Latest news with #PureProtein
Business Insider
22-05-2025
- General
- Business Insider
I live 2 hours from the nearest Costco. Here are 10 items worth the 130-mile drive.
There are no Costco stores in Wyoming, so I drive 130 miles out of state to shop there every month. Bulk shopping helps keep my grocery bill in check. I always stock up on items like toilet paper, Greek yogurt, and gluten-free snacks. I didn't know just how vital Costco was to my household until we moved from Denver to Sheridan, Wyoming. Alongside Rhode Island and West Virginia, Wyoming is one of three states without any Costco locations. Despite my husband and I being DINKWADs (dual income, no kids, with a dog), we're accustomed to shopping in bulk, in part because we grew up in rural areas where it's common to do so. It also helps us stretch our grocery budget. Now, when I make my monthly two-hour drive to Costco in Billings, Montana, I never leave the store without these 10 items. Kirkland Signature plain Greek yogurt is the most versatile ingredient in my fridge. Better Than Bouillon roasted beef base is my secret sauce. In my opinion, the Better Than Bouillon roasted beef base tastes much richer than boxed broths, so it's great for making stews and soups. I also like to use it for gravies, marinades, and slow-cooked meats. I make sure 80% of my cart is filled with produce. I like to buy organic produce, like the Josie's Organics baby spinach, at Costco because I can get more for my money than I do at my local grocery store. The Simple Mills almond flour crackers are a great gluten-free snack. Liquid IV is my not-so-guilty pleasure. When I can fit it into my grocery budget, Liquid IV is one of my splurge items. Having these hydration packets on hand, especially in the hotter months living at higher elevations, is a game changer for me. I've noticed that when I use them, I get fewer headaches and cramps post-workout. I also like to pour them over ice with a lime wedge for a dinnertime mocktail. This bag of Kirkland Signature frozen shrimp will be thawed in time for dinner. In my experience, it can be hard to find good seafood that won't bust my grocery budget. That's why I always grab a bag of Kirkland Signature frozen shrimp. Plus, it's thawed by the time I get home, so I can make dinner quickly. Kirkland Signature eggs are a great value. A dozen eggs can cost nearly $6 at my local grocery store. So, I love that I can get a 24-pack of Kirkland Signature eggs at Costco for $8.20. Pure Protein Bars make the perfect road trip snack. I always snag a box of these Pure Protein bars at Costco as part of my high-protein diet. They're a great road trip snack for my drive home, too. I will never stop buying Charmin toilet paper in bulk. For me, buying toilet paper in bulk isn't just about saving money. It's also about my irrational fear of running out — fueled by the shortage during the COVID-19 pandemic. Periodically, Costco will run a sale, and I'll buy two packages of Charmin at a time. Before heading home, I always remember to fuel up.
USA Today
04-04-2025
- Health
- USA Today
Fulfil protein bars review: They don't quite fulfill the promise of tasting like candy
Fulfil protein bars review: They don't quite fulfill the promise of tasting like candy 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. I prefer my protein in powder form -- specifically, something vanilla to slip into morning coffee and make me feel slightly fancy while drinking my breakfast. Still, I appreciate the convenience of a protein bar on the go. Granted, for me that mostly means a car snack on a long drive. Even so, getting a dense, candy-adjacent rush of protein to keep me from pounding a full bag of salt and vinegar chips on the road is a win. That led me to Fulfil, which promises a modest dose of protein (15 grams) in a 40 gram bar and minimal sugar. It also says it tastes great, dropping a coy "we swear, it's a protein bar" right on the packaging. That's an area where Pure Protein was really hit or miss. Can Fulfil be better? Let's see what we've got. Chocolate Peanut Butter: B+ To be sure, this doesn't smell like a protein bar. The chocolate (or chocolat-ish) on the outside of the bar is sweet and mixes with the peanuts inside to give off the feeling you're about to bite into a Baby Ruth. The shape, however, is very protein bar -- a short rectangle of densely-packed nutrients that, with peanut pieces sticking out from underneath the coating, make it look at least somewhat like it's already been digested. So, mixed bag. That chocolate