Expo East 2018 Favorites & Recap

The epicness and total insanity of Expo – it’s back. Everyone says that Expo East is significantly less insane than Expo West (in Anaheim, CA) but that definitely doesn’t change how braindead and exhausted I feel after spending a few days on the expo floor and finding tons of new amazing brands and foods for you guys! Enough delay. Let’s get to my Expo East 2018 Favorites!

NEW REAL FOOD & BRAND FINDS

Perfectly Peckish. Hard-boiled eggs with little snack packs of seasoning. Sounds like the simplest thing ever, right? But perfectly simple, and insanely delicious. They’ve got 5 seasoning flavors, from everything bagel, to stir fry, to crispy ranchero, and even a few sweet flavors like maple waffle (with puffed quinoa!)

Coconaise: coconut-based mayonnaise. Sounds weird, since there are no eggs in it…but the flavor was amazing!

Elmhurst Unsweetened Cashew Milk. a great unsweetened milk alternative!

Tosi Cashew Super Bites. GUYS. If you ever had those totally addictive cashew clusters from Costco, which had SO much added sugar and junk in them – these are a healthier alternative and SO good. They also come in a bunch of fun flavors like Blueberry Almond and Cappuccino!

Sweet Potato Toasts by Caulipower. Sweet potato toast from the freezer that can go straight to the toaster?! I’m so in! They’re also apparently coming out with a paleo-friendly cauliflower pizza crust soon too!

Phyter: Plant-Based Food Bars. Super similar to larabars but they have vegetables in them and actually taste good! Favorite was the sweet potato + coconut. Find them in the refrigerator section!

Nolita Buffalo Seasoned Cauliflower Bites. UMM need to find these in the grocery store ASAP.

Oldies but goodies: expo brands I’ve met before with new goodies to share!

Chameleon Cold Brew: Canned Lattes with Organic Foamed Milk AND they are coming out with a decaf cold brew soon!! PRAISE THE COFFEE GODS.

Hail Merry came out with these new Sweet Potato Cups that taste exactly like pumpkin pie. Brb DEAD.

HuKitchen has these new Chocolate-Covered Hunks (in Cashew + Vanilla Bean, Sour Goldenberries, Almonds + Sea Salt) that are to. die. for.

Crio Bru is a coffee alternative that is made with 100% cocoa beans and gluten-free! Can’t wait to get my hands on some and try all the flavors – they just came out with new ones for fall like pumpkin spice too.

Simple Mills’ Everything Seed Crackers are new this year, and let’s be honest – from their baking mixes to their crackers, Simple Mills can basically do no wrong. They also had this adorable tapas bar where you could make your own little plate!

Wild Friends + Vital Proteins Collagen Nut Butters. w.h.a.t. You guys. Two of my favorites brands, whose products I LOVE on their own, doing a collab where you get collagen in a peanut or almond butter? LOVE it.

Cappello’s Sweet Potato Gnocchi. Dear Cappello’s, you are the BEST. I went back multiple times for samples of this one and cannot wait until it hits stores by me!!

Sky Valley Organicville Whole30 approved dressings. You guys have probably seen Sky Valley’s products in stores – before, I honestly never bought them because they used a few weird gums and added sweeteners that I wasn’t a huge fan of. But they just re-formulated 7 of their salad dressings to be Whole30 approved (meaning all the ingredients are awesome) and those will be hitting stores early 2019!

Enjoy Life Dark Chocolate Chips and Protein Bites! YAS. You guys, YAS. Do I even need to say anything else here? My one gripe with Enjoy Life before was that I’m a dark chocolate lover, and the semi-sweet version of the chips they had were great for baking but I would’ve loooved a dark chocolate version. And now we have it!!

That’s It Organic Dark Chocolate + Fig Bites. I’ve always loved the That’s it! bars because they have so few ingredients, and they’re a great post workout snack (I also give them to my swim team kids!) Last year they came out with some chocolate + fruit bites, but they weren’t my favorite – the texture was weird, and I wished it was dark chocolate. Holy moly did they re-forumulated and fix those problems real quick. These were SO good, and basically tasted like dark chocolate covered fig newtons without any of the BS ingredients!

Peanut Butter & Co. made a PUMPKIN SPICED peanut butter and I’m dying of happiness inside.

