Navitas Naturals Fun and Functional Powders: Review + Giveaway

It's confirmed, every healthy kitchen should have at least one thing from Navitas Naturals in their pantry! The very kind Mic from Navitas Naturals was gracious enough to send me these to review....

Cacao Powder

Lucuma Powder

Cacoa Goji Super Food Power Snack

Click on each link to read more about these delightfully nutritious and delicious "super foods" and ideas on how to use them.

I tend to get more satisfaction from tasty food when it's either A) made by yours truly (me) or B) from a socially and environmentally responsible business.  Since I lack the ability to make such functional food, Navitas Naturals falls under my "B" category.  Here's what their About Us section has to say..

The “Navitas” in our name is the Latin word for energy.

And like our name implies, our mission is to provide premium organic functional foods that increase energy and enhance health. Part of this effort is to continually search for the world’s most beneficial natural foods. Navitas Naturals is a certified organic, green business headquartered in Marin County, California.

We specialize in organic functional foods, and strive to lead the industry in this expanding market. Health conscious consumers choose our nutrient-rich products because they are loaded with antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. Our premium quality “superfoods” are always free of additives and trans fats; the absence of these elements speaking to the purity and effectiveness of the products.

Our company is committed to socially and environmentally responsible business practices. We source our premium functional foods through direct partnerships with farming communities around the world. An essential part of our mission is to create economic opportunities among indigenous people in developing countries, and our support of native agriculture helps expand development of global organic farming practices.

I've tried several cacao or cocoa powders in the past and some are very pungent or lack flavor. Navitas Naturals' Cacao is mild and creates a happy medium for me.  If anything, I would ask for a little more chocolate flavor, but I just add a little extra in my smoothies to get what I'm looking for.

The easiest way to use the cacoa powder was to add to the ground coffee in my French Press for pleasant chocolate coffee beverage to kick-off the day.  If you don't have a French Press, just add the cacao to your grounds in a traditional brewer for the same effect. With a little milk added, you have hot chocolate coffee! You don't need a sweetener, but if you prefer, I recommend a few drops or a packet of stevia to do the trick.

Here are some other recipes I posted in the past and recreated with Navitas Naturals' Cacao Powder with great success:

Peanut Butter Chocolate Protein Spread – Better than Nutella!

Microwave Chocolate Protein Cake - Enjoy with Hot Cacao Coffee

Sugar Free Chocolate Protein Brownies

 Basically, you need/want this in your kitchen. Read this post I wrote in the past on the benefits chocolate powder and for more healthy recipes. For more recipe ideas, click here.

I have never heard of Lucuma before it was in my wonderful review package from Mic, but I won't forget it now! I mixed the powder into smoothies, baked treats, and plain yogurt to add an extra depth of flavor and nutrition.  It has a taste reminiscient of maple and pairs well with blueberries or all alone. Forget the non-nutritive sugar, Lucuma is where it's at.

Cacao and Lucuma Green Smoothie with homemade protein granola and almonds

And for the Organic Raw Cacao Goji Power Snacks? YUM!  These have both the cacao and lucuma powder and are similar to most no-cook treat recipes found on the web.  One difference; they are already made for you and nicely packaged to bring in the car or keep at work.  I still have these at work and use them for my emergency hunger attacks if my lunch was not enough.  Try them, you won't be sorry.

I'm still using all of these and hanging on to the cacao powder for dear life; I don't want it to run out! Thank you, Mic, for sending such functional "super food" my way, I'll be getting more cacao powder soon.

Cinnamon Quinoa Pudding sweetened with Lucuma Powder...recipe to come soon.

Sorry, this giveaway has ended, but you should still try Navitas Naturals if you get the chance.

Have you read enough about how wonderful these products are and now you want to try for yourself?  Well lucky you! If the title didn't "give it away", Navitas Naturals has agreed to giveaway a package of Lucuma and Cacao Powder to one lucky reader.  You have 6 easy ways to enter as listed below.  The contest will end on Friday, September 21, so get your entries in and sit by the calendar in anticipation.

Please leave a separate comment for each entry; a winner will be picked at random after the contest is over.

1. Check out Navitas Naturals' page and tell me what product you want to try most.

2. Follow Navitas Naturals on Twitter

3. Like Navitas Naturals on Facebook

4. Follow Just Add Cayenne on Twitter and Tweet the following – "I entered to win Lucuma and Cacao Powder from @NavitasNaturals with @I_Love_Cayenne and you can too! "

5. “LIKE” Just Add Cayenne on Facebook. If you already “Like” Just Add Cayenne, leave a comment letting me know.

6. Help support Just Add Cayenne and subscribe to my blog. Just post a comment if you are already subscribed.

Thanks for reading and Good Luck!!