Categories: 4 1/2 stars

2 Apr 2016, Comments (0)

Vitamin Shoppe the Power of Protein reviews

Author: Healthnuttxo

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Hello!

I got a box of goodies from the fantabulous (yes thats a word) Vitamin Shoppe! I was sent an assortment of protein powders, a shaker cup, a shirt, protein bar, protein chocolate, and a protein cookie! Perfect gift box for the avid weight lifter like myself. So let’s get started!

First up, let’s get to the protein powders.

Bodytech Whey Tech, Micellar Casein, Hexatein, and PRO PUDDING samples. Note: all proteins (except pudding) were mixed with unsweetened almond milk.

Bodytech Whey Tech is a quick absorbed protein and good for post workout. I got these in Strawberry  and Chocolate Mint. They both mixed relatively easy.

The Strawberry flavor was not a favorite of mine. It tasted and smelled overly fake, and had a funky strawberry flavor. Reminded me of a muted strawberry milk, but the artificial sweetener was too prominent to enjoy. 2 stars.

The Chocolate Mint flavor was…eh. It tasted like spearmint, with very mild chocolate undertones. It was very, very mildly sweet so the flavors were sort of muted. Not a fan. 2 stars. 

 

Moving on…

Hexatein. I heard good things about these!

IMG_1249 These proteins are a blend of whey, casein, and egg protein for assorted absorption and digestion rates. I got these in Chocolate and Vanilla. Both flavors were on the harder side to mix without getting clumps.

The Chocolate flavor tasted like cocoa powder moreso than chocolate, but did remind me of a chocolate milk. It had a creamy taste and mild sweetness, but it was a bit chalky. Not too bad. 3 1/2 stars.

The Vanilla flavor reminded me of a frosting, but was not nearly as sweet (obviously). It was creamy, and had an okay vanilla flavor, however the fake sweetener aftertaste was a tad too noticeable for me. 3 stars.

Next…

The Casein protein. Casein is a slow digested protein, and typically consumed before bed. I got this variety in Cookies and Cream, which happens to be my favorite protein flavor usually. It was thick, mixed easily, creamy. I kind of liked it because it had a mild cookie flavor, with mini pieces, but not too sweet. I don’t like overly sweet powders, they make it hard for me to drink. My favorite of all the proteins. 4 stars.

Next up, The PRO PUDDING!

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IMG_1254 These were mixed with 5 ounces of cold water. You have to let them sit a bit for them to set up and thicken. To be honest, I did not like either one of them. The vanilla reminded me of a sugar free vanilla jello (that you make from the box), but the flavor was lack luster, too artificial tasting, awkwardly sweet, and too much to consume with one muted flavor. The chocolate was a little better, not too sweet, chalky, and tasted more like cocoa powder. Both were OK but need mix ins. I can see how they can be useful during dieting with some mix ins, perhaps a crunchy component, or some banana slices, but I was not a fan. 2 stars. 

Next up, the Complete Cookie by Lenny and Larry’s in Birthday Cake flavor. Oh MAN was this good! A HUGE cookie ( be careful…two servings!!!) It was sweet, but not overly sweet, had NO protein flavor, was soft baked but dense, had a somewhat brown sugar flavor…very good, just not super healthy. 370 calories and 30 grams of sugar for one cookie, but if you need protein and you are craving sweets, this is totally the way to go.  4 1/2 stars

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Next, the PowerCrunch Dark Chocolate bar. This had two servings in it,surprisingly. and overall was OK but not worth the calories. If I am craving chocolate, I was CHOCOLATE! It had a semi sweet but more on bitter side flavor with little krispies in it, kind of like a Crunch bar, but not as sweet. The chocolate was not smooth in consistency, and it was OK. 3 stars

 

Lastly, and a product I actually purchased again for both awesome nutritional stats and flavor, the Oh Yeah! ONE protein bar in Birthday Cake flavor. Only 1 gram of sugar with 21 grams of protein, and freaking awesome flavor. Dense, chewy, sweet, tastes like a sugar cookie meets vanilla cake. I love it, and the sprinkles on top make it feel decadent. This is my new favorite protein bar! 4 1/2 stars.

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Overall, got some good stuff! The shirt and shaker bottle from Vitamin Shoppe added a nice touch. The shirt was super comfy, and fit well. The shaker cup was sturdy, and had a jack-like shaped object instead of those annoying metal wire balls that you cannot get untangled if you store them together or throw them in dishwasher, which helped mix protein. Thank you, Vitamin Shoppe, for my care package!IMG_1248

 

This is an unbiased review. I received these items for free.

 

 

 

 

 

 

8 Aug 2015, Comments (0)

Summer Essentials from Vitamin Shoppe’s Expert Brianna M. Diorio

Author: Healthnuttxo

I was sent some of the Summer Essentials suggested from Vitamin Shoppe‘s Expert Brianna M. Diorio, who is an MS, Clinical Nutritionist, Holistic Lifestyle Coach, and NASM Certified Personal Trainer. In my little package I got a Vitamin Shoppe pill box, a sunscreen from Goddess Garden Organics, and a Kiss My Face Sport lip balm!

 


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Alright! Let’s review the sunscreen first. I like that this is organic and a natural sunscreen, I often wonder what kind of chemicals we are using and putting on our bodies every day!

This sunscreen has an SPF of 30, which is good for someone super fair skinned like me (I get kind of toasty in the sun…). It comes out with a light mist, and feels cool once applied. It doesn’t smell like sunscreen which is my favorite part! I definitely do NOT like the smell of sunscreen, and I know it ALL too well seeing how fair I am. It has a lemon grass type of aroma which I actually really enjoyed.

I could certainly feel the sunscreen while it was on me, and left a type of residue, but it wasn’t oily, and more slightly sticky. It wasn’t bad at all or uncomfortable. Also, I did not break out or anything and I used it on my face. I like this stuff! I would buy in the future.

4 stars, here is some facts below as well
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Moving on to the pill box from Vitamin Shoppe. It is definitely on the smaller side…Is this a daily pill box? Only 6 compartments…not 7. Odd. I think it is good for short term, maybe 2 or 3 days worth of pills (depending how many you take!), or you could use it daily if you need to take pills several times per day in separated increments.

I was surprised because the squares were bigger than they looked, and even fit 2 of my HUGE fish oil pills without problem. It is made of recyclable plastic which is a plus. It is small and discreet, and easy to carry along.

The plastic isn’t super sturdy but it does the job. I just hate that there are 6 compartments not 7…I almost wish they did 8 compartments so it could still be in a square format,  but at least fit a week of pills! 3 1/2 stars

 

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Lastly, the Kiss My Face Sport Balm. This has sunscreen in it as well, SPF of 30, which I REALLY need when I go to the beach. I always forget about my lips and they get super dry after! It is made with coconut oil, shea butter and vitamin E. It goes on super smooth and is super soft, almost waxy, but doesn’t taste like wax. It has a bit of a minty flavor to it (not that I ate it! You know, some just happen to be tasted!), and a mix of a medicine-y type flavor. I really liked it though, as it kept my lips soft and supple, and protected them from the sun.

4 1/2 stars

Good ratings all around! You can check out these products and more at Vitamin Shoppe.com 🙂

I received these products for free. This is an unbiased review.
9 Jul 2015, Comments (14)

Honest Tea Cinnamon Sunrise Herbal Tea review & Giveaway

Author: Healthnuttxo

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Howdy 🙂

The nice folks over at Honest Tea sent me a case of their new Cinnamon Sunrise Herbal Tea to try! I am not a huge tea drinker, but if I do drink it, it’s always iced. So I was excited to try this, as I thought it would be a new experience.

The Cinnamon Sunrise Herbal Tea is unsweetened, caffeine free,  and 0 calories per serving. It is also certified Organic, and Fair Trade Certified as well.  The ingredients are pretty short…just tea, rooibos tea leaves, cinnamon, and ginger root, amongst some natural flavors.

When you open the bottle, you can smell the cinnamon. It doesn’t give off a “red hot” cinnamon aroma, but more of an “apple pie” cinnamon smell. In fact…this literally kind of smells like apple pie in a bottle 🙂

The tea itself is actually quite yummy. It has a light cinnamon flavor, and light natural sweetness to it.  It leaves the flavor of cinnamon lingering in your mouth, but isn’t overpowering.

I tried it over ice and added a splenda to it, since the ice tends to water down the flavor. Honestly…amazing. Almost like apple pie in a bottle with cinnamon flavor. I would 100% buy this if I saw in stores.  4 1/2 stars

 

GIVEAWAY!!!!

You can win a case of the Honest Tea Cinnamon Sunrise Herbal Tea! Open to US only.
HOW TO ENTER:

1. Leave me a comment below stating your favorite flavor of tea!
2. [optional, but extra entry ]Tweet about this giveaway with the link, and mention me “ @ liisa_tee”
3. [optional, but extra entry]Follow me on instagram for reviews! @lisa_liftsx

PLEASE leave me a comment for EACH thing you do, as each is 1 entry! More entries= more chances to win 🙂

Giveaway CLOSES on July 13th, 12 pm.

 

I received this product for free. This is an unbiased review.
8 Jul 2015, Comments (0)

Chobani Watermelon Blended Yogurt

Author: Healthnuttxo

Whilst shopping for my usual yogurts for the week I spotted something new on the shelves…Chobani Watermelon blended yogurt!  The pink and green packaging certainly caught my eye amongst the white containers, so I picked it up, and decided to give it a try.

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Seriously though…look how pretty the packaging is.

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Here’s what it looked like!
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The yogurt itself was really, really good. It was super smooth and creamy, and I love Chobani’s 2% yogurts for that reason alone. That 3g of fat makes all the difference between a yogurt and DANG that was a good yogurt! It was sweet, but not too sweet, with a sight tang and tartness. I liked this since it was reminiscent of real watermelon- sometimes you get a watermelon that is sugar sweet, sometimes you get one that’s more on the tangy side. Either way it’s enjoyable!

I do think there was more of a raspberry/watermelon type flavor than straight up watermelon, which I liked. I could tell it was watermelon flavored, but it didn’t SCREAM watermelon…it had a light flavor. I wasn’t sure how a watermelon yogurt would taste, but this one did not disappoint in the slightest. I also like how this yogurt is slightly lower in carbs in comparison to other Chobanis…15 g is perfect for me for a pre workout snack.

I would buy again. Unfortunately, this baby is seasonal. Grab it while you can! 4 1/2 stars

 

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29 Jun 2015, Comments (0)

Inspired by Dawn Style Rx Weekly Pillbox

Author: Healthnuttxo

Hello!

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Today’s review is on the Style Rx Weekly Pillbox by Inspired by Dawn. The weekly pillbox comes in two different styles/colors, and is printed on a cotton based canvas. It has 7 individual compartments, one “box” for each day of the week.

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The outside canvas is super sturdy, with magnetic closure. This is great because when you stick the box in your bag, purse, etc., it won’t open up on you and let your pills spilling everywhere. I personally loved the design too! It was very pretty, and helps you take your pills with you on the go, while just looking like a cute little accessory.

The little boxes inside open and close easily, but snap close/ are not flimsy. I was worried since they appear small that it wouldn’t fit all my pills- mostly because I take a big fish oil pill per day. Those are always the make or break deal for me with pill boxes…however…it fit! I had an oblong long fish oil pill, pretty large, and it fit with room for my other pills.

The website showed some other ideas as well…such as holding jewelry in each compartment. This is a cute idea! It’s such a pain in the butt to travel with jewelry since it gets tangled or ends up missing.

Overall, very happy with this. I am going on vacation at the end of the month and this is the perfect pillbox for me to take for my week of pills. Very pleased!

4 1/2 stars

 

I received this for free. This is an unbiased review.

 

28 Apr 2015, Comments (9)

Sweet Spreads Coconutter All Natural Flavored Coconut Butter

Author: Healthnuttxo

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Alright! So as you guys probably know, I am a *huge* nut butter fan. However, coconut butter has never been one of those nut butters I bought or tried. Sweet Spreads offered me 6 of their coconut butters to try for free. They come in White Chocolate, Vanilla Cupcake, Maple Pancake, Dark Chocolate Mint, Cinnamon Roll and Chocolate Brownie flavors. Each of them have 2 grams of sugar per serving, which is a plus.

