Fiber One Meal Replacement Bars – BzzAgent Review

Fiber One Meal Replacement Bars.

Being someone who's trying to be more health conscience, I'm totally open to new, healthy products. So when I got the chosen to be a part of Fiber One's BzzCampaign I was all over it! I was interested in the meal replacement because I am out of my house from 8 am until 7 pm (or later) 4 days out of the work week and am always looking for a healthier, more cost effective way to eat while I'm out.

I got the bars in the mail, Chocolate Peanut Butter & Strawberry Greek Yogurt. With 10g of protein, 9g of fiber & up to 60% less sugar (than a Special K cereal bar), how can you go wrong?

Well, let me tell you how; I'm also in the habit of always reading ingredients and stumbled upon a few things that made me question what exactly was Fiber One trying to pull here?
I'll start with the questionable ingredients in the Chocolate Peanut Butter and the Strawberry Greek Yogurt flavor;


Fructose
Dipotassium Phosphate (commonly used as fertilizer, among other things)
Natural Flavor
Soy
Propylene Glycol (commonly used as anti-freeze, among other things)

It's well documented that many of these manufactured products are indeed the exact opposite of what Fiber One is proposing, a healthy product.

Verdict: I decided to taste one of each of these just for the sake of the BzzCampaign and while they both tasted ok (you could hardly taste the chocolate in the Chocolate PB, and the yogurt in the Strawberry one tasted very synthetic) however, were rather filling. I couldn't help to  wonder if it was due to the fake ingredients as opposed to the healthy one that gave that desired effect. I also had an adverse reactions to both of them, were my heart palpitations and lethargy (my usual reaction to items containing fructose or HFCS).

I take serious issue with a company trying to pass off a healthy product when it's ingredients are far from healthy. I would never recommend these to another person and would actually try to dissuade someone from buying if someone asked my opinion, until Fiber One removes/changes these ingredients and makes their products truly healthy. I mean, it's not too much to ask a company to actually provide what they're trying to sell you on, right?

Disclaimer: These bars were provided free of charge by BzzAgent. I was not financially compensated for my review and all opinions are my own.

As Always

Alpine Avocado Vinaigrette

In my earlier Taste Guru post I mentioned Alpine Avocado Vinaigrette, I leave you in the lurch no longer!! lol


About Alpine Avocado;


Alpine Avocado Vinaigrette is like no other bottled salad dressing/marinade anywhere. Proudly it breaks from the industry standard of over-processed methods, damaging chemical preservatives and inferior oils. The result is amazing – A dressing as good for you as the salad itself! You and your family will love it!!

• It contains only 100% extra virgin olive oil
• Gluten Free
• Dairy Free
• Vegan
• Cholesterol Free
• Low in Sugar

I love avocados so when I got this dressing in my box, it looked really good.I'm kind of a dressing snob, so as much as I love avocados I wasn't too sure how it would be in a dressing. Still, I could not wait to try it so I made myself a nice big spinach salad and poured on the dressing.

(stock photo)

Verdict: AMAZIIIIING!!!! So light and tangy with delicious avocado(y) taste. You know how sometimes you have left over dressing on your plate and you just toss it away? not this dressing. I saved every last drop, I was not willing that any should waste. I kid you not when I tell you this is the best dressing I've ever had ever! It is, however, a little on the pricey side being that you can only buy 5 or 8 bottles unless you live in CO. With that said, I do think that this dressing is worth every single penny and I will be ordering myself some soon and sharing it with my other foodies.

As Always,

Schick Hydro Silk – Sensitive Skin BzzAgent Review

I know this isn't food or technology but I thought I'd share now that I'm a BzzAgent. What is bzzagent you ask?

