A Taste to Try

To me, nothing says summer like Vitamin Water, full of sugars, minerals, and vitamins with cheeky flavours to keep you going through the sweatiest of days. Now Glaceau is bringing that summer spirit to the winter months by keeping the colds, coughs and crappy feelings at bay. Whether you're hydrating on your lunch break in a stuffy, over-heated office building, or chugging between runs on the slopes, drinking enough water in the winter is key to keeping your body happy while it's cold outside.

DEFENSE: A raspberry-apple flavour with vitamin c and zinc. Zinc helps heal your wounds, and vitamin C is an antioxidant that improves your mood and your immune system.
MULTI-V: Lemonade with 11 essential vitamins and minerals
MEGA-C: Delicious dragonfruit pumped full of vitamins B and C, key for healing, health, and happy moods.

If you're anything like the She Does The City staff, you will be drawn to anything with the words "Real Science" on the sleek, modern packaging. Combine said real science with "gourmet chocolate" and "Mojito Flavour," and we're pretty much sold. Chocolate Plus is a line of chocolate bars that combine fancy flavours with healthy additions like probiotic bacteria (Dark Chocolate with Mixed Berries) and vitamins. White Chocolate English Toffee encourages restful sleep (late night snacking! Excused!), and Peanut Butter Praline strengthens bones (osteoporosis be damned!) I would rather have a real Mojito and a multivitamin, but for those looking to justify their sweet-cravings, your solution is here. Happy snacking.

Strawberry Banana or Vanilla Smoothies are the perfect thing to guzzle in the morning while you take your dog for a walk. They taste delicious and make you feel light and clean flushing through all the dirt in your stomach at remarkable speed with all those probiotic cultures. Making a smoothie in your kitchen can be messy – so opt for a couple four packs in your fridge to keep you regular. Yogurt is all the rage right now – jump on the live bacteria tasty train. Way better than that mid-eighties fad of Yoplait.

My soda-holism began in a highschool cafeteria at the tender age of sixteen. I had two quarters that were burning a hole in my pocket, so I approached the vending machine and took a look. Chips were a little steep at seventy-five cents a bag, while a can of cola – brilliantly sparkling behind the vending machine glass – fifty cents!

Within weeks I was drinking a can a day, then two…and soon enough I began spiraling out of control with nothing but sugar and caffeine in my belly. The overbearing sweetness, the fizz that softly tickled the roof of my mouth at the first gulp – it was heaven on earth.

I had a problem and I knew it. It was time to be an adult, and so, after chugging a 2L bottle of cream soda in one sitting, I called it quits.

I recently started drinking pop again after discovering the BLUE SKY brand in Whole Foods. They make several soft drinks – among them – organic sodas. My personal favourites include the New Century Cola, Black Cheery Cherish, and Root Beer Encore flavours.

There are NO preservatives, additives, artificial colours, flavours, or caffeine in the drinks. And...these USDA certified organic sodas are sweetened with organic cane juice, as opposed to that high-fructose corn syrup crap. The rest of the ingredients include filtered carbonated water, caramel colour, and citric acid. That’s it! Not so bad compared to the shopping list of unutterable ingredients found in regular pop which are said to dissolve a nail in 4 days!!!

As I sunk my teeth into the Chocolate Passion Cake I felt better than that Philadelphia cream cheese lady who sits on a cloud. Guardian Angel Food desserts really do taste like there is someone in heaven looking out for all of my chocolate craving needs.

Further to a divine and decadent taste, Guardian Angel Foods are all allergen free, so you don’t have to worry about serving it around a boardroom and then having to stab your co-worker with an epi-pen because she’s choking on a trace of peanuts.

Having a six year old son with many food allergies Julie La Rochelle set out to change the world of cake, one bite at a time. The idea spawned when arriving at a classroom birthday party, she saw Charles-Antoine not only with out cake but made to sit on the exterior of the circle and forced to wear a bib with a giant “A” for allergy. In my opinion, this sounds as dated as a dunce cap.

Being a woman who loves food, and hailing from Canada’s sweet capital, Quebec – she set out to break the isolation, but not the icing.

Now, I may not be one who is allergic to foods but I am someone who fully understands the fear of an allergy attack from other things I love; horses, cats, dogs – it’s a scary place to be when you suddenly find yourself transforming into a bloated, itchy, watery eyed, choking mess and have to make a rapid detour to the nearest emergency room. In fact, the plight of allergies runs deep throughout my family – and I’ve witnessed several close calls including a high alert panic at V-Fest and a race to medical help in swelteringly hot and crowded Chinatown.

Now, I know what you may be thinking….is this going to taste akin to when you are served a veggie burger at a backyard BBQ and it tastes like birdseed? Not at all, and the next time I go to a birthday party I will hit up the frozen food section in Dominion first, as Guardian Angel, despite the angelic name, has kicked other frozen dessert – AND FRESH bakery counter sweets in la derriere.

As misguided as Miss Marie Antoinette was, from here on in I will chant on every festive occasion LET THEM EAT CAKE – and I will be talking to you and your allergenic accomplice.

NO PEANUTS, NO EGGS, NO NUTS, NO DAIRY!

In Ontario, you can find Guardian Angel Desserts in the frozen food section at Dominion, A&P, Loeb – and also a special section at Sick Kids Hospital.

http://www.guardianangelfoods.com/