The Nutritionist Reviews

October 31, 2012

Quinn Popcorn Review

My husband and I are huge popcorn fans and when I heard about Quinn popcorn , I wanted to try it. I had read about it on one of my favorite healthy living blogs that raved about this popcorn. It comes in three flavors including lemon and sea salt, Vermont maple and sea salt and Parmesan and rosemary. The first flavor that I tried was the Vermont maple and sea salt. This popcorn is different than other popcorn because of the way you make it. First, you pop the kernels in the microwave. Then, you take the oil that it comes with and pour it over the popcorn and shake it up. They, the flavors (in this case, the maple and salt) get sprinkled on the popcorn and shook up. This popcorn has 180 calories per 3 cups serving. I cut down on the calories by using only about 2/3 of the oil and 2/3 of the salt/maple mixture. I really liked this popcorn. It tasted fresh and light. The salty sweet mix was excellent and I had trouble limiting myself to one portion. One excellent trait about popcor

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October 30, 2012

Hot New Whole Foods Products Review

I was recently contacted to try some new products that are brand new to Whole Foods. Um, yes!! They are a mixture of breakfast products. I love that they are whole grain and healthy. Here are some of the products that I was sent and my opinions of them: Organic Banana Bread Love Crunch from Nature’s Path -- Go bananas over the latest Love Crunch granola creation, made with organic bananas, hemp seeds, pecans, cinnamon and Fair Trade™ certified milk chocolate. This was my favorite product of the ones that I was sent.  It is healthy and tastes just like banana bread. I sprinkled some into my vanilla yogurt and it made the perfect breakfast. If you love banana bread, you will love this cereal. 365 Everyday Value Flax Milk -- Gluten-free, dairy-free, soy and nut free, flax milk is a pleasantly tasty and sweet milk alternative to suit all kinds of special diets. In addition, flax seeds are a good source of Omega-3 Fatty acids. I had never tried flax milk before but eat groun

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October 29, 2012

Handful Bra Review

I first became a fan of Handful bras about a year ago when I was sent a white one to review on my blog. When I wrote the review, I really loved the bra but after using for over a year now, I can tell you I love it even more. It is even on my list of Favorite Products . It is like a mix between a sports bra and a regular bra. It keeps you contained like a sports bra should but also has some padding to give you some shape unlike most other sports bras. I literally still wear my Handful bra everywhere. I wore it with a dress to a concert and have worn it to workout. It holds up well in the wash and the pads slip out easily. This is honestly my favorite sports bra. This time, I was sent a grey adjustable Handful bra. These come in purple, grey and black. They retail for $44. I like that you can adjust the straps different ways based on the clothing that you are wearing. I love my new Handful and will be wearing it often. I love that it can hold up well through the wash as many bra

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October 29, 2012

Campbell's Soup Review and Giveaway

Campbell's is a company that has been around forever with tons of different soup options. Some of my classic favorites include tomato and bean with bacon. I was recently contacted to try some of Campbell's new gourmet soups. The flavors sounded really interesting so I decided to give them a try. Here are the soups that I was sent: Buffalo chicken, sweet potato tomatillo, Thai tomato coconut, roasted chicken and chardonnay and sun ripe yellow tomato. I was so excited to try these out and see what my husband and I thought. He took the chicken and chardonnay soup to work because it was already in a portable to-go container. The container has 2 servings of soup which was perfect for my husband for lunch to fill him up.  He said that he really loved the soup. He said that it was rich and liked the corn a lot in it. I tried the sun ripe yellow tomato and enjoyed it a lot as well. My dad has always a ton of tomatoes in his garden and we love the yellow variety. I love the Ca

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October 26, 2012

This Chick Bakes Review and Giveaway

This Chick Bakes is a company that makes cookies and brownies. They are handmade in small batches which is almost unheard of these days.   This chocolate fudge brownie was incredible. It was extremely dense and rich tasting. It contains some espresso which you can really taste throughout the brownie. I split this brownie 4 ways between my husband, sister, mom and I and we all loved it.  It is very calorie dense so I would recommend splitting it with someone or saving half for later.  Another cookie that I loved was the vegan peanut butter chocolate chunk. This cookie is very large and soft. It tastes completely fresh baked and my husband and I loved it. Also, for anyone who is nervous about it being vegan, you cannot even tell at all. My husband's favorite was the oatmeal raisin. He loved the big raisins inside and said that the cookie was perfectly chewy. This is actually the second batch of cookies that This Chick Bakes sent me. The first batch that I was sent

