The Nutritionist Reviews: 2013

December 31, 2013

2013, What a Year!

One of my very favorite posts to write each year is my yearly recap post. It lets me really reflect on the past year and all of the happy times that I was able to experience. This year was no different than others in that I was very blessed. Here are some of the great moments I had this year: We started the year out with another awesome NYE spent at Lakeland Banquet and Event Center with the whole family. We danced like crazy! We went to Al's Hideaway Bar and sang some karaoke for the first time in my life!! Troy and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary ! We redid our " red room " and I think it looks 10000x better Before After (we have since gotten the carpet redone to a nice tan color). My brother graduated college and got engaged ! Wedding is 6/14/14! My brother got the most adorable English Setter named Wallace . He's gotten a lot bigger since this picture! We went and stayed at my brother's new house in Paris,

December 30, 2013

Venice Gluten-Free Bakery Review

I can imagine that for those who require a gluten-free diet, it is most difficult to give up items like bread, pasta and cereals. The great thing is that now, many companies are offering gluten-free options of these items. I recently discovered a company called Venice Bakery which makes gluten-free pizza dough. I was sent a variety of Venice Bakery’s dough to try. Troy and I made a pizza with sauce, cheese, peppers, onions and jalapenos on this crust. It turned out well. It is not exactly like a wheat crust pizza but was a nice alternative. They offer different gluten-free varieties including pre-made crusts, flatbread, focaccia, dough balls and breads. This is great for people who require a gluten-free diet. Ingredients are kept simple: Rice Flour, Tapioca Flour, Water, Potato Starch, Potato Flakes, Olive Oil, Sugar, Yeast, Salt. These products are dairy, soy and egg free as well for those who have allergies to those foods. I think that Venice Baker

December 30, 2013

Gaiam TV Review and Giveaway

I have a great giveaway for you today to help you get healthy in the New Year!! I was recently contacted to try a month of Gaiam TV for free and to review it here on my blog. I had not heard of Gaiam TV before and had fun checking out what it had to offer. It provides streaming access to different workout and yoga videos. They also have videos on wellness, spirituality and metaphysical. It focuses on improving fitness in both the mental and physical sense. A subscription is only $9.95 per month! I checked out the videos and they have some great ones available. They have many choices from Jillian Michaels. They have different DVD options for cardio, dance, yoga and more. I think that it is neat that you can get a subscription to use all of these videos for such a good price. I was also sent a couple of items from the Gaiam store to review including the selenite candle and the oyster mushroom garden. I think that the idea of growing your own mushrooms at home is awesome

December 29, 2013

Teta Foods Mediterranean Review

My most favorite kind of food is by far Mediterranean. I love Greek, Lebanese, etc. I could honestly eat it every single day. The problem is that I do not know how to make most of these foods at home so I rely on eating out to get my Mediterranean fix. I recently found a company called Teta Foods which is so close to me. It is a Michigan company located in Clinton Township which is only about 30 minutes away from my house!! They make different kinds of dressings and sauces including: tahini dressing, shish tawook, garlic spread, shawarma sauce and fattoush dressing. When I got this package, I was so excited to trying these since I love this kind of food so much. The first product that I tried was the fattoush dressing. This tasted a lot like the dressing they give you in restaurants! Fattoush salad usually comes with lettuce, small diced tomatoes and cucumbers and pieces of fried pita. This dressing is very good! I am so, so picky with dressing so finding one that I love is a

December 28, 2013

Zensah Compression Running Jacket Review

Earlier this year, I reviewed the Zensah compression socks and really liked them. Since writing that review, I have run a few races in these socks and think that they do a great job. For my review, I was sent the Zensahpower running jacket to review. As a runner, clothing that is slightly uncomfortable, doesn’t fit just right or is not a great material, feels awful on a run. Somehow, anything about when my clothing bothers me irritates me X 1000 when running. I was sent this Zensah running jacket which is a great material that does not get itchy, uncomfortable, ride up, or any other issues that may occur on a run. This jacket retails for $74.99 on the Zensah website. It comes in black, white, pink, or black with colored zippers. The material of this jacket is what is so different from other jackets. It uses material that is very stretchy which feels so nice on your skin. It is moisture wicking and anti-microbial. The fabric is very breathable which I find to be important s

