Free Food

Posted: May 28, 2011 at 1:30 pm

I feel a little funny. Why? Well, because my butt is not out completing a long run right now. Instead it is sitting and pondering grocery store lists. And yummy meals that will still fit a budget. I foresee a lot more beans in the FFF household this week. Consider yourself lucky that technology has not discovered how to share smells via computer yet. Although how cool?! I would stalk How Sweet all the live long day if anyone ever were to create Smell-A-Blogs. And then cry a river of sadness because you all would certainly not hang around my typically smelly ways.

Now, if you would please forgive my tangent. As I was saying, I’m putting off my long run until tomorrow to give my legs a bit of time to recoup from getting back my workout motivation this week. Yet somehow I still ventured on a family hike this morning?

I may not have much logic for how I rest my legs, but I do have logic when it comes to saving money on food. Free stuff = use it = save money = good. I’m a genius! I should patent this equation along with Smell-A-Blogs and become a millionaire. What’s that you say? Not likely? Now, don't go crushing my dreams!

Ahem. In the name of saving on food, I dug out some of my free Fitbloggin samples for breakfast this morning. A Click Mocha flavored protein drink and a serving of Coach’s Oats.

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The Click protein drink serves up a dose of caffeine for energy and a decent balance of carbs (12 g) and protein (15 g) to have as an easy pre or post workout option. <--- We’ll just pretend I ran. 😉 I’m typically a fan of coffee flavored things and this sounded like something I would enjoy. In fact, in my past protein shake chugging days, I would always do a chocolate protein powder mixed with iced coffee. I decided on using the Click in a similar way by blending it up with 3/4 cup each decaf iced coffee and vanilla almond milk.

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To balance this out for a full meal, I cooked up the packet of Coach’s Oats using my handy dandy microwave method – add just enough water to cover the oats, a few dashes of cinnamon, and microwave for 3:30 on 50% power. The 50% power is key. Then, I add a little extra almond milk to get it to the consistency I prefer, a small bit of maple syrup for sweetener, and the toppings du’jour.

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Thoughts on these products? I liked the Click drink okay. Don’t think I would ever buy it because it didn’t blend into a super smooth consistency, which I prefer. Nevertheless, I’ll still happily use my 3 other packets.

As for the Coach’s Oats…LOVED THEM! They seemed much heartier than my regular rolled oats but still cooked up quickly. I find steel cut oats or a similar option hard for me because they don’t keep a creamy consistency unless you cook them for 10+ minutes on the stove top. And you saw a day in my life yesterday. No time for stirring stove top oats. Or cleaning an extra pan. Because then I wouldn’t have time to share the FFF Features and we wouldn’t want that now, would we?

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So glad you’re so excited! I will now stop jammering and give you the FFF Features of the Week!

Featured Personal Post: Blog Tips from Fitbloggin

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Featured Workout: Elliptical HIIT Session

Featured Meal: Chicken & Strawberry Salad

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Featured Cuteness: Baby B Eyeing the Bottle of Mommy Milk

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Featured Reading: If I recommend them, they’re good…so go check ‘em out!

Kelly @ Laughter Strength Food

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Tessa @ Amazing Asset

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Annette @ Enjoy Your Healthy Life

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  • On a scale of 1 – 10 (10 being vomit-inducing), how awful does something have to be for you to not eat it even though it’s free? I would say an 8.

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20 Comments to “Free Food”
  1. The picture of him staring at the bottle is soo cute!
    I concur with the 8. I don’t usually turn down “free” 🙂

  2. What a great captured facial from Baby B. Sooo cute.

  3. I love free, but I do have my limits. If we’re talking protein powder, if I need the protein, I’ll make my fudge bites with it and you won’t even be able to tell it’s in there. I don’t do the smoothie thing, so I try to make it something else. So, I would give my gag reflex a 9. What can I say…I’m cheap.

  4. lindsay says:

    haha, I think you totally have the right logistics for resting your legs, your brain just doesn’t get it yet. TOmorrow you’ll have that runner’s high and those oats will taste even better.
    I love free samples too. Never tried coaches oats, but heard great things. Maybe I’ll go stalk them on twitter now.
    hehe.

  5. Errign says:

    I would say probably like a 7 or an 8, depending on how hungry or broke I was. 🙂

    Love the Baby B shot! Happy Weekend 🙂

  6. Alisha says:

    If it’s free I don’t feel too bad about not eating it so I would only rate that a 3 or 4. Funny how people are so different about food texture. I actually prefere oatmeal to be a bit chewy & crunchy so I will buy the whole oats even though it takes longer (still microwave though) & then add homemade granola. Ken looks at my bowl and says “that doesn’t look like oatmeal”. He grew up on the instant stuff though, which I hated even as a kid.

  7. Liz says:

    Mmm yes, we need smell-a-blog! Although maybe it’s safer without it!

  8. Kacy says:

    Haha I love that question. I agree, probably an 8. Or even a 9 if I’m hungry enough 😉

  9. Yikes — free food is the best! I’m with you, probably 7-8 for me to not eat it?

    I have heard Coach’s Oats are really good! I haven’t tried them though.

  10. I have heard such good things about coach’s oats…I think I would actually enjoy the heartier texture!

  11. Amanda says:

    On a scale of 1-10 it would probably have to be… 9.5? I once did one of those diets where they ship the food to your house (not mentioning names, but the initials are N.S.) and there was this one dried pasta thingie called “Broccoli Pasta Parmesan” or some combination thereof that, I kid you not, tasted like tropical fish food smells. If you don’t know what that scent is, hit up your local pet store and ask them if you can sniff the fish food.

    It’s truly vomit-inducing. I took three bits, pitched it, and went to the sub shop up the street. And from there started my grand journey in calorie counting because, as God was my witness, I was NEVER going to eat that dreck again! LOL

  12. Wow Tina, I am SO honored you featured my blog! I am smiling ear to ear right now, thank you so much 🙂

    That picture with Baby B and the milk is so adorable

    I would say a 7 on that scale, but it really depends on what the type of food is!

  13. Unless I am super starving, I don’t take the trouble to eat unless its going to be something I really like. So I wouldn’t go too far up that meter!

  14. I love free stuff too! I would say an 8 as well!

  15. Shannon says:

    I much prefer steel cut oats to regular oatmeal and like most people out there the idea of spending 20 minutes waiting for it to cook in the morning is unacceptable. What I am able to do though is cook them the night before. Take one part oats to 4 parts water. Bring it to a boil and let it boil for a minute. Then turn the heat off, pop a lid on and leave it overnight. By the time the morning rolls around they’re ready to go. I LOVED being able to do this all winter. The recipe comes from here http://bethsjourney.com/2010/10/21/heat-n-eat-steel-cut-oats/ and it’s a simple idea that has proven life changing. Before it came along I would eat oats begrundgingly and now I love them!

  16. I don’t even know what to say! Thank you SO much for mentioning me as a feature! You Are Awesome

    Baby B totally cracks me up in that picture! 😀

  17. Baby B is too CUTE! I would be pretty low on the 1-10 scale there because I’m pretty darn picky. 🙂

  18. Im a grad student, so I’ll eat just about anything if it’s free! 🙂

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