The good people at SocialNature and Orange Naturals sent me a full sized package of their ND Shake for women in vanilla flavour to try out. So let's find out about the product before I tell you how my experience was. Orange Naturals (according to their website): The shake mix I received to review is a nutrient-dense protein shake overflowing with vitamins, antioxidants and nutrients custom formulated for women's health. it is soy, gluten and nut free, vegan and specially developed by Canadian naturopathic doctors. Its super easy to use: 2 scoops to 250ml (1 cup) of whatever liquid you choose. You are welcome to blend in any fruit you choose to enhance the flavour and you actually have two flavours to chose from: chocolate and vanilla. They were also nice enough to send me loads of info on this particular product, along with others they offer. They also sent a chart which gave a lot of information about which items from nature are thought to help with common ailments. I loved it, and will definitely be using it as a reference guide, considering our family's slow shift to more natural foods and way of life in general. So I tried it and... let's just say I have been trying really, really hard to find nice things to say about it. I know that often times what's healthy doesn't necessarily taste good, but I could not even finish one glass of this. It doesn't taste even remotely palatable to me. Maybe the texture and taste work for some people, people who enjoy those green energy smoothies that taste like grass to me. I, unfortunately, am not one of those people. Just mixing it into milk with a spoon leaves a grainy, chalky, thick drink that leaves an aftertaste. No matter how healthy or good this is for my body, there's no way I can drink it every day. Do you remember when you were a kid and we had that powdered Nestle Quick chocolate milk mix? Remember how it never mixed in all the way and while you were drinking it you'd get bursts of chocolate powder? That was yummy. You get the same effect here - but in a totally anti-yummy way. This is my attempt at mixing it in really well over the course of about 10 minutes. I was not very successful. I did get a smooth consistency when I used the Nutribullet to mix it up. However, because the shake is so thick to begin with, when you use the bullet, you get almost a mousse texture - that is a strange mouthfeel, I'll tell you right now! Nothing helped the flavour for me, either. I tried adding stevia, instant espresso granules, bananas, strawberries, and actual vanilla. Nothing helped. Each one was almost worse than the last. Product Rating: 1 smile out of 5 Product Website: orangenaturals.com Product Type: protein shake Would I purchase?: no Would I recommend?: no ND Shake for Women in vanilla flavour was sent free by the good people at SocialNature and Orange Naturals.
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Yesterday I gave you my review of the Hyperbiotics PRO-15 Advanced Probiotic and today I'll tell you about Hyperbiotics' other major probiotic breakthrough - Advanced Immune Formula. Since I received both sample bottles the same day, I decided to try out the simple probiotic for myself and let David try out the immune formula - mainly because he's always so sickly. He works a lot of late hours and gets stressed and bam! he's sick. He was actually coming down with something just before we received these in the mail, so it was perfect timing to test out if these pills really work. I put him on the 'intense support' program - two pills in the morning and another two in the evening. He woke up the very next morning and felt great. After a week or so, he went down to the maintenance schedule and is now taking only two pills in the morning. He feels great - energized and ready to deal with the workload - and ready to come home and still have something left in the tank for his family. The pills are easy to swallow and do not need to be refrigerated, which is convenient. They also do not need to be taken with food, another nice thing. I was a little concerned about how well they would actually work, considering we have our honey-lemon water every morning (acid?) but they work just fine and there was nothing to worry about. Something I did not mention in my PRO-15 post, but that is really important to our family is that Hyperbiotics doesn't use aspartame or sucralose or any of those other "fake" sweeteners in their products, which is unusual. I avoid products with them whenever I can, and that is difficult in today's market - that crap is everywhere. I actually have issues with them, I get very sick and will know within an hour or two if I consumed something containing artificial sweeteners. Hyperbiotics use stevia, a natural sugar alternative. In case you did not read my PRO-15 review, I wanted to give a shout out to the people at Hyperbiotics. I was having some difficulty ordering them from Amazon.com because I live in Canada - apparently they were not available for shipping outside of the US. I contacted Amazon customer service and although the rep diligently tried to help me figure out why they weren't