Road Tested – Skirt Sports Lioness Skirt

July 29, 2015 by Jennifer

Today, I’m dishing on one of my favorite topics, clothing-slash-fashion-slash-cuteness. I firmly believe that your outfit sets your entire tone for your day, or your race. If you feel like you look good, your confidence naturally rises and you feel better able to meet whatever challenges you may face. It’s a philosophy shared by Skirt Sports, which is the main reason I signed right up when they offered me a skirt to try out. It’s called the Lioness, and it’s new this fall. This color is called “Razz”. Also? IT’S SUPER CUTE.

I love the pattern in the contrast fabric.

The back is as cute as the front!

I only had one reservation about the skirt. After looking at their adorable clothing online, I was wondering about the price. I mean, the price is comparable to other companies making similar garments, but the seamstress in me always asks two things: can I make it myself (and then show you how to make it), and is the price fair given the quality of the garment? Is it made well? It is going to hold up over many races and washings and trips to the dog park?

After getting the skirt home and really inspecting its construction, I’m a firm believer that that price is worth every shinny penny! It’s so nice to be able to say that! I’m a stickler for quality construction, and I can’t tell you how often I shake my fist because the new shirt I bought two weeks ago already has a button missing. SkirtSports surprised me with the quality of the skirt. Their garments are made in Cambodia, and the skirt far surpassed items I’ve examined from other high-end athletic wear companies. It would cost me well above the retail cost of this skirt to make it myself when I factor in time and materials. I love it when you can get more than you pay for! Well done SkirtSports!

Encased elastic makes it much more comfy.

Rubber nubs keep the shorts in place on your leg without chaffing.

One of my favorite features is the pockets. There is a zippered waist pocket in the back and a side pocket on each leg of the shorties. The right pocket has a reinforced hole to feed your headphone wire through. This skirt had plenty of room for my key, ID, phone, earbuds, and my stupid inhaler. I still had room for an energy gel or two if needed. I would like the waist pocket to be a little bit bigger, but that’s just because it seems like I’m always carrying a lot of stuff. The other plus for me is the built in shorties with the silicone dot grippers.

Now for the real test, wear-ability! I donned the outfit I want to wear for my second half marathon this coming Saturday. Head to toe: Headsweats visor (thanks Vic!), Champion running shirt, the most adorable running skirt ever, a slick pair of neon pink PRO Compression socks, and my New Balance kicks. I snapped a few goofy photos of which I’m required to share at least one, and I was off!

I went for a 3 mile run in 90 degree heat. The skirt was so comfortable and cool. It held all my stuff and my stuff didn’t annoy me. The silicone grippers on the shorts kept them in place and I wasn’t constantly adjusting…anything. It was so great to not feel encumbered by a bunch of stuff because everything was in its place nice and snug and my hands and arms were free. FREEEE! I’m pretty sure I’ll be sporting this skirt at my race this weekend, and as I climb 400 feet in elevation over two and half miles, I’m hoping this skirt will make me feel as powerful as its namesake!

Do you prefer running skirts to shorts or pants? Do you have feelings about looking cute on the course? Do you wear make-up when running, or only when it’s part of the costume? Tell me all about it in the comments!

*Skirt Sports gave me this skirt to try for the purpose of reviewing it. No other compensation was given.

What is Periscope?

July 15, 2015 by Jennifer

When I attended Fitbloggin15 in Denver a few weeks back, I heard about something new and fun and exciting. Something, it is rumored, that will soon be ALL the rage. Of course it was something I’d never heard of until that weekend. Likely because it’s really, really rare that I’m on the cutting edge of anything, much less technology and anything app-y. Let it be known that I have no teenage children from which to learn these vital things from. So, really and truly, thank goodness for the savvy bloggers at Fitbloggin, without whom I may never have found my new favorite social media app. It’s called Periscope, and it’s basically like having your own live T.V. station.

What: If you’ve heard of or used Meerkat, Periscope is the same concept but it’s owned by Twitter. Periscope is a live broadcasting app that allows you to broadcast whatever you’re doing (as long as it’s within their use agreement) to all of your followers, and interact with them in real time. It’s a powerful tool, and I imagine that it will revolutionize the way news is delivered. The possibilities are only limited by you and your feelings on voyeurism. You could “scope” the protest unfolding in the streets right in front of you, or you could scope your adorable cat getting its belly rubbed. Your choice. Just know that scopes are only active for 24 hours. After that the spell is broken, and not even the Fairy Godmother can bring them back.

