Nairns Oatcakes review

The people at Nairns sent me a couple boxes of Oat cookies to review--Stem Ginger and Mixed Berry.   These cookies are all natural, wheat-free, and made with whole grain oats.

From the Nairns website about the benefits of oats:
There has been a great deal of research into the positive health benefits of oats. Oats are high in fibre and contain complex carbohydrates which have the amazing capacity to sustain and slowly release energy, which helps you get the most out of your day. We work hard to make sure that all that oaty goodness stays in all our naturally energising products, without ever compromising on taste

The box contains four small packs of 5 cookies, for a total of 20 cookies in the box.   I actually like the four separately wrapped packs, and think it would help the cookies stay fresh longer.  A serving is two cookies and contains 90 calories/4g of fat.  Each cookie is about two inches in diameter.

First I tried the Ginger Stem cookies.    They had a strong ginger smell right out of the pack so I knew they would be strong tasting, and they were.  If you like ginger, these cookies are for you.  They have an almost overpowering ginger flavor to the point that the spice burns in your mouth.    Of the two cookies that we're sent, these were not my favorite   I even let my son try one and he made a funny face after biting into one.   

The other cookies, Mixed Berry, we're much better.     They had a nice fruit sweetness taste and were enjoyable.   I could see eating a couple of these as a mid day or late night snack.   I had to read the ingredients to see what fruit was actually in the cookie and it appears that they contain dried cranberries and raspberry purée pieces.   

In addition to oat cookies, Nairns also makes oat crackers.   Check out their website for more info.

Race for the Cure

Last week I signed up and ran our local Race for the Cure.  It is probably the biggest 5K in our area and the after-race free gifts from sponsors cannot be beat--cookies, chips, travel bags, granola bars, coupons, and yes, even toilet paper.

My goal was to break 30 min and I just missed, finishing in 30:15.  There were a lot of walkers and I was dodging people for the first mile or two.   I was impressed by a lady pushing a triple-stroller in front of my pretty much the whole way.

I ran for my friend Jana, who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, and my thought was to run the race in her honor (they have bibs you can fill out "Running in celebration" or "running in memory" and pin to your shirt, and to pray for her throughout the run, and then send her a note afterwards with the bib letting her know she was in my prayers.   Well right after the race I ran into her!  It was so cool to see her and give her a hug and hand her the bib with her name on it.  

This is a really fun race to do because of the cause, the number of people, and all the pink.   Here are some pics from race day: