Category Archives: Giveaway

CocoZia review and giveaway!

You all know I have love for coconut water, so this was definitely a product I agreed to review.  Cocozia provided me with Organic Coconut Water for my opinion.

CocoZia

I don’t like sports gels or drinks. I don’t drink sweet anything. My coffee and lattes are unsweetened, my seltzer water is unsweetened and I don’t do diet drinks, and I rarely drink juice, so I am not used to having beverages be sweet.  I think that is part of the reason why I have trouble with sports drinks for rehydration.  Coconut water fits that bill perfectly instead. It has only the barest hint of sweet and a very mild flavor.

From the CocoZia website:

COCOZIA 100% Organic Coconut Water is fat-free and contains no processed ingredients of any kind. It’s 100% organic and it’s so good for you! COCOZIA contains fresh, pure water from inside a young green coconut. It’s a clear, naturally sweet liquid that has just 70 calories Make COCOZIA your go-to answer when you want easy-to-drink hydration, coupled with a natural abundance of potassium and magnesium, as well as other electrolytes.

This is the nutrition label:

WP_20141021_002

They point out on the website there are 70 calories in the coconut water and it looks (by my math) that is are 80 for the whole 16.9 ounce container.  Coconut water also has lots of potassium. The only thing missing is salt when replacing a lot of sweat. So, having a few pretzels or crackers with the coconut water is a good solution. This is organic coconut water, and truth be told it tastes the same as regular coconut water :D. 

Cocozia offers 5 flavors: Original, Chocolate, Coffee (WHAT???? Gimmee), Pineapple and Mango. If you want something a little sweeter, the flavored coconut waters do seem to offer that, but still not super sweet.

Coconut water is best served icy cold, in my opinion. I like to pop a bottle in the freezer the night before a ride and that way you can have a slushy cold drink later in the ride when you need it. Some people find coconut water to be an acquired taste, and I understand that – especially if you are used to sports drinks, but it can grow on you – sort of like when you switch from sweetened yogurt to plain.  

Anyhoo – now for the good stuff. This came as a case of 12 to me, so I thought I would share the bounty with 2 people.  I will randomly choose 2 people to receive two  16 oz bottles of Cocozia to try!

 

Anyone can enter this – you don’t have to be in the US, since I will be sending them out!  Yay for all inclusive!! 😀

All you have to do is comment below telling me if you have tried cocout water to be entered.  I will chose 2 winners on Thursday evening, so this will be a quick one.

 

**I was provided a case of CocoZia for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Sahale Crunchers Review and Give Away!

I was recently contact by Sahale to try these new Almond Snacks and provide a give away for my readers.  I like the other Sahale nut snacks, so I was happy to try these out!

These are sliced almond snacks, which makes them nice and crispy crunchy.  All 3 flavors are gluten free and retail for $3.99 (MSRP).

There are 3 flavors:

Almonds with cranberries, sesame seeds and honey.

Yum! This is made with madagascar vanilla and I think that is what makes this taste so good. You can really taste the vanilla.  This would be an excellent topping for yogurt, but honestly we ate the entire bag just out of hand.

Almonds with cherries, apples and maple.

Nice maple flavor in this one – chewy and crunchy, like the cranberry flavor.  I was not sure I would like this one and was a little afraid to try it because I don’t like cherries.  Surprisingly, I did, probably because the apple and maple flavors were the most prevalent.  John really liked this flavor as well (he is a maple nut anyway).

Almonds with parmesan cheese and herbs.

You know how most nut snacks are sweet unless you have just plain nuts? This is a really nice change.  Nice cheesy flavor with a nice blend of oregano in there.  All crispy crunch and no chewy with this flavor. I think this would be really good on a salad for crunch or crushed up and use it to coat goat cheese!

Sahale is offering my US readers (sorry, not my choice) a chance to win 3 bags of Sahale Crunchers,  six easy recipes and this little Sahale Snacks ceramic bowl.

The only thing you need to do is comment here with how you would eat these Crunchers.

If you would like an extra entry, ‘like’ Sahale Crunchers on Facebook and leave another comment here that you did so.

Open to US residents only.  Winner will be picked through random drawing on Monday, October 15th, 2012.  Entries accepted until  12 pm Eastern on October 15th.

** I was provided these Sahale Snackers to review, but all opinions are my own.

Snacking, product review and giveaway!

Another Monday has rolled around again. I headed out to the gym. I was all alone in the free weight section for about 15 minutes, which I love. Looks like I am bathing in a pile of iron!

