Product Review: MyOatmeal.com

Every once in a while, we talk about our enjoyment of oatmeal. There may have been posts dedicated to oatmeal before.

Fine, we’re obsessed. You caught us. If you think we talk about oatmeal a lot on here, you should see the number of times oatmeal comes up in email between Mer and I.

But, when I first happened upon myoatmeal.com, I skipped email and went straight to text! And there was some back and forth flailing.

Because custom oatmeal? Where do I sign up for that??? On the My Oatmeal website, of course! (I’m not even kidding. You can literally sign up for the Oatmeal of the Month Club, and along with sending you a bag of handmade oatmeal each month, they will donate a bag of oatmeal to a hungry child in the US for each subscription purchased).

So, when I got the chance to do a review for myoatmeal.com, I was beyond excited. To say it took me a while to decide is a vast understatement. I just wanted to make sure it was the PERFECT blend. And there is a lot to choose from! Thankfully, the website is super easy and has lots of information on the ingredients.

Custom Built Oatmeal? Best ever.

Custom Built Oatmeal? Best ever.

First, you decide on your size (1, 2.5 or 4 pounds) and pick your oats. Rolled oats, Steel Cut, Instant… they’re all there, just pick your favorite. Then you add your flavors, which are 100% Natural, Vegan, Gluten-Free and Non GMO. Also, they’re FUN! And then, you’ve get to decide if you want to do add-ins (you really do, I swear). Fruits, nuts, protein, sweetener. There are practically limitless options to make your custom oatmeal exactly what you want it to be.

And then? The most fun part of all? You get to name your oatmeal! (I accept that this might not be the most fun part for everyone, but I got totally dorky with this part. You’ll see below.) I’ve seen some pretty cute things people have done here, including on person who named theirs ‘Don’t Touch This Bag’. I feel you, friend.

If you can’t figure out what you would want in your oatmeal (hardest choice ever), they also have some Seasonal and Popular blends already picked out for you. And, they have a Mystery Blend option if you think “I don’t care what’s in it, just send me some oats!”

Myoatmeal.com also sells PBLean, which is dehydrated Peanut Butter powder. You can reconstitute it with water for a Peanut Butter with 85% less fat, mix it with any liquid, throw it in smoothies, use it in baking, etc. And it’s just as customizable as the oatmeal!

But if you’re watching what you eat, which I always am, one of the coolest parts was the nutrition calculator. It sits on the side of the screen and updates as you add customization. So the whole time you’re making your oatmeal, you can keep an eye on the nutritional impact and make sure it fits your points/calories/carbs/macros/whatever.

All in all, it’s a pretty rocking process. But let’s get down to brass tacks. How does it taste??? I’ll break down each of the products I tried for you.

Mystery Blend Oatmeal

I decided to try out a bag of the Mystery Blend. Sometimes, I don’t have to have complete control! This was one fine bowl of oats, I tell you. It had fruits and nuts and spice. YUM. That said, this is not what I was expecting. When it said Mystery Blend, I thought that the mystery would be solved upon arrival. Essentially, I thought that when I got the bag, it would tell me what was in it, so that if I wanted to, I could order again. No such luck. I’m not sure if Mystery Blend is always the same, or if it changes every time you order. Either way, it was delicious and at only 6.99 for a 1 pound bag, it was a very cost-effective option.

Bananas Foster the People

See? I told you I was a dork. But, once I went with banana bread and dark caramel flavor, the name just hit me! For my custom blend, I added the following: Smash Blend Oats, Banana Bread and Dark Caramel Flavor, Banana Chips, Ground Flax Seed, Quinoa Flakes and Brown Cane Sugar Granules. This was SO good. On the sweet side, which I like. The smash blend oats, which have some added barley, rye and red wheat, were nice and chewy. I hate mushy oats, so this was good. I could definitely taste the banana and caramel flavors. The only thing I would change would be the banana chips. They stayed a little too hard, and didn’t add much in the way of flavor. Next time, I think I’d throw in some pecans instead.

Bananas Foster the People Oatmeal with Fresh Bananas and Caramel Bits

Bananas Foster the People Oatmeal with Fresh Bananas and Caramel Bits

 

Sticky Toffee Pudding Butter

PBLean is not my first rodeo with powdered peanut butter. I’ve had products like this before, and I’ve always enjoyed them. But this was the first time I could customize it! I went with Light Roasted Peanuts, Dark Caramel and English Toffee flavors, and Brown Cane Sugar Granules. This was complete and told win. I made a smoothie with vanilla protein powder, milk, ice and PBLean. Dude. So good. And below, I reconstituted it with water and thinned it more than I normally would to make Caramel Toffee Peanut Butter syrup to go with Double Chocolate Waffle Sticks. Insanely good.

