Tags: lisa the health nutt

30 Jan 2012, Comments (2)

Batter Blaster Organic Original Pancake & Waffle Batter

Author: Healthnuttxo

Since I had such success with the last Batter Blaster I reviewed, I thought, why not? Let’s try another variety of the stuff and see which one I like best! Off to the store, and a friend of mine  picked up the Batter Blaster Organic Original Pancake & Waffle Batter for me, partly because she said it was the only option to choose from. Well…that works, including I wanted to try the original variety anyway.

This morning post gym, I brewed up some coffee, sliced an apple, and then cooked some egg whites and 1 large pancake (as opposed to 2 small ones as the nutritional information suggests). I cooked up the pancake with some butter/buttery spray as I did that last time and found it helped with the flavor. Here’s what my giant pancake (about 42 grams or so of batter) looked like.

Annnnnnnnd the inside…..

I made more of a BIG pancake (probably the size of my face) so it cooked quickly and wasn’t super thick. It cooked evenly and all it took was a little non-stick spray and the pancake gave me no trouble at all.

Post frying pan, I transferred to a plate with my scrambled eggs and put some SF syrup (would love to use a little of the REAL maple syrup, but I’m a diabetic and have to refrain from sugar!). I tried a bit of the pancake plain first, and well, it tasted just that. Plain, kind of bland, not sweet and not a whole lot of flavor. However, I feel like pancakes in general, unless flavored, don’t have a bunch of flavor. Nothing a little butter and syrup couldn’t fix!

With the butter/syrup the pancakes were really quite good. Slightly crispy on the edges, super fluffy, and yummy. They reminded me of IHOP pancakes.

I do like that these pancakes were organic, relatively low in calories and fat, and like the bottle says “No Mess- No Cleanup!” which is true for the most part, since I still have to clean my frying pan and my spatula. However, these pancakes (by themselves) lacked flavor, and lacked fiber.  So, overall, not bad, but I think I like the Buttermilk version of this much better. 3 1/2 stars

What’s your favorite toppings for pancakes? I just like butter and syrup! Mmm :o )

27 Jan 2012, Comments (0)

Smart-meal snx FRUITMANIA Mixed Berry Fruit Drink

Author: Healthnuttxo

How many fruits and veggies do you REALLY eat daily? No, I don’t personally count the 3 pieces of freeze-dried fruit in your cereal or the bag of potato chips you had as a fruit or vegetable serving, although some may. I try to eat as many fruits and veggies as possible, but understandable, sometimes it is hard to reach that quota of a daily reccomended serving.

SO, I was excited to try Fruitmania Fruit Drink, a free sample I got that also came with Smart-meal snx PROGEL, which I shall review at a later date. According to the box, this is a drink that has “12 fruits and vegetables and essential nutrients”, “No artificial sweeteners, no artificial coloring, no preservatives” is dairy, fat, lactose, gluten, wheat, yeast and cholesterol free AND has “no aspartame”. To top it all off…the letters on the box say “over 2 lbs. of fruits and vegetables packed into every bottle!”

Hmm. I was skeptical. I’m always skeptical. Even if there are this many fruits/veggies, how would it taste?! Bitter? Overly sweet? Like spinach juice? Here’s a closeup of what it looked like.

Not exactly appealing…however, it smelled kind of like a cherry/strawberry fruit-roll up I used to eat as a kid. But how did it taste?

Not bad, but not exactly fantastic. It had a strawberry-cherry flavor, and was sweet yet toned down at the same time. It left an after-taste in my mouth, kind of like when I drink an artificially flavored/sweetened fruit drink or something like that, although it stated it had no fake sweeteners on the box. It had the texture of an almond milk, where it was smooth but had a little bit more thickness than water.

It was only a 2.5 oz bottle, so I think if I had this again I don’t need to sip on it slowly, and can just drink it rather quickly, or maybe add it to a smoothie. It didn’t taste bad at all, but didn’t taste as “natural” as I thought it would.

