I was super excited when I was contacted by iHerb asking if I’d like to go on a $50 shopping spree with them and then host a giveaway so one of my readers could do the same. Um, seriously?! Absolutely, I wanted to go shopping and host a giveaway for iHerb! I love reviewing products and companies for you all – and I really love hosting giveaways so one of you can win an awesome prize.

It didn’t take long for me to get busy shopping at www.iHerb.com. After sending my response, I chose the products I wanted and went through the checkout process. I did have to create an account with iHerb so I could check out, but it’s super fast and easy and I haven’t had any problems with junk mail at all.

My shopping spree took a tad bit longer than expected, though, because iHerb has like a gazillion products, it seems. This is a good thing! At first, I thought this company only offered herbal products and natural remedies, etc., but that is SO not true – there’s a ginormous variety of health food, snacks, and all sorts of yummy stuff!

More about those details below. First, I’d like to share my goodies with you.

I previously mentioned I’d had the opportunity to go on a $50 shopping spree sponsored by iHerb. And I nabbed some…

Fantabulous Finds!

Let me lead you through why I chose these products….

My mom has been intrigued by Bach for years and years. It’s fascinating that for pretty much every illness, anxiety, stress, or health issue, there is a flower essence (or combination of them) that can remedy it.

I’m a firm believer in natural remedies. After all, they helped me lose over 100 pounds, get off of all diabetic medication, and completely transform my life.

Life has been especially stressful lately. And I’m a natural-born worry wort. I’m working on handling stress better – including my recent love affair with yoga – but I’m needing something more. It’s not good when our worrying nature keeps us awake, because sleep is one of the top necessities for regaining or maintaining health, right?

Enter: Bach Rescue Sleep

I am loving this product!! It only takes a few drops on my tongue (you can put it in water if you’d like) and I feel myself relaxing and not long after, drift off to a peaceful night’s rest. Yay for success!

And during stressful times, it’s nice to have a calming remedy during the day, too – that won’t make me sleepy!

Enter: Bach Rescue Remedy

Again, I’m super pleased. I don’t take this every day, but on days that are really chaotic and I’m feeling majorly stressed out, I take a few drops. It doesn’t take long for the calming, soothing, relaxing benefits – and it doesn’t make me sleepy! Again, success!

And I got Navitas Naturals lucuma powder…

I’ve seen the lucuma powder across the blogosphere. Some of you add it to yogurt or ice cream or make really fancy desserts with it. I used it to make a decadent…

Chocolate-Covered (Tart) Cherry Smoothie

(See more photos and get the free recipe here.)

I also plan on using it in some fun recipes. More about lucuma in future posts!

I’m had to grab some hempseeds!

And some flax seed oil!

I love BOTH on my salads all the time!

Hope you enjoyed going on my iHerb shopping adventures with me!

Now, let’s learn about the company itself!

About iHerb

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the iHerb company has been around for 12 years. I’ve read on various blogs that many of you didn’t know about them – but I’m happy to report that they have a solid business and aren’t some random, brand-new shopping site.

And I love their mission statement as well:

Providing the best overall value for natural products through "e-simplicity". – iHerb

You’ll be happy to learn that iHerb carries far more than herbs or natural remedies (like the company’s name may lead you to believe).

iHerb explains the history of their name on their About page:

“Initially, our company promoted the benefits of St. John’s Wort. Hence the name: iHerb.It is now a world-class online store, supplying a vast selection of brand name natural products. We believe iHerb offers the best overall value, period! Our success and very existence are dependent on the repeat orders and word-of-mouth recommendations of loyal, satisfied customers.

You’ll find supplements and natural remedies, yes, but you’ll also find snack bars, chia seeds, and more! iHerb has “over 600 well-known, respected brands. Over 16,000 products.”

Wow.

And here’s a few more words from  iHerb:

With the advanced e-commerce platform, plus our 48,000 sq. ft. Irwindale warehouse (almost 3X as big as before), you’ll find:

 

Features to make your online ordering safer, faster and more pleasant.

We are confident you’ll find iHerb to be your first choice for quality, price, reliability and convenience–on every effortless order. Try us! Read more.

