Del Monte Energy Bloom

I can only affectionately refer to Coke Black as "Coke Crack." Red Bull tastes like shit and, according to my personal trainer, can even give you a heart attack. Never drink that crap pre-workout. It's amazing how many people don't know that.

Do you have any idea how much coffee I have subsisted on this past week? Weak and exhausted from last weekend's car accident and stressed out from school, I sucked down cups of black coffee and even a Starbuck's mocha (soymilk, natch). I may be a Hippy Shopping Chick/health nut/vegan/fitness freak, but I am not immune to the power of caffiene. I need it right now. Life is too demanding and I haven't been working out (beacuse of my chiropractor's orders post-accident) so I feel a definite energy drain.

But I think I'm sick of coffee today.

I stopped at Aj's Fine Foods this morning on my way to my airshift at 98-7 The Peak. I selected a couple Kern's Nectar drinks to pop in the nasty station fridge, but then sought out something already cold and full of energy I could guzzle. I found something new. It's called Del Monte Energy Bloom and I bought the mango passionfruit flavor.

The Details:

Disclaimer: I have no idea how this stacks up nutritionally. Just passing on what's on the label!

"One full serving of fruit"
"Calcium"
"B vitamins"
"Antioxidant rich"
"White tea extract"
"Lightly carbonated"

The stuff is tasty. It's like mixing juice with some lightly carbonated water. So it doesn't have that nasty chemical taste of other energy drinks like that Red Bull stuff. The cashier at AJ's told me they just got it in Friday.

The paragraph still lists a littany of ingredients like any frankenfood would...carbonated water, chemicals, fruit juice concentrates, etc.

It boasts 100 cal; 115mg sodium; 24g carbs; 20g sugars; 10% vitamin A and Calcium; 100% niacin, riboflvain, B12, & B6; 10% vitamin D, 20% vitamin E, and 100% pantothenic acid. What is that? Vitamin B5, of course.

The can also says, "One 8 oz. serving of Bloom Energy Drink provids 1/2 cup of fruit. The USDA My Pyramid recommends a daily intake of 2 cups of fruit a day for a 2,000-calorie diet." The can also reads it's 50% juice.

You get 10.5 oz of beverage, which I paid $1.99 for. Red Bull costs much more and tastes shittier. I think I'll be buying a lot of Bloom.

For my sanity, there will be no posts about car shopping hell today...

That is the goal! I will do my best to speak on other Hippy Shopping Chick subjects.

7 Isn't So Lucky; My Pony Threw Me on the 7th. And now, car shopping...

Errr. That's all I have to say about car shopping. I don't enjoy most types of shopping. I especially don't enjoy car shopping or making any major purchase. Then if you want to spend your money in a concious way, well, I've come to realize you can't do it by purchasing a motor vehicle.

Mission accomplished...I think.

I bought Jon some Cliff Mojo bars today at Sunflower Market. Then I tried one and they are suspiciously like granola bars, but quite tasty. They were on sale for 88 cents each (and will be for the next week). By the way, Hippy Shopping Chick tip for you: Wednesday is double ad days at Sunflower and Sprouts, so you get the previous week's and the current week's sales on that same day. It's a good shopping day for a Hippy Shopping Chick.

I'm wondering if I can make the same thing but cheaper on my own...homemade granola bars? I don't really have time for that right now, but maybe that's something to look at down the road.

Coming soon: Hippyshoppingchick.com

I have too many ideas backing up for this site and not enough time to both write them up and get the website going. So for now there's merely a "coming soon" page up.

HippyShoppingChick.com.

So feel free to leave me a comment about what you'd like to learn about on HippyShoppingChick.com when it launches.

My newest Shopping Mission to complete is to find some type of snack food I can buy for Jon that he can eat at work. Here's the predicament:

1. Jon has to eat on the run so The Perfect Snack has to fit in his pocket.

2. Jon has asked for granola bars. This is something I haven't even walked near since I was a size 16. Granola bars aren't the only thing that made me a size 16, believe me. But that was 4 sizes ago and I'm not going back. With Jon's schedule right now, working out is pushed to the back burner so he needs all the low-fat snacks he can get!

3. We're cheap. I call Jon "Mr. Value" because it's the word he uses most frequently when deciding what to purchase at the grocery store. (Yes, this is the the extent that we can't shop together much or I'll smack him). So I have to find The Perfect Snack that gets the most bang for the buck. We're all about bang to but that's not a subject for this blog!

4. Jon has suggested Cliff bars, which I have no problem with. But do they sell them at Costco? Where can I buy these babies for cheap? He says Fry's sells them on sale for a $1/each.