Lazy Sunday + A Brutally Honest Review - POM

Hola Bloggies:

How was your weekend loves? We spent our Saturday largely doing wedding stuff and other random chores, which of course meant that we felt fully entitled to relax on Sunday. Woohoo for lazy Sundays!

It was crazy hot here in the Rocky Mountains combine that with the intense sun and it was blistering up in the casa. To seek some relief we decided to back some cherries and blueberries, water, a massive sub for sharing (bought at our local Safeway on the way out of town) and head out to a local lake. This was the first time we attempted to do anything like this since getting Daisy. Little did we know how difficult it would be for us to find a lake that would allow us to bring our puppy to the shore.

We tried multiple parks and no luck. So eventually we ended up heading down a forest service road and finding a remote lake in the mountains. A pristine mountain lake with no rules? Bonus!

The weather up at the lake turned out to be much cooler than down in the city, mostly by virtue of a subtle but continuous breeze.

I purchased the cherries at the local farmer’s market on Saturday. While it would be cheaper to purchase them at a grocery store (where they would likely come from Washington State) I chose to buy produce grown in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley.

The sandwich was something we had to purchase since I never keep the necessary ingredients at home. I know most people consider bread a stable but I seldom keep any around; mostly because if it’s there I’ll eat it all a lot.

It wasn’t the healthiest option but it did the job. I picked off the salami and had two small pieces. Plenty to keep me full. I don’t know about you but I just don’t get very hungry in the crazy hot weather.

Once we finished our meal we walked around the lake and went for a dip in the water. It was so refreshing and perfect for a lazy Sunday!

A little bit later in the evening we headed out to see Inception. It was kind of trippy and a bit of the Matrix meets James Bond. Overall it was really good and made you question reality. That’s basically my measure of a good movie – does it leave you thinking afterwards? This one sure did!

 

A POM Review and GIVEAWAY

 

Some time ago I received coupons for free bottles of POM from their very gracious manufacturers. I kind of heart me some POM so I was thrilled at the opportunity to officially review the product for the blog.

 

I still remember the first time I heard about pomegranate juice, it was while I was talking to some Persian friends in High School. I was told Iranians swore by the health benefits of pomegranates. I couldn’t even begin to fathom what would be so great about those small little seeds. And how in the world did they manage to get juice out of those things anyways!?!?

Back then I wasn’t really interested in healthy living so it wasn’t until some years had passed that I learned the Persians had a good thing going! POM juice is made up of 100% pomegranate juice; which means it’s absolutely jammed pack with antioxidants. Current research seems to indicate that antioxidants help to prevent oxidization in our bodies and as such may help protect us from diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and diabetes (amongst others).

Many people turn to red wine for its antioxidant content. Indeed, there’s this whole school of thought that attributes the health of the French, despite their diets high in indulgences, to their red wine consumption; this is known as the French Paradox. Well it turns out that POM contains a higher antioxidant count then even red wine!

For my review I took two of the coupons I was sent and used them to purchase two flavours I had never tried.

First up was POM Kiwi. I wasn’t sure how the kiwi would stand up against the pomegranates. Overall I would say that the kiwi gave the POM a slightly increased tanginess which was distinctly different from the usual POM taste. The flavour of the kiwi was distinctly prominent.

The next flavour I tried was the POM with mango. Also a first for me. This flavour seemed to lessen the usual tartness of the POM juice but overall it seemed to get lost in the juice. I would recommend this flavour to those that find POM juice a little too tart in its original flavour.

Now I’m not going to pretend that POM juice is cheap – that it is not. But like organic produce or free-range products, I consider POM an investment in my health. Whenever possible I keep a bottled on hand. And I figure since it’s so jammed pack with antioxidants, a little can go a long way. While I know a lot of people drink their POM juice in shot glass portions I tend to make mocktails out of POM Wonderful.

Start out with your POM flavour of choice and a bit of club soda. Don’t forget a lovely glass.

Pour a bit of POM juice into the bottom of your glass. I was generous with my pour.

Top the rest off with club soda and enjoy your delicious drink. If you’re feeling particularly fancy pants, feel free to add a slice of lime to your glass or maybe some raspberries. And if you’re having a party, don’t forget to add a splash of vodka.

Overall Review? I absolutely LOVE POM juice! It’s one of my go-to healthy food splurges and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to my readers. If you don’t do it for the taste then at least do it for your health.

And here’s the GIVEAWAY part – I have two coupons for free POM juice to give away to one lucky reader. To enter all you have to do is comment on this entry. Contest closes on Friday, July 30th 2010 at 8AM PST. Best of luck bloggies!

Question: Have you ever tried POM juice? Did you like it?