Who: Periscope was purchased by Twitter and launched in March of this year. Since the two are connected, you can create a Periscope account using your Twitter login. Doing so will let you see all of the people you follow on Twitter who also have a Periscope account. When you follow them on Periscope, you get a notification every time they are live broadcasting. News organizations, business, celebrities, and industry are getting on board, too. Like it or not, this app is likely here to stay. The nice thing is since it’s so new, your preferred user name might still be available! HURRY! RUN NOW!

Why: The app has so much potential, I cannot even begin to touch on its power. Not only does it let you broadcast whatever, but your viewers can comment and interact with you in real time as you’re broadcasting. I watched a scope of Bill Nye the Science Guy being interviewed by USA Today after the Pluto fly-by yesterday and IT. WAS. AWESOME. Viewers commented and asked Bill questions as the scope filmed, and viewers showed their love by tapping the screen to give the broadcast hearts, the indisputable social media currency.

Bill Nye!

This is a fantastic tool for bloggers who want to do a social media chat, give a talk, and/or have a live Q&A. You could scope a live workout sesh. You could scope seeing a cute dog at the dog park. You could scope your trail run, or tips for foam rolling, or your favorite smoothie recipe. You can scope just about anything! Not to mention this is a fantastic medium to get to know people and to build real relationships.

Bill Nye actually answers this viewer’s question! HOW COOL.

When: Whenever! I told Meri it would have been fun to scope our finish at the BolderBOULDER as we ran into the stadium, and us Chicks intend to use the app quite a bit in the future. You can scope from the corral with friends as you wait for the race to start. You could scope the race expo, or the beer drinking afterward, or you hit a moment of doubt and you need some motivation/inspiration; your fellow Scopers will be there for you. Sharing unique live events (that aren’t copyrighted) is a perfect use for Periscope, and a sure fire way to get a lot of those adoring hearts from viewers. Just be sure to respond to people as they comment on your scope. It’s considered bad form to not respond to your viewers, and it’s the real-time interaction that sets Periscope apart from YouTube.

The map view shows you who’s scoping all around the globe.

Where: You can watch scopes happening all over the world on a huge variety of topics, and that variety is only going to expand. One night, my husband and I watched three guys scoping from their living room in Belgrade. One of them was oil painting a unicorn. It was randomly awesome. A common genre is the travel scope where people scope while on vacation and share the sights with their followers. The iOS version of the app has this nifty map feature which lets you see where people are scoping all over the world. This is my husband’s favorite feature of Periscope, and sadly it’s not available on the Droid version of the app yet. You can see a list of all the scopes happening everywhere, but without the map you can’t tell where they are broadcasting from.

Beware, be VERY Aware: Two big no-nos I’ve seen on Periscope so far is people broadcasting live events such as live concerts and the like, and X rated broadcasts. I watched an entire Rush concert and a U2 concert. I have not yet, nor do I plan to, watch anything with X in the title as I’m scared. Very scared, and that’s…just not my thing. No judging here, but I would be very careful with this aspect of the app, especially with kids. The folks in charge say they have staff keeping an eye out for inappropriate material, but I’ve seen a few titles that read XXX, and really, that only means one thing. Usually anyway.

Aside from that, it’s way neat and can be a lot of fun. I think it will get to be more fun when more people are broadcasting meaningful content. People like you. People like us. I’m hoping Meri will scope the ice cream at the Jog-n-Hog this weekend because I KNOW we all want to see that!

Do you scope? Do you have questions about scoping? Did you think (at first) that I was referring to mouthwash? We are on Periscope at @Scootadoot and hope to see you there! Share your handle in the comments!

Katie K Activewear Review

June 19, 2015 by bec2point0

This is going to be part product review, part just me telling you about a totally kickass company. Cool? Cool.

I’ve been fortunate enough in my blogging life to try out some incredible products, and asked to share my opinion on them. And if you know me, you know I love sharing my opinion. (That’s a nice way of saying I’m mouthy.)