able to ship them out to me, he wasn't successful. I contacted Hyperbiotics directly and they were so quick to respond and were able to walk me step-by-step through the order process - and their patience was appreciated since I wasn't getting it the first time and contacted them a second time. Customer service is so important and I find that nowadays many companies just can't be bothered. Hyperbiotics understands that helping out a customer (even one who is getting this for free!) makes a difference. Go to amazon.com today & get your own healthier immune system! Product Rating: 5 smiles out of 5 Product Website: hyperbiotics.com Product Type: probiotic supplement Would I purchase?: yes Would I recommend?: yes All opinions expressed in this blog are my own, unbiased after testing the product. The product was offered free of charge from the good people at Hyperbiotics with the expectation of an honest review within this blog, favorable or otherwise . Knowing how important a good probiotic is, I have tried many different brands, each professing the max amount and strains of beneficial bacteria. Some worked well with my gut, others, not so much. The good people at Hyperbiotics were kind enough to send me a bottle of their PRO-15 Advanced Strength Perfect Probiotic. Before I get into my review, I want to give you a little information about probiotics and why you actually need them. Here's a cute little video illustrating how they work: vimeo.com Hyperbiotics explains probiotics here. Inside your gastrointestinal tract (GI) you have billions of little micro-organisms, namely bacteria, which work really hard doing some awesome stuff for your whole body. They help you digest and pull nutrients from your food. These little guys are also giving a major boost to your immune system, becoming a triple threat as they battle some bad bacteria that can cause you illness. A healthy gut is loaded with beneficial bacteria, unfortunately most of our GI tracts are not as healthy as we would like. If you've been ill recently or take antibiotics, it's especially important to get some more into you so that you can get better faster. Getting some extra help in this area can help you become more regular, digest better, pull more nutrients from your food, help regulate your metabolism and help combat fatigue. I have spent way too many years battling gastrointestinal issues. I won't go into specifics, but that is the main reason I have searched for a great probiotic. Don't even say yogurt. Sorry, not my thing. I always feel like I'm eating baby food. Then I tried Hyperbiotics PRO-15 probiotic. What's different about this one? Here's the info sheet: Cool, right? I knew about the whole 'let's see how many actually live to help you out' thing, so it's great to find something that has a much higher survival rate. It's also a really nice bonus that the pills don't need to be refrigerated - I have enough stuff in there already, and I often forget to take my vitamins because they're in the fridge and I just don't think about them. I've put this bottle in my morning line of sight, and so far I've remembered to take them each day. So enough about the product and more about me... did anything change? When I opened the bottle and took out the first two pills, I was a little dejected. I am not very good at swallowing pills. They stick in my throat, make me gag and I am generally forced to drink a whole lot of water with any pill, even the coated ones. These ones are not coated. In fact, they're the opposite of coated, gritty and chalky. So here's the shocker - they went down super easy! I have no idea how they did it, but the complete opposite of what I expected happened. So, good start. Each bottle has 30 pills, and a choice to made: take one a day for maintenance or take two or three for intense repair. Option one is great if you are a generally healthy person and are looking for just a little oomph. I decided to go with option two for two reasons: first and foremost, I have gut issues, as I've already mentioned. Accelerating the program sounded like a good idea. Secondly, I do have to get my review in within a specified amount of time, so I figured check out what the benefits are, if there are any and check out what the side effects could be. Every single brand of probiotic I took prior to this one gave me terrible gas, painful bloating, cramping and at times, truly explosive diarrhea. I know these are not things you really want to know about me, but I have to tell you that so that you can understand how surprised I am that even on the intense program none of these things happened! I'm guessing this has a whole lot to do with the time-release thing. I waited for the bomb (so to speak) and when it didn't happen I started to think that maybe it was because the pills aren't actually doing anything at all. Since I've been feeling pretty good after meals lately, I'm going to guess something is happening, and the only change I've made recently is taking these probiotics. I find that I'm not in pain with horrible gas and bloating after eating popcorn. My husband actually banned it from the