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October 25, 2012

Neato XV-21 Automatic Vacuum Cleaner Giveaway

Welcome to the Neato Robotics giveaway event hosted by Real Mom Reviews . If you are anything like me there is just simply not enough time in the day to get everything done. Cleaning sometimes takes a back burner and there are days that I wish there was some way I could automatically clean my floors. Now there is! The Neato XV-21 Automatic Vacuum Cleaner is specially designed for pet owners and allergy sufferers. With the most powerful suction of any robot vacuum, the XV-21 picks up dirt, debris, and even the toughest pet hair. The Neato XV-21′s special filter retains more than three times the amount of fine dust particles as standard filters, which is perfect for removing allergens from the home. A new combination bristle and blade brush improves the pick-up of pet hair, dander and fibers. One super lucky reader will win a Neato XV-21 Automatic Vacuum Cleaner to enter all you need to do is fill out the Rafflecopter form below! Please make sure you read the Giveaway Rules befo

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October 25, 2012

Tea of a Kind Review + Favorites and Giveaway Winners

After almost 16 months of not doing so, I updated my favorites page. Check out my favorite products out of the 800 that I have reviewed. _________________________________________________________________________________ Winners of my recent giveaways: Musco Olive Giveaway (10/11) debijo4545 Amorroma Bathing Suit Giveaway (10/25) osullivanrobin1   The winners have been emailed and have 48 hours to respond. Thanks all who entered! __________________________________________________________________________________   I was recently contacted about a new-to-me product called Tea of a Kind .  It comes in three flavors including pomegranate acai, citrus mint and peach ginger. This product is very unique compared to other teas in the way that it is opened and mixed. I will let the experts describe it: The packaging is ground-breaking for the beverage sector, with a cap (a proprietary technology called “the Gizmo”) that self-mixes fresh ingredients upon opening. A special

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October 24, 2012

J-Dock Seafood Review

J-Dock Seafood is a company that sells all kinds of fish, crab legs, scallops, etc. Here is some background about me with seafood: I have barely tried any! I have had shrimp, tuna, tilapia, swordfish and maybe a couple others. I had never tried crab legs so when the company offered to send me some of those, I was both nervous and excited to try. Saturday was Sweetest Day and my husband was planning on making me dinner. My seafood came right in time and he chose to cook up the giant crab legs. These crab legs were so big that I had to use my biggest pot to cook them in. They are very simple to make. Just boil water and then cook the crab legs for 8-10 minutes. The house smelled kind of fishy so I was worried that they would have a strong seafood taste. This was not the case at all. They tasted amazing. My husband and I were totally shocked at how much we loved them.  He made a lemon garlic butter sauce to dip the crab legs in which complemented the taste very well.  These crab le

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October 23, 2012

Eco Vessel Water Bottle Review

Eco Vessel is a company that sells all different kinds of water bottles. They have stainless steel bottles, filtration bottles and Tritan plastic bottles. As I have talked about before, I am a huge water drinker and drink at least 4-32 ounce bottles of water per day. Recently, my husband started drinking much less Mountain Dew (score one for the dietitian!!) and started drinking more water. He is a school teacher and of course has limited time during the day. For my review, I chose this Tritan 25 ounce straw bottle in boulder blue which retails for $13.95. I chose it because the straw makes it easy to sip for my husband in between lessons and I liked the blue color. The bottle is BPA free and is made with very lightweight plastic. My husband and I both really love this bottle. It is good quality and seems like it will last a long time. He will be taking it to work with him daily and I'm so excited that he is drinking more water. Eco Vessel has many affordable BPA free bottl

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October 23, 2012

Don Tomas Coffee Review and Giveaway

Don Tomas is a coffee company that has been producing coffee for over a century! They use 100% Arabica coffee from Nicaragua. For my review, I was sent a couple bags of their ground coffee. A one pound bag of coffee retails for $12-13 on their website. They come in different varieties such as ground, whole bean, espresso, etc. There are several different roasts including harvest moon (decaf), sundown and original family blend. The first thing that I noticed when I opened up my bag of coffee is that the coffee had a strong delicious scent. In fact, it made my whole room smell great. I like my coffee fairly weak so I ended up loving this medium roast. It was full of flavor but not too strong. Also, it was not bitter like some coffees are. This coffee is very tasty and perfect for a weekend morning. Giveaway The giveaway will be for one bag of Don Tomas coffee to one reader on The Nutritionist Reviews. a Rafflecopter giveaway