After reading over the ingredients, I saw it had Stevia in it, which I would account for that less-than-just-fruit-juice flavor. However, it really isn’t bad, and if given in the future I would drink it as a pre or post gym pick-me-up. I also read the fine print- which said “1 Bottle is infused with: 12 concentrated fruits and vegetables and 5 grams of prebiotic fiber”. So, the mini bottle is basically just fruit/veggie concentrates, with a few other ingredients, which doesn’t give me the same satisfaction as actually eating the whole fruit or veggie, but still isn’t bad.

So overall, 3 stars.

How many fruits and/or veggies do you eat every day? I’d say most days I get 2 servings of fruit, 4-6 servings of veggies. Not bad if I don’t say so myself!

24 Jan 2012, Comments (0)

Campbell’s Select Harvest Chicken with Whole Grain Pasta Soup

Author: Healthnuttxo

What do cold wintry days bring? Multiple trips to Starbucks and hot bowls of soup. Well at least for me. The weather was beyond bitter cold and windy the other day, and I thought the only thing to help my winter woe’s was to have a nice hot bowl of soup.  In the mood for something new, I tried, Campbell’s Select Harvest Chicken with Whole Grain Pasta Soup that I bought and was chilling in my pantry.

The ingredients weren’t bad, pretty good in fact. Take a look =)

So I cooked up the soup, noticing there wasn’t much to it. I’d say it was 50 % broth, and 50% content, mostly noodles with a few carrots and maybe 1-2 pieces of celery. I transferred to a bowl, but left some of the broth in the pot which is why it looks fuller.

I took a spoonful of the broth- oh. Where’s the salt?

Looking at the ingredients I noticed it was made with “lower sodium natural sea salt”, and although I don’t know exactly what that is, I assumed the lack of salty flavor was because that was used. But there really was a difference- I’m used to the salty soups!

I tried the chicken first, big cubes of it. It was chewy, yet soft, and again, not too salty tasting. It was pretty good, yet standard.

Next up, the noodles, and a LOT of them. They were whole grain, so that was good, and not mushy at all, also a plus. They kept well in the broth,and were a teeny bit softer than al dente. However, they were really bland.

The veggies were scarce, but good. Soft carrots and tender celery- I wish there was more so it would have “bulked” up the soup a little bit.

Overall, it was kind of a bland soup. Boring, lackluster, and really not enjoyable for that matter. I like that it’s low in sodium but it still needs flavor! How about some extra garlic or onion powder? Something. I felt like I NEEDED crackers or a piece of bread with butter to eat this soup, and I was even tempted to add salt (I refrained…). I also wished there were more veggies, as the soup didn’t satisfy me and I was still hungry (insert handfuls of Ritz crackers here).

With that said, 2 stars. I won’t buy this again, unfortunately.

16 Jan 2012, Comments (4)

Perdue Short Cuts Grilled Italian Style Carved Chicken Breast

Author: Healthnuttxo

These things are a staple in my fridge. Any given time of any given day, they will be in there. And….I never tried them. Until now of course. After a quick scan of ingredients and nutritional information accompanying a growling stomach after a workout, I decided the Short Cuts Grilled Italian Style Carved Chicken Breast would fit the bill.

Here’s a close up-

I’m not even a big meat/poultry eater- no pork or beef whatsoever, and turkey/chicken maybe 1 or 2 times a week tops. I prefer eggs and peanut butter for my protein sources, along with occasional beans/tofu. However, these looked good. And I was craving something that would keep me full and fuel my muscles post kickboxing workout.

So, I tried these two ways. Cold and straight from the fridge, and then heated up in the microwave. Since it was seasoned, I tried it as is, with no toppings/sauces or sides.

The chicken itself was chewy, and some pieces were a bit too chewy which turned me off a bit. However, the chunks were relatively fresh tasting. It certainly was very salty, which I expected since it’s a prepared and flavored product. I tasted parsley and herbs, as well as onion and garlic flavors. It actually was rather flavorful and I enjoyed it by itself. There was also just a hint of lemon.

Then I heated up the rest of the chicken, and I think it was much better this way. The flavors came out even more, and it took on almost a chicken parmesan flavor. I think it would be really good with some (low sodium) tomato sauce and some shredded cheese on top, like a take on chicken parmesan, but without the breading and frying in oil.