All-Time Favorite Brands: these guys didn’t have any new products, but I love them so much I had to share them again.

These brands didn’t necessarily have new products coming out, but these are a few of the brands I buy on pretty much a weekly basis because I love them so much!!

Swapples. You guys have probably seen me post (and gush) about Swapples before, the veggie-based, yuca waffles that are paleo & vegan friendly. Did I mention one of my great friends, Rebecca started the company?! You may remember her from my Paleo Halloween Recipe Roundup FOUR years ago. Yeah, RP went on to create this kickass brand and people are LOVING swapples across the country!! They come in five flavors: Everything bagel (my personal favorite, closely followed by) Garlicky Greens, Blueberry, Cinnamon, and Tomato Pizza. Ob-freaking-sessed and SO proud of my friend!!

Treeline Nut Cheeses. I luuurve treeline (and putting them on Swapples is bomb!!) as a cashew-based cheese alternative, and soon they’re coming out with a cashew-based cream cheese!! Could not stop coming back here for samples, hah!

Paleo Powder. Another brand that I just LOVE and recommend to all my Whole30 clients!

Holy Kombucha. Dear Holy Kombucha, can you PLEASE be available on the east coast soon?! Hands down one of my favorite Kombuchas, and I’m obsessed with all their flavors. Too bad there are no stores except halfway across the country.

FUNCTIONAL FOODS

Vermont Village Functional Apple Cider Vinegars (with matcha, activated charcoal or collagen). I talked about Vermont Village last year, and this year they came out with some new ACV formulations with superfoods in them – sooo on trend. But still with the great gut health benefits, I recommend these to my nutrition clients all the time.

Om Nutrition Reishi. You guys have heard me talk about reishi before for all it’s anxiety and stress-busting benefits, and I love this concentrated form from Om! You’ll find me blending it in my decaf coffee and smoothies all the time.

Four Sigmatic Chai with Turkey Tail. First off – this stuff is DECAF. You read that right. I’ve been on a caffeine-free kick for a few months now, aside from some matcha here and there, and have seriously been missing chai flavors so far this fall. So this was an amazing find, AND it’s got Turkey Tail, which is great for gut health!

Flow Flavored Alkaline Spring Water. One of my new favorites for sure – the best flavor by far (at last by my watch) was the cucumber!

FITNESS & SPORTS NUTRITION

Nuzest Clean Lean Protein – Turmeric Chai. I’m not huge on using protein powders, but WOAH. This. My friend George Bryant (whom I ran into at the show about 25 times) was talking to the CEO here when I walked by and he said the chocolate flavor would change my life – being totally skeptical, I tried it, and it was actually the Turmeric Chai which left me going WOAH. Can’t wait to experiment in some recipes with this one!!

Muscle MX CBD Balm. CBD was a huuuge trend at Expo this year, and it was in pretty much everything from food to supplements to body care. I loved this find, which you rub on your body either pre- or post-exercise (they have two formulations) to help you prepare or recover from workouts faster!

SUPPLEMENTS

Plus CBD Gummies & Oil. My favorite CBD company from Expo last year came out with some CBD gummies that were amazing. This both was PACKED with people at all times. Also love this brand because they provide soo much research on CBD and the endocannabinoid system – which I’ll be diving into soon!

Charlotte’s Web: Paws, CBD-based wellness for Canines. I’ve been thinking of experimenting with some kind of CBD for my pup because she is INSANE and has a really hard time calming down…ever. Using CBD for dogs can provide a sense of calm and anti-inflammatory support for older dogs as well! These are specifically formulated with an easily digestible MCT oil.

Natural Calm – Calmful Gut. I recommend Natural Calm all the time as a magnesium supplement to clients, and use it myself as well – but I’m loving this new gut health formulation, with l-glutamine, a blend of enzymes and 2 billion CFU probiotics!

SKINCARE

Wedderspoon Hydrating Day Cream (and Night Cream with Bee Venom). Hands down (no pun intended!) favorite skincare find from the show was the new line from Wedderspoon. I LOVE their Night Cream with Bee Venom, and now we can get all the health benefits of manuka honey on our skin as well!

So what do you guys think? Did I find all the goodies? What are your new favorite product finds lately?