Exercise Set/rep/weight Muscle worked
Barbell squat 1 set of 10 at 45#

1 set of 10 at 65#

1 set of 8 at 75#

1 set of 8 at 85#

1 set of 7 at 95# <— increased by 1

 Lower body
Dumbbell Pull Over 3 sets of 10 at 25# Back
Rope Pull 3 sets of 15 at #30 Core
Horizontal Wood Chop 3 sets of 10 each side at 30# Core
Pushups 3 sets of 10 Chest
Stationary Lunge 3 sets of 10 each leg with 35# plate Lower Body
Bench Dips 3 sets of 10 Triceps
Front Raise 3 sets of 12 with 8# DBs (16# total) Shoulders
Low Back Extension 3 sets of 10 at 100# Low back

I was working hard and got sweaty with this routine. I made sure I moved fast between exercises and rested for a minute max between sets. This routine took me 40 minutes.

Off to home and some protein waffles!

I have missed my blueberries recently. I was on a real oat kick last week and I don’t think I had any blueberries!

So speaking of sweaty workouts, I was contacted by Febreeze to see if I wanted to put their professional strength Laundry Odor Eliminator to the test.

Guess they read about how much I sweat LOL.  I will admit that even after washing, my workout clothes always have a bit of an undertone to them, for lack of a better word.  I tried other sports detergents and they didn’t really seem to help.  So, I was game since I like the regular Febreeze stuff.  Pile o’ stanky workout clothes:

This is an additive to your laundry, so you add it along with your regular detergent.  Since this was a laundry load of just my workout clothes from the week, I used the 1/2 cup recommended for heavy odors 😳 .  It has a very light fragrance to it, not as strong as a laundry detergent.

I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised at how well this worked!  My workout clothes smell fresh and clean now and like my regular detergent, only fresher, even upon close inspection!  The only downfall to this is the cost.  This bottle was about $9.50 for 1-1/2 quarts,  so it is something that I would only use for workout clothing and not for everyday laundry use.

The Febreeze people have offered 1 coupon for a free bottle of the Laundry Odor Eliminator to 2 of my readers. All you need to do is comment below with your worst laundry problem and I will use random.org to choose 2 people to receive the coupons.  Entry deadline will be Wednesday afternoon 12/24 at 5:00 pm EST.  So have at it!

Lunchtime was the rest of the chili I made last night.  Could it be possible that it was even better today?  I think so!

There wasn’t much left, though.  Served with some bread John made with Laughing Cow (I wish that was buttah on there!).

Afternoon break was the usual:

plus some snacking:

I am really, really hungry today.  What is up with that?  Not just snacky, but hungry.  So then I had more grapes.  Doing a no-added sugar day and I really wanted something chocolatey.  Not sure why both last week *and* this week’s NS days were so hard.  It’s not like I eat a ton of sugared things normally, either.  Not liking that part of my Hot 100 challenge any more (says inner 5 year old).

So, I had more grapes.

One job finished for the day, and the other job forgot to upload important documents with the files, so they can’t get done.  Maybe someone will do it later, but the clinics have closed, so I doubt it.

Dinner time was colorful!  I sauteed some brussels and had the last chicken sausage.

Evening snackage:

Tonight my Broncos take on the Chargers!  I get to watch the game because it is MNF!  Come on Broncos, don’t lay an egg!

Attune Munch Granola Review and Giveaway!

I love getting fun things in the mail.  I received a surprise box from Attune Foods last week and opened it up to find granola!  I love Attune bars and you all know I love cereal.  John and I could barely wait to try these.

Attune Munch is granola with a twist – they have added probitoics to the granola (just like their chocolate bars).  The probiotics are in the form of yogurt chips or as prebiotics in the chocolate granola.  A 1 ounce portion of granola has 1 billion probiotic CFUs (colony-forming unit).  Not sure I need a billion, but that’s okay LOL!

There were 3 kinds in the box:


Each of the photos below is a measured serving size of 1 oz, which has 120 calories, 4.5 g of fat, 3 grams of fiber, and 2 gram of protein.

Chocolate: Oat clusters rolled in Dutch cocoa powder mingle with rich chocolate chips for a satisfying healthy treat.

My notes – you know those no bake oatmeal chocolate cookies?  This tastes exactly like those.  Big trouble for me!  This was John’s favorite.

Apple Cinnamon – Apple and cinnamon infuse into whole grain oat and brown rice crisp clusters mixed with yogurt chips.

My notes – I think this was my favorite.  Light crispy texture. It was very apple-y tasting and I adored the yogurt chips.  They really are what make this different than regular granola.

Maple Nut–Whole grain oat and brown rice clusters rolled in maple syrup, this granola is flecked with pecans and yogurt chips.

My notes:  Maple!  Nice maple flavor to this.  Not much in the way of pecans, though, just little teeny pieces.  Again, the yogurt chips are what made it.