December 27, 2013

Zak Designs Serveware Review and Giveaway

I really like Zak Designs products because they are all very cute and functional. I was recently sent their serveware set and really like it. This set comes with the large duo bowl, non-skid gallery tray and happy spoons. This kit is so cute! I love the bright colors. I have worked with Zak Designs a few times in the past and have liked all of their items so far. This large duo bowl is awesome. It is the largest mixing and serving bowl that I have. I was making cookie dough in a smaller, yet large bowl and the cookie dough was hard to mix since there was so much. I switched it to this ginormous bowl which was perfect. It was able to fit everything. I would also serve a big salad in this bowl. I like the bright white exterior and the plum interior. The happy spoons are very cute and I will use them for serving at a party. The different colors of spoons would look nice in different bowls of condiments. I love the non-skid gallery tray in my favorite color, yellow.

December 25, 2013

Merry Christmas to You!I

What a wonderful day! A day to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ! I do not talk about religion very often here on my blog but I must acknowledge that I am very thankful for Jesus Christ. Today, we celebrate the birth of Jesus and am so thankful for him. About a month ago in church, the priest said something that has stuck with me since: He is the reason for the season. It is so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of Christmas and the entire holiday season but we must remember that the real reason we are celebrating Christmas is Jesus. So go and enjoy time with your family and loved ones today and don't forget why we are celebrating this holiday! Merry Christmas to you and to your Family!

December 24, 2013

Eek! It's Christmas Eve!

TOMORROW IS CHRISTMAS DAY!!! I am very excited to spend time with family and celebrate the birth of Jesus. Troy and I have had a great time celebrating this holiday season. Have a very wonderful Christmas!

December 23, 2013

Delicious and Healthy Snacks Giveaway

I am the biggest snacker than I know. I eat every one to two hours throughout the whole day. It is important to me to find snacks that are healthy and taste good. I was sent some samples of some new-to-me snacks that I really enjoyed. Nouri Bar These Nouri bars taste good and are for a good cause. Each bar that you purchase helps feed a child in need. They come in three flavors: chocolate cashew, apple cinnamon and peanut butter wild cherry. I liked the real ingredients used in these bars ( Organic Dates, Organic Peanut Butter, Cherries, Peanuts, Organic Pumpkin Seeds, Hemp Protein, Organic Vanilla Extract, Sea Salt) . They are chewy and a bit crumbly. I liked the peanut butter wild cherry the best. One bar is 170 calories, 5 g protein, 3 grams of fiber and 17 g sugar. I like that it has no sugar added and the sugar comes from fruit. Although I typically like my bars to have more protein, I liked that this was made with all real ingredients. It tasted great too! Chick Pz Snack

December 22, 2013

Easy Chicken Vegetable Curry

I was recently sent some free product coupons from Just Bare chicken which I used to create this delicious recipe. I found this chicken at Target which carried the chicken breast fillets and the chicken tender pieces. What I thought was really nice was that the chicken was trimmed very well and had no additional fat on it so you were paying for just the portion that you would use. I made this dinner for my husband and I and we both really enjoyed it. It heated up well for leftovers and was also good cold on top of a bed of spinach. f Easy Chicken Vegetable Curry Serves : 4 Prep/Cook Time : 25-30 minutes Ingredients: 1 14 ounce package of Just Bare chicken fillets chopped into bite sized pieces 2 small yellow squash, diced 1-2 cups bean sprouts 1 small onion, diced 2 carrots, chopped 1 green pepper, chopped 1/2 cup green beans, chopped 1 package of curry sauce (about 1-2 cups) Brown rice Directions: 1. Add chicken to hot nonstick pan.

December 21, 2013

OtterBox Review

This review is brought to you by my husband Troy (typed by me!). Troy loves new technology and is pretty obsessed with his iPhone (I think that Android is so much better…it is a never ending joking battle that goes on in my house). He loves getting new cases for it and researching different neat apps. I was given the opportunity to choose an item from OtterBox to review and Troy chose the iPhone 4/4s Defender with iON Intelligence case. This case typically retails for $130 but is a much lower price right now at $65 (most likely due to the fact that the iPhone 5 already came out). This case gives the phone a lot of protection which is great for a guy since guys keep their phone in their pocket and it can easily fall out. The case charges your phone and has a battery app as well. It provides protection against dropping your phone which is perfect for the iPhone which the screen can shatter easily. The internal shell is made of polycarbonate and fully covers the phone.