BzzCampaigns are the main attraction here at BzzAgent. And rightly so — BzzCampaigns are how our BzzAgents discover, try and share popular new products and services (often for free) and influence big-name brands with their valued feedback.
How does a BzzCampaign work?
1. Try it
Answer quick surveys to fill us in on the things you like, so we can invite you to campaigns for the products you’ll love. Accept an invite and we’ll give you a way to try the product, as well as helpful talking points and offers to share with friends.
2. Talk about it naturally
Get people talking by sharing your honest opinion through face-to-face conversations and online via sites including Facebook, Twitter and blogs. Remember to always disclose that you’re a BzzAgent and to keep the spam in the can. Bzz is no place for excessive, repetitive or unauthentic posts.
3. Get more campaigns
We reward great BzzAgents with even more great campaigns. Write reviews, share photos and videos and update your friends and followers throughout every campaign you join and you’ll hear from us again soon.”

BzzAgent is free to sign up and based on your demographic, they may or may not pick you for campaigns (and they are always releasing new campaigns, so if you don't get one be patient and don't forget to always fill out your surveys.. they are the key to your campaigns!). I'm doing 3 campaigns so far and the first one I'm going to review is the Schick Hydro Silk - Sensitive Skin razor.

Here's what came in my Bzzkit:

Verdict: Incredible! I've always had sensitive skin and no matter what kind of razor I used, a cheapy disposable or a expensive refill, I always ended up with a few nicks, some bumps and irritation. It didn't matter how gentle was with the razor, it was inevitable my skin would be messed up for the first day, at least.

With the Hydro Silk, it glides as smooth as butter, thanks to its moisture strip (I honestly don't even need to use shave cream with this razor!) and I get incredibly close shave with its 5 beautiful blades! It's so close that I don't need to go over any areas, not even around my knees! Most importantly, NO NICKS, BUMPS OR IRRITATION! Not one! It's incredible!!! I've never had a razor that didn't cause at least one of those problems but it's totally possible to have it all with the Hydro Silk! (I know I'm using a lot of exclamation marks but that's just how much I love it!! lol)


I feel pampered, spoiled, and in love with this razor and think it's the best thing since sliced bread. So yes, if you are in the market for a new (and wonderful) razor, try the Schick Hydro Silk - you won't regret it!

Disclaimer: I was provided this razor free of charge as a member of BzzAgent but all opinions are completely mine alone.

As Always,

Taste Guru Sub box

First and foremost, Happy New Year to all!! I hope everyone had a great new year and I am expecting this year to be a great one!

This review box is one I actually got a couple of months ago but with all the holidays I've been pretty backed up. As you all know, I've been focusing on being trying to healthy, losing weight, etc and I've noticed that going gluten free has helped in many ways. I've actually lost weight without even trying to and I noticed that my stomach seems to rebel less when I eat gluten free (TMI? lol).

So I present to you Taste Guru! A little about what Taste Guru is about:

“Whether because of celiac disease, gluten sensitivity, or a simple desire just to eat better, more and more people are turning to a gluten-free diet to stay healthy and feel good. But not all gluten-free foods are created equal, and finding the best gluten-free products can often be a time-consuming process of trial and error. Our mission at Taste Guru is to do the heavy lifting so that you don’t have to — we think a gluten-free lifestyle should also be worry free (not to mention, savored bite by bite).”

On my path of Sub boxes, I stumbed across Taste Guru and at that time they were running a promotion. Get two boxes/months free (just pay shipping). With each box/month being $34.99 I couldn't pass up free. Here's what it looked like when I got my first box.

Now when I originally thought of trying gluten free items, I was hesitant a little because a lot of people say how it's flavorless, tastes like cardboard,etc but I decided to go for it anyway.

Verdict: Everything in the box was really, really tasty! I especially LOVED the Avocado Vinaigrette (which I will be doing a separate post on because seriously everyone should try this!!) I was pleasantly surprised at how flavorful and truly enjoyable all the products were.


Still, as much as I loved everything, I honestly can't see myself spend $35 a month on this box. Not that the quality wasn't there, it was there and more (and I loved getting some full sized items!) it's just I'm a frugal kind of girl and it's just really out of my price range. However, if you've got the cash and want to give them a try then I say GO FOR IT! I wasn't disappointed and I don't think you will be either!

