my first {giveaway}

Ugh – first, let me apologize for my absence this weekend.  Our internet has been down for the past TWO days.  In fact, right now, it’s Sunday night and I’m typing this in Live Writer, just HOPING that the internet will be fixed by the time I wake up.  It’s kinda hard to run a blog (and read other blogs) when you have no internet connection.  THANKS FRONTIER!!  You will not get my money after our contract is up!  So if I didn’t comment on your blogs, that’s why.  It’s NOT because I don’t love you.  In fact, quite the opposite.  Taking a two day break made me miss catching up with you guys!

Now on to the good stuff.  The fun stuff.

As you may know, I’m fairly new to blogging.  And dancing.

In fact, Lindsay’s List has only been in existence for three months.  THREE MONTHS!!  That’s NOTHING compared to how long some of my favorite bloggers have been doing this!  I must say, I’m truly surprised by the amazing relationships that I’ve already made with fellow bloggers and readers.

And that’s the primary reason that I started this blog – for the community!   I LOVE the fact that we can share our lives with each other, supporting the passions and lifting up each other during hard times.

Beyond the community and support, I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t interested in some of the other perks that come with blogging.  Like giveaways.

So when Devin at YoCrunch contacted me a few weeks ago with the opportunity to review his company’s product, I jumped at the chance.   I’ll be honest – I had no clue who YoCrunch was.  At that point, being approached by ANYONE wanting me to do a review of ANY product seemed like something only a pro would be asked to do.  I thought that only my mom and sister read.  But somehow, Devin found my little blog.

I’ll bet my mom called him.

No doubt, she used a two prong approach.  First, she nagged him to death, then resorted to bribing with money (that she’ll never deliver on – “I’ll give you $20 to eat that brussel sprout” my butt!!)

No matter.  However you found me, Devin, thanks for the opportunity!

YoCrunch is marketed as an easy solution to snacktime.  For around 100 calories, this yogurt provides a smooth and creamy base for the 100% natural granola topping.  There are also “fun” flavors, with toppings like Oreos, Reese Pieces and M&M’s.

My free coupon was for a mulitpack.   In our small town, that meant only three choices (Strawberry, Cheesecake and Blueberry Parfait).  I went with the 100 Calorie Strawberry.

TASTE: B+

The taste was comparable to other sweetened yogurts that I’ve tried.  Just a tad too sweet!  My all-time favorite yogurt is plain Greek, which is almost tart.  So diving into this cup was a bit of a surprise.  The granola topping was actually pretty tasty!  I loved the honey and cinnamon taste that came out.

NUTRITION:  C

This yogurt lacked what I look for most in a snack: PROTEIN!!  I did like that the calories and fat grams were really low, so that I could add my own almond butter or protein powder and still keep the “snack” label.

But look at the ingredients list.

High Fructose Corn Syrup!! Umm…no thanks!  Being an informed consumer, I know that HFCS is evil (no matter what those commercials funded by corn growers might say!)  Other than the HFCS (and a little too much added sugar), I was fine with these ingredients.

OVERALL GRADE:  B-

I must say, I probably wouldn’t buy this yogurt if given the choice between it and my usual Chobani.  The nutritional stats just weren’t working for me.  Too much sugar, not enough protein, and HFCS!!!  Are you kidding!?!?  YoCrunch – come on!  Take that out and you’d have a decent product.

GIVEAWAY!

But, Lindsay, you just told us you wouldn’t buy this yogurt.  Why would we want to win coupons for it?

I also said that I lived in a small town, with a small selection of YoCrunch varieties.  I looked on their website and found out that they make this:

 

No HFCS and a higher protein count!!  If you win, try to get your hands on the Greek Parfait, and then tell me how you like it!!

YoCrunch was nice enough to provide me with FIVE free coupons for my readers!!  Since I like to “spread the love”, I’m giving these out seperately, meaning there will be FIVE winners!!

To make it easy to remember, I’m giving you FIVE ways to enter. Please leave a SEPARATE comment for each entry:

• Leave a comment telling me how you like to eat your yogurt.   Plain? With toppings?
• Follow @Lindsays_List on Twitter
• Follow Lindsay’s List on Facebook
• Tweet the following – “I’m trying to win some free stuff  from @Lindsays_List!  Go enter her giveaway! http://lindsayslist.co/2011/09/my-first-giveaway/ “
• Share on Facebook –   “I’m trying to win some free stuff  from Lindsays List!  Go enter her giveaway! http://lindsayslist.co/2011/09/my-first-giveaway/ “

I’ll announce the FIVE winners on Friday!!  That is, if my internet doesn’t go out.

eh, I’ll just have Mom call them.
**Tuesday Trainer’s theme for this week is LEGS!! Have your submissions to me by TONIGHT at 8pm EST!***

splendid…lindsay