Cookie Monster!

Cookies should be considered a food group in my eyes—fresh, healthy ones! Don’t worry, I won’t suggest that you slave over the oven for hours on end trying to find that perfect mixture while maintaining natural ingredients and that true cookie integrity. Instead, order some from Kathy’s Kitchen. At your door you will find her Honey Oatmeal cookies (add either raisins or chocolate chips) sweetened with honey and made with rolled oats—these cookies have the staying power to keep you full for a while too (you can eat them as a breakfast cookie). Kathy isn’t done yet. She also has her Naturally Sweet Gourmet Maple Popcorn flavored with pure natural maple syrup—yum! It is hot air popped versus being popped in oils. And last, but certainly not least—Kathy makes brownies too! They taste like homemade—and are very moist and delicious, while having that deep chocolate taste with a light frosting on the top! They are putting out a brownie mix that you will soon be able to order and cook these brownies at home whenever you would like (this way you can stock up)! I love that I know I am getting a fresh, wholesome product from here and all are made to order.

Odor Eater

With having 2 cats, there may be an accident forthcoming at any time and it’s always good to be safe than sorry. Unique made this whole process of animal accidents “a walk in the park” literally. My cats have not had any problems yet, but if they do I’m ready for them. I have used Unique’s Pet and Odor Stain Eliminator in their litter box and boy oh boy does it ever work good. Instead of using all the products with harmful chemicals in them to get the odor out you have to check out Unique’s Pet products which are all natural and safe for cats and dogs of all ages and sizes. This product will work on all types of surfaces including: carpet, furniture, upholstery, hardwood floors and litter boxes!!

I have also tried 2 more of Unique’s Green eco-friendly products the carpet shampoo and the drain cleaner. I’m sure everyone has dropped something on a rug or the carpeting before, right? Unique’s carpet shampoo will eliminate the stain and take the odor away without a lot of the elbow grease included. It’s great just spray and wipe away no scrubbing or brushing involved. The shampoo does not leave a film, does not fade the color of the carpet, and is pet friendly and safe.
Unique’s drain opener unclogs it ALL. You will never believe what one bottle of this solution can do, take a look; stopped drains and sump pumps, slow drains, drain maintenance, septic tanks & septic fields, descaling toilets & garbage disposals, KEEP READING I’M NOT DONE YET, descaling grease traps, descaling swamp cooler lines, clogged air conditioning & soda fountain lines. OK NOW I’M DONE. I use Unique’s drain opener for my shower drain and I have not had a clogged drain yet. This drain opener is all natural and eco-friendly as well as the rest of Unique’s products. If you have not looked at their website, YOU HAVE TO before the end of this blog. They have many other items that would be very useful around your home, office, restaurant and many other places.

Handmade, Always

I am referring to a new food find called BuiltBurger. Gourmet, handmade, all natural, fresh burgers in a multitude of exotic flavors! On my plate you are seeing two of their slider size burgers—“Brilliant” and “Pinnacle”. You can cook these anyway that you would cook a normal burger—grilling, stovetop or oven. Since it is still winter-ish weather outside here in Wisconsin I cooked these on the stovetop and they turned out great and since they are smaller-sized they cooked up quickly! I would love to grill these in the summer-time and can just imagine how great they would be with that added grilled flavor. Here are the descriptions of the flavors I tried—this will inspire you to jump on their website and make your own burger pack, they have tons to choose from (oh and sausages too)!

Brilliant Prosciutto: Undeniably excellent. Begin with all natural beef and be amazed by Italian prosciutto, onions reduced in balsamic, roasted red peppers and freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. An excellent balance of salty and sweet. Trust us, you'll be the leader of the grill.
Pinnacle Bacon Bleu: Your new best friend. Indulge in our custom blend of naturally smoked bacon, caramelized onions and mild, smooth Danish bleu. All natural beef mingles wonderfully with ingredients made for each other. Exceed all expectations with this grill wonder.

