Yoga has its own drink, but you can boost energy, endurance, digestion, fat metabolism, weight loss and skin replenishment in connection with other activity.

YogaEarth’s drink mix sticks come in Balace, for pre-practice, and Vitality, for post practice. These vegetarian-safe dietary supplements come with organic apple juice,  lemon, acai berry and such, but I think the Irish moss is the main flavor I’m getting.

I’m not gonna lie, the flavor takes some getting used to, but I can easily adjust to the vigor. I tried the before and after for my workout at the Port Arthur YMCA and felt great, even though I cried while watching “Of Mice and Men” on the treadmill screen. Balance is like juice and designed for digestion, focus and clarity, skin detox and pore cleansing with antioxidants.  Vitality is like green tea and has a focus on fat metabolism after a workout. Visit the YogaEarth site for beautiful artwork and inspirational shopping.



Nuts a new way

Jennifer Barney broke a lot of blenders creating Barney Butter Almond Butter, but we get the smooth results. California Almonds taste so creamy oozed out from 90 calorie packets onto crackers, apples, etc. The stats show this stuff has more of what you need and less of stuff you don’t want than peanut butter and this blend is an alternative to those with peanut allergies. It’s a no-stir, non-gritty, fully-delicious product that goes gourmet.



Pasta Boat? All aboard.

The As Seen on TV people wanted me to try the microwave Pasta Boat; I tried it and enjoyed it. It doesn’t seem like boiling water, cooking pasta and straining it is that big a deal, but it can be a messy task. This oval plastic box that allows you to cook pasta and strain it thorough a smart, red lid, makes cooking pasta for just one or two a breeze. A steamer rack lets you microwave vegetables. When I took the Pasta Boat out of the oven, it looked a bit like all the strands had stuck together, but they fluffed out fine. I used whole wheat, and they tasted good with just a little olive oil and spices.

The company puts out a collapsable Chef Basket that did in my kitchen all the things I saw on TV, but I do not need to be frying anything. This one is also good for vegetables.



Pass the shandy

Leienenkugel says it’s time for summer and presents the return of Summer Shandy, a beer with a lemon punch. I sipped some on my front lawn as a reward for weeding and pretended the calendar jumped ahead to June. I loved this shandy, which I’ve learned is short for shandygaff, a mixture of beer and soda or lemonade served in Europe since the 17 century. Makers of this brew also share the story of radler, the German term for cyclist. In September of 1922, Franz Xaver Kugler came up with this when about 13,000 cyclists visited his Munich tavern. The beer was running low, so he mixed the rest with lemonade and said it was just for the cyclists. Bravo, Franz!

ddoiron@panews.com