Monday, July 1, 2013

Product Review: Good Karma Flax Milk

I have been trying to write this post for a while, but thanks to some technical difficulties, it's been delayed until now.
Milk is a central part of the American diet it seems.  But if you can no longer have cow's milk,  finding a comparable alternative can be tricky. When I first went dairy free 7 years ago I immediately turned to soy milk as my go-to dairy free replacement.  When my youngest daughter started drinking milk, we put her on soymilk because she was showing signs of lactose intolerance.  However, the soy didn't seem to agree with her so we looked for another alternative.  We have tried almond, rice, and coconut milk. I am always looking for new types to try and see if they work better in recipes, or just have more health benefits than we currently use. We use almond milk on a regular basis now since it is the one all 5 of us can agree on.

Recently the good people at Good Karma sent me a cooler with two containers of their flax milk to try.  I had never had flax milk- I had never even heard of it! But since I am a HUGE fan of flaxseeds, I was more than happy to give their product a try.

What first caught my attention was that it has added protein- always a plus.  The first day I used it on my cereal and on my 3 daughters' bowls of cereal.  My girls can be pretty picky when it comes to the milk I put on their cereal- they don't like soy, rice, or coconut milks.  They can even tell when I switch brands of almond milk.  Several bowls of cereal have been dumped because they didn't like the milk.  The first to try it was the pickiest of the 3- the little one.  She ate her whole bowl and asked for more!  The middle one was able to give me more of a verbalized opinion.  She said she liked it, that it did taste a bit different than almond milk, but not bad different.  My husband and I also used it on our cereal and we both liked as well.  Test #1- success.

We are also HUGE smoothie fans- I make them pretty much everyday for my kids and husband.  My normal recipe calls for almond milk and flaxseed meal.  Since I was using flaxmilk, I replaced the flaxseed meal with chia seeds.  WOW!  Seriously the best smoothie I've ever made!  It was so creamy, the milk added no flavor to the smoothie (sometimes almond milk will if I have to use more the thicken it.)  Even my husband commented on how creamy the smoothies were with the flax milk as opposed to the almond milk.

We also used the flax milk in our pancake recipe- again it worked just as well as the other milks we have used. I had wanted to try it in my vegan gravy recipe but we drank it all before I got to that.  Oops. 


Instead I will share my smoothie recipes using the Flax milk.  If you have a chance, I highly recommend you try this.  It is probably the best alternative I have found so far.  In searching for it to buy I found it at Whole Foods.  I have not checked my local Kroger, Fresh Market, or Harris Teeter yet. 

My Favorite Green Monster Smoothie:
1 frozen Banana
handful of spinach
1 tablespoon all natural peanut butter,
1 tablespoon chia seeds.
Flax milk

Blend until smooth.  That's it.  So simple and so good.  The flax milk really adds a creamier consistency.

If you are looking for a healthy milk replacement for your coffee, the flax milk is also great for that.  I drink my coffee black now, but I did try it one morning, just to see how it would taste. It was much better than almond milk.

 Flax milk has now become a regular item in our fridge.  I even bought some to take on vacation.  In my personal opinion, it is hands down the BEST non-dairy option I have ever had.  I highly recommend giving it a try.

*All opinions in this post are my own.  I was not compensated in any way, other than receiving the product to try.*