Disclaimer: Taste Guru did not provide any compensation for the above post. All opinions are my own.

As Always,

Graze

I been kind of letting my review items pile up because I've been too busy to do a proper post but I need to get some of these done! I had planned on doing a review of Goodies but they've ceased operation in Oct. (which I was not surprised about, they were sending out some really crappy, subpar stuff).
So today's review is on Graze!

Graze is a little different than most sub boxes as with this box you can choose the frequency of how often a box is shipped to you.  You can opt for once a week, bi-weekly, or monthly. At $6 per shipment, it's highly affordable.  Also, Graze is still in "invite only" state, being that you can not just join up but need an invitiation code from a friend (I have only 2 friend codes left which I will put at the bottom of this post, it's first come first serve on these.) If you decide to sign up, your first box will be free and your 5th box will be as well, provided you keep your subscription for there is no commitment to stay past your first box should you choose to do so.

Now to the snacking!!
Graze offers two types of boxes:

nibblebox = maximum variety – choose from over 90 of the tastiest natural nibbles
choose from all our foods including yoghurt dipped cranberries, rustic oat rolled flapjacks, cracked black pepper cashews & juicy dried fruit

lightbox = low calorie snacking – over 50 healthy snacks to choose from
our lowest calorie nibbles They’re all between 50-150 calories and much tastier than diet food.
Both of our boxes are nutritionally balanced with a great mix of sweet and savoury, healthy and tasty food.

I picked the nibblebox and this is what my box looked like when it arrived:

Verdict: I did like the some of the snacks, I didn't like the orange flapjacks simply because they are orange flavored. The rest of the items were good, nice and fruity or crunchy and they would be really handy to just throw in your bag and take with you. As you can tell you don't get a lot but it's not too little (unless your greedy like I am lol). You can also go online after getting your box and rating the things that you like, don't like, or love so that you will get the things you like and not what you don't like.

Here is the friend code, it can only be used twice!

Code: JENB7FDZP

Disclaimer: Graze did not provide me with anything for this review and all opinions are mine.

As Always:

Love with Food

I have always been interested in Food Subscription boxes since I learned about them, (probably because I'm always interested in food haha) and when I was presented with the option to try Love With Food for just $2, I just had to. I placed my order and patiently waited, and waited, and waited. Apparently I picked a bad month to sign up because there was a huge shipping snafu that caused everyone's boxes to be delivered REALLY late. (According to LWF they ship the boxes out on the 10th of each month but my tracking said it wasn't shipped until the 17th. The tracking was never updated and for about 2 weeks it said it was floating around somewhere in GA, even after it showed up on my doorstep. LWF refused to take responsibility and continuously blamed USPS and vice versa which irked a very large portion of their subscribers but I digress). The box showed up and was packed with goodies, so I decided to forgive them for this little snafu because of the tastiness that was delivered to me and because of what they do.

Here's a little bit about what LWF is about;

"What is Love With Food?
Love With Food helps you discover new organic, all-natural snacks delivered to your door every month. Our subscription membership starts as low as $10/month. Every month, Love With Food members will receive a curated box of unique, hard-to-find tasty snacks which varies based on seasonal themes.
For every box sold, we donate a meal to several food banks such as the Feeding America Network and Share Our Strength - No Kid Hungry. Join us to help end child hunger one meal at a time!
Say goodbye to boring grocery selections and start discovering your Love With Food experience!"

New, tasty food for me to try and helping someone else eat? that's totally something I can get behind.

Here's what came in my box, I didn't try everything in the box but the things I did try are reviewed below.

All Natural Spice Rub from The Dizzy Pig BBQ co.: Tsumani Spin Spice
Verdict: I haven't tried this yet, I have some chicken in the freezer I'm going to try this on, but I smelled it and it smells FABULOUS! Smells spicy with just a tiny bit of sweet and I can't wait to try this.