Now. One thing I know about coconut oil/butter is that it is solid at room temperature. So If you open a jar of this stuff it will be exactly that…a soft solid. There is a white layer on the top (fat most likely) and more colored separation on the bottom. Sweet Spreads wrote “Tip: For a warm smooth sensation- remove the lid and microwave for 10-15 seconds”. I would argue that’s less of a tip, and more mandatory, at least at first. Once you microwave it the first time, and it cools again, it hardens up more “mixed”, and then I essentially used a fork to “chip away” and eat pieces of coconut butter. Sounds hilarious, but it was actually kind of fun.

Here’s what it looks like when you open up a jar:

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Here’s my chipped away coconut butter (post microwave/ re solidified):

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And here’s my fresh out the microwave coconut butter: Mmm.

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So, I’m not sure how these spreads would be on a sandwich, but you can give it a try. I had mine straight from the jar.

Maple Pancake: Nice and smooth post microwave, and the smell was really delicious. It has an almond butter consistency, and coconut flavor. The maple flavor was honestly pretty slight, I wished it was a bit stronger. However, it grew on me. There was something that left a little bit of a bite to it, like cinnamon, once it was done eating. 3 ½ stars

Cinnamon Roll– This one was gritty but smooth, again, like almond butter, A nice cinnamon flavor, and definitely detected a nutmeg flavor as well. The sweetness was sight, but there. It definitely was indicative of a cinnamon roll, but with some certain coconut flavor as well. It had almost an “earthy” taste to it. I liked it. 3 ½ stars

Vanilla Cupcake– This one tasted almost like straight up coconut butter, since the vanilla flavor was so milk. It was a bit pastier than the others, and I felt it needed to be sweeter. I like this one better cold, and it reminded me almost of cake batter. It was very rich however, so I couldn’t eat too much at once ( a good thing, since this is caloric!) 3 ½ stars

White Chocolate- this one was pretty good!! It was sweeter, but not too sweet, and the flavor goes well with a coconut taste. It had a mild white chocolate/vanilla flavor. I let this one heat up, cool, and then “scrape” with fork. A tad pasty, but good. 4 stars

Chocolate Brownie- mmmm. This one was good. Like a chocolate covered coconut treat. A little gritty, even post microwave, but still tasty nonetheless. A rich chocolate flavor, this one was sweeter than the rest and really good. It was I would say 50/50 chocolate to coconut flavor ratio….but a good ratio at that. 4 ½ stars

Dark Chocolate Mint– I tried this one last. I was afraid. Minty nut butter?? And while it wasn’t my favorite, it wasn’t bad. It tasted like a muted York Peppermint Patty. Chocolatey and minty, but not TOO minty. The coconut flavor is almost completely masked in this one. The dark chocolate aspect was nice though, and very rich. 3 ½ stars

Overall, pretty good! The only drawback is that these are mighty caloric. 1 Tbsp has 140 calories! Not good for those nut butter addicts like me! But if you watch portion sizes, you do not need more than 1 tbsp at a time…they are very rich and decadent, and certainly a sweet treat ☺

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16 Apr 2015, Comments (9)

Stonyfield Organic Low Fat Petite Creme Belle Blueberry

Author: Healthnuttxo

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So whilst purchasing my weekly dosage (yes, dosage) of greek yogurts, I spotted this new gem on the shelf. I used to be absolutely obsessed with regular Stonyfield Farm yogurts for years…it was my go snack. I since then moved onto greek yogurt, but Stonyfield Farm will always have a  place in my heart. So I saw this Stonyfield Organic yogurt on the shelf and decided to give it a try.

It’s made with “sweet fresh cheese” which can be off-putting I think as a label to people who don’t eat a lot of cheese or yogurt, but, yogurt lovers can appreciate it.

Anywho, this baby has 10 grams of protein per serving, which is sub par for a greek yogurt,  but, this never actually SAYS greek yogurt on it…but it is conveniently placed next to the greek yogurts at the store, probably due to the container. So, I’ll blame Stop n Shop for this one, and myself for not actually reading the container. (What do you want from me? Sunday night grocery shopping with my best friend isn’t exactly productive…)

Here’s what it looks like:

IMG_0838The consistency is halfway between a thick greek yogurt and a more runny regular yogurt, a hybrid if you will. The Belle Blueberry in flavor, however, is quite exquisite. A gentle, “real” blueberry flavor, and mild sweetness, but a beautiful cream flavor pervades the yogurt. Only 2.5 grams of fat too, which is entirely from the cream, but totally worth it. The flavor is delicious with the blueberry, and gives a blueberry and cream-eqsue feel.