house because of the horrors we encounter when eating it. But we went to the movies two nights ago and devoured a large bag between the two of us. Guess who had no popcorn-related side effects? Yup, yours truly. A second indication that something great is going on in my gut has to do with the big steak dinner I made on Saturday. Now, keep in mind I had only been taking them a couple of days at this point. Anyhow, whenever I have a large, meat-laden meal, a few things always happen: I get terrible stomach cramps, I am hungry again in a couple of hours and even if I have a snack before bed, I still wake up ravenous. This happens every single time, so I avoid heavy meaty meals if I can. I do love steak, though, and I do have to have one every now and then. On this particular occasion, however, I noticed that I wasn't hungry before bed. We had eaten that meal at about 4:30pm and here it was after 10:00pm and I noticed that I wasn't hungry at all. I mentioned it to David, and we figure that I may actually be absorbing more nutrients (finally) from my meals, and so didn't feel hungry. That is amazing. The next morning? Fine. No feeling famished. You have no idea how great this is. Unless you have to live with something, and you've resigned yourself to the fact that this is going to be your life, you have no clue how wonderful it is to feel different - normal. I have to give the credit here to Hyperbiotics and their PRO-15 Advanced Strength Probiotic. My health aside, I wanted to give a shout out to the people at Hyperbiotics. I was having some difficulty ordering them from Amazon.com because I live in Canada - apparently they were not available for shipping outside of the US. I contacted Amazon customer service and although the rep diligently tried to help me figure out why they weren't able to ship them out to me, he wasn't successful. I contacted Hyperbiotics directly and they were so quick to respond and were able to walk me step-by-step through the order process - and their patience was appreciated since I wasn't getting it the first time and contacted them a second time. Customer service is so important and I find that nowadays many companies just can't be bothered. Hyperbiotics understands that helping out a customer (even one who is getting this for free!) makes a difference. Go to amazon.com today & get your own healthy gut! Product Rating: 5 smiles out of 5 Product Website: hyperbiotics.com Product Type: probiotic supplement Would I purchase?: yes Would I recommend?: yes All opinions expressed in this blog are my own, unbiased after testing the product. The product was offered free of charge from the good people at Hyperbiotics with the expectation of an honest review within this blog, favorable or otherwise . First up for review is Kiss Me Organics, Organic Matcha Powder. What is so great about Matcha Green Tea? Well, it has four very appealing benefits when consumed on a regular basis: antioxidants, improvement of skin health, energy and metabolism booting properties. According to their website: Kiss Me Organics was kind enough to send me a package of their Organic Matcha Powder and some recipes designed to enjoy the flavor while basking in the benefits of this wonder powder. You'll get the report URL when you receive your order of Matcha! Every morning my husband and I have a warm glass of honey lemon water to kick start our day. Since we started doing that, we have found a positive difference in our digestion, so that alone is worth the price of lemons. When I received my sample pack of Organic Matcha Powder, I decided that the best way that I could make use of this was to add it to our morning drink. The first way I tried was to just stir in a 1/2 tsp into each glass manually. Even with warm water, it did not dissolve completely, but there was no chalky or gritty mouthfeel, so that wasn't really too much of an issue. The next morning I decided to put my Nutribullet to use and gave the powder and warm water a quick buzz before adding the lemon and honey. Magic! It was frothy and smooth and perfectly delicious. I'll add my recipe to the bottom of this post if you're interested in trying it for yourself. So now that I've been using the matcha each morning, have I seen any improvements? We've been making slow and steady improvements to our diet and health in our home this last year, and I believe this is going to become a fixture in our cupboard. I do have more energy and focus these days, which is much needed this time of the year, and since I have been dealing with some lethargy issues lately, I have to give the credit to Kiss Me Organics and their Matcha Green Tea Powder. Since they send a link to 10 recipes with each order, I tried the latte also (delish!) and am looking forward to baking their marble cake - healthy cake? Yes, please! I'll post here once I get around to it, possibly this weekend. So how do you get your own? So easy! Click here (Canadians) or here (my friends in the USA) or here (my friends in the UK) and get your own 4oz bag for less than $30! It may not sound like a whole lot, but you don't need to use very much to get all the awesome benefits and this bag will last the average person about 6 weeks! That is a small price to pay for increased energy, tonnes of antioxidants, healthy skin and a boost to your metabolism! Early Morning Matcha Lemon Drink Serves 2 INGREDIENTS: 1 tsp Kiss Me Organics Matcha Green Tea Powder 1 Lemon 2 Tbsp honey 1 cup hot water 1 cup cold water 2 glasses DIRECTIONS: 1. Mix Matcha into hot water, either by hand or in a small blender, dissolving completely. 