View the Quality Assurances by some of the brands we carry QC Issues

If you are in the vicinity of Irwindale, California, feel free to stop by the iHerb retail store at 15710 Arrow Highway, Irwindale, Ca, 91706.

Pros

There’s a lot to love about this company. They:

• are dedicated to pleasing their customers
• offer a huge variety of products
• have nice prices
• carry numerous well-known brands you’re familiar with
• and more!

Over 99% of orders placed by 1:00 pm PST are shipped out the same day!

UPS Ground — Now a flat $4.00, FREE SHIPPING for orders over $40.00, regardless of weight anywhere in the contiguous United States, where available. Super value for California, or nearby states.

 

What’s not to love?!

Cons

Cons are my least favorite part of reviews. It’s always so hard to think of anything bad to tell you, when I’ve had such a wonderful experience. I don’t have anything unfair or negative to say about my iHerb shopping experience. So far, I haven’t come across anyone in the blogosphere who has mentioned anything bad either.

Verdict/Grade

I give my experience with iHerb an A+ because the process went smoothly, the customer service was pleasant and efficient, there was TONS of awesome products to choose from, and I received my order promptly. Everything arrived intact, just as I had ordered. I couldn’t be happier, really!

Kudos to www.iHerb.com for doing such a fantabulous job. I wish them many more years and lots of success!

$5 Savings

If you love online shopping, I think you’ll love www.iHerb.com. You can use the following coupon code to save $5 on your order:

TUN499

How awesome is that?!

Have you ever shopped with iHerb? What was your experience? Would you like to go on your own $50 iHerb shopping spree? Well, you know what? Next post is the giveaway! Get ready for lots of fun ways to enter. Go tell your friends!

Enter to win a $50 iHerb Shopping Spree NOW

—-> Click HERE <—- Contest is LIVE!!!

Navitas Naturals has outdone themselves with their new organic green stevia powder. I was honored when they sent an 8 ounce bag for me to try. For years I’ve tried different brands of stevia. I’ve bought green powders before and just wasn’t pleased at all. I’ve tried the liquid and the packets.

I always have a little heart tugging action going on when I use a stevia packet, because it is processed. The stevia leaf is green, so using white stevia powder makes me wonder sometimes if I really should be consuming it–although I still know in my heart it’s better than the other (unhealthy) options out there. Decisions, decisions.

Worried about how Navitas Naturals processes their stevia? Here’s what they say on their site:

Source and Processing

Navitas Naturals Stevia is made from the whole leaves of the stevia herb. Once the leaves are collected, they are dried and milled into a fine powder at low temperatures to protect the nutrients of the plant. Our Stevia is 100% organic, vegan, kosher, gluten-free and raw.

Anyway, I’ve really been using this Navitas Naturals organic green stevia powder a lot–and I LOVE it! Why? It’s sweet and delicious, but it doesn’t seem to have that aftertaste some stevia brands have. It may be my imagination, but I’m almost positive I actually FEEL better after I have some herbal tea sweetened with it!

When I started writing this post, I had only used it to sweeten my herbal tea. I don’t really sweeten my smoothies and I tend to put a little raw honey in my (steel-cut) oats, but I decided to try something new and so this morning I added some to my steel-cut oats. The result: YUM-O! Other ingredients included raw, unsweetened coconut, almonds, cinnamon, and hemp protein powder. My oats were already green and with the added organic green stevia powder, they were sweetened beautifully and made a delicious bowl of healthy goodness! I’ll definitely be adding Navitas Naturals organic green stevia powder to my steel-cut oats from now on!

Organic Green Stevia Powder

This 8 ounce bag is priced at $11.99 (USD) on the site. I totally believe (with all my heart!) that it’s a great investment. Keep in mind that you only use a SMALL amount to sweeten your drinks or foods, so it will last longer than you think. Besides, you wouldn’t think twice about dropping that amount of money on a couple of lattes, would you?

From the Navitas Naturals website:

“The Power of Stevia

Stevia’s leaves contain glycosides, which taste very sweet to the tongue, but contain no sugar, no calories, and no carbohydrates. Therefore, despite its sweetness, stevia does not have a GI (Glycemic Index) nor does it effect the body’s insulin levels. Stevia has also been shown to aid the pancreas and improve digestion. Excellent for those with diabetes, intolerances to sugar, seeking weight control, or simply avoiding cavities, the stevia herb can be an ideal natural sweetener.”