Perfect.

Will definitely buy again. I’ll shush my sub-conscious screaming “HEY but this doesn’t have 13-14g of protein!!!” by telling it I will up the egg whites at lunch later on. Problem solved, protein quota hit.

4 1/2 stars.

Follow me on my new INSTAGRAM for shorter reviews and more! lisa_liftsx 

27 Mar 2015, Comments (7)

P28 Protein Bread, Bagel, Flat Bread & Peanut Butter Spreads

Author: Healthnuttxo

The much anticipated P28 review! They sent me a cute little variety pack of products to try for free  including a slice of their protein bread, protein wrap, protein bagel, and their protein peanut butter spreads!

I was definitely excited to try these products, especially the spreads. I am a HUGE peanut butter fan, but seldom buy or eat it since I have NO self control around the stuff ( I am talking jars gone in less than a week…wonder who ate them on me right? hehe) So the fact that these at least had some protein in them made eating them much less guilt free, coupled with the fact they are what I assume was in 2 tbsp portions, since they came in these teeny jars!

And I am talking teeny! I couldn’t even fit my spoon in it, too wide! Which was a blessing and a curse, since it made me have even MORE portion control.

So…naturally I tried all these first. They come in a few flavors, and P28 was nice enough to send me all of them.

Almond– this one was creamy, not too salty, and pretty yummy. I have had almond butter in the past, and detected no taste difference than this almond butter versus a non-protein brand. The almond flavor was strong and it was slightly sweet. Pretty good! 4 stars

White Chocolate– Ohhhh was I waiting for this one. I LOVE those flavored peanut butters that involve chocolate (who doesn’t?!). It certainly did not disappoint. It was creamy and smooth, with very subtle sweetness. I almost wish it was a tad bit sweeter, but it was also comforting that it wasn’t too sweet since I don’t want to be eating a lot of added sugar. The after taste of white chocolate was pleasant. 4 stars

Banana Raisin– This one was okay. It was detectably more oily than the other flavors, not that sweet, with a very slight banana flavor. It almost tasted like banana oil placed in unsalted peanut butter. There were a few raisins in the mix, and given my small sample, I would say if I had a larger jar there would be a fair amount of raisins in the mix. They were necessary since they added a slight sweetness. However, not a winner with me. 3 stars

Signature Blend- This one was interesting! There were nuts, raisins, and I think some cinnamon and nutmeg in the mix. It almost tasted like an almond and peanut butter mix. It was darker than the other spreads, a little more pasty, but also had a crunch. There were a few bits of dried fruit, which I assume was raisins, which added a nice sweetness. I do wish there was a pinch of salt in this one, as it would have helped bring out the flavor. 3 1/2 stars

Peanut Butter- An original peanut butter! I noticed the bottom of the jar of this one was on the dry side, kind of like when you pour out the oil of a natural peanut butter jar and the bottom of the jar is left semi hard from lack of oil. However…it was still yummy. A great peanut flavor, and couldn’t detect any protein flavor. It was creamy, thick, and a little pasty, but I enjoy peanut butter flavor, so I liked it. 3 1/2 stars

Next up, the bread!

I toasted it, and put some butter and SF jelly on it.  It had 14 grams per slice, so this eased my mind about eating bread. I am heavily into bodybuilding/fitness as well as a diabetic, so bread is not something I consume on a regular basis. However, this was really good. It toasted very well, and quicker than I expected. The outside crust of the bread was a tad bit sweet which was good in this case. I ended up buying a loaf of this stuff too and had it with turkey and cheese for a sandwich. It is a bit spongy in consistency when you don’t toast it, but still very good. 4 stars

Next up, the bagel!

I haven’t had a bagel in YEARS! Too many carbs, wreaks havoc on my blood sugars. I ended up having half at once. This one I also toasted, put some butter, with equal and cinnamon on it. Oh LAWD was it delicious! Chewy like a bagel should be, thick and strong texture. It had a whole wheat flavor to it, and was just really enjoyable. My favorite. 4 1/2 stars

Last up, the wrap/flat bread!