Old Favorite with a new favorite

Last night was an old favorite of mine for dinner—Grilled Cheese. I used veggie slices, some Rudi’s whole wheat and voila a great sandwich! But I always love to spice things up a bit. So I peeked around for a dipping sauce, of course looking for something with a kick to it and spotted Wayne’s Hot Green Tomato Relish. My original new plan for the relish had been to spice up veggie dogs and on top of baked potatoes but this was a great start in tasting the relish (plus it’s a low cal dipper).

Food Day!

Every once in a while we have “Food Days” at work. We all are assigned to a course and bring a dish. I decided to make brownies since they are always a hit with everyone. In our efforts to lighten up our menus I chose to make Sofella’s Sin-Free Fat Free Brownie Mix. Now get this—to make the brownies all you have to do is an a non-fat yogurt (I used a Greek yogurt). Mix and bake! They tasted amazing and every last one was gone. Sofella’s does the work for you on a lot more items that just the brownies they have other gourmet baked goods like Vanilla Bean Bundt Cake, Lemon Ginger Cake, Breads and an assortment of Rice, Grains and Side Dishes. This was so easy to prepare that I can not wait to try the others.

That is one fine nut!

This was quick and GOOD! This was inspired by a salad that I had on vacation a while back minus the cranberries. This one was just bagged salad mix, The Well Dressed Nut Spiced Up Pecans and some Athenos Feta Cheese. I then topped it with just a splash of olive oil. It worked out amazingly well because it sat for a while because life interrupted my meal time. The best part of the salad was by far the pecans. I was stealing them off the top and ended up replacing them with more and then had some more later on! I met my nut quota for the day—that is for sure! The nuts were the best mix of sweet and spicy, no doubt why they are the best seller. These nuts are truly a gourmet food experience—the nuts are jumbo sized (not pieces but full nuts), all-natural, top quality ingredients and no preservatives—I have to mention how stylish these nuts are too! If you see in my pic I also have some Maple Glazed Pecans with Cranberries. I love Maple and I love cranberries so I can not wait to see how great these are. I read on their website ways to enjoy these and the suggested them mixed into oatmeal or yogurt—two of my favorite foods.

Pasta Recipe – Easy Weeknight Dinner

I have been on a spinach kick AND was really craving pasta—they go absolutely perfect together. Here is what I did: Took a serving of Mrs. Leepers Spaghetti and boiled it until al dente. In the meantime, I put a dash of Sciabica’s Basil Flavored Olive Oil* in my pan and added a huge amount of spinach. I let the spinach wilt while the noodles were cooking. Then all there was to it was draining the pasta and mixing with the spinach/ olive oil mixture. When I had it on my plate I topped with some Chevrai Goat’s Cheese from Woolwich Dairy.

*This olive oil made the dish—it was perfectly seasoned and produced by crushing fresh olives with fresh basil. It is an all natural cold pressed olive oil that is perfect for pasta for instant pesto flavor; salads with balsamic vinegar; sandwich spread; bread dipping.

Single Servings, Portion Control and Homemade Pizza

We all know our weaknesses. Lately, I have really been looking at ways to keep my portions in check and control what goes into my mouth by cooking at home. I have found a couple of great tools to help me do that—as far as kitchen helpers I got a kitchen scale, some portion controlled bowls which I love and have been measuring more. As far as portion controlled food—some things I just know if it is available I will over indulge. One of those things? Pizza. That is why I love the single serve crusts by Rustic Crust. They are very reasonable nutritionally (and now have a gluten free option) and they keep your portion in check. I measure out my cheese and use very lean toppings and as much veggies as I like! This pizza turned out great and only needed about 10 minutes in the oven. Rustic Crust also makes an EXCELLENT sauce. For this pizza I used the Italian Herb crust and topped it with their perfectly spiced pizza sauce.

Superhero of Teas

Thank you to Mighty Leaf for sending me a few of their tea bags to sample. They have quite the assortment on their website and I got to try the Chocolate Mint Truffle (my favorite) and Green Tea Tropical which was also extremely good and since I am trying to drink more Green Tea I love the hint of fruitiness this one had. Their website has a few cool sorting features that I have never seen before—you can even find your true tea match just by your mood!

