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USA Today
28-04-2025
- Lifestyle
- USA Today
Muscle Milk's smores protein shake tastes like a Pop-Tart. Do with that what you will
Muscle Milk's smores protein shake tastes like a Pop-Tart. Do with that what you will Welcome back to FTW's Beverage of the Week series. Here, we mostly chronicle and review beers, but happily expand that scope to any beverage that pairs well with sports. Yes, even cookie dough whiskey. Protein powder has become a regular part of my diet. In part because it compels me, at least slightly, to work out. But mixing in a scoop of protein with my coffee not only serves as a useful breakfast that keeps me from getting hungry until, say, 2 p.m. but also makes my cheap flavored coffee feel much fancier. This has typically been whatever winds up on sale at Costco or splashed across my personalized recommendations on Slickdeals. As such, Muscle Milk has typically been an outlier -- a heavyweight brand mostly static with its pricing. While I'd seen it in the coolers at my old gym, I'd never splurged on a carton. After breaking down Pure Protein's offerings and Fulfil's bars, Muscle Milk reached out with the chance to try a new-ish flavor. I'm down for all things smores -- especially the now discontinued Ritz Bits. Now I get to dot my morning with a ready-made shake before my extremely basic afternoon dad workout. Let's see what we've got. Smores: B- It pours a dense brown, looking like a creamy chocolate shake all the way. It smells a bit sweeter than you'd expect, or maybe right on par for a drink that's got heavy marshmallow influence to it. It doesn't taste like a smore. It tastes like a Pop Tarts smores pastry. It's sweet, with a dense sugar feel despite zero sugars in the actual drink. It's thick enough that drinking through a straw is tricky, which helps it feel a bit more authentic to a protein shake. Your feelings on it will depend on how much sweetness you can tolerate. The creamy feel of casein protein gives way to an artificial sugar that leaves a sharp taste on your tongue and coats the roof of your mouth. If you're looking for a dessert, this will scratch that itch at 170 calories and 25 grams of protein. Ultimately, that's good enough for me. It won't be my morning, mix-it-with-coffee protein (although...), but it's a solid post-workout reward. While the protein-to-calorie ratio isn't great here, it's sweet enough to justify its position. It's not my favorite, but it's fine. Would I drink it instead of a Hamm's? This a pass/fail mechanism where I compare whatever I'm drinking to my baseline cheap beer. That's the standby from the land of sky-blue waters, Hamm's. So the question to answer is: on a typical day, would I drink Muscle Milk's smores protein shake over a cold can of Hamm's? Well huh, I'm beginning to think this is an imperfect metric. I do like the taste, but it's a lot. It's more dessert than morning shake, but there's room for that. Personally, I'd like a better calorie-to-protein ratio, but it's fine.
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Here's the exact time (approximately) your team will make its first-round pick in NFL Draft
For NFL geeks, the first round of the draft on April 24 is like Christmas Day. This year's version will be televised at 8 p.m. on ABC, ESPN and the NFL Network. Each will have the standard booing of the commissioner, analysis (over-analysis?), videos, interviews, speculation, draft-room cams and news followed by the same formula for all 32 picks. Advertisement Since the Super Bowl, the talk of the league has focused on every morsel of information concerning the NFL Draft. Ten straight weeks of headlines. For an event that isn't even a competition! Just to build us up for the four-hour entertainment extravaganza. I like the draft as much as any other fan, but let's face it, the first round really can slog along at times. The whole thing lasts four hours, but if you really want to just know when your favorite team is picking that night, here's a best guess, based on last year's selection times. More: We ranked Miami Dolphins' 10 best NFL draft picks of all time. Here's who made the cut NFL Draft: When will the Tennessee Titans make the first pick? Dec 28, 2024; Orlando, FL, USA; Miami Hurricanes quarterback Cam Ward (1) drops back to pass against the Iowa State Cyclones in the first quarter during the Pop Tarts bowl at Camping World Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images The Tennessee Titans, by virtue of their abysmal 3-14 record last season, are making the first pick. Advertisement Based on the 2024 draft and the fact that it's really not much of a secret who the Titans will be selecting, we can expect NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to announce that "with the first pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, the Tennessee Titans select Cam Ward, quarterback from the University of Miami" at 8:19 p.m. Yes, there will be an approximate 19 minutes of flash and fanfare to push and plug from Rece Davis, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Nick Saban, Pete Thamel, Field Yates, Laura Rutledge, Mike Greenberg, Louis Riddick, Booger McFarland, Adam Schefter, Mel Kiper Jr., Molly McGrath, Rich Eisen, Charles Davis, Joel Klatt, Kurt Warner, Ian Rapoport, Daniel Jeremiah, Jamie Erdhal, Chris Rose, Colleen Wolfe, Mike Garafalo, Brian Baldinger, David Carr, Maurice Jones-Drew, Steve Wyche, Cynthia Frelund, Jeff Darlington, Jeremy