Breakfast Biscuits to Soy Bean Dip: Snack and Beverage Essentials

Take your taste buds on an adventure. Whether you’re a foodie searching for new-to-you brands or want some convenient options to stock at home, look at this list of tasty eats and drinks. There’s a little bit of everything, from West African ready-made meals to Greek extra virgin olive.

Ayo Foods

Bring a taste of West Africa into your home with Ayo Foods. They have convenient sauces and microwavable foods to make your next meal quick and delicious. Try Ayo’s sauces like pepper sauce and shito sauce, a Ghanaian classic made with hot peppers, caramelized onions, tomatoes, herbs, and a seafood base, to dip and dunk at your leisure. 

I love the flavor-packed Ayo Chicken Mini Pies and waakye (red beans and rice). These are seasoned to perfection and a delight for the senses. When you don’t have time to make a meal from scratch, Ayo Food’s hand-crafted eats feel like you’re getting a homemade meal that only takes a few minutes to heat up. These are available online at Ayo Foods, Target, Walmart, Sprouts, Whole Foods, and more.

Olyra

Founded by Yannis Varellas, whose family has been grain milling for five generations, Olyra offers biscuits, sandwich biscuits, and round biscuits filled with ingredients like almond butter or blueberry. The breakfast biscuits combine ancient Greek grains such as barley, spelt, and amaranth to create a fresh take on a morning snack.

I particularly enjoyed the Dark Chocolate Sandwich Breakfast Biscuits and the Strawberry Fruit & Grain Bites, but there are lots of flavors to choose from. Whether you’re strolling along the beach or heading to a work meeting, these snacks are great to pop into your backpack or travel bag should you need a quick bite when you’re on the go. You can buy them on the Olyra website, Sprouts, Albertsons, or other local retailers.

Spice World

Spice World is celebrating its 75th anniversary and will donate $75,000 to Feeding America and other local food insecurity charities. I’ve been buying their minced garlic for years, but I was happy to try the Chili Onion Crunch and Italian Herb & Garlic from the Seasoning Blends line. They also have other convenient options, like squeezable garlic, ginger, or chopped onion, to make mealtime cooking a breeze. 

Adding a spoonful of garlic or ginger is much quicker than chopping or grating it yourself. It’s also beneficial if you tend to forget fresh produce, and it goes bad before you use it. I added a heap of the Easy Onion to a frying pan to brown the top of a burger, and it was delicious without having to dice a fresh onion. Depending on where you live, you can locate them online or at Safeway, Vons, Pavilions, Food4Less, Ralphs, Albertsons, Walmart, and more.

Hodo

Take your snack game to new heights with Hodo Foods dairy-free and nut-free dips. The smoky Chili Crisp Dip, creamy and lemony Zesty Lemon Dip, and sweet and spicy Sambal Sweet Chili Dip are made with organic soybeans and are an excellent hummus alternative. Each one is unique and hits different flavor points, which you can spread on bread for a sandwich or dunk veggies into.

Hodo also offers ready-to-eat plant-based foods like Cajun burgers or curry nuggets. The dips are available at Whole Foods or delivered via Amazon. Depending on the product, you can find Hodo at Wegmans, Target, Safeway, HEB, and more.

Langers

Langers has been a juice staple for decades. They’ve expanded past classics like apple and cranberry and ventured into mango nectar, unsweetened green and jasmine tea, electrolyte drinks, and more. In a world where prices keep rising, the brand’s drinks are still affordable, with the 32 oz 100% juice Pineapple Coconut drink retailing at $2.99 or a 12 pack of 15.2 oz 100% apple juice for $11.99.

Try some of the brand’s five-calorie-per-serving beverages, such as pineapple, orange, cranberry grape, and others, for a USA-grown fruit drink with two grams of carbs and five calories per serving. I love the pineapple one over ice or with sparkling water for a refreshing mocktail. It has a delicious pineapple taste but without loads of sugar.

Karma Nuts

Cashews are delicious as they are, but Karma has a cashew variety pack that allows you to find a new flavor each time. The pack has flavors like sea salt, toasted coconut, turmeric, cocoa dusted, peri peri, and cinnamon cashews. The coconut and cocoa varieties were my favorites. 

Laconiko 

Extra virgin olive oil is always helpful for cooking. Laconiko is a family brand that sells olive oils, olives, soaps, and other items. Produced by brothers Dino and Diamantis Pierrakos, who are fourth-generation olive oil producers, the brand has won many awards. They even share a quality analysis showing off the olive oil’s high polyphenol content and chemical analysis.

No matter what you’re in the mood for, there’s something delicious out there for you to devour.