2. Add 1/2 cup cold water to each glass. 3. Roll lemon around on the counter, applying pressure as you roll - this will help loosen the juice. Cut lemon in half. 4. Squeeze all the juice out of one lemon half into one glass. Repeat with other. 5. Add 1/2 cup of the matcha water to each glass and 1 tbsp honey - DO NOT add honey to pure hot water - you will kill off all the beneficial elements present in the honey. Add it to the warm water only. 6. Stir to combine and enjoy! You can also add muddled mint leaves for a little change every now and then. Product Rating: 5 smiles out of 5 Product Website: kissmeorganics.com Product Type: Green Tea Powder Would I purchase again?: yes Would I recommend?: yes All opinions expressed in this blog are my own, unbiased after testing the product. The product was offered free of charge from the good people at Kiss Me Organics with the expectation of an honest review within this blog, favorable or otherwise . Powered By
Whenever I see something interesting at the store, I'm more than willing to buy it to check it out. Terra Exotic Vegetable Chips, original flavour, was one of those 'curiosity' purchases. According to the Terra website: Any time I see a bag of vegetable chips, I never think "Yeah! I gots to get me some of these!", quite the opposite, actually. But I have to admit that the packaging was pretty, and the chips looked really yummy, so I figured I'd take a chance. You know what? These chips were absolutely delicious! I had to fight my kids for them. Oddly, they were also really filling. I can usually polish off a bag of chips with no thought except "Oh God what have I done?" when the bag is empty. My tummy was full long before that bowl was empty, and so the children got to have some also. I also have to note that my beet-hating child ate them with no complaints, but I'm going to chalk that up to it not being actual pieces of beet, just the juice for colour. Unfortunately, I can't remember where I bought this bag of veggie chips. I'm actually really sad about that, because I've tried two other brands since them (trying to recreate the experience, I'm a veggie chip serial killer now), and they don't compare. Terra chips are perfectly crispy, lightly salted and absolutely delicious with the perfect ratio and blend of root vegetables. Terra chips are available in multiple flavours including: Exotic Harvest, Stripes & Blues and Thai Basil Curry and can be found (according to their website) in regular 5oz and snack size 1oz bags. A 1oz serving of approximately 14 chips will cost you about 150 calories and a full size bag will ding your wallet for about $4 - $5. Product Rating: 5 smiles out of 5 Product Website: www.terrachips.com Product Type: snack food Would I purchase again?: yes Would I recommend?: yes All opinions expressed in this blog are my own, unbiased after testing the product. The product was fully paid for by myself. The subject of this blog entry has no expectation of a review, favorable or otherwise.
Everyone loves free! I love going to my mailbox and finding a box of goodies waiting for me. Last week, I received my sample box sent to me by the good people at SampleSource. Twice a year they send out a box of goodies and then follow up with a questionnaire via email a few weeks later to get your opinions. I don't mind answering a few questions in order to get to try out some new products, or to re-visit some familiar ones. Without further ado, here is what I received in my fall sampler: Seven samples in all, three edibles, three beauty related and one for the home. Needless to say, the edibles disappeared pronto! Hubby was working from home the day these arrived, so we shared a bite before the kids made it home from school! We'll start with the Brookside Dark Chocolate Acai with Blueberry candies. I was a little apprehensive to try these. I am not a big fan of 'jellies', and covered in chocolate kinda made me even more put off. However, these were delicious! David and I had to fight over the last few. Not too sweet, with a thin coating of dark chocolate that adds just the right hint of cocoa. These are definitely a buy! A 2 lb bag goes for $15.50 on Amazon.ca Brookside's website is found here. Kelloggs sent a sample of their Special K Cookies & Creme Pastry crisps along with a coupon. Coupons are great to find in these sample kits, because if you enjoy your sample, it's really nice to also get a discount when you go out to buy the product. I was not too fond of this. The flavor was okay, it tries to mimic an Oreo cookie, but something in the texture is off. It's soft and crispy at the same time, which seems just wrong. Although it was