How can you use this sweet green powder?

• in smoothies
• in oats
• in place of other sweeteners in desserts
• in anything you’d sweeten

Thoughts

One thing you may not like about it is the fact that when you add it to your tea, it kind of floats around and isn’t very pretty to look at. This doesn’t bother me at all. I love its taste and I just stir as I drink. There are ways you can try to prevent this from happening. If you’re making a single serving of tea, add the stevia powder to your tea ball and then pour the water in your cup. Once it’s finished steeping, you can remove the tea ball (which has the loose tea leaves + green stevia powder inside) and then you’re left with just tea. You can drink it hot or cold. If you’re like me and you grab some pre-made herbal tea and then want to sweeten it, just overlook the green powder floating around and enjoy. It really is delicious!

Click here to buy your own organic green stevia powder!

Organic Green Stevia Powder

Stirred In

Upcoming Contests Sponsored by These Fabulous Companies

• 2 Food Matters DVDs (Haven’t had a chance to watch this one yet, but do check out their site–they have a RAWsome message to share!!)
• Detox 4 Women by Natalia Rose (I read this book last night and it’s awesome; it really helps you understand water retention, etc!)
• Oh Nuts! (raw macadamia nuts and pecans) <— These are seriously delicious nuts–and they’re JUMBO sized!
• E3Live (Green-tasting (which I don’t mind!), but I REALLY notice that it’s making me feel better. It was definitely put to the test through my recent stressful events!)
• 2 books (Coconut Water for Health and Healing and Oil Pulling Therapy: Detoxifying and Healing the Body Through Oral Cleansing by Dr. Bruce Fife
• and MORE!

You’ll definitely want to stay tuned!

So… be sure to subscribe to Healing with Juices’ Feed for free updates. You can get free updates to your email as well (sign up here). You’ll also receive inspiration, juice and smoothie recipes, and juice fasting tips and encouragement to help keep you motivated toward your ultimate health–and more personal posts about stuff that’s going on in my life.

I have felt energetic, focused, and positive. Can’t ask for more than that!

Breakfast

Once again, warm lemon water started my day off in a soothing way! I then had a glass of water with organic apple cider vinegar. For my breakfast juice, I went with strawberry-blueberry juice with an extra oomph ingredient: Navitas Naturals Certified Organic (RAW) Chia Seeds.

The kind folks at Navitas Naturals have graciously sent me this bag to sample. (A review–and CONTEST–for this rawsome product is coming in the near future!! Yay!!!)

Ch-ch-ch-ch Chia!

Going In

All Shook Up!

Lunch

I was sooooooooo excited yesterday when my neighbor gave me some cucumbers to juice (from his garden). Eeeek!! Mine aren’t ready yet so I was super happy!

My Mom sliced one and shared it with the family.

Cucumbers, dirt and all!

So I ended up with SEVEN for juicing–and this is day SEVEN of the juice fast!! Isn’t that crazy??!! Juicing seven cucumbers on day seven? LOL

I didn’t take photos of the juicing process this time. But I ended up with 40 ounces of juice, which I diluted 50% with water (I normally dilute juices while I’m on longer juice fasts–it seems like it’s easier on my system) and that made 80 ounces of cucumber juice. I drank some right away (in my Amazing Grass cup!) and shared 3 glasses with family and the rest went into the fridge for today and tomorrow.

Cool as a cucumber!

This cucumber juice was soooooooooooooo refreshing on a hot summer day!! LOVED it! (Thank you, neighbor!!!)

I also had my daily shot (aka tablespoon) of E3 Live.

Dinner

(I’m publishing this post early today.)

For dinner, I think I’ll have one of my brown juices (if you’re just tuning in, it’s only brown because of the beets mixing with the greens). You can rest assured I’ve also got in plenty of water and also had some herbal tea.

That’s it for day 7!

Just tuning in? Catch up:

Day 1 of a 30-Day Juice Fast and Juicer Mishaps

Day 2 of a 30-Day Juice Fast–and AMAZING GRASS!!

Day 3–E3 Living!

Day 4 + Wheat Grass Galore + a Juicer!!