What I liked about these is that they were also MSG free, low in fat, and gluten free. However, the sodium was really quite high, and it even tasted too salty which is a turnoff for me. ESPECIALLY for the person who buys this in my house all the time and eats it frequently, that’s a lot of sodium. (But hey, thanks by the way for letting me eat some ;’) ) SO, overall, I would give this 3.5 stars. I don’t know if I would buy it in the future, but if it was laying around in my fridge (which it will be, no doubt…) I might eat it again.

9 Jan 2012, Comments (6)

Peanut Butter & Co Mighty Maple Peanut Butter

Author: Healthnuttxo

Another nut butter to add to my addiction and to subtract money out of my wallet (*sigh*…that wallet never had a chance against any nut butters). Insert, Peanut Butter & Co Mighty Maple Peanut Butter. One of the tastiest I have tried from Peanut Butter & Co., this one is also gluten free and vegan

SIDENOTE: How cute is that monkey?! With a barbell!

This was a thick peanut butter- not much stirring required, hardly any actually. Look here, didn’t even move as I turned my fork to the side. (WHHHHAAAAAT you don’t eat nut butter out of the jar with a fork, too?)

The peanut butter has a mild sweetness, but I can definitely taste both the maple and the peanut butter. It has a roasted peanut taste, and then a hint of maple flavor. Not too salty or too sweet, but just right. I ate this directly from the jar, like most of my nut butters, and I can’t get enough of it. This isn’t my first jar, and it will not be my last.

One thing different from other peanut butters is I can “taste” and detect the granules- like a very mild grittiness to the peanut butter. Not like sand, or like anything that would ruin the peanut butter, but it is not 100% smooth.

Overall, delicious and addictive. A made a significant dent in my jar the first night. I’m too ashamed to show you the picture and I also don’t want to think about possibly eating 3-4 servings in one sitting, so I’m going to pretend it never happened. (*What peanut butter??*) I get remarks all the time about how fast I can finish a jar of peanut butter, and quite frankly, it doesn’t bother me a bit. Heart healthy fats, protein, and hey, I can think of worse things to inhale on a 2-3 day basis (sad, yet true. Shelf life of a jar of peanut butter in my house is 3 days tops).

One thing, is these are a bit pricy, I’ve seen them as much as 6+ dollars for a jar. So, from me, this one gets 4.5 stars =)

What’s your favorite flavor/variety from Peanut Butter & Co. if you have tried it? Mine is this one here.

6 Jan 2012, Comments (4)

Snyder’s of Hanover Peanut Butter Pretzel Sandwich Dips

Author: Healthnuttxo

Peanut butter + pretzels + chocolate? Need there be another reason to  buy these? I didn’t think so. I also didn’t care that my wallet currently has 5 singles in it and I spent a few of those on these Dips. Oh salty sweet snacks, why must you tempt me so?

These little Dips were two pretzels, with peanut butter in the middle, then dipped in yummy  chocolate. I had to restrain myself in the car ride home not to eat them. (Lies- I totally ate 3 of them on the car ride home but I have to make it sound like I at least have some self control).

So much self control I actually ripped the bag down the middle. Ooooooops.

Anyway, after scoping out the ingredients (pretty good), looking at the nutrition facts (ehh…), buying these and finally getting them home, I had more and set myself to review them. Overall, these Dips were pretty good! And sweet! There was a milk chocolate tasting chocolate on the outside, with crunchy and fresh tasting pretzels on the inside.

Hmm. Problem. Where’s the peanut butter? I thought. The first bite was misleading- hardly any peanut butter flavor. But the second bite I tasted some. I do wish there was more, since I’m in love with peanut butter and will never turn it down : )

These were pretty much the epitome of a salty sweet snack. Smooth chocolate, crunchy salty pretzels and then a bit of peanut butter flavor. All together, they reminded me of a Reeses peanut butter cup in flavor, but with pretzel flavor as well. (Actually a Reeses peanut butter cup with pretzels in it sounds amazing!)

