Wordless Wednesday

UNREAL™ Candy Review

I love chocolate. I can recall a time when I was in 7th or 8th grade and I was supposed to sell candy bars for my class trip.  Well, instead of selling them, I managed to polish off at least half of the box myself and my parents ended up paying for them.  Okay...so that is an embarrassing story, but you must understand I LOVE CHOCOLATE!  In fact,  I must have consumed way too much chocolate when I was pregnant with my children, because they too love chocolate.  I admit, I don't always deny my children candy.  I do try to set a limit to how much they have and most of the time candy is used as a reward.  For example, when my children were potty training, I used M&M's to reward them for making it to the toilet.  Maybe it wasn't the brightest idea...but it worked! All in all, chocolate is something we enjoy in our house. 

Therefore, I was pumped when I saw the UNREAL™ candy in my local CVS a couple of months ago.  I was even more excited to find out that I would be able to try it out for free for being a Bzz Agent.  What's all the hype?  Well...I finally can stop feeling guilty about letting my children and myself eat candy because UNREAL™ Candy is not full of junk!  There are NO Hydrogentated Oils, NO Artificial Flavors, NO GMOs, NO Corn Syrup, a lower Gycemic Index. and NO Dyes.  As a Bzz Agent, I was given some coupons to try out a few of my favorites.

I chose the Peanut Butter Cups, the Chocolate Caramel Peanuts Nougat Bar, and the Candy Coated Chocolate with Peanuts.  I encourage you to follow links to the Candy and see how they compare with the popular "junk"  candy.  I was impressed!!

I chose to keep the Peanut Butter Cups to myself...so selfish!  They were tasty.  Not quite the same taste of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, but overall they had a great taste.  I liked them even better when I found out that they had 6 less carbs than the Reese's.  They also have 10 less grams of sugar!

I decided to let the boys share the Candy Coated Chocolate with Peanuts.  I LOVED the fact that UNREAL™ did not use food dyes to color the candies, but instead vegetable juices, like beet juice.  How cool is that?  The boys seemed to really enjoy them.  Big Brother earned them as a reward for practicing his writing and Little Brother just got lucky.

I had all intentions of sharing the last Chocolate Caramel Peanut Nougat Bar with my hubby, but I remembered that he did not like peanuts.  That was convenient!  This one was my favorite!!  I loved it.  I really couldn't tell a huge difference in the taste compared to the popular Snickers bar.  I did notice a HUGE difference in the content.  80 fewer calories, 10 few carbs, 2 fewer grams of fat, 4 more grams of fiber, 13 fewer grams of Sugar, and 1 more gram of Protein. I think the choice is clear!

I am so excited that a company finally came out with "real" candy that we can enjoy! I am so excited, that I kept my FREE coupon to share with one of you.  The 1st person to comment on this blog post with the flavor that they can't wait to try will get a coupon to try out their choice for free.  Please leave your email so I can contact you. 

Note:  I was Not paid for my opinion on these candies.  I did get the opportunity to try these for free as a Bzz Agent.  

Whatcha Eatin'?: October 1st Edition

It's October 1st!  CRAZY!  How does time go by so quickly?  We are loving this fall weather.  I have most of my fall decorations up and absolutely love burning my fall candles!  Just need to go pumpkin picking and we'll be all set.  One thing I love about fall is using my Crock Pot and making CHILI.  That is definitely on the menu this week.  We have a busy week ahead, so I plan to use my Crock Pot quite a bit. I have a bridal shower to attend Monday evening, so it's boys' night.  I am taking Baby Sis with me, as well as, a Cookies'N'Cream Dessert since I am helping out with the shower.  I also have a Thirty One party on Thursday, so another fun night without Mommy.  Gotta LOVE my Crockpot! 

Monday:  Taco Chicken Bowls, Carrots,  Apples & Caramel Dip  

Tuesday:  BBQ Chicken, Cheesy Potatoes, Peas,

Wednesday:  Pot Roast, Dinner Rolls

Thursday:  Chili, Carrots & Dip, Chees & Crackers

Friday: Cheeseburgers, French Fries, Baked Beans, Cottage Cheese

Saturday:  Dinner Out or Frozen Pizza

Sunday: Ribeyes, Grilled Potatoes, Green Beans

It's a great week for us!  What are you having?  Join me and link up at Organizing Junkie's Blog. 

Progresso Recipe Starters Second Chance Review

 

After our experience last week with Progresso Recipe Starters, I decided that I might just give it a second chance. I am glad that I did!  Originally, I was able to try out the Basil free as a Bzz Agent, but this time I opted for the Creamy Roasted Garlic with Chicken Stock. 

I have had my eye on the Chicken Enchilada recipe on the Progresso website, so I decided that we'd try it out.  It was super easy to make.  If you'd like to try it out here is what you'd need:

Ingredients

• 1 can (18 oz) Progresso™ Recipe Starters™ creamy roasted garlic with chicken stock cooking sauce
• 1 can (4.5 oz) Old El Paso® chopped green chiles
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 cups diced deli rotisserie chicken
• 1 can (15 oz) Progresso® black beans, drained, rinsed
• 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese (4 oz)
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 8 flour tortillas (8 inch)
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (4 oz)

Garnishes, If Desired

• Chopped green onions or avocado
• Lettuce
• Chopped tomatoes
• Additional sour cream 

We followed the instructions given: 

Heat oven to 350°F. In small bowl, mix cooking sauce, chiles and cumin. 

