What is your biggest weakness? Tough question to some, but for me, it’s easy; snacking!
I’m addicted to snacking. My days are long, so three meals don’t suffice, and snacks are essential. My biggest challenge is finding healthy options.
When people hear the word “snack,” they don’t think of healthy eating or a healthy diet. But that’s not true – eating smaller and more regularly can be really good to keep your metabolism going all day.
My usual snacks are fruit, yogurt, or some chopped up veggies. But I get bored so easily and love trying new things, especially when it comes to food. Only thing is, healthy snacks that aren’t loaded with salt, sugar, or loads of weird ingredients are hard to find!
Chatting to my friend, health nut friend Steve, he commented on how most snack options are also so heavy on carbs and low in protein. Something that never hit me before, even though protein is usually the center of all my meals, whether it be plant or animal-sourced.
Wanting to know more, we looked up “protein snacks,” and of course, all the horrible tasting protein bars and balls we tried and tested before all came up.
Then Steve showed me his phone and said, “Look at this, Paleovalley Beef Sticks“. Made with 100% grass-fed beef and organic spices with no GMOs. Beef jerky? I only see that stuff in gas stations and wonder who actually buys it; clearly, it’s full of crazy preservatives.
Steve clearly wasn’t thinking the same because a few days later, he had a whole pack of Paleovalley Beef sticks. “You have to try these,” he said as he presented the Beef stick in three different flavors in front of me. I couldn’t believe he bought them.
I picked up the Jalapeno flavored one since jalapeno chips are the best ever, but I didn’t have any hope of it actually tasting good.
The beef stick sat in my bag all day. When my usual 3 pm snack craving appeared, I picked it up to read the label. I was shocked by the ingredients – it really was just grass-fed beef and organic spices. No added sugar, salt, preservatives, or additives. How is this possible?
It turns out, unlike other beef sticks, Paleovalley doesn’t use the same GMO corn-based citric acid encapsulated in hydrogenated oils to process their beef. They use a longer natural fermentation process with no need for GMOs or nasty preservatives. And it means that their beef sticks contain 1 billion natural occurring gut-friendly probiotics.
Ok, so maybe it actually was healthy, but how was it going to taste? Only one way to find out… I ripped it open and took a cautious bite.
That was good, so good I wanted another one.
That night I bought a pack of Jalapeno Paleovalley Beef sticks along with their Original flavor. It was so hard choosing between all five flavors: Original, Jalapeno, Summer Sausage, Garlic Summer Sausage, and Teriyaki.
In a few days, mine had arrived, and I’ve been eating them every day since. I’ve never had a snack that keeps me feeling so full for so long – that’s the power of protein. And I love all the extra benefits of grass-fed beef my body is getting like omega-3s, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which burns fat, vitamins A, D, E, and K, and glutathione, a major antioxidant.
Paleovalley only uses the highest quality ingredients to produce nutrient-dense products. And they only source their beef from family farms that are passionate about cultivating grass pastures for the cows to graze on.
Paleovalley’s Beef Sticks are now my new favorite snacks. They require zero prep and are so easy to carry around, (I always have one in my bag). They are a great source of protein and are packed full of so many amazing nutrients. And they taste delicious.
I’m so glad Steve made me try one!