The flat bread itself was HUGE. I split it in two, and made two sandwiches out of it, filled with turkey and cheese and some lettuce. The first bite threw me off a little bit since it had a sweet taste to it, but slight, but as I kept chewing it was very food. It was chewy and reminded me of a typical whole wheat wrap at the store, but had some flax seeds and such in it which added nice flavor. I liked it! I would buy again. 4 stars

Overall, I am a fan! Check out their website for nutritional information and such. I wish they sold a variety pack of the bagel, wrap and bread all at once, because I would definitely buy that.

P.S. I am on INSTAGRAM now! Follow me @ lisa_liftsx for fitness and nutrition related posts!

8 Feb 2015, Comments (8)

Quest Nutrition Red Velvet Cake Pops

Author: Healthnuttxo

So Quest Nutrition asked if I would try one of their Valentine’s Day Recipes and post about it on my blog, and I happily obliged. I decided to do the Red Velvet Cake Pops using their Vanilla Protein Powder and Dark Chocolate Chunk Quest Bars. This will be my outline/review of the recipe (the real recipe is at the bottom), and my thoughts on the product.

Here we go!

First, I microwaved the  Double Chocolate Chunk Quest bar in the…well, microwave. Then I flattened it out

baked it, and grinded it up so it got to be a fine powder. I then combined the Quest bar with a slew of other ingredients, such as almond meal, red food dye, almond milk, and the Quest Vanilla Protein powder in a medium bowl and mixed well.

Then…into the oven it went!

In the meantime, I made the “frosting”. I used the Quest protein powder again, alongside cream cheese, sweetener, and sour cream, and mixed well. *tip- soften your cream cheese before you try this recipe… I did not and it was awfully hard to mix! I tasted the frosting though, reminded me of a vanilla buttercream.

After about 20 minutes I took the quest bar mixture out of the oven.

Then I crumpled up the cake, and added the frosting to it.

Next up, made the cake into little balls, and off to the freezer! (I did this step backwards…oops)

The last step was melting and coating them in chocolate. I decided to use regular chocolate versus sugar free, mostly since it was easier for me to find in stores and cheaper.

Overall…how did it taste?

really damn good!!! The chocolate was a savior, and it went just perfectly with the cake. I loved the fact I was eating something that wasn’t going to derail my diet. The cake was moist, had a cream cheesy, vanilla flavor, and tasted like a normal cake pop you would find at Starbucks. These were definitely time intensive…but worth it! 4 1/2 stars.

The recipe was a bit labor intensive, but cake pops (at least from my experience) are not an easy thing to make. So this recipe might be difficult for a beginner, but it was still easy to follow. If I made this again, I would probably do a half sugar/ half 0 cal sweetener, since I can sometimes detect that sugar free taste (I am used to it as a diabetic!), but I think half sugar would provide a little less bitterness and better flavor. However, since this is a “cheat clean”, I can see why 0 calorie sweetener was used.

Recipe & nutritional info below!

Here is the recipe they gave me. I do NOT own this recipe, it was provided to me by Quest Nutrition, as well as getting a free tub of their Protein Powder and quest bars to make the recipe. Any  modifications I personally made are provided in parenthesis.

Red Velvet Cake Pops:

Yields: 18 servings

Serving size: 1 cake pop

Prep time: 20 min

Cook time: 24 min

Ingredients:

Cake

1⁄ 2 cup Quest Vanilla Milkshake Protein Powder

1 Double Chocolate Chunk Quest Bar

1⁄ 2 cup almond meal

1 1⁄ 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

3 tablespoons zero-calorie sweetener

1⁄ 2 teaspoon baking soda

1⁄ 4 teaspoon salt

1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (I used unsweetened vanilla coconut milk)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1⁄ 2 tablespoon red food coloring

Coconut cooking spray

Frosting

1 scoop Quest Vanilla Milkshake Protein Powder

3 1⁄ 2 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese (I used full fat)

1⁄ 4 cup zero-calorie sweetener (I used Splenda)

2 tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream ( I used full fat)