Overall a very,  very tasty granola.   Definitely one of my favorite types so far in my granola findings!  Fairly small serving size for calories, as it pretty typical for granolas.  Like other premium granolas, it is a little pricey at $5.99 a bag.

You can find Munch in the yogurt aisle at A&P, Waldbaum’s, King’s, and King Kutter at least.  I have asked my local Hannaford to bring this in as well.

Now for the giveaway!  Attune Foods has offered to give one bag of Munch of your choice to a lucky recipient!

This is open for US residents only (sorry).

To enter, just comment below with your favorite way to use granola.  I will draw a comment number via random.org and announce the winner on Thursday September 30th!

For additional entries, just link this on your facebook page or on your blog.  Leave a separate comment below if you do this.

Happy Munching!

Please note that Attune Foods sent me these products. I was not paid for this review and all opinions are my own.

I’m With Fatty book review and giveaway

I recently was forwarded a copy of  “I’m With Fatty” by Edward Ugel to review.  

From the copy:

The book is an honest and wickedly funny chronicle of a father, husband, and all-around-food-obsessed man as he attempts to lose 50 pounds in 50 weeks – a foodie who can’t remember the last time he exercised but can describe every bite of his last Chinese takeout meal.

The book is really just a snippet of his life, 1 year to be exact.  He hits rock bottom when he needs a CPAP machine for sleep apnea and takes on a challenge to lose 50 pounds in 50 weeks.

I found this book to be a very, very fast read.  He uses a lot of humor, but you can feel underneath the humor the embarrassment and humiliation of some of the things he goes through.  It’s actually quite interesting to read from a man’s point of view about self-image and weight loss.  Turns out they think a lot like women do (only a little grosser at times).

You can actually read chapter 1 online here

There were times in the book where he really goes further than I want to hear about, like the colonic and the cleanse.  I did find his anatomy of a week long binge to be pretty accurate to what I have felt in the past.

There is a lot of self-dialogue which is quite funny, including the rationale of buying Halloween candy at the grocery store 😀  This is not a book about an eating plan per se, although he does sometimes talk about what exactly he eats.  It is more a book about the emotional/mental process of the 50 weeks.

I am not going to tell you if he makes his goal or not in the 50 weeks.  He did learn some surprising things about himself during that time, both good and bad.

All and all a good quick read.

I am going to send this copy on to one of my readers.  Any country, too!

All you have to do is leave a comment telling me the name of the last book you read.

I will pick a recipient on Tuesday morning August 31.

For more about Edward Ugel, you can visit his website.

Lanacane Winner

Winner of the Lanacane Antichafing gel:

Comment #17

Lisa

Favorite summer activity is hiking! So much fun! I definitely need chafing cream for running Hood to Coast in August, too! :)

Congrats! Please email me at javaqueen01 at yahoo dot com with your snail mail address!

Lanacane Anti-Chafing Gel Review and Giveaway!

I think this is a most appropriate review and giveaway for this time of year, don’t you?  Nobody likes to talk about chafing, but it is a fact of life for all of us.  The nice folks at Lanacane must have seen how sweaty I get during my workouts and sent me some of their  Anti-Chafing gel to try.

Of course, chafing doesn’t just happen with exercise.  Wish this stuff was around when I had chub-rub on my inner thighs growing up (okay, I had it as an adult, too).  Ugh!

Here is how Lanacane’s product works:

Lanacane™ Anti-Chafing Gel works by forming a silky “surface” on your skin that prevents repeated rubbing of skin on skin or on clothing from irritating skin. It dries to a non-greasy finish on the skin, is non-staining and is gentle enough to use anywhere on the body, everyday.

Here is what the product looks like out of the tube and the recommended pea-size application:

This little bit covered an area about the size of the back of my hand.

It rubs in with a slippery, powdery-type feel and is clear.  It almost feels greasy, but it isn’t.  It’s also odor free.  I was expecting it to smell like menthol, isn’t that weird? It doesn’t stain clothing, which is nice, especially when you need to apply it in areas like waistbands and under bras (where heat rash sucks!).  Thoughts to try this on my feet before running has crossed my mind.  Wonder if it would prevent blisters?

Ingredients: Cyclopentasiloxane, Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Zea Mays (Corn) Starch.

Note that this product is gluten free!  You can now  find it in the USat any major drug store.  Apparently this product has been available in Europe for a while now.  It is waterproof, but with a lot of sweating, you will want to reapply after a couple hours.

The generous folks at Lanacane have also offered a sample of this product to one of my readers!   This giveaway is open to everyone (Yay!!).

Here is how you enter:

* Just leave a comment on your favorite summer activity.

For bonus entries, you may do either (or both) of the following:

* Post a link on your blog about this and add a new comment that you have done so.

