Quest Nutrition has quickly become a new favorite in my diet. In a nut shell, their bars are candy for bodybuilders and healthy eaters. Quest was kind enough to send me two of their most popular flavors to review (chocolate chip cookie dough and white chocolate raspberry) -so here you all go!
I have seen people have them straight out of the wrapper, baked, and broiled. To give a fair review... I did all three!
Chocolate chip cookie dough: The bar of this was soft enough to eat on its own, except the chocolate bits are very crumbly. When baked, they all melted like a regular chocolate chip. (This made it taste exactly like cookie dough!) If you broil it, the outside gets a little harder but the inside stays gooey which makes it taste exactly like a chocolate chip cookie! My favorite way was broiled and on a nice big bowl of profroyo (protein frozen yogurt). Delicious and nutritious!
White chocolate raspberry: On its own, I liked the taste of this bar better. There were lots of white chocolate bits, but they were very crumbly too. There are actually little bites of raspberry in the bar which I really liked. Baked the chocolate bits melted like the cccd bar. Since it wasn't supposed to be a 'dough' flavored bar like the other, this texture wasn't my favorite but the flavor was still very good. Last I broiled it until the outside was a little crispy and the inside was nice and gooey. Once again it tasted exactly like a cookie!
All of quest's bars have 17+ grams of fiber, 20+ grams of protein, and as low as 3 grams on net carbs... which is insane! Especially for the taste. Having tried these (and being a healthy eater) they satisfied any sweet tooth I may have completely. But I wanted a true test so I stopped by my GNC and bought one for my mom. She chose the chocolate brownie flavor and her only comment was it tasted exactly like a big tootsie roll. She didn't bother baking or broiling hers and just ate it out of the wrapper. Her reaction was about the same as mine- delicious and well worth the price! If you'd like to try quest bars you can order online straight from www.questnutrition.com or stop by a GNC store to stock up!
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Expect lots of pumpkin recipes around this time if year.. Sorry, I'm addicted! This really could be made into a mug cake or pancakes as well, I just baked it in a round pie dish so I could say I'm eating pie around thanksgiving. In a blender I combined 1 cup of old fashion oats, 1/2 cup pumpkin purée, 1/3 cup liquid egg whites, 5 packets of truvia/stevia, 1 t vanilla extract, 1/2 t cinnamon, 1T uns applesauce, and 2 T uns vanilla almond milk. I coated a medium-sized pie pan with coconut oil, filled with the mixture, and baked on 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes. Just check it with a toothpick and if it comes out clear, it's done! I liked it topped with pb2 (powdered peanut butter) and a dollop of Greek yogurt as my "whipped cream". Enjoy! Super simple recipe here here!! I found we have molds to make both big and little donuts so you can probably guess how I spent my morning. The recipe was inspired by @healthfitness12 on instagram, but I did make a few changes! I made several variations but for each I started out with: SMOOTHIES. I love smoothies because you can almost throw anything into a blender and make it taste good. they're great to go with breakfast, for a snack, or even a dessert if you have a little sweet tooth! I've recently gotten several people who really don't enjoy healthy eating on a smoothie kick lately so I thought I'd post for you what I gave them.
liquid: unsweetened almond milk (vanilla, regular), unsweetened coconut milk, coconut water, 100% fruit juice, or plain greek yogurt. You can also use just water but I prefer a little flavor! (I have also tried artic zero... if you like milkshakes, I recommend!) greens: my favorites to use are either frozen spinach or kale. Both give a great texture and smoothness to the smoothie without actually tasting veggies or bitterness they can give. Really though, any leafy green will do! fruit: honestly any fruit will do! If it isn't already pre-frozen, I prefer to freeze it before I blend. I like to buy in bulk the big bags of frozen mango, pineapple, strawberries, and peaches. During the summer we always pick blueberries and freeze them to keep all year so I'll always have those on hand. Apples, bananas, and oranges are usually fairly cheap and easy to find as well. (If they are in season, I love to throw pomegranate seeds into mine for a little crunch, tastes AMAZING!) fats: (healthy of course) my favorites are milled flax seed (your body won't absorb the nutrients if they are whole), hemp hearts, chia seeds, peanut or almond butter, coconut oil, or avocado. flavoring: this is the part of the smoothie you could completely cut out or use to make your shake taste wicked good! If your eating this post-workout you could throw in any flavor protein powder you like, otherwise, I sometimes use flavored extracts or flavored stevia drops. get creative though, anything works! texture: to make this a thicker drink I like to add in things like wheat germ and raw old fashion oats. It gives you complex carbs to help fill you up if your are having this as more of a meal as well. method: it's probably self-explanatory, but you take your desired ingredients and desired amounts and throw them in a blender to blend! I have found putting your liquid in first helps everything to blend easier. You can also add ice if you didn't freeze you veggies and fruit first. I have tried making ice cubes out of my liquids as well which works awesome! here's a few of my favorite combinations right now: [minus the greens] 1) a large frozen banana, 1t uns dark cocoa powder, 1/2 scoop chocolate whey, and 3/4 c uns vanilla almond milk. Vanilla maple artic zero or stevia both sweeten this one very nice! 2) A frozen orange, a scoop of vanilla whey, and 1 cup uns vanilla almond milk- tastes like an orange creamsicle! 3) a cup of coconut water, half a green apple peeled and chopped, 1/3 cup chopped pineapple, and a clementine. 4) half a frozen banana, 1/2 cup of the frozen fruit mixture, 1 cup uns almond milk, 1 T milled flax seed, and 1/2 T hemp hearts, 1/4 cup raw old fashion oats. 5) 3/4 c uns vanilla almond milk, 1/3 c frozen blueberries, 1/2 large frozen peach, 2T wheat germ, 2T pb2. 6) 3/4 c uns vanilla almond milk, 1T almond utter, 1/2 c frozen grapes, 1T vanilla whey protein powder. (tastes like a pb&j!) 7) 1/4 c pumpkin puree, a frozen banana, a cup of uns vanilla almond milk, a packet of truvia, 1/4 t vanilla extract, a sprinkle of cinnamon, and 1T vanilla whey protein powder. This one also tastes great using chocolate whey and 1/2T uns dark cocoa powder (Pumpkin pie!) |
HaleyI'm just your average fitness lover, nothing too special. I eat clean and train mean! Archives
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