Do you know how much we LOVE Zego? If you don’t know, the answer is: a gabazillion. Yes, that’s a unit of measure in our home. Zego Foods is such an awesome company and headed by our good friend Colleen. She is such an amazing advocate for the food allergy community. One of her greatest missions is transparency when it comes to food, and she’s truly on the same page as we are. A while back she sent us home with her new line of products to try.
When you’re living with food based issues, it’s SO important to know where your food is coming from. Now, I could stand on my soap box about the importance of non-gmo, organic, etc., but not today. Just know that Colleen is awesome and every product she produces is done in the safest and cleanest way she can find.
If that’s not enough reason to love Zego, there’s more!! They are a CORN FREE COMPANY. Yes, I’m yelling. The caps button didn’t get stuck. Colleen checks on every raw material, it’s cleaning, sourcing, transportation, storage, and more. Zego Foods are made in a (shared) top 8 allergy free facility, on dedicated equipment that’s free from corn. Today we’ll be reviewing some of the newer items on offer from Zego.
Up First: Zego Exceptional Oats
When Colleen first told me about the oats product she was releasing, I was pretty excited. I still adore GlutenFreeOats.com, but it’s nice to have another option too. What makes these oats different is the raw live enzymes.
In case you’re wondering, Zego Oats are also Purity Protocol oats (like GFO.com). This means they’re better than organic, and better than gluten free. Every step involved in the process of getting these oats from field to table are over and beyond the call of duty.
We used these to make milk to see if there was a huge difference, and there wasn’t. What that tells us is these oats are a viable option for people who are looking to add more safe foods to their pantry.
In addition to making oat milk, you can use these oats in the making of anything you would use rolled oats in (cookies, waffles, oatmeal, etc.).
On to Zego Mix-Ins
Mix-Ins come in three different flavors. I’ve used them in a few different ways for the kids and it looks like the chocolate may be their favorite flavor when eaten stand alone. Overall, this isn’t their favorite Zego product, but they are a bit biased. Only one of our kids *sort of* likes this type of product to being with.
We don’t do a lot of trail mix or granola. At best, it’s used on yogurt from time to time, by The Papa, not the kids. He did have the opportunity to try the Mix-Ins on yogurt and he very much enjoyed the experience. He even took a “fancy food photo” featuring Mix-Ins and sent it to me one morning 🙂
Personally, I love the idea of Mix-Ins, and if you need extra flavor and/or nutrition, they’re a great option. You could easily add these on top of salads, in a trail mix, baked into cookies or rice crispy bars, and more.
Spoiler Alert: This Is a HUGE Food Win
I could listen to Colleen talk about this Pure Protein Powder all day. She has become an expert in what’s wrong with the protein powder market in general, especially where food allergies are concerned. It’s a market I personally don’t know much about, as it’s not something we use.
Are you familiar with pea protein isolate? If not, read up on it a bit. It’s used an just about every protein based claim type product that’s marketed to people with food allergies. However, some people with a peanut allergy can’t tolerate it, and of course, those who are legume free can’t eat it. Unfortunately, the amount of people who can’t have PPI is on the rise as well.
Surprise surprise, it’s Colleen to the rescue. You weren’t really surprised, right? Colleen has created a great solution to the PPI problem by launching a pure protein powder made of only one ingredient: Sacha Inchi Seed. Rather than go on and on about how cool it is, I’ll let you do some research.
We learned through trial and error that this protein powder is very noticeable in recipes if you use too much, and not in a good way. I’d suggest starting
Finally, Zego Muesli
Made with their purity protocol oats, these breakfast products are pretty cool. I like to tell our kid who likes oatmeal that these are like oatmeal with extra flavor and bits. Honestly, he was the only one who was remotely interested in trying these, as no one else likes oatmeal… unless it’s a cookie. While not his favorite oatmeal product on the planet (he has one that he LOVES), I’ve seen him eating Muesli here and there.
Like Mix-Ins, this isn’t a product that our kids are use to. Perhaps if they had exposure to something like it at a younger age it would be different now. Here’s what I really appreciate about this product: it’s a safe option for people who have been missing their muesli.
It’s difficult to find certified gluten free oats in oat based products. Total side note, have you all seen the explosion of options for oat milk as of late? Did you notice not a single one makes a gluten free claim??
In one of the stores we go to regularly, there’s one muesli on the shelf, and it’s not gluten free. This would be a lovely addition to the store.
My Final Thoughts
If you’ve never had Zego products, I’d say it’s worth a try at least once. Honestly, I feel that way about everything. Sometimes you don’t realize how much you will enjoy something until you’ve tried it.
In the case of Zego, I love everything about the company, even though I can’t consume any of the products. They are on a mission to bring safe and transparent foods to market so the food allergy and special diet community can enjoy food. I am overjoyed that there are kids out there with so many fantastic options to eat. I love that busy parents can make clean and healthy food quickly.
There really is a lot that I love about what Zego is doing, and I look forward to making tasty recipes with the protein powder. In my opinion, that may be one of their greatest creations to date. Well, that and the Raspberry Zego Bar (not the chia one, the just fruit one).