1⁄ 2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate Coating

6 ounces sugar-free milk or dark chocolate ( I used regular milk chocolate)

Method:

Cake

  • Preheat oven to 350°F.
  • In a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl, heat unwrapped Double Chocolate Chunk Quest Bar for 10 seconds.
  • Using a rolling pin, roll the bar out to 1⁄4-inch thickness.
  • Bake for 4 minutes, or until bar is lightly crisped. Remove to cool.
  • Break the crisped bar into pieces, place in a mini blender, and process into a powder.
  • In a medium-size mixing bowl, add Quest Vanilla Milkshake Protein Powder, the powdered Double Chocolate Chunk Quest Bar, almond meal, cocoa powder, zero-calorie sweetener, baking soda, and salt, and mix well.
  • Add almond milk, vanilla extract, and red food coloring. Mix cake base until fully incorporated and batter is dark red.
  • Coat a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Pour in batter.
  • Bake 18 to 20 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean and cake is completely cooked and springy.
  • Remove and let cool.
  • Break the cake into small pieces, and place in a large mixing bowl.

Frosting

  • In a medium-size bowl, add Quest Vanilla Milkshake Protein Powder, cream cheese, zero-calorie sweetener, sour cream, and vanilla extract.
  • Mix until smooth.

Assembly

  • Add frosting to crumbled cake, and mix together until all frosting is incorporated.
  • Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in freezer for 20 minutes.
  • Remove cake from freezer. Take a small amount of cake batter and form eighteen walnut-sized balls.
  • Break chocolate into even-size small pieces. Melt slowly over a double boiler or in a dry bowl that fits snuggly over a pot. (Water should not touch pot or bowl above it. Before placing pot on top, simmer water in pot on low heat, then turn off heat and place the dry bowl or pot with chocolate in it on top, and stir when chocolate starts to melt, until chocolate is shiny and smooth)
  • Once chocolate is ready, remove cake balls from fridge and carefully submerge each into melted chocolate. Gently tap the edge to remove excess. If chocolate begins to seize, simply return to double boiler. Place each pop on wax paper and insert lollipop sticks.
  • Chill for 10 minutes in freezer, or until chocolate hardens and creates a shell.

Nutrition Info:

Calories: 110

Protein: 7

Fat: 7

Net Carbs: 3

Fiber: 4

9 Jan 2015, Comments (7)

Uncomplicated Foods Tali-O Bites- Powerfully Peanut, A Hint of Almond, Double the Coconut

Author: Healthnuttxo

Hello!

I got some  yummy treats from Uncomplicated Foods to try for free called Tali-O Bites! They are these bite sized treats made from organic dates and other flavors, to make for a healthy snack. They come in 3 flavors, Powerfully Peanut, A Hint of Almond, and Double the Coconut. All 3 flavors are gluten free, vegan, non GMO, soy free, and free of added sugars, according to the package. The Double the Coconut and Hint of Almond flavor are also paleo friendly.

As you can see, they are tiny!

I tried the Double the Coconut flavor first. These were soft and chewy, and had a sweet and fruity taste. You can certainly detect the fate flavor. The coconut flavor was prominent, but I wouldn’t say it was “double” in terms of flavor strength. I am assuming the powder on the bite was some type of extra coconut flavor. There were tiny pieces of nuts that gave it a teeny crunch, which was nice and added texture. These were really yummy! I used them pre workout early in the morning (I’m talking 5 am…) for a boost since it was too early for me to eat a full breakfast. 4 stars

Next up, Hint of Almond. This one was not my favorite of the 3, but it was still good.  Almond was not the first thing I thought of when eating these, however. It had a sweet taste to it, but moreso tasted like an almond butter after-taste. It was soft and chewy, and had a rather peculiar flavor that is a bit hard to describe. Almost like if you took almond butter and dates and made it into a chew with teeny nut pieces. Overall, 3  stars.

Lastly,  Powerfully Peanut. This flavor was my favorite! It had a yummy peanut flavor and was mildly sweet. THere was a hint of coconut flavor and almost tasted a little like vanilla. They were soft, dense and chewy. Very good! Definitely want more of these!

Overall, these are good! I do not have or know the nutritional facts, but I do have the ingredients for Double The Coconut listed below.

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