Day 5 — Dead or Alive?

Day 6 + Father’s Day Bliss!

Until tomorrow… happy juicing!

Contest Alert!

Don’t forget about the Living Tree Community contest! (You’ll win a 16 ounce jar of Coconut Mango Persimmon Butter AND an 8 ounce jar of Raw Almond Butter–both organic!!)

Upcoming Contests Featuring these Fabulous Companies

• 2 books by Nomi Shannon, The Raw Gourmet (These two books have GORGEOUS photos and the recipes are amazing!
• 2 Food Matters DVDs (Haven’t had a chance to watch this one yet, but do check out their site–they have a RAWsome message to share!!)
• Detox 4 Women by Natalia Rose (I read this book last night and it’s awesome; it really helps you understand water retention, etc!)
• Living Tree Community (Raw almond butter and organic coconut mango persimmon butter!)
• Oh Nuts! (raw macadamia nuts and pecans) <— These are seriously delicious nuts–and they’re JUMBO sized!
• E3Live (Green-tasting (which I don’t mind!), but I REALLY notice that it’s making me feel better. It was definitely put to the test through my recent stressful events!)
• and MORE!

You’ll definitely want to stay tuned!

So… be sure to subscribe to Healing with Juices’ Feed for free updates. You can get free updates to your email as well (sign up here). You’ll also receive inspiration, juice and smoothie recipes, and juice fasting tips and encouragement to help keep you motivated toward your ultimate health–and more personal posts about stuff that’s going on in my life.

And the Winner Is…

There was a total of 14 comments. When I went to Random.org to find out which comment number won, it generated #1–and who was the #1 commenter on the Navitas Naturals Contest post?

Angela!

Here’s what Angela’s winning comment said:

1 Angela { 06.11.09 at 11:35 pm }

“Oh my gosh- what an amazing contest. Like you Michele, I have never tried a goji berry. I would love to try these. I am also a big fan of cashews and can definitely use an eco-friendly canteen for our almost daily hiking treks. Thanks so much for the contest. You Rawk!!!”

Congratulations, Angela! E-mail me at healing with juices at gmail dot com with your mailing address and I’ll get your package in the mail!!

Upcoming Contests Featuring these Fabulous Companies

• 2 books by Nomi Shannon, The Raw Gourmet (These two books have GORGEOUS photos and the recipes are amazing!
• 2 Food Matters DVDs (Haven’t had a chance to watch this one yet, but do check out their site–they have a RAWsome message to share!!)
• Detox 4 Women by Natalia Rose (I read this book last night and it’s awesome; it really helps you understand water retention, etc!)
• Living Tree Community (Raw almond butter and organic coconut mango persimmon butter!)
• Oh Nuts! (raw macadamia nuts and pecans) <— These are seriously delicious nuts–and they’re JUMBO sized!
• E3Live (Green-tasting (which I don’t mind!), but I REALLY notice that it’s making me feel better. It was definitely put to the test through my recent stressful events!)
• and MORE!

You’ll definitely want to stay tuned!

So… be sure to subscribe to Healing with Juices’ Feed for free updates. You can get free updates to your email as well (sign up here). You’ll also receive inspiration, juice and smoothie recipes, and juice fasting tips and encouragement to help keep you motivated toward your ultimate health–and more personal posts about stuff that’s going on in my life.

Navitas Naturals Goodies

Check out that eco-friendly canteen! Now you can re-use your water container and help preserve the environment! And look at those delicious cashews and goji berries. Eeeek!

I was super excited when my package from Navitas Naturals arrived. I absolutely love cashews and I was pleasantly surprised by the freshness of this brand. I had never tried goji berries and to be honest, I wasn’t sure if I liked them at first! They grew on me, though–and there’s so many ways you can incorporate them into your meals or snacks:

• smoothies
• oatmeal
• granola
• cookies
• or just by the handful

Navitas Naturals: The Company

It’s nice to know a company has the health of their consumer in mind when they’re creating and selling their products. Here’s what Navitas Naturals shares on their About page:

“Health conscious consumers choose our nutrient-rich products because they are loaded with antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. Our premium quality “superfoods” are always free of additives and trans fats; the absence of these elements speaking to the purity and effectiveness of the products.”

