This homegrown dried fruits and nut company has been around in Singapore for the longest time. You can easily order healthy nuts, seed and dried fruits online for a reasonable price and when I first started to eat clean about 2 years ago, many of my friends recommended Garden Picks. Their standard packs are sold at 3 for $10 only!
But today, they offer more than just nuts and seeds. They have extended their range of healthy picks from nut butter to exotic berries and even healthy chips such as their own soya and oyster mushroom chips.
1. ABC Nut Butter (250 grams )
$13.50
Nut butter is really getting popular because it is actually so much more flavourful than actual butter. It could also be used in healthy vegan recipes as a butter or fat substitute. You could also use nut butter as a dip for crackers or vegetable sticks. Some actually use it to make nut milk or ‘nutmylk’. All you will need to do it is to blend some nut butter with some water to make the nut milk without having to blend actual nuts with water and then draining it with a nutmilk bag.
Such nut butter are also great for those who are allergic to peanuts. They have got no added sugar or preservatives so this is really a good substitute for the regular butter.
At Garden Picks, you can find a range of nut butter from cashew, almond, macadamia to peanut butter. I found their ABC nut butter interesting as it is actually a mixture of almond, Brazil nut and cashew, all turned into this creamy butter.
I would think that the nutty flavour would be strong in this bottle of nut butter but I was wrong. It actually tasted quite bland but it’s still very creamy due to the cashew nuts.
Be careful when you are opening a bottle of nut butter because usually, the oil layer of the butter will float right on top. Because when it is left standing for some time, the oil from the nut butter will naturally separate and float right on top.
I actually spilt out some of the nut oil when trying to open the bottle of the ABC nut butter. Also, there isn’t really a need to pour away the top layer of the oil because you will actually need to mix it well with the butter below the oil layer to achieve that smooth and creamy consistency.
Also, I guess that the oil acts as a natural preservative to ensure that the natural nut butter can be kept for a longer period of time. So don’t pour the nut butter oil away!
You will need to mix the nut butter mixture with the layer of oil.
Oh so creamy… but it’s a pity that the nutty flavour didn’t come through. I might be using the nut butter to make nut milk instead then.
2. Organic Puffed Quinoa
Besides their nut butter, I also ordered their Organic Puffed Quinoa as I like the texture of the puffed Quinoa and it goes really well with smoothies. You can use it as toppings for smoothies and acai berry bowls. It isn’t exactly crunchy but it has that unique quinoa flavour. It’s perfect for babies as it is easy to digest.
3. Vegetable Chips Medley
These vegetable chips still looked fresh and yummy. It’s super crunchy! I only wish that there were more chips in the packet. Since they come in resealable bags, it is also easy to bring them around. Or you can store them in lunch boxes along with some fruits.
Oh, carrot chips!
4. Oyster Mushroom Chips
For vegetarians, other than eating plants, the next best food option is FUNGI.
The oyster mushroom chips are my favourite of all the snacks from Garden Picks. They are seasoned with salt, pepper and flavour enhancer (as stated on the packaging) which I had no idea what it is but it is definitely as good as potato chips.
With so many snacks to choose from, you can prepare a different snack for each day of the week. This is great for those who probably wouldn’t fancy apples as a snack or celery sticks with peanut butter but prefer something with a bit of a crunch, you can go for their vegetable chips.
5. Honey Mustard Soya Chips
Another favourite chip of mine, which is also a popular snack, is their honey mustard soya chips which I finished it all in one go even. Yes! I’ve totally forgotten to take a close-up shot of these chips which tasted like pretzels. OOPS!
Have you eaten those honey mustard pretzels before? These soya chips tasted something like that except that it isn’t as hard as pretzels.
Another snack to try at Garden Picks is their gourmet flavoured nuts.
6. French Vanilla Cashew
I thought that this is an interesting pairing of nuts so I decided to give this a try but it is a tad too sweet for my liking. The vanilla flavour is strong which makes the cashews tasted like desserts but it’s also sugar coated which I could only enjoy a few cashews at one go before grabbing for a glass of water.
But these cashews make great toppings for desserts such as ice creams.
7. Mexican Salsa Cashew
The Mexican salsa cashews, on the hand, is quite spicy and savoury at the same time. If you like that zesty and spicy kick, you will love these gourmet flavoured cashews. But for me, I just wish that they aren’t too generous about coating the cashews with the intense flavours. I would prefer those lightly-flavoured ones so that I could also enjoy the taste of the natural cashews.
8. Organic Incaberry (Dried)
You may have heard of goji berry and acai berry but what about golden berry or Incaberries? You can often find them the fresh golden berries as toppings for cakes but it’s quite difficult to find the dried version of this berry. But the good news is that these dried exotic berries from Ecuador are available at Garden Picks! It has a similar texture to figs yet it is soft and very sour indeed. Maybe it is also the reason why it is often paired with desserts to balance out the sweetness in desserts.
Personally, I really like the natural sourness of the Incaberries which is also high in antioxidants and vitamin C.
To all Glitzies, there are certainly more healthy snacks out there rather just fruits or salads. With so many options to choose from, it’s so much easier now to walk the path of health living.
