Have you ever heard of Juli Novotny or her company, Kookie Karma?
Kookie Karma is a company with healthy snack options that are great for raw foodies, vegan foodies, and gluten-free foodies.
"Kookie Karma snacks and kookies are all handmade in our very own gluten-free commercial kitchen. We strive to offer you the freshest, best tasting raw and holistic snack products that we can. To do so we like to make everything fresh each week.
Kookie Karma was created in Santa Monica, CA by Juli Novotny in 2004 {she was only 24 at the time}. Juli has since worked hard to not only sell her products wholesale to West Coast markets and directly to consumers but to also educate people on the importance of including raw superfoods in and removing processed sugar/ flour/ dairy from their otherwise normal diet & lifestyle."
You can imagine my excitement when they offered to send me some of their snacks to try. I eat a mostly raw diet, but I keep some room for cooked vegan foods when the time comes (you read about my french toast adventure
here). When my package of samples arrived, I was like a kid in a candy store. I might have had my raw food planned for the day already, but that plan went out the door as I tore into cookie (or should I say, "kookie") after cookie. I mean, how can compare each one to the other unless I try them all!? Right?! :) I can't remember how many they sent me... maybe 5? Two cooked and the rest raw. I didn't eat them all by myself though. I had Greg there to help me sample them.
Kookie Karma has a number of products ranging from crackers ("krackers") to cookies ("kookies") to granola ("krunchies") to kale chips ("krackers"). Many of the products are raw, but they also offer some low-glycemic, gluten-free cookies that are cooked vegan. And, not all of the ingredients are organic in some of the products, but many of them are. My samples included cookies (both raw and cooked varieties) as well as granolas.
Turns out, I prefer the cooked cookies over the raw cookies. I like the
Chocolate Chip and
Choco-lot Holistic Cookies. They are dense, sweet, and satisfying. I like that they have a little extra protein in them, too. I'm not a protein freak or anything, but as a breastfeeding mama, I like to increase my protein a bit. My husband appreciated the extra protein in them, too, since he's very active with strength training and building his body. I'm excited about these cookies because there are times that I just want a cooked cookie, ya know? Until now, I would occasionally indulge in one of ABC's (Alternative Baking Company) Cranberry Orange vegan cookies. Now that I've had Juli Novotny's holistic
Chocolate Chip and
Choco-lot Kookies, which are a healthier option than ABCs cookies, I am happier.
How about the other cookies? I enjoyed the raw cookies (they didn't send me all the raw flavors), but I found the raw cookies to be less sweet. Nothing wrong with that. However, when I want a cookie, it's usually because I want something sweet so I'll stick to their cooked cookies. ;) They offer a beautiful selection of raw cookies though.
The granolas ("krunchies") were very good. In particular, I really enjoyed the
Goji Lime. The flavor is fresh and light. I love the pistachios in it. I heard on Dr. Oz recently that eating a serving of pistachios with your food reduces the glycemic index of the food you're eating at the time. Sounds good to me!
After I polished off my samples, I knew I needed some stocked in my kitchen for snacking. So, I ordered a case of the Chocolate Chip (cooked) Kookies, Choco Lot (cooked) Kookies, and Goji Lime (raw) Krunchies.
When they arrived yesterday... well, I had my raw food planned for the day, but hello(!) cookies arrived. I had one of each. :)
If you'd like to order some for yourself...
Kookie Karma
Have you tried Kookie Karma foods? What do you think? The cooked cookies have xylitol in them, what are you thoughts on that?