Potato crips from Good Boy Organics: Sea Salt flavor
Verdict: Not bad. BOPS are very airy and crunchy and taste nothing like a regular chip. They don't really have much of a flavor, kind of tasted like I was chewing air but not in a bad way. I would totally eat these if available but I don't think I'd actively seek them out.

All Natural Salsa from El Pinto: Made in New Mexico with roasted green chiles and jalapenos.
Verdict: Pass. I utterly despise tomatoes, so there is no way I'm trying this. It sounds good (for salsa) so I'll ask around see if any of my friends want to try it.

Orignial Creamy Praline from Aunt Sally's: New Orleans famous Praline is studded with Louisana Pecans.
Verdict: So good! I had a friend, a couple months back, who was visiting family in N.O. and she brought me back one of these as a treat and boy is it a treat! I was really pleased to see one of these in my box. Even if I never had one before, how can you go wrong with caramel and pecans?!?

Amsterdam Waffle cookie from Rip Van Wafles: Lucious Caramel sandwiched between thin waffle cookies.
Verdict: So-so. I hardly tasted any caramel, let alone "lucious" caramel. The waffle cookie, however, was pretty good but I expected more. Maybe if I had heated it up like the back of the package suggested it would have tasted better but who has time for that when cookies are involved??

Snapea Crisps from Harvest Snaps: Smooth, mild flavor of peas baked right into this natural snack.
Verdict: Surpisingly good at first - light and crispy, kind of puffy like a cheese curl with a not too strong pea flavor. I only managed to eat little less than half the bag because the more I ate them, the more they started to taste gross and left a funny after taste in my mouth. Perhaps it's because I don't like peas, or maybe it's just one of those things that taste good initially but end up tasting bad by the time you're done.

Sugar free Fresh Mints from Project 7: Tiny mints come in a plastic tube with a cork stopper.
Verdict: I really love these. They are very happily minty (think wintergreen) and they got rid of the pea flavor in mouth. The mints themselves are pretty small and round, are chewable not hard. It was not easy to not eat them all at once! It's the perfect amount of mint and has really cute packaging. I can totally see my self using this tube long after the mints are gone to hold small items. Also for every tube enjoyed, Project 7 will plant a fruit tree.

Crunchers from Sahale Snacks: Naturally dried cranberries, almonds, and sesame seeds lightly glazed with orange blossom honey.
Verdict: Wow. If I had to pick one favorite thing from the box it would be these. I am big fan of nuts/dried fruit and this really hit the spot. Crunchy and full of flavors, all individual but combined together. The glaze was not too sweet but with a tiny bit of tart. I generally don't like orange flavored things but could barely taste it here. This stuff is GOOD. This is something I'd definetely go out of my way to buy.

Overall, I was really impressed with this box. It was definitely worth the wait. If you are interested in trying Love with Food, sign up for the monthly subscription and enter the code FBGIFT to get your first box free! (pay $2 for shipping).

Disclaimer: Love with Food did not ask for, nor provided any compensation for this review. All opinions are strictly my own.

As Always,

Kashi Caramelized Onion Hummus Crisps

So I was headed out on a road trip with some friends the next day and we were strolling around Wal-Mart looking for snacks for the trip. I'm very much a sugar fanatic but I've been *trying* to buy more healthy snacks (not entirely succeeding lol). We walked down the chip aisle which is when I came across these crisps from Kashi, and I didn't hesitate to put them in my cart as I've never had a Kashi product I didn't like. I really love both onions and hummus, so I'm pretty sure that these would not steer me wrong.

As we continued to walk around, I couldn't stop looking at the bag. I have never seen hummus crisps before but how bad (or good) could they be? I really just couldn't wait to open the bag and try them. Would I be able to wait until tomorrow when we got on the road and started our trip? The answer is nope! They made it all the way to the car (haha) before I ripped the bag open and the delicious smell of the chips filled the car, if they tasted as good as they smelled I knew I was in for a treat.

