Product Review - Kroger Brand Greek Yogurt

I was so excited to see that Kroger had come out with a greek yogurt.  I love greek yogurt; it's so creamy and thick, not to mention a lot more protein than regular yogurt.  I also like that greek yogurt, for the most part, doesn't have artificial sweeteners (which I don't eat).  Before greek yogurt, I really only ate the Stonyfield regular yogurts because they don't have any artificial sweeteners, doesn't have as much sugar as the Dannon Naturals and of course, it's organic.  But it's not cheap either.  So I was so excited to see that Kroger had a greek yogurt that was more affordable than most greek yogurts.

The Kroger brand greek yogurt has between 120 and 130 calories, is fat free, and . . .

and full of protein without a lot of added sugar to keep the carbs in check.  Well, it wasn't until I got home that I noticed that Kroger brand greek yogurt has Stevia in it, natural sugar without any calories.  I wasn't sure how I felt about this being pregnant and trying to do everything right.

I went ahead and tried it after researching Stevia online because I had never had it before.  The taste of the greek yogurt was ok; I did notice a artificial taste in it from the Stevia.  But Kroger does offer several flavors; our family likes the vanilla (which has more protein and fewer carbs than the strawberry shown here).  I did notice the texture was a little grainy, not as creamy as some of the other greek yogurts.  At first glance, I was pretty disappointed.  I let a couple weeks go by before trying it again.  I was making Adam's lunch and had a spoonful of the vanilla greek yogurt and liked it better the second time.  Maybe I had a bad one or maybe it's just sometime you have to get used to.  I am still not sure how I feel about Stevia, especially while being pregnant.  I don't think it's something I will have often while pregnant, for personal reasons, but maybe after the baby is born, I will eat more of them.

Taste:  B

Nutrition:  B (the Stevia lowered it for me)

Product Review - Zone Indulegnce Bar

I am part of the Zone Bar VIP Club and they offered me a sample of their new Indulgence Bars. It was FedEx to me and I was so excited to try it. I had the Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse. This bar is a little different then most of the Zone Bars. They are square, not the usual rectangular. I, personally, associated this as a treat, not a workout supplement. I ate it one afternoon when I was hungry and wanted something sweet. No, it was not a workout day for me, by the way. It was VERY good. It was decadent. It was very sweet. I would not suggest eating this after a workout (or before), but for only 190 calories, it is a great treat for yourself. It also has 10 grams of protein in it. I am pretty picky when it comes to protein bars. I don't like the taste of most of them and I don't like to eat a lot of processed foods, but Zone bars are always in our house. They are one of the few I can stand. They usually have a good bit of protein in them and taste like chocolate. YUM! I don't eat them a lot but Adam will have them once or twice a week for breakfast when he doesn't have time for a real breakfast. I would buy these indulgence bars too and use them as a healthier sweet treat like I do with some of the granola bars I keep on hand.

Overall Rating: A-

Product Review - Garmin Forerunner 405

For my birthday, my father-in-law gave me this new running watch. Now, this is not something I would have ever bought myself, but I have to say I love it! It does so much! It tracks my heartrate, calories burned, average pace for the entire run, my mile times, elevation, distance, etc. It also has GPS so I can see where all I have run to. I know I am not even using all of the tools, but I am slowly learning more about it. I have even been able to do interval training (HIIT) using the watch. It's obviously a little bigger than a normal watch, but I have gotten used to it, even on my small frame. I have the green one and I like that choice. It doesn't stand out as much as the black one does. If anyone has a serious runner in their family, and needs a gift idea, this one is perfect.

Product Review - Kashi Vive Cereal

So I had a coupon for the new Kashi Vive cereal. I hadn't heard much about it, just that it was new. I read the box at the grocery store and it was already on sale so I thought why not. I eat yogurt almost everyday so I didn't really care much about the probotics, but it actually has more fiber than sugar in a serving(12g fiber and 10g sugar). The serving size is also 1.25 cups so I thought that was nice and generous. It does have a good number of calories (170) per serving, but since the serving size was larger, I thought ok. It only has 4g protein, which is low for Kashi, but most cereals only have 1 or 2g, so still better than most. Well I like the variety in the box. It has bran flakes, rice puffs, and Kashi's signature graham twigs. It was sweet enough for me (rice puffs are vanilla dipped) so it didn't require any sugar, but tasted sweet to me. I have been I have been using light soy milk (another post to come) so it was a nice breakfast. I try to keep my cereal portions small, but it's hard sometimes, so it's nice to know that this serving is larger. I will probably buy it again. It's not my new favorite cereal (Kashi GoLean Crunch has that one), but I like it enough to buy again, especially when Kashi products go on sale.