* Post a link on your facebook page to this giveaway and leave a comment on this post with the link.  You can use the little facebook icon at the bottom of this post if you wish!

Entries will be taken until Tuesday June 29, 2010 at 10:00 am EST.  I will announce the winner that day.

Good luck!

FTC disclaimer: I was provided a free sample of this gel to review.  All opinions are my own and I was not paid for this review.

Maple Syrup giveaway!

Okay – here it is, I am parting with some precious stash 😀

This syrup was bought at the sugar bush we visited on Saturday.  Fresh stuff!

The person picked will receive a 1/2 pint of real, delicious maple syrup.

Rules: The contest is open to anyone no matter where you live!

You have 3 ways to earn an entry.  Please leave a separate comment for each.

1.  Post a comment about how you will use the maple syrup.

2.  Follow me on Facebook! Or post that you already are a friend 😀

3.  Post on your blog about this contest and leave the link below.

That’s it!  I will choose the winner with random.org on Friday April 2, 2010 at noon EST. Happy mapling!

Oatmeal on the Run Giveaway!

I received some coupons from Country Choice Organics, so I thought I would share one of the items with one of my readers!  I have reviewed Country Organics Quick Cook Steel Cut oats in the past, but they also have other products, like organic cookies and these breakfast bars:

Ingredients: Organic whole grain rolled oats, organic brown rice syrup, Organic whole grain oat flour, organic dates, organic plum puree, organic raisins, organic cane syrup, vegetable glycerine, organic oat syrup solids, organic brown rice flour, organic milled flax, organic maple syrup, natural flavors, organic vanilla extract, carrageenan, calcium carbonate, organic sunflower oil, organic malted barley extract, baking soda, sea salt, soy lecithin. CONTAINS SOY INGREDIENTS.

Rules: This giveaway is for one box of 5 Maple Oatmeal on the Run bars.  Giveaway is open to anyone and everyone no matter where you live!  The price for entry?  Just one comment on this post!  How easy is that?

If you want bonus entries, you can earn 1 extra entry for the following:

1.  Tweet about this giveaway and make sure you put @javaqueen01 so that I see it.

2. Post a link on your blog and put a separate comment here telling me about it.

Giveaway closes at noon EST on Thursday 3/25!

Happy posting 😀

Attune chocolate bars giveaway!

I am kicking of National Nutrition Month with a giveaway!  You all know how much I love Attune bars and talk about them a *lot* like a lovelorn teenager.  Well, the nice folks at Attune noticed my bloggy love and sent me some bars and the opportunity for one of my readers to win some!  Was I going to turn that down??  Thank you Attune!

What are Attune bars? They are probiotic chocolate bars. From their website:  Each bar contains –

  • Only 3-8 grams of sugar
  • Excellent source of calcium
  • Only 80-90 calories
  • 3 grams of fiber
  • Attune probiotics are proven to survive in the digestive tract, where they can provide optimal health benefits.
  • The probiotics in Attune have been clinically tested to support a healthy digestive system and a strong immune system.
  • Attune wellness bars also include prebiotics (inulin), which support healthy digestive function and work in harmony with probiotics.

Attunes are found in the yogurt section of the refrigerated case.  Or, in the natural foods refrigerated case (where they are in my store).  There are several different flavors to choose from.  The milk chocolate flavors (plain and almond) and the white chocolate blueberry are good, but my favorites are the dark chocolate ones.  The straight up dark chocolate bar is great for that portioned chocolate fix in the mid afternoon 🙂

The coffee bar has bits of crunchy coffee beans in them and a nice coffee flavor.  The raspberry (which you all know I love) has chewy bits of real raspberry in there, giving the bars a tart and sweet taste.

Then I think the mint chocolate is #2 for me, as it has a cool minty flavor along with some rice crisp crunch.  Guess I like the textural thing….

Now, I will be honest here, I don’t buy these so much for the probiotic part.  What I like is that they are the perfect portion size, which is probably one my favorite things about them.   Dark chocolate belongs in everybody’s healthy diet, and this is a great way to get it in there.

Now for your favorite part!  Attune is offering a week pack (7 bars) of dark chocolate Attune bars to one of my readers:

Da rules:

As these have to be shipped cold pack from Attune, the drawing is for US residents only.

You have 3 chances to win.

1. Visit the Attune website and leave a comment on this post of what product you would most like to try.

2. Become a fan of Attune on Facebook and post a separate comment here that you have done so.

3.  Post a link to this contest on your blog and let me know in a separate comment that you have done so.

Entries will be accepted until Thursday 3/4/2010 at 11 a.m. EST.  I will then use random.org to draw a number to choose the winner.

Note to self – unwrap before eating….