Overall, a yummy snack. However, very caloric, and high in saturated fat. 4 sandwiches have 4 grams of saturated fat and 150 calories, and these are HARD not to eat more than 4 of. In fact, the bag was gone in a day (not from me!!) but I left them on the kitchen table and later discovered an empty bag (that’s what happens when you live with hungry guys in the house!). So, given that and the peanut butter issue (lack there-of issue), these get 4 stars.


1 Jan 2012, Comments (6)

Vitafusion Calcium Gummy Vitamins for Adults

Author: Healthnuttxo

Something different to review, vitamins! I like to take a daily vitamin/calcium and fish oil when it comes to supplements. I mostly take calcium because I don’t always get my 2-3 servings of dairy a day, so I think it helps me reach my quota. (Of course, I always suggest talking to your doctor first before taking any supplements!) I realized I ran out of calcium chews (the horror!!), and browsed Target to find some more. Why Target? Why not Vitamin Shoppe? because Target is so obviously a much more reasonable place to go rather than, say, a vitamin store, no? (kidding!).

While I was there, I saw these gummy vitamins by Vitafusion that were made with natural ingredients and flavors.

It was a rather large jar, with 100 gummies in it, so I was taking a risk buying them. I was sure I’d like them- with flavors like vanilla bean, chocolate and white chocolate raspberry, how could they taste bad!?

First, according to the cover, 2 gummies have as much vitamin D as 3 oz of salmon and as much calcium as 2 six ounce glasses of milk. They were also gluten, peanut , egg and soy free.

So, I opened up the bottle and took the gummies out. They were really dense gummy bites, and thick. They had a bit of a rough feel to them as well.

I tried the chocolate one first. It was swirled with white and had a pretty design on the top

It was very chewy, and had a rather chalky taste to it. Sweet, but not too sweet,  but it did not really remind me of chocolate at all. It kind of had a vanilla flavor to it with an artificial chocolate flavor.

Next, I had the vanilla bean flavor.

This one was a little better, but not by much. It kind of tasted like the chocolate one, but was a little sweeter and lighter in flavor. There were tiny black specs in the gummy which Im assuming was the vanilla bean.

Another time, I tried the white chocolate raspberry.

This one I liked the best. It seemed to be a bit softer than the other ones. It was sweet and had a raspberry vanilla flavor. I wish the whole bottle was just the raspberry vanilla chews!

Overall, not my favorite. I like that there is 500 mg of calcium in 2 gummies, that they are made with natural ingredients, and are gluten/peanut/soy/egg free, but the flavors are just not good or enjoyable. I have had other calcium products that rock, so I will probably not buy these again. They were too gummy and had a weird consistency, almost rubbery, and I just did not enjoy them. The white chocolate raspberry one wasn’t bad, but still not amazing. 2 stars

Do you take calcium supplements? What brand? I’d love some options!

2 gummy Vitamins are
25 calories
6 grams of carbohydrates
5 grams of sugar
1000 IU Vitamin D
500 mg Calcium
125 mg Phosphorus
15 mg Sodium

29 Dec 2011, Comments (6)

Cappuccino LARABar

Author: Healthnuttxo

Something new! Don’t you all love new products!? (:

I got a very nice card and some free Cappuccino LARABars from the company a week or so ago (happy holidays to me!) I opened up the box and saw four bars of a flavor I never heard of or saw before- Cappuccino. This might be interesting, I thought. I used to hate coffee/ anything coffee related, but now I am a coffee convert. Thanks all nighters and piles upon piles of work that need to be done and the caffeine boost needed to do it. *sigh*

No, but really. Thanks to the endless work, I now love coffee. And coffee Keurigs are world’s greatest invention. Thank you to the inventor- you are are genius.

ANYWAY, the bars are gluten free, vegan, dairy and soy free, and made with minimal ingredients which I love. I opened up the bar and instantly smelled the coffee aroma. Observing the bar, it looked like a standard LARABar, but I also noticed rather large pieces of almonds.

I took a bite. The familiar date/fruity taste a LARABar often has was there, but not super prominent. I could taste the coffee flavor, but it wasn’t super strong. It had a bit of an awkward bite at the end, like a spice of some sort. I checked the ingredients and didn’t see any spices, so I’m going to say the coffee added that bit of a bite at the end.