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October 22, 2012

WholeFruit Smoothie Review

I was recently sent some of these WholeFruit Smoothies to try out. I was a bit skeptical how something kept in the freezer could be soft like a smoothie but decided to give them a try. I was sent three flavors including strawberry banana, mixed berry and pineapple mango. I really liked the strawberry banana one. It tasted rich and creamy and was very satisfying. All you do it take off the lid and heat in the microwave for 20 seconds. When it comes out of the microwave, just stir and eat. It is instantly in the perfect smooth and soft consistency. I was shocked! If you do not have time to make a homemade smoothie, these are perfect. Each one is only 100 calories making it a low-calorie snack. I was not a fan of the pineapple mango one because I thought it was too sweet and tasted kind of fake to me. I had my sister try one of the pineapple mango smoothies and she realy liked it. WholeFruit also makes other products including bars and sorbet.

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October 22, 2012

Mara's Pasta Review and Giveaway

When I started my schooling for dietetics, I learned about the fiber and protein content of whole wheat pasta and made the switch. Now, I basically always eat whole wheat pasta and love it. I was recently sent some Mara's Pasta to review. This is 100% whole wheat pasta and comes in different shapes such as farfalle, spaghetti and fettucine. This past Friday night, I had my mom, dad and sister over for dinner and cooked up a couple boxes of Mara's pasta to try. The texture was chewier and more dense than some other pastas I have had but I really liked it. My mom is not a fan of whole wheat pasta typically but she said that it was not bitter like she finds some to be. An example of a meal with Mara's Pasta: Fettuccine with Tomatoes and Corn Everyone in my family really liked it. One serving has 8 grams of protein and 7 grams of fiber which is amazing. This has better stats than any pasta I have eaten before. I also made an amazing half homemade, half jarred sauc

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October 20, 2012

Ozeri Salt and Pepper Grinder Review

I have done a couple Ozeri reviews in the past and have been happy with the products. My favorite would have to be their scale which is glass and has a sleek design which looks great in my bathroom. For this review, I was sent their Fresko salt and pepper grinder. I have never used a salt and pepper grinder before. I don't use salt much and just buy regular pepper. I wanted to review this because I loved the stainless steel design which matches well with all of my kitchen appliances. I will fill this grinder with salt and pepper and keep it on my counter for decoration and to use during cooking. It uses ceramic gears for easy grinding. It has two adjustable knobs so you can adjust the size of the pepper and salt coming out. I really like this because for some food, you might like bigger chunks while many foods, you will want it to be finely ground. I like that it has the salt and pepper together in one for space saving. I love the way that this looks and it grinds pepper ver

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October 19, 2012

NatureBox Review and Giveaway

 I was recently sent the October shipment of NatureBox products. I have seen these all over the internet and became interested. NatureBox sends a shipment of 4-6 full sized healthier snacks that you get to try out. This includes 15 to 20 servings of snacks.  They are a monthly subscription service that costs $19.95 per month. They guarantee that their products will come with no high fructose corn syrup, no trans fats, no artificial flavors or colors, no artificial sweeteners and no partially hydrogenated oils. This month came with some great products: • Antioxidant Boost Trail Mix - I love a sweet and salty trail mix and this one lived up to my expectations. • Cherry Berry Granola - This is tasty sprinkled on fat-free frozen vanilla Greek yogurt. Yum! • Blueberry Almond Bites - These are light and tasty. I can imagine crumbling some over yogurt for a snack. • Sticks and Stones - I loved this one! It came with a mix of tasty sesame sticks, cashews and almonds. It is a salt

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October 18, 2012

How to Order a Healthy Smoothie

I have another great guest post to share with you all about ordering a smoothie. Enjoy! ___________________________________________________________________________________ Smoothies have always been advertised as the healthy drink. Packed with plenty of vitamins, antioxidants, and fresh goodness, these drinks beat chugging down a Coca-Cola or a sugary beverage any day. However, not all smoothies are good for you, and some can actually hinder your health goals. Here are some do’s and don’ts when it comes to ordering a healthy smoothie. DO choose sorbet or frozen yogurt instead of ice cream Many smoothies add a scoop or two of ice cream to get the creamy, thick texture they are going for – but no matter how delicious the ice cream is, it certainly isn’t beneficial to a lean, healthy lifestyle. Think about all those hours you slaved away at the pilates reformer at your local Fitness First , then ask yourself: is the ice cream worth it? Probably not. Ask for some different opti

