Dena's Fuel for Fitness Raw Crackers!

I have a dehydrator, and I love making homemade raw crackers. But that stuff takes lots of time and planning. And lately, I've not had a spare moment to do much of anything. October is my busiest month of the year with birthdays (most of my friends are Libras like me!), Halloween/Samhain, and tons of other social engagements.

Sometimes, you need someone else to do the hard work of making raw snacks for you. Enter Dena's Fuel for Fitness. 

Dena, a former veterinarian, created her line of raw snacks when she got really into fitness and saw the difference whole foods made in her life. Her small vegan food business got started in the same way so many do —she makes snacks for herself; her friends love them and put in orders; and boom, the next thing you know she's running a raw snack company.

I love an indie success stories like that. And I love it even more when those mom-and-pop businesses make delicious stuff that I don't always have time to make myself. As you can see in the above picture, Dena's company sent me a package of Blueberry-Orange-Coconut Crackers to review. They're made with the fruits listed in the name, plus pumpkin seeds, dates, orange juice, raisins, spices, and sesame seeds. And they contain my favorite flavor — cardamom!

The orange and blueberry work so well together. And these are the perfect texture for raw crackers. They're firm but chewy, soft but sturdy. I've been eating a couple of these each morning before my runs, and they really give me the energy to make it through until I can have my post-run protein smoothie breakfast. Typically, I eat coconut butter-stuffed dates before my runs, but that's getting a little old. These were a nice change.

Dena makes lots of other snacks — several flavors of crackers including Green Crackers (with edamame and chlorella!), Granola Grub (raw-nola with buckwheat groats, seeds, and dried fruits), and Vege Chips (dried veggies — yams, taro, zucchini, squash, and beets).

Her stuff is sold in Whole Foods stores on the West Coast, but for folks like me in the middle of the country, you can also order Dena's stuff online.