chocolatey and sweet, I just couldn't get over the mouthfeel, and so this item is a pass for me. A box of 10 pouches (2 per pouch) sells for under $3 at Walmart. Kelloggs' website is found here. Hershey's contribution was a full size milk chocolate with almonds bar. Can you say yum? This is a chocolate bar that has been on the market for quite some time, but I'm guessing they're sending these samples out because they're trying to promote their new 'Bar & a Half' size. Whatever the reason, I was happy to get this, and it was as delicious as ever! Smooth and creamy, with just the right amount of whole roasted almonds in the bar, this is a classic that never gets old. I have purchased this item in the past and I will continue to do so in the future. A regular sized bar will cost you about $2.00. Hershey's website can be found here. Next item is the Finish Power and Free with Hydrogen Peroxide dishtab sample. I received one tab (good for one load of dishes) along with a $2.00 coupon. I have received Finish samples before, and they do give you a good clean on your dishes. However, I recently tried out Cascade Platinum and so far, nothing else comes close to the clean I get from them. So thank you for the sample, but it's not good enough to switch. A 60 count box will run you about $20.00. Visit the Finish site here. No sample box is complete without some shampoo and conditioner samples. Usually it's Pantene or Dove, so it's nice to see something I haven't actually tried yet. John Frieda Luxurious Volume Touchably Full. I swear, the names for these products get longer and longer every year! This is something I need! I'll be trying this out and see how it stacks up against the others - I've tried out a lot of hair products! Each bottle will run you about $9, so you're looking at just under $20 for the shampoo (250ml) and conditioner (250ml). Visit the John Frieda site here. Also received a Biore Nose strip. Although I do really enjoy the mystery of trying out a new product, it is nice when you get a box of samples and there are old favorites mixed in with the new. This is one of those products. I have been using Biore strips for my chin and nose for years, and will continue to do so. Although a little painful when it comes time to peel them off, they're easy to use and I feel good about my weekly 'deep clean' with Biore. I have purchased this product, and I will continue to do so. They're not cheap, though. A box of 8 costs around $8. Visit Biore's site to learn more. And last, but definitely not least, Jergens Ultra Care Moisturizer, or hand cream to us laypeople. They also sent a $1 off coupon, which is really nice. I am always on the lookout for good cream, especially withe the winter looming - we Canadians know just how dry our skin gets during the long winter here. I'll try this one out and let you know in a future post whether it's worth your money. Cost is about $4.50 for 100ml bottle. See Jergens' website here. All told - a great sample box! I received a really good mix of old and new, food, beauty and home. SampleSource is a great site to sign up at if you enjoy getting samples. All opinions expressed in this blog are my own, unbiased after testing the product(s). All product was offered free of charge with an expectation of a review within this blog, favorable or otherwise.
The wonderful people at Sawmill Creek Wines and BzzAgent sent me a new campaign a couple of weeks ago to try out their wines. Awesome, right? They sent me a $25 gift card to buy some wine at the Wine Rack and let you all know what I thought. To see my Welcome Kit for this campaign, click here. First of all, the selection Sawmill Creek offers is pretty amazing. I went to the Wine Rack website to figure out which one I'd like to try, thinking it would most likely be a Chardonnay or Merlot. Once I saw the selection, my mind started working. What if I not only drank it, but made something with it also? So I looked further than the usual and settled on a bottle of Autumn Blush and one of Riesling. The Autumn Blush has a regular price of $14.95 and the Riesling of $16.00 for 1500ml. I was kicking myself a little when I went in on Friday because I had missed the sale last week where the Riesling was only $13.95. 1500ml is no small bottle, either, so I ended up paying $5.95 out of pocket for both after using the $25 gift card BzzAgent sent me. Sawmill Creek offers not only multiple varieties of wine for you to enjoy (along with the ones I've already mentioned, they also offer Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, Select White and Shiraz), they also offer multiple sizes. Many varieties come in sizes ranging from 1000ml in a bottle or tetra, a 1500ml bottle and a 4000ml cask (or box, to us laypeople). Their prices are excellent, considering a 1500ml bottle of Riesling will only cost you $16.00. Now that I've given you the details, we're going to get to the good stuff. I hear you ask, what did you make with your wine? Well, the first thing I wanted to make was a sangria. I had some friends over on Saturday and was excited to make something pretty. I got my inspiration from Gimme