My Fabulous Foodie Day at the 2017 Fancy Food Show

Are you hungry?

Are you thirsty?

If not, you likely will be after you read about my fabulous foodie day at the 2017 Fancy Food Show. Last week, I spent four hours walking 362,000 square feet of the Javits Center in New York while sampling goodies offered by 2,600+ exhibiting companies. As a long-term foodie (in my previous career I worked for two major food companies for 30+ years), attending the show and scoping out new products is always fun.

The Fancy Food Show has helped launch such brands as Popchips, Ben & Jerry's, Walker's Shortbread (my late husband M loved these biscuits), ZICO Coconut Water and Vermont Creamery.

Move Over Millennials, Boomers Are Big Foodies

According to Today's Specialty Food Consumer 2016 Report, "baby boomers are an experiential and experimental group. They use specialty foods the most of all groups, more than millennials, for cooking at home. They do a lot of scratch cooking and enjoy trying new things." In addition to getting excited about their food, health and social consciousness play a role in purchases. They are also the most likely consumer group to purchase products that claim to be fair trade, ethical or sustainable.

My Foodie Favorite
So now that you know that boomers are big foodies, I'm going to share the foods that pleased my post-50 palate during my gourmet walkabout. Some of these products can be purchased in local supermarkets, while others can be found in Whole Foods or smaller gourmet shops. If you cannot locate a particular product in stores I suggest checking Amazon or going on the company's website

Drum roll please!My absolute FAVORITE #1 product of the show was KourellasOrganic Greek Yogurt. It brought me back to my vacation in Greece and the delicious creamy yogurt we ate during our stay in Athens and Santorini. Greek yogurt and honey is a breakfast classic in Greece. Kourellas yogurt was smooth and lighter than most Greek yogurts. Unfortunately, this yogurt is not available yet on the East Coast. I hope Kourellas gets a distributor soon.

Second drum roll! Third and fourth drum roll! My absolute FAVORITE#2 and #3 and #4 products of the show were Bonchou Eclairerie mini eclairs, Petitpot Pot De Creme (French for delicious pudding), and SweetBite Baklava one bite wonders to satisfy the sweet tooth. All were phenomenal desserts with portion control. Yum, yum, yum!

Here's to Your Health!

"Eat Like Your Life Depends on It," says Primal Kitchenfounder, bestselling author, health expert and Paleo pioneer Mark Sisson. His products capitalize on growth of Paleo, avocado and collagen in the diet with dressings, vinaigrettes and marinades made with avocado oil, protein bars made with grass-fed collagen and an egg-free mayonnaise.

Do you like chickpeas? If not, "Give Peas a Chance," says Hippeas, the makers of Organic Chickpea Puffs. These gluten-free snacks provide a pop of protein, are high in fiber and contain 5 grams of fat per 1-ounce package. I liked the vegan white cheddar. BienaChickpea Snacks claim to have as much protein as almonds and as much fiber as a cup of oats. They are available in single-serve pouches in flavors such as Sea Salt, Rockin' Ranch and Honey Roasted, and my top choice, Dark Chocolate Roasted. Chickpeatos crispy roasted chickpeas have 50 percent fewer net carbs than pretzels, 33 percent less sodium than potato chips and as much protein as nuts. There are even gluten-free organic Chickpeatos crumbs—just like bread crumbs.

For those who want more pea protein, I suggest trying new Protes, filled with 15 grams of protein per serving. These chips are available in sweet and savory flavors.

Healthful ingredients were in abundance. I sampled Chocolate Hemp Heart Bites, Grain-Free Coconola Coconut Granola, Siete Grain Free Tortilla Chips (they also make almond flour, cassava and coconut, and cassava and chia tortillas—all gluten-free), Vivify Quinoa-Flax Seed Energy Sticks, and lots of sesame and tahini products.

Clean packaging caught my eye. I met the team from RXBAR. My daughter A likes these 12-gram protein bars. Their labels let the ingredients do the talking. "Egg whites for protein. Dates to bind. Nuts for texture. No B.S." I'm looking forward to trying their two new flavors: mixed berry and chocolate chip. Wella Bar Chilled Organic Protein Bars had pretty packaging with bold type and fresh fruit and nuts. These bars are crafted in small batches with varieties made from house-made almond and cashew butters and fragrant wildflower honey.

Probiotics are popular. I take a daily probiotic capsule which helps my IBS digestive health. Now it seems I can drink my probiotics in a wide assortment of beverages:

• Mother-in-Law's Liquid Kimchi can be taken as a probiotic shot or used as a flavor elixir in recipes.
• Harmless HarvestCoconut Probiotics is a refreshing, organic blend of coconut water with young Thai coconut meat and live probiotic cultures.
• Revive Kombucha brews billions of probiotics in every bottle.