Verdict: I LOVE THESE! Holy cow are these amazing! I totally wish I could have bought more than one bag (there was only one left on the shelf). It really took me a lot of effort to not eat the entire bag on the ride home. It's a light and crunchy crisp with a nice smoky (caramelized) onion flavor, which I didn't think was too overpowering. m

Being an all natural, wholesome crisp with no HFCS, no artificial flavors, no hydrogenated oils with 3 grams of protein and 4 grams of fiber makes this not only a tasty snack but a healthy & fulfilling one as well.

These are a gem of the chip aisle and they make me feel not so guilty when I want a nice snack. I would 100% purchase these again.

Disclaimer: Kashi did not provide any compensation for this review.

As Always,

Starbucks Refreshers

I am so sorry I have neglected this but so far this summer has been SUCH a busy time for me. There were birthdays, holidays, weddings, road trips, church events, I've done lots of traveling and have been to 5 different states so far! I just haven't had the time to devote to this and I have so many things to give my opinion on! haha

Being so busy is pretty tiring and I sometimes need a little bit of caffeine to keep me going on those long days. A normal person would probably go for the coffee but I personally hate the stuff. I know what you are all thinking, "How can someone hate coffee??" "What is wrong with her?" "Is she even human?!?" I know, I know, coffee is like blood to many people and they need it to function. My sister has relentlessly tried to get me to like coffee and I have tried and I have tried but it just tastes like bitter, battery licking, death to me. I've tried coffee from high end boutiques, low end shops, corporate run of the mill shops, small mom & pop places and all in all it still tastes like awful, awful death.

So what is one to do when they need a caffeine fix but can't stand coffee? Well, I like fraps (as long as they don't taste like coffee) because they are usually blended with ice, milk, cream, mocha, caramel, etc but they can be a bit expensive and not always convenient. I started perusing the local convenience store in search of something that I could get on the go in case the need hits. I have tried a few things; some drinks taste beyond awful like Monster energy drinks (taste like pure chemicals), and AMP (taste like liquid sugar), some I can't get past the smell to even taste like Red Bull (smells like chemicals & sugar, eww no thanks), and some I like a lot like Rock star - not overly sugary, no mediciney taste, good flavors, all natural (My favorite is the Fruit PUNCHED but I can't seem to find that anywhere around here anymore :( ) and my newly found favorite of all time - Starbucks Refreshers.

What initially attracted me to the Refreshers? The flavors. Raspberry Pomegranate, Strawberry Lemonade & Orange Melon, I like things that have fruity flavors. I have tried all 3 flavors and it's really hard to have a favorite as they are all very tasty and although I generally don't like orange flavored things, this one isn't half bad!. Another thing that caught my eye was "Natural energy from green coffee extract". Green coffee? What in the world is green coffee?? After doing my research I found out that, "Green coffee" refers to the raw or unroasted seeds (beans) which why this drink has none of the "coffee" flavor because it's only when they beans are roasted do they produce that (horrendous) flavor. As it states on the back of the can "It's a delicious energy boost, without any coffee taste" and that is exactly what I'm looking for!

Another plus, these are made with all natural ingredients. No HFCS, no fake sugar just carbonated water, fruit juice, green coffee bean extract, stevia and a slew of vitamins.

The Verdict: This is definitely a win for me and for anyone else out there in the land of "I hate coffee".

Yes, people of the world, we are out there :P not just non-coffee drinkers but those of us who hate it, and while you might question our existence and not understand.. Starbucks understands.

Disclaimer: No company listed has offered me any compensation for the above opinion, the opinion is mine only.

As Always,

Annie’s Homegrown Pizza

I was thinking about what to write next when I randomly found this picture on my computer (shown below) I had taken a couple months prior and I decided this would be it.

I had just gotten off work and was off to the supermarket to find dinner. I just wanted to find something quick and easy and decided that I would get a frozen pizza. Yea yea I know, frozen pizzas aren't the epitome of "healthy" :P (I would have been better off buying a salad :| ) but I looked over my choices and settled on Annie's Homegrown BBQ Chicken Pizza. It was the pricier of the options at $9 but based my decision on 3 factors; 1) I like to support small businesses 2) I like to buy organic if I can 3) I've had other products from Annie's which I've enjoyed, so I didn't expect anything less. I plopped it in my cart and checked out.

