Showing posts with label protein powder. Show all posts
Showing posts with label protein powder. Show all posts

Saturday, July 26, 2014

Nutrilite Review

A few weeks ago, Pittsburgh held their annual marathon.  I have no desire to run that long...ever...but I did want to check out the Health and Fitness Expo downtown.  One of the first booths I came across was a company called Nutrilite.  I honestly had never heard of them before.  I sampled a drink mix kind of similar to a Mio or Crystal Light.  Ya know, the stuff you squirt in your water to make it actually taste good! Well the ones I sampled were awesome! A day or two later, one of the representatives contacted me asking if I was interested in some of their products.  We ended up meeting at a local Panera and he brought me one of the best free goodie bags ever!!!
This company seemed really awesome! For starters, how many people would meet with you to actually go over the products they want you to sample?! Not many! Also, Nutrilite has been around since 1934, so I am pretty sure they know what they are doing! They have everything from green cleaning products, make up, vitamins and supplements, stuff for kid, weight management, and sports nutrition.  

Of course I was mainly interested in their sports nutrition products.  We all know that I love baking with protein powder! I was so excited to try using this non flavored all plant protein powder.  While I usually bake sweet desserty foods, I sometimes like to make more savory dishes.  I already knew a couple of my recipes I wanted to use this in.  Each serving is 12.5 grams.  Only 50 calories 0.5F 0C 10P.
A great thing I learned about this company is they own and operate all of their own farms!! Can you say amazing product control!? They know exactly where all of their ingredients come from! Of course their farms are all organic and they don't use any synthetic pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers.  

I knew this protein was going to be amazing in my Spinach Pancakes.  I would usually use vanilla protein powder, but I wanted to make this batch more savory.  They turned out better than I anticipated!
Super easy too! Mix together 4 T protein powder (25g), 6 T egg substitute (92g), 1 cup canned spinach (240g), 1/2 t baking powder, salt, and any other veggies you like (pepper, onion) Cook like regular pancakes.  The protein powder made the batter nice and thick! It mixed up very easily too, no blender or special equipment needed.  You gotta try these!!!

Speaking of protein...they also have delicious meal replacement shakes.  
Normally I don't really like to drink my protein.  I would rather make something to eat with it.  But sometimes you are in a hurry and just need a quick meal or something to keep you going!  These are perfect for that! No shaker bottle needed either.  Just toss these in your bag and you're good to go.  These are honestly the best tasting shakes I have ever had.  In the past I have had ones that are kinda gritty and really artificial tasting.  Not these! So smooth and amazing vanilla and chocolate flavor! 

Perfect breakfast on-the-go!
Each one is 140 calories 3F 15C 15P.  

More drinks! They have a whole line of energy drinks.  There are 11 flavors to choose from.  I was lucky enough to try 3 different ones. 
Now I am not gonna lie, I don't really believe in energy drinks...I know that sounds silly, but I don't really feel like they give me more energy.  But, I do enjoy them for the taste sometimes! These vary a bit and have anywhere from 8-45 calories per can.  The best part is they have no sugar.  I can't say that about most energy drinks out there...They are also packed full of vitamins and key amino acids!

I would absolutely drink the Electric Lemon Blast again!! 
Reminded me of Sun Drop! Or like a fizzy lemonade.  So refreshing!! 

I was hesitant to even try the grapefruit because I despise the stuff!! Seriously, hate it!! I wanted to do a good review so I had to taste everything...I loved it! Go figure.  It was sweet and fruity and simply delicious! The only slight downfall is that it does have 45 calories and 10 carbs for the can.  But, it was worth it to me.  

Citrus Blast also got a big thumbs up! Like an even better orange pop.  I love that these are carbonated.  I feel like sparkling drinks always quench my thirst better.  Great alternative to all the pop I drink...