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October 18, 2012

Ornaments with Love Review

I first found Ornaments with Love last year and reviewed an amazing ornament. My husband and I had just purchased our first home and I got an ornament with our new address on it. I love it and will always cherish this since it is our first house that we bought. I will also not forget my husband's reaction when he opened it. He loved it and thought it was awesome that I got an ornament made for our home that we had not moved into yet. My ornament from last year! The company contacted me again to review one of their ornaments and I happily agreed. This time, I cannot show you the ornament because it is for a gift for a family member and they have not received it yet. I will say that the ornaments from this company ship quick and are great quality. I loved these teacher ornaments and thought that they would be super cute for my husband who is a science teacher. The ornaments are very affordable and cost about $10-15 per personalized ornaments. They have hundreds o

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October 17, 2012

Five Superfoods that you May Not Know About

Unless you've been in hibernation over the last few years, you have probably heard the term 'superfood' being thrown around in health articles, television shows, and in day-to-day life. Superfoods are a unique group of foods that are packed with health benefits, nutritional goodness, vitamins and can even help prevent major disease like cancer. There are classic superfoods - such as blueberries, broccoli, and salmon - but those are only the tip of the iceberg. You can never have too much of a good thing, so here are the top five superfoods you may not know bout, and some tips on how to incorporate them into your diet. Chia seeds So many people want to know how to lose weight fast, and the answer is simple: expend more energy than you consume - in other words, eat less and move more! Keeping your stomach satisfied and full can sometimes be a mission, but this is where chia seeds step in. Not only do chia seeds contain more omega-3 than salmon and more iron than spinac

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October 16, 2012

Ask the RD: Nutrition for Endurance Athletes

"Ask the RD" is a series of nutrition posts on The Nutritionist Reviews. If you have any nutrition related questions or topics that you would like to know more about, please email me: achernandez711@yahoo.com . ___________________________________________________________________________________ Proper nutrition is important for athletes to help them achieve peak performance. Without adequate nutrition, athletes are more likely to get injured, have a lack of energy and perform poorly in their sports. Carbohydrates, protein and fats are all important parts of an endurance athlete's diet. To determine a specific eating plan, consult your physician or a registered dietitian. Carbohydrates Carbohydrates are very important for endurance athletes and, according to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, they are the primary fuel for exercise. Focus on whole grains such as whole-wheat pasta, bread, rice, crackers and cereals to fuel up. Endurance athletes should consume

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October 15, 2012

Amorroma Review and Giveaway

Amorroma is a company that sells swimsuits and cover ups to go over the suits.  Even though swimming season is over for me, I was still excited to try on a new suit in hopes to wear it sometime this winter at a hotel if I take any trips. For my review, I was sent the triangle top and the foldover bottom in turquoise.  The suit seems to be very nice quality and fit me well. Each piece retails for $50-56. I like the thick band on the bottoms because they are not too skimpy. I hate string bikini bottoms and these are nice and covering. The nice turquoise color will be perfect for summer. I can't wait to get to wear this suit soon! This is a very new company and started in 2012. Here is some information about them: The launch of the Beverly Hills based brand AMORROMA, this Summer 2012, is making a splash amongst the contemporary beach market. Designer and Owner, Heather Roma, has curated a collection of swimwear that is sure to fill a void in any women's wardrobe.  Give

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October 11, 2012

Life is Good

Last Friday night, Troy and I took my parents out to a nice Italian restaurant in Windsor, Canada. After purchasing our home nearly 1 year ago, we finally took some pictures in front of our house. We are loving life in our new home and just got the basement painted. Pictures to come! We love these bright red bushes on the side of our house.  Us at the restaurant What is going well for you this Fall? Anything exciting?

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October 10, 2012

Basement Remodel and Wagner Review

Troy and I have wanted to work on this basement makeover for almost a year now since we first laid eyes on our home but other projects, work and school took precedence. Finally, we chose the color that we wanted, Behr Premium Plus with Primer in Cork. When we chose the color for the basement, we wanted something really warm, light and cheery. We choose this goldish tan and are thrilled with the results. I highly recommend Behr Premium Plus with Primer because it saves you that primer coat and covers very well. We have used this type of paint for our entire house so fat and love it.  I was sent a Wagner SMART Edge Roller to review on my blog which I knew would be perfect for this basement project. It is so easy to use and saves a lot of time. You just suck up some paint with the fill adapter, then remove the fill adapter and start rolling. To dispense the paint, you just squeeze the handle. It saves so much time from having to go back to the paint tray and roll some new paint on

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