Myoatmeal.com

I stumbled across Myoatmeal on the bodybuilding.com, and as I am moving to a more IIFYM lifestyle (with paleo forming the base of my nutrition- post with overall nutrition/workout update to come soon) I decided to try out some of the products. The basic premise is the company will 'build' you a custom bag of oatmeal, you not only get to select the type of oats, but also a huge range of flavour combinations, and some awesome add ins like PB lean, nuts, and dried fruit. You also have a sweetener option. The company also offer custom powdered peanut butter with all of the same options.

For my first order I went with three bags of oats and a bag of peanut butter. Oatmeal was a huge part of my diet pre paleo, and I wanted to try adding it back in post workout in line with my move to a more flexible eating approach. The last powdered peanut butter product I tried I hated, so I was hesitant on ordering a bag, but the macros were fantastic, and so was the value and volume per serve in comparison to the other nut butter products I have been using as pre-work fuel.

Now the only downside I have with this company is the shipping to Australia, for my four bags of product shipping was nearly $58 :/ I would highly recommend trying to split your order with someone to share that cost, but after trying the product I'm begrudgingly willing to suck up that cost because I really loved everything I tried.

So, on to the products: (FYI I cooked all of the oats using 1/2 cup almond breeze almond milk, 1/2 cup water which has always been my go to formula for cooking any oatmeal)

Peanut Butter, Banana Oatmeal
For this combination I ordered the gluten free quick oats, banana bread flavouring, peanut butter flavouring and added dried banana chips and ground flax. I didn't add any sweeteners to any of my choices as I am not a huge fan of splenda, and to be honest I found I didn't need it, if you do have a slightly more sweet tooth though I would recommend adding one. Upon opening the bag the smell was amazing, a really strong banana-peanut butter aroma. This was my favourite of the three texture wise, when cooked up it was really thick and slightly chewy I think this might have been from the addition of the flax. There were plenty of banana chips and when cooked these had a fantastic texture, not hard but not soggy. Flavour wise I could really taste the banana and there was a subtle underlying peanut butter flavour. I'm a bit peanut butter mad so next time I order this combination I'm going to add in some PB lean as an extra to just give it a slightly stronger peanut butter hit, however the balance in this mix was good.

Gingerbread, Vanilla Frosting
I ordered the gingerbread with gluten free quick oats as it is a seasonal flavour and I didn't want to miss it, and who doesn't love gingerbread with vanilla icing? This had a super strong gingerbread smell when I opened the bag, but I could still detect the vanilla undertone as well. I didn't add any mix ins to this flavour as I wasn't sure what would work well with the flavour combination, I think next time I'd add something crunchy to take it to the next level. This had fantastic flavour, a really distinct gingerbread taste with the vanilla frosting giving it the perfect amount of sweetness for me. I found this mix needed a tiny extra bit of water compared to the other two to get the texture I like but I figure it was  because it had no mix ins. I think this flavour would make a great base for oatmeal biscuits or protein pancakes!

Strawberry Shortcake, English Toffee
In this mix I had gluten free quick oats, strawberry shortcake flavour, english toffee flavour and added strawberry pieces. This was my favourite flavour combination of the three bags I ordered, the toffee smell was amazing, the strawberry and toffee flavours were both very pronounced but well balanced and there were so many strawberries! Even better, when this was cooked the texture of the strawberries was perfect for me, slightly chewy, not soggy and a good sweet bite to them. Again the texture of the oats was spot on, and I think this flavour combination would make a great base for cold overnight oats.

Cookie Dough Peanut Butter
Okay, as I said I was hesitant on this product because of past experiences with dried peanut butters, however this seriously blew me away! I have fallen in love with Myoatmeal's peanut butter, so much so I have ordered two more bags and nearly had a heart attack when I ran out of this one! The macros are not only great (for my mix 68 calories 2F/4P/9C for a huge amount when mixed up, perfect for my pre workout!) but the texture and taste were fantastic. To mix this up I would put the 14gm serving size into a bowl and gradually add tiny amounts of water until it was the texture I wanted, I liked it on the slightly thicker side but still spreadable. The cookie dough flavour was definitely there but not overpowering, it had a true peanut not artificial taste and it wasn't gritty or powdery at all when mixed up. Again I didn't add any sweetener, or extras but these are both available when you do your mix. I have seen videos where this has been used in baking and I can't wait to try it out, it is an awesome product I cannot recommend it enough especially if you are a peanut butter addict looking for a twist of the usual chocolate/cinnamon/honey combos you can buy everywhere else. I was super impressed with this product, and can't wait to try out more flavours!

Overall I really enjoyed all my products from Myoatmeal.com and have ordered more, yes the shipping is pricey but for me the quality and uniqueness of the product was worth it. I want to try a few different types of the oats, and will probably add flax or chia to all my mixes as I liked the texture of them in my banana mix. I still won't add a sweetener because as I mentioned the flavour/sweetness was enough for me. The site allows me to chose the flavours I want, the mix in I want and to customise to fit my macros which is a luxury I can't get anywhere else (plus just to reiterate...the peanut butter is freaking amazing!).

http://www.myoatmeal.com/