This was my 6th year at Expo West and it never gets old. I don’t think it ever will!

Being at the show always brings back lots of memories and is probably part of the reason that I ended up moving to LA. If it weren’t for the yearly trips to Anaheim, which then meant yearly trips to LA, how would I have ever fallen in love with LA?

Anyway, enough babbling let’s get onto the good stuff! There were some really great new products this year. Obviously gluten-free products are still all the rage and it seems that almost every brand has at least 1-2 gluten-free items. I also noticed a lot of meat and jerky products but was surprised I didn’t see more “paleo-friendly” products like bars, cereals, breads or treats. It was as always a mix of healthy, kind-of healthy and organic junk-food.

Here are some of my favorites from the show:

1. habenero pineapple bbq sauce by hak’s / This bbq sauce was ridiculously good. It is currently in Whole Foods on the West Coast but should be making its way to the other regions soon…

2. raw strawberry macaroons by hail merry   / I love their plain macaroons, and this year they introduced strawberry and salted caramel. I was totally expecting to love the caramel, but both Richie and I preferred the strawberry!

3. kombucha by reed’s  / The Reed’s booth was a very popular booth, what with serving cocktails like dark & stormys, moscow mules or vodka + kombucha. Lot’s of fun drinks!

4. frozen burrito + guacamole by evol.  / The frozen burrito is nothing new, but the packet of guacamole on the side is – I love this idea. An instant upgrade to your frozen burritos.

5. unsweetened almond coconut milk by blue diamond / This is my new milk. Part coconut milk, part almond milk, same low-calorie count. Hope to see it in Trader Joe’s or Costco soon!

6. raw onion rings by brad’s / These raw snacks were delicious and not overly-oniony. I’m sure they will be pricey, but for the occasional healthy snack, they are worth it!

7. raw banana nut bread by rawxies / I know I have had this product before but can’t picture it as the packaging has recently changed. The banana nut bread is delicious. You can order them online, right now they are only available in the Kansas City area.

8. goat whey protein by tera’s whey /I’ve loved tera’s whey for years (they are a Wisconsin company) but I had still never tried out the goat protein powder – cool, right? The vanilla flavor (coming soon!) is my new favorite and I will definitely be stocking up on it the minute it comes out. The organic dark chocolate comes in at #2!

9. thai coconut curry hummus by hope hummus / Curry hummus is such a great idea, why have I never thought of that? They also had new cute little tubes of hummus for on-the-go snacking.

Part 2 of my favorite finds are the products that I just have to mention – they are either really cool ideas or really crazy ideas.

Meatloaf. It’s so meat & potatoes midwest right? Well, this is not yo mama’s meatloaf. (Anybody watch that show?) This perfect meatloaf meal was inspired by a My Fit Foods meal (more on them soon) and I recreated it at home for a bunch of meals this week. I’m really trying to focus on recipes that are easy, family-friendly and don’t require “weird health foods” – the main purpose of this blog is to share ideas to make life healthier in an easy, approachable way. If you have family-favorites that you’d like a nutrition makeover for, let me know!

Lean turkey is the center of this meal, rounded out with sweet potatoes (and a pat of grass-fed butter) and steamed green beans. This meal is filling, healthy and pretty easy to pull together. The meatloaf takes an hour to bake, and while its in the oven you can bake, boil, or microwave the sweet potatoes and steam the green beans. The recipe makes 8 servings so depending on your appetite, you can freeze half of it for later like I did!