Fowler, Sal Paolantonio, Mike Reiss, Lindsey Thiry, Judy Battista, Stacey Dales, Sara Walsh and ... (catching my breath) Cameron Wolfe discussing what's about to unfold before the first pick is actually made. That will immediately follow with Ward putting on the Titans draft cap (which probably won't fit him and he'll never wear again), giving Goodell a big bear hug, holding up the Titans No. 1 jersey, posing for a picture and then telling Titans fans, "I'm excited and I'm just ready to go to work." As for the rest of the 31 picks, if you want to put in laundry, run to Publix, get some homework done or watch a sitcom, drama or movie (depending on where your team is picking), before or after your team selects, here's the best estimate of the time each of the teams will pick, based on the minute-by-minute selections from last year: Advertisement More: We ranked Miami Dolphins' 10 worst NFL draft picks of all time. Here's who made the cut NFL Draft: When will each team make their first-round selections? A 2025 NFL Draft mural is seen on the northeast corner of the Lambeau Field Atrium on Thursday, April 17, 2025, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, WI. The 2025 NFL Draft will be held April 24-26. Tork Mason/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin NFL Draft: What is the average time that elapses between first-round picks? The draft actually moves much faster than television reveals. Many of the picks are made seconds after the previous pick, but because of interviews, analysis and videos, each pick can – and will be – dragged out to maximize the 10-minute window given to each team. Hey, it could be worse. Teams used to get 15 minutes between picks in the first round. In the end, it fits nicely into a four-hour television package. A few observations: Advertisement Based on the 2024 draft, the average time between picks is 6 minutes, 54 seconds. If there is a commercial break, the time between picks averages 9 minutes, 5 seconds. After 11 p.m., when the final eight or so picks are made, they come in much quicker, presumably because the big audience is gone and ratings won't be jeopardized if it finishes in a flurry. The shortest time between picks was 2 minutes. That pick was the 27th and it came in at 11:18 p.m. The longest time between picks was 12 minutes. That pick was the 24th selection at 11:04 p.m. There were 13 sets of commercial breaks in the four hours of coverage. NFL Draft: How to watch Thursday, April 24: Round 1, 8 p.m. TV: ABC, NFL Network, ESPN, and ESPN Deportes. It can be live-streamed on NFL+ and heard on SiriusXM NFL Radio, Westwood One Sports and ESPN Radio. Friday, April 25: Rounds 2-3, 7 p.m. TV: ABC, NFL Network, ESPN Saturday, April 26: Rounds 4-7, Noon. TV: ABC, NFL Network, ESPN James Coleman is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at jcoleman@ and follow him on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @JimColeman11. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: What time is your team making its NFL Draft first-round pick?
Yahoo
23-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Seniors shop for free at unique Pensacola food pantry that's part of church's outreach
We're lucky to have them, the nonprofits and ministries that work to feed our hungry neighbors in times that always seem to be tough. We've seen the grateful looks of parents with kids, receiving a box of food staples at distribution events. We've seen the anxious eyes of seniors receiving needed boxes of food to sustain them in their fading years. All those volunteers, those groups and churches that do what most of us wish churches would do more of, are doing wonderful things, vital things, helping those who need it to survive. PNJ photographer Tony Giberson and I have seen a few of these food distribution events in our years, but when we walked out of Northwest Florida Community Outreach's food distribution setup on North Davis Highway on Tuesday, we looked at each other and said the same thing. "That was really cool." Tuesday was Northwest Florida's Community Outreach's "Harvest of Hope" food pantry's weekly "Supporting Our Seniors" food distribution. Seniors visiting the NFCO headquarters, where a former Baptist church was located years ago. The complex has various rooms and buildings and at the rear of the complex there's a line of empty parking spots awaiting visits from senior citizens who often have their caretakers, family members and friends to assist them. Yes, they get an awesome box of food staples − canned goods, packaged foods, rice, some snacks and more. But they also get to go inside the "Harvest of Hope" food pantry, stocked with various coolers and freezers where the seniors or their caregivers can grab one of a handful of shopping carts and go through the various stations. There are areas with frozen meats, frozen veggies, milk and milk alternatives, frozen treats (including Ben & Jerry's), refrigerated items, a deli, a bread station, areas for dried goods including cereals, coffee, tea, vegetables, non-food items such as pet supplies, including food (so non-human food), cat litter and more. There was even a small section with an assortment of shoes up for grabs, tags still on them. There were Pop Tarts and Lucky Charms, and even a few King Cakes available for the seniors to choose, with limits on various items − four deli items, one pack of bacon, two coffees/teas, etc. For seniors who don't or can't get out much, the Tuesday scheduled visits gives them a