I hate water! Well, I hate drinking plain water anyhow...so boring... Problem solved!! Fruit and vegetable drink mixes.  These are so much better than any comparable ones you might find at the store.  
Not only do they taste great, but they also contain a full day's worth of vitamin A and C.  I love the little individual packets.  Also, they are liquid so they dissolve super easily.  No shaking the bottle like crazy trying to get all the powder to mix.  These don't taste articial at all.  Very fruity! Only 5 calories each.  The twisted berry and mango citrus both scored a 10 from me!

You have probably figured out by now that I am snacker! My husband says I eat like a bird sometimes.  Not because I eat too little, but because I am always snacking.  Little bites here and there, all day long! I was very happy that my goodie bag contained some snacky food!
Granola is pretty much always delicious.  Not always that great for you though...Most granolas are packed full of sugar and really no better than a bag of candy! This bag of Strawberry Almond Clusters is an exception! Made with gluten free oats, strawberries, and almonds.  

This is the best tasting granola I have ever had!! Just look at those ingredients!! It is sweet from the chewy strawberry pieces but not overly sweet like some granolas that have just been covered with sugar.  The oats and almonds give it a nice crunch too.  Perfect texture.  The bag is only 150 calories 6F 19C 4P.  Perfect snack to throw in your bag for when hunger strikes!
The only bad part is that I wanted to eat so much more of it!! I am a volume eater and with granola the serving size is usually pretty small.  But, no one says you can only have one bag! This would be amazing mixed up in some nonfat greek yogurt! Would absolutely eat this again.  
Another fun product I got to try were some endurance cubes. I have tried some similar gummies from other companies before and was never a huge fan.  They always tasted really artificial, and kinda like medicine...The texture was also usually pretty awful....These were nothing like those other gummy chews!!
 The texture was perfect! I felt like I was just eating some regular old gummy bears!  They were sweet, soft, chewy, and very yummy.  
They are supposed to give you energy, but as I mentioned before, I don't always think energy snacks and drinks work for me...I would absolutely just enjoy these as a little snack or pre workout treat!!
Each serving is 90 calories 0F 22C 1P.  They have potassium and electrolytes so they would be great if you're going on a long run, bike ride, or hike! I brought them with me for a day at the park with the kiddos! Even the kids tried one and they just thought they were eating candy!

They have a line of snack bars too.  Each bar is only 100 calories.  The macros vary a bit depending on the flavor, but the Cranberry Crunch has 3F 15C 4P.  Look at those cranberry pieces! 
This bar was not my favorite.  It was a little hard and chewy, and I just prefer a softer bar.  Cranberries are not my favorite, so I had a feeling I wasn't going to love the flavor.  In general, I am not usually a huge fan of small snack bars.  Only because I feel like they are a little small and not very satisfying.  I would rather eat a bigger bar that has more protein.  However, this bar did not go to waste! My husband gobbled it up!! So there ya go, just because it wasn't cup of tea, doesn't mean you won't love it! 

I did like the white chocolate coating on the bottom.
I will have to try the other flavors.  These also come in Fudgy Brownie, Caramel Creme, and Chocolate Caramel. 

It is no secret that I am a big time protein bar connoisseur!! I never go a day without eating at least one! In addition to the snack bars, they also have whey protein bars, meal bars, and energy bars. 

I tried all the energy bars first. Vanilla Pretzel!!! That sounds right up my ally! I love pretzels and I almost always prefer vanilla to chocolate. 
You can actually see the whole pretzels under that vanilla coating!

Oh my goodness!!! This might be the best tasting bar I have ever had! It reminded me of a Take 5 candy bar, but with white chocolate.  There is caramel and a soft nougat in there too.  
Amazing!! Love the macros too! 180 calories 6F 16C 14P.  I could eat this bar everyday!!

I couldn't decide which one to try next so I tried both!! Do those look good or what??
The Mixed Berry Smoothie was so soft and just the right amount of chewiness.  The Chocolate Nut Roll had nougat, caramel, little crispies on top, and covered in chocolate. 

This tasted better than a lot of candy bars!! Of course way better for you! So in love with this bar! It was soft and sweet and I felt like I was eating dessert!
190 calories 6F 16C 15P

Mixed Berry Smoothie? Super tasty! It was like a raspberry vanilla bar of awesome! The hubby tried it too and loved it!
190 calories 4F 28C 8P.  I could live off of this line of energy bars! Wow, just wow!

