acai bowl – Michelle Marie Health & Wellness

Behind the Scenes at Thirst Juice Co.

Thirst Juice Co

I had the pleasure of heading into downtown Boston this past weekend and get a private taste testing experience of the Thirst Juice Co menu. I brought my sister along for the experience after we got a serious butt kicking at a BFX studio class that morning – what a perfect way to refuel!

Thirst recently opened in Boston this past year and just announced it will be expanding to a second location, out in my neck of the woods, in Wellesley, Ma. Thirst Juice Co was founded by Heather Stevenson and her husband Chris. Both of them ditched their corporate jobs in New York City and came to Boston to share and promote their love for health and nutrition. Thirst Juice Co really prides itself on the fact that EVERYTHING on their menu is healthy. Heather and Chris work very hard to experiment and combine the perfect ingredients for each of their menu items. Everything on their menu is raw, gluten free and vegan.

I have really fallen in love with this company because of Heather and Chris’s vision and strong passion to share with Boston how important healthy eating really is. Heather and Chris are all about staying local and can easily be found at any fun fitness event taking place in and around the city! I am super excited to team up with these two for future events (especially in Wellesley, keep your eyes open for some fun things!).

So let’s get into the good stuff…

The first item I tried was the “Field of Dreams” juice. This is a green juice made with escarole, cucumber, apple and jalepeno. I gravitated towards this juice because I love spicy and was also totally intrigued by the escarole. This juice was light, refreshing and packed a little heat from the jalepeno! Next we tried the “Buddhabeet” juice. This is a beet based juice with carrot, pear, pineapple and ginger. This was a fan favorite because of its sweet but slightly tangy taste. Lastly we tried the “Kale-Idoscope” juice which was comprised of kale, spinach, carrot and pineapple. This juice was super light and the carrot gave it a more mild taste which I loved.

Next it was time for a smoothie; I chose the Vitamin “G”reen. This is the usual for me – I always pick a green smoothie so I decided to put this one up to the test. This smoothie was out of this world. The flavoring from the mango and pineapple combined masked the strong “green” taste which made it creamy and delicious.

Okay now on to my favorite; the Peanut Butter Acai Bowl. This bowl blended acai berries, peanut butter, cacao powder, blueberries, banana, and almond milk; then is topped with gluten free granola. This gluten free granola is a combination of oats, almonds, and pumpkin seeds – and within one bite, my sister and I literally fell in love.

I cannot say enough great things about Thirst Juice Co; between their mission and vision for the city of Boston and soon to be suburbs and the passion from the co-founders to make a difference is something to support! Definitely run (not walk) to Thirst Juice Co to try one of their amazing menu items!

Creamy Mango Acai Bowl

As the weather is getting warmer I have been craving the refreshing taste of Acai Bowls again. I love making these on weekend mornings when I can craftily top them and enjoy slowly with my cup of coffee. Below is one of my favorite go to acai bowl recipes:

Creamy Mango Acai Bowl

Blend together:

1 sambazon unsweetened frozen acai packet
½ mango
½ avocado
½ cup almond/coconut milk
1 tbs of maca powder

Optional:
scoop of plant based vanilla protein
handful of greens (changes the color of your bowl to a brown tint, but still tastes amazing)

Top with:
2 tbs hemp seeds or 1 tbs of chia seeds
handful of shredded coconut
other ½ of your mango sliced/cubed

ENJOY 🙂

Juice & Smoothie Bars Bucket List Pt.1

I am so excited that so many Juice and Smoothie Bars are opening in and around the Boston area. I am a huge advocate of the smoothie, juice, acai bowl, and any other type of vegetable and fruit combination you can think of. My bucket list is becoming very long as more and more new spots open. I have created a challenge to make it to all of them at some point this fall. My first post will start with two new bars outside of the city near where I live: Stacy’s & Squeeze.

Stacys Juice Bar in Needham: I have been a fan of Stacy’s since it opened back in March. It is very close to where I live and work out every day making it an easy post workout stop. I absolutely love their grasshopper smoothie (banana, avacado, mango, kale, spinach, dates, coconut water, spirulina, and aloe) and wheatgrass shot. They have a full menu of juices, smoothies, power smoothies, acai bowls, shots and a mix of food and small meals made in house as well.

Squeeze Juice Bar in Chestnut Hill: I finally got to try Squeeze Juice Bar at the Chestnut Hill location this past weekend after my morning Pure Barre class. I ordered their ‘chia pet acai bowl’ (acai, banana, spinach, kale, chia seeds, coconut water topped with gluten free granola, coconut and green powder mix)and it was delicious. Of course I couldn’t leave without trying one of their wheatgrass shots…and no joke it was one of the best. Squeeze actually sources their wheatgrass locally from Duxbury Farm where it is grown organically. Overall, I had a great first experience at Squeeze and will definitely be back more often now that I know how close I am to this location to try the rest of the menu!
Coming Soon: Bucket List Pt 2: Head into the city to try Cocobeet, Jugos, Mother Juice, and Thirst Co.