This Mama Cooks! Reviews

An interview with my BlogHer '09 sponsor, Best Western

One of the big conferences for women bloggers (and a few men, too) is the BlogHer conference. This year it’s in Chicago on July 24-25. I’m driving to the event in a Chevy car (sponsored by General Motors) with Amy Peck of Inherent Passion. We’re driving from Colorado and stopping in Ames, Iowa overnight to pick up Jenna Goodwin of For The Love of Baby! and Becky Gjendem of Deep Muck Big Rake.

For many bloggers, going to a conference is expensive, so we find ways to cut costs, whether that’s using frequent flier miles, getting a roommate, or volunteering. I’ve done ‘em all.

Meet my first sponsor, Best Western

This year I’m lucky enough to have a few sponsors to help with expenses. One of them is Best Western who will be sponsoring Amy’s and my stay in Ames both on the way to and the way back from BlogHer ‘09.

As part of the sponsorship, I was lucky enough to do an email interview with Troy Rutman, Director of External Communications at Best Western. We cover everything from how Best Western is using social media to how they help you stay healthy on the road. We also discuss how Best Western is making travel affordable for families and small business people.

Special K Protein Shakes review

Kellogg’s PR firm sent me a bottle of Kellogg's™ Special K™ Protein Shake (milk chocolate) to try. Yes, just one bottle of the chocolate flavor. No blenders, no kitchen accessories, just a little bottle of some yummy chocolate stuff.

Each Special K™ Protein Shake meal replacement shake contains 10 grams of protein and five grams of fiber to help you feel fuller, longer. There’s 180 calories in the French vanilla and strawberry shakes, and 190 calories in the milk chocolate one. The shakes also contain vitamins A, C, D and E, along with other nutrients like calcium. Click here to read the nutritional info for the milk chocolate shake.

The shake tasted good, a little like a Yoo-Hoo. It was creamy and not gritty like a lot of other protein shakes. I like the high fiber and protein content of the product. However, the ingredient label is a bit worrisome since it’s seems more like science experiment than a smoothie you’d make for yourself.

In that regard, I prefer Lightfull Smoothies, (read my review here) which are made from more wholesome ingredients like cane juice and nonfat plain yogurt and have half the calories. However, Lightfull Smoothies have half the protein (darn it), and have to be ordered online, so are probably more expensive than Special K™ Protein Shakes.

Pricewise, if you order Lightfull Smoothies from Amazon and take advantage of the free shipping, they're cheaper than Special K™ Protein Shakes. However, there's the convenience of going to the store to pick up a few without having to wait days for shipping.

Sometimes cost and convenience are more important that “sugar” versus “evaporated cane juice,” But calories and protein are important, too, so it’s really a toss up between the two products. I like them both for different reasons, and plan to keep one or the other in my fridge for when I need a quick snack between meals or before working out.

(Update 10/30/09: I'm not positive, but Lightfull Smoothies may have gone out of business. Amazon no longer carries them and I can only find them for sale on eBay.)

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Full disclosure: all Amazon links are affiliate links.

Win a case of V8 V-Fusion Passionfruit Tangerine juice

Last February I had a chance to visit Campbell’s corporate headquarters and learn all about their healthy initiatives and food products including V8. I found out how V8 V-Fusion^®  juice is made and sampled several of the juices in Campbell’s kitchens.

V8 V-Fusion juices are a great way to get in your recommended allowance of fruit and veggies. (Yes, they contain both! But don’t tell the kids.) Plus they’re terrific in smoothies or you can make ice pops with them.

So, get a nutritional jump start on summer by entering my giveaway. On lucky winner will receive:

• A case (8 bottles) of V-8 V-Fusion Passionfruit Tangerine
• An embroidered V8 V-Fusion L.L. Bean tote and boat bag

Here’s how you can win:

Getting fit with EA SPORTS Active for the Wii

I am one of 500 lucky women to be given an EA SPORTS Active to review as part of their June 30-day Challenge.* After seeing the commercials late last month, I was very excited to be part of the program. Even more so, when I heard from my friend, Jennifer James of the Mom Bloggers Club, that she had lost over 25 pounds using it. (Jennifer was the one who got me the opportunity to try out EA SPORTS Active for free.)

So when the box arrived on May 30th, I couldn’t wait to get started.

Easy set up

June 1st came around and even though I woke up before 7 a.m. to get started, I had a full audience – my mother-in-law, my husband and my two children,  Nathan and Lucie. Nothing I hate more than working out to an audience.

The kids were fired up thinking that they’d be playing the new Wii game, too. (More on that later.) After I assured my two Wii experts that they’d eventually get their turn, they helped me set up my profile and character. (You can pick your character’s hair, skin color, body type and outfit.)

Then I entered my stats (weight, age and height) and went through a few more menu choices like type of music I wanted, male or female trainer (I chose a gal pal) and level of workout (easy, moderate or hard). I chose moderate, picked the 30-Day Challenge and started working out.

Working out with EA Sports Active

You get a variety of workouts with the 30-Day Challenge – lower body, upper body, fun stuff like boxing or tennis, jogging – and lunges, lunges and more lunges. The only thing is missing are core exercises, but not for long. This holiday season the EA SPORTS Active expansion pack will included curl ups, crunch and punches. Great!

The biggest challenge was making sure I held and moved the Wii remote and nunchuk correctly when I used the arm resistance band. The game features a video for each activity, so you know exactly how to point them. Still, there were times where the game didn’t “see” what I was doing with the nunchuk and I had to repeat my curls over and over again.

I also felt that the moderate level was too easy for me, though my workout buddy thought it was very challenging. So, even though the next day was a rest day (it’s usually two days on and one day off) I worked out doing at the hard level, which I liked better.

Create a virtual lemonade stand at Electrolux.com and raise money for the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund

Kelly Ripa and Electrolux are teaming up to encourage Americans to open virtual lemonade stands to help raise funds and awareness for the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund (OCRF) this summer, I was all over it.  For every lemonade stand opened at electroluxappliances.com, Electrolux will donate $1 to help support this worthy cause. 

In addition, you help the cause even more by buying virtual glasses of lemonade at my my lemonade stand. You can make a donation of $1 up to $50, which can be paid via your PayPal account, by credit card or bank account. 100 percent of the proceeds will go to OCRF as well.

Make a glass of real lemonade

One of the virtual glasses of lemonade that I’m selling is Sparkling Ginger Lemonade with Spring Herbs, which was created for Electrolux.com by Bronson van Wyck. Here’s his recipe:

Sparkling Ginger Lemonade with Spring Herbs

Ingredients:

• 2 part club soda
• 1 part citron base
  • Approx 1 part fresh squeezed lemon juice
  • 2 parts simple syrup (equal parts sugar /water, dissolved – or use Torani Sugar Free Vanilla Syrup
• Spring herbs
  • Basil and mint, or
  • Rosemary and mint, or
  • Oregano and mint

Directions:

1. Add a kick of fresh ginger juice
2. Run fresh ginger root over a fine grater (not a microplane) and squeeze the pulp by hand, collecting the juice. This stuff in incredibly hot/spicy - just add to taste.
3. Garnish with spring herbs that are torn by hand (not muddled) and added to the pitcher or glass just before serving.