Better than flowers

I don’t know about you but given the chance to get flowers delivered or THIS:

There would be absolutely no hesitation when I was screaming give me  "Flowers To Eat”! These gorgeously decorated apple slices and dipped strawberries were beautiful to look at and tasted even better. I have had dipped fruit before but these were truly original flavors:
Strawberry Sampler
Simply Scrumptious! A winning combination of chocolate and strawberries that can be shared. Flavors include: Butterfinger, toffee, coconut, toasted coconut and double chocolate chip.
Apple Sampler
Granny Smith Apple wedges are dipped in our ever popular flavors which include Dark gourmet chocolate with Mounds Coconut, Reese’s Peanut Butter with Butterfingers and Milk gourmet chocolate with Toffee bits

All the fruit was so fresh, the strawberries were huge, plump and juicy—the apples were tart and crisp and Granny Smith’s complimented the toppings perfectly. I would be so excited to send these gourmet goodies to anyone. If you take a peek at their website you will see they deliver just about anywhere and they have very affordable arrangements ranging all the way up to extravagant bouquets!

Meal in a Jar

I have a lotta love for Minestrone Soup. In a quest to find one that I can enjoy at home without slaving over a complicated recipe – here it is:

Lucini’s Minestrone has a thick tomato base and is chock full of great ingredients like their very own olive oil, carrots, celery, onions, potatoes, beans, chick peas, green peas, spinach, green beans and a blend of seasonings. If their other products are anything like this soup I am in for a real treat. The Lucini Italia Company prides itself on authentic Italian foods, handcrafted for the best flavors. They always use all natural ingredients and make it in small batches.

Bread N’ Jam

Okay—take a peek of my bread and Jam:

The jam is actually called “fruit butter” by Clearbrook Farms. Not to be confused with an actual butter product fruit butters contain no fat or dairy products it is just the best part of the fruit. The fruit flavor of these “butters” are really intense and you don’t need much. Here you see the Red Raspberry variety—it was smooth, spread easily and paired perfectly with my wheat bread! Now for the health 411 on these “butters”—I was impressed to learn that hey contain less sugar and 33% less carbohydrates than fruit preserves! They come in apple, pumpkin, red raspberry, red cherry, pear, peach and triple berry.

Sleeping Beauty

After a long day of work, gym, and household chores nothing sounds better to me than a good nights sleep. I love the smell of my linens right after I wash them it’s very soothing to me and I wish I could wash them every single day instead of once a week but it’s very time consuming. Body and Mind Time came up with a great solution in between the 6 days before I smell fresh linens again pillow and linen spray. The aroma that these linen sprays give off are sensational and soothing. My linens smell like they just came out the wash machine every day. I usually spray my linens before I leave for work in the morning and by 10:00 at night the fresh linen smell is just enough to put me to sleep. Body and Mind Time has 4 different sprays with a mixture of scents including: lavender, sweet orange, chamomile, geranium, rosemary and thyme.

Oh Brother!

I am obsessed with this stuff! Freeze dried fruits that are all-natural, crispy and crunchy. Nothing added, just fruity goodness. I love the mix of strawberry and banana that Brothers-All-Natural created since both are great and even better when combined. Then the apples are not just any apples—they are fuji’s, my snacking apple true love! These are dried little wedges of wholesome goodness to pack on the go or when fresh fruit is just not feasible. One of my favorite uses of freeze dried fruit besides straight up? Tossed on cold cereal, blended into oatmeal or with a few nuts as a trail mix.

Hands 2 Go

I think alcohol free hand sanitizer is one of the best products ever made. Why????? Instead of drying out your skin it moisturizes your skin. Hands 2 Go is a great alcohol FREE product that you can use anywhere at anytime. Hands 2 Go is safe and gentle enough for anyone including toddlers. Clinically proven to kill 99.99% of know bacteria on contact. Hands 2 Go is a water based eco friendly foaming formula that is soft on your skin and is small enough to throw in your purse or stick it in your pocket for fast easy use. Not only can I use this product as much as I would like throughout my busy work day but I can also use this right before I eat because it is fragrance free and my food will not taste like perfume or a flower store.