So, when I was selected to be a brand ambassador for Taffy Activewear last year, I was stoked. Taffy is this totally adorable line of plus-sized activewear. It’s functional, trendy and well made. Saying yes was a total no brainer. After I’d been a Taffy Ambassador for a couple of months, I started noticing another name in plus-sized activewear around Twitter – Katie K Activewear.

I did a little peeking around (meaning I went straight to the website and started shopping) and realized that Katie K and Taffy were sister companies, both founded by the awesome Katie Kozloff. You can read Katie’s full story here, but in short, when Katie was a personal trainer, she often heard from her plus size clients that they had trouble finding stylish workout wear. And she didn’t just listen, she acted, creating a plus size women’s active line in Taffy, and later, an all inclusive sized line in Katie K.

Basically, Katie is awesome. I love representing this fantastic, female owned business, and I’m thrilled to help spread the word about this brand and show the world how I #definebrave.

Okay, let’s get down to it. The CLOTHES.

This might be the cutest I’ve ever looked for a workout!

For me, activewear needs to be three things; functional, comfortable and cute. Katie K is all of these things. The products are incredibly well made, and vary from pieces that are geared toward performance, like the Signature Capri, to pieces that can easily take you from the gym to running errands.

The latter is a little more my style, and along those lines, I can tell you I am fully in love with the Signature Walking Pant. They’re comfortable enough to wear for a brisk walk or a Zumba class, but they totally work for a run to the mall, too. My fave.

Post Color Run, covered in glitter and Katie K.

The best parts of Katie K products are in the details. The peek-a-boo opening on the Signature Open Back Tee had me channeling my inner Lynn Stone in the Color Run parking lot. (If you get that reference, you get massive cool points and we should probably hang out). And the Signature Cowl is pretty enough to rock on date night. Add to all that, the entire line features bright colors like coral, yellow and vivid blue.

Color!

And for my plus sized ladies, if you want to see the items for you? It’s all of them. The entire store comes in sizes Small-3X. So, if you’re looking for something ALL your friends can wear to a race, you can totally find it here. It’s awesome.

I’m pretty much gushing at this point, I know. I’m just so in love with this company. And because they’re so great, they let me offer you guys 15% off your purchase and free shipping when you use my Ambassador Code (BEC15).

I really hope you ladies will check out Katie K!

P.S. Today is the last day to enter our giveaway for a free entry to Diva Dash. Don’t forget to check it out!

Skechers You Say?

May 8, 2015 by Jennifer

When the BolderBOULDER said they were sending me a brand spakin’ new pair of Skechers GOrun4s to try out, I was all “awesome, free shoes”! After all, it cannot be disputed that the two of the best words ever invented are ‘free’ and ‘shoes’, especially when they are in a sentence next to each other. That being said, the word ‘Skechers’ raised a little flag in my head. I was a teensy bit apprehensive to try them out. Mostly because I’m super careful and picky about my shoes, and never buy a pair without doing a gait analysis in them first. I firmly believe that the wrong shoes can seriously hurt you. Just ask Cam.

The other reason I was apprehensive was that, well…they’re Skechers. Granted, these kicks were developed by their Performance division with input from Meb Keflezighi and Kara Goucher, but there was still a bit of a stigma in my head. And when I told people I was testing out a pair of Skechers for running, I got a similar reaction to the one I had. “Skechers? Really?” “But do you think they’re really for running, though?” There was only one way to find out!

New (free) shoes are the BESTEST!

Things I liked: Right out of the box, the first thing I noticed about these shoes is how incredibly lightweight they are. According to the Skechers website, these weigh 5.2 oz per shoe (based on a size 7). They should totally be floating in mid-air. Secondly, my husband LOVED them and if they were bigger, I think he might have stolen them from me. The sole is super cushy, and they felt fantastic when I put them on and wore them around the house one weekend. So far, these kicks were shaping up to be pretty awesome!

Things I Loved – It’s been SUPER rainy in Colorado the last few weeks, and getting outside to run has been a challenge. That being said, the GOrun4s served me well on the treadmill and elliptical, and I think I would really love them for heavy walking activities like going to the zoo or walking the Vegas Strip. I was able to get them out on one run, in the mud, for the final in my Walking & Jogging class. Yes, I took a class, and yes there was a final. Don’t judge! I was super sad they got all dirty, though. BUT, they held up great, they felt good, and my feet stayed dry, surprisingly.