coating gives way to an interior layer that brings the dense chewiness you'd expect from 15 grams of protein. If doesn't taste especially protein-y, however. Toward the end you get some of that distinct whey flavor, but it's less apparent here than it is in many of Fulfil's competitors. While there's a certain amount of thickness in each bite, it also avoids some of the repetitive, jaw-tiring textures that come with other protein snacks. Each chomp takes a while to break down, but it's more like working through nougat or a heavy layer or caramel than packed whey. This does help it hit its goal of feeling more like a candy bar than health(ish) food. You're not going to mistake it for a Snickers, but you'd have an easier time convincing your six-year-old this is a sweet rather than a dietary building block than you would with, say, a Quest bar. Chocolate Hazelnut: F Here's an interesting flavor; basically Nutella in a more solid form. Once again the bar is a little small but it smells great -- sweet chocolate and a little bit of nuts. That chocolate leads the way, and it's solid enough. But as you work through the inherent chewiness of a protein bar, that hazelnut comes to the surface and, friends, it is bad. Stale and slightly spicy and generally unpleasant. I didn't finish the bar. It was gross. Chocolate Salted Caramel: B- I'm going right from the hazelnut into this one, which is slightly concerning. Again, the bar smells like a proper chocolate treat and a coating of crisped rice makes the whole thing pretty appealing. And, again, you start off on a high note. The first bite leans into the contrast of sweet and salty. It's backed by the textural clash of chewy caramel and crunchy rice. It's a great beginning. Toward the end, you run into some of the stale protein that's become a trend with Fulfil. That's a bit of a bummer, but it's not uncommon among the genre. Gotta fit the healthy part in somewhere. Fortunately it's nowhere near as acrid as the hazelnut and the bar itself is a little less chewy than the chocolate peanut butter form. It leaves that stale, almost metallic aftertaste on the back of your tongue and into your molars. That's frustrating, especially given how well the contrasts up front are. But after the chocolate hazelnut it's basically a five-star meal unto itself. So, there's that. Chocolate Peanut Caramel: B The caramel here helps justify some of the protein bar chewiness that's built in to the genre. True to Fulfil form, the opening bite is solid. There's not as much crunchy peanut as the textured top of the bar suggests, but the flavors are balanced to give a nice Snickers vibe. Then the turn comes. Fortunately it's not as bad as it's been elsewhere; you wind up with some lingering chewiness and general whey protein dairy-adjacent flavors. Part of the issue may be that Fulfil starts off on such high notes. For the first three seconds this feels absolutely indulgent. Then it veers sharply into standard protein bar aesthetics, down to a lingering aftertaste that's like someone trying to describe a candy bar to you. Still, it does the job. I'm eating this one mid-workout on a morning where I haven't eaten anything and it's stabilizing my brain and balance. It'll ensure I get to lunch without snacking. Triple Chocolate: D+ I'm a bit wary here; Fulfil's chocolate has had the lasting flavor of Fruit Stripe gum and now I'm getting 300 percent of it. The bar has a nice coating with a smattering of chocolate chips on it. That sets each bite off with a solid start. Ultimately, however, the protein part kicks in. It's chewy and slightly sour. Get a bite with a lot of chocolate chips and it's not so noticeable. Get a plain bite and, woof. It's tough. That's the theme that connects Fulfil's flavors. They deliver the promised candy sweetness up front. Then comes the protein, which brings a stale milk flavor that taints your tongue from the back half of chewing the bar and well after you've finished it. That's not unfinishable, but you can do a lot better with your protein bars. Would I (eat) it instead of a Hamm's? This a pass/fail mechanism where I compare whatever I'm drinking (or in this case, eating) 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 eat Fulfil protein bars over a cold can of Hamm's? There are some winners here. They're all a smidge too chewy and will never be mistaken for actual candy, but they're filling in a small package and the peanut flavors are solid. However, Fulfil is too inconsistent for me to give it an overall thumbs up. Beer me.
