Love Of Oats

A blog dedicated to balancing a healthy and fun life… with oats!

Category Archives: review

The Review

Whew, I finally got around to posting this!  Last week, I received the below package of Quaker True Delights granola bars in the mail courtesy of Foodbuzz and couldn’t wait to sample them.

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… but I realized that two of the bars I wouldn’t be able to taste-test because:

  1. I don’t like coconut
  2. I don’t like raspberry

So, I pulled in the help of my lovely husband, who did a really great review of the toasted coconut banana macadamia nut bar.  I told him to take notes since he had it with his lunch one day last week and he really did!

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To summarize his thoughts, just in case you can’t read his handwriting:

  • Chewy, almost falling apart
  • Good balance of coconut & banana
  • Have to like coconut to enjoy
  • Not many Macadamia nuts

Keep in mind he does not have a sweet tooth really so I think that’s why he wasn’t a huge fan of the sweetness.

I have such a wonderful husband don’t I? :)

Luckily one of the flavors really appealed to me:  Roasted Cashew Mixed Berry.  I tried it on Friday when my tummy was not feeling too great.  As soon as I opened the bar, I took a deep breath and it smelled so yummy so I dove right in and took a huge bite :)   Then, I realized that I forgot to take a picture so here it is:

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My thoughts:

  • Definitely sweet – now I know why some bloggers are treating this as dessert
  • Full of berries & nuts
  • Love the fall-apart texture – Bill was right!

I think I will definitely buy these bars again as a treat, but I don’t think I’ll work them into my daily snacks just because of the sweetness factor; however they would be great sprinkled over oatmeal or yogurt… hmmmm, maybe you will see that in the future!

I’m packing the Dark Chocolate Raspberry Almond bar in Bill’s lunch this week, so I’ll have his review to post later in the week!

Nothing Is More Exciting…

… Than receiving this box on my doorstep…

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Yup, that’s right… I am the proud owner of the Vita-Mix 5200.

Here’s the beaut in all of her glory…

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The Vita-Mix 5200 comes with a recipe binder filled with tons of amazing recipes ranging from the expected smoothies / milkshake to soups to nut butter to jam to juice to exotic ice cream!  I got SO excited upon looking at all of the possibilities, but I knew that I would see how the Vita-Mix held up with my “normal” smoothie creation first before exploring other “experiments”.

For Vita-experiment #1, Lindsay’s monkey smoothie, I used:

  • 1 cup skim milk
  • 1/2 scoop of GNC chocolate whey isolate powder
  • 1 medium banana, sliced in big chunks
  • 1 tbsp ground flax
  • 1 cup ice cubes

I followed the instructions for a typical smoothie recipe which was quite simple and took literally under 20 seconds for the smoothie to form.  Yup, that’s right.  It crushed the ice, blended ALL of the ingredients, and produced a smooth, thick ‘n creamy consistency.  I was literally shocked at how quickly it took to make the smoothie.  It is REALLY powerful.  My big complaint about  blenders is that they are hard to clean, take too long, too messy, etc.  However, this machine really proved me wrong on all of my previous “excuses”.  Once I finished drinking my smoothie, I quickly was able to clean it using soap and hot water within minutes.  Although I won’t jinx myself, until I do more “experiments”, I really think this may change some aspects of my daily diet, in that I will include the use of the Vita-Mix in many of my meals… In fact, I actually removed our George Foreman from the kitchen counter and replaced it with the Vita-Mix.  I can’t wait to figure out what to make next, so stay tuned for another experiment and review ;)

Here’s the smoothie… see how creamy???

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My recipe actually filled up two of our drinking glasses, so I had two cups full… I enjoyed my second cup while browsing through the Vita-Mix Whole Food Recipes For Better Living recipe book.

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Afterwards, I headed out to do some errands with Bill.  We went to the bank, Walmart for some odds and ends, and then Bed Bath & Beyond to return an extra griddle we received.  We actually got some items in exchange for it:  a cutting board, a Pyrex 11×7 dish, and a fruit & banana bowl/holder (which I LOVE!).

When we got home, we were both starving so I toasted an Arnold’s whole wheat sandwich thin and smeared some chunky peanut butter and pumpkin on it.  On the side I had some green grapes & whole grain goldfish.

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Now Bill and I are off to relax and watch some HGTV haha – Bill isn’t thrilled about that :) .  It feels absolutely WEIRD not having anything that I have to do.  Usually my weekends are always jam-packed with food shopping, things to do, cleaning, laundry, etc.  A girl could definitely get used to this ;)