The Healthy Family Expo was held at the Vancouver Convention this year and I was extended the opportunity to attend. As the name of the expo implies, most if not all of the vendors at this event had to do with healthy living, whether it’s in regards to food, exercise, health, environment, etc. I was glad to find that there were many food-related vendors there, but there was also other categories such as “Eco-friendly Living” (ie. cleaning products as represented by AspenClean) and “Active Living” (ie. Fitness on the Go, GoodLife Fitness, etc).

It was great fun for the whole family. Young kids got to try out rock-climbing, see a mini-concert by Bobs and Lolo, crawl into and roll around in a huge blow-up hamster ball (I actually wanted to try that but was afraid I would get stuck, or worse…hurt my joints lol). There’s also lots of food samples to taste and purchase.

And now, I’m happy to report back to you, my top 5 picks at this year’s Healthy Family Expo.  Let’s get to it!  Here’s my….

Top 5 Healthy Products

#1: Tree Island Gourmet Yogurt

One taste of Tree Island Gourmet Yogurt‘s Orange Blossom & Cardamom flavor and I was hooked! The cardamom was quite pronounce. I’m always weary of flavors that are only on the label but you don’t actually taste it. Not the case here. It was exotic and actually makes me think of a yummy Indian rice pudding. Which is weird because Tree Island Gourmet Yogurt actually makes a Chai Latte flavor also which tastes exactly like Chai!  Their Lemon comes in third place!  I didn’t get a chance to try their “Cream Top” variety though.  I would like to give that a try some day.

Aside from the taste, there’s 5 other facts that gives them top place in my list!

1. They’re local.  Courtenay, BC, specifically.
2. Tree Island Gourmet Yogurt only uses fresh whole milk from local grass-fed cows!
3. There’s no antibiotics or growth hormones in the yogurt.
4. You won’t find thickeners or gelatin in their product.
5. Tree Island uses BPA free packaging made from less plastic!!

#2: Cofresh/Eat Real Lentil and Quinoa Chips

I first tried Cofresh‘s Quinoa chips last year at Eat! Vancouver (the chips are also under the brand “Eat Real”, and the packaging still says so). I was glad they came back this year and I got to try their other varieties- Lentil Chips, Hummus Chips, and Parpadum Chips. The quinoa chips tasted just as we first described…like pork rind! I quickly snapped up 4 different bags, and am quite ashamed to say I finished the whole bag of Sundried Tomato & Basil Quinoa Chips the first night…. Can’t wait to dig into the rest though!

#3: Hippie Foods Hippie Cookies

I saw Hippie Foods Hippie Cookies as part of a promotional bit the Healthy Family Expo did on CTV Morning Live one morning. The flavor they tried was the Lemon Cookie and I knew I wanted to try it. To my delight, I also got to try the rest of the flavors and also their Hippie Garden Chips too!

Hippie Garden Chips was basically a mixture of whole veggies sliced into chip form and crisped up. All flavors were very yummy. The only thing holding me back was the price as they were $7 for a not-very-big-bag. I know you’re paying for the quality here but the bag really would not last long at all.

The Hippie Cookies were like your traditional coconut macaroon. They were made with mostly organic ingredients and were chewy and hearty. Each bag contained 6 cookies (except for the Chocolate flavor) and sold for $5 a bag, so I went for those instead. I got the Lemon Coconut flavor (tasted very similar to a British Lemon tea cookie, one of those that melts in your mouth but not quite as sweet) and the Vanilla Almond flavor.

#4: Greenday Dried Fruits

Have you tried freeze-dried grapes before??  I certainly haven’t, so when I walked by Greenday‘s booth and saw Crispy Grapes, I quickly asked for a sample.  The grapes retained their smooth outer texture and they looked sort of like peanuts.  They were light and crispy and sweet.  However, they did not have the usual “grape flavor” one would expect from a grape product.  But isn’t that usually the case?  Think about it…when you have grape candy, is that really what real grapes taste like? What about watermelon??  You get the idea.

I was pleasantly intrigued so I got a small bag for $2.  I also got a bag of freeze-dried strawberries.  I was a bit disappointed to see that the strawberries had added sugar though.  Not the case with the grapes.

#5: Zipzicles Pouches

Alright alright, these pouches themselves aren’t food per se, but they sure are food related.  Zipzicle pouches are basically elongated ziplock baggies for you to make your own healthy, non-sugar-laden version of freezies in!

What a novel idea!!  If you’re creative enough, there’s just infinite possibilities with this product!!  Just imagine the “adult” freezie recipes you can make!

Unlike homemade popsicles, you greatly minimize the sticky drippies, and they also sell neoprene freezie holders so your fingers won’t become freezies!!  The Zipzicles are also supposedly washable and reusable, however I don’t currently own any so I cannot attest to the longevity of the product.  Honestly I was just so impressed with this idea.

So there you have it, my top 5 picks for healthy products at the Healthy Family Expo this year.  Did any of you attend?  What did you think? What impressed you the most??