Garden of Life RAW Meal Energy in Yerba Mate!

I get most of my produce and fresh foods at the local supermercado, but Whole Foods is right next to my work, so I frequent it for my specialty items, my bulk foods, and occasionally a slice or two of traditional vegan pizza when I'm feeling naughty.

My few visits ago, I saw containers of a new RAW Protein Energy from Garden of Life in the decompression zone of Whole Foods.  Of course my interest was sparked!  It came in two flavors, Marley Coffee or Guayaki Yerba Mate.  I debated momentarily, but picked up the Yerba Mate for it's lower caffeine and acidity.

But wait.. that says RAW Meal!

I was walking around looking for maca powder and the Vega oil blend, and found the RAW Meal version of what I'd picked up!  The best part was the sale price meant it was only $34, instead of $56!  I grabbed the RAW Meal Energy powder in Yerba Mate, and put the other one back on the shelf.  If memory serves correct, the calories and carbohydrates are a little higher in the meal version, but the protein was about the same.  It had added blends of good for you stuff to make it more of a balanced meal.  Some mornings I don't eat anything but my shake, so I feel better mixing up the meal replacement powder instead of the protein powder to hopefully get more nutrients and vitamins.  And for the record, I usually only drink the snack size (one scoop).  When I do two scoops, it's too filling for me.

The scoop is huge.

So I've been drinking it for about two weeks now?  I honestly don't know when I bought it.  I definitely feel a lot better since I started drinking it in the morning, and it's a great no-brainer way to have a raw meal first thing in the morning.  I try to couple it with some fresh fruit when I have time, but most of the time I'm drinking just this while getting ready.  The flavor is better than expected.  It definitely tastes like a slightly sweet Yerba Mate blend, which is good.  It's always nice when things taste like you expect.  I didn't like the Marley Coffee flavor, which I tried in a single serve package to see which one I liked better.  The Marley Coffee flavor tastes like coffee, simply put, and I like my coffee.. decorated.  Coffee Lovers would probably like the Marley Coffee flavor better than the Yerba Mate.  It has chia and flax in the fiber blend, so the texture gets thicker the longer it sits.  This adds to satiety, but this isn't necessarily good if you're planning on mixing your shake up and letting it sit in the fridge for a few hours.. I did that one time and it was terrible, but it was my own fault because I am well aware of how chia and flax react to sitting in liquid.

The price point on sale is phenomenal, and I picked up a second tub while it's still on sale.  When these two tubs are gone, I will presumably buy a third, just because it's delicious, it's raw, and it's exactly what I'm looking for.  I want to try the Plant Fusion Phood as well, but it isn't a raw blend so I'll have to decide if I want to do that when I run out of these.  The Phood doesn't come in single serve packets either, which bothers me because I like to try flavors before I commit to a full tub of something that cost $50.

Overall, I am very satisfied with my purchase, and was happy to try the new blend while it was on sale.  I would gladly pay full price when these two tubs are gone, but we'll see if something else catches my eye while I'm finishing these!

What's your favorite meal replacement powder?  Where do you buy yours?  Or do you make your own?