New no longer but still comfy!

Things I could have used more of: Over pronation of my left leg and being flat-footed results in the need for two things; a healthy drop and arch support. These shoes don’t have much of either, which is great if you like a minimal shoe. Which is, in fact, what this shoe is designed to be; minimal. If that is your thing, then I think you might like the GOrun4, and I think Cam should try a pair, too!

Overall, I like the GOrun4s, but I’m still deciding if I like them for longer distances. With the crappy weather lately I’ve not been able to go more than 3 miles in them, and mile 4 is usually when the over-pronating makes my left hip and knee hurty. The jury (me) is still deliberating. I’m excited to keep wearing them and see how they work for me throughout the summer. It will be nice to have a lighter, cooler pair of kicks to put into rotation!

I would recommend them to anyone who likes a minimal shoe, and don’t let the fact that they are Skechers make you pause. I found them to be quality shoes with quite a bit of science behind them. At least try a pair on, I think you’ll be as pleasantly surprised as I was!

This post was sponsored by the BolderBOULDER and Skechers, who provided one free pair of Chevron Houston Marathon Edition GOrun4s for me to use, review, and keep.

We’re Coming for You, BolderBOULDER.

April 29, 2015 by Jennifer

Now that the AC half is over for 2015 and I’ve recovered from the gruesome death of a flu that I caught on my way home from New England, I can look ahead to the next fun, fitness-y related things on the horizon. In other words, we here at Scoot a Doot have NEWS, people. And news is always fun, yes? Yes!

A few weeks back, we got an email from the sweet folks over at the BolderBOULDER asking if we wanted to blog about our race experience this year. Seeing as this is my hometown race and we’re almost the same age, (this is the 37^th year of the race), there was no question I’d be running it. Blogging about it ‘officially’ was just icing!

The absolute best part of this event is the fact the Meridith is coming to run it with me. She’s never been to Colorado before, and when she saw this, she had questions.

Mainly, “will I die?” Secondly, “we’re sticking together for this one, right?”

After much reassurance that she won’t pass out from the altitude, I promised her that the map was deceiving and the course wasn’t that bad. Then we talked about costumes because of course we were sticking together and we need to look cute doing it.

The other best thing about this year’s event is that the BolderBOULDER is sending over some nifty stuff from Skechers Performance, TomTom, and Helly Hansen for me to try out and tell you guys about. Here’s a sneak peak!

Skechers GoRun4

Then, as if that wasn’t awesome enough, I found out that in June I’ll be volunteering at Fitbloggin2015. We are super excited about this as I’ll get an opportunity to meet amazing and inspiring fellow bloggers as well as learn more about many topics driving and inspiring the fitness community now. Topics that I can learn about and come back and share with you all. Because sharing is good. And making new friends is the best! Plus, it’s in Denver this year, so I can go to the conference and still sleep in my bed. That’s my cake and I’m eating it. Check out the topics and let’s talk about what speaks to you.

So stay tuned because Scootadoot news never stops. Or something.

(Make)Up While (Working) Out

April 3, 2015 by Meridith

The idea for this post all started with a tweet.

Followed closely by another tweet.

To refresh your memory, I’m the lady who needs to be told how to wash her face. I’m also the one who is still learning the correct way to apply makeup. Thankfully, Influenster deems me fit to try makeup. Cam always tells me that you just play with makeup and see what looks good; it’s pretty rad to be able to play with things like YSL Mascara!

I’m getting better and better about “putting on my face” as my mom calls it when I’m going out and about. However, the Twitter conversation that followed the tweets above with a variety of pals had me wondering about people who workout with makeup on. I know I’ve personally seen women at races with full makeup and while I am not quite at that level (I’m still working on wearing makeup on the regular), I decided to test Yves Saint Laurent Mascara out for a test run! After all, if it could stand the test of a couple of hard workouts, it can definitely hold up during a night on the town.

Not that I have those very often. BUT IF I DID…

Before putting mascara wand to lash, I needed to learn how to pronounce “Yves Saint Laurent”. Sure I could have taken the easy route and continued to called it YSL, but what fun is that? Plus, I like to pretend I’m French.