I got home and opened the box and was dismayed to see this:

The pizza is almost literally half the size of the box it came in. I couldn't believe it! What I should have done was taken it right back to the store and gotten my money back but I was tired and hungry and didn't feel like going back. I decided to give it the benefit of the doubt, since it claimed to be one of those rising pizzas that get bigger when you cook it but, nope, still just as small cooked.( I wish I has taken a picture of it when had taken it out of the oven but I was so disappointed that I didn't even think of it.)

The Verdict: Horrible. Not only was it the size of a frisbee, it tasted like the cardboard box it came in. It was very dry and bland with little cheese and minimal toppings, it was so bad I actually threw the rest of it away after eating one slice. I've had better pizzas at half the price and I spent $9 on this?!?

I felt (rightfully in my mind) cheated and decided to contact Annie's. I sent them this picture above and told them I told them of my disappointment with the size of the box being misleading (I guess I would have known if I had picked it up from the top but I picked it up from the side) and for them label it as "Family Size" (really? what kind of family would this feed? a family of pigeons?). I was really nice in my message but to this day nobody has messaged me back.

Oh well, crossing this off my list, lesson learned. :(

As Always,

Disclaimer: Annie's did not ask or offer compensation in exchange for me writing this. These opinions are strictly my own.

True Lemon

If you read some of my earlier posts, you'd know I'm on this health "kick". Part of the way I'm trying to be more healthy is to drink more water. However, I can only drink so much plain water before I start craving something with a little bit a flavor. I've heard all about those little flavor packets and I set out to find me some.

First I tried Crystal Light, bought a few boxes but I didn't like the fake sugar taste so I gave them to a coworker who likes them. Then I searched and searched trying to find a box that didn't have aspartame or splenda in it. No luck. I found ONE box from Wal-Mart (their own store brand) that had stevia in it but I didn't like the powdery aftertaste it had. I was starting to feel a little hopeless, I couldn't find one natural brand that actually tasted good.

A few weeks later I was shopping in my local supermarket when on a whim I decided to walk down the aisle with the drink packets in it. I was pretty sure I would find the same old stuff but I figured it was worth a look at least. Sitting next to, about a billion boxes of, Crystal Light were 2 rows of this stuff I never heard of before called True Lemon. The box claimed to be made with stevia which was a good start but I was a little worried it would be powdery tasting like the Wal-Mart brand was. I bought it anyway and hoped for the best.

The Verdict: SO tasty! I have an affinity for anything lemon so I hoped that I would like these and I do!! I had died and gone to lemon heaven, as it wasn't too tart or too sweet but just the amount of lemony goodness without the powdery aftertaste! It tastes as if I was really drinking a glass of lemonade. They also have a variety of different flavors on their website and I've tasted each one. I won't write a review on each flavor but if you like those flavor combinations then give them a try! (I say that because I bought the sampler and there was one I wasn't particularly fond of, the Orange Mango, but that's just because I don't like orange flavored things. It's not because it's a untasty product. I shared these with my friend and she loves all the flavors!) The only thing I haven't tried is the True Iced Tea which I really hope they put in individual packet so I can try it someday.

The product uses completely natural ingredients, including being gluten free which is a HUGE plus in my book.

(I didn't realize there was a battery in this picture! haha it was from my camera that died right before I took this picture and I had to switch them. Stupid batteries :| lol)

There is one downside and that is I want to drink it all the time, I mean ALL. THE. TIME. and my budget doesn't agree (my budget and I are in a fight right now and the budget is winning :( haha). However, if buying and drinking this utterly amazing lemonade is wrong I don't ever want to be right.

 

Disclamier: True Lemon did not ask me or compensate me to write this.  All these opinions are my own.

As Always,