The bar was soft, dense and chewy but had the slightly crunchier parts from the almond pieces. It was really satisfying as a snack and curbed my hunger well (almond always take away my hunger pains!). The bar was sweet but not too sweet, and overall pretty good.

As a whole, I’d give this one a 3.5 star rating. I don’t think it’s my favorite, but it was pretty good. My favorites will always be this one and the cookie dough bar!

Which LARABar is your favorite?! (:

26 Dec 2011, Comments (2)

Popcorn, Indiana Drizzled Cinnamon Sugar Kettlecorn

Author: Healthnuttxo

So, as IF we need any more sweet treats to eat during the holidays, I’m reviewing another sugary snack. But really,  HOW do you say no to a product like this?? Did I already eat cookies upon cookies upon cakes this holiday? YES. Did I already have cabinets stocked full of munchies? YES. Did I need another snack? NO!!. Should I have saved my money since it’s the holiday season and I need to spend it elsewhere? YES!

But did I buy it anyway? You bet. ; )

Popcorn, Indiana Drizzled Cinnamon Sugar Kettlecorn sounds absolutely amazing. And that’s because it is. Starting with the serving size. 1 cup. But is it really 1 cup? As you recall, from this review, the actual amount of popcorn I got was depressing.

This one? I GOT A WHOLE CUP! And I weighed it too. 28 grams.

I tried a few pieces. Mmm. Crunchy popcorn, with a white chocolate tasting drizzle on top and on most of the pieces. There was certainly a predominant cinnamon flavor, and the popcorn was mildly  sweet by itself, but very sweet for the pieces with the drizzle.

Eating it, it reminded me of a cinnamon bun. With the cinnamon flavor and the drizzle coming together like icing on a cinnabun. In other words, I could seriously eat this all day long. DANGEROUS! Especially during this season with all those buttery and sugary treats coming my way! Ahh!

Overall, this crunchy, sweet, cinnamony goodness gets 4.5 stars. Such a delicious treat, but it is rather high in sugar so I can’t eat too much since I am a Diabetic : ) (Although there was so not 6  servings in this! I think I only ate it like 3 times and I measured for the most part! Boo!)

What’s your favorite combination? Cinnamon and sugar definitely is one of mine!

*sigh* should have taken another picture. Threw out the bag. MY BAD!

3 Dec 2011, Comments (0)

Corazonas Banana Walnut Oatmeal Square

Author: Healthnuttxo

I have a confession.

I’m obsessed with banana flavored things. Banana bread, banana ice cream, banana yogurt (yes! they make it!). I DONT like fake banana (aka laffy taffy) but real banana flavored things I absolutely adore. Which, go figure, I find weird because I’m not all that crazy about bananas themselves. Hmm.

So, I got this free Corazonas Banana Walnut Oatmeal Square from the company to review, and I was pumped. BANANA walnut. Even if it was Banana spinach flavored oatmeal square I probably would have been excited. Ok, maybe I’m overexaggerating, but let’s just get it out there that I love banana.

Who nibbled my bar!?!?! oh wait…

So, pregym, I had this bar with a scoopful of peanut butter. It was one of those mornings where I DID NOT want to wake up early and have a proper breakfast before the gym, so a granola bar would suffice. Although, always prepare for the munchies later on if you don’t have a big breakfast! Or at least that’s the case for me!

ANYWAY- this square was really quite good. It was soft, chewy and dense, and you could really taste the banana. It tasted like genuine and real banana for the most part, but did have a tinge of that “artificial flavor” feel to it. But not too bad. And not like laffy taffy (sorry to those who love laffy taffy- can’t do that fake banana flavor!!).

There was a slight cinnamon flavor, and it was certainly sweet! The oats gave it a hearty texture and it was a rather satisfying bar. I felt energized during my workout (trust me, I hardly sleep anymore so I definitely didn’t get the energy from a solid 8 hours of sleep!   ) and I couldn’t get over how banana-y it was. The whole “walnut” aspect of this bar was lackluster for me. I don’t even know if I remember tasting them?? Magical walnuts perhaps…?

Anyway- 4 stars. A good bar. I would buy it in the future.

I'm such a fail at taking pictures of nutritional facts. Boo.

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