Some Oven, a website I have bookmarked so I can return to frequently for inspiration, because she has some really great ideas. For my sangria recipe, click here. I got the 5L glass dispenser at Kitchen Stuff Plus on sale for $14.99! I decided to use the Riesling as part of a vinaigrette for a lovely apple and fennel salad we had with seared scallops. The inspiration for that recipe came from the Wine Rack website. For my Seared Scallops recipe, click here. Now to the actual wine tasting! I did drink some of the actual wine straight from the bottle without embellishments (unless you count my glass as an embellishment!). I am no sommelier, so I won't be able to tell you about subtle citrus undertones or flowery accents with oak aftertastes. I can tell you that the Autumn Blush was delicious. It had a lovely slight fruity flavour. It was light and very easy to drink with no dry mouth aftertaste. I enjoy drinking blush for all of these reasons. This campaign would have been great in the summer months, as this would be a terrific wine for an outdoor bbq. Shrimp, mint & grapefruit skewers come to mind as a perfect meal to have with this wine. I think this is a great value for a nice light wine that pairs well with fresh foods and is delicious in a sangria. I had really high expectations for the Riesling. It is really one of my favorite wines and the good ones have a fantastic full bodied fruity flavor. Sawmill Creek did not disappoint me. As I was making dinner I poured myself a glass to enjoy. I admit that I chill all my wine, be it red, white or somewhere in between. Usually I add some gingerale also because warm wine out of the bottle just doesn't do it for me. In this case I had taken the bottle out of the cupboard for the vinaigrette and poured my glass as it was. You know, it was delicious even at room temperature. I was so surprised. After I chilled it overnight and had another glass after work today it was even better. Truly light, refreshing with a slight citrus flavor, this wine is definitely easy to drink. All told, I'm extremely happy to have had the opportunity to try out Sawmill Creek wines. It's not a brand I would have tried on my own because I generally shop at the LCBO, whereas this brand is only available at Wine Rack. Now that I've tried the Autumn Blush and Riesling, I can tell you that I am willing to make the trip to Wine Rack to purchase this wine more often. Between the satisfying flavors and the excellent price point, not to mention how beautiful the new labeling is and the excellent choice in sizes, Sawmill Creek has found a new fan! Sorry folks, no coupons came with this campaign! Product Rating: 5 smiles out of 5 Product Website: www.sawmillcreekwines.com Product Type: wine Would I purchase?: absolutely Would I recommend?: absolutely Sawmill Creek Autumn Blush and Riesling were purchased using a $25.00 giftcard sent free by the good people at BzzAgent and Sawmill Creek. All opinions expressed in this blog are my own, unbiased after testing the product. The product was offered free of charge with the expectation of an honest review within this blog, favorable or otherwise
Above: Yesterday's box with cherries, corn, tomatoes, fennel, cucumber and a pineapple. I subscribe to Farms & Forks (formerly organicfooddelivery.com) and I have never been disappointed. Although they offer a fantastic policy in regards to over-ripe or damaged foods, I have yet to find one piece of fruit or vegetable that wasn't absolutely perfect in my box. Customer service is second-to-none, questions are answered and issues are dealt with quickly. They started out small, but are growing quickly, something that usually means the death of such fantastic customer care. However, with the Farms & Forks team, this is not the case. They put you first and deliver fantastic food with many more options offered each week... growth looks good on them. And my delivery person, Roxanne, is so friendly, always waiting around to say hi when I come outside to pick up my box after she rings the doorbell.
Supporting your local farmers by using their CSA (community supported agriculture) boxes is a great option, but we do live in a country with winter, so these are only an option during the growing season. Therefore, I like to subscribe to a year-round box and visit farmer's markets during the summer and fall months. Farms & Forks delivers all across the GTA, and if this is something that sounds interesting to you, I urge you to give them a try. They offer three box sizes (see pic for examples) and you can choose fruit or veggie only, or the combo box with both. If you don't like them, cancelling after your first box is easy. Start small and see how it goes. They also offer a 'one time only' deal, so you can try it out before you commit. Their website is http://organicfooddelivery.com (clicking this link will open a new window) and if you do decide to try them out, I ask that you enter my name (Sonja Pecnik) in the referral area, I do get $5 toward my next box if you do! Please let me know in the comments section if you decided to give it a try and what your experience was.