Okay, cool.

Now that I knew how to say it, I could wear it. That should be a rule, in general.

First things first: you must know that Yves Saint Laurent MASCARA VOLUME EFFET FAUX CILS (that’s the product’s full given name) smells really, really good. I don’t make it a habit of going around smelling mascara but it’s one of those things that I noticed right away, so I have to mention it. I applied a nice coat to my upper and bottom lashes; it felt light and not clumpy at all.

But how would it hold up during a treadmill run?

I did five miles and worked up a good sweat because I am nothing if not a good sweat-er. Sweat pours from my hairline and down my face, as usual, within the first half mile. I had a white towel that I used to wipe my face throughout the workout and I kept peering at it, scared to see black streaks. I was running but YSL was not! 1 point for you, fancy mascara.

Oh, but I wasn’t done yet. The very next morning the intensity of my workout was cranked up to eleven when I hit the gym with my trainer. I applied two coats, pumping up the lashes and putting YSL mascara to a greater test. That morning was an inside/outside workout and I was sweating profusely.

Side note: I recently added red to my hair and that was running all over the place. Seriously, one of my workout buddies was concerned that I was bleeding. It was not cute. However, my mascara? That stayed put and was cute! Thankfully. So I didn’t look like a complete fool, only a partial one.

Another point for mascara. Hair, you fail that test. Work on bonding to the strands and get your act together (but I still love you).

So does mascara stand up to working out? Well, I can’t speak for every mascara but Yves Saint Laurent mascara certainly does! Up next? I plan to run in full makeup at the Atlantic City April Fools half. Why? Because I’m running in a costume that calls for it, of course! Not ready to give the costume away quite yet but I bet you’re going to love it. Any guesses?

I received Yves Saint Laurent MASCARA VOLUME EFFET FAUX CILS complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.

All I do is WIN – WIN Detergent review and giveaway

October 20, 2014 by Meridith

Dear Workout Clothes,

No offense but you stink.

No Love,

Meridith

If you ask me what I’m doing, chances are that about 85% of the time, I’ll give you the same answer: LAUNDRY.

Friends, I do laundry more than I do basically anything else. If I’m not doing laundry, then I’m probably not at home. I wish I were kidding. But I’m not. The other Chicks can back me up on this (you know, if you need verification) because every single email that we exchange includes my laundry woes.

Lately, I’ve been pretty frustrated because while I’m constantly doing laundry, I haven’t felt like my workout clothes have been getting particularly clean. They seem to hold on to the stench of sweat, no matter what. Lovely, it is not. So when Fit Approach gave ambassadors a chance to check out WIN detergent, I was stoked!

Welcome to my lair, WIN.

So what’s the difference between the regular (blue) bottle and WIN GREEN? Both are good to use on technical apparel and are geared toward sports/workout clothes. The GREEN is hypoallergenic and dye-free, as well as fragrance free. That means that all of my husband’s and my workout clothes as well as my (sensitive skin) kiddo’s soccer uniform were thrown in there together. Additionally, I had some towels in there because, well, we were running low!

I’ve been using WIN detergent since the start of October. The verdict? I’ve been really pleased! The funk of my workout clothes has dissipated and I no longer feel like I smell bad BEFORE I start working out, which is always a positive.

The regular detergent gives the clothes a nice scent and while the GREEN doesn’t have a scent, I think that it’s cleaning my clothes and not masking odors.

I’ll continue using WIN and since it’s available through Amazon I don’t even need to leave my house to get it. Which is great, considering I always have laundry to do.

Want a chance to try WIN detergent? Well, I’m so glad to hear you do! We’ve got a bottle of the regular detergent and the GREEN up for grabs for one lucky reader. Don’t wait to wait to try WIN? Use the discount code WINGIVE1 for $1 off your purchase on Amazon. Cool? Cool!

Click the pic to enter!

Thank you Fit Approach for the hook up! Other than the two bottles of detergent and the prize, no other compensation was given. All opinions (and laundry) are completely my own.

Product Review: MyOatmeal.com

October 14, 2014 by bec2point0

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.

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

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

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.