Keeping Skinny

This weekend I went to a small gathering at a friends place. Usually—this is how the night goes: hundreds, perhaps thousands of calories consumed just in fruity beverages only to be followed by an even greater number of calories consumed of food during or after. So this time I brought a bottle of Jordan’s Skinny Mixes, Appletini flavor. With a declaration of zero calories—I was excited. The only additional calories would be from the alcohol you add and you certainly don’t have to! The mix was a bright green and tasted sweet and tart just like an Appletini should. Since I am on a temporary drinking hiatus I was still able to partake in the fun by just have Jordan’s Skinny mix on its own and it was great just like that! Guilt free and fun. The rest of the bunch added some vodka to it and really enjoyed it. I expected only the girls would try it but the guys were drinking it too. Jordan’s makes other flavors of guilt free cocktail mixes like margarita (boasting only 5 calories compared to the average of 300+ in a normal one) and cosmo!

What’s Your Flavor?

If you like trying new things and consider yourself a “foodie” step into a whole new world with Black Star Gourmet. They specialize in the most discriminating tastes all offered in an online store. The selections are very extensive ranging from the healthy indulgences to the truly rich and divine splurges. One thing you can be assured of is the quality of their products and the high level of customer service you will be getting. I am taste testing some of their more health conscious items that you can make a part of your everyday feasts.

Foods offered at Black Star Gourmet are the best of the best collected from all around the world. Even with the selection seen above some of it was foreign to me. What I was most excited to try was the Grapeseed Oil. I have read about Grapeseed Oil and know that it is truly a “specialty” item since the oil is extracted from grapes but oil in very small amounts thus taking a whole lot of grapes to produce the oil. I was surprised when I tasted the oil and it had a nutty flavor to it. I know you can use it to cook but I tossed my salad in it and added a few seasonings. The oil is polyunsaturated and contains the compound linoleic acid.
The Green Tea Forte was just amazing. We all know the health benefits that come from drinking green tea. This tea tasted very fresh, pure and seeped quickly. I have been trying to eliminate any coffee consumption and find myself craving Tea Forte in the morning now!
The other Black Star Gourmet delicacy that I have tried from my selection was the Olives. These were not just ANY olives- not at all. These olives are called Natural Meski Olives & Harissa. They are fine French olives pickled in extra virgin olive oil and spiced with Harissa- a traditional North African condiment made with garlic, chili peppers and spices giving it a little heat. I love spicy, I love olives and I just loved these.

Party in my mouth!

ZENmama has gotten totally creative with her granola. Not that she had to think up fancy names to get me to love this granola. The mix I had was called Mardi-Grasnola! Too funny but it seriously was a party on itown made up of the following (items with stars are certified organic):

~ Rolled oats*
~ Seeds: Pumpkin*, Sesame*, Flax*, Pine Nuts, Sunflower*
~ Nuts: Cashews, Almonds, Walnuts, Mississippi Pecans, Pistachios*
~ Pink Sea Salt
~ Cinnamon*
~ Unsweetened Shredded coconut*
~ Wildflower honey (from southwestern PA)
~ 100% Pure Maple syrup*
~ Wheat germ
~ Flaxseed meal
~ Currants*
~ Banana Chips*

The banana chips did it for me. They mixed amazingly with the nuts, coconut, maple hint and seeds. I had never seen whole big chunks of banana chips in a granola before this. The ingredients were wholesome, the granola was filling and there was no added oils and it was sweetened with honey. I have to refer to it in the past tense because last night I got home late and had it as my dinner! So then the next morning I woke up thinking about the tiny bit of leftover granola in my bag, I knew it had to be breakfast. I beefed it up a little bit with some Nature’s Path Kamut Puffs and some fiber twigs since there was not much Granola left. It was a great mix but I was sad to see my party over.

WAKE UP!