chance to pick out things they actually enjoy and maybe even crave. Northwest Florida Community Outreach is the ministry and outreach arm of non-denominational Living Word Holy Church on Broad Street in Ensley. The church is almost 35 years old while NFCR was created in 2002. "We do give them the boxes with all the staples,'' said Brenda K. Beasley, church pastor whose husband Samuel Beasley founded the church, which has about 125 members today. "But some of them might not eat everything we give them. You know, they're saying 'I'm 80 years old now and I want some of my wants. When you see their faces, they truly enjoy the experience." The Harvest of Hope food pantry doesn't only administer to senior citizens. There are other programs for food distribution the organization runs for the general public facing food insecurity issues. But the Supporting Our Seniors program might be the one that Beasley, 71, is most proud of. "Since I've become a senior, I've seen the struggle,'' she said. "When my parents became elderly, I saw their struggle." The Northwest Florida Community Outreach programs are by application or agency referral, and currently there are about 75 seniors on the organization's Supporting Our Seniors roster with a waiting list of names behind them. Senior times are scheduled for each Tuesday, with about 17 or so seniors scheduled for a particular week of the month so that by the end of the month all the seniors get a chance to participate in the free program. Each Tuesday distribution is broken down into three or four various shifts, so than only a handful of seniors are being served at a time, to keep down commotion and allow the seniors to "shop" in safety. If they don't have a caretaker, family member or friend with them, a Harvest of Hope volunteer will assist. All boxes and selections are delivered to the waiting cars by volunteers. "Instead of just driving through and picking up a box, they can come in and get a shopping cart and choose the rest of their items,'' said Christeia Hawkins, Northwest Florida Community Outreach director and a Living Word Holy Church member. "It's set up like a grocery store and they get to shop for the rest of their items." Much of the food provided to Northwest Florida Community Outreach comes from the non-profit Feeding the Gulf Coast organization, which partners with various churches and groups such as Northwest Florida Community Outreach to get food to a needy public. Food is also provided by various local retail markets. "We have food pickups so we're unloading and then someone has to sort everything, throw out any bad stuff,'' Beasley said. "Someone has to keep up with the dates and rotate items and there's just a lot of work. Truly, a lot of work." There was a team of about 10 volunteers and staff members on hand, some filling the staple boxes, others to check in visitors, others to keep coolers, freezers and bins stocked, others who would be helping visitors upon arrival. There is a similar Northwest Florida Community Outreach pantry in Century for folks in the north part of Escambia County and upper Santa Rose County. Before the first Tuesday visitor, Beasley gathered her staff and volunteers together for prayer. Minutes later, an elderly woman, accompanied by a daughter, entered the pantry, a smile across her face, her eyes wide. She pushed her buggy slowly, first stopping at the Bread & Pastries section to pick a few breads and treats before moving on to canned goods, and then some fresh produce which she looked over. She took her time, she and her daughter, without the threat of quick-moving shoppers and crowded aisles found at most major grocery outlets. It can be madness sometimes, right? Senior citizen Lavette Smith was one of those who had a morning appointment at the pantry, but she is feeding more than herself. Her daughter and eight grandchildren live with her. That's 10 mouths to feed, including hers. "It's hard and I'm retired but still having to take care of them,'' Smith said. "My daughter is working 16 hours a week (fast food) and it's not enough. If it wasn't for these people, I don't know how we would do it." She came to pick up some sweets for the kids, cereal, some vegetables and canned good, and "to check out their meats. It's just a wonderful thing they do here." Beasley said none of the seniors are Living Word Holy Church members. "They know if they need something,'' she said, "then they can just call me." Still, the church ministry has to work to get by and recently started a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for an additional storage area to hold all the donated items the group receives. "Come with me,'' Beasley said, leading us to another area of Northwest Florida Community Outreach − Harvest Home, where household items and so much more were stored for approved applicants and referrals. There were shelves of microwave ovens, shelves of diapers; there were medical items including a handful of blood pressure monitors, couches and other furniture items. There were crock pots and coffee pots upon coffee pots, steam cleaners for the floor, bug repellant, yard trimmers, a tent, sleeping bag and on and on and on. "We never know what we're going to get,'' Beasley said. "But we're happy to get it." For more information on Northwest Florida Community Outreach, including ways to volunteer and donate, go to or the group's Facebook page. This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Harvest for Hope food pantry helps Pensacola seniors
