahini Harvest Bowl; Artichoke + Spinach Flatbread; Cauliflower Rice + Pesto Harvest Bowl; Lentil + Cremini Soup; and the Vanilla Bean + Cacao Smoothie. Many thanks to Daily Harvest for sending me these delicious options to try. If you’d like to try Daily Harvest yourself, you can get up to $40 OFF your order by using promo code TEACHERSTYLE and/or shopping through any of the links in this post.
Note: This post contains affiliate links. Shopping via these links means I may earn a small commission at absolutely no cost to you. As always, all opinions expressed here are 100% my own, and I only share products and brands that I love and think you will, too.
Healthy Holiday Eating
I don’t know about you, but between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, my plans to eat healthfully take a bit of a dive. It’s cold, it’s dark so early, and there are so many warm, comforting goodies to nosh. Well, there’s help! Daily Harvest sent me some items from their fall menu, along with a couple of classics, and they have been helping me stay on track with clean, healthy eating during the holiday season. I always have trouble getting in veggies, but Daily Harvest makes it a treat (plus, they give me extra energy to boot!). Here are the items I tried and what I thought of them.
Mint + Dark, Melty Cacao Chips Scoops
Okay, I’m starting right off with what I tried first: SCOOPS! Daily Harvest Scoops are a great alternative to ice cream. The mint is fresh and bright, and the cacao is dark and rich — not too sweet. It reminded me of a classier, more grown-up version of mint chocolate chip ice cream. I’m going to be honest here…I nibbled on this off and on straight out of the container whenever I wanted a sweet treat. It satisfied my sweet tooth in a much more healthy way, and I will definitely be ordering more flavors of DH Scoops to try.
Brussels Sprouts + Tahini Harvest Bowl
I was a little hesitant to try this one because I’m not a big fan of squash and this Harvest Bowl contains butternut squash. However, I’m happy to report that the delicious flavor of the tahini (sesame paste) and seasonings and the hearty lentils, along with the perfectly cooked brussels sprouts, were what I could taste. I loved the spicy, exotic taste, and it was perfect for a warm lunch at home on a cold, rainy Sunday.
Artichoke + Spinach Flatbread
This is one of the items I was most excited to try. I love spinach-artichoke dip, and I wondered if it would be just as good on flatbread with broccoli (and more healthy!). I have to say it was really good! It wasn’t the same experience as spinach-artichoke dip: not as gooey and cheesy. But, the flavor of the artichoke and spinach shone through, and the flatbread was crisp. It really filled me up, too! I ate it for an after school snack, and I was still full hours later. They have several other types of flatbreads, and I want to try them as well. These would make a good meal all in themselves, just like the Harvest Bowls and Soups. My photos weren’t very good, so this is a picture from Daily Harvest’s website.
Cauliflower Rice + Pesto Harvest Bowl
This. Was. Delicious! It tasted just like pesto pasta: lots of basil and garlic flavor. This was filling and satisfying as a school lunch. This is another photo from their website since my desk was a mess the day I had made this in the school microwave and wolfed it down.
Lentil + Cremini Soup
I love Daily Harvest’s smoothies, oat bowls, and chia bowls (see my first Daily Harvest review with several of these items), but I hadn’t tried their warm veggie Harvest Bowls and Soups until recently. The soups all sounded really good, but I like my meals to have a little more protein than most of these had. The one I selected to try was their Lentil + Cremini Soup. This one almost fit my 2:1 carb to protein ratio, and it only had 180 calories, so this made it a great afternoon snack. It was warm, and I loved the seasoning!
Vanilla Bean Cacao Smoothie
I love every single Daily Harvest smoothie I have tried: they’re flavorful, filling, and such a treat! Some are closer to my 2:1 carb to protein ratio than others, and those are the ones I like best because they’re a filling snack or dessert, but they’re also not a “cheat” item. This smoothie is a little high in the carbs and calories (57 carbs, 18 grams of protein, and 530 calories), so it’s great as a filling snack (or breakfast or lunch!) on a hard workout day. It tastes DELICIOUS, almost like oatmeal cookie dough (but like with the Mint Cacao Scoops, not quite as sweet). I am a fan of the “not as sweet” sweets in general, so this is definitely going to be added to my reorder list. Obviously, this is another photo from the DH website: the smoothie itself is smooth and tan/ivory.
Save up to $40 on Daily Harvest!
If you use promo code TEACHERSTYLE and/or shop through any of the links in this post, Daily Harvest will take up to $40 off of your order! The details of the offer are: $25 off 9 items, $30 off 14 items, or $40 off 24 items.Β I’ve found Daily Harvest to be a perfect way to boost your intake of veggies and fiber. Those things tend to go by the wayside when there are holiday cookies and candies everywhere you look, so having a healthy, delicious, filling option handy makes all the difference. Daily Harvest isn’t cheap, but I like to keep a few on hand for those times when I’m tempted to fall off the healthy eating wagon. I look forward to them as a healthy treat, and if there ever was a time to treat yourself with something healthy and good, it’s 2020. Check out my previous Daily Harvest review, which features several other types of smoothies, oat bowls, and chia bowls.
Happy holidays! Now excuse me while I head back to the fridge to grab a few bites of my minty chocolate DH Scoops….. π