In the Zulu language the word Vuka means “wake up” which is a perfect name for an energy drink! Now the cool thing about Vuka besides the racy aluminum bottles is that each formula is made for a specific occasion made with all natural ingredients and absolutely no preservatives.
Upside: These tasted great with flavors like Awaken Orange, Renew Mango Peach, Think Pomegranate Lychee and Workout Berry Lemonade (my fave) there was something for all tastes.
Downside: No “light” versions. I did hop on their website though and see that this is being solved! Light versions sweetened with Stevia extract coming soon! YEA!

Trying new things

Tibet Authentic sent me a package of their high quality goji berries to try. Having had goji berries before I knew I loved them but more so in recipes than anything else. I had it set in my mind that they would be for breakfast the next day! I decided I would soak the goji’s overnight in the fridge to get them plump and juicy. So that is what I did. I woke up the next morning to find some of the water absorbed but not much—those goji’s are stubborn but they were a little softer. So then I did this:

Boiled 1 ½ cups water
Then added:
1/8th cup Nature’s Path Kamut Hot Cereal
2 tablespoons Flax & Co. Original Flax
½ cup rolled oats
Soaked Gojis
Some sweetener
Let it do its work… left it on the stove for 20 minutes stopping by frequently to stir. At the end I added a bit of vanilla extract, stirred then let it cool/ thicken for a few minutes.

Lemon or Limeade?

Who doesn’t love lemonade? Drinking it transports me right to a summer day. Not only does it taste amazing but it is good for you. Lemons (a citrus fruit) are yellow, nutritional powerhouses that also are a diuretic helping to cleanse the body. So what can you do with the pure squeezed lemon from Lemon Fresh? Tons! You don’t have to just drink lemonade or limeade although if you choose to instead of being sweetened with a ton of sugar you can control exactly what goes into your drink. You can use the lemon or lime juice, then add a bit of sweetener of your choice right to your taste. In addition, both are great for cooking and make it much easier than handling and storing the fruit each time you want to use it. Another idea—I LOVE a low cal salad dressing of lemon juice and a packet of sweetener. Sound simple? It is! Yum! How about a cherry-limeade like they sell at a popular drive up? Or some cocktails? The possibilities for these handy pouches are endless.

Lick This!

Licorice made by a father/son duo who have found the meaning of life—and its their very own licorice—they declare it as the “World’s Best”! I have to agree. RJ’s Licorice is soft, fresh and comes in either traditional black or raspberry in a variety of shapes and sizes. No matter how they configure it, it is fantastic. Considering myself a licorice connoisseur I thought I had tried it all but it might be their raspberry licorice that really makes me think it might be the best in the world. The raspberry is different than other fruit licorices by not having that artificial berry flavor to it. Its berry flavor is subtle and tastes natural, its hard to explain you will just have to try it for yourself! The traditional also was amazing—I loved how soft it was and the licorice flavor was just right, not too overpowering.

Cleaning Made Fun

People safe, Pet safe, and Planet Safe. How good does that sound? Well I don’t know about the rest of you out there, but it sounds great to me. I never really thought of cleaning being fun until I met my match with GreenShield Organic from Greenology Products. Now don’t get me wrong I said cleaning is FUN not EXCITING!!! Either way Greenology’s product is USDA Organic approved, trust me it’s the real deal. I really wanted to put this product to the test so I went to the 2 most bacteria growing rooms in a house-- the bathroom and the cats litter box. I only had to use about 6 sprays of the all purpose cleaner on both my bathroom and cat little box and both were clean and smelled fresh with only 6 sprays each. I was very impressed with this product most of the time I have to use up a quarter of a bottle of multiple cleaning supplies to get both of those clean and smelling decent. Greenology not only has residential cleaning supplies for every room in your house but they also have commercial supplies as well. If you don’t believe me check out the product for yourself and put it through your test, I know it will pass with flying colors.