Sticky Toffee Pudding Butter 'syrup' with Double Chocolate Waffle Sticks

Sticky Toffee Pudding Butter ‘syrup’ with Double Chocolate Waffle Sticks

All in all, I’m a huge fan of this company and their products. They were incredibly nice to deal with, and they’re selling an awesome, healthy product line. I will totally be making myself some more. If you think this all sounds like the most fun ever, or even if you just want some PDT (Pretty Darn Tasty) oatmeal, you can use coupon code Scoot15 to get 15% off of your order. Do it! No pressure. Seriously, though. You won’t be sorry. And then you should come tell me what you picked and we can talk even more endlessly about oatmeal!

Win/win.

*The products I tried were provided by myoatmeal.com in exchange for an honest review. 

Product Review: Buff Butter

Confession: I love nut butter. Truly, madly, deeply. I have quite a collection going, so when I caught wind of Buff Butter on Instagram, I knew I had to try it.

If you haven’t heard of Buff Butter, it is a line of high quality nut butters with added whey protein. Depending on the flavor, you’ll also see things like hemp, chia and flax seeds and organic coconut palm sugar. And, it comes in awesome flavors like Snickerdoodle Almond Butter and Cinnamon Raisin Peanut Butter, just to name a couple.

I reached out to the folks at Buff Bake (I’ll explain a little more about the name in just a minute) and they generously offered to send me some for a review. Score!

And then, when the box arrived, SCORE!

 

The Fabulous Butter Boys

The Fabulous Butter Boys

It seriously had the hardest time deciding which one to try first. The struggle is real, guys. (I went with Snickerdoodle Almond!)

I’ve been consciously working on getting more protein into my diet, specifically at breakfast, since it helps keep me satisfied longer than carbs, and Buff Butter is an easy and delicious way to get some extra grams in. (I’ll be posting Friday mornings throughout September with higher protein breakfast ideas, if that is your jam. I won’t really be posting about jam much, unless I decide to make a Buff Butter and Jam sandwich, which now that I mention it…. sorry, I got a little caught up there.)

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ANYWAY, from a protein standpoint, Buff Butters have impressive stats. Compared to regular natural peanut butter, the protein is doubled, the fat is less, carbs are just a hair higher and the calories are neck in neck. (2 TBSPs of creamy natural peanut butter has 190 calories, 16 grams of fat, 7 grams of carbs and 7 grams of protein. 2 TBSPs of Cinnamon Raisin Buff Butter has 194 calories, 12 grams of fat, 8 grams of carbs and 14 grams of protein).

That’s a nutritional win/win for me. But, let’s face it, regardless of nutritional stats, if it tastes like crap, I’m not going to eat it. So, let’s talk about flavors.

Snickerdoodle Almond – This was by far my favorite. Which isn’t that surprising, since I prefer almond butter to peanut butter as a rule. But this was GOOD. Cinnamon-y and sweet, this was my perfect combo. Preferred serving method: on spoon.

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter – A very close second. I love, love, love chocolate and peanut butter flavors together. Preferred serving method: on whole grain toast or bagel flats with sliced bananas.

Breakfast of Chocolate Chip Champions

Breakfast of Chocolate Chip Champions

Cinnamon Raisin Peanut Butter – Third, but almost tied with Chocolate Chip. It’s like delicious fall in my mouth. Preferred serving method: with sliced Granny Smith apples or over WBO (Whipped Banana Oatmeal).

Buff Party!

Buff Party!

Cranberry Coconut Peanut Butter – I actually wasn’t a fan of this flavor. I wanted to be, since cranberries run though my New England bloodstream and I LOVE coconut, but this one just didn’t do it for me.

Three out of four is damn good. And since I first heard of them, they’ve added another flavor to their line up. I haven’t tried it, so I can’t speak to how it tastes, but I have just two words. Cookie Butter. I’m obsessed with regular Cookie Butter, but it’s not really a nut butter at all, it’s crushed up cookies. Buff is now selling Cookie Butter Almond Butter.

Price wise, Buff Butters are competitive with other natural nut butters I’ve purchased. 12 ounces jars are just under $11 for peanut flavors and just under $14 for almond varieties. They also have 3.5 ounce squeeze packs, so you can try the different flavors out. And hey, if you fall in love with the stuff the way I did, you can buy variety packs that bring the price down a bit. I firmly believe you get what you pay for, and I would consider these well worth the price.

So, why is it Buff BAKE? Because they also sell Buffins, which are high protein muffins. I haven’t tried these yet, but I totally plan to.

Long story review short, Buff Bake gets a total thumbs up from me. If you are looking for ways to get more protein in, this is a delicious and easy one.

Do you love nut butter? Which flavor would you most like to try?