Road Tested: Manitoba Harvest’s Hemp Pro 70

September 10, 2014 by Meridith

Back in February, we adopted our dog, Gemma. She came from the streets of Philadelphia and I swore that she was going to have the best life in our home. We feed her food that we get at a specialty natural pet food store, give her only the best treats, and occasionally she gets free range, organic eggs. Um, I’m pretty sure she eats better than I do!

Now, I’m not a vegan but I do try to be cognizant of what I put in my body. Therefore when I heard from Fit Approach that Manitoba Harvest was looking for some folks to try out their hemp protein powder, I jumped at the opportunity.

Oh, do go on!

I’m a morning gym goer, so my need/want for protein powder is usually in the form of smoothies. Prior to this, I solely went on taste. I tried a few protein powders that were… well, in a word, TERRIBLE. Chalky, powdery, strong-flavored (and NOT in a good way).

I finally found a protein powder that was right up my alley and it’s worked well for me but I’m always interested in trying new things, especially when they are better for me! Plant based protein with four ingredients? I’m down!

Since I was trying new things, I decided to try a couple of new smoothie recipes from the Manitoba Harvest website. I was sent two packets of Hemp Pro 70: chocolate and vanilla.

Now, before I continue, let me say that I’m definitely more of a vanilla fan than a chocolate when it comes to protein powder. That being said, I figured that I would start with the chocolate to give it a fair shot and not let any previous biases cloud my judgement.

The recipes on the website call for one serving of the protein powder but since I was given a half serving in the sample, the recipes below are adjusted accordingly. If you click through to their site, you can see the recipes.

Okay, chocolate, get your game face on!

Berry-Choco Smoothie

3/4 cup organic blueberries
.5 Manitoba Harvest organic hemp protein powder chocolate
1/2 chocolate almond milk (I used original unsweetened almond milk, as I didn’t have chocolate almond milk. I also upped it to a cup because it was too thick to drink.)

Combine in a blender and serve!

My thoughts? Well, sadly, I am still not a huge chocolate protein powder fan. I’m not sure if it’s the recipe (although I do love blueberries) or what I didn’t exactly adore about this smoothie, but I wasn’t crazy about it. The Manitoba Harvest folks suggest that their hemp products have a nutty taste but I felt like it was more earth-y.

Gemma was definitely begging for some but no can do, pup; no chocolate for dogs!

However, with the knowledge that I usually favor the flavor of vanilla protein powder, I was looking forward to powering on the following day.

Into the blender you go!

Vanilla Berry Banana Shake

1/2 cup organic strawberries
1/2 organic banana
.5 serving of Manitoba Harvest organic hemp protein vanilla
1/2 cup of organic vanilla almond milk (Again, I used original unsweetened almond milk. And again, I upped the amount to a cup.)
1/4 cup of ice (which basically equals a cube)

Combine and blend ingredients in blender. Serve. Enjoy!

Hello, my pretty!

Now THIS? This was total and complete love at first taste. And second. And third. Sometimes I save smoothies to share with my husband but not this time. (Too bad, so sad, Dude!) (Don’t fret – Gemma got the other half of the banana.)

Additionally, what’s pretty rad about this protein is that it’s water soluble. So you can throw it into water, almond milk, milk milk (if you’re an animal product type), coconut water and bam – it’s ready to go. Sign me up for a big canister of vanilla!

If you’d like to give the Manitoba Harvest Hemp Pro 70 products a whirl, here’s a coupon code! You can get 20% off the #pro70 vanilla and chocolate flavors with the code: sweatpinkpro70

Or, you can try your hand at winning a case of Manitoba Harvest Hemp Pro 70 – share a picture on Instagram or Twitter showing your hemp love! Make sure you tag @manitobaharvest and hashtag #pro70 so that they see what’cha got! Contest ends 9/30.

Talk to me about smoothies, because I love them so. Any suggestions for chocolate protein powder recipes that I can try? (I really like the chocolate and peanut butter combo.) How about vanilla? Have you ever tried Hemp Pro 70?

Fit Approach and Manitoba Harvest provided the me with the opportunity to taste and review. All opinions are my own.

Product Review: Buff Butter

August 29, 2014 by bec2point0

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

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.)

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

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!

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?

Scootadoot

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