Beverages With Benefits
There were so many new beverages on the market touting a host of benefits:

• HFactor Hydrogen Infused Watersays that "molecular hydrogen provides anti-inflammatory and antioxidants, relieves fatigue, jet lag and hangovers, improves fitness performance and recovery, boosts energy and alertness and enhances circulation and cell function." Amazing! (Can't wait to try the sample I brought home.)
• H2 Rose is a rose water and saffron–infused beverage that claims it "improves skin texture and appearance, improves digestive health, decreases appetite and is a natural mood enhancer." (Looking forward to #tastetheroses.)
• Milkadamiais a vegan, dairy-free beverage made from raw, not roasted, macadamia nuts. It provides 50 percent more calcium than 1 percent dairy milk and is an excellent source of vitamins D and B12. (I drink almond milk and like macadamia nuts, too. How about you?)
• Clarity Juice is cold pressed and high-pressure processed using non-GMO organic ingredients, so all the nutrients and enzymes are kept intact. I liked the Shine flavor made with carrots, apple, lemon, ginger and turmeric, which contains 1,000 percent of daily vitamin A requirements and 40 percent vitamin C per serving.
• All Beauty Skincare Drink is water enhanced with some flavorings, eight vitamins, and seven nutrients that research has shown are good for skin. (With ever more wrinkles on my post-50 face and neck, I'll drink anything that may improve my skin.)

• Daily Greens offers a selection of cold-pressed vegetable and fruit juices. They make Green Ade with green superfoods in flavors such as green Lemon, Watermelon Hibiscus, Jicama-Blue Majik, Lime Basil and Orange-Turmeric. Flight of Greens provides other healthful benefits with varieties like Morning Greens—probiotic greens with Orange; Elevate—smooth greens with a vanilla finish; and Renew—hydrating greens with watermelon.
• Fawen Drinkable Soup comes in three flavors and is made with whole organic vegetables—never juiced or pressed. These soup boxes can be consumed on-the-go if you like your soup at room temperature. (I prefer my soup heated.) I liked the varieties: Beet & Cabbage with Cumin, Broccoli & Cauliflower with Turmeric, and Sweet Potato & Red Lentil with Cinnamon. (Note: Turmeric was definitely trending and is supposed to be good for you.)
• OxiGen Water and OxiGen Shots claims to help you put more oxygen into your body. There are 1,000 parts per million of bio-available oxygen in every bottle. (Breath in and drink up!)
• Purple Tea is an anthocyanin-rich tea grown at extremely high elevations in Kenya, which results in strong antioxidant properties and a purple hue when steeped.
  

And finally, I think I've found the "Fountain of Youth." Yes, yes, yes! And it is 10 million years old. It's Tanzamaiji Prehistoric Drinking Water. Yep, I'm not joking. Here's the deal: "Tucked away deep in the Rift Valley of East Africa, physics and geography have collaborated to create a vault protecting the isolated and pristine waters of Tanzamaiji for more than 10 million years. For the first time ever, a tiny portion of this untouched water is being harvested and bottled for the discriminating palate." OMG are you ready for this water? Maybe it really is the "Fountain of Youth." I'm going to have to try some. How about you?

The Grand Finale: Chocolates
This post is getting way too long and I was saving the best for last. What? You're still hungry? There's always room for dark chocolate and it's also good for you—in moderation.

• Tony's Chocolonely makes slave-free chocolate and its vision is to make all chocolate slave-free. I met the Tony's Chocolonely man. They had a large booth to promote their chocolates and their cause.
• Vosges Haut-Chocolat uses the finest ingredients sourced from around the world. There's even Burnt Caramel Black Salt 72% Dark Chocolate and Grade A Matcha Green Tea Super Dark 72% Chocolate bars.
• Videri Chocolatesstart with the bean and make it into a bar. Only the best cocoa beans, cocoa butter and cane-sugar make it into these dark chocolate bars.
• HU Get Back to Human Dark Chocolate bars are primal, Paleo and vegan. They use organic stone-ground cacao and unrefined organic coconut sugar to make delightfully dark chocolate bars, naturally crunchy bars and decadent nut-butter-filled bars.

Are you hungry yet? Go eat something.

Or if you're trying to lose weight you can "chew your cravings away" with Snack Less Nature's Hunger Buster Chewing Gums or Dates & Nuts Bars.

Bon Appetit

This post originally appeared on aboomerslifeafter50.com.