Next up was the meal bar.  I got to try Lemon Twist.  200 calories 3F 29C 10P.

I will admit, I was super nervous about this one...I have tried lemon flavored bars in the past and they have all tasted like cleaning product!! I brought this one with me on a shopping trip with the hubby and I brought a back up bar in case it was awful!

Guess what!? My back up bar was not needed! This was surprisingly really good!
There was a really good layer of a lemon gel, a slightly chewy layer, and a coating of creamy yumminess. The flavor wasn't too overpowering at all.  It was not the best bar I ever had, but I would absolutely eat it again! I usually don't like lemon desserts...you won't ever see me order lemon meringue pie... so for me to like this is major bonus points!! 

Last bar was from the whey protein line.  Cookies and Cream? Yes please!
I was loving all the protein in this one.  300 calories 12F 28C 24P.

It had a chewy chocolatey layer and a then a sweet creamy layer.   It also had some little crunchy cookie pieces and was completely covered in chocolate.  If I hadn't seen the package it came in, I would have guessed this was an unhealthy candy bar!!
It was better than a candy bar! Oh my! Love love loved it! I bet you could sample this against a real candy bar and people could not be able to tell the difference.  Yum!!! The husband stole a bite and agreed it was delicious!! 

So what's my overall opinion of Nutrilite!? I would have to say that it is one spectacular company!! They have quality products that taste amazing, they have been around forever, they use the best ingredients which come from their own organic farms, and their customer satisfaction is unreal! If you are not 100% satisfied with something you try, you can exchange or return with no questions asked! What have you got to lose!? I highly suggest you go here and try some of their products.  I am so glad I found this company! I look forward to trying more of their protein, bars, and drinks in the near future :)

Monday, April 28, 2014

Oh Yeah Review

Oh goodness! I may have found my new favorite protein and protein bar company!! I requested some samples from Oh Yeah Protein and they sent me some of their amazing products to try and review!
So much fun stuff!! I was beyond thrilled and very pleased with their generosity! They get extra points for sending a new shaker along with all that powder!

One line of bars they carry is called Victory bars.  They also have Good Grab Bars, Trail Mix Bars, and their Original Oh Yeah Bars.  I will have to try them all! I got five different flavors of the Victory bars to try.  Oatmeal raisin, chocolate chip cookie dough, vanilla almond, fudge brownie, and peanut butter chip. They all sound wonderful! 
 I love that they all have basically the same nutritional facts.  Each bar has 200 calories, 5 grams of fat, 28 grams of carb, and 21 grams of protein.  Some of them vary slightly, but they are all very similar. 

Little mini ones too :) These were so cute.  Each one is a little less than half of a regular bar.
These will make great snacks.  Only 80 calories each.

Lots of protein powder to experiment with!! Vanilla creme, chocolate milkshake, strawberries and cream, chocolate peanut butter, and cookies and cream.  I already had so many ideas of what to do with these fun flavors.  
They have an isolate powder (32 grams for a serving) which has 120 calories, .5g fat, 3g carb, and 25g protein.
There is also a regular protein powder (49 grams for a serving) with 210 calories, 5g fat, 7g carb, and 32g protein.

I don't usually just drink my protein powder.  I prefer to bake with it or make other tasty treats.  
I figured I should at least drink some of it so I started off kinda simple by making a cookies and cream shake.  
I really wanted to taste the flavor of the powder, so I just blended it with ice and water.  It was so good, it didn't need anything else added to it. Super creamy! I felt like I was drinking a super unhealthy cookies and cream milkshake!

I drank half the shake and then decided to make it a little more exciting.  I put the rest in a bowl and ate it like ice cream.
Topped with some fat free cool whip and sugar free chocolate syrup.  This was one tasty bowl of ice cream!! 

I took the strawberries and cream powder and mixed it up with some frozen cherries.  This was unreal!! 
It was a great frozen fruity treat.  As the cherries started to melt and mix with the powder, it created a yogurty bowl of deliciousness.