Spray bottom of 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray. Spread 1/2 cup sauce mixture in bottom of baking dish. 

 In medium bowl, stir together chicken, black beans, Monterey Jack cheese, sour cream and 1/2 cup sauce mixture.

Spoon about 1/2 cup chicken mixture down center of each tortilla. Roll up tortillas; arrange, seam sides down, in baking dish. Top enchiladas with remaining sauce mixture. Sprinkle with Cheddar cheese. Spray sheet of foil with cooking spray; cover baking dish with foil, sprayed side down.

Bake 35 minutes. Remove foil; bake 5 to 10 minutes longer or until hot and cheese is melted.

Top with avocado or green onions. Serve with lettuce, tomatoes and additional sour cream.

We thought this was super yummy! We will definitely make it again. It was great for the entire family. Big Bro took a few bites and exclaimed, "delicioso!".  I think he has been watching too much Dora.  We enjoyed it so much that we almost ate the entire pan. 

 I loved the fact that it was super easy to make.  I think the Creamy Roasted Garlic gave it the kick that it needed.  Want to know more about Progresso Recipe Starters? Visit Progresso and find recipes to make the dinner rush a little easier!

Want to help spread the Bzz about new products?  Visit BzzAgent and find out more. 

Progresso Recipe Starters Review

 

Trying to prepare dinner with three little ones running around can be quite challenging these days. Recently,  I was given the chance to try out the new Progresso Recipes Starters from Bzz Agent, and I jumped on it!

Anything to make my life a bit easier!  I was given the choice of five different flavors:  Creamy Parmesan Basil Sauce, Cream Three Cheese Sauce, Creamy Portabella Sauce, Creamy Roasted Garlic Sauce, and Fire Roasted Tomato Sauce.  I settled on the Creamy Parmesan Basil Sauce.

Next was trying to decide what to make with it!  Remember, I am a frozen pizza kind of mommy, so really anything that takes a lot of effort can be a bit intimidating.  Progresso made it easy for me...I found a recipe on the back of the can! There are also many recipes available on their website. 

This was actually very simple to make!  It took less than 30 minutes to make, which makes me a happy momma.  Here was my end result...

So what do I think about Progresso Recipe Starters? 

Well, I wasn't blown away with the Creamy Alfredo Chicken.   It was okay. Not disgusting...but nothing spectacular.  I like the idea of the recipe starters.  I think they would save the average person time in the kitchen, but I am not sure that it would be something that I would purchase frequently.  I have picked out a few other recipes from the Progresso website that I am hoping will be a big hit.  The Chicken Enchiladas look tasty.  Then, I will wait for a sale and combine it with a coupon.  Speaking of coupons...anyone want 75¢ off a can?  I have a few coupons left to share! 

Note:  I was given a can of Progresso Recipe Starters for free to sample as a Bzz Agent.  All my opinions are truly my own.  No compensation was given. 

Ready or Not...Should We Go?

We had to make a big decision this summer...Should we send Big Brother to kindergarten or wait till next year?  Big Brother turned 5 the middle of June.  He is such a bright, active, sweet little boy. He loves to be a big helper of mom's. He has a great imagination and memory.  He is aware of so much.  He knows all his ABC's, can count to 20, can do simple addition. If fact after reading the 71 Things Your Child Needs to Know Before Kindergarten, we realized that he can do most of those things.   So why was it such a difficult decision on whether or not to send him to Kindergarten?   After many prayers, thoughts, and discussions we felt that our sweet little boy was just not ready to be a Kindergartener.  With the exception of his handwriting difficulties with left handedness, he is academically ready.  Emotionally, maybe mom wasn't ready, but he just wasn't quite ready either.  So, we decided that we will do preschool for one more year. 

I am pretty sure everyone was happy with this decision!  We also loved these cute little 1st day of school signs.  We'll be using the cute Kindergartener one next year! 

Whatcha Eatin'? September 10, 2012

The last couple of weeks have been a bit crazy, so I didn't get a chance to post our menu.  Last week, I was a bit spoiled and my hubby cooked 4 out of the seven days.  The other three days I used our crock pot which really made dinner easy for me.  We had some of our favorites:  Salsa Chicken, Bacon Ranch Chicken and Pot Roast.  This week I thought I get back to the menu planning business. 

Here is what we have planned:

Monday: Creamy Chicken Alfredo, Steamed Broccoli, Side Salad (This recipe is from the back of the Progresso Recipe Starters can.  I have the chance to try it out for free as a Bzz Agent.  I'll share my results with you soon!)

Tuesday:  Meatloaf, Party Potatoes, Corn

Wednesday:  Cheeseburger Soup, French Bread

Thursday:  Taco Pizza, Mixed Fruit

Friday: Sloppy Joes, Mac & Cheese

Saturday:  Dinner Out

Sunday:  Family Get Together...I'm bringing a Veggie Tray.

What are you eatin' this week?

I am linking this up at Organizing Junkie's blog.  Join me and get inspired by other bloggers!