Do you know what “Navitas” means?

I learned what it means when I checked out their website: The “Navitas” in our name is the Latin word for energy.

How awesome is that?! Healthy snacks from a healthy company–and the root of the company is based on energy! Who couldn’t use a little more energy in this crazy world, right?

What do I mean by “healthy company”?

Look what else I discovered on their About page:

“And like our name implies, our mission is to provide premium organic functional foods that increase energy and enhance health. Part of this effort is to continually search for the world’s most beneficial natural foods. Navitas Naturals is a certified organic, green business headquartered in Marin County, California.”
Healthy for our bodies–and our world? Now that’s a winning combo in my book!

And…. you can follow them on Twitter! @NavitasNaturals

Navitas Naturals Contest!!

What you’ll be winning:

• 1 eco-friendly canteen
• 1 package of raw cashews
• 1 package of goji berries
  

You’re allowed FOUR FIVE SIX entries for this contest:

Note: Please leave a comment for each thing you do (tweet, plurk, etc.) because each comment will be counted as a number when I enter the total number of comments at Random.org once the contest ends. Thanks!

1. Leave a comment sharing why you want to try Navitas Naturals products. (DO NOT just say “thanks for the contest” or something like that–I do not publish those type of comments because they seem like spam and aren’t fair to the other contestants who leave a thoughtful, genuine answer.)
2. Do you Twitter? Tweet about this contest and then leave a comment with your Twitter name.
3. Do you Plurk? Plurk about this contest and leave a comment with your Plurk URL.
4. Share this contest on your blog, linking back to this post. (The pingback will be counted as an extra entry.) If you don’t see your pingback, just email me at healingwithjuices@gmail.com and let me know. It may have gone to spam for some reason.
5. Add Healing with Juices to your favorites on Technoratori. Comment again to let me know, with a link to your technoratori profile to show you added us.
6. Are you a Stumbler? Stumble and review any post you want to–just leave the link to your SU review in (its own) comment.

NOTE: ANYONE can enter this contest. You DO NOT have to be in the United States. Oh, and I’ll be using Random.org to choose the winner….

Contest ends Monday, June 15th, at 9 p.m. (Central Time) so you have FOUR DAYS to get all your entries in. Have fun trying to win!!

After this contest ends, you’ll be competing for more raw nuts, raw nut butters, books, DVDs, and lots more–so don’t miss out on upcoming posts!

Be sure to subscribe to Healing with Juices’ Feed for free updates. You can get free updates to your email as well (sign up here). You’ll also receive inspiration, juice and smoothie recipes, and juice fasting tips and encouragement to help keep you motivated toward your ultimate health–and more personal posts about stuff that’s going on in my life.

What will you win?

The winner of this contest will receive THREE awesome prizes!!

An eco-friendly canteen!

A package of yummy raw cashews!

A package of tasty goji berries!

I’m busy writing a deserving review of the above and the contest will launch with that post (like always). I’m so excited to be back in contest mode again, you all. I love, love, love being able to inspire you to eat healthier by offering you healthy treats!!

Upcoming Contests Featuring these Fabulous Companies

• 2 books by Nomi Shannon, The Raw Gourmet (These two books have GORGEOUS photos and the recipes are amazing!
• 2 Food Matters DVDs (Haven’t had a chance to watch this one yet, but do check out their site–they have a RAWsome message to share!!)
• Detox 4 Women by Natalia Rose (I read this book last night and it’s awesome; it really helps you understand water retention, etc!)
• Living Tree Community (Raw almond butter and organic coconut mango persimmon butter!)
• Oh Nuts! (raw macadamia nuts and pecans) <— These are seriously delicious nuts–and they’re JUMBO sized!
• E3Live (Green-tasting (which I don’t mind!), but I REALLY notice that it’s making me feel better. It was definitely put to the test through my recent stressful events!)
• and MORE!

You’ll definitely want to stay tuned!

So… be sure to subscribe to Healing with Juices’ Feed for free updates. You can get free updates to your email as well (sign up here). You’ll also receive inspiration, juice and smoothie recipes, and juice fasting tips and encouragement to help keep you motivated toward your ultimate health–and more personal posts about stuff that’s going on in my life.