Almond Love

I am all about the almonds. Almonds make a great snack that are good for you, help curb your appetite and keep you lean. When I had the chance to taste test Dr. Lankin’s “Awesome Almonds” I was thrilled. These almonds are all-natural, roasted without oils and developed by a physician. After being dry raosted they are flavored with extracts and spices to make up some pretty awesome almonds. The Cinnamon Vanilla variety reminded me of those almonds that they roast at fairs that smell absolutely irresistible (but these are guilt free). The cocoa variety blew me away. Rich and chocolately without all the fat and sugar of chocolate coated almonds. Some other great things about the almonds:

-Our almonds are exclusively from California orchards, the best in the world.
-Gluten-free: no wheat ingredients to aggravate celiac disease.
-Almonds offer protein, unsaturated fat, dietary fiber, vitamin E, magnesium, and calcium.
-Almonds are an awesome choice for people who want a heart healthy diet and maintain their weight.
-Certified vegan- no animal products are used. No dairy, no eggs.
Almond is highly nutritious and is recommended for pregnant woman.
Bonus! Did you know that? Dried almond contains the highest amount of calcium among all fruits and vegetables. Wow! Go almonds! (As if we need a reason for eating these besides the taste!)

Tanabars—Yum!

You definitely do not have to have allergies to appreciate these chewy nut free bars by Tanabar. In your choice of Chocolate Chip, Triple Berry or Sweet Raisin each bar is nut free but still packed with goodies. The Chocolate Chip was my favorite with its main ingredients being rolled oats, honey and sunflower seeds—then accented with chocolate chips, crisp rice and a touch of vanilla. The Triple Berry was the runner up for me having the same main ingredients but then instead of the chocolate chips there were cranberries for extra flavor. Each bar had a great combination of ingredients offering the perfect chewiness with great accents. Each bar is completely safe for those with any tree nut or peanut allergies. In addition to the allergy free bars they have a whole assortment of other chocolates on their site that are also safe and made in small batches to ensure taste and quality. My favorite find on the site?

Angel Service Dog Paws
A delightfully cute package of 22 chocolate dog paws individually wrapped in teal and silver foils that are sure to make you feel good everytime you purchase a bag. Every sale of this product generates a donation to Angel Service Dogs to help support this very worthwhile organization. Available in Milk Chocolate, Dark Chocolate or Crispy Chocolate (5.9 oz)
Visit AngelServiceDogs.com to learn more about their efforts.
I love anything and everything to do with animals, I encourage helping them as much as you can. Give that chocolate lover a bag of dog paws for Easter!

Apple Pie Without the Crust

How great does that sound? Can you believe that is the description of applesauce? The Chicago made applesauce lives up to its name and its tradition. Mullen’s applesauce is made by Jim Mullen* using his families very own recipe. It has been his lifelong dream to carry on these great recipes—now you and your family can have a wholesome treat that tastes like “Apple Pie Without the Crust”. The applesauce is a thick, chunky sauce that is made with fresh apples. Then the recipe calls for special spices that give it a unique flavor all its own. I love that they keep the recipe all natural and do not add any unnecessary preservatives either. You will not need any preservatives – one taste and it could not be left sitting in your house.

*Jim Mullen donates a portion of his proceeds to the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation, a great cause that helps families of Chicago Police Officers who were killed or injured in the line of duty. Great applesauce, great cause.

Tootski’s Toffee

My sweet tooth is self-admittedly out of control! When I saw this toffee made locally in Madison, WI from a old family recipe I was drooling. What arrived in the mail looked like a dream—come true. It was a thick layer of toffee, topped with chocolate (some dark, some milk) then sprinkled with nuts. All hand-crafted by “Tootski” herself! Tootski makes sure to use the finest, fresh ingredients around (literally) and combines butter, milk or dark chocolate, vanilla, sugar and sliced almonds to make this devilish delight. Tootski’s is available in Madison but if you are a local—don’t worry you can still grab Tooski’s on Foodzie!

Get up and Dance

What do you do on those gloomy rainy days? The folks over at Rainy Day Organics think we all, including our little ones should get up and dance. Super soft is the best way to describe this unique baby onesie. Rainy Day Organics uses 100% certified organic cotton and water based dyes for their garments. They also use a heavy duty reinforced 3 snap design so that your child can move around as much as they would like without the snaps popping open. They have 5 colors to choose from and a wide range of sizes from newborn to 18 months. Rainy Day Organics is coming out with bibs, blankets and caps soon. Everyone needs a Rainy Day Dancer in their life!!!