I decided to come up with a new recipe to use the chocolate milkshake powder.  I made some amazing protein peanut butter cups!! The protein powder mixed up so nice and easily.  
These turned out even better than I had expected.  They were cold, creamy, sweet, and chocolatey.  They made a great post-workout snack.  

Since this company was so great and send me so many samples, I had more chocolate milkshake powder to work with.  I decided to whip up a batch of chocolate pumpkin pancakes! 
You can see my original recipe here.  
Um....yea....I would say they turned out amazing!! Chocolate and pumpkin are crazy good together.  You should really go make them.  Make sure you use Oh Yeah chocolate milkshake protein powder so they have the perfect chocolate flavor!
The protein powder is great for baking! The batter was completely smooth and I didn't even need to use a blender or whisk.  I don't want clumpy baked goods so I am loving it!

I knew I wanted to make a protein cake with then chocolate peanut butter flavor.
If you never made a protein cake, you really need to try it! So simple and so delicious! You just mix 1 scoop of protein powder with one serving of egg substitute and 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder.  Thin it out with some water and microwave for about 1 minute.  
You will have yourself a high protein cake!!! Seriously, it tastes like cake! Topped this little treat with some sugar free chocolate syrup and I was one happy girl :)

Lastly, I wanted to try baking some cookies with the vanilla protein powder.  I came up with a completely new recipe just for the occasion! 
Check out my Chocolate Chip Cookies featuring the wonderful Oh Yeah protein powder :)  They turned out so good! Healthy, tasty, high protein...what more could you want?!

Now...onto the Victory bars!!! I was so excited to try all the different flavors.  I didn't know where to start! I decided to try the little mini ones first.  
I took the peanut butter chip bar and warmed it up in the microwave for about 10 seconds.  
Oh my gosh! This was like eating peanut butter cookie dough!! I am a huge fan of peanut butter so this was right up my ally.  

Next I took the little cookie dough bar and decided to make cookies! Seemed like the logical thing to do, right? I cut the mini bar in half and put the dough on a cookie sheet. 
Into the oven at 350 for about 5 minutes.

I turned that one tiny bar into two delicious chocolate chip cookies!
They were so cute! A perfect little snack.  

I bet you never thought of baking protein bars!! 
You're welcome!

I tried the fudge brownie one just as is.  It was so good!
This was the perfect treat after a good workout! The chocolate flavor was not artificial tasting at all.  I felt like I was eating a candy bar! So soft and just plain YUM!

I took another one of the fudge brownie bars and warmed it up in the microwave for about 15 seconds.
It got ooey and gooey and so so good! 

 It was like eating warm chocolate fudge!
This might have been my favorite so far.  I almost felt guilty eating this for breakfast!! BUT I didn't because these bars are gluten free, nothing artificial, low carb, and just naturally good!!

Oatmeal Raisin was great just out of the wrapper! These bars are soft and chewy which I love! 
They are the perfect texture.  

 I feel like I am always on the go at work.  I work as a full time nanny and am always busy doing something with the kiddos.  These bars are perfect because I can just throw them in my bag and take them where ever we go!!
Like busting out a vanilla almond bar at the park :) I honestly didn't think I was going to like this flavor...I am not really a fan of almonds but I gave it a shot.  It was amazing!!! The vanilla flavor was awesome! Loved it! It had tiny bits of almond in there too which gave it a great texture.

I had another one with me in the car and decided to warm it up on the dashboard.
Nice and soft!  

I couldn't wait to eat it!! But first...Let me take a selfie :)
I am pretty sure I could eat only these Victory bars and be a happy camper!! That is a big statement coming from me because I eat at LEAST one protein bar per day.  They really make up a big part of my diet.  Especially being vegetarian, I sometimes struggle to get enough protein.  Not anymore though. I got myself a new protein source thanks to Oh Yeah!

Lastly, I decided to have a peanut butter chip bar while relaxing on Sunday afternoon.  The only problem was I had to fight Sadie, the puggle, for it!!!!
I think she smelled the peanut butter goodness and wanted it for herself.  Sorry pup...this one was all mine!

I am 100% a fan of Oh Yeah after trying all these products! Do you think they will hire me to be an official spokesperson?! They could pay me in protein bars and powder and I would be more than happy :)
 All that's left to say about this company is "Oh Yeah!!"







Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Power Crunch Review

I am on an on-going search for new and delicious protein products. I have already done a few reviews and was so excited to review Power Crunch.  They were generous enough to send me some samples to taste :)
Where to start!?

I was already excited because I know that most local grocery stores stock these Power Crunch bars.
I love it when I can just pick up some protein bars at the store instead of ordering everything online.

I did not even know this company had protein powder!
I was lucky enough to get to try the vanilla creame and double chocolate.  They also have cookies and cream and cafe mocha flavors.

I almost always prefer vanilla to chocolate so I was starting with the french vanilla creme.  Oh my!! They are just like those little wafer cookies I used to LOVE as a kid :)
I love the crunch and the layers of cream and cookie.  Macros are amazing!!! 200 calories per bar.
18 grams of fat 
8 grams of carb --- What?! Only 8 carbs?!
14 grams of protein

I have found my new favorite low carb protein bars! Wow! Next was the chocolate mint. 
  Any Thin Mint cookie fans out there?! These are for you!! So tasty! Look at those layers!!
205 calories 13F 10C 13P

Ok, chocolate time! Not just chocolate, but triple chocolate!! It absolutely lives up to it's name.
205 calories 13F 10C 13P
Completely covered in chocolate!! Chocolate wafers with chocolate cream in between.  If these weren't packed with protein, I wouldn't even call them protein bars.  I would just call them candy bars!! They taste that great!! Although these are way better for you than any real candy bar.  Seriously, this could be my dessert any day.  Oh, how about crushed up in some frozen yogurt?!

I loved these so much that I went and bought 2 other flavors to try.  Peanut butter fudge and peanut butter cream. 
They also come in cookies and cream and wild berry cream.

Looks like someone snuck into my lunch box for tomorrow!! Can't wait to devour that.
These are quite inexpensive too! Well under $2. And since you can buy them at most grocery stores, no worries about additional shipping costs. 

There is also a line of bars called crisp bars.  I was lucky enough to try the chocolate brownie wonder!
Only 180 calories.  9F 14C 13P

I love the white chocolate drizzle.  And it is covered on the bottom!
The flavor of this bar was super tasty.  It was a little crunchy, and had chocolate chips all through it! It did not have that artificial protein chocolate flavor at all! This was heaven!

I looked online and saw that they also carry a Choklat bar.  Dark and milk chocolate.  I had to go track them down.
I found these at GNC.  Each bar has 10 grams of protein!! It tastes just like a regular chocolate bar!! There are little crispy bites all through them! Each bar has 2 servings but I ate the whole thing myself.  I will be buying these again for sure!!!
Love that statement! 
Treat Your Body Smart. 
Macros for entire chocolate bar 200 calories 12F 16C 10P.

After trying all these bars, I was ready for some protein powder! I tried the vanilla mixed with unsweetened vanilla almond milk.
I seriously think I found my new favorite vanilla protein powder! It was like drinking a milk shake! 
WOW! I need to buy some of this and try it in some of my recipes. Like soon!
3.5F 7C 20P

I wanted to do something even more fun with the chocolate.
This was such a good chocolate protein smoothie!!!! Topped it off with a little sugar free chocolate syrup.  I was one happy girl :)
It blended up perfectly! Basically the same macros for this flavor.  
That was one awesome chocolatey bite!!
I need to try this chocolate protein powder in my healthy Chocolate Brownie recipe! 

I will absolutely be buying these bars regularly! The taste is amazing, the price is very reasonable, they are easy to find, and they fit into my diet perfectly :)
You really need to try some of these products.  You can check here to see if they are sold in stores near you.  If not, you can order all of their products online.  I can say with confidence that you will not be disappointed!!