Earlier this year, I received a request from a company called Hail Merry to review their products and potentially share them with all of you. I get a lot of requests and I accept some of them, but I never guarantee to write about anything. I won’t post a bad review as I’m never a big fan of going on and on about how bad I think something is. There’s really no need for that as bad products won’t stay on the market long. I do love to share products that I absolutely love and will do everything I can to spread the word.

As I started to say at this beginning of this post, I received some products from Hail Merry, specifically the Grawnola (Orange Cranberry), Blonde Macaroons, and their Chimayo Chili Pecans — after looking over the ingredients, my interest was peaked and I was ready to dig in. Hail Merry touts themselves as a health conscious product and by the looks of what’s inside, you can be sure this is the case. Sweetened with pure maple syrup and fresh fruit, their products keep everything real. the only added sugar that I found was with organic palm sugar on the pecans. I may be a sugar nazi at times, but when I do eat something with added sugar, it is going to be something like this.

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Grawnola

The Grawnola was absolutely delicious and best of all, it didn’t contain corn like so many gluten-free granola products do. It had a wonderful crunch and held up under the almond milk that I had with it. It had a very subtle sweetness and was perfect just about any time of day. I really like to eat something like this as an afternoon snack with whole plain yogurt — for me, it doesn’t get much better than that. If I had to complain about something with the Grawnola, it would be that they’ve included what they refer to as rice bran solubles — this product is so close to being grain-free, I wish they’d go ahead and make it that way.

Ingredients: Made with organic shredded coconut, almond flour, organic expeller pressed coconut oil, pure maple syrup, organic Mexican vanilla and sea salt. (3.5 oz. bag, 8 pieces per bag.)

Blonde Macaroons

Macaroons are a common favorite for people on a gluten-free diet. Simple ingredients, lightly sweetened, it’s the ultimate dessert that you won’t feel guilty after eating. It’s one of the few desserts I could have on my trip to France last year, that reason in itself is good enough for me to love them.

Ingredients: Made with organic shredded coconut, almond flour, organic expeller pressed coconut oil, pure maple syrup, organic Mexican vanilla and sea salt. (3.5 oz. bag, 8 pieces per bag.)

Chimayo Chili Pecans

When I was a kid, I used to love when my mom would make candied pecans. She would take a sheet of pecans with a stick of butter and a lot of sugar over the top and baked in the oven. Butter and sugar? Of course they tasted good. While I haven’t ditched the butter (butter is actually pretty darn good for you), I have ditched the refined sugar. These pecans have a wonderful balance of sweet and spicy and it didn’t take me long to finish the bag. They were so good, I had to fight off my 8-year old daughter who loves pecans more than anything. This is something I will definitely be buying more of.

Ingredients: Soaked pecans, organic palm sugar, Chimayo Chile powder, sea salt, cracked black pepper.

Chocolate Miracle Tart

Earlier today, I was at Whole Foods looking for something for lunch and came across a product from Hail Merry that I didn’t try before, it was their Chocolate Miracle Tart. Being in the mood for something a little on the sweet side, I decided to fork over the $3.99 and give it a try (this is actually a fairly reasonable price as the tart has a decent size to it). Wow! This thing tasted amazingly like candy and actually scared me a bit. I felt guilty as if I was eating something as decadent as a candy bar. But, looking at the ingredients, I was pleasantly surprised at to what I was actually eating. Organic maple syrup for a sweetener (listed third), coconut oil, almond flour and a touch of salt. As much as my kids like candy, this would be a perfect treat for them.

Ingredients: dark cocoa, organic cold pressed coconut oil, organic maple syrup, almond flour, sea salt.

Now that I’ve gloated about this product, it’s time for you to go try it for yourself. Be sure to follow them on Facebook as well as Twitter and show your support for a great company offering great snacks and treats. I hope to see more products like this in the near future. This is what makes gluten-free great.

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A little background info on Hail Merry

Susan O’Brien

Hail Merry products were designed by a Raw Food chef whose core philosophy is to bring awareness to the powerful benefits of healthy raw oils, which we must obtain from our diets. These plant based fats like Omega 3 & Oleic Acid can actually improve our cholesterol profile, reduce inflammation, and make our hair & skin more radiant.

However, once these dietary oils are heated at high temperatures they begin to oxidize and become rancid causing free radical damage to our cells! All of Hail Merry products are raw or dehydrated at very low temperatures to protect the integrity of these healthy dietary oils.

We use raw, cold pressed coconut oil, which contains lauric acid, known to promote a healthy immune system. Did you know that lauric acid is prevalent in human breast milk and is the first line of defense for babies against bacterial infections? That is why coconut oil is added to baby formula. Coconut oil also is comprised of medium chain fatty acids, which are quickly used as fuel for the body and are likely not going to be stored as body fat.

We prefer maple syrup for its exceptional flavor profile. It also contains more vitamins and minerals than any other sugar source available: including magnesium, zinc, and potassium. We know it’s not raw. Maple syrup may lack some living enzymes but we feel the flavor and vitamin/mineral pay-load is a great trade off. However, for those of you who are 100% raw foodist our new Blueberry Lemon Grawnola and Meyer Lemon Miracle tarts are both made with raw agave’. Look for these new agave’ sweetened items to hit the stores in mid May!

It is in our opinion that most granola’s on the market today are way too sweet and carb loading, not to mention they contain processed oils! Hail Merry’s gluten free Grawnola’s are nutrient dense nut blends that are very low in sugar and carbs, contains no added oils and are also suitable for diabetics! We prefer to add spices instead of sugars for added flavor.

Hail Merry was created by Dallas raw food chef Susan O’Brien. Ms. O’Brien’s products are dehydrated at very low temperatures in order to protect the essential oils and living enzymes foun in her organic raw ingredients.