Above: Last week's box with basil, beets, bananas, zucchini, purple (!) sweet pepper, oranges, red cabbage and strawberries. Also, our dessert featuring the super-sweet strawberries from Ted Eng's Farm. All opinions expressed in this blog are my own, unbiased after testing the product. The product was fully paid for by myself. The subject of this blog entry has no expectation of a review, favorable or otherwise.
I received a free sample of Q Energy, an energy and health drink in powder form from a Canadian company based in North Vancouver. What is Q? According to their website, qenergydrink.com, it "...offers clean energy, support for your health, improved performance... with high quality natural ingredients... approved by Health Canada." Their packets come in three flavors: Lemon Lime, Wildberry and Orange. Although my sample pack came with three packets, I received no orange. It seems this is a new flavor for them, so it was possibly not in any sample pack at the time I made my request. Now for the review: First off, I love the packaging, it's a cute little flip top with loads of product information that you generally do not get with samples. After reading the ingredients, I realized that I knew what most of them were and how to pronounce them, which is always a big plus in my book. Although the package states to mix (shaken, not stirred!) the powder into a 700ml bottle, I only had a 500ml handy, so I mixed it in and hoped for the best. Although I was quite cautious with my first sip (you know what that tastes like when you mix more than what you're supposed to), both flavors were quite mild and refreshing. Unlike other 'energy' drinks on the market today which are pretty much just sugar water, they were light tasting with just the right amount of flavor and sweetness. Mind you, I do not have much of a sweet tooth, and often water down my juice slightly. The powder did mix in well, although I gave it a good shake before each drink because there was a bit of sediment on the bottom of the bottle. However, there was none left once the drink was finished, all of the product was consumed with the water. The first bottle was consumed cool-ish (warmed up quite a bit before I got to work) and the second ice-cold. Both were surprisingly good. Another plus - it doesn't have to be very cold to still be enjoyable. I have a very high tolerance for caffeine, and subsequently I can drink coffee, Redbull or Monster and fall asleep within minutes. It goes without saying that I did not have very high hopes for any actual energy boost from this product. Well, I am happy to report that I was wrong. I drank my first bottle the sluggish morning after a sleepless night, and I'm glad I did. I was able to get through my day with a normal level of energy rather than trying to find a back room to curl up and sleep in. Since I was so exhausted to begin with, I did come down pretty hard around 2:00pm. After I drank the second bottle that day I perked up right away. No crash after bottle #2 thanks to a power nap between 2:00 and 3:00. Just to make sure that the second non-crash bottle wasn't a fluke, I waited a few days and drank my third sample on a Saturday afternoon. Guess what? No crash. And a feel-good energy boost. All good on this energy drink. My only complaint is that when you tear the packaging, the hole is way too small and you have to coax the powder out of it. Not a big deal, at home I used scissors, but a little pain in the posterior if your out on the road. So, long story short, I would definitely recommend Q Energy Drink to you if you enjoy the more sugary versions for the boost, if you lead an active lifestyle (it contains Vitamins A, C, D, E, B6, ginseng and ginko biloba among others, all good stuff), or to have on hand when you need a little pick-me-up. I know that I will purchase more of this product. Where can you get your own sample? Head over to their website at qenergydrink.com and click on 'BUY Q'. You'll see the free sample pack. There is a $3.00 shipping fee, but as of this post they will give you a 15% discount on your first order with them. Not a bad deal considering they offer free shipping on regular orders across Canada. Product pricing is very good. You can purchase single packets for $1.95, a 10-pack (single flavor) for $18.95 ($1.90 ea), a 20-pack (two flavors) for $35.90 ($1.80 ea) or a 40-pack mixer for $61.95 (1.55 ea). They also offer an auto-ship program, details are scant on the website, but they promise an even greater savings on the posted price. Compare that to the canned sugar rush drinks you've been guzzling and the prices seem extremely fair, even if you factor in your own water bottle. If you use a re-useable bottle, it's even better. Product Rating: 5 smiles out of 5 Product Website: qenergydrink.com Product Type: energy drink Product Origin: Canada All opinions expressed in this blog are my own, unbiased after testing the product. The product was offered free of charge with no expectation of a review, favorable or otherwise.
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AuthorHi! I'm Sonja and I'm glad you're here! I'm happy to share some recipes and gardening tips with you while I let you know about great (or not so great) products, services, and media I encounter. Visit my online shop at MysteriousDragonfyre.com
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