Join Me For A Smoothie Date At Assembly Row's Squeeze Juice Company
/Juice Me? Overnight Oats Me? Smoothie Me? Protein Cookie Me? Donut Me?
WAIT!!! What? A healthy donut?
TELL ME MORE!
As an ambassador for Assembly Row's Fitrow, I had the honor of taking a private tour of the Squeeze Juice Company's newest spot.
Now you all know I need to be completely honest with you 100% of the time. So when I used to hear that people juiced or only drank smoothies, I would get this sort of picture...
But in reality it's not the grass tasting green drink I expected. I was pleasantly surprised when I met with Chef Suzi Gerber. Suzi is Squeeze's Director of Brand and Product Development, a vegan chef and an all around badass chick. I don't know why that part was left off of her title. :)
Squeeze is tucked right at the end of the second floor #Fitrow corridor after Orangetheory, Title Boxing, Club Pilates and the soon-to-open Barre N9ne.
The Assembly Row location is one of five in the Boston area. I really appreciate how many local chains that Assembly Row is bringing in to the area. Since opening in 2012, Squeeze tries to be locally sourced as possible with their ingredients and they make their own almond milk and cashew milk on-site.
So I really wanted to know what set Squeeze apart from other Juice bars. Well...
At Squeeze Juice Company, we make juice for the lives we live. Each delicious blend of healthy fruits and vegetables is individually crafted with your routine in mind. We are located where you live, work, and play, making the fuel you need to get through your day! It's your life. #drinksqueeze
Looking at the board of options - juices, smoothies, bowls and salads - I felt overwhelmed with the choices. Thankfully Suzi had a great spread of their top sellers to point me toward some choices.
But before we could even get into that I told Suzi how I was worried about getting sick because the wife was, she suggested I take a shot.
This wasn't my typical kind of shot (JK I can't handle shots any more), but this was made up of apple cider, vinegar, ginger and cayenne. I gave myself a quick 1-2-3 and down the hatch it went. OOOHHHH did it burn.
With cayenne on the brain, it was time to try some of Squeeze's food options.
Their top seller and my personal favorite was the Overnight Oats. As you can see the Overnight Oats are raw, gluten free, sugar free and vegan! Squeeze is a plant-based company that truly tries to be as all natural as possible.
Now after taste testing the Overnight Oats, we headed down the line for some chocolate!
The raw protein cookie (calories: 163) packs a punch with 13 grams of protein. I wouldn't mind having one of those after a tough Title Boxing class. Ya feel me?
The chocolate donut holes were absolutely delicious, which I was surprised about since they were sugar free, gluten free, raw and vegan. You know me I was skeptical that there would be any taste with a description like that, but they were fantastic! I could snack on those after giving 100% at Orangetheory.
I've seen a lot online about truffles and energy bites so I was pumped to finally try some out. Now they were lacking the outer chocolate ring of the donut holes, but they were definitely something that would leave me feeling full before a workout.
I'm not usually a big fan of coconut, but thankfully it wasn't too overpouring in the energy bites and the cranberry carried the taste.
I think the next time I take a late Club Pilates class, I might need to celebrate with the Protein Power pudding. I ate the entire serving completely guilt free.
Now if you need a salad I highly recommend the Green Goddess dressing. It was flavorful and rich without any oil added.
I was wicked happy to see these salad options because there were aren't many quick and healthy salad options at Assembly Row. This will now be my go to salad with the Green Goddess dressing (calories: 54; protein: 7).
Now Suzi not only is an amazing chef, but she cares about people fueling properly for their workouts. Since I am one of those people that sometimes forgets to eat before a workout or eats too close to the workout, I asked Suzi to put some suggestions together for us all. :)
So if you are wondering what you should get when you are at Squeeze before or after ROCKING your workout at #Fitrow, here is what she suggests:
Orange Theory Pre-Work Recommendation: Beets By Squeeze
An incredible collection of low impact sugars, electrolytes, and vitamins C will power those doing the orange theory intense HIIT-style workouts. It will supply just the right amount of fruit sugars at exactly the right time, and the hydration to help offset the loss of minerals in all the sweat!
Orange Theory Post-Work Out Recommendation: Deep Blue Sea, with Spinach instead of Kale
This smoothie has a good combination of complete proteins, greens, minerals, vitamins and fruit sugars to be both restorative and nourishing after an intense workout. Substituting spinach for kale will not only make it appeal to more taste buds, but also be easier to digest making those nutrients available in the golden window after the workout.
Title Boxing Pre-Work Out Recommendation: 14 Carrot
The 14 Carrot is one of our best selling juices. The combination of carrots with our muscle healers like ginger and turmeric make this a solid one for strength-training workouts, while the ginger and cayenne raise the body temperature bringing an extra bang to the cardio and metabolism boosting efforts in their classes. Also, it takes like carrot cake. Win.
Title Boxing Post-Work Out Recommendation: The Elvis
The Elvis is our best selling smoothie across the board, so you'll be happy to hear that its the perfect smoothie for after a strength training session like at Title Boxing. The banana delivers the potassium your muscles will need after their classes, while the peanut butter gives you a dose of protein and fat, that your body can break down more effectively than ever within 45 minutes of your workout. Add to that the cacao nibs, delivering you a superfood boost that reduces inflammation and a healthy dose of magnesium, your muscle recovery will be improved and your body will be primed to be a lean mean punching machine.
Club Pilates Pre-Work Out Recommendation: Endless Summer
A sweet, hydrating dose of available fruit sugars is what you need before an intense pilates session. Pilates will work your entire body in ways you never thought before, and stamina is the name of that game. If consumed within 10 minutes of the start of your class, the energy from this juice will peak just when you need it to finish up at full strength, almost like someone else came in to help you power ahead at full steam.Also the ginger will help raise your metabolism, and your body temperature, helping this workout to keep burning calories for you during the rest of your day.
Club Pilates Post-Work Out Recommendation: Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Protein Cookie or Bites
Our house made protein cookies feature no added sugars, but a great natural source of protein, 13 grams, low carb 13 g, and only 7 grams of fat and 157 calories. After an all-over muscle workout like pilates, refueling with a hearty snack like this protein cookie will do just the trick. The cookies also have cacao nibs, which make them great for weight loss and replenishing the magnesium after a muscle centric work-out!
So next time you are planning on breaking a sweat, be sure to stop by Squeeze before or after... oh yeah and make sure you tell me so I can join you! ;)
